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abolition-usa-digest    Saturday, November 6 1999    Volume 01 : Number 218




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

Date: Fri, 05 Nov 1999 13:12:18 EST
From: Charles F Hilfenhaus <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Subcritical Test "Oboe 2"

November 4, 1999 at about 4:00 p.m. PST the U.S. Department of Energy
conducted a dry run in preparation for the Subcritical nuclear test "Oboe
2".  The timing of this dry run is consistent with a test date in mid to
late December.  This will be the third U.S. subcritical test of 1999 and
the last nuclear test of the twentieth century.

Charlie Hilfenhaus
Alliance of Atomic Veterans
Atomic Workers Division

___________________________________________________________________
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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 14:09:18 -0700
From: "bob kinsey" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) 24 HOURS TO SIGN Y2K NUKE WEAPONS DE-ALERT LETTER TO  US DEFENCESECY COHEN

please sign us on
*************************************************
Bob Kinsey
Peace and Justice Task Force
Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church of Christ
bkinsey@peacemission .org
6555 Ward Road, Arvada, Colorado, 80004
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God" --
Jesus of Nazareth


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

Date: Fri, 05 Nov 1999 18:10:56 -0800
From: Andrew Lichterman <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) WSLF CTBT vote response flyer available

WSLF has available a 6 page flyer responding to the U.S. Senate vote on the Comprehensive
Test Ban.  The flyer, "Reclaiming the Comprehensive Test Ban: A Step on the Road to
Elimination of Nuclear Weapons," is available in pdf (Acrobat) format.  The flyer contains a
brief analysis of the CTBT vote, background on nuclear testing and U.S. nuclear weapons
"stockpile stewardship" activities, and information about the Abolition 2000 global network
for the elimination of nuclear weapons and about the new US Campaign to Abolish Nuclear
weapons, a part of Abolition 2000.

If you would like a copy of this flyer sent to you as an enclosed file, please e-mail me at
this address.

Andrew Lichterman
Western States Legal Foundation

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

Date: Fri, 05 Nov 1999 18:13:20 -0800
From: Andrew Lichterman <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) WSLF CTBT vote response flyer available

WSLF has available a 6 page flyer responding to the U.S. Senate vote on the Comprehensive
Test Ban.  The flyer, "Reclaiming the Comprehensive Test Ban: A Step on the Road to
Elimination of Nuclear Weapons," is available in pdf (Acrobat) format.  The flyer contains a
brief analysis of the CTBT vote, background on nuclear testing and U.S. nuclear weapons
"stockpile stewardship" activities, and information about the Abolition 2000 global network
for the elimination of nuclear weapons and about the new US Campaign to Abolish Nuclear
weapons, a part of Abolition 2000.

If you would like a copy of this flyer sent to you as an enclosed file, please e-mail me at
this address.

Andrew Lichterman
Western States Legal Foundation

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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.
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 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

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

Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 18:54:34 -0800 (PST)
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) FYI-DOE weapons "Megastrategy" letter

Dear peace and enviro advocates:

Here is a final copy of the letter we sent to DOE regarding its plans to
enhance -- and move around -- various aspects of the nuclear weapons
research and development program called "Stockpile Stewardship." The DOE
calls this particular proposal its "Mega Strategy." One hundred
organizations signed the letter (thanks!) along with Tri-Valley CAREs,
Western States Legal Foundation and Physicians for Social Responsibility -
San Francisco Bay Area chapter.

If your group signed on, please accept our appreciation, and this email
copy. If your group did not sign on, please look over the letter for its
infomational value -- this issue will come up again! The signatory list
follows the letter, below (sorry for the loss in formatting via email).
Also, as signers came from a varitiey of "list-serves" I am posting to
several. Please understand that mean some folks may recieve duplicate
copies. And, finally, special thanks goes to Sally Light for her work in
drafting and circulating the letter. Peace, Marylia

October 26, 1999

US Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20585

Attn: Gilbert Weigand, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Weapons
Research & Development

Re: Department of Energy's Plans for Major Changes in Nuclear Weapons   Complex


Dear Mr. Weigand,

We are writing on behalf of Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a
Radioactive Environment), Western States Legal Foundation and Physicians
for Social Responsibility - Greater San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. All
three organizations have a long-time interest in public health and safety
issues concerning Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and other
facilities within the nuclear weapons complex.

Tri-Valley CAREs is a 16-year-old environmental group that "watchdogs"
LLNL. Among other things, it holds two US Environmental Protection Agency
Technical Assistance Grants to monitor environmental cleanup at LLNL.
Western States Legal Foundation has been deeply involved in monitoring
nuclear weapons programs and environmental activities at LLNL since 1982.
The San Francisco Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility has kept
watch over LLNL worker and community issues for a number of years.

Further, this letter represents the interests and concerns of the 100
public interest organizations who have joined us in sending this letter.
These organizations are listed on signatory pages that follow.

