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• Perspectives
  • Reviving Nuclear Disarmament in the Non-Proliferation Regime by Walter Cronkite
  • Indigenous Presentation to the Delegates of the Seventh Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by Tony de Brum
  • Statement on Behalf of Mordechai Vanunu to the Delegates of the Seventh Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by Daniel Ellsberg, May 11, 2005
  • Back to Basics: Reviving Nuclear Disarmament in the Non-Proliferation Regime

• Take Action
  • Urge Congress to Support Strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • Stop America's One-Nation Arms Race
  • Stop Bolton

• Disarmament and Non Proliferation
  • Belgian Senate Calls for Removal of US Nukes
  • Germany to Address US Nuclear Weapons Withdrawal
  • Malta Ratifies IAEA Additional Protocol
  • Russia Builds Temporary Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Site with US Assistance
  • IAEA Wants to Return to Iraq

• Nuclear Insanity
  • IAEA Board Delays Vote on Reconfirming Dr. ElBaradei
  • Doubling of Plutonium Proposed at LLNL

• Nuclear Energy and Waste
  • Massive Radioactive Leak in UK Shuts Sellafield Plant
  • North Korea Extracts 8,000 Fuel Rods from Yongbyon
  • Iran Announces Uranium Enrichment Plans
  • Reprocessed Plutonium Returns to US in Transatlantic Conversion Project
  • Bulgaria Plans New Nuclear Reactors
  • Energy from Fusion on the Horizon?

• Nuclear Legacy
  • Increased Rates of Breast Cancer in Male Atomic Bomb Survivors

• Nuclear Laboratories
  • LANL Bid Showdown: UC-Bechtel vs. UT-Lockheed
  • LANL Director Steps Down
  • DoE Extends UC Contract to Manage Lawrence Berkeley
  • LANL Resumes Waste Shipments, Proposes Area G Expansion
  • LANL Tests Mock W76 Warhead

• Foundation Activities
  • Foundation President Receives 2005 PeaceWriting Award for Today Is Not a Good Day for War
  • Foundation to Hold National Youth Conference on Nuclear Issues
  • Don’t Miss the Foundation’s Peace Essay Contest Deadline!
  • Peace Poetry Awards Deadline

• August 6 and 9 Commemorations
  • No More Hiroshimas! No More Nagasakis! National Days of Remembrance and Action

• Resources
  • Back to Basics: Reviving Nuclear Disarmament in the Non-Proliferation Regime
  • Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage
  • NRC Needs to Do More to Ensure that Power Plants Are Effectively Controlling Spent Nuclear Fuel
  • North Korea : Can the Iron Fist Accept the Invisible Hand?
  • Effects of Nuclear Earth-Penetrator and Other Weapons
  • Multilateral Diplomacy and the NPT: An Insider’s Account

• Quotable
  • Shri K. Natwar Singh, Indian External Affairs Minister
  • US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
  • Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
  • Robert McNamara, Former US Defense Secretary
  • Lars Rise, member of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Norwegian Parliament
  • US Senator Dianne Feinstein
  • Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
  • Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency

• Editorial Team
  • Luke Brothers
  • David Krieger
  • Carah Ong
  • Will Parrish

Reviving Nuclear Disarmament in the Non-Proliferation Regime | Top
by Walter Cronkite

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Panel Discussion at the Seventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, May 4, 2005

This panel on “Reviving Nuclear Disarmament in the Non-Proliferation Regime” is of tremendous importance to the outcome of this Seventh Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. Beyond that, it may prove vital to the present and future security of our planet. I am very pleased to be a part of it.

Although the public is largely unaware of this, it is no secret to any of you that nuclear disarmament is a central component of the non-proliferation bargain. On the one hand, this treaty provides obligations to halt nuclear proliferation; on the other, it provides obligations to achieve nuclear disarmament.

This makes perfect sense, of course, for the two obligations are highly interlinked. Without fulfilling disarmament obligations, it will not be possible to prevent proliferation. And should there be further nuclear proliferation, nuclear disarmament will be all the more difficult.

To read the full article, visit: http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2005/05/05_cronkite_reviving-nuclear-disarmament.htm.

Indigenous Presentation to the Delegates of the Seventh Review Conference
of the Non-Proliferation Treaty | Top
by Tony de Brum, Lolelaplap Trust, May 11, 2005

I lived on the island of Likiep in the northern Marshalls for the entire 12 years of the US atomic and thermonuclear testing program in my country. I witnessed most of the detonations, and was just 9-years old when I experienced the most horrific of these explosions, the infamous BRAVO shot that terrorized our community and traumatized our society to an extent that few people in the world can imagine.

While BRAVO was by far the most dramatic test, all 67 of the shots detonated in the Marshall Islands contributed one way or another to the nuclear legacy that haunts us to this day. As one of our legal advisors has described it, if one were to take the total yield of the nuclear weapons tested in the Marshall Islands and spread them out over time, we would have the equivalent of 1.6 Hiroshima shots, every day for twelve years.

To read the full article, visit: http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2005/05/11_brum_indigenous-presentation.htm.

Statement on Behalf of Mordechai Vanunu to the Delegates of the Seventh Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty | Top
by Daniel Ellsberg, May 11, 2005

Nineteen years ago, Mordechai Vanunu, a technician at the secret nuclear weapons production facility at Dimona in Israel, did something that he was right to do, something that others with his knowledge of Israel’s nuclear activities and their implications for Israeli security and democracy and for world order should have done earlier, or later. He revealed to his fellow citizens and to the world truths about these activities that had long been wrongly concealed and denied by his government.

What he revealed was not merely that Israel was a nuclear weapons state; that had been known for more than a decade on the basis of widely-publicized leaks in the US about official American intelligence estimates to this effect. Vanunu’s photographs and interviews with the London Sunday Times revealed that Americans and all others had substantially underestimated the pace and scale of the Israel’s secret and un-inspected production of nuclear materials and warheads, especially since the early ‘70s. New estimates on the basis of his revelations put the Israeli arsenal in 1986 at some 200 warheads (rather than 20) – making it the fifth and possibly fourth largest nuclear power, ahead of Britain, and possibly ahead of France. After nineteen more years of production, that ranking probably remains valid.

To read the full article, visit: http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2005/05/11_ellsberg_statement-vanunu.htm

Back to Basics: Reviving Nuclear Disarmament in the Non-Proliferation Regime | Top

The five nuclear weapons states recognized under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ( China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States) have long tried to maintain exclusivity in their possession of nuclear weapons. Over time, this stance has enhanced the perception that nuclear weapons are a source of power and prestige. The continued possession of nuclear weapons by these states has demonstrated that even the most economically and militarily powerful nations rely upon nuclear weapons for security.

In order to counter the perceived power of nuclear weapons states, acquiring such weapons has become the goal of a number of other countries and extremist groups. The rapid spread of information, the increased ability to access it, as well as growing scientific expertise and technical capacity has made it easier than ever before to build a nuclear weapon. Furthermore, it has become easier to obtain fissile material from hundreds of poorly guarded nuclear sites throughout the world. Despite these new and uncertain developments, the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the non-proliferation and disarmament regimes in general are under threat of unraveling.

