Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World Blog

Bay Area Events: Nuclear Weapons Talks 3/11-3/14

Cara Bautista — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:42:05 +0000

Those of you in the Bay Area should check out one of the follow talks on nuclear weapons being given by Tad Daley, author and Writing Fellow with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the 1985 Nobel Peace Laureate organization. He will serve as “Scholar/Activist in Residence” at the UC Berkeley International House March 9-16. Here are the events accompanying his visit:

Thursday, March 11, 2010, 7:30pm
University of California, Berkeley, International House
2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, California, 94720-2320
Tad Daley, author of APOCALYPSE NEVER: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapon-Free World (Rutgers, Spring 2010, www.apocalypsenever.org), will be speaking at the University of California at Berkeley International House regarding how we might actually bring about nuclear weapons abolition. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact lkoziol@berkeley.edu.

Friday, March 12, 2010, 12:00pm
The Commonwealth Club
595 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94105
Tad Daley will argue that the nuclear double standard is both morally indefensible and politically unsustainable, and examine not only why we must abolish nuclear weapons, but also how we can, and what the world will look like after we do.
Cost: MEMBERS FREE, $15 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID)
https://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/open.asp?show=1617

Sunday, March 14, 2010, 12:00pm
Democratic World Federalist Luncheon Lecture
2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, California, 94720-2320
Tad Daley will address the Democratic World Federalists Good Government Luncheon Lecture and Annual Meeting on the global governance architecture of a nuclear weapon-free world. Event takes place at the UC Berkeley International House.

Luncheon and Program — $40
Luncheon and Program for Youth Under 30 and Students — $15
Dessert and Program — $10

For more information, visit http://www.dwfed.org/

Sunday, March 14, 2010, 9:30pm
University of California, Berkeley, International House
2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, California, 94720-2320
Free showing of the 1964 film FAIL-SAFE. Tad Daley will make a few introductory remarks, read a few paragraphs from the chapter in his forthcoming book on “Accidental Atomic Apocalypse,” and then we will view the gripping 1964 film FAIL-SAFE, starring Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman, and Henry Fonda, on global thermonuclear war coming about through nothing more than minor technical mishaps. It might have happened yesterday. It still could happen tomorrow. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact lkoziol@berkeley.edu.

Happy Anniversary NPT, but this is No Time for Celebration!

Leonard Eiger — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:41:00 +0000

Friends,

March 5th was the 40th anniversary of the Non Proliferation Treaty entering into force. The treaty is formally known as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or less formally as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT or NNPT).

The NPT is essentially a treaty to preven

t the spread of nuclear weapons, and 189 nations are parties to the treaty. They include the five major nuclear weapons states, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China. North Korea, one of the signatories, acceded, violated and then withdrew from the treaty in 2003. India, Pakistan and Israel – all known to possess nuclear weapons – are not parties to the treaty.

The NPT came about out of a concern that should more nations build nuclear weapons, the security of all nations would be put at risk, and the risk of accidents, unauthorized use, miscalculation and escalation of small nuclear conflicts would increase. Frank Aiken, Irish Minister for External Affairs, initiated the NPT process in 1958, and by 1968 the treaty was negotiated and ready for signatures.

The nuclear powers have not, for the better part of the past 40 years, made good on the promises made in the NPT, and the U.S. has provided far less than a stellar example. The result has been, as one would expect, that nuclear weapons have proliferated, and we now stand at a crossroad. It is one at which we must stop and take a serious look, for the consequences of the wrong road will one day prove catastrophic.

With the next NPT Review Conference coming up in May 2010, we have much work to do! I will be focusing a number of posts on the NPT and our role (as citizens) in pursuing a strengthened non-proliferation regime. Meanwhile, I highly recommend reading Joseph Gerson’s article published today in CommonDreams.org titled Obama’s Nuclear Credibility Gap. Gerson has been involved in the U.S. peace and justice movement since the 1960s, and is deeply involved in the movement to abolish nuclear weapons.

Thanks to Gerson’s foresight and hard work, this May’s NPT Review Conference will have plenty of company, including 2000 Japanese activists (and atom bomb survivors) who will travel to New York for the May 2nd International Day of Action for a Nuclear Free Future. I am grateful to Joseph for helping me arrange a visit to Seattle by pmembers of the Japanese delegation on its way home after the New York gathering as part of our effort to build awareness, educate people, and get them engaged in the movement to abolish nuclear weapons.

For information about the 2010 NPT Review Conference International Planning Committee’s activities, check out Peace And Justice Now. While you are there be sure to sign the petition to President Obama asking him to fulfill U.S. responsibilities to the NPT.

Peace,

Leonard

Nuclear disarmament sign-on letter for organizations

cbautista — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:10:43 +0000

We want to remind the president that there is widespread support for strong leadership to eliminate nuclear weapons. That’s why the Campaign is launching a new sign-on letter to President Obama. Will your organization sign on?

The letter will call on the president to announce at the upcoming Global Security Summit that he will host a disarmament summit next year. It will be delivered on April 5 to coincide with the anniversary of President Obama’s Prague speech.

