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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No. 21/2002 |
Dateline: August 7, 2002 |
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This is the weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:
WNII is archived at: http://inesglobal.org/archive.htm
INES homepages: http://inesglobal.org http://www.inesglobal.com/
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner [Please note that the first "1" in q18 is the number one, while the last "l" is an "L"]
CONTENTS of WNII No. 21/2002
USA: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), The Sunflower, No. 63, August 2002 Back issues: http://www.wagingpeace.org/sf/backissues.html Events are listed at: http://www.wagingpeace.org/calendar/events_current.html
The August 2002 issue of The Sunflower covers the following:
To read "The Sunflower", please send an email to Carah Lynn Ong, Director of Research and Publications: < > or goto: http://www.wagingpeace.org/sf/index.html (The newsletter is also available in pdf format online)
"The SEU TIMES" No 8 (30) – August 2002
"The SEU TIMES" is the electronic newsletter of the "Socio-Ecological Union", one of the Russian INES member organsiations.
The August 2002 edition has the following contents:
Editor: Sviatoslav Zabelin < > Previous issues of "The SEU Times" may be found at "The Online Gadfly": http://www.igc.org/gadfly
SPECIAL SECTION ON US MISSILE DEFENCE POLICY
More on the ICOC Madrid Conference (see last WNII issue)
INESAP Coordinator Regina Hagen draws the attention to an article by Mark Smith which comments on the Madrid Conference on the International Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (ICOC).
The article is entitled "On Thin Ice: First Steps for the Ballistic Missile Code of Conduct" and can be found at: http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2002_07-08/smithjul_aug02.asp
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
Israel to nuke Iraq for US?
This is the main question discussed in an article entitled " Iraq Conflict Could Soon Go Nuclear" by Roland Watson (published in The Times of London, 7 August 02). The article is available at:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0807-05.htm
Report "Bunker Busters: Washington's Drive for New Nuclear Weapons" Highlights US Push for New Nuclear Weapons (Source: BASIC Press Release, 28 July 02)
As the United States moves closer to an invasion of Iraq, a major new report examines Washington’s growing interest in developing new nuclear weapons. "Bunker Busters: Washington’s Drive For New Nuclear Weapons" documents the "re-rationalisation" of nuclear weapons that gathered pace during the 1990s but has rapidly accelerated under the Bush administration. The Pentagon is examining the possibility of using low-yield nuclear weapons to destroy underground targets. $15.5 million has been requested in the Fiscal Year 2003 budget to begin work on modifying an existing warhead to fulfill this mission. In June the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved the funding but the Senate has voted to block it leaving the issue unresolved until a House-Senate conference in the autumn. Once initial funding has been secured for the new weapon, the programme will be all but impossible to stop making Congressional action in the autumn essential. The report also examines the damaging implications that these developments will have for international arms control and global security.
"Possession and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons in South Asia. An Assessment of Some Risks"
This is the title of a major article by INESAP member Zia Mian, R. Rajaraman, and M. V Ramana which was published as Special Article in the Indian paper "The Economic and Political Weekly", 22 June 02.
The paper examines some of operational requirements and the dangers that come with the possibility that in the foreseeable future India and Pakistan may deploy their nuclear arsenals. The authors first describe the analytical basis for the inevitability of accidents in complex high-technology systems. Then they turn to potential failures of nuclear command and control and early warning systems as examples. They go on to discuss the possibility and consequences of accidental explosions involving nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. Finally some measures to reduce these risks are suggested.
The article is either available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment, or directly from Zia Mian: < >
NOTE, in addition that, Zia Mian, together with R. Rajaraman and Frank von Hippel, has written another a related article entitled "Nuclear Role Models", which was published in The Washington Post on 6 August 02. This article, too, is available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
Japan's Report Card on Nuclear Disarmament
The Japanese NGO Peace Depot, whose Executive Director is INES member Dr. Hiro Umebayashi, has now published the English version of "Evaluating Implementation of the NPT 13+2 steps: Japan's Report Card on Nuclear Disarmament".
Among other things, Peace Depot has set several tasks proper to Japan for each 13+2 steps. Then, based on available information on Japan's efforts to implement these tasks, the Evaluation Committee of ten members has evaluated the Japanese government's efforts on each of the 13+2 steps, during the period from May 2000 to February 2002. Grades from A to E were given regarding each steps.
The final Report Card was submitted to the Foreign Minister. It will be widely distributed to parliamentarians. The dialogue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue over the Report Card. The evaluation will be made annually until 2005.
The Report Card can be found at: http://www.peacedepot.org
2002 WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Peace and Sustainable Development Will Rise or Fall Together
This is the title of an article by Dr. David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and the Deputy Chair of INES. He can be contacted at < >
Also, the article is available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
International Fund for Sustainable Energy (see also: "Alice Slater on an International Sustainable Energy Agency (ISEA)"; in: WNII 1/2002)
Dear Friends,
Nuclear Proliferation Terrifying You? Take Action!! Let the world's leaders know you want them to stop spreading nuclear materials around the planet and ask that they establish an International Sustainable Energy Fund at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg this summer.
Alice Slater President, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE), USA < >
WSSD listserver
"Science and Technology in a Vulnerable World" (Source: Federation of American Scientists Secrecy News, Volume 2002, Issue No. 73, August 7, 2002)
The impacts of September 11 on universities and particularly on scientific research were addressed by several prominent scientists and academics at an April 2002 colloquium sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Their presentations, which generally offer more questions than answers, have recently been published under the title "Science and Technology in a Vulnerable World" and are available here: http://www.aaas.org/spp/yearbook/2003/yrbk03.htm
2001 UN Disarmament Yearbook released (Source: Emily Schroeder, Reaching Critical Will, WILPF UN Office, 1 Aug 02)
By the end of July, the 2001 United Nations Disarmament Yearbook was released. The Yearbook describes developments in the field of disarmament in the United Nations during the year 2001. The contents include:
The Disarmament Yearbook focuses on the actions and reactions of the world community to a wide range of disarmament issues. It surveys regional developments in disarmament and confidence-building.
The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook appendices provide data on the status of multilateral and regional disarmament agreements and the final products of disarmament conferences relating to multilateral disarmament instruments. They also contain the full texts of all UN General Assembly resolutions and decisions on disarmament, list their sponsors and indicate the overall voting results and the positions of each Member State on each resolution.
For further information, contact Xiaoyu Wang, Coordinator for Disarmament Yearbook, UN Department of Disarmament Affairs:
"Trust & Verify" No. 103/July-August 2002 http://www.vertic.org/tnv/julaug02/july_aug02.pdf
The latest issue of "Trust & Verify", published by the London-based "Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC)", carries the following:
NOTE that it is now possible to subscribe to "Trust & Verify" by email by sending a blank email to: < >
To unsubscribe send a blank email to: < >
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
From the Front Line: Missile Defence and Globalisation
The conference aims to show the strong links between the current economic paradigm in the West and the military strategy and proposals that the West supports. The main focus of the conference will be missile defence and the militarisation of space, however the organisers have also invited on subjects that show the link between the two more broadly, including a speaker from CAAT, WDM and an expert on the Boeing corporation.
For more details, mailto:
No new or changed email or web addresses in this issue. All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
< < < < < end of No. 21/2002 what's new in ines < < < < <