At the 2000 NPT Review Conference, the parties to the treaty adopted by consensus a final document that contained 13 practical steps for nuclear disarmament. Among others, this document called on nuclear weapons states to take steps to achieve nuclear disarmament, including the dismantling and destruction of weapons. Because these states have shown little inclination to meet the commitments they made, it sets a dangerous precedent for further proliferation by other countries.

In a new briefing booklet for the 2005 NPT Review Conference co-authored by David Krieger and Carah Ong entitled
“Back to Basics: Reviving Nuclear Disarmament in the Non-Proliferation Regime,” the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation calls for eight interlinking commitments to be made by the nuclear weapons states. Among others, these include calls for the nuclear weapons states to commit to total nuclear disarmament and good faith negotiations; to a timeframe; to no first use; to a verifiable ban on fissile materials; and to better accounting, transparency and reporting. With some 440 nuclear reactors in 31 countries, the Foundation also calls upon all states currently capable of producing highly enriched uranium and plutonium to commit, among others, to a global ban on spent fuel reprocessing; to bring nuclear facilities under strict international control; and to highly restrict the trade of all nuclear materials and technology.

The global community is at a fork in the road where nuclear weapons are concerned. Negotiated and verifiable solutions to the proliferation issues the world faces today can be achieved, but not without the nuclear weapons states demonstrating the political will to meet their own obligations. The less nuclear weapons there are in the world, and the tighter the international controls on them, the fewer possibilities will exist for proliferation. Alternatively, the more extensive the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the more difficult it will be to successfully eliminate nuclear arsenals.

To download a PDF version of Back to Basics: Reviving Nuclear Disarmament in the Non-Proliferation Regime, visit:
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/resources/publications/2005_npt-briefing.pdf.

Urge Congress to Support Strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty | Top

Write to your member of Congress and urge them to support a resolution concerning actions to strengthen the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on the occasion of the Seventh NPT Review Conference.

On 14 April, Representatives Spratt (D-South Carolina), Leach (R-Iowa), Markey (D-Massachusetts), Skelton (D-MO), Shays (R-Connecticut), and Tauscher (D-California) introduced the "Non-Proliferation Treaty Enhancement Resolution of 2005" in the House of Representatives. The bi-partisan resolution urges action in 10 major areas of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament to strengthen the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). (Click here to read H. Con. Res. 133.)

The seventh Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, to be held in New York, 2-27 May 2005, offers a decisive opportunity to advance international peace and security.

The bipartisan House resolution to strengthen the NPT states that "sustained leadership from the United States is essential to implement existing legal and political commitments established by the NPT and to realize a more effective global nonproliferation system," and "the United States and other countries should pursue a balanced and comprehensive set of initiatives to strengthen the global nuclear nonproliferation system, beginning with the NPT Review Conference in 2005."

A companion Senate resolution may be introduced soon.

Members of the House of Representatives need to hear from you leading up to, during, and after the NPT Review Conference. Email, call and fax your Representative to share your concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation and US nuclear policy. Urge them to reaffirm US support for the NPT and a balanced and comprehensive program of action on nonproliferation and disarmament. The US should obey the legal requirement to disarm its nuclear arsenal under Article VI of the NPT. The Nuclear Posture Review and the National Security Strategy should be revised to comply with these obligations. Urge your Representative to co-sponsor the Spratt-Leach-Markey-Shays-Tauscher resolution on the NPT.

To take action now, visit: http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7418681

Stop America's One-Nation Arms Race | Top

Nearly 15 years after the end of the Cold War, US spending on nuclear weapons continues to rise. For the Fiscal Year 2006 budget, the Department of Energy (DoE) is requesting more than $6.63 billion for nuclear weapons activities. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to reduce funding for nuclear weapons activities and direct more money to dismantling nuclear weapons and cleaning up the nuclear complex.

As you may know, States parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are currently meeting at the United Nations in New York for the Seventh Review Conference of the treaty. The NPT, which is considered a cornerstone of global nonproliferation and disarmament efforts, is under threat of unraveling all together. If the US is to effectively use this NPT Review Conference to persuade non-nuclear weapon states to live up to their obligations under the treaty to forego acquiring nuclear weapons, the US must move decisively toward fulfilling its own obligations under the treaty for nuclear disarmament.

Dr. Robert Civiak, a former nuclear weapons program and budget examiner with the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has prepared a new analysis of the 2006 DoE budget request entitled “America’s One-Nation Arms Race” for Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (CAREs). Although the DoE’s budget request for 2006 may be less overall than last year, the proposed funds for nuclear weapons are up. In addition, money requested for environmental cleanup is less than for 2005. As Dr. Civiak points out in his report, the 2006 budget is one and one-half times the average annual spending on nuclear weapons during the Cold War, even after accounting for inflation. In his report, Dr. Civiak analyzes proposed new nuclear weapons programs and offers an alternative proposal for a “curratorship” approach that would save $2 billion of the 2006 budget request.

As a positive measure that will simultaneously strengthen security for the US and the world, Congress should support the goals of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in good faith by cutting $2 billion from the Department of Energy (DoE) Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Request for nuclear weapons activities. There are many good reasons to cut the DoE nuclear weapons budget. Chief among them is that a budget cut now will show the world we are serious about the NPT. And, while a $2 billion budget cut will not, by itself, constitute full compliance with our disarmament obligation under Article VI of the NPT, it will be a positive step in the right direction.

Take action now to help stop America’s One-Nation Arms Race. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to reorient the management of the US nuclear arsenal away from the current, aggressive “stockpile stewardship” program of new weapons development and toward a “curatorship” approach instead. Tell them you would like to see nuclear weapons funding reduced and more money directed toward nuclear weapons dismantlement and cleaning up the toxic legacy of the Nuclear Age.

Click here to download and read Dr. Civiak’s report from the Tri-Valley CAREs website.

Stop Bolton | Top

On 7 March 2005, President Bush nominated John Bolton, who has dedicated his life to undermining the United Nations, to be our UN Ambassador. In May, the Senate will decide to approve this nomination or not. 

John Bolton is a disastrous choice. Right now, the US needs to work through the UN more than ever to make the world a safer place for Americans.

Bolton , however, has made a career out of belittling and dismissing the UN. In 1994, Bolton said, "There's no such thing as the United Nations…If the U.N. building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference." On 6 March 2000, Bolton said, "If I were redoing the Security Council today, I'd have one permanent member because that's the real reflection of the distribution of power in the world."

Bolton advocates a go-it-alone foreign policy that alienates our allies and strengthens our enemies. He has a history of rash behavior. And he has consistently put his own priorities over those of his country by refusing to obey orders.

Click here to take action to Stop Bolton!

Belgian Senate Calls for Removal of US Nukes | Top

On 21 April 2005, the Belgian senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution urging the gradual removal of US tactical nuclear weapons reportedly housed in the country at the Kleine Brogel Air Base. The resolution cited as a reason the Seventh Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a commitment the US made at the previous NPT conference in 2000, to work toward disarmament, including through reductions of such non-strategic nuclear weapons.

Removal of the weapons is necessary “considering that the continued existence and strict implementation of the Nonproliferation Treaty are necessary for peace and international security,” the senate resolution says.