This is not a petition for individual members of the public to sign. It is intended for faith, community, environmental, peace, labor, and other groups to approve and sign on to. Organizations can view the letter here and sign on to the letter by the April 1st deadline.

Nuclear Posture Review delayed

Cara Bautista — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:03:12 +0000

The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), already postponed until today, has been delayed again as the Obama administration works to come to a final position on key issues. Now expected at the end of March or later, the NPR will be a critical document outlining US nuclear weapons policy for the next 5-10 years, and could put us on a path toward the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons or serve to stifle progress and maintain an unsustainable status quo.

An excellent New York Times editorial lays out the major decisions being made:

THEIR PURPOSE: Current doctrine gives nuclear weapons a “critical role” in defending the United States and its allies. And it suggests they could be used against foes wielding chemical, biological or even conventional forces — not just nuclear arms. Mr. Obama’s aides have proposed changing that to say that the “primary” purpose of nuclear weapons is to deter a nuclear attack against the United States or its allies. This still invites questions about whether Washington values — and might use — nuclear forces against non-nuclear targets.

A different article in the New York Times points out the different sides of the debate on this issue:

Some leading Democrats, led by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, have asked Mr. Obama to declare that the “sole purpose” of the country’s nuclear arsenal is to deter nuclear attack. “We’re under considerable pressure on this one within our own party,” one of Mr. Obama’s national security advisers said recently.

But inside the Pentagon and among many officials in the White House, Mr. Obama has been urged to retain more ambiguous wording — declaring that deterring nuclear attack is the primary purpose of the American arsenal, not the only one.

Sen. Feinstein’s leadership on this issue is important. Nuclear weapons in today’s world are a liability and continuing to maintain a huge arsenal puts us all at risk of accidental launches or weapons falling into the wrong hands. Without pushing to restrict the purpose or role of nuclear weapons, proposals to make additional, significant reductions to our nuclear weapons stockpile will quickly come up against obstacles. The more roles nuclear weapons fill, the easier it is for nuclear hawks to justify maintaining a huge arsenal far into the future.

The editorial also highlights

ALERT LEVELS: The United States and Russia each still have about 1,000 weapons ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Mr. Obama has rightly described this as a dangerous cold war relic. The review should commit to taking as many of those forces off hair-trigger alert as possible — and encourage Russia to do the same.

Check out the editorial to read more about what the upcoming NPR will cover.

Remembering Castle Bravo (and its Victims)

Leonard Eiger — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:17:00 +0000

Friends,

Here’s one from the Infamous Moments in Nuclear History files:

At 6:45 AM (local time) on March 1, 1954 at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands the United States detonated its first dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb device in the test code named Castle Bravo. It was the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the U.S. with an explosive yield of 15 megatons (scientists expected a yield of 4 to 6 megatons), roughly 1,200 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Castle Bravo was supposed to be a secret test, but because its designers underestimated its yield, things went dreadfully wrong in a flash. Because of the fission products, huge yield and shifting winds, radioactive fallout from the cloud spread quickly and far, contaminating over seven thousand square miles of surrounding ocean and nearby inhabited islands including Rongerik and Rongelap. The flash could be clearly seen 250 miles away (some secret!).

The nearby islands’ inhabitants as well as U.S. soldiers stationed there for the test were exposed to the radioactive fallout, and subsequently evacuated. All were exposed to significant levels of radiation; although short term effects were mild, long term effects were significant for many.

Crewmembers of the Japanese tuna fishing boat, the Daigo Fukuryū Maru, or Lucky Dragon 5 were fishing outside of the declared exclusion zone when Castle Bravo detonated. The ship was covered in fine ash soon after the explosion. By the time the ship returned to Japan all 23 crew members were suffering from the effects of acute radiation syndrome – including nausea, headache, burns, pains in the eyes, and bleeding from the gums – and were admitted to hospitals.
One of the crew, chief radio operator Aikichi Kuboyama, died on September 23 from the effects of radiation exposure. His last words were:

I pray that I am the last victim of an atomic or hydrogen bomb.

The Daigo Fukuryū Maru was one of several hundred fishing boats and their crews
exposed to the fallout from Castle Bravo. The Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident helped bring about a strong anti-nuclear movement in Japan.

The U.S. continued its atmospheric nuclear testing, conducting 67 tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls between 1946 and 1958 leaving a legacy of contamination anddeath. “840 Marshall islanders are believed to have died of health problems caused by the tests. As of the end of 2003, more than 1,000 islanders were suffering from symptoms believed related to radiation exposure.” Today (54 years later) the Marshall Islands are still contaminated, and radioactive cesium is found in water and fruits.

Today’s anti-nuclear movement is a global movement that I hope will continue to grow at a time when we need to bring strong pressure to bear on our governments’ leaders to disarm. Let us hope that it will not take an incident like the one involving the Daigo Fukuryū Maru to make people rise up against the nuclear monster that continues to threaten humankind.

Let us pray (and work so) that there will be no more victims.

Peace,

Leonard

Reference: Japan Times editorial: Nuclear Tragedy in the Pacific, Sunday March 1, 2009