he Nuclear Review, Issue #71, June 28, 2011, NUCLEAR

Various reports, stories of nuclear developments worldwide...

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The Nuclear Review, Issue#71, June 28, 2011, Various Nuclear Reports
by Arn Specter, Phila. Penna. USA
1. NUCLEAR ABOLITION DAY
SYDNEY, PARIS, WASHINGTON MOSCOW, Extensive report
2. Inter-action Council article, Extensive report
http://i10.createsend2.com/ei/r/07/17C/FC6/073146/header.jpg
http://www.abolition2000.org/
3. http://tinyurl.com/6b8sjz7
Report on the GN's 2011 Space Conference
North Andover, Massachusetts, June 17-19, 2011 , By Bruce Gagnon

4. latimes.com/news/la-fi-new-bomber-20110522,0,260684.story

Pentagon weapons buyer quietly visits California to discuss bomber planes

Ashton Carter meets with Northrop, Boeing and Lockheed executives about the military's plans

to build a fleet of radar-evading, long-range bombers.

5. http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/paros/wgroup/PAROS-PPWT-factsheet.pdf

Preventing the placement of weapons in outer space



A backgrounder on the draft treaty by Russia and China,
Important Report

6. Thu Jun 23, 2011 , Email address removed" target="_blank">Email address removed, [downwinders] Digest Number 4493

Checks of Russian nuclear reactors fail safety hopes - and worse, leaked report reveals


7. Subject: [abolition-caucus] Rachel Maddow MSNBC on flooded nuclear reactors in Nebraska

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SiD4vAG780-

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8. From Hiroshima to Fukushima: The political background to the nuclear disaster in Japan
23 June 2011, http://wsws.org/articles/2011/jun2011/fuku-j23.shtml

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9. 28 June 2011, CD ends the second part of its 2011 session,

Beatrice Fihn | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

Ambassador Grinius of Canada and Ambassador Duncan of the United Kingdom delivered their farewell statements to the Conference on this final plenary of the second session. Ambassador Grinius said the CD is no longer an exclusive forum for disarmament negotiations, as other bodies have carried out such negotiations while the CD continued to fail. He suggested that the current paralysis is perhaps not only due to a lack of political will, arguing that states "demonstrated considerable political will at the Security Council Summit, the Nuclear Security Summit and at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in May 2010

10. U.S. Tests Cruise Missiles With Mock Nuclear Warheads
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" Email address removed rwrozoff Mon Jun 27, 2011 , http://www.globalse curitynewswire. org/gsn/nw_ 20110627_ 5389.php10a. US: New Naval Strike Missiles Tested For Deployment To Norway, Polan Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" Email address removed rwrozoff Mon Jun 27, 2011 htttp://http://www.defpro. com/daily/ details/841/ ?SID=934f7d4123a 9dcc7a3fe5eb7fe3 d97c4 11. click here "To date no health effects have been reported in any person as a result of radiation exposure from the nuclear accident." Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update LogUpdates of 2 June 2011

12. From: John Loretz
Sent: Tue, June 28, 2011
Subject: [abolition-caucus] Fukushima publication attached this time - apologies

During the first two months of the nuclear reactor crisis in Japan, IPPNW engaged in widespread public education activities and media work to explain what was happening from a medical and public health perspective. Numerous newspaper and magazine articles, as well as TV and radio interviews, quoted IPPNW experts on the effects of radiation, the dangers of nuclear energy, and the links between nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Commentaries and editorials written by IPPNW authors were published in several countries, including Japan, the US, Germany, Greece, the UK, Australia, and Nigeria, to name a few. Many of these materials, as well as new fact sheets, briefing papers, and other resources, were posted to a special section of the Peace and Health Blog (peaceandhealthblog.com). ...MORE...


13. From: Gensuikyo Email address removed" target="_blank">Email address removed
Sent: Tue, June 28, 2011
Subject: [abolition-caucus] Peace movement in Fukushima remains active and strong!

Report from Fukushima, Hiroshi TAKA
Representative Director, Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo)
14. The New York Times
My Alerts: Nuclear Weapons
June 28, 2011 1:59 AM
--------------------------------------
World / Middle East: Iran Unveils Underground Missile Silos
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
An Iraqi colonel was quoted on state television as saying that missiles were "ready to hit the predetermined
targets."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/world/middleeast/28iran.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
=========================================================================================
From: John Hallam Nuclear Flashpoints
Sent: Fri, June 24, 2011
Subject: [abolition-caucus] 25June2011 SYDNEY PARIS MOSCOW WASHINGTON -Letter to P5


25 JUNE 2011
1. NUCLEAR ABOLITION DAY
SYDNEY, PARIS, WASHINGTON MOSCOW

COLONELS, AMBASSADORS, MEPS, NGOS, URGE P5 MEETING TO TAKE NUKES OFF HIGH ALERT

As the Permanent Five meeting on nuclear security gets under way in Paris, a letter signed by 103 retired senior military, former UN ambassadors, parliamentarians, and many NGOs asking for nuclear weapons to be taken off high alert as a matter of urgency, has been released. The letter was faxed a number of weeks ago to P5 presidents, foreign ministers/secretaries of state and secretaries of defence/defence ministers.

The letter points out that even after the successful signing and ratification of new START, thousands of nuclear weapons, notably in the US and Russian arsenals, remain poised to fire at less than two minutes notice. Computer error, mistakes, unusual weather phenomena that look exactly like a launch, weather research rockets, miscalculation, malfunctioning equipment and plain panic have over the decades that these missiles have been kept on alert, led the planet to within minutes or even seconds of an avoidable apocalypse..

The actual use of these 2-5000 warheads, most likely as a result of a malfunctioning chip somewhere in Nebraska or Kosvinsky Mountain, can still end not merely civilisation, but 95% of complex, land-based, living things, or at least change the g climate from global warming to a nuclear winter for a number of decades..