Twenty US nuclear weapons are stored at the air base, part of a stockpile of more than 400 housed in NATO bases across Europe, according to Hans Kristensen, a consultant to the Natural Resources Defense Council. The weapons, configured for delivery by fighter aircraft, are under the control of the US Air Force. They are intended for use by host country pilots, who train regularly for their use.

According to Kristensen, while the resolution is nonbinding, it “makes clear that there is a political consensus in Belgium that wants the nuclear weapons out. This is the first time ever this has happened.”

The resolution calls for the Belgian government to pursue a gradual withdrawal of the weapons from NATO, possibly linked to reductions in Russian strategic nuclear weapons.

In February 2005, Kristensen published a report claiming that the United States has 480 nuclear warheads in Europe, about double what has been publicly stated by US officials. The weapons are located at eight air bases in six countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom, it says.

The report argues the United States and NATO should remove the weapons, which it says provide an irritant to relations with Russia and undermine efforts to promote nonproliferation.

Germany to Address US Nuclear Weapons Withdrawal | Top

On 6 May 2005, German Defense Minister Peter Struck said the possible withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Germany will be discussed in NATO committee meetings.

At the US Air Force base at Ramstein, Struck stated, “I agree with Foreign Minister [Joschka] Fischer that we should take up this issue in NATO committees.”

In the first week of May, representatives from Germany’s ruling coalition and opposition parties called on the US remove all its nuclear weapons from Europe. Gert Weisskirchen, the foreign affairs spokesman for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats, told the Berliner Zeitung that the US could “send a message in Russia’s direction to revive the nonproliferation process.”

Guido Westerwelle, leader of the opposition Free Democrats, said the nuclear weapons in Europe were all relatively short-range, making them practically useless in targeting faraway enemy states.

German Foreign Minister Fischer called requests by the country’s ruling party for removal of US nuclear weapons “a reasonable initiative.” Struck said that moving forward with total withdrawal would require consultations with other European nations where US nuclear weapons are stationed.

There are an estimated 480 US nuclear weapon in Europe; 150 of those are believed to be in Germany.

Malta Ratifies IAEA Additional Protocol | Top

On 4 May 2005, the Maltese House of Representatives ratified the Additional Protocol to its International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards agreement. Foreign Minister Michael Frendo said that although Malta does not have a nuclear weapons program, guarding against illicit transport of nuclear-related materials through its seaport remains a priority.

Frendo stated, “This is a responsibility which we take very seriously. The government is committed to continuing to ensure that the level of security at the Freeport remains at least as high, and possibly higher, than at other neighboring harbors so as to prevent the transport of weapons or other dangerous material.”

Malta is the 63rd country to ratify the Additional Protocol, which allows for more intrusive inspections by the IAEA. The island nation pledged to ratify its protocol as part of its entrance in 2004 into European Union.

Russia Builds Temporary Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Site with US Assistance | Top

On 14 April, news agency ITAR-Tass reported that Russia has constructed a temporary storage site for spent fuel from scrapped nuclear submarines at the Zvezdochka shipyard in northern Russia.

The site has received more than $60 million dollars in aid from the US. According to ITAR-Tass, five nuclear-powered Murena-class submarines have been dismantled there. Shipyard spokeswoman Nadezhda Scherbinina said the project doubled the temporary spent fuel storage capacity at Zvezdochka.

IAEA Wants to Return to Iraq | Top

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants to send inspectors back to Iraq to investigate the “significant dismantling” of 37 sites that had been monitored for nuclear work before the US-led invasion in 2003.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that the agency needs people on the ground in Iraq to “draw conclusions” on equipment that is missing from the sites and indications that digging has occurred at a location that contained contaminated rubble from Baghdad’s former nuclear program.

Apart from two isolated instances, UN weapons inspectors have not been allowed into Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003. However, in his letter, ElBaradei said that satellite imagery has shown “significant dismantling and removal activities” at 37 nuclear-related sites.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on 17 April that weapons manufacturing equipment stolen after the invasion has begun to appear in Iraqi markets and near its borders. The confiscation at a border crossing of much of the equipment from an artillery shell factory has led some military specialists to believe that dual-use equipment from Iraq’s former WMD programs could have made it out of the country.

UK Reportedly to Replace Nuclear Missiles | Top

According to reports by the London Independent newspaper on 2 May, the British government has initiated plans to replace its aging arsenal of submarine-launched Trident ICBMs. According to a senior UK defense official, “The decision to replace Trident has been taken in principle very recently.  US law does not allow the US to build bombs for us. We have to build our own.”

The Trident is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2024. However, the defense official said, “There is a very long lead time.” The Independent reported that the government is hiring physicists and mathematicians to work on a new weapon. According to defense experts, the new missiles would still be placed on submarines and development is expected to cost some $18.5 billion.

In addition, British Nuclear Fuels is part of an effort to build a $1.2 billion uranium enrichment site in New Mexico.

Former British Cabinet Member Clare Short said retaining a nuclear deterrent is “just a symbol that Britain is in the big league, but if you need nuclear weapons to be in the big league, it’s no wonder India and others want them. I would favor Britain becoming a leader in getting the [Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty updated and back on course rather than going along with American breaches to it.”

On 2 May, British Prime Minister Tony Blair countered the Independent article saying his government has not yet decided whether to update its nuclear arsenal. According to Blair, “A decision has not been taken, but obviously we will have to think about that carefully over the coming years.” The last week of April, Blair said last week that maintaining the British nuclear stockpile would be “the right thing.”

The UK has four Trident submarines, each carrying 16 missiles carrying multiple nuclear warheads.

Iran Parliament Passes Bill on Uranium Processing | Top

On 15 May, Iran’s parliament passed a Bill calling on the nation to resume efforts to manufacture nuclear fuel. Senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani said Iran does not plan to resume uranium processing immediately. However, he warned that negotiations with the European Union could not drag on indefinitely. 

Rohani stated, “We cannot continue the negotiations with the Europeans without having resumed some of our activities. We are in favor of negotiations; we can negotiate for months, but we cannot negotiate under the present conditions. The fact that the resumption of our activities will be delayed by several days is not a problem.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on 15 May that the suspension of all uranium enrichment-related activity could last another 10 days.

The resolution still needs approval from the Iranian Guardian Council to become law, but the council is expected to approve the bill. According to Asefi, “Any legislation that turns into law after approval by the Guardian Council is binding for the government and the government has to implement it.”

Sirus Naseri, another senior Iranian negotiator, said on 14 May that Iran was close to a deal with the European nations to allow resumption of some nuclear work. He said, “We are not at all far from having a working agreement on the resumption of Isfahan [ Iran’s uranium conversion facility], as long as there is a firm intention (to reach an agreement) there on the side of the Europeans.”

Naseri also said that UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s threat in mid-May to join the United States in sending Iran to the United Nations Security Council if enrichment-related activities resumed was “not helpful and can only add to the tension.” He added, “If the threats are addressed to the hawks in the US, we let them go by. But if they reflect policy, the EU should think twice. All we wish to do is exercise our rights. There is no justification to send Iran to the Security Council.”

Iran warned today that a 23 May emergency meeting with French, German and UK foreign ministers may not lead to progress in the nuclear standoff.

