uclear Abolition News | IDN
By Jamshed Baruah
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
LONDON (IDN) - British scientists are calling for axe to fall on nuclear weapons research. In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, 36 science professors plead for protecting core scientific research on compelling issues such as climate change and resource shortages by cutting investment in developing new atomic arsenal.
The Scientists for Global Responsibility, as they are called, include ex-Royal Society head, Sir Michael Atiyah and Nobel Prize winner, Sir Harold Kroto. They highlight how £2 billion a year, over 25% of the government's total scientific research and development budget, is currently spent by the Ministry of Defence as evidenced by the UK Defence Statistics 2010.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Nuclear Abolition News and Analysis
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Time for the Nuclear Test Ban
Just four years later, the world’s nations concluded the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to prevent proliferation and help end the nuclear arms race. President Bill Clinton was the first of 182 national leaders that have signed the treaty, yet the CTBT must still be ratified by the United States and eight other hold-out states before it can formally enter into force.
On the occasion of the first International Day against Nuclear Tests on August 29, President Barack Obama should reiterate his 2009 pledge to pursue reconsideration and ratification of the CTBT. The United States should also use the upcoming September 23 foreign ministerial meeting at the UN on the CTBT to rally support for the treaty. American action on the treaty would prompt a chain reaction of ratifications by the eight other hold-out states, including China and India, and bolster the global drive to prevent proliferation.
A growing list of bipartisan national security leaders agree that by ratifying the CTBT, the United States can strengthen its security by limiting the ability of other states, such as China or even Iran, to proof test sophisticated nuclear weapons designs that could pose a threat to U.S. and international security.
They also agree that after 1,030 U.S. nuclear test explosions, there is simply no technical or military rationale for resuming testing. Contrary to myth, the United States has never relied on nuclear testing to ensure that proven warhead designs still work, but rather to perfect new types of nuclear bombs, which the U.S. military no longer needs nor wants.
Nevertheless, some U.S. senators—many of whom have not examined the topic in detail—are reluctant to give up the testing option. But since the Senate’s brief and partisan rejection of the CTBT in 1999, there have been significant advances in U.S. programs to extend the life spans of proven warhead designs and nuclear test monitoring that should address earlier concerns that led many senators to vote no. As former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz stated on April, 17, 2009, his fellow Republicans “might have been right voting against it some years ago, but they would be right voting for it now, based on these new facts.”
Since 1994, each warhead type in the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal has been determined to be safe and reliable through a rigorous certification process. Life Extension Programs (LEPs) have refurbished and modernized major warhead types. The September 2009 study by the JASON independent technical review panel concluded that the “lifetimes of today’s nuclear warheads could be extended for decades, with no anticipated loss in confidence.” JASON found “no evidence that accumulation of changes incurred from aging and LEPs have increased risk to certification of today’s deployed nuclear warheads.”
The Obama administration’s strong support for higher nuclear weapons laboratories’ budgets—$80 billion over the next 10 years—should also help change attitudes. Key House and Senate appropriations committees have approved the administration’s $7 billion request for fiscal 2011 nuclear weapons complex activities, a 13 percent increase from the year before. Senators of both parties should recognize that further delay of CTBT ratification would create greater uncertainty about U.S. nuclear policy that could jeopardize the emerging political consensus for higher funding to maintain the shrinking U.S. nuclear stockpile in years ahead.
The United States’ capability to detect and deter possible cheating by other countries will also be significantly greater with the CTBT than without it. The CTBT and its global monitoring network, international data center, and option for on-site inspections would augment existing U.S. national test monitoring assets.
North Korea has provided two recent real-world tests of U.S. and global monitoring capabilities. In October 2006, the treaty’s International Monitoring System (IMS) easily detected Pyongyang’s relatively low-yield (0.6 kiloton) nuclear explosion at 22 seismic stations. Telltale radioactive gases from this test were also detected by South Korea and the United States, as well as one of the international network’s radionuclide monitoring stations 4,600 miles away in Canada.
North Korea’s second nuclear test in May 2009 was detected by 61 seismic stations, which provided precise geographical information that could have been used to pinpoint an on-site inspection. However, such treaty-mandated inspections will only be available when the CTBT enters into force.
Despite powerful U.S. and international test monitoring capabilities, some skeptics worry that small-scale, clandestine tests cannot be detected with absolute certainty. This argument misses the point of verification and implies that low-yield tests are worth the high risk of getting caught. The one country that might be able to conduct low-yield testing successfully—Russia—already possesses a large and advanced nuclear weapons arsenal. Additional testing would do little to increase the threat Russia already poses.
On the other hand, countries with less nuclear test experience or design sophistication, such as China, India, Pakistan, or Iran, would be unable to conceal tests in the numbers and yields required to master more advanced warheads. Without the treaty in force, the United States does not have the option to seek short notice, on-site inspections to investigate suspicious events.
Some test ban treaty skeptics erroneously charge that because the treaty does not define “nuclear test explosion,” some states, such as Russia, believe very low-yield “hydronuclear” tests are permitted. The record is clear: the CTBT bans “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion.” As the Russian government explained to the Duma in 2000, “[F]ull-scale and hydronuclear tests with the emission of fissile energy…directly contradict the CTBT.”
Nuclear testing is a dangerous and unnecessary vestige of the past. U.S. inaction on the CTBT is self-defeating and counterproductive. The United States has neither the intention nor need to renew testing, yet its failure to ratify the CTBT undermines both U.S. leadership credibility and the United States’ ability to improve the detection and deterrence of testing by others.
