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abolition-usa-digest     Sunday, December 12 1999     Volume 01 : Number 233




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

Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 12:23:32 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) 20 DAYS TO GO: TIME RUNNING OUT -  5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT, FAX NOW

20 DAYS TO GO : 5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT - FAX FOR DE-ALERTING TODAY

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

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

With only 20 days to go before the Y2K rollover, time is getting short.
However, there are some signs that the global de- alert campaign is making
an impact.

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

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

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

Here's a quick link for writing Congress and media urging dealerting:
 <http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd/>http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd/

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










- -
 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: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 19:51:48 -0800
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) NRC hearing Yucca Mountain

From: Gary Vesperman <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
<[e-mail]>
Subject: Review-Journal article on NRC hearing on cask safety
Date: Friday, December 10, 1999 6:58 PM

FYI

For a copy of a Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper report
on the NRC hearing on cask safety issues, see
http://12.9.217.5/plweb-cgi/fastweb?state_id=3D944879623&view=3Drjsearch&=
docrank
=3D65&numhitsfound=3D68&query_rule=3D%28%28$query%29%29%20AND%20%28%23dat=
e%28$quer
y1%29%29%3ADATE%20AND%20%28%28$query4%29%29%3AHEADLINE&query1=3D12%2F9%2F=
99&do
cid=3D21761&docdb=3D1999&dbname=3D1999&starthit=3D50&TemplateName=3Dpredo=
c.tmpl&setCoo
kie=3D1

If clicking on the lengthy address doesn't work, try control-C to copy. T=
hen
paste into the address with control-V.
If all fails, click on www.lvrj.com and enter the date 12/9/99 in the
appropriate place.

(The reporter, Keith Rogers, is on my list of e-mail correspondents.)

Gary

The text of the article is below:

Thursday, December 09, 1999
Copyright =A9 Las Vegas Review-Journal

Experts stress shipping risks
State officials call for extensive tests of casks planned for transportin=
g
radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain.
By Keith Rogers
Review-Journal

      Nevada's experts in radioactive waste and transportation called on
Wednesday for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct expensive,
full-scale tests of casks the government intends to use for shipping
potentially deadly wastes to Yucca Mountain.
      They said current information about the risks of the casks breachin=
g
and releasing highly radioactive contaminants is outdated and cannot be u=
sed
to validate computer models the federal agency is considering for assessi=
ng
the risks.
      "Just kicking a cask out of an airplane isn't really full-scale
testing," said Steve Frishman, a geologist and full-time consultant for t=
he
State Nuclear Projects Agency.
      "We've been telling them for 10 years they should be taking a hard
look at transportation safety," he said during a break in an NRC panel
discussion at the Henderson Convention Center.
      Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site =
the
government is studying for entombing 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear
waste. Most of it, 90 percent, is in the form of solid fuel pellets encas=
ed
in metal rods and in storage at reactor sites across the country. The
remaining 10 percent is military waste that must be solidified into glass
logs for disposal in the mountain, a ridge of volcanic rock.
      Susan Shankman, deputy director for licensing and inspection at the
NRC's Spent Fuel Project Office, said that more testing is needed to
validate the computer models for future highway and rail conditions thoug=
h
models from 1987 indicate the casks would be safe in severe accidents.
      "We agree we will have to do some degree of physical testing. We ma=
y
have to build a special cask and test that," she said. "I'm confident the
commission will support us in this study."
      The NRC is spending $150,000 through 2000 to gather information abo=
ut
accident risks from hauling spent fuel casks on highways and railroads.
Another $1.5 million has been set aside for the next phase to mesh cask t=
est
data with computer models of accident scenarios, said NRC nuclear enginee=
r
Rob Lewis, the project manager for performance studies.
      But money in the NRC's budget will fall short of what state officia=
ls
estimate it will cost to do adequate testing.
      Robert Halstead, transportation consultant for the State Nuclear
Projects Agency, estimates full-scale testing will cost between $8 millio=
n
and $15 million for 30-ton truck casks and up to $25 million for 125-ton
rail casks.
      He noted the costs are relatively small when compared with the cost=
 of
transportation activities for a repository -- $9.2 billion -- or what
scientists in 1986 estimated it would cost, $620 million, to clean up a
severe accident involving a rail cask that releases a tiny fraction of it=
s
radionuclides.
      Halstead said he is concerned about catastrophic accidents that cou=
ld
involve casks and military explosives.
      "The issue of live munitions colliding into a shipment, that's a re=
al
issue in Nevada with the flight corridors" of Nellis Air Force Range, he
told the 22-member panel of nuclear waste transportation officials
representing federal, state and local agencies and industry groups.
      Halstead cited the Energy Department's risk estimate for a terroris=
t
attack with explosives on a truck cask of spent fuel that would result in=
 15
latent cancer fatalities.
      "We believe it would be 10 times that," he said.
      According to Clark County's estimates, the chances for accidents
involving shipping casks is great considering nearly 38,000 shipments wou=
ld
be made over several decades.
      A federal Department of Transportation official, health physicist
Richard Swedberg, said stiff regulations on transporting spent fuel casks
could be used to prevent accidents.
      Judy Treichel of a watchdog group, the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task
Force, stressed that rules requiring inspections of equipment on jetliner=
s,
for example, have been violated in the past, resulting deadly crashes.
      Meeting the requirements of regulations does not necessarily mean t=
he
public will have confidence in the safety of transporting nuclear waste, =
she
said.
      Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., expressed her concerns in a statement
and said that the data are outdated, funding for full-scale testing "is
grossly inadequate, and the possible accident scenarios have not yet been
considered and accounted."


=1D



- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[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, 11 Dec 1999 12:23:32 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) 20 DAYS TO GO: TIME RUNNING OUT -  5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT, FAX NOW

20 DAYS TO GO : 5,600 WARHEADS ON ALERT - FAX FOR DE-ALERTING TODAY

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

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

With only 20 days to go before the Y2K rollover, time is getting short.
However, there are some signs that the global de- alert campaign is making
an impact.

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

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

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

Here's a quick link for writing Congress and media urging dealerting:
 <http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd/>http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd/

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









- -
 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, 11 Dec 1999 09:12:33 -0800 (PST)
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) DOE wants BIGGER nuke program

 Dear Peace and Enviro advocates:
Here is an article from today's Tri-Valley Herald about DOE's new report on
its "Stockpile Stewardship" program. I have the half-dozen page executive
summary DOE put out, and the document is available on the web at
www.dp.doe.gov/dp_web/news_f.htm

In sum, this is very dangerous, particularly as this DOE deadly wish list
from Uncle Santa is backed by a VERY REAL effort to increase Stockpile
Stewardship funding by $500 million extra dollars in the next budget. DOE
is very serious about ramping up the nuclear weapons complex ever-more --
and we must mobilize to stop this, no matter how busy or overworked we
already are!
Peace, Marylia                  Please read the article...

[Image]

 Saturday, December 11, 1999

                   DOE commits to refurbish aging nuclear
                   weapons

                   Revival of some phased-out research
                   recommended

                   FROM STAFF REPORTS

                   LIVERMORE — Nuclear bombs aren't aging as well as
                   the Energy De partment thought they would.

                   "The number of weapons facing re furbishing is
                   substantially larger than was expected," Energy
                   Undersecretary Ernest Moniz said Friday after the re-
                   lease of an annual report on the nation's Stockpile
                   Stewardship Program.

                   "These refurbishment campaigns, in the next decade, are
                   very consider able," Moniz said.

Under current U.S. policy, the En ergy Department no longer builds new
warheads; it repairs and maintains the old ones. At the same time, the
govern ment is stepping up supercomputer re search for improved virtual
detonations of bombs so that weapon eers can keep their skills sharp.

The Energy Department recom mends some nuclear weapons research programs be
revived after having been phased out. Officials did not provide details.

"The nation is restoring its capacity to produce nuclear weapons components
in the enduring nuclear stock pile," according to a government statement.

Each year for the past four years, the Energy Department has conducted a
review and certified the stockpile "safe and reliable."

Troubles with the construction of the National Ignition Facility laser
complex at Lawrence Livermore Lab; a project that lab and Energy Department
managers have called a keystone of this stewardship program likely will not
cause a major disruption in the program, officials said
=46riday.

Marylia Kelley, a frequent lab critic and executive director of the
Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment,
said she viewed the plan as a recipe for a return to the Cold War.

"It's an outline for reconstituting the size and style of the Cold War
nuclear weapons complex," she said. "It is a plan that says the Cold War is
back on track, and it's going to cost the American taxpayer one hell of a
lot."

Ordered by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson in October, the review
recommends 15 Energy Department actions. Moniz served as chairman for a
panel of experts who assisted with the review.

Assembling a work force that can in crease production of nuclear weapons
materials, recruiting top researchers, revisiting its weapons refurbishment
program and developing a plutonium manufacturing and testing strategy are
among the recommendations outlined in the review.

Developing a long-term budget plan for the U.S. nuclear weapons complex and
seeking "to restore programs at the laboratories that support weapons
related research" are also recommended goals.

The report said the Stockpile Stew ardship Program is effective, and for
the fourth year in a row the active nu clear weapons arsenal will be
certified as reliable.
        -------------------------------------------------------------
             =A9 1999 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers

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

<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: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 09:31:36 -0800 (PST)
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) Addendum to DOE wants BIGGER nuke program

Hi -- just a note to highlight that the Tri-Valley Herald article I sent
you earlier says, "Under current U.S. policy, the Energy Deptartment no
longer builds new warheads; it repairs and maintains the old ones." I would
refute this statement (and will when I call the reporter on Monday). The
definition of "new" is mighty, mighty fluid these days. Most of you
receiving this note already know this. However, I didn't want my
transmission of the article as a whole to be misunderstood as an
endorsement of every phrase in it. Thanks, Peace, Marylia

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

<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.



