From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #138 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Monday, June 7 1999 Volume 01 : Number 138 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 11:54:36 -0700 From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) UCS on Y2K and nukes Go to http://www.tmia.com/y2k.htm for more details. How might the Millennium Bug affect nuclear power plants? by David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists As ironic as it seems, the good news about nuclear power plants is t= hat much of their emergency systems use 1960=92s technology. These antique sy= stems are unlikely to be affected by the Millennium Bug because they are not computer controlled. These systems will work on January 1, 2000, as they have during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The bad news is that nuclear power plants have non-emergency systems that may be disabled by the Millennium Bug. These failure of these second= ary systems can prevent emergency systems from functioning properly. The plan= t monitoring and the security computers are two such systems. The plant monitoring computer receives signals from thousands of sensors throughout the plant. The signals include information such as the pressure inside the reactor, the temperature of the cooling water, the amount of fuel available for the backup power systems, and opened/closed position of valves. The computer relays this data to the operators via display screens and printers in the control room. These signals are also wired directly to gauges, chart recorders, and alarms so the operators ge= t the information needed to evaluate conditions and control the plant even = if the monitoring computer fails. Operators use the monitoring computers during the vast majority of their training exercises and nearly all of their day-to-day job duties. Obtaining desired information on plant conditions from the monitoring computer has become second nature to the operators. They are less accusto= med to using the backup sources. As a result, it may take them longer to evaluate plant conditions using only the backup sources, thus delaying th= eir response to problems and increasing the chances that they will make a mistake. The reactor accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl illustrated what can happen when operators are not fully aware of plant conditions. T= he March 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania began as a minor disturbance that had occurred several times in the past. Mispositioned valves and a faulty component complicated matters, but the plant=92s emer= gency systems automatically started to ensure adequate cooling of the reactor core. However, the operators relied on a failed instrument =96 without checking its readily available backup =96 and turned the emergency pumps = off. Deprived of cooling water, the severely damaged reactor core released mor= e than ten million curies of radioactivity into the atmosphere. The April 1986 accident at Chernobyl I the Ukraine began during a te= st conducted at low power. Workers intentionally disabled some of the plant=92= s emergency systems for the test. When the test was delayed, the operators = did not realize that the changing conditions eliminated the established safet= y margins. When unexpected conditions were encountered during the test, the operators activated the remaining emergency systems to shut down the reactor. Their actions had the unintended effect of producing a steam explosion that ripped apart the reactor core and its containment building and ignited a fire that burned for days and released more than one hundre= d million curies of radioactivity into the atmosphere. The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl experiences do not mean that nuclear power plants face disaster if their monitoring computer systems fail. But they do tragically indicate what can happen when complex technologies are not fully understood. Security computer systems at nuclear plants are also complex technologies. The security computer receives inputs from the cameras, infrared sensors, and other devices that protect the plant from unauthori= zed entries. This computer also receives inputs from card readers for many do= ors within the plant. These card readers control access to vital plant areas = by allowing only authorized personnel to enter. If the security computer "crashes," the plant=92s external protection is degraded. More importantl= y, plant workers=92 entry to vital areas may be impeded. The card readers ar= e disabled when the security computer "crashes" and the doors default to th= e locked condition. The locked doors may be opened using a key, but plant workers do not routinely carry the keys. Their response time will be slow= ed if they have to retrieve the keys to all the doors they need to pass through. Access problems have already been a factor in a nuclear plant accide= nt. Four workers were killed at the Surry nuclear plant in Virginia in Decemb= er 1986 when a broken pipe released steam into the building where they were working. The steam also caused fire sprinklers to spray water