Like a dog with a bone, the Department of Energy (DOE) is digging a giant hole to bury money. “We can dig the hole in the ground,” said Bill Hogan, deputy project manager for the National Ignition Facility (NIF).

On March 12, DOE gave its approval to start construction of NIF at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory despite legal, scientific and taxpayer objections. A groundbreaking ceremony is expected during the congressional recess. NIF, a $4.7 billion nuclear weapons research project, would beam lasers onto a radioactive fuel pellet to ignite a tiny thermonuclear explosion.

The Feb./March issue of MIT’s Technology Review contains an article, “The Nation Ignition Facility: Buyer Beware,” criticizing the Department of Energy’s decision to spend so much taxpayer money for a project that “makes little sense.”

The article refuted DOE’s claims that NIF is necessary to maintain the safety, reliability and performance of the nuclear arsenal, stating “NIF is the most glaring example of a stewardship facility that is not essential to the mission of preserving the nation’s nuclear arsenal.”

Additionally, two recent legal actions make a case for delaying construction of NIF, if not eliminating funding entirely. On March 10, DOE was stopped from releasing a NIF advisory committee report because no public notice or access was provided and committee members maintained inappropriate ties to NIF.

On March 17, more than two dozen environmental and arms control organizations formally notified the DOE of their intent to reopen a 1989 lawsuit. The organizations argue that DOE has not conducted a comprehensive environmental study of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex as required by the terms of the settlement and the law.

NIF funding was targeted for elimination in the Green Scissors ’97 report by a coalition of environmentalists, deficit hawks and taxpayer advocates including TCS.