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abolition-usa-digest      Sunday, March 18 2001      Volume 01 : Number 431




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

Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 20:29:49 -0800
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) Scientist Quits Stockpile Stewardship-Says LLNL deceived him

Dear peace and enviro colleagues -- here is the press release. I think you
will appreciate what Issac has to say. Also, please pass it on to any media
you may know. Thank you. Peace, Marylia

for more information, contact:
Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs, [phone]

for release after 9:30 AM Pacific Time, Thursday, March 15, 2001

                LIVERMORE LAB SCIENTIST QUITS "STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP"
                PROGRAM, CALLS LAB HIRING PRACTICES DECEPTIVE

****************************************************************************
                Thursday, March 15, 2001 -- Press conferences
9:30 AM, Livermore Laboratory Visitors Center, Greenville Rd. in Livermore
, and NOON, World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St., San Francisco.
****************************************************************************
LIVERMORE, CA - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) computer
scientist Issac Trotts today announced his resignation, saying that LLNL
recruiters "deceived me" by assuring him that his work would not
"contribute to the further development of nuclear arms."

Trotts released an open letter to his former Livermore colleagues calling
on them to "understand the consequences" of the so-called "Stockpile
Stewardship" program and join him in refusing to work on it.

"During my interview with LLNL, I asked about the nature of 'Stockpile
Stewardship.' I was assured that no new weapons development was taking
place," explained Trotts. "I thought I would be helping to keep the nuclear
weapons from accidentally detonating or polluting the environment with
radioactive material," he continued.

Trotts, 25, was recruited to an $85,000 a year position as a Computer
Scientist by Livermore Laboratory in October 2000, shortly after his
visiting researcher position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
came to an end. Prior to the stint at MIT, Trotts had received his
Bachelor's degree from the University of Calif. at Davis and a Masters in
Science from Brown University.

Trotts came to Livermore Lab to work in the Visual Interactive Environment
for Weapons Simulation Group (VIEWS) in the Accelerated Strategic Computing
Initiative (ASCI) of the Stockpile Stewardship Program.

"Livermore Lab deceived me, both during the interview and afterwards,"
Trotts charged. "Five months after the interview, I found out that the
'Stockpile Stewardship' Program was -- and still is -- much more aggressive
than I had been led to believe."

In particular, Trotts pointed to the recent role of "Stockpile Stewardship"
in putting an entirely new military capability into the B61, giving it an
earth-penetrating ability. " I found that, according to the State
Department web site, 'The B61-11 development effort demonstrated a full
range of stockpile stewardship capabilities... the certification effort
took advantage of the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI)
capabilities...,'" said Trotts. "I now had incontrovertible evidence that
the ASCI program, in which I was working, had played an important role in
enhancing the B61. I had ample reason to believe that further alterations
of this sort would be performed in the future. I resigned."

"Issac Trotts is a shining example to other young scientists and engineers.
The courageous action he has taken, leaving a high-paying job for reasons
of conscience, embodies the highest principles of both science and ethics.
We at Tri-Valley CAREs are happy to offer Issac our support," said Marylia
Kelley, executive director of the Livermore-based Lab "watchdog"
organization. "We are certain that others will follow in his footsteps."

Dr. Andreas Toupadakis also praised Trotts' decision. Last year,
Toupadakis, a chemist, left his position in the Stockpile Stewardship
Program at Livermore for similar reasons. "By his action, Issac has served
the whole of humanity," Toupadakis declared. "Others will follow."

Speaking on his own decision as well as Trotts', Toupadakis said, "We have
done our duty."

To encourage more scientists and engineers to leave the weapons program,
Trotts released a 5-page "open letter" explaining his findings and decision
to leave in detail. "Let's put our money where our mouths are and put an
end to nuclear weapons before they put an end to us," the  letter
concludes.

Copies of the letter will be distributed directly to current and
prospective Livermore Lab employees, and will also be available on
Tri-Valley CAREs' web site at http://www.igc.org/tvc.

