Secretary Chu lauds role of security labs

The U.S. national security laboratories are charged with "incredibly important missions" and those missions will continue for the foreseeable future.

That viewpoint, from U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, was presented on April 10 in a speech to Sandia National Laboratories employees in Albuquerque, N.M.  Chu's talk also was broadcast to employees at other national laboratories, including Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia/California.

"In order to both ensure that we have a safe, secure and reliable nuclear stockpile without testing, it is even more important that the scientific talent and scientific infrastructure of these nuclear security labs are maintained," Chu said.

During his presentation, the secretary noted that the national security labs retain their important duties of both stockpile stewardship and work on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

In addition, these laboratories have other new duties, such as an "increasingly important role in the nonproliferation activities of the United States" and providing "the technical expertise so that we can interpret intelligence correctly."

There are "incredible facilities" in our nuclear security program, Chu said.

"The National Ignition Facility at Livermore is turning on; it provides exciting opportunities not only for nuclear security work but for actually simulating very intense environments inside of stars," Chu said.

Beyond their security work, the national security laboratories are "national treasures" that can be used to focus on other scientific challenges vital to the country's future.

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