From: Russell David Hoffman, very concerned citizen
Re: Not Worth Jack: STOP CASSINI #205
Date: October 10th, 1999
"There can be no democracy without truth, no justice without mercy, and no nuclear dispersals without ill consequences."
This issue's subjects:
The statement shown below by Paul Swann is an excellent look at an important detail or "clue" to what is going on in the Y2K-nuclear arena. Namely apathy, cover-up, feigned concern and false promises. The world is being lied to. Yes, your bank's books might not balance after Y2K, but you'll survive that. The world will survive that. So who cares? Banks were working on this problem in the early 1980's (when I worked at one); they'll probably be okay. The real problems are the various nuclear demons all over the world -- the 50,000 nuclear warheads, the 1000 or so nuclear reactors (including commercial, research, military, and closed), the spent fuel ponds, the nuclear waste facilities, and nuclear waste in transit. Each of these make balancing one's checkbook rather insignificant by comparison. Yet still nothing is being done! -- rdh
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 16:54:22 +0000
To: talkingpoint@bbc.co.uk
From: Paul Swann pswann@easynet.co.uk
Subject: Nuclear Talking Point
Cc: y2k-nuclear@egroups.com, uk-y2k-action@egroups.com,
y2k-nukes@envirolink.org, strategies@egroups.com
Reply-To: pswann@easynet.co.uk
Sender: owner-Y2K-nukes@envirolink.org
I was asked to contribute to the World Service Talking Point programme on nuclear safety but sadly the phone call never came!
What I would have liked to have said is:
I'm a campaigner for an international NGO called Y2K WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday) that was initiated by concerned citizens in Japan last July.
Firstly, Y2K is more complex and hence more serious than governments are letting on, although the US State Department Inspector General has said:
"Y2K-related failures are inevitable, both here in the USA and abroad".
The only question is: How serious will the consequences of Y2K be?
The only answer is: We won't know until it happens.
Because of the uncertainties and heightened risks associated with Y2K, it makes sense for individuals and communities to make appropriate preparations.
In a nightmare worst case scenario, we'd have nuclear weapons systems malfunctioning and / or nuclear reactors melting down.
Both are possible, though the risk of an accidental nuclear war has been significantly reduced by the recent establishment of a Center for Year 2000 Strategic Stability at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. This will be manned over the critical rollover period by 18 - 20 Russian Colonels and their American counterparts to ensure open communication and information exchange in the event of an accidental launch.
A more effective measure would be to take the Russian and American nuclear arsenals off hair-trigger alert and de-couple nuclear warheads from their delivery vehicles, but there doesn't seem to be any movement in this direction at the moment.
It's also worrying that 6 of the 7 cold war telecommunications hotlines between the US and Russian Presidents and military are currently not Y2K-compliant.
The main concern with nuclear reactors is the possible consequence of disruptions to the electrical power grid. This would bring emergency diesel back-up generators into play, which are known to have reliability problems. For instance, on December 27th last year, the grid connection to Hunterston B nuclear power station in Scotland was lost because of bad weather. The reactors were tripped manually and the back up generators were brought into operation.
The site was reconnected to the grid within two hours, but later in the day the grid connection was lost again. Unfortunately the automatic protection systems had not been re-set, and an additional fault with a diesel generator caused problems in maintaining electrical supplies and hence cooling to the reactors.
The subsequent investigation into this serious incident found that it was caused by "a combination of procedural deficiencies, a plant fault (i.e. the diesel generator), and operational weaknesses."
My concern is that the inherent danger of nuclear technology, combined with the potential for Y2K failures, could lead to a chain of events such as occurred at Hunterston B, with potentially catastrophic consequences. A cascade of problems may stretch the resources of plant operators, and it's known that human error was a major factor at both Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, as well as in the recent accident in Japan.
To mitigate the risks of Y2K-related nuclear accidents, the Y2K WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday) campaign demands:
1. de-alert nuclear weapon systems and de-couple nuclear warheads from their delivery vehicles
2. begin a managed phase-down of nuclear reactors to standby status during the critical period
3. provide additional back-up generators at all nuclear facilities, with adequate fuel supplies for worst-case scenarios
4. institute a worldwide moratorium on the transport of all nuclear materials until the crisis is over
5. ensure that emergency contingency plans are in place in every community where a nuclear facility is located, including adequate supplies of potassium iodide tablets
During the discussion, David Kidd of the IAEA was admirably forthright in stating that "There is a potential risk if the electricity grid becomes unstable...we're certainly taking it seriously."
