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abolition-usa-digest    Thursday, February 11 1999    Volume 01 : Number 079




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 07:02:53 -0800 (PST)
From: Clayton Ramey <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Ideas for Santa Barbara abolition gathering

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MEMO

To: Santa Barbara abolition campaign participants and diversity builders
From: Clayton Ramey, Disarmament Program Coordinator, FOR
( e-mail: <[e-mail]>  Tel: [phone]  Fax  [phone]
Date: February 10, 1999

Re: Some personal observations and ideas for building a broader, more inclusive, and more mutual nuclear abolition campaign in the USA

Although I won't be able to join you this weekend in California, I'm keenly interested in the shape of our agenda and our discourse on the issue of nuclear abolition.  I'm even more concerned that the communities whose voices aren't fully represented in the discussion- Third World people(s) and poor folk- have a significant " place at the table" that both influences our discussion and helps to build a campaign that addressed our own diverse concerns.

Clearly, the current configuration of nuclear abolition advocates doesn't represent the racial, ethnic, and/or class diversity of the USA population. ( I, for example, was the only Africanamerican who attended the October 9 abolition gathering in Chicago, and I didn't see, or couldn't identify, any Latino/a activists there either)  Most identifiable abolition activists are middle-upper middle class white people,  with the exception usually being some Native people who have organized successfully, especially against nuclear testing on Native land ( which is all of the Americas, in fact).  Moreover, I'd venture to guess that nuclear issues don't show up on the agendas of major activist groups in communities of color, or at least in organizations that I can identify in the national Africanamerican community.  A friend of mine, without sarcasm, told me once that Black people would deal with nuclear weapons once the problems of unemployment, substandard housing, corporate racism, e!
cono
mic deprivation, failed schools, police violence, crime, and drugs were out of the way.

I suspect that the abolition issue is not a high social or political priority for Third World peoples and organizations because, among other reasons

White abolition leaders and organizers have avoided building mutuality with Third World and working class people and organizations, leading those communities and organization to look at the abolition issue as a "white" and "elitist" thing

Abolition organizations generally lack critical masses of Third World-working class people in leadership positions who "push" the issue in a more inclusive, democratic way


Real information of the social cost of the nuclear age isn't known to, or has not been shared with,  opinion shapers and policy makers in our communities, especially those with influence in  media, religious, and public policy circles.

But nuclear abolition is an important issue- not just for the handful of people of color and working class folks who actually work on the issue, but to our broader constituents, too:  not just because nuclear weapons are equal opportunity mass killers, but because the nuclear infrastructure itself had been maintained to our disproportional detriment ( and as our Western Shoshone  brothers and sisters can testify, at the cause of our disproportional death and sickness).

At the clear risk of overstating the obvious, I maintain here that what is needed is a broad, popular abolition campaign that not only speaks truth to power, but that speaks it in a language and style that can capture and ignite our imaginations and address our real concerns not only for nuclear abolition, but for racial and economic justice as well.

SOME IDEAS FOR ABOLITION CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT WITHIN AND CONNECTED TO THIRD WORLD PEOPLES AND ORGANIZATIONS

1. Let's make creative use of the Abolition 2000 Resolution for Municipalities.  I think that this resolution is a potentially powerful tool for putting the resolution before broader, more numerous constituencies.  Remember, town/city councils in North American cities like Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh have passed versions of the resolution, as well as dozens of towns and cities in the United Kingdom and Australia.

The proliferation of Black and Brown mayors, city managers, and  predominantly Third World town councils throughout the United States, as well as "progressive" local governments, might make the revival of a cities campaign in the context   of a broader abolition campaign a good thing to work on. ( In this regard, I'm encouraged by the fact the Detroit City Council passed a resolution last year
that called for an end to sanctions against Iraq and supported humanitarian relief efforts).   We should organize working groups in various towns to develop popular education strategies and support an abolition resolution might support broader coalition-building efforts.

I'm willing to take on some leadership in developing and shaping this initiative, and I encourage some group to emerge from this meeting who could support this strategy possibly  by re-drafting the Model Abolition Treaty 2000 resolution for Municipalities and developing appropriate background information for public education and study, and  working on strategies for bringing the resolution  to


the attention of more town/city  councils, especially in cities and towns with large Third World and working class populations

2. Let's translate Abolition campaign materials into other languages ( Spanish comes to mind immediately), and writing styles.  I remember. a successful campaign, some years ago,  to get inner-city women to go for free screenings for breast and colon cancer at Harlem Hospital in New York City.  One of the key ingredients in the information hand-outs was the fact that stuff was written for people with eighth-grade reading levels. This is not being presumptuous about who can read what, or a what level of "complexity".  It does mean, though, that written material that successfully builds mass support for an issue needs to consider that most folks aren't scientists, activists, or scholars.

3. Let's develop a simple, powerful, and compelling piece of writing that makes the issue of nuclear abolition a racial and economic justice issue, too.  Perhaps this Santa Barbara group could produce some people willing to work on this, and maybe produce it in the form of a brochure for mass distribution ( if something like this doesn't already exist.  It may).

