Playing with Poison: Plutonium Use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Creator

Peter M. Strauss
Tri-Valley Communities Against A Radioactive Environment

Files

Document Type

Report

Date

2001

Description

Plutonium is a human-made radioactive substance and a potent poison when inhaled or ingested. It is made in nuclear reactors, and one isotope is the primary explosive material in modern nuclear weapons. This is one of the most toxic radionuclides that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) works with, and when it is introduced to the environment, it is poisonous in very small doses. It has been used at LLNL to design and fabricate nuclear weapons. Even with the cessation of the "Cold War" in the 1990's, LLNL continues to use plutonium for designing, testing and dismantling nuclear weapons.

The following report is about plutonium use at LLNL, past and present. This report describes the major hazards of plutonium experiments at LLNL and the known releases and potential releases to the environment.

Publisher

Tri-Valley Communities Against A Radioactive Environment

Format

pdf

Keywords

nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons testing, environment, non-governmental organizations, United States Department of Energy, tribal governments, environmental cleanup, radioactive fallout, radioactive waste

Rights

Copyright belongs to the authors. Clark University was chosen by the non-profit peace and environmental groups as the conservator of these reports; our right to distribute these works ensures they remain available to the public in perpetuity as intended. Reuse at your own discretion with with due deference to copyright holders.

Location

Livermore, CA

Recommended Citation

Strauss, Peter M. and Tri-Valley Communities Against A Radioactive Environment, "Playing with Poison: Plutonium Use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory" (2001). Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (CAREs). 4.
https://commons.clarku.edu/trivalley/4