I would have liked to have asked Mr Kidd why the IAEA presentation at the recent G8 special conference on Y2K contingency planning in Berlin was allotted just 5 minutes in the conference agenda?
To me this suggests that either there's huge complacency about the issue, both at the IAEA and in the G8, or that all Y2K remediation programmes in the worldwide nuclear industry have been completed, and all systems - including external systems that nuclear power plants depend on - have been successfully tested.
I know for a fact that the latter is not the case.
Mr Kidd spoke himself about the dangers of a "complacent mindset" in the nuclear industry. Why did the IAEA not press for a reasonable period of time in the conference agenda to enable them to address the issue with the seriousness that he claims they are giving to it?
Had it not been for the actions of a dozen self-financed activists from the G8 countries who gained access to the conference and distributed a "Berlin Declaration" (URL below) to the delegates, the issue would have been brushed under the carpet.
This hardly inspires confidence in the nuclear industry's ability to cope with Y2K responsibly and effectively.
Y2K WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday) Berlin Declaration:
http://www.zeitbombe-jahr2000.de/zebo.y2k/inh./y2k.cont./Berlin_Declaration.html
Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS) webpage:
http://www.nirs.org/y2k/y2kandnuclearpowerwebpage.htm
Three Mile Island Alert Y2K webpage:
http://www.tmia.com/y2k.htm
BASIC report "The Bug in the Bomb":
http://www.basicint.org/y2krept.htm
CND report "Millennium Bug & Nuclear Weapons":
http://www.cnduk.org/briefing/year2K.htm
Greenpeace report "Y2K: It's Potential Threat to Nuclear Facilities":
Email version available from:
pswann@easynet.co.uk
Trend Monitor report "The Millennium Reckoning: Implications of the
Year 2000 Computer Timebomb":
http://www.trendmonitor.com/y2ka.htm
"Red Alert!" A New Internationalist special report on Nuclear weapons and the millennium bug. Email version available from pswann@easynet.co.uk
"Midnight Crossing" by James A. Kitfield, Air Force Magazine, July, 1999
http://www.afa.org/magazine/0799midnight.html
y2k-nuclear email list - to subscribe send a blank email to:
y2k-nuclear-subscribe@egroups.com
Paul Swann, Y2K WASH, 14 Beacon Hill, London N7 9LY
tel/fax: 0171-609 7764
email: pswann@easynet.co.uk
We salute Paul Swann and encourage everyone to join the Y2K-nuclear news group. It has many excellent postings such as the above. -- rdh
In addition to the above comments, Paul also posted this clip from the show he was supposed to be on. I wonder why he never got called? Is everyone in charge still so sure that public panic is the worst thing, that they will ignore their democratic responsibilities, and they won't tell the people what is really happening? -- rdh
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 21:49:23 +0000
To: y2k-nuclear@egroups.com
From: Paul Swann
pswann@easynet.co.uk
Cc: y2k-nukes@envirolink.org
Subject: [y2k-nuclear] Re: Nuclear Talking Point - IAEA on Y2K
BBC World Service
Sunday October 10, 1999
Talking Point: How safe is nuclear power?
Presenter: Robert Lustig
Guest: David Kidd, International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA, the UN body with responsibility for nuclear issues)
RL:
Let's see what David Kidd has to say about that [Y2K problems with embedded chips in nuclear reactors, raised by Elizabeth Fisher, Adelaide]. David, is there a problem there?
DK:
Could be. I wouldn't want to exclude it because we have been advising our member states for the last several months on what they should be looking for in their stations and they say that they're on top of the problem. However, those that have lingering doubts have a very simple solution and that is they close down on the 31st December and crank up again in early January after the long weekend if they do believe that there could be any operational problem. But we will certainly be on alert at our headquarters and certainly we have been working very industriously indeed to try to ensure that n-no [stutters] country has a problem. But there is a potential risk if electricity grids become unstable as a result of Y2K because that can have a knock on effect to power stations that depend on them for their sort of basic running power. But at the moment, no, we're not too alarmed but we certainly take the problem seriously.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Waiting until December 31st to finally close down those nukes which some watchdog group somewhere has somehow, despite all the roadblocks the industry and the NRC [or foreign equivalent] put in their way, managed to PROVE UNEQUIVOCALLY is dangerous, is TOO LATE! The sooner the plants are shut down, the better, because the cooler the fuel becomes, the safer it is. Only GREED keeps them running today, and only YOUR HELP will get them shut down before Y2K! Contact Clinton Continuously! Every day, send him another letter!