Tri-Valley CAREs and three colleague organizations recently launched an
international campaign at the annual meeting of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, asking scientists and engineers to renounce
work on nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. Joining in that
effort are the Natural Resources Defense Council, Los Alamos Study Group
and Western States Legal Foundation.

"Every weapon type in the U.S. arsenal is being 'redesigned' using
so-called 'Stockpile Stewardship',," charged Kelley. "We know that the
Livermore Lab is using 'bait and switch' and other misleading tactics to
lure young professionals. We plan to challenge those practices by going out
into the colleges and Universities where the Lab typically recruits in
order to explain the true nature of 'Stockpile Stewardship' to students. We
believe that many of them will choose not to work on nuclear weapons."

According to Jackie Cabasso, executive director of the Oakland-based
Western States Legal Foundation, "Issac is precisely the kind of bright,
young scientist that Livermore and the other weapons labs are seeking to
recruit. Without the Issac's of  the world, nuclear and other weapons of
mass destruction cannot exist. What he is doing today is very significant.
It is a step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons globally."

                                                                -- 30 --

Copies of Issac Trotts' letter will be available at the press conferences,
and upon request 3/15/01.


Marylia Kelley
Executive Director,
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA 94550
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Web site: http://www.igc.org/tvc



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

Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 22:54:44 -0800
From: "M.W. Stowell" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Dr.Toupadakis to Bush

http://globalcomment.com/articles/currentaffairs/andreas/bush.htm



_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com


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

Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:58:15 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: (CMEP-list) RADIOACTIVE ROADS & RAILS March ACTION OF THE MONTH

>Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 14:32:25 -0500
>Subject: (CMEP-list) RADIOACTIVE ROADS & RAILS March ACTION OF THE MONTH
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>From: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
>
>RADIOACTIVE ROADS & RAILS ACTION OF THE MONTH
>
>Stop Nuclear Trains in their Tracks!
>
>Background
>
>Private Fuel Storage (PFS), a consortium of 8 commercial nuclear
>utilities, is preparing to transport 40,000 metric tons of high-level
>radioactive waste across the country to an interim storage facility in
>Utah.  Currently, most of this "spent fuel" is stored on site, near the
>reactors where it was generated.  But the PFS utilities are worried about
>running out of space on site to store their radioactive garbage, so now
>they want to dump it in Utah!
>
>The PFS facility would be located on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation,
>approximately 45 miles west of Salt Lake City.  The facility would consist
>of above-ground, dry-cask storage for 4,000 canisters of high-level
>radioactive waste.  PFS hopes to begin shipping nuclear waste to Skull
>Valley as soon as 2003.
>
>The PFS proposal for interim storage in Utah assumes that the waste will
>later be moved to a permanent repository in neighboring Nevada. This
>assumption is premature because although Yucca Mountain is now being
>studied as a potential nuclear waste repository, the decision on whether
>to open a permanent facility is still pending!
>
>Transporting high-level radioactive waste is inherently dangerous because
>it exposes people along transportation routes to the risk of radiation
>release in areas where emergency responders may not be equipped for a
>nuclear accident.  The PFS proposal for temporary storage in Utah would
>unnecessarily increase this risk by requiring waste to be transported more
>than once over long distances.
>
>PFS proposes to transport nuclear waste to its facility by train.
>Currently, however, rail lines do not extend to Skull Valley.  Permission
>to build a rail line requires the approval of the U.S. Bureau of Land
>Management and the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.  Final decisions
>will be taken by both agencies after the PFS Environmental Impact
>Statement has been finalized (this process has been delayed but is
>expected to be completed soon).
>
>Take Action!
>
>As offices of federal agencies, the Bureau of Land Management and Surface
>Transportation Board are required to consider public comments in their
>decision-making processes.  Send a letter stating that you oppose PFS's
>application to build a nuclear railroad, which would needlessly endanger
>public safety and the environment.
>
>Sample letter and addresses on reverse.
>
>Plan ahead!  April 26, the anniversary of the nuclear catastrophe at
>Chernobyl, has been identified as a National Day of Action against the PFS
>proposal.  Organize an event in your town!  Contact Public Citizen for
>more information, ideas, or assistance.
>
>- SAMPLE LETTER -
>
>March 2001
>
>Secretary Vernon Williams                   and      Alice Stevenson, Project
Leader
>U.S. Surface Transportation Board                    Salt Lake Field Office
>1925 K Street                                        Bureau of Land
Management
>Washington, DC  20423                                Salt Lake City, UT
84124
>
>
>Dear Mr. Williams and Ms. Stevenson,
>
>I am concerned with the proposal of Private Fuel Storage, LLC (PFS) to
>transport nuclear waste to an interim storage facility on the Skull Valley
>Goshute Reservation in Utah. PFS has applied to the Bureau of Land
>Management (BLM) for rights-of-way on public land to provide
>transportation to the site. Approval would require amending BLM's Pony
>Express resource management plan, which does not currently provide for a
>major right-of-way corridor in the area. PFS has also applied to the
>Surface Transportation Board for approval to build and operate a rail line
>in Tooele County under the name of Great Salt Lake and Southern Railroad,
>LLC.
>
>Transporting high-level nuclear waste is inherently dangerous because it
>exposes people along transportation routes to the risk of radiation
>release in areas where emergency responders may not be equipped for a
>nuclear accident.  The PFS interim storage facility would unnecessarily
>increase this risk by requiring waste to be transported more than once
>over long distances.
>
>The rail casks that would be used to transport high-level radioactive
>waste to Skull Valley have never been subjected to full-scale physical
>testing.  A train accident resulting in radioactive release from these
>casks could contaminate a large area, posing serious risks to people and
>the environment.  Even without an accident, PFS nuclear shipments would
>routinely emit low levels of radiation, to which children, the elderly,
>and fetuses are particularly vulnerable.
>
>This imposition of risk is unnecessary.  The PFS utilities could continue
>to store their waste on site near their reactors without introducing the
>dangers of radioactive contamination to communities and environments along
>transportation routes.  Furthermore, PFS utilities could pursue the option
>of converting generating capacity to sustainable energy alternatives that
>do not create radioactive waste.
>
>I strongly object to government resources managed by your agencies being
>used to promote the flawed PFS proposal, which places the economic
>interests of the nuclear industry above the safety of citizens and
>integrity of the environment along transportation routes.  I therefore
>urge you to deny PFS's applications for rights-of way and rail line
>construction and operation authority.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Your name
>(Organization)
>Address
>

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

Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 19:11:45 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: SIGN PETITION TO OPPOSE NUKE POWER AS SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOURCE

>Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 17:43:12 -0500
>Subject: SIGN PETITION TO OPPOSE NUKE POWER AS SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOURCE
>To: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail]
>From: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
>
>
>  Please dissemenate this to other lists, NGOs & individuals and ask them
>to
>do likewise. SIGN OUR PETITION AT: www.antenna.nl/wise/csd
>
>
>
>
>
>Nukes Sustainable? No Way!
>
>From 16-27 April 2001 the United Nations Commission on Sustainable
>Development (CSD) will hold its Ninth Session (CSD 9) in New York. The
>Commission was established in 1992 to ensure effective follow-up of the Rio
>Earth Summit held that year. One of CSD's tasks is to elaborate policy
>guidance and options for future activities to follow up the Rio Earth
>Summit
>and achieve sustainable development.
>
>Energy is one of the issues on the agenda for CSD 9. As the Commission puts
>it: 'The challenge is how to meet the growing demand for energy while
>mitigating the impact of energy supply and use on the environment and thus
>guarantee the long term quality of our habitat'
>
>However, it seems that the Commission is of the opinion that nuclear energy
>could be part of a sustainable future. As we all know, nuclear energy
>involves enormous pollution, throughout its production cycle from uranium
>mining and enrichment, through the operation of nuclear power plants to the
>disposal of radioactive waste.
>Nuclear energy is definitely not sustainable, and the UN Commission on
>Sustainable Development should be the last to pretend that it is.
>Any indications of support for nuclear technologies by the Commission on
>Sustainable Development will be used by the nuclear industry to create an
>image of itself being clean, safe, and a legitimate tool to combat climate
>change.
>
>Wise Amsterdam therefore urges all organisations active in development,
>environmental, disarmament and human rights issues to sign the petition
>addressing CSD. The petition demands that Commission ensures that any
>indications of support for nuclear energy are excluded from CSD debates,
>exhibitions and other activities.
>SIGN OUR PETITION AT: www.antenna.nl/wise/csd
>
>Petition Against the Support of Nuclear Technologies
>
>TO THE CHAIR AND MEMBER STATES OF
>THE U.N. COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
>
>
>Dear Sirs and Madams,
>
>We, the undersigned NGOs, active in environment, development, disarmament
>and human rights issues, express our deepest regret and extreme concern
>that
>nuclear energy has been included in the draft agenda of the ninth session
>of
>the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, and that this dangerous and
>unsustainable technology might, in effect, be given a fresh start by the
>actions of the CSD.
>
>We consider any focus which seems to validate nuclear energy to be against
>both the spirit of Agenda 21 and the mandate of the CSD. Moreover, it is
>contrary to the interests of developing countries which require
>sustainable,
>mostly decentralized, low-cost energy systems, adapted both to their needs
>and the availability of their capital, labor, and natural resources.
>Nuclear
>power will not fulfill those requirements.
>
>Nuclear power is not a clean, safe or sustainable energy source. Worldwide,
>nuclear power has been plagued by high cost, erratic performance, endemic
>technical problems, the risk of catastrophic accidents, and environmental
>problems such as routine radiation releases, radioactive waste management
>and the high cost of decommissioning.
>
>However, financially-pressed nuclear vendors are eyeing the developing
>world
>as a 'last gasp' market for their products, and are stepping up their
>lobbying efforts at U.N. conferences, including the Climate Change
>negotiations and the CSD.
>Over the past decade in most countries the overwhelming momentum of energy
>policy has moved towards phasing out, or not developing nuclear energy in
>the first place. Virtually all countries agreed in November at The Hague,
>during the discussions on the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change
>(FCCC), not to include nuclear energy in projects of the Clean Development
>Mechanism (CDM) that will be established under the Kyoto Protocol.
>
>At their last meeting, the governments of the G8 stated their commitment to
>"encourage and facilitate investment in the development and use of
>sustainable energy, underpinned by enabling domestic environments, (which)
>will assist in mitigating the problems of climate change and air pollution.
>To this end, the increased use of renewable energy sources in particular
>will improve the quality of life, especially in developing countries."
>
>Non-G8 countries are taking similar positions. Turkey cancelled plans for a
>nuclear plant at Akkuyu, with its Prime Minister stating that, "the world
>is
>abandoning nuclear power." The countries of AOSIS (the Alliance of Small
>Island States) have "reaffirmed (their) position that nuclear energy should
>not be included in the CDM". (Apia, August 2000). And, a group of twelve
>Latin American nations made clear, in discussions on the Convention, that
>they "do not accept the use of nuclear power as an energy source
>alternative
>in project-based activities." (FCCC/SB/2000/4, 1 August, 2000)
>
>Therefore, we urge you to preserve the integrity of the CSD process by
>ensuring that any indications of support for non-sustainable energy
>technologies, particularly nuclear energy, are excluded from CSD 9 debates,
>exhibitions and other activities. The CSD should focus on promoting clean,
>secure and sustainable forms of energy for the welfare of present and
>future
>generations, as per the aim of Agenda 21.
>
>To sign on, go to: http:// www.antenna.nl/wise/csd/
>Thanks!
>
>Further distribution among your networks in encouraged!
>The petition is also available in french, spanish, german, italian and
>dutch.
>
>
>
>Nuclear power sustainable? No way! Sign our petition at
>http://www.antenna.nl/wise/csd/
>================================================================ World
>Information Service on Energy - WISE Amsterdam PO Box 59636 Tel:
>[phone] LC Amsterdam Fax: [phone] The Netherlands Email:
>[e-mail] (Visitors: Ketelhuisplein 43)
>http://www.antenna.nl/wise
>=================================================
>

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

Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 19:49:48 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Russia suspends dismantling weapons

>Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:23:49 -0500
>Subject: Russia suspends dismantling weapons=20
>To: [e-mail]
>From: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
>
>Russia suspends dismantling weapons
>
>   A response to Bush=92s campaign for missile defense system
>The Cold War long over, the United States and Russia are playing a game of
>brinkmanship centered on missile defense plans. NBC's Dana Lewis reports.
>
>By Dana Lewis
>NBC NEWS
>MOSCOW, March 11 =97  Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended the
>dismantling of nuclear warheads called for under the START II treaty with
>the United States on President Bush=92s inauguration day, NBC News has
>learned. And Russian officials insist that Moscow will end cooperation on
>nuclear disarmament if Washington presses forward with plans to build a
>national missile defense system.
>
>
>        =93IF THE NMD (national missile defense) is deployed in the United
>States, we will have to forget about reductions of strategic offensive
>weapons,=94 said Yuri Kapralov, director of Russian Security and=
 Disarmament.
>       Russia also has rolled out its counter-threat, the Topol-M missile.
>Although it is ostensibly a single-warhead intercontinental ballistic
>missile, experts believe it could be converted to carry several warheads,
>which would violate the Start II agreement.
>       Under the arms-reduction pact, which the United States and Russia
>signed in 1993, both countries committed to eliminating missiles with more
>than one warhead.
>       =93The Topol-M already has the capability to overcome any=
 anti-missile
>defense,=94 said Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, commander of Russia=92s rocket=
 forces.
>He added that the next move was up to the United States.
>
>HIGH-STAKES BATTLE
>       In the high-stakes game of sword vs. missile shield, Putin has
>mounted a diplomatic offensive, arguing that North Korea and Iran are not
>as
>great a threat as argued by the United States. He=92s even proposed a=
 limited
>missile defense plan for Europe.
>         =93The 1972 ABM treaty is like an axis to which a whole series of
>international security agreements is attached,=94 Putin said last week. =93=
As
>soon as we pull out this axis, all of them will automatically fall apart.
>The whole of today=92s international security system will collapse.=94
>       Former President Mikhail Gorbachev =97 who confronted the Reagan
>administration=92s campaign on behalf of the =93Star Wars=94 defense shield=
 =97 has
>warned that the U.S. system would spark a new arms race =97 =93a new spiral=
 of
>militarization with unpredictable consequences.=94
>         Critics say the Kremlin is reverting to Soviet-era tactics, using
>the missile shield to try to drive a wedge between Washington and its
>European allies. But the Russians counter that the real risk is to advances
>made through arms control over the past three decades.
> =20

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

Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 09:28:25 -0800
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) Chronicle+Herald/LLNL scientist quits weapons work

Dear colleagues:

=46ollowing are 2 articles stemming from the press conferences yesterday at
which Issac Trotts announced his resignation from Livermore Lab and
released an open letter calling on his former colleagues to also quit all
nuclear weapons work. The open letter is available on Tri-Valley CAREs' web
site at www.igc.org/tvc. The first article is from the San Francisco
Chronicle, the second from the Tri-Valley Herald. Both are quite good.
There was also a good article in the Valley Times. (If you see any
additional articles on this, please send me an electronic copy, if
possible.) Thanks. --Marylia

(Note especially the Livermore Lab spokesman below saying: "New [military]
capabilities are part of weapons modifications...")

