Media Roots: Continued Nuclear Testing at the Bay Area's Lawrence Livermore Lab
MEDIA ROOTS – Abby and Robbie Martin grew up in Pleasanton, CA, a city located ten miles from the Lawrence Livermore Lab (LLL), a secret nuclear weapons production facility. They initially set out to explore the psychological impacts of taking nuclear testing into virtual space. But as their investigation unfolded, they found that the LLL—in conjunction with Site 300—has built an impressive greenwashing PR campaign cloaking a dark reality.
Despite a moratorium on nuclear testing, the nuclear arms race continues unabated at very high costs. In addition to the startling cases of LLL's mismanagement of dangerous materials and 'accidental' releases, the facilities are still testing every radioactive component of a nuclear bomb in open air, according to sources.
Childhood cancer rates are six times higher for children born in Livermore; and the amount of radiation that has been expelled from the lab since its inception is equivalent to that released from the bombing of Hiroshima. Most disturbingly, the Livermore community is largely unaware of what the lab is actually doing and what its potential impacts are on its health and the environment.