The mathematics of activism are as follows: There are 82 people on the Y2K-nuclear list. This newsletter has over 200 subscribers located all over the globe, who voluntarily subscribed to the newsletter. If each of us got one other person to write a letter to President Clinton tomorrow, and we each wrote one ourselves, that would be 400 letters (it doesn't have to be long, it just has to be uniquely yours). We have heard that 400 different letters is at or near the "trigger point" for the Government thinking there is a serious political issue going on (certainly, in some cases, 40,000 letters have not moved the government to action, but that's what we've heard, and it may be bogus but it sounds nice.)
Anyway, if tomorrow, those 400 can find ONE OTHER PERSON each to write Clinton a letter, that would be 800 letters he would get that day (Tuesday, October 12th, 1999). And then on Wednesday, if each of those people simply talked ONE PERSON into writing a letter, and wrote another one themselves, (a slightly modified version of their first letter would do) Clinton would receive 1600 letters! Thursday, 3200 letters. Friday, 6,400. Saturday, 12,800. A week from today, Clinton would receive over 25,000 letters! That is simply if each person who has voluntarily subscribed to this newsletter and is still a subscriber now, and who wants the world to be a safer and more peaceful place, finds JUST ONE PERSON each day for JUST ONE WEEK. Clinton would receive over 50,000 letters!
If the trend continued for JUST ONE MORE WEEK, he would receive 50,000 letters on Monday, 100,000 on Tuesday of next week (October 19th, 1999), 200,000 on Wednesday, and so on -- over 2 and a half MILLION letters next sunday (October 24th, 1999).
I think that would be a miracle, but then, isn't that exactly what the world needs? And isn't this a much easier miracle to achieve than the one which demands nothing go wrong with all these weapons on hair-trigger alert?
So for the next two weeks, if everyone can get just one person each day to speak out for the environment, our children, and our children's children, we will quickly overwhelm the government with our pleas, and they will (hopefully) then be forced into REAL action -- not the lame platitudes such as Kidd and Koskinen and all the others have been presenting. We don't want to be told the problem is being worked on. We want Government to admit the problems are only solvable by admitting they are, in effect, unsolvable. (The nuclear missiles should be de-alerted (and imbedded in cement) and the nuclear power plants should be shut down (and also probably imbedded in cement.)
-- rdh
This letter is in response to the lead item of the previous newsletter (#204), in which we published a description by Jack Shannon about the problems that Beth Hills' husband Jim has been having:
From:
Doinajob2@aol.com
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 10:52:47 EDT
Subject: Re: The sad story of Jim Hills and his family -- STOP CASSINI #204
To: rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
CC: Jacksha1@aol.com
Dear Russell and Jack,
I just read your newsletter, Russell, and am moved to tears that the two of you Cool, Courageous Guys would do this for us. Thank you so very much for caring; for your activism; for your loyalty and support and love. When Jim sees it, I am certain that he will be just as deeply moved.
The friendships and bonds we have made through this nightmare allow us to keep plugging away. We could never wish away what the Navy has done to us, simply because there are so many beautiful and courageous people who have become an enormous and special part of our lives precisely *because* of this struggle.
Thank you so very much. May God bless both of you, and your own battles for Truth, Justice and the preservation of the American Way.
