From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #410 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Tuesday, January 9 2001 Volume 01 : Number 410 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2001 18:28:13 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Rumsfeld Here's my letter to the editor. January 3, 2001 To the Editor, New York Times BY FAX: 556-3622 Donald Rumsfeld, who shamelessly opposes ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on the grounds that it would it preclude the United States from developing new generations of nuclear weapons, would flout the recent US agreement given by the nuclear weapons states at the 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. He would also defy the International Court of Justice, which ruled in 1996 that there is an international obligation to conclude negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Rumsfeld testified against the chemical weapons convention, opposed the SALT II arms agreement, and lobbied for the B-2 Bomber and the MX Missile. He supports US efforts to take military control of outer space by developing technology to attack other nations’ satellites with new generation weapons like the space-based laser. He is the driving force for a new “Son of Star Wars” which is causing a new arms race with Russia and China. He chaired a Congressional Commission which inaccurately characterized North Korea as a “rogue nation’ capable of threatening the US with a missile attack. This cooked up story would benefit his contractor friends at Lockheed Martin, Boeing and TRW enabling them to feed on more than $60 billion at the public trough to the detriment of international peace. The Senate should scrutinize his relationships to the Star Wars lobby and refuse to confirm him as Secretary of Defense. Sincerely, Alice Slater President - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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, 5 Jan 2001 23:07:45 EST From: JGG786@aol.com Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Rumsfeld - --part1_69.f62a1c1.2787f411_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit http://www.stratfor.com/home/giu/archive/010701.asp#Reliance check this out - --part1_69.f62a1c1.2787f411_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit http://www.stratfor.com/home/giu/archive/010701.asp#Reliance

check this out - --part1_69.f62a1c1.2787f411_boundary-- - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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, 06 Jan 2001 20:51:24 -0500 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Rumsfeld Thanks, Alice, cogent and to the point. Will forward. Ellen ______________________________________________________________ * Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org - Convert the War Machines! * Online Petition - http://www.PetitionOnline.com/prop1/petition.html NucNews - Today and Archives - http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm ______________________________________________________________ - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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, 7 Jan 2001 19:17:12 -0800 From: marylia@earthlink.net (marylia) Subject: (abolition-usa) bounced email messages/full in box Dear colleagues: Over the holidays, while I was away, my incoming message capacity became overloaded. Many recent email messages were returned to the author, and were not delivered. So, If you sent me a personal email message and it "bounced" back, and if it's still relevant, please re-send it now -- or call or snail mail me the info. Thanks. Peace, Marylia Marylia Kelley Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) 2582 Old First Street Livermore, CA USA 94550 - is our web site, please visit us there! (925) 443-7148 - is our phone (925) 443-0177 - 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. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 11:01:16 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Inauguration Protests-Jan 20th ================================================== INAUGURATION SPECIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . .Issue #14 Many are calling 2000 the "year of the protest," after people took to the streets from Seattle to Belgrade and beyond to demand fundamental change. Now, in the United States at least, the year 2001 promises to begin with an outright insurrection. The upcoming demonstrations against the inauguration of GOP coup leader George W. Bush will bring together an unprecedented mix of movements-on-the-rise, heralding yet another surge in activism in this already volatile time. Public outrage over the Republican theft of America's presidential election and the systematic denial of African-American voting rights has sparked a vast array of organizing efforts by everyone