The International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) as well as earlier international commissions, have stressed the urgency of action to lower nuclear risks, especially between the US and Russia. A number of UN resolutions urge action to take nuclear weapons off alert.

The letter has been signed by a total of 98 organisations and distinguished individuals, including Colonel Valery Yarynich (former Soviet Missile Corps Command and Control), Commander Robert D. Green (British navy - Ret) , Former Australian Disarmament Ambassador Richard Butler, Mayors For Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, the Global Security Institute, CND, Gensuikyo, a number of parliamentarians and MEPs, and NGOs from the US, Russia, Canada, the UK, France, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, and around the world.

Contact:

John Hallam (Sydney Australia) (main coordinator/author)
Email address removed, Email address removed,
61-2-9810-2598 0416-500-793

Dominique Lalanne, Paris, do.Email address removed
+33 1 64 46 38 66 or +33 6 32 71 69 90

Manuel Padilla, Washington DC 202-635-2757 ext:118
Email address removed

Steven Starr, Missouri, (573) 884 1847
Email address removed

Prof. Sergei Kolesnikov, Email address removed

Colonel Valery Yarynich 7-495-598-3706, cell965-308-2723.

PRESIDENTS, PRIME MINISTERS, FOREIGN MINISTERS, SECRETARIES OF STATE AND DEFENCE, AND DEFENCE MINISTERS OF CHINA, FRANCE, RUSSIA, UNITED KINGDOM, UNITED STATES.

P5 MEETING 29-31 JUNE 2011

OPERATING STATUS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS SYSTEMS
Dear Presidents, Prime Ministers, Defence Ministers, Secretaries of State and Defence, and Foreign Ministers of the 'P5' countries, meeting 29-31 June:

An item that should be on the agenda when you meet in Paris at the end of June is the operating status of strategic nuclear weapons systems, especially in the US and Russia.

The next steps in nuclear disarmament are a logical topic for P5 discussions. The next step in nuclear disarmament is to decrease the role that nuclear weapons play in strategic planning by lowering their operational readiness, thereby significantly lowering the risk of an accidental apocalypse.

This item should be discussed within the context of a commitment to go to zero nuclear weapons and a nuclear weapons convention sooner rather than later. It also must be discussed in the immediate context of US and Russian steps after 'New START', which need to cover more than just tactical nuclear weapons,(on which discussion now centres) but all systems kept in a state of high readiness for use because of their perceived vulnerability to pre-emption.

When elected, President Obama committed to negotiate with Russia to take nuclear weapons off high alert. It is time for this item to be at the top of the negotiating agenda.

Operating status of nuclear weapon systems is a topic that, while leading toward and facilitating progress to the elimination of nuclear weapons and an NWC, has an independent importance all of its own.

At the same time, it concerns all of the P5 governments, (and others), and is a legitimate topic of interest for the entire world, as noted in the final declaration of the last (2010) NPT Review Conference.

It has been argued by some that a lowering in the operational readiness of nuclear weapon systems is the single step that would do most, for the least effort, in decreasing the probability of complete global catastrophe as a result of inadvertent nuclear war bought about by malfunction, miscalculation, or human error.

An article in a 2008 edition of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists entitled 'minimising the risk of human extinction' places it as the highest priority action to be followed immediately by the complete elimination of nuclear weapon systems.

The use, by miscalculation or malfunction, of even a small fraction of the US or Russian strategic arsenals (including 2000 launch-ready, high-alert warheads) would terminate not just civilisation but would threaten the elimination of most humans and many other complex forms of life, as shown by recent (2006) studies.

The incineration of urban areas totalling 100 times the size of Hiroshima's incinerated area in firestorms (possible with as few as 20 modern warheads) would produce a stratospheric soot layer that would cause catastrophic climate change, and catastrophic damage to the Earth's protective ozone layer. Worldwide famine would inevitably follow, claiming in a decade, more victims than all the famines of recorded history combined.

The use of the on-alert arsenals of the US and Russia would cause global ice-age conditions.

The International Commission for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) devotes considerable space in its report to the issue of lowering the operational readiness of nuclear weapon systems, remarking that the risk of accidental nuclear war is 'not a fantasy but a terrifying possibility'.

The ICNND, the Blix commission of 2006, and the 1996 Canberra Commission all strongly urged the lowering of nuclear weapons system operating status.

A number of UN resolutions include reference to the need to lower the operational readiness of nuclear weapon systems. These include the Japan-Australia sponsored resolution on 'United Action Towards the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons', which is voted for by all of the P5, and receives overwhelming support from governments worldwide, and the Chile/Malaysia/New-Zealand/Nigeria/Switzerland sponsored resolution on Operational Readiness of Nuclear Weapons Systems which was most recently adopted by UNGA last October 157-3. Of the P5, China voted yes to it, Russia abstained while the US, France and the UK voted 'no'.

However the France and UK 'No' vote was explained by saying that those countries have already lowered the operational readiness of their nuclear weapon systems. (The UK says it did so in 1998, changing the 'notice to fire' of its submarine - based nuclear weapons from 'minutes' to 'days'.) If this is so, the UK and France should use the P5 discussions to persuade the US and Russia to maintain their nuclear forces in a similar state of alert to those of France and the UK. (and China).

We hope and trust that P5 leaders will give this topic the high significance it deserves.

Your attention is also drawn to letters sent by the NGO community to the US Congress and the Russian Duma, and by a number of Russian former senior military and policy experts to the US Congress and Duma Committees on Foreign Affairs and Defence.

