Berkeley "RAD"Lab Bevatron
Radioactive Demolition Debris

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Berkeley "RAD" Lab Radioactive Demolition Debris from the Bevatron

Berkeley City Council discussion regarding the demolition of the Bevatron at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory on July 22, 2008

The historic record clearly shows that LBNL simply ignored all concerns expressed by residents and drove their 4,700-plus trucks, with uncovered shielding blocks and other radioactive Bevatron debris, down University Avenue during rush hour to the I-80 freeway. Why? Because the Department of Energy (DOE) could. Their actions further reinforce the Lab's ongoing posture of being above any local accountability for their operations.

Berkeley Citizen
Copyright 2008

 Bevatron Demolition: Uncovering the Cover-Up.  Berkeley - October 21, 2009 Produced by Berkeley Citizen

Bevatron Demolition: Uncovering the Cover-Up 
Berkeley - October 21, 2009

Bevatron Shielding BlocksBerkeley’s Sea Breeze Café, located at Interstate 80 and University Avenue, appears to be offering more than hot coffee to commuters these days. 

This morning, the cafe parking lot was the scene of a truck rally. More than a half dozen, semi truck-trailers loaded with debris from the demolition of Berkeley National Laboratory’s Bevatron made a quick stop there.

Their cargo of concrete, shielding blocks was once used to insulate the radioactive emissions from the 1950s particle accelerator. The several-ton shields are suspected to be radioactive. However, none of the trucks were labeled as such.

Perhaps even stranger than the appearance of the unmarked demolition waste was the fact that all the drivers were pulling off the tarps covering the concrete shields after driving less than three miles from the lab. A short time later, the trucks all caravanned down the highway with their uncovered cargo.  It begs the question “Why?”
Berkeley Citizen

2009 Update on Demolition of the Bevatron

Small Businesses Benefit from Berkeley Lab’s Recovery Act Funds
Funds also create jobs—at the Lab, at small businesses and down the chain.

As funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act start to flow into Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, much of that funding is flowing out to small businesses. To date, Berkeley Lab has been awarded more than $220 million in Recovery Act funds, a large part of which will go toward infrastructure projects and buying and upgrading computers and scientific equipment, such as microscopes, lasers and gene sequencers.

Bevatron DemolitionOne of the largest subcontracts to receive Recovery Act funding at Berkeley Lab is with Clauss Construction, which falls into one of the federal government’s special subcategories of small businesses as it is owned by a service-disabled veteran.

Based in Lakeside, California, outside San Diego, Clauss had been awarded a $24.8 million contract back in July 2008 for demolition of the Bevatron, a massive facility that was once one of the world’s leading particle accelerators. It was a three-year contract, with the second and third year dependent on future funding.

Fortunately for Clauss, the Department of Energy announced in March that the demolition would receive $14.3 million in Recovery Act funding, guaranteeing that the work would continue uninterrupted into the second year of the contract.  Source: Excerpt from LBNL Newletter October 28, 2009

 
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