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abolition-usa-digest    Thursday, December 9 1999    Volume 01 : Number 230




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

Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 12:55:18 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K and Nuclear Weapons de-Alerting

Dear Mr Kirsch,

Let me make one thing clear at the outset - No-one on our side of the de-
alerting 'debate' (because there should be no debate - de-alerting is
simply commonsense) - has ever stated nor would we ever state, that
missiles can launch themselves.

There are are number of other points you should bear in mind.

De- alerting has been pressed for not merely because of the Y2K problem,
which offers a particularly concentrated 'window' of possible computer
glitches, but because there have been over the years a series of hair-
raising near misses and false alerts, none of them obviously, Y2K- based.

You will recall that there was an incident in 1980, and incidents in Russia
in 1983 and 1995, that could well have resulted in accidental launches of
all or a large part of their arsenal.

Y2K merely presents an opportunity for more of these computer glitches.

Of course, complete system blackout such as I understand occurred when your
system was first tested in 1995, would be, paradoxically, perfectly safe.
Nothing would work.

What is of far more concern is the possibility of corrupted data or false
alerts, possibly leading to what your senate has called 'unintended deadly
consequences'.

BASIC makes it perfectly clear that while much has been done in Y2K
remediation in the US, much less has been done in Russia, and that even in
the US it is in the very nature of the Y2K problem that one cannot be
absolutely sure that everything will work perfectly, and concerns have been
expressed over the possibility of blank screens, communications blackouts,
corrupted data and false alerts.

The creation of the Y2K strategic stability centre in Colorado is certainly
a good, and indeed an essential, move.

The centre should have started well before the late date of 27 Dec, (at
least end of Nov), and should preferably be made permanent. I gather that
there are plans for a centre in Moscow and this is good.

However there is simply no getting around the fact that as long as there
are 3,600Russian warheads and 2000 US warheads in land - based ICBMs ready
for immediate launch, (not counting SLBMs and other warheads), the
possibility exists, however small, for the ultimate catastrophe.

This is so with or without Y2K. Y2K merely provides a specific period when
we can recognise that this possibility is greater than at other times.

And it is for that reason that de - alerting has been called for by the
Canberra Commission of 1996, by the Tokyo Forum, by  two resolutions in the
United Nations general Asembly last year, by the same two resolutions this
year (both passed by massive majorities), by the Australian Senate, (2
resolutions passed unanimously and 'without dissent') by the Markey
Resolution (H.Con.Res 177), and by the European Parliament in a resolution
that was passed unanimously.

It's also for that reason that more that 460 NGOs worldwide have now signed
a letter to the Presidents of Russia and the US and their respective
secretaries/ministers for defence, asking for nuclear weapons to be taken
off alert.

It is worth your noting that the Canberra Commission stated quite clearly
that in the event that one side was willing to de- alert and the other was
not or in the event that it was not possible to negotiate adequate or
timely verification proceedures, de- alerting SHOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED
UNILATERALLY.

The Canberra Commission, while it was clear that verification and mutuality
was preferable, still considered a unilateral and non- verified de- alert
to be preferable to not de- alerting.

This in effect is what has been accomplished by the UK's change in the
'notice to fire' for its nuclear weapons from minutes to days.

Others should do as the UK has done.

I would like to point out that your statements re the 'Perimiter' system
are not correct. Analyst Bruce Blair has described the system in some
detail, and there is no doubt as to its existence, though there have been
differeng accounts over its precise mode of operation.

The November 1999 BASIC report also describes Perimiter in some detail.

I am sending you in a separate email in case you don't have already a dozen
versios of it, the current BASIC report.

As you will see your paraphrase is not accurate.

I urge you to read the BASIC report carefully, and to ask yourself
honestly, why so many people and so many bodies ranging from Berkley
Council through the Australian senate to the European Parliament to the
Unted Nations General Assembly, think that de- alerting in general is a
good idea and that it is an especially good idea over the Y2K rollover.



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

Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 14:59:04 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) FSB/ex-KGB THREATENS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS AGAIN

From: "Vladimir Slivyak" <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Subject: FSB/ex-KGB THREATENS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS AGAIN
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 03:15:47 +0300
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URGENT! HELP NEEDED!

