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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No.48/1999 |
Dateline: December 15, 1999 |
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This is a weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail: < >
INES homepage: http://inesglobal.org
INES International Office < >
INES Chair Prof. Armin Tenner < >
INES Congress 2000
''Challenges for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century''
Stockholm, 14-18 June 2000
http://www.ines2000.org
INES 2000 Conference Secretariat: mailto:
CONTENTS of WNII No. 48/1999
MEMBER ORGANISATIONS' AND PROJECT GROUPS' NEWS
Technology for Life, Finland: Finnish renewable energy promotion program established
As a national contribution to the EU white paper on renewable energy a white paper for renewable energy promotion was accepted by the government of Finland in September 1999 and was be published as a programme of action of Ministry of Trade and Industry in 30 November 1999. It will be a part of national greenhouse gas abatement strategy of the Finnish government, to be published in 2001.
An additional 3.1 Mtoe of renewable energy capacity, i.e. a 50 % increase to 1995 level, will be installed at a cost of 3 billion euros by 2010, raising the share of renewable energy from 21 % to estimated 27 % of primary energy consumption.
The program will strengthen and override two previous national renewable energy promotion programs, wind power programme from 1993 and biomass programme from 1994.
The white paper was planned by a working group established in December 1998 with 10 members from ministries, 2 members from other governmental organisations, 10 members from industry organisations, 2 members from research organisations and 1 member from an environmental organisation.
INES member Technology for Life took part in the drafting work.
Ari Lampinen < > Technology for Life, and University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org
Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
Center for Defense Information (USA): Two Giant Steps Closer to A New Nuclear Arms Race http://www.cdi.org/issues/proli
Press Release, December 10, 1999
Washington, DC.- The Center for Defense Information characterized this week's decision to resume U.S. production of tritium gas and the separate recommendations to restart plutonium production and to begin designing new nuclear warheads as "giant steps" toward plunging the world into a new nuclear arms race.
"The decision to use the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant to produce tritium is absolutely unnecessary and severely undercuts U.S. efforts to convince other countries to abide by the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)," charged retired Senator Dale Bumpers, Director of the independent non-profit Center. "How in the world can the United States claim that we are doing our utmost to reduce nuclear arsenals - which is our part of the NPT bargain - when we take actions that any sane person can see will both prolong and intensify the nuclear arms race."
Rear Admiral Eugene Carroll, USN (Ret.), the Center's Deputy Director, noted that these decisions were made public just as a new grass-roots effort was launched to convince the Administration and the Russians to take all nuclear missiles off hair-trigger alert to reduce the danger of accidental launch. Noting that Russia declared earlier this year that nuclear weapons are the foundation of its military security, Carroll said that "these U.S. decisions to resume weapons designs and produce new stocks of tritium and plutonium fly in the face of the de-alerting initiative. When added to the Senate's Rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, these announcements will strengthen Russian hard-liners in their efforts to end cooperation with the U.S. in neutralizing Russia's excess plutonium and converting their ten nuclear cities into non-military production centers."
Carroll also noted that the use of the TVA plant breaches a long-standing barrier that separated civilian and military applications of nuclear energy. "By blurring the line between peaceful application of nuclear energy and its uses for war, we are telling other nations that they can mix these applications also, thereby increasing the chances that someone will try to cheat by clandestinely producing weapons-grade material in civilian reactors. This opens a veritable Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation."
Senator Bumpers also commented on the timing of both the TVA announcement and the release of the recommendations by the congressionally-appointed nuclear weapons stockpile review panel chaired by former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory chief John Foster. "Just as the Russian Duma is actively considering whether to vote on ratifying the START II Treaty, we give them every incentive to shelve a landmark agreement that would cut Russian and American nuclear arsenals in half. This could not have been worse timing; it will cost us and the world dearly."
References re WTO Ministerial Meeting at Seattle
So far, I have collected the following articles which, to my point of view, present an interesting assessment:
You can obtain these articles (email version) from me: < >
UNIDIR "disarmament forum" four/1999
"Framework for a Mine-Free World" is the main subject of "disarmament forum" four/1999 which is published by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research. It consists of the following articles:
Articles are published in English and French.
For a copy, contact:
New VERTIC Publications Verification Research, Training and Information Centre, London http://www.fhit.org/vertic
For orders, contact: < >
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
597th Wilton Park Conference: The Monitoring and Verification of Peace Agreements
Introduction I) The Role of Monitoring and Verification in Peace Agreements (Trevor Findlay, Executive Director, VERTIC)
II) An Overview of UN Experiences in Monitoring and Verification (Francesco Vendrell, UN Acting Assistant Secretary General for the Americas, Europe and Asia)
Thematic Issues III) Military Aspects: Ceasefires, Disengagement, Withdrawals, Demobilisation and Disarmament (Jane Boulden, Queens University Department of Political Studies, Kingston/Ontario)
IV) Civilian Police Aspects (Matt Vaccaro, Washington Office of the Deputy Ass. Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance)
V) Other Civilian Aspects: Human Rights (Bertie Ramcharan, UN Human Rights Commission)
Elections (Reg Austin, International Idea, Stockholm)
Case Studies VI) Ecuador/Peru: Drawing Lessons from a Successful Operation; Glenn Weidner, US Army School of the Americas
VII) The Kosovo Verification Mission: Verification under Duress Major General K J Drewienkiewicz, Chief of Operations, OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission October 1998 to April 99
For more details,
Nonviolence & Social Empowerment Conference
Nonviolence and Social Empowerment is a project that includes the collection of case studies, the conference, a book, and regional follow-up. As one of the first international events of the Decade for the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence, this project is an important resource on the power of nonviolence. The understanding of nonviolent social empowerment differs in different parts of the world. Through an international email discussion we hope to develop a common understanding about differences and shared ideas about nonviolent social empowerment.
Contact WRI Project Nonviolence & Social Empowerment: < >
INES WEB AND E-MAIL SERVICE
All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
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