from revolutionary anarchists opposing "the entire state system" to Democratic voters questioning the fairness of American democracy for the first time. Most significantly, Bush's coronation is sparking a revival of grassroots organizing by the black civil rights movement. The players in the unfolding inauguration drama are so numerous and varied, and the pace of preparations so harried, that it hasn't been easy to get a handle on what will go down on January 20. Here, then, is a guide to the scenario and cast of characters for the inauguration protests. SCENARIO Many of the details concerning the actual Inauguration, like the exact parade route, have yet to be announced, but the basic outline of the day is set. The swearing-in ceremony will take place on the west side of the U.S. Capitol building beginning at 11:30 AM. Bush is scheduled to take the oath of office at noon. The ceremony will be followed by the traditional inaugural parade, which begins at 2:00 PM. For more information on official preparations, see the official web site, www.inauguration-2001.org. Other good resources are www.presidential-inaugural.com and the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee's "frequently asked questions" page: www.afic.army.mil/FAQs/FAQs_page1.htm. If you've got many hundreds of dollars to spare, you can buy a scalped ticket to one or more inaugural events, from the swearing-in ceremony to various inaugural balls; one source for these is www.inauguralevents.com. There are three different announced meeting points and times for anti-inaugural protests. 1) At 10:00 AM, people will meet at Dupont Circle for the Voter March rally and protest (www.votermarch.org), which will culminate in a march to the Supreme Court. The organizers of this event, which has a moderate tone and good-government agenda, have received a permit from the D.C. police. 2) Also at 10:00 AM, folks of a more radical disposition will meet at Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street, responding to calls put out by the socialist International Action Center (www.iacenter.org) and the anarchist Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarian Block (www.infoshop.org/coronation.html). The anarchists will meet beneath a "Class War" banner. Presumably this march will also go to the Supreme Court, though there's been no public announcement of the route. 3) At noon, the Reverend Al Sharpton, with the support of other African-American leaders, has called for people to meet at Stanton Park, at 4th and Maryland. From there, there will be a march to the Supreme Court for a "Shadow Inauguration," in which Sharpton will administer a "Citizen's Oath" pledging action to safeguard voting rights. But these are not the only protest plans. Many direct-action-oriented activists organized into small groups hope to jeer and/or disrupt inaugural events including the 2:00 parade. The Partnership for Civil Justice is strongly urging protesters to form into groups of no more than 25 people. The group's guide to the inauguration protests - essential reading for anyone who will be out on the streets - explains: "Demonstrations in groups of 25 people or less may be held without a permit on Pennsylvania Avenue or other federal land subject to the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. See, 36 C.F.R. Section(s) 7.96(g)(2)(i). Based on this provision, the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that it is unlawful for the U.S. Government to fine or arrest Inaugural protesters in groups of 25 or less on the asserted grounds that such protesters are demonstrating without a permit." (www.InaugurAuction.org/training.asp) As it happens, this regulation dovetails perfectly with the way that direct action protests are organized these days. The groups behind the rallies and marches, the anarchists excepted, favor an old-style mass mobilization model. In this type of protest, people attend as bodies in a crowd, individuals in a mass. Sometimes they form contingents based on shared identity or membership in an organization (like "gays against Bush" or "schoolteachers for democracy" or "National Organization for Women"). Everyone follows the direction of the protest leadership, whether that's a prominent individual like Reverend Sharpton, or a behind-the-scenes group of organizers, like the folks from VoterMarch who are making their event happen. Direct-action radicals - like the people who shut down the WTO meetings in Seattle - organize themselves quite differently. They often view themselves as "anti-mass" (www.spunk.org/library/misc/sp001304.txt), and generally take part in large actions as members of "affinity groups," small assemblages of like-minded folks who act and make decisions collectively (see www.actupny.org/documents/CDdocuments/Affinity.html). There is much less coordination among direct