FSB/ex-KGB THREATENS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS AGAIN

Moscow, December 6

The efforts of the FSB to pin recent terrorist acts on environmentalists
(anti-nuclear activists) have not ceased. Today, Dec. 6, the deputy
director of the Anti-Nuclear Campaign of the Socio-Ecological Union,
also campaigner for ECODEFENSE!, Elena (Alisa) Nikoulina, received
a summons from FSB investigator Andreyev. The "date" is tomorrow at
5 p.m.. (2 pm GMT)

Of course, at the Anti-Nuclear Campaign, hopes are still alive that all
these "misunderstandings" with the FSB will end and these more than absurd
suspicions will be dropped once and for all. The Anti-Nuclear Campaign
always promoted only nonviolent forms of protest. Its workers have often
appeared in the press and given lectures to that effect. Unfortunately, all
hopes that "this, too, shall pass" are almost dead, mostly due to several
months of provocational acts directed at environmentalists by the the
special services, including directly against the workers of the Antinuclear
Campaign in Moscow and Voronezh. It is interesting that in Moscow and
Voronezh, as well as in Yekaterinburg, where local activists have also been
victims, the special services have behaved identically - using
investigation of terrorist acts as a pretext, they have questioned
activists about foreign sources of financing and protest actions. What is
more, everyone concerned practices nonviolence as a basic principle of
environmental activity.

It cannot be ruled out that a new provocation could be carried out in the
form of Nikoulina's detainment. We would like to hope that this will not
happen.

I would like to ask everyone who realizeds the danger threatening the
movement if the FSB builds up cases against environmentalists and calls
them terrorists, and everyone who would simply like to help, to follow this
case. Your support can have great influence.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW:

Find out tomorrow whether Nikoulina comes back from Lubyanka, the FSB
headquarters. Keep in touch with Anti-nuclear campaign through
e-mail: [e-mail]

The phone number of the Anti-Nuclear Campaign in Moscow, where Alisa
can be found, is [phone]. If no one answers, try 278 47 89 and ask
for Nina Viktorovna (if you speak Russian).

If the worst happens, call the FSB and send letters of protest, copying them
to members of the media. The FSB Center for Public Relations can be reached
at 224-4689, 224-5097 or fax [phone]. Phone number of the FSB officer
Dmitry Vadimovich Andreev, who ordered Alisa to come - 224-4340.

Show them in any way possible that the public is following Nikoulina's case
and
it will not passed unnoticed.  Publicity and our combined efforts still
frighten the
secret services. We won't last long alone. If it happens that you talk to FSB
please use full name - Elena Leonidovna Nikoulina, otherwise they will tell
you they never asked her to come and don't know who she is.

For further information call our telephones (if you speak Russian) or write
to: [e-mail].

Thanks in advance, keep in touch.
Vladimir Slivyak, on behalf of ECODEFENSE! and The SEU Anti-Nuclear Campaign
http://www.ecoline.ru/antinuclear



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

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 22:01:02 -0800 (PST)
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) NIF: Latest Problems for Nuclear Weapons Megalaser

Megalaser's Technical Problems are Coming to Light

by Marylia Kelley
from Tri-Valley CAREs' December 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

"I look forward to...advice on how to put this project back on track,"
declared Department of Energy  Secretary Bill Richardson in a Nov. 10, 1999
press release announcing the formation of a task force charged with
reviewing the National Ignition Facility. The group will report directly to
Richardson.

The problem? For starters, NIF is a train wreck. All the hoists and pulleys
at DOE's disposal cannot put it "back on track."

Following a late August shake up in NIF management, Tri-Valley CAREs
conducted interviews with scientists and others at the three key nuclear
weapons labs, Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia. As we reported in the
September 1999 Citizen's Watch, NIF is not merely off-track, it is beset by
serious, unresolved technical difficulties, particularly in the areas of
optics (glass), target fabrication (radioactive pellets) and diagnostics

As it  became public that NIF is at least $300 million over budget and over
a year behind schedule, three official investigations were launched into
NIF problems. The General Accounting Office is conducting an investigation,
likely to be the most comprehensive of the three, and expected to conclude
around March. The University of California, which manages the Lab for DOE,
published a cursory look at NIF's management issues (copies available on
request), and, most recently, Richardson appointed a NIF task force.

