[CPEO-MEF] Scientist Quits Stockpile Stewardship-Says LLNL deceived him

[marylia@earthlink.net]

Dear peace and enviro colleagues -- here is the press release. I think you
will appreciate what Issac has to say. Also, please pass it on to any media
you may know. Thank you. Peace, Marylia

for more information, contact:
Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs, (925) 443-7148

for release after 9:30 AM Pacific Time, Thursday, March 15, 2001

                LIVERMORE LAB SCIENTIST QUITS "STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP"
                PROGRAM, CALLS LAB HIRING PRACTICES DECEPTIVE

****************************************************************************
                Thursday, March 15, 2001 -- Press conferences
9:30 AM, Livermore Laboratory Visitors Center, Greenville Rd. in Livermore
, and NOON, World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St., San Francisco.
****************************************************************************
LIVERMORE, CA - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) computer
scientist Issac Trotts today announced his resignation, saying that LLNL
recruiters "deceived me" by assuring him that his work would not
"contribute to the further development of nuclear arms."

Trotts released an open letter to his former Livermore colleagues calling
on them to "understand the consequences" of the so-called "Stockpile
Stewardship" program and join him in refusing to work on it.

"During my interview with LLNL, I asked about the nature of 'Stockpile
Stewardship.' I was assured that no new weapons development was taking
place," explained Trotts. "I thought I would be helping to keep the nuclear
weapons from accidentally detonating or polluting the environment with
radioactive material," he continued.

Trotts, 25, was recruited to an $85,000 a year position as a Computer
Scientist by Livermore Laboratory in October 2000, shortly after his
visiting researcher position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
came to an end. Prior to the stint at MIT, Trotts had received his
Bachelor's degree from the University of Calif. at Davis and a Masters in
Science from Brown University.

Trotts came to Livermore Lab to work in the Visual Interactive Environment
for Weapons Simulation Group (VIEWS) in the Accelerated Strategic Computing
Initiative (ASCI) of the Stockpile Stewardship Program.

"Livermore Lab deceived me, both during the interview and afterwards,"
Trotts charged. "Five months after the interview, I found out that the
'Stockpile Stewardship' Program was -- and still is -- much more aggressive
than I had been led to believe."

In particular, Trotts pointed to the recent role of "Stockpile Stewardship"
in putting an entirely new military capability into the B61, giving it an
earth-penetrating ability. " I found that, according to the State
Department web site, 'The B61-11 development effort demonstrated a full
range of stockpile stewardship capabilities... the certification effort
took advantage of the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI)
capabilities...,'" said Trotts. "I now had incontrovertible evidence that
the ASCI program, in which I was working, had played an important role in
enhancing the B61. I had ample reason to believe that further alterations
of this sort would be performed in the future. I resigned."

"Issac Trotts is a shining example to other young scientists and engineers.
The courageous action he has taken, leaving a high-paying job for reasons
of conscience, embodies the highest principles of both science and ethics.
We at Tri-Valley CAREs are happy to offer Issac our support," said Marylia
Kelley, executive director of the Livermore-based Lab "watchdog"
organization. "We are certain that others will follow in his footsteps."

Dr. Andreas Toupadakis also praised Trotts' decision. Last year,
Toupadakis, a chemist, left his position in the Stockpile Stewardship
Program at Livermore for similar reasons. "By his action, Issac has served
the whole of humanity," Toupadakis declared. "Others will follow."

Speaking on his own decision as well as Trotts', Toupadakis said, "We have
done our duty."

To encourage more scientists and engineers to leave the weapons program,
Trotts released a 5-page "open letter" explaining his findings and decision
to leave in detail. "Let's put our money where our mouths are and put an
end to nuclear weapons before they put an end to us," the  letter
concludes.

Copies of the letter will be distributed directly to current and
prospective Livermore Lab employees, and will also be available on
Tri-Valley CAREs' web site at http://www.igc.org/tvc.

Tri-Valley CAREs and three colleague organizations recently launched an
international campaign at the annual meeting of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, asking scientists and engineers to renounce
work on nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. Joining in that
effort are the Natural Resources Defense Council, Los Alamos Study Group
and Western States Legal Foundation.

"Every weapon type in the U.S. arsenal is being 'redesigned' using
so-called 'Stockpile Stewardship',," charged Kelley. "We know that the
Livermore Lab is using 'bait and switch' and other misleading tactics to
lure young professionals. We plan to challenge those practices by going out
into the colleges and Universities where the Lab typically recruits in
order to explain the true nature of 'Stockpile Stewardship' to students. We
believe that many of them will choose not to work on nuclear weapons."

According to Jackie Cabasso, executive director of the Oakland-based
Western States Legal Foundation, "Issac is precisely the kind of bright,
young scientist that Livermore and the other weapons labs are seeking to
recruit. Without the Issac's of  the world, nuclear and other weapons of
mass destruction cannot exist. What he is doing today is very significant.
It is a step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons globally."

                                                                -- 30 --

Copies of Issac Trotts' letter will be available at the press conferences,
and upon request 3/15/01.


Marylia Kelley
Executive Director,
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA 94550
Phone: 1-925-443-7148
Fax: 1-925-443-0177
Web site: http://www.igc.org/tvc



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