Negotiator Hossein Mousavian stated, “I confirm that a meeting at the foreign ministerial level between the EU-3 and Iran will be held in a few days time in Brussels, but I want to emphasize that the chances for success are not that high. If Iran’s file is referred to the UN Security Council, we are ready for all contingencies.”

Meanwhile, support has been building in the US Congress for legislation that would place new restrictions on trade with Iran. While the Bush administration has publicly supported EU diplomatic efforts, the legislation would put Washington in a more confrontational position. The Bill in the House of Representatives has some 200 co-sponsors. Support may be weaker in the Senate, however, and lawmakers in both bodies could still block the measure.

The White House has not publicly announced a position on the bill, but it generally opposes legislative moves to influence foreign policy. The Bill’s main sponsor, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), stated, “We will have the perennial and traditional battle with the executive branch as to who can have a say on foreign policy initiatives.”

On 13 May, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned the US of a possible impasse if the Security Council is asked to consider penalties against Iran. Annan said, “Action or inaction will have a great impact on future cases and on our efforts to promote nuclear nonproliferation.” China and Russia, which have extensive financial dealings with Tehran, could veto any attempts to punish Iran with sanctions.

US Calls on Israel to Forswear Nuclear Weapons | Top

On 2 April 2005, the US State Department called on Israel to forswear nuclear weapons and accept International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards on all nuclear activities. The statement marked the second time in two weeks that Bush administration officials put Israel’s nuclear arsenal on par with India and Pakistan, calling on all three countries to act like Ukraine and South Africa in renouncing their nuclear weapons.

Contradicting the custom of senior US administration officials to avoid any possible confirming reference to Israeli nuclear weapons, Ambassadors Jackie Sanders and Mark Fitzpatrick have recently referred to Israel’s “nuclear capability,” as distinct from “nuclear option,” which is to be rolled back, although not necessarily in the “foreseeable future.”

Sanders and Fitzpatrick refrained from calling on Israel, India and Pakistan explicitly to renounce their weapons. The expectation of these three states was phrased in terms of a vow - a verbal pledge to forswear, rather than real action. Nor was this demand accompanied by a time table, conditions and sanctions.

In her statement on 2 April, speaking in reference to the Seventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Sanders said: “The Conference should also reinforce the goal of universal NPT adherence and reaffirm that India, Israel and Pakistan may join the NPT only as non-nuclear-weapon states. Just as South Africa and Ukraine did in the early 1990s, these states should forswear nuclear weapons and accept IAEA safeguards on all nuclear activities to join the treaty. At the same time, we recognize that progress toward universal adherence is not likely in the foreseeable future. The United States continues to support the goals of the Middle East resolution adopted at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, including the achievement of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction."

IAEA Board Delays Vote on Reconfirming Dr. ElBaradei | Top

On 26 April, the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors delayed a vote on whether Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei will remain Director General, despite indications that only the US opposes his reappointment to a third term.

According to one diplomat, all but one of the board’s 35 member nations support keeping ElBaradei on the job for another four years. Delegates from Russia and China offered strong support for his leadership at the meeting, with the Russian representative calling for reappointment “the sooner, the better.” One diplomat said, “The United States is the only country against ElBaradei.”

The board ultimately deferred a decision, now expected at its June meeting, to allow for more time to develop a consensus with the US. According to some diplomats, the US supported the delay to give it more time to persuade 12 countries to vote against ElBaradei and block his reappointment. US officials also want to see what happens with the nomination of Undersecretary of State John Bolton, who has pressed for ElBaradei’s ouster, as US ambassador to the United Nations.

One diplomat on the IAEA Board of Governors said, “The US doesn’t want a vote until it’s clear what happens with Bolton.”

Click here to take action to support the reconfirmation of Dr. ElBaradei.

Doubling of Plutonium Proposed at LLNL | Top

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) officials are proposing to more than double its plutonium storage limit, a long-discussed move with numerous unexamined potential health consequences for the impacted communities within a forty-mile radius of the lab.

The 3,300 pounds of plutonium – an increase of roughly 1,700 pounds from the current level – would be enough to make 300 nuclear bombs.

LLNL also plans to double the plutonium workers in a single room may handle to more than 80 pounds, thereby enabling the lab to conduct a wider variety of experiments.

Among the potential consequences listed by the Tri-Valley Communites Against a Radioactive Environment (Tri-Valley CAREs) Web site (www.trivalleycares.org ) are “making the lab a terrorist target, leaving the San Francisco Bay area vulnerable to environmental releases from accidents or routine operations, and provoking other countries to follow suit and increase their stockpiles of nuclear materials.”

A single particle of plutonium, if lodged in the lungs, can cause cancer. Further it remains radioactive for 240,000 years. In the past, plutonium has escaped from smoke stacks, been accidentally dumped into drains and has escaped through ventilation ducts that were covered using only duct tape.

To take action to halt the expansion of Livermore’s plutonium quotient, please visit http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6718276.

Sources: Oakland Tribune, 25 April 2005; www.trivalleycares.org

UN General Assembly Adopts Convention on Nuclear Terrorism | Top

On 13 April 2005, the 191-member General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the "International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism" by consensus without a vote. The treaty obliges governments to punish those who illegally possess nuclear devices or radioactive materials.

The treaty, negotiated for seven years after Russia proposed the accord, is the 13th anti-terrorism convention and the first completed since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US. The convention will be open for signature on 14 September 2005 in New York during a high-level summit. It must be ratified by 22 nations to become international law.

The goal of the convention is to stop clandestine networks from using or possessing nuclear weapons. It obligates governments to prosecute or extradite individuals who possess radioactive materials or nuclear devices or those who threaten others while possessing such materials. The treaty also calls for exchanges of information and assistance among governments.

Russia introduced the treaty in 1998 to keep "loose nukes" from falling into the hands of terrorist groups. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported an increase in incidents involving illicit trafficking of nuclear or other radioactive material: 650 confirmed cases since 1993, including nearly 100 last year alone.

Alexander Konuzin, Russia's deputy UN Ambassador, said the treaty would constitute an "international legal basis for counteracting acts of nuclear terrorism" and increasingly "violent and sophisticated methods."

Pakistan 's UN Ambassador Munir Akram said he understood it was illegal for states "to attack and subvert the nuclear facilities of another state." The father of Pakistan's atom bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has admitted to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea. Israel bombed Iraq's Osiraq nuclear facility near Baghdad in 1981.

Several nations objected to an exception in the treaty for military forces exercising their duties, which framers of the treaty said were covered in other areas of international law. Iran, among others, said it would make many acts by armed forces immune from the convention. Iran also regretted that the treaty did not emphasize the right of states to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Still open is a comprehensive treaty on terrorism, which UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the General Assembly to adopt this year. This would include suicide bomber or anyone who deliberately harms civilians.

Islamic nations have insisted the treaty not label as "terrorist" Palestinians and others they consider freedom-fighters battling Israeli occupation. Cuba, Pakistan, Syria and Egypt used the debate to condemn what they called "state terrorism." Pakistan's Ambassador Akram said the root causes of terrorism had to be addressed including the "legitimate rights of people to struggle against foreign occupation and for self-determination.”