                                        NIF Limited to Half-Energy

Unresolved problems in the final optics mean that NIF will be able to run
at only half its design energy, Edward Moses, the newly appointed NIF
manager, admitted to the NIF task force. "We can run 4 to 5 joules per
square centimeter," he told the DOE panel. "This is 50% of NIF's rating."

In essence, as each of the laser's  beams travels toward the radioactive
fuel pellet -- at the key point where it must be converted to ultraviolet
(called the third harmonic) -- the beam will cause damage spots on the
optics to grow. This, in turn, will cause the lenses to shatter on very
short order.

Called "damage propagation," employees have been telling us of this problem
for some time. This is the first time, however, that NIF management has
openly acknowledged it.

                                        NIF Glass Fails to Meet Specs

Another serious hurdle is with the manufacture of NIF's laser glass. The
Lab has already spent an undisclosed amount of money building full-scale
production facilities at 2 companies, Hoya and Schott. The NIF plan calls
for them to make the glass  via a "continuous pour" method, unlike the
technique used for earlier lasers, wherein glass was produced in small
batches.

Scientists and vendors have said privately that NIF laser glass was
supposed to have been delivered in January and June. To date, only a small
portion of the order has been delivered, and it did not meet
specifications. The glass slabs, intended for NIF's amplifiers, contain
unacceptable stresses which make them "pop."  The underlying problems are
twofold: too much water in the finished product and a  lack of
"homogeneity," meaning there are serious imperfections at random locations
inside the glass.

The NIF's design calls for over 3,000 glass slabs with a combined weight of
around 150 tons. Therefore, the Lab cannot resolve the problem by going
back to the "tried and true" method used in the past to produce small
quantities of laser glass. The simple truth is that no one knows how to
make enough glass for NIF, and do it in a way that will meet the purity and
other necessary specs.

Our investigations have turned up many additional problems, from
anti-reflection coatings to beam alignment inadequacies, to silver coating
failures on the flashlamp mirrors, to target manufacture and loading
uncertainties -- and the list goes on.

                                NIF is Costly Aid Program for Weaponeers

In essence, the key parts needed to make NIF run are still in a research
and development mode, long after that phase was to have been completed. The
NIF project has gobbled up close to $1 billion dollars so far. Researchers
tell us that the acknowledged $300 million cost overrun is only the tip of
the iceberg. NIF's costs could ultimately double, from $5 billion to ten,
they say. And, the schedule delay may stretch from two to five years (to
more).

The Lab refuses to release its new "baseline" report for NIF, but it is
believed to contain a proposal to cut NIF in half, reducing it from 192 to
96 beams. Such a move will not resolve the serious technical difficulties.
It will, however, forego any pretense at reaching ignition, even if all
other problems can be solved.

Bigger than a football stadium, NIF is designed to train multiple laser
beams on a radioactive fuel target sitting inside a reactor vessel. The
scientific goal is to compress the target and initiate a thermonuclear, or
fusion, explosion. The weaponeers' goal is to use it as a tool to advance
nuclear weapons physics. This latter aim does not require ignition, and is
the only purpose that will be served by building NIF.

Like the Livermore Lab's "Star Wars" project before it, NIF runs counter to
disarmament goals, is being over-hyped to Congress in order to obtain
funding -- and won't work, to boot.



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

Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 16:27:04 -0500
From: Bob Tiller <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Change of venue

Friends,

It is with sadness that I will leave the PSR staff at the end of this
year.  I have enjoyed these three years, and I have appreciated working
with you.  Though there have been some setbacks, we have made valuable
progress toward a world free of the scourge of nuclear weapons.  Thank
you for your commitment, your diligence and your friendship.  I hope
that our paths will cross again.

Shalom,
Bob Tiller


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

Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 14:43:42 -0800
From: "Pamela S. Meidell" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) y2k nuclear power action alert