We have recently obtained information concerning the Department of Energy's
(DOE) plans to reconfigure, expand, enhance and/or move certain aspects of
the nuclear weapons program carried out by the various facilities within
the nuclear weapons complex. This information is from briefing papers,
which we understand you used to brief high-level Clinton administration
officials on the DOE plan.

Changes proposed by DOE include the following:

1. DOE will "move promptly" the W80 nuclear warhead workload from Los
Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. This would involve more plutonium pit work at LLNL. The
briefing papers reveal what appear to be changes in the warhead

- -2-

that go far, far beyond any maintenance procedures that may be necessary to
preserve the existing weapon's "safety" or "reliability" while it remains
in the arsenal.

2. DOE will also "move promptly" the plutonium pit surveillance mission and
workload from LANL to LLNL. DOE expressly says that one goal is to give
Livermore Lab more plutonium workload, which means that pits from weapons,
in addition to those of the W80 program discussed in #1 above, will come to
Livermore. Further, the plan suggests that some or all of the surveillance
work for each of the US weapon types will come to Livermore Lab, which
means nuclear weapons components would be taken apart and "destructively
tested" at Livermore.

Concerning both #1 and #2 above, Livermore Lab already has about 880 pounds
of plutonium, and also has a history of accidents, spills, leaks, and
plutonium safety violations. In fact, its plutonium facility was recently
shut down on the recommendation of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety
Board, and is only now "restarting." We are worried that the DOE's proposed
changes will result in increased risks to worker and public health and
safety.

3. LANL's Appaloosa program would be expanded. Appaloosa is the code-name
for a hydrodynamic test program wherein high explosives and surrogate bomb
cores, called pits (including full-scale pits fabricated with plutonium
242), are detonated in above-ground heavy steel containment vessels.

4. DOE will consolidate its hydrodynamic program at LANL, although the
Clinton administration has been informed that LLNL will still keep its
hydrodynamic program, including the new "Contained Firing Facility" now
under construction at Livermore.

5. A huge proton accelerator is to be constructed at LANL.

6. DOE will construct additional underground subcritical nuclear tests for
the W80 and W88 programs. The briefing papers also indicate that additional
subcritical tests will involve "weapon relevant shapes."

7. DOE will move the ATLAS and Pegasus facilities from LANL to Nevada
(ATLAS is a new pulse power facility under construction at LANL, and
Pegasus an older machine). These two facilities would be used to develop
the technology allowing for "explosively driven pulse power for future SNM
[special nuclear material - i.e., plutonium] experiments in U1A." U1A is
the underground complex of tunnels and rooms where subcritical nuclear
experiments are now detonated at the Nevada Test Site.

8. DOE will build a new "infrastructure for weapons microsystems
components...MESA" at Sandia Lab in New Mexico, supporting "future AF&F
(arming, firing and fusing) needs." This aspect of the plan is reported to
cost $300 million.

Although these are major moves and expansion of nuclear weapons activities,
the DOE has failed
- -3-

to discuss technical or policy justifications for them. DOE has also failed
to discuss overall the comparative proliferation impacts, costs, and
environmental impacts of its proposed action and all reasonable
alternatives thereto. Nor does DOE indicate any intended public disclosure
or process for public review and comment.

This plan has gone forward in secret, and the public has been
inappropriately excluded from any knowledge or decision-making role.
Earlier this year, DOE and Livermore Lab held a public meeting at which
officials testified that no major changes were contemplated to Livermore
Lab's operations over the next 5 years. Based on this, DOE and Livermore
Lab decided on March 10, 1999, not to conduct a new site-wide environmental
review. In view of the above proposed changes, it is difficult for us not
to think that DOE and LLNL may have acted in bad faith at that public
meeting.

We are outraged by these decisions and demand that a new Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with
full public hearings and disclosure be part of the process to decide
whether any funding should be requested/expended. Certainly, this EIS must
be done before any of these changes occur, and before anything is moved.
There should be no repeat of the situation at Paducah and Portsmouth, where
both workers and the public were misled for years, and revelations about
plutonium contamination are just now becoming public.

Further, the DOE has completed a Stockpile Stewardship & Management
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SSM PEIS) which is silent on
this plan. In fact, some of the SSM PEIS' siting elements actually ran
contrary to the latest DOE scheme described above. OMB is on record stating
that DOE must undertake a revision of the SSM PEIS before moving forward.
DOE, however, has already requested initial monies from Congress to begin,
according to a Senate report. It appears to us that a Supplemental
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, with public hearings held
across the country, is necessary as well.

