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Fukushima Disaster Film In Production

By John LaForge

Nukewatch Quarterly Winter 2018-19

The film “Fukushima 50,” scheduled for release in 2020, is focused on the 2011 triple reactor meltdowns in Japan. A popular Japanese movie star will portray Masao Yoshida, the superintendent on duty when the Great Northeast Japan Earthquake smashed the foundations of Fukushima’s reactors, which were then flooded and destroyed by the tsunami. Mr. Yoshida was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and died in July 2013 at age 58. Yoshida and other workers who stayed on site at the 6-reactor complex trying unsuccessfully to prevent the meltdowns were lauded as the “Fukushima 50.” One obituary said he “ultimately failed to prevent the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.” The film is based on the 2014 book by Ryusho Kadota, On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi. Amazon books online notes that On the Brink claims: “the men and women at the plant succeeded in their efforts, gradually bringing the reactors under control, restoring power, and edging back, one inch at a time, from the very brink of disaster.”

—Hollywood Reporter, Nov. 19, 2018; New York Times, July 9, 2013.

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Russia Pledges No-First-Use of Nuclear Weapons, Joining China, North Korea, and India

By John LaForge
Winter Quarterly 2018-19

President Vladimir Putin said Oct. 18, 2018 that Russia would only use nuclear weapons in response to an incoming missile attack, the equivalent of a “no first use” pledge, the AP reported. Putin reportedly said Moscow would resort to launching nuclear weapons only in retaliation “if early warning systems spotted missiles heading toward Russia.”

“Only when we become convinced that there is an incoming attack on the territory of Russia, and that happens within seconds, only after that, we would launch a retaliatory strike,” Putin said during an international policy forum in Sochi, the Black Sea resort.

Neither the United States nor its NATO allies have ever made a “no-first-use” pledge, a promise not to use nuclear weapons in war or to launch a pre-emptive “first strike” with them.“NATO has always opposed a US ‘no-first-use” declaration and has never ruled out US first-use under its ‘flexible response’ posture since 1967,” wrote Ankit Panda in the July 2018 issue of Council on Foreign Relations online.

In 1964, China made the unequivocal pledge “not to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time or under any circumstances,” and has reiterated the promise many times. China has also called on nuclear weapon states to establish an international no-first-use treaty.

India made a no-first-use promise in 2003, and North Korea declared the same on May 7, 2016.

—Associated Press; KIRO-7 News, Seattle, Wash.; “Putin: Russia would only use its nuclear arms in retaliation,” Oct. 18, 2018; The Independent, “North Korea will not use its nuclear weapons first, Kim Jong-un tells Congress,” May 8, 2016.

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Congress Could Trim Bomb Production Plans, Tweek Nuclear Attack Policy

By John LaForge
Nukewatch Winter Quarterly 2018-19

Democrats in the House of Representatives plan to cut back on some of the Trump/Obama nuclear weapons production programs, and curb presidential nuclear attack authority.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., joined Ted Lieu, D-CA and others in introducing HR 6840, the Hold the LYNE – Low-Yield Nuclear Explosive – Act. Tri-Valley CAREs in Livermore California reports that the bill would prohibit funds from being used for research, development, production or deployment of the new nuclear warhead. The bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, and Lieu promises to re-introduce the measure in 2019.

Rep. Smith has criticized the $1.7 trillion, 30-year plan to upgrade the US nuclear arsenal—land-based missiles, submarines, and heavy bombers—as both unaffordable and dangerous, Politico reports. “There’s no such thing as a low-yield nuclear war,” says Rep. Lieu; and Smith warns that the proposed nuclear weapon “brings us no advantage and it is dangerously escalating,” Politico reported.

Rep. Lieu and Sen. Ed Markey, D-MA, have also introduced HR669 and its tandem measure S200, the Restricting First-Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017. The legislation, now with 82 co-sponsors, would prohibit a president from launching a nuclear first-strike without a declaration of war by Congress. Rep. Lieu’s office told Nukewatch Nov. 4 that he will reintroduce the measure in the upcoming session.

