WNII is an electronic information service of INES,
the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility

Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail: < >
INES homepage: http://www.mindspring.com/~us016262/ines.html
INES International Office < >
INES Chair Prof. Armin Tenner < >

INES Office Brussels: New phone number ^

Please note that the INES Office in Brussels (c/o Institute for International Assistance and Solidarity - IFIAS) has the following new phone number: Tel.: (32-2) 215 7908, Fax: (32-2) 245 6297

The Office is open daily from 9.00 - 12.00 and 13.00 - 17.00; the e-mail address remains: < >

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

New brochure on abolition of nuclear weapons ^

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) USA is pleased to announce that in February we will publish a new four-color brochure on abolition of nuclear weapons, intended for mainstream distribution. The brochure was explicitly written so that other organizations will be able to distribute it. While it mentions in two places that it is produced by PSR, that fact is not featured prominently. Indeed, it urges people to "join a group working to eliminate nuclear weapons," so PSR hopes that other groups will want to distribute it.

NOTE: PSR will provide up to 50 brochures free to any organization that wants them, though PSR will not pay for overnight mail. If you want more than 50, please contact PSR to discuss a price.

!!! mailto Bob Tiller < >

US Defense Department Budget ^

Details and analysis of the Defense Department's Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2000 will be available on the website of the Center for Defense Information (CDI) by Monday, February 1, 1999 at: http://www.cdi.org/issues/usmi/highlightsFY00.html

Plans revealed to dump European and Asian nuclear waste in Russia

On 23 January, Greenpeace International released a leaked document revealing secret efforts by Russian officials to secure lucrative contracts to allow the illegal dumping of nuclear waste from "Switzerland, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan and possibly Japan" in Russia. Greenpeace has denounced the plans as ill-conceived, immoral and illegal. Given that Russian law directly forbids the importation of foreign nuclear waste, the offer would appear to be a rogue operation conducted by top-ranking Minatom officials to attract foreign hard currency.

The document released is linked to another leaked document, which was published by Greenpeace on January 12, 1999. That document, a "Protocol of Intentions", outlined negotiations, held on September 17, 1998, between representatives of Swiss nuclear utilities (EGL and NOK) and the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) and their commercial agents (Techsnabexport, Russia and Internexco, GmbH, Germany). In the "Protocol", Swiss utilities sought agreement to send some 2,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel to Russia for disposal or reprocessing. In either case all radioactive waste would remain in Russia. Deputy director of Minatom, N. Yegorov, said that Russian law, which bans the dumping of foreign nuclear waste, would have to be "amended accordingly or special decisions taken on a governmental level."

Copies of the briefing paper are available at: http://www.greenpeace.org/~nuclear/waste/rusbrief.html

CONFERENCES - MEETINGS - SEMINARS ^

!!! NOTE: 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

The Congress will deal with four levels of concern:

1. Environment
2. People
3. Economic Development
4. Availability of Resources

 For more details, !!! mailto < >