Space Commander Seeks to Modify US ICBMs | Top

On 20 April 2005, General Lance Lord, head of the US Space Command said that the US needs to consider alternative uses for its land-based strategic missile force to keep up with changing threats to US security.

Built to deliver massive nuclear strikes against the former Soviet Union, US ICBMs could be converted to other missions, General Lord told an audience at the National Defense University Foundation. He said those missions could include use in US missile defenses, attacking deeply buried targets with conventional warheads at short notice, and conducting military missions in space.

General Lord stated, “We are at a turning point and need new strategies to deter the challenges of the 21st century.” He reported that the last of 50 MX Peacekeeper ICBMs are scheduled to be deactivated in September 2005, leaving 500 Minuteman 3 missiles as the US land-based missile force. He said the remaining missiles would need updates including new electronics, communications equipment and solid-fuel replacement.

The full text of General Lord's remarks can be found at:  http://www.peterson.af.mil/hqafspc/Library/speeches/Speeches.asp?YearList=2005&SpeechChoice=113

For more information on US missile development, including conventional "global strike" plans, read Missiles of Empire: America’s 21st Century Global Legions, by Andrew Lichterman and Jackie Cabasso. The report is available as a PDF download on the website of the Western States Legal Foundation at http://www.wslfweb.org/docs/missiles03.pdf.

US Wrongly Reported “North Korean Missile Aimed at Japan” | Top

“North Korea fired a ballistic missile at Japan.”

On 14 May, the Asahi Shimbun reported that the Japanese government went into emergency situation when the US government informed it of the above intelligence around 8:30 am on 1 May, right after North Korea had tested a short-range missile.

An official at the Japan Defense Agency (JDA) received the information and immediately made a report to the Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the middle of this trouble, senior officials at major government agencies had to come to their offices in a hurry, giving up their May Day holiday.

The situation settled after 30 minutes when the US sent a modified intelligence report, saying, “We miscalculated the orbit [of the missile]. The missile was not aimed at Japan.”

Since August 1998, when North Korea test-launched a Daepodong missile, the US has been frequently offering missile-related intelligence to Japan.

Massive Radioactive Leak in UK Shuts Sellafield Plant | Top

Twenty tons of highly radioactive material leaked from a broken pipe at a Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2005. The leak occurred in an isolated area of the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP). According to British Nuclear Fuels, nobody was injured and the spill poses no threat to the public or the environment. The leaked material is a mix of highly radioactive uranium and plutonium in concentrated nitric acid. The affected area of the Sellafield plant will remain closed for months as officials devise a way of cleaning up the mess. Special robots may have to be built to clean up the waste as the area is too radioactive for people to enter.

A British Nuclear Group (BNG) official said the leakage has been classified as a “serious incident” on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

Senior officials at the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are pushing to close THORP altogether, arguing that it is more cost-effective to close the plant now rather than repair the problems only to decommission the plant as planned in 2012.

Following the massive leak of radioactive material at Sellafield, the European Union’s executive Commission renewed efforts to legislate higher unified safety standards at nuclear sites in the EU. The Commission says it isn’t prudent for nuclear safety to remain the responsibility of individual EU member states. EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said, “The recent Sellafield incident shows once more that the EU should be allowed overall framework control for the safety of nuclear installations…It is not possible to continue to function efficiently in relation to the varying national legislation in force. In an area as sensitive as nuclear energy, it is essential to show the greatest form of transparency.” In the past Britain, Germany and Sweden have voiced the greatest opposition to such unified safety standards.

North Korea Extracts 8,000 Fuel Rods from Yongbyon | Top

On 18 April 2005, North Korea shut down its five-megawatt Yongbyon nuclear reactor. Officials around the world feared this signaled the country’s intention to remove the fuel rods and move forward with its nuclear weapons programs.

These fears were confirmed 11 May 2005 when North Korea issued a statement saying 8,000 fuel rods had been extracted from Yongbyon. A North Korean official spokesman told the Korean Central News Agency that the North “is continuously taking measures necessary to increase its nuclear arsenal for defense purposes.” It is likely North Korea will reprocess the fuel rods to produce plutonium for use in nuclear weapons. North Korea's ambassador to the UN, Han Sang-ryol, said shutting the reactor to extract spent fuel rods for weapons processing will increase the North’s deterrent against a possible US attack.

Another North Korean official, Kim Yong-Chun, chief of the general staff of the North Korean People's Army, corroborated the story, “The army and the people of North Korea will never remain a passive onlooker to the US moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK, but steadily bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense to cope with the enemies' reckless moves for military aggression".

Meanwhile, Richard Boucher, US State Department spokesman, urged the North Koreans to return to the six-party talks that stalled last June. Boucher said, “The way to solve the problem for the North Koreans is to go back to talks.  Running reactors or not running reactors, reprocessing, or not reprocessing is not going to get North Korea a solution to its troubles…”

Iran Announces Uranium Enrichment Plans | Top

On 10 May 2005 Iranian officials announced their intention to restart work at its Isfahan plant to enrich uranium. This ends the suspension of uranium related projects that was agreed upon in Paris in November 2004.

Hassan Rohani, Iran’s lead negotiator said, " Iran will definitely resume a part of it enrichment activities in the near future ... but we are still discussing its conditions and time of restarting the activities."

Iran insists its nuclear activities are strictly for peaceful purposes. France, Germany and the UK, working on behalf of the European Union, have been negotiating with Iran seeking guarantees that it will not divert uranium or plutonium to weapons activities. With the news that Iran will resume work at the Isfahan plant, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he supports referring Iran to the United Nations Security Council, should Iran violate its nuclear obligations. The British, French and German foreign ministers sent a letter of warning to the Iranians that any attempt to restart its nuclear program "would bring the negotiating process to an end."

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said, "We continue to hope that Iran will not take this step, the consequences of which it is well aware."

Reprocessed Plutonium Returns to US in Transatlantic Conversion Project | Top

On 12 April 2005, a shipment of US plutonium that had been processed in France into mixed oxide fuel (MOX) returned to South Carolina. The MOX will be tested in Duke Power's Catawba nuclear reactor to determine the feasibility of converting more plutonium to MOX for use in energy reactors.

The US plutonium was sent to France because the US does not have the necessary reprocessing facilities. If the MOX is successfully tested in the Catawba reactor, the US will construct its own plutonium reprocessing facility. The conversion of weapons-grade plutonium is a joint non-proliferation project developed in 1998 between the US and Russia. Under the project, nearly 70 tons of weapon-grade plutonium will be converted into fuel for commercial reactors.

Bulgaria Plans New Nuclear Reactors | Top

On 7 April 2005, the Bulgarian government confirmed plans to begin construction of two 1,000 megawatt nuclear reactors in Belene. France's Framatome and Russia's Atomstroiexport are competing for the contract to build the reactors. Nuclear power currently provides 40% of Bulgaria’s electricity, as well as electricity to the Balkan states. However, during negotiations to join the European Union (EU), Bulgaria agreed to shut down four of six existing Kozloduy pressurized water reactors before the country joins the EU in 2007.