Signed

Coordinators

John Hallam, People for Nuclear Disarmament NSW Nuclear Flashpoints Project, Sydney, Australia (coordinator)

Steven Starr, PSR,

Colonel Valery Yarynich, (ret- 30 years Soviet missile forces)

International Organisations:

Ambassador Richard Butler AC, Chairman, Middle Powers Initiative,

Jonathan Granoff, President, Global Security Institute, (GSI) NY/Philadelphia

Aaron Tovish, Mayors For Peace 2020 Vision Campaign

Prof. Sergei Kolesnikov, Co-President, Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND)

Dominique Lalanne, Abolition2000 Europe, Chair, Abolition2000 De-Alerting Working Committee

Alfred L. Marder President, International Association of Peace Messenger Cities,

Tomas Magnusson, Colin Archer, IPB (International Peace Bureau) Geneva,

Angelika Beer, Chair, Parliamentary Network for Conflict Resolution (EWI), Brussells,

Professor Frederick Meldelsohn AO, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Mel, Aust,

Eryl Court, Unitarian-Universalist United Nations Office, (Church Centre, UN)

Australia:

Dr Jenny Grounds, Medical Association for Prevention of War, (MAPW), Australia,

Amanda Jane Ruler, MAPW South Australia,

Fr Claude Mostowik, Bruce Childs, Sydney Peace & Justice Coalition, Co-Convenors, Australia.

Jo Valentine, People for Nuclear Disarmament W.A., Perth Western Australia,

Prof. Peter King, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Sydney University, Sydney, NSW Australia,

Nick Deane, Jo Blackman, Marrickville Peace Group, Marrickville, NSW, Australia,

Don Jarrett, Australian Peace Committee, Adelaide, SA, Australia,

Peter Murphy, SEARCH Foundation, Broadway, Sydney, NSW, Australia,

Brenda Conochie, Environment House, Perth, W.A.,

Pauline Mitchell, CICD Peace Centre, Melb,

Michael Henry, Pax Christi Australia,

Reverend Dr Sandy Yule, Christian Unity Working Group, Uniting Church in Australia, Melb, Vic, Australia,

Adam Breasley, Australian Pugwash Group,

Professor Emerita Chilla Bulbeck, School of Social Sciences, Univ. Adelaide,

Dr Alex Riechel, St Francis Community, Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW,

Biannca Pace Chair & Executive Director- Ministry for Peace-Australia (Ltd)

Bianca Pace, Vice President, UNAA NSW Division.

Kath Wray, Citizens Wildlife Corridors, Armidale,


USA

Steven Starr, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Missouri, USA,

Manuel Padilla, Pax Christi USA National Office in DC, USA,

Manuel Padilla, Abolition 2000 Secretariat, Wash DC, USA,

Rosemarie Pace, Pax Christi Metro New York, NY, USA,

Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, Calif, USA,

Alice Slater, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation New York, NY, USA,

David Hartsough, Exec Dir, Peaceworkers, San Francisco, Calif, USA,

Jill Mackie, WILPF Ashland Oregon,

Chuck Baynton, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Wisc,


UK:

Jean Lambert, MEP (Greens) London, UK,

Jill Evans MEP, Plaid Cymru,

Peter Nicholls, Abolition-2000 UK,

Eric Harley, Vice-Chair, West Midlands CND,

George Farebrother, INLAP/World Court Project UK

Prof. Dave Webb, Chair, Kate Hudson, General Secy, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, London, UK,

Colin Bex, Wessex Regionalists, Wessex, UK,

Colin Bex, Wessex Society, Wessex, UK,

Colin Bex, Campaign for Regional England, UK,

Diana Basterfield, Co-Founder, Ministry for Peace (UK)

Angie Zelter, Co-Founder, Trident Ploughshares UK,

Dr Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsibility,(SGR) UK,

Hans Lammerant, Vredesaktie, Belgium,


France:

Abraham Behar, MD,PHD, President of IPPNW French Affiliates

Patrice Bouveret, Observatoire des Armements, Lyon, France

Dominique Lalanne, co-président Armes nucléaires STOP

Pierre Villard, co-président Mouvement de la Paix


Norway:

Prof. Bent Natvig, Chair, Norwegian Pugwash Committee,

Langeland Hallgeir MP, Norway,

Anne Brinch Skaara, Vice-chairman at No to Nuclear Weapons, Oslo, Norway,

Bitte Vatvedt, No To Nuclear Weapons, Norway,

Kirsten Osen, Kurt Hanevik, Ulrich Abildgaard, (Prof Emeritus) IPPNW Norway, Oslo, John G. Maeland, Chair, IPPNW Norway, Bergen, Norway,


Bodil Ceballos, Member of Parliament (Riksdag Committee on Foreign Affairs), Green Party, Sweden,

Prof. Vappu Taipale, IPPNW Co-President, Helsinki, Finland,

Angelika Graf MP, Bundestag, (Deputy Speaker on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, Social Democrat Party) Berlin, Germany,

Andreas Pecha, Chair, Austrian Peace Council, Vienna, Austria,


Maria Sotiropoulou, IPPNW Greece,

Thanasis ANAPOLITANOS, Chairman, Mediterranean Anti-Nuclear Watch, GREECE,


Gideon Spiro, Israeli Committee for a Middle-East free From Atomic, Biological and Chemical Weapons, Israel,

Isa Samandar, Director-General, Popular Development Centre, E Jerusalem, Palestine,


NZ

Alyn Ware, Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace, Wellington, NZ,

Barney Richards, New Zealand Peace Council,

Commander Robert D. Green, Kate Dewes, Disarmament and Security Centre, Christchurch NZ,

Bob Rigg, Former Chair, New Zealand National Consultative Committee for Disarmament (NCCD),

Dr Robert White, Fmr Dir, Centre for Peace Studies, University of Auckland, NZ,

Pat Mc Nair, Health Freedom New Zealand, Hamilton, NZ,

Murray Richard Tingey, International Peace Symbol Promoter, Levin, NZ,

Canada

Steven Staples, Rideau Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada,

Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, (CCNR), Montreal, Quebec, Canada,