We hope to have your response in the very near future. If you should have
any questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Sincerely,

Marylia Kelley, Executive Director
Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)


Robert M. Gould, M.D., President
Physicians for Social Responsibility


Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director
Western States Legal Foundation
- -4-

Public Interest Organization Sign-Ons - United States Alan Moore, Director
& Founder,
Mendocino Coast Environmental Center, 1563 Solano Ave., #477, Berkeley, CA 94707
Alan Senauke, Executive Director, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, P.O. Box 4650,
Berkeley, CA 94704
Ali Harris, Director, San Jose Peace Center, 48 South 7th St., San Jose, CA
95112
Alice Slater, Executive Director, Global Resource Action Center for the
Environment, 15 East 26th St., Room 915, New York, NY 10010 Art Schroeder,
Convener, Gray Panthers of West Contra Costa County, 706 Sea View Dr., El
Cerrito, CA 94530
Arthur J. Miller, Coordinator, Northwest Leonard Peltier Support Network,
Tacoma, WA
Barbara Lubin, Director, Mid East Children's Alliance, 905 Parker St.,
Berkeley, CA 94710
Barbara Wiedner, Director, Grandmothers for Peace International, 9444
Medstead Way, Elk Grove, CA 95758
Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, President; Dave Robinson, Director of Programs;
Nancy Small, National Coordinator, Pax Christi USA, 532 W. 8th St., Erie,
PA 16502
Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, Rocky Mountain Conference, United
Church of Christ, 6555 Ward Rd., Arvada, CO 80004 Bradley Angel, Executive
Director, Greenaction, 1095 Market St., #608, San Francisco, CA 94103
Bruce K. Gagnon, Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear
Power in Space, P.O. Box 90083, Gainesville, FL 32607 Carol Ewell, Field
Teacher, Web of Life School, 220 Cloister Lane, Aptos, CA 95003
Carol Jahnkow, Executive Director, Peace Resource Center of San Diego, P.O.
Box 15307, San Diego, CA 92175
Carol Wagner, Executive Director, Mt. Diablo Peace Center, 55 Eckley Lane,
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Christopher Sewall, Staff, Western Shoshone Defense Project, P.O. Box
211308, Crescent Valley, NV 89821
Chris Paine, Senior Researcher, Nuclear Program, Natural Resources Defense
Council, 1535 Dairy Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903 Cindy Pile, Executive
Director, and Marcus Page, Las Vegas Director, Nevada Desert Experience,
P.O. Box 46645, Las Vegas, NV 89114 Corbin Harney, Executive Director,
Shundahai Network, 5007 Elmhurst St., Las Vegas, NV 89108
Dale Nesbitt, Chair, 20-20 Vision (7th, 9th, 10th and 13th Congressional
Districts of California), 1712 Marin Ave., Berkeley, CA 94707 Danielle
Babineau, Southern California Political Director, California Peace Action,
1436 South La Cienega Blvd., #208, Los Angeles, CA 90035 David Kreiger,
Ph.D., President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 1187 Coast Village Road,
#123. Santa Barbara, CA 93108 David McReynolds, War Resisters League, 339
Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 (for identification purposes only)
- -5-

