Protesters Demonstrate Against Demolition of Lab's Bevatron

A number of residents held a press conference in Downtown Berkeley Tuesday evening to protest the demolition of a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory building known to contain radioactive materials.

Concrete shielding blocks in the Bevatron, the lab's 180-foot particle accelerator, became mildly radioactive during the past 40 years of use.

Residents voiced concerns in front of Old City Hall that transporting these materials may affect the health of Berkeley residents and cause damage to roads.

"This is extremely irresponsible and is being done totally in the face of public safety," said Zachary RunningWolf, a Native American elder who helped organize the press conference.

Lab spokesperson Paul Preuss disagreed with the protesters, saying only a small portion of the materials is radioactive and transport poses little risk.

"Nothing goes out of here that is not handled in a way that meets all state and federal regulations regarding radioactivity," Preuss said. "You would get more radiation getting your teeth X-rayed than you would from a truck passing."

Dismantling of the structure began at the start of this year and trucks are now removing building debris from the site.

According to current demolition plans, 4,700 round-trip truckloads are expected to transport debris through the city during the next year and will travel down University and Ashby avenues to Interstate 80. Next week trucks will drive five round trips daily, and that number will increase to 10 round trips by the end of July.

City Councilmember Jesse Arreguin said residents' concerns were legitimate.

"I'm concerned about what the impact will be, not only on our residents, but also on our streets," he said. "I think we need to look at whether there are other routes that they can use that are not through the Downtown and residential areas."

Jasmina Vujic, a UC Berkeley professor of nuclear engineering, said that those worried about exposure to radiation were uninformed.

"We do live in a radioactive world. Concrete naturally contains uranium," she said. "If people go to their basements, they will probably get more radiation than from the transportation of the concrete shielding blocks."

The Bevatron opened in 1954 and has been the site of discoveries that led to four Nobel Prizes. The particle accelerator was closed in 1993 and remained unused for more than fifteen years.

The building has been slated for removal since last year and lab representatives have met with city officials several times to agree on demolition procedures.

Major demolition of the site will continue until next year, according to Preuss. The area will be used initially as a parking lot and may eventually be used as a location for another research facility.

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