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abolition-usa-digest       Monday, June 7 1999       Volume 01 : Number 138




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

Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 11:54:36 -0700
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) UCS on Y2K and nukes

Go to http://www.tmia.com/y2k.htm for more details.

How might the Millennium Bug affect nuclear power plants?

by David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists


     As ironic as it seems, the good news about nuclear power plants is t=
hat
much of their emergency systems use 1960=92s technology. These antique sy=
stems
are unlikely to be affected by the Millennium Bug because they are not
computer controlled. These systems will work on January 1, 2000, as they
have during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

     The bad news is that nuclear power plants have non-emergency systems
that may be disabled by the Millennium Bug. These failure of these second=
ary
systems can prevent emergency systems from functioning properly. The plan=
t
monitoring and the security computers are two such systems.

     The plant monitoring computer receives signals from thousands of
sensors throughout the plant. The signals include information such as the
pressure inside the reactor, the temperature of the cooling water, the
amount of fuel available for the backup power systems, and opened/closed
position of valves. The computer relays this data to the operators via
display screens and printers in the control room. These signals are also
wired directly to gauges, chart recorders, and alarms so the operators ge=
t
the information needed to evaluate conditions and control the plant even =
if
the monitoring computer fails.

     Operators use the monitoring computers during the vast majority of
their training exercises and nearly all of their day-to-day job duties.
Obtaining desired information on plant conditions from the monitoring
computer has become second nature to the operators. They are less accusto=
med
to using the backup sources. As a result, it may take them longer to
evaluate plant conditions using only the backup sources, thus delaying th=
eir
response to problems and increasing the chances that they will make a
mistake.

     The reactor accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl illustrated
what can happen when operators are not fully aware of plant conditions. T=
he
March 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania began as a minor
disturbance that had occurred several times in the past. Mispositioned
valves and a faulty component complicated matters, but the plant=92s emer=
gency
systems automatically started to ensure adequate cooling of the reactor
core. However, the operators relied on a failed instrument =96 without
checking its readily available backup =96 and turned the emergency pumps =
off.
Deprived of cooling water, the severely damaged reactor core released mor=
e
than ten million curies of radioactivity into the atmosphere.

     The April 1986 accident at Chernobyl I the Ukraine began during a te=
st
conducted at low power. Workers intentionally disabled some of the plant=92=
s
emergency systems for the test. When the test was delayed, the operators =
did
not realize that the changing conditions eliminated the established safet=
y
margins. When unexpected conditions were encountered during the test, the
operators activated the remaining emergency systems to shut down the
reactor. Their actions had the unintended effect of producing a steam
explosion that ripped apart the reactor core and its containment building
and ignited a fire that burned for days and released more than one hundre=
d
million curies of radioactivity into the atmosphere.

     The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl experiences do not mean that
nuclear power plants face disaster if their monitoring computer systems
fail. But they do tragically indicate what can happen when complex
technologies are not fully understood.

     Security computer systems at nuclear plants are also complex
technologies. The security computer receives inputs from the cameras,
infrared sensors, and other devices that protect the plant from unauthori=
zed
entries. This computer also receives inputs from card readers for many do=
ors
within the plant. These card readers control access to vital plant areas =
by
allowing only authorized personnel to enter. If the security computer
"crashes," the plant=92s external protection is degraded. More importantl=
y,
plant workers=92 entry to vital areas may be impeded. The card readers ar=
e
disabled when the security computer "crashes" and the doors default to th=
e
locked condition. The locked doors may be opened using a key, but plant
workers do not routinely carry the keys. Their response time will be slow=
ed
if they have to retrieve the keys to all the doors they need to pass
through.

     Access problems have already been a factor in a nuclear plant accide=
nt.
Four workers were killed at the Surry nuclear plant in Virginia in Decemb=
er
1986 when a broken pipe released steam into the building where they were
working. The steam also caused fire sprinklers to spray water throughout =
the
building. Water leaked into some of the card readers and shorted out the
security computer. Locked doors slowed workers responding to the accident.

     Another non-emergency system at most nuclear power plants that may
cause problems is the spent fuel pool cooling system. Spent fuel pools
contain irradiated fuel that has been removed from the reactor core. The
average nuclear plant has four to five times as much irradiated fuel in i=
ts
spent fuel pool as in its reactor core. Irradiated fuel releases both hea=
t
and radiation for many years after the reactor is shut down, which is why
emergency core cooling systems are installed. But the cooling system for =
the
spent fuel pools at most nuclear plants is not an emergency system. Exper=
ts
in a Congressional hearing last year testified that the Millennium Bug mi=
ght
cause the electrical grid to "blackout." A nuclear plant automatically sh=
uts
down if there is a "blackout." Emergency diesel generators automatically
start within seconds to provide power to the pumps that cool the reactor
core. The system that cools the spent fuel pool is not powered by the
emergency diesel generators. The irradiated fuel in the spent fuel pool
continues to release heat. The temperature of the spent fuel pool water w=
ill
slowly increase. A watched pot may not boil, but an uncooled spent fuel p=
ool
will boil in a few days. A boiling spent fuel pool represents a serious
radiation threat to plant workers and the public.




