From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) DE-ALERTING LETTER FAXED - PRESS ALERTS Date: 01 Aug 1999 18:30:10 +1000 =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH HIROSHIMA DAY COMMITTEE PRESS ALERT FOR AUG 6 1999 (HIROSHIMA DAY) WORLD SAYS TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT TO AVOID Y2K GLOBAL CATASTROPHE WHERE: NSW STATE PARLIAMENT PRESS CONF. ROOM WHEN: 10 AM FRIDAY, AUGUST 6TH. WHAT: Over 257 peace, environment, church groups, trade unions, and parliamentarians from the US, Russia, Australia, NZ, Canada, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere, have written a letter to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, asking them to take strategic nuclear missiles off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K rollover period, in view of concerns that Y2K-related computer errors may create an unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war. Those signed on now include over 20 Australian parliamentarians, 7 New Zealand MPs, 7 Euro-MPs, 4Canadian MPs, and US Congressman Edward Markey, as well as international environment groups Friends of the Earth International and Greenpeace International, and the British-American Security Information Council.(BASIC). The letter will be released on Aug 6th in Parliament House Sydney by Hannah Middleton, Helen Caldicott and John Hallam, and in Adelaide at 6pm on the steps of Parliament House by the SA member for Florey, Frances Bedford. It will be released internationally in Auckland, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, London, Moscow, and Costa Rica. Contact: SYDNEY:John Hallam, 61-2-9517-3903, H61-2-9810-2598, Dr. Hannah Middleton, 61-2-9660-7562, 0411-409-954, ADELAIDE: Ron Gray, Australian Peace Committee, 61-8-8212-7138, 8-8364-2291, AUCKLAND:Aoteoroa/New Zealand Peace Foundation, 64-9-3732-379, NEW YORK: Diane Hatz, Global Resource Action Centre for The Environment, (GRACE) 1-212-726-9161, fx9160 SAN FRANCISCO: Tri-Valley CARES, Rene Steinhauer, 1-925-449-4696, 1-925-443-7148, Livermore Conversion Project, Sherry Larson-Beville, 1-510-663-8065 TORONTO: Operation De-Alert, 1-905-632-8687.fx-8627 MOSCOW: Vladimir Sliviak, Ecodefense, 7-095-278-4642, 7-0112-437-286, LONDON; Martin Butcher, British-American Security Information Council, 44-171-407-2977 fx2988 COSTA RICA: Felicity Hill, WILPF, (507) 257-3257, Fx: (506) 257-8221 X-From_: owner-nukenet@envirolink.org Sun Aug 1 09:10:16 1999 X-Sender: marylia@earthlink.net (Unverified) Mime-Version: 1.0 =46rom: marylia@earthlink.net (marylia) X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by envirolink.org id TAA08794 Reply-To: marylia@earthlink.net Sender: owner-nukenet@envirolink.org Dear peace advocates: This is the press release we are customizing to send to media on August 6th, in concert with FOE-Australia and other groups across the country. The topic is the sign on letter to Presidents Bill and Boris demanding de-alerting of nuclear weapons. I am posting our press release to offer ideas for your area release. If your organization has not yet signed on to the letter, contact John Hallam, FOE-Australia at . All thanks for the original drafts of the letter and circulating it for sign on go to John and Hannah at FOE. Read on... Contact: Rene' Steinhauer, Tri-Valley CAREs, (925) 443-7148 Sherry Larsen-Beville, Livermore Conversion Project, (510) 663-8065 =46or Immediate Release August 6, 1999 CA ACTIVISTS & U.S. LEGISLATORS JOIN 200 GROUPS, LUMINARIES AROUND THE WORLD TO DEMAND CLINTON & YELTSIN "TAKE NUCLEAR WEAPONS OFF ALERT" CITE Y2K RISK OF ACCIDENTAL NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE Today, on the 54th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, a letter signed by over 200 groups, legislators and noteworthy individuals worldwide was sent to U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin demanding the two leaders immediately de-activate the more than 5,000 nuclear weapons in their respective nations that are currently on hair-trigger alert. The letter has among its signatories notables such as U.S. Representative Edward Markey (D-MA), Senator Doug Roche (Canada), Maj-Britt Theorin (Member European Parliament) and Dr. Helen Caldicott (internationally known physician from Australia). Other signers include prominent lawyers, additional elected officials from around the globe and many environmental and peace organizations throughout the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Central America. The world's two largest environmental organizations, Friends of the Earth International and Greenpeace International have both endorsed the letter. Locally, Tri-Valley CAREs, Livermore Conversion Project and Western States Legal Foundation are among the sponsoring organizations. Other California-based groups that have signed the letter include Atomic Mirror, Grandmothers for Peace International, Healing Global Wounds, International Centre for Peace and Justice, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Pedals for Peace and Save Ward Valley. "Our grave concern is that Year 2000 (Y2K)-related computer failures in nuclear weapons systems may lead to nuclear war by accident or miscalculation," explained Rene' Steinhauer, Community Organizer with Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), an environmental group based in Livermore that is well-known as the "watchdog" over the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a primary U.S. nuclear weapons development lab. Mr. Steinhauer further stated that "the principle danger lies in the potential for erroneous computer data leading to a launch of nuclear weapons." The letter to Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin spotlights three past examples, in 1980, 1983 and 1995, when disasters were averted only at the last moment. The 1980 incident involved a U.S. computer chip malfunction, sending alert signals; the 1983 incident involved Russian satellites mistaking glare from cloud tops for a U.S. missile launch, and disaster was prevented only by the refusal of the local commander to believe the warnings were genuine; and the 1995 incident involved a U.S. research rocket launched from Norway which set off a full-scale Russian alert. In this latter incident, it took Russian decision-makers eight minutes, operating in high emergency mode, to realize the launch was not part of a surprise strike by the U.S. - less than four minutes before their "launch on warning" deadline for ordering a nuclear response. "The potential for computer malfunction leading to a nuclear response is enormously exacerbated by Y2K," said Steinhauer. "Since no nuclear weapons state can guarantee its nuclear weapons computers are proof against such errors during the Y2K rollover to the year 2000, the logical and responsible thing is for all nuclear weapons nations to take their nuclear weapons off alert status and to decouple nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles," said Sherry Larsen-Beville of the Oakland-based Livermore Conversion Project. "If all sides are verifiably de-alerted, it will become impossible for any nation to launch a disarming first strike attack," she stated. "This will provided the margin of confidence needed to assure decision-makers in the event a Y2K computer error indicates a nuclear launch has been made by one nation upon another." The appeal also cites as a potentially exacerbating factor the current, tense political relations between Russia and the U.S. over the U.S.-led NATO bombings of Kosovo, because, as a result, Russia has withdrawn high-level cooperation with the U.S. on Y2K nuclear compliance problems. The letter's 200-plus signers are clearly laying the issue at the feet of the two presidents, asking them to rise to the occasion and to overcome this breakdown in international communication and cooperation. The letter concludes: "The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting =8A must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security." -30- Copies of the letter with its more than 200 signatories is available on request. Also available is a fact sheet detailing twenty cases where computer malfunction and misinterpretation of data have already brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Call Tri-Valley CAREs at (925) 443-7148. =46ollowing this page is a flier containing information on the Hiroshima commemoration and protest action at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2:30 PM on August 6th. Marylia Kelley Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) 2582 Old First Street Livermore, CA USA 94550 - is our web site, please visit us there! (925) 443-7148 - is our phone (925) 443-0177 - is our fax - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) DE-ALERTING LETTER FAXED (BUT KEEP SIGNING) Date: 01 Aug 1999 18:29:20 +1000 Here is copy of the 'B&B' (De-Alerting) letter as of 31/7/1999. Some new signatories have come through since than but not enough to warrant re-printing the letter. I faxed it yesterday (31/7/1999), but will most likely (depending how many new signatures come through ) do it again next weekend. (cheaper ISD rates). It is to be released to media on Aug 6th in Sydney, Adelaide, Auckland, New York, San francisco, Toronto, London, Moscow, and Costa -Rica. I have the draft releases from SF (TVC and Livermore Conversion Project), and San Jose (Costa Rica). It has now been faxed (31/7/1999) to the following numbers: RUSSIA: 7-095-205-4330(General Russian Govt fax Number - incredibly slow) 7-095-244-3276 (Foreign Ministry) 7-095-244-2203(Foreign Ministry) 7-095-247-2722(Defence Ministry) 7-095-293-3323(Defence Ministry) US: 1-202-456-2461 (Clinton) 1-202-456-2883 (Clintons security adviser) 1-703-695-1149(secy for Defence) 1-202-224-4908 (Senator Bob Bennett) 1-202-224-1083 (Senator Chris Dodd) =46rance: Pres. Jacques Chirac, 33-1-47-42-24-65, Foreign Min, 33-1-45-51-60= -12 Britain: Tony Blair, 44-171-925-0918. If you know any other critical fax nos it should go to, let me know. John Hallam, fax 61-2-9517-3902 ph 61-2-9517-3903. John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, =46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd =46ROM: =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRALIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH NEW ZEALAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH ENGLAND WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH EL SALVADOR, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH NIGERIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH UKRAINE, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH GEORGIA, (TBILSI) =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH FINLAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH DENMARK, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH ESTONIA =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH FRANCE, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH CYPRUS, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH JAPAN SIBERIA PROGRAM, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRIA (GLOBAL-2000) =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH MACEDONIA, AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE, MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF WAR, PAX CHRISTI N.S.W., UNITING CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA, WAYSIDE CHAPEL, UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA, PITT STREET UNITING CHURCH, PITT ST, SYDNEY, ST JOHNS ANGLICAN CHURCH, DARLINGHURST, SYDNEY, CAMPAIGN FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DISARMAMENT (CICD) AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ANTI-BASES CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, N.S.W., WAR RESISTERS INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY, ARID LANDS ENVIRONMENT CENTRE, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE OF W.A., ANTI-URANIUM COALITION OF W.A., PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WESTERN AUSTRALIA, CENTRE FOR URBAN ECOLOGY, S.A., EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE LISMORE, BIG SCRUB ENVIRONMENT CENTRE, EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE GOLD COAST, EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR FREE FUTURE ADELAIDE, PACIFIC CONNECTIONS, TWO BILLION VOICES FOR PEACE PROJECT, UNITED TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL SA., UNITED FIREFIGHTERS UNION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE S.A., CFMEU, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH, A.M.W.U., SA. OFFICE., ALL-UNION GREEN CAUCUS, GRAHAM F. SMITH PEACE TRUST, SA., SENATOR LYN ALLISON, VIC., SENATOR MEG LEES, LEADER, DEMOCRATS, VIC., SENATOR NATASHA STOTT-DESPOJA, DEPUTY LEADER AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS, SENATOR VICKY BOURNE, DEMOCRAT SENATOR FOR N.S.W., SENATOR ANDREW BARTLETT, DEMOCRAT SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND, SENATOR DEE MARGETTS, GREENS, W.A., SENATOR BOB BROWN, GREENS, TAS, SENATOR GEORGE CAMPBELL, ALP, N.S.W., SENATOR MARGARET REYNOLDS, ALP, N.S.W, SENATOR JIM MC KEIRNAN, ALP., W.A., ANTHONY ALBANESE, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR GRAYNDLER, TANYA PLIBERSEK, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR SYDNEY, JANN MC FARLANE, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR STIRLING, W.A., JILL HALL M.P., MEMBER FOR SHORTLAND, IAN COHEN, GREEN MLC, NSW., LEE RHIANNON, GREEN MLC, NSW., SANDRA KANCK, DEMOCRAT MLC, S.A., IAN GILFILLAN, DEMOCRAT MLC, SA, ROBYN GERAGHTY, MP, STATE MEMBER FOR TORRENS, SA, =46RANCES BEDFORD, MP, STATE MEMBER FOR FLOREY, SA., JIM SCOTT, W.A., GREENS, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, W.A., LOUISE CROSSLEY, NATIONAL CONVENOR, GREENS, WORLD COURT PROJECT UK, SENATOR DOUGLAS ROCHE, SENATE, CANADA, BRITISH-AMERICAN SECURITY INFORMATION CENTRE, US/UK, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL, JAPAN CONGRESS AGAINST A AND H-BOMBS (GENSUIKYO) INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS (IALANA), WOMENS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (Geneva/NY), CENTRE FOR DEFENCE INFORMATION, WASHINGTON, USA, CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT U.K., SAFFRON WALDEN GROUP AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS, YOUTH AND STUDENT CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, WEST MIDLANDS CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, YORKSHIRE CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, MEDACT (IPPNW UK), TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES 2000 NORFOLK UK., NETWORK INFORMATION PROJECT, SOUTHAMPTON,UK, ., CAMPAIGN FOR ACCOUNTABILITY OF U.S., BASES, MENWITH HILL WOMENS PEACE CAMP, YORKSHIRE, UK., GLOBAL NETWORK AGAINST WEAPONS AND NUCLEAR POWER IN SPACE, ANGLICAN PACIFIST FELLOWSHIP, MILTON KEYNES, U.K., EPISCOPAL PEACE FELLOWSHIP, U.K., ST BARTHOLEMEWS JUSTICE AND PEACE GROUP, ST ALBANS, U.K., CHRISTIAN CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, U.K., CALDERDALE GREEN PARTY, YORKSHIRE, U.K., PUBLIC INTEREST CONSULTANTS, SWANSEA, U.K., Y2K COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK U.K., JEANETTE FITZSIMMONS MP, NZ GREENS, BRIAN DONELLY, MP, HARRY DUYNHAVEN, MP, NZ LABOUR, LIANNE DALZIEL, MP, NZ LABOUR, JUDY KEALL, MP, NZ LABOUR, PETER DUNNE, MP, NZ LABOUR, SANDRA LEE, MP, DEPUTY LEADER, ALLIANCE, DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY CENTRE, NZ, AOTEOROA/NEW ZEALAND PEACE FOUNDATION, AUCKLAND, NZ., ENGINEERS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, N.Z., NEW ZEALAND GREENS, NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE ON DISARMAMENT, N.Z., PEACE ACTION DUNEDIN, N.Z., PEACE COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND, ABOLITION-2000 NEW ZEALAND, IPPNW NEW ZEALAND, VETERANS FOR PEACE NZ., ARCHITECTS AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR, NZ., C.N.D., VETERANS NEW ZEALAND, CENTRE FOR PEACE STUDIES, UNIV. OF AUCKLAND, NZ, NEW ZEALAND NUCLEAR - FREE PEACEMAKING ASSOCIATION, WILPF AOTEOROA, PACIFIC ISLANDS ASSOCIATION OF NGOS, BELAU., COALITION OF PETROLEUM PRODUCING STATES OF NIGERIA, MALAYSIAN PHYSICIANS FOR THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR, GREEN ACTION KYOTO, Y2K WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY, SENDAI, JAPAN, SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY CENTRE FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, NAGERCOIL, INDIA, AWAMI COMMITTEE FOR DEVELOPMENT, MULTAN, PAKISTAN, INDONESIAN NATIONAL NETWORK FORUM ANTI-NUCLEAR SOCIETY, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROJECT FOR SUSTAINABILITY, (AEPS) THAILAND, ECODEFENSE KOENIGSBERG/MOSCOW, WISE-KALININGRAD, ANTINUCLEAR CAMPAIGN OF SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL UNION MOSCOW, PLATAN YOUTH GROUP, KALININGRAD, EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE KALININGRAD REGIONAL DUMA, GREEN WORLD, SOSNOVY BOR, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, ST PETERSBURG PEACE COUNCIL, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, CENTRE FOR NUCLEAR ECOLOGY AND ENERGY POLICY RUSSIA, BAIKAL ENVIRONMENTAL WAVE, RUSSIA, ECOSENS, ROMANIA, COMMITTEE OF 100, FINLAND, PEACE UNION OF FINLAND, STUDENT NATURE PROTECTION GROUP, TARTU, ESTONIA, SWEDISH PHYSICIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS (SLMK - SWEDISH CHAPTER OF IPPNW)= , NORWEGIAN PHYSICIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR (IPPNW) PEACE MOVEMENT OF ESBJERG, DENMARK, WAR RESISTERS INTERNATIONAL, FREDRIKSHAVN, DENMARK, ALDRIG MERE KRIG (AMK) DENMARK, DANISH ASSOCIATION OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS, WOMENS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (FRANCE), MOUVEMENT DE LA PAIX, FRANCE, INTERNATIONAL ALBERT SCHWEITZER FOUNDATION, DR SCHWEITZER HOSPITAL FUND, FRANCE/SWITZERLAND GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOR IMMEDIATE DISARMAMENT, SWITZERLAND, DARMSTAEDTER FRIEDENSFORUM, GERMANY, NUCLEAR-FREE AWARD, GERMANY, ANTI-ATOM PLENUM, BOCHUM, GERMANY, CITIZENS INITIATIVE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, LUECHOW-DANNEBURG, GERMANY, CENTRE FOR ENCOUNTER AND ACTIVE NON-VIOLENCE, BAD ISCHL, AUSTRIA, IPPNW AUSTRIA, ANTI-ATOM INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRIA, COORDINATION OFFICE OF AUSTRIAN ENVIRONMENT GROUPS, AUSTRIA, INDEPENDENT SALZBURG PLATFORM AGAINST NUCLEAR DANGERS, AUSTRIA, PLATFORM GEGEN ATOMGEFAHR, AUSTRIA, ENERGIE ZUKUNFT MOHTVIERTEL, AUSTRIA, CENTRUM ENERGIE, CZECH REPUBLIC, BURGERINITIATIVE UMWELTSCHUTZ, BUDWEIS, CZECH REPUBLIC., =46OR MOTHER EARTH INTERNATIONAL, GHENT, BELGIUM, WORLD INFORMATION SERVICE ON ENERGY, AMSTERDAM, MDB ENERGY PROJECT, NETHERLANDS, =46OR MOTHER EARTH NETHERLANDS, CENTRE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, NETHERLANDS, GLOBAL ANTI - NUCLEAR ALLIANCE, NETHERLANDS, ANPED (NORTHERN ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY) NETH, ASEED- EUROPE, (AMSTERDAM) STROHALM (UTRECHT) NETHERLANDS, ITALIAN LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, MAJ-BRITT THEORIN, MEP, PRESIDENT, IPB., ELIZABETH SCHROEDTER, MEP, ERNST GULCHER, MEP, GREEN GROUP, GERMANY, HEIDI HAUTALA, MEP, GREEN GROUP, FINLAND, GLYN FORD, MEP, LABOR, SW ENGLAND, OZAN KEYHUN, MEP, GERMANY, PER GAHRTON, MEP, GREENS, SWEDEN, CONGRESSMAN EDWARD J. MARKEY, (D-MASS) WASH, D.C., GLOBAL RESOURCE ACTION CENTRE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (GRACE) N.Y., U.S., TRI-VALLEY CARES, LIVERMORE, CALIF, U.S., NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE, U.S., WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION, U.S., NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF NATIVE AMERICANS, AMERICAN-INDIAN MOVEMENT OF OKLAHOMA, NUCLEAR-FREE NEW YORK, SAVE WARD VALLEY, CALIF, U.S., METRO-BOSTON COMMITTEE TO DE-ALERT NUCLEAR WEAPONS, NUCLEAR AGE PEACE FOUNDATION, CALIFORNIA, U.S., PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, U.S., LIVERMORE CONVERSION PROJECT, OAKLAND, CALIF., ACTION SITE TO STOP CASSINI FLYBY, PROPOSITION-1 COMMITTEE, WASHINGTON DC, US., HEALING GLOBAL WOUNDS, TECOPA, CALIF, U.S., AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE, UNITING CHURCH OF CHRIST ROCKY MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE, PEACE AND JUSTICE TASK =46ORCE, ALL SOULS UNITARIAN CHURCH COLORADO SPRINGS, U.S., METHODISTS UNITED FOR PEACE WITH JUSTICE, U.S., QUEST MINISTRIES, OHIO, U.S., INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, SAN FRANCISCO, US, WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE, NY, USA., NEW YORK STUDENT ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COALITION, PEACE RESOURCE CENTRE OF SAN DIEGO, CALIF, U.S., PROMOTING ENDURING PEACE, NY., U.S., PROFESSIONAL NETWORK FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, NY, U.S., GRANDMOTHERS AND MOTHERS ALLIANCE FOR THE FUTURE, WOMENS ACTION FOR NEW DIRECTIONS, CENTRE FOR ENERGY RESEARCH, OREGON, USA, CITIZENS PROTECTING OHIO, OHIO CITIZEN ACTION, CONCERNED CITIZENS FOR NUCLEAR SAFETY NEW MEXICO, PEACE ACTION USA., PEACE ACTION CENTRAL NEW YORK, METRO NEW YORK PEACE ACTION COUNCIL, USA., PAX CHRISTI U.S.A., PAX CHRISTI NEW YORK, PAX CHRISTI, MORRIS COUNTY, NJ, USA., PAX CHRISTI TEXAS, PAX CHRISTI ST AUGUSTINE FLORIDA, =46ELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION TASK FORCE ON LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARRIBEAN= , ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION ON NUCLEAR POWER, CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA CITIZENS FOR SURVIVAL, THREE MILE ISLAND ALERT, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S., ATOMIC MIRROR, CALIF, U.S., NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR A PEACE TAX FUND, PEDALS FOR PEACE, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF, U.S., SACRAMENTO VALLEY CITIZENS ALONG THE ROADS AND TRACKS, GRANDMOTHERS FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL, CALIF, U.S., TAI MEI PEACE ACTION, SAN GABRIEL, U.S., SERIOUS TEXANS AGAINST NUCLEAR DUMPING, U.S., STUDENTS FOR A SUSTAINABLE EARTH, W. MICHIGAN, U.S., ALLIANCE FOR SURVIVAL, COSTA MESA, CALIF., U.S., LONG ISLAND ALLIANCE FOR PEACEFUL ALTERNATIVES, Y2K-WASH CAMPAIGN BAY AREA CHAPTER, BILL BLAIKIE MP, HOUSE LEADER, NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA, SVEND ROBINSON MP, HOUSE OF REPS, CANADA, JUDY WASLYCIA-LEIS, MP, WINNIPEG, CANADA VETERANS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, CANADA, PHYSICIANS FOR GLOBAL SURVIVAL, CANADA, NEW GREEN ALLIANCE, CANADA, PACIFIC CAMPAIGN FOR DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY, BC, CANADA., THE SIMONS FOUNDATION, VANCOUVER, B.C., PLOUGHSHARES, CALGARY, CANADA, O.P.I.R.G., PETERBOROUGH, CANADA, UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, INDIGENOUS WOMENS NETWORK, CANADA/USA., PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, KRASNOPRESENSKAYA-2, MOSCOW, RUSSIA, +7-095-205-4219, +7-095-206-5173 +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US, +1-202-456-2461, +1-202-456-2883. WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, BILL RICHARDSON, US SECRETARY OF ENERGY, +1-202-586-9987. IGOR SERGEYEV, DEFENCE MINISTER OF RUSSIA, Znamenka-19, 103160, Moscow, Russia, +7-095-293-33-13, 247-2795, 247-2722, 293-3323. =46OREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA, +7-095-244-3276, +7-095-244-2203, CC ALL HEADS OF STATE (BY EMAIL) ALL UN MISSIONS (BY EMAIL) Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, Defence Ministers and Defence Secretaries, Heads of State and UN Missions, The organisations above, representing millions of people worldwide, are writing to convey their extreme concern over the possibility that Year 2000 (Y2K)-related computer failures in nuclear weapons systems may lead to an unacceptable risk of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation. In the current political situation this is most especially the case. According to Alexandr Arbatov, of the Defence Committee of the Russian State Duma, US-Russian relations are at 'the worst, most acute, most dangerous juncture since the US-Soviet Berlin and Cuban missile crises.' The danger during the Y2K rollover lies primarily in the possibility that spurious data may induce commanders, even at the highest levels, to mistakenly authorise the launches of nuclear weapons. Events similar to this have already occurred. For example: In the US in 1980, a malfunctioning computer chip sent spurious alert signals; In 1983 in Russia, satellites mistook glare off the tops of clouds for a US missile launch, (and disaster was averted by the refusal of the local commander to believe the warnings were real); In 1995, a Norwegian research rocket prompted a full-scale Russian alert. If Y2K breakdowns produce inaccurate early warning data, or if communications and command channels are compromised, the combination of hair-trigger force postures and Y2K failures could be disastrous. There should therefore be a 'safety first ' approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. Because none of the nuclear weapons states can guarantee that their nuclear- related computer systems are Y2K compliant, the only responsible solution is for them all to stand down nuclear operations. This approach should include taking nuclear weapons off alert status and decoupling nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles. The stakes involved in any nuclear exchange between Russia and the US are such that they dwarf any other considerations. The future of life itself on earth could be in doubt. In light of this, we strongly urge that you remove all strategic and tactical nuclear weapons from 'hair trigger' alert, and place them in a status in which at least hours and preferably days would be required to launch them. The Canberra Commission in August 1996, noted that terminating nuclear alert status would: --Reduce dramatically the chances of accidental or unauthorised nuclear missile launch. --Help set the stage for intensified cooperation on a more far- reaching disarmament agenda --Have a very positive influence on the political climate between nuclear weapon states. This last is especially relevant in the current tension between Russia and NATO, which has prompted Russia to withdraw from cooperation with the US on Y2K problems. According to the Canberra Commission, "Taking nuclear forces off alert could be verified by national technical means and nuclear weapon state inspection arrangements. in the first instance, reduction in alert status could be adopted by the nuclear weapon states unilaterally" If both sides are verifiably de-alerted, it will not be possible for either to launch a disarming first strike. The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security. Signed Kevin Dunion, Chairperson, Friends of the Earth International, John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Australia, Wendy Johnson, Friends of the Earth New Zealand, Dr Patrick Green, Senior Energy, Nuclear and Climate Campaigner, Friends of the Earth England Wales and Northern Ireland, Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador, Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth Nigeria (Environmental Rights Action), Benin City, Nigeria, Viktor Khazan, Friends of the Earth Ukraine, Manana Kochladze, Friends of the Earth Georgia, Tbilsi, Georgia. Jan Kunnas, Friends of the Earth Finland, Bo Stroem, Friends of the Earth Denmark, Tonu Oja, Chairperson, Friends of the Earth Estonia, Tartu, Estonia. Amis de la Terre, Paris, France, Loukia Pavlidou, President, Friends of the Earth Cyprus, Oleg Svistunov, Friends of the Earth Japan Siberia Program, Corine Viellers, Global-2000(Friends of the Earth Austria) Daniela Stojanova, General Secretary, Friends of the Earth Macedonia, Peter Garrrett, President, Australian Conservation Foundation, Helen Caldicott, MD, Founding President, PSR, Irene Gale, Australian Peace Committee, SA Branch, Denis Doherty, Secretary, Pax Christi NSW, REV. John Mavor, President, Uniting Church of Australia Rev. Ray Richmond, Wayside Chapel, Uniting Church in Australia, Pitt Street Uniting Church, Pitt St, Sydney, Rev. John Stanley, St Johns Anglican Church, Darlinghurst, Sydney, Julie Marlow, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Committee, Babs Fuller-Quinn, Australian Peace Committee, National Committee, Susan Wareham, President, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, IPPNW Regional Vice-President, Aust., Pauline Mitchell, Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament, Peter Jones, War Resisters International, Australia., Alec Marr, National Campaign Director, The Wilderness Society, Mark Wakeham, Environment Centre of the Northern Territory, Deborah Metters, Arid Lands Environment Centre, Alice Springs, NT., Rowena Skinner, Environment Centre of W.A., Robin Chapple, Anti-Uranium Coalition of W.A., Cherie Hoyle, Centre for Urban Ecology, SA., Graham Daniell, People for Nuclear Disarmament, Western Australia., Zohl D' Ishtar, Pacific Connections, Richard Goode, 2 Billion Voices for Peace Project, Ian Dixon, Big Scrub Environment Centre, Lismore, Isabelle Whyte, Everyone for a Nuclear-free Future, Lismore, Robin Taubenfeld, Everyone for a Nuclear-Free Future, Gold Coast, Jonivar Skullerud, ENUFF, Adelaide, Chris White, Secretary, United Trades and Labour Council, SA, Paul Martinella, State Secretary, CFMEU, SA, Trevor Smith, National Secretary, CFMEU, Forests and Forests Products Division, SA, Stephen Smith, Secretary, CFMEU, Furnishing trade Division, SA, Jacob Grech, Earthworker, All-Union Green Caucus, Mick Doyle, United Firefighters Union of SA, Paul Noak, Secy, A.M.W.U. SA Office. Martin O' Malley, Secy, CFMEU, SA Branch. Stephen Spence, Secretary, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, SA., Leonie Ebert, Graham F. Smith Peace Trust, SA., Senator Lyn Allison, Democrat Senator for Victoria, Senator Meg Lees, Democrat Senator for South Australia, Leader of the Australian Democrats, Senator Vicky Bourne, Democrat Senator for NSW., Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja, Deputy Leader, Australian Democrats, Senator Andrew Bartlett, Democrat Senator for Queensland, Senator Bob Brown, Green Senator for Tasmania, Senator Dee Margetts, Green Senator for Western Australia, Senator George Campbell, ALP Senator for NSW., Senator Margaret Reynolds, ALP, NSW, Senator Jim Mc Kiernan, ALP, W.A., Anthony Albanese. ALP, Federal member for Grayndler, Tanya Plibersek, ALP, Federal member for Sydney, Jann Mc Farlane, Federal member for Stirling, W.A., Jill Hall, M.P., Federal member for Shortland, NSW, Cheryl Davenport MLC., W.A., Ian Cohen, MLC, Greens, NSW, Lee Rhiannon, MLC, Greens, NSW, Sandra Kanck, MLC,Democrats, S.A., Ian Gilfillan, MLC, Democrats, SA, Robyn Geraghty MP, Member for Torrens, SA., =46rances Bedford, ALP State MP for Florey, S.A., Jim Scott, WA Greens, Legislative Council, W.A., Dr Louise Crossley, National Convenor, Greens, Australia, Hannah Middleton, President, Communist Party of Australia. Commander Robert Green RN (Ret'd), Chair, World Court Project UK, =46elicity Hill, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, Geneva/N= Y Martin Butcher, British-American Security Information Centre, US/UK, Stephanie Mills, Greenpeace International Nuclear and Disarmament Campaign, Bernice Boermans, Executive Director, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, (IALANA), The Hague, Neth., Rear-Admiral Eugene J. Carroll, USN (retd), Deputy Director, Centre for Defence Information, Washington, USA, Dave Knight, Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, U.K., Janet Bloomfield, Former Chair CND, Abolition U.K, Saffron Walden Group Against Nuclear Weapons, Bruce Kent, Vice-President, CND, Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands CND, Birmingham, U.K, Tigger Mc Gregor, Youth and Student CND, U.K., Dave Webb, Yorkshire CND., U.K., Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy, Campaign for Accountability of American Bases, U.K., Gillian Reeve, Director, MEDACT (IPPNW U.K), Jane Tallents, Trident-Ploughshares 2000, Norwich, Norfolk, U.K., Di Mc Donald, Network Information Project, Southampton, U.K, Catherine Euler, Menwith Hill Womens Peace Camp, Yorkshire, U.K., Catherine Euler, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Sue Claydon, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Milton Keynes, U.K., Mary H. Miller, Episcopal peace Fellowship, U.K., Monica King, St Bartholemews Justice and Peace Group, St Albans, U.K., Calderdale Green Party, Yorkshire, U.K., Alan Watson, Partner, Public Interest Consultants, Swansea, Wales, U.K., Paul Swann, National Coordinator, Y2K Community Action Network, U.K., Jeanette Fitzsimmons, MP, NZ Greens, Brian Donelly, MP, Harry Duynhaven, MP, NZ Labour, Lianna Dalziel, MP, NZ Labour, Judy Keall, MP, NZ Labour, Peter Dunne, MP, NZ independent, Sandra Lee, Deputy leader, Alliance, Dr Kate Dewes, Disarmament and Security Centre, Marion Hancock, Aoteoroa/NZ Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ., Gerry Coates, Engineers for Social Responsibility, NZ, Keith Locke, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, NZ Greens, Llelwyn Richards, National Consultative Committee on Disarmament, NZ, Barbara Frame, Peace Action Dunedin, NZ., John Urlich, Peace Council of New Zealand, Rev. John Murray/Dame Laurie Salas/Robin Halliday, Abolition-2000, New Zeala= nd, Ian Prior, IPPNW New Zealand, Chris King, Veterans for Peace New Zealand, Derek Wilson, Architects Against Nuclear War, NZ, Robert E. White, Director, Centre for Peace Studies, University of Auckland, NZ., John Gallagher, New Zealand Nuclear-Free Peacemaking Association, WILPF Aoteoroa, Richard N. Salvador, Pacific Islands Association of NGOs, Belau, Tom Mbeke-Ekarem, Chair, Coalition of Petroleum-Producing States of Nigeria, Ron Mc Coy, Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Yumi Kukuchi, Y2K WASH Campaign, Sendai, Japan/USA, Aileen Mioko Smith, Director, Green Action Kyoto, Japan., Hiroshi Taka, Assistant Secretary, Japan Council Against A and H-Bombs (Gensuikyo), S.P. Udayakumar, South Asian Community Centre for Education and Research, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, South India, Asif Rasheed Leghari, Awami Committee for Development, Multan, Pakistan, Nana Suhartana, Indonesian National Network Forum Anti-Nuclear Society, Pipob Udomittipong, Alternative Energy Project for Sustainability, Thailand, Vladimir Sliviak, Ecodefense, Russia, Galina Raghouzhina, World Information Service on Energy (WISE) Kaliningrad, Alexandra Koroleva, Educational Committee, Kaliningrad Regional Duma, Mikhail Trofimov, Ecodefence! International, Kaliningrad, Alisa Nikoulina, Antinuclear Campaign of Social-Ecological Union, Moscow, Pavel Malyshev, Platan Youth Group, Kaliningrad, Oleg Bodrov, Green World, Sosnovy Bor, St Petersburg, Russia, Vera Brovkina, St Petersburg Peace Council, St Petersburg, Russia, Lydia Popova, Centre for Nuclear Ecology and Energy Policy, Russia, Marina Rikhmanova, Baikal Environmental Wave, Baikal, Russia, George Razvan Marcu, Ecosens, Romania, Malla Kantola, Committee of 100, Helsinki, Finland, Laura Lodenius, Peace Union of Finland, Helsinki, Finland, Pepe Mardiste, Student Nature Protection Group, Tartu, Estonia, Gunnar Westberg, MD., SLMK (IPPNW), Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear Weapons, Bjorn Hilt, Chair, Norwegian Physicians Against Nuclear War, (IPPNW) Poul Eck S=F8rensen, Peace Movement of Esbjerg, Denmark, Arne Hansen, War Resisters International, Fredrikshavn, Denmark, Majken Jul S=F8rensen, Aldrig Mere Krig, (AMK) Denmark, Anja Johansen, Militaernaegterforeningen, (Danish Association of Conscientious Objectors) Daniel Durand, Secretary, Mouvement de La Paix, France, Solange Fernex, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, France, Chrystoph Wyss, International Albert Schwietzer Foundation, France/Switz, Chrystoph Wyss, Dr Schweitzer Hospital Fund, Switzerland, Dr Roland Schutzbach, Global Initiative for Immediate Disarmament, Switzerla= nd, Xanthe Hall, Assistant Director, IPPNW Germany, Berlin, Regina Hagen, Darmstaedter Friedensforum, Germany, Claus Biegert, Nuclear-Free Award, Germany, Horst Hohmier, Anti-Atom Plenum, Bochum, Germany, Ilona Joerden, Citizens Initiative for Environmental Protection, Luechow-Danneburg, Germany, Matthias Reichl, Centre for Encounters and Active Non-Violence, Bad Ischl, Austria, Dr Klaus Renoldner, President, IPPNW Austria, Claudia and Margit, Anti-Atom International, Claudia and Margit, Coordination Office of Austrian Environment Organisation= s, Heinz Stockinger, Independent Salzburg Platform Against Nuclear Dangers,(PLAGE), Salzburg, Austria, Josef Puehringer, Platform Gegen Atomgefahr, Austria, Josef Puehringer, Centrum Energie, Czech Republic, Josef Puehringer, Burgerinitiative Umweltschutz, Budweis, Czech Republic, Josef Puehringer, Energie Zukunft Mohtviertel, Austria., Pol D'Huyvetter, For Mother Earth International, Ghent, Belgium, Peer de Rijk, WISE- Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ophelia Cowell, MDB Energy Project, Netherlands, Marjan Willemsen, For Mother Earth Netherlands, Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, Netherlands, Pieter Van Der Gaag, Deputy international Coordinator, ANPED, Northern Alliance for Sustainability, =46rank Van Schaik, Transport Coordinator, ASEED-Europe, STROHALM, Utrecht, Netherlands, Kaj Leers, Journalist, Netherlands, David Boerma, Coordinator, Pacific Region, Centre for Indigenous Peoples, Netherlands., Giorgio Nebbia, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Economics, University of Bari, Italy, Dr Joachim Lau, Italian Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, Maj-Britt Theorin, MEP, Sweden, Elizabeth Schroedter, MEP, Germany, Ernst Gulcher, MEP, Green Group, Germany, Heidi Hautala, MEP, Green Group, Finland, Glyn Ford, MEP, Labour, SW England, Ozan Keyhun, MEP, Germany, Per Gahrton, MEP, Greens, Sweden., Congressman Edward J. Markey, (D-Mass), Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. Alice Slater, Global Resource Action Centre for the Environment, NY., USA., Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, California, US. Mary Olson, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, US., Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, US., Grace Thorpe, National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans, Carter Camp, Chair, American-Indian Movement of Oklahoma, US, Bill Smirnow, Nuclear-Free New York, US, Molly Johnson, Coordinator, Save Ward Valley, Calif, USA., William F. Santelmann, Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara, Calif, US. Robert W. Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility, U.S.A., Dr Lachlan Forrow, Past Chair, IPPNW, Jonathan Mark, Action Site to Stop Cassini Flyby, Sherry Larsen-Beville, Livermore Conversion Project, Oakland, Calif, USA. Ellen Thomas, Proposition-1 Committee, Washington DC, US., Diana Roose, Peace Education Director, American Friends Service Committee, Patricia Watson, Peacework, American Friends Service Committee, Robert Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, Uniting Church of Christ, Rocky Mountains Conference, Rachel Keeler, Executive Director, Pax Christi, New York, Nancy Small, National Coordinator, Pax Christi, USA, =46rank Dworak, Pax Christi, Morris County, NJ, USA., Adam Eidinger, Pax Christi Washington Action Group, U.S., Joyce Hall, Pax Christi Texas, Paul Villavisanis, Pax Christi, St Augustine, Fl, Betty Obol, SL, The Loretto Community, U.S., Phil Mc Manus, Chair, Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Carribean, U.S., Heidi Cooper, All Souls Unitarian Church, Colorado Springs, US., Howard W. Hallman, Methodists United for Peace with Justice, Washington, USA= =2E, Guy Templeton Black, Quest Ministries, Ohio, U.S., Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Coordinator, Healing Global Wounds, Tecopa, CA, USA., Karen Talbot, Director, International Centre for Peace and Justice, San =46rancisco, California, US., Chris Ney, War Resisters League, NY, USA., Jasmina Arsova, War Resisters League,, NY. USA., Holly-Poole Kavana, New York Student Environmental Action Coalition, Carol Jahnkow, Peace Resource Centre of San Diego, Calif, US., Janette Michelle Cuevas, Executive Director, Promoting Enduring Peace, NY., Babette Lindfield, Professional Network for Social Responsibility, NY, U.S., Susan Lee Solar and Maria Mendez, Grandmothers and Mothers Alliance for the =46uture, Susan Shaer, Executive Director, Womens Action for New Directions, Peter Bergel, Centre for Energy Research, Salem, Oregon, USA., Harvey Wasserman, Citizens Protecting Ohio, USA., Sarah Ogdahl, Toledo Area Director, Ohio Citizen Action, Jay Coghlan, Concerned Citizens For Nuclear Safety, New Mexico, USA., Gordon S. Clark, Executive Director, Peace Action USA., Diane R Swords, Peace Action Central New York, =46ran Teplitz, Peace Action, Peace Action Education Fund, USA., Sonya Ostrom, Metro New York Peace Action Council, Judith H. Johnsrud, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, Pennsylvania, U.S, Judith H. Johnsrud, Central Pennsylvania Citizens for Survival, U.S., Scott D. Portzlines, Three Mile Island Alert, Pennsylvania, U.S., Pamela Meidell, Atomic Mirror, Calif, U.S., Tom Keirans, National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, Shiela Baker, Pedals for Peace, San Luis Obispo, Calif, U.S., Inga Olson, Sacramento Valley Citizens Along The Roads and Tracks, Earth-Savers, Syracuse, U.S., Barbara Weidener, Grandmothers for Peace International, Calif, U.S., Lyn Miles, Tai Mei Peace Action, San Gabriel, U.S., Alan Moore, Butterfly Gardeners Association, Berkley, Calif, Don Moniak, Program Director, Serious Texans Against Nuclear Dumping, Amarillo, Tex, U.S, Andrew Nixon, Students For A Sustainable Earth, W. Michigan University, U.S.= , Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa, The Nuclear Resister, Marion Pack, Alliance for Survival, Costa-Mesa, California, USA., Peggy jacobs, Long Island Alliance for peaceful Alternatives, U.S., Jane Grossman, Bay Area Chapter, Y2K WASH Campaign, (World Atomic Safety Holiday), USA/JAPAN, Senator Doug Roche, Canadian Parliament, Bill Blaikie MP, House Leader, New Democratic Party of Canada, Svend Robinson MP, House of Representatives,Canada, Judy Waslycia-Leis, MP, Winnipeg, Canada, Dr David Morgan, President, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, Vancouver, Canada, Dr Barbara Birkett, President, Physicians for Global Survival, Ottawa, Canad= a Dr Ross Wilcock, Physicians for Global Survival, Canada, Dave Greenfield, New Green Alliance, Saskatoon, Canada, Patti Willis, Pacific Campaign for Disarmament and Security, B.C., Canada, Prof Eric Fawcett, Physics Dept, University of Toronto, Canada, Dr Jennifer Allen Simons, The Simons Foundation, Vancouver, B.C., Sally Hodges, Chair, Ploughshares, Calgary, Canada, O.P.I.R.G., Peterborough, Canada, Genivieve Talbot, United Nations Association of Canada, Priscilla Settee, Indigenous Womens Network, Canada/USA., - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) ACTION PROPOSALS: SUPPORT FOR MARKEY/FAX CAMPAIGN TO Date: 01 Aug 1999 21:19:31 +1000 John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd DEAR People, Here are two or three action proposals which I hope we'll not only discuss, but come to conclusions on pretty smartly. They are all things that need to be done quickly, but in as coordinated and disciplined a manner as we are capable of. There are a few things we need to think about pretty smartly. --Getting resolutions on de-Alerting in our national parliaments --Lobbying our national governments --getting maybe a resolution on de- alerting up in the UN. --getting the EP to do a resolution on de- alerting --getting the Congress to back Ed Markeys resolution on de- alerting --Getting an avalance of faxes in to Clinton, Yelytsin, Benett and Dodd, and Sergeyev (Russian defence Min), asking them to take strategic nukes off alert. This last I think needs to happen relatively soon BUT NOT RIGHT NOW. We need to think carefully about timing, and I'd suggest something like about 2 weeks after H-Day, so that it is possible to get as many of the larger groups behind it. PLEASE DO NOT RUSH AND DO IT NOW TILL WE HAVE DISCUSSED HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE. PLEASE DO NOT DISCUSS FOREVER. Let's pick a definite date, say 2-3 weeks from now, and lets think carefully what message we will take and to whom. I'd be prepared to do the necessary to coordinate it. But I'm not going to just 'do' it. If it's to be effective it needs to be properly coordinated. if people just start doing it in an uncoordinated way it's less effective, and could possibly backfire. It would need to be properly integrated with an effort to support the Markey resolution in the US, and possible resolutions in Australia and the EP. For god sake lets get on with it, whether it's de- alerting or shuttting down reactors. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Support of Abolition/Conversion Date: 01 Aug 1999 18:35:04 -0700 Campaign in Support of Abolition/Conversion U.S. Congresswomen Norton and Woolsey, Co-Sponsoring HR-2545, Appeal to Activists for Telephone Campaign in Support of Global Nuclear Disarmament and Conversion On July 30, 1999, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, representing the District of Columbia, held a press conference to announce her introduction of H.R. 2545, the "Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 1999" (NDECA). In Ms. Norton's own words, "The bill would require the United States to disable and dismantle its nuclear weapons and to refrain from replacing them with weapons of mass destruction once foreign countries possessing nuclear weapons enact and execute similar requirements. The bill also provides that the resources used to sustain our nuclear weapons program be used to address human and infrastructure needs such as housing, health care, education, agriculture, and the environment." Although Norton's bill has been characterized as "idealistic" and "quixotic," her press conference seemed not only to highlight the rationality of the measure, but also to galvanize some supportive action. "On the 54th anniversary of the first nuclear test at Alamogordo, New Mexico, I introduced the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act. This is the fourth time I've introduced it. I try to link my introduction of the bill every year to some current notions that I think make the bill more and more timely, " Ms. Norton stated. "My hope is not that one day the Republican Congress will get religion and understand they ought to pass my bill all at one time, I do not live in fairyland, but that gradually this bill and parts of this bill will capture the imagination of a majority of Congress." Ms. Norton was joined at the press conference by California Representative Lynn Woolsey, the first co-sponsor of the measure. "The cold war is over, yet ... with the cold war being over, the threat of nuclear weapons still hangs over us like a dark mushroom cloud that does not go away, and it won't until we do something about it. And while my colleagues, our colleagues, are taking care of building more nuclear weapons, I continue to ask the question, who's taking care of our children?" Rep. Woolsey said. Ms. Woolsey noted that the NDECA would complement her own measure "H.R. 82 (which) calls on the president to use the United Nations' 'model nuclear weapons convention' as a guideline to start multilateral negotiations to rid all countries of nuclear weapons.... I am pleased to be signing on as a co-sponsor of the NDECA, and if it doesn't pass this year, I'll sign on in the next Congress, and the next Congress, and the next Congress, until it will," Woolsey pledged. Norton explained that the United States "cannot make a credible case to persuade such countries to abandon their nuclear ambitions unless we ourselves are willing to take the initiative in dismantling our own nuclear weapons program and helping arms industries to convert to useful economic activity." Dr. Marcus Raskin, co-founder of Institute for Policy Studies, former member of the White House Staff (1961), a White House Delegate to the U.N. Disarmament talks in Geneva (1962), currently a Professor at George Washington University, author of 17 books, and one of the nation's foremost experts on nuclear disarmament and international affairs, made a practical observation on the effective history of nuclear arms control: "The United States signed on to the idea of general and complete disarmament. And there are six treaties in being which begin with that idea, including various arms control agreements, no nuclear testing in the atmosphere, space, and so forth. The point is also that the United States has done virtually nothing with regard to moving toward general and complete disarmament. It also is part of the non-proliferation treaty, the idea of cutting back radically in nuclear weapons, and getting other nations to do the same. So the United States has not done its role." Dr. Raskin apparently stimulated thoughts of activism with a couple of additional comments. "I don't think the peace movement has done its role either, and I think that one of the problems here is that we have to work through the strategy for bringing on a disarmament situation." Specifically, Raskin suggested that there are "many members of Congress who should be lobbied very hard, for this bill, and for the economic conversion part of this bill, and perhaps a good place to begin with would be with the Progressive Caucus itself." "There are a number of things that have to be linked together, which means that there has to be a dialogue in the peace movement to show the linkages between these various questions," Raskin said, referring to weapons systems, economics, and politics. Finally, Raskin suggested that it was up to the "peace movement" to "come up with a program which could be worked through with members of Congress, led by Congresswoman Norton, and just see where we go over the course of the next three or four year period." In direct response to Dr. Raskin, Ms. Norton replied, "It seems to me we need to talk a great deal more to Marc Raskin. Let me just say as a member of the Progressive Caucus he's come forward with one of these obvious and therefore brilliant ideas.... I'm willing to get the Chairman of the Caucus, of which I am a member, to sign a 'Dear Colleague' letter with me asking all members of the Caucus to sign onto this bill. This is their politics anyway. But if you let the bill just lie in the hopper, there it lies. The way it jumps out of the hopper is that other members join in on the bill, and I would ask you to contact members of your network to ask them to write their Congressmen, or better still, call. If you call and say, 'Are you a co-sponsor of, and use the title of my bill, HR-2545, Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 1999?' When a Member hears you ask that question, particularly a member of the Progressive Caucus, if they're not, they quickly become a sponsor. It'd be even better than writing a letter." Raskin's suggestion of political activism caught on. Bob Tiller, director of the national office of Physicians for Social Responsibility, a national organization of over 15,000 health care professionals, U.S. affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize), picked up the hint. "We will be, as Ms. Norton asked and encouraged us to do, be contacting our members and asking them to urge their members of Congress to become co-sponsors of this legislation," Tiller promised. Following on the same suggestion, Arnold Peterson, the coordinator of the Metropolitan Area Veterans for Peace, pledged that he would be making the same plea to the members of his organization. ### The full transcript of the press conference, with speeches by Congressional Co-Sponsors Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and nuclear policy experts Dr. Marcus Raskin (Institute for Policy Studies), Mary Olson (Nuclear Information and Resource Service), Bob Tiller (Physicians for Social Responsibility), and John Steinbach (Veterans for Peace), as well as the text of the bill HR-2545, can be found at http://prop1.org/prop1/990730p1.speeches.htm ____________________________________________________________ * Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org -Convert the War Machines! * ____________________________________________________________ vegetarian, nonviolence, consensus -Food Not Bombs List fnb-l@lists.tao.ca -distributing food in opposition to violence -archive: http://archive.foodnotbombs.ca -active cities: http://webcom.com/peace -send '(un)subscribe fnb-l' to lists@tao.ca - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) City Council De-Alert Resolutions Date: 01 Aug 1999 20:21:10 -0700 (PDT) Are there any sample City Council or County Board of Supervisor resolutions calling for de-alerting of nuclear weapons? - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Linking with Earth Day Campaign's Clean Energy Agenda Date: 02 Aug 1999 18:36:09 -0400 Dear Friends, The Earth Day 2000 campaign, "New Energy for a New Era" is focusing on "a rapid transition from fossil fuels and nuclear energy to clean, safe, renewable sources." At our Annual Abolition 2000 Meeting in the Hague, we agreed to broaden our links to other organizations to make common cause. The Abolition Statement recognizes "the inextricable link between nuclear weapons and nuclear power" and calls for the establishment of a Sustainable Energy Agency. As a Co-Convenor of the Sustainable Energy Working Group, together with Claire Greensfelder and Pol Huyvetter (we have not been an active working group), I'd like to invite you to consider joining with the Earth Day Campaign which is planning a host of events in 2000 and offers opportunities to build constituencies for our cause. Their website is http://www.earthday.net and you can reach them by email at earthday@earthday.net Also, if you want to work with the Sustainable Energy Working Group to explore opportunities within Abolition 2000 for moving to clean safe energy, please contact me to brainstorm on how to activate this important aspect of our work. Every nuclear power reactor is a potential bomb factory (witness India and Pakistan) and there is no real hope of ridding the world of nuclear weapons unless we phase out all nuclear power. Right now, we are offering North Korea "light power reactors" which merely make it more difficult, not impossible, for them to produce nuclear weapons materials, and Indonesia and Turkey are negotiating for nuclear power status. What will that do for our human security? We must have safe energy alternatives to offer. Even if the world security systen could ever guarantee that nuclear power states will never use their materials for weapons (over a time span of 250,000 years), the environmental and health consequences do not have to be re-stated here for well-informed members of the Abolition Network. Peace, Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Subject: (abolition-usa) A B O L I T I O N 2 0 0 0 G R A S S R O O T S N E W S Date: 02 Aug 1999 15:45:15 -0700 (PDT) A B O L I T I O N 2 0 0 0 G R A S S R O O T S N E W S JULY 1999 ***NEW ORGANIZATIONS Please join me in wishing a warm welcome to the following organizations which have recently signed the Abolition 2000 petition and joined the network. With these additions, there are now 1,347 citizen action groups worldwide actively campaigning for the abolition of nuclear weapons. I urge you to support those within the network and build relationships with like-minded activists. Also, I encourage you to continue efforts to recruit other individuals and organizations to join our common endeavor to reach the ultimate goal...nuclear abolition. Global Peace & Development Foundation Ghana, Ghana/West Africa Hawai'i Institute for Human Rights, Hawai'i/USA Human Rights & Welfare Mobilization Forum, Manikgonj/Bangladesh Religious Society of Friends/Lake Erie, Perrysburg, Ohio/USA United Welfare Union, Baluwatar, Kathmandu/Nepal Voluntary Organization for the Needy-(VON), Manikgonj/Bangladesh Promoting Enduring Peace, Inc., New York/USA ***NEW MUNICIPALITIES The following is a list of towns or municipalities which have recently passed a resolution to abolish nuclear weapons. High commendations are deserved by all those who have dedicated themselves to push this issue forward in their city or town council. The number of municipalities having passed a resolution now totals 236! Keep up the excellent work! Maine Arrowsic: Town Meeting, passed unanimously Bangor: City Council, passed unanimously Georgetown: Town Meeting, passed by majority show of hands Manchester: Town Meeting, passed 57-38 Sebago: Town Meeting, passed 80-3 South Portland: City Council, passed unanimously Wayne: Town Meeting, passed by majority show of hands Massachusetts Lincoln, overwhelming majority New Zealand Clutha District Council, endorsement given Waimakariri District Council, passed by majority Waitakere City Council, formally only endorsed but now has passed a resolution ***NEWS Get the Navy Out of Vieques! "Navy out of Vieques" is now the official public policy of the Puerto Rican government. After examining recommendations of the Special Vieques Commission, the Governor of PR announced that the official position of the government would be to reclaim the island of Vieques for the people. New Jersey Congressman, Bob Menedez also agreed with the findings of the Commission, citing that "national defense training should not put citizens at risk´." Along with the Lt. Governors Association of the 50 states, the Vega Baja Municipal Council, the Mayor of Catano and the Caribbean Human Rights commission have endorsed the cause. The United Nations Decolonization Committee determined to bring a bill resolving that the Navy should leave Vieques to the floor at the next session of the General Assembly. Public outrage was sparked when the US Navy killed a civilian Viequense, David Sanes Rodriguez, with an off-target bomb on April 20, 1999. In response, 50,000 protesters marched on the Roosevelt Roads Naval Base on July 4th, demonstrating their disdain at the US Navy for making an inhabited island their target practice and war games site. They also demanded the Navy leave to the island. Protesters continue to gather at the forbidden firing zone in acts of peaceful civil disobedience. In August, Ruben Arvisu, a representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, will travel to Puerto Rico to present the Abolition 2000 petition to the people of Vieques and rally support for the network. While in PR, Arvisu will also give testimony on behalf of the Viequense people to advocate the Navy's departure from the island. For more news on what's happening on the Isla Nena, visit the Vieques Times website at: http://www.viequestimes.com/index.htm/latest.htm. For information on how to get involved in a citizen action group in Puerto Rico, visit the Redbatances website (in Spanish only) at: http://www.redbatances.com. If you would like to send a message of solidarity to the people of Vieques, please email it to A2000@silcom.com by no later than August 11, 1999. No Nukes in Nanoose! Citizens of British Columbia continue efforts to stop the Canadian federal government from expropriating a seabed in the Strait of Georgia. The seabed has been used since 1965 as a torpedo testing site for both the US and Canadian Navy. On June 18, 1999, a formal objection was filed with the Canadian government in opposition to renegotiating a lease extension on the seabed, which is owned by the province. The objection was filed on behalf of the citizens of British Columbia on the grounds that the extension of the lease was contrary to public interest and a violation of BC legislation. Since US policy is to "neither confirm nor deny" the presence of nuclear weapons aboard its warships and submarines, citizens are concerned about the possibility of nuclear weapons and reactors entering their nuclear free zone. A resolution passed by the BC Legislative Assembly on April 23, 1992 declares BC a "Nuclear Weapons Free Zone" and therefore, the potential or actual presence of nuclear weapons on foreign warships violates this resolution. In addition, the presence of nuclear weapons and reactors poses a likely threat to health and environmental safety to the people living in Nanoose Bay. Demonstrations from local peace organizations are scheduled to begin in Victoria on August 3 as the expropriation hearings continue. Citizens are determined to protect the Nanoose seabed as part of their home. Peace and environmental activists are calling for support to keep the Nanoose Bay nuclear free. To obtain further information on the expropriation hearings, visit the Nanoose Conversion Campaign's website at: http://www.user.dccnet.com/lagasse/Nuclear_Free_Georgia_Strait/nanoose.html Lincoln, MA Actively Campaigning for Abolition The town of Lincoln, MA voted by an overwhelming majority to adopt a resolution in its Annual Town Meeting on April 6th, 1999 that supports the Abolition 2000 movement. Since May of 1981, one dozen Lincoln citizens have built a townwide organization to urge the US and USSR "to work out an agreement freezing nuclear weapons development and reducing nuclear arsenals" (from the discussion on Warrant Article 34 at the town meeting). Article 34 of the Warrant for the meeting resolves the need to eliminate nuclear weapons under "strict and effective international controls" in order to "support the health and well-being of all people, and to protect and enhance our environment." The town has developed the Lincoln Committee for a Nuclear Free World, which actively campaigns the abolition of nuclear weapons and solicits the President of the US, as well as its senators and representatives. For more information or examples of how you can actively campaign to adopt a similar resolution in your town or municipality, please visit the Abolition 2000 web site at http://www.abolition2000.org. If you have a similar story to share about your town or municipality email it to: A2000@silcom.com "The Unfinished Business of the Century" On July 12,1999, the Boston Globe printed a speech given by John Kenneth Galbraith while receiving an honorary degree from the London School of Economics. In his speech, Galbraith emphasized humanity's position "on the edge of a total end to civilized existence on the planet, perhaps life itself." With a legacy of more than 50 years of threatening to destroy life, "the greatest unfinished business of the century now ending is the need to eliminate this weaponry," that is, nuclear weaponry. He also stated, "the most urgent task now and of the new century is to bring to an end the threat of Armageddon, something on which there has been solemn comment over the centuries and which is now a reality." Galbraith's speech is both illuminating and encouraging. As an economist, he recognizes the need to rid the planet of the destructive power of nuclear weapons. Let us be encouraged to continue to press onward in our endeavor to eliminate nuclear weapons. Putting pressure on government representatives and authorities is of critical importance. Also, we must seize every opportunity to make others aware of the issue as well encourage others to join the effort. The story ran on page A11 of the Boston Globe on 07/12/99. The Unfinished Business of the Century By John Kenneth Galbraith, 07/12/99 For complete information on the article, please refer to the web site: http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/193/oped/The_unfinished_business_of_the_century P.shtml (c) Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company. French Movement to Pressure Authorities Lysiane Alezard announced that Le Mouvement de la Paix in France will continue to put pressure on French authorities to urge them to stop the modernization of nuclear weapons and vote for a moratorium on lab testing. The campaign is planned to be launched in the fall and will emphasize the need for France to implement Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Le Mouvement de la Paix would like to convene 2 abolition days on October 9th and 10th. The proposed agenda for the Abolition Days is as follows: October 9th- a demonstration to take place at the Barp, near Bordeaux to represent a moratorium on laboratory testing. October 10th - a rally and seminar against the modernization of nuclear weapons which will feature admirals and generals from various countries to take place at I'lle lounge. Le Mouvement stresses that both events are international and encourages all organizations and individuals to participate. The event will be hosted under the auspices of Abolition 2000. Look for future postings with updated information about the event or contact: Lysiane Alezard Le Mouvement de la Paix 139 BD VICTOR HUGO - F-93400 SAINT-OUEN mvtpaix@globenet.org website : http://www.asi.fr/~ddurand/ Survey Finds US Support for Ratification of the CTBT In a survey conducted on 1,000 US citizens age 18 or older, 82 percent supported Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The telephone survey was conducted June 18 to 21 by Wirthlin Worldwide and the findings were published by the Mellman Group, a research company in Washington DC. Also among key findings, the survey found that support for the CTBT was favored by the majority in both Democratic (86%) and Republican (80%) parties. The study also noted that 84% of those surveyed agreed that putting an end to nuclear weapons test explosions worldwide is a better way to protect the US from nuclear threats from other countries. The majority of US citizens support the ratification of the CTBT, especially in light of recent proliferation of nuclear secrets to China, North Korea and Iran as well as heightened concern over relations between Pakistan and India. The survey concludes that Americans will endorse those government representatives who support the treaty. The ratification of the CTBT will be an important factor to secure a world free from nuclear threats for future generations. Please call or write your representative today and tell them to support the CTBT. *The Mellman Group/Wirthlin Worldwide for CRND, June 1999: "Voter Attitude Toward the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty." ***EVENTS August *Please join in and encourage others to participate in one of the events commemorating the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For a complete list of events compiled by Abolition 2000, please visit the Nuclear Age Peace foundation website at: http://www.wagingpeace.org or email your request to Carah Ong at A2000@silcom.com. 7- PLOWSHARES PLAY COMING TO BALTIMORE Baltimore's Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, a coalition of peace organizations including AFSC-Baltimore, will be presenting in Baltimore on Saturday, August 7, Dan Kinch's Plowshares play, "A Clown, a Hammer, a Bomb and God." On the morning of April 1, 1994, an activist priest dressed in a clown suit disabled a nuclear missile. This disarmingly simple play is directed by Rhett Wickham and features Ben Roberts. Doors will open at 7 PM at Stony Run Friends Meetinghouse, 5116 North Charles, for an 8 p.m. performance. Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs [hibakusha] will also be at Stony Run. Refreshments will be available. The Committee will be asking for a free will donation, but no one will be turned away. For more information, call: Max Obuszewski 410-323-7200 or 410-377-7987 10-The Southern California Federation of Scientists are sponsoring a lecture by John Owen entitled, "Nukes and Peace: Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration." The lecture will take place in the Community Meeting Room of the Midnight Special Bookstore on Tuesday, August 10, 1999 at 7:30pm. The Bookstore is located at 1318 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA. For more information contact the Southern California Federation of Scientists at: 3318 Colbert Ave, Suite 200 Los Angeles, CA 90066 310-390-3898 (phone/fax) September 9-A follow-up meeting for the Hague Appeal for Peace focusing on Next Steps is being hosted by Peace Action and the Peace Caucus in the UNCA lounge at the United Nations in New York on September 9, 1999 at 10:30 a.m. For more information, contact: Gouri Sadhwani, Campaign Coordinator The Hague Appeal for Peace 1999 c/o WFM 777 UN Plaza New York, NY 10017 USA Phone: +1 212.687.2623 Fax: +1 212.599.1332 Email: gourihap99@igc.apc.org 14-Join the United Nations in celebrating the International Day of Peace on Tuesday, September 14, 1999 at 12:00 noon. In 1981, the opening day of the General Assembly was designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Peace. On this day, people in all countries are encouraged to take a minute of silence at noon in their time region to support the UN in its mission of peace. If you are leader of an organization or community you may also wish to organize a peace walk, visit a hospital or nursing home, plant a peace pole or request a school conflict resolution program. To be included on the list of participating schools and organizations, please email the name of your school or organization to: peacepal@worldpeace.org. 26/27-CNN Profiles the Lives of Five Representatives of the Colombian Children's Peace Movement who were nominated for the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. "Soldiers of Peace: A Children's Crusade" will air Sunday, September 26 at 9 p.m. (ETD) on CNN/U.S. It will also replay at 1:00 a.m. (ETD) on Monday, September 27. 2000 and Beyond Mark your Calendars! The 2000 NPT Review Conference is scheduled to last one week from April 24th to May 19th, 2000. It will be held at the UN in New York. ***ACTION YOU CAN TAKE *On August 6, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, a rally and nonviolent direct action will take place at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as well as at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, all three of which continue nuclear weapons research, development testing and production (also known as "stockpile stewardship"). The theme of this year's demonstration is: ABOLITION 2000: END THE NUCLEAR THREAT! If you are not able to attend any of these events, I encourage you to send a short message of solidarity that will be read at the rally and sent out to the media. I especially encourage you to participate in this manner if you live in a Nuclear Weapon or NATO State or if you are from Japan. Please e-mail or fax your messages to Jacqueline Cabasso of the Western States Legal Foundation at: Fax: +(510)839-5397 E-mail: wslf@earthlink.net *STAR WARS INTíL CALL-IN DAYS (SEPTEMBER 13-15): In order to increase visibility and opposition to Star Wars, the Global Network is calling for the "International Call-In Days Against Star Wars" from September 13-15, 1999. I urge you to help spread the word about the Call-In Days to your local membership and to your local media. Please contact the White House and your Congressional delegation and demand an end to Star Wars funding and testing. Even if you are outside of the US, I encourage you to contact President Clinton at the White House and/or the US Embassy in your country via email or fax. Please use the following contact information: White House Phone # (202) 456-1111 White House Fax # (202) 456-2461 President Clinton's e-mail: president@whitehouse.gov V-P Al Goreís e-mail: vice.president@whitehouse.gov Congressional Switchboard (202) 224-3121 *Join organizations and individuals worldwide in writing a letter to US President Bill Clinton and Russia's President Boris Yeltsin stressing the need to de-alert missiles before September of 1999. In your letter, stress the fact that immediate stakes are high and the potential for global catastrophe is clear. Therefore mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security. To request a copy of the letter already in circulation via email, please write to: John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord Street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 Phone (61)(2)9517-3903 email: nonukes@foesyd.org.au website: http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd Your help in getting US Congressional signatures on this letter will also be greatly appreciated. *Write a letter to the US Food and Drug Administration. Your letter should urge the Dockets Management Branch to continue to clearly label food with the international irradiation symbol, radura. Labels should also contain a statement indicating the food was treated with radiation. Please convey to the Dockets Manager that you feel the absence of such a statement would be misleading because irradiation destroys vitamins and causes changes in sensory and spoilage qualities that are not known by the consumer. Irradiation creates a new class of unique radiolytic products that have never been tested for the possible carcinogenic effects on humans. New volumes of radioactive waste from Cobalt-60 and Cesium will plague our nation, exposing workers to toxic radionuclides. Your letter should be addressed as follows: Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305) Food and Drug Administration 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061 Rockville MD 20852 Email: FDADockets@fda.gov **Original letter written by Terry Gips and circulated by Alice Slater on 7/12/99 Terry Gips President, Sustainability Associates 2584 Upton Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55405 tgips@mtn.org ***ANNOUNCEMENTS *The Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research offers three Doctoral Fellowships in the amount of $5,000 each for 1999-2000. Interested doctoral candidates are invited to apply by sending a one-page copy of their doctoral proposal along with a resume and a letter of recommendation from their thesis advisor. The competition is open to all doctoral students regardless of citizenship and institutional affiliation. The deadline for applications is September 1, 1999. Applications should be sent to: Dr. Majid Tehranian, Director Toda Institute 1600 kapiolani Blvd. Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822 808-955-8231 For more information, please visit the Toda Institute web site at: http://www.toda.org. * Promoting Enduring Peace will be hosting biweekly meetings to draft a purpose statement for the Working Group on Star Wars/ABM, to discuss objectives and goals of the group, and to recommend strategies for the Abolition USA meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan in October 1999. Anyone interested in participating in this working group should contact PromotingEnduring Peace at: enduringpeace@email.msn.com, or call 212-223-7520 *Do you have an announcement or submission that you would like to include in the next edition of "The Grassroots of Abolition 2000"? If so, please email your posting to A2000@silcom.com . *I reserve the right to use any information submitted to include in upcoming editions of Grassroots News. Your name and email address must be provided in order to give a resource for any inquiries. All articles are subject to modification and verification. ***RESOURCES "On a Paper Crane" is a colorful peace animation video available in English and Japanese. This is an excellent resource to educate children about the horrors of nuclear war. The story is centered around Tomoko, a sixth grader who meets Sadako when she visits the Hiroshima Peace Park. Sadako takes Tomoko on an enlightening adventure filled with discoveries. To order your copy, send a request to: Peace Anime no Kai c/o Dokuritsu Eiga Center Co. Taiyo bldg 7F, 16-2 Shimbashi 3 chome Minato-ku, Tokyo 105 Japan *Trying to find out how to contact your US government representatives? Visit Roll Call's Capital Hill Website Directory at: http://congress.nw.dc.us/rollcall/ *Ideas & Dreams for a Better World: The Fourth Five Hundred Ideas by Dr. Robert Muller is now available. Dr. Muller is a Chancellor of the United Nations University for Peace and a former UN Assistant Secretary-General. The volume is an inspirational "count-up of Dreams to the Year 2000 for your thoughts and actions." It provides new ideas for the next millennium with a positive yet realistic approach to urgent human needs. To order your copy of this inspirational guide, call the United Nations Bookstore at 1-800-553-3210. ISBN # 1-881474--25-9 ***LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Friends, For those living in affluent societies such as the US, it is easy to get caught up in material and selfish concerns. Often times in the morning, I find myself standing in front of a closet full of clothes and saying, "I have nothing to wear today." I feel humbled when I think of all those who truly do not have clothes on their backs or food in their mouths. It is convenient to forget that many have suffered and continue to suffer on a daily basis so that these affluent societies can continue as such. What if the situation was reversed? What would it be like to completely rebuild a destroyed home or city that has just been devastated by bombs for a reason you barely understand? What would life be like to lose everyone close to you and all your possessions? The amount of human suffering that has occurred since the advent of nuclear weapons must be stopped immediately. It is time for reparations for all the human suffering and environmental degradation that have occurred as a result of nuclear testing and weapons use. This August 6th and 9th mark the 54th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This tragic event in world history gives each person the opportunity to join others in a time of reflection and action. Let us be reminded of the horrors posed to humanity by the use of nuclear weaponry. Let us consider what we can do to ensure a world free from nuclear threats and the threat of war. I encourage you to participate in an event in your community. If you would like a listing composed by Abolition 2000, please feel free to send me an email at A2000@silcom.com. Yours In Peace, Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 Editor, "Abolition 2000 Grassroots News" Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 Santa Barbara CA 93108 Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 Email: A2000@silcom.com Website http://www.abolition2000.org Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no subject) to: abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no subject) to: majordomo@igc.org In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bob Kinsey" Subject: (abolition-usa) US Army Depleted Uranium Report Date: 02 Aug 1999 14:53:29 -0600 Below is a selection of quotes and comments --I have a better edited copy I could fax on request... Quotes from "Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted : Uranium Use in the U.S. Army: Technical Report" June 1995. (all items in parentheses are personal observation) 7.3 U.S.Test Sites (Page 146 ff.) "The army has conducted most of its DU weapons development and testing at three U.S. sites. Environmental monitoring has not detected DU migration out of impact areas...but has measured limited movement with the impact areas...Studies by LANL and Batlle PNL found that during soft target testing ... penetrators oxidized into products that contaminated the soil directly beneath the penetrators. The DU concentration decreased with depth but remained above background and retained the DU isotopic signature at a depth of 20 cm ...results suggest the DU migrated through the soil as soluble uranium...uranium absorbed in water soluble organic acids, or by particulate transport as the result of erosion in the woodland environment...difference clearly illustrate the imprtance of soil and climate in transport and fate of uranium. (over how long a period of time compared with the time the material will remain toxic and radioactive?) 7.5 (152 f.) Sites contaminated with DU may need to be cleaned up to reduce health and environmental risks. DU remediation technologies are not well developed... 7.5.2 (154 f.) No international law, treaty, regulation or custom requires the United States to remediate the Persian Gulf War battlefields...(what a relief, I'll bet, and who cares if it might be dangerous nevertheless.) ...it may be advisable to institute a sampling program at a highly contaminated location such as the Tomsk, Russia, waste tank explosion site ...These validated models would allow the army to make more informed decisions about DU remediation alternatives. (well after they have managed to explode the stuff all over the place like a 3 year old kid) 7.7 Summary (174 f.) Uranium, regardless of the isotopic mix (DU, enriched, naturally occurring,etc.), is identical in matters of chemical toxcicity and environmental mobility...Minerals in the soil where a DU penetrator lands affect how fast the penetrator will corrode an become soluble...DU is not effectively transported in the (animal) food chain, partly because organisms low in the food chain quickly excrete most soluble uranium species. ..Plants growing in soil contaminatied with DU typically concentrate DU in their root systems. (carrots?? onions?? potatoes??? not mentioned!!) Some plants appear to have a mechanism to limit their DU intake...The Army needs to develop a strategy to address the long term liabilities of DU contamination at test sites and perhaps at battlefields... 8. (Pages 178 ff.) Findings and Conclusions "The Earth and its resources belong of right to its people." --Gifford Pinchot (unless they are on our battlefields or testing sites) This report considered the health and environmental effects of the use of DU within the U.S. Army. .... The data gathered during this study clearly indicated that, from the onset of DU weapons research, the Department of the Army recognized its responsility to seek ways to reduce risks. To this end the Army complies with established statutes, regulations and procedures. (but to the indigenous people affected, who come outside these procedures? Oh, well, all's fair in love and war!) ...it conducted extensive tests and repeated reviews to ensure that the items would be combat effective and safe to use....a commitment is embedded across DU weapon programs to minimize exposure of Army personnel, the public and the environment to the potential hazards of DU. The Army's military and civilian employees manage chemical and radiological environmental hazards...Nevertheless (Oh,Oh, here it comes!) AEPI identified several DU related areas the require further attention. A few of these are potential weaknesses in Army programs but most are ways to enhance current practices and procedures. ...four areas of concern... -a battlefield may be contaminated with many dangerous things. The impact of DU contamination on the battlefield is a new issue and is not well-defined (but we went ahead anyway).. -.hazards from DU contamination are probably small...however additional environmental modeling and data are needed to support this judgment. (see, we went ahead anyway) --DU remediation technologies involve one or more of ... very few remedition technologies have actually been used to clean up DU contaminated sites. (but,we went ahead...) --No available technologies can significantly change the inherent chemical and radiological toxicity of DU. These characteristics are fundamental to the element uranium. The Army is also developing models to better describe the environmental fate and effects of DU. 8.2 Conclusions (Pages 180 ff.) The Army or DoD should designate a single office independent of DU systems development or use to improve mamagement and control of DU health, environmental, and regulatory issues. ...to assure compliance with applicable laws and regulations...establish a mechanism for scientific peer review of all DU health and environmental testing and research...assure that weapon testing programs include acquisition of well-reasoned environmental safety and health data....