Andrea Levy, Physicians for Global Survival, Ottawa, Canada,

Abraham Weizfeld, Direct Democracy Movement, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,

Rose A. Dyson, Vice-President, Canadian Peace Research Association (CPRA) Toronto, Canada,

Pascale Fremond, President, Religions for Peace, Montreal, Canada,

Bev Delong, Chair, Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (CANW)

Pascale Fremonde, President, Religions for Peace, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,

Susan Stout, Stop War CA, Vancouver, Canada,

Dr Vinay Jindal, Hiroshima Day Coalition, Toronto, Ontario,

Phyllis Creighton, executive,Veterans Against Nuclear Arms (VANA), Ontario/Quebec Region, Canada

Eryl Court, Canadian Peace Research Association,

Mary-Ellen Francoer, Pax Christi Montreal, Quebec, Canada,

Laura Savinkoff, Boundary Peace Initiative, Grand Forks, BC, Camada,

Mauricio Lozano. MD, Vice-President, Salvadoran Physicians for Social Responsibility, San Salvador, El Salvador

Paul Saoke, IPPNW Kenya, Nairoboi, Kenya,

Russia

Colonel Valery Yarynich (ret) (30 yrs Soviet Missile Forces)

Prof. Sergei Kolesnikov MD, Duma Member, Co-Chair Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND),

Natalia Mironova, President, Movement for Nuclear Safety, Chelyabinsk, Russia,

Herman Spanjaard, MD, IPPNW Netherlands,

Hiro Umebayashi, Special Adviser, Peace Depot, Japan,

Yayoi Tsuchida, assistant general secy, Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo),

Prof. Takao Takahara, Director, International Politics and Peace Research, Meiji Gakuin University, Japan,

Wilfred Dcosta, Indian Social Action Forum - INSAF, New Delhi, India,

Dr Ranjith Jayashekhara, Vice-President, Sri Lanka Doctors for Peace and Development, Sri Lanka,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Aaron Tovish
To: Alyn Ware Email address removed" target="_blank">Email address removed
Sent: Fri, June 24, 2011
2. Subject: [abolition-caucus] Re: Inter-action Council article

> http://i10.createsend2.com/ei/r/07/17C/FC6/073146/header.jpg
> <http://www.abolition2000.org/>
>
> Abolition 2000 Update -- June (2) 2011
> */Progress and actions for the global abolition of nuclear weapons /*
> /Abolition 2000 is a global network of organisations and individuals
> working for the elimination of nuclear weapons. /
>
> /Established in 1995, over 2000 organisations have endorsed
> //Abolition 2000's call for negotiations on a nuclear weapons
> convention/ <http://www.abolition2000.org/?page_id=153>/ -- and for
> simultaneous action on steps and measures supporting that goal./