4. Let's think about community media opportunities, like cable television ( and satellite) broadcasts, writing short pieces for newsletter distribution, Third World-oriented e-mail lists ( like Black Geeks online- no foolin', that's their name), guest columns from Third World abolition activists, trying to get the issue up and running on Black Entertainment Television, etc., etc).  The list goes on.  But maybe we can start with a strategic brainstorm at Santa Barbara about who in the information-dissemination/media community we might want to reach with compelling information about the imperative for nuclear abolition.

5. We should work on building mutual relationships with more established faith communities, including non-Christian ones. This is something that almost all of us have been talking about.  It's pretty self-explanatory, I think.

These are some of my ideas, and not necessarily those of FOR.  But I look forward to working with any of you who see potential in developing these ideas in the context of our work to rid the world of nukes!  Peace and successful organizing to all.




saved as: C:// sbideas


- --=====================_918760404==_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Clayton Ramey ( Ibrahim Malik Abdil-Mu'id) coordinates the Peace and
Disarmament program of the Nyack, New York- based Fellowship of Reconciliation.

- --=====================_918760404==_--


- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 07:06:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Clayton Ramey <[e-mail]>
Subject: [none]

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- --=====================_918760632==_
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MEMO

To: Santa Barbara abolition campaign participants and diversity builders
From: Clayton Ramey, Disarmament Program Coordinator, FOR
( e-mail: <[e-mail]>  Tel: [phone]  Fax  [phone]
Date: February 10, 1999

Re: Some personal observations and ideas for building a broader, more inclusive, and more mutual nuclear abolition campaign in the USA

Although I won't be able to join you this weekend in California, I'm keenly interested in the shape of our agenda and our discourse on the issue of nuclear abolition.  I'm even more concerned that the communities whose voices aren't fully represented in the discussion- Third World people(s) and poor folk- have a significant " place at the table" that both influences our discussion and helps to build a campaign that addressed our own diverse concerns.

Clearly, the current configuration of nuclear abolition advocates doesn't represent the racial, ethnic, and/or class diversity of the USA population. ( I, for example, was the only Africanamerican who attended the October 9 abolition gathering in Chicago, and I didn't see, or couldn't identify, any Latino/a activists there either)  Most identifiable abolition activists are middle-upper middle class white people,  with the exception usually being some Native people who have organized successfully, especially against nuclear testing on Native land ( which is all of the Americas, in fact).  Moreover, I'd venture to guess that nuclear issues don't show up on the agendas of major activist groups in communities of color, or at least in organizations that I can identify in the national Africanamerican community.  A friend of mine, without sarcasm, told me once that Black people would deal with nuclear weapons once the problems of unemployment, substandard housing, corporate racism, e!
cono
mic deprivation, failed schools, police violence, crime, and drugs were out of the way.

I suspect that the abolition issue is not a high social or political priority for Third World peoples and organizations because, among other reasons

White abolition leaders and organizers have avoided building mutuality with Third World and working class people and organizations, leading those communities and organization to look at the abolition issue as a "white" and "elitist" thing

Abolition organizations generally lack critical masses of Third World-working class people in leadership positions who "push" the issue in a more inclusive, democratic way


Real information of the social cost of the nuclear age isn't known to, or has not been shared with,  opinion shapers and policy makers in our communities, especially those with influence in  media, religious, and public policy circles.

But nuclear abolition is an important issue- not just for the handful of people of color and working class folks who actually work on the issue, but to our broader constituents, too:  not just because nuclear weapons are equal opportunity mass killers, but because the nuclear infrastructure itself had been maintained to our disproportional detriment ( and as our Western Shoshone  brothers and sisters can testify, at the cause of our disproportional death and sickness).

At the clear risk of overstating the obvious, I maintain here that what is needed is a broad, popular abolition campaign that not only speaks truth to power, but that speaks it in a language and style that can capture and ignite our imaginations and address our real concerns not only for nuclear abolition, but for racial and economic justice as well.

SOME IDEAS FOR ABOLITION CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT WITHIN AND CONNECTED TO THIRD WORLD PEOPLES AND ORGANIZATIONS

1. Let's make creative use of the Abolition 2000 Resolution for Municipalities.  I think that this resolution is a potentially powerful tool for putting the resolution before broader, more numerous constituencies.  Remember, town/city councils in North American cities like Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh have passed versions of the resolution, as well as dozens of towns and cities in the United Kingdom and Australia.

The proliferation of Black and Brown mayors, city managers, and  predominantly Third World town councils throughout the United States, as well as "progressive" local governments, might make the revival of a cities campaign in the context   of a broader abolition campaign a good thing to work on. ( In this regard, I'm encouraged by the fact the Detroit City Council passed a resolution last year
that called for an end to sanctions against Iraq and supported humanitarian relief efforts).   We should organize working groups in various towns to develop popular education strategies and support an abolition resolution might support broader coalition-building efforts.

