NEWS: Depleted Uranium Discovered Scattered at Livermore Lab Site 300; Public Questions, Comments & Tour Follow

This summer Tri-Valley CAREs, the Livermore-based nuclear watchdog organization, obtained documents revealing that hunks of uranium-238 - also called depleted uranium or DU - were unexpectedly found strewn around the ground at a currently operating, open-air “firing table” at the Livermore Lab’s Site 300 high-explosives testing range located between Livermore and Tracy.

Employees were conducting soil and groundwater sampling in the summer of 2014 when they spotted DU littering the surface soil. The Lab found 27 pieces of uranium-238 measuring 3-inches in diameter or greater. They weighed 80 pounds.

There is no question that explosive testing was the cause of the contamination. We do not know, however, how much DU is still out there in finely divided particles. We also don’t know the total number of tests - or the amount of DU they contained. Nor do we know how far, or in which directions, the DU has traveled on the wind.

We do know that uranium-238 is an alpha-emitter with a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years. And we know that the Lab conducts “controlled burns” around this firing table, raising the issue of re-suspension of DU particles.

Site 300 was founded in 1955 and this particular firing table began operating in 1962. The Livermore Lab documents state that the DU contamination occurred before 2007. They speculate that the uranium-238 chunks may have been present since the 60s and 70s when the Lab conducted two to three detonations per week at this firing table. The documents fail to explain, however, how the “Remedial Investigation” of this area, completed under the Superfund law in the 1990s, missed finding such a large, and visible, hazard.

Firing tables are outdoor, gravel-based detonation pads on which the Lab sets off bomb blasts to test how well a new or modified weapon design performs. Photos we have obtained show that these blasts are huge, with dust and debris dwarfing nearby structures.

All blasts contain numerous hazardous materials. Those containing uranium-238 are a triple threat to human and ecological health because, in addition to its radioactivity, DU is a toxic heavy metal and a chemical health risk.

DU contamination had been discovered previously at a firing table in the east-central portion of Site 300, at an area called Building-812. This new DU find is situated near the site’s western boundary, at the Building-851 firing table.

Tri-Valley CAREs reviewed the Lab’s “Draft Work Plan” to characterize surface soils around the Building-851 firing table, and we submitted comments on June 10, 2016. Notably, the work plan proposes only 40 soil samples, all of which would be within 700 feet of the firing table. No scientific justification was offered for the limited radius, it was stated that a wider investigation would have to include a consult with the US Fish & Wildlife Service due to the presence of endangered species.

Other deficiencies in the work plan include a complete lack of analysis of uranium particle deposition via rainwater runoff channels (ephemeral streams) as well as the regular practice of control burning vegetation throughout the firing table area where the 80-pounds of DU was found. Our comments and supporting documentation are posted at http://www.trivalleycares.org/new/comments.html.

Tri-Valley CAREs will continue to press DOE, the Lab and the regulatory agencies to hold a public meeting. We are also setting up a special community tour of the Site 300 cleanup areas, where toxic and/or radioactive soil and water are being remediated under the Superfund Law. We are requesting that the Building-851 “firing table” where this DU was discovered be part of the “toxic tour.”

Tri-Valley CAREs is taking sign ups for the community tour of Site 300 on a “first come, first served” basis. This special tour will take place on Wednesday, November 30 from 9 AM until 12:30 PM. Seating is limited and all participants must sign up in advance and provide all of the necessary information to receive a badge.

Site 300 personnel and other experts will offer briefings on the pollutants and the status of the cleanup at each location on the tour. Call Tri-Valley CAREs at 925-443-7148 or email marylia@trivalleycares.org if you are interested. Deadline for signups is November 17, 2016 (or until full, if before that date).

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