urg:::Misco Int'l : Weapons, Little Boy Bits; NWaste; etc

[Gavin Mudd]

Nuclear bombs no longer a deterrent

Tuesday, June 18, 2002


OVER the years, Australia has put a great deal of effort into trying to stop
the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The underlying logic of our position
was obvious: the two superpowers already had the capacity to destroy the
world many times over, so there was no need for any other countries to
possess the atom bomb.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union, however, has caused a seismic shift
in the strategic environment. The key danger seemed to be that more
countries would obtain nuclear weapons and, obviously, if there were more
bombs it seemed more likely that there was a greater risk of them being
used. With unthinkable consequences.

That's why there was such concern when India and Pakistan demonstrated that
they possessed a nuclear capability. The likelihood of the bombs being used
immediately appeared that much closer. Nevertheless, this has not been the
case. In fact, the knowledge that both sides possess nuclear weapons might
even have made conventional war less likely.

Deterrence seems to work. Although the countries have fought three wars over
the 50 years of their existence, there have been no open armed conflicts
since they acquired the bomb. This is the vital feature that distinguishes
this sort of proliferation. The bombs are not meant ever to be used.

Because of the great risk that at some stage a government might be tempted
to use the weapons, Australia continued attempting to stop the spread of
nuclear technology. Nevertheless proliferation is, in itself, only half the
danger.

A new strategy, which accepts that nuclear bombs can (and even should) be
used, is quietly being developed in cities such as Washington and, most
extraordinarily, London. And, if the United Kingdom goes ahead with its
plans to develop and build new tactical nuclear weapons, Australia may as
well forget about attempting to stop anyone getting the bomb.

President George Bush overthrew an important rule that sustains the
international system when he announced that the US would be prepared to
strike first, if it believed that it faced an imminent attack. Nevertheless,
so far American actions have been limited to the invasion of Afghanistan,
widely considered as a justifiable retaliation after the attack on the World
Trade Centre.

In Washington, the State Department is well aware that the international
consensus supporting the US would immediately disintegrate if Iraq were to
be invaded.

What is far more frightening today is that other, smaller countries appear
to be adopting a similar doctrine. Over the weekend it was revealed that
Britain is already planning to build a massive nuclear bomb-making factory,
which will turn out a new generation of small weapons. Unlike the UK's
previous missile force, these weapons are meant to be used rather than
having a simply deterrent effect.

This statement represents a seismic change in the way we have always thought
about the bomb. In a flash it moves from being the ultimate deterrent, to
being simply another weapon. The hurdle militating against the use of the
bomb - by any side - has not simply been lowered, it's been swept away.

If Britain "updates" its arsenal of weaponry to pack more of a punch,
there's a good chance that France will do likewise. China is already trying
desperately to ensure it has enough missiles to overwhelm any missile shield
that George Bush wants to create.

The world has begun to enter a completely new military environment. Rather
than simply clinging to our previous policy positions on issues like
proliferation, we need to realise we are now in a different world.


© 2002 The Canberra Times - canberra.yourguide.com.au

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Posted :Sat, 15 Jun 2002 13:34 AEST

Court clears way for sale of A bomb remnants


A court in the United States has cleared the way for the controversial sale
of the last remnants from the atomic bomb which devastated Hiroshima in
1945.

The San Francisco District Court has rejected a US Government request to
block the auction sale of two electrical plugs from Little Boy, the first
nuclear weapon ever used in war.

Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6 1945, killing tens of
thousands of people.

The Government contended the two plugs, a green one used to test the
mechanism and a spare red one that would actually set off the bomb, were
still classified as secret.

The judge disagreed and the plugs are now officially the property of a
retired missile scientist from California.


© 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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Posted :Sat, 15 Jun 2002 6:53 AEST

Quake shakes Nevada mountains


An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale has shaken the United
States state of Nevada's Yucca Mountains, near the site of a proposed
nuclear waste dump.

The US Geological Survey says the trembler did not cause any damage or
injuries.

Nevada's Governor Kenny Guinn has been opposing the Bush administration's
plan to store long-term radioactive waste in the area, saying part of the
danger is earthquakes.