ENGINEER QUITS, BLASTS LIVERMORE LAB
RECRUITERS MISLED HIM ON WEAPONS WORK, HE SAYS

San Francisco Chronicle -- Friday, March 16, 2001
by David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

Livermore -- A young computer software engineer announced yesterday that he
has quit his $85,000-a-year job at the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory because, he said, he was "deceived" by recruiters, who did not
tell him he would be working to improve the killing ability of nuclear
weapons.

Isaac Trotts, 25, conceded to reporters that he may have been more than a
little naive when he took the job at the weapons lab in October thinking he
would be helping make nuclear warheads safe. Instead, he found his work
involved making them more effective.

At a press conference yesterday organized by an anti-nuclear group, Trotts
said he hoped his action would inspire his former Livermore co-workers to
join him in refusing to "help maintain, enhance, design and build weapons
of mass destruction."

Trotts is a specialist in programming computers to visualize physical
phenomena in three dimensions, a field he had pursued as a visiting
aeronautics and astronautics researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.

His Livermore job was unclassified and involved researching and developing
complex new methods for viewing simulated explosions of nuclear warheads,
he said. His department is part of a national supercomputer facility in the
Department of Energy's Stockpile Stewardship Program, designed to keep
America's nuclear arsenal from deteriorating.

During the press conference at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco
yesterday, Trotts insisted that the Livermore recruiters who interviewed
him led him to believe that his job would help to assure the "safety and
reliability" of nuclear weapons but not to improve them.

"I was a little uneasy about going to work there at first," he told
reporters, "but I thought that making sure those weapons were safe, that
they wouldn't explode accidentally and pollute the environment with
radioactivity -- that way at least I'd be helping to make the world a
better place.

"I was assured no new weapons development was taking place, but it was a
deception," he said.

Trotts said he began to learn from government documents supplied by
"activist" organizations that many of the nuclear warheads were in fact
being modified to make them more effective -- armoring them to improve
their earth- penetrating power, for example, or "suspicious things" like
enabling them to explode at new and different heights.

The Livermore laboratory stopped all weapons design and development work in
1992, a Livermore lab spokesman insisted yesterday, and designing new ones
would require congressional approval.

Modifying nuclear warheads to meet new military needs has been openly part
of the Stockpile Stewardship Program since it was begun in 1993, the
spokesman said, and does not involve new designs. Modifications do not
alter a warhead's nuclear components and are not barred by treaty, he said.

As for Trotts himself, the Livermore spokesman said that "all his
colleagues agreed he was a really bright guy."

Trotts said that after he grew more uneasy about his job at Livermore, much
of what he learned about the implications of the work came from Department
of Energy documents on warhead modifications obtained by Tri-Valley CAREs,
an anti-nuclear group based in Livermore whose acronym stands for
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment.


Ex-lab scientist 'misled' about weapons development:
Lab denies deceiving former employees of work's nature

By Glenn Roberts Jr.
STAFF WRITER,
ANG newspapers

LIVERMORE --Recruiters drew Issac Trotts to an $85,000-a-year job at
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and his conscience led him to walk away.

Trotts, 25, said he was misled during the interview process about the
purpose of an Energy Department program that he would be supporting through
his work at the lab.

"I was assured that no new weapons development was taking place," he said.
"As I later found out, Livermore Lab deceived me both during the interview
process and afterward."

David Schwoegler a lab spokesman, said, "Any scientist would be advised in
unclassified terms during recruiting of what his or her job will eventually
involve." He added that Trotts would have been given the opportunity, too,
to ask questions about the nature of his job assignment.

Trotts talked Thursday during a press conference at the Livermore Lab
Visitors Center about his search for answers that led him to leave the lab
and speak out against nuclear weapons development.

A handful of anti-nuclear activists, including a former Livermore Lab
scientist who resigned one year ago, offered support for Trotts during the
event.

