Laboratory Scientists to Offer Ways Science and Technology Collaboration Can Advance Regional Security in Central Asia

Advancing regional security in Central Asia through scientific and technical collaboration will be the subject of a congressional workshop conducted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists Thursday, Feb. 14, in Washington D.C.

Gen. Anthony Zinni, former head of the U.S. Central Command, will be a featured speaker at the presentation co-hosted by Reps. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania and Ellen Tauscher of California. The workshop will be held at 9 a.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building, room 2168.

Entitled "Science and Technology to Advance Regional Security in Central Asia," the workshop will focus on how LLNL expertise in border security, remote sensing and detection systems, computer simulation, energy and environmental science can support U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) goals in Central Asia. CENTCOM objectives include: fostering peaceful states; promoting regional cooperation on prevention of the proliferation or use of weapons of mass destruction; deterring drug trafficking and terrorism; integrating states into international security and economic organizations and promoting military professionalism.

"By collaborating with local governments and U.S. agencies working in Central Asia, we have the opportunity to advance U.S. national security and help bring stability to the region," says Jeff Richardson, deputy program leader in Livermore’s Nonproliferation, Arms Control and International Security Directorate. "Scientific and technical collaborations promote regional cooperation. Science transcends national boundaries and uses a common language."

"Science and technology offer a way to create and maintain local infrastructure and improve the standard of living by promoting economic growth, education and public health," Richardson says.

LLNL has worked in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan with local experts from academia, government and industry on issues of environmental stresses, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and energy resource development. Working with Uzbeki scientists and government officials, Livermore has helped equip key border crossings with commercial, state-of-the-art pedestrian and vehicle portal monitors to detect radioactive materials.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has a mission to ensure national security and to apply science and technology to the important issues of our time. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.


Laboratory news releases and photos are also available electronically on the World Wide Web of the Internet at URL http://www.llnl.gov/PAO and on UC Newswire.

Congressional press contacts:
Bud DeFlaviis for Rep. Curt Weldon (202) 225-2011
April Boyd for Rep. Ellen Tauscher (202) 225-1880