>From: [e-mail]
>Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 13:28:37 EST
>Subject: y2k nuclear power action alert
>To: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
>        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
>        [e-mail], [e-mail]
>X-Mailer: AOL for Macintosh sub 189
>
>please send today:
>
>Y2K & NUCLEAR POWER
>
>URGENT=20
>ACTION ALERT:
>for December 8th & 9th
>
>CALL:   President Clinton [phone]
>        Christopher Dodd [phone]
>        (Senate Y2K committee)
>        John Koskinen [phone]
>        (Chair Council on Year 2000)
>
>
>TELL THEM:
>
>    To support Y2K WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday)
>    =95Temporarily shut down all US nuclear reactors in a phased procedure
by    =20
>December 30.
>    =95Ensure there are reliable backup generators and adequate fuel=
 supplies=20
>for=20
>    60 days
>    =95De-alert nuclear weapons systems=20
>    =95Encourage other world leaders to undertake these initiatives
>
>FOR MORE INFORMATION CHECK OUT Y2K WASH WEBSITE:
>www.y2kwash.org
>
>Please call [phone] for more information. Thanks for your help. We=
=20
>have 23 more days!
>
>=20
>
Pamela S. Meidell
Director
The Atomic Mirror
P.O. Box 220
Port Hueneme, California USA 93044
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

The Atomic Mirror is part of Abolition 2000:
A Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons


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

Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 12:37:14 +1100
From: "Helen Caldicott" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Change of venue

Bob, Your'e the only one I can relate to! I'd love to know really why you
are leaving, good luck and thanks for all your excellent work, I have
enjoyed working with you, Helen Caldicott

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Tiller <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 1999 8:27 AM
Subject: (abolition-usa) Change of venue


> Friends,
>
> It is with sadness that I will leave the PSR staff at the end of this
> year.  I have enjoyed these three years, and I have appreciated working
> with you.  Though there have been some setbacks, we have made valuable
> progress toward a world free of the scourge of nuclear weapons.  Thank
> you for your commitment, your diligence and your friendship.  I hope
> that our paths will cross again.
>
> Shalom,
> Bob Tiller
>
>
> -
>  To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to
"[e-mail]"
>  with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
>  For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
>  "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.
>


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

Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 15:00:12 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY - 22 DAYS AND GOING DOWN: 5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT!

22 DAYS AND GOING DOWN: STILL 5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT - PLEASE FAX FOR
DE-ALERTING TODAY

PLEASE SEND THIS EMAIL ON TO AS MANY OTHERS AS YOU CAN - Distribute far and
Wide.

Dear All who are concerned about the safety of our planet,

As December 31 draws closer you'll get more of these.  Time is getting short.

As we move toward the crucial date of Dec31/Jan1, 2000, some 5,600 nuclear
warheads controlled by the oldest and largest computer complexes in the
world are on hairtrigger alert.

We are asking people to write to US Defence Secretary Cohen, Clinton, and
Russian defence minister Sergeyev, asking them to take these weapons off
alert before Dec30.

In particular, if you live in the US, if it is at all possible you should
try to fax or ring the white house or defence secy Cohen at the Pantagon
TODAY (Dec 9th).
Cohen-Fax [phone],
Ph(Clinton) [phone] fax [phone].

If you live in Europe (esp eastern europe), please send a fax to Russian
defence minister Igor Sergeyev first, and then to US defence secy Cohen and
Clinton. ([phone]. Russian Govt General Fax)

PLEASE don't just delete or write back asking me to take you off the list -
this really is important and it really is something on which you can make a
difference.

If you have already sent a fax, then congratulations. You don't need to do
any more - unless you'd like to distribute this email to as many other
people as possible.  If you faxed to Cohen or Clinton however, you might
consider faxing Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev.

There are indications that your faxes *may* be making an impact on the
Pentagon.  We need to keep the momentum up!

The Canberra Commission, the Tokyo Forum, four resolutions in the United
Nations General Assembly (two last year two this year), two motions in the
Australian Senate, and a resolution carried on Thursday 18th Nov by the
European Parliament have all called for nuclear weapons to be taken off
alert.

Please write to US defence secretary William Cohen, President Clinton, and
to Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, asking them to take nuclear
weapons off hairtrigger alert at least over the Y2K 'rollover' period.

Defence Secretary Cohen's fax number is [phone]
President Clintons fax number is [phone]
Yeltsin/Sergeyev's fax number is [phone].

Faxing a single A4 page should not cost you more than a dollar.

You can fax for free on  http://www.fax4free.com

(But the best fax is HANDWRITTEN).

*If you are an organisation* and want to sign a large sign- on letter,
please sign the letter to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton that is being
periodicaly faxed to them on
 http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html

Sample letters to Cohen/Clinton and to Sergeyev are below. Do please
customise and abbreviate.

And have fun while saving the planet from (possibly) the apocalypse!