actionists for the inauguration than there was in Seattle or during the April 2000 protests against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in D.C. The Justice Action Movement (JAM), www.j20.org, is arranging nonviolence trainings, legal support, and other key matters to the extent it can, given the severe time constraints. So the bottom line is, affinity groups are pretty much going to have to figure out for themselves what to do. Most will focus on finding creative, in-your-face ways of expressing their dissent, from street theater to colorful signs and banners (check the protest guide, www.InaugurAuction.org/training.asp for details about what size these must be according to federal regulations). There are no plans for large-scale civil disobedience, at least as far as I know. There's some talk of people doing sit-ins in the path of the inaugural parade, but it's not clear whether that will even be physically possible, given the massive police presence that's expected. Then too, the parade route will also be lined with Republicans, including many of the budding right-wing street activists who staged their own in-your-face protests against the Florida recount. In fact, January 20 will also witness a scary "Patriot's March on D.C.: Celebrating Constitutional Victory," which begins in front of the Supreme Court at 9:00 AM (www.loudcitizen.com/million/index.asp). One organizer told The Washington Times, "I think we will present a real contrast from a bunch of kids all dressed in black who dislike America, what the country stands for, and are waving big puppets." www.washtimes.com/metro/default-20011422140.htm The D.C. police have been making menacing pronouncements about their preparations. (www.commondreams.org/headlines/121300-02.htm) If the recent past is a guide, there will be a huge law enforcement presence, and the real possibility of police violence against protesters. Be aware that you run some risk of arrest if you attend any of these protests, except perhaps the permitted Voter March. There's also a chance that you will encounter pepper spray or other chemical weapons; prepare yourself by reading an excellent guide on the subject from the current Earth First! Journal (www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=16539). ADDITIONAL LINKS To keep up with protest plans, check www.infoshop.org/news.html and www.dc.indymedia.org regularly. Great posters for the Inauguration protests: www.bradkayal.com/i20 Coming up the weekend after the inauguration is the Conference on Organized Resistance www.organizedresistance.org - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 11:57:29 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: NW: Energy companies contributions to Spence >Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 23:04:33 -0500 >Subject: NW: Energy companies contributions to Spence >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: bananas@lists.speakeasy.org >From: "jcumbow@greatlakes.net" > >Energy companies contributions to Spence (as of August 3, 2,000) > >Center for Responsive Politics has a list of PAC contributions to Spencer >Abraham at this website: >http://www.opensecrets.org/candidates/pac/S4MI00165.htm > > Abraham, Spencer >PAC Contributions, 1999-2000 (as of August 3, 2000) >Total PAC contributions to candidate: $1,473,629 > >[Listed below are just the Energy & Natural Resources businesses that >contributed. There are many more categories.] > >Energy & Natural Resources: $153,009 >Oil & Gas $90,171 Exxon Mobil Corp $11,000 >Michigan Petroleum PAC $9,000 >Occidental Petroleum $6,000 >Chevron Corp $5,000 >El Paso Energy $5,000 >Enron Corp $4,500 >Koch Industries $4,500 >Union Pacific Resources Group $4,500 >Coastal Corp $4,000 >BP Amoco Corp $3,000 >Marathon Oil $3,000 >MCN Energy Group $2,921 >American Gas Assn $2,000 >Halliburton Co $2,000 >Kerr-McGee Corp $2,000 >National Propane Gas Assn $2,000 >Tenneco Inc $2,000 >USX Corp $2,000 >Peoples Energy Corp $1,500 >Anadarko Petroleum $1,000 >Ashland Inc $1,000 >Burlington Resources $1,000 >Columbia Gas System $1,000 >HOUPAC $1,000 >Interstate Natural Gas Assn $1,000 >National Fuel Gas Corp $1,000 >Petroleum Marketers Assn $1,000 >Phillips Petroleum $1,000 >Public Service Electric & Gas $1,000 >Society of Indep Gasoline Marketers $1,000 >Texaco $1,000 >UtiliCorp United $1,000 >KN Energy $500 >Northern States Power $500 >Nicor Inc $250 >Mining $19,660 National Mining Assn $5,160 >Ohio Valley Coal $5,000 >Cleveland-Cliffs Iron $2,000 >Consol Inc $2,000 >Arch Coal $1,000 >Cyprus Amax Minerals $1,000 >Drummond Co $1,000 >Newmont Mining $1,000 >Phelps Dodge Corp $1,000 >North American Coal Corp $500 >Misc Energy $2,300 Asea Brown Boveri Inc $2,000 >Philadelphia Suburban Corp $1,000 >National Assn of Water Companies -$700 >Electric Utilities $40,878 DTE Energy $5,000 >Florida