throughout = the building. Water leaked into some of the card readers and shorted out the security computer. Locked doors slowed workers responding to the accident. Another non-emergency system at most nuclear power plants that may cause problems is the spent fuel pool cooling system. Spent fuel pools contain irradiated fuel that has been removed from the reactor core. The average nuclear plant has four to five times as much irradiated fuel in i= ts spent fuel pool as in its reactor core. Irradiated fuel releases both hea= t and radiation for many years after the reactor is shut down, which is why emergency core cooling systems are installed. But the cooling system for = the spent fuel pools at most nuclear plants is not an emergency system. Exper= ts in a Congressional hearing last year testified that the Millennium Bug mi= ght cause the electrical grid to "blackout." A nuclear plant automatically sh= uts down if there is a "blackout." Emergency diesel generators automatically start within seconds to provide power to the pumps that cool the reactor core. The system that cools the spent fuel pool is not powered by the emergency diesel generators. The irradiated fuel in the spent fuel pool continues to release heat. The temperature of the spent fuel pool water w= ill slowly increase. A watched pot may not boil, but an uncooled spent fuel p= ool will boil in a few days. A boiling spent fuel pool represents a serious radiation threat to plant workers and the public. What should we do before the Millennium Bug bites? The plant monitoring and security computers may cause serious nucle= ar plant problems if they are affected by the Millennium Bug. Therefore, all reasonable precautions must be taken. For example, training exercises for plant operators should be conducted this year with the plant monitoring computer disabled. These drills would familiarize the operators with the backup sources for monitoring plant conditions. To deal with potential security computer problems, access doors within the plants could be propp= ed open or workers could be issued keys for all doors needed to shut down th= e plant safely. The irradiated fuel in the spent fuel pools may cause serious probl= ems if the electrical grid is affected by the Millennium Bug for longer than = a day or two. Again, there are precautions that must be taken. At some plan= ts, it may be possible to power the spent fuel pool cooling system from the existing emergency diesel generators. For the remaining plants, temporary power sources =96 either diesel generators or combustible gas turbines =96 should be installed as a contingency. Only time will tell whether nuclear power plants are affected by th= e Millennium Bug. The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl experience demonstrat= es that nuclear plant problems can lead to disaster. Unlike the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl problems, the exact timing of the Millennium Bug=92s arrival is precisely known. If the recommended precautions are taken, the next countdown will likely be to the new Millennium. If not, it may be a countdown to a nuclear disaster. Year 2000 Bug Most Nuke Plants Must Meet Federal Standards by July by Garry Lenton of the Harrisburg Patriot News Most of the nation's 103 nuclear power plants are expected to meet a Ju= ly 1 deadline to ensure that their computer systems will operate safely in t= he year 2000, state and federal regulators say. But some, such as GPU Nuclear's Three Mile Island nuclear station, will not finished testing until the fall, when they take their reactors offlin= e for refueling. The timing make some nuclear observers nervous. But the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory commission, which licenses the plants, said it is willing to extend the deadline for those plants rather than force companies to go offline early and disrupt electricity supplies. "The NRC will have to look at each response and determine what, if any, actions we feel are appropriate to see that they get their facilities in shape," said Beth Hayden, a spokeswoman for the NRC. "If somebody gives u= s a huge, long laundry list, we will have some trepidation about whether they can get the work done." Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission is requiring the state's plant= s to be Y2K compliant by March 31. "From what I know from the publicly available documents, were very encouraged by what we see," said Dennis Buckley, Y2K coordinator for PUC Chairman John Quain. A special U.S. Senate committee investigating Y2K recently warned that = the United States is likely to experience some disruptions in health-care and electric power and food distribution. Could disruptions cause a meltdown? No, say Nuclear experts, because> computers responsible for safely shutting down nuclear reactors in emergencies are based on analog systems and not subject to Y2K problems. = Y2K is a product of digital computer systems. However, Y2K problems have been found in computers that operate securit= y systems, control room display systems, engineering programs, control systems, radiation monitoring an emergency responses, according to an NRC