David Seaborg, President, World Rainforest Fund, 1888 Pomar Way, Walnut
Creek, CA 94598
Diane Estrin, Executive Director, Women's Cancer Resource Center, 3023
Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
Don Moniak, STAND of Amarillo, Inc., 7105 W. 34th Ave., #E, Amarillo, TX
79109 Doris Copperman, Convener, Gray Panthers of Central Contra Costa
County, 3 Penwith Walk, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Elizabeth Brown, Chair, East Bay Peace Action, P.O. Box 6574, Albany, CA
94706 E.M.T. O'Nan, Director, Protect All Children's Environment, 2261 Buck
Creek Road, Marion, NC 28752
Eric Parfrey, Chair, Peace and Justice Network of San Joaquin Valley, P.O.
Box 4123, Stockton, CA 95204
Ernest Goitein, Coordinator, Californians for Radioactive Safeguards, 167
Almendral Ave., Atherton, CA 94027
Father Bill O'Donnell, St. Joseph the Worker Social Justice Committee, 1640
Addison St., Berkeley, CA 94703
Francis U. Macy, Director, Center for Safe Energy, 2812 Cherry St.,
Berkeley, CA 94705
Fred Allingham, Executive Director, National Association of Radiation
Survivors, P.O. Box 2815, Weaverville, CA 96093 Fusako de Angelis, Project
Coordinator, Plutonium Free Future, P.O. Box 2589, Berkeley, CA 94702
Gar Smith, Editor, Earth Island Journal, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San
Francisco, CA 94133
Gene Bernardi and Pamela Sihvola, Co-Chairs, Committee to Minimize Toxic
Waste, P.O. Box 9464, Berkeley, CA 94709 George Levenson, Member, Informed
Democracy, P.O. Box 67, Santa Cruz, CA 95063 Giuliana Milanese, Steering
Committee Member, Committees of Correspondence - Northern California, 522
Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110 Greg Mello, Executive Director, Los
Alamos Study Group, 212 E. Marcy St., Santa Fe, NM 87501
Helen Caldicott, Founding President, Physicians for Social Responsibility,
and Founder, Women's Action for New Directions (for identification purposes
only)
Henry Clark, Executive Director, West County Toxics Coalition, 1019
McDonald Ave., Richmond, CA 94801
Henry Rogers, Carolina Peace Resource Center, 305 S. Salvda Ave., Columbia,
SC 29205
Hisham Zerriffi, Project Scientist, Institute for Energy and Environmental
Research, 6935 Laurel Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912 Jack and Felice
Cohen-Joppa, Editors, The Nuclear Resister, P.O. Box 43383, Tucson, AZ
85733
Jan Harwood, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - Santa
Cruz Branch and Santa Cruz Committee for Abolition 2000, P.O. Box 61, Santa
Cruz, CA 95063
Jane Williams, California Communities Against Toxics, 3813 50th St.,
Rosamund, CA 93560
Jay Coghlan, LANL Program Director, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety,
107 Cienega St., Santa Fe, NM 87501
Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Alliance Coordinator, Healing Global Wounds,
P.O. Box 420,   -6-
Tecopa, CA 92389
Jim Heddle, Nuclear Democracy Network, P.O. Box 1047, Bolinas, CA 95924
Joan Holtzman, Executive Director, Center for Economic Conversion, 222 View
St., Mountain View, CA 94306
Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility
- - Los Angeles, 1316 3rd St. Promenade, Suite B1, Santa Monica, CA 90401
John Burroughs, Executive Director, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy,
211 E. 43rd St., Suite 1204, New York, NY 10017 John Knox, Executive
Director, Earth Island Institute, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco, CA
94133
Joy Crocker, Director, Quantum Leap, 3065 Monterey Blvd., Oakland, CA 94602
June Casey, San Francisco Area Liaison, Peace Links, 521 Westfield Way,
Oakland, CA 94619
Kelly Quirke, Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network, 221 Pine St.,
#500, San Francisco, CA 94104
Kristan Markey, Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission, 235 E. Fountain
Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Laura Hunter, Navy Toxic Campaign Director, Environmental Health Coalition,
1717 Kettner, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92101 Lillian Nurmela, Disarmament
Chair, Women for Peace - East Bay, 145 Monte Cresta Ave., #201, Oakland, CA
94611
Lyle Talbot, Desert Citizens Against Pollution, 3183 50th St., Rosamund, CA
93560
Lynette Hiilani Cruz, Ahupua'a Action Alliance, 2505-A La'i Road, Honolulu,
HI 96816
Madeline Duckles, Co-Chair, Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom - East Bay, 145 Monte Cresta Ave., #201, Oakland, CA 94611
Marguerite Young, State Director, Clean Water Action, 944 Market St., Suite
600, San Francisco, CA 94102
Mario Galvan, President, Sacramento/Yolo Peace Action, 909 12th Street,
Sacramento, CA 95814
Marion Pack, Executive Director, Alliance for Survival, 230 E. 17th St.,
#210, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Mary Beth Brangan, Co-Coordinator for US Branch of World Atomic Safety
Holiday, 1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA 94960 Mary Davis,
Project Director, Uranium Enrichment Project of Earth Island Institute,
P.O. Box 131, Georgetown, KY 40324 Max Bollock, Legislative Director, San
Mateo County Peace Action, P.O. Box 425, San Mateo, CA 94401
Michael Green, Executive Director, Center for Environmental Health, 528
61st Street, Suite A, Oakland, CA 94609
Mike Niece, Executive Director, Magdalene House, 1678 MacArthur Blvd.,
Oakland, CA 94602
Norm Cohen, Executive Director, Coalition for Peace and Justice, 321 Barr
Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221
Pamela Ransom, Women's Environment and Development Organization, 355
Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10017

- -7-

Paul George, Director, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, 457 Kingsley
Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301
Paula Palmer, Executive Director, Global Response, P.O Box 7490, Boulder,
CO 80306
Peter Ferenbach, Executive Director, and Andrew Page, Northern California
Political Director, California Peace Action, 2800 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA
94703
Phil Klasky, BAN Waste, 2760 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94118
Ralph Hutchison, Coordinator, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, 100
Tulsa Road, Suite 4A, Oak Ridge, TN 37830 Robert Lepley, Director, Long
Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, 38 Old Country Road, Garden
City, NY 11530
Robert W. Tiller, Director of Security Programs, Physicians for Social
Responsibility, 1101 14th Street, Washington, D.C. 20005 Rose Brodie,
Seattle Women Act for Peace, 3842 NE 90th Street, Seattle, WA 98115 Sherry
Larsen-Beville, Board Member, Livermore Conversion Project, P.O. Box 31835,
Oakland, CA 94604
Stella Paton, Co-Chair, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
- - San Francisco Branch, P.O. Box 591390, San Francisco, CA 94159 Susan
Shaer, Women's Action for New Directions, 691, Massachusetts Ave.,
Arlington, MA 02147
Suzanne Ragalado, Executive Director, and Russ Jorgensen, Board Member,
Sonoma County Peace and Justice Center, 540 Pacific Ave., Santa Rosa, CA
95404
Tom Marshall, Coordinator, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, P.O.
Box 1156, Boulder, CO 80306
Tom Rauch, President, Colorado Coalition for the Prevention of Nuclear War,
1738 Wynkoop St., Suite 1, Denver, CO 80202 Vina Colley, Portsmouth-Piketon
Residents for Environmental Safety and Security, 3706 McDermott Pond Creek,
McDermott, OH 45652 Wanda Ballentine, Secretary, Citizens for Public
Accountability, 955 Lewis Ave., #4, Eugene, OR 97402
William Smirnow, Nuclear Free New York, 168 Maple Hill Road, Huntington, NY
11743

