The greening of the national labs
The big three weapons laboratories - Los Alamos, Livermore, and Sandia - could face dramatic changes in the way they do business if a proposal made by Representative George Brown (D-CA) is enacted. Brown, chairman of the House Science Committee, introduced a bill last week that would consolidate nuclear weapons R D from several labs (without saying at which sites or how). Brown also wants to shift the focus of the labs work more toward civilian projects, and the bill would involve the White House more directly in managing their research agenda. The Brown bill (HR 1432), which has won the backing of Representatives Marilyn Lloyd (D-TN), Tim Valentine (D-NC), Rick Boucher (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (R-OR), asks the secretary of energy to make a comprehensive study of current lab activities and submit a plan to redirect one or more of these labs to civilian missions by 31 March 1994. Brown and other members of Congress had considered turning one of the nuclear weapons centers into a green lab, that is, dedicating it to R D on environmental technology. That idea seems to have been set aside in favor of a more general formula that would be administered by a new Federal Laboratory Mission Evaluation and Coordination Committee, reporting to the president's science adviser. This watchdog panel, according to the bill, would seek to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all the federal laboratories and ensure that between 10% and 20% of their budgets are devoted to collaborative efforts with industry and state and local governments. Administratively, the bill would also create some new positions at the Dept. of Energy (DOE), including an undersecretary for science and technology who would manage the labs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6437840
- Journal Information:
- Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Journal Name: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States) Vol. 260:5104; ISSN SCIEAS; ISSN 0036-8075
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
290600* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
LABORATORIES
LANL
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LABORATORY
LEGISLATION
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SANDIA LABORATORIES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WEAPONS