Key Democrats have also targeted a proposed $100 billion replacement for today’s land-based Minuteman III missiles dubbed “Ground Based Strategic Deterrent” now in early development. “The rationale for the triad I don’t think exists anymore. The rationale for the numbers of nuclear weapons doesn’t exist anymore,” Rep. Smith said to a recent gathering of the Ploughshares Fund.

“But pork-barrel politics and campaign cash are slowing disarmament,” the Huffington Post reported. Current and future land-based missile are championed by the “ICBM Coalition,” a group of House and Senate members from states where the missiles are deployed, tested or repaired—Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, Utah, Nebraska, Colorado, California, and Louisiana.

Maintenance workers inspect a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

But high-level critics want them abolished and are pushing back. Former Secretaries of Defense William Perry and Leon Panetta both want current ICBMs scrapped and plans for their replacement cancelled. Last year Sec. Panetta told Reuters news service, “There is no question that out of the three elements of the triad, the Minuteman missiles are at a stage now where they’re probably the most antiquated.” In a series of articles published in major papers, Sec. Perry and General James Cartwright, a former Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, argue that, “the United States can safely phase out its land-based intercontinental ballistic missile force,” and “save about $100 billion over the next three decades.” And they wrote, “We are safer without these expensive weapons and it would be foolish to replace them.”

What you can do: Call, email or write your Representatives and Senators urging them to co-sponsor bills to cancel low-yield nuclear warheads, the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, and the president’s sole nuclear war-making authority.

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International Action Camp Germany July 8-16, 2019

Stop the New U.S. Nuclear Bomb for Europe—the B61-12!

United we can stop the planned nuclear bomb!

Please join the German campaign to send the existing U.S. nuclear weapons back home, and to halt production of the new B61-12 nuclear bomb, scheduled to be built in the U.S. by 2020 and deployed in five European countries—Italy, Belgium, Holland, Turkey, and Germany.

We invite anti-nuclear, environmental peace and human rights activists to our peace camp July 08-to-16, 2019, at the main gate of the Büchel Air Base in Germany with emphasis on young people! The international Action Camp is part of our 20 weeks of action from March 26th to August 9th (Nagasaki memorial day). Twenty weeks represent the 20 B61 H-bombs still at Büchel AB. Our peace camp includes networking, vigils, and nonviolent civil resistance.

The international week will be the third uniting Europen activists with anti-nuclear resistance in the U.S.—the country where construction of the bomb is taking place. In 2018, 10 activists from the U.S. joined together with dozens from Holland, Belgium and France, and the International Youth Group from Mutlangen, Germany. On July 17, 2017  US delegates personally delivered a copy of the new Nuclear Weapons Treaty Ban to the commander of the air base.

Please join over 400 internationals that have signed our “Declaration of Solidarity.”

Political, Military & Corporate Background

Despite the end of the Cold War, about 20 U.S. nuclear bombs are still deployed at Germany’s Büchel air force base. German pilots are both trained and obligated to take off with these bombs in their Tornado jet fighter-bombers and, if the orders come from a U.S. president through NATO, to use them on their targets. This horrifying war plan is part of the “nuclear sharing agreement” between the US and Germany, and includes a first-strike option. NATO calls this proliferation “Power and Burden Sharing.”  In addition nuclear exercises next to the east European Russian border—for example Anaconda—with tens of thousands of soldiers and military equipment movements, have taken place recently.

These weapons of mass destruction—illegal under German, U.S. and international law—are scheduled to be replaced by expensive (a $10 billion program), new, precision-guided nuclear weapons—the B61-12—in the near future, through the National Nuclear Security Administration’s “modernization” program.

Three US National Laboratories—Los Alamos and Sandia in New Mexico, and Lawrence Livermore in California—have worked to design the B61-12, and parts are being made at the Y12 complex in Tennessee, the Kansas City Plant in Missouri, and at Sandia. Final assembly is set for the Pantex site in Texas. Major contractors are Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Honeywell, and Bechtel. Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists has reported that the 400 new B61-12s planned for Europe will cost at least $25 million apiece.