Public Interest Organization Sign-Ons - International Bernd Damisch, Board
Member, and Sabine Schenk, Member, Working Circles Indians Today Germany,
Dr. Kulztstrasse 3, 08468 Reichenbach, i.V., Germany Di McDonald, Network
Information Project, 30 Westwood Rd., Southampton, S017 1DN, UK Irene Gale,
Secretary, Australian Peace Committee (SA Branch), Inc., 11 South Tee,
Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia Jenny Maxwell, Treasurer, West Midlands
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 54 Allison St., Digbeth, Birmingham, B5
5th, UK John Hallam, Friends of the Earth - Sydney, 17 Lord St., Newtown,
NSW, Australia Pol D'Huyvetter, Mother Earth International, Lange
Steenstraat 16/D, 900 Gent, Belgium
Renate Domnick, Board Member, Society of Threatened Peoples, Hansaplatz 5,
20099 Hamburg, Germany

- -8-

Ronald S. McCoy, Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 17
Jalan Tanjung (5/4), 46000 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Solange Fernex,
President, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - France,
Biederthal 68480, France Xanthe Hall, Co-Director, International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Koertestrasse 10, D-10967 Berlin,
Germany


Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94550

<http://www.igc.org/tvc/> - is our web site, please visit us there!

[phone] - is our phone
[phone] - is our fax

Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley
CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the
international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear
weapons.



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

Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 14:25:58 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K DE-ALERTING LETTER FAXED TODAY TO US SECY OF DEFENCE COHEN, SERGEYEV.

John Hallam
=46riends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia,
=46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903
[e-mail]    http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html


The Following has been faxed today to US Secretary for Defence William
Cohen, all US Presidential fax numbers, Russian Minister for Defence Igor
Sergeyev, Russian foreign minister I. Ivanov, John Koskinen, and Senators
Dodd and Bennett.

With it has also been faxed the FOE Sydney response to the Russian reply
from I Ivanov, I. Ivanov's reply, and the most recent collation of the
large sign on letter to Yeltsin and Clinton, now with over 460
organisations worldwide signed on to it, asking for nuclear forces to be
stood down over the y2K rollover period.

It is also to be emailed to all US congresspeople, all Australian
parliamentarians, all members of the European parliament all UN missions
and all heads of state with the current collation of the large sign on
letter.

I commend this and the large sign on letter expecially to your earnest
attention.

TO:
WILLIAM COHEN,
US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE,
[phone],

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON,
[phone], [phone],
[phone], [phone]

cc
IGOR SERGEYEV,
DEFENCE MINISTER OF RUSSIA
[phone], [phone],
[phone], [phone]

I.IVANOV, FOREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA,
[phone], [phone]

JOHN A. KOSKINEN, [phone]
SENATOR BOB BENNETT [phone]
SENATOR CHRIS DODD+1-202-224-1083





Y2K AND DE-ALERTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS


Dear Secretary for Defence Cohen and President Clinton,
I am writing  to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off
'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period.

It is particularly disturbing that you are reported as having stated in
Moscow that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability
building measure. You have also been quoted as saying  that 'The better
course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing
shared early warning centers'.

These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them -
reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early
warning centers and de-alerting - are equally vital to the reduction of
tension and the establishment of strategic stability.

This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the
millennium date change (Y2K).

As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in
the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems.

We are  well aware that the chief of Stratcom, Admiral Mies has said in
congressional testimony in April and July 1999 that the defence department
is 'well advanced' in terms of its Y2K-remediation program.

The Y2K problem is such that it is just not possible to be as certain as
Mies is in his testimony. This is because  very nature of this kind of
problem prohibits you from being certain that every possible programming
glitch is truly fixed. In fact no-one will be completely certain until the
real date change itself,  and indeed until well into the new year.

And even if you are able to  convincingly prove that US strategic nuclear
computer systems are truly Y2K compliant and that they are 'fail safe', you
will be well aware of the great concern that has been voiced over the Y2K
readiness of Russia.

Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even  acknowledge the Y2K
problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian
computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will
experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period.

Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed
the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'.

Perimeter seems to offer additional pathways by which Y2K -related  command
and control failures could lead to an accidental launch of missiles,
possibly by Y2K-related failures in sensors, combined with system blackout
fooling the system into thinking that  an attack had taken place.

The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is
certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one.

However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of
nuclear weapons.

