[CPEO-MEF] "WATCHDOGS" PARTNER IN GREEN BID FOR LIVERMORE LAB - PRESS RELEASE

[marylia@earthlink.net (marylia)]

Hi -- Our press release with cool info and quotes -- also, my kudos to the
"green" bidding partners and supporters who spoke to the UC Regents (and to
reporters) yesterday. Read on...

CONTACT:  Tri-Valley CAREs, Tara Dorabji or Marylia Kelley, (925) 443-7148
                 Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Jay Coghlan, (505) 989-7342

NUCLEAR "WATCHDOGS" PARTNER WITH COLLEGE, CLEAN ENERGY FIRM TO PREPARE
"GREEN" MANAGEMENT BID FOR LIVERMORE LAB

Team Pledges to Transform Troubled Nuclear Weapons Lab into "Center for
Civilian Science"

Today, a leading Livermore Lab "watchdog" organization announced that it
has joined forces with one of the state's premier independent colleges, a
clean energy company and a New Mexico non-profit to prepare a bid to manage
the troubled Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), currently
managed by the Regents of the University of California (UC) for the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE).

Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) held a
morning news conference to discuss its plans just before the UC Board of
Regents meeting at the University's San Francisco Mission Bay campus. The
group has partnered with the New College of California, Nuclear Watch of
New Mexico and WindMiller Energy to prepare what the bidders promise will
be "a creative, forward-looking and feasible 'green' proposal to manage
Livermore Lab."

"Our innovative bid will promote world class science by transforming
Livermore Lab from a nuclear weapons design facility into a center for
civilian science," explained Tara Dorabji, Outreach Director for Tri-Valley
CAREs, which has monitored Livermore Lab activities for 23 years.  "By
focusing on socially-beneficial scientific initiatives like sustainable
energy, global warming and environmental cleanup technologies, our bid will
increase cutting edge research at the Lab and provide the greatest degree
of security and safety proposed by any management team." According to the
DOE Lab Tables, 85% of Livermore Lab's current budget request is earmarked
for weapons activities. Less than 1% is earmarked for energy conservation.

"The mission of the New College of California is to create a just, sacred
and sustainable world," explained Martin Hamilton, President of New
College. "By bidding to manage Livermore Lab, we bid for a more sustainable
future, a future that is not chained to nuclear weapons. The role of
academic institutions in science should not be to create weapons of mass
destruction, but rather to seek sustainable solutions for humankind."

"One of our goals is to illuminate options for Livermore Lab management
that are available to all bidders," stated Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley
CAREs' Executive Director. "Our bid will demonstrate how to increase
transparency, improve health and safety provisions for workers and
communities, strengthen whistleblower protections, and provide incentive
points for bringing more civilian science to Livermore," Kelley said. "We
challenge the UC-Bechtel consortium to show how they, if chosen, will
accomplish these same tasks."

"We fear our competitors will propose more 'business as usual' and
dysfunctional management at Livermore Lab, with continued cost overruns at
the National Ignition Facility, safety violations in the plutonium facility
and dwindling resources allotted to the basic sciences," Kelley continued.

"Livermore Lab, located in a world-class wind resource area with ample
solar resources, boasts an unrivaled team of world-class scientists,
coupled with state-of-the-art equipment and support," explains Barry
Miller, President of WindMiller Energy. "Therefore, Livermore Lab is
uniquely situated to play a leading role in research, development and
testing of renewable energy resources, such as those generated by wind and
sun."

Since 1952, Livermore Lab has been managed by the University of California
under a "no bid" contract. After repeated security and fiscal management
scandals, DOE decided in April 2003 to open competition for the Livermore
contract. Prospective bids for the Livermore contract are due to the Dept.
of Energy by October 12. Selection of the contractor will occur in the
winter of 2006. The current LLNL contract expires on September 30, 2007.

Scott Kovac, Operations Director of Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, explains
further, "We look forward to focusing on environmental science and
renewable energy technologies to ignite a new future for the Lab and wean
Livermore Lab off of nuclear weapons. We are thrilled to join with the New
College of California, WindMiller Energy and Tri-Valley CAREs."

Additional support for transitioning Livermore Lab to a civilian science
mission came from students, UC faculty and a leading Livermore Lab
scientist. Said Dr. Hugh Dewitt, an astrophysicist employed at Livermore
Lab for 5 decades: "The next Livermore Lab management contract should
detail a phase out of classified work over a 5-year period. Plutonium
operations should cease, and the material safely removed. Livermore Lab can
most effectively serve our country by undertaking urgent, non-military
endeavors, a task for which it is superbly equipped." DeWitt continued, "I
applaud Tri-Valley CAREs and its bidding partners for bringing these issues
to the forefront of the contract debate."

THE FOUR "GREEN" BIDDING PARTNERS AT A GLANCE:

Tri-Valley CAREs was founded in Livermore in 1983 to monitor activities in
the DOE nuclear weapons complex, with a special focus on the nearby
Lawrence Livermore Lab. The group's 4,800 members work to promote nuclear
disarmament and nonproliferation, ensure cleanup of the Cold War legacy of
radioactive and toxic pollution, safeguard the environment from further
contamination, and enhance worker and public participation in
decision-making. (www.trivalleycares.org)

New College of California is committed to education in support of a just,
sacred, and sustainable world. New College cherishes intellectual freedom,
the search for social justice, respect for differences, and a belief in
collective responsibility for the welfare of all people.
(www.newcollege.edu)

WindMiller Energy was begun in 1990 to promote and distribute wind and
related energy technologies and information to small and mid-sized users.
The company provides equipment and the technical details needed for user
communities to maintain it optimally.

Nuclear Watch of New Mexico provides information to the public on nuclear
issues in the Southwest and encourages effective citizen involvement around
these concerns. The group promotes environmental protection, safe disposal
of radioactive wastes, and federal policy changes to curb the proliferation
of nuclear weapons. (www.nukewatch.org)

                        -- 30 --

Marylia Kelley
Executive Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94551

<http://www.trivalleycares.org> - is our web site address. Please visit us
there!

(925) 443-7148 - is our phone
(925) 443-0177 - is our fax


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