> /nuclear-abolition-day-25-june-2011.jpg/ <#nab>//
Contents:*
> 1. President Clinton -- and 19 other former heads of government -
> support NWC <#iac>
> 2. Australian Red Cross works to ban nuclear weapons <#arc>
> 3. Nuclear weapons threat not decreasing says SIPRI <#sipri>
> 4. Cut Nukes not" (you fill in the blank)! <#cut>
> 5. US Conference of Mayors supports nuclear abolition <#usmayors>
> 6. P5 Summit in Paris -- June 29-30 <#P5>
> a. PNND Co-Presidents letter to P5 <#pnndP5>
> b. Earth Action alert <#eaction>
> c. Letter to P5 on de-alerting <#dealert>
> 7. Nuclear Abolition Day June 25/ A2000 Europe June 26 <#nab>
> 8. IALANA adopts declaration on abolition of nuclear weapons and
> energy <#ialana>
> 9. Nuclear End Game -- the growing appeal of zero <#zero>
> 10. Costa Rica bans deployed uranium weapons <#du>
> 11. Japan march for a nuclear-weapons-free world <#japan>
> 12. Music for nuclear abolition -- The Ribbon <#ribbon>
>
13. Upcoming actions and events <#paris>
> a. A2000 International Conference to Abolish Nuclear Weapons -- Paris,
> June 26 <#paris>
> b. Abolition 2000 Annual Assembly - Geneva, Sep 16-17 <#a2000assembly>
> c. Stop New Nuclear UK -- Somerset, October 3 <#uk>
> *1. **President Clinton -- and 19 other former heads of government -
> support NWC***
> The Inter-Action Council <http://www.interactioncouncil.org/>, a group
> of 20 former heads of government meeting in Québec City
> <http://www.interactioncouncil.org/29th-annual-plenary-meeting>
> (Canada) 29-31 May 2011, have released a statement with key
> recommendations <http://interactioncouncil.org/final-communiqu-42> for
> the world's future -- with specific attention on the global water
> crisis, financial stability, the necessity of moving towards renewable
> energy, unrest in the Middle East and nuclear disarmament.
>
> The Council, following a briefing on nuclear disarmament from Middle
> Powers Initiative Chair Richard Butler, agreed "The continuing
> existence of nuclear weapons is an unacceptable and disproportionate
> threat to every living thing on the planet. The only enduring solution
> to this threat lies in the verifiable and irreversible elimination of
> these weapons""
>
> "As long as nuclear weapons exist in the hands of any state, they will
> be sought also by others. As long as nuclear weapons exist they will
> be used one day, either by deliberate action or by accident. Any use
> of nuclear weapons would be a human, ecological, economic, political
> and moral catastrophe."
>
> Text Box: Inter Action Council supports a Nuclear Weapons Convention R
> to L: Former Norway Prime Minister Gro Brundtland, former US President
> Bill Clinton, former Argentina President Fernando De La Rua, former
> Mexico President Vincente Fox and former Singapore Prime Minister Chok
> Tong Goh. Quebec City, May 29, 2011. REUTERS/Jacques Boissinot/PoolThe
> Council proceeded to recommend:
>
> "Implementing the UN Secretary General's Five-Point Proposal on
> Nuclear Disarmament as well as the decisions of the 2010 Review
> Conference on the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty," and "Concluding a
> convention prohibiting nuclear weapons, in the same manner as
> conventions prohibiting biological and chemical weapons."
>
> Aware that some States are not ready to start actual negotiations on a
> nuclear weapons convention, the InterAction Council recommended:
>
> /Initiating discussions on a framework of mutually reinforcing
> agreements or a convention on nuclear weapons, in order to develop
> without further delay a comprehensive nuclear treaty architecture
> aiming at the elimination of nuclear weapons/.
>
> The Council includes *Jean Chrétien* (former Prime Minister of
> Canada), *Franz Vranitzky*, former Chancellor of Austria), *Helmut
> Schmidt* (former Chancellor of Germany), *Oscar Arias* (former
> President of Costa Rica), *Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi* (former Prime
> Minister of Malaysia), *James Bolger* (former Prime Minister of New
> Zealand), *Gro Brundtland* (former Prime Minister of Norway), *William
> Jefferson Clinton* (former President of the United States of America),
> *Fernando de la Rúa* (former President of Argentina), *Vicente Fox*
> (former President of Mexico), *Yasuo Fukuda* (former Prime Minister of
> Japan), *Goh Chok Tong* (former Prime Minister of Singapore), *Abdel
> Salam Majali* (former Prime Minister of Jordan), *James Fitz-Allen
> Mitchell* (former Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines),
> Andrés Pastrana (former President of Colombia), *Percival Noel James
> Patterson* (former Prime Minister of Jamaica), *Abdul-Aziz
> Al-Quraishi* (former Governor of Saudi Arabia), *Tung Chee Hwa*
> (former Chief Executive of Hong Kong), *Vaira Vi"e-Freiberga* (former
> President of Latvia) and *Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Léon* (former
> President of Mexico).
>
> *2. **Australian Red Cross works to ban nuclear weapons ***
> The Australian Red Cross has recently written to all members of the
> Australian Parliament seeking support for a convention to prohibit the
> use of nuclear weapons.
>
> tickner-robert-thumbnail.jpg/Robert Tickner,// //CEO of the Australian
> Red Cross, writes in an article /Prohibiting the use of nuclear
> weapons <http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2749764.html>/ (7 June 2011)
> that: "/Given the continuing critical importance of this issue to Red
> Cross internationally, Australian Red Cross has recently supported
> strengthening international humanitarian law to ensure the illegality
> of the use of nuclear weapons is clearly established."
>
> "Nuclear weapons cause indiscriminate and immense human suffering, and
> Australian Red Cross opposes their use in any circumstances.
> Australian Red Cross has a specific relationship with the laws of war
> and has a mandate to work with governments and educate the public on
> the importance of humanity during times of armed conflict."
>
>
> Australian Red Cross has been working with other Red Cross
> organisations on the application of IHL to nuclear weapons in
> follow-up to the groundbreaking statement by Dr Kellenberger,
> President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in April
> 2010 entitled Bringing the era of nuclear weapons to an end
> <http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/statement/nuclear-weapons-statement-200410.htm>.
> Kellenberger, speaking to the Geneva Diplomatic Corps, announced
> that "In the view of the ICRC, preventing the use of nuclear weapons
> requires fulfillment of existing obligations to pursue negotiations