Power & Light $3,000 >American Electric Power $2,000 >Baltimore Gas & Electric $2,000 >Carolina Power & Light $2,000 >CMS Energy $2,000 >Commonwealth Edison $2,000 >Dominion Resources $2,000 >Nuclear Energy Institute $2,000 >Southern Co $2,000 >Texas Utilities Co $2,000 >Wisconsin Electric Power $1,750 >Edison Electric Institute $1,628 >Arizona Public Service Co $1,500 >Allegheny Energy $1,000 >Duke Energy $1,000 >Edison International $1,000 >Entergy Operations Inc $1,000 >FirstEnergy Corp $1,000 >General Atomics $1,000 >General Public Utilities $1,000 >Northeast Utilities Service Co $1,000 >PECO Energy $1,000 >Keyspan Energy $500 >New York State Electric & Gas Corp $500 > > > > > > > > >N U K E - W A S T E @ I C G . T O P I C A . C O M > >To send a message to everyone on the list, address your message to: > nuke-waste@igc.topica.com >To unsubscribe, send a message to: > nuke-waste-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com >Problems or Questions, contact James Quinn, Citizen Alert, Las Vegas NV: > nuke_waste_moderator@hotmail.com > >____________________________________________________________ >T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. >Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. >http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01 > - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 12:03:59 -0500 From: Kevin Martin Subject: (abolition-usa) opportunity for electronic activism on test ban treaty Dear Friends, Vote.com, an internet site founded by former Clinton adviser Dick Morris (insert giggling here) to promote electronic dialogue on public policy has a question asking whether President-elect Bush (more giggling) should support the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Currently, the votes are running 84% no and only 16% yes. The site says it will send the results to Bush. It only takes a few minutes to "vote", and you can get airline miles (isn't e-democracy great?). Go to www.vote.com if interested. In Peace, Kevin Martin Director, Project Abolition - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 11:05:11 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Speakers Needed at Jan 20 Rally From: "Louis Posner" Subject: Jan 20 Counter-Inaugural Voter March/Rally - Tentative Speaker list Jan 20 Counter-Inaugural Voter March/Rally at Dupont Circle www.votermarch.org Tentative Speakers List: 1. Mike Malloy, Our Emcee, ( http://www.mikemalloy.net/ Talk show host, Atlanta, syndicated) Confirmed! 2. Sen. Paul Wellstone, (D MN) INVITED, contact with scheduler 3. NOW President, Patricia Ireland. Confirmed! www.now.org 4. Michael Moore(Michigan: Director Of http://www.michaelmoore.com/ : Producer, "Roger And Me", "The Awful Truth") Confirmed! 5. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, (D Tx) INVITED, contact with scheduler. 6. Lou Posner, Esq. (Chairman, www.votermarch.org : NYC & Washington, DC Trust The People activist/organizer) Confirmed! 7. Sen. Charles Schumer, (D NY) INVITED, contact with scheduler. 8. Miami Herald(waiting to hear, they are counting the undervotes in FLA) INVITED 9. Zak Exley, (Founder, www.countercoup.org ,Trust The People, Union Organizer) Confirmed! 10. Granny D, (N.H. : http://grannyd.com/ Captured the nation's heart as she marched across the US for Campaign Finance Reform) Confirmed! 11. Mayor Tony Williams, (DC "I will give it every consideration, and be ensured, I support the cause -- every vote does count!" -Mayor) INVITED 12. Carol Levy, ( LA & GA, Director of www.wethepeople.org : speaker/organizer at "We The People" Rally) Confirmed! 13. Molly Ivins,(Texas, Author/Journalist/Columnist) INVITED 14. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., (D Illinois) INVITED 15. Juliet Stewart, (Ohio: Director of http://members.aol.com/JULIET067/ : speaker/organizer at "We The People" Rally) Confirmed! 16. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, (D, DC) INVITED, contact with scheduler 17. Les Souci(sioux-si'), (Director: http://www.geocities.com/forjustice.geo : http://www.mp3.com/LesSouci , http://lessouci.iuma.com : speaker/organizer at "We The People" Rally: Nat'l Speaker coordinator for Jan 20 www.votermarch.org Rally) Confirmed! 18. Sue Wilson, (Director, http://www.truthinamerica.org : former television journalist, host of California NPR's "On The Liberty Watch": co-founder/organizer at "We The People" Rally) INVITED 19. Bob Kunst, (Miami Organizer www.votermarch.org : The Oral Majority) Confirmed! 20. Mike Collins (Georgia, Director, http://homepage.mac.com/onecitizenonevote/ GA Organizer, www.votermarch.org: United Progressive Athens & Athens Free Press Founding Member) Confirmed! 21. Jenny Hurwitz activist, Musician: Music coordinator for Jan 20 www.votermarch.org Rally). Confirmed! 