I'm willing to take on some leadership in developing and shaping this initiative, and I encourage some group to emerge from this meeting who could support this strategy possibly  by re-drafting the Model Abolition Treaty 2000 resolution for Municipalities and developing appropriate background information for public education and study, and  working on strategies for bringing the resolution  to


the attention of more town/city  councils, especially in cities and towns with large Third World and working class populations

2. Let's translate Abolition campaign materials into other languages ( Spanish comes to mind immediately), and writing styles.  I remember. a successful campaign, some years ago,  to get inner-city women to go for free screenings for breast and colon cancer at Harlem Hospital in New York City.  One of the key ingredients in the information hand-outs was the fact that stuff was written for people with eighth-grade reading levels. This is not being presumptuous about who can read what, or a what level of "complexity".  It does mean, though, that written material that successfully builds mass support for an issue needs to consider that most folks aren't scientists, activists, or scholars.

3. Let's develop a simple, powerful, and compelling piece of writing that makes the issue of nuclear abolition a racial and economic justice issue, too.  Perhaps this Santa Barbara group could produce some people willing to work on this, and maybe produce it in the form of a brochure for mass distribution ( if something like this doesn't already exist.  It may).

4. Let's think about community media opportunities, like cable television ( and satellite) broadcasts, writing short pieces for newsletter distribution, Third World-oriented e-mail lists ( like Black Geeks online- no foolin', that's their name), guest columns from Third World abolition activists, trying to get the issue up and running on Black Entertainment Television, etc., etc).  The list goes on.  But maybe we can start with a strategic brainstorm at Santa Barbara about who in the information-dissemination/media community we might want to reach with compelling information about the imperative for nuclear abolition.

5. We should work on building mutual relationships with more established faith communities, including non-Christian ones. This is something that almost all of us have been talking about.  It's pretty self-explanatory, I think.

These are some of my ideas, and not necessarily those of FOR.  But I look forward to working with any of you who see potential in developing these ideas in the context of our work to rid the world of nukes!  Peace and successful organizing to all.




saved as: C:// sbideas


- --=====================_918760632==_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Clayton Ramey ( Ibrahim Malik Abdil-Mu'id) coordinates the Peace and
Disarmament program of the Nyack, New York- based Fellowship of Reconciliation.

- --=====================_918760632==_--


- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 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: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 09:58:53 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) abolition meeting

Thanks for the message Harry.  We'll take it into the meeting.  Love,
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons.

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 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 09:02:46 -0800
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Key to Abolition 2000

The fundamental basis for the abolition of nucear weapons, other weapons of
mass destruction, and general disarmament, is the same:  A change in the
moral position of the population of the United States of America, the only
nation to ever use nuclear weapons against human beings.

The key factor in correcting this moral position is the reevaluation of the
hidden histroy behind the atomic bombings of Hirsoshima and Nagasaki and
with this deeper understanding to change the popular American attitude that
"even though it was horrible and should never be repeated, these bombings
were justified because...."

In February of 1945 a then secret meeting took place between the leaders of
the Allied Powers, with the expected imminent defeat of Germany that
happened in April, to plan not only the boundaries of Eastern Europe but the
plans to finish the war with Japan.  At this meeting it was agreed that the
Soviet Union would bear the responsibility of the final attack on Japan and
that Japan after the war would be a Soviet satellite nation.  On the eve of
the atomic bombings the Soviets were massing troups at the Manchurian border
preparing to execute this agreement.  By this time the US was resolved that
this agreement should not be kept.   The public justification of the US for
these bombings, of civilian populations with no war industries in their
cities populated by women, children, and elderly because the male population
was away at war, is that it was "to save American soldiers' lives".  But
behind the scenes these bombings were calculated human tests of this
fearsome new weapon done primarily to threaten the Soviets, begin the Cold
War, and to ensure that Japan became an American "possession" after the war.

Until the American public and its government adopts the postition that no
matter what the reasons at the time, in retrospect it is clear that it was
morally WRONG to execute these bombings, there is no hope of nuclear
abolition.

Many people are still reluctant to criticize this a still popular President
Truman.  Because of his knowledge of these facts, the man whom Gandhi called
his revered teacher (Guruji), Nichidatsu Fujii, in 1978 at the end of the
American Indians' Longest Walk in Washington, DC, spontaneously added to his
prepared speech the message that because of the motivations of these
bombings and that they initiated today's threat of nuclear conflagration,
and that they violated the principles of the United Nations Charter against
such weapons which was executed in San Francisco in June of 1945 two months
before these bombings, that the United States is a violater of the UN
Charter, an enemy of humanity, and that Truman was ten times worse a war
criminal that Adolph Hitler.  This is from one of Gandhi's teachers.

Until Americans adopt the corrected moral position that it was a crime to
execute these bombings in light of these suppressed historical details,
there will be no hope for the abolition of nuclear weapons, other weapons of
mass destruction, and for the general disarmament necessary for a lasting
global peace.

Therefore, I urge that the Nuclear Abolition 2000 movement include this
simple line in its position documents being created this weekend, "It was
wrong to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki".