> aimed at prohibiting and completely eliminating such weapons through
> a legally binding international treaty."
>
>
> Aware that some people might question the ICRC taking on a proactive
> role in opposing nuclear weapons, Tickner says that "while while
> remaining strictly neutral and impartial at all times, our mandate
> requires us to speak forthrightly in support of international
> humanitarian law principles on which Red Cross was founded."
>
> * *
>
> *3. **Nuclear weapons threat not decreasing says SIPRI***
>
> On 6 June 2011, the prestigious Stockholm International Peace Research
> Institute (SIPRI) released a report on the state of the world's
> nuclear arsenals and doctrines
> <http://www.sipri.org/media/pressreleases/yblaunch11> -- stating that
> the threat from nuclear weapons is not decreasing. "More than 5,000
> nuclear weapons are deployed and ready for use, including nearly 2,000
> that are kept in a high state of alert," noted SIPRI in an article by
> AFP Nuclear weapons threat not decreasing, study says
> <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jnuK4djFpE3peYYj8RkmKrcT6nlA?docId=CNG.4c6d9a705302133fcb33283701223ce3.c71>.
> SIPRI Director Daniel Nord argued that because "nuclear weapons states
> are modernising and are investing in their nuclear weapons
> establishments (it) seems unlikely that there will be any real nuclear
> weapon disarmament within the forseeable future."
>
> *4. **Cut Nukes not" (you fill in the blank)!***
>
>
> On 19 June the Financial Times reported that the nine nuclear-armed
> countries are planning to spend $1 trillion on nuclear weapons
> procurement and modernisation over the next ten years (See Nations
> to Spend $1 Trillion on Nukes
> <http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20110620_9581.php>).
> The estimates were released to the Financial Times by Global Zero
> <http://www.globalzero.org/> to coincide
> GZ_cutnukes_carousel.jpgwith a high level Global Zero conference
> <http://www.globalzero.org/en/pressrelease/her-majesty-queen-noor-valerie-plame-wilson-and-lawrence-bender-confirmed-panel-guests->
> in London on 21 June featuring Queen Noor of Jordan and the UK
> release of Countdown to Zero <http://www.globalzero.org/en/film>.
>
> Global Zero also launched an online action calling on citizens around
> the world to choose what the nuclear weapons budget should instead be
> spent on -- schools, clean energy, public safety, health care or jobs.
> Have your say by visiting Cut Nukes not"! <http://cutnukes.globalzero.org>
>
> The US administration's total budget request for nuclear weapons for
> 2012 is an increase over last year, and the largest budget for nuclear
> weapons spending in history. Nuclear weapons budget items are being
> discussed in two key bills before the congress this June and July --
> the Defense Authorization Bill, and the Energy and Water
> Appropriations Bill. The Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World
> <http://www.nuclearweaponsfree.org> is calling on US citizens and
> residents to take action to reduce the proposed funding allocations.
>
> Action Alerts and Sample Message to Congress
> <http://nuclearweaponsfree.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a0f151598781ffc243426964&id=1e5ecc39dc&e=a1f0697f98>
>
> Action Postcards
> <http://nuclearweaponsfree.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a0f151598781ffc243426964&id=d55f4828bd&e=a1f0697f98>
>
> *5. **US Conference of Mayors supports nuclear abolition***
>
> On 21 June, The US Conference of Mayors, the national association of
> cities with populations over 30,000 today unanimously adopted a
> resolution calling on President Obama to work with the leaders of the
> other nuclear weapon states to implement the United Nations
> Secretary-General's 5-point plan to negotiate the elimination of
> nuclear weapons, by the year 2020, as urged by Mayors for Peace
> <http://www.2020visioncampaign.org/>, and calling on Congress to
> terminate funding for modernization of the nuclear weapons complex and
> nuclear weapons systems, to slash spending on nuclear weapons well
> below Cold War Levels, and to redirect those funds to meet the urgent
> needs of cities.
>
> Text Box: Key commitments made by the P5 at the 2010 NPT Review
> Conference a. rapidly move to an overall reduction in the global
> stockpile of all types of nuclear weapons; b. address the question of
> all types of nuclear weapons regardless of the type and location; c.
> further diminish the role and significance of nuclear weapons in all
> military and security concepts, doctrines and policies; d. discuss
> policies that could prevent the use of nuclear weapons"; e. consider
> the interest of non-Nuclear Weapon States in further reducing the
> operational status of nuclear weapons; f. reduce the risk of
> accidental of nuclear weapons; g. further enhance transparency and
> increase mutual confidence." "All States need to make special efforts
> to establish the necessary framework to achieve and maintain a world
> without nuclear weapons."UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking
> before the adoption of the resolution, praised Mayors for Peace and
> its Cities Are Not Targets campaign
> <http://www.2020visioncampaign.org/en/background/cant-project.html>,
> with over 1 million signatures, and noted that "The road to peace and
> progress runs through the world's cities and towns."
>
> *6. **P5 Summit in Paris -- June 29-30***
>
> At the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, the States
> recognized under the NPT as possessing nuclear weapons (China, France,
> Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- who also happen to
> be the five permanent members of the UN Security Council) committed to
> make progress on a number of disarmament measures, and agreed to
> engage amongst themselves in order to enhance such progress and then
> report back to the 2015 NPT Review Conference.
>
> France will be hosting the first high-level meeting of the P5
> countries since the 2010 NPT Review Conference, the meeting to be held
> in Paris from June 29-30. Abolition 2000 members and partners are
> calling on the P5 to use this opportunity to turn their rhetoric into
> concrete and far-reaching action for nuclear disarmament rather than
> minimalist and insignificant measures.
>
> *a. **PNND Co-Presidents letter to P5***
>
> On 7 June, the Co-Presidents of Parliamentarians for Nuclear
> Non-Proliferation and Disarmament - high-level parliamentarians from
> Germany, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Tanzania, the United Kingdom and