report. PECO Energy Co. found that out on February 11, when the primary and bac= kup computers that monitor systems at the Peach Bottom Nuclear Power station = in York County went down for seven hours when a Y2K test was improperly applied. The mistake affected to plant safety display system, emergency response data system and a program that monitors temperature limits in the reactor= , according to a daily report filed with the NRC. Backup systems picked up the slack, but the incident showed the risk th= at nuclear plants face as 2000 approaches. The biggest danger facing nuclear plants is that a computer problem wil= l interrupt the interstate flow of electricity known as "the grid." If the grid becomes unstable, emergency systems at nuclear plants will automatically shutdown reactors and shift to diesel generators to keep th= e plants electrical systems running, said Scott Portzline of Three Mile Isl= and Alert . Some diesel generators are unreliable, he said. "I think there is a high probability that there will be some sort of incident, and hopefully, control room operators will have the ability to mitigate accidents, Portzline said. Nuclear activist and watchdog group's generally agree that the potentia= l for at TMI type accident is small, but they worry that there may not be enough time to catch glitches that can cause other problems. GPU's decision to wait until fall to finish testing is an example of economics taking priority over public safety, said Paul Gunter of the nuclear information and resource service a watchdog group in Washington. Economics also played a role in the NRC's decision to use a two-tiered standard for the test Gunter said. NRC guidelines allowed selected system= to qualify only as a "ready" and not a higher standard, "compliant." A compliant system has been tested and will function normally in 2000. "Rea= dy" means that the system has been temporarily rigged to perform into the new year, but it is not a permanent solution. The two-tiered standard was a concession the NRC made to the nuclear industry to save money, Gunter said. "It seems like the public health and economics are always on the scrimm= age line here," he said. "And too many times the economic issue wins out." GPU is waiting until fall to test the turbine generator and Unit 1 beca= use taking the reactor offline now would disrupt the utility schedule and cou= ld create interruptions in power at a time when demand is high. Outages are scheduled in fall because electrical demands are usually low. James Langenbach, vice president and director of TMI, said waiting unti= l the outage to complete Y2K testing poses no risk because the turbine generator has, in effect, already been tested. General Electric Co. built a replica of the unit and it passed, he said. Even if the TMI unit failed, it would take only days to bring it into compliance, he said. "I have every confidence that GPU will be Y2K compliant," Langenbach sa= id. The industry is spending millions on computer testing. GPU spend about = $3 million on Y2K since it started testing in 1996, spokesman Tom Kauffman said. The company setup software stations where employees can test their computer programs. It has had 12 people working full-time on testing he said. "It's a serious problem that we are taking very seriously," he said. GPU even set up a toll-free telephone number for residents to call for information about the testing program: 888 GPU - 4Y2K. E-mail questions c= an be sent to year2000@GPU.com. PP&L's analysis of 380 computer systems is nearly done. Most showed tha= t they would not be affected by Y2K said Herbert Woodeshick, spokesman for PP&L's Susquehanna nuclear plant in Berwick. "We have a couple where we need to do some minor modifications, but it'= s a minor job," he said. PECO, which operates the Peach Bottom and Limerick plants, will spend $= 75 million company-wide to test for Y2K problems, spokesman Bill Jones said.= It will meet the deadline, he said Links Nuclear Information and Resources Y2K site Short speech by NRC Chairman Shirley Dr. Jackson on Y2K NRC list of affected systems at nuclear plants Michael Mariotte of NIRS discusses Y2K and Nuclear Power (Real Audio by Pacifica Radio) NRC Briefing on Grid Reliability Station Blackout (NRC) United States Government Accounting Office Reports on Y2K Computing Crisi= s in=BD - - 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 13:40:59 -0700 From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) New Scientist Report - Kosovo Depleted Uranium >From New Scientist, 5 June 1999 IN 1991 Doug Rokke went to the Middle East as a US army health physicist to clean up uranium left by the Gulf War. He helped decontaminate 23 armoured vehicles hit by shells in "friendly fire" incidents. Today he has difficulty breathing. His lungs are scarred and he has skin problems and kidney damage. Rokke, a major in the US Army Reserve's Medical Service Corps, has no doubt what made him ill--contact with radioactive metal.Three years after he worked in the Gulf, the US Department of Energy tested his urine. They found that the level of uranium in his sample was over 4000 times higher than the US safety