From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #233 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 Sunday, December 12 1999 Volume 01 : Number 233 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 12:23:32 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) 20 DAYS TO GO: TIME RUNNING OUT - 5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT, FAX NOW 20 DAYS TO GO : 5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT - FAX FOR DE-ALERTING TODAY PLEASE SEND THIS EMAIL ON TO AS MANY OTHERS AS YOU CAN - Distribute far and Wide. Dear All who are concerned about the safety of our planet, With only 20 days to go before the Y2K rollover, time is getting short. However, there are some signs that the global de- alert campaign is making an impact. As we move toward the crucial date of Dec31/Jan1, 2000, some 5,600 nuclear warheads controlled by the oldest and largest computer complexes in the world are on hairtrigger alert. We are asking people to write to US Defence Secretary Cohen, Clinton, and Russian defence minister Sergeyev, asking them to take these weapons off alert before Dec30. In particular, if you live in the US, if it is at all possible you should try to fax or ring the white house or Defence Secy Cohen at the Pantagon TODAY Cohen-Fax +1-703-695-1149, Ph(Clinton) (202) 456-1111 fax 456-2461. Here's a quick link for writing Congress and media urging dealerting: http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd/ If you live in Europe (esp eastern europe), please send a fax to Russian defence minister Igor Sergeyev first, and then to US defence secy Cohen and Clinton. (+7-095-205-4330. Russian Govt General Fax) PLEASE don't just delete or write back asking me to take you off the list - this really is important and it really is something on which you can make a difference. If you have already sent a fax, then congratulations. You don't need to do any more - unless you'd like to distribute this email to as many other people as possible. If you faxed to Cohen or Clinton however, you might consider faxing Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev. There are indications that your faxes *may* be making an impact on the Pentagon. We need to keep the momentum up! The Canberra Commission, the Tokyo Forum, four resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly (two last year two this year), two motions in the Australian Senate, and a resolution carried on Thursday 18th Nov by the European Parliament have all called for nuclear weapons to be taken off alert. Please write to US defence secretary William Cohen, President Clinton, and to Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, asking them to take nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert at least over the Y2K 'rollover' period. Defence Secretary Cohen's fax number is +1-703-695-1149 President Clintons fax number is +1-202-456-2461 Yeltsin/Sergeyev's fax number is +7-095-205-4330. Faxing a single A4 page should not cost you more than a dollar. You can fax for free on http://www.fax4free.com (But the best fax is HANDWRITTEN). *If you are an organisation* and want to sign a large sign- on letter, please sign the letter to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton that is being periodicaly faxed to them on http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html Sample letters to Cohen/Clinton and to Sergeyev are below. Do please customise and abbreviate. And have fun while saving the planet from (possibly) the apocalypse! 1)SAMPLE LETTER TO COHEN/CLINTON (This is for individuals to sent to Us Secretary for Defence Cohen and President Clinton. You can also post it to The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC.) TO: WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US, +1-202-456-2461, +1-202-456-2883. Dear President Clinton and Secretary for Defence Cohen, I am writing to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off 'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period. As you will be aware, the European Parliament recently voted to ask you and President Yeltsin to do as the UK has already done, and de-alert nuclear weapons. It is particularly disturbing that Secretary Cohen has been reported as having stated in Moscow some time ago that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability building measure. You have also been quoted as saying that 'The better course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing shared early warning centers'. The recent Europarliament vote clearly puts de- alerting back on the table. De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission in 1996 and then by the Tokyo Forum, as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's and this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General Assembly. It has also been reccommended by a resolution specifically on the subject passed by last years General Assembly and by this years First Committee on Reduction of Nuclear Dangers. In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September, and finally it has been clearly requested by the European Parliament. It is also the subject of congressional resolution H.Con Res177 put by Edward Markey, and most recently, the City of Berkley has asked for it. These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them - reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early warning centers and de-alerting - are vital to the reduction of tension and the establishment of strategic stability. This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the millennium date change (Y2K). As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems. The very nature of the Y2K problem makes it impossible to be sure everything has been fixed until well into the new year. Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even acknowledge the Y2K problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period. Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'. This system seems to include additional ways in which Y2K failure might lead to an accidental launch. The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one. However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of nuclear weapons. The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as we the public are aware, to come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover, is far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless. Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The Y2K vulnerabilities recently discovered in six of the seven hotlines on which US/Russian communications depends, are also cause for deep concern. If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated. This has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its missile forces from minutes to days. In taking De-alerting 'off the table', the United States is making a serious error. Failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K 'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable consequences. The probability of this may be low, but it will never be zero as long as nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert. In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces. (SIGNED) etc. 2)SAMPLE LETTER TO YELTSIN/DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV THIS SAMPLE LETTER IS FOR YOU PERSONALLY TO FAX, CUSTOMIZED AS YOU FEEL BEST, TO YELTSIN AND DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV. PLEASE DO FAX IT AND SEND IT NOW. You can also post it to Boris Yeltsin, C/O The Kremlin, Moscow - but its really too slow. A single A4 page fax will cost you about a dollar. PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, IGOR SERGEYEV, RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER, +7-095-205-4330, 'Dear Defence Minister Sergeyev and President Yeltsin, I am writing to convey my deep concern that Y2K-related computer failures in the command and control systems for nuclear weapons may lead to an accidental nuclear war. I am aware that both Russia and the US have taken this problem seriously enough to establish a joint strategic stability center in Colorado. However, I am very much concerned that this facility will come into operation only by 27th December 1999, so that a delay of just four days will make it useless. I am also very much concerned that Y2K problems have been found recently in six out of seven of the 'hotlines' that would be used if a crisis of any sort arose over the Y2K rollover period. I am aware that there have been a number of occasions when either the US or Russia have mistakenly believed that the other nation was in the process of launching a nuclear attack. With 3,600 Russian warheads on 700 missiles and 2,000 US warheads on 500 missiles, with each side capable to launch within roughly 20 minutes, this must never be allowed to happen, either over the Y2K 'rollover', or at any other time. The use of 5,600 warheads would certainly mean the end of what we call civilization, would likely mean the end of the human race and could possibly mean the end of all life. I therefore urge both you and the United States, to place all your nuclear forces in a status in which at least days not minutes, would be required to launch . The United Kingdom has, I understand, already done this. The European Parliament has recently called on both the US and Russia to de-alert nuclear weapons and to place them in a state similar to that in which the UK has placed its weapons. The recent Europarliament vote clearly puts de- alerting back on the table. De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission in 1996 and then by the Tokyo Forum, as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's and this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General Assembly. It has also been reccommended by a resolution specifically on the subject passed by last years General Assembly and by this years First Committee on Reduction of Nuclear Dangers. In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September, and finally it has been clearly requested by the European Parliament. It is also the subject of congressional resolution H.Con Res177 put by Edward Markey, and most recently, the City of Berkley has asked for it. The immediate stakes are so high and the potential for global catastrophe is so great, that mutually verified de-alerting of nuclear forces in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of political and national security.' (Signed) etc. 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. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 19:51:48 -0800 From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) NRC hearing Yucca Mountain From: Gary Vesperman To: Undisclosed.Recipients@skylink.skylink.net Subject: Review-Journal article on NRC hearing on cask safety Date: Friday, December 10, 1999 6:58 PM FYI For a copy of a Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper report on the NRC hearing on cask safety issues, see http://12.9.217.5/plweb-cgi/fastweb?state_id=3D944879623&view=3Drjsearch&= docrank =3D65&numhitsfound=3D68&query_rule=3D%28%28$query%29%29%20AND%20%28%23dat= e%28$quer y1%29%29%3ADATE%20AND%20%28%28$query4%29%29%3AHEADLINE&query1=3D12%2F9%2F= 99&do cid=3D21761&docdb=3D1999&dbname=3D1999&starthit=3D50&TemplateName=3Dpredo= c.tmpl&setCoo kie=3D1 If clicking on the lengthy address doesn't work, try control-C to copy. T= hen paste into the address with control-V. If all fails, click on www.lvrj.com and enter the date 12/9/99 in the appropriate place. (The reporter, Keith Rogers, is on my list of e-mail correspondents.) Gary The text of the article is below: Thursday, December 09, 1999 Copyright =A9 Las Vegas Review-Journal Experts stress shipping risks State officials call for extensive tests of casks planned for transportin= g radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain. By Keith Rogers Review-Journal Nevada's experts in radioactive waste and transportation called on Wednesday for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct expensive, full-scale tests of casks the government intends to use for shipping potentially deadly wastes to Yucca Mountain. They said current information about the risks of the casks breachin= g and releasing highly radioactive contaminants is outdated and cannot be u= sed to validate computer models the federal agency is considering for assessi= ng the risks. "Just kicking a cask out of an airplane isn't really full-scale testing," said Steve Frishman, a geologist and full-time consultant for t= he State Nuclear Projects Agency. "We've been telling them for 10 years they should be taking a hard look at transportation safety," he said during a break in an NRC panel discussion at the Henderson Convention Center. Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site = the government is studying for entombing 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste. Most of it, 90 percent, is in the form of solid fuel pellets encas= ed in metal rods and in storage at reactor sites across the country. The remaining 10 percent is military waste that must be solidified into glass logs for disposal in the mountain, a ridge of volcanic rock. Susan Shankman, deputy director for licensing and inspection at the NRC's Spent Fuel Project Office, said that more testing is needed to validate the computer models for future highway and rail conditions thoug= h models from 1987 indicate the casks would be safe in severe accidents. "We agree we will have to do some degree of physical testing. We ma= y have to build a special cask and test that," she said. "I'm confident the commission will support us in this study." The NRC is spending $150,000 through 2000 to gather information abo= ut accident risks from hauling spent fuel casks on highways and railroads. Another $1.5 million has been set aside for the next phase to mesh cask t= est data with computer models of accident scenarios, said NRC nuclear enginee= r Rob Lewis, the project manager for performance studies. But money in the NRC's budget will fall short of what state officia= ls estimate it will cost to do adequate testing. Robert Halstead, transportation consultant for the State Nuclear Projects Agency, estimates full-scale testing will cost between $8 millio= n and $15 million for 30-ton truck casks and up to $25 million for 125-ton rail casks. He noted the costs are relatively small when compared with the cost= of transportation activities for a repository -- $9.2 billion -- or what scientists in 1986 estimated it would cost, $620 million, to clean up a severe accident involving a rail cask that releases a tiny fraction of it= s radionuclides. Halstead said he is concerned about catastrophic accidents that cou= ld involve casks and military explosives. "The issue of live munitions colliding into a shipment, that's a re= al issue in Nevada with the flight corridors" of Nellis Air Force Range, he told the 22-member panel of nuclear waste transportation officials representing federal, state and local agencies and industry groups. Halstead cited the Energy Department's risk estimate for a terroris= t attack with explosives on a truck cask of spent fuel that would result in= 15 latent cancer fatalities. "We believe it would be 10 times that," he said. According to Clark County's estimates, the chances for accidents involving shipping casks is great considering nearly 38,000 shipments wou= ld be made over several decades. A federal Department of Transportation official, health physicist Richard Swedberg, said stiff regulations on transporting spent fuel casks could be used to prevent accidents. Judy Treichel of a watchdog group, the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, stressed that rules requiring inspections of equipment on jetliner= s, for example, have been violated in the past, resulting deadly crashes. Meeting the requirements of regulations does not necessarily mean t= he public will have confidence in the safety of transporting nuclear waste, = she said. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., expressed her concerns in a statement and said that the data are outdated, funding for full-scale testing "is grossly inadequate, and the possible accident scenarios have not yet been considered and accounted." =1D - - 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, 11 Dec 1999 12:23:32 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) 20 DAYS TO GO: TIME RUNNING OUT - 5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT, FAX NOW 20 DAYS TO GO : 5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT - FAX FOR DE-ALERTING TODAY PLEASE SEND THIS EMAIL ON TO AS MANY OTHERS AS YOU CAN - Distribute far and Wide. Dear All who are concerned about the safety of our planet, With only 20 days to go before the Y2K rollover, time is getting short. However, there are some signs that the global de- alert campaign is making an impact. As we move toward the crucial date of Dec31/Jan1, 2000, some 5,600 nuclear warheads controlled by the oldest and largest computer complexes in the world are on hairtrigger alert. We are asking people to write to US Defence Secretary Cohen, Clinton, and Russian defence minister Sergeyev, asking them to take these weapons off alert before Dec30. In particular, if you live in the US, if it is at all possible you should try to fax or ring the white house or Defence Secy Cohen at the Pantagon TODAY Cohen-Fax +1-703-695-1149, Ph(Clinton) (202) 456-1111 fax 456-2461. Here's a quick link for writing Congress and media urging dealerting: http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd/ If you live in Europe (esp eastern europe), please send a fax to Russian defence minister Igor Sergeyev first, and then to US defence secy Cohen and Clinton. (+7-095-205-4330. Russian Govt General Fax) PLEASE don't just delete or write back asking me to take you off the list - this really is important and it really is something on which you can make a difference. If you have already sent a fax, then congratulations. You don't need to do any more - unless you'd like to distribute this email to as many other people as possible. If you faxed to Cohen or Clinton however, you might consider faxing Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev. There are indications that your faxes *may* be making an impact on the Pentagon. We need to keep the momentum up! The Canberra Commission, the Tokyo Forum, four resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly (two last year two this year), two motions in the Australian Senate, and a resolution carried on Thursday 18th Nov by the European Parliament have all called for nuclear weapons to be taken off alert. Please write to US defence secretary William Cohen, President Clinton, and to Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, asking them to take nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert at least over the Y2K 'rollover' period. Defence Secretary Cohen's fax number is +1-703-695-1149 President Clintons fax number is +1-202-456-2461 Yeltsin/Sergeyev's fax number is +7-095-205-4330. Faxing a single A4 page should not cost you more than a dollar. You can fax for free on http://www.fax4free.com (But the best fax is HANDWRITTEN). *If you are an organisation* and want to sign a large sign- on letter, please sign the letter to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton that is being periodicaly faxed to them on http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html Sample letters to Cohen/Clinton and to Sergeyev are below. Do please customise and abbreviate. And have fun while saving the planet from (possibly) the apocalypse! 1)SAMPLE LETTER TO COHEN/CLINTON (This is for individuals to sent to Us Secretary for Defence Cohen and President Clinton. You can also post it to The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC.) TO: WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US, +1-202-456-2461, +1-202-456-2883. Dear President Clinton and Secretary for Defence Cohen, I am writing to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off 'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period. As you will be aware, the European Parliament recently voted to ask you and President Yeltsin to do as the UK has already done, and de-alert nuclear weapons. It is particularly disturbing that Secretary Cohen has been reported as having stated in Moscow some time ago that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability building measure. You have also been quoted as saying that 'The better course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing shared early warning centers'. The recent Europarliament vote clearly puts de- alerting back on the table. De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission in 1996 and then by the Tokyo Forum, as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's and this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General Assembly. It has also been reccommended by a resolution specifically on the subject passed by last years General Assembly and by this years First Committee on Reduction of Nuclear Dangers. In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September, and finally it has been clearly requested by the European Parliament. It is also the subject of congressional resolution H.Con Res177 put by Edward Markey, and most recently, the City of Berkley has asked for it. These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them - reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early warning centers and de-alerting - are vital to the reduction of tension and the establishment of strategic stability. This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the millennium date change (Y2K). As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems. The very nature of the Y2K problem makes it impossible to be sure everything has been fixed until well into the new year. Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even acknowledge the Y2K problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period. Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'. This system seems to include additional ways in which Y2K failure might lead to an accidental launch. The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one. However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of nuclear weapons. The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as we the public are aware, to come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover, is far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless. Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The Y2K vulnerabilities recently discovered in six of the seven hotlines on which US/Russian communications depends, are also cause for deep concern. If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated. This has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its missile forces from minutes to days. In taking De-alerting 'off the table', the United States is making a serious error. Failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K 'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable consequences. The probability of this may be low, but it will never be zero as long as nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert. In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces. (SIGNED) etc. 2)SAMPLE LETTER TO YELTSIN/DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV THIS SAMPLE LETTER IS FOR YOU PERSONALLY TO FAX, CUSTOMIZED AS YOU FEEL BEST, TO YELTSIN AND DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV. PLEASE DO FAX IT AND SEND IT NOW. You can also post it to Boris Yeltsin, C/O The Kremlin, Moscow - but its really too slow. A single A4 page fax will cost you about a dollar. PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, IGOR SERGEYEV, RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER, +7-095-205-4330, 'Dear Defence Minister Sergeyev and President Yeltsin, I am writing to convey my deep concern that Y2K-related computer failures in the command and control systems for nuclear weapons may lead to an accidental nuclear war. I am aware that both Russia and the US have taken this problem seriously enough to establish a joint strategic stability center in Colorado. However, I am very much concerned that this facility will come into operation only by 27th December 1999, so that a delay of just four days will make it useless. I am also very much concerned that Y2K problems have been found recently in six out of seven of the 'hotlines' that would be used if a crisis of any sort arose over the Y2K rollover period. I am aware that there have been a number of occasions when either the US or Russia have mistakenly believed that the other nation was in the process of launching a nuclear attack. With 3,600 Russian warheads on 700 missiles and 2,000 US warheads on 500 missiles, with each side capable to launch within roughly 20 minutes, this must never be allowed to happen, either over the Y2K 'rollover', or at any other time. The use of 5,600 warheads would certainly mean the end of what we call civilization, would likely mean the end of the human race and could possibly mean the end of all life. I therefore urge both you and the United States, to place all your nuclear forces in a status in which at least days not minutes, would be required to launch . The United Kingdom has, I understand, already done this. The European Parliament has recently called on both the US and Russia to de-alert nuclear weapons and to place them in a state similar to that in which the UK has placed its weapons. The recent Europarliament vote clearly puts de- alerting back on the table. De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission in 1996 and then by the Tokyo Forum, as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's and this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General Assembly. It has also been reccommended by a resolution specifically on the subject passed by last years General Assembly and by this years First Committee on Reduction of Nuclear Dangers. In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September, and finally it has been clearly requested by the European Parliament. It is also the subject of congressional resolution H.Con Res177 put by Edward Markey, and most recently, the City of Berkley has asked for it. The immediate stakes are so high and the potential for global catastrophe is so great, that mutually verified de-alerting of nuclear forces in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of political and national security.' (Signed) etc. 