Dear friends:
Below are materials for the Y2K World Atomic Safety Holiday
(WASH) campaign. Please spread them around and use them to put
pressure on governments to do basic Y2K preparations on nuclear
installations. Nuclear accidents could undermine every other sort
of preparation we are doing, both individual and community. Included
in these materials are:
a) a briefing sheet on Y2K atomic safety
issues
b) an email petition to make nuclear installations
safe for Y2K
c) a petition to handle one's own country's
nuclear installations*
d) a petition to handle other countries'
nuclear installations*
DONE e) a
call for a demonstration in every city on Hiroshima Day Aug 6
(the model given here is for a demonstration at the UN Plaza
in San Francisco).
At last there are things ordinary citizens can do to help build nuclear safety for the rollover.
Coheartedly,
Tom
* As of October 1, 1999, there are totally new sign-on letters (petitions) available for your use.
PS: If you would like to support the grassroots WASH campaign, send a personal check to Gen Morita, 1047 Naka, Kamogawa, Chiba, Japan 296-0111. To get more information on their activities, email Yumi Kikuchi <yumik@awa.or.jp>. I've met Yumi and Gen, and they are very lovely, dedicated people with immense energy worthy of our support, who will make any contributions go a long way.
The Y2K World Atomic Safety Holiday (WASH) Campaign
Take Action to Prevent Nuclear Meltdown in the Year 2000
There are 103 nuclear power plants in the United States. The Y2K computer problem has the potential to create a disaster at any of these sites. While critical time slips away, the Nuclear Regularatory Commission (NRC - overseer of US reactors) appears ready to let reactors get by without proof of Y2K compliance. If action is not taken, nuclear plants may well be depending on systems with Y2K-sensitive chips as we enter the new year. It is critical that government be held responsible for public safety and that elected officials act promptly to prevent all possible nuclear reactor disasters.
Nuclear reactors have the potential to malfunction in many ways. The average reactor in the US has thousands of embedded chips in numerous computer systems. An NRC audit of the Seabrook reactor in New Hampshire found twelve safety related systems and 800 other significant systems which were affected by the Y2K problem. Meltdown could occur if computers report incorrect data and reactor personnel act upon this misinformation. Both the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island reactor disasters occurred because of operators acting upon incorrect data.
External power failures could also cause meltdown of reactor cores or used fuel rods. Nuclear reactors require power from the grid to pass coolant through the core and to cool the water in which used fuel rods are stored. Without power the core could begin to melt in less than two hours -- and used fuel rods (even ones two years old) could melt down within two days. In case of power failure, reactors rely on diesel generators to run the cooling systems. Unfortunately, the NRC reports that these generators are only 95% reliable. Non-governmental sources say they're only 85% reliable. Given these percentages and with two generators at each nuclear plant, we could expect 10-30 generator failures in the U.S., even if adequate fuel were available.
The federal government is publicly saying that the risk of reactor problems is not great enough to justify shutting down the reactors for the new year's transition. They are also failing to guarantee sources of coolant energy for the reactor cores and used fuel pools. Experts agree that no nuclear power will be needed in the U.S. on January 1, 2000 - there will be plenty of electrical generation available. We need to let our officials know that we are willing to live without nuclear power through the new year in order to avoid a nuclear disaster, and that we want all nuclear sites to be fully safe.
There is similar negligence -- and need for citizen action -- in each of the world's 34 nuclear-powered countries. There are 433 nuclear reactors in the world. Nuclear accidents know no boundaries. Citizens globally need to demand:
Beyond the Y2K situation with nuclear power and used fuel rods, there are potential Y2K problems with the world's thousands of nuclear weapons. US and Russian nuclear early-warning systems have given false alarms even when their computers were working properly. Possible Y2K bugs in early-warning systems could combine with infrastructure failures or unforeseen embedded chip problems to lead to accidental nuclear war. This risk is increased by international tensions such as those seen during the recent NATO bombing. We cannot afford even the smallest chance of such an unprecedented global disaster. U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons are on hair-trigger alert even though the Cold War is over. These weapons systems need to be de-alerted -- that is, the weapons delivery systems disabled so that human action is required for a launch to succeed. Currently, all other nuclear weapons states are in de-alert status.