The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as the public is aware, to
come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover,
is itself far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless.

Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of
ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The recently admitted Y2K
vulnerabilities  discovered, according to Reuters reports of congressional
testimony, in six of the seven hotlines established during the cold war
period are also cause for deep concern.

If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched
within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to
launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other
errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated.

This  has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its
missile forces from minutes to days.

De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra
Commission in 1996 as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust
between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's
and  this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General
Assembly.

In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the
Australian Senate on 12 August and 20 September.

(Text of these resolutions has been passed on to you by the deputy
president of our Senate, Senator Sue West, copy is enclosed.)

Mr. Clinton and Mr. Cohen, we believe that in taking De-alerting 'off the
table', the United States is making a serious error. We believe that
failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K
'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable
consequences.

The probability of this may be low but it  will never be zero as long as
nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert.

In a letter in response to a sign on letter from over 270 (now 460) NGOs,
Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov  said that:
"The questions of removing from the military duty of Russian and American
nuclear armaments which you mention in your appeal may become the matter
for discussion between the two countries in the context of negotiations on
further limitation of the strategic nuclear weapons"

This hardly indicates that De-alerting is 'off the table' as far as the
Russian Government is concerned.  It should be very much on the table as
far as your administration is concerned.

In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces
off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces.

(Text of the Russian reply with English translation to our letter is
enclosed, together with our response to the Russian reply.).

(The latest compilation of the large sign on letter to Yeltsin and Clinton,
asking for nuclear weapons to be taken off hairtrigger alert is also
enclosed.)

Signed

John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Sydney,
Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador,
Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Benin City, Nigeria,
Kika Kapela, Friends of the Earth Cyprus,

Yumi Kikuchi, Co-Founder and International Coordinator, Y2K-WASH (World
Atomic Safety Holiday) Chiba, Japan,
Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, The Hague,
Xanthe Hall, IPPNW(Germany), Berlin, Germany,
Tom Mc Donald, British-American Security Information Council,(BASIC) London,
Paul Swann, Y2K WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday), London,

Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Birmingham, U=
K.,
Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy, Campaign for the Accountability of US Bases,
Yorkshire, UK.,
George Thomas, Founder/Coordinator, Earth Millennium Project, London, UK,
Di Mc Donald, Network Information Project, Southampton, UK,
Solange Fernex, President, Womens International League for Peace and
=46reedom,(WILPF) Paris, France,
Bruno Barrillot, Directeur, Centre de Documentation et de Recherche sur la
Paix et les Conflits, Lyon, France,
Maurice Sistermans, Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples, Amsterdam.
Klaus Biegert, Nuclear-Free Future Award, Munich, Germany,
Bernd Frieboese, Barseb=E4ckoffensiv, Germany,
Prof., Dirk Siefkes, Techn. Universitaet Informatik, Berlin,
Ada Amon, Executive Director, Energy Club, Budapest, Hungary,
Ulla Lehtinen, First Peoples, Finland,
Marion Hancock, Aotearoa Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ.,
Dr. Komei Hosokawa, Saga University, Saga City, Japan,

Pan-Hellenic Network of Environment Organizations Greece,
Gordon Edwards, President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility,
Montreal, Canada,

Alice Slater, Global Resource and Action Centre for the Environment, NY.,
Ellen Thomas, Proposition-One Committee, Washington DC.,
Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri-Valley CAREs, (Communities Against
a Radioactive Environment), Livermore, CA,
Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Coordinator,
David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Sanata Barbara, California,
Robert W. Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility, USA,
Michael Marriotte, Executive Director, Nuclear Information and Resource
Service, Washington DC.,

Bill Smirnow, Nuclear Free New York, Huntingdon, NY,
William F.  Santlemann, Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons,
Judith H. Johnsrud, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, Pennsylvania,

Laurie Grossman, Y2K-WASH,(World Atomic Safety Holiday) San Francisco,
Mary Beth Branagan, Y2K-WASH San Francisco,
Robyn Wolf, World Atomic Safety Holiday, Richmond, CA.,
Annie Wildwood, Y2K-WASH, Bolinas, California,

Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, United Church of Christ, Rocky
Mountain Conference, Arvada, Colorado,
Reverend Robert Moore, Coalition for Peace Action,   Princeton, NJ,
Reverends Eleanor Mercer and Meredith Jordan, Rogers Mc Kay, Maine,
Byron Plumley, American Friends Service Committee, Colorado,