Trotts was hired in October 2000 as a computer scientist and mathematical
programmer for the lab's Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative. Trotts
said it was months later when he had proved to himself that this program
had assisted efforts to add new capabilities to nuclear weapons designs.

ASCI uses supercomputers to simulate nuclear weapons and is one component
of the nation's Stockpile Stewardship Program, which Energy Department and
lab officials say is designed to ensure the "safety and reliability" of
weapons in the aging U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Lab officials also have denied that lab researchers are helping to develop
new nuclear weapons, though several existing warhead designs in the nuclear
arsenal have been or will be redesigned with more modern components or new
capabilities.

Trotts said that he searched the Web for information about stockpile
stewardship and found a number of nuclear watchdog sites that questioned
the aims of the program.

In February, he found a 1999 U.S. State Department report that credited the
ASCI program for assisting with the addition of an earth-penetrating
feature to a weapon in the U.S. stockpile called the B61.

The ASCI program ran computer models that "allowed analysis of the forces
and environments experienced by an earth-penetrating weapon and greatly
assisted in the design and certification process necessary to put this
modified weapon in the active inventory," the report states.

Trotts said that report was the "smoking gun" for him, and he resigned
two days later.

Schwoegler said the B61 modification was conducted by Los Alamos Laboratory
in New Mexico, though he said that some ASCI scientists at Livermore Lab do
assist in weapons modifications.

"New capabilities are part of weapons modifications and some ASCI
scientists (at Livermore) would work in these areas," he said. "It's no
secret that there are modifications."

He added that Trotts did not yet have a security clearance, and "ASCI
scientists with clearances work on stockpile stewardship."

Andreas Toupadakis, a former lab employee who quit in Jan. 31 to speak out
against nuclear weapons development, said he respects Trotts for choosing
to leave the lab.

 "We are in important times," Toupadakis said. "If we really do not act
courageously toward more peace, we're going to see the unthinkable soon. We
should find jobs for lifting humanity instead of destroying humanity."

A 1999 graduate of the University of California, Davis, Trotts said he
plans to talk to university students and professors about his experiences
at the lab.
                                          -----------------
                                            =A91999-2001 by
                                        MediaNews Group, Inc.
                                         and ANG Newspapers
        (Note: Includes Tri-Valley Herald, Oakland Tribune and others)


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
Abolition 2000 global network for the elimination of nuclear weapons, the
U.S. Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Back From the Brink
campaign to get nuclear weapons taken off hair-trigger alert.



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

Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 19:25:16 -0600
From: Lisa Ledwidge / IEER <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) IEER new postings - plutonium, oil & the dollar, the nuke slayer

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I thought you might be interested in these items.  They are the four latest
postings to IEER's web site.  (Apologies for multiple postings.)

Plutonium End Game / Global Truth Commission
Science for Democratic Action, vol. 9 no. 2
February 2001
http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/vol_9/9-2/index.html

"Saddam's Last Laugh: The Dollar Could be Headed for Hard Times if OPEC
Switches to the Euro"
By Arjun Makhijani, Featured on TomPaine.com
March 9, 2001
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/03/09/index.html

Letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the application to construct
a MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility submitted by Duke Cogema Stone & Webster
Joint letter from IEER and the Nuclear Control Institute
March 9, 2001
http://www.ieer.org/comments/pu-disp/nci-ieer.html

"Discover Dialogue: Arjun Makhijani The Nuke Slayer"
Short interview in the April 2001 issue of Discover Magazine
http://www.discover.com/apr_01/breakdialogue.html


_______________________________________________________________
Lisa Ledwidge
Outreach Coordinator and Editor, Science for Democratic Action
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)
2104 Stevens Ave. South |  Minneapolis, MN 55404  USA
phone:  [phone]  |  fax:  [phone]
[e-mail]  |  http://www.ieer.org
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Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"

