United States attacks Nevada Desert

26 September 2001

Kia ora,

The media advisory below is forwarded on behalf of the Shundahai Network. It relates to an impending nuclear weapons test on Western Shoshone land in Nevada. Their land is subject to the Treaty of Ruby Valley - rather than honouring the Treaty, the US government (and until recently, the British government) has used the land for nuclear weapons tests since 1945, and have turned it into a radioactive wasteland.

If you would like to let the US government now what you think about this, you can write or fax the US Embassy here in Aotearoa. Contact details: US Embassy, PO Box 1190, Wellington; tel (04) 472 2068; fax (04) 471 2380 or 472 9804. Ask them to convey your thoughts on this to their government.
______________________________

United States attacks Nevada Desert
Media advisory from Nevada Desert Experience and Shundahai Network

25 September 2001

Tomorrow the United States will commit another attack on America- this time in our own backyard, at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. "Subcritical Nuclear weapons test "Oboe 8" has extremely poor timing, " said Susi Snyder, spokeswoman for Shundahai Network, "at a time where the President of the United States has declared a war on terrorism, this terroristic act is taking place at home. The people of America will not stand for nuclear weapons testing- designed to show that "might is right". This is not the way of civilized people, this is not the justice which Americans believe in. This test must be stopped."

Shundahai Network and the Nevada Desert Experience invite everyone to participate in a Sunrise Ceremony, followed by a nonviolent direct action at the gates of the Nevada Test Site. Sunrise Ceremony will start around 5:30 am, immediately followed by a nonviolent direct action. These actions are taken by those who are willing to put their bodies on the line to prevent the furthering of the military mindset in our country, and to demand the United States be accountable for their actions. At 4 PM we will gather at the Foley Federal Building, 300 S. Las Vegas Blvd. for a peaceful demonstration and vigil.

The "Oboe" tests are prepared by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, and are detonated approximately 1,000 feet underground at the Nevada Test Site in a specially made, reusable chamber. Although a subcritical nuclear test does not achieve the level of a self-sustained chain reaction, it does involve high explosives blown up along with fissile material (usually plutonium). Sophisticated equipment records the event and the resulting data is later fed into computers.

Upon the completion of the "Oboe" series next year with the "Oboe 7" test, currently delayed by technical problems, the DOE intends to begin detonating another series of underground subcritical tests at NTS that are prepared by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Each test in that series ("Piano") will happen in 12-18 month intervals.

The Livermore and Los Alamos labs are the DOE's main nuclear weapons research and development labs, and the subcritical tests are paid for by funds from the DOE's Stockpile Stewardship Program, which, despite its name, is an aggressive nuclear weapons program.

While the DOE claims that the underground subcritical tests are needed to maintain the safety & reliability of the nuclear stockpile, anti-nuclear groups believe that they are really about nuclear weapons development, and that, among other things, they violate the spirit if not the letter of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), compounding the difficulty of the CTBT's ongoing international ratification.

Activities will be taking place around the world to condemn this test, in the past people in Japan, US, Australia, and Europe have held protests over subcritical nuclear tests. In the San Francisco Bay Area of the US there will be a demonstration at noon on Weds. Sept. 26 at the Bechtel HQ located at 50 Beale St., San Francisco.

For more information check out www.shundahai.org. More info is also available in the alerts re previous US nuclear weapons tests on the PMA website.

Index page on Nuclear weapons testing

Action Alerts	PMA's newsletter	What's on where	Peace links	Help PMA grow	How PMA can help you	Petition Forms	Site Map