(the fox has been guarding the chicken coop again) No explicit cross-references exist between the policies of each regulation...adequate cross references would ensure that those responsible for acquiring a system would be exposed to the environmental regulations and become familiar with environtental a ects of the ultimate demilitarization and disposal of the system. (out of sight, out of...) The Army should determine the full life-cycle cost of DU weapon systems...take into account not only production costs, but also demilitarization, disposal and recycling costs; faciltiy decontamination costs; test-range remediation costs; and long term alth and environmental costs....These materials should be evaluated on the basis of unbiased estimates of the health and environmental risks -chemical and radioactive- and full life-cycle costs. (sniff, sniff, but we never had to befo-ore, sniff sniff) Soldiers need additional training on the hazards and management of DU...on methods to detect; and on the protection and decontamination measures that can be used in the field. Define protective techniques for personnel dealing with vehicles potentially contaminated with DU. The new guidance must consider the trade-off between DU risks and combat risks. (now there's a new idea!) Develop standardized markings for ...systems containing DU . Current markings on Army items containing DU are inconsistent and sometimes misleading. Use of euphemisms, such as "staballoy," should be eliminated. (this would revolutionize military-speak) The army needs to conduct further experiments and analysis to better define ...inhalation risks for recovery and maintenance personnel who work in and around contaminated vehicles. Data--including particle size, concentration, density and oxidation state--are required to evaluate re-suspension and inhalation potential. (I should think so-o. never occured to them, though) Develop a viable program for the demilitarization of unspent R&D ammunition. (We can assume , then, that none of this had been done five years prior to the report during Desert Storm) Currently, unspent R&D ammunition containing DU is counted against e NRC radioactive material budget for Army testing centers. When testing is complete, the remaining ammunition permanently reduces the radioactive material budget at the test centers. (Creating a strong motive for selling it in the international arms trade) Page A-3 ...A January, 1993 General Accounting Office report found that the Army did not have a comprehensive DU battlefield management plan." This study also reported that the Desert Storm recovery and maintenance soldiers worked in and around DU contaminated equipment without being aware of their potential exposure and without being appropriately trained in protective measures. (nothing but the best for our GI's--ever check out the bomb shelters for our top decision makers?) (Pages A 6-8 topic headings) External Exposures Estimated and Found to be Minimal Internal Exposures for Some Personnel Wounded in Friendly Fire Incidents Potentially Significant Toxicological Risks Not Completely Understood (nothing but the ...) Definitive Health Risk Conclusions Difficult (so lets get on with it anyway) DU May Become Mobile in the Environment (We just have to wait for so-o lo-ong to find out) Issues Concerning DU Environmental Management of the Battlefield (Page A-11) To give the U.S. soldier the best battlefield advantage the United States must continue fielding superior weapon systems. Using DU on the battlefield poses potential environmental consequences. The question is how to protect the environment and thereby reduce the risks to soldiers and the indigenous population. (nice concern finally brought to the fore) Efforts are und way to develop a fundamental understanding of the fate and effect of DU in the environment. But even a unilateral decision by the United States to eliminate DU weapons would not remove DU from the battlefield: the United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey, Saudi rabia, Pakistan, Thailand, Israel, France and others have developed or are developing DU-containing weapons systems for their inventories. Additionally, DU munitions are sold in the world arms market. (This paragraph is the most disconcerting of all. It is strong evidence that the United States has been moving ahead with DU weapons systems production without "a fundamental understanding of the fate and effect of DU in the environment." The report also suggests that the barn door has already been open too long and that it was opened before this knowledge existed. It still doesn't exist! This attitude that we will develop some technology for immediate use and examine possible long term negative effects at leisure has been the ethic--if you can call it that-- up to this point.) 8.2.4 (page 194) ...Remediation of battlefields is not historically the responsibility of the victor. This task typically belongs to the indigenous popoulation. However, it may be appropriate for the Army to be prepared to provide guidance to other governments on the health and safety risks associated wth DU for affected battlefields. (Note that this statement carries the implication that the Army in not so prepared now and further that it hasn't definitively studied the issue of battlefield cleanup. Throughout, the report is the suggestion that this whole issue, including even the pact on U.S. territory-- upon which the DU weapons have been tested-- has not been carefully studied and understood. One interesting question occurs as a result of 8.2.4. How could remediation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki as a "battlefield" be left up to apan when it had no knowledge--certainly nowhere near the knowledge the US had--and the US knowledge was apparently minimal as well? The Japanese in that case were guinia pigs as was West Asia in Desert Storm. What was that Pinchot quote about the peoples of the earth?) Page A-2 Not capitalized in original IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT UNDER CURRENT INTERNATIONAL LAW, THERE IS NO LEGAL REQUIREMENT TO REMEDIATE ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE TO BATTLEFIELDS. FURTHERMORE, IT IS UNLIKELY THAT FUTURE REMEDIATION OF BATTLEFIELDS SOLEY TO REMOVE DU WILL BE REQURIED. (All right then, go for it?????? Now we understand why the United States has been withdrawing from the international law regime in favor of NATO and unilateral decision making. To keep anything from being required of us. National Sovereignty, you know.) ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________ Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force United Church of Christ, Rocky Mountain Conference bkinsey@peacemission.org 303-425-0348 "Two paths lie before us. One leads to death, the other to life." Jonathan Schell "Faith has need of the whole truth" Teilhard de Chardin "Jesus was non-violent. Shouldn't Christians be? - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: [y2k-nuclear] Re: Fw: Revamped BugNetwork Goes Live on Date: 03 Aug 1999 11:50:17 -0400 Dear Friends, For those of you working on Y2k, here's some interesting contacts, both here and abroad. Regards, Alice Slater >Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 00:36:41 -0400 >Subject: Fwd: [y2k-nuclear] Re: Fw: Revamped BugNetwork Goes Live on 3rd August >To: y2k-nukes@envirolink.org, y2k-nuclear@egroups.com, > uk-y2k-action@egroups.com >Cc: whauter@citizen.org, jriccio@citizen.org >From: smirnowb@ix.netcom.com (smirnowb@ix.netcom.com) > >------Begin forward message------------------------- > >Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 09:06:21 +0900 >From: Yumi Kikuchi > > > >Hi Yumi, > I think it would be great if a meeting[s] can be arranged with >Markey. Senators Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Tom >Harkin of Iowa might be good contacts, too. As might Senators Bennett of >Utah and Dodd of Connecticutt, Co-Chairs of the >Senate Y2K committee who just a few days ago made some noise about the >possibility of an accidental Y2K induced nuclear war. >Congressman Horne of California chairs the House Y2K Sub Committee. They, >too are available through the same Congressional >Switchboard phone# at: 202-224-3121. All three can be reached through the >Congressioanl switchboard in D.C. at: 202-224- >3121. Ed Markey's aid that deals with these issues is Lowell Ungar who can >be reached at: lowell.ungar@mail.house.gov Also >potentially helpful is "The Center for Defense Information" which has a >weekly half hour TV program on PBS called "America's >Defense Monitor." They should do a show about Y2K/Nukes. Their program >director is Mark Sugg who can be reached at: >msugg@cdi.org CDI can also be reached via phone at: 1-800-CDI-3334 and >202-332-0600 and by Fax at: 202-462-4559 Their >web site is http://www.cdi.org Their snail mail address is: > > > Center for Defense Information > 1779 Mass Ave., N.W. > Washington. D.C. 20036 > USA > > > A contact in Germany is Regina Hagen who's been working on the Cassini >"Space Nuke" shot. You can reach Regina at: >regina.hagen@jugendstil.da.shuttle.de Her fax# is: 011-49-6151-47-105 > > > Another source people should be in touch with is Ralph Nader & his >group "Public Citizen." Maybe overtures can be made to >Nader himself to get involved with this campaign [he ran for President >here in the USA in 1996] & bring it to public >consciousness. The division at "Public Citizen" that deals with nuclear >power is "Critical Mass." Winonah Hauter and Rim >Riccio are key contacts there. They can be reached at: Jim Riccio >jriccio@citizen.org Phone:202-546-4996, Fax: 202-547- >7392, Winonah Hauter: whauter@citizen.org Phone: 202-546-4996, Fax: >202-547-7392 http://www.citizen.org > > > > Let's Shut 'Em Down, > Bill Smirnow > > > > >Hi, John, >How is your Aug 5 and 6 events coming along? Did you get my >message? I sent it to a wrong address first. I should resend >it perhaps just in case. > >John Thomas wrote: >>> >>> Dear All, >>> Perhaps this can be of use. . . >Thank you. I will check it. >John, by the way, is there any media contact you have in W.D.C, >such as Washington Post or NY Times or major TV?? I wonder if I >can come to D.C. , meeting Ed Markey or some congress people who >are working on Nuke-Y2K issue and ask one of then the head of the >Y2K-WASH Campaign? > >Is it helpful at all if I can come during IMF/World Bank meeting on >24-26 Sep to lobby and raise issue there? Can you or someone help me >to get pass to the meeting? Will it be at UN in NY, or in WDC? >Do you know? I have done a lot of lobbying during the Earth Summit >and prep.coms for that in 1991-92, and also organized several >symposium in NY. > >What I am going to do(and what I can do at least) is to organize an >international conference on Y2K and Nuclear issue, or to apeal wider >range of people, just Y2K and Sustainable Future, or something in Japan >and in Germany. I have organized several international conferences >before and I know how to do it in Japan. But in Berlin, I need a local >help for logistics and general preparation(place, time & date, >publicity, >invitation list, accomocation, etc.) > >I wonder if anyone in this list is from Germany or have contacts there, >preferably in Berlin?? The G8 meeting on Y2K contingency plan is on >Sep 21 in Berlin and all the government officials are there, you know? >I wonder how many people have interest to that meeting. >How many people in this list can actually come to Berlin >if there is Y2K Citizens' Summit 'Year 2000 and Beyond, for creating >sustainable future'(it is just an idea and no official title is >decided). I really would like to have some support or to work with >someone who shares the same concern to organize this event in Germany. >I will be working out of Japan and I can do very little on the >actual preparation. What we are trying to do is to get the funding, >but there should be someone in Germany who has been working on the >nuclear issue for many years. Green Party is anti-nuclear, isn't it? >Please help me. > >I know some people in this list is uncomfortable to mix nuclear power >and bombs as the consequence is too different and people can easily >support de-alerting but can necesarily support shutting down the >power plants. But Chenobyl is very real if we lose power due to >Y2K, even though nuclear power plants have backup generator(deasel) >but their reliability is not so great and they are only for emergency >and not designed for a long term operation. > >I and Dr Allan had a separate discussion and I understand his point >but still I think it is wise to take as much precaution as possible >to prevent nuclear disaster. > >Internationa Symposium in Japan will be sometime before the G8, >maybe on 11 nd 12 Sep or 15 Sep depending on the availability of >the conference hall. > >I would love to invite all of you in the list for the conference if >you can make it(we can not pay for airfare but we maybe able to >accomodate you in our homes). Think about it. Or see you all in >Berlin. Let's show them we are serious and just asking very reasonable >thing for public safety. > >Love, Yumi >>> >>> >To find out more click on >>> >http://www.bugnetwork.com/interview/ >>> > >>> >The interview will be conducted by Jon Ivinson, Vice President of >>> >Professional and Public Affairs at the British Computer Society and >>> >Consultant to Action 2000. >>> > >>> >For any further information contact the site editor, Mark Mitchinson at >>> >editor@bugnetwork.com >>> >>> Regards >>> John Thomas >>> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>> Click Here to apply for a NextCard Internet Visa and start earning >>> FREE travel in HALF the time with the NextCard Rew@rds Program. >>> http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/449 >>> >>> eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear >>> http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Click Here to apply for a NextCard Internet Visa and start earning >FREE travel in HALF the time with the NextCard Rew@rds Program. >http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/449 > > >eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear >http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications > > > > >------End forward message--------------------------- > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Subject: (abolition-usa) Updated List of Events for Hiroshima/Nagasaki Date: 04 Aug 1999 13:57:41 -0700 (PDT) Dear Friends and Activists, The following is another update of events commemorating the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Please join others in this time of reflection and action and encourage others to participate as well. In Peace, Carah **New**As the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6th approaches, a Bay Area atomic bomb survivor along with a group of Bay Area multicultural performing artists, storytellers, ceremonial performance artists and musicians have come together to rally support across the world for a Nuclear Free Planet. This project THE FIRST LIGHT, will build a bridge of peace and compassion, apology and forgiveness starting in New Mexico, the site of the first nuclear bomb test and ending in Hiroshima and Nagasaki where the bombs were dropped. For more information, contact: Eth-Noh-Tec: Nancy Wang/Tisha Mitsunaga 415-282-8705 FAX 415-282-8795 email: ethnohtec@aol.com **New** In Esbjerg,Denmark -There will be a rememberence of the bombing of Hiroshima in the garden of Heerup at 9 p.m. on August 6. The garden is located on the corner of Skolegade and Torvegade. Lotus flowers will be placed in the water and Poul Eck Sorensen will commemorate the event. For more information, please contact: Poul Eck Sorensen at poul-eck@post3.tele.dk **New**The Alliance of Atomic Veterans have coordinated a sequence of events in Las Vegas for August 5 through 9. If you are interested in participating in these events please contact: John Smitherman - Nevada Chapter July, 28, 1999 For Immediate Release Contact: Charlie Hilfenhaus chilfenhaus@juno.com 702.648.1575 **New**As you might know a Global Peace March is presently taking place with the objective of total nuclear disarmament, a weapons free society and the establishment of a just and humane global order. A world-wide signature campaign is simultaneously happening, in support of this march. The march is also making people aware about the dangers of radioactivity and seeking support to abandon the nuclear energy programme. WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO JOIN US DURING THE END OF THE MARCH, ON AUGUST 6, 1999, (HIROSHIMA DAY) FROM VARANASI TO SARNATH, AND FOR A DAY-LONG PROGRAMME ON THE SAME DAY AFTER REACHING SARNATH. Please contact: Ajit Singh, S-8/395, Khajuri Colony, Varanasi, Phone: (0542) 342253, in Varanasi. The public meeting on August 6 will take place in Tibetan Institute, Sarnath, where the contact person is Prof. Rimpoche. **New**The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires that nuclear plants be Y2K ready,yet apparently have set no compliance criteria! On August 6, Hiroshima Day at UN Plaza in SF at 5:00 pm we will be raising our voices. Join us & others around the world who will be doing the same. Call (415) 789-8032 or for more information on the issue check the Nuclear Information Resource Services website at www.nirs.org. **New** Sacramento-Yolo Peace Action is proud to sponser the 13th Annual Auust Women's Peace Event on Friday, August 6th, from 6 to 8:30pm at The Grand, 1215 J Street,in Sacramento. This family-oriented program is centered on the theme "Peace Begins at Home". The event's mission is to remembert the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings through the "Story of Sadako and the 1000 Cranes" and to provide a collective experience that celebrates all the interconnected peoples and cultures around the world. Tickets range from $3 to $5. To purchase tickets in advance, please call 916-441-0764. **New**The Southern California Federation of Scientists are sponsoring a lecture by John Owen entitled, "Nukes and Peace: Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration". The lecture will take place in the Community Meeting Room of the Midnight Special Bookstore on Tuesday, August 10, 1999 at 7:30pm. The Bookstore is located at 1318 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA. For more information contact the Southern California Federation of Scientists at: 3318 Colbert Ave, Suite 200 Los Angeles, CA 90066 310-390-3898 (phone/fax) **New**PLOWSHARES PLAY COMING TO BALTIMORE Baltimore's Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, a coalition of peace organizations including AFSC-Baltimore, will be presenting in Baltimore on Saturday, August 7, Dan Kinch's Plowshares play, "A Clown, a Hammer, a Bomb and God". On the morning of April 1, 1994, an activist priest dressed in a clown suit disabled a nuclear missile. This disarmingly simple play is directed by Rhett Wickham and features Ben Roberts. Doors will open at 7 PM at Stony Run Friends Meetinghouse, 5116 North Charles, for an 8 PM performance. Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs [Hibakusha] will also be at Stony Run. Refreshments will be available. The Committee will be asking for a free will donation, but no one will be turned away. For more information, call: Max Obuszewski 410-323-7200 or 410-377-7987 Pedals for Peace of San Luis Obispo will have a lantern launching on the creek near the Mission in SLO to commemerate the 54th anniversary of the bombings and sufferings of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at 7 pm on Sunday August 8th. They will also reflect on the impact of the nuclear age on the indigenous peoples of the world and all humankind. For more information, contact: Sheila Baker Pedals For Peace slbaker@calpoly.edu A-BOMB SURVIVORS TO SPEAK IN SEAVILLE ON 8/7 Two Hibakusha, or survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs, will speak at the Coalition for Peace and Justice’s annual Hiroshima Day Commemoration, to be held at 7:30 PM at the Seaville Friends Meetinghouse, Route 9 in Seaville, about one half mile south of the Route 50 and Route 9 intersection. There will also be a short slide show on the medical effects of nuclear bombs and the Abolition 2000 Campaign to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide. This event is co-sponsored by the Seaville Friends Meeting. Chiyono Yoneda, and Masao Tamaru are the two Hibakusha who will speak. Chiyono Yoneda, 72 years old, now lives in Yokohama, Japan. She was present at the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. She has been a Japanese peace activist and member of Hidanyko, the Japanese atomic bomb victims association for many years. She will describe her experiences both during the bomb blast itself and in the days following the attack. For More information contact Norm Cohen at norco@bellatlantic.net or visit the website at: http://members.bellatlantic.net/~norco/ The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is proud to sponsor Sadako Peace Day. A ceremony will be held at the Sadako Peace Garden at La Casa de Maria in Santa Barbara, California. For more information, please call 805-965-3443 Cambridge, Massachusetts peace groups will remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki at 6:45 PM on August 5 at Grace Church, 56 Magazine Street (Central Square). Japanese Hibakusha (A-Bomb Survivors), a Pueblo Indian woman from New Mexico who lived near and worked in a uranium mine, the Cambridge Peace and Justice Youth, and notable figures within the Cambridge peace movement will reflect on the meaning of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for our present struggle for the abolition of nuclear weapons, war, and violence. We will close with a candlelight procession to the bank of the Charles River, where we will float flowers in honor of Hiroshima's victims. On the morning of the 6th, Cambridge high school and college students will lead peace activities with local children. At 1:00 the children, Hibakusha and marchers from Harvard Square will meet on the steps of Cambridge City Hall. The ceremony will focus on the importance of citizens of all ages in carrying on the memory of the Hibakusha and their message of peace. For information please contact Joseph Gerson or Kevin Heffel (American Friends Service Committee) at 617-661-6130 or email at kheffel@emerald.tufts.edu. This program is sponsored by the New Century Peace and Justice Leadership Project and Peace and Justice Studies at Tufts University. People for Nuclear Disarmament in Perth, Western Australia, will again be conducting a vigil outside Wesley Church on Friday August 6th, commemorating the first use of nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They will also be focusing on uranium mining and nuclear waste dumping in Australia. There will be a display of photographs plus two or three tables to house leaflets, petitions, and banners related to the above themes. Also, there will be books and buttons for sale as well as leaflets to hand out and petitions in support of nuclear disarmament and an end to Uranium mining and waste dumping. For further information, contact Graham Daniell at: gdaniell@wt.com.au Washington DC abolitionists traditionally commemorate Hiroshima at the moment of the bombing, which in D.C. is August 5th, early evening (early morning August 6th in Japan), from 5:00 p.m. to dark (candlefloat) at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Tabling encouraged; brief speeches begin the event. Hibakusha (survivors of the bombs) will be present; there aren't too many of them left, so now is a good time to come hear the story from their own mouths. For more details, contact John Steinbach, Hiroshima-Nagasaki Committee, 703-369-7427 In Adelaide, Australia, peace groups will hold a 'Candles and Cranes' walk through the centre of town, starting at 5.30pm. During the function, the Y2K De-Alerting Letter to Clinton and Yeltsin will be launched by a politician (state) who is one of the signatories of the letter. Another politician (federal) will accept the latest load of "Declarations of Public Concern", from concerned individuals to our Prime Minister, which call upon the Australian Government 'to initiate moves towards a global treaty for the abolition of nuclear weapons, with a time-line for this to be in place by the year 2000.' The World Conference against A & H Bombs invites you to join the "Hiroshima and Nagasaki Days International Joint Action for Nuclear Free 21st Century" on Aug.6 and 9, 1999. There will be a posting entitled "International Joint Action for Nuclear Free 21st Century" on their website: http://www.twics.com/~antiatom/ Princeton New Jersey -- Coalition for Peace Action will commemorate the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 5th at the Woodrow Wilson School Plaza on the Princeton University Campus. The picnic will begin at 6pm and the program at 7pm. Youth for Peace will be on hand to fold paper cranes with children of all ages. Susan Tenney and her dancers will open the program. Then a moment of silemnce will be held at 7:15. Speakers scheduled will include Zia Mian, a Pakistani physicist; 2 Hibakusha, one each from Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and (possibly) a Gulf War Veteran. Music will be supplied by the Solidarity Singers. At the end of the program, the dancers will present "Shadows," a piece Sunsan Tenney composed for the event. Then all will float candles on the reflection pond. For more information, please contact: LL Morgan-DuBreuil, Associate Director, Coalition for Peace Action 40 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542 (609) 924-5022 voice, (609) 924-3052 fax cfpa@cyberenet.net The Long Beach Peace Network will hold a demonstration at the Seal Beach Nuclear Weapons Station on Seal Beach Boulevard at 11 am on Saturday, August 7, in memory of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For information all Gene Ruyle at 562 438-6505. The Asahi Shimbun Newspaper will be running a special edition on the bombings, with some new findings by a team of investigative reporters. 3rd-9th-The World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs will be held in Hiroshima & Nagasaki. For more information, please contact: antiatom@twics.com 3rd-8th-Tromp Trident Trek III is a 52 mile peace walk commemorating the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It begins in Ashland and ends at Project ELF. For more information, contact Nukewatch at 715-472-4185 or email at nukewtch@win.bright.net. 6th-Hiroshima Commemoration at Livermore Lab. It begins at 2:30 PM at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where nuclear weapons are designed and a new weapons facility is currently under construction that is intended to create thermonuclear blasts in a reactor vessel, called the National Ignition Facility. The gathering will be at the corner of East Avenue and Vasco Road. After a program of speakers and music, there will be a procession to the gates of the Laboratory. This annual commemoration is sponsored by many San Francisco Bay Area peace and environmental organizations, including the Livermore-based Tri-Valley CAREs. For more information, call 925-443-7148. 6th-9th-Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund National Congress are calling for students, activists and concerned citizens form across the nation and from around the world to join them in Albuquerque, New Mexico to commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For more information, please contact: Peace Action www.peace-action.org 202-862-9740 ext. 3038 1819 H St. NW Suite 420 Washington, DC 20006 On Nagasaki Day Peace Action will host a major direct action at the Los Alamos lab! The contact email for more info is bhall@peace-action.org. For the 17th consecutive year, a fast on water will take place from 6 to 9 of August in Tavery, North of Paris, headquarters of the french "force de frappe". Please, send by mail your own information, support and projects to the fasters : jeűne du 6 au 9 aoűt 1999 Maison de Vigilance 135, rue de Béthemont 95150 - Taverny France The fasters demand an end to the Mégajoule project for the modernization of nuclear bombs, and an really independent and thourough environment and health survey in Polynesia and in the Sahara, with compensations for the victims. Brandywine Peace Community is commemorating the bombings of Hirsoshima on Friday August 6th, with a vigil from 8am til Noon at Lockheed Martin, Mall Blvd in Valley Forge, PA. At Noon, friends and activists are invited to participate in "Through Hiroshima Eyes", a nuclear age remembrance and nonviolent civil disobedience. On Monday, August 9th, there will be a vigil from 7:30am til 11am at the Lockheed Martin Aegis warship site on Centerton Rd. in Moorestown, NJ. A ceremony for the victims of US war-making will follow at 11am. For more information please contact: Brandywine Peace Community P.O. Box 81 Swarthmore, PA 19081 610-544-1818 email: brandywine@juno.com Hiroshima Day Bike Tour to Livermore Labs will be held on Friday, August 6th and to be followed by a rally and Non-violent Direct Action at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory. For more information, call 510-832-4347 or visit the web site at: http://www.bikesummer.org Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 Santa Barbara CA 93108 Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 Email: A2000@silcom.com Website http://www.abolition2000.org Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no subject) to: abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no subject) to: majordomo@igc.org In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: LA Times op-ed Date: 04 Aug 1999 21:05:51 -0400 >____________________________________________________________________________ >____________________________ >LA TIMES > >Tuesday, August 3, 1999 > >China Spy Case Takes Aim at the Wrong Issue >Espionage: Beijing's capability is so primitive that giving it better bombs >might make it feel less trigger-happy. >By ROBERT SCHEER > > >The "Chinaman" did it. The diabolical Asian has long been a staple of >American racism, and it's not surprising that the folks attempting to whip >up a new red espionage scare would focus on Wen Ho Lee. > > >No matter that Lee was born and raised in militantly anti-communist Taiwan >and that, as he stated convincingly Sunday on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes," the >whole reason for his years of hard work on nuclear weapons design at Los >Alamos was to help defend his adopted country against its enemies. Nor that >there is not a scintilla of evidence that any secret data from Lee ever >made >their way to any unauthorized person. > > >Facts evidently don't matter to those in Congress, led by Rep. Christopher >Cox (R-Newport Beach), and in the media, where the august New York Times >has >acted as head cheerleader for those sounding the alarm of a Chinese nuclear >threat. They seem not to have noticed that the Chinese nuclear weapons >program is minuscule and 40 years behind our own. The Chinese have, at >most, >30 primitive nuclear explosives, atop unstable liquid fuel rockets, capable >of hitting the U.S. The United States has 6,000 of the most ultramodern of >such weapons, ready at the wait on land, at sea and in the air, providing >an >unstoppable and total life-obliterating retaliatory force. > > >There is, in short, no evidence of a criminal or a crime. After years of >exhaustive investigation, the Justice Department is finally getting ready >to >charge Lee--not with criminal espionage but rather with the immensely >underwhelming charge of doing his work on an unsecured computer. >If the Justice Department has any sense of proportion, a deal will be >brokered, and Lee will be slapped on the wrist for a sloppiness that is all >too common at both the Livermore and Los Alamos labs. After all of the >fuss, >the grand result will be a call for increased tidiness in the operation of >the nuclear weapons labs, and we can all toast to that. Neatness is a >virtue >to be respected. > > >As for the sexier stuff of espionage, forget it. The dirty secret of the >nuclear weapons business is that there are no secrets. Nothing has happened >since Hiroshima and Nagasaki to render these weapons any more plausibly >useful as weapons. A crude nuclear weapon dropped from a propeller-driven >plane or carried in a suitcase does the job of terrorizing civilian >populations--the only function of nuclear weapons--as effectively as the >modernized warheads, whose technology some claim Beijing has stolen. > > >Indeed, the argument made by the U.S. government in pushing ahead with >weapons modernization was that the newer nuclear weapons would be more >stable and less threatening. Mobile missiles on land or on subs were >presumed far less vulnerable to a first strike, freeing the man with his >finger on the button from the obligation to make a decision within a matter >of minutes to "use them or lose them." >As matters now stand, if the leaders in Beijing think the U.S. has launched >a preemptive nuclear strike, they would have 12 minutes in which to decide >whether to launch their fixed land-based missiles before U.S. rockets >arrive >to obliterate them. That was the choice that a rudely awakened Boris >Yeltsin >faced in 1995, when a Norwegian rocket launch was misinterpreted as one of >ours. Fortunately, Yeltsin decided to go back to bed when his advisors >learned in time that they had made a mistake. > > >In today's heightened hysteria between the U.S. and China, decision-making >might not be quite so restrained. In the perverse logic of the nuclear arms >race, it would be in our national security interest to supply the Chinese >with a Trident-class sub that works, as opposed to their lone sub contender >that leaks radiation so badly that it isn't operational. > > >And, heresy of heresies, we should give the Chinese some submarine-suitable >missiles armed with the miniaturized W-88 warhead that they are supposed to >have stolen. That way, even if they thought a nuclear weapon was en route >to >them, they would not have to instantly respond, being secure in the >knowledge that they possessed survivable retaliatory power. > > >Sounds nutty, I know. But that's nuclear war for you. Perhaps that is why >work at the nuclear weapons labs sometimes veers into ditzier realms. What >the nuclear weapons scientists know full well, even if some in Congress and >the media don't, is that if these weapons are ever used, the only >beneficiaries from their work will be the radioactive-proof cockroaches >that >then will inherit the Earth. > > >Robert Scheer Is a Contributing Editor to The Times > >Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bob Kinsey" Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Fall Call for Abolition Action! Date: 05 Aug 1999 16:16:22 -0600 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0194_01BEDF5D.DBF3E7A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Please send 25 kits to my Task Force @6555 Ward Road, Arvada, Colorado. = 80004 _________________________________________________________________________= ____________________________________ Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force United Church of Christ, Rocky Mountain Conference bkinsey@peacemission.org 303-425-0348 "Two paths lie before us. One leads to death, the other to life." = Jonathan Schell "Faith has need of the whole truth" Teilhard de Chardin "Jesus was non-violent. Shouldn't Christians be? ------=_NextPart_000_0194_01BEDF5D.DBF3E7A0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Please send 25 kits to my = Task Force=20 @6555 Ward Road, Arvada, Colorado. 80004
__________________________________________________________= ___________________________________________________
Bob=20 Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force
United Church of Christ, Rocky = Mountain=20 Conference
bkinsey@peacemission.org
= 303-425-0348
"Two=20 paths lie before us.  One leads to death, the other to =20 life."  Jonathan Schell
"Faith has need of the whole=20 truth"  Teilhard de Chardin
"Jesus was = non-violent. =20 Shouldn't Christians be? 
------=_NextPart_000_0194_01BEDF5D.DBF3E7A0-- - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) PRESS RELEASE RE 'BILL AND BORIS' Y2K DE-ALERTING LETTER RELEASE Date: 06 Aug 1999 17:33:21 +1000 John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd FRIENDS OF THE EARTH/HIROSHIMA DAY COMMITTEE WORLD WRITES TO YELTSIN, CLINTON: TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT, AVOID GLOBAL NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE. Over 271 peace groups, environment groups, churches, trade unions, and parliamentarians including the worlds largest environment, antinuclear, and anti- weapons organisations and high-powered Washington think-tanks, today released a letter to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, asking them to take strategic nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K rollover period in order to avoid the danger of acccidental nuclear war. Veteran antinuclear and anti-weapons activists Hannah Middleton and John Hallam released the letter this Hiroshima Day morning at a well- attended press conference in the NSW Parliament House. The letter was duly posted to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton in front of TV cameras. The letter is also being released today in Adelaide, Auckland, Tokyo, Moscow, London, New York, and San Francisco. Hiroshima - Day events in San Francisco, Japan, and London, are making calls for the de- alerting of nuclear weapons and the shutdown of nuclear power plants. According to letter coordinator John Hallam, "The letter is based on research by the well - respected British-American Security Information Council, and the Federation of American Scientists, that casts doubt on whether the computer systems that constitute the command, control, and intelligence systems for nuclear weapon systems will function properly over the Y2K rollover period. These bodies, not given to hysteria, conclude that an unnacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war exists unless nuclear weapons are taken off alert." "We are therefore calling on both sides and on the nuclear weapons states, to take their strategic nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert, as reccommended in 1996 by the Canberra Commission." "Taking strategic nuclear forces of alert has been reccommended by the canberra Commission in 1996, and subsequently by the Middle Powers initiative and by the UN General Assembly. Mutually verfied de-alerting is an option that has no risk, costs nothing, and requires only an executive order to happen. It should be done immediately." The letter has been signed by Friends of the Earth International, with national branches in 59 countries, by Greenpeace international, by MEP Maj-Britt Theorin, ex- member of the Canberra Commission, by the British-American Security Information Council (BASIC) who are releasing it in London, by the Washington- based Centre for Defence Information, by Congressperson Edward Markey, by seven members of the European Parliament, eight members of the New Zealand Parliament, four members of the Canadian parliament, and 22 Australian federal and state parliamentarians, as well as prominent Australians Peter Garrett and Helen Caldicott. Contact: John Hallam, 9517-3903, h9810-2598 Hannah Middleton, 0411-409-954 Helen Caldicott, 02-4365-1093, 0407-547-427 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) 'BILL AND BORIS' Y2K NUKES DE-ALERTING LETTER RELEASED TODAY Date: 06 Aug 1999 18:08:49 +1000 John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, =46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd WORLD WRITES TO YELTSIN, CLINTON: TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT, AVOID GLOBAL NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE. YOU CAN STILL SIGN DEAR PEOPLE, This letter was released today in Sydney, and in Adelaide, Auckland, Tokyo, San francisco, Toronto, New York, London, and Moscow. It was officially posted to Yeltsin and Clinton via the postal service, in front of TV cameras. Preliminary versions were faxed a month ago and last eek. It will be again faxed tomorrow. YOU CAN STILL SIGN IT! if you have already signed it, and you know anyone that is head of an NGO, a church person, or a parliamentarian that might sign it, please get them to do so. The future of the planet is at stake (or potentially so). Many thanks! =46ROM: =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRALIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH NEW ZEALAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH ENGLAND WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH EL SALVADOR, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH NIGERIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH UKRAINE, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH GEORGIA, (TBILSI) =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH FINLAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH DENMARK, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH ESTONIA =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH FRANCE, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH CYPRUS, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH JAPAN SIBERIA PROGRAM, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRIA (GLOBAL-2000) =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH MACEDONIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH BULGARIA/ECOGLASNOST, SOFIA, BULGARIA AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE, MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF WAR, PAX CHRISTI N.S.W., UNITING CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA, WAYSIDE CHAPEL, UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA, PITT STREET UNITING CHURCH, PITT ST, SYDNEY, ST JOHNS ANGLICAN CHURCH, DARLINGHURST, SYDNEY, CAMPAIGN FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DISARMAMENT (CICD) AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ANTI-BASES CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, N.S.W., WAR RESISTERS INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY, ARID LANDS ENVIRONMENT CENTRE, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE OF W.A., ANTI-URANIUM COALITION OF W.A., PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WESTERN AUSTRALIA, CENTRE FOR URBAN ECOLOGY, S.A., EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE LISMORE, BIG SCRUB ENVIRONMENT CENTRE, EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE GOLD COAST, EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR FREE FUTURE ADELAIDE, PACIFIC CONNECTIONS, TWO BILLION VOICES FOR PEACE PROJECT, UNITED TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL SA., UNITED FIREFIGHTERS UNION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE S.A., CFMEU, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH, A.M.W.U., SA. OFFICE., ALL-UNION GREEN CAUCUS, GRAHAM F. SMITH PEACE TRUST, SA., RICHMOND RIVER SHIRE COUNCIL, SENATOR LYN ALLISON, VIC., SENATOR MEG LEES, LEADER, DEMOCRATS, VIC., SENATOR NATASHA STOTT-DESPOJA, DEPUTY LEADER AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS, SENATOR VICKY BOURNE, DEMOCRAT SENATOR FOR N.S.W., SENATOR ANDREW BARTLETT, DEMOCRAT SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND, SENATOR DEE MARGETTS, GREENS, W.A., SENATOR BOB BROWN, GREENS, TAS, SENATOR GEORGE CAMPBELL, ALP, N.S.W., SENATOR MARGARET REYNOLDS, ALP, N.S.W, SENATOR JIM MC KEIRNAN, ALP., W.A., ANTHONY ALBANESE, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR GRAYNDLER, TANYA PLIBERSEK, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR SYDNEY, JANN MC FARLANE, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR STIRLING, W.A., JILL HALL M.P., MEMBER FOR SHORTLAND, IAN COHEN, GREEN MLC, NSW., LEE RHIANNON, GREEN MLC, NSW., SANDRA KANCK, DEMOCRAT MLC, S.A., IAN GILFILLAN, DEMOCRAT MLC, SA, ROBYN GERAGHTY, MP, STATE MEMBER FOR TORRENS, SA, =46RANCES BEDFORD, MP, STATE MEMBER FOR FLOREY, SA., JIM SCOTT, W.A., GREENS, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, W.A., LOUISE CROSSLEY, NATIONAL CONVENOR, GREENS, HANNAH MIDDLETON, PRESIDENT, COMMUNIST PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, WORLD COURT PROJECT UK, SENATOR DOUGLAS ROCHE, SENATE, CANADA, BRITISH-AMERICAN SECURITY INFORMATION CENTRE, US/UK, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL, JAPAN CONGRESS AGAINST A AND H-BOMBS (GENSUIKYO) INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS (IALANA), WOMENS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (Geneva/NY), CENTRE FOR DEFENCE INFORMATION, WASHINGTON, USA, CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT U.K., SAFFRON WALDEN GROUP AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS, YOUTH AND STUDENT CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, WEST MIDLANDS CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, YORKSHIRE CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, MEDACT (IPPNW UK), TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES 2000 NORFOLK UK., NETWORK INFORMATION PROJECT, SOUTHAMPTON,UK, ., CAMPAIGN FOR ACCOUNTABILITY OF U.S., BASES, MENWITH HILL WOMENS PEACE CAMP, YORKSHIRE, UK., GLOBAL NETWORK AGAINST WEAPONS AND NUCLEAR POWER IN SPACE, ANGLICAN PACIFIST FELLOWSHIP, MILTON KEYNES, U.K., EPISCOPAL PEACE FELLOWSHIP, U.K., ST BARTHOLEMEWS JUSTICE AND PEACE GROUP, ST ALBANS, U.K., CHRISTIAN CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, U.K., CALDERDALE GREEN PARTY, YORKSHIRE, U.K., PUBLIC INTEREST CONSULTANTS, SWANSEA, U.K., CUMBRIA AND NORTH LANCASHIRE PEACE GROUPS U.K., GREEN PARTY OF ENGLAND AND WALES, Y2K COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK U.K., JEANETTE FITZSIMMONS MP, NZ GREENS, BRIAN DONELLY, MP, HARRY DUYNHOVEN, MP, NZ LABOUR, LIANNE DALZIEL, MP, NZ LABOUR, JUDY KEALL, MP, NZ LABOUR, PETER DUNNE, MP, NZ LABOUR, SANDRA LEE, MP, DEPUTY LEADER, ALLIANCE, LAILA HARRE, MP, ALLIANCE, DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY CENTRE, NZ, AOTEOROA/NEW ZEALAND PEACE FOUNDATION, AUCKLAND, NZ., ENGINEERS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, N.Z., NEW ZEALAND GREENS, NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE ON DISARMAMENT, N.Z., PEACE ACTION DUNEDIN, N.Z., PEACE COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND, ABOLITION-2000 NEW ZEALAND, IPPNW NEW ZEALAND, VETERANS FOR PEACE NZ., ARCHITECTS AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR, NZ., C.N.D., VETERANS NEW ZEALAND, CENTRE FOR PEACE STUDIES, UNIV. OF AUCKLAND, NZ, NEW ZEALAND NUCLEAR - FREE PEACEMAKING ASSOCIATION, WILPF AOTEAROA, CORSO AOTEAROA/NZ., PACIFIC ISLANDS ASSOCIATION OF NGOS, BELAU., COALITION OF PETROLEUM PRODUCING STATES OF NIGERIA, MALAYSIAN PHYSICIANS FOR THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR, GREEN ACTION KYOTO, Y2K WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY, SENDAI, JAPAN, SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY CENTRE FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, NAGERCOIL, INDIA, AWAMI COMMITTEE FOR DEVELOPMENT, MULTAN, PAKISTAN, INDONESIAN NATIONAL NETWORK FORUM ANTI-NUCLEAR SOCIETY, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROJECT FOR SUSTAINABILITY, (AEPS) THAILAND, MOVIMIENTO AUTORIDADES INDIGENAS DE COLOMBIA, ECODEFENSE KOENIGSBERG/MOSCOW, WISE-KALININGRAD, ANTINUCLEAR CAMPAIGN OF SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL UNION MOSCOW, PLATAN YOUTH GROUP, KALININGRAD, EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE KALININGRAD REGIONAL DUMA, GREEN WORLD, SOSNOVY BOR, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, ST PETERSBURG PEACE COUNCIL, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, CENTRE FOR NUCLEAR ECOLOGY AND ENERGY POLICY RUSSIA, BAIKAL ENVIRONMENTAL WAVE, RUSSIA, ECOSENS, ROMANIA, COMMITTEE OF 100, FINLAND, PEACE UNION OF FINLAND, STUDENT NATURE PROTECTION GROUP, TARTU, ESTONIA, SWEDISH PHYSICIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS (SLMK - SWEDISH CHAPTER OF IPPNW)= , NORWEGIAN PHYSICIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR (IPPNW) NORWEGIAN PEACE ALLIANCE, NORWEGIAN LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU, OSLO, PEACE MOVEMENT OF ESBJERG, DENMARK, WAR RESISTERS INTERNATIONAL, FREDRIKSHAVN, DENMARK, ALDRIG MERE KRIG (AMK) DENMARK, DANISH ASSOCIATION OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS, WOMENS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (FRANCE), MOUVEMENT DE LA PAIX, FRANCE, INTERNATIONAL ALBERT SCHWEITZER FOUNDATION, DR SCHWEITZER HOSPITAL FUND, FRANCE/SWITZERLAND GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOR IMMEDIATE DISARMAMENT, SWITZERLAND, DARMSTAEDTER FRIEDENSFORUM, GERMANY, NUCLEAR-FREE AWARD, GERMANY, ANTI-ATOM PLENUM, BOCHUM, GERMANY, CITIZENS INITIATIVE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, LUECHOW-DANNEBURG, GERMANY= , IPPNW HAMBURG, CENTRE FOR ENCOUNTER AND ACTIVE NON-VIOLENCE, BAD ISCHL, AUSTRIA, IPPNW AUSTRIA, ANTI-ATOM INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRIA, COORDINATION OFFICE OF AUSTRIAN ENVIRONMENT GROUPS, AUSTRIA, INDEPENDENT SALZBURG PLATFORM AGAINST NUCLEAR DANGERS, AUSTRIA, PLATFORM GEGEN ATOMGEFAHR, AUSTRIA, ENERGIE ZUKUNFT MOHTVIERTEL, AUSTRIA, CENTRUM ENERGIE, CZECH REPUBLIC, BURGERINITIATIVE UMWELTSCHUTZ, BUDWEIS, CZECH REPUBLIC., =46OR MOTHER EARTH INTERNATIONAL, GHENT, BELGIUM, WORLD INFORMATION SERVICE ON ENERGY, AMSTERDAM, MDB ENERGY PROJECT, NETHERLANDS, =46OR MOTHER EARTH NETHERLANDS, CENTRE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, NETHERLANDS, GLOBAL ANTI - NUCLEAR ALLIANCE, NETHERLANDS, ANPED (NORTHERN ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY) NETH, ASEED- EUROPE, (AMSTERDAM) STROHALM (UTRECHT) NETHERLANDS, ITALIAN LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, MAJ-BRITT THEORIN, MEP, PRESIDENT, IPB., ELIZABETH SCHROEDTER, MEP, ERNST GULCHER, MEP, GREEN GROUP, GERMANY, HEIDI HAUTALA, MEP, GREEN GROUP, FINLAND, GLYN FORD, MEP, LABOR, SW ENGLAND, OZAN KEYHUN, MEP, GERMANY, PER GAHRTON, MEP, GREENS, SWEDEN, CONGRESSMAN EDWARD J. MARKEY, (D-MASS) WASH, D.C., GLOBAL RESOURCE ACTION CENTRE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (GRACE) N.Y., U.S., TRI-VALLEY CARES, LIVERMORE, CALIF, U.S., NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE, U.S., WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION, U.S., NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF NATIVE AMERICANS, AMERICAN-INDIAN MOVEMENT OF OKLAHOMA, NUCLEAR-FREE NEW YORK, SAVE WARD VALLEY, CALIF, U.S., METRO-BOSTON COMMITTEE TO DE-ALERT NUCLEAR WEAPONS, NUCLEAR AGE PEACE FOUNDATION, CALIFORNIA, U.S., PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, U.S., LIVERMORE CONVERSION PROJECT, OAKLAND, CALIF., ACTION SITE TO STOP CASSINI FLYBY, PROPOSITION-1 COMMITTEE, WASHINGTON DC, US., HEALING GLOBAL WOUNDS, TECOPA, CALIF, U.S., AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE, UNITING CHURCH OF CHRIST ROCKY MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE, PEACE AND JUSTICE TASK =46ORCE, ALL SOULS UNITARIAN CHURCH COLORADO SPRINGS, U.S., METHODISTS UNITED FOR PEACE WITH JUSTICE, U.S., QUEST MINISTRIES, OHIO, U.S., CENTRE FOR MISSION EDUCATION, DENVER, COLORADO, INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, SAN FRANCISCO, US, WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE, NY, USA., NEW YORK STUDENT ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COALITION, PEACE RESOURCE CENTRE OF SAN DIEGO, CALIF, U.S., PROMOTING ENDURING PEACE, NY., U.S., PROFESSIONAL NETWORK FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, NY, U.S., GRANDMOTHERS AND MOTHERS ALLIANCE FOR THE FUTURE, WOMENS ACTION FOR NEW DIRECTIONS, CENTRE FOR ENERGY RESEARCH, OREGON, USA, CITIZENS PROTECTING OHIO, OHIO CITIZEN ACTION, PORTSMOUTH/PIKETON RESIDENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND SANITY (PRESS), CONCERNED CITIZENS FOR NUCLEAR SAFETY NEW MEXICO, PEACE ACTION USA., PEACE ACTION CENTRAL NEW YORK, METRO NEW YORK PEACE ACTION COUNCIL, USA., PAX CHRISTI U.S.A., PAX CHRISTI NEW YORK, PAX CHRISTI, MORRIS COUNTY, NJ, USA., PAX CHRISTI TEXAS, PAX CHRISTI ST AUGUSTINE FLORIDA, =46ELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION TASK FORCE ON LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARRIBEAN= , ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION ON NUCLEAR POWER, CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA CITIZENS FOR SURVIVAL, THREE MILE ISLAND ALERT, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S., ATOMIC MIRROR, CALIF, U.S., NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR A PEACE TAX FUND, PEDALS FOR PEACE, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF, U.S., SACRAMENTO VALLEY CITIZENS ALONG THE ROADS AND TRACKS, NEVADA DESERT EXPERIENCE, NEVADA, U.S., GRANDMOTHERS FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL, CALIF, U.S., TAI MEI PEACE ACTION, SAN GABRIEL, U.S., SERIOUS TEXANS AGAINST NUCLEAR DUMPING, U.S., STUDENTS FOR A SUSTAINABLE EARTH, W. MICHIGAN, U.S., ALLIANCE FOR SURVIVAL, COSTA MESA, CALIF., U.S., LONG ISLAND ALLIANCE FOR PEACEFUL ALTERNATIVES, Y2K-WASH CAMPAIGN BAY AREA CHAPTER, BILL BLAIKIE MP, HOUSE LEADER, NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA, SVEND ROBINSON MP, HOUSE OF REPS, CANADA, JUDY WASLYCIA-LEIS, MP, WINNIPEG, CANADA VETERANS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, CANADA, PHYSICIANS FOR GLOBAL SURVIVAL, CANADA, NEW GREEN ALLIANCE, CANADA, PACIFIC CAMPAIGN FOR DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY, BC, CANADA., THE SIMONS FOUNDATION, VANCOUVER, B.C., PLOUGHSHARES, CALGARY, CANADA, PLOUGHSHARES, SASKATOON, CANADA, ICUEC, (INTER-CHURCH URANIUM EDUCATION COMMITTEE) SASKATOON, CANADA, O.P.I.R.G., PETERBOROUGH, CANADA, UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, ASSOCIATION OF SERBIAN WOMEN, CANADA, INDIGENOUS WOMENS NETWORK, CANADA/USA., PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, KRASNOPRESENSKAYA-2, MOSCOW, RUSSIA, +7-095-205-4219, +7-095-206-5173 +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US, +1-202-456-2461, +1-202-456-2883. WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, BILL RICHARDSON, US SECRETARY OF ENERGY, +1-202-586-9987. IGOR SERGEYEV, DEFENCE MINISTER OF RUSSIA, Znamenka-19, 103160, Moscow, Russia, +7-095-293-33-13, 247-2795, 247-2722, 293-3323. =46OREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA, +7-095-244-3276, +7-095-244-2203, CC ALL HEADS OF STATE (BY EMAIL) ALL UN MISSIONS (BY EMAIL) Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, Defence Ministers and Defence Secretaries, Heads of State and UN Missions, The organisations above, representing millions of people worldwide, are writing to convey their extreme concern over the possibility that Year 2000 (Y2K)-related computer failures in nuclear weapons systems may lead to an unacceptable risk of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation. In the current political situation this is most especially the case. According to Alexandr Arbatov, of the Defence Committee of the Russian State Duma, US-Russian relations are at 'the worst, most acute, most dangerous juncture since the US-Soviet Berlin and Cuban missile crises.' The danger during the Y2K rollover lies primarily in the possibility that spurious data may induce commanders, even at the highest levels, to mistakenly authorise the launches of nuclear weapons. Events similar to this have already occurred. For example: In the US in 1980, a malfunctioning computer chip sent spurious alert signals; In 1983 in Russia, satellites mistook glare off the tops of clouds for a US missile launch, (and disaster was averted by the refusal of the local commander to believe the warnings were real); In 1995, a Norwegian research rocket prompted a full-scale Russian alert. If Y2K breakdowns produce inaccurate early warning data, or if communications and command channels are compromised, the combination of hair-trigger force postures and Y2K failures could be disastrous. There should therefore be a 'safety first ' approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. Because none of the nuclear weapons states can guarantee that their nuclear- related computer systems are Y2K compliant, the only responsible solution is for them all to stand down nuclear operations. This approach should include taking nuclear weapons off alert status and decoupling nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles. The stakes involved in any nuclear exchange between Russia and the US are such that they dwarf any other considerations. The future of life itself on earth could be in doubt. In light of this, we strongly urge that you remove all strategic and tactical nuclear weapons from 'hair trigger' alert, and place them in a status in which at least hours and preferably days would be required to launch them. The Canberra Commission in August 1996, noted that terminating nuclear alert status would: --Reduce dramatically the chances of accidental or unauthorised nuclear missile launch. --Help set the stage for intensified cooperation on a more far- reaching disarmament agenda --Have a very positive influence on the political climate between nuclear weapon states. This last is especially relevant in the current tension between Russia and NATO, which has prompted Russia to withdraw from cooperation with the US on Y2K problems. According to the Canberra Commission, "Taking nuclear forces off alert could be verified by national technical means and nuclear weapon state inspection arrangements. in the first instance, reduction in alert status could be adopted by the nuclear weapon states unilaterally" If both sides are verifiably de-alerted, it will not be possible for either to launch a disarming first strike. The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security. Signed Kevin Dunion, Chairperson, Friends of the Earth International, John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Australia, Wendy Johnson, Friends of the Earth New Zealand, Dr Patrick Green, Senior Energy, Nuclear and Climate Campaigner, Friends of the Earth England Wales and Northern Ireland, Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador, Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth Nigeria (Environmental Rights Action), Benin City, Nigeria, Viktor Khazan, Friends of the Earth Ukraine, Manana Kochladze, Friends of the Earth Georgia, Tbilsi, Georgia. Jan Kunnas, Friends of the Earth Finland, Bo Stroem, Friends of the Earth Denmark, Tonu Oja, Chairperson, Friends of the Earth Estonia, Tartu, Estonia. Amis de la Terre, Paris, France, Loukia Pavlidou, President, Friends of the Earth Cyprus, Oleg Svistunov, Friends of the Earth Japan Siberia Program, Corine Viellers, Global-2000(Friends of the Earth Austria) Daniela Stojanova, General Secretary, Friends of the Earth Macedonia, Maria Minkova, Deputy Chair, Friends of the Earth Bulgaria/Ecoglasnost, Sofi= a, Peter Garrrett, President, Australian Conservation Foundation, Helen Caldicott, MD, Founding President, PSR, Irene Gale, Australian Peace Committee, SA Branch, Denis Doherty, Secretary, Pax Christi NSW, REV. John Mavor, President, Uniting Church of Australia Rev. Ray Richmond, Wayside Chapel, Uniting Church in Australia, Pitt Street Uniting Church, Pitt St, Sydney, Rev. John Stanley, St Johns Anglican Church, Darlinghurst, Sydney, Julie Marlow, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Committee, Babs Fuller-Quinn, Australian Peace Committee, National Committee, Susan Wareham, President, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, IPPNW Regional Vice-President, Aust., Pauline Mitchell, Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament, Peter Jones, War Resisters International, Australia., Alec Marr, National Campaign Director, The Wilderness Society, Mark Wakeham, Environment Centre of the Northern Territory, Deborah Metters, Arid Lands Environment Centre, Alice Springs, NT., Rowena Skinner, Environment Centre of W.A., Robin Chapple, Anti-Uranium Coalition of W.A., Cherie Hoyle, Centre for Urban Ecology, SA., Graham Daniell, People for Nuclear Disarmament, Western Australia., Zohl D' Ishtar, Pacific Connections, Richard Goode, 2 Billion Voices for Peace Project, Ian Dixon, Big Scrub Environment Centre, Lismore, Isabelle Whyte, Everyone for a Nuclear-free Future, Lismore, Robin Taubenfeld, Everyone for a Nuclear-Free Future, Gold Coast, Jonivar Skullerud, ENUFF, Adelaide, Chris White, Secretary, United Trades and Labour Council, SA, Paul Martinella, State Secretary, CFMEU, SA, Trevor Smith, National Secretary, CFMEU, Forests and Forests Products Division, SA, Stephen Smith, Secretary, CFMEU, Furnishing trade Division, SA, Jacob Grech, Earthworker, All-Union Green Caucus, Mick Doyle, United Firefighters Union of SA, Paul Noak, Secy, A.M.W.U. SA Office. Martin O' Malley, Secy, CFMEU, SA Branch. Stephen Spence, Secretary, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, SA., Leonie Ebert, Graham F. Smith Peace Trust, SA., P.T. Muldoon, General Manager, Richmond River Shire Council, Senator Lyn Allison, Democrat Senator for Victoria, Senator Meg Lees, Democrat Senator for South Australia, Leader of the Australian Democrats, Senator Vicky Bourne, Democrat Senator for NSW., Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja, Deputy Leader, Australian Democrats, Senator Andrew Bartlett, Democrat Senator for Queensland, Senator Bob Brown, Green Senator for Tasmania, Senator Dee Margetts, Green Senator for Western Australia, Senator George Campbell, ALP Senator for NSW., Senator Margaret Reynolds, ALP, NSW, Senator Jim Mc Kiernan, ALP, W.A., Anthony Albanese. ALP, Federal member for Grayndler, Tanya Plibersek, ALP, Federal member for Sydney, Jann Mc Farlane, Federal member for Stirling, W.A., Jill Hall, M.P., Federal member for Shortland, NSW, Cheryl Davenport MLC., W.A., Ian Cohen, MLC, Greens, NSW, Lee Rhiannon, MLC, Greens, NSW, Sandra Kanck, MLC,Democrats, S.A., Ian Gilfillan, MLC, Democrats, SA, Robyn Geraghty MP, Member for Torrens, SA., =46rances Bedford, ALP State MP for Florey, S.A., Jim Scott, WA Greens, Legislative Council, W.A., Dr Louise Crossley, National Convenor, Greens, Australia, Hannah Middleton, President, Communist Party of Australia. Commander Robert Green RN (Ret'd), Chair, World Court Project UK, =46elicity Hill, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, Geneva/N= Y Martin Butcher, British-American Security Information Centre, US/UK, Stephanie Mills, Greenpeace International Nuclear and Disarmament Campaign, Bernice Boermans, Executive Director, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, (IALANA), The Hague, Neth., Rear-Admiral Eugene J. Carroll, USN (retd), Deputy Director, Centre for Defence Information, Washington, USA, Dave Knight, Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, U.K., Janet Bloomfield, Former Chair CND, Abolition U.K, Saffron Walden Group Against Nuclear Weapons, Bruce Kent, Vice-President, CND, Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands CND, Birmingham, U.K, Tigger Mc Gregor, Youth and Student CND, U.K., Dave Webb, Yorkshire CND., U.K., Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy, Campaign for Accountability of American Bases, U.K., Gillian Reeve, Director, MEDACT (IPPNW U.K), Jane Tallents, Trident-Ploughshares 2000, Norwich, Norfolk, U.K., Di Mc Donald, Network Information Project, Southampton, U.K, Catherine Euler, Menwith Hill Womens Peace Camp, Yorkshire, U.K., Catherine Euler, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Sue Claydon, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Milton Keynes, U.K., Mary H. Miller, Episcopal peace Fellowship, U.K., Monica King, St Bartholemews Justice and Peace Group, St Albans, U.K., Calderdale Green Party, Yorkshire, U.K., Alan Francis, Chair, Green Party of England and Wales, Alan Watson, Partner, Public Interest Consultants, Swansea, Wales, U.K., Nigel Chamberlain, Cumbria and North Lancashire Peace Groups U.K., Paul Swann, National Coordinator, Y2K Community Action Network, U.K., Jeanette Fitzsimmons, MP, NZ Greens, Brian Donelly, MP, Harry Duynhoven, MP, NZ Labour, Lianna Dalziel, MP, NZ Labour, Judy Keall, MP, NZ Labour, Peter Dunne, MP, NZ Independent, Sandra Lee, Deputy leader, Alliance, Laila Harre, MP, Alliance, NZ., Dr Kate Dewes, Disarmament and Security Centre, Marion Hancock, Aoteoroa/NZ Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ., Gerry Coates, Engineers for Social Responsibility, NZ, Keith Locke, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, NZ Greens, Llelwyn Richards, National Consultative Committee on Disarmament, NZ, Barbara Frame, Peace Action Dunedin, NZ., John Urlich, Peace Council of New Zealand, Rev. John Murray/Dame Laurie Salas/Robin Halliday, Abolition-2000, New Zeala= nd, Ian Prior, IPPNW New Zealand, Chris King, Veterans for Peace New Zealand, Derek Wilson, Architects Against Nuclear War, NZ, Robert E. White, Director, Centre for Peace Studies, University of Auckland, NZ., John Gallagher, New Zealand Nuclear-Free Peacemaking Association, Aotearoa/N= Z., WILPF Aoteoroa, Jim Holdom, CORSO, Aotearoa/NZ., Richard N. Salvador, Pacific Islands Association of NGOs, Belau, Tom Mbeke-Ekarem, Chair, Coalition of Petroleum-Producing States of Nigeria, Ron Mc Coy, Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Yumi Kukuchi, Y2K WASH Campaign, Sendai, Japan/USA, Aileen Mioko Smith, Director, Green Action Kyoto, Japan., Hiroshi Taka, Assistant Secretary, Japan Council Against A and H-Bombs (Gensuikyo), S.P. Udayakumar, South Asian Community Centre for Education and Research, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, South India, Asif Rasheed Leghari, Awami Committee for Development, Multan, Pakistan, Nana Suhartana, Indonesian National Network Forum Anti-Nuclear Society, Pipob Udomittipong, Alternative Energy Project for Sustainability, Thailand, Lorenzo Muelas, Movimiento Autoridades Indigenas de Colombia, Vladimir Sliviak, Ecodefense, Russia, Galina Raghouzhina, World Information Service on Energy (WISE) Kaliningrad, Alexandra Koroleva, Educational Committee, Kaliningrad Regional Duma, Mikhail Trofimov, Ecodefence! International, Kaliningrad, Alisa Nikoulina, Antinuclear Campaign of Social-Ecological Union, Moscow, Pavel Malyshev, Platan Youth Group, Kaliningrad, Oleg Bodrov, Green World, Sosnovy Bor, St Petersburg, Russia, Vera Brovkina, St Petersburg Peace Council, St Petersburg, Russia, Lydia Popova, Centre for Nuclear Ecology and Energy Policy, Russia, Marina Rikhmanova, Baikal Environmental Wave, Baikal, Russia, George Razvan Marcu, Ecosens, Romania, Malla Kantola, Committee of 100, Helsinki, Finland, Laura Lodenius, Peace Union of Finland, Helsinki, Finland, Pepe Mardiste, Student Nature Protection Group, Tartu, Estonia, Gunnar Westberg, MD., SLMK (IPPNW), Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear Weapo= ns, =46redrick S. Heffermehl, President, Norwegian Peace Alliance, =46rederick S. Heffermehl, Norwegian Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, =46rederick S. Heffermehl, International Peace Bureau, Oslo, Bjorn Hilt, Chair, Norwegian Physicians Against Nuclear War, (IPPNW) Poul Eck S=F8rensen, Peace Movement of Esbjerg, Denmark, Arne Hansen, War Resisters International, Fredrikshavn, Denmark, Majken Jul S=F8rensen, Aldrig Mere Krig, (AMK) Denmark, Anja Johansen, Militaernaegterforeningen, (Danish Association of Conscientious Objectors) Daniel Durand, Secretary, Mouvement de La Paix, France, Solange Fernex, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, France, Chrystoph Wyss, International Albert Schwietzer Foundation, France/Switz, Chrystoph Wyss, Dr Schweitzer Hospital Fund, Switzerland, Dr Roland Schutzbach, Global Initiative for Immediate Disarmament, Switzerla= nd, Xanthe Hall, Assistant Director, IPPNW Germany, Berlin, Regina Hagen, Darmstaedter Friedensforum, Germany, Claus Biegert, Nuclear-Free Award, Germany, Horst Hohmier, Anti-Atom Plenum, Bochum, Germany, Ilona Joerden, Citizens Initiative for Environmental Protection, Luechow-Danneburg, Germany, Dr. Herbert Richter-Peill, IPPNW Hamburg, Germany, Matthias Reichl, Centre for Encounters and Active Non-Violence, Bad Ischl, Austria, Dr Klaus Renoldner, President, IPPNW Austria, Claudia and Margit, Anti-Atom International, Claudia and Margit, Coordination Office of Austrian Environment Organisation= s, Heinz Stockinger, Independent Salzburg Platform Against Nuclear Dangers,(PLAGE), Salzburg, Austria, Josef Puehringer, Platform Gegen Atomgefahr, Austria, Josef Puehringer, Centrum Energie, Czech Republic, Josef Puehringer, Burgerinitiative Umweltschutz, Budweis, Czech Republic, Josef Puehringer, Energie Zukunft Mohtviertel, Austria., Pol D'Huyvetter, For Mother Earth International, Ghent, Belgium, Peer de Rijk, WISE- Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ophelia Cowell, MDB Energy Project, Netherlands, Marjan Willemsen, For Mother Earth Netherlands, Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, Netherlands, Pieter Van Der Gaag, Deputy international Coordinator, ANPED, Northern Alliance for Sustainability, =46rank Van Schaik, Transport Coordinator, ASEED-Europe, STROHALM, Utrecht, Netherlands, Kaj Leers, Journalist, Netherlands, David Boerma, Coordinator, Pacific Region, Centre for Indigenous Peoples, Netherlands., Giorgio Nebbia, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Economics, University of Bari, Italy, Dr Joachim Lau, Italian Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, Maj-Britt Theorin, MEP, Sweden, Elizabeth Schroedter, MEP, Germany, Ernst Gulcher, MEP, Green Group, Germany, Heidi Hautala, MEP, Green Group, Finland, Glyn Ford, MEP, Labour, SW England, Ozan Keyhun, MEP, Germany, Per Gahrton, MEP, Greens, Sweden., Congressman Edward J. Markey, (D-Mass), Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. Alice Slater, Global Resource Action Centre for the Environment, NY., USA., Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, California, US. Mary Olson, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, US., Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, US., Grace Thorpe, National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans, Carter Camp, Chair, American-Indian Movement of Oklahoma, US, Bill Smirnow, Nuclear-Free New York, US, Molly Johnson, Coordinator, Save Ward Valley, Calif, USA., William F. Santelmann, Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara, Calif, US. Robert W. Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility, U.S.A., Dr Lachlan Forrow, Past Chair, IPPNW, Jonathan Mark, Action Site to Stop Cassini Flyby, Sherry Larsen-Beville, Livermore Conversion Project, Oakland, Calif, USA. Ellen Thomas, Proposition-1 Committee, Washington DC, US., Diana Roose, Peace Education Director, American Friends Service Committee, Patricia Watson, Peacework, American Friends Service Committee, Robert Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, Uniting Church of Christ, Rocky Mountains Conference, Rachel Keeler, Executive Director, Pax Christi, New York, Nancy Small, National Coordinator, Pax Christi, USA, =46rank Dworak, Pax Christi, Morris County, NJ, USA., Adam Eidinger, Pax Christi Washington Action Group, U.S., Joyce Hall, Pax Christi Texas, Paul Villavisanis, Pax Christi, St Augustine, Fl, Betty Obol, SL, The Loretto Community, U.S., Phil Mc Manus, Chair, Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Carribean, U.S., Heidi Cooper, All Souls Unitarian Church, Colorado Springs, US., Howard W. Hallman, Methodists United for Peace with Justice, Washington, USA= =2E, Guy Templeton Black, Quest Ministries, Ohio, U.S., Bill Kelly, Executive Director, Centre for Mission Education, Denver, Colorado, USA., Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Coordinator, Healing Global Wounds, Tecopa, CA, USA., Karen Talbot, Director, International Centre for Peace and Justice, San =46rancisco, California, US., Chris Ney, War Resisters League, NY, USA., Jasmina Arsova, War Resisters League,, NY. USA., Holly-Poole Kavana, New York Student Environmental Action Coalition, Carol Jahnkow, Peace Resource Centre of San Diego, Calif, US., Janette Michelle Cuevas, Executive Director, Promoting Enduring Peace, NY., Babette Lindfield, Professional Network for Social Responsibility, NY, U.S., Susan Lee Solar and Maria Mendez, Grandmothers and Mothers Alliance for the =46uture, Susan Shaer, Executive Director, Womens Action for New Directions, Peter Bergel, Centre for Energy Research, Salem, Oregon, USA., Harvey Wasserman, Citizens Protecting Ohio, USA., Sarah Ogdahl, Toledo Area Director, Ohio Citizen Action, Vina Colley, Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Sanit= y, Jay Coghlan, Concerned Citizens For Nuclear Safety, New Mexico, USA., Gordon S. Clark, Executive Director, Peace Action USA., Diane R Swords, Peace Action Central New York, =46ran Teplitz, Peace Action, Peace Action Education Fund, USA., Sonya Ostrom, Metro New York Peace Action Council, Judith H. Johnsrud, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, Pennsylvania, U.S, Judith H. Johnsrud, Central Pennsylvania Citizens for Survival, U.S., Scott D. Portzline, Three Mile Island Alert, Pennsylvania, U.S., Pamela Meidell, Atomic Mirror, Calif, U.S., Tom Keirans, National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, Shiela Baker, Pedals for Peace, San Luis Obispo, Calif, U.S., Inga Olson, Sacramento Valley Citizens Along The Roads and Tracks, Marc M. Blaise-Page, Nevada Desert Experience, U.S., Earth-Savers, Syracuse, U.S., Barbara Weidener, Grandmothers for Peace International, Calif, U.S., Lyn Miles, Tai Mei Peace Action, San Gabriel, U.S., Alan Moore, Butterfly Gardeners Association, Berkley, Calif, Don Moniak, Program Director, Serious Texans Against Nuclear Dumping, Amarillo, Tex, U.S, Andrew Nixon, Students For A Sustainable Earth, W. Michigan University, U.S.= , Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa, The Nuclear Resister, Marion Pack, Alliance for Survival, Costa-Mesa, California, USA., Peggy Jacobs, Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, U.S., Jane Grossman/Laurie Grossman, Bay Area Chapter, Y2K WASH Campaign, (World Atomic Safety Holiday), USA/JAPAN, Senator Doug Roche, Canadian Parliament, Bill Blaikie MP, House Leader, New Democratic Party of Canada, Svend Robinson MP, House of Representatives,Canada, Judy Waslycia-Leis, MP, Winnipeg, Canada, Dr David Morgan, President, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, Vancouver, Canada, Dr Barbara Birkett, President, Physicians for Global Survival, Ottawa, Canad= a., Dr Ross Wilcock, Physicians for Global Survival, Canada, Dave Greenfield, New Green Alliance, Saskatoon, Canada, Patti Willis, Pacific Campaign for Disarmament and Security, B.C., Canada, Prof Eric Fawcett, Physics Dept, University of Toronto, Canada, Dr Jennifer Allen Simons, The Simons Foundation, Vancouver, B.C., Sally Hodges, Chair, Ploughshares, Calgary, Canada, O.P.I.R.G., Peterborough, Canada, Genivieve Talbot, United Nations Association of Canada, Snezana Vitorovich, Association of Serbian Women, Canada, Priscilla Settee, Indigenous Womens Network, Canada/USA., - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Subject: (abolition-usa) A Season of Hiroshima Date: 06 Aug 1999 10:32:23 -0700 (PDT) A SEASON OF HIROSHIMA By David Krieger, President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation The season of Hiroshima arrives each August in the heat of summer. The first atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Total destruction. The flattening of cities, the incineration of all forms of life. It is a season of reflection and rededication to the future of life. Hiroshima was the awakening of the Nuclear Age. It was a moment in history when time stood still. The clocks were frozen at 8:16 a.m. The terrible destructive power of the atomic bomb did not lead to the end of war as had been hoped. It led to the end of an innocence that could never be regained, and to a horrific arms race that placed all humanity and most of life in danger of annihilation. Hiroshima taught us that time was not infinite for humanity, that the future was not assured. We had harnessed the awesome and awful power of the atom and, with this, the power to destroy ourselves. Hiroshima neither was nor is about victory or defeat. Nor is it about the Japanese, the Americans, or the people of any other single country. Hiroshima belongs to all humanity, residing in our collective consciousness. It is universal. We share in its destructive fire, its suffering, its death, and its resilient hope for the future. Some very different conclusions were drawn from the destruction of Hiroshima. The American lesson was that nuclear weapons can win wars and are thus to be valued. The American lesson is an abstract, without people in the landscape. The Japanese lesson was that nuclear weapons kill indiscriminately and that the suffering continues for those who survive, even into future generations. For the Japanese, the landscape beneath the bomb was filled with real people, some of whom survived to tell their stories. The spirit of Hiroshima, as reflected in the lives of the survivors, is "Never Again!" The promise on the Memorial Cenotaph at Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park reads, "Let All Souls Here Rest in Peace; For We Shall Not Repeat the Evil." It is a promise not only to those who died, but to those who lived. It is a promise to all humanity and to the future. The "We" in the promise is all of us. It is a promise to ourselves. This August 6th marks the 54th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. It is a time for reflection and taking stock of where we are. Nuclear weapons have now survived the end of the Cold War by nearly a decade. More than 30,000 nuclear weapons remain in the arsenals of the nuclear weapons states, mostly the United States and Russia. More than 5,000 nuclear weapons remain on hair-trigger alert, ready to be fired in a matter of seconds. India and Pakistan have shown their capacity to make and test nuclear weapons. Israel has recently taken possession of small submarines said to be capable of launching nuclear armed missiles. Before the proliferation of these weapons becomes even more widespread, it is urgent to de-alert existing arsenals and express the clear intention in the form of a treaty to eliminate them in a phased and controlled manner. This would be in the interest of every person on the planet; and it is disturbing that the United States has not provided more leadership in moving in this direction. My top five reasons for supporting U.S. leadership in the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons are: 1 As the country that created and first used nuclear weapons, the United States has a special responsibility to work for the elimination of these weapons. 2 Existing obligations in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons call for good faith negotiations on nuclear disarmament, and many of the non-nuclear weapons states that are parties to this treaty have criticized the nuclear weapons states for their failure to act on this promise. As a leading nation in the world, the United States should keep its promises. 3 On July 8, 1996 the International Court of Justice declared that any use or threat of use of nuclear weapons that would violate international humanitarian law would be illegal. Since nuclear weapons cannot discriminate between civilians and combatants and cause unnecessary suffering, they cannot be used or threatened to be used without violating international humanitarian law. As a leading nation in the world, the United States should uphold international law. 4 The United States has strong defenses. The only weapons that threaten the security of the United States and its people are nuclear weapons. In a world without nuclear weapons, achieved through their phased elimination under strict and effective international control, the United States would be far more secure. 5 Nuclear weapons are highly immoral. To base one's national security on threatening to murder hundreds of millions of innocent civilians is an immoral act. To place the future of the human species and much of life in jeopardy as a matter of public policy is debasing to a society. The United States should assert moral as well as pragmatic leadership on this issue. General George Lee Butler, a former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Strategic Command, has become an ardent advocate of eliminating nuclear weapons. When he was in Santa Barbara in April to receive the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's 1999 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award, he argued, "What is at stake here is our capacity to move ever higher the bar of civilized behavior. As long as we sanctify nuclear weapons as the ultimate arbiter of conflict, we will have forever capped our capacity to live on this planet according to a set of ideals that value human life and eschew a solution that continues to hold acceptable the shearing away of entire societies. That simply is wrong. It is morally wrong, and it ultimately will be the death of humanity." Throughout the world the season of Hiroshima will be commemorated by a reaffirmation of the spirit of Hiroshima, and by protesting the continued reliance on nuclear weapons by a small number of nations. Information on Hiroshima related events can be found on the worldwide web at http://www.wagingpeace.org, the web site of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Wherever you live, take note of this season, and spend some time in contemplation on the meaning for humanity of the historic, somber events which took place on August 6 and 9, 1945. Take time also to encourage your political leaders to move ahead on negotiations for the global elimination of nuclear weapons. It is the only way to assure that there will be no more Hiroshimas. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) "Cold Fusion" & RadWaste Remediation overview Date: 06 Aug 1999 16:49:12 -0700 Concerning the US Patent office and new energy research patents involving cold fusion : FUSION INFORMATION CENTER, Inc. 3084 East 3300 So. SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84109 Voice: 801-466-8680 Fax: 801-466-8668 August 3, 1999 Office of the Inspector General Commerce Department Room 7614 14th and Constitution, NW Washington, DC 20230 Voice 202 482-0909 Fax 202-501-0710 Dear Ms. Kimberlee Taylor, Dr. Mitchell Swartz has informed me that you are interested in information regarding cold fusion and low-energy nuclear reactions and the policy of the Office of Patents and Trademarks with respect to patent applications. The following information may be of some interest: A. BACKGROUND As the director of the first research laboratory at the University of Utah Research Park, I was intensely interested in the March 23, 1989 announcement called by the University of Utah administration (not called by Pons and Fleischmann). The announcement of a new source of energy was most exciting to me. That day I began the plans for trying to be of some help (systems engineering background, missile system specialist for several years). By mid April 1989 we had organized the Fusion Information Center and obtained offices at the University of Utah Research Park. By July 1989, we had decided that information gathering and publishing such information would be our best role. Our first edition of Fusion Facts was published in July 1989 and continued as a monthly publication for several years before being incorporated as a part of the Journal of New Energy, a peer-reviewed, quarterly, scientific journal (abstracted from the first issue by Chemical Abstracts -- the world's foremost scientific abstracting organization). B. THE ATTACKS ON COLD FUSION By the fall of 1989 it was apparent that someone had organized and was carrying out a campaign against the new technology of cold fusion. Here are the facts, insofar, as we have been able to gather and publish the facts. Please note that all of this was done in secrecy (except for the ERAB sub committee). A subcommittee of the Energy Research Advisory Board traveled to various laboratories where successes in cold fusion had been claimed. If the research was measuring neutrons, they were told that it was background radiation. If the researcher was getting tritium, they were told that it was contamination. If excess heat was being produced, they were told that they didn't have proper calorimetry. Except for one small paragraph in the ERAB final report, demanded by one of the honest members of the committee, the report was entirely negative of cold fusion. An arrangement was made for someone in the Office of Patents (any type of coercion or reward is unknown) to ensure that no cold fusion patent application was accepted for patenting. Each person, as far as we have been able to determine, wAS sent the same information: a copy of a newspaper article from the New York Times saying that cold fusion doesn't work; a copy of the paper by 16 Ph.D.s from MIT stating that they could not replicate cold fusion (this is the paper where the authors removed the data showing that they did get a small amount of excess heat). A person (representing powers-that-be in Washington, D.C.) called many of the physics and chemistry departments at major universities in the United States. Here was his message as relayed to me from one such department: "If you have so much as a graduate student working on cold fusion, you will get no contracts out of Washington." All of the editors of the major scientific journals were contacted and were instructed not to publish articles on cold fusion. All editors but one then set up barriers against cold fusion publications. The one editor who did not accept that type of instruction was Professor George Miley, editor until this year of Fusion Technology, the international journal of the American Nuclear Society. An amount of $30,000 (or $40,000 - different sources) was given to Random House to have a "hatchet job" done against cold fusion. The result was the widely acclaimed (by orchestration) book by Gary Taubes, Bad Science, The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion c 1993. For one knowledgeable on the cold fusion development, it is obvious that this book was a deliberate hatchet job. In addition to the above well-orchestrated activities, some appointed, or self-appointed scientists have been very active in traveling to conventions, etc. and doing their best to challenge any positive cold fusion results. Two of these are (were) Dr. Douglas R.O. Morrison (CERN, Switzerland) and Professor John R. Huizenga of University of Rochester (chairman of the ERAB sub committee, if my memory is correct). One of the most active protagonists has been Robert Parks, with some association with the American Physical Society. (The current president of the American Physical Society, in a recent conversation, denies that Robert Parks speaks for the society.) Parks was instrumental in preventing a recent conference from being held in a proffered auditorium in a government facility. Parks has an email list of many people in the DOE and about once a month or more often sends out statements that ridicule any cold fusion or low-energy nuclear reaction experiments, papers, books, etc. Please recognize that this was a very-well thought-out and orchestrated scheme to destroy cold fusion. These were clever and well-done operations. We have been told that were it not for Fusion Facts and its rapid exchange of information of successes in various parts of the world, cold fusion would have been dead. That is more credit than we deserve. C. THE COLLECTION OF PROFESSIONAL PAPERS The Fusion Information Center, Inc. is believed to have accumulated the world's largest collection of papers on cold nuclear fusion, new-hydrogen energy (the Japanese label), low-energy nuclear reactions, and other enhanced energy papers. We have collected and reviewed over 3,000 papers on cold fusion and low-energy nuclear reactions, read the papers, written reviews, and published the reviews. Over 600 papers from over 200 laboratories in 30 countries report some successes in replicating or extending the original work of Pons and Fleischmann. Dr. Mitchell Swartz and I have presented papers on this extensive review of the literature. In addition, this office has published New Energy News, for the past six years. All members of the Institute of New Energy receive this newsletter. In addition, beginning in January 1996, this office began publishing the Journal of New Energy, a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scientific journal. The reason was the lack of professional journals that would publish some of the new-energy and new-science papers. For example, we have published six papers about torsion field fluctuations which report on formerly highly-secret work done by over 25 laboratories in the former USSR. This journal has published two issues providing the proceedings of two International Conferences on Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions. All of this published information (Fusion Facts, New Energy News, & Journal of New Energy), covering a ten-year period, have now been published on a CD-ROM. If a copy of this CD-ROM would be of interest to you, we would be pleased to send you a copy. D. THE ROLE OF THE DOE As is well-known, political appointees to government agencies come and go but the real work of the agency is accomplished by the network of civil servants who bear the burden of continuing and exercising the Congressional mandates for their offices. Here is a summary of the current situation in DOE: The DOE is required by law to handle the disposition of all high-level nuclear wastes including weapons-related liquid wastes (such as at the Hanford Site, Washington state) and the spent-fuel pellets from nuclear power plants and from nuclear submarines. In about 1993 or 1994 a contact was given to the National Research Council to prepare a study on the best methods for separation and/or transmutation of nuclear wastes. The result was the following large publication printed and distributed in 1996: Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation, Committee on Separations Technology and Transmutation Systems, Board on Radioactive Waste Management, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, National Research Council, published by National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. c1996 by the National Academy of Sciences. It is not known if the contract was awarded with counsel and advice on the expected outcome. However, the end result was a statement to the effect that there is no known method of handling radioactive wastes that is more cost-effective than geologic storage. That has been and still is the major objective of the DOE - geologic storage. Any proposals that claim to have new technology that will stabilize high-level radioactive wastes are rejected. In one DOE document asking for proposals, it was explicitly stated that no cold fusion proposals would be accepted. Several laboratories, included our own, has demonstrated that there is technology that appears to be effective in transmuting radioactive wastes. None of this work, to our knowledge, is government funded. Apparently, the network of those opposing cold fusion and other low-energy nuclear reactions is most effective throughout the DOE as well as in the appropriate division of the Office of Patents. It is believed that this opposition group is mainly related to the hot-fusion community of scholars and lobbyists and that the activities are being largely supported by federal funds provided to the hot fusion community. If you have any questions or would like to have more information, I would be pleased to help in any way that I can, including my personal testimony in any hearings. Best personal regards, Hal Fox, President, Fusion Information Center, Editor, FF, NEN, and JONE http://www.padrak.com/ine - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K and the threat of global nuclear catastrophe Date: 09 Aug 1999 14:04:30 -0700 http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian/guardian/965y2k.htm The Guardian August 4, 1999 Y2K and the threat of global nuclear catastrophe by Dr Hannah Middleton Year 2000 (Y2K) problems are likely to affect the computer systems that coordinate strategic nuclear weapons systems. Many respected experts are warning that due to Y2K problems these systems, both in the US and Russia= , pose an unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war. The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem mus= t take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security. The largest, oldest, and least Y2K compliant computerised systems in the world are those that are part of the communications, command, control and intelligence functions of the strategic nuclear weapons complexes of Russ= ia and the US. The US Y2K compliance program for strategic nuclear weapons is not expect= ed to be anywhere near complete by December 1999. Similarly, the Russian strategic nuclear weapon system will be subject to massive Y2K problems. The Y2K problem The Y2K problem is buried in millions of lines of software code that use two digits to represent four-digit years. That will lead some software around the world to read "00" not as 2000, but 1900, and possibly cause computers to crash or issue false data. No one knows for sure what will happen. The biggest fear is that, even in modernised nations that have been worki= ng to lessen the impact of Y2K, a cascading effect will occur. A US Senate Y2K panel reported that: "The interdependent nature of technology systems makes the severity of possible disruptions difficult t= o predict. An audit of one US nuclear reactor, conducted by the US Nuclear Regulator= y Commission, revealed that a single nuclear power plant had 1,304 separate software items and embedded chips affected by the Y2K bug. In the worst-case scenario, even systems that are Y2K compliant will be infected with the Y2K bug as a result of their connection to non-complian= t systems. They, in turn, will contaminate others. The nuclear hair-trigger Both the US and Russia continue to keep the bulk of their nuclear missile= s on high level alert. Within just a few minutes of receiving instructions = to fire, a large fraction of the US and Russian land-based rockets (which ar= e armed with about 2,000 and 3,500 warheads respectively) could begin their 25-minute flights over the North Pole to their targets. Less than 15 minutes after receiving the order to attack, six US Trident submarines at sea could fire about 1,000 warheads and several Russian ballistic missile submarines could launch between 300 and 400. In sum, the two major nuclear weapons states are ready to fire a total of more than 5,000 nuclear weapons at each other within half an hour. Both powers operate a "launch on warning" policy, with nuclear forces in = a constant state of readiness to launch nuclear weapons on the mere warning of an attack. The rushed nature of the process, from warning to decision to action in 1= 5 minutes or so, risks causing an apocalyptic mistake. The possibility of accidents is made worse by the Y2K problem. US bases in Australia At the stroke of midnight on December 31, inhabitants of the small Pacifi= c islands will become the first people to enter the year 2000. They will be followed by the first industrialised countries =97 New Zealand, Australia and Japan. American officials will be watching to see how the Y2K phenomenon affects them, to find out what happens when modern, computer-reliant nations cros= s into the new millennium? The US military will be watching what happens at its military facilities = in Australia since any malfunctions in its nuclear command and control syste= m will show up first in the US bases, especially the ballistic missile laun= ch detection and other satellite intelligence collection systems at Pine Gap= , and the Trident submarine communications transmitter site at North West Cape. Nuclear accident The greatest concern is that Y2K will cause malfunctions in the early warning network and command-and-control system of the nuclear weapon states, leading to an accidental or mistaken launch command. The fallibility of these early warning systems has been demonstrated by false alarms and even the accidental transmission of launch codes which have occurred at both US and Russian nuclear missile installations, cause= d by computer error or misinterpretation of data. On January 25, 1995, for example, a Russian radar warning system detected= a rocket launch off Norway. A ballistic missile launched from a US submarine in those waters could hi= t Moscow within 15 minutes, so an alert message was sent up the command cha= in all the way to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who for the first time in an emergency activated the "nuclear briefcase" carried by Russian leaders. The unidentified "missile" turned out to be a US weather probe launched b= y the Norwegians. Eliminating the risk The risk of accidental nuclear war, however small, is not a risk the plan= et and humanity should be subjected to. And the risk can be eliminated by taking nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert. The Canberra Commission, organised by the Australian Government in 1996, strongly recommended that strategic nuclear missiles be taken off hair- trigger alert as a first step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. Whether it is seen as a first step to elimination of nuclear weapons, or = as a simple commonsense measure to ensure that we do not greet the new millennium with global nuclear catastrophe, de-alerting makes good sense. If strategic nuclear weapons are taken off alert, accidental nuclear war between the US and Russia cannot happen. De-alerting will cost nothing an= d it can improve the atmosphere of trust between the nuclear powers. It can be implemented by simple executive order. There should be a "safety first" approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. The only responsible solution is for them all to be taken off alert statu= s, preferably with the decoupling of nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles. All strategic and tactical nuclear weapons should be placed in a status i= n which at least hours and preferably days would be required to launch them. World-wide campaign The danger that a Y2K-related computer malfunction could trigger an accidental global nuclear war has impelled more than 170 international peace, environmental, anti-nuclear, trade union, and church groups to wri= te to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, demanding that strategic nuclear weapo= ns be taken off their current hair-trigger launch status over the Y2K period. The letter is being released on Hiroshima Day in Sydney, Adelaide, Auckland, Moscow, London, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Costa Ric= a. You can help Write to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, asking him to make representations to Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin to take strategic nucle= ar weapons off hair-trigger alert during the Y2K rollover period. Back to index page - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: [y2k-nuclear] PACIFICA RADIO & PROGRAMMING FOR Y2K/NUKES Date: 09 Aug 1999 17:29:26 -0400 Good suggestion. I would also encourage people to contact: -their local newspapers -their local radio stations, especially talk shows -their local television stations, including community cable programs -their local universities -national media such as NPR, Mutual Radio, AP, CNN Shalom, Bob Tiller smirnowb@ix.netcom.com wrote: > Friends, > Our campaigns, both WASH - World Atomic Safety Holiday and the drive being spear headed by John Hallum strictly > for de-alerting nuclear weapons in light of Y2K obviously need as much media attention as possible. Hence, I'd like to > suggest that we contact 3 sources via e-mail. Those sources are Pacifia radio's New Department[http://www.pacifica.org] at: > pnn@pacifica.org and Pacifica radio's "Democracy Now" at: democracy@pacifica.org and "The Nation" magazine at: > radio@thenation.com ALL OF US, if we take just a few minutes to contact these sources may be able to make the difference > as to whether this does or doesn't get out to enough people to make the difference as to whether a catastrophe[s] are > prevented. We don't need any more Chernobyls or India and Pakistan accidently annihilating each other and spreading massive > amounts of radiation throughout huge parts of the planet. See http://www.nirs.org Any idea[s]/feedback are appreciated. > > -Bill Smirnow > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > GET WHAT YOU DESERVE! A NextCard Platinum VISA: DOUBLE Rewards points, > NO annual fee & rates as low as 9.9% FIXED APR. Apply online today! > http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/606 > > eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear > http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: [y2k-nuclear] Re: If one doesn't get us, the other will Date: 10 Aug 1999 11:59:13 +1000 At 10:32 AM +1000 8/8/99, Alan Phillips wrote: Dear Alan, Again I think I agree with a lot of what you are saying. However, I do think that we need to at least put the political pressure 'on' for what we want. It is a rule of politics that when you ask for something you might get a part of what you ask - but if you only ask for that part in the first place you don't get even that! So I think that we have to be realistic and hard - nosed about our chances, but still ask straightforwardly for for what we really think is essential. - Essential for the survival of life on the planet. I guess that the other consideration is that for some of us - and even I suspect for you, judging on what you've just written - this is truly a 'life and death' issue. Failure to de- alert or failure to close down non y2k compliant nuke reactors may well mean disaster. If it's just 'too difficult' for governments, we just have to try harder because there really just isn't any alternative. Of course we might be lucky, and the grace of God may just get us through. Let's hope it does, and those of you who believe in prayer, make use of it! More specifically, in the case of Launch-on warning, it is precisely the committment to LOW that makes de-alerting difficult. If we de- alert, then no LOW. Putting it the other way round, if we get rid of LOW, we have effectively de- alerted, or semi- de- alerted. That is to say, we've ensured that there is no hairtrigger response, which is effectively what we want over the rollover period. So we might as well ask for de- alerting, whilst providing positive reinforcement for ANY move toward making the planet a bit safer place, whether by getting rid of LOW, by instituting a 'strategic stabiluty centre', or whatever. I am very much worried by the fact that there has been so much foot-dragging on the strategic stability centre. Finally, I do think/hope that the very fact of our asking so loudly for nuke weapons to be taken off hairtrigger alert, will push the US and Russian governments, one way or another, to take SOME measures if not exactly the ones we ask for, that are helpful, and help to ensure our survival. Let's be clear about our short - term objectives - surviving Y2K - our medium term objective ( getting nuke - weapons de- alerted on a more longterm basis, as per Canberra Commisssion reccommendations and numerous UNGA resolutions) and our long- term objective - (implementing the ICJ opinion that nuke weapons are in fact illegal.) I hope this all helps. On a more practical level, I would like to suggest that within the next couple of weeks we organise a letterwriting/faxing campaign to Yeltsin and Clinton, asking for them to take weapons off hairtrigger alert over the y2k rollover period. Note however that I am NOT suggesting that we instantly do it right now. Soon, though. Please wait a bit, so e can evolve an appropriate line, organise model letters, select a date and appropriate targets, and not go off half- cocked! >Tom and John, > >My message to this listserver, which I think was titled "Y2K and >Accidental Nuclear War" or "Y2K and Launch on Warning", was copied to >several lists in Canada and somewhat unwittingly I seem to have started >a campaign with the catch phrase "NO L-O-W 1999". > >I would like to explain my reasons for such a limited objective. > >Tom wrote: "The danger is more real even than nuclear missiles going >off". If you mean 'more probable' then I feel sure you are right. >However, if you take "risk" as the probability of some accident >*multiplied by* a measure of the amount of damage it would cause, the >picture is different. The unique disaster of a full-scale nuclear war >between Russia and U.S.A. would be complete destruction of civilization, >at least in the northern hemisphere and perhaps over the whole world, >with the possibility of extinction of the human species. So you have to >multiply the probability by an almost infinite amount of damage. > >To act on that alone depends on a fair bit of guesswork, and it is not >my main reason though it is a factor. > >My main reason is that I think there is no possibility of getting >governments or nuclear control agencies in most countries to agree to >shut down nuclear generators, whether or not it would be a wise >precaution. The point is, there would be powerful arguments against >doing it. It would be expensive in money and resources (the extra fuel >for the non-nuclear generators), and it would increase the risk of any >minor malfunction (Y2K-caused or other) in a non-nuclear generator >setting off a widespread power blackout. Even if the non-nuclear >generators could handle the whole load, in most countries that use >nuclear power they would be stretched to their limit. (I think in some, >like France, it would be impossible to maintain the public power >supply.) I am not saying that those risks do or do not outweigh the >risk of a nuclear generator mishap - I simply do not know. But they >would supply powerful arguments for the people who do not want to do it, >for any reason. I feel sure it will not get done in Ontario (where I >live), and I think not in N.America at all, because the arguments >against will be strong. > >And similarly, on the nuclear weapons question, I would like to see all >nuclear weapons taken right off alert, with a sure time delay of hours >or days between a decision to launch and the launch starting. But I do >not think governments or military would agree to do that without >verification. Setting up verification, even if there were willingness >and trust on both sides (which there is not), would take many months at >least. Such de-alerting is complicated, and needs different procedures >for each different type of weapon, different for Russian and American >weapons even of the same class. Arranging sure methods of verification >for all the procedures would also be complicated. If the governments >required legal agreements like a treaty, we would be talking years, not >months. > >So to ask for something that could actually be done in the time >available, I just ask them to abandon 'Launch on Warning'. That does >not need verification, and it can be done in the time it takes for the >President to issue an order and the military to pass it down the chain >of command. If they decided on the morning of 31 December it could be >in place by the evening. It does not need both sides to do it >simultaneously. When one side does it, it halves that particular risk; >then when the other side does it that particular risk becomes zero. And >Launch on Warning is by far the biggest risk factor for a purely >accidental nuclear war. Also, unlike shutting down nuclear generators, >there is no reasonable-sounding argument against it, which in the case >of the generators would make a big problem for whoever has to make the >decision. > >I am not asking anyone to alter their campaign in mid-stream; but at >least use this for a fall-back position if you get to the point of >actual dialogue with people in the position to advise a decision. > >John, I am sure you were right to keep the message to Yeltsin and >Clinton to the one point. If a message about nuclear generators needs >to be sent it should go as a separate issue. > >As Tom raised the question and John responded, I would appreciate both >of your comments on this line of thinking. And please say if you think >these ideas should go on the listserver. Often if one seems to be >criticising well-intentioned people working for a cause, discussion >becomes acrimonious. I don't want that. > >Best wishes, >Alan Phillips. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Date: 10 Aug 1999 13:32:21 -0700 (PDT) Sadako and the Shakuhachi We remember Hiroshima not for the past, but for the future. We remember Hiroshima so that its past will not become our future. Hiroshima is best remembered with the plaintiff sounds of the bamboo flute, the Shakuhachi. It conjures up the devastation, the destruction, the encompassing emptiness of that day. The Shakuhachhi reveals the tear in the fabric of humanity that was ripped opened by the bomb. Through that tear we could all be sucked as into a black hole in the universe of decency. Nuclear weapons are not weapons at all. They are a symbol of an imploding human spirit. They are a fire that consumes the crisp air of decency. They are a crossroads where science joined hands with evil and apathy. They are a triumph of academic certainty wrappedin the convoluted lie of deterrence. They are Einstein's regret. They are many things, but not weapons-not instruments of war, but of genocide and perhaps omnicide. Those who gather to retell and listen to the story of Hiroshima and of Sadako are a community, a community committed to a human future. We may not know one another, but we are a community. And we are part of a greater community gathered throughout the world to commemorate this day, seeking to turn Hiroshima to Hope. If we succeed, Sadako of a thousand cranes will be remembered by new generations. She will be remebered long after the names and spirits of those who made and used the bomb will have faded into the haunting sounds of the Shakuhachi. David Krieger Sadako Peace Day August 6, 1999 Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 Santa Barbara CA 93108 Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 Email: A2000@silcom.com Website http://www.abolition2000.org Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no subject) to: abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no subject) to: majordomo@igc.org In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: peter weiss Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Date: 10 Aug 1999 17:45:06 -0400 Beautiful words, David Peter Nuclear Age Peace Foundation wrote: > > Sadako and the Shakuhachi > > We remember Hiroshima not for the past, but for the future. We > remember Hiroshima so that its past will not become our future. Hiroshima > is best remembered with the plaintiff sounds of the bamboo flute, the > Shakuhachi. It conjures up the devastation, the destruction, the > encompassing emptiness of that day. The Shakuhachhi reveals the tear in > the fabric of humanity that was ripped opened by the bomb. Through that > tear we could all be sucked as into a black hole in the universe of decency. > > Nuclear weapons are not weapons at all. They are a symbol of an > imploding human spirit. They are a fire that consumes the crisp air of > decency. They are a crossroads where science joined hands with evil and > apathy. They are a triumph of academic certainty wrappedin the convoluted > lie of deterrence. They are Einstein's regret. They are many things, but > not weapons-not instruments of war, but of genocide and perhaps omnicide. > > Those who gather to retell and listen to the story of Hiroshima and of > Sadako are a community, a community committed to a human future. We may > not know one another, but we are a community. And we are part of a greater > community gathered throughout the world to commemorate this day, seeking to > turn Hiroshima to Hope. > > If we succeed, Sadako of a thousand cranes will be remembered by new > generations. She will be remebered long after the names and spirits of > those who made and used the bomb will have faded into the haunting sounds > of the Shakuhachi. > > David Krieger > Sadako Peace Day > August 6, 1999 > > Carah Lynn Ong > Coordinator, Abolition 2000 > Nuclear Age Peace Foundation > 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 > Santa Barbara CA 93108 > > Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 > Email: A2000@silcom.com > Website http://www.abolition2000.org > > Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly > receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a > forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used > to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. > > To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no > subject) to: > abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com > In the body of the message, write: > "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) > > To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: > abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com > > To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no > subject) to: majordomo@igc.org > In the body of the message, write: > "subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) > > To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: > abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K NUKE DE-ALERTING ARTICLES Date: 11 Aug 1999 20:44:12 +1000 John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, =46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd THE FOLLOWING ARE ARTICLES FROM THE TIMES OF LONDON BY BASIC (BRITISH-AMERICAN SECURITY INFORMATION COUNCIL) AND THE GUARDIAN BY HANNAH MIDDLETON. http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian/guardian/965y2k.htm The Guardian August 4, 1999 Y2K and the threat of global nuclear catastrophe by Dr Hannah Middleton Year 2000 (Y2K) problems are likely to affect the computer systems that coordinate strategic nuclear weapons systems. Many respected experts are warning that due to Y2K problems these systems, both in the US and Russia, pose an unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war. The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security. The largest, oldest, and least Y2K compliant computerised systems in the world are those that are part of the communications, command, control and intelligence functions of the strategic nuclear weapons complexes of Russia and the US. The US Y2K compliance program for strategic nuclear weapons is not expected to be anywhere near complete by December 1999. Similarly, the Russian strategic nuclear weapon system will be subject to massive Y2K problems. The Y2K problem The Y2K problem is buried in millions of lines of software code that use two digits to represent four-digit years. That will lead some software around the world to read "00" not as 2000, but 1900, and possibly cause computers to crash or issue false data. No one knows for sure what will happen. The biggest fear is that, even in modernised nations that have been working to lessen the impact of Y2K, a cascading effect will occur. A US Senate Y2K panel reported that: "The interdependent nature of technology systems makes the severity of possible disruptions difficult to predict. An audit of one US nuclear reactor, conducted by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, revealed that a single nuclear power plant had 1,304 separate software items and embedded chips affected by the Y2K bug. In the worst-case scenario, even systems that are Y2K compliant will be infected with the Y2K bug as a result of their connection to non-compliant systems. They, in turn, will contaminate others. The nuclear hair-trigger Both the US and Russia continue to keep the bulk of their nuclear missiles on high level alert. Within just a few minutes of receiving instructions to fire, a large fraction of the US and Russian land-based rockets (which are armed with about 2,000 and 3,500 warheads respectively) could begin their 25-minute flights over the North Pole to their targets. Less than 15 minutes after receiving the order to attack, six US Trident submarines at sea could fire about 1,000 warheads and several Russian ballistic missile submarines could launch between 300 and 400. In sum, the two major nuclear weapons states are ready to fire a total of more than 5,000 nuclear weapons at each other within half an hour. Both powers operate a "launch on warning" policy, with nuclear forces in a constant state of readiness to launch nuclear weapons on the mere warning of an attack. The rushed nature of the process, from warning to decision to action in 15 minutes or so, risks causing an apocalyptic mistake. The possibility of accidents is made worse by the Y2K problem. US bases in Australia At the stroke of midnight on December 31, inhabitants of the small Pacific islands will become the first people to enter the year 2000. They will be followed by the first industrialised countries =97 New Zealand, Australia and Japan. American officials will be watching to see how the Y2K phenomenon affects them, to find out what happens when modern, computer-reliant nations cross into the new millennium? The US military will be watching what happens at its military facilities in Australia since any malfunctions in its nuclear command and control system will show up first in the US bases, especially the ballistic missile launch detection and other satellite intelligence collection systems at Pine Gap, and the Trident submarine communications transmitter site at North West Cape. Nuclear accident The greatest concern is that Y2K will cause malfunctions in the early warning network and command-and-control system of the nuclear weapon states, leading to an accidental or mistaken launch command. The fallibility of these early warning systems has been demonstrated by false alarms and even the accidental transmission of launch codes which have occurred at both US and Russian nuclear missile installations, caused by computer error or misinterpretation of data. On January 25, 1995, for example, a Russian radar warning system detected a rocket launch off Norway. A ballistic missile launched from a US submarine in those waters could hit Moscow within 15 minutes, so an alert message was sent up the command chain all the way to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who for the first time in an emergency activated the "nuclear briefcase" carried by Russian leaders. The unidentified "missile" turned out to be a US weather probe launched by the Norwegians. Eliminating the risk The risk of accidental nuclear war, however small, is not a risk the planet and humanity should be subjected to. And the risk can be eliminated by taking nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert. The Canberra Commission, organised by the Australian Government in 1996, strongly recommended that strategic nuclear missiles be taken off hair- trigger alert as a first step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. Whether it is seen as a first step to elimination of nuclear weapons, or as a simple commonsense measure to ensure that we do not greet the new millennium with global nuclear catastrophe, de-alerting makes good sense. If strategic nuclear weapons are taken off alert, accidental nuclear war between the US and Russia cannot happen. De-alerting will cost nothing and it can improve the atmosphere of trust between the nuclear powers. It can be implemented by simple executive order. There should be a "safety first" approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. The only responsible solution is for them all to be taken off alert status, preferably with the decoupling of nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles. All strategic and tactical nuclear weapons should be placed in a status in which at least hours and preferably days would be required to launch them. World-wide campaign The danger that a Y2K-related computer malfunction could trigger an accidental global nuclear war has impelled more than 170 international peace, environmental, anti-nuclear, trade union, and church groups to write to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, demanding that strategic nuclear weapons be taken off their current hair-trigger launch status over the Y2K period. The letter is being released on Hiroshima Day in Sydney, Adelaide, Auckland, Moscow, London, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Costa Rica. You can help Write to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, asking him to make representations to Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin to take strategic nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert during the Y2K rollover period. Back to index page http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/08/07/timopnolt01007.html?21= 4624 9 August 7 1999 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Nuclear dangers of Year 2000 >From Mr Paul Swann and others Sir, This year's commemoration of Hiroshima Day, August 6, falls just 147 days before the Year 2000 com- puter rollover. We share the concerns of many people and groups worldwide who are calling for the de- alerting of nuclear weapon systems during the critical rollover period. No one can guarantee that the mil- lennium bug will not cause failures in the computer systems that control the nuclear arsenals. The British American Security Information Council (BASIC) warns that there is sufficient risk of an accidental or mistaken launch of nuclear weapons to warrant standing down the current "launch-on-warning" status. A letter to this effect has been signed by representatives of many millions of people and is being sent to Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin today. There are also concerns that the world's 433 civil nuclear reactors may be vulnerable to computer system failures. A "World Atomic Safety Holiday" campaign being launched today calls for nuclear reactors to be taken off-line from December 1 until the computer crisis is over. We urge all nuclear countries to adopt a safety-first policy to ensure that the new millennium begins with neither an accidental nuclear war nor another Chernobyl. Sincerely, PAUL SWANN, National Co-ordinator, Y2K Community Action Network, PATRICK GREEN, Senior Energy, Nuclear and Climate Campaigner, Friends of the Earth, BRUCE KENT, Vice-President, CND, TOM McDONALD, Analyst, BASIC, 14 Beacon Hill, N7 9LY. pswann@easynet.co.uk August 6. Copyright 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd. _______________________________________________ - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Lachlan Forrow" Subject: (abolition-usa) Possible Exhibits from Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (HPMM) Date: 11 Aug 1999 11:20:22 -0400 As described below in the message below from Sachiyo Oki, staff member of IPPNW-Japan, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum staff have been interested in placing exhibitions of articfacts, photographs, etc. from their collection in several cities during the year 2000. They had hoped to have cities selected by this August 6, but it seems that they are still entertaining proposals. They are clearly particularly interested in the possibility of an exhibition in New York, especially if this could be done at/with the U.N. Please let me know if you are interested. -----Original Message----- Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 11:04 PM Cc: eamis@caregroup.harvard.edu August 11, 1999 Dear Dr Lachlan Forrow, I suppose you heard from your staff member Beth Amis about her trip to Hiroshima. She, Dr. Yokoro and I met with Mr Hideaki Naito, Deputy Director of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (HPMM), and Mr Masayuki Kubo, Associate Director of HPMM, and discussed the possibility of holding the Atomic bomb exhibit in USA in connection with Symposium 2000. As you might already know they can provide two kinds of the A-bomb exhibit for those who wish to hold it in their cities. One is a large scale exhibit and the other is a small scale one. As for the large scale, they will ship artifact, large panels, videos etc. at their own expense. But, a sponsor is required to secure the exhibit. So, in this sense, a very well protected musium may be the best. Last year, the large exhibit were held in India, Pakistan, in US (at Tufts Univ.) and drew quite a public attention. As for the small scale, materials such as Beth brought back, --small sized panels and videos-- will be provided. In this case, of course security is not a big problem. HPMM had already asked various cities in the world about the possiblity of holding a big scale exhibit when we visited them, but had not received very many positive replies. When Beth mentioned the city name of New York, they seemed very interested. And they said they would have to decide which city they were going to lend artifact and etc. for the next exhibit and submit a budget soon. I am sure you remember that you and I visited HPMM in the summer of 1995 after the Hiroshima conference just before you left Hiroshima. You wanted to hold the exhibit tour in major cities across USA and they wanted IPPNW to be a sponsor for the exhibit in USA, but this idea did not realized due to financial constraint. I understand, as Beth mentioned in her last e-mail, it would be extremely difficult for you to explore this possibility all by yourself in a short limited time, but I think we should respond to HPMM somewhat as they were so kind and sincere during the meeting. This is just my naive idea, but would't it possible for us to hold a large scale exhibit at the UN building in New York ? I suppose there are some halls or rooms for exhibitons in the UN building. Do you think there will be too a strong opposition from nuclear weapons states ? Or is there even a little possibility ? By the way, Dr Yokoro went to Belgrade with two other Hiroshima doctors for a medical support and will be back on Aug. 17. I am looking forward to your response soon. Sincerely yours, Sachiyo Oki, JPPNW - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: peter weiss Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Possible Exhibits from Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (HPMM) Date: 11 Aug 1999 17:14:25 -0400 Cooper Union is hosting, in December, an exhibit called "The Crimes of the Wehrmacht", produced by a progressive research institute in Hamburg. The idea was to dispel the myth that genocide and other crimes were committed only by the SS, SA and Gestapo. The exhibit has been very controversial in Europe, where it has circulated for over two years. So Cooper Union may be receptive to the idea of displaying Hiroshima artifacts in 2000. PeterWeiss Lachlan Forrow wrote: > > To: Abolition 2000/USA > From: Lachlan Forrow > > As described below in the message below from Sachiyo Oki, staff member of > IPPNW-Japan, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum staff have been interested > in placing exhibitions of articfacts, photographs, etc. from their > collection in several cities during the year 2000. They had hoped to have > cities selected by this August 6, but it seems that they are still > entertaining proposals. They are clearly particularly interested in the > possibility of an exhibition in New York, especially if this could be done > at/with the U.N. > > Please let me know if you are interested. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Sachiyo Oki (JPPNW) [mailto:jppnw@hiroshima.med.or.jp] > Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 11:04 PM > To: Lachlan forrow > Cc: eamis@caregroup.harvard.edu > Subject: Re the A-bomb exhibit > > August 11, 1999 > > Dear Dr Lachlan Forrow, > > I suppose you heard from your staff member Beth Amis about her trip to > Hiroshima. She, Dr. Yokoro and I met with Mr Hideaki Naito, Deputy > Director of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (HPMM), and Mr Masayuki Kubo, > Associate Director of HPMM, and discussed the possibility of holding > the Atomic bomb exhibit in USA in connection with Symposium 2000. > > As you might already know they can provide two kinds of the A-bomb exhibit > for those who wish to hold it in their cities. One is a large scale exhibit > and the other is a small scale one. As for the large scale, they will ship > artifact, large panels, videos etc. at their own expense. But, a sponsor is > required to secure the exhibit. So, in this sense, a very well protected > musium may be the best. Last year, the large exhibit were held in India, > Pakistan, in US (at Tufts Univ.) and drew quite a public attention. As for > the small scale, materials such as Beth brought back, --small sized panels > and videos-- will be provided. In this case, of course security is not a big > problem. > > HPMM had already asked various cities in the world about the possiblity of > holding a big scale exhibit when we visited them, but had not received very > many positive replies. When Beth mentioned the city name of New York, they > seemed very interested. And they said they would have to decide which city > they were going to lend artifact and etc. for the next exhibit and submit a > budget soon. > > I am sure you remember that you and I visited HPMM in the summer of 1995 > after the Hiroshima conference just before you left Hiroshima. You wanted to > hold the exhibit tour in major cities across USA and they wanted IPPNW to be > a sponsor for the exhibit in USA, but this idea did not realized due to > financial constraint. > > I understand, as Beth mentioned in her last e-mail, it would be extremely > difficult for you to explore this possibility all by yourself in a short > limited time, but I think we should respond to HPMM somewhat as they were so > kind and sincere during the meeting. > > This is just my naive idea, but would't it possible for us to hold a large > scale exhibit at the UN building in New York ? I suppose there are some > halls or rooms for exhibitons in the UN building. Do you think there will be > too a strong opposition from nuclear weapons states ? Or is there even a > little possibility ? > > By the way, Dr Yokoro went to Belgrade with two other Hiroshima doctors for > a medical support and will be back on Aug. 17. > > I am looking forward to your response soon. > > Sincerely yours, > > Sachiyo Oki, JPPNW > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dealert99@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Rep. Edward Markey's Resolution for De-Alerting Date: 11 Aug 1999 20:38:41 EDT Representative Edward Markey, of Massachusetts, today released the following text of his Resolution concerning de-alerting of nuclear missiles to the Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons, with permission to publish it here on the Internet. Rep. Markey is the first US Congressman to take such a stand on the urgent question of missile de-alerting. He would like to encourage other members of Congress to join him as cosponsors. William F. Santelmann, Jr., for the Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Congress that nuclear weapons should be taken off hair-trigger alert. Whereas accidental or mistaken launch of a nuclear missile could devastate a city, and launch of a nuclear force could wreak worldwide destruction; Whereas the United States and Russia currently maintain thousands of nuclear weapons on "hair-trigger" alert, such that they can be fired within minutes; Whereas in several incidents false signals of missile attacks have triggered a process in which national leaders had to decide in only a few minutes whether to fire nuclear weapons; Whereas the failure of computers to recognize the year 2000 date change could infect command, control, communications, and intelligence systems, causing false signals or blank monitoring screens; Whereas Russian monitoring and control systems are deteriorating; Whereas a massive preemptive attack attempting to destroy the nuclear weapons capability of either Russia or the United States is extremely unlikely, and mutual measures to slow the firing of nuclear weapons would make a preemptive strike even more difficult; Whereas much of the nuclear force of each country, including submarines at sea and mobile land-based missiles, is almost invulnerable and thus would preserve retaliatory ability through a nuclear attack, making immediate firing of weapons unnecessary; Whereas President Bush in 1991 ordered a unilateral stand-down of United States strategic bombers and de-alerted some missiles, and Soviet President Gorbachev quickly reciprocated with similar actions, improving bilateral relations and national security; Whereas removing further missiles from hair-trigger alert would help alleviate recent tensions between Russia and the United States; and Whereas there are several ways that land and submarine based weapons could be temporarily disabled, with times ranging from minutes to weeks in order to reactivate them: Now, therefore be it RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (THE SENATE CONCURRING), That it is the sense of the Congress that--- 1) the United States, Russia, and other nuclear powers should negotiate an agreement to take all of their nuclear weapons off of high-alert status in order to decrease the risk of accidental or mistaken firing of nuclear weapons; 2) to further such an agreement, the United States should immediately take off of hair-trigger alert as many of its nuclear weapons as is feasible and consistent with national security, and should encourage Russia to reciprocate; 3) the Department of Defense and the State Department should study methods to increase further the time needed to launch all nuclear missiles and study the effect these actions would have on nuclear deterrence, relations with other recognized nuclear powers, the international nuclear nonproliferation regime, and other aspects of national security; and 4) the President should expedite the establishment of a United States-Russian joint early-warning center to ensure accurate detection of any missiles and effective communication in the even of a false alarm, computer malfunction, accident, or diplomatic crisis, as set forth in the "Joint Statement on the Exchange of Information on Missile Launches and Early Warning", agreed to in 1998, and should facilitate the establishment of a temporary center before the end of 1999 that could address any problems which might arise due to the failure of computers to recognize the year 2000 date change. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) AUSTRALIAN SENATE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES Y2K NUKES RESOLUTION Date: 12 Aug 1999 16:35:42 +1000 John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd Dear All, The resolution that managed to pass unanimously through the Australian senate was unfortunately, not as good as it should have been- both the ALP, and the overnment, very predictably, tried to water it down drastically. The resolution, specifically, lacks a committment to de-alerting. However, it 'notes' that the Canberra Commission reccommended de- alerting, as well as various resolutions of UNGA doing so. What is however, quite stunning is that the government voted at all for ANY Y2K weapons related resolution whatsoever. That is in itself extraordinary. What I now propose to do is to get Australians to fax foreign minister Alexander Downer and shadow foreign minister Brereton, asking them to adopt as policy, AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE FRIENDS OF THE EARTH SENATE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES Y2K NUCLEAR WEAPONS MOTION The Senate today unanimously passed a motion moved by Democrat Senator Lyn Allison, that calls on the nuclear weapons states to develop measures to eliminate the risk of the accidental use of nuclear weapons over the Y2K rollover period. The motion comes after the release of a letter to Yeltsin and Clinton signed by 271 groups worldwide including 22 Australian Parliamentarians, Friends of the Earth International and Greenpeace International, calling for the de-alerting of nuclear weapons in accordance with the recommendations of the Canberra Commission of 1996. Both the letter and todays Senate motion are in response to deep concerns that have been aired by Bruce Blair of the influential Brookings Institution, the Federation of American Scientists, and the British-American Security Information Council, that Y2K-related computer malfunctions in the massive and ancient computer complexes that control US and Russian nuclear missiles could pose an 'unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war'. According to Friends of the Earth nuclear campaigner John Hallam, "The resolution moved by the Democrats and now passed unanimously, calls on the Australian Government to continue to encourage the efforts being made by nuclear weapon states to develop measures to eliminate any risk of the accidental use of nuclear weapons'." "It also makes specific reference to the 1996 Canberra Commission recommendation that all nuclear forces be taken off hairtrigger alert." "We welcome the fact that there is now a parliamentary consensus that there is actually a potential problem. As such the resolution represents progress and is to be welcomed. However, it is clear that many people on both sides of the parliament have their heads stuck firmly in the sands of deterrence." "There is one way in which the risk of accidental nuclear war can be completely eliminated. That is by taking nuclear weapons and forces off hairtrigger alert, as the Canberra Commission, and a number of UN resolutions, have recommended." According to Irene Gale of the Australian Peace Committee, "As long as nuclear weapons are not taken off alert, some 5000 nuclear warheads are 24 hours a day in readiness to be launched within 20-30 minutes. If that ever happens, it really will be the end of the world - certainly for civilisation, possibly for all human life." "Y2K- related computer malfunctions provide a small but still significant chance that this could happen. It's a risk that the planet as a whole should not be subjected to. Taking nuclear weapons off alert will eliminate that risk. We call on the government to implement the Senate resolution by making the recommendations of the 1996 Canberra Commission policy, and urging the nuclear weapon states to implement them." Contact: John Hallam, 02-9517-3903 h9810-2598 Irene Gale A.M., 08-8212-7138, Ron Gray, 08-8364-2291 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Aid workers/Journalists warned about DU, but not refugees Date: 14 Aug 1999 02:12:24 EDT I pass this on for the info of someone who had asked about DU. Peace, David McReynolds << Subj: Aid workers/Journalists warned about DU, but not refugees Date: 8/14/99 12:59:28 AM Eastern Daylight Time From: KDean75206@aol.com To: SocialistsUnmoderated@debs.pinko.net Depleted uranium effects in Balkans to be probed WebPosted Fri Aug 13 14:05:57 1999 NAIROBI - The United Nations is investigating possible human health problems caused by depleted uranium weapons used in the Balkan war, the BBC said Friday. Depleted uranium, which is 1.7 times as dense as lead, allows bullets and shells to pierce armour. NATO has said it was used by American "tankbuster" aircraft during the war in Kosovo. The UN is currently considering whether to send a team to the region to assess any impact. It has already sent experts to evaluate the environmental impact of the various Balkan conflicts, which have gone on for most of the 1990s. Depleted uranium is mildly radioactive, and NATO says the weaponry fall-out does not lead to health problems. But many others think the substance, which burns and sprays dust on impact, has a long-lasting health impact. They say that inhaling or ingesting the dust particles can cause cancer. The U.S Army's own Environmental Policy Institute has warned that depleted uranium poses chemical and radiological risks. Many veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have charged that the substance made them sick. Aid workers and journalists working in Kosovo have been warned about coming into contact with depleted uranium, the BBC said, but refugees returning to the former war zone have been given no advice. -- To unsubscribe, send email to SocialistsUnmoderated-request@debs.pinko.net with "unsubscribe" in the Subject line. Send complaints that can't be resolved by unsubscribing to doumakes@novia.net. >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Fwd: HAZARDS OF LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVITY Date: 14 Aug 1999 02:04:05 -0700 (PDT) At 02:23 PM 4/20/98 -0500, you wrote: >AN OVERVIEW >HAZARDS OF LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVITY > >Low level radioactivity includes the on-going amount of radiation >released from the everyday operation of the world's 433 nuclear power >plants, plus leaks and accidents. > >(1) INFERTILITY > Radiation causes infertility. The global fertility rate has dropped >nearly half since 1955. With the world's population at 6 billion, placing an unsustainable strain on Earth's ecosystems, a reduced fertility rate sounds like a good thing. Rest of article munched. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) U.S., Russia urged to lower missile alert for Y2K Date: 15 Aug 1999 15:02:46 +1000 John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd THIS IS HOW REUTERS WASHINGTON REPORTED THE 'BILL & BORIS' DE- ALERTING LETTER. www.Drudgereport.com featured this article today! Friends in high places :-) ========= U.S., Russia urged to lower missile alert for Y2K Updated 6:53 PM ET August 12, 1999 By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Citing the risk of an accidental nuclear war, activists are pressing the United States and Russia to take nuclear missiles off hair-trigger alert during the technology-challenging year 2000 rollover. A network of international groups announced a drive this week to try to persuade President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin to "stand down" the approximately 2,500 nuclear-armed missiles now poised on each side for immediate firing. Standing down the missiles means adding steps before they can be fired. The idea is to give commanders more time to make sure they are acting on solid information, not scrambled data caused by a computer glitch. Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, introduced a sense of the Congress resolution last week calling for the "de-alerting" of as many U.S. nuclear weapons "as is feasible and consistent with national security." "Today the Russian command-and-control system is decaying," Markey said. He said the so-called Y2K bug in computers not programmed to recognize the year 2000 made the date change a particularly dangerous period. The stated fear is that Y2K-related computer glitches could cause the Russians in particular to conclude they are under attack, triggering mistaken retaliation. Russia acknowledges that it lags far behind the United States overall in making its systems ready for 2000 changeover. Friends of the Earth, an Australian environmental group, spearheaded an effort to send a letter to Clinton and Yeltsin that was signed by 271 groups, including Greenpeace International. "If Y2K breakdowns produce inaccurate early-warning data, or if communications and command channels are compromised, the combination of hair-trigger force postures and Y2K failures could be disastrous," the groups said in their letter. They added that there should be a "safety-first" approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. Alice Slater, president of the New York-based Global Resource Action Center for the Environment and a U.S. coordinator of the letter campaign, said activists were organizing grass-roots efforts in many countries to highlight the issue. "In a sense, Y2K is a crisis and an opportunity," Slater said in a telephone interview. She described the current drive to de-alert missiles temporarily as a "first step" in a larger effort to ban nuclear weapons altogether. The Pentagon has invited Russia to send military officers to a proposed temporary joint "early-warning center" in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to avoid any possible missile-launch miscues as the new century dawns. But Russia has not responded since the U.S.-led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, its ally, earlier this year. Bruce Blair, a former U.S. nuclear missile launch officer who analyzes targeting issues at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said the Y2K glitch itself could not cause accidental missile firings because people had to make the ultimate decisions on both sides. But he said permanently de-alerting all or most nuclear missiles made sense in the post-cold War world as a safety precaution. "Yeltsin's the last person you'd want to wake up in the middle of the night with a request for permission to launch" on what might be a false alarm, he said. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) Depleted Uranium Resolutions Date: 16 Aug 1999 02:27:50 -0700 (PDT) Does anyone have any sample resolutions about Depleted Uranium? - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: FOE Y2K Letter Makes Reuters Date: 16 Aug 1999 08:41:41 -0400 Dear Friends, I think we have to keep the momentum going! Please list to this caucus what you are doing in your country to bring the de-alerting issue to your government's attention. In the US, how will we get sign-ons for the Markey resolution and a Senator to introduce a similar resolution in the Senate. Please note, that while Markey calls for unilateral de-alerting consistent with US security needs to encourage Russia to take similar steps, he calls for this as a means to enter negotiations with Russia on total verifiable dealerting of all nuclear weapons. Regards, Alice >Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 19:41:42 -0400 >Subject: FOE Y2K Letter Makes Reuters >To: y2k-nuclear@egroups.com, y2k-nukes@envirolink.org >From: CarolMoore@kreative.net (CarolMoore@kreative.net) > >www.Drudgereport.com featured this article today! Friends in high >places :-) >========= >U.S., Russia urged to lower missile alert for Y2K > > Updated 6:53 PM ET August 12, 1999 > > By Jim Wolf > > WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Citing the risk of an accidental nuclear war, >activists > are pressing the United States and Russia to take nuclear missiles off >hair-trigger > alert during the technology-challenging year 2000 rollover. > > A network of international groups announced a drive this week to try to >persuade > President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin to "stand down" >the > approximately 2,500 nuclear-armed missiles now poised on each side for > immediate firing. > > Standing down the missiles means adding steps before they can be fired. >The idea > is to give commanders more time to make sure they are acting on solid > information, not scrambled data caused by a computer glitch. > > Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, introduced a sense of the > Congress resolution last week calling for the "de-alerting" of as many >U.S. nuclear > weapons "as is feasible and consistent with national security." > > "Today the Russian command-and-control system is decaying," Markey >said. > > He said the so-called Y2K bug in computers not programmed to recognize >the > year 2000 made the date change a particularly dangerous period. > > The stated fear is that Y2K-related computer glitches could cause the >Russians in > particular to conclude they are under attack, triggering mistaken >retaliation. Russia > acknowledges that it lags far behind the United States overall in >making its > systems ready for 2000 changeover. > > Friends of the Earth, an Australian environmental group, spearheaded an >effort to > send a letter to Clinton and Yeltsin that was signed by 271 groups, >including > Greenpeace International. > > "If Y2K breakdowns produce inaccurate early-warning data, or if > communications and command channels are compromised, the combination of > > hair-trigger force postures and Y2K failures could be disastrous," the >groups said > in their letter. > > They added that there should be a "safety-first" approach to Y2K and >nuclear > arsenals. > > Alice Slater, president of the New York-based Global Resource Action >Center > for the Environment and a U.S. coordinator of the letter campaign, said >activists > were organizing grass-roots efforts in many countries to highlight the >issue. > > "In a sense, Y2K is a crisis and an opportunity," Slater said in a >telephone > interview. > > She described the current drive to de-alert missiles temporarily as a >"first step" in > a larger effort to ban nuclear weapons altogether. > > The Pentagon has invited Russia to send military officers to a proposed >temporary > joint "early-warning center" in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to avoid >any possible > missile-launch miscues as the new century dawns. But Russia has not >responded > since the U.S.-led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, its ally, earlier this >year. > > Bruce Blair, a former U.S. nuclear missile launch officer who analyzes >targeting > issues at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said the Y2K glitch >itself could > not cause accidental missile firings because people had to make the >ultimate > decisions on both sides. > > But he said permanently de-alerting all or most nuclear missiles made >sense in the > post-cold War world as a safety precaution. > > "Yeltsin's the last person you'd want to wake up in the middle of the >night with a > request for permission to launch" on what might be a false alarm, he >said. > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: 2 Radioactive Recycling News articles Date: 16 Aug 1999 10:32:04 -0400 >Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 04:18:11 -0400 >Subject: 2 Radioactive Recycling News articles >To: dianed@nirs.org >From: dianed@nirs.org (dianed@nirs.org) > >From the Nashville Tennesseean August 11, 1999 and August 13, 1999 >Both front page stories and one expected on August 14, 1999 > >HREF="http://www.tennessean.com/sii/99/08/11/recycle11.shtml">http://www.t ennessean.com/sii/99/08/11/recycle11.shtml >>>================================================ >>>STATE ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT >>> >>>Radioactive recycling OK'd >>> >>>By Laura Frank / Tennessean Staff Writer >>> >>>Tennessee officials have given the OK for radioactive metal from nuclear >>>bomb-making machinery to be recycled for such everyday household >>products as >>>forks, frying pans and teeth braces -- drawing strong protest from two >>>congressmen and a federal judge. >>> >>>The state's action may be illegal, the congressmen say, and it leaves >>the >>>public with no way to know whether metal objects in their homes and >>>workplaces are made from recycled radioactive metal. >>> >>>State officials acknowledge the action makes Tennessee attractive as a >>>nationwide recycling center for radioactively contaminated metals, but >>they >>>insist the precedent they've set is safe. >>> >>>The state's approval of the recycling plan set a standard even federal >>>regulators have been wary to set, and the state did so without any >>public >>>input. >>> >>>"Tennessee is being used to basically distribute radioactive materials >>to >>>homes and workplaces throughout the entire U.S.," said Reuben Guttman, >>an >>>attorney for Oak Ridge nuclear weapons site workers who sued the >>government >>>to try to stop the plan. >>> >>>U.S. Reps. John Dingell, D-Mich., and Ron Klink, D-Pa., have called for >>an >>>immediate meeting with officials from the Energy Department, which owns >>the >>>Oak Ridge site, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which >>oversees >>>nuclear activities. Dingell and Klink made their request in letters sent >>>Friday to Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and the head of the NRC, >>copies >of >>>which were obtained by The Tennessean. >>> >>>The congressmen are upset that the Tennessee Department of Environment >>and >>>Conservation approved a foreign-owned company's experimental process to >>>recycle metals from Oak Ridge. That company, British Nuclear Fuels >>Limited, >>>is contracted to clean some of the nuclear age's most contaminated >facilities >>>at Oak Ridge. The company then plans to sell the recycled metal on the >>open >>>market. >>> >>>The new recycling plan could expose the public to some radiation, said >>Mike >>>Mobley, director of radiation health for the state Environment and >>>Conservation Department. But the metal will go through a cleaning >>process, >>>and the company's estimates show the level of leftover radiation would >>be so >>>low it would pose no danger, he said. >>> >>>At least one top scientist questions that, however. Even if the amount >>of >>>radiation left in the metal is small, it would be nearly impossible to >>>control or guarantee safety of the people using those items, said Evan >>B. >>>Douple, director of the National Academy of Sciences' Board of Radiation >>>Effects Research. >>> >>>"The potential problem is, as more and more radioactive material is >>floating >>>around in the marketplace, you wonder where it's ending up," Douple >>said. >>>"Nobody keeps a Geiger counter in the house to check out their stainless >>>steel silverware and their frying pan." >>> >>>Douple said that he had not seen British Nuclear Fuels Limited's >>Tennessee >>>plan but that the academy was "very curious" and would be watching. >>> >>>Mobley said he is confident in the safety of the plan, adding: "All I can >say >>>is you'd have to have an extraordinary amount of this metal in your home >>to >>>cause harm." >>> >>>But the federal judge who heard the union's lawsuit said that if the >>plan >>>proceeds, "the potential for environmental harm is great." >>> >>>U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled June 29 in Washington, D.C., >>that >>>federal law prevented her from stopping the project, but she called it >>>"startling and worrisome" that the public had no input or scrutiny >>before >>>Tennessee approved the plan. >>> >>>The judge also noted the recycling process is experimental and she saw >>no >>>evidence the process for removing radioactivity is safe or will work. >>> >>>The criticism of the recycling plan comes at the same time the U.S. >>>Department of Energy has ordered an investigation into whether a >>different, >>>decades-old DOE recycling plan exposed uninformed workers to highly >>>radioactive plutonium at Oak Ridge and its sister plants in Paducah, Ky., >and >>>Portsmouth, Ohio. >>> >>>Dingell and Klink said the Energy Department and British Nuclear Fuels >>>Limited purposely used Tennessee regulators to avoid public scrutiny and >>>bypass DOE orders that would have prevented the plan. >>> >>>"The action by the Tennessee Department (of Environment and >>Conservation) -- >>>apparently anticipated, aided and abetted by BNFL and the Department of >>>Energy -- may well be a violation of federal law," the two members of >>the >>>House Commerce Committee wrote to Richardson, the Energy secretary. "... >This >>>move by BNFL, DOE and the state of Tennessee has long-term consequences." >>> >>>Guttman, an attorney for the Nashville-based Paper, Allied-Industrial, >>>Chemical & Energy Workers International Union, said: "Everything has >>been >>>sort of snuck in the back door here." >>> >>>British Nuclear Fuels Limited has a $200 million DOE contract to clean >>three >>>stadium-size buildings at Oak Ridge and recycle at least 100,000 tons of >>>contaminated metals there, including 6,000 tons of radioactive nickel. >>The >>>buildings, and the machinery in them, were used to make nuclear weapons >>fuel. >>> >>>A company spokesman says its subcontractor, Manufacturing Sciences >>Corp., >>>commissioned a safety analysis to estimate how much radiation consumers >could >>>be exposed to if the metal were recycled into such items as hip joint >>>replacements, orthodontic braces, false teeth, eyeglass frames and >>flatware. >>> >>>"The radiation dose someone would get from the amount of X-rays needed >>to >>>install a hip joint replacement would be 90 times greater than the >>lifetime >>>dose from a hip joint made from the recycled nickel," said spokesman >>David >>>Campbell. >>> >>>The contaminated nickel at Oak Ridge is different from the rest of the >>metal >>>because it is in a form that is still classified and must be melted down >>>before it can be sold on the market. There currently is no federal >>standard >>>for releasing metal like the nickel that is radioactively contaminated >>not >>>just on the surface, but also internally. This is called "volumetric" >>>contamination. >>> >>>Kessler, in her June 29 opinion, pointed out that the U.S. Environmental >>>Protection Agency and the NRC, "after taking years to try to develop >national >>>standards, were unable to do so because of (the) inability to develop >>>consensus in the scientific community." >>> >>>In the absence of national standards, Kessler said, the Tennessee >>Department >>>of Environment and Conservation, "which has neither the resources nor >>the >>>extensive expertise of a national regulatory agency, is the only body >>with >>>any supervisory power." >>> >>>Mobley acknowledges his agency's lack of resources, bemoaning the need >>for >>>newer and more equipment to keep up with Tennessee's burgeoning nuclear >>>industry. But, he says, the state is one of 30 given regulatory power by >>the >>>NRC, and its actions on the metal recycling are an adaptation of the NRC >>>guidelines that exist for surface contamination. >>> >>>He says public input on the action was not required by law because it >>was >>>simply an amendment to Manufacturing Sciences Corp.'s existing license. >>> >>>"In a sense, it may be true" that Tennessee has set a national >>precedent, >>>Mobley said. "But it's really just an addition to the kinds of things >>we're >>>doing here in Tennessee. This is just another step in the process." >>> >>>Reprinted under the Fair Use >http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international >copyright law. >>> > > > >_____________________________________________________ > Foes of >nuclear recycling growing >The Tennessean August 13, 1999 >HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT > > Foes of nuclear recycling > growing > > By Laura Frank / Tennessean Staff Writer > > More than 185 environmental, consumer and public > interest groups have joined to try to stop recycled > radioactive metals from the Oak Ridge nuclear > weapons site from being used in everyday consumer > products such as toys and tableware. Yesterday, the > groups faxed a letter to Vice President Al Gore, > requesting he advise the U.S. Department of Energy > to stop the project until its safety can be >determined. > > The groups include organizations such as Greenpeace > and the Sierra Club, international groups from six > foreign countries and community groups such as the > Oak Ridge-based Coalition for a Healthy > Environment. > > They are upset Tennessee approved a plan to clean > and recycle atomic bomb-making machinery, then sell > the still slightly radioactive metal on the open >market. > Tennessee's approval sets a standard for releasing > such metal that federal regulators have been wary to > set, and it did so without any public input. > > Tennessee Department of Environment and > Conservation officials say the metal will be cleaned >to > safe levels of radiation, but the opposition argues >that > no level is guaranteed safe. Though state officials >say > the project is proceeding, the groups are encouraging > citizens to contact their elected representatives. > > "This is not a done deal," said Diane D'Arrigo, > director of the Nuclear Information and Resource > Service, an anti-nuclear organization in Washington, > D.C. "This is the tip of the iceberg. Tennessee is > setting the precedent for what the rest of the world >is > exposed to. People need to let their lawmakers know > how they feel." > > Val Loiselle, managing director of the Association of > Radioactive Metal Recyclers, says NIRS and the > other groups are misguided in their fear of radiation, > but he agrees that the public needs more information. > > "Prudency has gotten to the point that we're afraid to > get out of bed in the morning," he said. "Ultimately >the > scientific community has to help us decide what's > dangerous and what's not. We in the industry are just > as interested in that as NIRS." > > The groups wrote to Gore because he endorsed the > original recycling plan in 1996, when it called for > restricting use of the metal. Gore's top environmental > adviser said his office had not received the letter >and > had no immediate response. > > The groups also want Gore to ask Energy Secretary > Bill Richardson to report who buys the metal and > what's made from it. They want the administration's > Council on Environmental Quality to investigate why > the plan was approved without public input. > > > RELATED INFORMATION > Senator visits Paducah plant, says he's skeptical of > claims that uranium workers weren't hurt > > > TOP | HOME | LOCAL NEWS > SPORTS | WEATHER | PHOTO GALLERY > CELEBRITIES | ONNASHVILLE | HEALTH & FITNESS > CLASSIFIEDS | JOB SOURCE | PERSONALS | INTERNET >ACCESS > > ) Copyright 1999 The Tennessean > A Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper > Use of this site signifies that you agree to our >terms of service. > Associated Press content and material is Copyrighted by >The Associated Press. > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: [y2k-nuclear] Fwd: Wyoming Uranium Mining Date: 16 Aug 1999 11:44:58 -0400 Dear Friends, Is there anything we can do to stop new uranium mining? This is a scandal in light of the nearly impossible task of dealing with the waste we already have. Alice >Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 15:08:55 -0400 >Subject: [y2k-nuclear] Fwd: Wyoming Uranium Mining >X-FC-Forwarded-From: > y2k-nuclear-return-197-aslater=gracelinks.org@returns.egroups.com >From: mrobinowitz@igc.org (mrobinowitz@igc.org) > >Business as usual, as the countdown continues ... >this shows the federal government's true priorities, regardless of which >clown >is sitting in the Oval Office ... > >"uranium is thalidomide forever" (slogan of Australian anti-uranium >movements) > > >>>Date: 12 Aug 1999 10:43:20 >>>Reply-To: Conference "env.justice" >>>From: ajs@sagady.com >>>Subject: Wyoming Uranium Mining >>>To: Recipients of conference >>>X-Gateway: conf2mail@igc.apc.org >>>Lines: 254 >>> >>>Restart of uranium mining near Rawlins, Wyoming..... >>> >>>[Federal Register: August 12, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 155)] >>>[Notices] >>>[Page 44057-44059] >>>>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] >>>[DOCID:fr12au99-110] >>> >>>----------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> >>>NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION >>> >>>[Docket No. 40-8584] >>> >>> >>>Kennecott Uranium Company >>> >>>AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. >>> >>>ACTION: Final finding of no significant impact; notice of opportunity >>>for hearing. >>> >>>----------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> >>>SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposes to renew >>>NRC Source Material License SUA-1350 to authorize the licensee, >>>Kennecott Uranium Company (KUC), to resume commercial milling >>>operations at the Sweetwater facility, and to approve the plan for >>>future reclamation of the mill facility, existing and proposed new >>>tailings impoundment, and the proposed evaporation ponds, according to >>>the 1997 Reclamation Plan, as amended. The Sweetwater uranium mill site >>>is located in Sweetwater County, approximately 40 miles (64 kilometers) >>>northwest of the town of Rawlins, Wyoming. An Environmental Assessment >>>(EA) was performed by the NRC staff in support of its review of KUC's >>>license renewal for operation and the amendment request, in accordance >>>with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. The conclusion of the EA is a >>>Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposed licensing >>>action. >>> >>>FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Elaine Brummett, Uranium Recovery >>>and Low-Level Waste Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of >>>Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory >>>Commission, Mail Stop T7-J9, Washington, D.C. 20555. Telephone 301/415- >>>6606. >>> >>>SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: >>> >>>Background >>> >>> The Sweetwater uranium mill site presently is licensed by the NRC >>>under Materials License SUA-1350 to possess >>> >>>[[Page 44058]] >>> >>>byproduct material in the form of uranium waste tailings, as well as >>>other radioactive wastes generated by past milling operations. The mill >>>operated from 1981 to 1983, but is currently in standby status. KUC has >>>requested renewal of the license to allow operation of the mill >>>(includes construction of one new impoundment and up to eight >>>evaporation ponds), and the evaluation of that request has been >>>completed. KUC also has requested approval of the reclamation plan to >>>stabilize the existing tailings impoundment. In addition, the plan >>>provides for the future stabilization of proposed new tailings >>>impoundments, reclamation of land, and decommissioning of the mill >>>facility. >>> Construction of an additional five new impoundments and two >>>evaporation ponds may be requested if the mill operates for 20 years, >>>and the impact of this was considered in the EA. The additional > >>>impoundments would be reclaimed according to the NRC-approved plan and >>>any change in design would require review and approval by the NRC >>>staff. >>> KUC submitted the operations plan, reclamation plan, and associated >>>information by letters dated June 11, July 3, July 23, August 1, August >>>20, September 18, and October 7, 1997. The mill and land >>>decommissioning plan portion of the reclamation plan was submitted May >>>28, 1998. Page changes to various submitted documents and responses to >>>NRC staff comments were provided June 10, July 1, and July 20, 1998, as >>>well as February 3, February 25, March 25, April 21, and June 21, 1999. >>> >>>Summary of the Environmental Assessment >>> >>> The NRC staff performed an assessment of the environmental impacts >>>associated with the operations plan and reclamation plan, in accordance >>>with 10 CFR Part 51, Licensing and Regulatory Policy Procedures for >>>Environmental Protection. The license renewal would authorize KUC to >>>resume operation of the mill at a maximum production rate of 4,100,000 >>>pounds (1,859,748 kg) of yellowcake per year, and to possess byproduct >>>material in the form of uranium waste tailings and other uranium >>>byproduct wastes generated by the authorized milling operations. The >>>actual resumption of operations will be conditional on: (1) The NRC >>>review of standard operating procedures for mill operation; (2) a 90- >>>day pre-startup notification to NRC; and (3) the completion of a pre- >>>startup NRC inspection and resolution of any safety issues identified >>>by the inspection. The renewed license also would approve KUC's >>>proposed plan to stabilize and cover the tailings impoundments, and >>>decommission the mill facility (including land and evaporation ponds). >>>All conditions in the renewed license and commitments presented in the >>>licensee's renewal documents are subject to NRC inspection. >>> In conducting its appraisal, the NRC staff considered the >>>following: (1) Information contained in KUC's 1997 license renewal and >>>amendment requests, as revised; (2) previous environmental and safety >>>evaluations of the facility; (3) data contained in land use and >>>environmental monitoring reports; (4) existing license conditions; (5) >>>results of NRC staff site visits and inspections of the Sweetwater >>>facility; and (6) consultations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife >>>Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Wyoming State Historic >>>Preservation Office, and the Wyoming Department of Environmental >>>Quality. The staff evaluation of the Sweetwater operation plan and >>>associated documents is being evaluated in a Safety Evaluation Report, >>>and the technical aspects of the reclamation plan are discussed >>>separately in a Technical Evaluation Report that will accompany the >>>final agency licensing action. >>> The results of the staff environmental review are documented in an >>>EA placed in the docket file. Based on its review, the NRC staff has >>>concluded that there are no significant environmental impacts >>>associated with the proposed action. >>> >>>Conclusions >>> >>> The NRC staff has examined actual and potential impacts associated >>>with the operation of the mill, site decommissioning, and reclamation >>>of the tailings impoundments, and has determined that the requested >>>renewal of Source Material License SUA-1350 will: (1) be consistent >>>with requirements of 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A; (2) not be inimical to >>>public health and safety; and (3) not have long-term detrimental >>>impacts on the environment. The following statements summarize the >>>conclusions resulting from the staff's environmental assessment, and >>>support the FONSI: >>> 1. An acceptable environmental and effluent monitoring program is >>>in place to monitor effluent releases and to detect if applicable >>>regulatory limits are exceeded. Radiological effluents from facility >>>operations have been and are expected to remain below the regulatory >>>limits; >>> 2. Mill tailings and process liquid effluents from the mill circuit >>>will be discharged to a multi-lined impoundment with a leak detection >>>system; >>> 3. The licensee will conduct site decommissioning and reclamation >>>activities in accordance with NRC-approved plans; and >>> 4. Present and potential health risks to the public and risks of >>>environmental damage from the proposed mill operation, decommissioning, >>>and reclamation were assessed. Given the remote location, requirements >>>in place, licensee's inspection and radiation safety programs, area of >>>impact, and past activities on the site, the staff determined that the >>>risk factors for health and environmental hazards are insignificant. >>> Because the staff has determined that there will be no significant >>>impacts associated with approval of the license renewal (and associated >>>amendments), there can be no disproportionally high and adverse effects >>>or impacts on minority and low-income populations. Consequently, >>>further evaluation of Environmental Justice concerns, as outlined in >>>Executive Order 12898 and NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and >>>Safeguards Policy and Procedures Letter 1-50, Revision 1, is not >>>warranted. >>> >>>Alternatives to the Proposed Action >>> >>> The proposed action is to renew NRC Source Material License SUA- >>>1350, for operation of the mill, subsequent decommissioning of the >>>facility, and reclamation of the tailings impoundments, as requested by >>>KUC. Therefore, the principal alternatives available to NRC are to: >>> 1. Approve the license renewal request as submitted; or >>> 2. Renew the license with such additional conditions as are >>>considered necessary or appropriate to protect public health and safety >>>and the environment; or >>> 3. Deny the renewal request. >>> Based on its review, the NRC staff has concluded that the >>>environmental impacts associated with the proposed action do not >>>warrant either the limiting of KUC's future operations or the denial of >>>the license amendment. Additionally, in the TER prepared for this >>>action, the staff has reviewed the licensee's proposed action with >>>respect to the criteria for reclamation, specified in 10 CFR Part 40, >>>Appendix A, and has no basis for denial of the proposed action. >>>Therefore, the staff considers that Alternative 1 is the appropriate >>>alternative for selection. >>> >>>[[Page 44059]] >>> >>>Finding of No Significant Impact >>> >>> The NRC staff has prepared an EA for the proposed renewal of NRC >>>Source Material License SUA-1350. On the basis of this assessment, the >>>NRC staff has concluded that the environmental impacts that may result >>>from the proposed action would not be significant, and therefore, >>>preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not warranted. >>> The EA and other documents related to this proposed action are >>>available for public inspection and copying at the NRC Public Document >>>Room, in the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street N.W., Washington, DC 20555. >>> >>>Notice of Opportunity for Hearing >>> >>> The Commission hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding on >>>an application for a licensing action falling within the scope of >>>Subpart L, ``Informal Hearing Procedures for Adjudications in Materials >>>and Operators Licensing Proceedings,'' of the Commission's Rules of >>>Practice for Domestic Licensing Proceedings and Issuance of Orders in >>>10 CFR Part 2 (54 FR 8269). Pursuant to Sec. 2.1205(a), any person >>>whose interest may be affected by this proceeding may file a request >>>for a hearing. In accordance with Sec. 2.1205(c), a request for a >>>hearing must be filed within thirty (30) days from the date of >>>publication of this Federal Register notice. The request for a hearing >>>must be filed with the Office of the Secretary either: >>> (1) By delivery to the Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff of the >>>Office of the Secretary at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, >>>Rockville, MD 20852; or >>> (2) By mail or telegram addressed to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear >>>Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Rulemakings and >>>Adjudications Staff. >>> Each request for a hearing must also be served, by delivering it >>>personally or by mail to: >>> (1) The applicant, Kennecott Uranium Company, P.O. Box 1500, >>>Rawlins, WY 82301; >>> (2) The NRC staff, by delivery to the Executive Director of >>>Operations, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD >>>20852; or >>> (3) By mail addressed to the Executive Director for Operations, >>>U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. >>> In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR Part >>>2 of the Commission's regulations, a request for a hearing filed by a >>>person other than an applicant must describe in detail: >>> (1) The interest of the requestor in the proceeding; >>> (2) How that interest may be affected by the results of the >>>proceeding, including the reasons why the requestor should be permitted >>>a hearing, with particular reference to the factors set out in >>>Sec. 2.1205(g); >>> (3) The requestor's areas of concern about the licensing activity >>>that is the subject matter of the proceeding; and >>> (4) The circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing >>>is timely in accordance with Sec. 2.1205(c). >>> Any hearing that is requested and granted will be held in >>>accordance with the Commission's ``Informal Hearing Procedures for >>>Adjudications in Materials and Operator Licensing Proceedings'' in 10 >>>CFR Part 2, Subpart L. >>> >>> Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of August 1999. >>> >>> For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. >>>John J. Surmeier, >>>Chief, Uranium Recovery and Low-Level Waste Branch, Division of Waste >>>Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. >>>[FR Doc. 99-20909 Filed 8-11-99; 8:45 am] >>>BILLING CODE 7590-01-P >>> >>> >>> >>>------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- >>>Alex J. Sagady & Associates Email: ajs@sagady.com >>> >>>Environmental Enforcement, Technical Review, Public Policy and >>>Communications on Air, Water and Waste Issues >>>and Community Environmental Protection >>> >>>PO Box 39 East Lansing, MI 48826-0039 >>>(517) 332-6971 (voice); (517) 332-8987 (fax) >>>------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >GET WHAT YOU DESERVE! A NextCard Platinum VISA: DOUBLE Rewards points, >NO annual fee & rates as low as 9.9% FIXED APR. Apply online today! >http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/606 > > >eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear >http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Karina Wood Subject: (abolition-usa) Project Abolition events Date: 16 Aug 1999 14:46:11 -0400 Dear US Abolitionists: As you may be aware, Project Abolition -- a new initiative from the Fourth Freedom Forum, Disarmament Clearinghouse, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, The Nation Institute, Peace Action, PeaceLinks, Physicians for Social Responsibility, State of the World Forum, and Women's Action for New Directions -- is coordinating a nationwide series of community forums & a national media campaign on nuclear weapons abolition around the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, November 9, 1999.