[NukeNet] Press Rel: Pu Pit Review, New Nukes and "Complex 2030"

[Marylia Kelley]

for further information,  contact:
Susan Gordon: (206) 547-3175
or any of the local contacts listed at end of  advisory.

Alliance for  Nuclear Accountability
A national network of  organizations working to address issues of nuclear
weapons production and waste cleanup

for  immediate release, Wednesday,  November 29, 2006

Independent Review of Department of Energy  Study Undermines "Need" for New
Nuclear  Weapons

Groups call on Energy Department to abandon  discredited  "Complex 2030" Plan

November 29,  2006 - Today marks an important turning point in the future
of the  U.S. nuclear  weapons stockpile.  Scientists  acting as government
consultants have announced conclusions of their independent  review of
Department of Energy (DOE) studies of plutonium pit lifetimes.  Pits are
the cores or  "triggers" of  nuclear weapons.  This group, known  as the
JASON panel, has included Nobel laureates and original Manhattan Project
scientists.  Their announcement that  pit lifetimes of most warheads are at
least 100 years, more than double that of  DOE's original estimate of 45
years has far-reaching implications.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the  semi-autonomous
nuclear weapons agency within DOE, has been seeking to restart  pit
production for years.  The  argument for increased production has largely
rested on the NNSA estimated 45  year pit lifetime, making new ones
necessary to maintain the current nuclear  stockpile. 

The extended effective life of plutonium pits calls into  question the need
for several NNSA plans to increase pit and weapons  production.  Currently,
NNSA plans  to expand  "interim" pit production at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory, where  a limited production line already exists.   NNSA has
even grander plans to build the so-called Reliable Replacement  Warhead in
a newly constructed, nationwide nuclear complex, called Complex  2030. 
This  "Bombplex" would be  capable of producing newly designed warheads and
at least 125 pits per  year.  As Susan Gordon, Director of  the Alliance
for Nuclear  Accountability stated,  "Pit production, new warheads, and a
new  'Bombplex' are  completely unnecessary.  The  U.S. has a huge  surplus
of plutonium pits and now DOE 's own independent expert scientists  confirm
that they last 100 years." 

The  Alliance for Nuclear Accountability  (ANA) has been involved in the
process of the pit lifetime studies since early  2003. At that time, one of
its member groups, Nuclear Watch New  Mexico, urged  Senator Jeff Bingaman
(D-NM) to introduce legislation that required independent  review by a
qualified federal contractor of the NNSA's ongoing pit lifetime  studies.
Ultimately, the JASONs were contracted to conduct that review.

Nuclear Watch's Jay Coghlan commented,  "Today's  conclusions show, on a
practical basis, that we don't need expensive,  provocative new nuclear
weapons designs and industrial-scale bomb production. These proposals make
the  U.S. appear  hypocritical when preaching to other nations that they
can't have weapons of  mass destruction. This is an important document and
we have Senator Bingaman to  thank for providing leadership to make it
happen."

The  U.S. is believed  to have approximately 10,600 intact nuclear warheads
and another 12,000  plutonium pits in reserve at the Pantex site in
Texas.  The revelations in the new report shift  the focus from weapons
production to radioactive waste cleanup and warhead  dismantlement.  Mavis
Belisle,  Director of the Peace Farm, located just outside the Pantex Plant
said,  "The  money spent on increased pit production could be better used
elsewhere.  Dismantling warheads from our huge arsenal would set a great
example for the  rest of the world."

Marylia Kelley, Executive Director at Tri-Valley  CAREs in Livermore,  CA
said,  "We call on DOE to abandon its  Complex 2030 plan. They need to go
back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that focuses on the
cleanup of  radioactive contamination that is the legacy of 60 years of
nuclear weapons  development.  This study offers the  government a chance
to go back and get it right."

The Alliance  for Nuclear Accountability is a national network of 35
groups, most of whom live  downwind and downstream from the  U.S. nuclear
weapons complex sites. These groups have been working collaboratively for
nearly  two decades to clean up the environmental legacy of nuclear weapons
production  and stop new nuclear weapons programs.
 -30-

Local  Contacts --

Marylia  Kelley, Executive Director, Tri-Valley Communities Against a
Radioactive  Environment
Livermore,  CA   (925) 443-7148

Jay  Coghlan, Executive Director, Nuclear Watch of New Mexico
Santa  Fe,  NM    (505) 989-7342, cell: (505) 920-7118


Mavis  Belisle, Director, Peace Farm
Panhandle,  TX   (806) 341-4801


Ralph  Hutchison, Director, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance
Oak  Ridge,  TN    (865) 483-8202


NNSA press release link:

http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/docs/newsreleases/2006/PR_2006-11-29_NA-06-46.htm

  ####

Marylia Kelley,
Executive Director

Tri-Valley CAREs
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA  94551

Ph: (925) 443-7148
Fx: (925) 443-0177
Web: www.trivalleycares.org
Email: marylia at trivalleycares.org or marylia at earthlink.net