22. Cathy Danielson(Director of http://www.nashvilleinsanity.com/NPbreakingnews.html , investigating Vote Fraud in Tennessee) Confirmed! 23. Elaine Van De Linden, (S. Carolina: Founder, www.mollysmilitia.org, S.Carolina Organizer, www.votermarch.org : speaker/organizer at "We The People" Rally) Confirmed! 24. Bob Rogers, (Vice chairman, Chief Marshall, www.votermarch.org ) Confirmed! *Note: the list above, does not include performers being scheduled by Jenny Hurwitz, (Entertainment Coordinator) If you are interested in being a Speaker at the Dupont Circle Rally, contact Les Souci at Speakers@VoterMarch.org. Please include a short bio and an outline of your proposed speech. We are also planning on full C-Span coverage, as well as national and international news coverage. We still need to collect additional contributions for our stage and sound system at Dupont Circle which may be made online at www.VoterMarch.org or mailed to Voter March LLC, P. O. Box 731, Grand Central Station, New York, New York 10163-0731. Thanks. Louis Posner, Esq. Chairman@Votermarch.org - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 21:56:52 -0800 From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: U.S. PLANS FOR NEW, WARFIGHTING USES OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS REVEALED - --=====================_2649837==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2001 CONTACT: Andrew Lichterman or Jackie Cabasso (510) 8395877 U.S. PLANS FOR NEW, WARFIGHTING USES OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS REVEALED Documents Obtained under Freedom of Information Act Show=20 National Ignition Facility to Host "laser/fireball" Tunnel Tests OAKLAND, CA =97 Department of Defense (DOD) plans obtained by the Western= States Legal Foundation through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the U.S.= is conducting research to make nuclear weapons more useable against a variety= of targets. This work is continuing despite U.S. claims in international= treaty fora that it is de-emphasizing its nuclear arsenal. According to the DOD=92s =93Defense Science and Technology and= Strategy and Plans,=94 dated February 2000, the U.S. is actively pursuing research to= develop lowyield nuclear weapons effective against underground targets. A stated= goal for 2001 is to =93Demonstrate the effectiveness of nuclear weapons= capabilities in defeating deep structures using precise, lowyield attacks by HE [High Explosives] simulation.=94=20 =20 The documents were made public by the Western States Legal= Foundation (WSLF), an Oaklandbased public interest group critical of U.S. nuclear= weapons policy. WSLF Program Director Andrew Lichterman explained: =93These plans= make clear that the U.S. =91Stockpile Stewardship=92 program, portrayed to the= public as designed solely to preserve the existing stockpile, is part of a continuing effort to expand the role of nuclear weapons in warfare.=94=20 One project DOD plans is to =93conduct laser/fireball test in= National Ignition Facility (NIF) to improve understanding intunnel airblast.=94 The= NIF is also slated to be used for =93nuclear effects xray testing.=94 Now under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California,= the NIF has been criticized for its multibillion dollar price tag and= questionable scientific merit. =20 Lichterman concluded: =93The opportunity to escape the constant= threat of nuclear destruction, which arrived with the end of the Cold War, is slipping away. The U.S. is preparing to continue the nuclear arms race into the 21st century. It=92s= time for a real national debate on these issues before it is too late.=94 The U.S. committed itself to =93a diminishing role for nuclear= weapons in security policies to minimize the risk that these weapons will ever be used= and to facilitate the process of their total elimination,=94 earlier this year= at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. That commitment= was reaffirmed in a November 20, 2000 United Nations General Assembly vote. Citations and additional details from DOD=92s =93Defense Science and Technology Strategy and Plans=94 are available from Western States Legal Foundation on request. # # # - --=====================_2649837==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2001
CONTACT: Andrew Lichterman or Jackie Cabasso (510) 8395877

U.S. PLANS FOR NEW, WARFIGHTING USES OF
NUCLEAR WEAPONS REVEALED

Documents Obtained under Freedom of Information Act Show
National Ignition Facility to Host "laser/fireball" Tunnel Tests

OAKLAND, CA =97 Departme= nt of Defense (DOD) plans obtained by the Western States Legal Foundation through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the U.S. is conducting research to make nuclear weapons more useable against a variety of targets. This work is continuing despite U.S. claims in international treaty fora that it is de-emphasizing its nuclear arsenal.