Any great movement for deep social change requires the demonstration of
popular support of people actually taking to the streets and demonstrating
publicly their resolve for such change, in large numbers.  This is the
opportunity of the Global Peace Walk project to motivate local Global
Community Peace Walks in communities across the country and around the world
to correct human thinking and abolish nulear weapons and all weapons of mass
destruction as a realistic step towards true global peace.  Please also
embrace the Global Peace Walk and popularize local peace walks right away
this year on a regular weekly basis in your communities.   For more details
see http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/gcpw.html and the Global Emergency
Alert Response homepage shown below.

David Crockett Williams,  February 11, 1999

    http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000
*********************************************************
Global Emergency Alert Response:  GEAR2000
David Crockett Williams                805-822-3309
20411 Steeple Court, Tehachapi CA 93561 USA
*********************************************************
        CAMPAIGN for a BETTER AMERICA
              with General Agency Services
*********************************************************
      UNITED NATION   Global  Peace  Walk
Oakland City Hall to UC Berkeley, February 26th*
Annually:   22apr Taos, NM, --->  Santa Fe 26apr
1999:  16sep New York -> Washington DC 24oct
Ceremony rededicating  Washington Monument
as a symbol of peace, UN DAY 24OCT99
2000:  15jan  San Francisco --> New York  24oct
             16sep Washington, DC
   ONE NATION, Aware of God as Love for All !
       GLOBAL PEACE NOW !!     Help Now !!!
*********************************************************
http://www.egroups.com/list/global-peace-walk



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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 10:35:39 -0800 (PST)
From: Peace Action - National Office <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re:  (abolition-usa) Thoughts on Strategy

Well done!
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 > From [e-mail]  Wed Feb 10 18:03:30 1999
 > X-Authentication-Warning: alpha.matrixinet.com: pm10-15.sba1.avtel.net [207.71.237.165] didn't use HELO protocol
 > X-Sender: [e-mail]
 > Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 18:01:52 -0800
 > To: [e-mail]
 > From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation <[e-mail]>
 > Subject: (abolition-usa) Thoughts on Strategy
 > Sender: [e-mail]
 > Reply-To: [e-mail]
 >
 > Dear Friends,
 >
 >
 >     Here are a some thoughts on principles related to strategy for a U.S. Abolition Campaign.
 >
 >
 >     1. It should be focused on the goal of abolition and on specific steps along the way (de-alerting, No First Use, no further deployment of missile defense, CTBT ratification, etc).  We must be careful and clear about not confusing any one step toward t
he goal with the goal itself.
 >
 >
 >
 >     2. It should be multi-layered, aimed at both decision-makers, the media, and the public.  All efforts should be aimed at particular outcomes that are synergistic.  For example, the public should be asked to press decision-makers for specific outcomes.

 >
 >
 >     3. It should be segmentable so that different groups in the campaign can take responsibility for accomplishing clearly defined sub-goals within the campaign.
 >
 >
 >     4. It should have agreed upon symbols and slogans for a large PR campaign.
 >
 >
 >     5. It should have high profile military, political and celebrity spokespersons capable of getting the message out to the country as a whole.
 >
 >
 >     6. It should be so compelling that even politicians and policy-makers will not be able to hold back the public demand for this progress on abolition.
 >
 >
 >     7. It should try to forge links with political leaders and supportive countries as the landmines campaign did so successfully.
 >
 >
 >                             David Krieger
 >
 > <bigger>*********************************************************
 >
 > NUCLEAR AGE PEACE FOUNDATION
 >
 > International contact for Abolition 2000
 >
 > a Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons
 >
 > </bigger>**********************************************************
 >
 > 1187 Coast Village Road, Box 121
 >
 > Santa Barbara, CA 93108-2794
 >
 > Phone [phone] * Fax [phone]
 >
 > e- mailto:[e-mail]
 >
 > URL http://www.wagingpeace.org
 >
 > URL http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/
 >
 > **********************************************************
 >
 >
 >
 > -
 >  To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 >  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.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 10:48:19 -0800
From: Shundahai Network <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Japanese People Protest at U.S. Subcritical Nuclear Test

From: Masaya nishio/AKAHATA


Japanese People Protest at U.S. Subcritical Nuclear Test


   TOKYO FEB 11 JPS -- The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan

Gensuikyo) had a protest action in front of the U.S. Embassy, Minato Ward,

Tokyo on February 10 on the U.S. government's 6th subcritical nuclear test

on February 9 at Nevada, completely ignoring the criticism of previous tests

by the world people.


   As part of the protest action Gensuikyo representatives handed a protest

letter addressed to U.S. President Bill Clinton to U.S. Embassy staff, which

said, "We protest at the subcritical nuclear test and demand the

cancellation of all nuclear test projects." and "The call for the

elimination of nuclear weapons is a major trend in world public opinion

which wants a peaceful 21st century. The U.S. subcritical nuclear test and

the outrageous U.S. strategy of preemptive strikes by its armed forces are a

challenge to world peace."


   The Japan Confederation of A and H Bombs Sufferers Organizations (Nihon

Hidankyo) sent a protest letter to U.S. President Clinton on February 10,

which expressed the anger of A and H bombs sufferers at the repeated

subcritical nuclear tests.


   In Hiroshima City, some 90 A- and H-bombs sufferers had a sit-in in front

of the A Bomb monument in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. In Nagasaki

City, Nagasaki Gensuikyo had a protest action in front of the Peace Memorial

Statue in the Peace Park.