Beth
Dear Beth,
Thank you for your kind words, however, for my part, they are undeserved. Jack Shannon is the real thing. Without courageous people like him, there would be nothing for people like me to write about. No air of authority would be possible without people like Jack Shannon, John Gofman, Ernest Sternglass, Helen Caldicott, and so on. I am just an activist-reporter with an electronic newsletter (and some say, an attitude problem). Without these great people to say with authority the things I say with (at best) style, there would be no movement, or at least it would (and should) be ineffective. Indeed, even if there were 10,000 of me, that would not equal one Jack Shannon. Maybe I can talk the talk, but Mr. Shannon walked the walk.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
Peace Activist
Jack Shannon is a retired U. S. Marine Corps Major, a Former Nuclear Physicist/Nuclear Engineer, a Former Supervising Nuclear Physicist/Engineer and Former Manager of Nuclear Safety Industrial Safety/Industrial Hygiene at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. Here's the URL of his web site:
http://www.mindspring.com/~kapl/index.html
I am a computer programmer and an Internet newsletter author who has interviewed dozens of leading activists and scientists. That doesn't make me worth Jack. -- rdh
At 01:45 AM 10/10/99 -0400, Laurie wrote:
We have no choice but to collaborate with nuclear industry on back-up issue.
We need them to help.
laurie
include me on any correspondence re: this issue please. I have been in
contact several times with nrc.
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- Simplifying group communications
Dear Laurie,
I respectfully wish to disagree with your comments [shown above] for the following reasons:
1) America doesn't negotiate with terrorists. The nuclear industry has held the citizens of the Earth hostage to the "demon hot atom" long enough, and it's time to recognize them for who they are. A Mafia, a terrorist organization, a mind-control experiment (very successful, at that) and a bunch of well-organized thugs.
2) Unless you change the goal of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), they will remain with their current goal, which is to keep the nuclear industry alive. Past today, past Y2K, past the next and the next meltdown. All the way until we live in nothing more than a nuclear wasteland (if we don't already).
So I advise everyone to work with them (the NRC) as best they can. Be in close contact with the folks there if you can stomach their bald-faced lying (as many of my favorite activists do, whom I work with daily). But the industry themselves? That is much harder, and getting through to the NRC is hard enough! If you can think of a way to reach the highly insulated nuclear energy executives, by all means do so, and please tell them that there are some activists on the Internet who want them to install another generator or two, please (but find the million bucks or so it will cost to do it in the next two months elsewhere, if you don't mind).
I think the industry will not respond to us. They HAVE TO respond to the NRC, but the NRC is toothless, miss-aimed, and corrupt. It's philosophies are based on unscientific and inhumane assumptions, and its reason for existence is to institutionalize the various nuclear corporation's greed and to set a permissible dose rate (known as "ALARA").
I wish you luck in all your efforts, but I think if we are to slay any dragons here (or windmills), we must strike at the very heart of the beast, which is truth. Specifically, it is the truth about Low Level Radiation (LLR) dangers, as discussed at Dr. Caldicott's STAR web site, for instance. If we accept that we cannot win "the big one", and shut all these monstrosities down forever, then we can each decide what lesser attack to make, but personally, I don't think it will do any good to contact the nuclear industry, and the NRC needs an awful lot of prodding.
Perhaps running naked through the streets is the best choice, after all!
S.N.A.R.L. -- Standing Naked Against Radiation Lies
S.T.O.P. -- Streaking for Truth Over Poison
N.A.R.C. -- Naked Against Radiation Conspiracies
M.I.L.I.T.A.N.T. -- Maintaining Intelligent Liaisons In Technical Areas (Naked, Technically)
P.E.A.C.E.-N.I.K. -- Politely Ending A Chilling Era (Naked, Intelligent, Knowledgeable)
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
Date: Sat, 09 Oct 1999 15:46:28 -0700
From: Laura Hunter
LauraH@environmentalhealth.org
Subject: Stupidity of Japan's nuclear disaster stuns experts
...............
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 11:13:19 -0700
To: sd-urban@ucsd.edu
From: Carolyn Chase
cdchase@sdearthtimes.com
Subject: Stupidity of Japan's nuclear disaster stuns experts
a couple of paragraphs from a French news story on the Japanese nuke accident makes you wonder don't it?
==========
Stupidity of Japan's nuclear disaster stuns experts
TOKYO, Oct 3 (AFP) -
The child-like stupidity that led to the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1996 (sic) Chernobyl disaster has stunned experts in Japan.
The professional standards "we are talking about here are those of elementary school children," said Nobuo Oda, an emeritus professor of radiation physics at Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Among the litany of mistakes revealed by officials since Thursday's accident at the processing plant in Tokaimura, 120 kilometers (74 miles) northeast of Tokyo:
-- Three workers used steel buckets to pour uranium solution into settling tanks because they were in a hurry. It should have been poured through a reserve tower to be mixed with nitrogen gas and slowly filtered.
