Bevatron dome demolition would be safe
The final death knell has been sounded for the iconic domed building that houses a renowned but outdated particle accelerator, known as the Bevatron, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The federal Department of Energy on Wednesday announced the results of an environmental impact assessment of the proposed demolition of the building, saying there would be no significant impact and giving the green light for the project.
"The building that houses the Bevatron is deteriorating," DOE spokeswoman Lauren Martinez said. "It's a safety hazard, and maintenance costs are escalating."
The building doesn't meet current building or seismic codes, she said, and parts of the roof are leaking.
Demolition could begin as early as June and is estimated to be completed in 2011 at an estimated cost of $72 million.
Though the lab doesn't yet have plans for the land that would be cleared, space for new research facilities is at a premium on the crowded, hilly campus.
But some Berkeley residents are not happy with the plan, saying the Bevatron should be saved for posterity and that demolishing the building that houses it would be dangerous to the community.
Cement walls around the accelerator that shielded scientists contain low levels of radioactivity, and the building likely contains asbestos as well, all of which would be transported on trucks away from the lab.
"This means as many as 4,700 truck trips with low-level radioactive waste, lead, asbestos and other hazardous materials on flatbed trucks with tarps on them," said Mark McDonald, 55, a Berkeley resident for almost 30 years. "The material is not dangerous to anybody if it stays locked up in the walls and the floor. But if they jackhammer it into dust, it will certainly be dangerous to the surrounding community."
McDonald's concerns were echoed by others who spoke at hearings about the proposed demolition or submitted written comments during a required public comment period in 2006.
"We feel it can be done without any harm to the public," Martinez said. "The radioactivity is very low-level. It's not like people will be exposed to anything above what they are normally exposed to."
The building's historical value was another point of contention at the public hearings. The Bevatron, constructed in 1954, contributed to research that led to four Nobel Prizes, including one for the discovery of the antiproton in 1959.
In its heyday, it was a world-renowned facility and has remained an icon of the lab. It has since been made obsolete by bigger and better machines that help scientists study the nature of subatomic particles.
The Bevatron was shut down for good in 1993, but its recognizable silhouette is still part of the lab's logo.
The Berkeley City Council granted the building landmark status last year because of the historical science it housed, but declined to block the demolition plans.
McDonald, who has a 4-year-old son, said he'd rather see the building, which is currently not accessible to the public, converted into a science museum to help inspire more kids to become physicists.
"We'd love to visit the Bevatron," he said. "If this isn't a landmark, what is a landmark?"
|
Linear Mode
