[NukeNet] Bombplex News

[Marylia Kelley]

Hi, this is a very short piece from our latest newsletter. It touches on a
few thoughts stemming from the D'Agostino briefing the other day. We at TVC
were disappointed to be on a line from which no questions could be asked.
Oh well. Read on. More to follow later. Peace, Marylia

Bombplex News

>From Tri-Valley CAREs' December 2007 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

The American people and the Congress rejected the Dept. of Energy's (DOE)
"Complex 2030" plan last year. The DOE received a record 33,000 comments
objecting to its proposal to revitalize the nuclear weapons complex.
Congress refused to fund it. So, this month, DOE unveiled its "kinder,
gentler" new bombplex, which is called "Complex Transformation."

Tom D'Agostino, administrator for the DOE National Nuclear Security
Administration, put a smiley face on the plan in a briefing for reporters,
employees and a few watchdog groups when he said, "Today's nuclear weapons
complex needs to move from the outdated Cold War complex to one that is
smaller, safer and less expensive." He went on to outline a plan that will
consolidate some nuclear materials and knock down old buildings, but  go on
to build expensive new bomb facilities and an infrastructure geared to new
weapons.

D'Agostino insisted that DOE will "need" the new weapons complex with or
without the RRW (see page 2 for an RRW update) and irrespective of the size
of the U.S. arsenal, though his logic was faulty in this regard.

DOE posted the Draft Executive Summary for its soon to be released Draft
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on "Complex
Transformation." The full, multi-volume  draft plan will be published in
mid-January.

Tri-Valley CAREs will publish a reader-friendly "guide" to the new
bombplex.  Get a copy in your next Citizen's Watch.

Your participation is crucial to prevent a new bombplex from becoming a
reality. So far, we have stopped the worst of DOE's proposals, now we must
turn the pressure up a notch!

PUBLIC HEARINGS

In Livermore, CA on March 19, with day and evening sessions, and one
evening only session in Tracy, CA on March 18. Circle the dates, details to
follow in our January newsletter.

(Check the nnsa.doe.gov web site for other hearing dates and locations
across the country.)

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