-- The trio, two of whom had no previous experience in the operation, used 16 kilograms (35 pounds) of uranium, enough for a self-sustaining "criticality" reaction, when the limit was 2.4 kilograms (5.3 pounds).
-- The company running the plant, JCO Co. Ltd., revised its manual in October 1997 without legal approval to allow steel containers to be used in the dangerous operation.
(end excerpt)
Only the experts are stunned. Normal people recognize that this sort of stuff goes on all the time at a thousand different nuclear sites around the world, including in the United States. We have also heard the accident blamed on criminal negligence, cost-cutting, even terrorism. The real reason is that the fuel reprocessing plant existed in the first place! -- rdh
For those who question our statements published in SPACE NEWS in August, saying that a satellite-based communication system is not as good as a ground-based one, in part because of the vulnerability of satellites to natural and man-made meteors, November 17th of 1999 may be a moment of truth.
That is when the Leonid meteor shower comes, and this year may be a very strong one. Every 33 years, roughly, there is an extra-bright Leonid, and it was predicted that either 1997, 1998 or 1999 would be the strong year. The first two were not especially strong, so many astronomers expect 1999 to be.
It is possible that many satellites will be knocked out. That would be an awakening!
-- Russell D. Hoffman
To complain to NASA about their future nuclear space probes or try to get some questions answered, here are two addresses you can use:
For Europa Orbiter:
"Europa Orbiter comments"
osseuropa@hq.nasa.gov
For Pluto-Kuiper Express:
"Pluto-Kuiper Express comments"
osspluto@hq.nasa.gov
Tell them both missions should be put on hold for at least 100 years. Pluto and Europa aren't going anywhere.
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09/29/99 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 7.214
Women Activists Rally for Y2K, Other Nuclear Dangers
U.S. Newswire
28 Sep 11:56
WOMEN ACTIVISTS RALLY ON CAPITOL HILL; CALL ON CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS Y2K AND OTHER NUCLEAR DANGERS
To: National Desk
Contact: Sharon Pickett, 301-365-9307,
for Women's Action for New Directions
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 /U.S. Newswire/--At a press briefing today on Capitol Hill, speakers made an impassioned plea for our nation to "Disarm, De-alert and Destroy" nuclear weapons. The press briefing was the concluding event of a three-day conference sponsored by Women's Action for New Directions (WAND).
"Maintaining hair-trigger readiness for nuclear confrontation is unjustifiable in today's world," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). "The potential for a missile launch due to misinterpretation of warning systems may well be higher on Jan. 1, 2000, than at any moment since the start of the Cold War. The time is right for a mutual worldwide nuclear stand-down."
"The Cold War is over, but the threat of nuclear weapons still hangs over us like a mushroom cloud. The most fundamental thing we can do for our children is to make sure that they live in a safe and peaceful world," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), sponsor of the Resolution Calling for a Nuclear Weapons Convention. "Books and booster shots have to come before bombs. We have to get our priorities straight. Instead of preparing to wage war, we should be laying the groundwork for waging peace."
Dr. Helen Caldicott, founder of WAND and renowned nuclear disarmament leader, warned of nuclear threats related to Y2K. "In less than 100 days, computer systems around the world will inevitably fail," said Caldicott. "There are 4,400 nuclear weapons in Russia and America on hair trigger alert, ready to be launched by a combination of inaccurate computer data and human error. The Russians don't have the money or manpower to fix their Y2K problem.
They look at America's actions...the expansion of NATO, the U.S. plans to violate the ABM treaty with a star wars missile defense system, the Senate's refusal to ratify the CTBT...and they are justifiably afraid. When you combine this kind of fear and distrust with the uncertainty of Y2K, you have a disaster waiting to happen."
According to Caldicott, there is still time to address the problem if Presidents Clinton and Yeltsen take immediate steps to de-alert nuclear weapons before Dec. 31.
Echoing Caldicott's passionate call for action was Dr. Patch Adams, the eccentric pediatrician portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie "Patch Adams" and currently executive director of the Gesundheit Institute in West Virginia. "Nothing in the past 30 years has caught my attention like the prospect of nuclear annihilation," said Adams. "The very extinction of the human race is at stake. But we can prevent it, and that's why I'm involved in this work."