   The 42nd general meeting of World Conference against A and H Bombs

Organizing Committee decided on February 10 to send a protest letter to U.S.

President Clinton.


   Takashi Hiraoka, Hiroshima mayor, sent a protest letter on February 10 to

U.S. President Clinton. Iccho Ito, Nagasaki mayor made a statement, saying,

"Repeated subcritical nuclear tests are the outcome of the selfishness of a

nuclear power. It tramples on the efforts of the world people for nuclear

disarmament."


   The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), the Japan Peace

Committee and other trade unions and democratic organizations sent protest

letters to U.S. President Clinton. The Association for a Non-Nuclear

Government sent a protest letter to U.S. President Clinton and a letter to

Japan's Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, calling on him to protest to the U.S.

about their subcritical nuclear test and to call on them to immediately stop

the test.

 (end item)



><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><<
><<><< ><<><<


SHUNDAHAI NETWORK

"Peace and Harmony with all Creation"

<paraindent><param>out,out</param>5007 Elmhurst St., Las Vegas, NV
89108-1304

Phone:[phone] (FAX)647-9385

</paraindent>Email: [e-mail]

 <underline><color><param>0000,0000,fefe</param>http://www.shundahai.org


</color></underline>Shundahai Network is proud to be part of:


Healing Global Wounds Alliance, a multi-cultural alliance to

foster sustainable living and break the nuclear chain; and


Abolition 2000: A Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons


><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><< ><<><<
><<><< ><<><<




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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 14:03:38 -0500
From: Peace through Reason <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews (US) 2/11/99 - Clinton No to Yucca Mt.; Savannah River Cleanup; NATO - DC; Clinton / Kosovo

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1. White House Still Against Temporary Site (Yucca Mountain)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/nuclear990210.html

2. Editorial: Blasts from the past (Savannah River Cleanup)
http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/stories/020999/OPEDone.html

ALSO:

3. NATO Urged To Clarify Admission
[First story I've read about the NATO meeting in D.C. in March.]
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-NATO-Expansion.html

4. Admin. Says It Can Send Troops=20
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Kosovo.html

- -------------------------------------------

1. White House Still Against Temporary Site=20

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/nuclear990210.html

W A S H I N G T O N,  Feb. 10  Legislation to build a temporary nuclear w=
aste
dump site in Nevada for storing thousands of tons of highly radioactive, =
spent
nuclear rods drew renewed opposition today from the White House.

At a hearing before a House Commerce Committee panel, a Clinton administr=
ation
official decried a proposal to set up a temporary storage site at the Nev=
ada
Test Range by 2003 until a permanent repository is approved and built in =
the
Yucca Mountain region of the state, near Las Vegas.

A permanent site would not be ready to start collecting waste until 2010.=
 =20

Lake Barrett, acting director of civilian radioactive waste management fo=
r the
U.S. Department of Energy, said a temporary site would divert money and
resources from Yucca Mountain.=20

Funding Gap=20

=93If the department has responsibilities to comply with the interim stor=
age
facility and repository funding provisions and schedules, enactment of th=
e bill
could result in a funding gap of substantially over $1 billion,=94 Barret=
t said.

The Senate and House in 1998 passed a bill requiring DOE to build the int=
erim
site in Nevada, but the legislation never made it through the legislative
process.

President Clinton had vowed to veto last year=92s bill, and Barrett said =
he would
recommend, along with Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, that the presiden=
t veto
the current proposal.=20

Nuclear Waster Fund

Republican congressional leaders, nuclear utilities and a number of state=
s have
charged the DOE with collecting $15 billion in consumer fees since 1982 f=
or
storing spent fuel, but not spending the money for its intended purpose.

=93We have to make sure utility ratepayers who have deposited billions in=
to the
Nuclear Waste Fund get what they paid for, timely disposal of the spent r=
eactor
fuel,=94 said House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley, a Virginia
Republica.

Currently, around 30,000 metric tons of spent fuel is being stored on-sit=
e at
around 75 nuclear plants across the country.=20

Storage Costs

States and utilities sued DOE, saying the law ordered them to start dispo=
sing
of spent fuel no later than Jan. 31, 1998.

The Supreme Court in 1998 let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that refu=
sed to
force the DOE to start taking waste, but did allow utilities to seek
compensation for storage costs.

In mid-December, the DOE in a viability assessment called Yucca Mountain =
a
=93promising=94 site for the nation=92s permanent nuclear waste repositor=
y, pending
more research on its safety. =20

A final recommendation is due in 2001.=20

Strong Opposition DOE said costs for building and maintaining a permanent=
 site
would be covered mostly by the continued collection of the waste fund fee=
, a
one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour charge collected from nuclear energ=
y
consumers. =20

Environmental groups and Nevada legislators expressed strong opposition t=
o
temporary and permanent site plans.

