Nuclear Protesters Want Chapel Returned to Religious Use
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Anti-nuclear peace activists associated with the Las Vegas-based Nevada Desert Experience are asking that a former chapel now used by the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory be rededicated for religious use.
In a statement issued Aug. 9, when they were arrested for occupying the building, a trio of activists said they view the former chapel as a symbol and believe its rededication for worship could be “a powerful sign of the possibility for rededication in this country.”
The former chapel is in Mercuby, Nev., inside the Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site. It is known as Building J-3, according to Nevada Desert Experience spokesman Peter Ediger, and houses offices of the Los Alamos laboratory.
Among the three who occupied the building and signed the statement was Father Louis Vitale, a Franciscan priest and former Air Force captain instrumental in founding the Nevada Desert Experience. Established seven years ago, the group has coordinated anti-nuclear demonstrations by Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Buddhist groups.
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