The speakers called special attention to the need for reductions in military spending. "The U.S. spends $300 billion a year on weapons and the Pentagon," said Caldicott. "That's a third of a trillion dollars. If we spent a million dollars a minute since Jesus was born, we still would not be up to a trillion dollars. When 42 million Americans have no health insurance and one-third of American children live in poverty, this is an evil that cannot be tolerated."
Caldicott used a four-foot model of a Trident submarine, filled with 192 small balls, to illustrate the firepower of a nuclear submarine. The Pentagon has indicated its willingness to reduce its current arsenal of Trident subs, but Congress will not allow the reduction in force to proceed. Current policies prevent the U.S. from reducing its arsenals below the START I levels until the Russian Duma ratifies START II. Critics of the Pentagon budget point to the Trident as just one example of how money is wasted while human needs are neglected.
The press briefing concludes "Women 2000: Agenda for Action: Securing Our Future," a three-day conference that brought more than 200 elected women leaders and activists to Washington, D.C. from Sept. 25 to 28. Participants lobbied Congressional leaders on issues such as the need to reduce military spending, ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and defeat plans to transport nuclear waste through communities across the nation. The conference was sponsored by WAND, the only national peace organization linking women legislators across the country with local women activists as well as women in Congress in order to address issues of militarism, violence and human needs.
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
09/28 11:56
Copyright 1999, U.S. Newswire
Recently, Edward Warner III, assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction, said, "Experts in both Russia and the United States agree that the likelihood of Y2K failures in computer systems associated with our nuclear weapons, supporting command and control and early warning systems is extremely remote".
Someone should tell him that "extremely remote" isn't good enough. -- rdh
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09/20/99 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 7.207
Richardson: Woman to lead cleanup of plant
Published Saturday, September 18, 1999, in the Herald-Leader
``I believe that more women are needed at our DOE sites. The name of that person I don't have but I've narrowed the qualifications to `a woman.' ''
Bill Richardson
Energy Secretary
BY JAMES PRICHARD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PADUCAH--Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said yesterday he has not yet selected the next site manager for the U.S. Department of Energy's cleanup operation here, but only women will be considered for the job.
A nationally prominent opponent of quotas and set-asides said it would be ``flat-out wrong'' to exclude men as candidates.
Jimmie Hodges, a 36-year employee of the federal government and site manager at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant since 1994, announced his retirement Wednesday.
Hodges, the agency's top official at the plant's cleanup site, said he will pursue opportunities in private business after his retirement, which takes effect Oct. 1.
Richardson said Hodges made the decision to leave and was welcome to stay if he changes his mind.
``He's been an invaluable member of the DOE and has done a great job,'' Richardson said. ``His leaving is his decision, not mine. He's leaving for personal reasons. He can stay if he wants but he has made his decision.''
J. Dale Jackson, director of the uranium management division at the DOE's office in Oak Ridge, Tenn., will serve as acting Paducah site manager until a permanent replacement is appointed. That person will be female, Richardson said.
``If we're not able to persuade Jimmie to stay, I am going to name a replacement and it will be a woman,'' the energy secretary said. ``I believe that more women are needed at our DOE sites. The name of that person I don't have but I've narrowed the qualifications to `a woman.' ''
Ward Connerly, founder and chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, said men should not automatically be ruled out for the position because of their sex.
The ACRI is a Sacramento, Calif.-based non-profit lobbying group that wants racial and gender preference programs eliminated nationwide.
``It's just saying to every government agency and every person in America that it's OK to discriminate against males,'' Connerly said. ``It's wrong to discriminate against males. It's wrong to discriminate against females. It's wrong to discriminate against black people. It's wrong to discriminate against anybody.''
Richardson arrived in Paducah Thursday evening, where he held a town hall meeting to discuss health, safety and environmental issues surrounding the Paducah plant, which enriches uranium for use in nuclear reactors. Yesterday morning, he met with local DOE officials and workers at the plant and the cleanup site.
During the meeting, Richardson apologized to current and former workers of the plant. He told them their government had not been forthcoming about the possibility of exposure to toxic plutonium at the plant. The issue was raised in a federal whistle-blower's lawsuit filed by plant workers.