What should we do before the Millennium Bug bites?



      The plant monitoring and security computers may cause serious nucle=
ar
plant problems if they are affected by the Millennium Bug. Therefore, all
reasonable precautions must be taken. For example, training exercises for
plant operators should be conducted this year with the plant monitoring
computer disabled. These drills would familiarize the operators with the
backup sources for monitoring plant conditions. To deal with potential
security computer problems, access doors within the plants could be propp=
ed
open or workers could be issued keys for all doors needed to shut down th=
e
plant safely.

      The irradiated fuel in the spent fuel pools may cause serious probl=
ems
if the electrical grid is affected by the Millennium Bug for longer than =
a
day or two. Again, there are precautions that must be taken. At some plan=
ts,
it may be possible to power the spent fuel pool cooling system from the
existing emergency diesel generators. For the remaining plants, temporary
power sources =96 either diesel generators or combustible gas turbines =96
should be installed as a contingency.

      Only time will tell whether nuclear power plants are affected by th=
e
Millennium Bug. The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl experience demonstrat=
es
that nuclear plant problems can lead to disaster. Unlike the Three Mile
Island and Chernobyl problems, the exact timing of the Millennium Bug=92s
arrival is precisely known. If the recommended precautions are taken, the
next countdown will likely be to the new Millennium. If not, it may be a
countdown to a nuclear disaster.





  Year 2000 Bug

  Most Nuke Plants Must Meet Federal Standards by July

  by Garry Lenton of the Harrisburg Patriot News

  Most of the nation's 103 nuclear power plants are expected to meet a Ju=
ly
1 deadline to ensure that their computer systems will operate safely in t=
he
year 2000, state and federal regulators say.

  But some, such as GPU Nuclear's Three Mile Island nuclear station, will
not finished testing until the fall, when they take their reactors offlin=
e
for refueling.

  The timing make some nuclear observers nervous. But the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory commission, which licenses the plants, said it is willing to
extend the deadline for those plants rather than force companies to go
offline early and disrupt electricity supplies.

  "The NRC will have to look at each response and determine what, if any,
actions we feel are appropriate to see that they get their facilities in
shape," said Beth Hayden, a spokeswoman for the NRC. "If somebody gives u=
s a
huge, long laundry list, we will have some trepidation about whether they
can get the work done."

  Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission is requiring the state's plant=
s
to be Y2K compliant by March 31.

  "From what I know from the publicly available documents, were very
encouraged by what we see," said Dennis Buckley, Y2K coordinator for PUC
Chairman John Quain.

  A special U.S. Senate committee investigating Y2K recently warned that =
the
United States is likely to experience some disruptions in health-care and
electric power and food distribution.

  Could disruptions cause a meltdown? No, say Nuclear experts, because>
computers responsible for safely shutting down nuclear reactors in
emergencies are based on analog systems and not subject to Y2K problems. =
Y2K
is a product of digital computer systems.

  However, Y2K problems have been found in computers that operate securit=
y
systems, control room display systems, engineering programs, control
systems, radiation monitoring an emergency responses, according to an NRC
report.

  PECO Energy Co. found that out on February 11, when the primary and bac=
kup
computers that monitor systems at the Peach Bottom Nuclear Power station =
in
York County went down for seven hours when a Y2K test was improperly
applied.

  The mistake affected to plant safety display system, emergency response
data system and a program that monitors temperature limits in the reactor=
,
according to a daily report filed with the NRC.

  Backup systems picked up the slack, but the incident showed the risk th=
at
nuclear plants face as 2000 approaches.

  The biggest danger facing nuclear plants is that a computer problem wil=
l
interrupt the interstate flow of electricity known as "the grid." If the
grid becomes unstable, emergency systems at nuclear plants will
automatically shutdown reactors and shift to diesel generators to keep th=
e
plants electrical systems running, said Scott Portzline of Three Mile Isl=
and
Alert . Some diesel generators are unreliable, he said.

  "I think there is a high probability that there will be some sort of
incident, and hopefully, control room operators will have the ability to
mitigate accidents, Portzline said.

  Nuclear activist and watchdog group's generally agree that the potentia=
l
for at TMI type accident is small, but they worry that there may not be
enough time to catch glitches that can cause other problems.