        According to the DOD=92s =93Defense Science and Technology and Strategy and Plans,=94 dated February 2000, the U.S. is actively pursuing research to develop lowyield nuclear weapons effective against underground targets. A stated goal for 2001 is to =93Demonstrate the effectiveness of nuclear weapons capabilities in defeating deep structures using precise, lowyield attacks by HE [High Explosives] simulation.=94

        The documents were made public by the Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF), an Oaklandbased public interest group critical of U.S. nuclear weapons policy. WSLF Program Director Andrew Lichterman explained: =93These plans make clear that the U.S. =91Stockpile Stewardship=92 program, portrayed to the public as designed solely to preserve the existing stockpile, is part of a continuing effort to expand the role of nuclear weapons in warfare.=94

        One project DOD plans is to =93conduct laser/fireball test in National Ignition Facility (NIF) to improve understanding intunnel airblast.=94 The NIF is also slated to be used for =93nuclear effects xray testing.=94 Now under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the NIF has been criticized for its multibillion dollar price tag and questionable scientific merit.

Lichterman= concluded: =93The opportunity to escape the constant threat of nuclear= destruction,
which arrived with the end of the Cold War, is slipping away. The U.S.= is preparing to continue the nuclear arms race into the 21st century. = It=92s time for a real national debate on these issues before it is too= late.=94

The U.S.= committed itself to =93a diminishing role for nuclear weapons in security= policies to minimize the risk that these weapons will ever be used and to= facilitate the process of their total elimination,=94 earlier this year at= the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. That= commitment was reaffirmed in a November 20, 2000 United Nations General= Assembly vote.

Citatio= ns and additional details from DOD=92s =93Defense Science and Technology= Strategy and Plans=94 are available from Western States Legal Foundation on= request.
# # # - --=====================_2649837==_.ALT-- - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 10:46:45 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Yucca and other waste horror scenes! >Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 23:06:51 -0500 >Subject: Yucca and other waste horror scenes! >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >From: "ctcan@snet.net" > > 1 DOE lacks funds for Test Site nuke storage > >December 27, 2000 > >BY MARY MANNING >LAS VEGAS SUN > >If Congress next year approves temporarily storing nuclear waste >in Nevada, the Department of Energy won't have funds for >developing a storage facility at the Test Site. > >The DOE had $85 million of taxpayers' money tucked away in the >Defense Department fund to pay for temporary high-level nuclear >waste storage near Yucca Mountain, the nation's only site under >study as a permanent radioactive waste dump. > >The money, which was dedicated for temporary storage, was the >Defense Department's share earmarked for nuclear weapons waste. > >But during this year's prolonged budget negotiations, $75 million >of the funds were stripped from the DOE's budget, leaving $10 >million for completing a site recommendation report next year. > >Congressional staffers credit Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the second >most powerful Democratic senator, for removing the bulk of the >funds. > >Congress first attempted to approve a plan to ship thousands of >tons of highly radioactive waste to Nevada for temporary storage >in 1996. The money was set aside in one of two funds, but never >spent, because President Clinton vetoed any temporary storage >bill that managed to pass. > >Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who was not in Congress at the time the >original legislation was passed, said the remaining funds should >go for transmutation, the process that converts deadly nuclear >wastes into less harmful materials, or for recycling research, >"either of which benefit the environment and the health of Nevada >citizens." > >The $85 million was contingent on Congress passing a temporary >storage bill, said Michael O'Donovan, spokesman for Rep. Shelley >Berkley, D-Nev., who opposed the funding. > >Instead of having the money ready to construct the temporary >facility, Congress must appropriate it again, giving Nevada's >congressional members another area to fight the project. Without >the money sitting in the fund, the process will be further >delayed even if Congress gives the OK. > >Transmutation did receive $4 million, given to UNLV for further >research. Reid secured the funding in the Senate while Berkley >protected the funding in the House. > >The DOE has been under pressure from nuclear utilities to remove >spent nuclear fuel from reactor sites. > >Nuclear power plants have generated more than 40,000 tons of >waste, most of it sitting in storage pools near nuclear power >reactors at 76 sites in 34 states. > >In addition to the 2,000 tons of waste generated each year by >utilities, 100,000 gallons of nuclear waste from defense >activities are stored in Idaho, Washington