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Action Alert - Russian and US nuclear weapons tests
Peace Movement Aotearoa
PO Box 9314, Wellington. Tel (04) 382 8129, fax (04) 382 8173, pma@apc.org.nz
Issued 10 December 1998
Kia ora, they are all at it again ! We have received news that the Russians detonated a nuclear weapons test yesterday; the dry run for the impending US test 'Cimarron' is scheduled for Thursday 10th Dec (their time) and the test will occur within forty eight hours of the dry run.
Below are :
1) the details of who to protest to about the Russian test;
2) some further info on the US test and who to protest to about that.
1) RUSSIAN TEST - the only information to hand is a message saying "according to the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, Russia conducted a subcritical nuclear test today (Wednesday) at its Novya Zemlya test site."
If you wish to protest about this test, then please contact :a) the Ambassador of the Russian Federation - Mr Sergei Belyaev, 57 Messines Road, Karori, Wellington. tel (04) 476 6113, fax (04) 476 3843.
b) Jenny Shipley and Don McKinnon and ask them to contact the Russian ambassador to register the NZ government's disapproval of it - Prime Minister's office tel (04) 471 9998; fax (04) 473 7045; Don McKinnon's office tel 471 9999; fax 471 1444 or write to them at Parliament Buildings,
Wellington (no stamp needed).
c) Contact your local MP and ask them to contact Jenny Shipley, Don McKinnon and the Russian ambassador.
2) US TEST - rather more info on this one, so this bit is in three parts:
a) a note about the difference between this and the previous US sub-criticals from US groups working against their nuclear weapons test programme; b) the official DOE press release (note the dates are different from the updated ones we have received from the US this morning); and c) who to protest to.
a) Note from Tri-Valley CAREs
There are a few things about this subcritical nuclear test that are DIFFERENT from the previous ones. Sally Light from our office called DOE on Tuesday, and this is what she was told -- (1) The amount of high explosives and plutonium to be used in this test is classified. Why? This subcritical test will involve an actual piece of a plutonium pit (the bomb core). (2) This test is related to DOE's plutonium pit manufacture and reuse program.
I believe the extra secrecy and the probably deliberate disinformation regarding the date of the "dry run" -- thus obscuring the date of the actual test -- are due to the fact this test uses at least a partial bomb configuration.
Further, it is interesting to note that the press release from DOE is more vague and ambiguous than usual. For example, in addition to not listing the amounts of material used, the press release does not name this test as "Cimarron," though all the previous DOE press releases had named those tests.
Peace, Marylia, Tri-Valley CAREs
b) DOE press release
News Media Contact: For Immediate Release:
Derek S. Scammell, 702-295-3521 December 8, 1998
Jim Danneskiold, 505-667-1640
Matthew Donoghue, 202-586-5806
DOE to Conduct Fifth Subcritical Experiment Scientific Data to Help Ensure the Safety and Reliability Of the Stockpile Without Nuclear Testing
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will conduct its fifth subcritical experiment in Nevada on December 9. Subcritical experiments produce essential scientific data and technical information to support DOE's Stockpile Stewardship Program to maintain the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing. The experiments are called "subcritical" because no critical mass is formed, no self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction can occur and therefore no nuclear explosion can result. The experiments are fully consistent with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
The experiment will address physics to be used in modeling the nuclear explosion process in simulation codes. The experiment consists of a set of experimental packages to measure early time dynamic behavior of special nuclear material (SNM).
Two identical experimental assemblies will be fielded with different diagnostic suites, that will measure the properties of plutonium. Each assembly will be composed of SNM and high explosives. The experiment will be conducted at the Nevada Test Site's U1a Complex, 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The U1a Complex is an underground laboratory of horizontal tunnels about one-half mile in length mined at the base of a vertical shaft, approximately 960 feet beneath the surface, designed to contain these experiments in a safe and secure environment.
c) Who to protest to
i) People to express your indignation to in Aotearoa / New Zealand :
a) Contact the US ambassador - Josiah Beeman, US Embassy, 29 Fitzherbert Tce, Thorndon, Wellington; tel (04) 472 2068; fax (04) 471 2380.
b) Contact Jenny Shipley and Don McKinnon and ask them to contact the US ambassador to ask his government to stop the test / register the NZ government's disapproval of it (depending on soon you contact them !) -
Prime Minister's office tel (04) 471 9998; fax (04) 473 7045; Don McKinnon's office tel 471 9999; fax 471 1444 or write to them at Parliament Buildings, Wellington (no stamp needed).
You could also point out that in the event of any nuclear weapons tests occurring, you expect to see the US ambassador summoned to the Beehive as was the Indian ambassador when India tested ... and perhaps the bringing home of the NZ ambassador from Washington ?!
c) Contact your local MP and ask them to contact Jenny Shipley, Don McKinnon and the US ambassador.
ii) People to express your indignation to in the US
President Bill Clinton, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC 20001,United States of America. Tel 00-1-202-456-1111 (the Clinton comment line !) or -1414; fax 00-1-202-456-2461 or -2883.
You can send email messages to president@whitehouse.gov, however you only receive an automated response to these, and it is not clear if anyone actually reads them.
You can fax the DOE (Dept of Energy) under whose auspices US nuclear weapons tests are conducted at : 00-1-202-586-4403 or -1567.
You can email Derek Scammell at the DOE office in Las Vegas for more information or to register your disapproval Scammelld@nv.doe.gov
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