  GPU's decision to wait until fall to finish testing is an example of
economics taking priority over public safety, said Paul Gunter of the
nuclear information and resource service a watchdog group in Washington.
Economics also played a role in the NRC's decision to use a two-tiered
standard for the test Gunter said. NRC guidelines allowed selected system=
 to
qualify only as a "ready" and not a higher standard, "compliant." A
compliant system has been tested and will function normally in 2000. "Rea=
dy"
means that the system has been temporarily rigged to perform into the new
year, but it is not a permanent solution.

  The two-tiered standard was a concession the NRC made to the nuclear
industry to save money, Gunter said.

  "It seems like the public health and economics are always on the scrimm=
age
line here," he said. "And too many times the economic issue wins out."

  GPU is waiting until fall to test the turbine generator and Unit 1 beca=
use
taking the reactor offline now would disrupt the utility schedule and cou=
ld
create interruptions in power at a time when demand is high. Outages are
scheduled in fall because electrical demands are usually low.

  James Langenbach, vice president and director of TMI, said waiting unti=
l
the outage to complete Y2K testing poses no risk because the turbine
generator has, in effect, already been tested.

  General Electric Co. built a replica of the unit and it passed, he said.
Even if the TMI unit failed, it would take only days to bring it into
compliance, he said.

  "I have every confidence that GPU will be Y2K compliant," Langenbach sa=
id.

  The industry is spending millions on computer testing. GPU spend about =
$3
million on Y2K since it started testing in 1996, spokesman Tom Kauffman
said.

  The company setup software stations where employees can test their
computer programs. It has had 12 people working full-time on testing he
said.

  "It's a serious problem that we are taking very seriously," he said.

  GPU even set up a toll-free telephone number for residents to call for
information about the testing program: 888 GPU - 4Y2K. E-mail questions c=
an
be sent to [e-mail].

  PP&L's analysis of 380 computer systems is nearly done. Most showed tha=
t
they would not be affected by Y2K said Herbert Woodeshick, spokesman for
PP&L's Susquehanna nuclear plant in Berwick.

  "We have a couple where we need to do some minor modifications, but it'=
s a
minor job," he said.

  PECO, which operates the Peach Bottom and Limerick plants, will spend $=
75
million company-wide to test for Y2K problems, spokesman Bill Jones said.=
 It
will meet the deadline, he said

Links


Nuclear Information and Resources Y2K site


Short speech by NRC Chairman Shirley Dr. Jackson on Y2K

NRC list of affected systems at nuclear plants

Michael Mariotte of NIRS discusses Y2K and Nuclear Power (Real Audio by
Pacifica Radio)

NRC Briefing on Grid Reliability

Station Blackout (NRC)

United States Government Accounting Office Reports on Y2K Computing Crisi=
s





in=BD





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

Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 13:40:59 -0700
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) New Scientist Report - Kosovo Depleted Uranium

>From New Scientist, 5 June 1999

IN 1991 Doug Rokke went to the Middle East as a US army health physicist to
clean up uranium left by the Gulf War. He helped decontaminate 23 armoured
vehicles hit by shells in "friendly fire" incidents.

Today he has difficulty breathing. His lungs are scarred and he has skin
problems and kidney damage. Rokke, a major in the US Army Reserve's Medical
Service Corps, has no doubt what made him ill--contact with radioactive
metal.Three years after he worked in the Gulf, the US Department of Energy
tested his urine. They found that the level of uranium in his sample was
over 4000 times higher than the US safety limit of 0.1 micrograms per litre.

Now aged 50 and an environmental scientist at Jacksonville State University
in Alabama, Rokke is campaigning to stop the US firing uranium weapons in
the Balkans. "It is a war crime to use uranium munitions when men, women and
children are exposed to them without any medical screening or care," he
says. "It is totally, totally wrong."

Depleted uranium, or DU, is a radioactive heavy metal. It is the waste left
over when the isotope uranium-235 is extracted from naturally-occurring
uranium to fuel nuclear power stations and build nuclear bombs. DU typically
consists of 99.7 per cent uranium-238.

As a by-product of the nuclear industry, DU is cheap and plentiful. And DU
shells are a very effective weapon against tanks and armoured cars. They can
pierce several inches of armour-plated steel thanks to DU's extremely high
density. They're better at penetrating armour than traditional anti-tank
weapons made of tungsten.

DU was used for the first time in battle during the 1991 Gulf conflict with
Iraq. The US Department of Defense says that US planes and tanks fired 860
000 rounds of ammunition containing 290 tonnes of DU. British tanks fired
100 rounds containing less than 1 tonne of DU, according to the Ministry of
Defence.

Gulf veterans such as Rokke believe exposure to this DU is one of the causes
of Gulf War Syndrome, the unexplained illness or group of illnesses that has
afflicted thousands of soldiers since the war. Iraqi scientists also claim
that DU was responsible for a rise in the numbers of cancers and birth
defects in southern Iraq. But both the US and British governments dispute
this. They say there is no evidence that DU has damaged the health of
military personnel.

