What's New in INES no. 30/1999

From: < > Concerning its "START Web Site News" the Center informs that due to circumstances out of its control, server blue.iris.mipt.ru is expected to lose its Internet connection for an unknown period of time any time soon. Server armscontrol.ru will (hopefully) be up and running as usual.

Announcement will be posted as soon as blue.iris.mipt.ru's connection is restored.

Helmut Burkhardt on the Systems Science World Congress 2000 (forwarded by Eric Fawcett, Science for Peace Canada)

Dear Colleagues,
A World congress on the Systems Sciences will take place in June 2000 at Ryerson University. It is spearheaded by the International Society for Systems Sciences, and I am the local organizer. I suggested a contribution by CGI, a symposium on global issues with the theme: A Systemic View of Global Governance. The President of ISSS accepted and scheduled 2 hours for the symposium in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 18, 2000. So, there is a challenge for the 'Government or Chaos' group in which some of us are deeply involved.

For more, contact: Helmut (Ken) Burkhardt, Adjunct Professor of Physics, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Canada mailto:

First INES membership in Ethiopia

INES Chair Prof. Tenner informs that INES membership has spread now to Ethiopia: Mr. Solomon Zewde, Director of the National Scientific Equipment Center (NSEC) at the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission has recently become a member of our network.

If you wish to contact Mr. Zewde, mailto:

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org

For the latest nuclear weapons abolition grassroots news, visit: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/

Web references re: China's Neutron Bomb Capability

China Says It Can Build Neutron Bomb. Beijing Attempts to Discredit Cox Report on Theft of U.S. Secrets (by Michael Laris, Washington Post Foreign Service, July 15, 1999): http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/15/272l-071599-idx.html
U.S. Tries to Play Down China's Announcement on Bomb (by Eric Schmitt, July 16, 1999): http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/071699china-nuke.html
Various articles:

ftp://ftp.nautilus.org/nnnnet/news/071699interfax.txt
ftp://ftp.nautilus.org/nnnnet/news/071599xinhua.txt
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990715/V000380-071599-idx.html ( text-only -- ftp://ftp.nautilus.org/nnnnet/news/071599ap2.txt )
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990715/V000860-071599-idx.html ( text-only -- ftp://ftp.nautilus.org/nnnnet/news/071599ap3.txt )

Secret subcritical nuclear tests at Los Alamos: the "Appaloosa" Programme http://www.lasg.org/appaloos/appaloos.htm

The URL indicated here contains a small archive of information regarding the recently-resumed programme of subcritical nuclear tests at Los Alamos. This programme, called "Appaloosa," is supposed to be entirely secret, and little is publicly known about the numbers and purposes of the tests. The tests involve full-scale exact simulations of nuclear weapons primaries using Pu-242 as a surrogate for weapons-grade plutonium.

These tests are being conducted in addition to the underground subcritical tests in Nevada, and in addition to other dynamic experiments with plutonium being conducted, or soon to begin, at Los Alamos, Livermore, and Nevada. In current internal lab jargon, the Appaloosa tests are sometimes called "above-ground tests." The cost per test, while expensive, is still great deal less than that for underground tests in Nevada. [Source: Greg Mello, Los Alamos Study Group (LASG): ]

USA: Report On Counterproliferation Released

In early July, a 176-page report was released by the Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The report concludes that the U.S. government is unprepared to prevent or cope with a chemical, biological or nuclear attack. Available documents relating to this story include:

* Full report (PDF-format (1.6MB)): http://www.senate.gov/~specter/11910book.pdf

* White House fact sheet on U.S. nonproliferation record: http://usa.grmbl.com/s19990715i.html

* Also visit the Carnegie Endowment at: http://www.ceip.org/programs/npp/commission.htm

New sources and references [Main Source: NATO Nuclear Flash 99-33 (July 21, 1999)]

Reformation and Resistance: Nongovernmental Organizations and the Future of Nuclear Weapons, Cathleen Fisher, Project on Reducing Nuclear Dangers, Building Cooperative Security, July 6, 1999; at: http://www.stimson.org/pubs/cosec/report29/index.html NGOs working for radical changes in nuclear doctrine and policy succeeded in scoring important nonproliferation victories, but fell short of their ultimate goal: a fundamental change in the nuclear doctrine and broader nuclear policy of the nuclear powers.