limit of 0.1 micrograms per litre. Now aged 50 and an environmental scientist at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, Rokke is campaigning to stop the US firing uranium weapons in the Balkans. "It is a war crime to use uranium munitions when men, women and children are exposed to them without any medical screening or care," he says. "It is totally, totally wrong." Depleted uranium, or DU, is a radioactive heavy metal. It is the waste left over when the isotope uranium-235 is extracted from naturally-occurring uranium to fuel nuclear power stations and build nuclear bombs. DU typically consists of 99.7 per cent uranium-238. As a by-product of the nuclear industry, DU is cheap and plentiful. And DU shells are a very effective weapon against tanks and armoured cars. They can pierce several inches of armour-plated steel thanks to DU's extremely high density. They're better at penetrating armour than traditional anti-tank weapons made of tungsten. DU was used for the first time in battle during the 1991 Gulf conflict with Iraq. The US Department of Defense says that US planes and tanks fired 860 000 rounds of ammunition containing 290 tonnes of DU. British tanks fired 100 rounds containing less than 1 tonne of DU, according to the Ministry of Defence. Gulf veterans such as Rokke believe exposure to this DU is one of the causes of Gulf War Syndrome, the unexplained illness or group of illnesses that has afflicted thousands of soldiers since the war. Iraqi scientists also claim that DU was responsible for a rise in the numbers of cancers and birth defects in southern Iraq. But both the US and British governments dispute this. They say there is no evidence that DU has damaged the health of military personnel. But the row is erupting again with the US admission it is using DU weapons in the two-month-old war against Serbia. In a press briefing in Washington DC on 3 May, Major General Charles Wald, vice-director for strategic plans and policy for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that A10 Warthog aircraft had fired DU munitions against Serbian forces. The US Joint Chiefs' spokesman, James Brooks, told New Scientist that AV-8 Harriers and Abrams battle tanks in the Balkans also carried DU munitions. The British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, has said that no DU is "in use" by British forces. But there are more than 20 British Challenger tanks, which fired DU ammunition in the Gulf conflict, stationed in Macedonia ready for action if ground troops move into Kosovo--a move supported by Britain as the limitations of an air offensive become apparent. NATO says that DU has been used against Serbian forces since the second week of May. "It has not been used extensively," says a NATO spokesman. "It has never been proved that the use of DU endangers the health of people. It is no more dangerous than mercury." Neither NATO nor the US will say how just much DU has been fired in the Balkans. But there are 40 A10s and 6 Harriers in action, capable of unleashing a lot of uranium. A10s, for example, are armed with a 30-millimetre Gatling gun that can fire 3900 shells a minute, one in five of which contains 300 grams of DU. This means that each A10 could release 234 kilograms of DU a minute. If US and British tanks take part in a ground offensive, observers say more DU is likely to be fired. As well as its ability to pierce armour plating, DU has the unfortunate tendency to ignite on impact, creating clouds of uranium oxide dust--facilitating its spread in the environment and increasing the danger posed by the alpha radiation it emits. Mike Thorne, a uranium expert from AEA Technology at Harwell in Oxfordshire, formerly part of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, points out that as an alpha-emitter, it poses a similar risk to plutonium if it gets inside the body. As such, even the tiniest amounts could cause cell damage that marginally increases the risk of cancer. DU also emits dangerous beta radiation. Its main component, uranium-238, has a half-life of 4.46 billion years. Thorne argues that it could in theory contribute to Gulf War Syndrome: "In view of its poorly defined biochemical effects, DU could be a contributory factor," he says. Chemically, DU poses a great threat to the kidneys, where high concentrations can lead to organ failure. But according to Thorne, even small amounts could have subtle but ill-understood effects. That is why a major study by the US Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1989 recommended reducing the safety limit for uranium in kidneys from 3 micrograms per gram to 0.3 micrograms per gram. There is evidence that civilian authorities take the threat from DU very seriously. In the aftermath of the Gulf conflict, the UK Atomic Energy Authority came up with some frightening estimates for the potential effects of the DU contamination left by the conflict. It calculated that if 23 tonnes of DU were inhaled--8 per cent of the amount actually fired in the Gulf--this could cause "500 000 potential deaths". This was "a theoretical figure", it stressed, that indicated "a significant problem". Potential deaths