- -
 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: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 18:28:06 -0500 (EST)
From: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Addendum to DOE wants BIGGER nuke program

Please note that the Global Network now has a new e-mail address at:
[e-mail]


Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network
PO Box 90083, Gainesville, Fl 32607
Web site:  http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk/
[phone]


On Sat, 11 Dec 1999, marylia wrote:

> Hi -- just a note to highlight that the Tri-Valley Herald article I sent
> you earlier says, "Under current U.S. policy, the Energy Deptartment no
> longer builds new warheads; it repairs and maintains the old ones." I would
> refute this statement (and will when I call the reporter on Monday). The
> definition of "new" is mighty, mighty fluid these days. Most of you
> receiving this note already know this. However, I didn't want my
> transmission of the article as a whole to be misunderstood as an
> endorsement of every phrase in it. Thanks, Peace, Marylia
>
> Marylia Kelley
> Tri-Valley CAREs
> (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
> 2582 Old First Street
> Livermore, CA USA 94550
>
> <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.
>
>
>
> -
>  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: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 16:19:06 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Worst Possible News

[The Express] 11 December, 1999


Yeltsin puts missiles on red alert

=46rom Will Stewart in Moscow

  Boris Yeltsin put his most powerful nuclear missiles
on full alert last night in what was seen as a dramatic
warning to the West over Chechnya.

   The Kremlin deployed ten new Topol-M missiles - its
   newest, most sophisticated and deadliest weapons -
   in a state of combat readiness.

   The move coincided with President Yeltsin's return
   to Russia after a trip to China, during which he hit
   back at criticism of his campaign in Chechnya and
   warned the West to keep its nose out. "Russia is a
   great power that possesses a full nuclear arsenal,"
   he thundered in Beijing. "It is us who will
   dictate."

   The West was told in advance of Russia's deployment,
   as dictated by nuclear treaty commitments. But the
   timing and the rarity of such a move amounts to a
   dramatic show of force designed to back Yeltsin's
   message.

   The intercontinental missiles - with a 6,200 mile
   range and capable of striking Britain or America -
   were put in readiness in the Saratov region, 400
   miles south-east of Moscow.

   Russia publicly portrayed the move as a scheduled
   test of a new weapon, which replaces its SS-19
   missiles, dating to the 1970s.

   But observers last night said the provocative timing
   could only be linked to the Chechen crisis - and
   Yeltsin's anger at the West's hostile reaction to
   his bloody military purge in the troubled region.
   Many Russian politicians and analysts say Yeltsin is
   too ill to rule Russia and have his finger on the
   trigger of the world's second largest nuclear power.

   In televised comments yesterday, even his wife Naina
   admitted that he had "never been in such a bad state
   as he is now" after a bout of pneumonia which
   followed a succession of health problems, including
   heart trouble.

   While putting Russia's missiles on alert is seen as
   posturing bluster, Britain's foremost independent
   nuclear expert, John Large, warned it was a foolish
   manoeuvre, particularly in relation to the
   millennium bug, for which it is feared Russia is
   still ill-prepared.

   "There was an unwritten agreement for both Russia
   and the US not to deploy nuclear weapons before the
   Y2K period," he said.

   "Even if the weapons themselves are OK - which I
   very much doubt since their testing system has been
   effectively down and out for three years - they
   would have to work within the strategic defence
   system there which is full of Y2K glitches. There is
   no real need for it - it is a risk they don't need
   to take.

   "I am not suggesting that these nuclear bombs will
   go off on their own, but we do expect to see the
   defence systems playing up a bit."

   The Topol-M missile is relatively small and can be
   transported on a mobile launch pad, meaning it would
   be hard to locate and take out in the first strike
   of a nuclear confrontation.

   "Of the five nuclear powers, none of the others will
   match these weapons in the next few years," bragged
   Colonel-General Vladimir Yakovlev, Russian forces
   commander. "Topol-M is able to breach any
   anti-missile system that exists in the world and any
   which will be built in the near future."

   The deployment came 24 hours ahead of today's
   deadline - set by Russia a few days ago - for people
   in the Chechen capital Grozny to "flee or perish".

   Moscow yesterday appeared to have extended the
   deadline for residents to get out of the ruined
   city. But the Kremlin immediately stung the West by
   implying a new ultimatum to wipe out Grozny was on
   the way.

   The missile manoeuvre also came as Europe's leaders
   gathered for an EU summit in Helsinki.

   They were last night preparing to fire off a salvo
   of condemnation for the Russian offensive in
   Chechnya, which has seen thousands of civilians
   killed and tens of thousands of refugees spilling
   across the borders into neighbouring Ingushetia.

   "It can't be business as usual while Russia
   continues with these actions in Chechnya," a British
   source said at the Helsinki summit. "I imagine there
   will be some words of condemnation."

   But little hard action was expected to back up the
   words. The West is aware that, in practical terms,
   there is little it can do to halt the Russian
   offensive, though the EU is likely to shelve a
   science and technology agreement and a =A31.5 billion
   aid package to Russia in protest over the action in
   Chechnya.

   The nuclear deterrent on both sides of the old Iron
   Curtain is credited with maintaining peace since the
   end of the Second World War.

   But in recent months the post-Cold War nuclear
   consensus has collapsed and Russia and the US seem
   on the verge of a new arms race.
   =A9 Express Newspapers, 1999



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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #233
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