Energy from Fusion on the Horizon? | Top

The scientific world was rocked in 1989 when Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann’s announced that they had discovered cold fusion to be a farce. Since then, a number of laboratories have announced their discovery of cold fusion and were rightly met with skepticism.

However, on 28 April 2005, Brian Naranjo, Jim Gimzewski and Seth Putterman, three researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), presented their research on a successful cold fusion experiment in Nature, the international weekly science journal. Their success has been labeled “remarkably low-tech,” but nevertheless a success. The breakthrough will not likely satisfy the world’s energy needs because their device produces less energy than it consumes. Even with an apparatus 1,000 times more efficient they would still operate in a net energy deficit.

In other fusion news, France and Japan are deadlocked over where to construct the world’s first nuclear fusion reactor. Construction of the $13 billion project has been stalled because the two nations are competing to build the reactor on their own territory. Supporters of the fusion reactor project argue fusion can one day provide an inexhaustible source of cheap energy.

Sources: Associated Press, 28 April 2005; New York Times, 28 April 2005; the Economist, 28 April 2005; Reuters, 10 May 2005.

Increased Rates of Breast Cancer in Male Atomic Bomb Survivors | Top

A study of Japanese atomic bomb survivors shows that men exposed to radiation were more likely to develop breast cancer than other men who weren't exposed. While it is fairly rare, men can develop breast cancers. In most countries, about 1 of every 100 cases of breast cancer occurs in men.

The current study, reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, involved 32,411 male subjects who were exposed to a known radiation dose, 2,978 exposed to an unknown dose, and 10,491 unexposed subjects.  Nine men exposed to radiation developed breast cancer, which translates to the equivalent of 1.8 cases per 10,000 men over a 10-year period. By contrast, three men in the unexposed group developed this malignancy, yielding a significantly lower rate of 0.5 cases per 10,000 persons per 10 years.

The lead author Dr. Elaine Ron, from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues noted that the new findings add to earlier reports which suggest that radiation exposure raises the risk of male breast cancer. In addition, the authors found that the risk of male breast cancer was directly related to the dose of radiation the men received.

The authors stated, “Because male breast cancer is a rare disease, few cases were seen in this 40-year follow-up of a large cohort. However, the results clearly show an association between exposure to external radiation and the occurrence of male breast cancer.”

Sources: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 20 April 2005; Reuters Health, 20 April 2005.

LANL Bid Showdown: UC-Bechtel vs. UT-Lockheed | Top

On 11 May 2005, the University of California officially announced an unprecedented partnership with Bechtel Corporation to prepare for the bidding competition to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico. Among the largest corporations in the world, Bechtel has a long legacy of environmental and human rights abuses around the globe. According to the press release heralding the partnership, “Together, the UC-Bechtel led team will combine unparalleled scientific achievement with efficient business management, while ensuring safe, secure and effective nuclear facilities operations.”

The UC-Bechtel consortium also includes nuclear technologies developer BWXT, the engineering firm Washington Group International, and all three major New Mexico universities.

The day after the announcement of the UC-Bechtel partnership, the University of Texas Board of Regents officially voted to enter the bidding competition with Texas-based Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest military contractor, as its partner. Lockheed, which oversees the Sandia nuclear weapon design and engineering laboratory in Albequerque, is a long-time partner with UT in other ventures, including a recent five-year agreement to develop “more pure science and technology” on the UT campus.

UT had announced on 10 February 2005 that it was pulling out of the bid competition, then stated a renewed interest in late-April. The field of bidders also includes Northrop-Grumann, the world’s third largest military contractor (behind only Lockheed and Boeing Corporation).

UC’s contract to manage LANL expires on 30 September 2005. The Department of Energy (DoE) is expected to select the winner of the bidding competition over the summer.

Bechtel, in addition to being well-known for its multi-million dollar federal government construction contracts in Iraq, has substantial ties to the nuclear industry. Primarily an engineering and construction firm, it is manager, on behalf of the DoE, of the Nevada Test Site. It is also would-be manager of the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository in Nevada. Bechtel also oversees nuclear and chemical clean-up at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington.

Among its various nuclear projects, Lockheed Martin is the prime government contractor for the Trident II Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), a multiple-warhead, long-range missile which is produced for deployment on the Trident submarine. The Trident II is the only long-range US nuclear missile currently in production. Lockheed is also heavily invested in ballistic missile defense technologies.

The DoE opened the management contract of both LANL and Livermore Lawrence National Lab (LLNL) to competitive bid in 2003 after repeated security and fiscal management scandals over the past 60 years. Most recently in July 2004, UC was humiliated – and not for the first time – when multiple computer discs containing classified information were allegedly lost from LANL, causing the lab to shut down for six months. Later, it turned out that the report of the missing tapes was an inventory error.

The UC Regents, who have overseen LANL since its inception some 60 years ago, indicate they will not officially decide on whether to place a bid until the Department of Energy issues its final request for proposals in mid to late May, a deadline that has been pushed back several times. The Bechtel partnership, however, makes the university’s intention to aggressively pursue retaining its status as lab manager all but official.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s UC Nuclear Free campaign and the student Coalition to Demilitarize the UC are planning major actions to protest the university’s role in enabling the US nuclear complex, as well as its newfound relationship with Bechtel. These actions include a speak-out and protest at the UC Regents meeting at UC San Francisco from May 25-26.

For continuous updates, please visit www.ucnuclearfree.org

LANL Director Steps Down | Top

Beleaguered Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Director George Nanos announced on 6 May that he would step down from his post, following a two-year stint marred by multiple financial and security problems at the lab.

His interim replacement will be Robert Kuckuck, a former National Nuclear Security Administration official who received a doctorate in applied science from UC Davis. Kukuck served over 35 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) as an expert in nuclear weapons testing and treaty verification.

Nanos was famously unpopular during his tenure, mostly as a result of his handling of the LANL shut-down in July 2004. One disgruntled LANL employee even set up a blog (www.lanl-the-real-story.blogspot.com ) in January specifically to air his grievances about Nanos and LANL in general. Hundreds of other LANL employees utilized the forum to openly express their grievances with their employer.

The fall-out from the decision to shut down LANL continues. The US Department of Energy (DoE) recently announced that it is refusing to pay $8 million in costs for the first two days of the lab closing, and it also questioned $6.3 million in subcontractor claims and other costs.

Nanos, a retired Navy admiral, will take a new job with the Department of Defense and the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Many onlookers speculate that the University of California pressured Nanos to resign as a means of bolstering its credibility in preparation for making a serious run to retain its LANL management contract.

DoE Extends UC Contract to Manage Lawrence Berkeley | Top

The Department of Energy (DoE) extended the University of California’s contract to manage the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) on 19 April. The new deal is good for five years and $2.3 billion. UC has managed LBNL since it was founded in 1931.

Lawrence Berkeley has been home to 10 Nobel Prize-winning scientists over the years. Its mission focuses primarily on the physical sciences, computing sciences, energy sciences, and biosciences.