and South Carolina. > >The DOE missed a 1998 deadline to take nuclear wastes off power >plant sites, resulting in 13 lawsuits. A recent federal appeals >court ruling allows the utilities to sue the DOE. > >Although the DOE still has not completed studies for a permanent >nuclear waste tomb at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las >Vegas, the $85 million was set aside so environmental studies at >the site could begin immediately if and when Congress approves >temporary storage in Nevada. > >The money for nuclear waste management is collected in two funds. >In order for the money to go to temporary storage, Congress must >request it on an annual basis. > >The first fund is fed by nuclear power customers, who pay >one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt hour on their monthly utility >bills. As of this year, $9.1 billion was available from nuclear >electricity consumers. > >The second fund comes from taxpayer dollars and covers >radioactive wastes from Defense Department activities that >contractors are cleaning up at hundreds of former nuclear weapons >sites across the country. A total of $1.1 billion has accumulated >in that fund to date. > >The DOE cannot spend these funds without annual congressional >approval for studies at Yucca Mountain, the proposed permanent >nuclear repository for 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste, >or for temporary nuclear waste storage. > >Congress has attempted to send nuclear waste from commercial >reactors to either the Nevada Test Site or to a location nearby >Yucca Mountain since 1996, although interim storage is against >current federal law in a state under study as a permanent waste >repository. > >For the past five years Nevada's congressional delegation blocked >temporary nuclear waste storage, so the $85 million stayed in the >defense fund, the DOE's annual reports to Congress said. > >Congress has considered how much money to give the DOE each year >for its nuclear waste activities. For 2001 the DOE has roughly >$351 million for scientific studies at Yucca Mountain. > >ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2000 AND 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. >******************************************************* > 9 Waste storage plan called risky > >STATE Wednesday, December 27, 2000 3:21 AM > >ASSOCIATED PRESS > >LAS VEGAS - The health of Nevada residents could be at risk if >the Energy Department implements a plan to store high-level >nuclear waste above ground outside Yucca Mountain while a >permanent repository is being built, according to state >officials. > >The DOE is weighing storing nuclear waste above ground near Yucca >Mountain to save money on a permanent repository at Yucca now >estimated at $58 billion, the Las Vegas Sun reported Tuesday. > >Construction of a permanent repository designed to bury 77,000 >tons of radioactive commercial and defense waste would be >stretched out over two decades - with completion sometime after >2030 - to make it more affordable, according to a DOE plan. > >Meanwhile tons of waste would be shipped to Midway Valley, a >stone's throw from Yucca Mountain, in a section of the Nevada >Test Site not contaminated by nuclear testing. There it could be >stored in shielded containers on the valley's surface or in pools >of water, similar to the pools at the nation's 110 nuclear >reactor sites. > >Two Nevada officials see safety as the major problem with the DOE >plan. There's a question of protecting the environment from >radiation releases, and the potential for earthquakes in Midway >Valley could stop the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from allowing >the DOE to store waste there. > >A 5.6 magnitude quake on June 29, 1992, rattled Little Skull >Mountain, less than 12 miles from Midway Valley, and damaged a >field office in the area, said Joe Strolin, administrator of the >planning division for the state's Agency for Nuclear Projects. > >''The big issue is whether the site could be licensed for storage >under current regulations,'' Strolin said. > >Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site >being studied to become the nation's high-level nuclear waste >repository. The DOE is in charge of studying the site's >suitability and would oversee the construction of the repository, >if it is approved. > >The plan to temporarily store waste above ground, offered by TRW >Environmental Safety Systems Inc., the primary Yucca Mountain >contractor, is tucked within two technical reports on the rising >cost of the project, dated May and December 1999. > >But TRW's proposals would likely not be approved, said Bob Loux, >director of the state's Agency for Nuclear Projects. > >''The DOE could not meet the current Nuclear Regulatory >Commission requirements for siting nuclear (waste storage) at the >Test Site, '' Loux said. > >Copyright, tahoe.com. Materials contained within this site may >******************************************************* >14 OPINIONS DIFFER ON POSSIBLE NUCLEAR REACTIONS > >The Times-News Online--Twin Falls, Idaho > >Original Publication Date - 12/27/2000 > >By N.S. Nokkentved >Times-News writer > >TWIN FALLS--A small runaway nuclear reaction might have gone >unnoticed years ago in radioactive waste buried willy-nilly