But the row is erupting again with the US admission it is using DU weapons
in the two-month-old war against Serbia. In a press briefing in Washington
DC on 3 May, Major General Charles Wald, vice-director for strategic plans
and policy for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that A10 Warthog
aircraft had fired DU munitions against Serbian forces. The US Joint Chiefs'
spokesman, James Brooks, told New Scientist that AV-8 Harriers and Abrams
battle tanks in the Balkans also carried DU munitions. The British Foreign
Secretary, Robin Cook, has said that no DU is "in use" by British forces.
But there are more than 20 British Challenger tanks, which fired DU
ammunition in the Gulf conflict, stationed in Macedonia ready for action if
ground troops move into Kosovo--a move supported by Britain as the
limitations of an air offensive become apparent.

NATO says that DU has been used against Serbian forces since the second week
of May. "It has not been used extensively," says a NATO spokesman. "It has
never been proved that the use of DU endangers the health of people. It is
no more dangerous than mercury."

Neither NATO nor the US will say how just much DU has been fired in the
Balkans. But there are 40 A10s and 6 Harriers in action, capable of
unleashing a lot of uranium. A10s, for example, are armed with a
30-millimetre Gatling gun that can fire 3900 shells a minute, one in five of
which contains 300 grams of DU. This means that each A10 could release 234
kilograms of DU a minute. If US and British tanks take part in a ground
offensive, observers say more DU is likely to be fired.

As well as its ability to pierce armour plating, DU has the unfortunate
tendency to ignite on impact, creating clouds of uranium oxide
dust--facilitating its spread in the environment and increasing the danger
posed by the alpha radiation it emits. Mike Thorne, a uranium expert from
AEA Technology at Harwell in Oxfordshire, formerly part of the UK Atomic
Energy Authority, points out that as an alpha-emitter, it poses a similar
risk to plutonium if it gets inside the body. As such, even the tiniest
amounts could cause cell damage that marginally increases the risk of
cancer. DU also emits dangerous beta radiation. Its main component,
uranium-238, has a half-life of 4.46 billion years. Thorne argues that it
could in theory contribute to Gulf War Syndrome: "In view of its poorly
defined biochemical effects, DU could be a contributory factor," he says.

Chemically, DU poses a great threat to the kidneys, where high
concentrations can lead to organ failure. But according to Thorne, even
small amounts could have subtle but ill-understood effects. That is why a
major study by the US Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1989 recommended
reducing the safety limit for uranium in kidneys from 3 micrograms per gram
to 0.3 micrograms per gram.

There is evidence that civilian authorities take the threat from DU very
seriously. In the aftermath of the Gulf conflict, the UK Atomic Energy
Authority came up with some frightening estimates for the potential effects
of the DU contamination left by the conflict. It calculated that if 23
tonnes of DU were inhaled--8 per cent of the amount actually fired in the
Gulf--this could cause "500 000 potential deaths". This was "a theoretical
figure", it stressed, that indicated "a significant problem".

Potential deaths

The AEA's calculation was made in a confidential memo to the privatised
munitions company, Royal Ordnance, dated 30 April 1991. The memo offered to
send a team to Kuwait to clear up the DU--an offer that was never taken up.
The high number of potential deaths was dismissed last year as "very far
from realistic" by a British defence minister, Lord Gilbert. "Since the
rounds were fired in the desert, many kilometres from the nearest village,
it is highly unlikely that the local population would have been exposed to
any significant amount of respirable oxide," he said. The Balkans war,
however, is not being fought in a desert but in areas where people have, or
did have, houses.

As a result of earlier pressure from Gulf veterans, the British government
commissioned two reports. In April this year, Lord Gilbert quoted the 1993
investigation by the Defence Radiological Protection Service, which
concluded "that there was no indication that any British troops had been
subjected to harmful over-exposure to DU during the Gulf conflict".

But the other report, published by the Ministry of Defence in March, did
acknowledge that troops could have inhaled DU dust in the Gulf and that this
"could theoretically lead to damage to lung tissue and subsequently to a
raised probability of lung cancer some years later".

The ultimate irony is that DU could poison the very land that NATO is trying
to protect, says Rokke. "The aim of this war is to enable the Kosovars to
return home. But unless the uranium is cleaned up, those that survive the
Serb atrocities and the NATO aerial attacks will have to return to a
contaminated environment where they may become ill."

_________________________________________________END FWD.





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

Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 21:36:22 -0700
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: Radiation eating microbes?

above subject previous post may be inadvertently forwarded disinformation
according to article on website below forwarded by original sender of above.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Remy C. <[e-mail]>
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;@pimout2-int.prodigy.net;;;;;;;
<Undisclosed-Recipient:;@pimout2-int.prodigy.net;;;;;;;>
Date: Saturday, June 05, 1999 7:53 PM
Subject: Fw: Radiation eating microbes?