Anthony Guarisco, Alliance of Atomic Veterans, USA.,
Mel H. Kernahan, Alliance for Survival, Orange County, California,
Mary Byrd Davis, Director, Ygdrassil Institute,(Earth Island) Georgetown, Ky=
,
Scott Miller, Director, Peace Action Maine, Portland, Me,
Rosalie Tyler Paul, Peace Action Maine, Portland, Me,
Dan Ogden, Sawmill River Watershed Alliance, Ma, USA.,
Barbara Messana, Lawrence Grassroots Initiative, Lawrence, Ma,
Christopher H. Peters, Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development,
Arcata, Calif,
Nick Cooney, Student Activists Group, Hofstra University, NY.,
Deb Katz, Director, Citizen Awareness Network, MA.,
Ed Meagher, Merrimac Valley People for Peace
Elsie Harvey, Greater Lansing Peace Education Centre, Michigan,
Mark Krumholtz, Centre for Particle Astrophysics, University of California,
Berkley,
Dr. Julian Borrill, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Berkley, Calif,
Prof. Wendy Griffin, California State University, Long Beach, Calif,
Caroll S. Wallace, Director, Everywomans Centre, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, MA,

Irene Gale AM, Babs Fuller-Quinn, Australian Peace Committee, Adelaide/Sydne=
y,
Gareth Devenish, Goongerah Environment Centre,
Galen White, Treefrog Consulting Pty Ltd., Information technology
Consultants,



- -
 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: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 14:25:58 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K DE-ALERTING LETTER FAXED TODAY TO US SECY OF DEFENCE COHEN, SERGEYEV.

John Hallam
Friends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia,
Fax[phone] ph (61)(2)9517-3903
[e-mail]    http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html


The Following has been faxed today to US Secretary for Defence William
Cohen, all US Presidential fax numbers, Russian Minister for Defence Igor
Sergeyev, Russian foreign minister I. Ivanov, John Koskinen, and Senators
Dodd and Bennett.

With it has also been faxed the FOE Sydney response to the Russian reply
from I Ivanov, I. Ivanov's reply, and the most recent collation of the
large sign on letter to Yeltsin and Clinton, now with over 460
organisations worldwide signed on to it, asking for nuclear forces to be
stood down over the y2K rollover period.

It is also to be emailed to all US congresspeople, all Australian
parliamentarians, all members of the European parliament all UN missions
and all heads of state with the current collation of the large sign on
letter.

I commend this and the large sign on letter expecially to your earnest
attention.

TO:
WILLIAM COHEN,
US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE,
[phone],

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON,
[phone], [phone],
[phone], [phone]

cc
IGOR SERGEYEV,
DEFENCE MINISTER OF RUSSIA
[phone], [phone],
[phone], [phone]

I.IVANOV, FOREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA,
[phone], [phone]

JOHN A. KOSKINEN, [phone]
SENATOR BOB BENNETT [phone]
SENATOR CHRIS DODD+1-202-224-1083





Y2K AND DE-ALERTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS


Dear Secretary for Defence Cohen and President Clinton,
I am writing  to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off
'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period.

It is particularly disturbing that you are reported as having stated in
Moscow that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability
building measure. You have also been quoted as saying  that 'The better
course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing
shared early warning centers'.

These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them -
reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early
warning centers and de-alerting - are equally vital to the reduction of
tension and the establishment of strategic stability.

This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the
millennium date change (Y2K).

As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in
the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems.

We are  well aware that the chief of Stratcom, Admiral Mies has said in
congressional testimony in April and July 1999 that the defence department
is 'well advanced' in terms of its Y2K-remediation program.

The Y2K problem is such that it is just not possible to be as certain as
Mies is in his testimony. This is because  very nature of this kind of
problem prohibits you from being certain that every possible programming
glitch is truly fixed. In fact no-one will be completely certain until the
real date change itself,  and indeed until well into the new year.

And even if you are able to  convincingly prove that US strategic nuclear
computer systems are truly Y2K compliant and that they are 'fail safe', you
will be well aware of the great concern that has been voiced over the Y2K
readiness of Russia.

Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even  acknowledge the Y2K
problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian
computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will
experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period.

Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed
the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'.

Perimeter seems to offer additional pathways by which Y2K -related  command
and control failures could lead to an accidental launch of missiles,
possibly by Y2K-related failures in sensors, combined with system blackout
fooling the system into thinking that  an attack had taken place.

The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is
certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one.

However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of
nuclear weapons.

The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as the public is aware, to
come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover,
is itself far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless.

Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of
ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The recently admitted Y2K
vulnerabilities  discovered, according to Reuters reports of congressional
testimony, in six of the seven hotlines established during the cold war
period are also cause for deep concern.

If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched
within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to
launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other
errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated.

This  has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its
missile forces from minutes to days.

De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra
Commission in 1996 as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust
between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's
and  this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General
Assembly.

In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the
Australian Senate on 12 August and 20 September.

(Text of these resolutions has been passed on to you by the deputy
president of our Senate, Senator Sue West, copy is enclosed.)

Mr. Clinton and Mr. Cohen, we believe that in taking De-alerting 'off the
table', the United States is making a serious error. We believe that
failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K
'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable
consequences.

The probability of this may be low but it  will never be zero as long as
nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert.