Following the approval of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), President Obama should undertake the major high-level campaign that will be needed to push the CTBT through the Senate in 2011. And it is the Senate’s responsibility to the nation to reconsider the CTBT on the basis of an honest and up-to-date analysis of the facts and issues at stake.
Daryl G. Kimball is executive director of the Arms Control Association.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
TodaysNetworkNews: HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI ATOMIC BOMB ANNIVERSARY, UN Secretary-General,
TodaysNetworkNews: 06 August 2009 - UNTV: United Nations: On the occasion of the 64th anniversary this week of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on the world to "convince leaders, once and for all, of the waste, futility and dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction."
On the occasion of the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, and issued an urgent call that we must disarm.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
Sixty-four years ago, atom bombs rained down on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Upon seeing such horror and devastation, people throughout the world thought such carnage must never happen again. But thousands of nuclear weapons remain in global arsenals. The risk of nuclear terrorism is real.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Hiroshima (Japan) 06 August 2010
Secretary-General's remarks at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony
Hiroshima no minasama konichiwa. Ohayo gozaimasu.
We are here, on hallowed ground, to see, to feel, to absorb and reflect.
I am honored to be the first UN Secretary-General to take part in this Peace Memorial Ceremony on the 65th anniversary of this tragic day. And I am deeply moved.
When the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I was one year old. Only later in life, could I begin to understand the full dimension of all that happened here. As a young boy, I lived through the Korean War. One of my earliest memories is marching along a muddy road into the mountains, my village burning behind me. All those lives lost, families destroyed -- so much sadness. Ever since, I have devoted my life to peace. It has brought me here today.
Watakushiwa sekai heiwa no tameni Hiroshima ni mairimashita.
We gather to pay our solemn respects to those who perished, sixty-five years ago, and to the many more whose lives forever changed. Life is short, but memory is long.
For many of you, that day endures, as vivid as the white light that seared the sky, as dark as the black rains that followed. To you, I offer a message of hope. To all of you, I offer my message of peace. A more peaceful world can be ours. You are helping to make it happen. You, the survivors, who inspired us with your courage and fortitude. You, the next generations, the young generation, striving for a better day.
Together, you have made Hiroshima an epicentre of peace. Together, we are on a journey from ground zero to Global Zero – a world free of weapons of mass destruction. That is the only sane path to a safer world. For as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will live under a nuclear shadow.
And that is why I have made nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation a top priority for the United Nations – and put forward a five-point plan.
Our moment has come. Everywhere, we find new friends and allies. We see new leadership from the most powerful nations. We see new engagement in the UN Security Council. We see new energy from civil society. Russia and the United States have a new START treaty. We made important progress at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington last April, which we will build upon in Korea.
We must keep up the momentum. In September, I will convene a high-level meeting in support of the work of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations. We will push for negotiations towards nuclear disarmament. A Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty. Disarmament education in our schools – including translating the testimonies of the survivors in the world's major languages. We must teach an elemental truth: that status and prestige belong not to those who possess nuclear weapons, but to those who reject them.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Sixty-five years ago, the fires of hell descended upon this place. Today, one fire burns, here in this Peace Park. That is the Flame of Peace ? a flame that will remain lit until nuclear weapons are no more. Together, let us work for that day ? in our lifetime, in the lifetimes of the survivors. Together, let us put out the last fire of Hiroshima. Let us replace that flame with the light of hope. Let us realize our dream of a world free of nuclear weapons so that our children and all succeeding generations can live in freedom, security and peace.
Thank you. Domo arigato gozaimasu.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=901
Hiroshima urges end of nuclear umbrella
Roos, Ban among 55,000 at 65th anniversary of bombing
Obama runs risk with Roos in Hiroshima
Attendance may touch off backlash in U.S.
Major antinuke groups want more
NAGASAKI (Kyodo) Two major antinuclear groups on Monday separately urged greater efforts toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Welcoming the participation of U.S. Ambassador John Roos and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in a ceremony commemorating the bombing of Hiroshima, the Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs said in a declaration, "By working with hibakusha worldwide, let's make it clear that 'nuclear weapons and humankind cannot coexist.' "
The group known as Gensuikin also called for the enactment of Japan's three nonnuclear principles into law. At a meeting of the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, Yoshinari Akashi, acting head of its Nagasaki chapter, criticized Prime Minister Naoto Kan's remarks that the U.S. nuclear umbrella "continues to be necessary for Japan."
The group known as Gensuikyo adopted a resolution urging nations to begin negotiating a treaty banning nuclear weapons.
Nagasaki issues plea to mark fateful day in '45
Mayor laments 'lack of sincere commitment'
NAGASAKI (Kyodo) Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue appealed Monday for the world to work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons and for the central government to demonstrate its leadership on the issue on the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of his city.
In this year's Peace Declaration during a ceremony in the city's Peace Park attended by representatives of a record 32 countries, including for the first time nuclear weapons states Britain and France, Taue said people have the "responsibility to realize a world without the fear of nuclear weapons."
The ceremony followed the first-ever visit to Nagasaki by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon last Thursday and was held three days after a ceremony to mark the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which was attended by a U.S. ambassador for the first time. The United States did not send a representative to Nagasaki.
The U.S. Embassy issued a comment after the memorial, saying Ambassador John Roos did not attend the service due to scheduling conflicts, but he hopes to attend the Nagasaki ceremony in the future.
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