Nuclear Waste

No More Hiroshimas! No More Nagasakis!
August 6th and 9th
60^th Anniversary National Days of Remembrance and Action
1945-2005

August 6th and 9th, 2005 mark the 60th anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Join with people at four central US nuclear weapons sites in major actions calling for an end to the development and production of nuclear warheads. Activities will recognize the devastation caused by nuclear weapons and memorialize the many victims of bomb production at every step - from uranium mining to design, to production, to testing and use. Join the global majority to say NO! to militarism, war and oppression, and YES! to nonviolence, justice and a more secure world for all.

In Japanese culture, the 60th birthday holds a particular cultural significance in celebrating long life. In this 60th year since the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the greatest gift to the hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombings) and to the world would be to reaffirm life by immediately initiating negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Here is what you can do to support the campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons.

1. Attend a major action on August 6th at one of the core nuclear weapons sites in California , Nevada, New Mexico and Tennessee. Share this information and bring others with you!

2. Attend an event in your community commemorating the 60^th anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Click here to view the National Calendar listing community events across the US. If you are organizing an event and would like to list it on the calendar, please contact Carah Ong at cong@napf.org and request an event listing form.

3. Organize or participate in a candlelight vigil at the City Hall in your community on August 9. Click here for more information .

4. Download, copy and distribute the August 6th and 9th National Days of Remembrance and Action flyer to your friends, family, networks and/or members of your organization and encourage them to get involved!

5. Send an email alert to members of your organization or include an article or announcement in your organization's newsletter. For a sample email alert, article or announcement, please contact Carah Ong at cong@napf.org or 202-543-4100 ext. 105.

6. Send a press release to your local media about your organization’s participation in the No Nukes, No Wars, Defend Democracy! demonstrations or about your community commemoration events. For sample press releases, please contact Carah Ong at cong@napf.orgor 202-543-4100 ext. 105.

7. Print the August 6 and 9 National Days of Remembrance and Action Postcard to distribute to members of your organization or at events. For more information, please contact Carah Ong at cong@napf.org or 202-543-4100 ext. 105.

August 6th & 9th National Days of Remembrance and Action are coordinated by: Abolition Now!, CHEJ's BE SAFE Network, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Nevada Desert Experience, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Pax Christi New Mexico, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Tri-Valley CAREs, United for Peace and Justice and Western States Legal Foundation.

Send a letter to EPA and the Department of Homeland Security in opposition to proposed Guidance that would establish dangerously lax cleanup requirements for a toxic radiological "dirty bomb" attack (February 2005).

The guidance would establish cleanup standards that are totally inadequate for habitation (with a horrifying 1 in 4 cancer risk level), and sets a dangerous precedent that could be used to weaken existing Superfund and radioactive cleanup standards. EPA's current standards, including Superfund, require clean up to a cancer-incidence risk range of one in a million to one in 10,000 cancers. The latest draft on a "dirty bomb" attack would allow the risk of getting cancer from the 'cleaned up' site to be increased to 1 in 4! This is done by reference to international recommendations which would allow contamination to remain at a level of 10,000 millirems per year. Homeland Security would allow routine lifetime annual exposures orders of magnitude higher than current background. This is the equivalent of 50,000 chest x-rays (over 30 years of exposure and even more if people live and work in the area longer).

The guidance is expected to be published in the Federal Register for comment soon, but groups are working to prevent this and letters will help!

Backup documentation can be seen at NIRS website in the "Radiation Standards" section at bottom of page at http://www.nirs.org/radiation/radstds/radstdshome.htm

For more information contact Diane D'Arrigo, Nuclear Information Resource Service, dianed@nirs.org , 202-328-0002 ext 16.

Bird-Dogging Elected Representatives on NUCLEAR WEAPONS Issues
This "How To" Guide by the BE SAFE Network includes prepared questions on preemptive war policy, military budget and nuclear weapons (including "depleted" uranium) which you can ask your elected representatives to educate them and hold them accountable on these important issues.

Bird-Dogging is a tactic that many people use to pressure candidates and elected officials to take a public stance on an issue Bird-dogging is a great way to raise important issues with candidates, elected representatives, the media and voters. Help spread the word. Please distribute this memo to your friends and ask a question on nuclear weapons at the next political forum in your town !

View the national Blueprint for Precautionary Action on Nuclear Weapons Issues developed by BE SAFE network groups, including Alliance for Nuclear Accountability and Military Toxics Project.

Nuclear Weapons Fact Sheets:

High-Level Nuclear Waste - pdf or html
Nuclear Waste in Products & Landfills - pdf or html
"Depleted" Uranium - pdf
Nuclear Transport - pdf

Nuclear Weapons Proposals - pdf

Resources: View key organizational websites for more information in the Publications & Resources section.

For More Information, contact CHEJ's BE SAFE Coordinator , at 518-732-4538 or annerabe@msn.com

174 Groups Oppose DOE Plan to Abandon High-Level Nuclear Waste
174 groups - 37 national groups and 137 regional, state and local groups - sent a letter to Congress opposing the reclassification and abandonment of highly radioactive nuclear waste in leaking underground tanks in South Carolina. See www.besafenet.com/signon.htm

Groups in 22 states held 97 events across the country during the Nuclear Weapons Days of Action in July & August 2004 to promote precautionary action on nuclear weapon issues. Download Days of Action Poster See the Calendar of Trinity, Hiroshima & Nagasaki Anniversary Events pdf version or html version which describes 97 events in 22 states across the country. The events commemorated the anniversaries of the:
* World's first atomic detonation at the Trinity NM site on July 16th, 1945;
* Atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6th and Nagasaki on August 9th,
1945; and the
* Signing of the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on July 1st, 1968.

See the Nuclear Weapons National News Release and Media Statements from 8 national organizations. Thousands of people participated in a National Call-In Day to Presidential Candidates on the Nagasaki Anniversary to urgeBush & Kerry to eliminate nuclear weapons. Full Page Flyer (pdf)

SPRING 2004 NUCLEAR POWER DAYS OF ACTION

BE SAFE organized Days of Action to promote precautionary action on nuclear power issues as March 28, 2004 marked the 25th anniversary of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear meltdown in Pennsylvania. A coalition of national, state and local groups organized educational events to commemorate the disaster in March and April. View the Calendar of TMI Anniversary Events.

Is there a Nuclear Power Plant in Your Community?
Find out about radioactive releases from nuclear power plants in your region. (Source: Nuclear Information & Resource Service, www.nirs.org )

Three Mile Island: 25 Years Later - In the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident, the worst commercial nuclear accident in US. history, officials from the nuclear industry and the government grew fond of noting that no one was killed or injured. But it is not a statement many people who were downwind of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station near Harrisburg, Pa. in 1979 were likely to take lying down.

TMI Witness Testimonials - Read these powerful and painful statements from three people impacted by the TMI power plant meltdown.

What are the Nuclear Power Hazards Threatening Americans?
Check out the BE SAFE brochures on: Nuclear Power , Nuclear Waste in Products and Landfills and High-Level Nuclear Waste .

Please join the Nuclear Action List by emailing Anne Rabe, CHEJ'S BE SAFE Coordinator at annerabe@msn.com or call 518-732-4538.