Nevada Democratic Sen. Richard Bryan said Yucca Mountain is prone to
earthquakes, and scientific studies showed water may be able to seep into=
 the
proposed permanent storage location, possibly contaminating the ground mu=
ch
more rapidly than the thousands of years the fuel would be radioactive.=20

- -------------------------------------------

2. Editorial: Blasts from the past=20

http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/stories/020999/OPEDone.html

February 9, 1999 - SavannahNOW

THE EMERGENCE of the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta as a major player in measuring radiation emitted by the Savannah =
River
Site is welcome news, but its findings are disturbing.

They now belong to history, but they reveal that much more radiation was
released by SRS during the Cold War than previously recorded. None of the
releases were apparently sufficient to harm nearby residents, officials s=
aid.
But more detective work is planned, which is a must.

Researchers hope to find out how much contamination actually escaped, whe=
re it
went and who lives in those areas. These are important questions, particu=
larly
for older Georgians and South Carolinians who have chronic health problem=
s and
live near the plant, located about 100 miles up river from Savannah. They
deserve some straight answers about the possible risks they may have
unknowingly assumed.

According to a CDC report released last Thursday in Atlanta, the problem =
is
that America's nuclear weapons production plants, including SRS, woefully
underestimated the intensity of the radiation they released into the air.

In the case of radioactive iodine 131, for example, CDC said the Savannah=
 River
Site released 57,000 curies during plutonium production, compared with an
earlier estimate of only 2,500 curies.

Another major underestimate by SRS officials, according to CDC, was with
releases of plutonium itself. SRS estimates were only one-fourth of the a=
ctual
amount released.

The findings were part of a 1,400-page draft of the second phase of a Dos=
e
Reconstruction Project engineered by CDC. The data were taken from 50,000=
 boxes
of SRS records dating back to the 1960s.

CDC's inquiry was carried out by employees of Risk Assessment Corp., form=
erly
known as Radiological Assessment Corp. In addition to checking records, R=
isk
Assessment workers also interviewed current and former SRS employees.

Many of the discrepancies at SRS, CDC said, were due to inadequate measur=
ement
methods and sampling losses during the early years of the plant's operati=
on.

We must realize, of course, that the United States was pioneering new
production technology in the arcane world of nuclear physics. In greatly
simplified terms, standards of radioactivity emission had to be invented.=
 Such
factors as measurement methods and sampling losses did not set off red wa=
rning
signals.

Until the late 1980s, SRS -- 100 miles upstream from Savannah -- produced
plutonium and titanium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. The site=
 now
processes the radioactive waste.

At the government's Hanford plant in Washington state, the only other sit=
e that
made plutonium, officials released 761,000 curies of iodine 131 -- 13 tim=
es the
amount released at SRS. Researchers for the CDC did not find any connecti=
on
with the releases to thyroid cancer cases in that area, and that's somewh=
at
reassuring. But there are other health-related concerns that must be expl=
ored.
Now that the CDC has uncovered these discrepancies, the agency cannot jus=
t walk
away.

While the differences in the numbers are statistically vast, they do not
suggest vast negligence. But they do suggest that what happened in Americ=
an
nuclear weapons production during the Cold War is well worth re-examinati=
on
because we know more now than we did then.

- -------------------------------------------
ALSO:

[First story I've read about the NATO meeting in D.C. in March.]

3. NATO Urged To Clarify Admission

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-NATO-Expansion.html

 February 10, 1999 - By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- NATO members should decide at April's 50th anniversary
summit in Washington on a clear and definite road map and timetable for
admitting members, former President Carter's national security adviser sa=
id
Wednesday.=20

Comments at a symposium indicated the most likely candidate for membershi=
p is
Slovenia, followed by Slovakia and Lithuania. Some participants suggested=
 the
trio could join as early as 2001 or 2002, provided they meet the same str=
ingent
requirements the newest members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization=
 have
satisfied.=20

The Washington gathering is to welcome as full alliance members the forme=
r
Warsaw Pact nations Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Their entry w=
ill
increase membership to 19 and expand the Atlantic alliance eastward towar=
d
Russia, to the frontier of the former Soviet Union.=20

... NATO was established in 1949 to confine the Soviet Union in Europe. I=
ts
last expansion was in 1980, when Spain became the 16th member.=20

- -------------------------------------------

4. Admin. Says It Can Send Troops=20
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Kosovo.html

[Clinton is once again flexing his muscles with contempt for Congress, cl=
aiming
he has constitutional precedent for sending 4,000 U.S. troops into Kosovo
without Congressional approval.  Interesting quote from 'Rep. Tom Campbel=
l,
R-Calif., one of several International Relations Committee members who we=
re
cool to the idea,.... ``Previous constitutional violations do not justify
subsequent ones,'' he said.']