1)SAMPLE LETTER TO COHEN/CLINTON

(This is for individuals to sent to Us Secretary for Defence Cohen and
President Clinton. You can also post it to The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC.)


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

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON,
WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US,
[phone], [phone].


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

As you will be aware, the European Parliament recently voted to ask you and
President Yeltsin to do as the UK has already done, and de-alert nuclear
weapons.

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

The recent Europarliament vote clearly puts de- alerting back on the table.
De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra
Commission in 1996 and then by the Tokyo Forum,  as a way to develop
strategic stability and build trust between the US and Russia. It has also
been incorporated into last year's  and  this years text of the New Agenda
Resolution in the UN General Assembly. It has also been reccommended by a
resolution specifically on the subject passed by last years General
Assembly and by this years First Committee on Reduction of Nuclear Dangers.
In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the
Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September, and finally it has been
clearly requested by the European Parliament. It is also the subject of
congressional resolution H.Con Res177 put by Edward Markey, and most
recently, the City of Berkley has asked for it.

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

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

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

The very nature of the Y2K problem makes it impossible to be sure
everything has been fixed until well into the new year.

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

Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed
the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'. This system seems to
include additional ways in which Y2K failure might lead to an accidental
launch.

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

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

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

Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of
ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The  Y2K vulnerabilities
recently discovered in six of the seven hotlines  on which US/Russian
communications depends, are also cause for deep concern.

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

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

In taking De-alerting 'off the table', the United States is making a
serious error. Failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over
the Y2K 'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing
unthinkable consequences.

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

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

(SIGNED)
etc.

2)SAMPLE LETTER TO YELTSIN/DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV

THIS SAMPLE LETTER IS FOR YOU PERSONALLY TO FAX, CUSTOMIZED AS YOU FEEL
BEST, TO YELTSIN AND DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV. PLEASE DO FAX IT AND SEND
IT NOW.

You can also post it to Boris Yeltsin, C/O The Kremlin, Moscow - but its
really too slow. A single A4 page fax will cost you about a dollar.

PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN,
IGOR SERGEYEV,  RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER,
[phone],

'Dear Defence Minister Sergeyev and President Yeltsin,

I am writing to convey my deep concern that Y2K-related computer failures
in the command and control systems for nuclear weapons may lead to an
accidental nuclear war.

I am aware that both Russia and the US have taken this problem seriously
enough to establish a joint strategic stability center in Colorado.
However, I am very much concerned that this facility will come into
operation only by 27th December 1999, so that a delay of just four days
will make it useless.

I am also very much concerned that Y2K problems have been found recently in
six out of seven of the 'hotlines' that would be used if a crisis of any
sort arose over the Y2K rollover period.

I am aware that there have been a number of occasions when either the US or
Russia have mistakenly believed that the other nation was in the process of
launching a nuclear attack.

With 3,600 Russian warheads on 700 missiles and 2,000 US warheads on 500
missiles, with each side capable to launch within roughly 20 minutes, this
must never be allowed to happen, either over the Y2K 'rollover', or at any
other time.

The use of 5,600 warheads would certainly mean the end of what we call
civilization, would likely mean the end of the human race and could
possibly mean the end of all life.

I therefore urge both you and the United States, to place all your nuclear
forces in a status in which at least days not minutes, would be required to
launch . The United Kingdom has, I understand, already done this.

The European Parliament has recently called on both the US and Russia to
de-alert nuclear weapons and to place them in a state similar to that in
which the UK has placed its weapons. The recent Europarliament vote clearly
puts de- alerting back on the table. De-alerting of nuclear forces was
strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission in 1996 and then by the
Tokyo Forum,  as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust
between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's
and  this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General
Assembly. It has also been reccommended by a resolution specifically on the
subject passed by last years General Assembly and by this years First
Committee on Reduction of Nuclear Dangers. In addition it has been the
subject of two resolutions passed by the Australian Senate on 12 August and
20September, and finally it has been clearly requested by the European
Parliament. It is also the subject of congressional resolution H.Con Res177
put by Edward Markey, and most recently, the City of Berkley has asked for
it.

The immediate stakes are so high and the potential for global catastrophe
is so great, that mutually verified de-alerting of nuclear forces in the
face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other
considerations of political and national security.'
(Signed)
etc.

