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F, Talking ts The Department of Energy and the University of California have published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (DEIS) for the continued operation and U.C. management of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The study also examines the impacts of the Sandia National Laboratory, located across the street from LLNL, and also devoted primarily to nuclear weapons-related work.The purpose of the DEIS is to allow interested members of the public and various public agencies to comment on the usefulness and adequacy of the document and on the need for the proposed project itself. Purpose and need The "preferred alternative" proposed here is continued operation of the Labs, along with all currently proposed expansions of operations. With the Cold War over, it is particularly appropri- ate to question the need for the main work of the Labs: the design and testing of nuclear weapons. Alternatives The DEIS does not systematically examine alternatives for the conversion of the Labs to non- weapons related work, Despite the expansion of significant non-weapons work at LLNL,the DEIS reveals no systematic planning for the future. This indicates that future "conversion" efforts are likely to focus on expensive "natural" outgrowth of nuclear weapons programs,and which only can be exploited by large corporations. One example of this trend is the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) program, aimed at lowering the costs of producing enriched uranium and other fissionable materials for both weapons and nuclear power applications, Alternatives not considered include large scale redirection of Lab resources towards energy conservation, development of renewable energy sources, and environmental protection, A major focus of LLNL's weapons work is nuclear weapons testing. Despite the fact that a Comprehensive Test Ban (CTB) is certainly a reasonable possibility in the next decade and that many of the Lab's programs which use radioactive and hazardous materials are testing-related, the DEIS does not consider how Lab operations and environmental impacts would be changed by a CTB, Waste management The DEIS does not provide an account of hazardous and radioactive waste production on a program by program basis, This makes it difficult to weigh environmental risks of particular projects against their purported benefits. LLNL currently has no off-site disposal site for its radioactive and mixed radioactive and hazardous waste, As a consequence, radioactive waste is steadily accumulating at LLNL in facilities not constructed for permanent storage, The DEIS projects that the production of hazardous and radioactive waste at LLNL will increase over the next five years.