Reading Room


Nuclear Safety Board to Hold Second Public Hearing Nov. 28

Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Posted by Marylia Kelley and Kathy Crandall Robinson

Nuclear watchdog groups from across the country, including Tri-Valley CAREs, will testify at a hearing in Washington, DC to insist the Department of Energy (DOE) withdraw its “Order 140.1,” a controversial measure that fundamentally alters the relationship between the DOE and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board by gutting the Safety Board’s scope of work, authority and effectiveness.

Community groups whose members live around – and work inside - the dangerous facilities in the nuclear weapons complex will testify at the hearing that DOE Order 140.1 compromises safety at dozens of sites across the country.

Kathy Crandall Robinson, Tri-Valley CAREs’ DC-based senior policy consultant, will testify at the hearing, as will DOE senior management and other stakeholders. Crandall Robinson’s remarks will represent Tri-Valley CAREs and the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), a national network in which we have been active since 1989.

The Order, first announced by DOE this past spring, has drawn scrutiny from ANA groups and from key members of Congressional committees with oversight over the Energy Department.

In the words of the Safety Board’s recent letter to Congress: “the Order wrongly attempts to diminish the authority granted by Congress for the Board to provide independent analysis, advice, and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy in providing adequate protection of public health and safety at defense nuclear facilities.”

DNFSB will live-stream the hearing from 10 AM to 1:30 PM Eastern (that’s 7 AM to 10:30 AM local time). The link to the live-stream will be posted at dnfsb.gov.

Tri-Valley CAREs and ANA have also produced materials for the hearing. Here are four of them.

CLICK HERE for a 2-page fact sheet outlining the importance of the Safety Board.

CLICK HERE for our Press Release.

CLICK HERE for the ANA Letter to Congress requesting action to rescind the Order.

CLICK HERE for Kathy Crandall Robinson’s testimony.