<html>
I thought you might be interested in these items.  They are the four
latest postings to IEER's web site.  (Apologies for multiple
postings.)<br>
<br>
<b>Plutonium End Game / Global Truth Commission<br>
</b><i>Science for Democratic Action</i>, vol. 9 no. 2<br>
February 2001 <br>
<a href="http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/vol_9/9-2/index.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/vol_9/9-2/index.html</a><br>
<br>
<b>"Saddam's Last Laugh: The Dollar Could be Headed for Hard Times
if OPEC Switches to the Euro"<br>
</b>By Arjun Makhijani, Featured on TomPaine.com<br>
March 9, 2001 <br>
<a href="http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/03/09/index.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/03/09/index.html</a><br>
<br>
<b>Letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the application to
construct a MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility submitted by Duke Cogema Stone
& Webster<br>
<i>Joint letter from IEER and the Nuclear Control Institute <br>
</i></b>March 9, 2001 <br>
<a href="http://www.ieer.org/comments/pu-disp/nci-ieer.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.ieer.org/comments/pu-disp/nci-ieer.html</a><br>
<br>
<b>"Discover Dialogue: Arjun Makhijani The Nuke Slayer"<br>
</b>Short interview in the April 2001 issue of <i>Discover</i>
Magazine<br>
<a href="http://www.discover.com/apr_01/breakdialogue.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.discover.com/apr_01/breakdialogue.html</a><br>
<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
_______________________________________________________________<br>
Lisa Ledwidge<br>
Outreach Coordinator and Editor, <i>Science for Democratic Action<br>
</i>Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)<br>
2104 Stevens Ave. South |  Minneapolis, MN 55404  USA<br>
phone:  [phone]  |  fax:  [phone]<br>
[e-mail]  |
<a href="http://www.ieer.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.ieer.org</a>
</html>

- --=====================_2427663==_.ALT--


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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 23:18:17 -0000
From: "Lindis Percy and Anni Rainbow" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) US Navy flares found on UK beach

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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    charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

F/friends

BBC Ceefax (P116) is carrying the following news item this evening:

US NAVY FLARES FOUND ON POPULAR BEACH

Unexploded United States Navy flares have been detonated after they were =
found on a popular beach.

The 18-inch flares, washed up on Skegness beachin Lincolnshire, believed =
to have been discharged from Fighter planes on exercise last month.

Yarmouth Coastguard said others 'may appear' on adjacent beaches.

A spokesmansaid the flares were 'extremely dangerous'. Warning signs =
have been put in place.

Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy (Co-coordinators)
CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB)
8 Park Row, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 1HQ, England, U.K.
Tel/fax no: [phone]R [phone]
email: [e-mail]
Website: http://www.caab.org.uk

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can =
change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever does."     =
Margaret Mead=20


=20

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    charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>F/friends</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>BBC Ceefax (P116) is carrying the following news =
item this=20
evening:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>US NAVY FLARES FOUND ON POPULAR =
BEACH</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Unexploded United States Navy flares have been =
detonated=20
after they were found on a popular beach.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>The 18-inch flares, washed up on Skegness =
beachin=20
Lincolnshire, believed to have been discharged from Fighter planes =
on=20
exercise last month.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Yarmouth Coastguard said others 'may appear' on =
adjacent=20
beaches.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>A spokesmansaid the flares were 'extremely =
dangerous'.=20
Warning signs have been put in place.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy=20
(Co-coordinators)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF =
AMERICAN BASES=20
(CAAB)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>8 Park Row, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 =
1HQ,=20
England, U.K.<BR>Tel/fax no: [phone]R +44 (0)1482=20
702033</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>email: <A=20
href=3D"mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A></=
FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Website: <A=20
href=3D"http://www.caab.org.uk">http://www.caab.org.uk</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><STRONG>"Never doubt that a small group =
of=20
thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed it's the =
only thing=20
that ever does."     Margaret=20
Mead</STRONG> <BR><BR></DIV></FONT></FONT></DIV></FONT> </DIV><=
/BODY></HTML>

- ------=_NextPart_000_0102_01C0B001.B69BE5E0--


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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #431
***********************************

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