In a letter in response to a sign on letter from over 270 (now 460) NGOs,
Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov  said that:
"The questions of removing from the military duty of Russian and American
nuclear armaments which you mention in your appeal may become the matter
for discussion between the two countries in the context of negotiations on
further limitation of the strategic nuclear weapons"

This hardly indicates that De-alerting is 'off the table' as far as the
Russian Government is concerned.  It should be very much on the table as
far as your administration is concerned.

In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces
off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces.

(Text of the Russian reply with English translation to our letter is
enclosed, together with our response to the Russian reply.).

(The latest compilation of the large sign on letter to Yeltsin and Clinton,
asking for nuclear weapons to be taken off hairtrigger alert is also
enclosed.)

Signed

John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Sydney,
Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador,
Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Benin City, Nigeria,
Kika Kapela, Friends of the Earth Cyprus,

Yumi Kikuchi, Co-Founder and International Coordinator, Y2K-WASH (World
Atomic Safety Holiday) Chiba, Japan,
Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, The Hague,
Xanthe Hall, IPPNW(Germany), Berlin, Germany,
Tom Mc Donald, British-American Security Information Council,(BASIC) London,
Paul Swann, Y2K WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday), London,

Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Birmingham, UK.,
Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy, Campaign for the Accountability of US Bases,
Yorkshire, UK.,
George Thomas, Founder/Coordinator, Earth Millennium Project, London, UK,
Di Mc Donald, Network Information Project, Southampton, UK,
Solange Fernex, President, Womens International League for Peace and
Freedom,(WILPF) Paris, France,
Bruno Barrillot, Directeur, Centre de Documentation et de Recherche sur la
Paix et les Conflits, Lyon, France,
Maurice Sistermans, Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples, Amsterdam.
Klaus Biegert, Nuclear-Free Future Award, Munich, Germany,
Bernd Frieboese, BarsebΣckoffensiv, Germany,
Prof., Dirk Siefkes, Techn. Universitaet Informatik, Berlin,
Ada Amon, Executive Director, Energy Club, Budapest, Hungary,
Ulla Lehtinen, First Peoples, Finland,
Marion Hancock, Aotearoa Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ.,
Dr. Komei Hosokawa, Saga University, Saga City, Japan,

Pan-Hellenic Network of Environment Organizations Greece,
Gordon Edwards, President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility,
Montreal, Canada,

Alice Slater, Global Resource and Action Centre for the Environment, NY.,
Ellen Thomas, Proposition-One Committee, Washington DC.,
Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri-Valley CAREs, (Communities Against
a Radioactive Environment), Livermore, CA,
Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Coordinator,
David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Sanata Barbara, California,
Robert W. Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility, USA,
Michael Marriotte, Executive Director, Nuclear Information and Resource
Service, Washington DC.,

Bill Smirnow, Nuclear Free New York, Huntingdon, NY,
William F.  Santlemann, Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons,
Judith H. Johnsrud, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, Pennsylvania,

Laurie Grossman, Y2K-WASH,(World Atomic Safety Holiday) San Francisco,
Mary Beth Branagan, Y2K-WASH San Francisco,
Robyn Wolf, World Atomic Safety Holiday, Richmond, CA.,
Annie Wildwood, Y2K-WASH, Bolinas, California,

Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, United Church of Christ, Rocky
Mountain Conference, Arvada, Colorado,
Reverend Robert Moore, Coalition for Peace Action,   Princeton, NJ,
Reverends Eleanor Mercer and Meredith Jordan, Rogers Mc Kay, Maine,
Byron Plumley, American Friends Service Committee, Colorado,

Anthony Guarisco, Alliance of Atomic Veterans, USA.,
Mel H. Kernahan, Alliance for Survival, Orange County, California,
Mary Byrd Davis, Director, Ygdrassil Institute,(Earth Island) Georgetown, Ky,
Scott Miller, Director, Peace Action Maine, Portland, Me,
Rosalie Tyler Paul, Peace Action Maine, Portland, Me,
Dan Ogden, Sawmill River Watershed Alliance, Ma, USA.,
Barbara Messana, Lawrence Grassroots Initiative, Lawrence, Ma,
Christopher H. Peters, Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development,
Arcata, Calif,
Nick Cooney, Student Activists Group, Hofstra University, NY.,
Deb Katz, Director, Citizen Awareness Network, MA.,
Ed Meagher, Merrimac Valley People for Peace
Elsie Harvey, Greater Lansing Peace Education Centre, Michigan,
Mark Krumholtz, Centre for Particle Astrophysics, University of California,
Berkley,
Dr. Julian Borrill, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Berkley, Calif,
Prof. Wendy Griffin, California State University, Long Beach, Calif,
Caroll S. Wallace, Director, Everywomans Centre, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, MA,

Irene Gale AM, Babs Fuller-Quinn, Australian Peace Committee, Adelaide/Sydney,
Gareth Devenish, Goongerah Environment Centre,
Galen White, Treefrog Consulting Pty Ltd., Information technology
Consultants,



- -
 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.

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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #218
***********************************

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 To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe $LIST" in the body of the message.
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