Richardson said the Clinton administration will propose legislation to establish a pilot program for past and present workers at the plant who developed cancer through job exposure to radioactive contaminants.
He estimated that the program would cost $20 million.
Richardson also announced a proposed $21.8 million supplemental budget amendment to pay for expanded worker medical monitoring, radiation- exposure assessments and accelerated cleanup at the Paducah plant and at uranium-enrichment plants in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Piketon, Ohio.
The proposals will be submitted to Congress within two or three weeks. He said yesterday he hoped lawmakers will take action before the end of the calendar year.
I'm sure with approximately 150 million woman in America, a good candidate can be found, and a bad candidate can be found. I have no doubt which Bill Richardson is looking for -- someone to ignore the obvious solution to Paducah's problem -- shut it down! Personally, I don't care if it's a man, a woman, or a kangaroo, as long as they shut it down.
Compared to the other news coming out of Paducah recently, this is just another red herring, of course. -- rdh
NASA needs to be told in no uncertain terms they have lied too often to the public and we want a SEA CHANGE away from their nuclear policies!
To learn about the absurd excuses NASA used to launch Cassini and its 72.3 pounds of plutonium in 1997, ask them for the 1995 Environmental Impact Statement for the Cassini mission, and all subsequent documentation. At the same time, be sure to ask them for ANY and ALL documentation available on future uses of plutonium in space, including MILITARY, CIVILIAN, or "OTHER" (just in case they make a new category somehow!). To get this information, contact:
Cassini Public Information
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena CA 91109
(818) 354-5011 or
(818) 354-6478
Here's NASA's "comments" email address:
comments@www.hq.nasa.gov
Daniel Goldin is the head of NASA. Here's his email address:
daniel.goldin@hq.nasa.gov
or
dgoldin@mail.hq.nasa.gov
Here's the NASA URL to find additional addresses to submit written questions to:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-002-HQ.html
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT NASA IS DOING TO YOUR HEALTH.
Be sure to "cc" the president and VP and your senators and congresspeople, too.
President Bill Clinton
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20500
Phone -- (202) 456-1111
Fax -- (202) 456-2461
e-mail -- president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Albert Gore
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
N.W.,Washington, D.C. 20500
Phone -- (202) 456-1414
Fax -- (202) 456-2461
e-mail -- vicepresident@whitehouse.gov
Secretary William Cohen
1000 Defense
The Pentagon
Washington D.C. 20301
Phone -- (703) 695-6352
Secretary Bill Richardson
Department of Energy (DoE)
1000 Independence Avenue SW
Washington D.C. 20585
Phone -- (202) 586-6210
fax -- (202) 586-4403
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Published by Russell D. Hoffman electronically.
Written in U.S.A.
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Please distribute these newsletters EVERYWHERE!
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Many of the issues presented by Russell Hoffman in this letter are based on conversations with Dr. John W. Gofman (who isolated the first working quantities of plutonium), the late Dr. Karl Z. Morgan (who was known as the "father of health physics"), Dr. Ernest Sternglass (who has done statistical studies about LLR), Dr. Jay Gould (ditto), Dr. Horst Poehler, Dr. Helen Caldicott, Dr. Ross Wilcock and dozens of activists, as well as many others on both sides of the nuclear debates, including ex military nuke expert Jack Shannon (responsible for the design of the D2G Navy reactor, the most widely used reactor in the U. S. navy), award-winning investigative reporter Karl Grossman, ecologist and human rights advocate Pamela Blockey-O'Brien, etc. Also, I've read a few dozen books on the various subjects. And scads of government documents purporting to explain how something so dangerous can be safe. Professionally, my pump training software is used throughout the pump industry and even in some nuclear power plants around the world to train their staff about mechanical pumps. Any errors herein are regrettably my own, but I believe it would take an extremely unlikely preponderance of errors to invalidate my basic position on these issues.
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Russell D. Hoffman, Carlsbad, California, Peace Activist, Environmentalist, High Tech Guru:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/whoisrdh.htm
Hoffman's Y2K Preparedness Information:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/y2k/index.htm
Learn about The Effects of Nuclear War here:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/tenw/nuke_war.htm
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** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY
** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer
** Carlsbad CA
** Visit the world's most eclectic web site:
** http://www.animatedsoftware.com
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