=20 I want to update you all on our plans for November, so please read the memo below, or open the attached file, and let us know if you are interested in working with us on any of these events: Highlighting the Tenth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall:=20 Why Do We Still Have a Cold War Nuclear Policy? Nationwide Speaking Events & A National Media Campaign The Project Abolition groups are developing a plan for taking advantage of the forthcoming 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall to highlight the need for nuclear weapons abolition. We are planning a series of nationwide community forums to take place against the backdrop of a national media campaign, which will be launched on the anniversary date, November 9. Our message will be that the United States has wasted the historic opportunity afforded by the end of the Cold War to make serious progress on dismantling the vast nuclear arsenals here and in Russia. Ten years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, but today tens of thousands of nuclear weapons remain and we are developing new ones. We will posit the question: Why does the United States still cling to a Cold War nuclear policy?=20 Elements of the Campaign: Community Forums:=20 We plan to organize community forums in states which meet the following 3 criteria: where there are Senators and/or presidential candidates we particularly wish to educate on the urgent need for nuclear weapons abolition; where we can generate extensive media coverage; and where we have a core of enthusiastic and experienced organizers. We are currently considering major cities in the following states: Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, and Vermont. **Please contact us if you live in one of these states and would like to help host a community forum during the week of November 9.** Definite dates so far: ** Nov 9: Des Moines, Iowa: community forum: Sen. Alan Cranston & Betty Bumpers confirmed speakers.=20 ** Nov 9: Washington, DC: press event (see "Wall of Denial" section below). No speakers confirmed yet. ** Nov. 9: San Francisco: press event. Former OR Rep. Elizabeth Furse confirmed speaker. Invited Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Rep. Barbara Lee, Athletes United for Peace. Looking for celebrities. ** Nov. 10: New Hampshire (researching venue): community forum: Sen. Alan Cranston & Admiral Turner confirmed speakers. ** Nov. 10: Portland, OR: community forum: Former OR Rep. Elizabeth Furse confirmed speaker. ** Nov. 12 or 13: Little Rock, AR: (tentative; in planning stages) community forum at a downtown art gallery, hosted by Arkansas WAND & Arkansas Women's Project & area PeaceLinks members. Invited Betty Bumpers.=20 These events are in various stages of planning, and more are being developed: we'll post frequent updates. Editorial Board Meetings: In order to maximize the opportunity of having a major speaker in town for a community forum event, we encourage local groups to set up meetings with the editorial boards of their leading local newspapers. "Wall of Denial": We will construct a "Wall of Denial" somewhere in the area of the U.S. Capitol or the Ellipse in Washington, DC, from lightweight materials, perhaps using thousands of "bricks" representing the thousands of nuclear weapons remaining in US and Russian arsenals. On the wall, slogans will decry "The Cold War Lives," and "We Need Our Nukes" and other such messages of "denial" of the Cold War's demise. Above the Wall, a large banner will be erected, saying, "Mr. President, Tear Down the Wall! Abolish Nuclear Weapons!"=20 This visual publicity stunt will be modeled after the Berlin Wall and will serve as a backdrop for speakers at a press event on November 9, to which members of Congress, celebrities and prominent individuals will be invited. Musicians will also be invited to attend and perform. The wall will remain at the site for up to a week or more, permits allowing, during which time the public will be encouraged to come and sign a petition demanding nuclear abolition.=20 Signature ads: Depending on the funds we can raise, the Project Abolition groups will place a large signature ad in a national newspaper (New York Times or Washington Post) on November 9. We encourage local groups all over the country to place signature ads in your local newspapers on November 9, especially in cities where community forums will take place. (Contact us if you need information on how to produce a signature ad.)=20 Radio Talk Shows: The Mainstream Media Project has agreed to promote our speakers to be interviewed on national and local radio talk shows during November. Op-Eds & Letters to the Editor: We will commission op-eds by prominent individuals and work to get them published in major newspapers on November 9. We will produce model letters to the editor, and we encourage local activists to get letters published in their local newspapers on November 9. These pieces will draw attention to the anniversary, state our "wasted opportunity" message, and call for urgent disarmament measures. Editorial Advisories:=20 We will commission a media education organization to produce an editorial advisory promoting our message and encouraging major newspapers nationwide to publish editorials on November 9. =20 Congressional Action: We will ask members of the Senate to make speeches on the Senate floor on November 9, expressing the "wasted opportunity" message, and calling for urgent disarmament measures (if they have not adjourned by this date; the House will most likely have adjourned end of Oct). Confirmed Participating Speakers to date: =B7 Betty Bumpers, President, PeaceLinks =B7 Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA), ret. =B7 Representative Elizabeth Furse (D-1st OR), ret.=20 =B7 Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-10th OH) =B7 Jonathan Schell, journalist, author of The Gift of Time and The Fate of the Earth =B7 Stephen Schwartz, publisher, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, author, Atomic Audit =B7 Admiral Stansfield Turner, USN (Ret.), former director, CIA =B7 Cora Weiss, President, Hague Appeal for Peace Foundation =B7 Randall Forsberg, Global Action to Prevent War And the national directors of the Project Abolition groups If you want to help host a community forum, or need further campaign details, please contact: --=20 Karina H. Wood Field Coordinator, Project Abolition and U.S. Outreach Coordinator, Hague Appeal for Peace 85 John St. Providence, RI 02906 Ph: 401-276-0377 Fax: 401-751-1476 Email: kwood@igc.org For information on Project Abolition: www.fourthfreedom.org For information on the Hague Appeal: www.haguepeace.org - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Y2K TV movie Date: 16 Aug 1999 15:50:07 -0400 How about sending letters to NBC and bugging them to include nuclear weapons and nuclear power as part of the disaster scenario? Alice Slater >Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 11:34:58 -0400 >Subject: Y2K TV movie >NBC hatches Y2K disaster picture > >By Josef Adalian > >NEW YORK (Variety) - Looking to take advantage of millennium madness, NBC >is working on ``Y2K,'' a disaster picture >that imagines near-apocalyptic results brought about by the much-hyped >computer bug. > >The thriller stars Ken Olin (``L.A. Doctors'') as a techie trying to save >the United States from disasters caused by computer >failures as 1999 turns into 2000. > >The picture is the only announced broadcast project to date capitalizing on >concerns over the Y2K computer bug, in which >machines interpret the date 1/1/00 as Jan. 1, 1900. Analysts have predicted >all sorts of catastrophes as a result of the problem, >though forecasts regarding the actual impact of the bug vary widely. > >In ``Y2K,'' the bug causes an East Coast power outage, ATM failures, >airliners whose instruments don't work and other >assorted calamities. Olin's character battles one of the biggest imagined >consequences of the bug when a nuclear power plant >threatens to go into meltdown. > >``Y2K'' also stars Joe Morton (``Terminator 2,'' ``The Astronaut's Wife''), >Ronny Cox (``Total Recall,'' ``Murder at 1600'') >and Lauren Tom (``Friends,'' ``Futurama''). Dick Lowry (``Atomic Train'') >directs. > >Reuters/Variety > >Diane Hatz >Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) >15 East 26th Street, Room 915 >New York, NY 10010 >tel: (212) 726-9161 >fax: (212) 726-9160 > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hcaldic Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Y2K TV movie Date: 16 Aug 1999 15:40:44 -0400 ASlater wrote: > > How about sending letters to NBC and bugging them to include nuclear weapons > and nuclear power as part of the disaster scenario? Alice Slater > > >Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 11:34:58 -0400 > >Subject: Y2K TV movie > > >NBC hatches Y2K disaster picture > > > >By Josef Adalian > > > >NEW YORK (Variety) - Looking to take advantage of millennium madness, NBC > >is working on ``Y2K,'' a disaster picture > >that imagines near-apocalyptic results brought about by the much-hyped > >computer bug. > > > >The thriller stars Ken Olin (``L.A. Doctors'') as a techie trying to save > >the United States from disasters caused by computer > >failures as 1999 turns into 2000. > > > >The picture is the only announced broadcast project to date capitalizing on > >concerns over the Y2K computer bug, in which > >machines interpret the date 1/1/00 as Jan. 1, 1900. Analysts have predicted > >all sorts of catastrophes as a result of the problem, > >though forecasts regarding the actual impact of the bug vary widely. > > > >In ``Y2K,'' the bug causes an East Coast power outage, ATM failures, > >airliners whose instruments don't work and other > >assorted calamities. Olin's character battles one of the biggest imagined > >consequences of the bug when a nuclear power plant > >threatens to go into meltdown. > > > >``Y2K'' also stars Joe Morton (``Terminator 2,'' ``The Astronaut's Wife''), > >Ronny Cox (``Total Recall,'' ``Murder at 1600'') > >and Lauren Tom (``Friends,'' ``Futurama''). Dick Lowry (``Atomic Train'') > >directs. > > > >Reuters/Variety > > > >Diane Hatz > >Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) > >15 East 26th Street, Room 915 > >New York, NY 10010 > >tel: (212) 726-9161 > >fax: (212) 726-9160 > > > Alice Slater > Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) > 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 > New York, NY 10010 > tel: (212) 726-9161 > fax: (212) 726-9160 > email: aslater@gracelinks.org > > GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty > to eliminate nuclear weapons. > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. Alice, They have nuclear power as part of the disaster, it probably overkill to use an awful term to try get them to include nuclear war as well, Helen - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JTLOWE@aol.com Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Project Abolition events Date: 16 Aug 1999 21:34:46 EDT Hi, Congratulations on the impending birth, or am I too late. let me know? Where is CT in this mix? There is an abolition group centered around Hartford as well as the group in Greenwich, Stamford. I don't know which Senator is up for reelection this year but either one of these democratic senators is as bad as Clinton. Love, peace and health to you, Colby - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K CAMPAIGN SUGGESTED SHORT/MID TERM ACTION PLAN Date: 17 Aug 1999 18:04:47 +1000 Dear Y2K Campaign People, I have been asked what 'the plan' is for the Y2K campaign. I am sure I do not have the entire campaign at my fingetips, and I know there are people who have much more sophisticated and longer range plans than I do. However, the following suggestions seem to have support from a number of quarters and seem to look as if we can do them. There are a vast number of events happening that this does not in any way cover. These are just obvious short/mid term foci for a Y2K campaign. But I do suggest strongly that these are and should be priorities for effort. The suggested plan is as follows: 1)Continue to gather signatures for the existing B&B monster, and keep faxing it till December. (I am still looking for Congressional signatures and still only have Ed. Markeys. I'd like to correct this situation asap) 2)Start a fax campaign aimed at initially the G8 Y2K meeting in Berlin over sept 21, asking for strategic nukes to be taken off alert. 3)Support for the Markey resolution. This is best coordinated by US groups, not from faraway Australia. A resolution is also happening in the Canadian parliament, from senator Doug Roche. This deserves support. 4)A resolution in the European parliament in September. 5)Further pressure on our own govt back in Oz. I am trying very hard to make sure as many folk as possible committ to participation in the Sept 1 fax campaign. If people can't get up to speed by sept 1, but only a bit later that doesn't matter. I'll be doing a model letter in the next few days. I don't think its a very complicated plan, and others certainly have much more sophisticated planning abilties than I do. However, I think that these are all obvious tasks that we can all focuss on. I would like to formally suggest that abolition caucus members and members of the Y2K list(s) do now focuss as much as possible: 1)On preparing for a global fax campaign starting sept 1, initially focussing on the sept 21 G8 Y2K meeting, and 2)on support for any congressional/parliamentary resolutions that may come up in the US Congress, the European parliament or national parliaments (such as the Canadian one), and 3)finally on getting more preferably really prominent signatories for the letter. I trust this makes sense, and is achievable, and don't at all want to discourage people who are doing other things and arranging events etc that don't fall into these categories. By the way, the Yeltsin/Clinton monster sign - on letter can now be found on: http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Duane Peterson Subject: (abolition-usa) Business Leaders Live Date: 17 Aug 1999 10:18:22 -0400 Reducing Nuclear Arsenal to be proposed at National Press Club Speech Thursday CSPAN and National Public Radio plan to simulcast live the speech Ben Cohen will deliver at the National Press Club's Newsmakers Luncheon in Washington, D.C. this Thursday at 1pm Eastern Time. The co-founder of Ben&Jerry's was invited to discuss the efforts of the non-profit group he founded, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities (www.moveourmoney.org and www.businessleaders.org). The group's 500 business executives are conducting a marketing campaign designed to increase federal funding for state and local programs that help kids, by cutting wasteful Pentagon spending identified by the admirals and generals who advise the business group. Nuclear weapons are among the programs suggested for deep cuts by the group, and will be specifically targeted by Ben in his Press Club speech. Duane Peterson Chief of Stuff Ben&Jerry's "The Times, working with Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, a nonpartisan organization of more than 500 executives and retired military officers, invited commentators from around the country to discuss federal spending priorities." -- The Los Angeles Times, introducing the entire op-ed page it dedicated to our group's agenda August 2, 1999 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Aid workers/Journalists warned about DU, but not refugees Date: 17 Aug 1999 10:45:43 -0400 PSR has published a new Issue Brief on DU weapons ---- check the Nuclear Security portion of our web site at www.psr.org Shalom, Bob Tiller DavidMcR@aol.com wrote: > I pass this on for the info of someone who had asked about DU. > > Peace, > David McReynolds > > << Subj: Aid workers/Journalists warned about DU, but not refugees > Date: 8/14/99 12:59:28 AM Eastern Daylight Time > From: KDean75206@aol.com > To: SocialistsUnmoderated@debs.pinko.net > > Depleted uranium effects in Balkans to be probed > WebPosted Fri Aug 13 14:05:57 1999 > NAIROBI - The United Nations is investigating possible human health > problems > caused by depleted uranium weapons used in the Balkan war, the BBC said > Friday. > > Depleted uranium, which is 1.7 times as dense as lead, allows bullets and > shells to pierce armour. NATO has said it was used by American "tankbuster" > aircraft during the war in Kosovo. > The UN is currently considering whether to send a team to the region to > assess any impact. It has already sent experts to evaluate the environmental > impact of the various Balkan conflicts, which have gone on for most of the > 1990s. > > Depleted uranium is mildly radioactive, and NATO says the weaponry fall-out > does not lead to health problems. > > But many others think the substance, which burns and sprays dust on impact, > has a long-lasting health impact. They say that inhaling or ingesting the > dust particles can cause cancer. > The U.S Army's own Environmental Policy Institute has warned that depleted > uranium poses chemical and radiological risks. Many veterans of the 1991 > Gulf > War have charged that the substance made them sick. > > Aid workers and journalists working in Kosovo have been warned about coming > into contact with depleted uranium, the BBC said, but refugees returning to > the former war zone have been given no advice. > > -- > To unsubscribe, send email to SocialistsUnmoderated-request@debs.pinko.net > with "unsubscribe" in the Subject line. Send complaints that can't be > resolved by unsubscribing to doumakes@novia.net. > > > >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: more Serbia-Kosovo news Date: 17 Aug 1999 12:04:22 EDT In a message dated 8/17/99 11:20:16 AM Eastern Daylight Time, jim_forest@compuserve.com writes: << LATimes, Thursday, August 5, 1999 Slain Serbs Bear Signs of Execution, NATO Says=20 Kosovo: Killings, in which victims were bound and shot, appear to be calculated revenge by ethnic Albanians. By SCOTT GLOVER, Times Staff Writer PRISTINA, Yugoslavia--Offering chilling new evidence of widespread, calculated revenge slayings by ethnic Albanians, a top NATO investigator said Wednesday that the majority of killings under investigation in and around Kosovo's capital are apparent executions in which the Serbian victims had their hands bound and were made to kneel before being shot in the head. These characteristics were common in "dozens" of slayings committed since NATO-led peacekeepers occupied Kosovo on June 12, said British Maj. John Wooldridge, a senior investigator with the Royal Military Police. Wooldridge deemed the killings "executions" by Albanians in which ethnic hatred is the presumed motive. "The vast majority of the murders we are investigating are murders where the person has been made to kneel, their hands have been tied behind their backs and, in a lot of cases, they've been blindfolded," Wooldridge said. The victims were then shot, most with a single bullet to the back of the head. Of more than 200 killings in Kosovo since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led peace force moved in, about 120 occurred in the British sector. NATO and United Nations officials have for weeks denounced revenge killings, but Wooldridge's comments in an interview with The Times provided the most detailed official description to date of the violence. Prior accounts had not indicated that the slayings were so coldly calculated. Wooldridge, the top criminal investigator in the British-controlled sector of Kosovo, which includes Pristina, said Serbs were not the only ones being killed. But he said the rate of killings of Serbs--who numbered about 200,000 or about 10% of the population before the conflict--was far higher than among the ethnic Albanian majority. More than 172,060 people, mostly Serbs and Gypsies, had fled Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia, since the Yugoslav government signed a peace agreement with NATO, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported in Belgrade on July 26. During the war, Serbian forces drove hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians from their homes in a campaign of killing, looting and harassment. Now, many Serbs accuse the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army and those affiliated with it of carrying out revenge killings against their Serbian enemies and their families. Wooldridge refused to discuss the execution-style killings in more detail, including the exact number and location of bodies found. However, he said the bodies of seven slain Serbs were found within several hundred yards of one another at a popular trash dumping site over a three-week period last month. He said most of the seven were bound at the hands, blindfolded and shot in the back of the head. "I think it would be difficult at this point to say that there's an ethnic Albanian death squad going around committing these murders," Wooldridge said. "It could be there are several groups going around committing murders in the same way, perhaps even exchanging weapons." He said that he is aware of anecdotal evidence of similar killings elsewhere in the province but that he cannot comment on crimes outside his area of responsibility. Neither U.N. officials nor officials from the KLA could be reached late Tuesday, as the city was in a blackout for several hours, and neither conventional nor cellular telephone service was functioning. Hashim Thaci, the KLA's political leader, has denied that his group is involved in such slayings, and he has called for an end to the killings. Some of the killings seemed even more vicious than the execution-style slayings. On Monday night, in one of five killings in Pristina, an elderly Serbian woman had her head held under water in a bathtub until she drowned. Her hands were tied and she was gagged, Wooldridge said. "You can't tell me they had to do that," he said. "She needed a cane to walk. She's not going to be the strongest woman in the world." Within hours after the attack, Wooldridge said, a young ethnic Albanian couple had moved into her apartment. The new details about the scope of the revenge killings come on the heels of the mass slaying of 14 Serbian farmers in a small village about 10 miles south of here. Five ethnic Albanians were arrested in the killings. Two are still being held. Wooldridge said his investigators have assembled strong evidence against the suspects, including weapons and ammunition seized from their homes that appear to match those used in the attack. Still, the violence is taking a toll on peacekeepers' efforts to establish a multiethnic society in a region beset by conflict. Most Serbs who live in cities or ethnically mixed villages are afraid to leave their houses. Last weekend, 450 Serbs were led from their village by U.S. troops in the NATO-led Kosovo Force, or KFOR, because the villagers were afraid to stay and afraid to travel the road alone. Initially, it was believed that the families were bound for Serbia proper, but they are now thought to have settled in wholly Serbian villages in the surrounding area. "These are regrettable events," a KFOR press release said. "We hope that the people who have left will feel confident enough to return with the gradual buildup of peace and stability." British Lt. Gen. Mike Jackson, the commander of the peacekeeping forces, said in a recent interview that, ultimately, the answer lies not with NATO, but with changing people's attitudes. "What sort of a society is it when you've got to put a soldier on one side of an old lady to buy a loaf of bread? . . . What is true is that some Albanians--and I hope it's a very few--have behaved in a way that is too reminiscent of the people who just left," Jackson said. "No police force in the world can guarantee security," he said. "The answer to this kind of problem is to change the cycle of violence in the Balkans. KFOR is not the answer." Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is trying to force those who fled to go back to a territory that Serbs consider the crucible of their culture. Serbian Orthodox Bishop Artemije, who told anti-Milosevic protesters on Monday that the Yugoslav president should stand trial on war crimes charges, says Serbs are now the victims of "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo. While Orthodox clerics are "well aware" of the "horrendous crimes" committed before the war ended, Artemije said, the current attacks against Serbs are "much greater a crime" because they were perpetrated during peacetime. "Now the Albanians are oppressing Serbs and are committing the same crimes against Serbs and non-Albanian communities which were committed against the Kosovo Albanians in the time of Milosevic's regime," Artemije wrote to Jackson and Bernard Kouchner, the U.N.'s top representative in Kosovo. * * * Times staff writers Paul Watson in Belgrade and Valerie Reitman in Pristina contributed to this report. * * >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Business Leaders Live Date: 17 Aug 1999 16:11:38 -0400 Duane, I am planning to be at the luncheon on Thursday, so I will hope to see you there. The usual format is that they take written questions after the speech. Is there a nice soft question that Ben would like me to ask, so he can get an answer on the record? Bob Tiller, PSR Duane Peterson wrote: > Reducing Nuclear Arsenal to be proposed at National Press Club > Speech Thursday > > CSPAN and National Public Radio plan to simulcast live the speech > Ben Cohen will deliver at the National Press Club's Newsmakers Luncheon in > Washington, D.C. this Thursday at 1pm Eastern Time. > > The co-founder of Ben&Jerry's was invited to discuss the efforts of > the non-profit group he founded, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities > (www.moveourmoney.org and www.businessleaders.org). > > The group's 500 business executives are conducting a marketing > campaign designed to increase federal funding for state and local programs > that help kids, by cutting wasteful Pentagon spending identified by the > admirals and generals who advise the business group. > > Nuclear weapons are among the programs suggested for deep cuts by > the group, and will be specifically targeted by Ben in his Press Club > speech. > > Duane Peterson > Chief of Stuff > Ben&Jerry's > > "The Times, working with Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, a > nonpartisan organization of more than 500 executives and retired military > officers, invited commentators from around the country to discuss federal > spending priorities." > -- The Los Angeles Times, introducing the entire op-ed page it > dedicated to our group's agenda August 2, 1999 > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) India Nukes Date: 17 Aug 1999 19:17:28 -0700 Communalism Watch and Governance Monitor August 17, 1999 http://www.saccer.org Sorry for putting it crudely! Millions of Indians cannot shit with dignity and here are the Chidambarams, Subrahmanyams and other nuke parasites developing grandiose killing tools, doctrines and documents! [1] India Can Make Neutron Bomb: Chidambaram [2] Indian Nuclear Doctrine Document [3] WSJ Report on Neutron Bomb [4] Nuclear Winer: A Summary ::::[1]:::: The Hindu, Tuesday, August 17, 1999 India can make neutron bomb: Chidambaram MUMBAI, AUG. 16. India has the capacity to build a neutron bomb, according to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman, Mr. Rajagopala Chidambaram. Indian nuclear scientists, after the Pokhran-II tests, can design and make nuclear weapons of ``any type or size'', he told PTI in an interview here. The neutron bomb, a battlefield weapon, is essentially a low- yield thermo-nuclear device where the neutron producing fusion process dominates over the fissiontrigger. It is not difficult to build such a device, according to Mr. Chidambaram. India, which exploded a hydrogen bomb and four fission devices under the Thar desert in May last year and declared a moratorium on further tests, has not stopped its nuclear weapons research, according to top officials of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). ``The research is on. We have not stopped (it),'' said Mr. Anil Kakodkar, Director of BARC where the test devices were designed and built. He, however, declined to elaborate. India is free to carry out sub-critical tests to further refine the weapon codes, but authorities were unwilling to comment if such studies are being done at BARC. According to Mr. Krishna Gopala Iyengar, former chief of AEC, sub-critical studies would require expensive facilities. Meanwhile, authorities said analysis of rock samples obtained from drilling at all the five holes at the Pokhran test site has now been completed. Mr. Chidambaram said the analysis has established beyond doubt that the hydrogen bomb did explode producing an yield as per design. (There were some reports in the West that only the fission trigger worked and that secondary fusion fuel failed to explode.) Mr. Chidambaram said the samples carried evidence of reactions caused by 14 million volt neutrons. ``Such high energy neutrons are produced only in the fusion process,'' he said. ``This is a proof that our hydrogen bomb did explode.'' According to Mr. Chidambaram, the yield obtained from the sample analysis (60-kiloton) also tallied with that obtained from seismic data. Copyrights c 1999 The Hindu & Tribeca Internet Initiatives Inc. ::::[2]:::: The Hindu, Wednesday, August 18, 1999 'Create credible n-arsenal' By Our Special Correspondent NEW DELHI, AUG. 17. India's minimum nuclear deterrent should be based on a survivable triad of land, air and sea-based systems and the nuclear trigger should be in the hands of the Prime Minister, according to the draft Indian nuclear doctrine document. The draft, which was released by the National Security Adviser, Mr. Brajesh Mishra, for countrywide debate and discussion reconciles three key considerations. First, the size of India's atomic arsenal has to be kept at a minimum. Simultaneously, an effective capacity to deter a nuclear attack based on a ``credible'' nuclear arsenal should be created. Finally, the national atomic stockpile should be made ``survivable'' at all costs. For instance, India should have enough nuclear reserve forces to carry out effective retaliation, in case deterrence fails and the country is subjected to a nuclear attack. In fact, the Indian forces should carry out ``punitive retaliation'' with nuclear weapons to inflict unacceptable damage on the aggressor, if subjected to a nuclear strike. The draft reiterates that India should not initiate a nuclear strike and neither should it resort to the use or the threat of use of nuclear weapons against States which did not possess nuclear weapons, or were not aligned with nuclear weapon States. The ``consensus document'' combined the views of 27 members of the National Security Advisory Board. The exercise was undertaken under the chairmanship of the strategic analyst, Mr. K. Subrahmanyam, who heads the board. ``It is with a sense of responsibility, transparency and restraint that we approach the nuclear doctrine,'' Mr. Mishra said. A nuclear deterrent could restrain conventional engagements, Mr. Mishra said, adding that the Kargil crisis showed that the presence of nuclear weapons with both sides prevented undue escalation. As expected, the draft does not quantify the size of the ``minimum deterrent''. ``This is a dynamic concept related to the strategic environment, technological imperatives and the needs of national security. The actual size, components, deployment and employment of nuclear forces will be decided in the light of these factors.'' As the fundamental purpose of the Indian arsenal is deterring the use and the threat of use of nuclear weapons by any State or entity against India and its forces, credibility and ``effectiveness'' of its nuclear weapons is vital. Credibility, according to the draft, can be achieved when an adversary knows that ``India can and will retaliate with sufficient nuclear weapons to inflict destruction and punishment that the aggressor will find unacceptable if nuclear weapons are used against India and its forces''. The Board's recommendation that the Indian deterrent should be based on a ``triad of aircraft, mobile land-based missiles and sea-based assets'' is meant to ensure survivability. Analysts point out that besides keeping the nuclear arsenal widely dispersed, it gives room for a second strike capability through nuclear submarines armed with atomic weapons. The submarines, which are extremely difficult to target, are seen by specialists as fundamental to the survival of nuclear forces. Key countries, including Britain and France, have not subjected their nuclear submarines to arms reduction agreements. An effective nuclear chain of command is the second crucial element to ensure survivability. According to the paper, the Prime Minister is at the heart of the nuclear command and control establishment. The Prime Minister alone and his designated successor(s) should be authorised to order the release of nuclear weapons, it says. The command and control of nuclear and conventional weapons should also be kept separate. Copyrights c 1999 The Hindu & Tribeca Internet Initiatives Inc. ::::[3]:::: Date sent: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 16:21:55 -0400 (EDT) The Wall Street Journal Aug. 17, 1999, Page A16 India Says It Can Make Neutron Bomb As Result of Tests Performed Last Year By Jonathan Karp NEW DELHI -- A month after China disclosed that it has developed a neutron bomb, India said it also can manufacture the thermonuclear weapon. Rajagopala Chidambaram, one of the scientists who planned India 's nuclear tests in May 1998, said in an interview published yesterday by the Press Trust of India news agency that it isn't difficult to produce a neutron bomb, a fusion weapon that kills people but isn't intended to destroy buildings. The five underground tests last year have enabled India 's nuclear scientists to design and build nuclear weapons of "any type or size," said Mr. Chidambaram, who is chairman of the government's Atomic Energy Commission. His disclosure comes at a time of muscle-flexing between India and fellow nuclear power Pakistan. The rivals fought recently in disputed Kashmir, and last week, India shot down a Pakistani reconnaissance plane near their border. Sunday, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who faces elections in a few weeks, touted India 's military might. But the real target of the neutron-bomb remarks appears to be China, long the focus of India 's drive to develop advanced nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. While refuting allegations in a U.S. congressional report that Beijing stole U.S. nuclear-weapon designs and technology, China admitted in July that it had developed a neutron bomb on its own. Beijing's revelation, followed by its test of a ballistic missile that can reach any target in India , aroused debate in New Delhi's security establishment about China's technological advantage. And this may have prompted Mr. Chidambaram's remarks, said Brahma Chellaney, professor of security studies at the Center for Policy Research, an independent think tank in New Delhi. The remarks signal India 's race for technological prestige rather than an imminent stockpiling of neutron bombs. "Though it's technologically feasible, a neutron bomb isn't anything that the military is excited about," said C. Uday Bhaskar, deputy director of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, a government-sponsored think tank in New Delhi. "The priority is building a certain degree of credibility in our minimum nuclear deterrent." In the Press Trust of India interview, Mr. Chidambaram didn't say whether India had developed a neutron bomb or intended to produce one. He couldn't be reached for comment. After detonating five atomic warheads, including one thermonuclear device, last year, India announced a moratorium on nuclear tests. India is under pressure from the U.S. to sign a nuclear test-ban treaty and define the size of its nuclear-deterrent force as well as the doctrine for using it. A national security advisory board has submitted recommendations to the prime minister, a panel member said. But he declined to comment on whether the panel believes neutron bombs should be included in India's arsenal. ::::[4]:::: Date sent: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 15:12:32 -0400 (EDT) Greetings: The Trident and Typhoon missile firing submarine quietly go about their business, sub-critical tests continue, threshold nuclear powers make strenuous efforts to catch up with the nuclear powers and Y2K reminds us of the hair-trigger N-situation we continue to live under. So it is useful to warn complacent people that nuclear winter will be the probable result of even a medium sized nuclear war. This summary of Nuclear Winter and its effects is designed to fit on one page for easy copying. It is suitable for use in schools. If anyone thinks that the case for N-Winter is over-stated or un-proved, let them read Moisseyev's quote below. Best wishes, David Morgan ***** NUCLEAR WINTER A Summary by David Morgan, June 1999 for Veterans Against Nuclear Arms "In such extraordinarily dangerous situations no risk can be taken and one should consider the worst possible outcome. This is a key principle of a systems analysis of such situations."(Moisseyev, 1986) Firestorms following a major nuclear war would produce clouds of dust, smoke and soot which would shroud the entire earth, obscuring most of the heat and light from the sun, causing temperatures to drop and the climate of the entire earth to be plunged into a long-lasting, disastrous freeze-up, known as Nuclear Winter. This catastrophic result could destroy civilization as we know it; at worst it could extinguish the human race. This consequence of nuclear war was first discovered in 1983. The N-arms race nevertheless continued at full speed. "Nuclear Winter that would wipe out all life on earth, is all the more reason to continue President Ronald Reagan's weapons build-up." (Richard Perle, US Assistant Secretary of Defense, 15 March 1985) Today, in 1999 the world's reduced nuclear arsenals could still cause nuclear winter many times over. For 23 years (1960-83) N-Winter was possible but had not been discovered. What other catastrophic effects of N-war remain undiscovered? CAUSES: 1. Firestorms Over Cities:(25 gm/sq cm combustible) These would result in complete combustion and a soot density 100 times that over forest fires. 2. Fires Over Forests:(2gm/sq cm combustible) 1 million km2 of burning forest would produce 4 billion tons of soot, even if only 20% of the combustibles burnt. Soot from forest fires alone would halve the sunlight reaching the earth's surface. THRESHOLD: "100-150 megatons ...would still be...enough to put an end to human life on earth."(Moisseyev, 1986) >From 12-36 megatons is normal N-firepower for each of the U.S Navy's 18 Trident missile firing submarines. EFFECTS: 1. Light: Soot would shroud the world in darkness. 2. Radiation: Intensity would exceed lethal level over immense areas. 3. Ozone Layer: This would be almost completely destroyed. 4. Poisonous Gases: Massive burning of synthetic materials in urban firestorms makes a toxic smog of carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, cyanides, dioxins and furans. 5. Storms: Small drop in ocean temperatures & big drop in land temperatures will result in violent coastal storms. 6. Water Supply: All fresh water will freeze. In the tropics temperatures will drop below freezing after 100 days. 7. Rain: Lacking heat & convection there will be no rain or snow, so the soot will not be washed down and will clear very slowly as it settles due to gravity alone. 8. Food Supply: Lacking sun & rain, all crops will fail. 9. Phytoplankton in the oceans: Die without sunlight (Ref.1, p.119) 10.Glacial Melting: Above the soot cloud, temperatures will be high. As the cloud slowly settles, melting of high glaciers and the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps will cause continent-wide flooding. 11. Ultraviolet Spring: Destruction of ozone layer will expose surviving land plants & animals to lethal u-violet. 12. Worst Case: Return to the Proterozoic, the late Precambrian, before life appeared on land. SOURCES: 1. Peterson, Jeannie (ed) "Aftermath: The Human & Ecological Consequences of Nuclear War, Pantheon, New York, 1983 (Based on a special issue of Ambio, Vol.II, nos 2,3, 1982.) 2. Turco, R.P., Toon, A.B., Ackerman, T.P., Pollack, J.B., Sagan, C.(TTAPS), "The Climatic Effects of Nuclear War," Scientific American, Aug 1984. 3. Rowan-Robinson, Michael "Fire and Ice The Nuclear Winter," Longman, Harlow UK, 1985. 4. Velikhov, Yevgeni (ed.) "The Night After... Climatic and Biological Consequences of Nuclear War," Mir, Moscow, 1985. 5. U.S. National Research Council, "The Effects on the Atmosphere of a Major Nuclear Exchange," 1985. 6. Moisseyev, Nikita "Man, Nature and the Future of Civilization," Novosti, Moscow, 1986. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Sally Light" Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Business Leaders Live Date: 17 Aug 1999 21:39:14 +0100 Dear Duane, Thanks to Ben & you! Sally Light Nuclear Program Analyst Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) ---------- > From: Duane Peterson > To: 'abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com' > Subject: (abolition-usa) Business Leaders Live > Date: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 3:18 PM > > Reducing Nuclear Arsenal to be proposed at National Press Club > Speech Thursday > > CSPAN and National Public Radio plan to simulcast live the speech > Ben Cohen will deliver at the National Press Club's Newsmakers Luncheon in > Washington, D.C. this Thursday at 1pm Eastern Time. > > The co-founder of Ben&Jerry's was invited to discuss the efforts of > the non-profit group he founded, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities > (www.moveourmoney.org and www.businessleaders.org). > > The group's 500 business executives are conducting a marketing > campaign designed to increase federal funding for state and local programs > that help kids, by cutting wasteful Pentagon spending identified by the > admirals and generals who advise the business group. > > Nuclear weapons are among the programs suggested for deep cuts by > the group, and will be specifically targeted by Ben in his Press Club > speech. > > Duane Peterson > Chief of Stuff > Ben&Jerry's > > > "The Times, working with Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, a > nonpartisan organization of more than 500 executives and retired military > officers, invited commentators from around the country to discuss federal > spending priorities." > -- The Los Angeles Times, introducing the entire op-ed page it > dedicated to our group's agenda August 2, 1999 > > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: [y2k-nuclear] Y2K CAMPAIGN SUGGESTED SHORT/MID TERM ACTION PLAN Date: 18 Aug 1999 15:31:29 -0400 Dear John, Thank you for identifying these elements of a plan. I support the five steps listed, and I will commit PSR to working on items 2 and 3 in the coming weeks. Some questions arise. With regard to item 2, are you or others knowledgeable about the G8 agenda and also about the content of pre-meeting discussions among bureaucrats? With regard to item 4, are some European parliamentarians working together to shape strategy for debate and vote on the resolution? I want to suggest two additional steps which I believe can be very valuable: #6 (Actually an extension of #5) I believe that people across the globe should work within their own countries, pressuring their own governments on the issue. I think we ought to be asking people outside the U.S. and Russia to send faxes to their own leaders, urging them to publicly support de-alerting. If the U.S. government rarely hears support for de-alerting from its strategic partners and economic partners, it will not move very quickly. If, on the other hand, the leaders of nations like Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Egypt, Australia and Japan publicly advocated dealerting, the U.S. government would have to face the issue seriously. this should become a major political issue in twnety, thirty, forty nations around the globe. We should not assume that the only way to get some movement on de-alerting is by pressuring the top two nuclear weapon states, or even by pressuring the eight states with such weapons. #7 I believe that we need to encourage grassroots people to work on the media, not just in the U.S. but everywhere. We have gotten some letters-to-the-editor and op-eds published in the U.S. this year, and others have also. We need much more of that. There are (at least in the U.S.) community newspapers, small town daily newspapers, radio talk shows, community cable television programs, etc. Often it is possible to relate a letter-to-the-editor to an upcoming anniverary, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall (Nov. 9, 1989) or the first Soviet nuclear test (Aug. 29, 1949). I hope these thoughts are helpful. Shalom, Bob Tiller FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign wrote: > Dear Y2K Campaign People, > > I have been asked what 'the plan' is for the Y2K campaign. > > I am sure I do not have the entire campaign at my fingetips, and I know > there are people who have much more sophisticated and longer range plans > than I do. > > However, the following suggestions seem to have support from a number of > quarters and seem to look as if we can do them. > > There are a vast number of events happening that this does not in any way > cover. These are just obvious short/mid term foci for a Y2K campaign. But > I do suggest strongly that these are and should be priorities for effort. > > The suggested plan is as follows: > > 1)Continue to gather signatures for the existing B&B monster, and keep > faxing it till December. > (I am still looking for Congressional signatures and still only have Ed. > Markeys. I'd like to correct this situation asap) > > 2)Start a fax campaign aimed at initially the G8 Y2K meeting in Berlin over > sept 21, asking for strategic nukes to be taken off alert. > > 3)Support for the Markey resolution. This is best coordinated by US groups, > not from faraway Australia. > > A resolution is also happening in the Canadian parliament, from senator > Doug Roche. This deserves support. > > 4)A resolution in the European parliament in September. > > 5)Further pressure on our own govt back in Oz. > > I am trying very hard to make sure as many folk as possible committ to > participation in the Sept 1 fax campaign. If people can't get up to speed > by sept 1, but only a bit later that doesn't matter. > > I'll be doing a model letter in the next few days. > > I don't think its a very complicated plan, and others certainly have much > more sophisticated planning abilties than I do. > > However, I think that these are all obvious tasks that we can all focuss on. > > I would like to formally suggest that abolition caucus members and members > of the Y2K list(s) do now focuss as much as possible: > > 1)On preparing for a global fax campaign starting sept 1, initially > focussing on the sept 21 G8 Y2K meeting, and > > 2)on support for any congressional/parliamentary resolutions that may come > up in the US Congress, the European parliament or national parliaments > (such as the Canadian one), and > > 3)finally on getting more preferably really prominent signatories for the > letter. > > I trust this makes sense, and is achievable, and don't at all want to > discourage people who are doing other things and arranging events etc that > don't fall into these categories. > > By the way, the Yeltsin/Clinton monster sign - on letter can now be found on: > http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html > > John Hallam > Friends of the Earth Sydney, > 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, > Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 > > nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd > http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > GET WHAT YOU DESERVE! A NextCard Platinum VISA: DOUBLE Rewards points, > NO annual fee & rates as low as 9.9% FIXED APR. Apply online today! > http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/606 > > eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear > http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) FWD: NUKE-WASTE: Review-Journal "poll" on YM Date: 18 Aug 1999 17:43:17 -0400 >Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 17:05:00 -0400 >Subject: FWD: NUKE-WASTE: Review-Journal "poll" on YM >To: aslater@gracelinks.org >From: whauter@citizen.org (whauter@citizen.org) > >/12/99 3:31 pm >Original Recipient(s): >To: WHAUTER@CITIZEN (Wenonah Hauter) > APIERSMA@CITIZEN (Auke Piersma) >Cc: nuke-waste@igc.org ("NUKE-WASTE") > >The Las Vegas Review-Journal is conducting an "unscientific poll" on their >website regarding nuclear waste in Nevada -- please log in and counteract >whomever is stuffing this thing, because it is currently running in favor >of >YM with over 1400 votes in. > >http://www.lvrj.com > >It's on the front page. > >Thanks > >James Quinn >NUKE-WASTE Moderator >Citizen Alert, Las Vegas, Nevada >jamesquinn@earthlink.net > >************************************************************************** > To send a message to everyone on the list, address your message to: > NUKE-WASTE@igc.apc.org > To unsubscribe, send a message containing "unsubscribe NUKE-WASTE" to: > majordomo@igc.apc.org > Problems or Questions, contact James Quinn, Citizen Alert, Las Vegas NV: > jamesquinn@earthlink.net >************************************************************************** > > >Wenonah Hauter >Director, >Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project >202-546-4996, ext.350 >Visit our website: http://www.citizen.org/cmep > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) India Nuke Doctrine Date: 18 Aug 1999 19:34:35 -0700 Communalism Watch and Governance Monitor August 18, 1999 http://www.saccer.org [1] Full Text of the "Indian Nuclear Doctrine" [2] 'Times of India' Editorial [3] Waging Peace Website [4] Nuclear Weapons Convention Working Group of Abolition Caucus ::::[1]:::: Date sent: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 12:49:31 -0500 In case you haven't heard of it elsehwere but would like to see the document on India's nuclear policy: http://www.indianembassy.org/ Specifically the page of http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/CTBT/nuclear_doctrine_aug_17_199 9 >.html ::::[2]:::: Deterrence & Debate The Times of India, August 18, 1999 The draft document on Indian nuclear doctrine prepared by the National Security Advisory Board and released for discussion by the caretaker government is a coherent and sober text which represents well the middle-ground of the nuclear debate in this country. Even though the NSAB excluded out-and-out critics of the Vajpayee government's decision to test nuclear weapons last May, there was considerable heterogeneity in the outlook and views of its members on basic issues like no-first-use, minimum versus maximalist deterrence, the desirability of adherence to the CTBT and the like. That such a group has nevertheless been able to come up with a consensual position on the aims and objectives of India's nuclear capability, the nature of its nuclear forces, the question of credibility and survivability and other aspects of doctrine is commendable. Equally worthy of approbation is the government's decision to release the draft for public debate. Of all the existing nuclear weapon states, India is unique for the quantity and quality of the public discussion which preceded and followed its decision openly to go nuclear. None of the other NWSs conducted anything even remotely similar to what India did. China, Russia, the US and Britain certainly did not; France had a debate of sorts prior to going nuclear but not quite as comprehensive as the one India had. By spelling out its doctrine in black and white, India is also demonstrating its maturity as a nuclear power. One does not have to accept the NSAB's logic in order to recognise that the doctrine it has evolved is measured and precise. At the same time, the draft should not be seen as something which is cast in stone. As it stands, the document raises several problems which need to be fully discussed. The first is that of costs. While the NSAB has wisely avoided quantifying the credible minimum deterrent, its emphasis on survivability and retaliation "even in a case of significant degradation by hostile strikes'' means India's arsenal is not going to be particularly small. In terms of delivery, the draft advocates a triad of aircraft, mobile land-based missiles and "sea-based assets'' - presumably submarine-launched missiles - and "space-based and other assets...to provide early warning, communications, damage/detonation assessment''. When the cost of a robust command and control system is also factored in, it is clear that the fiscal impact will be far greater than what the Vajpayee-led government claimed would be the case after the Pokhran II tests. The NSAB's call for "highly effective conventional military capabilities'' as a complement to nuclear forces will further increase the financial burden. Secondly, the NSAB doctrine calls for various security and safety-oriented mechanisms but given this country's notorious record of public safety, there are bound to be widespread misgivings on this account. When the government finds it impossible to prevent even routine train accidents, how competent is it to shoulder the responsibility of handling "sufficient, survivable and operationally prepared'' nuclear forces? The notion of "designated successors'' to the Prime Minister in the event of a decapitating first strike is also bound to raise constitutional and political complications given the fractious nature of India's polity. Apart from these questions, many other issues will arise following public scrutiny of the document. The scope and opportunity given for this discussion will help to validate both the draft doctrine and the democratic sovereignty it seeks to protect. ::::[3]:::: Date sent: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 17:03:30 +0500 (GMT+0500) Abolition 2000 is a global network of over 1000 citizen groups on six continents campaigning for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. Please visit: http://www.wagingpeace.org from where you can go to the Abolition 2000 web page. There you can sign the pledge against nuclear weapons. You can also get to subscribe to a free monthly mag, 'The Sunflower' -- produced by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. ::::[4]:::: Date sent: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 20:35:06 +1200 Summary of recent messages posted to the Abolition 2000 Nuclear Weapons Convention Working Group. 1. Reminder that countries are invited to make submissions to the United Nations Secretary General on UN Resolution "Follow-up to the International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons", which called for negotiations leading to a nuclear weapons convention. 2. "Security and Survival: The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention" promotion tour in Aotearoa-New Zealand by authors Merav Datan and Alyn Ware. Messages can be viewed at www.egroups.com/group/a2000-nwcwg. To join the working group contact alynw@ibm.net. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: [y2k-nuclear] Re: Y2K CAMPAIGN SUGGESTED SHORT/MID TERM Date: 19 Aug 1999 17:11:30 +1000 At 5:31 AM +1000 19/8/99, Bob Tiller wrote: Dear Bob, I agree. i acxtually thought this was covered, and we in Australia for example are certainly working to get our govt to move on the issue. Given the conservative not to say right wig nature of this govt, this isn't going to be easy. Still the senate resolution of the other day is a start, and e intend to capitalise on it. I am spliting my own time about 50/50 Australian stuff and international stuff. others are working much more on the Australian local scene. >Dear John, > >Thank you for identifying these elements of a plan. I support the five steps >listed, and I will commit PSR to working on items 2 and 3 in the coming weeks. > >Some questions arise. With regard to item 2, are you or others knowledgeable >about the G8 agenda and also about the content of pre-meeting discussions >among >bureaucrats? With regard to item 4, are some European parliamentarians >working >together to shape strategy for debate and vote on the resolution? > >I want to suggest two additional steps which I believe can be very valuable: > >#6 (Actually an extension of #5) I believe that people across the globe >should >work within their own countries, pressuring their own governments on the >issue. >I think we ought to be asking people outside the U.S. and Russia to send >faxes to >their own leaders, urging them to publicly support de-alerting. If the U.S. >government rarely hears support for de-alerting from its strategic >partners and >economic partners, it will not move very quickly. If, on the other hand, the >leaders of nations like Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, South >Africa, Egypt, Australia and Japan publicly advocated dealerting, the U.S. >government would have to face the issue seriously. this should become a major >political issue in twnety, thirty, forty nations around the globe. We >should not >assume that the only way to get some movement on de-alerting is by >pressuring the >top two nuclear weapon states, or even by pressuring the eight states with >such >weapons. > >#7 I believe that we need to encourage grassroots people to work on the >media, >not just in the U.S. but everywhere. We have gotten some >letters-to-the-editor >and op-eds published in the U.S. this year, and others have also. We >need much >more of that. There are (at least in the U.S.) community newspapers, >small town >daily newspapers, radio talk shows, community cable television programs, etc. >Often it is possible to relate a letter-to-the-editor to an upcoming >anniverary, >such as the fall of the Berlin Wall (Nov. 9, 1989) or the first Soviet nuclear >test (Aug. 29, 1949). > >I hope these thoughts are helpful. > >Shalom, >Bob Tiller > > > > >FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign wrote: > >> Dear Y2K Campaign People, >> >> I have been asked what 'the plan' is for the Y2K campaign. >> >> I am sure I do not have the entire campaign at my fingetips, and I know >> there are people who have much more sophisticated and longer range plans >> than I do. >> >> However, the following suggestions seem to have support from a number of >> quarters and seem to look as if we can do them. >> >> There are a vast number of events happening that this does not in any way >> cover. These are just obvious short/mid term foci for a Y2K campaign. But >> I do suggest strongly that these are and should be priorities for effort. >> >> The suggested plan is as follows: >> >> 1)Continue to gather signatures for the existing B&B monster, and keep >> faxing it till December. >> (I am still looking for Congressional signatures and still only have Ed. >> Markeys. I'd like to correct this situation asap) >> >> 2)Start a fax campaign aimed at initially the G8 Y2K meeting in Berlin over >> sept 21, asking for strategic nukes to be taken off alert. >> >> 3)Support for the Markey resolution. This is best coordinated by US groups, >> not from faraway Australia. >> >> A resolution is also happening in the Canadian parliament, from senator >> Doug Roche. This deserves support. >> >> 4)A resolution in the European parliament in September. >> >> 5)Further pressure on our own govt back in Oz. >> >> I am trying very hard to make sure as many folk as possible committ to >> participation in the Sept 1 fax campaign. If people can't get up to speed >> by sept 1, but only a bit later that doesn't matter. >> >> I'll be doing a model letter in the next few days. >> >> I don't think its a very complicated plan, and others certainly have much >> more sophisticated planning abilties than I do. >> >> However, I think that these are all obvious tasks that we can all focuss on. >> >> I would like to formally suggest that abolition caucus members and members >> of the Y2K list(s) do now focuss as much as possible: >> >> 1)On preparing for a global fax campaign starting sept 1, initially >> focussing on the sept 21 G8 Y2K meeting, and >> >> 2)on support for any congressional/parliamentary resolutions that may come >> up in the US Congress, the European parliament or national parliaments >> (such as the Canadian one), and >> >> 3)finally on getting more preferably really prominent signatories for the >> letter. >> >> I trust this makes sense, and is achievable, and don't at all want to >> discourage people who are doing other things and arranging events etc that >> don't fall into these categories. >> >> By the way, the Yeltsin/Clinton monster sign - on letter can now be >>found on: >> http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html >> >> John Hallam >> Friends of the Earth Sydney, >> 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, >> Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 >> >> nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd >> http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> GET WHAT YOU DESERVE! A NextCard Platinum VISA: DOUBLE Rewards points, >> NO annual fee & rates as low as 9.9% FIXED APR. Apply online today! >> http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/606 >> >> eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear >> http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >ebates.com. Earn up to 25% cash back for shopping online at 75 stores >like Borders, CDNow and Beyond.com. Refer a friend and earn even more! >http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/690 > > >eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/y2k-nuclear >http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: A2000 Working Group on Corporate Issues organizes for WTO Date: 19 Aug 1999 13:08:59 -0400 >Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 02:00:55 -0400 >Subject: A2000 Working Group on Corporate Issues organizes for WTO >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org, abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca >X-FC-Forwarded-From: sstaples@canadians.org >From: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca) > >Friends: > >I=92m happy to announce that the Abolition 2000 Working Group on Corporate >Issues has convened to organize Abolition 2000=92s participation in >citizen actions during the World Trade Organization=92s ministerial >meeting in Seattle this fall. > >Please mark the week of November 27th =AD December 3rd 1999 to come to >Seattle and participate in these events. > >Forum on the WTO and the Global War System > Agenda items: > 1. WTO and economic globalization. > 2. Weapons corporations and economic conversion. > 3. Nuclear weapons and their abolition. > > (Tentatively scheduled for Sunday, November 28th =AD speakers to >be confirmed). > >The forum is being organized by the Pacific Northwest Disarmament >Coalition (USA) and End the Arms Race (Canada), and is endorsed by the >Abolition 2000 Working Group on Corporate Issues and the International >Network on Disarmament and Globalization (to join the NDG=92s list serv, >send an e-mail to sstaples@canadians.org for more information). > >Below, I have provided some background information on the WTO, a >calendar of events in Canada and the USA, website resources, and a list >of e-mail list serves to receive regular updates. > >Hope to see you in Seattle! > >Steve Staples > >************** >BACKGROUND >From November 29th to December 3rd, representatives from the 134 member >nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will convene in Seattle to >discuss world trade and investment to set the ground for a new round of >international negotiations. In the short time since it was created >following the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations in 1995, the WTO has >quickly assumed the position of the most important multilateral >institution in the world. > >The WTO=92s power goes far beyond promoting trade =AD it sets limits on how >governments may participate within or regulate national economies on >behalf of their citizens =AD clawing back democracy and development. It >employs a secretive dispute panel with the power to impose punitive >trade sanctions on nations who refuse to change their laws to conform >with the demands of the WTO=92s trade rules. > >In many respects, the WTO has marginalized the United Nations and has >become the main venue for international relations and diplomacy. Nations >outside the WTO clamour to become members of the club. The rise of >transnational corporations and their enormous economic and political >power has put the so-called =93corporate agenda=94 of liberalization, >deregulation, and privatization at the top of the world agenda. >Meanwhile the United Nations can only dream of the power and influence >of the WTO. > >The WTO=92s agenda of promoting unfettered capitalism at the expense of a >government=92s ability to control the economy for the benefit of its >people contributes to poverty, human rights violations, environmental >degradation =AD all of the roots causes of war. > >The authors of trade and investment agreements understand the social >destruction resulting from free trade, and so exempt restrictions on >governments for =93national security=94 reasons, allowing them to spend >public monies on weapons, armies and internal police forces to protect >foreign investment from citizen movements which oppose the corporate >agenda. > >The result is the creation of the =93global war system.=94 In the >industrialized economies of the north, military spending in many >countries is on the rise again - ten years after the end of the Cold >War. Billions of tax dollars are slashed from social programs to be >spent on new weapons, many of which are then sold around the world. > >In the emerging economies of the south, corporations demand weak labour >and environmental standards to extract natural resources or build goods >destined for northern markets. The economic interests of transnational >corporations are protected by the technologically advanced militaries of >their allies in northern governments. And occasionally, cruise missile >diplomacy is used against a non-conforming nation. > >However, citizens=92 organizations and trade unions are resisting the >attack on the public domain and democracy. Non-governmental >organizations (NGOs) and organized labour are planning a parallel >international gathering of people outside the WTO meeting in Seattle. >This gathering will strengthen the international network of activists >and organizations working to promote peace, human rights, workers=92 >rights, and sustainable development. > >*********** >CALENDAR > >Thursday, November 11, 1999 > >Student and Youth Teach-in This youth event is organized by a coalition >of youth groups in Vancouver, including Check Your Head, the Canadian >Federation of Students, and several student unions. The WTO as it >affects public education, labour and food security will be the main >agenda topics. > >Call Kevin Millsip, Check Your Head (604) 688-8846 > >*** > >Friday and Saturday, November 12th & 13th, 1999 > >Vancouver Teach In on the WTO Organized by the Common Front on the WTO >(Council of Canadians, CLC, Sierra Club, Polaris Inst., West Coast >Environmental Law), and Trading Strategies. > >1000 people will participate in this event, and learn about the WTO=92s >impact on culture, the environment, community development, livelihoods, >agriculture, public services, and investment. International speakers and >workshops. > >Contact Steven Staples (604) 688-8846 > >*** > >Saturday, November 27, 1999 > >Teach-in by IFG (International Forum on Globalization) This Teach-in >will focus on the problems of globalization and a broad range of issues >affected by the WTO. Panels of speakers will address the current failed >economic model and the institutions and agreements that drive it. > >Speakers: Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians), Edward Goldsmith (The >Ecologist), Vandana Shiva (Third World Network), Lori Wallach (Public >Citizen Global Trade Watch) and many more! > >2,500 Seat Benaroya Seattle Symphony Hall, Downtown Seattle > >Call (415) 771-3394 or check www.ifg.org > >*** > >Sunday, November 28th, 1999 > >The WTO and the Global War System. A forum on globalization and >disarmament, including weapons corporations, nuclear weapons, and the >military-corporate complex. Organized by the Pacific Northwest >Disarmament Coalition (USA), End the Arms Race (Canada) and endorsed by >the Abolition 2000 Corporate Issues working group and the International >Network on Disarmament and Globalization. (Date and speakers to be >confirmed) > >Contact: International Network on Disarmament and Globalization, >sstaples@randomlink.com > >*** > >November 29th =AD December 2nd, 1999 > >A series of forums organized by Public Citizen and the Citizens Trade >Coalition (USA): Monday: Health and the Environment, plus TRIPS 1 >Tuesday: Labor, Labor Rights, Living Standards, Human Rights >Wednesday: Women and Development, Democracy and Sovereignty plus No >Patent on Life >Thursday: Food and Agriculture Events: to be announced > >Contact Phone: 206-770-9044. Fax: 206-770-9047 > >*** > >November 30th =AD December 3rd, 1999 > >Official WTO Ministerial Meeting at the Seattle Trade and Convention >Centre. > >*** > >Tuesday, November 30th, 1999 > >Rally of the Millenium on the WTO -- arm and arm to the Convention >Center. Other events to be announced > >*** > >Tuesday, November 30th, 1999 (evening following the Seattle Rally) > >BC Federation of Labour WTO Educational event. Labour and community >activists will join together at the opening of the BC Fed=92s annual >policy convention at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. > >*** > >WTO RESOURCES > >Seattle Citizen Committee on the WTO Ministerial >http://www.seattlewto.org > >A Citizen's Guide to the World Trade Organization - Everything You Need >to Know to Fight for Fair Trade - July 20, 1999 (you will need Adobe >Acrobat Reader 4.0 to view this page) >http://www.citizen.org/pctrade/gattwto/wto-book.pdf > >The World Trade Organization: A Guide for Environmentalists (March 1999) >http://www.wcel.org/wcelpub/1999/12757.html > >Government of British Columbia's site on the World Trade Organization >http://www.ei.gov.bc.ca/Trade&Export/FTAA-WTO/Default.htm > >International Forum on Globalization >http://www.ifg.org/events.html > >End the Arms Race's Arms Trade and Globalization Campaign (Peacewire) >http://www.peacewire.org/campaigns/content.html > >World Trade Organization >http://www.wto.org > >Seattle WTO Host Committee (Chaired by the CEOs of Boeing and Microsoft) > >http://www.wtoseattle.org > >**************** > >E-MAIL LISTS > >The Road to Seattle >An excellent archive of previous postings to this list serv. >http://www.newsbulletin.org/bulletins/getcurrentbulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=3D= 67& >sid=3D To subscribe, send an email to mailto:listserv@iatp.org. In the >body of the message type: subscribe road_to_seattle > >WTO Citizen Organizing Committee >The website for citizens groups organizing for Seattle. >http://www.seattlewto.org To subscribe to the Citizens Host Committee >list serv, send an email with the words Subscribe WTO-HOST" (plus your >email address) to mdolan@citizen.org > =20 Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: marylia@earthlink.net (marylia) Subject: (abolition-usa) New DOE weapons megastrategy Date: 19 Aug 1999 13:31:19 -0700 (PDT) Hi peace and environmental advocates: Here is a press release and fact sheet we put out this morning, so it is about 3 pages long -- unformatted, below. While Livermore Lab is highlighted in the news release, the proposed changes, as you will see, greatly affect Los Alamos Lab, Sandia Lab-NM, and the Nevada Test Site. Further, these proposed changes will impact both our local environments (California, New Mexico and Nevada) and global nuclear weapons policy. Some bits and pieces of this DOE plan have appeared in various local newspapers, but the outlines of the plan's scope are just becoming evident. And, what is written in the DOE materials referenced in our news release raise many, many additional questions. Read on... for further information Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs (925) 443-7148 Mike Veiluva, Western States Legal Foundation (510) 839-5877 for immediate release, Thursday, August 19, 1999 Secret Energy Dept. Plan Will Move More Plutonium to Livermore Lab; Proposal to Expand Nuclear Weapons Activities Will Endanger Bay Area and Chill Global Disarmament, Say Analysts LIVERMORE -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is poised to make major changes in its nuclear weapons program and move more plutonium work to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, charge Bay Area nuclear policy analysts who have obtained heretofore unpublished materials used by DOE to brief high-level Clinton administration officials on the plan. (The DOE "vugraphs" used for this presentation are available on request.) "These changes will have far-reaching, negative consequences for Bay Area public health and safety, for national efforts to reign in the escalating nuclear weapons budget and for international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament goals," said Marylia Kelley, executive director of the Livermore-based organization, Tri-Valley CAREs, which obtained the briefing papers from the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The DOE proposal means more plutonium "pits" (bomb cores) in Livermore. DOE will give Livermore Lab plutonium pit work now performed at its more-remote Los Alamos Lab in New Mexico. This will include moving nuclear weapons to Livermore for plutonium pit surveillance. Moreover, the workload for the W80 submarine and air launched cruise missiles is slated to move to Livermore Lab from Los Alamos. This, too, will mean more plutonium pits at Livermore Lab. (More information is contained in the fact sheet that follows.) "This plan has gone forward in secret, and the public has been inappropriately excluded from any knowledge or decision-making role," Kelley stated. Earlier this year, DOE and Livermore Lab hosted a public meeting at which officials testified that no major changes were contemplated to the Lab's operations over the next 5 years. On that basis, DOE and Livermore Lab decided on March 10, 1999 not to conduct a new site-wide environmental review. "Put simply, we were lied to. We are demanding an environmental review and full public hearings," insisted Kelley. "In a democracy, we should not have nor should we tolerate nuclear weapons projects being built, augmented and operated in the dark. Look at what has happened at other DOE facilities, such as Paducah and Portsmouth, where the workers and the public were misled for years and the result was plutonium contamination," Kelley pointed out. "DOE's proposal is an outrage," fumed Jackie Cabasso, executive director of the Western States Legal Foundation in Oakland. Cabasso explained: "As the U.S. decreases the number of nuclear weapons in its arsenal, the DOE should also be dismantling its nuclear weapons infrastructure. This plan moves in exactly the opposite direction. It enhances U.S. nuclear capability." "Further, it is hypocritical of the U.S. to build up its nuclear weapons design and development capabilities at a time when the Clinton administration is telling other nations to forego such activities. This plan demonstrates the worst aspects of a 'do as I say and not as I do' proliferation policy. This will be noticed by other nations, some of whom will use it to justify their own pursuit of new weapons capabilities. The end result of this plan will be to increase nuclear proliferation dangers worldwide," Cabasso summed up. Fact sheet outlining changes planned by DOE, along with some analysis and a few pertinent questions 1. DOE will "move promptly" the responsibility and workload for the W80 nuclear warhead from Los Alamos Lab in Mew Mexico to Livermore Lab in California. This will mark the first time that responsibility for a weapon designed by one lab has been shifted to another, and the Los Alamos Lab's stockpile systems manager, Luis Salazar, recently quit that position in protest of the pending move. The W80 warhead has both submarine and air launched cruise missile versions. Livermore Lab will "upgrade" the W80 warhead, according to the DOE. This will involve more plutonium "pit" (core) work at Livermore, among other things. The briefing materials reveal what appear to be changes in the warhead that go far, far beyond any maintenance procedures that may be necessary to preserve the existing weapon's "safety" or "reliability" while it remains in the arsenal. The DOE materials include notes on the development of brand new electronic "microsystems" that will become "an integral part of the W80 surety upgrade." Another notation says that DOE will "build and support the future hydrodynamics radiography infrastructure" to meet W80 upgrade "requirements." This means more test shots with high explosives and surrogate pits using uranium and/or plutonium 242. Some of those shots will take place at Los Alamos, though some future shots are likely to take place at Livermore as well. The DOE reveals that it will conduct additional underground "subcritical" nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site to support the W80 "surety upgrade." Finally, the DOE materials disclose that the W80 "surety upgrade" will "require primary recertification in 03/04... 05 timeframe." The primary is the bomb's initial atomic blast, and a subcritical nuclear test is one that stops short of creating a sustained nuclear chain reaction. In addition to unresolved environment, safety and health issues, the W80 "surety upgrade" poses serious questions about the DOE assertion it is not currently designing new nuclear weapons. The abovementioned electronics changes (most likely involving arming, firing and fusing), the additional hydrodynamic and subcritical tests, plus the requirement for a recertification of the warhead core's performance characteristics mean that a considerable amount of "tweaking" of the existing W80 at Livermore Lab is planned by the weapons designers. From the DOE materials presented, there is not enough detail to determine whether the W80 will be enhanced with new military features or capabilities when the weapons designers are finished, but it is worth noting that the B61 was converted into an earth-penetrator via an "upgrade" recently. From the information that DOE does present, the amount of "tweaking" and the scope of changes to be done to the W80 appear to be somewhat greater than what it took to "upgrade" the B61 to give it its new, earth-penetrating capability. The extent of the W80 "upgrade," its technical justification (or the technical justification for moving the workload), its potential environmental, health and safety impacts and its overall cost (including microsystems development, testing and plutonium pit recertification) are missing form the DOE materials. 2. DOE will "move promptly" the plutonium pit surveillance mission and workload from Los Alamos Lab to Livermore. DOE expressly says one of the aims is to give Livermore Lab more plutonium. This means pits from weapons in addition to those of the W80 discussed above will come to Livermore. Livermore Lab already has about 880 pounds of plutonium. Livermore Lab also has a history of accidents, spills, leaks and plutonium safety violations, and its plutonium facility was recently shut down on the recommendation of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. It is just now "restarting." Livermore Lab is in a highly-populated area, with over 6 million people within a fifty-mile radius. And, Livermore Lab is in an area riddled with earthquake faults and jolted by frequent tremors. Further, the DOE notation suggests that some or all of the destructive surveillance workload for each of the weapon types in the U.S. arsenal will come to Livermore Lab. This would mean nuclear weapons coming into Livermore to be taken apart and "destructively tested." That plutonium work at Livermore Lab will increase is stated. However, the extent of the increase and any analysis of the attendant risks are missing. So is the cost estimate for the moving, modifying, designing and manufacturing of equipment etc. at Livermore Lab, whose current plutonium facility and capabilities have been configured differently than at the "donor" location, Technical Area 55 (TA55) in Los Alamos. 3. DOE will use the space at TA55, newly created by moving plutonium pit surveillance to Livermore Lab, for increasing its Appaloosa program. Appaloosa is the code name for a new hydrodynamic test program wherein, essentially, high-explosives and surrogate pits (including with plutonium 242) are set off above ground inside tanks. Environmental impacts, cost and need are all missing from the DOE materials. 4. DOE will consolidate hydrodymamic testing at Los Alamos Lab, and will open up a new "national program office" there. However, Clinton administration officials have been told by DOE that Livermore Lab will still build and keep its new hydrodynamic test facility. Therefore, any fiscal savings DOE may claim is attached to this consolidation is suspect. 5. DOE will build a huge new 50 GeV [gigaelectron volt] proton accelerator at Los Alamos Lab to "get neutrons out of proton collisions." The existing LANCE facility at Los Alamos would become merely an injector beamline for the new mega-machine, according to DOE. The mission goal or any technical justification for the project are missing from the DOE materials. So is its price tag. 6. DOE will conduct additional underground subcritical nuclear tests for the W80 and W88. The W88 is the submarine launched warhead on the Trident D-5 missile, currently being extensively "upgraded" by Los Alamos Lab. The DOE briefing materials specify that additional subcritical shots will involve "weapon relevant shapes." There is no discussion of proliferation impacts, cost or environmental effects -- or of whether U.S. national security will be improved or degraded by "upgrading" these weapons. 7. DOE will move ATLAS and Pegasus from Los Alamos Lab to Nevada. ATLAS is a new fusion facility being constructed at Los Alamos. Pegasus is an older machine. Again, technical justification, skill base questions, cost issues, etc. are missing from the DOE materials. 8. DOE will use ATLAS and Pegasus to help develop the technology that will allow for "explosively driven pulse power for future SNM [special nuclear material - i.e. plutonium] experiments in U1A." The U1A facility is the underground complex of tunnels and rooms where subcritical nuclear experiments are now detonated. Underground explosively driven pulse power experiments on plutonium would be a new type of experiment; one which may have implications for the development of new generations of weapons. The DOE briefing materials do not offer any rationale for these tests. Nor are their costs, environmental impacts, potential weapons application or related proliferation risks mentioned. 9. DOE will build a new "infrastructure for weapons microsystem components ...MESA" at Sandia Lab in New Mexico. This capability will "support future AF&F (arming, firing and fusing) needs." The only weapon type specifically mentioned as justifying the need for this new capability is the W80 "surety upgrade." MESA is reportedly a several hundred million dollar project. And, while DOE's materials don't discuss it, Sandia Lab has publicly stated that it could become the production center for new weapons electronics as well as the design center in the future, if DOE so desires. These are big moves. Collectively, they ratchet up U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities. Nowhere has DOE put this plan before the public, justified the changes or analyzed their myriad negative consequences -- at least not in any publicly-available, independently-reviewed forum. The DOE has completed a Stockpile Stewardship & Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. It stands silent on this plan. Moreover, some of the siting elements in the SSM PEIS actually ran contrary to this latest DOE scheme. OMB is on record stating that DOE must undertake a revision of the SSM PEIS before moving forward. DOE, however, went forward to request initial monies from Congress to begin. -- end -- Marylia Kelley Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) 2582 Old First Street Livermore, CA USA 94550 - is our web site, please visit us there! (925) 443-7148 - is our phone (925) 443-0177 - is our fax Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Take Nuke Weapons Off Alert - Letter to Yeltsin Clinton Please Date: 22 Aug 1999 18:29:11 +1000 John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, =46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd WORLD WRITES TO YELTSIN, CLINTON: TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT, AVOID GLOBAL NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE. DearAll, This letter was released today in Sydney, and in Adelaide, Auckland, Tokyo, San Francisco, Toronto, New York, London, and Moscow. IT IS STILL OPEN FOR SIGNATURE! It was officially posted to Yeltsin and Clinton via the postal service, in front of TV cameras. Preliminary versions were faxed a month ago and last week. It will be again faxed tomorrow. I trust that you will appreciate the extreme importance of this utterly vital issue. =46ROM: =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRALIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH NEW ZEALAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH ENGLAND WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH EL SALVADOR, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH NIGERIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH UKRAINE, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH GEORGIA, (TBILSI) =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH FINLAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH DENMARK, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH ESTONIA =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH FRANCE, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH CYPRUS, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH JAPAN SIBERIA PROGRAM, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRIA (GLOBAL-2000) =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH MACEDONIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH BULGARIA/ECOGLASNOST, SOFIA, BULGARIA AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE, MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF WAR, PAX CHRISTI N.S.W., UNITING CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA, WAYSIDE CHAPEL, UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA, PITT STREET UNITING CHURCH, PITT ST, SYDNEY, ST JOHNS ANGLICAN CHURCH, DARLINGHURST, SYDNEY, CAMPAIGN FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DISARMAMENT (CICD) AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ANTI-BASES CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, N.S.W., WAR RESISTERS INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY, ARID LANDS ENVIRONMENT CENTRE, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE OF W.A., ANTI-URANIUM COALITION OF W.A., PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WESTERN AUSTRALIA, CENTRE FOR URBAN ECOLOGY, S.A., EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE LISMORE, BIG SCRUB ENVIRONMENT CENTRE, EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE GOLD COAST, EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR FREE FUTURE ADELAIDE, PACIFIC CONNECTIONS, TWO BILLION VOICES FOR PEACE PROJECT, UNITED TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL SA., UNITED FIREFIGHTERS UNION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE S.A., CFMEU, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH, A.M.W.U., SA. OFFICE., ALL-UNION GREEN CAUCUS, GRAHAM F. SMITH PEACE TRUST, SA., RICHMOND RIVER SHIRE COUNCIL, SENATOR LYN ALLISON, VIC., SENATOR MEG LEES, LEADER, DEMOCRATS, VIC., SENATOR NATASHA STOTT-DESPOJA, DEPUTY LEADER AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS, SENATOR VICKY BOURNE, DEMOCRAT SENATOR FOR N.S.W., SENATOR ANDREW BARTLETT, DEMOCRAT SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND, SENATOR DEE MARGETTS, GREENS, W.A., SENATOR BOB BROWN, GREENS, TAS, SENATOR GEORGE CAMPBELL, ALP, N.S.W., SENATOR MARGARET REYNOLDS, ALP, N.S.W, SENATOR JIM MC KEIRNAN, ALP., W.A., ANTHONY ALBANESE, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR GRAYNDLER, TANYA PLIBERSEK, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR SYDNEY, JANN MC FARLANE, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR STIRLING, W.A., JILL HALL M.P., MEMBER FOR SHORTLAND, IAN COHEN, GREEN MLC, NSW., LEE RHIANNON, GREEN MLC, NSW., SANDRA KANCK, DEMOCRAT MLC, S.A., IAN GILFILLAN, DEMOCRAT MLC, SA, ROBYN GERAGHTY, MP, STATE MEMBER FOR TORRENS, SA, =46RANCES BEDFORD, MP, STATE MEMBER FOR FLOREY, SA., JIM SCOTT, W.A., GREENS, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, W.A., LOUISE CROSSLEY, NATIONAL CONVENOR, GREENS, HANNAH MIDDLETON, PRESIDENT, COMMUNIST PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, WORLD COURT PROJECT UK, SENATOR DOUGLAS ROCHE, SENATE, CANADA, BRITISH-AMERICAN SECURITY INFORMATION CENTRE, US/UK, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL, JAPAN CONGRESS AGAINST A AND H-BOMBS (GENSUIKYO) INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS (IALANA), WOMENS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (Geneva/NY), CENTRE FOR DEFENCE INFORMATION, WASHINGTON, USA, CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT U.K., SAFFRON WALDEN GROUP AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS, YOUTH AND STUDENT CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, WEST MIDLANDS CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, YORKSHIRE CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, MEDACT (IPPNW UK), TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES 2000 NORFOLK UK., NETWORK INFORMATION PROJECT, SOUTHAMPTON,UK, ., CAMPAIGN FOR ACCOUNTABILITY OF U.S., BASES, MENWITH HILL WOMENS PEACE CAMP, YORKSHIRE, UK., GLOBAL NETWORK AGAINST WEAPONS AND NUCLEAR POWER IN SPACE, ANGLICAN PACIFIST FELLOWSHIP, MILTON KEYNES, U.K., EPISCOPAL PEACE FELLOWSHIP, U.K., ST BARTHOLEMEWS JUSTICE AND PEACE GROUP, ST ALBANS, U.K., CHRISTIAN CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, U.K., CALDERDALE GREEN PARTY, YORKSHIRE, U.K., PUBLIC INTEREST CONSULTANTS, SWANSEA, U.K., CUMBRIA AND NORTH LANCASHIRE PEACE GROUPS U.K., GREEN PARTY OF ENGLAND AND WALES, Y2K COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK U.K., JEANETTE FITZSIMMONS MP, NZ GREENS, BRIAN DONELLY, MP, HARRY DUYNHOVEN, MP, NZ LABOUR, LIANNE DALZIEL, MP, NZ LABOUR, JUDY KEALL, MP, NZ LABOUR, PETER DUNNE, MP, NZ LABOUR, SANDRA LEE, MP, DEPUTY LEADER, ALLIANCE, LAILA HARRE, MP, ALLIANCE, DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY CENTRE, NZ, AOTEOROA/NEW ZEALAND PEACE FOUNDATION, AUCKLAND, NZ., ENGINEERS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, N.Z., NEW ZEALAND GREENS, NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE ON DISARMAMENT, N.Z., PEACE ACTION DUNEDIN, N.Z., PEACE COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND, ABOLITION-2000 NEW ZEALAND, IPPNW NEW ZEALAND, VETERANS FOR PEACE NZ., ARCHITECTS AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR, NZ., C.N.D., VETERANS NEW ZEALAND, CENTRE FOR PEACE STUDIES, UNIV. OF AUCKLAND, NZ, NEW ZEALAND NUCLEAR - FREE PEACEMAKING ASSOCIATION, WILPF AOTEAROA, CORSO AOTEAROA/NZ., PACIFIC ISLANDS ASSOCIATION OF NGOS, BELAU., COALITION OF PETROLEUM PRODUCING STATES OF NIGERIA, MALAYSIAN PHYSICIANS FOR THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR, GREEN ACTION KYOTO, Y2K WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY, SENDAI, JAPAN, SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY CENTRE FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, NAGERCOIL, INDIA, AWAMI COMMITTEE FOR DEVELOPMENT, MULTAN, PAKISTAN, INDONESIAN NATIONAL NETWORK FORUM ANTI-NUCLEAR SOCIETY, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROJECT FOR SUSTAINABILITY, (AEPS) THAILAND, MOVIMIENTO AUTORIDADES INDIGENAS DE COLOMBIA, ECODEFENSE KOENIGSBERG/MOSCOW, WISE-KALININGRAD, ANTINUCLEAR CAMPAIGN OF SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL UNION MOSCOW, PLATAN YOUTH GROUP, KALININGRAD, EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE KALININGRAD REGIONAL DUMA, GREEN WORLD, SOSNOVY BOR, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, ST PETERSBURG PEACE COUNCIL, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, CENTRE FOR NUCLEAR ECOLOGY AND ENERGY POLICY RUSSIA, BAIKAL ENVIRONMENTAL WAVE, RUSSIA, ECOSENS, ROMANIA, COMMITTEE OF 100, FINLAND, PEACE UNION OF FINLAND, STUDENT NATURE PROTECTION GROUP, TARTU, ESTONIA, SWEDISH PHYSICIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS (SLMK - SWEDISH CHAPTER OF IPPNW)= , NORWEGIAN PHYSICIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR (IPPNW) NORWEGIAN PEACE ALLIANCE, NORWEGIAN LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU, OSLO, PEACE MOVEMENT OF ESBJERG, DENMARK, WAR RESISTERS INTERNATIONAL, FREDRIKSHAVN, DENMARK, ALDRIG MERE KRIG (AMK) DENMARK, DANISH ASSOCIATION OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS, WOMENS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (FRANCE), MOUVEMENT DE LA PAIX, FRANCE, INTERNATIONAL ALBERT SCHWEITZER FOUNDATION, DR SCHWEITZER HOSPITAL FUND, FRANCE/SWITZERLAND GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOR IMMEDIATE DISARMAMENT, SWITZERLAND, DARMSTAEDTER FRIEDENSFORUM, GERMANY, NUCLEAR-FREE AWARD, GERMANY, ANTI-ATOM PLENUM, BOCHUM, GERMANY, CITIZENS INITIATIVE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, LUECHOW-DANNEBURG, GERMANY= , IPPNW HAMBURG, CENTRE FOR ENCOUNTER AND ACTIVE NON-VIOLENCE, BAD ISCHL, AUSTRIA, IPPNW AUSTRIA, ANTI-ATOM INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRIA, COORDINATION OFFICE OF AUSTRIAN ENVIRONMENT GROUPS, AUSTRIA, INDEPENDENT SALZBURG PLATFORM AGAINST NUCLEAR DANGERS, AUSTRIA, PLATFORM GEGEN ATOMGEFAHR, AUSTRIA, ENERGIE ZUKUNFT MOHTVIERTEL, AUSTRIA, CENTRUM ENERGIE, CZECH REPUBLIC, BURGERINITIATIVE UMWELTSCHUTZ, BUDWEIS, CZECH REPUBLIC., =46OR MOTHER EARTH INTERNATIONAL, GHENT, BELGIUM, WORLD INFORMATION SERVICE ON ENERGY, AMSTERDAM, MDB ENERGY PROJECT, NETHERLANDS, =46OR MOTHER EARTH NETHERLANDS, CENTRE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, NETHERLANDS, GLOBAL ANTI - NUCLEAR ALLIANCE, NETHERLANDS, ANPED (NORTHERN ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY) NETH, ASEED- EUROPE, (AMSTERDAM) STROHALM (UTRECHT) NETHERLANDS, ITALIAN LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, MAJ-BRITT THEORIN, MEP, PRESIDENT, IPB., ELIZABETH SCHROEDTER, MEP, ERNST GULCHER, MEP, GREEN GROUP, GERMANY, HEIDI HAUTALA, MEP, GREEN GROUP, FINLAND, GLYN FORD, MEP, LABOR, SW ENGLAND, OZAN KEYHUN, MEP, GERMANY, PER GAHRTON, MEP, GREENS, SWEDEN, CONGRESSMAN EDWARD J. MARKEY, (D-MASS) WASH, D.C., GLOBAL RESOURCE ACTION CENTRE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (GRACE) N.Y., U.S., TRI-VALLEY CARES, LIVERMORE, CALIF, U.S., NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE, U.S., WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION, U.S., NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF NATIVE AMERICANS, AMERICAN-INDIAN MOVEMENT OF OKLAHOMA, NUCLEAR-FREE NEW YORK, SAVE WARD VALLEY, CALIF, U.S., METRO-BOSTON COMMITTEE TO DE-ALERT NUCLEAR WEAPONS, NUCLEAR AGE PEACE FOUNDATION, CALIFORNIA, U.S., PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, U.S., LIVERMORE CONVERSION PROJECT, OAKLAND, CALIF., ACTION SITE TO STOP CASSINI FLYBY, PROPOSITION-1 COMMITTEE, WASHINGTON DC, US., HEALING GLOBAL WOUNDS, TECOPA, CALIF, U.S., AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE, UNITING CHURCH OF CHRIST ROCKY MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE, PEACE AND JUSTICE TASK =46ORCE, ALL SOULS UNITARIAN CHURCH COLORADO SPRINGS, U.S., METHODISTS UNITED FOR PEACE WITH JUSTICE, U.S., QUEST MINISTRIES, OHIO, U.S., CENTRE FOR MISSION EDUCATION, DENVER, COLORADO, INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, SAN FRANCISCO, US, WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE, NY, USA., NEW YORK STUDENT ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COALITION, PEACE RESOURCE CENTRE OF SAN DIEGO, CALIF, U.S., PROMOTING ENDURING PEACE, NY., U.S., PROFESSIONAL NETWORK FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, NY, U.S., GRANDMOTHERS AND MOTHERS ALLIANCE FOR THE FUTURE, WOMENS ACTION FOR NEW DIRECTIONS, CENTRE FOR ENERGY RESEARCH, OREGON, USA, CITIZENS PROTECTING OHIO, OHIO CITIZEN ACTION, PORTSMOUTH/PIKETON RESIDENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND SANITY (PRESS), CONCERNED CITIZENS FOR NUCLEAR SAFETY NEW MEXICO, PEACE ACTION USA., PEACE ACTION CENTRAL NEW YORK, METRO NEW YORK PEACE ACTION COUNCIL, USA., PAX CHRISTI U.S.A., PAX CHRISTI NEW YORK, PAX CHRISTI, MORRIS COUNTY, NJ, USA., PAX CHRISTI TEXAS, PAX CHRISTI ST AUGUSTINE FLORIDA, =46ELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION TASK FORCE ON LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARRIBEAN= , ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION ON NUCLEAR POWER, CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA CITIZENS FOR SURVIVAL, THREE MILE ISLAND ALERT, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S., ATOMIC MIRROR, CALIF, U.S., NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR A PEACE TAX FUND, PEDALS FOR PEACE, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF, U.S., SACRAMENTO VALLEY CITIZENS ALONG THE ROADS AND TRACKS, NEVADA DESERT EXPERIENCE, NEVADA, U.S., GRANDMOTHERS FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL, CALIF, U.S., TAI MEI PEACE ACTION, SAN GABRIEL, U.S., SERIOUS TEXANS AGAINST NUCLEAR DUMPING, U.S., STUDENTS FOR A SUSTAINABLE EARTH, W. MICHIGAN, U.S., ALLIANCE FOR SURVIVAL, COSTA MESA, CALIF., U.S., LONG ISLAND ALLIANCE FOR PEACEFUL ALTERNATIVES, Y2K-WASH CAMPAIGN BAY AREA CHAPTER, BILL BLAIKIE MP, HOUSE LEADER, NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA, SVEND ROBINSON MP, HOUSE OF REPS, CANADA, JUDY WASLYCIA-LEIS, MP, WINNIPEG, CANADA VETERANS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, CANADA, PHYSICIANS FOR GLOBAL SURVIVAL, CANADA, NEW GREEN ALLIANCE, CANADA, PACIFIC CAMPAIGN FOR DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY, BC, CANADA., THE SIMONS FOUNDATION, VANCOUVER, B.C., PLOUGHSHARES, CALGARY, CANADA, PLOUGHSHARES, SASKATOON, CANADA, ICUEC, (INTER-CHURCH URANIUM EDUCATION COMMITTEE) SASKATOON, CANADA, O.P.I.R.G., PETERBOROUGH, CANADA, UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, ASSOCIATION OF SERBIAN WOMEN, CANADA, INDIGENOUS WOMENS NETWORK, CANADA/USA., PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, KRASNOPRESENSKAYA-2, MOSCOW, RUSSIA, +7-095-205-4219, +7-095-206-5173 +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US, +1-202-456-2461, +1-202-456-2883. WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, BILL RICHARDSON, US SECRETARY OF ENERGY, +1-202-586-9987. IGOR SERGEYEV, DEFENCE MINISTER OF RUSSIA, Znamenka-19, 103160, Moscow, Russia, +7-095-293-33-13, 247-2795, 247-2722, 293-3323. =46OREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA, +7-095-244-3276, +7-095-244-2203, CC ALL HEADS OF STATE (BY EMAIL) ALL UN MISSIONS (BY EMAIL) Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, Defence Ministers and Defence Secretaries, Heads of State and UN Missions, The organisations above, representing millions of people worldwide, are writing to convey their extreme concern over the possibility that Year 2000 (Y2K)-related computer failures in nuclear weapons systems may lead to an unacceptable risk of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation. In the current political situation this is most especially the case. According to Alexandr Arbatov, of the Defence Committee of the Russian State Duma, US-Russian relations are at 'the worst, most acute, most dangerous juncture since the US-Soviet Berlin and Cuban missile crises.' The danger during the Y2K rollover lies primarily in the possibility that spurious data may induce commanders, even at the highest levels, to mistakenly authorise the launches of nuclear weapons. Events similar to this have already occurred. For example: In the US in 1980, a malfunctioning computer chip sent spurious alert signals; In 1983 in Russia, satellites mistook glare off the tops of clouds for a US missile launch, (and disaster was averted by the refusal of the local commander to believe the warnings were real); In 1995, a Norwegian research rocket prompted a full-scale Russian alert. If Y2K breakdowns produce inaccurate early warning data, or if communications and command channels are compromised, the combination of hair-trigger force postures and Y2K failures could be disastrous. There should therefore be a 'safety first ' approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. Because none of the nuclear weapons states can guarantee that their nuclear- related computer systems are Y2K compliant, the only responsible solution is for them all to stand down nuclear operations. This approach should include taking nuclear weapons off alert status and decoupling nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles. The stakes involved in any nuclear exchange between Russia and the US are such that they dwarf any other considerations. The future of life itself on earth could be in doubt. In light of this, we strongly urge that you remove all strategic and tactical nuclear weapons from 'hair trigger' alert, and place them in a status in which at least hours and preferably days would be required to launch them. The Canberra Commission in August 1996, noted that terminating nuclear alert status would: --Reduce dramatically the chances of accidental or unauthorised nuclear missile launch. --Help set the stage for intensified cooperation on a more far- reaching disarmament agenda --Have a very positive influence on the political climate between nuclear weapon states. This last is especially relevant in the current tension between Russia and NATO, which has prompted Russia to withdraw from cooperation with the US on Y2K problems. According to the Canberra Commission, "Taking nuclear forces off alert could be verified by national technical means and nuclear weapon state inspection arrangements. in the first instance, reduction in alert status could be adopted by the nuclear weapon states unilaterally" If both sides are verifiably de-alerted, it will not be possible for either to launch a disarming first strike. The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security. Signed Kevin Dunion, Chairperson, Friends of the Earth International, John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Australia, Wendy Johnson, Friends of the Earth New Zealand, Dr Patrick Green, Senior Energy, Nuclear and Climate Campaigner, Friends of the Earth England Wales and Northern Ireland, Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador, Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth Nigeria (Environmental Rights Action), Benin City, Nigeria, Viktor Khazan, Friends of the Earth Ukraine, Manana Kochladze, Friends of the Earth Georgia, Tbilsi, Georgia. Jan Kunnas, Friends of the Earth Finland, Bo Stroem, Friends of the Earth Denmark, Tonu Oja, Chairperson, Friends of the Earth Estonia, Tartu, Estonia. Amis de la Terre, Paris, France, Loukia Pavlidou, President, Friends of the Earth Cyprus, Oleg Svistunov, Friends of the Earth Japan Siberia Program, Corine Viellers, Global-2000(Friends of the Earth Austria) Daniela Stojanova, General Secretary, Friends of the Earth Macedonia, Maria Minkova, Deputy Chair, Friends of the Earth Bulgaria/Ecoglasnost, Sofi= a, Peter Garrrett, President, Australian Conservation Foundation, Helen Caldicott, MD, Founding President, PSR, Irene Gale, Australian Peace Committee, SA Branch, Denis Doherty, Secretary, Pax Christi NSW, REV. John Mavor, President, Uniting Church of Australia Rev. Ray Richmond, Wayside Chapel, Uniting Church in Australia, Pitt Street Uniting Church, Pitt St, Sydney, Rev. John Stanley, St Johns Anglican Church, Darlinghurst, Sydney, Julie Marlow, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Committee, Babs Fuller-Quinn, Australian Peace Committee, National Committee, Susan Wareham, President, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, IPPNW Regional Vice-President, Aust., Pauline Mitchell, Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament, Peter Jones, War Resisters International, Australia., Alec Marr, National Campaign Director, The Wilderness Society, Mark Wakeham, Environment Centre of the Northern Territory, Deborah Metters, Arid Lands Environment Centre, Alice Springs, NT., Rowena Skinner, Environment Centre of W.A., Robin Chapple, Anti-Uranium Coalition of W.A., Cherie Hoyle, Centre for Urban Ecology, SA., Graham Daniell, People for Nuclear Disarmament, Western Australia., Zohl D' Ishtar, Pacific Connections, Richard Goode, 2 Billion Voices for Peace Project, Ian Dixon, Big Scrub Environment Centre, Lismore, Isabelle Whyte, Everyone for a Nuclear-free Future, Lismore, Robin Taubenfeld, Everyone for a Nuclear-Free Future, Gold Coast, Jonivar Skullerud, ENUFF, Adelaide, Chris White, Secretary, United Trades and Labour Council, SA, Paul Martinella, State Secretary, CFMEU, SA, Trevor Smith, National Secretary, CFMEU, Forests and Forests Products Division, SA, Stephen Smith, Secretary, CFMEU, Furnishing trade Division, SA, Jacob Grech, Earthworker, All-Union Green Caucus, Mick Doyle, United Firefighters Union of SA, Paul Noak, Secy, A.M.W.U. SA Office. Martin O' Malley, Secy, CFMEU, SA Branch. Stephen Spence, Secretary, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, SA., Leonie Ebert, Graham F. Smith Peace Trust, SA., P.T. Muldoon, General Manager, Richmond River Shire Council, Senator Lyn Allison, Democrat Senator for Victoria, Senator Meg Lees, Democrat Senator for South Australia, Leader of the Australian Democrats, Senator Vicky Bourne, Democrat Senator for NSW., Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja, Deputy Leader, Australian Democrats, Senator Andrew Bartlett, Democrat Senator for Queensland, Senator Bob Brown, Green Senator for Tasmania, Senator Dee Margetts, Green Senator for Western Australia, Senator George Campbell, ALP Senator for NSW., Senator Margaret Reynolds, ALP, NSW, Senator Jim Mc Kiernan, ALP, W.A., Anthony Albanese. ALP, Federal member for Grayndler, Tanya Plibersek, ALP, Federal member for Sydney, Jann Mc Farlane, Federal member for Stirling, W.A., Jill Hall, M.P., Federal member for Shortland, NSW, Cheryl Davenport MLC., W.A., Ian Cohen, MLC, Greens, NSW, Lee Rhiannon, MLC, Greens, NSW, Sandra Kanck, MLC,Democrats, S.A., Ian Gilfillan, MLC, Democrats, SA, Robyn Geraghty MP, Member for Torrens, SA., =46rances Bedford, ALP State MP for Florey, S.A., Jim Scott, WA Greens, Legislative Council, W.A., Dr Louise Crossley, National Convenor, Greens, Australia, Hannah Middleton, President, Communist Party of Australia. Commander Robert Green RN (Ret'd), Chair, World Court Project UK, =46elicity Hill, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, Geneva/N= Y Martin Butcher, British-American Security Information Centre, US/UK, Stephanie Mills, Greenpeace International Nuclear and Disarmament Campaign, Bernice Boermans, Executive Director, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, (IALANA), The Hague, Neth., Rear-Admiral Eugene J. Carroll, USN (retd), Deputy Director, Centre for Defence Information, Washington, USA, Dave Knight, Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, U.K., Janet Bloomfield, Former Chair CND, Abolition U.K, Saffron Walden Group Against Nuclear Weapons, Bruce Kent, Vice-President, CND, Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands CND, Birmingham, U.K, Tigger Mc Gregor, Youth and Student CND, U.K., Dave Webb, Yorkshire CND., U.K., Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy, Campaign for Accountability of American Bases, U.K., Gillian Reeve, Director, MEDACT (IPPNW U.K), Jane Tallents, Trident-Ploughshares 2000, Norwich, Norfolk, U.K., Di Mc Donald, Network Information Project, Southampton, U.K, Catherine Euler, Menwith Hill Womens Peace Camp, Yorkshire, U.K., Catherine Euler, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Sue Claydon, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Milton Keynes, U.K., Mary H. Miller, Episcopal peace Fellowship, U.K., Monica King, St Bartholemews Justice and Peace Group, St Albans, U.K., Calderdale Green Party, Yorkshire, U.K., Alan Francis, Chair, Green Party of England and Wales, Alan Watson, Partner, Public Interest Consultants, Swansea, Wales, U.K., Nigel Chamberlain, Cumbria and North Lancashire Peace Groups U.K., Paul Swann, National Coordinator, Y2K Community Action Network, U.K., Jeanette Fitzsimmons, MP, NZ Greens, Brian Donelly, MP, Harry Duynhoven, MP, NZ Labour, Lianna Dalziel, MP, NZ Labour, Judy Keall, MP, NZ Labour, Peter Dunne, MP, NZ Independent, Sandra Lee, Deputy leader, Alliance, Laila Harre, MP, Alliance, NZ., Dr Kate Dewes, Disarmament and Security Centre, Marion Hancock, Aoteoroa/NZ Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ., Gerry Coates, Engineers for Social Responsibility, NZ, Keith Locke, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, NZ Greens, Llelwyn Richards, National Consultative Committee on Disarmament, NZ, Barbara Frame, Peace Action Dunedin, NZ., John Urlich, Peace Council of New Zealand, Rev. John Murray/Dame Laurie Salas/Robin Halliday, Abolition-2000, New Zeala= nd, Ian Prior, IPPNW New Zealand, Chris King, Veterans for Peace New Zealand, Derek Wilson, Architects Against Nuclear War, NZ, Robert E. White, Director, Centre for Peace Studies, University of Auckland, NZ., John Gallagher, New Zealand Nuclear-Free Peacemaking Association, Aotearoa/N= Z., WILPF Aoteoroa, Jim Holdom, CORSO, Aotearoa/NZ., Richard N. Salvador, Pacific Islands Association of NGOs, Belau, Tom Mbeke-Ekarem, Chair, Coalition of Petroleum-Producing States of Nigeria, Ron Mc Coy, Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Yumi Kukuchi, Y2K WASH Campaign, Sendai, Japan/USA, Aileen Mioko Smith, Director, Green Action Kyoto, Japan., Hiroshi Taka, Assistant Secretary, Japan Council Against A and H-Bombs (Gensuikyo), S.P. Udayakumar, South Asian Community Centre for Education and Research, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, South India, Asif Rasheed Leghari, Awami Committee for Development, Multan, Pakistan, Nana Suhartana, Indonesian National Network Forum Anti-Nuclear Society, Pipob Udomittipong, Alternative Energy Project for Sustainability, Thailand, Lorenzo Muelas, Movimiento Autoridades Indigenas de Colombia, Vladimir Sliviak, Ecodefense, Russia, Galina Raghouzhina, World Information Service on Energy (WISE) Kaliningrad, Alexandra Koroleva, Educational Committee, Kaliningrad Regional Duma, Mikhail Trofimov, Ecodefence! International, Kaliningrad, Alisa Nikoulina, Antinuclear Campaign of Social-Ecological Union, Moscow, Pavel Malyshev, Platan Youth Group, Kaliningrad, Oleg Bodrov, Green World, Sosnovy Bor, St Petersburg, Russia, Vera Brovkina, St Petersburg Peace Council, St Petersburg, Russia, Lydia Popova, Centre for Nuclear Ecology and Energy Policy, Russia, Marina Rikhmanova, Baikal Environmental Wave, Baikal, Russia, George Razvan Marcu, Ecosens, Romania, Malla Kantola, Committee of 100, Helsinki, Finland, Laura Lodenius, Peace Union of Finland, Helsinki, Finland, Pepe Mardiste, Student Nature Protection Group, Tartu, Estonia, Gunnar Westberg, MD., SLMK (IPPNW), Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear Weapo= ns, =46redrick S. Heffermehl, President, Norwegian Peace Alliance, =46rederick S. Heffermehl, Norwegian Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, =46rederick S. Heffermehl, International Peace Bureau, Oslo, Bjorn Hilt, Chair, Norwegian Physicians Against Nuclear War, (IPPNW) Poul Eck S=F8rensen, Peace Movement of Esbjerg, Denmark, Arne Hansen, War Resisters International, Fredrikshavn, Denmark, Majken Jul S=F8rensen, Aldrig Mere Krig, (AMK) Denmark, Anja Johansen, Militaernaegterforeningen, (Danish Association of Conscientious Objectors) Daniel Durand, Secretary, Mouvement de La Paix, France, Solange Fernex, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, France, Chrystoph Wyss, International Albert Schwietzer Foundation, France/Switz, Chrystoph Wyss, Dr Schweitzer Hospital Fund, Switzerland, Dr Roland Schutzbach, Global Initiative for Immediate Disarmament, Switzerla= nd, Xanthe Hall, Assistant Director, IPPNW Germany, Berlin, Regina Hagen, Darmstaedter Friedensforum, Germany, Claus Biegert, Nuclear-Free Award, Germany, Horst Hohmier, Anti-Atom Plenum, Bochum, Germany, Ilona Joerden, Citizens Initiative for Environmental Protection, Luechow-Danneburg, Germany, Dr. Herbert Richter-Peill, IPPNW Hamburg, Germany, Matthias Reichl, Centre for Encounters and Active Non-Violence, Bad Ischl, Austria, Dr Klaus Renoldner, President, IPPNW Austria, Claudia and Margit, Anti-Atom International, Claudia and Margit, Coordination Office of Austrian Environment Organisation= s, Heinz Stockinger, Independent Salzburg Platform Against Nuclear Dangers,(PLAGE), Salzburg, Austria, Josef Puehringer, Platform Gegen Atomgefahr, Austria, Josef Puehringer, Centrum Energie, Czech Republic, Josef Puehringer, Burgerinitiative Umweltschutz, Budweis, Czech Republic, Josef Puehringer, Energie Zukunft Mohtviertel, Austria., Pol D'Huyvetter, For Mother Earth International, Ghent, Belgium, Peer de Rijk, WISE- Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ophelia Cowell, MDB Energy Project, Netherlands, Marjan Willemsen, For Mother Earth Netherlands, Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, Netherlands, Pieter Van Der Gaag, Deputy international Coordinator, ANPED, Northern Alliance for Sustainability, =46rank Van Schaik, Transport Coordinator, ASEED-Europe, STROHALM, Utrecht, Netherlands, Kaj Leers, Journalist, Netherlands, David Boerma, Coordinator, Pacific Region, Centre for Indigenous Peoples, Netherlands., Giorgio Nebbia, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Economics, University of Bari, Italy, Dr Joachim Lau, Italian Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, Maj-Britt Theorin, MEP, Sweden, Elizabeth Schroedter, MEP, Germany, Ernst Gulcher, MEP, Green Group, Germany, Heidi Hautala, MEP, Green Group, Finland, Glyn Ford, MEP, Labour, SW England, Ozan Keyhun, MEP, Germany, Per Gahrton, MEP, Greens, Sweden., Congressman Edward J. Markey, (D-Mass), Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. Alice Slater, Global Resource Action Centre for the Environment, NY., USA., Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, California, US. Mary Olson, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, US., Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, US., Grace Thorpe, National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans, Carter Camp, Chair, American-Indian Movement of Oklahoma, US, Bill Smirnow, Nuclear-Free New York, US, Molly Johnson, Coordinator, Save Ward Valley, Calif, USA., William F. Santelmann, Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara, Calif, US. Robert W. Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility, U.S.A., Dr Lachlan Forrow, Past Chair, IPPNW, Jonathan Mark, Action Site to Stop Cassini Flyby, Sherry Larsen-Beville, Livermore Conversion Project, Oakland, Calif, USA. Ellen Thomas, Proposition-1 Committee, Washington DC, US., Diana Roose, Peace Education Director, American Friends Service Committee, Patricia Watson, Peacework, American Friends Service Committee, Robert Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, Uniting Church of Christ, Rocky Mountains Conference, Rachel Keeler, Executive Director, Pax Christi, New York, Nancy Small, National Coordinator, Pax Christi, USA, =46rank Dworak, Pax Christi, Morris County, NJ, USA., Adam Eidinger, Pax Christi Washington Action Group, U.S., Joyce Hall, Pax Christi Texas, Paul Villavisanis, Pax Christi, St Augustine, Fl, Betty Obol, SL, The Loretto Community, U.S., Phil Mc Manus, Chair, Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Carribean, U.S., Heidi Cooper, All Souls Unitarian Church, Colorado Springs, US., Howard W. Hallman, Methodists United for Peace with Justice, Washington, USA= =2E, Guy Templeton Black, Quest Ministries, Ohio, U.S., Bill Kelly, Executive Director, Centre for Mission Education, Denver, Colorado, USA., Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Coordinator, Healing Global Wounds, Tecopa, CA, USA., Karen Talbot, Director, International Centre for Peace and Justice, San =46rancisco, California, US., Chris Ney, War Resisters League, NY, USA., Jasmina Arsova, War Resisters League,, NY. USA., Holly-Poole Kavana, New York Student Environmental Action Coalition, Carol Jahnkow, Peace Resource Centre of San Diego, Calif, US., Janette Michelle Cuevas, Executive Director, Promoting Enduring Peace, NY., Babette Lindfield, Professional Network for Social Responsibility, NY, U.S., Susan Lee Solar and Maria Mendez, Grandmothers and Mothers Alliance for the =46uture, Susan Shaer, Executive Director, Womens Action for New Directions, Peter Bergel, Centre for Energy Research, Salem, Oregon, USA., Harvey Wasserman, Citizens Protecting Ohio, USA., Sarah Ogdahl, Toledo Area Director, Ohio Citizen Action, Vina Colley, Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Sanit= y, Jay Coghlan, Concerned Citizens For Nuclear Safety, New Mexico, USA., Gordon S. Clark, Executive Director, Peace Action USA., Diane R Swords, Peace Action Central New York, =46ran Teplitz, Peace Action, Peace Action Education Fund, USA., Sonya Ostrom, Metro New York Peace Action Council, Judith H. Johnsrud, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, Pennsylvania, U.S, Judith H. Johnsrud, Central Pennsylvania Citizens for Survival, U.S., Scott D. Portzline, Three Mile Island Alert, Pennsylvania, U.S., Pamela Meidell, Atomic Mirror, Calif, U.S., Tom Keirans, National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, Shiela Baker, Pedals for Peace, San Luis Obispo, Calif, U.S., Inga Olson, Sacramento Valley Citizens Along The Roads and Tracks, Marc M. Blaise-Page, Nevada Desert Experience, U.S., Earth-Savers, Syracuse, U.S., Barbara Weidener, Grandmothers for Peace International, Calif, U.S., Lyn Miles, Tai Mei Peace Action, San Gabriel, U.S., Alan Moore, Butterfly Gardeners Association, Berkley, Calif, Don Moniak, Program Director, Serious Texans Against Nuclear Dumping, Amarillo, Tex, U.S, Andrew Nixon, Students For A Sustainable Earth, W. Michigan University, U.S.= , Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa, The Nuclear Resister, Marion Pack, Alliance for Survival, Costa-Mesa, California, USA., Peggy Jacobs, Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, U.S., Jane Grossman/Laurie Grossman, Bay Area Chapter, Y2K WASH Campaign, (World Atomic Safety Holiday), USA/JAPAN, Senator Doug Roche, Canadian Parliament, Bill Blaikie MP, House Leader, New Democratic Party of Canada, Svend Robinson MP, House of Representatives,Canada, Judy Waslycia-Leis, MP, Winnipeg, Canada, Dr David Morgan, President, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, Vancouver, Canada, Dr Barbara Birkett, President, Physicians for Global Survival, Ottawa, Canad= a., Dr Ross Wilcock, Physicians for Global Survival, Canada, Dave Greenfield, New Green Alliance, Saskatoon, Canada, Patti Willis, Pacific Campaign for Disarmament and Security, B.C., Canada, Prof Eric Fawcett, Physics Dept, University of Toronto, Canada, Dr Jennifer Allen Simons, The Simons Foundation, Vancouver, B.C., Sally Hodges, Chair, Ploughshares, Calgary, Canada, O.P.I.R.G., Peterborough, Canada, Genivieve Talbot, United Nations Association of Canada, Snezana Vitorovich, Association of Serbian Women, Canada, Priscilla Settee, Indigenous Womens Network, Canada/USA., - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Please Read Date: 22 Aug 1999 18:31:01 +1000 http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19990811/tc/yk_global_2.html The Pentagon Papers of Y2K Cities At Risk From The Year 2000 Computer Crisis By Jim Lord Jim Lord can be contacted at: JimLordY2K@aol.com Expanded information is available at: www.JimLord.to Secret Government Study Reveals Massive Y2K Problems in American Cities How many days could New York City survive without water and sewer services? How long would it take to evacuate eight million people in the dead of winter? Would thousands die in the process? Tens of thousands? More? When would the rioting and looting begin? How many National Guard troops would it take to control the largest city in the nation? What unthinkable devastation would be wrought on the global financial system? How might our enemies seize on the ensuing panic and confusion? Are these the crazed speculations of a Y2K alarmist? Not if you know what the US Navy and Marine Corps know. According to a June 1999 report titled, "Master Utility List", they believe "total failure is likely" for New York City's water and sewer systems because of Y2K problems. And they are holding this information back. The Navy Department assessment is not limited to New York City; it covers all their shore facilities in the world - nearly 500 locations. The results are horrifying. They expect more than 26 million American citizens in 125 cities to be without electricity, water, gas or sewer services next January. Many more would be affected in foreign countries. London, England for example is expected to experience failures of all four types of utilities. Many of the people impacted by these failures would be military personnel and their families. And the Navy Department isn't telling anyone. =46orty-five of the cities named in the survey have population greater than 100,000. Eight of the nation's dozen largest metropolitan areas are affected. Here's what the Navy expects: Dallas - no water. Washington DC and Philadelphia - no gas Baltimore, Houston, New York and Miami - no water or sewer. Atlanta - no water or gas San Antonio - no water or electricity. =46ort Worth and New Orleans - no water, gas or sewer services. And the Navy Department is saying nothing. Cities at Risk The information presented below is based on a US Navy/Marine Corps survey dated June 1999. The survey was conducted to determine the risk of utility failures at military facilities worldwide. Only United States information is shown. Each of the three tables below shows a list of cities and the Y2K exposure of the major utilities in each city. The columns labeled E, W, G and S refer to the Electrical, Water, Gas and Sewer utilities. An "x" in the column indicates that utility is expected to fail. To view expanded information on each city including the names of specific utilities, visit www.JimLord.to on the web. Three levels of possible failure are indicated in the Navy document. Each table in this summary lists one of these levels. 1) Partial failure is probable. 2) Partial failure is likely. 3) Total failure is likely. The terms "probable", "likely", "partial" and "total" are Navy terminology and were not clearly defined in the documentation. The terms "likely" and "total" however, represent the worst condition. Cities in bold have populations greater than 100,000. Many of the utilities listed service many more customers than shown here. 43 cities where "partial failure is probable." CityPopulationEWGS Amarillo TX158,000xxxx Annapolis MD33,000x Arlington VA171,000x Avoca PA3,000x Baton Rouge LA220,000x Bethesda MD63,000x Broussard LA3,000x Carderock MDx Charlotte NC396,000xx Columbus OH633,000x Corpus Christi TX257,000x Crane INxDallas TX1,007,000x Dayton OH182,000xx Duluth MN85,000xx El Paso TX515,000xx =46orest Park IL15,000xx Greensboro NC184,000x Highland Park IL31,000x Houston TX1,631,000xx Ingleside TX6,000x Key West FL25,000xxx Knoxville TN165,000xxx Lewisville AR1,000x Lexington Park MD10,000x Millington TN18,000xx Mobile AL196,000xx Montgomery AL187,000xx Newport News VA170,000x Norfolk VA261,000xx Pascagoula MS26,000xxx Peoria IL114,000x Philadelphia PA1,586,000x Portsmouth VA104,000x San Antonio TX936,000xx Sheboygan WI50,000xx Sugar Grove WVx Truth or Conseq. NM6,000x Tulsa OK367,000xx Washington DC610,000x Waukegan IL69,000x West Palm Beach FL68,000xx Yorktown VAx 38 cities where "partial failure is likely." CityPopulationEWGS Albany GA78,000x Atlanta GA394,000xx Atlantic Beach FL12,000xxx Augusta GA234,000x Beaufort SC10,000xx Bessemer AL33,000xxxx Bossier City LA53,000x Cape Canaveral FL8,000x Charleston SC80,000xxx Chattanooga TN152,000xx Clearwater FL99,000xxx Columbia SC98,000xxx Columbus GA179,000x =46ort Lauderdale FL149,000xxx =46ort Worth TX448,000xxx Greenville NC45,000x Gulfport MS41,000xxx Harlingen TX49,000x Hawkinsville GA4,000x Hollandale MS4,000x Jacksonville FL635,000xxx Kingsville TX25,000x Meridian MS41,000xx Miami FL359,000xx Milton FL7,000xxxx Nashville TN488,000xxx New Orleans LA497,000xxx Orange City FLxxxOrlando FL165,000xxxx Panama City FL35,000xxx Pensacola FL58,000xxx Raleigh NC208,000xx Slidell LA24,000xxx Smyrna GA31,000xx St Marys GA8,000x Sullivans Island SC2,000xx Waco TX104,000x Wetumpka AL5,000x 44 cities where "total failure is likely." CityPopulationEWGS Baltimore MD736,000xx Bethlehem PA71,000xx Bremerton WA38,000xx Brunswick ME15,000x Buffalo NY328,000xx Coronado CA27,000x Dahlgren VA1,000xx Earl NJxx Erie PA109,000xx =46allbrook CA22,000x Glen Falls NY15,000xx Great Falls MT55,000xxx Hartford CT140,000xx Huntington WV58,000x Imperial Beach CA27,000x Kearney NJ35,000xxx Lakehurst NJ3,000xx Mechanicsburg PA9,000xx Morehead City NC6,000xx National City CA54,000x New London CT29,000xxxx New York City NY7,323,000xx Newport RI29,000xx Oak Grove NCx Oak Harbor WA17,000xx Ogden UT64,000x Pacific Beach WA1,000x Plaineville CT16,000xx Pomona CA132,000xx Port Hadlock WA3,000x Port of Seattle WAxxx Portsmouth NH26,000xx Providence RI161,000xx Quantico VA1,000xxx Reading PA78,000xx Reno NV134,000x Rochester NY232,000xx San Jose CA782,000x Seal Beach CA25,000xx Trenton NJ89,000xx Warminster PA36,000xx Watertown NY29,000xxx Weymouth MAxxx Williamsport PA32,000xx Taking it Public There's a great scene in the movie, "A Few Good Men" where Navy lawyer Tom Cruise verbally battles Marine Colonel Jack Nicholson. Trapped and finally broken by the relentless interrogation, Nicholson snarls (as only he can snarl), "You can't handle the truth." The disgraced Colonel, of course, doesn't mean Tom Cruise -- he means us. We the People. We're the ones who can't take it. We, the unwashed masses, are too lazy, too stupid, too irrational. In his twisted world, only the anointed few, the chosen leaders, deserve access to the truth. The Federal Government is withholding the truth about Y2K for the same reason - they don't think we can take it. They think we'll panic and: Take all our money out of the banks. Cash in all our mutual funds and burst the stock market balloon. Break the economic system by hoarding everything in sight. Incite turmoil, chaos and riots. There are many reasons why their strategy is wrong but only two need to be mentioned. 1) This country belongs to us. 2) These people work for us. If something is wrong, we have a right to know and they have a responsibility to tell us. Will the truth result in riots, shortages and disruptions to the financial system? Possibly so but if our fractional reserve banking system and our Just-in-Time manufacturing and retail processes are so dangerously fragile, don't we need to know now rather than in the middle of the Y2K Crisis? I'm fed up with being told that institutions must be protected even if it means we have to be sacrificed. We are more important than the banks. We have a higher priority than the stock market. We're grown-ups and we have a right to the truth. We the People of this great nation have faced every challenge thrown at us in the past. It's time to take this one on. We can handle it. Where It Came From This information came from the US Navy and Marine Corps (Department of the Navy). They were apparently tasked to conduct a study of the Y2K exposure of their worldwide shore facilities. A copy of this study made its way into my hands. Military bases in the United States are rarely self-sufficient when it comes to utilities such as electricity, water, gas and sewer. These services are almost always provided by the local economy. From a Y2K standpoint, this leaves the bases at the mercy of the local utility providers. Nearly five hundred bases were assessed; approximately one third are expected to experience utility failures. These figures are completely out of whack with the federal government's August 1999 Y2K assessment which says, "It is highly unlikely that there will be national disruptions in electric power service on January 1, 2000. It is expected that any gas disruptions that do occur will have minimal impact upon consumers. It is increasingly unlikely that the date change will create disruptions in water service." Mr. Koskinen, you need to check with the folks over at the Pentagon. They seem to have a different opinion. Or is it possible you already know about this information? The information was obtained from a confidential source of the highest reliability and integrity. The identity of this source will be staunchly protected. I don't have a copy of the detailed assessments of the individual bases nor do I possess the information on Army or Air =46orce bases. I am submitting a request for these documents through the =46reedom of Information Act (FOIA), however. (In fact, I encourage you to help out by submitting your own FOIA request for these documents.) The information from the bases and other facilities was compiled into an eight-page spreadsheet that is titled "Utility Master List" and dated June 1999. No other markings appear on the papers. In particular, (and this is of crucial importance) the document is not stamped or labeled with any national security classification markings. What You Should Do This information is vital to the well being of tens of millions of American citizens. The federal government is withholding it from the public. If you're concerned about Y2K and frustrated at the way the government is dealing with the crisis, there are several things you can do. Help get the word out about this study. Make copies of this document and send them to the media (radio, television and newspaper) in the 125 communities listed in the report. In particular, contact the radio talk shows (national and local) and request that they have me on their shows. I can best be contacted by email at JimLordY2K@aol.com. Also send copies to elected officials (mayors; city council; county commissioners; governors and state and national level senators and representatives). Ask them if they are aware of these Navy Department assessments. Send copies to the individual utilities identified in the listing of cities on the website. Send FOIA requests to the Navy, Army and Air Force requesting their studies on the anticipated effects of Y2K-related utility failures on US military facilities. Sample letters can be found at the end of this special report. Ask everyone in your community group, family, email list etc. to visit the www.JimLord.to website. Then ask them to do the same thing you're doing. If we work together, we can break this thing open. In short, let's raise hell. Implications 1. One need not be even a mild "doom and gloomer" to realize that failures of the magnitude indicated in this Navy Department study are potentially catastrophic. The lives and health of millions of people are at stake. The national economy is threatened. Our way of life is jeopardized. The national security is at risk. 2. That the government is withholding this information from the American people seems to me a monstrous abandonment of principle. Each of these military bases has a commanding officer. For large bases this is typically a Navy Captain or a Marine Colonel. These military leaders have raised their hands in the air and sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution. (I recall this oath clearly having taken it several times during my own naval career and having administered it numerous times during reenlistment ceremonies.) How can these commissioned officers remotely imagine that keeping this information from the citizens of this nation is in any way upholding their duty? I have no doubt they have been instructed by higher authority to maintain silence about these Y2K risks. How can they look themselves in the mirror each morning and conceive that what they are doing is right? These commanders report to a chain of command of Admirals and Generals culminating in the Joint Chiefs of Staff. How can these so-called "public servants" know that 26 million citizens are in such jeopardy and remain silent? In the simplest terms - I stand bitterly ashamed of my former comrades. I cannot conceive of a blacker mark on the military leadership of the nation. 3. The government is holding out on its own people. The Navy uses a special message called an "ALNAV" (meaning all Navy) to communicate information to all naval personnel at once. On February 10, 1999, the Secretary of the Navy released such a message telling all officers and enlisted personnel they had nothing to worry about from Y2K. The message identifier is SECNAV 101715Z FEB 99. Here's a quote, "Speculation that power distribution systems will experience widespread failures are not based on facts or rational analysis. Most experts believe water treatment and distribution should not be greatly affected by the Y2K problem. Because of extensive preparation, the effects of the Y2K bug will be minimal on the lives of you and your family." Perhaps the Navy Department had not yet completed their facility Y2K assessment last February when the ALNAV was promulgated. Now that they understand their Y2K exposure, I wonder when they will let all those sailors and their families know about the anticipated utility failures? After all, the first line in the above mentioned ALNAV states, "It is important that we provide our sailors with sound, useful information on the potential impact of Y2K on their personal and professional lives, as well as the lives of their families." I retired from the Naval Service in 1983 but I still hold a commission as a regular officer. I am still under oath. In "my" Navy, the highest unwritten duty of a Naval Officer was to take care of his people. This bit of traditional wisdom is apparently little practiced today. To each of the Naval and Marine Corps Officers who has had access to the information described herein, I lay down a simple challenge. Live up to this duty. Come forth. Tell us the truth. 4. If we're being lied to about this, how can we believe anything the government tells us about Y2K? How bad is this thing really going to be? Impact on Military Readiness These revelations imply a severe effect on military readiness in the United States and at several important locations overseas. In this country, for example the major Marine Corps bases at Quantico, Virginia and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina are expected to experience utility failures. The latter is of special personal concern - my son and his family are stationed there. Another essential but not widely appreciated Marine Corps facility is at special risk. The base at Albany, Georgia is the hub of all USMC logistics activities. The inability of this base to provide services would pose a devastating threat to the entire US Marine Corps. Albany is one of three unfortunate cities expected to have utility failures in all four areas: electricity, water, gas and sewer. The US Navy expects serious problems as well. The extensive complex of facilities at their primary east-coast port at Norfolk/Portsmouth, Virginia is projected to be without water or natural gas. The Navy Space Command at Dahlgren, Virginia; is in jeopardy. The Naval Air Stations at North Island, California; Whidby Island, Washington, Cecil =46ield, Florida; and Pensacola, Florida are at risk. The key submarine bases at Kings Bay, Georgia and New London, Connecticut are on the list. The latter is another of the three stateside locations expected to have failures of all four types of utilities. The facility at Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania is also of special concern. Much of the US Navy's logistics support is conducted at this base which is expected to see both gas and sewer failures. Overseas, critical bases at Rota, Spain; Sigonella and Naples, Italy; (headquarters of the Mediterranean (6th) Fleet); Bahrain; Guam; Puerto Rico; and Okinawa are impacted. Of the ten facilities listed in the United Kingdom, all (mostly in London) were expected to experience failures of all four utilities. Potential Repercussions I don't imagine the government (the Navy Department in particular) is going to be very pleased that this information has made its way into the sunlight. If we all do our job, they are going to come under some pretty intense scrutiny. Several people who have seen this report opined that I could be in financial, legal or even physical jeopardy. Quite frankly, that kind of stuff is of little concern to me. I could not withhold this information and live with myself. No person of honor and integrity could As a precaution, I have registered my Internet domain name - JimLord.to - in Tonga, an island nation in the South Pacific. I have also hidden away several copies of the Navy Department documentation and my Internet files in safe keeping in several states. Friends are standing by to keep this information in the public eye. Just in case. This stuff needs to see the light of day. I intend to do everything in my power to make that happen. Besides, you the reader are the best protection I could have. The more of you there are, the safer I become. Do your part and get this critical information into the hands of as many people as you can. Help keep Jim Lord out of jail (grin). Electric Utility Failures Somebody needs to let the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) know about the Navy study. For their benefit and yours, here is a list of 29 electrical utilities the Navy expects to fail. Read over this list carefully. Some of the Navy facilities are quite small but the electric company that provides their service has a very large customer base. If your electrical company is included, you need to raise hell with them and find out if they know how the Navy feels about them. Electrical Utilities Expected to Fail Baldwin EMC, Milton FL Bessemer Utilities, Bessemer AL Central Louisiana Electric, Slidell LA City of Albany GA City of Key West FL City Public Service Board, San Antonio TX Clay Electric Cooperative, Jacksonville FL Coastal Electric Members, Jacksonville FL Daviess Martin County Rural Elect, Crane IN Dayton Power & Light, Dayton OH El Paso Electric Co., El Paso TX Escambia River Elec Co., Milton FL, Pensacola FL =46lorida Power and Light, Canaveral FL, Ft Lauderdale FL =46lorida Power Corp, Clearwater FL Gulf States Utilities, Orange City FL JEA, Atlantic Beach FL, Jacksonville FL Knoxville Utilities Board, Knoxville TN Middle Georgia Elec, Hawkinsville GA Mississippi Power and Light, Gulfport MS Northeast Utilities, New London CT Orlando Utilities Commission, Orlando FLPort of Seattle WA Riviera Utilities, Milton FL Sierra Electric Cooperative, Truth or Conseq. NM South Central Power, Columbus OH Southern Pine Elec Coop, Milton FL Southwest Arkansas Electric, Lewisville AR Southwest Louisiana Electric, Broussard LA Southwestern Public Services, Amarillo TX Twin County Electric, Hollandale MS Gas Company Failures This is a list of forty gas companies the Navy Department expects to fail. Some of the cities mentioned are quite small but the service area for the utility mentioned has a very large customer base. Check this list carefully to see if your gas company is included. Gas Utilities Expected to Fail Alabama Gas Corp, Bessemer AL Atlanta Gas Light Co., Atlanta GA Baltimore Gas & Electric, Annapolis MD Boston Gas, Weymouth MA City of Albany GA City of Bethlehem PA City of Bossier City LA City of Buffalo, NY City of Great Falls MT City of Pascagoula MS City of Pensacola FL City Public Service Board, San Antonio TX Columbia Gas of Virginia, Portsmouth VA, Quantico VA Dayton Power & Light, Dayton OH Energas Co, Amarillo TX Interenergy Corp, Charleston SC Knoxville Utilities Board, Knoxville TN Louisiana Gas Service, New Orleans LA Mobile Gas Service Corp, Mobile AL Mountaineer Gas, Sugar Grove WV Nashville Gas Service, Nashville TN New Jersey Natural Gas, Earl NJ New York State El, New London CT Niagra Mohawk, Watertown NY NorAm Energy Management, Pensacola FL North Carolina Gas, Morehead City NCNorthern Utilities, Portsmouth NH Okaloosa Gas District, Milton FL Orlando Utilities Commission, Orlando FL PECO Energy, Warminster PA Penn Gas & Water, Avoca PA, Williamsport PA Philadelphia Gas, Philadelphia PA Providence Energy, Newport RI PSE&G, Kearney NJ Rochester Gas & Electric, Rochester NY UGI Corp, Mechanicsburg PA United Cities Gas Co, Columbia SC Virginia Natural Gas, Newport News VA, Norfolk VA, Yorktown VA Washington Gas Co., Arlington VA, Bethesda MD, Carderock MD, Lexington Park MD, Washington DC West Florida Natural Gas, Panama City FL A Y2K Protest Thirty years ago, the Pentagon Papers revealed widespread government deceit in the prosecution of the Vietnam War. The papers and the resultant protests eventually rooted out the truth and changed United States policy. Today, this Navy Department study could accomplish the same objectives. We can perhaps use it to force the government to come clean on Y2K. Our opportunity comes just in the nick of time. If we act fast. I recently gave an hour-long speech titled "Y2K Surprises - Why It Won't Turn Out Like You Think." It was the first time the Navy Department survey information was revealed in public. In the speech, I discussed why I don't think the national electrical grids will fail and why I believe water is a much greater utility risk than electricity. (Incidentally, this supposition is clearly supported by the Navy Department survey.) I also showed why an electronic run on the banking system is a greater danger than a cash panic. I went on to explain why January 2000 will not be the peak of the Year 2000 Crisis and why the real peak is 9-18 months down the road. I think it was my most effective speech. To encourage the widest possible dissemination of this information and to make it as affordable as possible, the price of this hour-long tape is as low as possible. Along with the tape you'll receive a printed copy of this entire report and sample letters you can send to public officials and local media contacts. You can also download this printed material at no cost at my website at: www.JimLord.to These "Y2K Protest Packs" are just $5.00 each (shipping and handling are included). Ten or more are $4.50 each and 100 or more are $4.00 each. Let's turn the heat up on these guys. Order your "Y2K Protest Packs" by calling toll-free: 888-925-2555 About the Author Jim Lord is the author of, "A Survival Guide for the Year 2000 Problem: Consumer Solutions for the Worst Technical Blunder in History" a practical, 270 page guide to preparation for the Year 2000 Computer Crisis. He has written nearly ninety articles on Y2K. He is also the co-editor with James Talmage Stevens of the "Journal of Personal =46reedom", a newsletter which provides practical guidance in the restoration of Liberty through preparedness and self-reliance. Mr. Lord has advised Congressional staffers, The Congressional Research Service, the Department of Defense, the Center for Security Policy, and the US Taxpayer's Alliance, and is a Y2K Research Associate at George Washington University. He has appeared on more than 200 radio talk shows as well as Fox News, ABC NightLine, the Discovery Channel, C-Span and PAX TV. He appeared on the same speaking agenda with Nobel prizewinner Milton =46riedman and Lady Margaret Thatcher at the Blanchard Investor Conference in New Orleans. He has debated Y2K with Harry Browne, recent Libertarian Party presidential candidate and Gary North, a prominent Y2K expert and writer. He has been a featured speaker at the World Future Society, the Conservative Caucus, many investor conferences, numerous Y2K community preparedness seminars, and at the Eris Society in Aspen, Colorado. Mr. Lord is a retired Naval Officer with 24 years active service who came up through the enlisted ranks. His career was spent in the electronics field, including a tour as the Electronics Maintenance Officer on an aircraft carrier. At age 33, he earned a degree in Business, graduating with honors from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Following his military career, Mr. Lord was involved in shipbuilding, communication systems design, satellite systems, software engineering, training and marketing. This experience included nine years in the software industry. He also taught business courses at the college level for several years. Your Name Your Address Date (Sample FOIA Request) Name of Agency Address of Agency (See Below) Re: Freedom of Information Act Request Dear Sir: This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I request that a copy of the following document be provided to me. "Assessment of the Year 2000 (Y2K) Risk to Utilities at American Military Bases and Facilities," (or a similar title). This document lists military bases and facilities in the United States and foreign countries, the cities in which they are located, and scores the Y2K risk of failures to electrical, water, gas and sewer services at each base. The names of the utility companies providing these services may be included. The document may also be called a =ECMaster Utility List.=EE The document should be available from the Y2K Program Office for your agency. In order to determine my status to assess fees you should know that I am an individual seeking information for my personal use and not for any commercial purposes. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Sincerely, (Signature) Your Name (Send this letter to each of the following agencies:) Department of the Army Department of the Navy Department of the Air =46orce =46OIA/Privacy Acts Office Chief of Naval Operations 11CS/SCSR (FOIA) TAPC-PDR-PF N09B30 1000 Air Force Pentagon 7798 Cissna Road, Suite 205 2000 Navy Pentagon Washington DC 20330 1000 Springfield VA 22150-3197 Washington DC 20350-2000 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ellen Thomas Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Project Abolition events Date: 23 Aug 1999 08:35:50 -0400 Karina et al, let us know what we can do to help with the Washington DC "Wall of Denial" on November 9th. Ellen Thomas Proposition One Committee PO Box 27217, Washington DC 20038 202-462-0757 -- fax 202-265-5389 prop1@prop1.org -- http://prop1.org *** BAN AND BURY ALL RADIOACTIVE BOMBS * depleted uranium, fission, neutron * About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) Michigan meeting in October? Date: 23 Aug 1999 08:40:08 -0400 Can someone please tell me if there is an Abolition 2000 meeting in Ann Arbor in October? Do you know the dates/locations? I would like to attend the entire session. Hope there's a workshop on pending Congressional legislation. If not, would like to sponsor one. Have some news and ideas from the Hill. Need to make arrangements for travel, so would appreciate any info. Thanks! Ellen Thomas PROPOSITION ONE COMMITTEE P.O. Box 27217, Washington, DC 20038 USA 202-462-0757 (phone) | 202-265-5389 (fax) http://prop1.org | prop1@prop1.org - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) obscenity at National Atomic Museum Date: 23 Aug 1999 14:17:29 -0400 - Web posted Friday, August 6, 1999 5:20 a.m. CT Atomic Museum defends sale of 'Fat Man' bomb earrings; Japanese protest By CHRIS ROBERTS Associated Press Writer ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Tiny silver replicas of the first atomic bombs, sold as earrings at the National Atomic Museum, are stirring emotions in one of the Japanese cities that was leveled by an atomic blast during World War II. The earrings are shaped like the "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" atomic bombs that were developed during the war at Los Alamos under the Manhattan Project. They sell for $20 a pair at the Energy Department museum on Kirtland Air Force Base. The bomb dubbed "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Nagasaki was obliterated by Fat Man three days later. As many as 175,000 people were killed immediately in the two attacks, according to museum exhibits. The Japanese surrendered five days after the second bomb. Members of the Japanese anti-nuclear group Gensuikyo found the earrings and other items, including medallions that commemorate the bombing missions over Japan, on the museum's Web site. "We're very angry," Gensuikyo spokesman Naomi Kishimoto said in Hiroshima. "It's not the sort of thing you should be hanging from your ears or using to decorate your desk. It's unforgivable that (the) museum would sell through the Internet something that praises the unit that dropped the atomic bomb." Gensuikyo is known in English as the Japan Council Against A and H Bombs. Despite the protest, museum director Jim Walther said Thursday the museum doesn't plan to stop selling the earrings. "This museum does not advocate war or the use of nuclear weapons," Walther said. Museum Store Manager Tony Sparks said he received 14 angry e-mails ranging from well-reasoned arguments to obscenity-laced tirades. One e-mail promised thousands more. Walther said items sold in the museum store reflect history and present the work of dedicated scientists in the United States. And Sparks added that material in the shop advances the argument that the bombings saved the lives of U.S. troops as well as pointing out the immorality of war. The earrings, especially a matched set with one of each bomb, are the most popular item in the store, Sparks said. But he also points to a book with black and white photos of vast areas in the Japanese cities where buildings were flattened. He flips through a display of posters and picks out one with a quote from physicist Albert Einstein: "It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." "We're aware that it's sensitive," Sparks said. "We have such a high contingency of Japanese visitors, most of whom are interested in hearing our side. We are careful not to glorify it." Visitors to the museum Thursday had a wide range of reactions. Lois Dove of South Fork, Colo., said she didn't blame the Japanese for objecting to the earrings. "It's not appropriate to have the earrings," Dove said. "If I was Japanese, I would probably be very offended by it," said Denise Skinner of Santa Barbara, Calif. "But I don't think they should be told to stop selling them." Ben Parks of Amarillo, Texas, said he understands the Japanese reaction, but thinks the earrings should stay on the shelf since the bombs ended the war. "I also understand the losses we'd have had if it weren't for the weapons," Parks said. "It goes back to a few people - their military leaders. The population of Japan didn't have input into what was going on. There were innocent casualties and victims." Kishimoto still would like to see the items removed. "We condemn their efforts to rationalize the atomic bombing by saying that it saved many lives," Kishimoto said. Even though Walther says the earrings will continue to be sold at the store, he said there is room for more of the Japanese perspective. The museum is planning to move to a new location outside the Air Force base where people can come and go without military security restrictions. Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) GLOBAL DE-ALERTING FAX CAMPAIGN FROM SEPT 1 PREPARE TO FAX Date: 24 Aug 1999 12:05:43 +1000 John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html APPEAL: THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN THE WORLD BETWEEN NOW AND DECEMBER31 FROM SEPT 1, FAX YELTSIN, CLINTON TO TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT. PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, +1-202-456-2461, Dear All, You will be getting many messages of this kind because this is possibly the most important single issue that can ever come your way between now and the next year. Following this appeal there are two sample letters, one from FOE Australia and one from Bob Tiller of PSR USA. I urge you to act on them. I am writing to urge you to fax Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton from Sept 1 onwards to take strategic nuclear weapons off alert before December, and to ask that the de- alerting of strategic nuclear weapons be discussed at the coming September 21 meeting of the G8. This is of absolutely vital importance. Getting 5000 nuclear missiles off alert status before the Y2k bug plays havoc with their command and control systems is just about the most important thing anyone can possibly do. Arguably there is simply no other issue this important between now and December/January. It might be literally a matter of survival. Can you get this appeal and the two sample letters out to your networks as fast as you can and ask them to fax it from September 1? If people wish to customise from the two letters that is best. It's important I think, to get it out as fast as possible, but ask people to stick to the sept 1 date (or after). Please try to fax from September 1 onwards, preferably not before. Please use the fax numbers I have provided. The numbers here work. I've just checked them. Try and get everyone you know to do it. If you are a large organisation please try and get all your members to do it. Many thanks and may the fax gremlins smile on you! John Hallam. DRAFT MODEL LETTER TO YELTSIN AND CLINTON FOR GLOBAL FAX CAMPAIGN STARTING SEPTEMBER 1 PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, +1-202-456-2461, Dear Presidents Yeltsin, and Clinton, I am writing to you to convey my extreme concern over the possibility that Y2K -related problems in the computerised command, control, and monitoring systems of nuclear forces and weapon systems, may give rise to an unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war, as a result of incorrect data and miscalculation. I therefore urge you to solve the problem by taking your nuclear forces off alert, or by standing them down. I ask that standing down nuclear forces in view of the problems posed by the 'Millennium Bug', be a matter for urgent priority discussions at the G8 Summit in Berlin on Sept 21. As well asY2K considerations, taking nuclear weapons off alert will increase strategic stability and confidence, and eliminate the possibility of accidental nuclear war. I would remind you that your two countries have some 5000 strategic nuclear weapons that are able to be fired within a time span of 15-30 minutes. This must never happen. Should it do so, not only would your two countries cease to exist, but it is entirely possible that human life and maybe all life life on the planet, could be terminated. Any risk of this happening at any time, Y2K or otherwise, no matter how small, is unacceptable. However, the Y2K problem adds another layer of uncertainty to the risk that already exists. Taking nuclear forces off alert was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in 1996, and a number of resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly have urged that it be done. Taking nuclear weapons off alert and placing them in a state in which hours to days rather than minutes or seconds would be required to make them launch ready, would effectively eliminate the risk of accidental nuclear war due to the Y2K computer problem. It would also make impossible the many non-Y2K related problems that have many times brought us to within minutes of a possible nuclear exchange. De-Alerting will cost you nothing, and can be done by a simple executive order to stand down nuclear forces. The UK has already altered its 'notice to fire' from minutes to days. We/I urge you to do likewise. The stakes involved far outweigh any considerations of national pride, national interest, or even national security. Indeed, the immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear that mutually verified de- alerting must now take precedence over all other considerations. Signed... etc >------------------------------------------- >Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton: > >The Cold War ended years ago, but the nuclear danger endures, menacing >us all. Thousands of nuclear weapons remain on high-alert in the United >States and Russia. Although both countries have announced their >"de-targeting" of the other, that step is virtually meaningless when >both countries keep their weapons on alert and maintain a >launch-on-warning posture. > >Keeping nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert does not add to the >security of either nation; indeed it makes all of us less secure. You >are well aware of the various occasions when Russia and the U.S. came >close to launching nuclear weapons because of misunderstanding or poor >data. Removing the weapons from hair-trigger alert would eliminate the >risk of hasty reaction. > >Therefore I urge you to lessen the nuclear danger by removing all >nuclear weapons from high-alert. This can be accomplished in a matter >of weeks without treaty negotiation or ratification. > >This approach has worked before. In 1991 President George Bush took the >bold step of removing hundreds of U.S. nuclear weapons from high-alert >status, and in response Mikhail Gorbachev did the same with hundreds of >Soviet weapons. Now we need similar courageous leadership to finish the >process that they started. > >De-alerting takes on added urgency this year. When January 1, 2000 >arrives, no one will know if all of the Y2K computer problems have been >fixed. Why court disaster by having nuclear warheads on hair-trigger >alert when we do not know how the computers in the nuclear system will >function? > >Last year the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a >resolution which calls on the nuclear weapons states to de-alert their >weapons. It is wise counsel. For the sake of our children and >grandchildren, please de-alert all nuclear weapons now. > >Sincerely, - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Important article re: stockpile stewardship Date: 23 Aug 1999 22:27:01 -0700 http://www.abqjournal.com/news/1news082099.htm =20 Friday, August 20, 1999=20 Weapons Projects May Move=20 By John Fleck and Ian Hoffman Journal Staff Writers The Department of Energy wants to shift key pieces of its nuclear weapons workload from Los Alamos National Laboratory to bolster a sister = lab in California. =20 The proposal moves some work from Los Alamos to Nevada, shifts a = large amount of plutonium and weapons maintenance now done at Los Alamos to Law= rence Livermore in California, and calls for a big new research complex at Sand= ia National Laboratories outside Albuquerque. The moves, collectively called the "Mega Strategy," are aimed at balancing the workload at the department's major research and testing sit= es to ensure the right mix of skills is available in the future to maintain the nuclear stockpile, said Energy Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Gil Weigand, who is in charge of weapons research and development. The Livermore moves are aimed at giving scientists there handson responsibility for nuclear weapons, rather than simply weaponsrelated bas= ic research, Weigand said in an interview Thursday. "You need a challenging workload where they are really touching t= he bomb," he said. =20 Weigand says the move is necessary to bolster the number of exper= ienced U.S. weapons workers. Nucleardisarmament advocates see the changes as a worrisome retrenchment of U.S. nuclearweapons work. The proposal seeks a dramatic increase in explosive testing with plutonium and plutoniumlike metals. "It's clearly a huge expansion of stockpile stewardship and beyon= d any scenario of what might be needed to keep the arsenal in a safe condition,= " said Jackie Cabasso, executive director of the Western States Legal Foundation= in Oakland, Calif. "For Los Alamos, this will mean more explosive tests with plutoni= um and more secret work at the plutonium facility," said Jay Coghlan, program di= rector for Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, a watchdog group in Santa Fe. The critics also say other nations will read this spreading aroun= d of weapons work as the latest sign that the United States wants to keep its weapons indefinitely, rather than moving toward a smaller arsenal. "For other countries, expanding activities at the Nevada Test Sit= e is really offensive. It really flies in the face of what a test ban is all a= bout," said John Burroughs, executive director of the Lawyers Committee on Nucle= ar Policy in New York. With no change from the current path, Lawrence Livermore's dwindl= ing handson work on nuclear devices jeopardizes its role in the nuclear weapo= ns complex, said Bob Peurifoy, a retired Sandia National Laboratories nuclea= r weapons designer. "If you go down that road, you're going to close Lawrence Livermo= re as a device lab," said Peurifoy, who frequently works as an adviser to the Ene= rgy Department and who has been briefed on the proposed changes. "They've got= to have something to put their hands on." Details of the proposal have leaked out of the department in piec= es over the last month. But Weigand's interview Thursday marks the first public acknowledgement by the department of the details and scope of the plan. Weigand said the plan, being developed as part of the Department = of Energy's Fiscal Year 2001 budget proposal, would ensure the labs are able= to do needed refurbishment and modification of U.S. nuclear warheads after the = turn of the century. Few if any people would be moved when the work is moved, Weigand = said. The Nevada Test Site would be the new home of Atlas, a $48.3 mill= ion machine under assembly at Los Alamos that would smash soda cansized targe= ts with massive jolts of electricity, yielding enormous pressures and temper= atures needed to study how nuclear weapons work. =20 =20 Weigand said moving Atlas to Nevada would free up Los Alamos to focus on hydrodynamic radiography, a crucial technique used by nuclear weapons designers. Scientists fire Xrays into exploding shells of high explosive = and plutoniumlike metals. That lets scientists check and refine the operation= of "primaries," the initial Abomb triggers for thermonuclear weapons. Weigan= d wants a more aggressive schedule of the tests at Los Alamos. Part of the tests involve a topsecret project, codenamed Appaloos= a. They employ an exotic metal, plutonium242, that can be imploded in bomb shapes without undergoing an explosive nuclear chain reaction. This gives scient= ists Xray movies of fullscale weapons tests that never go "nuclear." Moving plutonium work to Livermore will give Los Alamos more spac= e at its plutonium facility for the Appaloosa work. At the same time, Los Alamos would build one of the world's 10 mo= st powerful proton accelerators to test out a new kind of hydrodynamic radiography. Scientists want more and higher quality pictures at more ang= les of exploding triggers. For a future machine, the Advanced Hydrotest Facility= , they think the answer might be to surround triggers in multiple proton beams a= nd Xrays, all delivering splitsecond pictures. Weapons designers can use the= se pictures as they do today, to verify the accuracy of weapons codes that simulate an exploding nuclear weapon. But critics inside and outside of= the weapons labs wonder about the prudence and the cost of transferring wor= k away from those most experienced at it. =93Moving Los Alamos work to Nevada doesn't make any sense from c= ost or technical standpoint," said Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group, a disarmament organization in Santa Fe. "It's creating a new lab in the des= ert." Weigand would not say how much the moves would cost, but said the amount was "not significant." And he argues that weapons designers at Los Alamos= are being stretched thin by their responsibility for maintaining weapons. Department of Energy policy calls for the lab that designed a wea= pon system to be responsible for regularly taking a few out of the stockpile = and tearing them apart, looking for signs of deterioration. Los Alamos is responsible for five nuclear warhead types, while Livermore is responsible for three. Weigand said the workload was "exhausting" the Los Alamos weapons designers. As a result, he's proposing shifting responsibility for one of= the weapons, the W80 cruise missile warhead, to Livermore. Sandia National Laboratories benefits from the proposal. No maj= or programs are leaving the Albuquerque lab, which is responsible for the electronic systems and other nonnuclear components in nuclear weapons. But Sandia will get a $300 million complex of buildings to centra= lize research into computer circuits and microscopic machines. =20 [Sidebar] DOE PROPOSAL The Department of Energy's proposal to shift workload among its nuclear w= eapons research and testing sites:=20 *Gives an unknown portion of Los Alamos' job inspecting plutonium pits to= its sister lab, Lawrence Livermore in Livermore, Calif. This $7.9 millionayea= r job, called pit surveillance, is a linchpin of maintaining aging U.S. nuclear weapons. Pits are hollow, eggshaped shells of radioactive plutonium the s= ize of a grapefruit. When crushed by high explosives, they become tiny Abombs th= at touch off the hydrogen fuel in thermonuclear weapons. Scientists fear plu= tonium and its highexplosive shell is vulnerable to aging. DOE wants to send pit surveillance to Livermore to give that lab more "handson" work with pluto= nium components. At Los Alamos, about 30 people inspect about 15 pits a year.=20 *Sends two Los Alamos research machines to Nevada. The prize is Atlas, a = $48.5 million machine that uses electrical power equivalent to 100,000 lightnin= g bolts to crush a soda cansize "target." Los Alamos has spent $2 million s= o far on Atlas, mostly refurbishing a building. Under the proposal, Atlas' 80fo= ot ring of capacitors would have to be disassembled at Los Alamos, reassembl= ed and tested at the Nevada Test Site at unknown additional cost. Atlas targets=20 typically lead, tungsten and copper are standins for plutonium and urani= um in weapons.=20 *Makes Los Alamos the nation's center for hydrodynamic radiography. It's = a technique for nuclear weapons designers to refine and check the operation= of nuclear weapons by detonating mock weapons, with inert materials substitu= ted for their explosive plutonium. Xrays of the blasts allow scientists to st= udy the results.=20 *Builds one of the world's 10 most powerful proton accelerators at Los Al= amos to try out a new technique in weapons testing. The new accelerator at Los Alamos would operate at 50 Giga electron volts, about 60 times the power = of the lab's current accelerator. Scientists want to try shooting the proton bea= m through exploding nuclear primaries from multiple angles in a future mach= ine called the Advanced Hydrotest Facility.=20 *Builds a $300 million microelectronics complex at Sandia to develop comp= onents for refurbishing aging U.S. nuclear weapons. =20 Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999 Albuquerque Journal Call the Journal: 5058233800 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) SEPT 1 START GLOBAL DE-ALERTING FAX CAMPAIGN Date: 24 Aug 1999 18:53:40 +1000 John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, =46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html APPEAL: THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN THE WORLD BETWEEN NOW AND DECEMBER31 =46ROM SEPT 1, FAX YELTSIN, CLINTON TO TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT. PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, +1-202-456-2461, Dear All, You will be getting many messages of this kind because this is possibly the most important single issue that can ever come your way between now and the next year. =46ollowing this appeal there are two sample letters, one from FOE Australia and one from Bob Tiller of PSR USA. I urge you to act on them. I am writing to urge you to fax Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton from Sept 1 onwards to take strategic nuclear weapons off alert before December, and to ask that the de- alerting of strategic nuclear weapons be discussed at the coming September 21 meeting of the G8. This is of absolutely vital importance. Getting 5000 nuclear missiles off alert status before the Y2k bug plays havoc with their command and control systems is just about the most important thing anyone can possibly do. Arguably there is simply no other issue this important between now and December/January. It might be literally a matter of survival. Can you get this appeal and the two sample letters out to your networks as fast as you can and ask them to fax it from September 1? If people wish to customise from the two letters that is best. It's important I think, to get it out as fast as possible, but ask people to stick to the sept 1 date (or after). Please try to fax from September 1 onwards, preferably not before. Please use the fax numbers I have provided. The numbers here work. I've just checked them. Try and get everyone you know to do it. If you are a large organisation please try and get all your members to do it= =2E Many thanks and may the fax gremlins smile on you! John Hallam. DRAFT MODEL LETTER TO YELTSIN AND CLINTON FOR GLOBAL FAX CAMPAIGN STARTING SEPTEMBER 1 PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, +1-202-456-2461, Dear Presidents Yeltsin, and Clinton, I am writing to you to convey my extreme concern over the possibility that Y2K -related problems in the computerised command, control, and monitoring systems of nuclear forces and weapon systems, may give rise to an unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war, as a result of incorrect data and miscalculation. I therefore urge you to solve the problem by taking your nuclear forces off alert, or by standing them down. I ask that standing down nuclear forces in view of the problems posed by the 'Millennium Bug', be a matter for urgent priority discussions at the G8 Summit in Berlin on Sept 21. As well asY2K considerations, taking nuclear weapons off alert will increase strategic stability and confidence, and eliminate the possibility of accidental nuclear war. I would remind you that your two countries have some 5000 strategic nuclear weapons that are able to be fired within a time span of 15-30 minutes. This must never happen. Should it do so, not only would your two countries cease to exist, but it is entirely possible that human life and maybe all life life on the planet, could be terminated. Any risk of this happening at any time, Y2K or otherwise, no matter how small, is unacceptable. However, the Y2K problem adds another layer of uncertainty to the risk that already exists. Taking nuclear forces off alert was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in 1996, and a number of resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly have urged that it be done. Taking nuclear weapons off alert and placing them in a state in which hours to days rather than minutes or seconds would be required to make them launch ready, would effectively eliminate the risk of accidental nuclear war due to the Y2K computer problem. It would also make impossible the many non-Y2K related problems that have many times brought us to within minutes of a possible nuclear exchange. De-Alerting will cost you nothing, and can be done by a simple executive order to stand down nuclear forces. The UK has already altered its 'notice to fire' from minutes to days. We/I urge you to do likewise. The stakes involved far outweigh any considerations of national pride, national interest, or even national security. Indeed, the immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear that mutually verified de- alerting must now take precedence over all other considerations. Signed... etc >------------------------------------------- >Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton: > >The Cold War ended years ago, but the nuclear danger endures, menacing >us all. Thousands of nuclear weapons remain on high-alert in the United >States and Russia. Although both countries have announced their >"de-targeting" of the other, that step is virtually meaningless when >both countries keep their weapons on alert and maintain a >launch-on-warning posture. > >Keeping nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert does not add to the >security of either nation; indeed it makes all of us less secure. You >are well aware of the various occasions when Russia and the U.S. came >close to launching nuclear weapons because of misunderstanding or poor >data. Removing the weapons from hair-trigger alert would eliminate the >risk of hasty reaction. > >Therefore I urge you to lessen the nuclear danger by removing all >nuclear weapons from high-alert. This can be accomplished in a matter >of weeks without treaty negotiation or ratification. > >This approach has worked before. In 1991 President George Bush took the >bold step of removing hundreds of U.S. nuclear weapons from high-alert >status, and in response Mikhail Gorbachev did the same with hundreds of >Soviet weapons. Now we need similar courageous leadership to finish the >process that they started. > >De-alerting takes on added urgency this year. When January 1, 2000 >arrives, no one will know if all of the Y2K computer problems have been >fixed. Why court disaster by having nuclear warheads on hair-trigger >alert when we do not know how the computers in the nuclear system will >function? > >Last year the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a >resolution which calls on the nuclear weapons states to de-alert their >weapons. It is wise counsel. For the sake of our children and >grandchildren, please de-alert all nuclear weapons now. > >Sincerely, - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Action Alert/President Clinton Date: 24 Aug 1999 21:12:31 -0400 Dear Friends, Have you all seen the articles below which indicate a new Russian proposal for cutting US and Russian arsenals to 1500 warheads? Please write a letter to President Clinton, your Congressional reps, the press, urging that the US forego its efforts to undercut the ABM treaty and take up the generous Russian offer to cut arsenals to 1500 warheads. Once that occurs we can start negotiations on a treaty with all the nuclear weapons states for abolition. Peace, Alice "Moscow Proposes Extensive Arms Cuts U.S., Russia Confer Over Stalled Pacts" By David Hoffman Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, August 20, 1999; Page A29=20 MOSCOW, Aug. 19=97Russia proposed cutting nearly in half the number of nuclear warheads that would be allowed under a prospective START III treaty, a Russian official said today, as talks on the stalled arms control agreements resumed this week in Moscow. President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin agreed in June to try to reanimate the long-dormant talks, including discussions on the unratified START II accord and the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The first round of discussions ended with renewed Russian warnings against modifying the ABM treaty. The 1993 START II treaty called for reducing the levels of nuclear warheads to 3,500 to 3,000 on each side. But Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has resisted ratifying it. At a meeting in Helsinki in 1997, Clinton and Yeltsin nevertheless set as a target for the next step, START III, a ceiling of 2,500 to 2,000 warheads for each side. However, a Russian official said that Moscow this week proposed slashing the maximum to 1,500 or fewer--a reduction that would reflect the reality of Russia's strategic forces, which are declining because of obsolescence and lack of money to build new systems. Many experts here think Russia's nuclear arsenal will decline to fewer than 1,000 warheads in the next decade. Details of the latest Russian proposal were not provided, but it is likely to meet resistance in the Pentagon and among Republicans in Congress. Moreover, the United States has urged Russia to ratify START II before formal negotiations can begin on the follow-on treaty. The ABM treaty also promises to incite a negotiating wrangle. The Clinton administration is headed toward a decision next year about building a missile defense system, and Yeltsin agreed to talk about possible changes in the ABM treaty at a summit meeting earlier this year. However, Russia has strongly resisted changes to the treaty, which limits the use of such systems by each country. Meanwhile, some Republicans in Congress want to scrap the treaty altogether. In a statement after this week's talks, the United States and Russia reaffirmed that the ABM treaty is "the cornerstone of strategic stability" and a Russian official openly warned against modifications. Grigory Berdennikov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's security and disarmament department, told reporters: "We see no variants which would allow the United States to set up a national ABM system and still preserve the ABM treaty and strategic stability in the world." He said any modifications would undermine the START treaties and expressed fear that "the arms race may spread into space." If the United States deploys a missile defense system, he added, Russia "will be forced to raise the effectiveness of its strategic nuclear armed forces and carry out several other military and political steps to guarantee its national security under new strategic conditions." He was not more specific, but cash-strapped Russia has barely been able to afford one missile modernization program in recent years.=20 ***************************** "Russian Official Says U.S. Arms Talks Failed Reuters, August 20, 1999=20 MOSCOW =97 A top Russian military official lashed out at the United States Friday over what Moscow sees as a failed preliminary round of talks on a new nuclear weapons reduction treaty.=20 Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, who heads the Defense Ministry's international cooperation division, said the United States was dooming new arms control talks by seeking to change the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty.=20 "Perhaps the Foreign Ministry would put it more gently but there were no results from these talks,'' Ivashov told reporters after three days of discussions on a new START-3 treaty.=20 Ivashov, one of Russia's most hawkish officials on defense and foreign policy, reiterated Moscow's view that U.S. plans to modify the ABM Treaty would wreck past arms control agreements.=20 "The ABM treaty is the basis on which all subsequent arms controls agreements have been built,'' he said.=20 "To destroy this basis would be to destroy the entire process of nuclear arms control.''=20 U.S. and Russian officials including Ivashov ended three days of Moscow talks Thursday on a START-3 nuclear weapons reduction treaty and America's wish to change the ABM agreement.=20 START-3 is aimed at adding to the cuts in nuclear arsenals due to be made under START-2, signed in 1993 and which foresees a reduction in stockpiles of each country to 3,500 warheads by 2003.=20 But even that 1993 treaty is still facing troubles as it has languished for six years without the approval of Russia's Communist-dominated State Duma, the lower house of parliament.=20 A member of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee called Ivashov's comments obstructionist given Russia's failure to approve START-2.=20 "I want to know why they can't ratify the START-2 agreement,'' Ellen Tauscher, a Democrat from California, told reporters in Moscow after a trip to one of Russia's closed nuclear research cities.=20 Yet Ivashov said U.S. moves on a new ABM system overshadowed everything else in arms control by seeking to present Russia with a fait accompli about which it could do little.=20 "All this is done in violation of the obligations of the 1972 ABM treaty,'' he said.=20 The ABM treaty bans full systems designed to shoot down the other side's missiles. But the United States now plans to build a similar shield against missile programs it fears are being developed by countries such as Iran and North Korea.=20 A U.S. embassy spokesman said Defense Secretary William Cohen would meet his Russian counterpart Igor Sergeyev on September 13 or 14 in Moscow.=20 The next round of lower level talks on a START-3 deal are to continue in September in Washington.=20 Ivashov said tensions with NATO over Yugoslavia made it more difficult to reach agreement in arms control as well.=20 "The United States and NATO are trying to bring about their own order (in Yugoslavia), at the same time shutting the governments of the region out of the process,'' he said.=20 Russia strongly opposed NATO's March-June air strikes against its Slavic, Orthodox brethren in Yugoslavia. Its peacekeepers have been working with NATO forces on the ground in Kosovo since the end of the war but strains remain.=20 =20 Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: marylia@earthlink.net (marylia) Subject: (abolition-usa) New! On the Web! From Tri-Valley CAREs! Date: 25 Aug 1999 08:25:44 -0700 (PDT) Dear Peace and Enviro advocates: We are happy to announce that our Webmeister has just posted new information to our Tri-Valley CAREs web site at . * Find our analysis of the security scandal at the Dept. of Energy labs, titled: "Wrong Medicine Prescribed for What Ails Weapons Labs." * Read how "Megalaser Officials Cheer Proliferation" at the ceremony to install the target chamber for the National Ignition Facility. Download our petition to stop NIF. * Find out why our "Governor Fails Important First Test" under our state's environmental law, and how you can help us change that decision. * Celebrate "AVLIS Shuts Down" with us. Learn why the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation Project was cancelled. * And more from our July 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch! Also check our web site for the "Top Ten Ways to Promote Peace and a Healthy Environment with Tri-Valley CAREs." We wish to add our special appreciation for our Webmeister who -- despite the many travails of moving -- quickly unpacked his computer and updated our site. HOORAY! THANKS! Look for our August edition of Citizen's Watch (and more!) on the web soon! Peace, Marylia Marylia Kelley Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) 2582 Old First Street Livermore, CA USA 94550 - is our web site, please visit us there! (925) 443-7148 - is our phone (925) 443-0177 - is our fax Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Subject: (abolition-usa) New page on Abolition 2000 web site.//Sorry for Double Postings Date: 25 Aug 1999 10:28:28 -0700 (PDT) Dear Friends and Activists, The Y2K De-alerting letter can now be accessed from the Abolition 2000 website. The page is called "Call for Action: Letter to Clinton and Yeltsin to take Nuclear Weapons off Alert" . There is a short introduction written by myself obtained from information posted on the Y2K listserve as well as 2 sample letters, the first written by John Hallam and the second by Bob Tiller. There are also links to other websites with Y2K/De-alerting information. I encourage you to become actively involved in the Global Fax Campaign begining on September 1st. The fax numbers listed on the page are correct and have been verified by John Hallam. If you have any questions about the site, please feel free to email me. Yours In Peace, Carah Ong Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 Santa Barbara CA 93108 Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 Email: A2000@silcom.com Website http://www.abolition2000.org Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no subject) to: abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no subject) to: majordomo@igc.org In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: marylia@earthlink.net (marylia) Subject: (abolition-usa) Plutonium to LLNL from Rocky Flats Date: 27 Aug 1999 08:28:26 -0700 (PDT) Hi peace and environmental advocates: The following is an article about plutonium shipments to Livermore Lab in California from Rocky Flats in Colorado. These plutonium pits and other plutonium parts from Rocky Flats are part of the Dept. of Energy's materials disposition program. The plutonium slated to come to Livermore Lab from Los Alamos in New Mexico -- which was the subject of a recent press release I posted -- is part of the Dept. of Energy's nuclear weapons research, development and testing program, called "Stockpile Stewardship. Therefore, Livermore Lab is slated to get plutonium from two separate DOE programs. Perhaps the Livermore Lab will be changing its name to "Pits R Us"... Livermore Lab Gets Rocky Flats Plutonium: Shipments Proposed 'til 2002 by Marylia Kelley from Tri-Valley CAREs' August 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch On July 30, a jubilant Kaiser-Hill press release announced the "offsite shipment of all plutonium pits from Rocky Flats to the Pantex Plant and Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories by June 1999 (16 years ahead of DOE's commitment in the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement)." Kaiser-Hill runs Rocky Flats under contract to the Dept. of Energy (DOE). Plutonium "pits" are the cores of nuclear bombs -- so called because the plutonium is situated in the bomb the way an apricot pit sits inside the fruit. Rocky Flats is the notorious Colorado facility shut down by the FBI in 1989 due to massive environmental problems and plutonium contamination. And, they are celebrating because they shipped some of this plutonium to Livermore. Ahead of schedule. Phone calls to the Rocky Flats plant yielded some additional information. Apparently plutonium pits began coming to Livermore quietly in 1995. Livermore Lab was the site chosen to disassemble, melt and recast the deadly metal. Subsequently, that 1995 plutonium was shipped back to Rocky Flats for storage. Another load of plutonium pits came to Livermore Lab in June of this year -- the truck going first from Rocky Flats to Los Alamos in New Mexico and then to Livermore. All Rocky Flats would say is these were "special" pits used as "stockpile reliability evaluation program units" for bomb shelf-life experiments and testing machine techniques. The Rocky Flats' spokesperson alluded to possible further experiments to be conducted on the pits by Livermore and, perhaps, disassembly of some of the pits afterward at the Lab. DOE and Rocky Flats officials refused to say whether there were other shipments or how many plutonium pits were sent from Rocky Flats to Livermore Lab. DOE went so far as to require Tri-Valley CAREs to submit all its questions about Rocky Flats plutonium in writing. The Department then refused to answer any of them. None of our questions involved bomb design details. All were aimed at finding out the potential hazards to which we in the community are subjected. We will soon submit a Freedom of Information Act request. More Plutonium Coming to Lab Rocky Flats' plutonium pits are, unfortunately, only the beginning. Recently Tri-Valley CAREs received documentation from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) that DOE proposes to ship up to 89 "classified plutonium metal items" to Livermore Lab, beginning in October of this year and continuing until February 2002. According to a letter from DOE to DNFSB, plutonium parts at Rocky Flats that are bonded to other hazardous materials, such as beryllium, may cause problems that cannot be handled by the casting and oxidation facilities at DOE's Savannah River Site in South Carolina, where two huge plutonium processing canyons are located. Therefore, DOE proposes to send these particularly troublesome plutonium parts to Livermore. Livermore Lab is listed as either the number one or number two-favored option to receive 56 Plutonium/Tantalum targets, 6 Plutonium/Vanadium hemishells (half-pits), 2 Plutonium/Depleted Uranium hemishells and 25 Plutonium/Beryllium hemishells. Beryllium, in particular, is used in bombs along with plutonium to maximize the neutron output. DOE's proposal makes no mention of any safety measures, precautions or risk-reduction methods to be employed. Lab to Burn Plutonium in Furnace The proposal does specify that the Lab will put any plutonium it receives that had been bonded to what DOE calls "classified substrate materials (e.g. Beryllium, Vanadium, Depleted Uranium)" into a furnace. This dangerous action is intended to separate the plutonium from the other materials. The process is called HYDOX (short for hydride-oxidation). Each item will be placed in a burner, where high temperatures will create a "heat bath." A vacuum will be created in the compartment around the plutonium hemishell or target and its substrate material. Hydrogen will then be pumped in. Plutonium metal plus hydrogen gas at high-temperature creates plutonium hydride. The plutonium will subsequently be turned into an oxide, according to DOE. Tri-Valley CAREs has a number of internal Livermore Lab documents that demonstrate dramatically how the process of oxidizing plutonium spews tiny particles, clogs filters and results in emissions to the environment. The goal, says DOE, is to create nuclear waste -- specifically transuranic (TRU) and mixed TRU waste (some of it will become "mixed waste" due to plutonium contamination left in the substrate material). DOE plans, eventually, to ship the wastes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for disposal. Why Livermore Lab? The documents we obtained offer simply that Livermore Lab has the "research, development, and demonstration missions to declassify/disposition classified TRU waste." This implies there is an experimental element to the proposal, creating a further hazard if, indeed, difficult to handle plutonium parts are brought to the Lab to "research" or "work the bugs out" of the method used to turn them into wastes for disposition. The Lab's plutonium facility, where these operations would occur, covers approximately 4 acres of ground; contains 880 pounds of plutonium, nearly enough for 100 modern nuclear bombs; lies adjacent to more than one earthquake fault; has documented problems with its air filters; sits within sight of nearby homes; is located in the SF Bay Area with more than 6 million people living within a 50-mile radius; and has been shut down (again) not long ago due to 25 plutonium safety violations. In fact, the building is just now resuming "normal operation." Further, the HYDOX process that will be used to turn the targets and hemishells into TRU and mixed wastes is not even mentioned in the waste permit the state just issued to the Lab. As best we can tell, the state is completely failing to regulate this risky activity, even though it has the responsibility for mixed waste. (One more reason we are challenging the permit and demanding an environmental review.) The community has every right to know about DOE's plans for Rocky Flats' plutonium. How much is already at Livermore? What experiments are being performed on the pits shipped to the Lab this past June? Exactly what is being planned for the future? Will the public have a voice? Consider how crucial these issues are as you take your next breath and your next drive on the freeway. Stay tuned! Marylia Kelley Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) 2582 Old First Street Livermore, CA USA 94550 - is our web site, please visit us there! (925) 443-7148 - is our phone (925) 443-0177 - is our fax Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: marylia@earthlink.net (marylia) Subject: (abolition-usa) Lab Fails DOE Waste Audit Date: 27 Aug 1999 08:46:49 -0700 (PDT) Livermore Lab Flunks DOE Waste Audit by Marylia Kelley from Tri-Valley CAREs' August 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch Livermore Lab has halted all shipments of radioactive waste to the Nevada Test Site (NTS) after failing an internal Dept. of Energy (DOE) audit in July. The audit team spent a week checking the Lab's waste-handling methods and practices. As a result, DOE issued 33 corrective action orders. According to team members, the Lab keeps incomplete records on its radioactive waste materials and fails to conduct required surveys of the waste on schedule. Additional details on the 33 violations are expected in the report, which was not yet available as of this writing. Lab officials said they hope to resume shipments within the next three months. Livermore Lab officials said they sent 26 shipments of "low-level" radioactive waste to NTS last year. The shipments included 24,083 cubic feet of radioactive material, enough to fill a room 10 feet wide, 10 feet high and 240 feet long, according to a news report. Previous inspections have revealed serious problems with Livermore's shipments to NTS. A DOE "Tiger Team" report cited an incident where wastes were sent back to the Lab under guard by the Highway Patrol. The reason: Livermore Lab could not demonstrate it really knew what was in the barrels. In 1990, Nevada officials found 1,640 drums of Livermore Lab's plutonium-contaminated waste sitting at the test site on a concrete slab, all unauthorized. Again, the wastes were poorly characterized, and upon examination, some barrels were found to contain hazardous chemicals as well as plutonium. These "mixed transuranic wastes" had been shipped in violation of Nevada's state environmental laws. Two facts stand out in sharp relief. First, Livermore Lab must reduce its production of radioactive waste. Dumping waste in someone else's backyard is never a solution. In this case, NTS sits on ancestral lands claimed by the Western Shoshone. Second, Livermore Lab doesn't comply with its written waste procedures. This should serve as a wake-up call to the California state officials who gave Livermore a permit for a new hazardous and radioactive waste facility based largely on the Lab's assertion it would follow established procedures. Instead, the state should conduct an Environmental Impact Report. The state is still considering our appeal of the permit (see June 1999 and July 1999 editions of Citizen's Watch for details). We are expecting a ruling later this year. You can help in this effort by sending a letter to the governor requesting that the permit for Livermore Lab be withdrawn and an environmental report prepared. Write to: Governor Gray Davis, Attention Lynn Schenk, Chief of Staff, State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA 95814. Or, check our web site for a letter you can simply print out, sign and mail! Marylia Kelley Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) 2582 Old First Street Livermore, CA USA 94550 - is our web site, please visit us there! (925) 443-7148 - is our phone (925) 443-0177 - is our fax Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Subject: (abolition-usa) Standardized Logo for Abolition 2000 Date: 27 Aug 1999 17:06:26 -0700 (PDT) Dear Friends and Activists, I am currently in the process of updating and revising letterhead and brochures for Abolition 2000. To date, there is not a standardized logo for Abolition 2000 and we would like to have one that incorporates the sunflower. I would appreciate as many suggestions and submissions as possible. I encourage you to be creative and use your imagination. I look forward to receiving your submission and I thank you in advance for your contribution to the Network. In Peace, Carah Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 Santa Barbara CA 93108 Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 Email: A2000@silcom.com Website http://www.abolition2000.org Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no subject) to: abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no subject) to: majordomo@igc.org In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K nuclear war guest editorial. Date: 27 Aug 1999 23:56:06 -0700 (PDT) I sent a copy of the below letter about a Y2K nuclear war to the Sacramento News and Review, and they want to publish it as a 475 word guest editorial. I would also like to write a 200 word version for the Sacramento Bee. Do you have any advice on how to shorten my letter to 475 words or 200 words, and recast it as a guest editorial? What parts should I eliminate? Below is a letter I wrote to President Clinton (1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC 20500; (202) 456-1111; president@whitehouse.gov) about the need to take nuclear weapons off alert as a basic precaution against the Y2K bug triggering a nuclear war. Please write similar letters to him at the mail address or e-mail address in the above sentence, or call him at the above listed phone number. Dear President Clinton: I am writing to convey my extreme concern over the possibility that Year 2000 (Y2K)-related computer failures in nuclear weapons systems may lead to an unacceptable risk of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation. In the current political situation this is most especially the case. According to Alexander Arbatov, of the Defense Committee of the Russian State Duma, US-Russian relations are at 'the worst, most acute, most dangerous juncture since the US-Soviet Berlin and Cuban missile crises.' The danger during the Y2K rollover lies primarily in the possibility that spurious data may induce commanders, even at the highest levels, to mistakenly authorize the launches of nuclear weapons. Events similar to this have already occurred. For example: In the US in 1980, a malfunctioning computer chip sent spurious alert signals; In 1983 in Russia, satellites mistook glare off the tops of clouds for a US missile launch, (and disaster was averted by the refusal of the local commander to believe the warnings were real); In 1995, a rocket launched from Norway prompted a full-scale Russian alert. When Russian radar picked up a U.S. science rocket launched from Norway, Russian military leaders thought at first that it was a U.S. ICBM with Russia's name on it. Boris Yeltsin's nuclear suitcase (which he would use to launch Russian missiles) was activated for the first time ever. It took Russian decision makers 8 minutes to realize that the U.S. wasn't attacking them. By that time, they were less than 4 minutes away from ordering a nuclear response. Thank God the U.S. and Russia weren't anywhere near a political confrontation at the time! If Y2K breakdowns produce inaccurate early warning data, or if communications and command channels are compromised, the combination of hair-trigger force postures and Y2K failures could be disastrous. There should therefore be a 'safety first ' approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. Because none of the nuclear weapons states can guarantee that their nuclear-related computer systems are Y2K compliant, the only responsible solution is for them all to stand down nuclear operations, just like people who are drunk have a responsibility to refrain from driving. This approach should include such basic precautions (as basic as stopping at stop signs and red lights, and looking both ways before you cross the street) as taking nuclear weapons off alert status and decoupling nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles. The stakes involved in any nuclear exchange between Russia and the US are such that they dwarf any other considerations. The future of life itself on earth could be in doubt. In light of this, I strongly urge that you remove all strategic and tactical nuclear weapons from 'hair trigger' alert, and place them in a status in which at least hours and preferably days would be required to launch them. The Canberra Commission in August 1996, noted that terminating nuclear alert status would: --Reduce dramatically the chances of accidental or unauthorized nuclear missile launch. --Help set the stage for intensified cooperation on a more far- reaching disarmament agenda. --Have a very positive influence on the political climate between nuclear weapon states. This last is especially relevant in the current tension between Russia and NATO, which has prompted Russia to withdraw from cooperation with the US on Y2K problems. According to the Canberra Commission, "Taking nuclear forces off alert could be verified by national technical means and nuclear weapon state inspection arrangements. in the first instance, reduction in alert status could be adopted by the nuclear weapon states unilaterally". If both sides are verifiably de-alerted, it will not be possible for either to launch a disarming first strike. The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) Don't Let The Russian Space Station Mir Go To Waste! Date: 28 Aug 1999 21:23:14 -0700 (PDT) I wrote the following letter to President Clinton (1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC 20500; (202) 456-1111; president@whitehouse.gov) urging him to order NASA to explore the possibility of savaging equipment and materials from the Mir space station for the International Space Station, rather than allow Mir's equipment and materials to go completely to waste. I wrote similar letters to my Congressional Representatives (Members of Congress (202)224-3121. Senators Boxer and Feinstein (U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; senator@boxer.senate.gov, senator@feinstein.senate.gov), Representatives (U.S. House, Washington, D.C., 20515)), and to my newspaper. Please do the same. Dear President Clinton: On Friday, August 27, the Russians abandoned their Mir space station and plan to burn it up in Earth's atmosphere, with an estimated loss of equipment at more than $3 billion. Meanwhile, the components of the International Space Station are being lifted out of Earth's gravity well at great expense. Rather than allow Mir's equipment to go completely to waste, I boldly propose that Mir's equipment be savaged, in cooperation with Russia, for the International Space Station, thereby reducing the cost of that space station by reducing the amount of material that has to be lifted off Earth against its gravity. This would also reduce our consumption of rocket fuel, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I believe that savaging Mir would also improve our relations with Russia by increasing its contribution to the International Space Station and allowing it to earn some extra money. Please order NASA to explore the possibility of savaging equipment and materials from the Mir space station for the International Space Station. Sincerely, Timothy Bruening 1439 Brown Drive Davis, CA 95616 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) From Vladimir in Russia Date: 29 Aug 1999 16:29:15 +1000 X-From_: owner-nukenet@envirolink.org Wed Aug 25 01:25:51 1999 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.1712.3 Sender: owner-nukenet@envirolink.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: "Vladimir Slivyak" X-Sender: owner-x-ussr-nukenews@cci.glasnet.ru Voronezh, August 25 AN ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTION RESULTED IN MORE THAN 20 ARRESTS More than 20 activists were arrested today while trying to chain themselves to the doors of the governor' office in Voronezh. Action was organized by an anti-nuclear camp near Novovoronezh NPP to protest the plan to load Novovoronezh 5 with plutonium (MOX) fuel. Protesters also demanded to shut down old reactors of Novovoronezh NPP. Arrested activists are citizens of Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Finland and UK, they came from several environmental and political groups such as ECODEFENSE!, Antinuclear campaign of Socio-Ecological Union, Yabloko political party, etc... More information and photos: http://www.ecoline.ru/antinuclear/eng phones 7(095)7766546, 7(0732)723750 e-mail: ecodefense@glasnet.ru August 17-24, 1999 Voronezh/Novovoronezh OFFICIALS TRY TO REMOVE AN ANTI-NUCLEAR CAMP: MVD AND FSB EMPLOYEES DEMAND THE CAMP TO MOVE AWAY, YET ORALLY "An ecological camp nearby Novovoronezh nuclear plant is still on the run, but the danger of its liquidation grows every day," - said today Vladimir Slivyak, a camp's coordinator. A group of ecological activists from more than 10 cities (5 countries) had established a camp at August 17, in a sanitary defended zone of the plant aiming to draw an attention to this object's low safety level and to achieve a prohibition on using plutonium as a fuel for nuclear plants. The MVD (police) and FSB (ex-KGB) officials have been attentively controlling the camp from the very first days. They claim the ecologists should leave a 5-kilometers zone around NPP because it is a "territory of strong regime". One of the police oficers had proclaimed at August 17: "If you don't leave, the guys in black camouflage suits will come and remove you pretty soon from here'. Police officers still avoid to use violence. The police established special post near the camp and watching camp 24-hours a day. In spite of everything, even a veteran of AES, a trade union member who worked at AES for more than 30 years has expressed a solidarity with the ecologists' demands. August 19 The policemen of the Sovetskoye ROVD (regional police department) have arrested one of the camp participants nearby Novovoronezh AES. They took an electronic equipment needed for the camp and still refuse to give it back. August 20-24 A number of camp participants moved to Voronezh-city to collect the signatures under an appeal to the regional parliament deputies. One of the Antinuclear camp's aims is to collect more local citizens' signatures under an appeal which contains a request to forbid the MOX fuel import into Voronezh region. More information: in Voronezh - 7(0732)723750 (camp's representative in Voronezh) or 7(095)7766546 and 7(902)6918125 in an extreme case. Camp's photos can be found in internet: http://www.ecoline.ru/antinuclear/eng - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Please Fax Clinton/Yeltsin From Sept 1, Please sign de-alerting Date: 29 Aug 1999 16:45:35 +1000 John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, =46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html APPEAL: THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN THE WORLD BETWEEN NOW AND DECEMBER31 =46ROM SEPT 1, FAX YELTSIN, CLINTON TO TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT. PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, +1-202-456-2461, Dear All, You will be getting many messages of this kind because this is possibly the most important single issue that can ever come your way between now and the next year. =46ollowing this appeal there are two sample letters, one from FOE Australia and one from Bob Tiller of PSR USA. I urge you to act on them. I am writing to urge you to fax Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton from Sept 1 onwards to take strategic nuclear weapons off alert before December, and to ask that the de- alerting of strategic nuclear weapons be discussed at the coming September 21 meeting of the G8. I am also urging organisations as well as sending letters direct, to sign on to the monser sign on letter to Yeltsin and Clinton that I am circulating. it can be found on the url at the top and is in the next email. This issue is of absolutely vital importance. Getting 5000 nuclear missiles off alert status before the Y2k bug plays havoc with their command and control systems is just about the most important thing anyone can possibly do. Arguably there is simply no other issue this important between now and December/January. It might be literally a matter of survival. Can you get this appeal and the two sample letters out to your networks as fast as you can and ask them to fax it from September 1? If people wish to customise from the two letters that is best. It's important I think, to get it out as fast as possible, but ask people to stick to the sept 1 date (or after). Please try to fax from September 1 onwards, preferably not before. Please use the fax numbers I have provided. The numbers here work. I've just checked them. Try and get everyone you know to do it. If you are a large organisation please try and get all your members to do it= =2E Many thanks and may the fax gremlins smile on you! John Hallam. DRAFT MODEL LETTER TO YELTSIN AND CLINTON FOR GLOBAL FAX CAMPAIGN STARTING SEPTEMBER 1 PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, +1-202-456-2461, Dear Presidents Yeltsin, and Clinton, I am writing to you to convey my extreme concern over the possibility that Y2K -related problems in the computerised command, control, and monitoring systems of nuclear forces and weapon systems, may give rise to an unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war, as a result of incorrect data and miscalculation. I therefore urge you to solve the problem by taking your nuclear forces off alert, or by standing them down. I ask that standing down nuclear forces in view of the problems posed by the 'Millennium Bug', be a matter for urgent priority discussions at the G8 Summit in Berlin on Sept 21. As well asY2K considerations, taking nuclear weapons off alert will increase strategic stability and confidence, and eliminate the possibility of accidental nuclear war. I would remind you that your two countries have some 5000 strategic nuclear weapons that are able to be fired within a time span of 15-30 minutes. This must never happen. Should it do so, not only would your two countries cease to exist, but it is entirely possible that human life and maybe all life life on the planet, could be terminated. Any risk of this happening at any time, Y2K or otherwise, no matter how small, is unacceptable. However, the Y2K problem adds another layer of uncertainty to the risk that already exists. Taking nuclear forces off alert was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in 1996, and a number of resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly have urged that it be done. Taking nuclear weapons off alert and placing them in a state in which hours to days rather than minutes or seconds would be required to make them launch ready, would effectively eliminate the risk of accidental nuclear war due to the Y2K computer problem. It would also make impossible the many non-Y2K related problems that have many times brought us to within minutes of a possible nuclear exchange. De-Alerting will cost you nothing, and can be done by a simple executive order to stand down nuclear forces. The UK has already altered its 'notice to fire' from minutes to days. We/I urge you to do likewise. The stakes involved far outweigh any considerations of national pride, national interest, or even national security. Indeed, the immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear that mutually verified de- alerting must now take precedence over all other considerations. Signed... etc >------------------------------------------- >Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton: > >The Cold War ended years ago, but the nuclear danger endures, menacing >us all. Thousands of nuclear weapons remain on high-alert in the United >States and Russia. Although both countries have announced their >"de-targeting" of the other, that step is virtually meaningless when >both countries keep their weapons on alert and maintain a >launch-on-warning posture. > >Keeping nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert does not add to the >security of either nation; indeed it makes all of us less secure. You >are well aware of the various occasions when Russia and the U.S. came >close to launching nuclear weapons because of misunderstanding or poor >data. Removing the weapons from hair-trigger alert would eliminate the >risk of hasty reaction. > >Therefore I urge you to lessen the nuclear danger by removing all >nuclear weapons from high-alert. This can be accomplished in a matter >of weeks without treaty negotiation or ratification. > >This approach has worked before. In 1991 President George Bush took the >bold step of removing hundreds of U.S. nuclear weapons from high-alert >status, and in response Mikhail Gorbachev did the same with hundreds of >Soviet weapons. Now we need similar courageous leadership to finish the >process that they started. > >De-alerting takes on added urgency this year. When January 1, 2000 >arrives, no one will know if all of the Y2K computer problems have been >fixed. Why court disaster by having nuclear warheads on hair-trigger >alert when we do not know how the computers in the nuclear system will >function? > >Last year the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a >resolution which calls on the nuclear weapons states to de-alert their >weapons. It is wise counsel. For the sake of our children and >grandchildren, please de-alert all nuclear weapons now. > >Sincerely, - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) PLEASE SIGN NUKE WEAPONS DE-ALERTING LETTER AND FAX Date: 29 Aug 1999 13:39:49 +1000 PLEASE SIGN NUKE WEAPONS DE-ALERTING LETTER TO YELTSIN/CLINTON PLEASE FAX YELTSIN/CLINTON FROM SEPTEMBER 1 PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, +1-202-456-2461, Dear NGO, I am hoping that you will be able to add your name to this extremely important letter to Yeltsin and Clinton, asking them to take nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K rollover period. (If you have already signed please excuse this message again.) I am also hoping that all of you will be able to send a fax to Yeltsin and Clinton, from september 1 onwards, on the same subject. (see previous email) The letter was officially released to media a while back in Sydney, Auckland, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, London, Moscow, Tokyo and Costa-Rica. At that time it had 271 organisations signed on to it including Friends of the Earth International and Greenpeace International, as well as the Centre for Defence Information, the British-American Security Information Centre, 22 Australian parliamentarians, 7 members of the European parliament, 4 Canadian MPs, 8 new Zealand MPs, and Rep Edward Markey. Congresswoman Cynthia mc Kinney has subsequently signed. I now have over 350 organisations signed on to it. (The version you have here is the Aug 6 version. That's why if you have signed recently you will not see your name here. I'm doing an update soon. it's a big job!). We intend to send it again and again to Yeltsin and Clinton. I hope you can sign it and better still get others to do so. Many thanks, John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, =46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html WORLD WRITES TO YELTSIN, CLINTON: TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT, AVOID GLOBAL NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE. DearAll, This letter was released Aug 6 in Sydney, and in Adelaide, Auckland, Tokyo, San Francisco, Toronto, New York, London, and Moscow. IT IS STILL OPEN FOR SIGNATURE! It was officially posted to Yeltsin and Clinton via the postal service, in front of TV cameras. Preliminary versions were faxed a month ago and last week. It will be faxed again and again. I trust that you will appreciate the extreme importance of this utterly vital issue. =46ROM: =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRALIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH NEW ZEALAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH ENGLAND WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH EL SALVADOR, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH NIGERIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH UKRAINE, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH GEORGIA, (TBILSI) =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH FINLAND, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH DENMARK, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH ESTONIA =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH FRANCE, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH CYPRUS, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH JAPAN SIBERIA PROGRAM, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRIA (GLOBAL-2000) =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH MACEDONIA, =46RIENDS OF THE EARTH BULGARIA/ECOGLASNOST, SOFIA, BULGARIA AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE, MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF WAR, PAX CHRISTI N.S.W., UNITING CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA, WAYSIDE CHAPEL, UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA, PITT STREET UNITING CHURCH, PITT ST, SYDNEY, ST JOHNS ANGLICAN CHURCH, DARLINGHURST, SYDNEY, CAMPAIGN FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DISARMAMENT (CICD) AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ANTI-BASES CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, N.S.W., WAR RESISTERS INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY, ARID LANDS ENVIRONMENT CENTRE, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE OF W.A., ANTI-URANIUM COALITION OF W.A., PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WESTERN AUSTRALIA, CENTRE FOR URBAN ECOLOGY, S.A., EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE LISMORE, BIG SCRUB ENVIRONMENT CENTRE, EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE GOLD COAST, EVERYONE FOR A NUCLEAR FREE FUTURE ADELAIDE, PACIFIC CONNECTIONS, TWO BILLION VOICES FOR PEACE PROJECT, UNITED TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL SA., UNITED FIREFIGHTERS UNION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE S.A., CFMEU, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH, A.M.W.U., SA. OFFICE., ALL-UNION GREEN CAUCUS, GRAHAM F. SMITH PEACE TRUST, SA., RICHMOND RIVER SHIRE COUNCIL, SENATOR LYN ALLISON, VIC., SENATOR MEG LEES, LEADER, DEMOCRATS, VIC., SENATOR NATASHA STOTT-DESPOJA, DEPUTY LEADER AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS, SENATOR VICKY BOURNE, DEMOCRAT SENATOR FOR N.S.W., SENATOR ANDREW BARTLETT, DEMOCRAT SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND, SENATOR DEE MARGETTS, GREENS, W.A., SENATOR BOB BROWN, GREENS, TAS, SENATOR GEORGE CAMPBELL, ALP, N.S.W., SENATOR MARGARET REYNOLDS, ALP, N.S.W, SENATOR JIM MC KEIRNAN, ALP., W.A., ANTHONY ALBANESE, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR GRAYNDLER, TANYA PLIBERSEK, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR SYDNEY, JANN MC FARLANE, ALP FEDERAL MP FOR STIRLING, W.A., JILL HALL M.P., MEMBER FOR SHORTLAND, IAN COHEN, GREEN MLC, NSW., LEE RHIANNON, GREEN MLC, NSW., SANDRA KANCK, DEMOCRAT MLC, S.A., IAN GILFILLAN, DEMOCRAT MLC, SA, ROBYN GERAGHTY, MP, STATE MEMBER FOR TORRENS, SA, =46RANCES BEDFORD, MP, STATE MEMBER FOR FLOREY, SA., JIM SCOTT, W.A., GREENS, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, W.A., LOUISE CROSSLEY, NATIONAL CONVENOR, GREENS, HANNAH MIDDLETON, PRESIDENT, COMMUNIST PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, WORLD COURT PROJECT UK, SENATOR DOUGLAS ROCHE, SENATE, CANADA, BRITISH-AMERICAN SECURITY INFORMATION CENTRE, US/UK, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL, JAPAN CONGRESS AGAINST A AND H-BOMBS (GENSUIKYO) INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS (IALANA), WOMENS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (Geneva/NY), CENTRE FOR DEFENCE INFORMATION, WASHINGTON, USA, CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT U.K., SAFFRON WALDEN GROUP AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS, YOUTH AND STUDENT CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, WEST MIDLANDS CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, YORKSHIRE CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, MEDACT (IPPNW UK), TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES 2000 NORFOLK UK., NETWORK INFORMATION PROJECT, SOUTHAMPTON,UK, ., CAMPAIGN FOR ACCOUNTABILITY OF U.S., BASES, MENWITH HILL WOMENS PEACE CAMP, YORKSHIRE, UK., GLOBAL NETWORK AGAINST WEAPONS AND NUCLEAR POWER IN SPACE, ANGLICAN PACIFIST FELLOWSHIP, MILTON KEYNES, U.K., EPISCOPAL PEACE FELLOWSHIP, U.K., ST BARTHOLEMEWS JUSTICE AND PEACE GROUP, ST ALBANS, U.K., CHRISTIAN CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, U.K., CALDERDALE GREEN PARTY, YORKSHIRE, U.K., PUBLIC INTEREST CONSULTANTS, SWANSEA, U.K., CUMBRIA AND NORTH LANCASHIRE PEACE GROUPS U.K., GREEN PARTY OF ENGLAND AND WALES, Y2K COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK U.K., JEANETTE FITZSIMMONS MP, NZ GREENS, BRIAN DONELLY, MP, HARRY DUYNHOVEN, MP, NZ LABOUR, LIANNE DALZIEL, MP, NZ LABOUR, JUDY KEALL, MP, NZ LABOUR, PETER DUNNE, MP, NZ LABOUR, SANDRA LEE, MP, DEPUTY LEADER, ALLIANCE, LAILA HARRE, MP, ALLIANCE, DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY CENTRE, NZ, AOTEOROA/NEW ZEALAND PEACE FOUNDATION, AUCKLAND, NZ., ENGINEERS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, N.Z., NEW ZEALAND GREENS, NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE ON DISARMAMENT, N.Z., PEACE ACTION DUNEDIN, N.Z., PEACE COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND, ABOLITION-2000 NEW ZEALAND, IPPNW NEW ZEALAND, VETERANS FOR PEACE NZ., ARCHITECTS AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR, NZ., C.N.D., VETERANS NEW ZEALAND, CENTRE FOR PEACE STUDIES, UNIV. OF AUCKLAND, NZ, NEW ZEALAND NUCLEAR - FREE PEACEMAKING ASSOCIATION, WILPF AOTEAROA, CORSO AOTEAROA/NZ., PACIFIC ISLANDS ASSOCIATION OF NGOS, BELAU., COALITION OF PETROLEUM PRODUCING STATES OF NIGERIA, MALAYSIAN PHYSICIANS FOR THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR, GREEN ACTION KYOTO, Y2K WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY, SENDAI, JAPAN, SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY CENTRE FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, NAGERCOIL, INDIA, AWAMI COMMITTEE FOR DEVELOPMENT, MULTAN, PAKISTAN, INDONESIAN NATIONAL NETWORK FORUM ANTI-NUCLEAR SOCIETY, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROJECT FOR SUSTAINABILITY, (AEPS) THAILAND, MOVIMIENTO AUTORIDADES INDIGENAS DE COLOMBIA, ECODEFENSE KOENIGSBERG/MOSCOW, WISE-KALININGRAD, ANTINUCLEAR CAMPAIGN OF SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL UNION MOSCOW, PLATAN YOUTH GROUP, KALININGRAD, EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE KALININGRAD REGIONAL DUMA, GREEN WORLD, SOSNOVY BOR, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, ST PETERSBURG PEACE COUNCIL, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, CENTRE FOR NUCLEAR ECOLOGY AND ENERGY POLICY RUSSIA, BAIKAL ENVIRONMENTAL WAVE, RUSSIA, ECOSENS, ROMANIA, COMMITTEE OF 100, FINLAND, PEACE UNION OF FINLAND, STUDENT NATURE PROTECTION GROUP, TARTU, ESTONIA, SWEDISH PHYSICIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS (SLMK - SWEDISH CHAPTER OF IPPNW)= , NORWEGIAN PHYSICIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR (IPPNW) NORWEGIAN PEACE ALLIANCE, NORWEGIAN LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU, OSLO, PEACE MOVEMENT OF ESBJERG, DENMARK, WAR RESISTERS INTERNATIONAL, FREDRIKSHAVN, DENMARK, ALDRIG MERE KRIG (AMK) DENMARK, DANISH ASSOCIATION OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS, WOMENS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (FRANCE), MOUVEMENT DE LA PAIX, FRANCE, INTERNATIONAL ALBERT SCHWEITZER FOUNDATION, DR SCHWEITZER HOSPITAL FUND, FRANCE/SWITZERLAND GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOR IMMEDIATE DISARMAMENT, SWITZERLAND, DARMSTAEDTER FRIEDENSFORUM, GERMANY, NUCLEAR-FREE AWARD, GERMANY, ANTI-ATOM PLENUM, BOCHUM, GERMANY, CITIZENS INITIATIVE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, LUECHOW-DANNEBURG, GERMANY= , IPPNW HAMBURG, CENTRE FOR ENCOUNTER AND ACTIVE NON-VIOLENCE, BAD ISCHL, AUSTRIA, IPPNW AUSTRIA, ANTI-ATOM INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRIA, COORDINATION OFFICE OF AUSTRIAN ENVIRONMENT GROUPS, AUSTRIA, INDEPENDENT SALZBURG PLATFORM AGAINST NUCLEAR DANGERS, AUSTRIA, PLATFORM GEGEN ATOMGEFAHR, AUSTRIA, ENERGIE ZUKUNFT MOHTVIERTEL, AUSTRIA, CENTRUM ENERGIE, CZECH REPUBLIC, BURGERINITIATIVE UMWELTSCHUTZ, BUDWEIS, CZECH REPUBLIC., =46OR MOTHER EARTH INTERNATIONAL, GHENT, BELGIUM, WORLD INFORMATION SERVICE ON ENERGY, AMSTERDAM, MDB ENERGY PROJECT, NETHERLANDS, =46OR MOTHER EARTH NETHERLANDS, CENTRE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, NETHERLANDS, GLOBAL ANTI - NUCLEAR ALLIANCE, NETHERLANDS, ANPED (NORTHERN ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY) NETH, ASEED- EUROPE, (AMSTERDAM) STROHALM (UTRECHT) NETHERLANDS, ITALIAN LAWYERS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, MAJ-BRITT THEORIN, MEP, PRESIDENT, IPB., ELIZABETH SCHROEDTER, MEP, ERNST GULCHER, MEP, GREEN GROUP, GERMANY, HEIDI HAUTALA, MEP, GREEN GROUP, FINLAND, GLYN FORD, MEP, LABOR, SW ENGLAND, OZAN KEYHUN, MEP, GERMANY, PER GAHRTON, MEP, GREENS, SWEDEN, CONGRESSMAN EDWARD J. MARKEY, (D-MASS) WASH, D.C., GLOBAL RESOURCE ACTION CENTRE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (GRACE) N.Y., U.S., TRI-VALLEY CARES, LIVERMORE, CALIF, U.S., NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE, U.S., WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION, U.S., NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF NATIVE AMERICANS, AMERICAN-INDIAN MOVEMENT OF OKLAHOMA, NUCLEAR-FREE NEW YORK, SAVE WARD VALLEY, CALIF, U.S., METRO-BOSTON COMMITTEE TO DE-ALERT NUCLEAR WEAPONS, NUCLEAR AGE PEACE FOUNDATION, CALIFORNIA, U.S., PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, U.S., LIVERMORE CONVERSION PROJECT, OAKLAND, CALIF., ACTION SITE TO STOP CASSINI FLYBY, PROPOSITION-1 COMMITTEE, WASHINGTON DC, US., HEALING GLOBAL WOUNDS, TECOPA, CALIF, U.S., AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE, UNITING CHURCH OF CHRIST ROCKY MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE, PEACE AND JUSTICE TASK =46ORCE, ALL SOULS UNITARIAN CHURCH COLORADO SPRINGS, U.S., METHODISTS UNITED FOR PEACE WITH JUSTICE, U.S., QUEST MINISTRIES, OHIO, U.S., CENTRE FOR MISSION EDUCATION, DENVER, COLORADO, INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, SAN FRANCISCO, US, WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE, NY, USA., NEW YORK STUDENT ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COALITION, PEACE RESOURCE CENTRE OF SAN DIEGO, CALIF, U.S., PROMOTING ENDURING PEACE, NY., U.S., PROFESSIONAL NETWORK FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, NY, U.S., GRANDMOTHERS AND MOTHERS ALLIANCE FOR THE FUTURE, WOMENS ACTION FOR NEW DIRECTIONS, CENTRE FOR ENERGY RESEARCH, OREGON, USA, CITIZENS PROTECTING OHIO, OHIO CITIZEN ACTION, PORTSMOUTH/PIKETON RESIDENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND SANITY (PRESS), CONCERNED CITIZENS FOR NUCLEAR SAFETY NEW MEXICO, PEACE ACTION USA., PEACE ACTION CENTRAL NEW YORK, METRO NEW YORK PEACE ACTION COUNCIL, USA., PAX CHRISTI U.S.A., PAX CHRISTI NEW YORK, PAX CHRISTI, MORRIS COUNTY, NJ, USA., PAX CHRISTI TEXAS, PAX CHRISTI ST AUGUSTINE FLORIDA, =46ELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION TASK FORCE ON LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARRIBEAN= , ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION ON NUCLEAR POWER, CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA CITIZENS FOR SURVIVAL, THREE MILE ISLAND ALERT, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S., ATOMIC MIRROR, CALIF, U.S., NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR A PEACE TAX FUND, PEDALS FOR PEACE, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF, U.S., SACRAMENTO VALLEY CITIZENS ALONG THE ROADS AND TRACKS, NEVADA DESERT EXPERIENCE, NEVADA, U.S., GRANDMOTHERS FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL, CALIF, U.S., TAI MEI PEACE ACTION, SAN GABRIEL, U.S., SERIOUS TEXANS AGAINST NUCLEAR DUMPING, U.S., STUDENTS FOR A SUSTAINABLE EARTH, W. MICHIGAN, U.S., ALLIANCE FOR SURVIVAL, COSTA MESA, CALIF., U.S., LONG ISLAND ALLIANCE FOR PEACEFUL ALTERNATIVES, Y2K-WASH CAMPAIGN BAY AREA CHAPTER, BILL BLAIKIE MP, HOUSE LEADER, NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA, SVEND ROBINSON MP, HOUSE OF REPS, CANADA, JUDY WASLYCIA-LEIS, MP, WINNIPEG, CANADA VETERANS AGAINST NUCLEAR ARMS, CANADA, PHYSICIANS FOR GLOBAL SURVIVAL, CANADA, NEW GREEN ALLIANCE, CANADA, PACIFIC CAMPAIGN FOR DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY, BC, CANADA., THE SIMONS FOUNDATION, VANCOUVER, B.C., PLOUGHSHARES, CALGARY, CANADA, PLOUGHSHARES, SASKATOON, CANADA, ICUEC, (INTER-CHURCH URANIUM EDUCATION COMMITTEE) SASKATOON, CANADA, O.P.I.R.G., PETERBOROUGH, CANADA, UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, ASSOCIATION OF SERBIAN WOMEN, CANADA, INDIGENOUS WOMENS NETWORK, CANADA/USA., PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, KRASNOPRESENSKAYA-2, MOSCOW, RUSSIA, +7-095-205-4219, +7-095-206-5173 +7-095-205-4330, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US, +1-202-456-2461, +1-202-456-2883. WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, BILL RICHARDSON, US SECRETARY OF ENERGY, +1-202-586-9987. IGOR SERGEYEV, DEFENCE MINISTER OF RUSSIA, Znamenka-19, 103160, Moscow, Russia, +7-095-293-33-13, 247-2795, 247-2722, 293-3323. =46OREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA, +7-095-244-3276, +7-095-244-2203, CC ALL HEADS OF STATE (BY EMAIL) ALL UN MISSIONS (BY EMAIL) Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, Defence Ministers and Defence Secretaries, Heads of State and UN Missions, The organisations above, representing millions of people worldwide, are writing to convey their extreme concern over the possibility that Year 2000 (Y2K)-related computer failures in nuclear weapons systems may lead to an unacceptable risk of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation. In the current political situation this is most especially the case. According to Alexandr Arbatov, of the Defence Committee of the Russian State Duma, US-Russian relations are at 'the worst, most acute, most dangerous juncture since the US-Soviet Berlin and Cuban missile crises.' The danger during the Y2K rollover lies primarily in the possibility that spurious data may induce commanders, even at the highest levels, to mistakenly authorise the launches of nuclear weapons. Events similar to this have already occurred. For example: In the US in 1980, a malfunctioning computer chip sent spurious alert signals; In 1983 in Russia, satellites mistook glare off the tops of clouds for a US missile launch, (and disaster was averted by the refusal of the local commander to believe the warnings were real); In 1995, a Norwegian research rocket prompted a full-scale Russian alert. If Y2K breakdowns produce inaccurate early warning data, or if communications and command channels are compromised, the combination of hair-trigger force postures and Y2K failures could be disastrous. There should therefore be a 'safety first ' approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. Because none of the nuclear weapons states can guarantee that their nuclear- related computer systems are Y2K compliant, the only responsible solution is for them all to stand down nuclear operations. This approach should include taking nuclear weapons off alert status and decoupling nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles. The stakes involved in any nuclear exchange between Russia and the US are such that they dwarf any other considerations. The future of life itself on earth could be in doubt. In light of this, we strongly urge that you remove all strategic and tactical nuclear weapons from 'hair trigger' alert, and place them in a status in which at least hours and preferably days would be required to launch them. The Canberra Commission in August 1996, noted that terminating nuclear alert status would: --Reduce dramatically the chances of accidental or unauthorised nuclear missile launch. --Help set the stage for intensified cooperation on a more far- reaching disarmament agenda --Have a very positive influence on the political climate between nuclear weapon states. This last is especially relevant in the current tension between Russia and NATO, which has prompted Russia to withdraw from cooperation with the US on Y2K problems. According to the Canberra Commission, "Taking nuclear forces off alert could be verified by national technical means and nuclear weapon state inspection arrangements. in the first instance, reduction in alert status could be adopted by the nuclear weapon states unilaterally" If both sides are verifiably de-alerted, it will not be possible for either to launch a disarming first strike. The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security. Signed Kevin Dunion, Chairperson, Friends of the Earth International, John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Australia, Wendy Johnson, Friends of the Earth New Zealand, Dr Patrick Green, Senior Energy, Nuclear and Climate Campaigner, Friends of the Earth England Wales and Northern Ireland, Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador, Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth Nigeria (Environmental Rights Action), Benin City, Nigeria, Viktor Khazan, Friends of the Earth Ukraine, Manana Kochladze, Friends of the Earth Georgia, Tbilsi, Georgia. Jan Kunnas, Friends of the Earth Finland, Bo Stroem, Friends of the Earth Denmark, Tonu Oja, Chairperson, Friends of the Earth Estonia, Tartu, Estonia. Amis de la Terre, Paris, France, Loukia Pavlidou, President, Friends of the Earth Cyprus, Oleg Svistunov, Friends of the Earth Japan Siberia Program, Corine Viellers, Global-2000(Friends of the Earth Austria) Daniela Stojanova, General Secretary, Friends of the Earth Macedonia, Maria Minkova, Deputy Chair, Friends of the Earth Bulgaria/Ecoglasnost, Sofi= a, Peter Garrrett, President, Australian Conservation Foundation, Helen Caldicott, MD, Founding President, PSR, Irene Gale, Australian Peace Committee, SA Branch, Denis Doherty, Secretary, Pax Christi NSW, REV. John Mavor, President, Uniting Church of Australia Rev. Ray Richmond, Wayside Chapel, Uniting Church in Australia, Pitt Street Uniting Church, Pitt St, Sydney, Rev. John Stanley, St Johns Anglican Church, Darlinghurst, Sydney, Julie Marlow, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Committee, Babs Fuller-Quinn, Australian Peace Committee, National Committee, Susan Wareham, President, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, IPPNW Regional Vice-President, Aust., Pauline Mitchell, Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament, Peter Jones, War Resisters International, Australia., Alec Marr, National Campaign Director, The Wilderness Society, Mark Wakeham, Environment Centre of the Northern Territory, Deborah Metters, Arid Lands Environment Centre, Alice Springs, NT., Rowena Skinner, Environment Centre of W.A., Robin Chapple, Anti-Uranium Coalition of W.A., Cherie Hoyle, Centre for Urban Ecology, SA., Graham Daniell, People for Nuclear Disarmament, Western Australia., Zohl D' Ishtar, Pacific Connections, Richard Goode, 2 Billion Voices for Peace Project, Ian Dixon, Big Scrub Environment Centre, Lismore, Isabelle Whyte, Everyone for a Nuclear-free Future, Lismore, Robin Taubenfeld, Everyone for a Nuclear-Free Future, Gold Coast, Jonivar Skullerud, ENUFF, Adelaide, Chris White, Secretary, United Trades and Labour Council, SA, Paul Martinella, State Secretary, CFMEU, SA, Trevor Smith, National Secretary, CFMEU, Forests and Forests Products Division, SA, Stephen Smith, Secretary, CFMEU, Furnishing trade Division, SA, Jacob Grech, Earthworker, All-Union Green Caucus, Mick Doyle, United Firefighters Union of SA, Paul Noak, Secy, A.M.W.U. SA Office. Martin O' Malley, Secy, CFMEU, SA Branch. Stephen Spence, Secretary, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, SA., Leonie Ebert, Graham F. Smith Peace Trust, SA., P.T. Muldoon, General Manager, Richmond River Shire Council, Senator Lyn Allison, Democrat Senator for Victoria, Senator Meg Lees, Democrat Senator for South Australia, Leader of the Australian Democrats, Senator Vicky Bourne, Democrat Senator for NSW., Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja, Deputy Leader, Australian Democrats, Senator Andrew Bartlett, Democrat Senator for Queensland, Senator Bob Brown, Green Senator for Tasmania, Senator Dee Margetts, Green Senator for Western Australia, Senator George Campbell, ALP Senator for NSW., Senator Margaret Reynolds, ALP, NSW, Senator Jim Mc Kiernan, ALP, W.A., Anthony Albanese. ALP, Federal member for Grayndler, Tanya Plibersek, ALP, Federal member for Sydney, Jann Mc Farlane, Federal member for Stirling, W.A., Jill Hall, M.P., Federal member for Shortland, NSW, Cheryl Davenport MLC., W.A., Ian Cohen, MLC, Greens, NSW, Lee Rhiannon, MLC, Greens, NSW, Sandra Kanck, MLC,Democrats, S.A., Ian Gilfillan, MLC, Democrats, SA, Robyn Geraghty MP, Member for Torrens, SA., =46rances Bedford, ALP State MP for Florey, S.A., Jim Scott, WA Greens, Legislative Council, W.A., Dr Louise Crossley, National Convenor, Greens, Australia, Hannah Middleton, President, Communist Party of Australia. Commander Robert Green RN (Ret'd), Chair, World Court Project UK, =46elicity Hill, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, Geneva/N= Y Martin Butcher, British-American Security Information Centre, US/UK, Stephanie Mills, Greenpeace International Nuclear and Disarmament Campaign, Bernice Boermans, Executive Director, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, (IALANA), The Hague, Neth., Rear-Admiral Eugene J. Carroll, USN (retd), Deputy Director, Centre for Defence Information, Washington, USA, Dave Knight, Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, U.K., Janet Bloomfield, Former Chair CND, Abolition U.K, Saffron Walden Group Against Nuclear Weapons, Bruce Kent, Vice-President, CND, Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands CND, Birmingham, U.K, Tigger Mc Gregor, Youth and Student CND, U.K., Dave Webb, Yorkshire CND., U.K., Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy, Campaign for Accountability of American Bases, U.K., Gillian Reeve, Director, MEDACT (IPPNW U.K), Jane Tallents, Trident-Ploughshares 2000, Norwich, Norfolk, U.K., Di Mc Donald, Network Information Project, Southampton, U.K, Catherine Euler, Menwith Hill Womens Peace Camp, Yorkshire, U.K., Catherine Euler, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Sue Claydon, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Milton Keynes, U.K., Mary H. Miller, Episcopal peace Fellowship, U.K., Monica King, St Bartholemews Justice and Peace Group, St Albans, U.K., Calderdale Green Party, Yorkshire, U.K., Alan Francis, Chair, Green Party of England and Wales, Alan Watson, Partner, Public Interest Consultants, Swansea, Wales, U.K., Nigel Chamberlain, Cumbria and North Lancashire Peace Groups U.K., Paul Swann, National Coordinator, Y2K Community Action Network, U.K., Jeanette Fitzsimmons, MP, NZ Greens, Brian Donelly, MP, Harry Duynhoven, MP, NZ Labour, Lianna Dalziel, MP, NZ Labour, Judy Keall, MP, NZ Labour, Peter Dunne, MP, NZ Independent, Sandra Lee, Deputy leader, Alliance, Laila Harre, MP, Alliance, NZ., Dr Kate Dewes, Disarmament and Security Centre, Marion Hancock, Aoteoroa/NZ Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ., Gerry Coates, Engineers for Social Responsibility, NZ, Keith Locke, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, NZ Greens, Llelwyn Richards, National Consultative Committee on Disarmament, NZ, Barbara Frame, Peace Action Dunedin, NZ., John Urlich, Peace Council of New Zealand, Rev. John Murray/Dame Laurie Salas/Robin Halliday, Abolition-2000, New Zeala= nd, Ian Prior, IPPNW New Zealand, Chris King, Veterans for Peace New Zealand, Derek Wilson, Architects Against Nuclear War, NZ, Robert E. White, Director, Centre for Peace Studies, University of Auckland, NZ., John Gallagher, New Zealand Nuclear-Free Peacemaking Association, Aotearoa/N= Z., WILPF Aoteoroa, Jim Holdom, CORSO, Aotearoa/NZ., Richard N. Salvador, Pacific Islands Association of NGOs, Belau, Tom Mbeke-Ekarem, Chair, Coalition of Petroleum-Producing States of Nigeria, Ron Mc Coy, Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Yumi Kukuchi, Y2K WASH Campaign, Sendai, Japan/USA, Aileen Mioko Smith, Director, Green Action Kyoto, Japan., Hiroshi Taka, Assistant Secretary, Japan Council Against A and H-Bombs (Gensuikyo), S.P. Udayakumar, South Asian Community Centre for Education and Research, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, South India, Asif Rasheed Leghari, Awami Committee for Development, Multan, Pakistan, Nana Suhartana, Indonesian National Network Forum Anti-Nuclear Society, Pipob Udomittipong, Alternative Energy Project for Sustainability, Thailand, Lorenzo Muelas, Movimiento Autoridades Indigenas de Colombia, Vladimir Sliviak, Ecodefense, Russia, Galina Raghouzhina, World Information Service on Energy (WISE) Kaliningrad, Alexandra Koroleva, Educational Committee, Kaliningrad Regional Duma, Mikhail Trofimov, Ecodefence! International, Kaliningrad, Alisa Nikoulina, Antinuclear Campaign of Social-Ecological Union, Moscow, Pavel Malyshev, Platan Youth Group, Kaliningrad, Oleg Bodrov, Green World, Sosnovy Bor, St Petersburg, Russia, Vera Brovkina, St Petersburg Peace Council, St Petersburg, Russia, Lydia Popova, Centre for Nuclear Ecology and Energy Policy, Russia, Marina Rikhmanova, Baikal Environmental Wave, Baikal, Russia, George Razvan Marcu, Ecosens, Romania, Malla Kantola, Committee of 100, Helsinki, Finland, Laura Lodenius, Peace Union of Finland, Helsinki, Finland, Pepe Mardiste, Student Nature Protection Group, Tartu, Estonia, Gunnar Westberg, MD., SLMK (IPPNW), Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear Weapo= ns, =46redrick S. Heffermehl, President, Norwegian Peace Alliance, =46rederick S. Heffermehl, Norwegian Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, =46rederick S. Heffermehl, International Peace Bureau, Oslo, Bjorn Hilt, Chair, Norwegian Physicians Against Nuclear War, (IPPNW) Poul Eck S=F8rensen, Peace Movement of Esbjerg, Denmark, Arne Hansen, War Resisters International, Fredrikshavn, Denmark, Majken Jul S=F8rensen, Aldrig Mere Krig, (AMK) Denmark, Anja Johansen, Militaernaegterforeningen, (Danish Association of Conscientious Objectors) Daniel Durand, Secretary, Mouvement de La Paix, France, Solange Fernex, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, France, Chrystoph Wyss, International Albert Schwietzer Foundation, France/Switz, Chrystoph Wyss, Dr Schweitzer Hospital Fund, Switzerland, Dr Roland Schutzbach, Global Initiative for Immediate Disarmament, Switzerla= nd, Xanthe Hall, Assistant Director, IPPNW Germany, Berlin, Regina Hagen, Darmstaedter Friedensforum, Germany, Claus Biegert, Nuclear-Free Award, Germany, Horst Hohmier, Anti-Atom Plenum, Bochum, Germany, Ilona Joerden, Citizens Initiative for Environmental Protection, Luechow-Danneburg, Germany, Dr. Herbert Richter-Peill, IPPNW Hamburg, Germany, Matthias Reichl, Centre for Encounters and Active Non-Violence, Bad Ischl, Austria, Dr Klaus Renoldner, President, IPPNW Austria, Claudia and Margit, Anti-Atom International, Claudia and Margit, Coordination Office of Austrian Environment Organisation= s, Heinz Stockinger, Independent Salzburg Platform Against Nuclear Dangers,(PLAGE), Salzburg, Austria, Josef Puehringer, Platform Gegen Atomgefahr, Austria, Josef Puehringer, Centrum Energie, Czech Republic, Josef Puehringer, Burgerinitiative Umweltschutz, Budweis, Czech Republic, Josef Puehringer, Energie Zukunft Mohtviertel, Austria., Pol D'Huyvetter, For Mother Earth International, Ghent, Belgium, Peer de Rijk, WISE- Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ophelia Cowell, MDB Energy Project, Netherlands, Marjan Willemsen, For Mother Earth Netherlands, Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, Netherlands, Pieter Van Der Gaag, Deputy international Coordinator, ANPED, Northern Alliance for Sustainability, =46rank Van Schaik, Transport Coordinator, ASEED-Europe, STROHALM, Utrecht, Netherlands, Kaj Leers, Journalist, Netherlands, David Boerma, Coordinator, Pacific Region, Centre for Indigenous Peoples, Netherlands., Giorgio Nebbia, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Economics, University of Bari, Italy, Dr Joachim Lau, Italian Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, Maj-Britt Theorin, MEP, Sweden, Elizabeth Schroedter, MEP, Germany, Ernst Gulcher, MEP, Green Group, Germany, Heidi Hautala, MEP, Green Group, Finland, Glyn Ford, MEP, Labour, SW England, Ozan Keyhun, MEP, Germany, Per Gahrton, MEP, Greens, Sweden., Congressman Edward J. Markey, (D-Mass), Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. Alice Slater, Global Resource Action Centre for the Environment, NY., USA., Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, California, US. Mary Olson, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, US., Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, US., Grace Thorpe, National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans, Carter Camp, Chair, American-Indian Movement of Oklahoma, US, Bill Smirnow, Nuclear-Free New York, US, Molly Johnson, Coordinator, Save Ward Valley, Calif, USA., William F. Santelmann, Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara, Calif, US. Robert W. Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility, U.S.A., Dr Lachlan Forrow, Past Chair, IPPNW, Jonathan Mark, Action Site to Stop Cassini Flyby, Sherry Larsen-Beville, Livermore Conversion Project, Oakland, Calif, USA. Ellen Thomas, Proposition-1 Committee, Washington DC, US., Diana Roose, Peace Education Director, American Friends Service Committee, Patricia Watson, Peacework, American Friends Service Committee, Robert Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, Uniting Church of Christ, Rocky Mountains Conference, Rachel Keeler, Executive Director, Pax Christi, New York, Nancy Small, National Coordinator, Pax Christi, USA, =46rank Dworak, Pax Christi, Morris County, NJ, USA., Adam Eidinger, Pax Christi Washington Action Group, U.S., Joyce Hall, Pax Christi Texas, Paul Villavisanis, Pax Christi, St Augustine, Fl, Betty Obol, SL, The Loretto Community, U.S., Phil Mc Manus, Chair, Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Carribean, U.S., Heidi Cooper, All Souls Unitarian Church, Colorado Springs, US., Howard W. Hallman, Methodists United for Peace with Justice, Washington, USA= =2E, Guy Templeton Black, Quest Ministries, Ohio, U.S., Bill Kelly, Executive Director, Centre for Mission Education, Denver, Colorado, USA., Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Coordinator, Healing Global Wounds, Tecopa, CA, USA., Karen Talbot, Director, International Centre for Peace and Justice, San =46rancisco, California, US., Chris Ney, War Resisters League, NY, USA., Jasmina Arsova, War Resisters League,, NY. USA., Holly-Poole Kavana, New York Student Environmental Action Coalition, Carol Jahnkow, Peace Resource Centre of San Diego, Calif, US., Janette Michelle Cuevas, Executive Director, Promoting Enduring Peace, NY., Babette Lindfield, Professional Network for Social Responsibility, NY, U.S., Susan Lee Solar and Maria Mendez, Grandmothers and Mothers Alliance for the =46uture, Susan Shaer, Executive Director, Womens Action for New Directions, Peter Bergel, Centre for Energy Research, Salem, Oregon, USA., Harvey Wasserman, Citizens Protecting Ohio, USA., Sarah Ogdahl, Toledo Area Director, Ohio Citizen Action, Vina Colley, Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Sanit= y, Jay Coghlan, Concerned Citizens For Nuclear Safety, New Mexico, USA., Gordon S. Clark, Executive Director, Peace Action USA., Diane R Swords, Peace Action Central New York, =46ran Teplitz, Peace Action, Peace Action Education Fund, USA., Sonya Ostrom, Metro New York Peace Action Council, Judith H. Johnsrud, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, Pennsylvania, U.S, Judith H. Johnsrud, Central Pennsylvania Citizens for Survival, U.S., Scott D. Portzline, Three Mile Island Alert, Pennsylvania, U.S., Pamela Meidell, Atomic Mirror, Calif, U.S., Tom Keirans, National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, Shiela Baker, Pedals for Peace, San Luis Obispo, Calif, U.S., Inga Olson, Sacramento Valley Citizens Along The Roads and Tracks, Marc M. Blaise-Page, Nevada Desert Experience, U.S., Earth-Savers, Syracuse, U.S., Barbara Weidener, Grandmothers for Peace International, Calif, U.S., Lyn Miles, Tai Mei Peace Action, San Gabriel, U.S., Alan Moore, Butterfly Gardeners Association, Berkley, Calif, Don Moniak, Program Director, Serious Texans Against Nuclear Dumping, Amarillo, Tex, U.S, Andrew Nixon, Students For A Sustainable Earth, W. Michigan University, U.S.= , Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa, The Nuclear Resister, Marion Pack, Alliance for Survival, Costa-Mesa, California, USA., Peggy Jacobs, Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, U.S., Jane Grossman/Laurie Grossman, Bay Area Chapter, Y2K WASH Campaign, (World Atomic Safety Holiday), USA/JAPAN, Senator Doug Roche, Canadian Parliament, Bill Blaikie MP, House Leader, New Democratic Party of Canada, Svend Robinson MP, House of Representatives,Canada, Judy Waslycia-Leis, MP, Winnipeg, Canada, Dr David Morgan, President, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, Vancouver, Canada, Dr Barbara Birkett, President, Physicians for Global Survival, Ottawa, Canad= a., Dr Ross Wilcock, Physicians for Global Survival, Canada, Dave Greenfield, New Green Alliance, Saskatoon, Canada, Patti Willis, Pacific Campaign for Disarmament and Security, B.C., Canada, Prof Eric Fawcett, Physics Dept, University of Toronto, Canada, Dr Jennifer Allen Simons, The Simons Foundation, Vancouver, B.C., Sally Hodges, Chair, Ploughshares, Calgary, Canada, O.P.I.R.G., Peterborough, Canada, Genivieve Talbot, United Nations Association of Canada, Snezana Vitorovich, Association of Serbian Women, Canada, Priscilla Settee, Indigenous Womens Network, Canada/USA., - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: peter weiss Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Project Abolition events Date: 21 Aug 1999 14:53:11 -0400 This looks great, Karina. But isn't LCNP also one of the initiators? If I'm not mistaken, John Burroughs is on your board. Which means that he, as Executive Director of LCNP and I, as President of both LCNP and IALANA, would also be available as speakers. But of course we don't hold elective office, although I did once get elected as a delegate to the Democratic Convention. Love, Peter Karina Wood wrote: >=20 > Dear US Abolitionists: >=20 > As you may be aware, Project Abolition -- a new initiative from the > Fourth Freedom Forum, Disarmament Clearinghouse, Global Resource Action > Center for the Environment, The Nation Institute, Peace Action, > PeaceLinks, Physicians for Social Responsibility, State of the World > Forum, and Women's Action for New Directions -- is coordinating a > nationwide series of community forums & a national media campaign on > nuclear weapons abolition around the 10th anniversary of the fall of th= e > Berlin Wall, November 9, 1999. >=20 > I want to update you all on our plans for November, so please read the > memo below, or open the attached file, and let us know if you are > interested in working with us on any of these events: >=20 > Highlighting the Tenth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall: > Why Do We Still Have a Cold War Nuclear Policy? >=20 > Nationwide Speaking Events & A National Media Campaign >=20 > The Project Abolition groups are developing a plan for taking advantage > of the forthcoming 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall to > highlight the need for nuclear weapons abolition. We are planning a > series of nationwide community forums to take place against the backdro= p > of a national media campaign, which will be launched on the anniversary > date, November 9. >=20 > Our message will be that the United States has wasted the historic > opportunity afforded by the end of the Cold War to make serious progres= s > on dismantling the vast nuclear arsenals here and in Russia. Ten years > ago, the Berlin Wall fell, but today tens of thousands of nuclear > weapons remain and we are developing new ones. We will posit the > question: Why does the United States still cling to a Cold War nuclear > policy? >=20 > Elements of the Campaign: >=20 > Community Forums: > We plan to organize community forums in states which meet the following > 3 criteria: where there are Senators and/or presidential candidates we > particularly wish to educate on the urgent need for nuclear weapons > abolition; where we can generate extensive media coverage; and where we > have a core of enthusiastic and experienced organizers. >=20 > We are currently considering major cities in the following states: > Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North > Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, and Vermont. > **Please contact us if you live in one of these states and would like t= o > help host a community forum during the week of November 9.** >=20 > Definite dates so far: > ** Nov 9: Des Moines, Iowa: community forum: Sen. Alan Cranston & Betty > Bumpers confirmed speakers. > ** Nov 9: Washington, DC: press event (see "Wall of Denial" section > below). No speakers confirmed yet. > ** Nov. 9: San Francisco: press event. Former OR Rep. Elizabeth Furse > confirmed speaker. Invited Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Rep. Barbara Lee, Athlete= s > United for Peace. Looking for celebrities. > ** Nov. 10: New Hampshire (researching venue): community forum: Sen. > Alan Cranston & Admiral Turner confirmed speakers. > ** Nov. 10: Portland, OR: community forum: Former OR Rep. Elizabeth > Furse confirmed speaker. > ** Nov. 12 or 13: Little Rock, AR: (tentative; in planning stages) > community forum at a downtown art gallery, hosted by Arkansas WAND & > Arkansas Women's Project & area PeaceLinks members. Invited Betty > Bumpers. > These events are in various stages of planning, and more are be= ing > developed: we'll post frequent updates. >=20 > Editorial Board Meetings: > In order to maximize the opportunity of having a major speaker = in town > for a community forum event, we encourage local groups to set up > meetings with the editorial boards of their leading local newspapers. >=20 > "Wall of Denial": > We will construct a "Wall of Denial" somewhere in the area of the U.S. > Capitol or the Ellipse in Washington, DC, from lightweight materials, > perhaps using thousands of "bricks" representing the thousands of > nuclear weapons remaining in US and Russian arsenals. On the wall, > slogans will decry "The Cold War Lives," and "We Need Our Nukes" and > other such messages of "denial" of the Cold War's demise. Above the > Wall, a large banner will be erected, saying, "Mr. President, Tear Down > the Wall! Abolish Nuclear Weapons!" > This visual publicity stunt will be modeled after the Berlin Wall and > will serve as a backdrop for speakers at a press event on November 9, t= o > which members of Congress, celebrities and prominent individuals will b= e > invited. Musicians will also be invited to attend and perform. >=20 > The wall will remain at the site for up to a week or more, permits > allowing, during which time the public will be encouraged to come and > sign a petition demanding nuclear abolition. >=20 > Signature ads: > Depending on the funds we can raise, the Project Abolition groups will > place a large signature ad in a national newspaper (New York Times or > Washington Post) on November 9. We encourage local groups all over the > country to place signature ads in your local newspapers on November 9, > especially in cities where community forums will take place. (Contact u= s > if you need information on how to produce a signature ad.) >=20 > Radio Talk Shows: > The Mainstream Media Project has agreed to promote our speakers to be > interviewed on national and local radio talk shows during November. >=20 > Op-Eds & Letters to the Editor: > We will commission op-eds by prominent individuals and work to get them > published in major newspapers on November 9. We will produce model > letters to the editor, and we encourage local activists to get letters > published in their local newspapers on November 9. These pieces will > draw attention to the anniversary, state our "wasted opportunity" > message, and call for urgent disarmament measures. >=20 > Editorial Advisories: > We will commission a media education organization to produce an > editorial advisory promoting our message and encouraging major > newspapers nationwide to publish editorials on November 9. >=20 > Congressional Action: > We will ask members of the Senate to make speeches on the Senate floor > on November 9, expressing the "wasted opportunity" message, and calling > for urgent disarmament measures (if they have not adjourned by this > date; the House will most likely have adjourned end of Oct). >=20 > Confirmed Participating Speakers to date: > =B7 Betty Bumpers, President, PeaceLinks > =B7 Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA), ret. > =B7 Representative Elizabeth Furse (D-1st OR), ret. > =B7 Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-10th OH) > =B7 Jonathan Schell, journalist, author of The Gift of Time and The Fat= e > of the Earth > =B7 Stephen Schwartz, publisher, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, > author, Atomic Audit > =B7 Admiral Stansfield Turner, USN (Ret.), former director, CIA > =B7 Cora Weiss, President, Hague Appeal for Peace Foundation > =B7 Randall Forsberg, Global Action to Prevent War > And the national directors of the Project Abolition groups >=20 > If you want to help host a community forum, or need further campaign > details, please contact: > -- > Karina H. Wood > Field Coordinator, Project Abolition > and U.S. Outreach Coordinator, Hague Appeal for Peace > 85 John St. > Providence, RI 02906 > Ph: 401-276-0377 > Fax: 401-751-1476 > Email: kwood@igc.org >=20 > For information on Project Abolition: www.fourthfreedom.org > For information on the Hague Appeal: www.haguepeace.org >=20 > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.= com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Hisham Zerriffi Subject: (abolition-usa) Letter: research agenda for BEIR VII Date: 30 Aug 1999 11:32:44 -0400 Friends, The seventh National Academic of Sciences Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR VII) will begin meeting on Sept 2. The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research is circulating the following letter for signature to persuade the committee to consider some crucial issues that have been ignored in past rounds. The work of this committee will be very influential worldwide in setting radiation protection standards. Please consider signing on and circulating this to others who may want to sign on. If you wish to sign on, please let me know if you are doing so as an individual or on behalf of your organization. You can sign on by simply replying to me by e-mail. I apologize for double or triple postings, since we are trying to get as many signatures to this as possible in a short time. The deadline for sign-ons is Sept. 1, noon, Eastern Daylight Time for inclusion in the letter. This is so that we can write a press-release, do the photocopying, etc. The list of people signing on after that time will be given to the Committee separately on Sept 2 or after that depending on when we receive any particular sign on. Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this. Sincerely, Hisham Zerriffi Project Scientist ****************************************************** IEER letterhead September 2, 1999 Richard R. Monson M.D., Proposed Chair c/o Rick Jostes, Staff Officer Committee on the Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR VII - Phase 2) National Academy of Sciences 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418 Dear Dr. Monson, We are writing in connection with your committee's work on assessing the effects of low-level radiation in the form of the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VII review.=20 We are pleased that the BEIR VII Committee has set out to "consider a large amount of published data =85 concerning the risks to humans of exposure to= low levels of ionizing radiation" (BEIR VII Project Scope). We expect that, as part of this work, the Committee will examine conflicting evidence and interpretations in the process of identifying biological effects and risk factors. We look forward to following closely the Committee's deliberations throughout this important process and to participating in them. The work of past BEIR Committees has been influential in setting the tone and terms of the scientific debate on the issue and in the radiation standard-setting process. Therefore, we believe it is crucial that the full range of information and issues regarding the health effects of ionizing radiation be considered. The BEIR V report considered only risks of cancer, some aspects of genetic damage (though it did not estimate risks of "diseases of complex genetic origin, which are thought to comprise the largest category of genetically-related diseases," p. 4) and mental retardation arising from in-utero exposure. It is important that the BEIR VII process address the full range of risks that have not been conclusively evaluated so far. This should include risks that have come to light since the BEIR V report (such as the combined effects of radiation and hormonally-active agents, also called endocrine disrupters) as well as issues that could have been addressed in BEIR V, but were not. We have compiled a list of some of the most crucial issues that we believe you should address. These issues are as follows: =B7 Effects of radionuclides that cross the placenta: This should include consideration of the effects on the developing fetus itself (e.g. miscarriages, malformations, and developmental effects other than mental retardation) and the effects on relevant organs at critical periods of fetal development. This study of health effects on the developing fetus should specifically include effects on development of specific organs, and the indirect effects of harm to organs such as the thyroid. We are especially concerned about radionuclides such as iodine-131, carbon-14, and tritium that could become part of the fetus in ways that could profoundly affect its well being. For instance, tritium, being a form of hydrogen, combines with oxygen to form water. Tritiated water behaves chemically like ordinary water. If ingested, a fraction of it becomes incorporated into the cells of the body, including genetic material. Such radioactive water also crosses the placenta. The potential for the resultant in-utero exposure to cause miscarriages, birth defects, and other health problems needs to be examined. The BEIR VII committee's evaluation of the risks of low-level radiation should include all such radionuclides and effects. If there are gaps in present knowledge, these should be identified clearly and their implications should be spelled out. =B7 Effects of radiation on female fetuses: Considering that ova are formed once per lifetime during females' fetal development, the Committee should evaluate the effects of radiation on the reproductive system of female fetuses and the possible effect of such radiation on the children of females irradiated in this way. =B7 Effects of organically-bound radionuclides: Radionuclides such as= tritium or carbon-14 can become part of the DNA. Upon radioactive decay, they transmute into other elements. (Tritium becomes helium-3 and carbon-14 becomes nitrogen-14.) Such transmutation events could adversely affect the DNA. The potential health effects of such transmutations need to be evaluated. =20 =B7 Synergistic effects: Exposure to radiation is sometimes coupled with exposure to other hazardous substances. The Committee should consider health effects caused by combined exposure to radioactive and non-radioactive substances. Special attention should be given to substances such as hormonally active agents that affect the hormonal system and the possibility that such disruption might increase the risk of cancer and other diseases arising from radiation exposure. Conversely, radiation exposure might damage the endocrine system, thereby increasing vulnerability to other disease-producing agents in the environment. The possibility of variability of such risks depending on age of exposure (and whether exposure takes place in-utero) should also be considered. Data integrity and quality: Worker dose records of the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies in the United States, the Atomic Energy Commission, are deeply flawed. The environmental contamination records are similarly deeply flawed. We know these things about the United States because much of the raw data record has become public through lawsuits, Freedom of Information Act requests, etc. Use of studies that accept official US worker or offsite dose estimates without evaluation of the raw data is highly questionable to say the least. Since the raw data in other countries are still largely secret, there is even less reason to accept them at face value. For instance, there is evidence that the health data in the former Soviet Union are questionable. The Committee should review these and related fundamental questions of data integrity and address whether any of this record is suitable at all for assessing the risks of low-level radiation, and if so how it should be used. The Committee should also address what criteria of data quality it will apply to the information contained in the studies it reviews. In this context, we do not believe that it will be enough to simply accept peer-reviewed studies as correct if they have not evaluated the soundness of the underlying official dose and health data. Finally the impact of misclassification of radiation exposures and health outcomes and health-related selection factors, should be considered in interpreting all epidemiological studies, including studies of A-bomb survivors. =B7 Effects on various populations: The concept of "standard man" or= "average" is often used to set radiation protection standards. Given the potential large variability of actual health effects of radiation in various populations, the Committee should assess the errors in risk estimates produced by the use of this concept. For instance, the age-dependence of the dose response relationship for various health effects should be explicitly spelled out, not only for children, but also for older age groups. Another example is the potential variation in sensitivity to low-level radiation among individuals who are otherwise of similar demographic make-up. In many of these areas, it may be that there is simply not enough knowledge to come to reliable scientific conclusions. In such cases, the Committee should clearly and frankly say so and recommend a research agenda. If possible, this should be accompanied by qualitative discussions of the mechanisms of potential health effects. It is of crucial importance to us that all areas where risk cannot be reliably calculated are clearly identified. If the types of risk can be qualitatively ascertained, the risks should be spelled out. If even the qualitative risks cannot be assessed, that conclusion would also be very material. We have not discussed cancer-related issues above because we are presuming that the Committee will address the full range of relevant literature in regard to carcinogenic effects. It would be helpful if the committee published and updated frequently a list of the publications that it is reviewing, so that we may be able to follow the review and add to that list, should we feel that to be necessary or desirable. We look forward to providing scientific input throughout the BEIR VII process and expect that the Committee will fully address the issues we have raised as seriously as it might were those same issues raised by a member of the Committee.=20 We appreciate the opportunity for public comment and ask that it be expanded as needed to fully accommodate the issues and evidence that we want to put forth. We look forward to your response. Do let us know if you have any questions or need more information. Please address your questions or responses to Lisa Ledwidge or Arjun Makhijani. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Lisa Ledwidge Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D. ieer@ieer.org arjun@ieer.org Other signatories: David Close, Professor, Dept. of Physics, East Tennessee State University Steve Wing, Associate Professor, Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Cc: Members of Committee ACERER =20 ***************************************************************** Hisham Zerriffi =20 Project Scientist =20 Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) 6935 Laurel Ave. Suite 204, Takoma Park, MD 20912 =20 Phone: (301) 270-5500 Fax: (301) 270-3029 =20 E-mail: hisham@ieer.org Web: http://www.ieer.org=20 ***************************************************************** - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Letter: research agenda for BEIR VII Date: 30 Aug 1999 12:25:38 -0400 Hisham, Thank you for the good work of IEER in laying out some important agenda t= opics for the BEIR VII committee. However, I do not feel comfortable signing onto this letter, so PSR will = not be one of the signatories. The reason is that we are not "pleased" that the= BEIR VII committee is setting out to make its study. In fact, we are very displeased. We believe the committee is terribly imbalanced and we want = it reconstituted before any work begins. We are not going to sign onto a sug= gested scientific agenda for a committee whose selection process has been so fla= wed and that is so radically out of balance. The whole committee process is not credible, and we do not want to create any appearance of credibility by s= igning a letter that identifies issues for the committee to work on. PSR insists that the BEIR VII committee be reconstituted before any work = goes forward -- period. PSR has signed a letter to NAS/NRC that calls for tha= t reconstituting. Signing your letter would undercut the power and thrust = of that letter. If NAS/NRC begins the process anew and actually creates a panel = with balance, then PSR would like to sign onto a letter like the one you have written. Shalom, Bob Tiller Hisham Zerriffi wrote: > Friends, > > The seventh National Academic of Sciences Committee on the Biological > Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR VII) will begin meeting on Sept 2. = The > Institute for Energy and Environmental Research is circulating the foll= owing > letter for signature to persuade the committee to consider some crucial > issues that have been ignored in past rounds. The work of this committ= ee > will be very influential worldwide in setting radiation protection > standards. Please consider signing on and circulating this to others w= ho > may want to sign on. > > If you wish to sign on, please let me know if you are doing so as an > individual or on behalf of your organization. You can sign on by simpl= y > replying to me by e-mail. > > I apologize for double or triple postings, since we are trying to get a= s > many signatures to this as possible in a short time. > > The deadline for sign-ons is Sept. 1, noon, Eastern Daylight Time for > inclusion in the letter. This is so that we can write a press-release, = do > the photocopying, etc. The list of people signing on after that time w= ill > be given to the Committee separately on Sept 2 or after that depending = on > when we receive any particular sign on. > > Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this. > > Sincerely, > > Hisham Zerriffi > Project Scientist > > ****************************************************** > > IEER letterhead > > September 2, 1999 > > Richard R. Monson M.D., Proposed Chair > c/o Rick Jostes, Staff Officer > Committee on the Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing > Radiation (BEIR VII - Phase 2) > National Academy of Sciences > 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW > Washington, DC 20418 > > Dear Dr. Monson, > > We are writing in connection with your committee's work on assessing th= e > effects of low-level radiation in the form of the Biological Effects of > Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VII review. > > We are pleased that the BEIR VII Committee has set out to "consider a l= arge > amount of published data =85 concerning the risks to humans of exposure= to low > levels of ionizing radiation" (BEIR VII Project Scope). We expect that,= as > part of this work, the Committee will examine conflicting evidence and > interpretations in the process of identifying biological effects and ri= sk > factors. We look forward to following closely the Committee's delibera= tions > throughout this important process and to participating in them. > > The work of past BEIR Committees has been influential in setting the to= ne > and terms of the scientific debate on the issue and in the radiation > standard-setting process. Therefore, we believe it is crucial that the= full > range of information and issues regarding the health effects of ionizin= g > radiation be considered. The BEIR V report considered only risks of ca= ncer, > some aspects of genetic damage (though it did not estimate risks of > "diseases of complex genetic origin, which are thought to comprise the > largest category of genetically-related diseases," p. 4) and mental > retardation arising from in-utero exposure. > > It is important that the BEIR VII process address the full range of ris= ks > that have not been conclusively evaluated so far. This should include = risks > that have come to light since the BEIR V report (such as the combined > effects of radiation and hormonally-active agents, also called endocrin= e > disrupters) as well as issues that could have been addressed in BEIR V,= but > were not. We have compiled a list of some of the most crucial issues t= hat > we believe you should address. These issues are as follows: > > =B7 Effects of radionuclides that cross the placenta: This should inclu= de > consideration of the effects on the developing fetus itself (e.g. > miscarriages, malformations, and developmental effects other than menta= l > retardation) and the effects on relevant organs at critical periods of = fetal > development. This study of health effects on the developing fetus shou= ld > specifically include effects on development of specific organs, and the > indirect effects of harm to organs such as the thyroid. We are especia= lly > concerned about radionuclides such as iodine-131, carbon-14, and tritiu= m > that could become part of the fetus in ways that could profoundly affec= t its > well being. For instance, tritium, being a form of hydrogen, combines = with > oxygen to form water. Tritiated water behaves chemically like ordinary > water. If ingested, a fraction of it becomes incorporated into the cell= s of > the body, including genetic material. Such radioactive water also cros= ses > the placenta. The potential for the resultant in-utero exposure to cau= se > miscarriages, birth defects, and other health problems needs to be exam= ined. > The BEIR VII committee's evaluation of the risks of low-level radiation > should include all such radionuclides and effects. If there are gaps i= n > present knowledge, these should be identified clearly and their implica= tions > should be spelled out. > > =B7 Effects of radiation on female fetuses: Considering that ova are fo= rmed > once per lifetime during females' fetal development, the Committee shou= ld > evaluate the effects of radiation on the reproductive system of female > fetuses and the possible effect of such radiation on the children of fe= males > irradiated in this way. > > =B7 Effects of organically-bound radionuclides: Radionuclides such as t= ritium > or carbon-14 can become part of the DNA. Upon radioactive decay, they > transmute into other elements. (Tritium becomes helium-3 and carbon-14 > becomes nitrogen-14.) Such transmutation events could adversely affect= the > DNA. > The potential health effects of such transmutations need to be > evaluated. > > =B7 Synergistic effects: Exposure to radiation is sometimes coupled wit= h > exposure to other hazardous substances. The Committee should consider > health effects caused by combined exposure to radioactive and > non-radioactive substances. Special attention should be given to subst= ances > such as hormonally active agents that affect the hormonal system and th= e > possibility that such disruption might increase the risk of cancer and = other > diseases arising from radiation exposure. Conversely, radiation exposu= re > might damage the endocrine system, thereby increasing vulnerability to = other > disease-producing agents in the environment. The possibility of variab= ility > of such risks depending on age of exposure (and whether exposure takes = place > in-utero) should also be considered. > > Data integrity and quality: Worker dose records of the Department of En= ergy > and its predecessor agencies in the United States, the Atomic Energy > Commission, are deeply flawed. The environmental contamination records= are > similarly deeply flawed. We know these things about the United States > because much of the raw data record has become public through lawsuits, > Freedom of Information Act requests, etc. Use of studies that accept > official US worker or offsite dose estimates without evaluation of the = raw > data is highly questionable to say the least. Since the raw data in ot= her > countries are still largely secret, there is even less reason to accept= them > at face value. For instance, there is evidence that the health data in= the > former Soviet Union are questionable. The Committee should review these= and > related fundamental questions of data integrity and address whether any= of > this record is suitable at all for assessing the risks of low-level > radiation, and if so how it should be used. The Committee should also > address what criteria of data quality it will apply to the information > contained in the studies it reviews. In this context, we do not believ= e > that it will be enough to simply accept peer-reviewed studies as correc= t if > they have not evaluated the soundness of the underlying official dose a= nd > health data. Finally the impact of misclassification of radiation expo= sures > and health outcomes and health-related selection factors, should be > considered in interpreting all epidemiological studies, including studi= es of > A-bomb survivors. > > =B7 Effects on various populations: The concept of "standard man" or "a= verage" > is often used to set radiation protection standards. Given the potenti= al > large variability of actual health effects of radiation in various > populations, the Committee should assess the errors in risk estimates > produced by the use of this concept. For instance, the age-dependence = of > the dose response relationship for various health effects should be > explicitly spelled out, not only for children, but also for older age > groups. Another example is the potential variation in sensitivity to > low-level radiation among individuals who are otherwise of similar > demographic make-up. > > In many of these areas, it may be that there is simply not enough knowl= edge > to come to reliable scientific conclusions. In such cases, the Committ= ee > should clearly and frankly say so and recommend a research agenda. If > possible, this should be accompanied by qualitative discussions of the > mechanisms of potential health effects. It is of crucial importance to= us > that all areas where risk cannot be reliably calculated are clearly > identified. If the types of risk can be qualitatively ascertained, the > risks should be spelled out. If even the qualitative risks cannot be > assessed, that conclusion would also be very material. > > We have not discussed cancer-related issues above because we are presum= ing > that the Committee will address the full range of relevant literature i= n > regard to carcinogenic effects. It would be helpful if the committee > published and updated frequently a list of the publications that it is > reviewing, so that we may be able to follow the review and add to that = list, > should we feel that to be necessary or desirable. > > We look forward to providing scientific input throughout the BEIR VII > process and expect that the Committee will fully address the issues we = have > raised as seriously as it might were those same issues raised by a memb= er of > the Committee. > > We appreciate the opportunity for public comment and ask that it be exp= anded > as needed to fully accommodate the issues and evidence that we want to = put > forth. We look forward to your response. Do let us know if you have an= y > questions or need more information. Please address your questions or > responses to Lisa Ledwidge or Arjun Makhijani. Thank you very much. > > Sincerely, > > Lisa Ledwidge Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D. > ieer@ieer.org arjun@ieer.org > > Other signatories: > David Close, Professor, Dept. of Physics, East Tennessee State Universi= ty > Steve Wing, Associate Professor, Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Publi= c > Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill > > Cc: Members of Committee ACERER > > > ***************************************************************** > Hisham Zerriffi > Project Scientist > Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) > 6935 Laurel Ave. Suite 204, Takoma Park, MD 20912 > Phone: (301) 270-5500 Fax: (301) 270-3029 > E-mail: hisham@ieer.org Web: http://www.ieer.org > ***************************************************************** > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.= com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jonathan Parfrey Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: BEIR VII Date: 26 Aug 1999 15:00:02 -0700 Dear Bob: A good response to IEER on the BEIR committee. You go, Bob! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jonathan Parfrey Executive Director Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles 1316 Third Street Promenade - Suite B1 Santa Monica, CA 90401-1325 310 458 2694 voice - 310 458 7925 fascimile psrsm@psr.org http://www.labridge.com/psr/ - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space Subject: (abolition-usa) Star Wars Test on Sept 29 Date: 30 Aug 1999 22:37:35 -0400 (EDT) =20 =20 Space Intercept Test Set for Late September By Frank Sietzen, Jr. Washington Bureau Chief Aug 30 1999 06:30:13 ET =20 WASHINGTON =96 September 29 has been set for the first-ever test of a proto= type=20 National Missile Defense system. The Integrated Flight Test 3 of the Nation= al=20 Missile Defense (NMD) system will track, attack, and attempt to destroy a= =20 mock warhead attempting to enter the atmosphere in a simulated attack upon= =20 the U.S. The test, the first of its kind, will use a Boeing-made launch vehicle=20 carrying a Raytheon-made killer interceptor in space high above the Kwajale= in=20 Missile Range in the Pacific Ocean, according to a senior NMD official. The= =20 warhead mock-up will be launched from the Air Force=92s Vandenberg Air Base= in=20 California and head westward across the Pacific. The interceptor killer wil= l=20 be launched from a Kwajalein island launching silo. A previous series of two intercepts conduced in the Army=92s Theater High= =20 Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system was a simulation of an attack by=20 intermediate range missiles in a battlefield theater, or limited area setti= ng. The NMD system under design would protect all of the continental United=20 States, Alaska, and Hawaii against a limited nuclear attack "by a rogue=20 nation" located anywhere in the northern hemisphere, the official told=20 space.com this week. The IFT-3 test has limited objectives, officials said. It will use the rada= r=20 systems at the Kwajalein test site to feed steering and tracking data to th= e=20 booster while ascending towards the warhead. A missile launched in defense= =20 against an actual attack would use the booster=92s own guidance and trackin= g=20 system. The data will be gathered from radars at the test site, ships nearby,=20 patrolling aircraft and from the orbiting Global Positioning System (GPS)= =20 satellites. Then, it will be fed into the Battle Management Center, which= =20 will send steering commands to the interceptor kill vehicle in space as it= =20 hunts the warhead. The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) forbids the transmission of thi= s=20 tracking data directly from the site radars to any interceptors. "At this= =20 point, we=92re trying to find the =91bomb=92," the official said. Flight test four, in 2000, will actually use the rocket=92s onboard radar= =20 system to detect and track the reentry vehicle. The intercepts will occur a= t=20 least 120 km out in space above the Pacific. In an actual NMD event, once an attacking missile lifts above the horizon,= =20 the U.S. Defense Support Program detects the launch and alerts U.S. forces.= =20 (Later in the next decade, Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellites= =20 will do the job.) Early warning radars will track the missile as it flies and separates the= =20 reentry vehicle from the burned-out stages of its booster. These radars=20 "paint" the field of rocket and reentry vehicle parts as they speed out in= =20 space, classifying the field of objects. "This is an attempt to see what some of this material is, what is the=20 rocket=92s fairing, what are springs and other debris in that cloud", the= =20 official said. In an actual missile attack against the U.S., the incoming= =20 bomb might also carry with it countermeasures aimed at fooling the tracking= =20 radars, hiding the precise location of the bomb-carrying warhead as it head= s=20 towards the U.S. A new series of X-band radars, among the most powerful ever built, are bein= g=20 designed to take the next step during the attack scenario. Where the tracki= ng=20 radars have eliminated decoys and debris, the X-Band systems would then "lo= ok=20 into the cluster of remaining materials from the rocket and say =91that=92s= the=20 bomb=92," the official explained. As the interceptor kill vehicle is launched and ascends towards the target,= =20 the kill vehicle separates from the last stage of its launcher and then=20 "opens its eyes," meaning its sensors then sweep the narrow field before it= =20 where the bomb is approaching. That distance, while classified, is "hundred= s=20 of miles," officials said. With sensors tracking the bomb warhead, thrusters on the kill interceptor,= =20 guided by onboard systems and ground radars makes the final maneuvers to th= e=20 target. The incoming bomb is destroyed upon collision with the interceptor,= =20 which carries no explosive. Officials call this final phase of the tracking= =20 and intercept "the endgame."=20 Following a limited number of such space intercept tests, the NMD=20 organization will decide next summer whether to recommend to the White Hous= e=20 that a national missile system can be deployed. Such a system, if approved by the President, would be deployed by the year= =20 2005. It would also require changes in the SALT and other treaties, which= =20 currently ban a national missile defense system by the U.S., although Russi= a=20 has a limited missile defense system still in place around Moscow. That=20 system was deployed before the fall of the former Soviet Union. =20 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space Subject: (abolition-usa) Star Wars Test News Release Date: 30 Aug 1999 21:04:32 -0400 (EDT) Friends: Please help us by copying and sending this news release to your local media. Thanks. Bruce Gagnon STAR WARS MISSILE TEST DRAWS INTERNATIONAL OPPOSITION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: BRUCE GAGNON (352) 337-9274 The Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space is organizing an international effort on September 13-15 to oppose the revitalized Star Wars plans of the Clinton administration and the U.S. Congress. Calling it the Star Wars International Call-In Days, activists around the world will be speaking out in opposition to a scheduled Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) test planned in September over the Pacific Ocean by the Pentagon. Congress has voted to allow the BMD system to move forward as "soon as technically feasible". The Clinton administration is now beginning to consider circumventing the 1972 ABM Treaty that outlaws the development of weapons systems like the BMD. Clinton is scheduled to make a final deployment decision on the BMD in June, 2000. According to Global Network Coordinator Bruce Gagnon, "With Democrats and Republicans recently voting to allow early deployment of BMD, the door has been opened wide for the deployment of space-based weapons. We are talking about moving the arms race into space! The cost in tax dollars will be staggering and the threat to world peace will be enormous. People understand that putting lasers in space is an offensive strategy. We are organizing a global response to this craziness." Global Network organizers are calling on the public to contact the White House and Congress between September 13-15 with the message No BMD, No Star Wars. Activists in other parts of the world will be contacting the U.S. Embassy in their country with the same message. The Star Wars International Call-In Days will mark the beginning of a year long campaign being organized by the Global Network. Throughout 2000 a series of events will target the Star Wars issue. Included in these actions will be a demonstration at the Treasury Department on April 14 highlighting the $100 billion that has been spent on Star Wars development to date and an International conference on the subject the following day. On October 7, 2000 an International Day of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space will be held. Check the Global Network website at: http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk # # # # - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) More Trouble for Livermore Lab; NIF Chief Resigns! Date: 30 Aug 1999 20:09:41 -0700 http://www.hotcoco.com/news/alameda/trivalley/stories/bdu08092.htm Conta Costa Times (California) Published Saturday, August 28, 1999 NIF head quits amid Ph.D. flap Acclaimed Lawrence Livermore laser physicist never finished his degree By David Holbrook and Andrea Widener LIVERMORE Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's top laser scientist, head of the project that is building the world's most powerful laser, resigned Friday after it was revealed he never earned a doctorate from Princeton University. Michael Campbell, a renowned physicist who was responsible for the $1.2 billion National Ignition Facility project, said this week he failed to complete his doctoral dissertation after being hired by the lab in 1977. But he never informed supervisors and colleagues at the lab, where his doctorate was commonly cited and he was referred in lab literature as Dr. E. Michael Campbell. In an interview with the Times this week, a distraught Campbell said personal issues had prevented him from completing his doctorate 22 years ago. He also said the need for a doctorate became increasingly insignificant as he made a rapid rise through the lab's laser fusion programs, an assertion confirmed by highplaced colleagues. "It would be a waste of time and talent to continue to pursue a dissertation in some cases," said David Crandall, the Department of Energy official overseeing the NIF project. "Michael never got his done, and after a while I think he stopped resisting being called 'doctor.'" Campbell's lack of a degree became common knowledge early this week when anonymous faxes streamed into the office of lab Director Bruce Tarter and several other departments at the lab. Campbell immediately told Tarter he didn't hold a doctorate and voluntarily took personal leave, lab officials said. Although he resigned as head of the NIF project, Campbell is still employed as a technical adviser. Lab officials are still investigating whether he lied about holding a doctorate during the hiring process. Lab officials said they are unlikely to release the results of their investigation because it involves a personnel issue. Lab spokeswoman Susan Houghton said officials have confirmed through Princeton that Campbell completed his doctoral course work but never finished his dissertation. In a statement that illustrated the high regard Campbell enjoys at the lab, Tarter said the Danville resident has "made extraordinary technical contributions and provided exceptional leadership for laser programs." "We look forward to his future contributions," Tarter said. Tarter appointed George Miller, associate director for national security, to take over temporary leadership of the laser program division. Campbell's sudden decision to take leave this week spawned widespread speculation at the lab, including suggestions that it was related to cost overruns in the construction of NIF. The muchheralded laser is intended to allow scientists to maintain nuclear weapons without the need for explosives testing. However, Campbell said the circumstances that led to his resignation did not involve any problems with the project. "This has nothing to do with NIF," he said. "It's to do with me personally." Houghton confirmed Campbell's comment. She said a meeting scheduled next week between Campbell and highlevel Department of Energy officials to discuss NIF's progress was made before the doctorate issue arose. Stress related to other laser programs under his supervision convinced Campbell that he should take leave this week, he said. "I have a young family, and I need to spend some time with them," he said. "My wife has said the lab has sucked the life out of me." Campbell said he had no idea why anyone would investigate his background and leak the results to lab officials. "I don't know what they did it for," he said. "All my life I've tried not to hurt anybody." Campbell is a popular, enthusiastic figure at the lab and has many defenders, all of whom said it's common to hire doctoral candidates before they complete their dissertations. Such scholars are referred to as ABDs; the letters refer to "all but dissertation" status. Once hired, an ABD's career advancement generally comes through scientific breakthroughs rather than educational credentials. "At this point in Michael's career, his accomplishments have far outstripped any meaning about a doctorate," Crandall said. Houghton said none of Campbell's jobs at the labs required a doctorate, and his claim to one played no role in winning the $196,500 position as associate director of laser programs. Campbell became head of the lab's laser programs in 1994, and has since helped win 19 awards from the prominent Research & Development publication. Among many honors, Campbell has won the American Physical Society's award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research, the Edward Teller Medal and a 197273 Guggenheim fellowship. In 1994, Campbell won the prestigious E.O. Lawrence Award for "distinguished leadership in helping to propel laserdriven inertial confinement fusion to the forefront of physics research." Andrea Widener covers science and the area's national laboratories. You can reach her at 9258472158 or mail to: awidener@cctimes.com 1999 Contra Costa Newspapers, Inc. ****************************************************** Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, California USA 94612 Tel: +(510)839-5877 Fax: +(510)839-5397 E-mail: wslf@earthlink.net ****************************************************** Western States Legal Foundation is part of ABOLITION 2000 A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Lack of data at NTS; even MORE problems for Livermore Lab! Date: 30 Aug 1999 20:27:47 -0700 Las Vegas ReviewJournal Saturday, August 28, 1999 Copyright; Las Vegas ReviewJournal Report: Test site models flawed Scientists lack the data to predict radioactive releases from nuclear test cavities, an independent panel says. By Keith Rogers ReviewJournal Computer models designed to forecast radioactive releases from cavities left by nuclear weapons tests in Nevada have serious flaws and lack the data to support them, according to an independent panel of scientists who reviewed the models. A confidential report prepared by the scientists, a copy of which was obtained by the ReviewJournal, suggests that more data be collected and more test wells drilled to monitor key areas at the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The report drew strong comment from U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, DNev., who said he was "greatly bothered" by its conclusions. The two models were developed as part of a $170 million program to predict where radioactive remnants from belowground nuclear weapons blasts would travel after the materials were injected into aquifers at the test site. They will be part of a warning mechanism, along with a system of monitoring wells, to assure the public can be protected from potential radioactive releases for centuries to come. The models and wells are independent of those being developed for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, on the southwest edge of the test site, where the federal government wants to entomb the nation's highlevel radioactive waste. Given that the contamination stems from nuclear tests, in some cases going back more than 40 years, Bryan said he now has even less faith that models can predict any radioactive leaks that might come from waste in Yucca Mountain over 10,000 years. "This is another example of the assurances that Nevadans have been given for more than a generation when it comes to matters relating to nuclear issues," he said. "These assurances we've been given for decades are much less certain." "If we contaminate an aquifer or water source, we have a real public health crisis," Bryan said. Allen Biaggi, administrator of the state Environmental Protection Division, said the division "has had longstanding concerns with the models that are being developed for the test site." Energy Department officials reacted Friday to questions about the 60page report, which is marked "not for public release." They said one reason the data doesn't appear complete is because the bulk of the information is classified and could not be shared with the panel. "I'm not real surprised with the (panel's) results," said Bob Bangerter, manager of the Energy Department's Underground Test Area Project. "Our next step will be to develop a plan to address the concerns in the peer review report. Anytime you do a peer review, you don't expect it to come out in flying colors," he said, noting, "I believe they did a very good, thorough evaluation." ONE MODEL, DEVELOPED BY THE LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY IN CALIFORNIA FOR THE UNDERGROUND TEST AREA PROJECT, WAS SUPPOSED TO ESTIMATE THE STRENGTH OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINANTS IN GROUND WATER. THAT INFORMATION THEN WOULD BE PLUGGED INTO A GROUND WATER TRANSPORT MODEL DEVELOPED BY IT CORP. A COPY OF THE PEER REVIEW PANEL'S AUG. 3 DRAFT REPORT SAYS "THE DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE (LAWRENCE LIVERMORE) MODEL PREDICTIONS IS UNDERESTIMATED" AND "THERE ARE ALSO CONCERNS THAT THE EXISTING DATA ARE NOT ADEQUATE TO PREDICT THE RATE OF RELEASE OF RADIONUCLIDES" SUCH AS POTENTIALLY DEADLY PLUTONIUM239, CESIUM137, STRONTIUM90, NEPTUNIUM237, IODINE129 AND COBALT60. THE INTENT OF THE LAWRENCE LIVERMORE MODEL WAS TO PREDICT RELEASES FROM ABOUT 260 NUCLEAR TEST CAVITIES THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF CONTAMINATING GROUND WATER THAT COULD MIGRATE OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARY OF THE TEST SITE. IT Corp.'s ground water transport model was aimed at predicting the range beyond which the contaminants would not exceed the safe guideline, a 4 millirem annual dose to humans within 1,000 years. A millirem is onethousandth of a rem, the dose unit for measuring the effect of radiation on the body. The Energy Department, which operates the test site, intends to submit the model for approval by the Nevada Environmental Protection Division under a federal facilities agreement and consent order with the state. The modeling effort was designed to assure safety of Nevadans for up to 1,000 years from radioactivity left from 10 belowground nuclear bomb blasts at the test site's Frenchman Flat. This is the first of six such "corrective action units," the report says. The panel found the models are flawed for a number of reasons and they could not be used to assess the other five corrective action units, which lump groups of the remaining 250 test cavities. Those are located in other areas of the test site where the soils and hydrology are different from Frenchman Flat, according to the consensus report by the sixmember review panel led by Lynn Gelhar. Gelhar, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was not available for comment Friday. Besides inadequate data, the review panel found errors with calculations; cumbersome links between the Frenchman Flat models and a regional model of the entire 1,350squaremile test site; and a lack of consistency between the the Lawrence Livermore and IT reports. "These problems add uncertainty to the results of the model calculations," the draft report says, referring to the "lack of consistency in mass transport data." Uncertainty with the computer models "is likely to be much larger than that calculated because a number of factors have not been adequately addressed," the report said. The panel was charged with reviewing the strategies and methods of data collection, evaluating the results of ground water modeling efforts and commenting on "omission, shortcomings, errors, or ineffective strategies" that were used, the report said. In all, between 1951 and 1992, when fullscale U.S. nuclear weapons tests were put on hold indefinitely, government scientists conducted 928 nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site, of which all but 100 were conducted below ground. With many of the key issues unresolved, the panel recommended that more field data be collected, measurements that reflect the data be made in the laboratory and more appropriate models be developed. That means monitoring wells should be drilled into plumes of contaminants migrating from test cavities so scientists can determine where and how large the plumes are, and how far radionuclides are spreading based on samples collected and analyzed over a period of years. While the models of the Frenchman Flat detonations and ground water flows parallel sound science, the panel says they can't be applied because no data exist to validate them and work has not been completed to determine where the contamination plumes are located. This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/1999/Aug28Sat1999/news/11831803.html For comment or questions, please email to:webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright Las Vegas ReviewJournal, 1997, 1998, 1999 ****************************************************** Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, California USA 94612 Tel: +(510)839-5877 Fax: +(510)839-5397 E-mail: wslf@earthlink.net ****************************************************** Western States Legal Foundation is part of ABOLITION 2000 A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K AND ENERGY Date: 31 Aug 1999 17:28:21 +1000 Excerpt from "The Millennium Reckoning", September 1999 Update (Free copyright with attribution). Go to: http://www.trendmonitor.com for full report RISKS / ENERGY IMPLICATIONS If the Russian natural gas pipeline supplying both Eastern and Western Europe is interrupted, as Russian experts say it almost certainly will be, it will be a very difficult to start the gas flowing again with an uncertain electricity supply and sub-zero temperatures. Oil stops flowing at freezing temperatures which means that pipelines and refineries are at risk, even if there are relatively short power outages. In the US, which is far ahead of Russia in its preparations for the energy sector, "major" oil companies are reported adopting a fix on fail (FOF) policy on wells, pipelines and refineries. Another reported implication is that if the electricity fails, some nuclear plants may have difficulty cooling their cores if they are to be shut down, creating a real danger of accidental melt-downs. The economic, environmental and social implications of the failure of the Russian gas and oil pipeline network are so enormous - for Europe and the rest of the world - that the necessary resources must be made available on an international level to ensure that: i. the operation of the Siberian gas pipeline network is made secure, ii. nuclear reactors everywhere have sustainable back up electrical systems which do not depend on national grids, iii. as many alternative local electricity sources are built as possible. All the countries of Europe and all the people of Europe are at risk of having to deal with the consequences of severe energy shortages and consequent energy price increases. Although it is not certain that this scenario will come true, even if no remedial action is taken, the seriousness of the multiple risks warrants emergency action now on a "just in case" basis. A huge investment in sustainable energy systems is required, both for deployment around nuclear sites and within communities. The task could be doable in the time remaining if an international crash programme were to be implemented in the next few weeks. It is a question of mobilising people and money to secure the future very quickly. Not only would the short-term problem be solved, but also the implementation of an economical long-term solution could be accomplished at the same time. A first step would be a comprehensive upgrade and support programme for Emergency Diesel Generators worldwide. Continuing denial by governments and the media of the possible magnitude of the risk to key energy systems is the greatest danger at the moment because it is preventing people and companies from making appropriate contingency preparations. STORIES Oil and Gas An April 1999, article in Computer Business Review quotes Professor Andrey Terekhov, a Russian Y2K expert, saying "the gas and electricity started work so late that their systems simply will not be ready in time". The article concludes that this news has "ominous implications", not just for Russia, "but also for the countries in Europe which are dependent on Russian gas". [1] In August 1999, it is reported in Computer Weekly that the total money spent "so far" in Russia was $80 million (=A348 million). [11] Yet, a report published in a French industry publication Enerpresse in March 1999 quotes a Gazprom executive saying that his company had virtually solved the "probleme du bogue" with new control software. [No mention was made of embedded chip systems.] [12] In March 1999, UK energy companies are seen as well prepared, according both to their own spokesmen and to Action 2000's colour coding scheme. [2] However, in June 1999, the Financial Times reports that the energy industry is still "spending heavily to ensure that their complex computer systems suffer no ill effects" from the millennium change over. The article warns that "anticipation of chaos" is liable to push up the price of oil as the end of the year approaches. The article also questions the well publicised confidence of the energy sector citing Chevron which said "it could not tell whether it would suffer significant business interruptions, including the shut down of its entire oil and gas production", although the company expected disruptions to be "localised". [3] Sources within the US oil industry are quoted in an Editorial appearing on the Golden Eagle Website saying: "Overall, these sources estimate that based on prior limited testing, they are expecting a 10 to 20% ratio of failure, or multiple embedded systems going down on each oil well. There will be no parts to fix them and no replacement systems available for quite a long while. These sources tell me that the major oil companies have adopted a FOF policy (fix on fail), because it is the only affordable and practical approach." "The bottom line: Most oil well embedded systems were never, and are never going to be checked or tested for Y2K compliance. Its a virtual impossibility PLUS... And even if they did, most likely the parts to replace them will no longer be available. It's now become very difficult to find anyone who can supply a replacement system before 1/1/2000. Some easier testing was done on more accessible systems, which are usually newer. Understandably, fail rates have soared 25% in some areas. On the subject of oil and gas pipelines, the author says, "The same that was said about the well heads and embedded systems is true for the pipelines. It's just too complicated - and the major companies decided to adopt the FOF policy - and wait to see what breaks down and to subsequently try to fix it. Another consideration is loss of electricity for any significant length of time." The other point made in the article is that the oil industry -- like so many others -- works on the basis of a just in time supply principle. Consequently stocks of oil and natural gas are very low. [4] This perception is confirmed by the International Energy Authority which says in a July 1999 report, "One of the most important findings is that just-in-time energy supplies present the greatest risk of failure. These energy supplies, electricity and gas, are dependent on a complex delivery infrastructure". The report says "Vulnerabilities still exist at all levels of the oil supply chain". Specifically, "Oil and gas pipelines have been identified as an area of ongoing concern. Most potential problems lie in pipeline control and monitoring systems and a vulnerability to disruptions in the electricity supply." Offshore production is seen to be "generally at greater risk" than onshore production "because of the accessibility problems encountered when testing subsea equipment". [10] Electricity In both the US and the UK, there has been very little press concern about the readiness of the electrical generation and distribution grid utilities. However, a draft report by the US Army entitled Y2K Analyses for Complex Systems of Systems, published in January 1999, provides a critical view. The report concludes that the possibility of serious electrical power disruption is very real despite what it describes as the growing optimism of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC). Some of the reasons given for this conclusion are that "industry deregulation since 1996 may have made the electrical power grid more vulnerable to Y2K", as "competition produces far more inter-grid power wheeling, stressing transmission stability beyond industry modeling and planning". The report argues that the "unbundling of generation, transmission, distribution and brokering makes coordinated exchange of information and action more difficult" and large scale testing impossible. According to the study, "the industry systems for modeling and analyzing contingencies emphasize continued operation in spite of the "most severe single contingency" making them inherently "far less capable of dealing with multiple and dispersed contingencies". However, Y2K failures are liable to be "multiple and geographically dispersed - even if not catastrophic individually". Industry strategy is said to "to assume that all required fixes or workarounds to the initial failure - can be made quickly, thus allowing the system to reconstitute itself in hours or days". The question is asked: "What if the Y2K fixes take weeks?" [19] Nuclear In May 1999 The Financial Times reports, "The French Institute of Nuclear Safety reported that safety at France's nuclear power stations could be jeopardised by the millennium computer bug. The institute said the plants were threatened by failures from both their own computer systems and problems with the French electricity grid. It found that between 45 per cent and 80 per cent of internal systems "could be sensitive" to the Y2K problem." [18] On August 22, 1999, the Observer reports a study by nuclear engineer, John Large, commissioned by Greenpeace, which suggests that "the millennium bug could jeopardise the safety of Britains nuclear power plants" and "raises alarming questions over the international nuclear industry's preparedness for year 2000 computer problems". According to the report, "One of the major concerns is that facilities linked to the nuclear plants, such as the national grid and local telecommunications networks may fail at the time when the plants need them most." The article quotes Frank Barnaby, a nuclear physicist working for the independent Oxford Research Group, "There seems to be a very strange complacency about the who Y2K issue within the UK nuclear industry". Spokesperson for the UK's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is also quoted saying "They have nothing to worry about." [14] On the same day, The Independent on Sunday reports that "Britain's nuclear watchdog has issued a warning to atomic power stations about the dangers of a millennium-like computer bug which is due to strike on 9 September." [15] An article by Helen Caldicott is published in The Los Angeles Times on August 17, 1999 which says that "at a White House meeting I attended recently with John Koskenin, the head of the president's Y2K committee, representatives of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department of Defense and four independent experts, the government representatives dismissed concerns that were raised while providing no substantive basis for confidence that we do not face potentially irregular, and possibly serious, nuclear accidents on or after Jan.1, 2000". According to the article, "Nuclear power plants are dependent upon an intact external electricity supply to maintain the circulation of about 1 million gallons of water per minute to cool the radioactive core and also to keep the spent fuel pools cool. If a section of the grid goes down, the approximately 100-ton fissioning uranium core in the affected reactor will melt within two hours if the two back up diesel generators--whose reliability has been estimated at 85%--fail." The point is also made that " Unlike the reactor cores, most of the spent fuel pools, which hold four to five times more radioactivity than the core, have no back up power supply nor containment vessel, and thus could melt within 48 hours if the reactor has been recently refueled; if not, they would melt within two weeks without cooling water. Twenty-six U.S. reactors are scheduled for refueling before Jan. 1." While Koskenin is reported admitting the possibility of "random power outages" in the US, "he did not address the issue of the precarious back-up generators nor the fact that the NRC requires only one week of diesel fuel at each reactor site, even though local power outages could last longer." [17] According to a database called "Diesel Generator Defects at US Nuclear Plants" compiled by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, reports from January 1, 1999 to the present "show that defects and problems occur on a weekly basis in the US nuclear power industry. There are 27 reports affecting 41 plants; or 40% of all US commercial nuclear plants so far this year." Scott D. Portzline of Three Mile Island Alert comments in "The Weakest Link: Emergency Diesel Generators (EDGs)" that during a "station blackout" (loss of offsite power) these generators "supply the electricity needed to bring the plant to a safe shutdown". If they fail, it is said that the chance of an accident "approaches certainty". Former NRC Chairman Dr. Shirley Jackson is also quoted saying, "NRC reviews in recent years have left no doubt that a station blackout at a nuclear power station is a major contributor to reactor core damage frequency." Although the NRC is reported to be claiming a 97.5 per cent reliability, "watchdogs say it is lower". [9] Reuters reported from the US on June 18, 1999 in an article entitled "US proposes stock piling radiation antidote", that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had proposed the stockpiling of potassium iodide, which helps "prevent radioactive iodine from being lodged in the thyroid gland, where it could lead to thyroid cancer or other illness". [5] A report in The Times, on August 25, 1999, says "US nuclear power industry regulators have discovered that around one-third of the nation's 103 nuclear power stations have yet to resolve all of their Y2K problems". Although safety systems are said to be 100 bug free, 15 stations are reported to be "still working on systems that might shut down power generation". [16] In an article entitled, "The accidental Armageddon" in The Australian, Helen Caldicott, an anti-nuclear energy campaigner, warns that the circulation of coolant water is "dependent on an external electricity supply and an intact telecommunications system. If the millennium bug causes power failures and/or telecommunication malfunctions, reactors will be vulnerable. Because of this possibility, each US reactor has been equipped with two back-up diesel generators. But at best these are only 85 per cent reliable. So, in the event of a prolonged power failure, the back-up diesel generators will not necessarily prevent a nuclear catastrophe. And 67 Russian-built reactors are even more vulnerable, because they have no back-up generators. "What is more, the Russian electricity grid is itself at great risk because, as one might expect, the political and economic turmoil in that country means the Y2K problem has hardly been examined. There are 70 old nuclear reactors on old Russian submarines moored at dock in the Barents Sea. If they were to lose the electricity grid powering their cooling systems, they would melt." The article advocates a crash program to provide all the world's nuclear reactors with Wind and Solar electricity generators in order to insure that enough electricity is always available for cooling necessary to prevent meltdowns. [6] An article in the Independent on July 4, 1999 cites an internal memo circulated in the British Embassy in Moscow, which says that Russia is "one of the countries most vulnerable to Y2K problems". Among the concerns listed in the article is "back up generators for nuclear power stations". [7] "Midnight Crossing" published in the July 1999 issue of the US Airforce Magazine, says: "US officials are very concerned that a computer failure in Russia's interconnected power grid could cascade through the entire nuclear system and lead to a massive power outage. Such an event could easily end in catastrophe at one of the 65 Soviet-made nuclear reactors." Human error by "an undermanned and unmotivated" (and often unpaid) nuclear work force is increasing "the possibility that a power outage at a nuclear reactor could lead to a catastrophe". Even if the nuclear reactors are managed well, the article says, "loss of power and cooling at the numerous waste pools where atomic fuel rods are kept could cause the water to boil away and permit the release, into the local atmosphere, of lethal levels of radioactivity. Recently loaded rods -- those placed in the waste pools within the past two years -- could begin to melt down within 48 hours of a loss of power". [8] Russian experts are quoted in a July 1999 Enerpresse saying that it is very unlikely that the bug will have serious consequences for Russian nuclear reactors. An official is quoted saying Russia hoped to commence work on remediation "in a couple of weeks". [13] REFERENCES [1] Russian bug threatens cold winter of discontent - Computer Business Review, Apr 1999 [2] Questions linger on energy - Financial Times, Mar 3, 1999 [3] Industry tries to avoid hazardous flare-ups - Financial Times, Jun 22, 1= 999 [4] Oil and Natural Gas: Are They the Real Problems in Y2K? - Jun 21, 1999 http://www.gold- eagle.com/editorials_99/rc062199.html [5] US proposes stockpiling radiation antidote, By Tom Doggett - Reuters WASHINGTON, Jun 18, 1999 [6] Accidental Armageddon - The Age (Australia), Jun 20, 1999 http://www.theage.com.au/daily/ 990620/news/news22.html [7] Diplomats warned off Y2K Russia - Independent, July 4, 1999 [8] Midnight crossing - Airforce Magazine, July 1999 [9] Emergency Diesel Generators: The Weakest Link - Three Mile Island Alert, July 1999 http://www.tmia.com/EDGs.html [10] Update on the IEA's Y2K Activities - International Energy Authority, July 1999 http://www.iea.org/ieay2k/homepage.htm [11] Russia dances to the date bug's tune - Computer Weekly, Aug 5, 1999 [12] Gazprom rejette tout problem lie au bogue de l'an 2000 - Enerpresse, Mar 12, 1999 [13] Le bogue ne devrait pas avoir de consequences graves en Russie - Enerpresse, Jul 6, 1999 [14] Nuclear alert over millennium bug - Observer, Aug 22, 1999 [15] Nuclear plants on alert over computer bug - Independent on Sunday, Aug 22, 1999 [16] It's safe we hope - The Times, Aug 25, 1999 [17] Perspective on the Y2K problem: The sky indeed may be falling - Los Angeles Times, Aug 17, 1999 [18] French nuclear plants threatened by Y2K bug - Financial Times, May 4, 1= 999 [19] Y2K analysis for complex systems of systems: Electric power systems in North America - US Army Report, Jan 1999 http://cr-iiacfs1.army.mil/army-y2k/y2kelectric90224/tsld001.htm ************************************************ Jan Wyllie Trend Monitor "The Information Refinery" 3 Tower Street, Portsmouth Hants. PO1 2JR, UK Tel: 44 (0)1363 881017 Email: mailto:jan@trendmonitor.com Web: http://www.trendmonitor.com "only what you need to know" <<...>> CIS: Russia, US defence chiefs to meet Sept 13 - agency Tuesday, 31 Aug 1999 at 01:52am; Category: Overseas News; Low priority; Story No. 9551. CIS: Russia, US defence chiefs to meet Sept 13 - agency RUSSIA US DEFENCE MOSCOW, Aug 30 Reuters - The defence ministers of Russia and the United States will meet in Moscow on September 13 to discuss Kosovo, arms control and other pressing problems, Interfax news agency said today. The Defence Ministry confirmed that Igor Sergeyev would meet his US counterpart William Cohen next month but said a final date had still to be fixed. Interfax, quoting Leonid Ivashov, who heads the Russian Defence Ministry's international cooperation division, said the problems of Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo would top the agenda. Kosovo Albanians have been barring Russian peacekeepers from the town of Orahovac saying they are biased in favour of the Serbs. Washington has urged them to stop their blockade and allow the Russians to carry out their duties. Ivashov said Cohen and Sergeyev would also discuss cooperation on arms control and tackling the millennium computer bug. The Kremlin is still trying to persaude the Communist-dominated parliament to ratify the 1993 START-2 strategic arms reduction treaty and wants to start talks on a START-3 treaty which would impose further cuts in nuclear arsenals. But Moscow is also concerned about US plans to develop an anti-ballistic missile defence shield to protect its own troops and allies in the Far East like Japan against attack from "rogue states" such as North Korea. Russia says such a shield would violate the 1972 anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty which it regards as a central pillar of international arms control. The arms control issue, along with the Kosovo crisis, has soured relations between Moscow and Washington. Russia fiercely opposed NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia but played an active role in mediating between the alliance and Belgrade. REUTER was 31-08 0152 <<...>> Thought you should know about the following report in the Christchurch Press today: "Glitch hits Aust Navy Almost the entire Australian patrol-boat fleet was affected by a satellite navigation glitch akin to the millennium computer bug, the Defence Department said. A Defence spokesman said yesterday that the global positioning systems aboard 14 of the navy's Fremantle class patrol boats failed at the weekend when the calendars on a ring of 24 satellites orbiting the earth were reset." This was one of the preview kick-in dates. In Michael Kraig's oped piece in the March/April issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, he wrote: "These systems may go down earlier than 2000, or they may fail months or years later than the turn of the century. For example, the internal clock of the Global Positioning System will 'roll over' on August 22, 1999, with calamitous results for any GPS user who does not have properly configured satellite receivers." Now, I wonder if this might also have been a contributory cause of the collision in the English Channel in clear calm weather (but at night) between the cruise liner 'Norwegian Dream' and a container ship? Bear in mind that the GPS system is in thousands of ships, fishing boats, yachts etc The next big date is 9/9/99. Best wishes, Rob * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Commander Robert D Green, Royal Navy (Retired) Chair, World Court Project UK Disarmament & Security Centre PO Box 8390 Christchurch Aotearoa/New Zealand Tel/Fax: (+64) 3 348 1353 Email: robwcpuk@chch.planet.org.nz [The DSC is a specialist branch of the NZ Peace Foundation] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Subject: (abolition-usa) Invitation to the October Meeting of the US Campaign to Abolish Date: 31 Aug 1999 09:51:32 -0700 (PDT) *********************************************************************** US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS - NATIONAL MEETING *********************************************************************** TO: All activists who are working for the abolition of nuclear weapons and a positive peace and justice policy in the United States FROM: The Facilitator's Group and Working Group Convenors of the US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS (partial list depleted by August vacations, including but not limited to): John Burroughs, Lawyer's Committee on Nuclear Policy, New York; Jackie Cabasso and Andy Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation, California; Alan Haber, Peace and Environment Coalition for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons and Megiddo Peace Project, Michigan; Odile Haber, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section; Jan Harwood, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section and Abolition 2000 Coalition, Santa Cruz, California; Sally Light, Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, California; Pamela Meidell, The Atomic Mirror, California; Bob Musil and Bob Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Washington, DC; Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons; Esther Pank, Peace Links, Washington, DC; Richard Salvador, Pacific Island Association of NGOs, Hawaii; Susan Schaer, Women's Action for New Directions, Washington, DC; Alice Slater, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, New York WE CORDIALLY INVITE YOU to participate in a national meeting of the US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS which will take place on October 9, 10 and 11, 1999, in Ann Arbor, Michigan in connection with a nuclear abolition teach-in and community forum at the University of Michigan. We also encourage you to come early and stay late for the teach-in and related community forum activities! (see below) We are continuing to develop plans for a coordinated US campaign in furtherance of the MISSION STATEMENT and DECLARATION adopted at the February 1999 meeting of some 60 organizations in Santa Barbara, California, (see enclosed), and in recognition of the linkages between democracy, power and nuclear weapons. The campaign will utilize the working groups identified in Santa Barbara and resources provided by the cooperating organizations. A brief outline of the working groups is included. We encourage you to contact the convenors if you are interested in getting involved. We hope that you and your organization will join us in this unified effort to eliminate nuclear weapons and build towards a more peaceful and just future. Please return the enclosed registration form right away! If you have questions or would like to offer proposals for the agenda or the campaign's structure or activities, or if you'd like to submit a working paper, please respond to Carah Ong by September 15, if possible. A follow-up mailing is planned, which will include a meeting agenda, proposals, and final teach-in schedule. (Carah's contact information can be found on the registration form.) ********************************************************************** TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN COMMUNITY FORUM/TEACH-IN ********************************************************************** FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1999 12:45 p.m. - Panel: Nuclear Proliferation Peace Science Society Panelists: Russell Leng, Middlebury College; Mike Simon, University of Iowa Moderator: J. David Singer, University of Michigan. 2:45 p.m.- Presentation: Chances of Accidental Nuclear Launch Speaker: Bruce Blair, Brookings Institution 3:30 p.m. - Presentation: Environmental and Public Health Hazards of Nuclear Weapons Production Speaker: Arjun Makhijani, Institute for Energy & Environmental Research 4:15 p.m.- Presentation: Serpent River First Nation People (tentative) 7:15 p.m.- Presentation: The Case Against Nuclear Weapons Abolition Speaker: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Hoover Institution at Stanford University 8:15 p.m.- Presentation: The Need for International Agreements to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Speaker: Merav Datan, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War 9:00 p.m.- Panel Discussion Panelists: Blair, Makhijani, Bueno de Mesquita, and Datan For information on the October 8 Community Forum: www.nuclearabolition.research.umich.edu ************************************************************************ US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS - NATIONAL MEETING ************************************************************************ SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9: 9 a.m. - meeting activities begin; meeting continues all day. Agenda will include introductions, updates and reports, including from the working groups, and reflections on the responses of the government to questions from the community. The goal of the meeting is to lay the foundation for and develop a national campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons. A full agenda will follow in a separate mailing. An informal reception is scheduled in the evening at an historic building in downtown Ann Arbor SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10: meeting continues all day MONDAY, OCTOBER 11/INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY: 2 p.m. - meeting ends (afternoon activity may follow) ************************************************************************ COMMUNITY FORUM WITH LYNN RIVERS ************************************************************************ MONDAY, OCTOBER 11: Forum on Nuclear Weapons - Monday evening October 11, 7-9 p.m. at the community college. This not part of our program but a separate event hosted by Representative Lynn Rivers. Questions about the Monday evening forum should be directed to Lynn Rivers office, (734) 485-3741; lynn.rivers@mail.house.gov The local Peace and Environmental Coalition for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons is working to organize other events and activities prior to and during the weekend of October 8-10. Beginning October 4, programs are projected to include the politics of abolition, the international abolition movement, nukes in space, stockpile stewardship, new weapons, weapons and energy, ethics, the environment, affected peoples, international law and terms of an abolition treaty, low level radiation, health questions, depleted uranium, Israel, the bomb and Mordechai Vanunu, India-Pakistan, Korea, Russia, NATO, new frontiers of peace research, the science of peace, and others. Many schools and departments of the University have been asked to host programs relevant to their areas of knowledge. A film and video program is also being planned. (Suggestions welcomed.) Opportunities will be sought for the various working groups of the US CAMPAIGN to 'report to the community' the state of thought and work on particular aspects of the nuclear question, such as direct action, civil society, and indigenous people's concerns. For further information and inquiries about participation, please contact Alan Haber, (734)761-7967, megiddo@umich.edu. A fuller schedule will be circulated in our follow up letter. ************************************************************************ LODGING IN ANN ARBOR ************************************************************************ HOTEL: A limited number of rooms have been reserved at the Hampton Inn at the rate of $65 + tax per night, either single or double occupancy, including continental breakfast. A shuttle will provide transportation to and from the conference. HOME STAYS: The local coalition is arranging home stays. Those who would like to stay as a guest in the home of an Ann Arbor peace activist should contact Shana Milkie by e-mail at smilkie@mich.com or by phone at 734-332-1106. E-mail is preferred. A $25 suggested minimum donation is requested to help cover material and location expenses, although no one will be turned away for inability to contribute to conference costs. Please include a check or money order with your registration form. Make your check payable to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation or NAPF, and write "conference fee" on the memo line. ********************************************************************** US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS OCTOBER 9,10 and 11, 1999 MEETING REGISTRATION FORM ********************************************************************** __ Yes, I plan to attend the meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I have enclosed a check or money order for $25 and my complete registration information is below. --- Yes, I plan to attend the meeting in Ann Arbor and am enclosing an additional contribution of $__ to help expand diversity at the meeting and defray additional meeting expenses. --- No, I cannot attend the meeting, but enclosed is my contribution of $___ for a successful meeting and campaign launch. Name ______________________________ Organization ______________________________ Address ______________________________ ______________________________ Phone ______________________________ Email ______________________________ __ Please reserve a room for me at the group rate of $65.00 s/d at the Hampton Inn. I understand that there is limited availability at the group rate so I have provided my credit card number to reserve my room. I understand that there will be no charges to my credit card until I check into my room but there is a 72 hour cancellation policy, so I must send Carah Ong my cancellation notice at least three days prior to my scheduled arrival. __ I would like to share a room with: (name)____________________________________________. __ Please help me find a room mate, if possible. I plan to arrive on (date)________ and leave on (date)________. Please reserve my room for (number)_____ nights. Credit Card (circle one): Visa Mastercard American Express Discover Diner's Card Number______________________________________ Expiration Date___________________ Authorized Signature______________________________________ __ I will contact Shana Milkie by E-mail atsmilkie@mich.com or by phone at (734)332 -1106 and let her know I am interested in a home stay arranged by the local coalition of Ann Arbor peace activists. __ I will make my own arrangements for accommodations. PLEASE RETURN THIS COMPLETED FORM, WITH YOUR VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION, TO: Carah Ong Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1187 Coast Village Rd., Suite 1 Santa Barbara, California 93108 Phone 805-965-3443 Fax 805-568-0466 E- mail: A2000@silcom.com ************************************************************************ US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS ************************************************************************ MISSION STATEMENT To ensure a just, secure, healthy and sustainable world for our children, grandchildren, all future generations and all living things, we aim to educate public opinion and mobilize persistent popular pressure to move the United States government to take prompt and unequivocal actions to eliminate nuclear weapons. These actions must include halting continued development of new and modified nuclear weapons, de-alerting nuclear forces, addressing the environmental degradation and human suffering arising from testing, production, deployment and use of nuclear weapons, and undertaking negotiations with other countries on a treaty for their elimination. Our objective is nothing less than the universal, complete, verifiable, and enduring abolition of nuclear weapons. SANTA BARBARA DECLARATION From all corners of this land, representing diverse constituencies and traditions, including indigenous nations, we have come together in common cause, determined to end the threat to all life posed by nuclear weapons. We recognize that nuclear weapons and the nuclear fuel cycle have caused widespread suffering, death and environmental devastation. We further recognize that resources used for nuclear arms need to be redirected to meeting human and environmental needs. The United States bears special responsibility as the only country to use nuclear weapons in war. It continues to spend vast sums on its massive nuclear weapons complex, and its current policies would upgrade and maintain a huge nuclear arsenal far into the future. The conference has initiated a campaign tailored to address the unique obstacles in the United States to achieving nuclear weapons abolition. Our campaign builds upon the foundations laid by Abolition 2000 and other efforts to abolish nuclear arms. We commit our hearts, our spirits, and our energy to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons and invite all people of goodwill to join us. -- Santa Barbara, February 14, 1999 ************************************************************************ WHY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN? ************************************************************************ STATEMENT BY ALAN HABER, US CAMPAIGN LIAISON TO THE MICHIGAN PEACE AND ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION FOR THE ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS Our purpose in initiating and hosting this community forum, teach-in and national action meeting is to assert the relevance and urgency of public education and policy change on the nuclear question. We seek to bring the full intellectual, and knowledge resources of the university and the community generally to the consideration of the nuclear question, especially the urgency to embrace a policy change, directed to the elimination of nuclear weapons, their removal from the world's arsenals, along with all other weapons of mass destruction, as well as adopting more affirmative peacemaking policies. Leading work has gone on at the university in the study of peace and war, conflict resolution, and transformation, general systems theory, social organization, etc. an opportunity should be made available, in and of itself to showcase this work, and especially so in the context of considering changes in America's current strategic defense policies The weapons side of the nuclear question is our first focus. Ultimately all aspects of the nuclear question are related. The University of Michigan is eminent in nuclear engineering; our previous president is a nuclear engineer. The post war idea of "atoms for peace" virtually began at the University of Michigan and continues in the Phoenix laboratories on north campus. This is an appropriate, knowledgeable environment in which to consider and debate the nuclear question. Nuclear waste is a byproduct of nuclear weapons, a well as of nuclear energy. And how to deal with nuclear waste and clean it up is a matter of national debate and made especially urgent and relevant by the continuing concern about nuclear waste and leaky kegs by Lake Michigan, and the distressed, dangerous Fermi2 plant by Lake Erie, and also the citizen initiative for restoring the Great Lakes nuclear free zone embracing the whole great lakes area in which Michigan is central. The first "teach-in" occurred at the University of Michigan, March 24, 1965, and spread the debate about foreign policy, then concerned with the Vietnam war, across the country's campuses, and then to Washington, to debate the government. The high government officials we sought to reach subsequently acknowledged in their memoirs and tapes that the questions, the inter-university committee for debate on foreign policy, as it had come to be called, were asking were the right questions and they, the government, should have faced them more honestly, and directly then. We hope this occasion also will propel debate across the country, and a continuing interrogation of the government, on why it holds to a dangerous destabilizing deterrence policy of nuclear and space age high tech weapons in violation of treaty obligations , common sense and common humanity. We believe the end of the cold war gives us a gift of time to get rid of these weapons, before they somehow or other, bring catastrophe. Holocaust still haunts the horizon. The overwhelming leadership of the United States gives us opportunity here to turn the tide. America now is the main block to adopting a comprehensive convention for the elimination of nuclear weapons. We call on the United States government to take a leadership in the world campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons. ************************************************************************ US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORKING GROUPS ************************************************************************ STAR WARS/ABM WORKING GROUP: This group was formed initially to respond quickly to the legislation pending at the time of the Santa Barbara meeting authorizing further research and limited deployment of an anti-ballistic missile system by the United States. Ballistic missile defense continues to be a key issue of concern for advocates of nuclear weapons abolition, due to continuing development of the system, its potential to revive a multilateral nuclear arms race, and the controversy over its possible extension in the Western Pacific. *Convenor: Janet Michelle Cuevas (Promoting Enduring Peace, New York) enduringpeace@email.msn.com ===================================================================== CIVIL SOCIETY CAMPAIGN TO ENROLL ORGANIZATIONS IN A BRIEF ABOLITION STATEMENT AND CITY DIALOGUES ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WITH PROMINENT MOVERS AND SHAKERS WORKING GROUP: This working group covers several related efforts aimed at mobilizing opinion via existing groups in civil society and campaigns aimed at elected officials in municipalities. It includes various efforts to get mayors and city and town governing bodies to endorse abolition statements, as well as similar efforts aimed at non-governmental civic groups. Campaigns represented within this working group include A campaign aimed at creating discussion forums among "opinion leaders" in major cities on nuclear weapons and their abolition; a campaign aimed at convincing a wide range of civic groups to endorse an abolition statement; and the campaign to obtain endorsement of the Abolition 2000 statement by municipalities. *Convenors: Pamela Meidell (The Atomic Mirror) pmeidell@igc.org; (805)985-5073; Ed Aguilar (Lawyers Alliance for World Security, Philadelphia)(610)668-5470 ===================================================================== CONGRESSIONAL FOCUS (Originally Congress and Administration, now split in two): This working group will focus on initiatives relevant to nuclear weapons abolition in the US Congress. Examples include the pending Markey and Woolsey resolutions, aimed respectively at scaling back US nuclear weapons research and production programs and at encouraging the Administration to engage in meaningful negotiations to achieve abolition. Its work encompasses grassroots efforts to mobilize widespread attention to particular measures and issues pending in Congress. *Convenors: to be determined. ===================================================================== ADMINISTRATION FOCUS: This group will work to focus attention on the nuclear weapons policies and activities of the Executive branch, trying in particular to create forums for discussion and criticism of nuclear weapons policies. Its current initiative is a teach-in at the University of Michigan on nuclear weapons issues, with the organizers hoping to get administration officials to participate and to publicly debate critics of existing nuclear weapons policies. If the teach-in model works the hope is to extend it to other campuses. *Convenor: Alan Haber (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental Organizations) megiddo@umich.edu; (734)761-7967 ==================================================================== YOUTH/CAMPUSES: This working group aims to raise the level of awareness among young people about nuclear weapons and efforts to abolish them. It will work on the teach-ins discussed in the Administration focus working group above. It will also attempt to gather and broaden the distribution of existing nuclear weapons abolition materials aimed at a youth and campus audience. *Convenor: Odile Haber (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental Organizations) od4life@aol.com; (734)761-7967 ===================================================================== DIRECT ACTION: Nonviolent direct action long has been a central part of the movement to abolish nuclear weapons. Despite a lack of media coverage, direct action continues at weapons and government facilities around the country, from the Nevada Test Site, to the weapons laboratories in Livermore, California and Los Alamos, New Mexico, to Washington D.C. and the newly opened Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, also in New Mexico. This working group will be a place for people involved in particular direct action campaigns to raise national awareness of their activities and to exchange ideas and information. It also will try to provide resources which will be broadly useful, for example nonviolence training materials and lists of nonviolence trainers. *Convenor: Matteo Ferreira (Shundahai Network) shundahai@shundahai.org; (702)647-3095 ==================================================================== INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ORGANIZING AND CONCERNS: The cycle of nuclear materials mining and nuclear weapons testing and production always has had a disproportionate impact on indigenous people world-wide. Nuclear weapons testing has occurred for the most part on the lands of indigenous peoples, without regard for their sovereign rights, and with devastating effects on people and their lands. Indigenous people have taken the lead in many parts of the globe both in making the connections between nuclear weapons and the effects of the entire cycle of nuclear materials, nuclear power, and nuclear weapons production, and in advocating for nuclear weapons abolition. This working group will provide a focus for making these voices heard both inside and outside the movement. *Convenors: Michele Xenos (Shundahai Network), shundahai@shundahai.org; (702)647-3095; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands Association of NGOs) salvador@hawaii.edu; (818)956-8537 ==================================================================== NATO: This working group initially focused on the NATO 50th anniversary meeting in Washington, D.C. in April, and the likelihood that NATO nuclear weapons policies would be debated there. There has been interest in continuing this as a working group, since the controversy over NATO nuclear weapons policies, including a refusal to renounce first use, a potential counter-proliferation role for nuclear weapons, and the expansion of NATO's military scope to include broad out-of-area combat roles is likely to continue for a long time. *Convenors: to be determined ===================================================================== INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS AND ISSUES: This working group aims at coordinating the abolition campaign in the United States with efforts world-wide, including Abolition 2000 and other efforts in particular nations and regions to eliminate nuclear weapons. With the emergence of a new nuclear weapons and ballistic missile race in South Asia, growing controversy over possible theater and domestic ballistic missile deployments, and the stagnation of arms control negotiations, this working group will help the abolition campaign in the US remain aware of the effects US nuclear weapons and military policies have on efforts to achieve abolition in other nuclear weapons states and globally. *Convenors: Alice Slater (Global Resource Action Center for the Environment) aslater@gracelinks.org; (212)726-9161; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands Association of NGOs) salvador@hawaii.edu; (818)956-8537or 3691; David Krieger (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation) wagingpeace@napf.org; (805)965-3443 ==================================================================== AFFECTED COMMUNITIES: Communities across the country have been affected by half a century nuclear weapons research, testing, and production. They range from workers at DOE facilities to people who live downwind from those facilities to armed services veterans exposed to nuclear tests. Many of these groups already have organized to put pressure on the Federal government to clean up the environmental damage, to perform meaningful health and environmental studies, and to provide compensation. These groups share many of our concerns, and often already are committed to abolition of nuclear weapons. This working group will focus attention on the destructive legacy of nuclear weapons, and will work to integrate these communities and their concerns into the broader campaign. *Convenor: Joseph Gerson (American Friends Service Committee) Jgerson@afsc.org; (617)661-6130 ===================================================================== RESEARCH FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX: This group will focus on the activities of the nuclear weapons and production complex, and will explore the impacts of continuing nuclear weapons research on the global test ban and nonproliferation regime and on efforts to achieve abolition. It will also examine the overlap between nuclear weapons research technologies and other emerging arms races which affect chances for abolition, including anti-ballistic missile technologies, space weaponry, and possible next-generation nuclear weapons. The group will be both a means to coordinate research efforts and to distribute relevant information within the campaign and to a wider public. *Convenors: Jackie Cabasso (Western States Legal Foundation), wslf@earthlink.net, (510)839-5877; Sally Light (Tri-Valley CAREs), sallight@earthlink.net, (925)443-7148 ===================================================================== MEDIA/CAMPAIGN LAUNCH: This working group will be a place to develop and share media strategies. An initial focus will be efforts to coordinate a campaign launch that is cohesive and nationally visible. *Convenor: Steve Kent (Kent Communications) kentcom@highlands.com; (914)424-8382 ==================================================================== BOTTOM UP ORGANIZING (local movement building and making the connection to other issues): Through discussing and organizing around the way nuclear weapons are connected to other social ills and injustices, from local ecological devastation, distorted government spending priorities, and a culture of violence which stretches from the state to the street to global inequality, we can deepen our own understanding of what must be done to achieve abolition of nuclear weapons, as well as the understanding of those we hope to persuade. We then open up the possibility that we will become part of a larger movement which can make the changes which could make abolition possible. This working group will explore ways to make connections on the local level with other organizing efforts which share some of our concerns, and by doing so to help create the social movement needed to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. *Convenor: Andrew Lichterman (Western States Legal Foundation), alichterman@worldnet.att.net; (510)839-5877 ==================================================================== DEMOCRACY, POWER AND NUCLEAR WEAPONRY DRAFTING COMMITTEE: This working group has taken responsibility for following through on the commitment made in Santa Barbara to develop a carefully thought out statement on the relationships between democracy, power and nuclear weapons. A draft statement is currently being prepared, to be circulated for comment in the near future. *Temporary convenor: Carah Ong (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation), A2000@silcom.com; (805) 965-3443 Carah Lynn Ong Coordinator, Abolition 2000 Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 Santa Barbara CA 93108 Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 Email: A2000@silcom.com Website http://www.abolition2000.org Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no subject) to: abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no subject) to: majordomo@igc.org In the body of the message, write: "subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Invitation to the October Meeting of the US Campaign Date: 31 Aug 1999 17:43:53 -0400 Unfortunately, in early October I will be on a long-planned, long-awaited, long-needed vacation. Shalom, Bob Tiller Nuclear Age Peace Foundation wrote: > *********************************************************************** > US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS - NATIONAL MEETING > *********************************************************************** > > TO: All activists who are working for the abolition of nuclear weapons and a > positive peace and justice policy in the United States > > FROM: The Facilitator's Group and Working Group Convenors of the US > CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS (partial list depleted by August > vacations, including but not limited to): > John Burroughs, Lawyer's Committee on Nuclear Policy, New York; Jackie > Cabasso and Andy Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation, California; > Alan Haber, Peace and Environment Coalition for the Abolition of Nuclear > Weapons and Megiddo Peace Project, Michigan; Odile Haber, Women's > International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section; Jan Harwood, > Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section and > Abolition 2000 Coalition, Santa Cruz, California; Sally Light, Tri-Valley > Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, California; Pamela Meidell, > The Atomic Mirror, California; Bob Musil and Bob Tiller, Physicians for > Social Responsibility, Washington, DC; Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Global > Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons; Esther Pank, Peace Links, Washington, > DC; Richard Salvador, Pacific Island Association of NGOs, Hawaii; Susan > Schaer, Women's Action for New Directions, Washington, DC; Alice Slater, > Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, New York > > WE CORDIALLY INVITE YOU to participate in a national meeting of the US > CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS which will take place on October 9, 10 > and 11, 1999, in Ann Arbor, Michigan in connection with a nuclear abolition > teach-in and community forum at the University of Michigan. We also > encourage you to come early and stay late for the teach-in and related > community forum activities! (see below) > > We are continuing to develop plans for a coordinated US campaign in > furtherance of the MISSION STATEMENT and DECLARATION adopted at the > February 1999 meeting of some 60 organizations in Santa Barbara, > California, (see enclosed), and in recognition of the linkages between > democracy, power and nuclear weapons. The campaign will utilize the working > groups identified in Santa Barbara and resources provided by the > cooperating organizations. A brief outline of the working groups is > included. We encourage you to contact the convenors if you are interested > in getting involved. > > We hope that you and your organization will join us in this unified effort to > eliminate nuclear weapons and build towards a more peaceful and just future. > Please return the enclosed registration form right away! If you have questions > or would like to offer proposals for the agenda or the campaign's structure or > activities, or if you'd like to submit a working paper, please respond to Carah > Ong by September 15, if possible. A follow-up mailing is planned, which will > include a meeting agenda, proposals, and final teach-in schedule. (Carah's > contact information can be found on the registration form.) > > ********************************************************************** > TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS > UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN COMMUNITY FORUM/TEACH-IN > ********************************************************************** > > FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1999 > 12:45 p.m. - Panel: Nuclear Proliferation Peace Science Society > Panelists: Russell Leng, Middlebury College; Mike Simon, > University > of Iowa > Moderator: J. David Singer, University of Michigan. > > 2:45 p.m.- Presentation: Chances of Accidental Nuclear Launch > Speaker: Bruce Blair, Brookings Institution > > 3:30 p.m. - Presentation: Environmental and Public Health Hazards of Nuclear > Weapons Production > Speaker: Arjun Makhijani, Institute for Energy & Environmental > Research > > 4:15 p.m.- Presentation: Serpent River First Nation People (tentative) > > 7:15 p.m.- Presentation: The Case Against Nuclear Weapons Abolition > Speaker: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Hoover Institution at Stanford > University > > 8:15 p.m.- Presentation: The Need for International Agreements to Abolish > Nuclear Weapons. > Speaker: Merav Datan, International Physicians for the > Prevention of > Nuclear War > > 9:00 p.m.- Panel Discussion > Panelists: Blair, Makhijani, Bueno de Mesquita, and Datan > > For information on the October 8 Community Forum: > www.nuclearabolition.research.umich.edu > > ************************************************************************ > US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS - NATIONAL MEETING > ************************************************************************ > > SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9: 9 a.m. - meeting activities begin; meeting continues all > day. Agenda will include introductions, updates and reports, including > from the working groups, and reflections on the responses of the government > to questions from the community. The goal of the meeting is to lay the > foundation for and develop a national campaign for the abolition of nuclear > weapons. A full agenda will follow in a separate mailing. An informal > reception is scheduled in the evening at an historic building in downtown > Ann Arbor > > SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10: meeting continues all day > > MONDAY, OCTOBER 11/INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY: 2 p.m. - meeting ends > (afternoon activity may follow) > > ************************************************************************ > COMMUNITY FORUM WITH LYNN RIVERS > ************************************************************************ > > MONDAY, OCTOBER 11: > > Forum on Nuclear Weapons - Monday evening October 11, 7-9 p.m. at the > community college. This not part of our program but a separate event hosted by > Representative Lynn Rivers. Questions about the Monday evening forum should be > directed to Lynn Rivers office, (734) 485-3741; lynn.rivers@mail.house.gov > > The local Peace and Environmental Coalition for the Abolition of Nuclear > Weapons is working to organize other events and activities prior to and during > the weekend of October 8-10. > Beginning October 4, programs are projected to include the politics of > abolition, the international abolition movement, nukes in space, stockpile > stewardship, new weapons, weapons and energy, ethics, the environment, > affected peoples, international law and terms of an abolition treaty, low > level radiation, health questions, depleted uranium, Israel, the bomb and > Mordechai Vanunu, India-Pakistan, Korea, Russia, NATO, new frontiers of peace > research, the science of peace, and others. Many schools and departments of > the University have been asked to host programs relevant to their areas of > knowledge. A film and video program is also being planned. (Suggestions > welcomed.) Opportunities will be sought for the various working groups of the > US CAMPAIGN to 'report to the community' the state of thought and work on > particular aspects of the nuclear question, such as direct action, civil > society, and indigenous people's concerns. For further information and > inquiries about participation, please contact Alan Haber, (734)761-7967, > megiddo@umich.edu. A fuller schedule will be circulated in our follow up > letter. > > ************************************************************************ > LODGING IN ANN ARBOR > ************************************************************************ > > HOTEL: A limited number of rooms have been reserved at the Hampton Inn at the > rate of $65 + tax per night, either single or double occupancy, including > continental breakfast. A shuttle will provide transportation to and from the > conference. > > HOME STAYS: The local coalition is arranging home stays. Those > who would like to stay as a guest in the home of an Ann Arbor peace activist > should contact Shana Milkie by e-mail at smilkie@mich.com or by phone at > 734-332-1106. E-mail is preferred. > > A $25 suggested minimum donation is requested to help cover material and > location expenses, although no one will be turned away for inability to > contribute to conference costs. Please include a check or money order with > your registration form. Make your check payable to the Nuclear Age Peace > Foundation or NAPF, and write "conference fee" on the memo line. > > ********************************************************************** > US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS OCTOBER 9,10 and 11, 1999 > MEETING REGISTRATION FORM > ********************************************************************** > > __ Yes, I plan to attend the meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I have enclosed > a check or money order for $25 and my complete registration information is > below. > --- Yes, I plan to attend the meeting in Ann Arbor and am enclosing an > additional contribution of $__ to help expand diversity at the meeting and > defray additional meeting expenses. > > --- No, I cannot attend the meeting, but enclosed is my contribution of $___ > for a successful meeting and campaign launch. > > Name ______________________________ > Organization ______________________________ > Address ______________________________ > ______________________________ > Phone ______________________________ > Email ______________________________ > > __ Please reserve a room for me at the group rate of $65.00 s/d at the Hampton > Inn. I understand that there is limited availability at the group rate so I > have provided my credit card number to reserve my room. I understand that > there will be no charges to my credit card until I check > into my room but there is a 72 hour cancellation policy, so I must send Carah > Ong my cancellation notice at least three days prior to my scheduled arrival. > > __ I would like to share a room with: > > (name)____________________________________________. > > __ Please help me find a room mate, if possible. > > I plan to arrive on (date)________ and leave on (date)________. Please reserve > my room for (number)_____ nights. > > Credit Card (circle one): Visa Mastercard American Express Discover > Diner's Card > > Number______________________________________ > > Expiration Date___________________ > > Authorized Signature______________________________________ > > __ I will contact Shana Milkie by E-mail atsmilkie@mich.com or by phone at > (734)332 -1106 and let her know I am interested in a home stay arranged by the > local coalition of Ann Arbor peace activists. > > __ I will make my own arrangements for accommodations. > > PLEASE RETURN THIS COMPLETED FORM, WITH YOUR VOLUNTARY > CONTRIBUTION, TO: > > Carah Ong > Nuclear Age Peace Foundation > 1187 Coast Village Rd., Suite 1 > Santa Barbara, California 93108 > Phone 805-965-3443 > Fax 805-568-0466 > E- mail: A2000@silcom.com > > ************************************************************************ > US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS > ************************************************************************ > > MISSION STATEMENT > > To ensure a just, secure, healthy and sustainable world for our children, > grandchildren, all future generations and all living things, we aim to educate > public opinion and mobilize persistent popular pressure to move the United > States government to take prompt and unequivocal actions to eliminate nuclear > weapons. > > These actions must include halting continued development of new and modified > nuclear weapons, de-alerting nuclear forces, addressing the environmental > degradation and human suffering arising from testing, production, deployment > and use of nuclear weapons, and undertaking negotiations with other countries > on a treaty for their elimination. > > Our objective is nothing less than the universal, complete, verifiable, and > enduring abolition of nuclear weapons. > > SANTA BARBARA DECLARATION > > From all corners of this land, representing diverse constituencies and > traditions, including indigenous nations, we have come together in common > cause, determined to end the threat to all life posed by nuclear weapons. > > We recognize that nuclear weapons and the nuclear fuel cycle have caused > widespread suffering, death and environmental devastation. We further > recognize that resources used for nuclear arms need to be redirected to meeting > human and environmental needs. > > The United States bears special responsibility as the only country to use > nuclear weapons in war. It continues to spend vast sums on its massive nuclear > weapons complex, and its current policies would upgrade and maintain a huge > nuclear arsenal far into the future. > > The conference has initiated a campaign tailored to address the unique > obstacles in the United States to achieving nuclear weapons abolition. Our > campaign builds upon the foundations laid by Abolition 2000 and other efforts > to abolish nuclear arms. We commit our hearts, our spirits, and our energy to > achieving a world free of nuclear weapons and invite all people of > goodwill to join us. > -- Santa Barbara, February 14, 1999 > > ************************************************************************ > WHY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN? > ************************************************************************ > > STATEMENT BY ALAN HABER, US CAMPAIGN LIAISON TO THE MICHIGAN PEACE AND > ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION FOR THE ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS > > Our purpose in initiating and hosting this community forum, teach-in and > national action meeting is to assert the relevance and urgency of public > education and policy change on the nuclear question. > > We seek to bring the full intellectual, and knowledge resources of the > university and the community generally to the consideration of the nuclear > question, especially the urgency to embrace a policy change, directed to the > elimination of nuclear weapons, their removal from the world's arsenals, > along with all other weapons of mass destruction, as well as adopting more > affirmative peacemaking policies. > > Leading work has gone on at the university in the study of peace and war, > conflict resolution, and transformation, general systems theory, social > organization, etc. an opportunity should be made available, in and of itself to > showcase this work, and especially so in the context of considering changes > in America's current strategic defense policies > > The weapons side of the nuclear question is our first focus. Ultimately all > aspects of the nuclear question are related. The University of Michigan is > eminent in nuclear engineering; our previous president is a nuclear engineer. > The post war idea of "atoms for peace" virtually began at the University > of Michigan and continues in the Phoenix laboratories on north campus. > This is an appropriate, knowledgeable environment in which to consider and > debate the nuclear question. > > Nuclear waste is a byproduct of nuclear weapons, a well as of nuclear energy. > And how to deal with nuclear waste and clean it up is a matter of national > debate and made especially urgent and relevant by the continuing concern about > nuclear waste and leaky kegs by Lake Michigan, and the distressed, dangerous > Fermi2 plant by Lake Erie, and also the citizen initiative for restoring the > Great Lakes nuclear free zone embracing the whole great lakes area in which > Michigan is central. > > The first "teach-in" occurred at the University of Michigan, March 24, 1965, > and spread the debate about foreign policy, then concerned with the Vietnam > war, across the country's campuses, and then to Washington, to debate the > government. The high government officials we sought to reach subsequently > acknowledged in their memoirs and tapes that the questions, the > inter-university committee for debate on foreign policy, as it had come to > be called, were asking were the right questions and they, the government, > should have faced them more honestly, and directly then. > > We hope this occasion also will propel debate across the country, and a > continuing interrogation of the government, on why it holds to a dangerous > destabilizing deterrence policy of nuclear and space age high tech weapons in > violation of treaty obligations , common sense and common humanity. We > believe the end of the cold war gives us a gift of time to get rid of these > weapons, before they somehow or other, bring catastrophe. Holocaust still > haunts the horizon. > > The overwhelming leadership of the United States gives us opportunity here to > turn the tide. America now is the main block to adopting a comprehensive > convention for the elimination of nuclear weapons. We call on the United > States government to take a leadership in the world campaign for the abolition > of nuclear weapons. > > ************************************************************************ > US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORKING GROUPS > ************************************************************************ > > STAR WARS/ABM WORKING GROUP: This group was formed initially to respond quickly > to the legislation pending at the time of the Santa Barbara meeting authorizing > further research and limited deployment of an anti-ballistic missile > system by the United States. Ballistic missile defense continues to be a > key issue of concern for advocates of nuclear weapons abolition, due to > continuing development of the system, its potential to revive a > multilateral nuclear arms race, and the controversy over its possible > extension in the Western Pacific. > > *Convenor: Janet Michelle Cuevas (Promoting Enduring Peace, New York) > enduringpeace@email.msn.com > > ===================================================================== > > CIVIL SOCIETY CAMPAIGN TO ENROLL ORGANIZATIONS IN A BRIEF ABOLITION STATEMENT > AND CITY DIALOGUES ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WITH PROMINENT MOVERS AND SHAKERS > WORKING GROUP: This working group covers several related efforts aimed at > mobilizing opinion via existing groups in civil society and campaigns aimed at > elected officials in municipalities. It includes various efforts to get mayors > and city and town governing bodies to endorse abolition statements, as well as > similar efforts aimed at non-governmental civic groups. Campaigns represented > within this working group include A campaign aimed at creating discussion > forums among "opinion leaders" in major cities on nuclear weapons and their > abolition; a campaign aimed at convincing a wide range of civic groups to > endorse an abolition statement; and the campaign to obtain endorsement of the > Abolition 2000 statement by municipalities. > > *Convenors: Pamela Meidell (The Atomic Mirror) pmeidell@igc.org; (805)985-5073; > Ed Aguilar (Lawyers Alliance for World Security, Philadelphia)(610)668-5470 > > ===================================================================== > > CONGRESSIONAL FOCUS (Originally Congress and Administration, now split in > two): This working group will focus on initiatives relevant to nuclear > weapons abolition in the US Congress. Examples include the pending Markey > and Woolsey resolutions, aimed respectively at scaling back US nuclear > weapons research and production programs and at encouraging the Administration > to engage in meaningful negotiations to achieve abolition. Its work encompasses > grassroots efforts to mobilize widespread attention to particular measures and > issues pending in Congress. > *Convenors: to be determined. > > ===================================================================== > > ADMINISTRATION FOCUS: This group will work to focus attention on the nuclear > weapons policies and activities of the Executive branch, trying in particular > to create forums for discussion and criticism of nuclear weapons policies. Its > current initiative is a teach-in at the University of Michigan on nuclear > weapons issues, with the organizers hoping to get administration officials to > participate and to publicly debate critics of existing nuclear weapons > policies. If the teach-in model works the hope is to extend it to other > campuses. > > *Convenor: Alan Haber (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental > Organizations) megiddo@umich.edu; (734)761-7967 > > ==================================================================== > > YOUTH/CAMPUSES: This working group aims to raise the level of awareness among > young > people about nuclear weapons and efforts to abolish them. It will work on the > teach-ins discussed in the Administration focus working group above. It will > also attempt to gather and broaden the distribution of existing nuclear weapons > abolition materials aimed at a youth and campus audience. > > *Convenor: Odile Haber (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental > Organizations) od4life@aol.com; (734)761-7967 > > ===================================================================== > > DIRECT ACTION: Nonviolent direct action long has been a central part of the > movement > to abolish nuclear weapons. Despite a lack of media coverage, direct action > continues at weapons and government facilities around the country, from the > Nevada Test Site, to the weapons laboratories in Livermore, California and Los > Alamos, New Mexico, to Washington D.C. and the newly opened Waste Isolation > Pilot Plant, also in New Mexico. This working group will be a place for > people involved in particular direct action campaigns to raise national > awareness of their activities and to exchange ideas and information. It also > will try to provide resources which will be broadly useful, for example > nonviolence training materials and lists of nonviolence trainers. > > *Convenor: Matteo Ferreira (Shundahai Network) shundahai@shundahai.org; > (702)647-3095 > > ==================================================================== > > INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ORGANIZING AND CONCERNS: The cycle of nuclear materials > mining and nuclear weapons testing and production always has had a > disproportionate impact on indigenous people world-wide. Nuclear weapons > testing has occurred for the most part on the > lands of indigenous peoples, without regard for their sovereign rights, and > with devastating effects on people and their lands. Indigenous people have > taken the lead in many parts of the globe both in making the connections > between nuclear weapons and the effects of the entire cycle of nuclear > materials, nuclear power, and nuclear weapons production, and in advocating for > nuclear weapons abolition. This working group will provide a focus for making > these voices heard both inside and outside the movement. > > *Convenors: Michele Xenos (Shundahai Network), shundahai@shundahai.org; > (702)647-3095; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands Association of NGOs) > salvador@hawaii.edu; (818)956-8537 > > ==================================================================== > > NATO: This working group initially focused on the NATO 50th anniversary meeting > in Washington, D.C. in April, and the likelihood that NATO nuclear weapons > policies would be debated there. There has been interest in continuing this as > a working group, since the controversy over NATO nuclear weapons policies, > including a refusal to renounce first use, a potential counter-proliferation > role for nuclear weapons, and the expansion of NATO's > military scope to include broad out-of-area combat roles is likely to continue > for a long time. > > *Convenors: to be determined > > ===================================================================== > > INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS AND ISSUES: This working group aims at coordinating > the abolition campaign in the United States with efforts world-wide, including > Abolition 2000 and other efforts in particular nations and regions to eliminate > nuclear weapons. With the emergence of a new nuclear weapons and ballistic > missile race in South Asia, growing controversy over possible theater and > domestic ballistic missile deployments, and the stagnation of arms control > negotiations, this working group will help the abolition campaign in the US > remain aware of the effects US nuclear weapons and military policies have on > efforts to achieve abolition in other nuclear weapons states and globally. > > *Convenors: Alice Slater (Global Resource Action Center for the Environment) > aslater@gracelinks.org; (212)726-9161; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands > Association of NGOs) salvador@hawaii.edu; (818)956-8537or 3691; David Krieger > (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation) wagingpeace@napf.org; (805)965-3443 > > ==================================================================== > > AFFECTED COMMUNITIES: Communities across the country have been affected by > half a century nuclear weapons research, testing, and production. They range > from workers at > DOE facilities to people who live downwind from those facilities to armed > services veterans exposed to nuclear tests. Many of these groups already have > organized to put pressure on the Federal government to clean up the > environmental damage, to perform meaningful health and environmental studies, > and to provide compensation. These groups share many of our concerns, and > often already are committed to abolition of nuclear weapons. This working > group will focus attention on the destructive legacy of nuclear weapons, and > will work to integrate these communities and their concerns into the broader > campaign. > > *Convenor: Joseph Gerson (American Friends Service Committee) Jgerson@afsc.org; > > (617)661-6130 > > ===================================================================== > > RESEARCH FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX: This group will > focus on the activities of the nuclear weapons and production complex, and will > explore the impacts of continuing nuclear weapons research on the global test > ban and nonproliferation regime and on efforts to achieve abolition. It will > also examine the overlap between nuclear weapons research technologies and > other emerging arms races which affect chances for > abolition, including anti-ballistic missile technologies, space weaponry, and > possible next-generation nuclear weapons. The group will be both a means to > coordinate research efforts and to distribute relevant information within the > campaign and to a wider public. > > *Convenors: Jackie Cabasso (Western States Legal Foundation), > wslf@earthlink.net, > (510)839-5877; Sally Light (Tri-Valley CAREs), sallight@earthlink.net, > (925)443-7148 > > ===================================================================== > > MEDIA/CAMPAIGN LAUNCH: This working group will be a place to develop and share > media strategies. An initial focus will be efforts to coordinate a campaign > launch that is cohesive and nationally visible. > > *Convenor: Steve Kent (Kent Communications) kentcom@highlands.com; > (914)424-8382 > > ==================================================================== > > BOTTOM UP ORGANIZING (local movement building and making the connection to > other issues): Through discussing and organizing around the way nuclear > weapons are connected to other social ills and injustices, from local > ecological > devastation, distorted government spending priorities, and a culture of > violence which stretches from the state to the street to global inequality, we > can deepen our own understanding of what must be done to achieve abolition of > nuclear weapons, as well as the understanding of those we hope to persuade. > We then open up the possibility that we will become part of a larger movement > which can make the changes which could make abolition possible. This working > group will explore ways to make connections on the local level with other > organizing efforts which share some of our concerns, and by doing so to help > create the social movement needed to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. > > *Convenor: Andrew Lichterman (Western States Legal Foundation), > alichterman@worldnet.att.net; (510)839-5877 > > ==================================================================== > > DEMOCRACY, POWER AND NUCLEAR WEAPONRY DRAFTING COMMITTEE: This working group > has taken responsibility for following through on the commitment made in Santa > Barbara to develop a carefully thought out statement on the relationships > between democracy, power and nuclear weapons. A draft statement is currently > being prepared, to be circulated for comment in the near future. > > *Temporary convenor: Carah Ong (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation), > A2000@silcom.com; (805) 965-3443 > > Carah Lynn Ong > Coordinator, Abolition 2000 > Nuclear Age Peace Foundation > 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 > Santa Barbara CA 93108 > > Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 > Email: A2000@silcom.com > Website http://www.abolition2000.org > > Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly > receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a > forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used > to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. > > To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no > subject) to: > abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com > In the body of the message, write: > "subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) > > To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: > abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com > > To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no > subject) to: majordomo@igc.org > In the body of the message, write: > "subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) > > To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: > abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hcaldic Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Star Wars Test News Release Date: 31 Aug 1999 15:38:23 -0400 Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space wrote: > > Friends: Please help us by copying and sending this news release to your > local media. Thanks. Bruce Gagnon > > STAR WARS MISSILE TEST > DRAWS INTERNATIONAL OPPOSITION > > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > > CONTACT: BRUCE GAGNON (352) 337-9274 > > > The Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space is organizing an > international effort on September 13-15 to oppose the revitalized Star Wars > plans of the Clinton administration and the U.S. Congress. Calling it the > Star Wars International Call-In Days, activists around the world will be > speaking out in opposition to a scheduled Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) > test planned in September over the Pacific Ocean by the Pentagon. > > Congress has voted to allow the BMD system to move forward as "soon as > technically feasible". The Clinton administration is now beginning to > consider circumventing the 1972 ABM Treaty that outlaws the development of > weapons systems like the BMD. Clinton is scheduled to make a final > deployment decision on the BMD in June, 2000. > > According to Global Network Coordinator Bruce Gagnon, "With Democrats and > Republicans recently voting to allow early deployment of BMD, the door has > been opened wide for the deployment of space-based weapons. We are talking > about moving the arms race into space! The cost in tax dollars will be > staggering and the threat to world peace will be enormous. People understand > that putting lasers in space is an offensive strategy. We are organizing a > global response to this craziness." > > Global Network organizers are calling on the public to contact the White > House and Congress between September 13-15 with the message No BMD, No Star > Wars. Activists in other parts of the world will be contacting the U.S. > Embassy in their country with the same message. > > The Star Wars International Call-In Days will mark the beginning of a year > long campaign being organized by the Global Network. Throughout 2000 a > series of events will target the Star Wars issue. Included in these actions > will be a demonstration at the Treasury Department on April 14 highlighting > the $100 billion that has been spent on Star Wars development to date and an > International conference on the subject the following day. On October 7, > 2000 an International Day of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space will > be held. > > Check the Global Network website at: http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk > > > # # > # # > > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. Bruce, here is an article which was published recently in the Sydney Morning Herald by me, Love Helen - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Invitation to the October Meeting of the US Campaign to AbolishNuclear Weapons Date: 31 Aug 1999 21:25:57 -0700 What kind of opportunity would there be at this meeting to present and network about the Global Peace Walk 2000, being conducted in response to the call to this nuclear abolition 2000 coalition by Proposition One? I am asking because of only nominal feedback all this year from those on this list about this first great transcontinental peace march of the new millennium being initiated by Rev. Yusen Yamato in response to this call which has apparently not yet been heeded by many others on this list but which has this summer gained the support of many indigenous spiritual leaders and pratitioners to take part (presented in Costa Rica at World Summit on Peace and time in June at University for Peace, and received proclamation of support from mayor of Rome NY on stage at Woodstock'99, GPW participants took part in Sundances at Big Mountain and South Dakota, etc.) and now we need your support for outreach and financial help for this major and historic effort for Nuclear Abolition and to unite all survival issues in the prayer for "Global Peace Now!" as a universal human resolve and for a worldwide Global Peace Zone2000. Global Peace Walk2000 http://www.globalpeacenow.org GPZone2000@aol.com -----Original Message----- Campaign to AbolishNuclear Weapons >*********************************************************************** >US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS - NATIONAL MEETING >*********************************************************************** > >TO: All activists who are working for the abolition of nuclear weapons and a >positive peace and justice policy in the United States > >FROM: The Facilitator's Group and Working Group Convenors of the US >CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS (partial list depleted by August >vacations, including but not limited to): >John Burroughs, Lawyer's Committee on Nuclear Policy, New York; Jackie >Cabasso and Andy Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation, California; >Alan Haber, Peace and Environment Coalition for the Abolition of Nuclear >Weapons and Megiddo Peace Project, Michigan; Odile Haber, Women's >International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section; Jan Harwood, >Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section and >Abolition 2000 Coalition, Santa Cruz, California; Sally Light, Tri-Valley >Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, California; Pamela Meidell, >The Atomic Mirror, California; Bob Musil and Bob Tiller, Physicians for >Social Responsibility, Washington, DC; Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Global >Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons; Esther Pank, Peace Links, Washington, >DC; Richard Salvador, Pacific Island Association of NGOs, Hawaii; Susan >Schaer, Women's Action for New Directions, Washington, DC; Alice Slater, >Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, New York > >WE CORDIALLY INVITE YOU to participate in a national meeting of the US >CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS which will take place on October 9, 10 >and 11, 1999, in Ann Arbor, Michigan in connection with a nuclear abolition >teach-in and community forum at the University of Michigan. We also >encourage you to come early and stay late for the teach-in and related >community forum activities! (see below) > >We are continuing to develop plans for a coordinated US campaign in >furtherance of the MISSION STATEMENT and DECLARATION adopted at the >February 1999 meeting of some 60 organizations in Santa Barbara, >California, (see enclosed), and in recognition of the linkages between >democracy, power and nuclear weapons. The campaign will utilize the working >groups identified in Santa Barbara and resources provided by the >cooperating organizations. A brief outline of the working groups is >included. We encourage you to contact the convenors if you are interested >in getting involved. > >We hope that you and your organization will join us in this unified effort to >eliminate nuclear weapons and build towards a more peaceful and just future. >Please return the enclosed registration form right away! If you have questions >or would like to offer proposals for the agenda or the campaign's structure or >activities, or if you'd like to submit a working paper, please respond to Carah >Ong by September 15, if possible. A follow-up mailing is planned, which will >include a meeting agenda, proposals, and final teach-in schedule. (Carah's >contact information can be found on the registration form.) > >********************************************************************** >TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS >UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN COMMUNITY FORUM/TEACH-IN >********************************************************************** > >FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1999 >12:45 p.m. - Panel: Nuclear Proliferation Peace Science Society > Panelists: Russell Leng, Middlebury College; Mike Simon, >University > of Iowa > Moderator: J. David Singer, University of Michigan. > >2:45 p.m.- Presentation: Chances of Accidental Nuclear Launch > Speaker: Bruce Blair, Brookings Institution > >3:30 p.m. - Presentation: Environmental and Public Health Hazards of Nuclear > Weapons Production > Speaker: Arjun Makhijani, Institute for Energy & Environmental > Research > >4:15 p.m.- Presentation: Serpent River First Nation People (tentative) > >7:15 p.m.- Presentation: The Case Against Nuclear Weapons Abolition > Speaker: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Hoover Institution at Stanford > University > >8:15 p.m.- Presentation: The Need for International Agreements to Abolish > Nuclear Weapons. > Speaker: Merav Datan, International Physicians for the >Prevention of > Nuclear War > >9:00 p.m.- Panel Discussion > Panelists: Blair, Makhijani, Bueno de Mesquita, and Datan > >For information on the October 8 Community Forum: >www.nuclearabolition.research.umich.edu > >************************************************************************ >US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS - NATIONAL MEETING >************************************************************************ > >SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9: 9 a.m. - meeting activities begin; meeting continues all >day. Agenda will include introductions, updates and reports, including >from the working groups, and reflections on the responses of the government >to questions from the community. The goal of the meeting is to lay the >foundation for and develop a national campaign for the abolition of nuclear >weapons. A full agenda will follow in a separate mailing. An informal >reception is scheduled in the evening at an historic building in downtown >Ann Arbor > >SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10: meeting continues all day > >MONDAY, OCTOBER 11/INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY: 2 p.m. - meeting ends >(afternoon activity may follow) > >************************************************************************ >COMMUNITY FORUM WITH LYNN RIVERS >************************************************************************ > >MONDAY, OCTOBER 11: > > Forum on Nuclear Weapons - Monday evening October 11, 7-9 p.m. at the >community college. This not part of our program but a separate event hosted by >Representative Lynn Rivers. Questions about the Monday evening forum should be >directed to Lynn Rivers office, (734) 485-3741; lynn.rivers@mail.house.gov > >The local Peace and Environmental Coalition for the Abolition of Nuclear >Weapons is working to organize other events and activities prior to and during >the weekend of October 8-10. >Beginning October 4, programs are projected to include the politics of >abolition, the international abolition movement, nukes in space, stockpile >stewardship, new weapons, weapons and energy, ethics, the environment, >affected peoples, international law and terms of an abolition treaty, low >level radiation, health questions, depleted uranium, Israel, the bomb and >Mordechai Vanunu, India-Pakistan, Korea, Russia, NATO, new frontiers of peace >research, the science of peace, and others. Many schools and departments of >the University have been asked to host programs relevant to their areas of >knowledge. A film and video program is also being planned. (Suggestions >welcomed.) Opportunities will be sought for the various working groups of the >US CAMPAIGN to 'report to the community' the state of thought and work on >particular aspects of the nuclear question, such as direct action, civil >society, and indigenous people's concerns. For further information and >inquiries about participation, please contact Alan Haber, (734)761-7967, >megiddo@umich.edu. A fuller schedule will be circulated in our follow up >letter. > >************************************************************************ >LODGING IN ANN ARBOR >************************************************************************ > >HOTEL: A limited number of rooms have been reserved at the Hampton Inn at the >rate of $65 + tax per night, either single or double occupancy, including >continental breakfast. A shuttle will provide transportation to and from the >conference. > >HOME STAYS: The local coalition is arranging home stays. Those >who would like to stay as a guest in the home of an Ann Arbor peace activist >should contact Shana Milkie by e-mail at smilkie@mich.com or by phone at >734-332-1106. E-mail is preferred. > >A $25 suggested minimum donation is requested to help cover material and >location expenses, although no one will be turned away for inability to >contribute to conference costs. Please include a check or money order with >your registration form. Make your check payable to the Nuclear Age Peace >Foundation or NAPF, and write "conference fee" on the memo line. > > >********************************************************************** >US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS OCTOBER 9,10 and 11, 1999 > MEETING REGISTRATION FORM >********************************************************************** > > >__ Yes, I plan to attend the meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I have enclosed >a check or money order for $25 and my complete registration information is >below. >--- Yes, I plan to attend the meeting in Ann Arbor and am enclosing an >additional contribution of $__ to help expand diversity at the meeting and >defray additional meeting expenses. > >--- No, I cannot attend the meeting, but enclosed is my contribution of $___ >for a successful meeting and campaign launch. > >Name ______________________________ >Organization ______________________________ >Address ______________________________ > ______________________________ >Phone ______________________________ >Email ______________________________ > >__ Please reserve a room for me at the group rate of $65.00 s/d at the Hampton >Inn. I understand that there is limited availability at the group rate so I >have provided my credit card number to reserve my room. I understand that >there will be no charges to my credit card until I check >into my room but there is a 72 hour cancellation policy, so I must send Carah >Ong my cancellation notice at least three days prior to my scheduled arrival. > >__ I would like to share a room with: > >(name)____________________________________________. > >__ Please help me find a room mate, if possible. > >I plan to arrive on (date)________ and leave on (date)________. Please reserve >my room for (number)_____ nights. > >Credit Card (circle one): Visa Mastercard American Express Discover >Diner's Card > >Number______________________________________ > >Expiration Date___________________ > >Authorized Signature______________________________________ > >__ I will contact Shana Milkie by E-mail atsmilkie@mich.com or by phone at >(734)332 -1106 and let her know I am interested in a home stay arranged by the >local coalition of Ann Arbor peace activists. > >__ I will make my own arrangements for accommodations. > >PLEASE RETURN THIS COMPLETED FORM, WITH YOUR VOLUNTARY >CONTRIBUTION, TO: > >Carah Ong >Nuclear Age Peace Foundation >1187 Coast Village Rd., Suite 1 >Santa Barbara, California 93108 >Phone 805-965-3443 >Fax 805-568-0466 >E- mail: A2000@silcom.com > > > > >************************************************************************ >US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS >************************************************************************ > >MISSION STATEMENT > >To ensure a just, secure, healthy and sustainable world for our children, >grandchildren, all future generations and all living things, we aim to educate >public opinion and mobilize persistent popular pressure to move the United >States government to take prompt and unequivocal actions to eliminate nuclear >weapons. > >These actions must include halting continued development of new and modified >nuclear weapons, de-alerting nuclear forces, addressing the environmental >degradation and human suffering arising from testing, production, deployment >and use of nuclear weapons, and undertaking negotiations with other countries >on a treaty for their elimination. > >Our objective is nothing less than the universal, complete, verifiable, and >enduring abolition of nuclear weapons. > >SANTA BARBARA DECLARATION > > From all corners of this land, representing diverse constituencies and >traditions, including indigenous nations, we have come together in common >cause, determined to end the threat to all life posed by nuclear weapons. > >We recognize that nuclear weapons and the nuclear fuel cycle have caused >widespread suffering, death and environmental devastation. We further >recognize that resources used for nuclear arms need to be redirected to meeting >human and environmental needs. > >The United States bears special responsibility as the only country to use >nuclear weapons in war. It continues to spend vast sums on its massive nuclear >weapons complex, and its current policies would upgrade and maintain a huge >nuclear arsenal far into the future. > >The conference has initiated a campaign tailored to address the unique >obstacles in the United States to achieving nuclear weapons abolition. Our >campaign builds upon the foundations laid by Abolition 2000 and other efforts >to abolish nuclear arms. We commit our hearts, our spirits, and our energy to >achieving a world free of nuclear weapons and invite all people of >goodwill to join us. > -- Santa Barbara, February 14, 1999 > >************************************************************************ >WHY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN? >************************************************************************ > >STATEMENT BY ALAN HABER, US CAMPAIGN LIAISON TO THE MICHIGAN PEACE AND >ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION FOR THE ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS > >Our purpose in initiating and hosting this community forum, teach-in and >national action meeting is to assert the relevance and urgency of public >education and policy change on the nuclear question. > >We seek to bring the full intellectual, and knowledge resources of the >university and the community generally to the consideration of the nuclear >question, especially the urgency to embrace a policy change, directed to the >elimination of nuclear weapons, their removal from the world's arsenals, >along with all other weapons of mass destruction, as well as adopting more >affirmative peacemaking policies. > >Leading work has gone on at the university in the study of peace and war, >conflict resolution, and transformation, general systems theory, social >organization, etc. an opportunity should be made available, in and of itself to >showcase this work, and especially so in the context of considering changes >in America's current strategic defense policies > >The weapons side of the nuclear question is our first focus. Ultimately all >aspects of the nuclear question are related. The University of Michigan is >eminent in nuclear engineering; our previous president is a nuclear engineer. >The post war idea of "atoms for peace" virtually began at the University >of Michigan and continues in the Phoenix laboratories on north campus. >This is an appropriate, knowledgeable environment in which to consider and >debate the nuclear question. > >Nuclear waste is a byproduct of nuclear weapons, a well as of nuclear energy. >And how to deal with nuclear waste and clean it up is a matter of national >debate and made especially urgent and relevant by the continuing concern about >nuclear waste and leaky kegs by Lake Michigan, and the distressed, dangerous >Fermi2 plant by Lake Erie, and also the citizen initiative for restoring the >Great Lakes nuclear free zone embracing the whole great lakes area in which >Michigan is central. > >The first "teach-in" occurred at the University of Michigan, March 24, 1965, >and spread the debate about foreign policy, then concerned with the Vietnam >war, across the country's campuses, and then to Washington, to debate the >government. The high government officials we sought to reach subsequently >acknowledged in their memoirs and tapes that the questions, the >inter-university committee for debate on foreign policy, as it had come to >be called, were asking were the right questions and they, the government, >should have faced them more honestly, and directly then. > >We hope this occasion also will propel debate across the country, and a >continuing interrogation of the government, on why it holds to a dangerous >destabilizing deterrence policy of nuclear and space age high tech weapons in >violation of treaty obligations , common sense and common humanity. We >believe the end of the cold war gives us a gift of time to get rid of these >weapons, before they somehow or other, bring catastrophe. Holocaust still >haunts the horizon. > >The overwhelming leadership of the United States gives us opportunity here to >turn the tide. America now is the main block to adopting a comprehensive >convention for the elimination of nuclear weapons. We call on the United >States government to take a leadership in the world campaign for the abolition >of nuclear weapons. > >************************************************************************ >US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORKING GROUPS >************************************************************************ > >STAR WARS/ABM WORKING GROUP: This group was formed initially to respond quickly >to the legislation pending at the time of the Santa Barbara meeting authorizing >further research and limited deployment of an anti-ballistic missile >system by the United States. Ballistic missile defense continues to be a >key issue of concern for advocates of nuclear weapons abolition, due to >continuing development of the system, its potential to revive a >multilateral nuclear arms race, and the controversy over its possible >extension in the Western Pacific. > >*Convenor: Janet Michelle Cuevas (Promoting Enduring Peace, New York) > enduringpeace@email.msn.com > >===================================================================== > >CIVIL SOCIETY CAMPAIGN TO ENROLL ORGANIZATIONS IN A BRIEF ABOLITION STATEMENT >AND CITY DIALOGUES ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WITH PROMINENT MOVERS AND SHAKERS >WORKING GROUP: This working group covers several related efforts aimed at >mobilizing opinion via existing groups in civil society and campaigns aimed at >elected officials in municipalities. It includes various efforts to get mayors >and city and town governing bodies to endorse abolition statements, as well as >similar efforts aimed at non-governmental civic groups. Campaigns represented >within this working group include A campaign aimed at creating discussion >forums among "opinion leaders" in major cities on nuclear weapons and their >abolition; a campaign aimed at convincing a wide range of civic groups to >endorse an abolition statement; and the campaign to obtain endorsement of the >Abolition 2000 statement by municipalities. > >*Convenors: Pamela Meidell (The Atomic Mirror) pmeidell@igc.org; (805)985-5073; >Ed Aguilar (Lawyers Alliance for World Security, Philadelphia)(610)668-5470 > >===================================================================== > >CONGRESSIONAL FOCUS (Originally Congress and Administration, now split in >two): This working group will focus on initiatives relevant to nuclear >weapons abolition in the US Congress. Examples include the pending Markey >and Woolsey resolutions, aimed respectively at scaling back US nuclear >weapons research and production programs and at encouraging the Administration >to engage in meaningful negotiations to achieve abolition. Its work encompasses >grassroots efforts to mobilize widespread attention to particular measures and >issues pending in Congress. >*Convenors: to be determined. > >===================================================================== > >ADMINISTRATION FOCUS: This group will work to focus attention on the nuclear >weapons policies and activities of the Executive branch, trying in particular >to create forums for discussion and criticism of nuclear weapons policies. Its >current initiative is a teach-in at the University of Michigan on nuclear >weapons issues, with the organizers hoping to get administration officials to >participate and to publicly debate critics of existing nuclear weapons >policies. If the teach-in model works the hope is to extend it to other >campuses. > >*Convenor: Alan Haber (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental >Organizations) megiddo@umich.edu; (734)761-7967 > >==================================================================== > >YOUTH/CAMPUSES: This working group aims to raise the level of awareness among >young >people about nuclear weapons and efforts to abolish them. It will work on the >teach-ins discussed in the Administration focus working group above. It will >also attempt to gather and broaden the distribution of existing nuclear weapons >abolition materials aimed at a youth and campus audience. > >*Convenor: Odile Haber (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental >Organizations) od4life@aol.com; (734)761-7967 > >===================================================================== > >DIRECT ACTION: Nonviolent direct action long has been a central part of the >movement >to abolish nuclear weapons. Despite a lack of media coverage, direct action >continues at weapons and government facilities around the country, from the >Nevada Test Site, to the weapons laboratories in Livermore, California and Los >Alamos, New Mexico, to Washington D.C. and the newly opened Waste Isolation >Pilot Plant, also in New Mexico. This working group will be a place for >people involved in particular direct action campaigns to raise national >awareness of their activities and to exchange ideas and information. It also >will try to provide resources which will be broadly useful, for example >nonviolence training materials and lists of nonviolence trainers. > >*Convenor: Matteo Ferreira (Shundahai Network) shundahai@shundahai.org; >(702)647-3095 > >==================================================================== > >INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ORGANIZING AND CONCERNS: The cycle of nuclear materials >mining and nuclear weapons testing and production always has had a >disproportionate impact on indigenous people world-wide. Nuclear weapons >testing has occurred for the most part on the >lands of indigenous peoples, without regard for their sovereign rights, and >with devastating effects on people and their lands. Indigenous people have >taken the lead in many parts of the globe both in making the connections >between nuclear weapons and the effects of the entire cycle of nuclear >materials, nuclear power, and nuclear weapons production, and in advocating for >nuclear weapons abolition. This working group will provide a focus for making >these voices heard both inside and outside the movement. > >*Convenors: Michele Xenos (Shundahai Network), shundahai@shundahai.org; >(702)647-3095; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands Association of NGOs) >salvador@hawaii.edu; (818)956-8537 > >==================================================================== > >NATO: This working group initially focused on the NATO 50th anniversary meeting >in Washington, D.C. in April, and the likelihood that NATO nuclear weapons >policies would be debated there. There has been interest in continuing this as >a working group, since the controversy over NATO nuclear weapons policies, >including a refusal to renounce first use, a potential counter-proliferation >role for nuclear weapons, and the expansion of NATO's >military scope to include broad out-of-area combat roles is likely to continue >for a long time. > >*Convenors: to be determined > >===================================================================== > >INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS AND ISSUES: This working group aims at coordinating >the abolition campaign in the United States with efforts world-wide, including >Abolition 2000 and other efforts in particular nations and regions to eliminate >nuclear weapons. With the emergence of a new nuclear weapons and ballistic >missile race in South Asia, growing controversy over possible theater and >domestic ballistic missile deployments, and the stagnation of arms control >negotiations, this working group will help the abolition campaign in the US >remain aware of the effects US nuclear weapons and military policies have on >efforts to achieve abolition in other nuclear weapons states and globally. > >*Convenors: Alice Slater (Global Resource Action Center for the Environment) >aslater@gracelinks.org; (212)726-9161; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands >Association of NGOs) salvador@hawaii.edu; (818)956-8537or 3691; David Krieger >(Nuclear Age Peace Foundation) wagingpeace@napf.org; (805)965-3443 > >==================================================================== > >AFFECTED COMMUNITIES: Communities across the country have been affected by >half a century nuclear weapons research, testing, and production. They range >from workers at >DOE facilities to people who live downwind from those facilities to armed >services veterans exposed to nuclear tests. Many of these groups already have >organized to put pressure on the Federal government to clean up the >environmental damage, to perform meaningful health and environmental studies, >and to provide compensation. These groups share many of our concerns, and >often already are committed to abolition of nuclear weapons. This working >group will focus attention on the destructive legacy of nuclear weapons, and >will work to integrate these communities and their concerns into the broader >campaign. > >*Convenor: Joseph Gerson (American Friends Service Committee) Jgerson@afsc.org; > >(617)661-6130 > >===================================================================== > >RESEARCH FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX: This group will >focus on the activities of the nuclear weapons and production complex, and will >explore the impacts of continuing nuclear weapons research on the global test >ban and nonproliferation regime and on efforts to achieve abolition. It will >also examine the overlap between nuclear weapons research technologies and >other emerging arms races which affect chances for >abolition, including anti-ballistic missile technologies, space weaponry, and >possible next-generation nuclear weapons. The group will be both a means to >coordinate research efforts and to distribute relevant information within the >campaign and to a wider public. > >*Convenors: Jackie Cabasso (Western States Legal Foundation), >wslf@earthlink.net, >(510)839-5877; Sally Light (Tri-Valley CAREs), sallight@earthlink.net, >(925)443-7148 > >===================================================================== > >MEDIA/CAMPAIGN LAUNCH: This working group will be a place to develop and share >media strategies. An initial focus will be efforts to coordinate a campaign >launch that is cohesive and nationally visible. > >*Convenor: Steve Kent (Kent Communications) kentcom@highlands.com; >(914)424-8382 > >==================================================================== > >BOTTOM UP ORGANIZING (local movement building and making the connection to >other issues): Through discussing and organizing around the way nuclear >weapons are connected to other social ills and injustices, from local >ecological >devastation, distorted government spending priorities, and a culture of >violence which stretches from the state to the street to global inequality, we >can deepen our own understanding of what must be done to achieve abolition of >nuclear weapons, as well as the understanding of those we hope to persuade. >We then open up the possibility that we will become part of a larger movement >which can make the changes which could make abolition possible. This working >group will explore ways to make connections on the local level with other >organizing efforts which share some of our concerns, and by doing so to help >create the social movement needed to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. > > >*Convenor: Andrew Lichterman (Western States Legal Foundation), >alichterman@worldnet.att.net; (510)839-5877 > >==================================================================== > >DEMOCRACY, POWER AND NUCLEAR WEAPONRY DRAFTING COMMITTEE: This working group >has taken responsibility for following through on the commitment made in Santa >Barbara to develop a carefully thought out statement on the relationships >between democracy, power and nuclear weapons. A draft statement is currently >being prepared, to be circulated for comment in the near future. > >*Temporary convenor: Carah Ong (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation), >A2000@silcom.com; (805) 965-3443 > > >Carah Lynn Ong >Coordinator, Abolition 2000 >Nuclear Age Peace Foundation >1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1 >Santa Barbara CA 93108 > >Phone (805) 965 3443 FAX(805) 568 0466 >Email: A2000@silcom.com >Website http://www.abolition2000.org > >Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly >receive updates about the Abolition movement. Both caucus' also provide a >forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used >to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition. > > >To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no >subject) to: >abolition-usa-request@lists.xmission.com >In the body of the message, write: >"subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks) > >To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to: > abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com > >To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no >subject) to: majordomo@igc.org >In the body of the message, write: >"subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks) > >To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to: >abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org > > > >- > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.