© 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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US missile plans fire Russian ire
By DREW BROWN in Washington and ERIC ENGLEMAN in Russia
15jun02


RUSSIA has withdrawn from the START II nuclear weapons treaty, only hours
after a US announcement it would develop a missile defence system.

The Russian move followed President George W. Bush's earlier announcement
that his missile system would be in place as quickly as possible.

The system, which would fire missiles to knock out US-bound missiles in
mid-air, breaches the 1972 treaty, from which the Bush Administration
withdrew last year.

Critics have warned Mr Bush's decision could spark a new arms race with
Russia or new rivals.

Russia reacted to the news by withdrawing from START II, signed in 1993,
which would have reduced each country's nuclear warhead stockpile to 3000 to
3500 each.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the country "no longer
considers itself committed to the international legal obligations" of START
II.

The US Congress ratified the treaty in 1996 and the Russian parliament
followed suit in 2000, but Russian lawmakers linked START II to preservation
of the 1972 treaty.

In a written statement yesterday, Mr Bush described that treaty as a relic
that prevented the US from defending itself against missile attacks by
terrorists and hostile nations.

"As the events of September 11 made clear," Mr Bush said, "we no longer live
in the Cold War world for which the ABM treaty was designed. We now face
threats from terrorists who seek to destroy our civilisation by any means
available to rogue states armed with weapons of mass destruction and
long-range missiles."

The 1972 ABM treaty was the centrepiece of successful nuclear arms control
between the US and the former Soviet Union for 30 years.

The treaty banned the two countries from building systems to defend against
attack from nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. It was designed to
reduce the threat of nuclear war by denying each side the ability to launch
a pre-emptive strike without massive retaliation.

It is the first major arms control agreement from which the US has withdrawn
unilaterally.


© News Limited 2002 - www.theadvertiser.news.com.au

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Posted :Thu, 20 Jun 2002 8:06 AEST

Greenpeace activists block Dutch nuclear waste train


Environmental activists have blocked a train carrying Dutch nuclear waste to
a French reprocessing plant, as pressure group Greenpeace steps up its
campaign against nuclear power.

Dutch police have arrested four Greenpeace campaigners after they blocked a
railway line near the southern port city of Flushing to prevent a train
carrying waste from a local plant reaching the Cogema reprocessing facility
in Le Havre.

One activist chained himself to a metal pole under the railway tracks, a
police spokesman said.

Police removed the protesters as the nuclear waste transport waited at a
nearby station.

Greenpeace frequently targets trains carrying nuclear waste from the
Netherlands' only commercial nuclear power plant at Borssele.

The government plans to close it next year but the owner, utility EPZ, is
lobbying for it to stay open until 2013.

On Tuesday, Greenpeace activists delayed a train with German nuclear waste
travelling through France.


© 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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Posted :Sat, 15 Jun 2002 22:22 AEST

Doctors nuke 'anti-radiation pills' claim


A US-based company is offering "anti-radiation" pills to Indians who are
worried about the possibility of a nuclear exchange between India and
Pakistan.

In the Times of India newspaper today, Anbex offered potassium iodide
tablets for "protection from nuclear weapons radiation."

The company's advertisement says the pill was safe and effective,
recommended for children and "proven at Chernobyl", the site of a
devastating nuclear accident in Ukraine in 1986.

However, BK Mohanti, of the department of radiotherapy at the All India
Institute of Medical Science, says "the beneficial effects of the intake of
such a drug are doubtful."

Tensions between India and Pakistan have been high since an attack on
parliament in New Delhi in December, which India blamed on Pakistan-based
militants.

They were re-ignited last month when militants attacked a bus and an army
camp in southern Kashmir killing 32 people, mainly women and children.

Intense international diplomacy has succeeded in bringing the two countries
back from the brink of war.

Last month Indian newspapers reported between 9 million and 12 million
people would die in a "worst-case" nuclear war between India and Pakistan,
according to a classified Pentagon assessment.

A few weeks ago the public was offered the chance to buy portable nuclear
shelters, which could provide protection to 30 people for up to 96 hours.


© 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation