California Communities
Against Toxics

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Unity Statement regarding the University of California's management of the nation's primary nuclear weapons labs

Passed by California Communities Against Toxics on February 9, 2003

The University of California has managed Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) since their inceptions. Every nuclear weapon in the US arsenal was designed by a UC employee. Currently, military planners are actively studying potential nuclear weapons targets in Iraq, raising the possibility of nuclear weapons use by the United States in the near term.

In order to prevent the potential use of nuclear weapons in a war on Iraq, and to challenge as well the root causes of war, we must change institutions that enable the U.S. to move quickly to war, rather than using diplomatic means to resolve conflict. One way the University of California has made possible this over-reliance on military force has been through its collaboration on the design and development of nuclear weapons.

As a step towards demilitarizing the University of California, we demand that the UC Regents, as managers of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, take all possible steps to stop a war on Iraq.

The UC contracts with the Department of Energy are currently under Congressional scrutiny for various security and management problems. However, the issue is not merely by whom, or how, the nation's nuclear weapons labs are managed, but rather whether the U.S. should continue to design, develop, test and produce nuclear weapons, either in existence, or of novel types.

In their capacity as managers of the National Laboratories, we call on the University of California Regents to:

· Uphold Article VI of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which became law in 1970 and requires that:

"Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.";

· Assure compliance with international law by encouraging and cooperating with weapons inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, other international agencies and civilian weapons inspection teams in all University run and managed laboratories;

· Dedicate University labs, faculty and resources to the mission of civilian sciences, focusing energy research primarily on renewable, clean, sustainable energy sources including wind and solar power;

· Ensure that all UC labs and employees comply with the community right to know laws and remain subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The University should oppose the Department of Homeland Security's exemption to FOIA on any research conducted in a University of California managed or run lab;

· Prioritize a community-guided process to clean up hazardous, radioactive and other deadly waste at LANL and LLNL. The University should strive to implement true clean up, by first stopping the waste stream where it starts in the development and testing of weapons of mass destruction;

· Eliminate and oppose any research projects, collaborations, investments or funding that could contribute to the development of weapons of mass destruction, or otherwise be used to support and enable U.S. initiated global militarism.

If the UC Regents do not take action to negotiate and implement the above demands, then we call on the Regents to terminate their contracts with the Department of Energy for Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

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