The AEA's calculation was made in a confidential memo to the privatised munitions company, Royal Ordnance, dated 30 April 1991. The memo offered to send a team to Kuwait to clear up the DU--an offer that was never taken up. The high number of potential deaths was dismissed last year as "very far from realistic" by a British defence minister, Lord Gilbert. "Since the rounds were fired in the desert, many kilometres from the nearest village, it is highly unlikely that the local population would have been exposed to any significant amount of respirable oxide," he said. The Balkans war, however, is not being fought in a desert but in areas where people have, or did have, houses. As a result of earlier pressure from Gulf veterans, the British government commissioned two reports. In April this year, Lord Gilbert quoted the 1993 investigation by the Defence Radiological Protection Service, which concluded "that there was no indication that any British troops had been subjected to harmful over-exposure to DU during the Gulf conflict". But the other report, published by the Ministry of Defence in March, did acknowledge that troops could have inhaled DU dust in the Gulf and that this "could theoretically lead to damage to lung tissue and subsequently to a raised probability of lung cancer some years later". The ultimate irony is that DU could poison the very land that NATO is trying to protect, says Rokke. "The aim of this war is to enable the Kosovars to return home. But unless the uranium is cleaned up, those that survive the Serb atrocities and the NATO aerial attacks will have to return to a contaminated environment where they may become ill." _________________________________________________END FWD. - - 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 21:36:22 -0700 From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: Radiation eating microbes? above subject previous post may be inadvertently forwarded disinformation according to article on website below forwarded by original sender of above. - -----Original Message----- From: Remy C. To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;@pimout2-int.prodigy.net;;;;;;; Date: Saturday, June 05, 1999 7:53 PM Subject: Fw: Radiation eating microbes? >Guess I should forward this to a few more people who got my post earlier >regarding Joel Carlinsky so we are all forewarned. > >But this doesn't denigrate the question any. Just makes us cautious of the >one doing the asking. Remy C. > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Michael Theroux >To: Remy C. >Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2004 1:58 PM >Subject: Re: Radiation eating microbes? > > >> At 11:48 AM 06/05/1999 -0400, you wrote: >> > (I received this text snail mail after I got a call from Joel >Carlinsky. >> >> Remy, >> >> I urge you to read the following: >> >> http://www.umsl.edu/~skthoma/carl.htm >> >> TOXIC DISINFORMATION: Joel Carlinsky's Bonfire of Insanity >> >> by Jim Martin (editor, Flatland) and Kenn Thomas (editor, >> Steamshovel Press) >> >> >> Michael > - - 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 1999 21:17:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) Headlines about the war I saw the following headlines about the Yugoslav war on the front page of the June 1 Sacramento Bee: Kosovo goal to save lives, Clinton says. Toll rises as NATO hits sanitarium. - - 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 1999 21:39:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) After the War Now that the war appears to be almost over, what do we do now? Will we switch to such issues as A campaign to lift the sanctions against Iraq, and calling for the abolition 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. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 16:36:00 -0700 From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) SANTA BARBARA ABOLITION CAMPAIGN UPDATE Deal all -- The Facilitator's Group established at the February US abolition meeting in Santa Barbara is meeting regularly via frequent conference calls, to carry out its assigned tasks: 1) Formulate a longer-term structure; 2) Bring forward strategic activities; 3) Suggest a name for the campaign; 4) Plan the next meeting. The notes of our calls are being posted to the US abolition-caucus list serve. We are currently discussing possibilities for our next face-to-face meetings. Watch this space.... In the meantime, here's a brief update and announcement. Please consider contacting one or more or the working groups! FIRST, The Facilitators' Group is pleased to announce that we have reached agreement on a name! We are now the US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS. This name was agreed upon after several rounds of consultation with meeting participants and lots of discussion. While we recognize that the name is not perfect, it is clear and it conveys our primary purpose. While it's not intended to be a temporary name, we remain open to changing or modifying it in the future, if there's a compelling reason. Thanks to all of you for your patience. SECOND, at the Santa Barbara meeting we identified potential working groups and conveners. FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE INITIAL US ABOLITION CAMPAIGN WORKING GROUPS. PLEASE CONTACT THE LISTED CONVENERS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH A GROUP OR OBTAINING MORE INFORMATION ABOUT IT. FOR THOSE GROUPS WITHOUT IDENTIFIED CONVENORS, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE LIST IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING FOR THE JOB. - -- 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. Although there is currently no convener for this group, those on the conference call agreed that 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. Conveners: To be determined. - --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. Conveners: 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 Adminsitration, now split in two) This working group will focus on initiatives relevant to nuclear weapons abolition in the U.S. Congress. Examples include the pending Markey and Woolsey resolutions, aimed respectively at scaling back U.S. 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. Conveners: 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. Convener: Alan Haber (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental Organizations) od4life@aol.com; (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. Convener: 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. Convener 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. Conveners: Michele Xenos (Shundahai Network), shundahai@shundahai.org; (702)647-3095; Pilulaw Khus (Coastal Band, Chumash Nation), pilulaw@jps.net; (805)771-8922; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands Association of NGOs) salvador@hawaii.edu; (818)956-8537 - --NATO AND NATO 50TH ANNIVERSARY MEETING, APRIL 23 This working group initially focused on the upcoming NATO 50th anniversary meeting in Washington, D.C. 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. Convener: Mark Mebane (Fourth Freedom Forum) mmebane@fourthfreedom.org; (219)543-3402 - --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 theatre and domestic ballistic missile deployments, and the stagnation of arms control negotiations, this working group will help the abolition campaign in the U.S. remain aware of the effects U.S. nuclear weapons and military policies have on efforts to achieve abolition in other nuclear weapons states and globally. Conveners: 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. Convener: Joseph Gerson 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, spece 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. Conveners: 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. Convener: 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 theabolition of nuclear weapons. Convener: 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. Convener: David Krieger (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation), wagingpeace@napf.org; (805)965-3443. ****************************************************** 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. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 23:55:11 EDT From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Debate Between Sonja Licht and Srdjan Dizdarevic] This is a very interesting exchange between Sonja Licht, a strong woman in=20 Belgrade, clear in her views (as you will see) and someone with somewhat=20 different views. Sonja, I believe, is back in Belgrade. This debate, and the=20 flood of material coming from Grupa484 gives the lie to the repeated charge=20 that Milosevic is a "dictator" and there is no opposition in Serbia. David McReynolds << Subj:=09 Fw: [Fwd: [balkanhr] Debate Between Sonja Licht and Srdjan=20 Dizdarevic] Date:=096/7/99 7:06:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time From:=09grupa484@beotel.yu (grupa484) =20 Excerpts from a Debate Between Sonja Licht, President of Open Society Foundation (Belgrade) and Srdjan Dizdarevic, President of Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo). Provided by HCA Prague (26 May 1999) via Courier des Balkans (5 June 1999). =20 RFE: In Serbia almost everyone is speaking about civilian victims and about the=20 destruction of the country by NATO. At the same time NGOs from BiH, Croatia=20 and Slovenia stress the tragedy of Kosovo Albanians. How do you see it: =20 SL: First of all I want to say is that in the beginning of April, 17 NGOs from=20 Serbia issued a statement which pointed out the suffering of Kosovo Albanians as=20 well as citizens of Serbia and Montenegro because of the NATO bombing. I=20 also=20 want to mention the statement signed by 27 individuals ( I am one of them) who=20 strongly criticised both the NATO bombing and the ethnic cleansing. So, I cannot=20 agree with the remark that independent intellectuals in Serbia are focused only on=20 NATO intervention. But, among NGOs and representatives of the =93other=20 Serbia=94 an attitude is spreading that the bombing exceptionally increased=20 the=20 suffering of all citizens of the FRY. Finally, ethnic cleansing on such a large scale=20 started after the beginning of the bombing. =20 SD: For me it is clear that the current suffering of Albanians, as the fina= l act of a=20 seven year long tragedy whose author and instigator is Slobodan Milosevic,=20 brought the West to the conclusion that bombing is the only possible solution for=20 putting a =93full stop=94 to the tragedy of the territories of former Yugoslavia. I think=20 that the NATO intervention is directed against Milosevic and his regime, no= t=20 against the citizens of FRY. As a citizen of Sarajevo, I want to send a message to=20 my friends in FRY that I think that we were in the worse situation. To be a target=20 of Karadzic and Mladic was more difficult that to be, to use that cynical=20 expression, a collateral victim.