>Guess I should forward this to a few more people who got my post earlier
>regarding Joel Carlinsky so we are all forewarned.
>
>But this doesn't denigrate the question any. Just makes us cautious of the
>one doing the asking. Remy C.
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Michael Theroux <[e-mail]>
>To: Remy C. <[e-mail]>
>Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2004 1:58 PM
>Subject: Re: Radiation eating microbes?
>
>
>> At 11:48 AM 06/05/1999 -0400, you wrote:
>> >   (I received this text snail mail after I got a call from Joel
>Carlinsky.
>>
>> Remy,
>>
>> I urge you to read the following:
>>
>> http://www.umsl.edu/~skthoma/carl.htm
>>
>> TOXIC DISINFORMATION: Joel Carlinsky's Bonfire of Insanity
>>
>> by Jim Martin (editor, Flatland) and Kenn Thomas (editor,
>> Steamshovel Press)
>>
>>
>> Michael
>


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

Date: Sun, 6 Jun 1999 21:17:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Headlines about the war

I saw the following headlines about the Yugoslav war on the front page of
the June 1 Sacramento Bee:

Kosovo goal to save lives, Clinton says.

Toll rises as NATO hits sanitarium.


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

Date: Sun, 6 Jun 1999 21:39:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) After the War

Now that the war appears to be almost over, what do we do now?  Will we
switch to such issues as A campaign to lift the sanctions against Iraq, and
calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons?


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

Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 16:36:00 -0700
From: Jackie Cabasso <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) SANTA BARBARA ABOLITION CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Deal all --  The Facilitator's Group established at the February US
abolition meeting in Santa Barbara
is meeting regularly via frequent conference calls, to carry out its
assigned tasks: 1) Formulate a longer-term
structure; 2) Bring forward strategic activities; 3) Suggest a name for the
campaign; 4) Plan the next meeting.
The notes of our calls are being posted to the US abolition-caucus list
serve.  We are currently discussing
possibilities for our next face-to-face meetings.  Watch this space.... In
the meantime, here's a brief update and
announcement.  Please consider contacting one or more or the working groups!

FIRST, The Facilitators' Group is pleased to announce that we have reached
agreement on a name!
We are now the US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS. This name was agreed
upon
after several rounds of consultation with meeting participants and lots of
discussion.  While we recognize
that the name is not perfect, it is clear and it conveys our primary
purpose.  While it's not intended to be
a temporary name, we remain open to changing or modifying it in the future,
if there's a compelling reason.
Thanks to all of you for your patience.

SECOND, at the Santa Barbara meeting we identified potential working groups
and conveners.  FOLLOWING
IS A LIST OF THE INITIAL US ABOLITION CAMPAIGN WORKING GROUPS.  PLEASE
CONTACT THE LISTED
CONVENERS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH A GROUP OR OBTAINING MORE
INFORMATION ABOUT IT.  FOR THOSE GROUPS WITHOUT IDENTIFIED CONVENORS, PLEASE
RESPOND TO THE LIST IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING FOR THE JOB.

- -- STAR WARS/ABM WORKING GROUP

        This group was formed initially to respond quickly to the legislation
pending at the time of the Santa Barbara meeting authorizing further research
and limited  deployment of an anti-ballistic missile system by the United
States.  Although there is currently no convener for this group, those on the
conference call agreed that ballistic missile defense continues to be a key
issue of concern for advocates of nuclear weapons abolition, due to continuing
development of the system, its potential to revive a multilateral nuclear arms
race,  and the controversy over its possible extension in the Western Pacific.

Conveners: To be determined.

- --CIVIL SOCIETY CAMPAIGN TO ENROLL ORGANIZATIONS IN A BRIEF ABOLITION STATEMENT
AND CITY DIALOGUES ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WITH PROMINENT MOVERS AND SHAKERS
WORKING GROUP

        This working group covers several related efforts aimed at mobilizing
opinion via existing groups in civil society and campaigns aimed at elected
officials in municipalities.  It includes various efforts to get mayors and
city and town governing bodies to endorse abolition statements, as well as
similar efforts aimed at non-governmental civic groups.  Campaigns represented
within this working group include A campaign aimed at creating discussion
forums among "opinion leaders" in major cities on nuclear weapons and their
abolition; a campaign aimed at convincing a wide range of civic groups to
endorse an abolition
statement; and the campaign to obtain endorsement of the Abolition 2000
statement by municipalities.

