Preliminary Authorization Basis Documentation for the Proposed Bio Safety Level 3 (BSl-3) Facility

Abstract

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is proposing to construct a biosafety level (BSL-3) facility at Site 200 in Livermore, California. Biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) is a designation assigned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes Health (NIH) for handling infectious organisms based on the specific microorganisms and associated operations. Biosafety levels range from BSL-1 (lowest hazard) to BSL-4 (highest hazard). Details about the BSL-3 criteria are described in the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s publication ''Biosafety Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories'' (BMBL), 4th edition (CDC 1999): The BSL-3 facility will be built in accordance with the required BMBL guidelines. This Preliminary Authorization Basis Documentation (PABD) for the proposed BSL-3 facility has been prepared in accordance with the current contractual requirements at LLNL. This includes the LLNL Environment, Safety, and Health Manual (ES&H Manual) and applicable Work Smart Standards, including the biosafety standards, such as the aforementioned BMBL and the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules: The proposed BSL-3 facility is a 1,100 ft{sup 2}, one-story permanent prefabricated facility, which will have three individual BSL-3 laboratory rooms (one of which is an animal biosafety level-3 [ABSL-3] laboratory to handlemore » rodents), a mechanical room, clothes-change and shower rooms, and small storage space (Figure 3.1). The BSL-3 facility will be designed and operated accordance with guidelines for BSL-3 laboratories established by the CDC and the NIH. No radiological, high explosives, fissile, or propellant material will be used or stored in the proposed BSL-3 facility. The BSL-3 facility will be used to develop scientific tools to identify and understand the pathogens of medical, environmental, and forensic importance. Microorganisms that are to be handled in this facility will be limited in quantity, type and form in accordance with the BMBL requirements and approval by the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). The proposed facility will have the unique capability within DOE/NNSA to perform aerosol studies to include challenges to rodents using infectious agents or biologically derived toxins (biotoxins). These types of aerosol studies will be strictly confined in a Class II Type B biosafety cabinet.« less