Nuclear test August 30

[emma_goldman]

Dear Friends,

Yesterday we learned that the National Nuclear Security Administration
plans on conducting a sub-critical test on August 30 at the Nevada Test
Site called Unicorn. While the test has been planned for some time,
since 2003, the actual test date is so abrupt that yesterday's press
release is not even posted on the DOE web site.

You can read the Aug 22, 2003 press release here:
http://www.nv. doe.gov/library/ newsreleases/ UnicornSubcritic al_NR08222003
.pdf

And yesterday's Las Vegas Sun article here:
http://www.lasvegas sun.com/sunbin/ stories/nevada/ 2006/aug/ 28/082810058. h
tml

Here is the text of the press release we received by fax yesterday:

Unicorn Subcritical Experiment Scheduled

"The Unicorn subcritical experiment will be conducted on August 30,
2006, at the Nevada Test Site.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is conducting the experiment to gather
scientific data that provides critical information to maintain the
safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons without having to
conduct underground nuclear tests.

The last subcritical experiment, Krakatau, was conducted on February 23,
2006. Unicorn will be the 23rd subcritical experiment conducted since
they began in July 1997.

Subcritical experiments examine the behavior of plutonium as it is
strongly shocked by forces produced by chemical high explosives.
Subcritical experiments produce essential scientific data and technical
information used to help maintain the safety and reliability of the
nuclear weapons stockpile. The experiments are subcritical; that is,
no critical mass is formed and no self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
can occur; thus, there is no nuclear explosion."

Please call your local congressional office and tell your Senators and
Representatives:

--Continued testing at the Nevada Test Site violates the spirit, if not
the letter of test ban treaties. We should be setting the example, not
pushing limits.

--Asserting that these tests are necessary to the reliability of the
stockpile, implies the continued willingness to use nuclear weapons, and
such use is unacceptable.

--Testing of any kind at the Nevada Test Site is a violation of Western
Shoshone sovereignty and must cease.

Thanks you for your continued support.
Shundahai Network
www.shundahai. org
P.O. Box 1115
Salt Lake City, UT 84110
Phone- 801.533.0128
Fax- 801.533.0129
[email protected] .org

Shundahai is a Newe (Western Shoshone) word meaning "Peace and Harmony
with all Creation"

[RNK]

Question...

Has anything ever been accomplished by contacting your local governor or senator? Don't they have better things to worry about, ie, ensuring the continued existance of their monopolization of authority? Aren't they the "enemy"? Just a question. Or 4.

[JKP]

I agree with Redstar 2000 when he says this:


I think a nuclear deterrent in the hands of the revolution is "a good thing"...it doesn't have to be particularly large or imposing.

All the potential counter-revolutionary aggressor needs to know is that an attack on us will cost him most or all of his major cities...and it simply won't be "worth it" for him to try.

In fact, it might be best to store our nuclear arsenal on half-a-dozen nuclear subs that are constantly at sea...so even a "quick strike" by a counter-revolutionary force will not save their asses.

Thus far, nuclear weapons have only been used against a country that was unable to retaliate.

I think that's a valuable lesson.

The mere existance of a revolutionary society is a tempting target for capitalists; it would be unfortunate if our nuclear deterrent was made out of duds.

Since nuclear disarmament isn't going to happen anytime soon, I don't really mind them modernising the stockpile, since if they don't do it, it would just pose an environmental hazard.

[emma_goldman]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2006, 05:54 AM
Question...

Has anything ever been accomplished by contacting your local governor or senator? Don't they have better things to worry about, ie, ensuring the continued existance of their monopolization of authority? Aren't they the "enemy"? Just a question. Or 4.
It's passive resistance, yes but I think all efforts are important.