LANL Resumes Waste Shipments, Proposes Area G Expansion | Top

Soon after waste shipments from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) dump in southern New Mexico resumed on 20 April – after a hiatus that began in October 2003 – the lab announced plans to expand its Area G waste storage facility by 30 acres.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) decided on the expansion into an unused section in the area called Zone 4 after issuing an environmental assessment of the area earlier this year. Thousands of drums of transuranic waste currently sit in fabric tents at Area G, which has been nearing capacity for several years.

Area G, located at Technical Area 54, has been criticized by activists in recent years due to its potential impacts on public health and the environment. Much of the waste is stored in unlined pits and trenches, which may be compromising the groundwater under the Pajarito Plateau. Further, the Cerro Grande fire, which began five years ago, came within feet of Area G.

Waste shipment from LANL to the WIPP were ceased when the lab illegally shipped 98 mischaracterized drums of waste two years ago. The shut-down of LANL in July 2004 prolonged the cessation of shipments.

LANL officials plan to increase shipments to WIPP to four per week by the summer.

The decision to expand Area G has provoked considerable resistance from Los Alamos residents, particularly those who live in the San Ildefonso Pueblo that neighbors Area G. The residents spoke vehemently against the move at a public forum organized by the Northern New Mexico Citizens Advisory Board on 4 May.

LANL Tests Mock W76 Warhead | Top

On 1 April 2005, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) initiated the process of updating the W76 submarine-launched missile warhead with a test as a step toward refurbishing the aging weapon by 2007. Conducted at the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility at LANL, the test was labeled a “success” by laboratory officials. The test was part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Stockpile Stewardship Life Extension Program.

The W76 was designed in the 70s and is regarded one of the centerpieces of the US nuclear arsenal. Over 2,300 are currently deployed.

The test occurred in the midst of doubts regarding the efficacy of the weapon, which some scientists charge does not contain the explosive power that it was designed to unleash. LANL spokespeople deny allegations concerning the bomb’s reliability.

Foundation President Receives 2005 PeaceWriting Award for Today Is Not a Good Day for War | Top

On 1 May 2005, the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology awarded Foundation President Dr. David Krieger its 2005 PeaceWriting Imaginative Writing Award for his book of poems, Today Is Not a Good Day for War.

Published by Capra Press (www.caprapress.com), Today Is Not a Good Day for War, is a remarkable collection of peace poems that spans a period of more than 35 years. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu writes, “These poems touch a deep chord of hope in the human spirit. They inspire us to believe that peace is not an impossible dream.”

In poems such as “On Becoming Human,” “A Conspiracy of Decency,” and “You Are Not One But Many,” Dr. Krieger weaves together threads of hope and dreams for a world that is just for all. Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, says that Today Is Not a Good Day for War “speaks in the language of peace and captures Hiroshima’s spirit of hope.”

James Bennett, PeaceWriting Awards Director writes, “This collection of poetry on war and peace covers the period from Hiroshima through the Iraq War. The author exposes the many patriotic myths, including: war is glorious, killing civilians is necessary, and nuclear weapons provide security. Other poems reveal the realities of war – the suffering, brutality, and degradation of war, the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, the dire threat of nuclear weapons. And yet others seek to offer alternatives and to inspire hope for peace.”

The PeaceWriting International Awards are administered and sponsored by the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology and the Peace and Justice Studies Association. The PeaceWriting Awards seek to encourage writing about nonviolent peacemaking and peacemakers.

To order a copy of Today Is Not a Good Day for War, please call the Foundation’s offices at (805) 965-3443 or order directly online at: http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/store/books/today-is-not-a-good-day-for-war.htm.

Foundation to Hold National Youth Conference on Nuclear Issues | Top

In an effort to broaden its Youth Outreach Initiative on a national basis, the Foundation will host a week-long national youth conference focusing on nuclear organizing and activism from 15-21 August at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The conference will bring together some 35 to 40 young people to educate and empower them to become more effective leaders in their work to oppose nuclear weapons. The conference will serve to leverage the passion of these young people in working separately and together, and the Foundation will be a support structure for these efforts following the conference. For more information or to fill out the online application, please visit: http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/programs/youth-outreach/index.htm#youth-conference.

Don’t Miss the Foundation’s Peace Essay Contest Deadline! | Top

Don’t miss the 1 June deadline for the Foundation’s 2005 Swackhamer Peace Essay Contest! The theme for the 2005 contest is:

“Our vision is a world at peace, free from the threat of war, and ree of weapons of mass destruction. Translate this vision into an action plan that you can implement in your community or on your campus. Write a proposal for a youth-led event, campaign, or project that educates members of your community and/or other students concerning the continuing threats of nuclear wapons and the need for nuclear disarmament.”

Established in 1985, the contest serves to encourage high school students worldwide to think about and contribute to creating a more peaceful, just and secure world. The contest is open to high school students worldwide. For the 2005 contest, the top three winners will each receive $1,000 to implement their proposal.

Peace Poetry Awards Deadline | Top

Don’t miss a chance to enter in the Foundation’s 10th Annual Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards! The deadline for entry is Friday, 1 July 2005.

The Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Award is an annual series of awards to encourage poets to explore and illuminate positive visions of peace and the human spirit. The Poetry Awards include three age categories: Adult, Youth 13-18, and Youth 12 & Under. For a list of complete guidelines and winning poems from previous years, please visit: http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/programs/awards-&-contests/bmk-contest/index.htm

No More Hiroshimas! No More Nagasakis!
August 6 and 9 National Days of Remembrance and Action
1945-2005 | Top

August 6 and 9, 2005 mark the 60th anniversaries of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Join with people at four central US nuclear weapons sites in major actions calling for an end to the development and production of nuclear warheads. Activities will recognize the devastation caused by nuclear weapons and memorialize the many victims of bomb production at every step – from uranium mining to design, to production, to testing and use. Join the global majority to say NO! to militarism, war and oppression, and YES! to nonviolence, justice and a more secure world for all.

In Japanese culture, the 60th birthday holds a particular cultural significance in celebrating long life. In this 60th year since the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the greatest gift to the hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombings) and to the world would be to reaffirm life by immediately initiating negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Here is what you can do:

1. Attend a major action on August 6 at one of the core nuclear weapons sites in California, Nevada, New Mexico and Tennessee (see specific site info below). Be sure to share the information and bring others with you!

2. Organize or participate in a candlelight vigil at the City Hall in your community on August 9. Click here for more information.

3. Download, copy and distribute the August 6 and 9 National Days of Remembrance and Action flyer to your friends, family, networks and/or members of your organization and encourage them to get involved!

4. Print the August 6 and 9 National Days of Remembrance and Action Postcard to distribute to members of your organization or at events. For more information, please contact Carah Ong at cong@napf.org or (202) 543-4100, ext. 105.

August 6 and 9 National Days of Remembrance and Action are coordinated by: Abolition Now!, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Nevada Desert Experience, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Pax Christi New Mexico, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Tri-Valley CAREs, United for Peace and Justice, and Western States Legal Foundation.

Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, California

“Seeds of Change”─ celebrate the vision of a nuclear free world with music, a dinner rally and candlelight march.
Where: William Payne Park, 5800 Patterson Pass Rd. Livermore, CA
When: Saturday, August 6, 2005, 5 pm

Initial co-sponsors include: American Friends Service Committee, California Peace Action, Green Party California, Livermore Conversion Project, the Northern California Communist Party, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Peace and Freedom Party, Peace Fresno, Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (CAREs), Veterans for Peace San Francisco Chapter 69, Western States Legal Foundation, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Women for Peace.