Conveners: Pamela Meidell (The Atomic Mirror) [e-mail]; [phone];
Ed Aguilar (Lawyers Alliance for World Security, Philadelphia)[phone]

- --CONGRESSIONAL FOCUS (Originally Congress and Adminsitration, now split in
two)

        This working group will focus on initiatives relevant to nuclear
weapons abolition in the U.S. Congress.  Examples include the pending
Markey and
Woolsey resolutions, aimed respectively at scaling back U.S. nuclear weapons
research and production programs and at encouraging the Administration to
engage in meaningful negotiations to achieve abolition. Its work encompasses
grassroots efforts to mobilize widespread attention to particular measures and
issues pending in Congress.

Conveners: to be determined.

- --ADMINISTRATION FOCUS

        This group will work to focus attention on the nuclear weapons policies
and activities of the Executive branch, trying in particular to create forums
for discussion and criticism of nuclear weapons policies.  Its current
initiative is a teach-in at the University of Michigan on nuclear weapons
issues, with the organizers hoping to get administration officials to
participate and to publicly debate critics of existing nuclear weapons
policies.  If the teach-in model works the hope is to extend it to other
campuses.

Convener: Alan Haber (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental
Organizations) [e-mail]; [phone]

- --YOUTH/CAMPUSES

        This working group aims to raise the level of awareness among young
people about nuclear weapons and efforts to abolish them.  It will work on the
teach-ins discussed in the Administration focus working group above.  It will
also attempt to gather and broaden the distribution of existing nuclear weapons
abolition materials aimed at a youth and campus audience.

Convener: Odile Haber  (Michigan Coalition of Peace and Environmental
Organizations) [e-mail]; [phone]

- --DIRECT ACTION

        Nonviolent direct action long has been a central part of the
movement to abolish nuclear weapons.  Despite a lack of media coverage,
direct action
continues at weapons and government  facilities around the country, from the
Nevada Test Site, to the weapons laboratories in Livermore, California and Los
Alamos, New Mexico, to Washington D.C. and the  newly opened Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant, also in New Mexico.   This working group will be a place for
people involved in particular direct action campaigns to raise national
awareness of their activities and  to exchange ideas and information.  It also
will try to provide resources which will be broadly useful, for example
nonviolence training materials and lists of nonviolence trainers.

Convener Matteo Ferreira (Shundahai Network) [e-mail];
[phone]

- --INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ORGANIZING AND CONCERNS

        The cycle of nuclear materials mining and nuclear weapons testing and
production always has had a disproportionate impact on indigenous people
world-wide.  Nuclear weapons testing has occurred for the most part on the
lands of indigenous peoples, without regard for their sovereign rights, and
with devastating effects on people and their lands.  Indigenous people have
taken the lead in many parts of the globe both in making the connections
between nuclear weapons and the effects of the entire cycle of nuclear
materials, nuclear power, and nuclear weapons production, and in advocating for
nuclear weapons abolition.  This working group will provide a focus for making
these voices heard both inside and outside the movement.

Conveners: Michele Xenos (Shundahai Network), [e-mail];
[phone]; Pilulaw Khus (Coastal Band, Chumash Nation), [e-mail];
[phone]; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands Association of NGOs)
[e-mail]; [phone]

- --NATO AND NATO 50TH ANNIVERSARY MEETING, APRIL 23

        This working group initially focused on the upcoming NATO 50th
anniversary meeting in Washington, D.C. and the likelihood that NATO nuclear
weapons policies would be debated there.  There has been interest in continuing
this as a working group, since the controversy over NATO nuclear weapons
policies, including a refusal to renounce first use, a potential
counter-proliferation role for nuclear weapons, and the expansion of NATO's
military scope to include broad out-of-area combat roles is likely to continue
for a long time.

Convener: Mark Mebane (Fourth Freedom Forum) [e-mail];
[phone]

- --INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS AND ISSUES

        This working group aims at coordinating the abolition campaign in the
United States with efforts world-wide, including Abolition 2000 and other
efforts in particular nations and regions to eliminate nuclear weapons.  With
the emergence of a new nuclear weapons and ballistic missile race in South
Asia, growing controversy over possible  theatre and domestic ballistic missile
deployments, and the stagnation of arms control negotiations, this working
group will help the abolition campaign in the U.S. remain aware of the effects
U.S. nuclear weapons and military policies have on efforts to achieve
abolition in other
nuclear weapons states and globally.

Conveners: Alice Slater (Global Resource Action Center for the Environment)
[e-mail]; [phone]; Richard Salvador (Pacific Islands
Association of
NGOs)[e-mail]; [phone]or 3691; David Krieger (Nuclear Age
Peace Foundation)
[e-mail]; [phone]

- --AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

        Communities across the country have been affected by half a century
nuclear weapons research, testing, and production.  They range from workers at
DOE facilities to people who live downwind from those facilities to armed
services veterans exposed to nuclear tests.  Many of these groups already have
organized to put pressure on the Federal government to clean up the
environmental damage, to perform meaningful health and environmental studies,
and to provide compensation.  These groups share many of our concerns, and
often already are committed to abolition of nuclear weapons.  This working
group will focus attention on the destructive legacy
of nuclear weapons, and will work to integrate these communities and their
concerns into the broader campaign.