Nuclear Turning Point: A Blueprint for Deep Cuts and De-Alerting of Nuclear Weapons, Harold Feiveson, The Brookings Institution, July 10, 1999; at: http://www.nyu.edu/globalbeat/pubs/Brookings0799.html Nine authors advance strategies to eliminate the risk of accidental and unauthorized uses of nuclear weapons, stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities around the world, and eliminate most stockpiles of nuclear materials.
Robinson, Bill (Project Ploughshares Canada): Nuclear Policy Statement Released: ftp://ftp.nautilus.org/nnnnet/op_eds/robinson070899.txt Reviews Canada's new nuclear weapons policy following the Canadian government's response to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade's nuclear policy report "Canada and the Nuclear Challenge."
Fate of START Treaties, ABM Treaty Viewed: ftp://ftp.nautilus.org/nnnnet/references/Dyakov070299.txt In an article printed in the weekly independent military newspaper Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye, Anatoliy Stepanovich Dyakov and Pavel Lenardovich Podvig of the Center for Study of Disarmament Problems under MFTI (Moscow Institute of Physics and Engineering) review the START Treaty issues and prospects for further nuclear disarmament.
Nuclear Disarmament Commentary June/July 1999 Volume 1, Number 3, published by The Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy, New York: Nuclear Disarmament Faces A Most Critical Year (by William Epstein) Available on the LCNP website. http://www.lcnp.org

Y2K petition for individuals: Take Nuclear Weapons Off Alert To Avoid Possible Y2K Nuclear Catastrophe

The danger that a Y2K-related computer malfunction could trigger an accidental global nuclear war has impelled more than 170 international Environmental, Peace, Antinuclear, Trade-Union, Church groups and Politicians to write to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, demanding that strategic nuclear weapons be taken off their current hair-trigger launch status over the Y2K period. Y2K problems are likely to affect the computer systems that coordinate strategic nuclear weapons systems. Many respected experts are warning that due to Y2K problems these systems, both in the US and Russia, pose an unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war.

The concerned individuals below join the above organisations in the call to Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton:

Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, Defence Ministers, Defence Secretaries, Heads of State and UN Missions,
We are writing to convey our extreme concern over the possibility that Year 2000 (Y2K)-related computer failures in nuclear weapons systems may lead to an unacceptable risk of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation.

There should therefore be a 'safety first ' approach to Y2K and nuclear arsenals. The only responsible solution is for them all to be taken off alert status, with the decoupling of nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles.

The immediate stakes are so high, and the potential for global catastrophe so clear, that mutually verified de-alerting in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of politics and national security.

We therefore strongly urge that you remove all strategic and tactical nuclear weapons from 'hair trigger' alert, and place them in a status in which at least hours and preferably days would be required to launch them.

Name (printed) Address Signature

Return signed forms urgently to- at latest before the end of October 1999: Australian Peace Committee (SA)Inc. mailto:

WHISTLEBLOWERS

Mordechai Vanunu web references

Free Mordechai Vanunu Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/
Mordechai Vanunu: Short Biography with Bibliographical References and reference http://www.wagingpeace.org/mordechai_vanunu.html
Freedom for Mordechai Vanunu http://www.hagalil.com/GuShalom/modaot/vanunu.htm
Vanunu ...the Composers "I Am Your Spy" by Vanunu http://www.toysatellite.com.au/babel/vanunu/
Free Mordechai Vanunu http://salam.org/activism/vanunu.html
Free Mordechai Vanunu http://www.peacewire.org/vanunu.html
The Nation - Minority Report http://www.thenation.com/issue/980511/0511hitch.htm
Israel: Vanunu should now be released, says Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news/press/releases/18_march_1998-0.shtml http://www3.itu.int/ipb/vanunu.htm
PS Magazine http://www.jcn18.com/newstand/ps/ps_archv/vanunu.htm

BRIEFINGS

Morbidity and mortality among Iraqi children from 1990 through 1998: Assessing the Impact of the Gulf War and Economic Sanctions

This is a paper written by Dr Richard Garfield (School of Public Health, Columbia University) which studies the effect of war and sanctions on civilian populations. It was commissioned as an Occasional Paper by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame and the Fourth Freedom Forum.

You can find this paper at the website of the UK-based Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq (CASI): http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/casi

CONFERENCES - MEETINGS - SEMINARS

Events listed here are being published only once due to limited space. Changes, however, will be taken into account (marked with ''UPDATE'')

World Congress on Managing and Measuring Sustainable Development

Date: 17-22 August 2000
Venue: Kananaskis Village, Canada
Organized by The Society for World Sustainable Development

For details, goto: http://members.home.net/g.dufour/

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