Contact: Tara Dorabji, Tri-Valley CAREs, tara@trivalleycares.org, (925) 443-7148, www.trivalleycares.org.

Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Lab, New Mexico

“ Hiroshima, 60 Years: It Started Here -- Let's Stop It Here!” – teach-in, sunflower pageant, workshops, music, candle ritual, meditation, and more. 
Where: Ashley Pond Park in Los Alamos, NM
When: Saturday, August 6, 2005, 8:30 am to 10:00 pm

Initial endorsing organizations include: Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Los Alamos Study Group, Pax Christi New Mexico, Upaya Zen Center and the local chapter of Veterans for Peace.

Contact: Los Alamos Study Group, (505) 265-1200, www.lasg.org; Pax Christi New Mexico, (505) 870-2275, www.paxchristinewmexico.org; and Upaya Zen Center, Joan Halifax, (505) 986-8182, www.upaya.org.

Nevada Test Site, Nevada

“Many Stories, One Vision for a Nuclear Free World” ─ conference, speakers and public witness including storytelling, nonviolence trainings, liturgy, music, performance, workshops and nonviolent direct action.
Where: University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the Nevada (Nuclear) Test Site
When: August 4-7, 2005

Sponsored by: Nevada Desert Experience and Pax Christi USA; Co-sponsored by: Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Citizen Alert, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, Physicians for Social Responsibility (L.A.) and Western States Legal Foundation. Western Shoshone are supporting the action.

Contact: Nevada Desert Experience, (702) 646-4814, nde_youth@peacenet.org, www.nevadadesertexperience.org and www.paxchristiusa.org.

Y-12 Nuclear Facility, Tennessee

“Stop the Bombs!” ─ remembrance/names ceremony; peace march, rally and direct action; and peace lantern ceremony.
When: Saturday, August 6, 2005, all day
Where: Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, TN

Contact: Ralph Hutchison, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, orep@earthlink.net, (865) 483-8202, www.stopthebombs.org.

Initial Co-Sponsors Include: Cumberland Center for Justice and Peace; Footprints for Peace; Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation—Diocese of East Tennessee; Nipponzan Myohoji—Atlanta Dojo; Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance; Pax Christi—Memphis; Pax Christi—Michigan; Presentation Sisters; Sisters of Charity, Cincinnati; Sisters of the Precious Blood, Dayton; and Women’s Action for New Directions, Michigan.

August 9, 2005: Remember the Bombing of Nagasaki

We are calling for candlelight vigils to be held at City Halls in communities across the country. In addition, we encourage people to organize readings, lantern lighting ceremonies, shadow projects and more. In support of the Mayors for Peace, we are calling on local groups to invite their Mayors to participate in the vigils and read out proclamations.

Multilateral Diplomacy and the NPT: An Insider’s Account | Top

Multilateral Diplomacy and the NPT: An Insider’s Account by Jayantha Dhanapala with Randy Rydell is an analytical account of the 1995 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference and its aftermath. More than a personal memoir, the book focuses attention on the issues and difficulties attending the Review and Extension Conference and the discussions, points of view and understandings that made possible the indefinite extension of the treaty without a vote, while placing these squarely within the context of the challenges and opportunities of multilateral diplomacy. The NPT, contends Mr. Dhanapala, is a living treaty that has evolved in response to the challenges of history and will continue to do so in the future—though whose permanent extension must never be taken for granted nor put to the test.

“Our actions have always been guided by the principle that we should be able to retain our freedom of thought and action to take steps necessary for our national security as well as to meet international concerns arising out of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction especially its linkages with terrorism. Consistent with this basic position, we remain ready to engage and cooperate on the basis of equality, in all multilateral consultations, to develop such an effective framework, and to bring about a stable, genuine and lasting non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Our eventual goal must remain the complete elimination of such weapons.”

Shri K. Natwar Singh, Indian External Affairs Minister
Remarks made in New Delhi at a Conference on "Emerging Nuclear Proliferation Challenges"
28 March 2005

“The North Koreans have been, frankly, a little bit disappointed that people are not jumping up and down and running around with their hair on fire because [they] have been making these pronouncements.”

- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Speaking on North Korea’s recent announcements that it has expanded its nuclear arsenal
14 April 2005

“The United States is sick. It suffers from the sickness of being the victor, and it has to cure itself of this disease, this sickness.”

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
Calling on the United States to boost its nuclear disarmament efforts
20 April 2005

"It is time- well past time, in my view - for the United States to cease its Cold War-style reliance on nuclear weapons as a foreign policy tool. At the risk of appearing simplistic and provocative, I would characterize current U.S. nuclear weapons policy as immoral, illegal, military unnecessary, and dreadfully dangerous. The risk of an accidental or inadvertent nuclear launch is unacceptably high. Far from reducing these risks, the Bush administration has signaled that it is committed to keeping the U.S. arsenal as a mainstay of its military power - a commitment that is simultaneously eroding the international norms that have limited the spread of nuclear weapons and fissile materials for 50 years. Much of the current U.S. nuclear policy has been in place since before I was secretary of defense, and it has only grown more dangerous and diplomatically destructive in the intervening years."

Robert McNamara, Former US Defense Secretary
Excerpts from the May/June Foreign Policy lead article titled “Apocalypse Soon”

"Nuclear weapons have to be given lesser importance in security policy and defense strategy. My opinion is that one should aim for the NWS to immediately start real nuclear disarmament talks at the NPT RevCon. Pressure has to be put on the U.S., Russia and other NWS to abide by commitments to reduce operational status of nuclear weapons systems. If the 5 NWS do not abide by their commitments under the NPT, other countries will not be willing to abide by their commitments. Reductions must be verifiable, transparent and irreversible. It is a problem that NATO countries themselves use nuclear weapons as deterrence. "

Lars Rise, member of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Norwegian Parliament from the Christian Democratic Party
Remarks made during the NPT Parliamentary debate in Oslo, Norway
26 April 2005

“A bunker buster cannot penetrate into the earth deeply enough to avoid massive casualties and the spewing of millions of cubic feet of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. The bottom line is that it would result in the deaths of up to a million people or more if used in densely populated areas. This is the clearest evidence to date that our nation should not pursue the research and development of these weapons. Congress should eliminate funding for this program. It will only re-open the nuclear door and encourage the very proliferation we are seeking to prevent."

US Senator Dianne Feinstein
Statement dangers of Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, or bunker buster
27 April 2005

"I hope India will set an example by rapidly adhering to that convention [on nuclear terrorism], and will also soon sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, as well as giving active support to the negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty.”

Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
Speaking in New Delhi , India
28 April 2005

“Everybody understands that if we continue in that fashion, in the next 10, 20 years we'll have 20, 30 countries that I would call virtual nuclear-weapons states, meaning countries that could move within months into converting their civilian capacity or capability into a weapons program.”

Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
Speaking with the Associate Press at Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference
6 May 2005

Editorial Team | Top

• Luke Brothers
• David Krieger
• Carah Ong
• Will Parrish