Convener: Joseph Gerson [e-mail]; [phone]

- --RESEARCH FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX

        This group will focus on the activities of the nuclear weapons and
production complex, and will explore the impacts of continuing nuclear weapons
research on the global test ban and nonproliferation regime and on efforts to
achieve abolition.   It will also examine the overlap between nuclear weapons
research technologies and other emerging arms races which affect chances for
abolition, including anti-ballistic missile technologies, spece weaponry, and
possible next-generation nuclear weapons.  The group will be both a means to
coordinate research efforts and to distribute relevant information within the
campaign and to a wider public.

Conveners: Jackie Cabasso  (Western States Legal Foundation),
[e-mail],
[phone]; Sally Light (Tri-Valley CAREs), [e-mail],
[phone]

- --MEDIA/CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

        This working group will be a place to develop and share media
strategies.  An initial  focus will be efforts to coordinate a campaign launch
that is cohesive and nationally visible.

Convener: Steve Kent (Kent Communications)[e-mail]; ([phone]

- --BOTTOM UP ORGANIZING (local movement building and making the connection to
other issues)

        Through discussing and organizing around the way nuclear weapons are
connected to other social ills and injustices, from local ecological
devastation, distorted government spending priorities,  and a culture of
violence which stretches from the state to the street to global inequality, we
can deepen our own understanding of what must be done to achieve abolition of
nuclear weapons,  as well as the understanding of those we hope to persuade.
We then open up the possibility that we will become part of a larger movement
which can make the changes which could make abolition possible.   This working
group will explore ways to make connections on the local level with other
organizing efforts which share some
of our concerns, and by doing so to help create the social movement needed to
achieve theabolition of nuclear weapons.

Convener: Andrew Lichterman (Western States Legal Foundation),
[e-mail] 510-839-5877

- --DEMOCRACY, POWER AND NUCLEAR WEAPONRY DRAFTING COMMITTEE

        This working group has taken responsibility for following through
on the commitment made in Santa Barbara to develop a carefully thought out
statement
on the relationships between democracy, power and nuclear weapons. A draft
statement is currently being prepared, to be circulated for comment in the near
future.

Convener: David Krieger (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation), [e-mail];
[phone].




******************************************************
Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director
WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION
1440 Broadway, Suite 500
Oakland, California USA 94612
Tel: +[phone]
Fax: +[phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
******************************************************
Western States Legal Foundation is part of  ABOLITION 2000
A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS

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 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: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 23:55:11 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Debate Between Sonja Licht and Srdjan Dizdarevic]

This is a very interesting exchange between Sonja Licht, a strong woman in=20
Belgrade, clear in her views (as you will see) and someone with somewhat=20
different views. Sonja, I believe, is back in Belgrade. This debate, and the=20
flood of material coming from Grupa484 gives the lie to the repeated charge=20
that Milosevic is a "dictator" and there is no opposition in Serbia.