The military industrial complex, together with major political parties, continue this destabilizing nuclear weapons enhancement in spite of popular resistance.

The planned B61 replacement is going on despite Germany’s  overwhelming approval March 26, 2010 of a cross-party (bipartisan) resolution by the Bundestag calling on the government to pursue permanent removal of the Cold War nuclear bombs.

Germany is the only country inside Europe that has a nationwide campaign of 54 groups and organizations (called Büchel is everywhere—Nuclear weapons-free now!) with the focus on nuclear abolition and civil resistance at the scene of crime. We believe that besides lobby work, we also have to increase awareness and political pressure using nonviolent direct action to halt the B61 replacement.

Because of public interest (a 2016 poll shows that about 90% of the German public is against the US nukes) our united coalition work — which includes well-respected organizations like IPPNW, IALANA, the German Fellowship of Reconciliation, Pax Christi, and DFG-VK, etc. — led to the political decision to de-criminalize participation in nonviolent blockades at Büchel.

Finally, the global nuclear weapons Ban Treaty has been signed at the United Nations by 67 countries, and on Oct. 6, 2017 the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Treaty’s principle proponent, received the Nobel Peace Prize. Our German political decision makers refused to take part in the negotiations for the Treaty Ban and have refused to sign it — following the bad example of the United States, most NATO members, and all the other nuclear-armed states. Since  July 2017, leaders of 122 countries, thousands of civil society groups and NGOs, and religious leaders including Pope Francis have criticized the nuclear weapons nations for not signing on to the Treaty.

In 2017, during Germany’s nationwide election campaign, Social Democrat Party leader Martin Schulz promised he would demand removal of the nuclear weapons if he became Chancellor — and Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel publicly endorsed Schulz’s promise at a Washington, DC press conference with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Also, the Left Party called for a parliamentary decision to remove the B61s (unfortunately dismissed), and the Greens have permanent removal of the bombs as part of their party platform. These parties need to be pressured to take further actions to oust the US bombs. Politicians know that when Germany steps out, it will effect future decisions of the four other “nuclear sharing” countries (Belgium, Holland, Italy and Turkey). A “domino effect” is possible, so the best time to stop the B61-12 program is now — before it goes into production.

20 Weeks of Action for 20 Bombs at Büchel

In 2016, 2017 and in 2018, we had 20 weeks of actions with over 50 religious, peace, women’s, anti-nuclear and other groups participating. Starting again on March 26, 2019, and continuing through August 9, groups and individuals will hold vigils and other kinds of nonviolent direct actions (blockades, go-ins, vigils  etc.) at the Büchel Air Base to pressure the government and remind lawmakers of their promise to permanently eliminate the US warheads.

Agreed Framework for Action:

When we take part in nonviolent direct action, we will not use or threaten to use physical violence against any person, especially in situations where violence is being used against us. No participant in the action will hold another person against their will, push them or injure them in any way. We will not behave insultingly or humiliate others. Rather we wish to treat others (police, soldiers, counter-demonstrators and everyone) with respect, even as we criticize the actions they take.

This also remains valid when it comes to legal proceedings as a result of our actions, during which we will behave with solidarity toward one another. The complete agreed framework for action can be found on our homepage in German: www.buechel-atombombenfrei.de

Declaration of Commitment

The core element of the campaign is our “Declaration of Commitment” signature gathering effort, where people declare in public (on our website):

“I will come Büchel once a year and take part in an action until nuclear weapons are withdrawn, and I will actively commit to seeking a nuclear weapons-free world in the place where I am living.”

Declaration of Solidarity

Besides the Declaration of Commitment, we also have a “Declaration of Solidarity”—especially for people who cannot come to Büchel but who want to show their full support (please see website sign-on).

In Germany, the peace movement always risks being considered “anti-American.” With plenty of signatures from the U.S. peace and justice movement, we can show that we are united in our vision for a nuclear-free world—and in solidarity with indigenous peoples and other people of color, who are disproportionately impacted by the nuclear production chain. We don’t want new nuclear weapons, and we believe the money should go to address people’s real needs!