_____________________________________________________________

       * NucNews - to subscribe: [e-mail] - http://prop1.org *
                         Say "Please Subscribe NucNews"
NucNews Archive: HTTP://WWW.ONELIST.COM/arcindex.cgi?listname=3DNucNews
           since January 13, 1999; for earlier editions - write prop1@pro=
p1.org
                          ---------------------------------------

   NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is=
=20
  distributed without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a pr=
ior=20
       interest in receiving this information, for non-profit research an=
d=20
             educational purposes only. For more information go to:=20
                <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> =20
_____________________________________________________________
- --=====================_41072738==_.ALT
Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by pooky.myhouse.com id OAA13589

<html><div>1. White House Still Against Temporary Site (Yucca
Mountain)</div>
<div><a href=3D"http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/nuclear9=
90210.html" EUDORA=3DAUTOURL>http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/Daily=
News/nuclear990210.html</a></div>
<br>
<div>2. Editorial: Blasts from the past (Savannah River Cleanup)</div>
<div><a href=3D"http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/stories/020999/OPE=
Done.html" EUDORA=3DAUTOURL>http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/storie=
s/020999/OPEDone.html</a></div>
<br>
<div>ALSO:</div>
<br>
<div>3. NATO Urged To Clarify Admission</div>
<div>[First story I've read about the NATO meeting in D.C. in
March.]</div>
<div><a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-NATO-Expansion.html"=
 EUDORA=3DAUTOURL>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-NATO-Expansion.htm=
l</a></div>
<br>
<div>4. Admin. Says It Can Send Troops </div>
<div><a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Kosovo.html" EUDO=
RA=3DAUTOURL>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Kosovo.html</a></div=
>
<br>
<div>-------------------------------------------</div>
<br>
<div>1. White House Still Against Temporary Site </div>
<br>
<div><a href=3D"http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/nuclear9=
90210.html" EUDORA=3DAUTOURL>http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/Daily=
News/nuclear990210.html</a></div>
<br>
<div>W A S H I N G T O N,  Feb. 10  Legislation to build a
temporary nuclear waste dump site in Nevada for storing thousands of tons
of highly radioactive, spent nuclear rods drew renewed opposition today
from the White House.</div>
<br>
<div>At a hearing before a House Commerce Committee panel, a Clinton
administration official decried a proposal to set up a temporary storage
site at the Nevada Test Range by 2003 until a permanent repository is
approved and built in the Yucca Mountain region of the state, near Las
Vegas.</div>
<br>
<div>A permanent site would not be ready to start collecting waste until
2010.  </div>
<br>
<div>Lake Barrett, acting director of civilian radioactive waste
management for the U.S. Department of Energy, said a temporary site would
divert money and resources from Yucca Mountain. </div>
<br>
<div>Funding Gap </div>
<br>
<div>=93If the department has responsibilities to comply with the interim
storage facility and repository funding provisions and schedules,
enactment of the bill could result in a funding gap of substantially over
$1 billion,=94 Barrett said.</div>
<br>
<div>The Senate and House in 1998 passed a bill requiring DOE to build
the interim site in Nevada, but the legislation never made it through the
legislative process.</div>
<br>
<div>President Clinton had vowed to veto last year=92s bill, and Barrett
said he would recommend, along with Energy Secretary Bill Richardson,
that the president veto the current proposal. </div>
<br>
<div>Nuclear Waster Fund</div>
<br>
<div>Republican congressional leaders, nuclear utilities and a number of
states have charged the DOE with collecting $15 billion in consumer fees
since 1982 for storing spent fuel, but not spending the money for its
intended purpose.</div>
<br>
<div>=93We have to make sure utility ratepayers who have deposited billio=
ns
into the Nuclear Waste Fund get what they paid for, timely disposal of
the spent reactor fuel,=94 said House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas
Bliley, a Virginia Republica.</div>
<br>
<div>Currently, around 30,000 metric tons of spent fuel is being stored
on-site at around 75 nuclear plants across the country. </div>
<br>
<div>Storage Costs</div>
<br>
<div>States and utilities sued DOE, saying the law ordered them to start
disposing of spent fuel no later than Jan. 31, 1998.</div>
<br>
<div>The Supreme Court in 1998 let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that
refused to force the DOE to start taking waste, but did allow utilities
to seek compensation for storage costs.</div>
<br>
<div>In mid-December, the DOE in a viability assessment called Yucca
Mountain a =93promising=94 site for the nation=92s permanent nuclear wast=
e
repository, pending more research on its safety.  </div>
<br>
<div>A final recommendation is due in 2001. </div>
<br>
<div>Strong Opposition DOE said costs for building and maintaining a
permanent site would be covered mostly by the continued collection of the
waste fund fee, a one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour charge collected
from nuclear energy consumers.  </div>
<br>
<div>Environmental groups and Nevada legislators expressed strong
opposition to temporary and permanent site plans.</div>
<br>
<div>Nevada Democratic Sen. Richard Bryan said Yucca Mountain is prone to
earthquakes, and scientific studies showed water may be able to seep into
the proposed permanent storage location, possibly contaminating the
ground much more rapidly than the thousands of years the fuel would be
radioactive. </div>
<br>
<div>-------------------------------------------</div>
<br>
<div>2. Editorial: Blasts from the past </div>
<br>
<div><a href=3D"http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/stories/020999/OPE=
Done.html" EUDORA=3DAUTOURL>http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/storie=
s/020999/OPEDone.html</a></div>
<br>
<div>February 9, 1999 - SavannahNOW</div>
<br>
