UCSC Student Assembly Resolution against UC Managed Nuclear Weapons Labs

University of California, Santa Cruz
Student Union Assembly RESOLUTION:
University of California Sever All Ties
with Nuclear Weapons Laboratories,
Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Labs.


Whereas, the University of California, in partnership with the Bechtel Corporation, was awarded the management contract of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on December 21, 2005 and continues to manage the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and

Whereas, the US Department of Energy’s Reliable Replacement Warhead program at LANL and LLNL effectively calls for the creation of new and modified nuclear weapons, which is in direct violation of the UN’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and

Whereas, Bechtel, the UC’s new co-manager of LANL, has a long history of irresponsible business practices which fly in the face of human rights, such as the privatization of Bolivia’s water, collaboration with the CIA to politically and economically influence many regions of the Middle East, contracting with Iraq in 1988 to construct chemical warfare facilities for that country, participating in Iraq’s nuclear weapons program and accepting $10 billion dollar investments from the bin Laden family, and

Whereas, the US government came under international scrutiny for awarding Bechtel a $680 million-dollar, no-bid contract in 2003 to re-build Iraq, and

Whereas, the UCSC's Academic Senate voted overwhelmingly for a resolution opposing "unilateral U.S. military intervention in Iraq," and

Whereas, by 1982, every student government at every UC campus passed a resolution opposing UC ties to LANL and LLNL, and

Whereas, in 1983, the UCSC Academic Senate voted 48-2 in favor of a resolution calling for the Regents to cut ties to both LANL and LLNL, and

Whereas, in 1990, a UC Academic Senate survey found that 64.4% of UC faculty members supported the Jendersen Report’s recommendations to end UC management of the nuclear laboratories, and

Whereas, in 1996, a UCORP report found that the UC’s management of LANL and LLNL does not qualify as a “public service,” that the classified research the labs engage in is “not appropriate for a University,” that the UC’s management of nuclear weapons labs “does not contribute to human well-being,” and that the University should terminate its management of LANL and LLNL, and

Whereas, we recognize that the University of California can and should use its’ power and influence as a respected public institution to adamantly condemn rather than participate in the violation of international law, the degradation of our environment, and the poisoning of Native American populations surrounding LANL, and

Whereas, we recognize that the University of California has the power to make a significant public statement against the proliferation of nuclear weapons on earth by withdrawing its management of LANL and LLNL, and

Whereas, we recognize that the University of California is not imbued with the power to influence the scope, purpose or use of the nuclear program at LANL, nor is the University of California imbued with the authority to morally or academically “guide” the work done at LANL or LLNL, and

Whereas, we recognize that the University of California’s management of LANL and LLNL only serves to affix an “academic seal” on the labs in order to legitimate the U.S.’ illegal proliferation of nuclear weapons, and

Therefore, be it resolved that this student body calls upon the UC regents to sever all ties with LANL and LLNL by formally exiting the Limited Liability Corporation now managing LANL and not participating in any upcoming bids for either of the labs, and

Be it further resolved that, because the separation from LANL and LLNL may be a lengthy process, in the interim, we call upon the regents to take the following steps to ensure satisfactory and responsible management of the national laboratories:

1. Ensure academic freedom and freedom of expression for all UC employees involved with LANL and LLNL by discontinuing UC employees’ work on classified research

2. Take serious steps to prevent and clean-up the contamination of the environment surrounding LANL and LLNL by stopping the expansion of the radioactive waste dump site of Area G at LANL, discontinuing all plans to establish a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain (a sacred site of the Shoshone and Pauite peoples), undertaking an outside, formal inspection of the environmental pollution and health hazards of both of the labs, and following through on all measures proposed by such a neutral report, and


Be it further resolved that, in the interim, we call upon this student body to create a Student Oversight Committee of the DOE laboratories and actively encourage other UC campuses to join the committee, and

Be it further resolved that we call upon the Regents to recognize this newly formed Student Oversight Committee as possessing the same power and authority as the Regents’ Oversight Committee, and

Be it further resolved that we call upon UCSC Chancellor Denice Denton to make a public statement in support of this resolution, the will of her student constituency.