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 09:12:33 -0800 (PST) From: marylia@earthlink.net (marylia) Subject: (abolition-usa) DOE wants BIGGER nuke program Dear Peace and Enviro advocates: Here is an article from today's Tri-Valley Herald about DOE's new report on its "Stockpile Stewardship" program. I have the half-dozen page executive summary DOE put out, and the document is available on the web at www.dp.doe.gov/dp_web/news_f.htm In sum, this is very dangerous, particularly as this DOE deadly wish list from Uncle Santa is backed by a VERY REAL effort to increase Stockpile Stewardship funding by $500 million extra dollars in the next budget. DOE is very serious about ramping up the nuclear weapons complex ever-more -- and we must mobilize to stop this, no matter how busy or overworked we already are! Peace, Marylia Please read the article... [Image] Saturday, December 11, 1999 DOE commits to refurbish aging nuclear weapons Revival of some phased-out research recommended FROM STAFF REPORTS LIVERMORE — Nuclear bombs aren't aging as well as the Energy De partment thought they would. "The number of weapons facing re furbishing is substantially larger than was expected," Energy Undersecretary Ernest Moniz said Friday after the re- lease of an annual report on the nation's Stockpile Stewardship Program. "These refurbishment campaigns, in the next decade, are very consider able," Moniz said. Under current U.S. policy, the En ergy Department no longer builds new warheads; it repairs and maintains the old ones. At the same time, the govern ment is stepping up supercomputer re search for improved virtual detonations of bombs so that weapon eers can keep their skills sharp. The Energy Department recom mends some nuclear weapons research programs be revived after having been phased out. Officials did not provide details. "The nation is restoring its capacity to produce nuclear weapons components in the enduring nuclear stock pile," according to a government statement. Each year for the past four years, the Energy Department has conducted a review and certified the stockpile "safe and reliable." Troubles with the construction of the National Ignition Facility laser complex at Lawrence Livermore Lab; a project that lab and Energy Department managers have called a keystone of this stewardship program likely will not cause a major disruption in the program, officials said =46riday. Marylia Kelley, a frequent lab critic and executive director of the Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, said she viewed the plan as a recipe for a return to the Cold War. "It's an outline for reconstituting the size and style of the Cold War nuclear weapons complex," she said. "It is a plan that says the Cold War is back on track, and it's going to cost the American taxpayer one hell of a lot." Ordered by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson in October, the review recommends 15 Energy Department actions. Moniz served as chairman for a panel of experts who assisted with the review. Assembling a work force that can in crease production of nuclear weapons materials, recruiting top researchers, revisiting its weapons refurbishment program and developing a plutonium manufacturing and testing strategy are among the recommendations outlined in the review. Developing a long-term budget plan for the U.S. nuclear weapons complex and seeking "to restore programs at the laboratories that support weapons related research" are also recommended goals. The report said the Stockpile Stew ardship Program is effective, and for the fourth year in a row the active nu clear weapons arsenal will be certified as reliable. ------------------------------------------------------------- =A9 1999 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 09:31:36 -0800 (PST) From: marylia@earthlink.net (marylia) Subject: (abolition-usa) Addendum to DOE wants BIGGER nuke program Hi -- just a note to highlight that the Tri-Valley Herald article I sent you earlier says, "Under current U.S. policy, the Energy Deptartment no longer builds new warheads; it repairs and maintains the old ones." I would refute this statement (and will when I call the reporter on Monday). The definition of "new" is mighty, mighty fluid these days. Most of you receiving this note already know this. However, I didn't want my transmission of the article as a whole to be misunderstood as an endorsement of every phrase in it. Thanks, 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. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 18:28:06 -0500 (EST) From: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Addendum to DOE wants BIGGER nuke program Please note that the Global Network now has a new e-mail address at: globalnet@mindspring.com Bruce K. Gagnon Coordinator Global Network PO Box 90083, Gainesville, Fl 32607 Web site: http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk/ (352) 337-9274 On Sat, 11 Dec 1999, marylia wrote: > Hi -- just a note to highlight that the Tri-Valley Herald article I sent > you earlier says, "Under current U.S. policy, the Energy Deptartment no > longer builds new warheads; it repairs and maintains the old ones." I would > refute this statement (and will when I call the reporter on Monday). The > definition of "new" is mighty, mighty fluid these days. Most of you > receiving this note already know this. However, I didn't want my > transmission of the article as a whole to be misunderstood as an > endorsement of every phrase in it. Thanks, 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. > - - 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, 13 Dec 1999 16:19:06 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Worst Possible News [The Express] 11 December, 1999 Yeltsin puts missiles on red alert =46rom Will Stewart in Moscow Boris Yeltsin put his most powerful nuclear missiles on full alert last night in what was seen as a dramatic warning to the West over Chechnya. The Kremlin deployed ten new Topol-M missiles - its newest, most sophisticated and deadliest weapons - in a state of combat readiness. The move coincided with President Yeltsin's return to Russia after a trip to China, during which he hit back at criticism of his campaign in Chechnya and warned the West to keep its nose out. "Russia is a great power that possesses a full nuclear arsenal," he thundered in Beijing. "It is us who will dictate." The West was told in advance of Russia's deployment, as dictated by nuclear treaty commitments. But the timing and the rarity of such a move amounts to a dramatic show of force designed to back Yeltsin's message. The intercontinental missiles - with a 6,200 mile range and capable of striking Britain or America - were put in readiness in the Saratov region, 400 miles south-east of Moscow. Russia publicly portrayed the move as a scheduled test of a new weapon, which replaces its SS-19 missiles, dating to the 1970s. But observers last night said the provocative timing could only be linked to the Chechen crisis - and Yeltsin's anger at the West's hostile reaction to his bloody military purge in the troubled region. Many Russian politicians and analysts say Yeltsin is too ill to rule Russia and have his finger on the trigger of the world's second largest nuclear power. In televised comments yesterday, even his wife Naina admitted that he had "never been in such a bad state as he is now" after a bout of pneumonia which followed a succession of health problems, including heart trouble. While putting Russia's missiles on alert is seen as posturing bluster, Britain's foremost independent nuclear expert, John Large, warned it was a foolish manoeuvre, particularly in relation to the millennium bug, for which it is feared Russia is still ill-prepared. "There was an unwritten agreement for both Russia and the US not to deploy nuclear weapons before the Y2K period," he said. "Even if the weapons themselves are OK - which I very much doubt since their testing system has been effectively down and out for three years - they would have to work within the strategic defence system there which is full of Y2K glitches. There is no real need for it - it is a risk they don't need to take. "I am not suggesting that these nuclear bombs will go off on their own, but we do expect to see the defence systems playing up a bit." The Topol-M missile is relatively small and can be transported on a mobile launch pad, meaning it would be hard to locate and take out in the first strike of a nuclear confrontation. "Of the five nuclear powers, none of the others will match these weapons in the next few years," bragged Colonel-General Vladimir Yakovlev, Russian forces commander. "Topol-M is able to breach any anti-missile system that exists in the world and any which will be built in the near future." The deployment came 24 hours ahead of today's deadline - set by Russia a few days ago - for people in the Chechen capital Grozny to "flee or perish". Moscow yesterday appeared to have extended the deadline for residents to get out of the ruined city. But the Kremlin immediately stung the West by implying a new ultimatum to wipe out Grozny was on the way. The missile manoeuvre also came as Europe's leaders gathered for an EU summit in Helsinki. They were last night preparing to fire off a salvo of condemnation for the Russian offensive in Chechnya, which has seen thousands of civilians killed and tens of thousands of refugees spilling across the borders into neighbouring Ingushetia. "It can't be business as usual while Russia continues with these actions in Chechnya," a British source said at the Helsinki summit. "I imagine there will be some words of condemnation." But little hard action was expected to back up the words. The West is aware that, in practical terms, there is little it can do to halt the Russian offensive, though the EU is likely to shelve a science and technology agreement and a =A31.5 billion aid package to Russia in protest over the action in Chechnya. The nuclear deterrent on both sides of the old Iron Curtain is credited with maintaining peace since the end of the Second World War. But in recent months the post-Cold War nuclear consensus has collapsed and Russia and the US seem on the verge of a new arms race. =A9 Express Newspapers, 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. ------------------------------ End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #233 *********************************** - 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.