If you are interested in joining, please contact: <mariongaaa@gmx.de>  or via our website and let us know about any support you might need.

All kinds of housing, including camping, exist in this beautiful volcanic region. There will be an office and a contact person nearby.

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West Lake & Bridgeton Superfund Site Cleanup Approved

By Bonnie Urfer and Kelly Lundeen
Nukewatch Winter Quarterly 2018-19
Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel, co-recipients of the 2018 Whistle Blowers Award and co-founders of Just Moms STL

As it turns out, combining radioactive waste with fire is not unique to California.

Just outside St. Louis in Bridgeton, Missouri sits the radioactive West Lake Landfill, an illegal dumping ground for nuclear weapons production waste. The Bridgeton Landfill, 600 feet away, has since 2010 been threatening the radioactive waste with an underground fire smoldering at 300 degrees. Both of the problematic sites lie within a Superfund site 1.2 miles from the Missouri River. As recently as Nov. 2 the fire reached the surface for two hours before being extinguished and could be seen from several hundred feet away.

To the relief of many, on Sept. 27, 2018, US EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler signed the Record of Decision Amendment to clean up the Superfund site. It’s taken 45 years for the EPA to come up with a plan for partial cleanup of the 143,000 cubic yards or 43,000 tons of radioactive waste. Unfortunately it comes too late for the more than 2,725 residents already living with cancers, tumors and related illnesses stemming from the dumping of radioactive waste in the north St. Louis area. (See “Authorities Dismiss Coldwater Creek Cancer Cluster” in Nukewatch Quarterly Spring 2013.)

The story is another tragedy of the Manhattan Project that continues to kill today through exposure to the radioactive waste all along the nuclear fuel cycle. The spread of St. Louis’s radiation began with uranium mining in the Congo, and later by processing the uranium by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works. The West Lake Landfill is only one of several sites around St. Louis where radioactive waste was scattered. In 1973 the Cotter Corporation started secretly transporting what the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health considered the most highly radioactive of the wastes to the West Lake site. Even the truckers were unaware of the contents of the black contaminated soil they carried, taking some home for their gardens. It had previously been left near Coldwater Creek, a popular place for swimming, and along the highways, where it was found by children who played in the thick, dangerous mud.

While cleanup is pending residents continue to be exposed to gamma radiation, benzene and hydrogen sulfide fumes. Aerial readings of gamma rays show the contamination plume has not spread, but the existence of gamma rays prove that the whole area is being continuously saturated with radiation.

The cost estimate of cleanup comes in at $205 million over three years and will be covered by the Department of Energy, Exelon (current owners of the Cotter Corporation), and Republic Services (owners of the West Lake and Bridgeton Landfills); however some estimates put the project on a 5-year track. The to-do list for clean-up includes excavating the hottest spots at a depth of 8 to 12 feet, and in some instances as deep as 20 feet, then leaving the rest capped and in the ground. About 61,000 cubic yards of non-radioactive waste will remain buried, 70% of the radioactive dirt will be removed, but radioactivity in the water has not been addressed.

The cleanup plan is the result of a hard-fought struggle by local grassroots organizations like Just Moms STL and Coldwater Creek-Just the Facts Please, which are made up of community members directly impacted by health issues related to the radioactive waste. Karen Nickel, co-founder of Just Moms STL and co-recipient of the 2018 Whistle Blowers Award told reporters, “Some of us can go to sleep a little easier tonight knowing that we were successful.” The fight is not over for the local community, but regarding the decision, Nickels applauded the strength of their fight. “Every single voice matters, every single letter that was written, every single call that was made: those all matter.”

—Just Moms STL, Nov. 2, 2018; St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KDSK News, Sept. 27, 2018; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Feb. 11, 2016; Coldwater Creek – Just the Facts Please, 2015; and see the 2018 documentary Atomic Homefront.

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