=20 =20 RFE: Mrs. Licht, do you agree that Milosevic is the main target of NATO? =20 SL: No, it is not true. Milosevic and his regime have not been bombed, the whole=20 country and its infrastructure have been bombed. Kosovo has been under the=20 most intensive bombing, some towns like Pristina, Kosovska Mitrovica and Pe= c=20 are completely destroyed. The trains and buses have been bombed. I do not=20 agree with Mr. Dizdarevic that it was the only solution for putting a full stop to all=20 the tragic events which have happened. I do not believe that this bombing will put=20 a full stop on anything. On the contrary, several hundred thousand Albanian= s have=20 left Kosovo, the towns have been destroyed, the villages were destroyed prior to=20 the bombing. It is a big question where refugees could return to. Beside this, there=20 is a strong homogenisation of the people in Serbia, not in support of the regime,=20 but to resist the NATO aggression. Bill Clinton expected a Blitzkrieg, but this=20 Blitzkrieg has been changed in the continuous destruction. I do understand the=20 feeling of Sarajevans when they say that it is easier to be a target of NATO, than=20 others. I have not been a target in Sarajevo, but I know that a dead man is a dead=20 man, a dead child is a dead child. Sarajevo was under a different kind of siege,=20 there were snipers, and it lasted for a long period. But, believe me, what=20 is=20 happening in Serbia is also very big suffering.=20 =20 SD: I still think that this action is directed against Milosevic. NATO leaders are=20 repeating from day-to-day that Milosevic can just ring them up and the bombing=20 will end. It is up to him to accept the conditions of NATO and end the suffering of=20 the people of FRY. I disagree with Mrs Licht on the interpretation of what is happening in Kosovo. In=20 my opinion, this horrible exodus of Albanians is not connected with the ai= r- strikes. It is more the result of the actions of Milosevic=92s forces whos= e aim is to=20 cleanse the territory of Albanians. =20 SL: According to the phone call, mentioned by Mr Dizdarevic, I think that, after=20 first few days of bombing, even to the NATO leaders, it was clear that Milosevic=20 will not ring them up. The first interest of this regime is to stay in power, they=20 estimated that such a phone call could be politically very risky so they have not=20 rung up. With this bombing the whole country and its citizens are equalise= d with=20 President Milosevic. Is it correct that the International Community, which is calling=20 for humanitarian principles, democracy, which does not accept the principle of=20 collective guilty are now resorting to the collective punishment of the=20 whole=20 population. Beside this, the intervention which has not solved anything, brings a lot=20 of problems. The UN is by-passed, in the name of universal humanitarian=20 principles the principles on which the international order has been built u= p since=20 1945 has been endangered. I could accept this universalism if it was implemented=20 everywhere. But, in Rwanda one million people died and there was no=20 intervention. Is it because it is Africa, so the local people are worth less? In the=20 last few years in Turkey more than 35.000 Kurds were killed. Villages were burnt=20 down, chemical weapons was used against Kurds. The 30 million Kurds are=20 attacked. But, there is no intervention, on the contrary it was openly said that any=20 intervention could not be implemented because of geopolitical reasons, Turkey is=20 an important state in this part of world. There was no intervention in Algeria,=20 where, up to now, 60.000 people have been killed. If one principle is=20 implemented only when the powerful decide to implement it, than it cannot be a=20 universal principle. This principle is used only when it is suitable for someone and=20 it is extremely concerning. It does not lead to the world order it leads to the world=20 disorder. =20 =20 ------------------ balkanhr mailing list To unsubscribe please send mail to majordomo@greekhelsinki.gr with the word "unsubscribe balkanhr" (without the ") in the subject. Please report abuse at balkanhr-owner@greekhelsinki.gr >> - - 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. ------------------------------ End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #138 *********************************** - To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe $LIST" 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.