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





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

Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 11:27:40 -0800
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Nuclear Waste Remediation

Latest efforts to gain acceptance for new process to neutralize radioacti=
ve
wastes onsite rather than ship them across country and bury them, ie,
antidote to "Mobile Chernobyl" plans.

From: Gary Vesperman <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
<[e-mail]>
Subject: NRC hearing on cask safety issues
Date: Thursday, December 09, 1999 9:06 AM

Hello Everybody!

Last night the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a hearing
here in Henderson, Nevada on safety issues involved with
transporting on trucks highly radioactive waste nuclear fuel rods
inside casks. The casks are extremely heavy dumb-bell shaped
containers built to withstand falls, fire, collisions at 60 mph, etc.
They have a layer of water all around to provide neutron shielding,
stainless steel to shield against gamma rays, thick rigid steel shells,
etc.

Below is a copy of my testimony. A. Roy MacMillan is a good friend of
mine who I met last year. He is a former member of the Board of
Directors of the World Bank during the early 1970's. He is actively
pursuing several other innovative widely beneficial projects besides
a new cask design and the truck-mounted portable nuclear fuel
neutralizer that I mentioned in my testimony.

I did some networking among the NRC officials and attendees from
the public. I focused on promoting the theme that geologic storage of
radioactive nuclear fuel has been made obsolete by the development
of low-energy nuclear transmutation by Hal Fox and his associates of
Trenergy, Inc., Salt Lake City. As a marketing prop, so to speak, I would
show them a color printout of the flake of copper from
http://web.gcis.net/cincygrp/
which used to be radioactive thorium. And if they still don't believe
that transmuting radioactive fuel to non-radioactive isotopes can
be done, I would tell them to go to Trenergy's lab so they can see
for themselves a demonstration of transmuting radioactive thorium into
non-radioactive copper, etc so that the radioactivity drops by 90% in one
hour or so.

More than one NRC official told me that all NRC does is regulate.
For research funding, go talk to the DOE. I would then tell them
that the Salt Lake City people have been talking to the DOE for at least
a couple of years. Yet Trenergy still hasn't been able to secure the
research funding that they deserve.

I was introduced to Patricia Eng who is some kind of a chief of
the NRC section on casks. She said she knows of Roy MacMillan's
Containment Systems company I mentioned in my testimony.
She also has for a while posted in her office a printout of the same
copper flake downloaded from http://web.gcis.net/cincygrp/.

She is a good example of why a better Web site on low-energy nuclear
transmutation would help sell the technology.

I tried to explain to one NRC official in simple terms how low-energy
nuclear transmutation neutralizes radioactive materials. My explanation
was essentially the paragraph below in my testimony about the
difference between 9,000,000 volts versus less than 5,000 volts.
He admitted I was going over his head. I didn't think of it at the time,
but I could have then tried on him my analogy using ping pong balls for
electrons and bowling balls for protons.

I had the same difficulty with someone else involved with a private
company in the cask business. My guess is if they don't understand
what is a volt, they can't begin to comprehend even in simple terms
the theory of low-energy nuclear transmutation.

My actual testimony was much shorter and without the theatrics
I wrote in the letter below. I have mixed feelings about publicly accusin=
g
the DOE and NRC of possible corruption with respect to Yucca Mountain.
After talking with the NRC officials last night, while admittedly a
statistically insignificant sample, I am leaning more towards just plain
technical incompetence and lazy bureaucratic thinking and inertia among
DOE people as to why they have ignored low-energy nuclear transmutation
as a demonstrable alternative to geologic storage of waste nuclear fuel.

Gary

(Below is the text of my testimony that was submitted in WRITTEN form.
I passed out 20 copies of my testimony.)

Gary C. Vesperman
3123 Trueno Road
Henderson, NV 89014-3142
[phone] [e-mail]

December 8, 1999

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Spent Fuel Project Office
Washington, DC 20555-0001

To whom it may concern:

Please include the following comments in the record of the December 8, 19=
99
public meeting at the Henderson Convention Center on transportation of sp=
ent
nuclear fuel safety:

Roy MacMillan is the President of Containment Systems, Inc. His company h=
as
developed a new type of cask for transporting high-level radioactive wast=
e
which is much cheaper yet stronger and safer than casks currently being
used.