Please join the World Atomic Safety Holiday campaign in demanding that public health and safety not be threatened by nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons during the Y2K rollover period. Demonstrate in your city on Hiroshima Day August 6, 1999 [or "sign the petition on the other side" depending on which use this briefing sheet has been put to].
For more information, contact Yumi Kikuchi <yumik@awa.or.jp>
or visit these web sites:
www.nirs.org (Nuclear Information & Resources Service)
www.enviroweb.org/nukenet/ (Y2K & Nuclear Safety Forum)
www.enviroweb.org/tmia (Three Mile Island Alert)
www.co-intelligence.org (The Co-Intelligence Institute)
PROBLEM: The Worldwide Nuclear Industrial Complex is not Y2K
compliant.
(For more information, see briefing sheet at the end of this message.)
SOLUTION: Massive and immediate popular pressure on policy makers.
YOUR ACTION: Send the ready-to-sign petition below to your Governor,
the
President, the Vice President, and the head of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. And alert your friends, too. Everything you need in
order
to do this is included here and wil take you only a few minutes.
1) COPY (not forward) this entire letter to a NEW MESSAGE.
SEND it to everyone on your lists. Do it now.
Recommended Subject Line: Y2K Nuclear Safety Petition
2) SEND the petition below to your state Governor.
Your state Governor has great influence over Federal policy.
His/her web page will be under: http://www.state.**.us
(insert your 2 letter State Name in place of **)
You can usually send e-mail from these pages.
3) COPY the text shown beneath the dotted lines below
to your Governor's web page or e-mail address,
SUBJECT: WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY
Sign it, and SEND it.
4) SEND the text below to the President, Vice President and
Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by sending it in
a new message or Cc-ing them on your Governor's e-mail.
TO: <president@whitehouse.gov>
<vicepresident@whitehouse.gov>
<chairman@nrc.gov>
SUBJECT: WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY
Then sign it, and SEND it.
(You can also mail a copy to John Koskinen, President
Clinton's "Y2K Czar." His address is below.)
To send copies to decision makers, COPY the text
between the two sets of double lines:
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
President Bill Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20525
202-456-1400
president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Al Gore
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20525
202-456-1400
vicepresident@whitehouse.gov
Chairman Greta Joy Dicus
301-415-1759
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555
chairman@nrc.gov
John Koskinen
Chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion
115 Old Executive Office Building
Washington, DC 20502
202-456-7171
e-mail not released
Dear Elected Official,
Unless you take decisive action now, Y2K related computer failures
will bring significantly increased
potential for NUCLEAR REACTOR ACCIDENTS and NUCLEAR WAR.
We consider long term worldwide radioactive contamination a greater
threat to public safety than the possibility of temporary power
outages caused by keeping reactors off line through the new year.
We consider nuclear war an unconscionable risk and call for the
de-alerting of all nuclear weapons systems.
Please join us in advocating a WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY starting December 1, 1999 and ending when each nuclear facility or weapon is independently verified as Y2K-compliant.
AS YOU HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO PRESERVE THE PUBLIC SAFETY AND
HEALTH of OUR STATE and/or UNION,
WE CALL ON YOU TO ADVOCATE AND CREATE POLICY WHICH WILL IMMEDIATELY:
1) TAKE ALL NUCLEAR REACTORS and ALL
NUCLEAR PROCESSING FACILITIES OFF LINE
from December 1, 1999 until Y2K compliance
testing for all monitoring, display, control, inventory, security
and safety systems is completed with third party verification.
2) AUGMENT AND EQUIP ALL CRITICAL
NUCLEAR FACILITIES and WASTE STORAGE SITES
(particularly spent fuel cooling ponds) with
ADDITIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE
EMERGENCY POWER BACK-UP SYSTEMS
(not dependent on rail delivered fuel) by December 1, 1999
to prevent nuclear melt-downs and widespread nuclear contamination
in the event of extended or multiple power grid failures.
3) DE-ALERT ALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS
NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 1, 1999
to prevent missile Launch On Warning based on false data
from Early Warning System error and/or
undetectable Nuclear Command and Control tampering.
4) SUSPEND ALL SHIPMENT AND
TRANSPORT OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL
from December 1, 1999 until Y2K
compliance testing for relevant transport systems
has been completed with third party verification.
5) ADMINISTRATE AND ASSIST ALL NATIONS WORLDWIDE
IN TAKING ALL IMMEDIATE AND NECESSARY ACTIONS
TO AVERT Y2K RELATED NUCLEAR DISASTERS.