in >eastern Idaho, some experts suggest. > >Federal energy officials assert that the risk of such an event is >not credible. > >"We have found no evidence of a criticality ever having occurred >out there," INEEL spokesman Nick Nichols said. > >Yet state and federal environmental regulators say they have seen >no evidence that would rule out an accidental nuclear reaction -- >known as a criticality--in the buried waste, either in the past >or in the future. > >Recent concerns about a criticality were raised when data >gathered from radioactive waste in INEEL's controversial Pit 9 >suggested some barrels might contain enough plutonium to support >a spontaneous nuclear reaction. > >In a worst-case scenario, an uncontrolled criticality might >release radioactive materials into the air. It also could ignite >other radioactive waste, and the resulting fire might lead to >additional radioactive releases. > >Consultants to the EPA wrote in a May report that "no conclusive >evidence has been presented to date that places the future risk >of nuclear criticality in the (burial waste site) at an >insignificant level." > >In early December, Energy Department and regulatory officials met >to discuss the issue of criticality risks in the waste buried at >the INEEL's Subsurface Disposal Area. Following that meeting, one >consultant wrote that the INEEL assertions that no criticality >happened while the burial ground was flooded should be supported >by calculations, and monitoring data from before, during and >after the event. > >Sue Stiger, head of environmental cleanup at INEEL, said >monitoring was in place that would have showed the evidence of a >nuclear reaction. > >"We would have been able to detect it," she said. > >Plutonium-contaminated waste has been stored at INEEL for almost >50 years. More than 2 million cubic feet of such waste was dumped >in pits and trenches--including Pit 9--between 1954 and 1970. > >INEEL officials are confident that the plutonium is spread out >through the waste and doesn't present a risk of a spontaneous, >uncontrolled nuclear reaction. > >But that assertion is based on data from electronic probes sunk >into Pit 9. That data is open to interpretation, said Wayne >Pierre of the Seattle office of the Environmental Protection >Agency and project manager for INEEL cleanup. Energy Department >assertions about the waste are based on supposition, not on >physical data, and the department has been reluctant to take >actual physical samples, he said. > >The possibility of a spontaneous, uncontrolled nuclear reaction >becomes a regulatory concern when a barrel of waste has 267 grams >of plutonium. And the sampling data suggests some barrels might >have 200 to 1,000 grams of plutonium. > >In a previous interview, Jerry Paulson, director of criticality >safety at INEEL, said a nuclear criticality would require >sufficient water in addition to the right amount of plutonium. > >Water acts as a moderator, increasing the effectiveness and >concentrating the reaction. Without the water, small amounts of >plutonium are not likely to sustain a nuclear reaction, Paulson >said. > >But the buried waste pits and trenches at INEEL have flooded >three times in the past, and those floods may have provided >enough water. > >The first flood was in February 1962, when two inches of rain >fell on eight inches of snow in three days. With the topsoil >still frozen, water collected in open waste pits and trenches. > >Then in January 1969, snowdrifts blocked a drainage ditch dug >following the earlier flood. Melting snow and rain once again >filled open pits and trenches. > >Again in 1982, flood waters inundated pits and trenches. > >Chuck Broscious, head of the Environmental Defense Institute in >Troy, suggests that two fires in a trench in 1966 and another >fire in 1970 might have been the result of criticalities. Efforts >to douse the third fire failed until a bulldozer operator covered >the waste pile with dirt. > >The fire was the result of spontaneous combustion of uranium >waste, not a criticality, Stiger said. > >INEEL's early decades of waste dumping are known for spotty >record keeping. Inventories were incomplete, and radioactivity >levels often were estimates rather than measurements. > >Officials now have better records about what was actually sent to >INEEL then they did a few years ago, Stigar said. > >Criticality is something officials take very seriously, but >officials at the December meeting agreed a criticality is not a >concern at the INEEL radioactive waste disposal site, Stiger >said. > > > >Times-News writer N.S. Nokkentved can be reached at 733-0931, >Ext. 237, or by e-mail niels@magicvalley.com What is a >criticality? > >A criticality is an uncontrolled nuclear reaction. In such an >accident, nuclear materials sustain a reaction--or "go critical," >in the parlance of nuclear science. This is not the same as a >nuclear explosion, but it releases energy, a characteristic blue >glow and potentially lethal levels of radiation. >######################################################## > - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #410 *********************************** - To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe $LIST" 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.