<div>THE EMERGENCE of the federal Center for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta as a major player in measuring radiation emitted by
the Savannah River Site is welcome news, but its findings are
disturbing.</div>
<br>
<div>They now belong to history, but they reveal that much more radiation
was released by SRS during the Cold War than previously recorded. None of
the releases were apparently sufficient to harm nearby residents,
officials said. But more detective work is planned, which is a
must.</div>
<br>
<div>Researchers hope to find out how much contamination actually
escaped, where it went and who lives in those areas. These are important
questions, particularly for older Georgians and South Carolinians who
have chronic health problems and live near the plant, located about 100
miles up river from Savannah. They deserve some straight answers about
the possible risks they may have unknowingly assumed.</div>
<br>
<div>According to a CDC report released last Thursday in Atlanta, the
problem is that America's nuclear weapons production plants, including
SRS, woefully underestimated the intensity of the radiation they released
into the air.</div>
<br>
<div>In the case of radioactive iodine 131, for example, CDC said the
Savannah River Site released 57,000 curies during plutonium production,
compared with an earlier estimate of only 2,500 curies.</div>
<br>
<div>Another major underestimate by SRS officials, according to CDC, was
with releases of plutonium itself. SRS estimates were only one-fourth of
the actual amount released.</div>
<br>
<div>The findings were part of a 1,400-page draft of the second phase of
a Dose Reconstruction Project engineered by CDC. The data were taken from
50,000 boxes of SRS records dating back to the 1960s.</div>
<br>
<div>CDC's inquiry was carried out by employees of Risk Assessment Corp.,
formerly known as Radiological Assessment Corp. In addition to checking
records, Risk Assessment workers also interviewed current and former SRS
employees.</div>
<br>
<div>Many of the discrepancies at SRS, CDC said, were due to inadequate
measurement methods and sampling losses during the early years of the
plant's operation.</div>
<br>
<div>We must realize, of course, that the United States was pioneering
new production technology in the arcane world of nuclear physics. In
greatly simplified terms, standards of radioactivity emission had to be
invented. Such factors as measurement methods and sampling losses did not
set off red warning signals.</div>
<br>
<div>Until the late 1980s, SRS -- 100 miles upstream from Savannah --
produced plutonium and titanium for the nation's nuclear weapons program.
The site now processes the radioactive waste.</div>
<br>
<div>At the government's Hanford plant in Washington state, the only
other site that made plutonium, officials released 761,000 curies of
iodine 131 -- 13 times the amount released at SRS. Researchers for the
CDC did not find any connection with the releases to thyroid cancer cases
in that area, and that's somewhat reassuring. But there are other
health-related concerns that must be explored. Now that the CDC has
uncovered these discrepancies, the agency cannot just walk away.</div>
<br>
<div>While the differences in the numbers are statistically vast, they do
not suggest vast negligence. But they do suggest that what happened in
American nuclear weapons production during the Cold War is well worth
re-examination because we know more now than we did then.</div>
<br>
<div>-------------------------------------------</div>
<div>ALSO:</div>
<br>
<div>[First story I've read about the NATO meeting in D.C. in
March.]</div>
<br>
<div>3. NATO Urged To Clarify Admission</div>
<br>
<div><a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-NATO-Expansion.html"=
 EUDORA=3DAUTOURL>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-NATO-Expansion.htm=
l</a></div>
<br>
<div> February 10, 1999 - By The Associated Press</div>
<br>
<div>WASHINGTON (AP) -- NATO members should decide at April's 50th
anniversary summit in Washington on a clear and definite road map and
timetable for admitting members, former President Carter's national
security adviser said Wednesday. </div>
<br>
<div>Comments at a symposium indicated the most likely candidate for
membership is Slovenia, followed by Slovakia and Lithuania. Some
participants suggested the trio could join as early as 2001 or 2002,
provided they meet the same stringent requirements the newest members of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have satisfied. </div>
<br>
<div>The Washington gathering is to welcome as full alliance members the
former Warsaw Pact nations Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Their
entry will increase membership to 19 and expand the Atlantic alliance
eastward toward Russia, to the frontier of the former Soviet Union.
</div>
<br>
<div>... NATO was established in 1949 to confine the Soviet Union in
Europe. Its last expansion was in 1980, when Spain became the 16th
member. </div>
<br>
<div>-------------------------------------------</div>
<br>
<div>4. Admin. Says It Can Send Troops </div>
<div><a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Kosovo.html" EUDO=
RA=3DAUTOURL>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Kosovo.html</a></div=
>
<br>
<div>[Clinton is once again flexing his muscles with contempt for
Congress, claiming he has constitutional precedent for sending 4,000 U.S.
troops into Kosovo without Congressional approval.  Interesting
quote from 'Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif., one of several International
Relations Committee members who were cool to the idea,.... ``Previous
constitutional violations do not justify subsequent ones,'' he
said.']</div>
<br>

_____________________________________________________________<br>
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<dd>   NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107,
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<dd>  distributed without profit or payment, to those who have
expressed a prior=20
<dd>       interest in receiving this
information, for non-profit research and=20
<dd>           &nb=
sp;
educational purposes only. For more information go to:=20
<dd>           &nb=
sp;
<</font><a href=3D"http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml" eud=
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