Name:
city:
state:
e-mail(optional):
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
Information courtesy of Mary Olson,
Nuclear Information Resource Service, Washington D.C.
http://www.nirs.org
International coordinator WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday) campaign:
Yumi Kikuchi <yumik@awa.or.jp>
For additional information:
http://www.noradiation.org
http://www.co-intelligence.org/y2k_toxics-nukes.html
http://www.enviroweb.org/nukenet/
E-mail Campaign Design: Michael Callahan,
PLACE - People Linking Activism, Culture, & Ecology
Berkeley, California <micall@igc.org>
Please copy and distribute this flier.
Y2K World Atomic Safety Holiday (WASH) Campaign Petition
To:
William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States of America
Greta Dicus, Chair, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
cc:
Senate Majority Leader Lott
Speaker of the House of Representatives Hastert
Bill Richardson, U.S. Secretary of Energy
John Koskinen, Chair of the President's Council on the
Year 2000 Problem
Senator Robert Bennett, Chair of the Senate Special Committee
on the Year 2000 Technology Problem
Representative Stephen Horn, Chair of the House Committee
on the Year 2000 Problem
Vice President Al Gore
We speak to you with one voice:
Time is short. We must take action NOW to implement a
WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY
Some Y2K computer failures could have catastrophic consequences
--
including significantly increased potential for nuclear reactor
accidents and nuclear war unless decisive action is taken now.
We call
on you to insure that:
1) All nuclear weapons are de-alerted no later than December 1, 1999.
2) All nuclear reactors and processing facilities are taken
off line
from December 1, 1999 until after New Years when testing has
demonstrated that all systems are Y2K compliant and this has been
validated by a third party.
3) All nuclear shipments are suspended from December 1, 1999
until after
New Years and resumed only on transportation systems that have
been
independently validated as Y2K compliant.
4) By December 1, 1999 additional back-up power is supplied
to all
critical nuclear facilities and waste storage sites to prevent
nuclear
meltdowns and waste explosions.
5) Alternative energy systems are provided to meet vital power
needs in
areas otherwise dependent on nuclear power.
We call upon every nation with nuclear reactors or nuclear
weapons to
immediately take these actions to avert nuclear disaster. We call
on all
other nations to support this effort since nuclear accidents and
nuclear
war have global consequences.
Name (sign) / Name (print) / City / State / E-mail (optional)
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
International Y2K World Atomic Safety Holiday (WASH) Campaign Petition
To: The Honorable Kofi Annan, Secretary General, the United
Nations
Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of
the International Atomic Energy Agency
cc: [Add here the names of any other international leaders
to whom you wish to petition, such as the heads of
state of other nuclear powers]
We speak to you with one voice:
Time is short. We must take action NOW to implement a
WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY
Some Y2K computer failures could have catastrophic consequences
--
including significantly increased potential for nuclear reactor
accidents and nuclear war unless decisive action is taken now.
We call
on you to insure that:
1) All nuclear weapons are de-alerted no later than December 1, 1999.
2) All nuclear reactors and processing facilities are taken
off line
from December 1, 1999 until after New Years when testing has
demonstrated that all systems are Y2K compliant and this has been
validated by a third party.
3) All nuclear shipments are suspended from December 1, 1999
until after
New Years and resumed only on transportation systems that have
been
independently validated as Y2K compliant.
4) By December 1, 1999 additional back-up power is supplied
to all
critical nuclear facilities and waste storage sites to prevent
nuclear
meltdowns and waste explosions.
5) Alternative energy systems are provided to meet vital power
needs in
areas otherwise dependent on nuclear power.
We call upon every nation with nuclear reactors or nuclear
weapons to
immediately take these actions to avert nuclear disaster. We call
on all
other nations to support this effort since nuclear accidents and
nuclear
war have global consequences.
Name (sign) / Name (print) / City / State / Country / E-mail (optional)
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
Relevant addresses for petitions:
President Bill Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20525
202-456-1400
president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Al Gore
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20525
202-456-1400
vicepresident@whitehouse.gov
Chairman Greta Joy Dicus
301-415-1759
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555
chairman@nrc.gov
John Koskinen
Chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion
115 Old Executive Office Building
Washington, DC 20502
202-456-7171
e-mail not released