When I first met Mr. MacMillan last year, his company also had the
engineering nearly completed for a portable truck-mounted spent nuclear f=
uel
neutralizer. The spent nuclear fuel rods would be processed so that their
radioactivity would be eliminated. However, the company did not have the
technology for actually transmuting the radioactive waste. Since then I h=
ave
brought to his attention one proven method of transmuting radioactive
substances so that they would be no longer radioactive.

Earlier this year I asked Mr. MacMillan when he expects to have the servi=
ce
for neutralizing radioactive fuel. He told me no more than five years. Si=
nce
we already have a proven method of neutralizing radioactivity on site at
nuclear power plants, we can immediately abandon Yucca Mountain as a
radioactive waste dump. There will not be any waste nuclear fuel to
transport and store.

The proven method of transmuting radioactive waste is low-energy nuclear
transmutation. A new design has also been developed which is believed to =
be
at least one million times more powerful than low-energy nuclear
transmutation.

This is a drawing of a reactor which you can buy right now for $2,500 for
demonstrating low-energy nuclear transmutation. Inside the reactor are a
pair of electrodes which are positively and negatively charged. Protons
require 9,000,000 volts to be accelerated to a velocity high enough to
penetrate nuclei. Within this reactor, protons are embedded in high-densi=
ty
clusters of electrons. Protons have 1836 times the mass of electrons.
9,000,000 volts divided by 1836 is a little less than 5,000 volts. So
therefore, in order to penetrate nuclei and to transmute elements, only a
little less than 5,000 volts is required to accelerate protons to the sam=
e
high enough velocity as 9,000,000 volts. That is the reason for the term
=93low-energy nuclear transmutation=94.

This is a photograph of a flake of non-radioactive copper that used to be
radioactive thorium. Look at that copper flake. This photograph is visual
proof that low-energy nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste can be
done. (See http://web.gcis.net/cincygrp/.)

If you still don=92t believe me, you can see for yourself in Salt Lake Ci=
ty
demonstrations of reducing radioactive thorium by 90% in an hour.

The record shows so far that the Department of Energy and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission have not been paying any attention to eliminating
radioactivity using low-energy nuclear transmutation.

I think the DOE and the NRC have fallen short in their responsibilities t=
o
Congress and the public about the need for a Yucca Mountain repository. T=
hey
know that there are alternatives to Yucca Mountain. Yet the DOE and the N=
RC
have been adamant about not spending any money investigating low-energy
nuclear transmutation. I have heard it suggested that these two agencies =
and
their contractors just don=92t want to give up on over one hundred billio=
n
dollars of profitable contracts involved in reprocessing, transporting, a=
nd
geologic storage of radioactive waste. I have even heard it suggested tha=
t
there must be corruption somewhere within the DOE and NRC which would
explain why they have not shown any interest in cheap and safe low-energy
nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste.

I ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop wasting money on studying
Yucca Mountain for dumping radioactive waste and such auxiliary topics as
transportation safety issues. Neutralization of waste nuclear fuel on-sit=
e
at nuclear power plants is a proven technology which can be demonstrated =
up
in Salt Lake City.

I also ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to finance and stage here in
Henderson a public demonstration of neutralizing radioactive materials us=
ing
low-energy nuclear transmutation. Those in the audience who want to see t=
he
demonstration, would you all please stand up? The DOE has projected the
life-cycle cost of Yucca Mountain to be $150 billion. Look again at this
copper flake which used to be radioactive thorium. Radioactivity can be
eliminated. Do you really think it is necessary to squander $150 billion =
on
Yucca Mountain? I want to hear from the audience a loud NO!

Thank you,



Gary C. Vesperman

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D

Above new science and related discoveries of new energy technologies to
replace nuclear and fossil fuel power as per Hal Fox and others
http://www.pakrak.com/ine  http://www.infinite-energy.com will be carried=
 by
Global Peace Walk 2000 from San Francisco (Jan15) to Washington DC to the
United Nations for its 55th anniversary October 24, 2000.   Hal Fox has
agreed to be available for a presentation on LENT and these new energy
technologies in Las Vegas NV during third week in February after the walk
passes through Ward Valley and by the Nevada Nuclear Test Site.  Anyone
interested in helping with this project can contact:


[e-mail]

David Crockett Williams 661-822-3309
Global Emergency Alert Response
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000

Global Peace Walk 2000
http://www.globalpeacenow.org
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/gpw.html





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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #230
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