[CPEO-MEF] NIF-DC NGO Roundtable - Invitation

[marylia@earthlink.net]

Dear peace and environmental colleagues: If you are going to be in
Washington, DC on May 10 -- this invotation is for you. Don't miss it.
Peace, Marylia

YOU ARE INVITED TO
A NGO BRIEFING AND ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ON
THE NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY AND
THE U.S. STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM

WHEN:   Thursday, May 10
FROM:   9:30 am to 11:00 am
WHERE:  Natural Resources Defense Council Conference Room
                1200 New York Avenue, NW, 4th Floor
RSVP TO:        (202) 833-4668

Coffee, bagels and pastries will be provided.

SPEAKERS:

*       DR. ROBERT CIVIAK, former Program Examiner for the Department of
Energy's national security programs in the White House Office of Management
and Budget, has just completed a new study, "Soaring Costs, Shrinking
Performance: Status of the National Ignition Facility,"  commissioned by
Tri-Valley CAREs, a DOE watchdog organization based in Livermore, CA.

Dr. Civiak's study provides the first independent examination of the cost
to build and operate the NIF mega-laser, now under construction at
Livermore Lab, and finds that NIF's full price will be 600% higher than
what DOE said. The report details the key laser components for which DOE
low-balled the costs -- and the ones left out of DOE's estimates
altogether.

"Soaring Costs, Shrinking Performance"  looks also at the laser's
standards, and finds that the output from the NIF per dollar spent is now
projected to be only one-ninth what it was when NIF was approved in 1997.
Civiak's last report for Tri-Valley CAREs was "Managing the U.S. Nuclear
Weapons Stockpile: A Comparison of 5 Strategies," in July 2000.

*       DR. MATTHEW MCKINZIE, NRDC staff scientist, will put the NIF in the
context of Stockpile Stewardship and discuss both the shortcomings and the
more positive alternatives to the current program. McKinzie has written
numerous articles and reports on the U.S. Stockpile Stewardship program and
on several of its elements, including the National Ignition Facility and
the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative.

This "guided tour" through the smoke and mirrors surrounding NIF -- DOE's
flagship for so-called Stockpile Stewardship -- is a must for all activists
and policy analysts who work on or care about nuclear weapons issues.

Following the briefing, Marylia Kelley of Tri-Valley CAREs and Daryl
Kimball of Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers will facilitate a discussion
on next steps.

Copies of the study will be available at the Roundtable, and can soon be
obtained on-line by visiting <http://www.igc.org/tvc>, the website of
Tri-Valley CAREs, which has for 18 years conducted research, critical
analysis, and outreach to increase public participation in decisions
regarding the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, with a special focus on the
Lawrence Livermore Lab. The new study was produced as part of Tri-Valley
CAREs' "Redefining Stockpile Stewardship" program.

The briefing is sponsored by Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, Alliance
for Nuclear Accountability, Natural Resources Defense Council and
Tri-Valley CAREs. For further information contact Marylia Kelley,
Tri-Valley CAREs (925) 443-7148 or Jim Bridgman, ANA (202) 833-4668.

end

Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94550

<http://www.igc.org/tvc/> - is our web site, please visit us there!

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

Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley
CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the
Abolition 2000 global network for the elimination of nuclear weapons, the
U.S. Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Back From the Brink
campaign to get nuclear weapons taken off hair-trigger alert.



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