David McReynolds

<< Subj:=09 Fw: [Fwd: [balkanhr] Debate Between Sonja Licht and Srdjan=20
Dizdarevic]
 Date:=096/7/99 7:06:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time
 From:=[e-mail] (grupa484)
 =20
 Excerpts from a Debate Between Sonja Licht, President of Open Society
 Foundation (Belgrade) and Srdjan Dizdarevic, President of Helsinki
 Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo). Provided by
 HCA Prague (26 May 1999) via Courier des Balkans (5 June 1999).
=20
 RFE: In Serbia almost everyone is speaking about civilian victims and about
 the=20
 destruction of the country by NATO. At the same time NGOs from BiH, Croatia=20
 and Slovenia stress the tragedy of Kosovo Albanians. How do you see it:
=20
 SL: First of all I want to say is  that in the beginning of April, 17 NGOs
 from=20
 Serbia issued a statement which pointed out the suffering of Kosovo
 Albanians as=20
 well as citizens of Serbia and Montenegro because of the NATO bombing. I=20
also=20
 want to mention the statement signed by 27 individuals ( I am one of them)
 who=20
 strongly criticised both the NATO bombing and the ethnic cleansing. So, I
 cannot=20
 agree with the remark that independent intellectuals in Serbia are focused
 only on=20
 NATO intervention. But, among NGOs and  representatives of  the =93other=20
 Serbia=94 an attitude is spreading that the bombing exceptionally increased=20
the=20
 suffering of all citizens of the FRY. Finally, ethnic cleansing on such a
 large scale=20
 started after the beginning of the bombing.
=20
 SD: For me it is clear that the current suffering of Albanians, as the fina=
l
 act of a=20
 seven year long tragedy whose author and instigator is Slobodan Milosevic,=20
 brought the West to the conclusion that bombing is the only possible
 solution for=20
 putting a =93full stop=94 to the tragedy of the territories of former
 Yugoslavia. I think=20
 that the NATO intervention is directed against Milosevic and his regime, no=
t=20
 against the citizens of FRY. As a citizen of Sarajevo, I want to send a
 message to=20
 my friends in FRY that I think that we were in the worse situation. To be a
 target=20
 of Karadzic and Mladic was more difficult that to be, to use that cynical=20
 expression, a collateral victim.=20
=20
 RFE: Mrs. Licht, do you agree that Milosevic is the main target of NATO?
=20
 SL: No, it is not true. Milosevic and his regime have not been bombed, the
 whole=20
 country and its infrastructure have been bombed. Kosovo has been under the=20
 most intensive bombing, some towns like Pristina, Kosovska Mitrovica and Pe=
c=20
 are completely destroyed. The trains and buses have been bombed. I do not=20
 agree with Mr. Dizdarevic that it was the only solution  for putting a full
 stop to all=20
 the tragic events which have happened. I do not believe that this bombing
 will put=20
 a full stop on anything. On the contrary, several hundred thousand Albanian=
s
 have=20
 left Kosovo, the towns have been destroyed, the villages were destroyed
 prior to=20
 the bombing. It is a big question where refugees could return to. Beside
 this, there=20
 is a strong homogenisation  of the people in Serbia, not in support of the
 regime,=20
 but to resist the NATO aggression. Bill Clinton expected a Blitzkrieg, but
 this=20
 Blitzkrieg has been changed in the continuous destruction. I do understand
 the=20
 feeling of Sarajevans when they say that it is easier to be a target of
 NATO, than=20
 others. I have not been a target in Sarajevo, but I know that a dead man is
 a dead=20
 man, a dead child is a dead child. Sarajevo was under a different kind of
 siege,=20
 there were snipers, and it lasted for a long period. But, believe me, what=20
is=20
 happening in Serbia is also very big suffering.=20
=20
 SD: I still think that this action is directed against Milosevic. NATO
 leaders are=20
 repeating from day-to-day that Milosevic can just ring them up and the
 bombing=20
 will end. It is up to him to accept the conditions of NATO and end the
 suffering of=20
 the people of FRY.
 I disagree with Mrs Licht on the interpretation of what is happening in
 Kosovo. In=20
 my opinion, this  horrible exodus of Albanians is not connected with the ai=
r-
 strikes. It is more the result of the actions of  Milosevic=92s forces whos=
e
 aim is to=20
 cleanse the territory of Albanians.
=20
 SL: According to the phone call, mentioned by Mr Dizdarevic, I think that,
 after=20
 first few days of bombing, even to the NATO leaders, it was clear that
 Milosevic=20
 will not ring them up. The first interest of this regime is to stay in
 power,  they=20
 estimated that such a phone call  could be politically very risky so they
 have not=20
 rung up.  With this bombing the whole country and its citizens are equalise=
d
 with=20
 President Milosevic. Is it correct that the International Community, which
 is calling=20
 for humanitarian principles, democracy, which does not accept the principle
 of=20
 collective guilty are now resorting to the collective punishment of the=20
whole=20
 population. Beside this, the intervention which has not solved anything,
 brings a lot=20
 of problems. The UN is by-passed, in the name of universal humanitarian=20
 principles the principles on which the international order has been built u=
p
 since=20
 1945 has been endangered. I could accept this universalism if it was
 implemented=20
 everywhere. But, in Rwanda one million people died and there was no=20
 intervention. Is it because it is Africa, so the local people are worth
 less?  In the=20
 last few years in Turkey more than 35.000 Kurds were killed. Villages were
 burnt=20
 down, chemical weapons was used against Kurds. The 30 million Kurds are=20
 attacked. But, there is no intervention, on the contrary it was openly said
 that any=20
 intervention could not be implemented because of geopolitical reasons,
 Turkey is=20
 an important state in this part of world. There was no intervention in
 Algeria,=20
 where, up to now, 60.000 people have been killed. If one principle is=20
 implemented only when the powerful decide to implement it, than it cannot
 be a=20
 universal principle. This principle is used only when it is suitable for
 someone and=20
 it is extremely concerning. It does not lead to the world order it leads to
 the world=20
 disorder.
=20
=20
 ------------------
 balkanhr mailing list
 To unsubscribe please send mail to [e-mail]
 with the word "unsubscribe balkanhr" (without the ") in the subject.
 Please report abuse at [e-mail]
  >>

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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #138
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