> the United States - sent a letter to the heads of government, foreign
> ministers and UN ambassadors of the P5 countries reminding them of the
> steps and measures to which they had agreed at the 2010 NPT Review
> Conference, calling for action to implement these, and announcing that
> PNND is ready to work with the P5 countries to amplify these efforts.
>
> The PNND Co-Presidents released the letter with a public statement
> /Nuclear Weapon States must reduce reliance on nuclear weapons/.
> Congressman Ed Markey (United States) called on the P5 leaders to
> "shift their security spending from the maintenance and modernization
> of nuclear weapons Text Box: Congressman Ed Markey, PNND
> Co-Presidenttowards building the multilateral framework for their
> elimination -- including the development of verification and compliance
> mechanisms.'
>
> Sergey Kolesnikov, member of the Russian parliament, noted that
> "lowering the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines, and
> building cooperative security mechanisms to replace the threat of
> force, will be important to enable Russia to agree to deep cuts in
> nuclear arsenals.'
>
> Uta Zapf, Chair of the German Parliament Sub-committee on Disarmament
> and Arms Control, said that "The Summit should pay attention to the
> strong desire of European countries -- including NATO members -- to
> relinquish the tactical weapons deployed in Europe -- a hold-over from
> the Cold War."
>
> Baroness Sue Miller, Member of the UK parliamentary delegation to the
> Inter-Parliamentary Union, recalled the 155 parliaments that are
> members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union -- including the UK, French,
> Chinese and Russian parliaments - have given their support to the UN
> Secretary-General's Five Point Proposal which calls for negotiations
> on a nuclear weapons convention. "We would hope that the P5 Summit
> would explore ways to start the negotiations -- or at least commence
> preparatory work on the technical, institutional, legal and political
> elements required to achieve a nuclear-weapons-free world."
>
> *b. **Earth Action alert***
>
> EAalert.pngOn 15 June, Earth Action
> <http://www.earthaction.org/what_is_earthaction.html> sent an alert on
> the P5 Summit
> <http://earthaction.typepad.com/earthaction_email_archive/2011/06/nuclear-abolition-day.html>
> to their 2600 member organisations and thousands of policy-makers,
> journalists and citizens. The alert calls on people to email the
> leaders of the P5 countries (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom
> and the United States) calling on them to agree to far-reaching steps
> for nuclear disarmament at their Paris Summit. The alert notes the
> disarmament commitments made by the P5 at the 2010 NPT Review
> Conference, but notes that "Like smokers addicted to cigarettes, they
> will not give up their nuclear weapons easily. We must be assertive in
> helping them stick to their commitments."
>
> Click here
> <http://www.earthaction.org/2011/06/end-nuclear-threat.html> to read
> an Earth Action sample letter to the P5 leaders (scroll down the page).
>
> The alert also advertises Nuclear Abolition Day -- June 25
> <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/> (see below).
>
> *c. **Letter to P5 on de-alerting***
>
> On 9 June, the Abolition 2000 working group on De-alerting sent a
> letter
> <http://www.pndnsw.org.au/component/content/article/48-pnd-newsflash/136-letter-on-operating-status-to-p5-meeting-paris-29-june-2011.html>
> to the Presidents, Prime Ministers, Defence Ministers, Secretaries of
> State and Defence and Foreign Ministers of the "P5' countries calling
> on them to use their high-level meeting in Paris to announce further
> steps in decreasing the operational readiness to use nuclear weapons --
> as they committed to do at the 2010 NPT Review Conference.
>
> The letter notes that "lowering in the operational readiness of
> nuclear weapon systems is the single step that would do most, for the
> least effort, in decreasing the probability of complete global
> catastrophe as a result of inadvertent nuclear war brought about by
> malfunction, miscalculation, or human error.'
>
> The letter, drafted by John Hallam (Nuclear Flashpoints), Steve Starr
> (Physicians for Social Responsibility) and Colonel Valery Yarynich,
> (ret- 30 years Soviet missile forces) was also endorsed by numerous
> arms control and disarmament experts, non-governmental organisations,
> parliamentarians and civil society leaders.
>
> *7. **Nuclear Abolition Day June 25***
>
> The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is
> holding an international day of action to abolish nuclear weapons
> <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/> on June 25. Find out where actions
> are being held by clicking here
> <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/view>, or organise your own action.
> Recommended actions include:
>
> * Organize a flash mob <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/flashmob> *
> Email the P5 leaders <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/p5> * Collect
> video 'pleas' <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/pleas>
>
> * Write to your mayor <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/mayor> * Write
> to your MP <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/mp> * Tweet for abolition
> <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/twitter>
>
> * Change your profile <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/facebook> *
> Fold paper cranes <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/cranes> * Hold a
> protest <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/protest>
>
> * Screen a film <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/film>
>
> Campaign materials are available at ICAN materials
> <http://www.nuclearabolition.org/materials> and A2000 resources
> <http://www.abolition2000.org/?page_id=73>.
>
> In Paris the Nuclear Abolition Day will be followed on June 26 with an
> International Conference for Nuclear Abolition
> <http://a2000europe.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/ican-france-organizes-a-weekend-in-paris-to-counter-the-official-meeting-of-the-5-permanent-members-of-the-un-security-council-meeting-in-paris-for-nuclear-disarmament-issues/>
> organised by Abolition 2000 Europe. For details contact
> Email address removed" target="_blank">do.Email address removed Email address removed" target="_blank">mailto:Email address removed" target="_blank">do.Email address removed

> *8. **IALANA adopts declaration on abolition of nuclear weapons and energy***
>
> IALANA Logo.JPGThe International Association of Lawyers Against
> Nuclear Arms (IALANA), meeting in Szczecin, Poland on June 17-19,
> adopted a declaration calling urgently for a world without nuclear
> weapons and nuclear energy
> <http://ialana.net/uploads/media/Szcezcin_Declaration2011.pdf>.
>
> The declaration stresses the total incompatibility of nuclear weapons
> with international humanitarian law, as demonstrated by the Vancouver
> Declaration of February 11, 2011, and urges implementation of the
> legal imperative to abolish nuclear weapons as affirmed in the 1996
> International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion.
>
> In response to the risks of nuclear energy highlighted by the
> Fukushima disaster, IALANA calls for "the elimination of nuclear
> energy"" and ""a complete change to renewable energies and to the
> democratization of energy production.'
>
> IALANA President Judge Weeramantry noted that "Nuclear weapons and
> nuclear energy are the two sides of a Damoclean sword. We are
> sharpening the cutting edge to make it even more dangerous through our
> research and improvement of nuclear weapons. The blunt side of the
> sword is also being sharpened to a dangerous level through the
> proliferation and maintenance of nuclear reactors.'
>
> For more information see http://www.ialana.net <http://www.ialana.net>.
>
> * *
>
> *9. **Nuclear End Game -- the growing appeal of zero***
>
> Global Zero <http://www.globalzero.org/> - a network of political,
> military, business, faith and civic leaders* * supporting the phased,
> verified elimination of nuclear weapons -- received a big plug in a
> recent Economist article Nuclear Endgame: The growing appeal of zero.
> <http://www.economist.com/node/18836134?story_id=18836134&fsrc=rss>
>
>
> Noting that "Banning the bomb will be hard, but not impossible', the
> article announced the Global Zero Summit held in London from June
> 18-20, and described the Global Zero action plan for the elimination
> of nuclear weapons by 2030.
>
>
> The article notes that "By putting the dangers of proliferation and
> nuclear-armed terrorism at the forefront of its concerns, Global
> Zero would puncture the public's post-cold-war complacency over
> nuclear weapons."
>
>
> However, the article failed to note the dangers of the nuclear
> doctrines and arsenals of the nuclear weapons states, the public
> support already existing for nuclear abolition, nor the fact that
> Global Zero is just one amongst a number of nuclear disarmament
> initiatives.
>
> * *
>
> *10. ** Costa Rica bans deployed uranium weapons***
>
> On 10 June, Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla signed into law a
> prohibition of Depleted Uranium weapons -- being the second country
> after Belgium to adopt such a law. One year previously the parliament
> had adopted a resolution supporting such a law -- leading to a
> legislative drafting process that culminated in the adopted law. The
> good news comes not long after sad news that Professor Albrecht
> Schott, Director of the World Depleted Uranium Centre in Berlin, had
> passed away.
>
> *11. ** Japan march for a nuclear-weapons-free world***
>
> On 6 May the 2011 March for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World
> <http://www.antiatom.org/GSKY/en/biblioteca/11/110606peace_march_disaster_region.html>
> started in Tokyo (from the museum of the Lucky Dragon -- the boat
> caught in a radioactive cloud from a nuclear test in the 1950s) and
> will continue marching through various regions of Japan until the
> August anniversaries of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The
> march, organised by the Japan Council against A & H Bombs (GENSUIKYO),
> will be gathering signatures on a new campaign for nuclear abolition
> <http://www.antiatom.org/sig-press/> launched on 15 February. In
> response to the Fukushima catastrophe, GENSUIKYO has joined the global
> call for the replacement of nuclear energy with safe renewable energy
> sources. From 6 June the March for a Nuclear Weapons Free World
> started marching through the region affected by the Fukushima disaster.
>
> Sign the Gensuikyo appeal for nuclear abolition at
> http://www.antiatom.org/sig-press/
>
> *12. ** Music for nuclear abolition -- The Ribbon*
>
> /Music review by Alyn Ware/
>
> John Lennon's song "Imagine
> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq7qZrXYtvk&feature=fvst>', a poetic
> and beautifully simple anthem, stirred a generation in the 1970s and
> 1980s, amplifying our hope and action for peace and universal love.
> "Where is the Love' <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gcu4M4xF6k> by
> Black Eyed Peas was the turn-of --the century rap/hiphop version of
> Imagine, with a multi-layered musical style and more sophisticated
> lyrics linking various social and political issues to the concept of
> peace.
>
> Tatsumaki.JPGNow available on You-Tube is the hauntingly beautiful
> rock-ballad from Nagasaki -- The Ribbon
> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwxj1zy6clE&feature=youtube_gdata> --
> which holds a similar power to evoke hope for nuclear abolition.
> Musically reminiscent of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven
> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9TGj2jrJk8> and poetically
> reminiscent of Alfred Tennyson's Locksley Hall
> <http://theotherpages.org/poems/tenny02.html>, the Ribbon is composed
> by Kenichi Maki and performed by his band Tatsumaki.
>
> The Ribbon tells the story of Nagasaki city
> <http://www.abolition2000.org/?page_id=1748> -- a beautiful city
> devastated by the atomic bomb, but now rebuilt and sharing its vision
> and passion for nuclear disarmament with the world. It begins in a
> soft lyrical musical style with the solemn message of the huge statue
> in Nagasaki Peace Park, located at Ground Zero where the nuclear bomb
> was detonated and pointing to the heavens from where the bomb fell.
> Musical layers are added as the song moves from the sadness of the
> past to hope for the future with the message of peace being carried
> around the world by peace ribbons -- and the song soars with classic
> rock energy in the climax which heralds a world of peace and love free
> from the threat of nuclear weapons.
>
> Sadly Kenichi Maki passed away a few years ago from congenital heart
> failure -- possibly a second generation victim of the Nagasaki blast.
> But his voice and inspiration lives on in The Ribbon.
>
> Listen to the song at The Ribbon
> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwxj1zy6clE&feature=youtube_gdata>.
> For the English lyrics click here
> <http://www.abolition2000.org/?page_id=1748>.
>
> See Music for nuclear abolition
> <http://www.abolition2000.org/?page_id=1594#12> for other
> inspirational songs.
>
> *13. **Upcoming actions and events***
>
> *a. **Abolition 2000 International Conference to Abolish Nuclear
> Weapons -- Paris, June 26*
>
> Join Abolition 2000 to discuss strategies and campaigns for nuclear
> abolition. Topics include NATO nuclear weapons, how to reverse nuclear
> modernization, and the campaign for abolition.
>
> Sunday June 26, 9:00-13:00 at CEDETIM (Attac), 21ter rue Voltaire,
> Paris 11ème. See A2000 Paris Conference
> <http://a2000europe.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/ican-france-organizes-a-weekend-in-paris-to-counter-the-official-meeting-of-the-5-permanent-members-of-the-un-security-council-meeting-in-paris-for-nuclear-disarmament-issues/>.
> Contact Email address removed" target="_blank">do.Email address removed do.Email address removed>.
>
> * *
>
> *b. **Abolition 2000 Annual Assembly - Sep 16-17***
>
> Mark your calendars. Abolition 2000 will be holding its annual general
> meeting in Geneva on September 16-17. This is the time to come
> together to catch-up on Abolition 2000 initiatives and campaigns, to
> strategise for the future and to build our network. It will include
> regional reports, working group updates, campaign planning and
> organizational planning - including affirming the Global Council and
> building support for the office, staff, website and A2000 campaign
> materials. The AGM is timed just before an ICAN training in Geneva
> which is open to all A2000 and ICAN members.
>
> *c. **Stop New Nuclear UK -- 3 October ***
>
> Stop New Nuclear is a new campaign to stop new nuclear power stations
> in Britain. It is an alliance of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament,
> Stop Nuclear Power Network UK, Kick Nuclear, Stop Hinkley, Sizewell
> Blockaders, Shutdown Sizewell, South West Against Nuclear, and Trident
> Ploughshares. The first event is a non-violent blockade on 3 October
> of Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset, the first of eight
> proposed sites for new nuclear reactors in the UK.
>
> For more information see http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk.
>
> ***************************************************
>
> *Abolition 2000 Update* is a regular update of progress and actions
> for a global treaty to abolish nuclear weapons. Please send any items
> for inclusion in the next update to Email address removed" target="_blank">Email address removed Email address removed>
>
> For further information about Abolition 2000 and our activities see
> http://www.abolition2000.org <http://www.abolition2000.org> or contact:
>
> Manuel Padilla,