The INES Global Responsibility Newsletter reports and comments – from a global perspective – on political, technical and societal developments and comprises of regular internal news sections.
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Long term Nuclear Deals completed today will adversely affect life and liberty of next generations.
By Dhirendra Sharma
“There is no issue more urgent than the democratic control of nuclear power which was born in secrecy for destruction purposes,” said Mr. Tony Benn, Former British Energy Minister (1974-79).
It is for the constitutional probity, therefore, to be strictly operate to see that nuclear business does not violate the rights and liberty of future generations. The Indian government now announced its long-term nuclear commitment to generate 40,000 megawatts by 2030. The Prime Minister describes the Nuclear Deal as an attractive offer to help India meet its high-energy demands. But the Government, in formulating the Nuclear Deals, had not conducted interdepartmental discussions with the concerned ministries - Energy, Planning, Finance, Environment, and the Department of Science & Technology.
Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Homage in Nagpur/India
The Indian Institute for Peace, Disarmament & Environmental Protection (IIPDEP), member of INES, jointly arranged the Hiroshima & Nagasaki Day on 9. August 2010 with the Raman Science Center ( A Unit of the National Council of Science Museum, Government of India), the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), The "No More Hiroshima, No More Nagasaki-movement and the Peace Museum, India.
As a future citizens and policy makers high school students from six schools were invited to participate in this special event. Mr. Pathak, Director of the Raman Science Center and Balkrishna Kurvey, President of the IIPDEP and Member of the INES Executive Committee adressed the delegates.
In a science quiz on nuclear weapons and its effects students showed a remarkable knowledge about the dangers of those weapons of mass destruction.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a global grassroots movement for disarmament through a legally binding, verifiable and timebound Nuclear Weapons Convention.
The Million Pleas initiative was launched on 6 August 2010. This initiative aims to gather one million pleas from people all over the globe calling on the leaders of nine nations to finally retire the bomb.
Conference in Japan: 65 Years After the First Atomic Bomb Dropping, the
Outlawing and Abolition of Weapons of Mass Destruction Are Now More
Urgent Than Ever.
By Reiner Braun
The abolition of nuclear weapons is now again on the agenda of international politics – fundamentally not more than ever, despite the disappointing outcome of the review conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May 2010 in New York. That was the commonly held point of view at the international congress from 2.-4. August in Hiroshima. More than 300 activists from 27 countries took part in this congress.
They showed a different perspective of the international situation, which connected with the European perspective, and made it clear actually how dangerous the use of nuclear weapons in Asia is. The conflict in and around Korea touched on the question, to what level of escalation will the US be prepared at to use nuclear weapons. But also: How far is North Korea going to drive its verbal nuclear war threat? When will provocations, which also serve as a political distraction in South Korea, be set back by diplomacy and détente?
Memorial Service 65 Years after the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb: First Participation of the UN Secretary-General and a U.S. Representative
By Reiner Braun
On this Friday at 7:30 a.m. it is hot and humid in Hiroshima. There is silence with the tens of thousands of people in the Peace Park – all with candles or flowers. Young and old, men and women: all who come from different occupational groups and social strata. The traffic is still, in the otherwise loud, roaring atmosphere of the Japanese city of millions. For several minutes there is silence, which works in an almost spooky way in the peace park. The warning pictures and sculptures have an effect on everyone. Hardly a word is heard among the many people who are gathered there.
On August 6, 1945, at 8:14 a.m., two U.S. aircraft planes appeared in the blue sky. They seemed to carry “no risk”, recalls one survivor – in Japanese, hibakusha – from his memory. Read on
2. August 2010
Science Conference Against Nuclear Weapons
To begin the array of events on the occasion of the 65 anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japan Scientists’ Association (JSA) held an impressive “Scientists Forum” in Shizuoka.
More than 150 participants reaffirmed their principle rejection of all nuclear weapons and their unequivocal support behind a Nuclear Weapons Convention, as co-developed by INES and the IALANA.
The forum, held by the program director of INES, Reiner Braun, who introduced a definitive call for civil clauses at a side event at the NPT Review Conference in May 2010 in New York, called on all universities worldwide to adopt a single focus of research and education for civilian purposes in their university statutes and rules. “Military research is banned from many universities precisely because of the painful years of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were a result of the scientifically and military-oriented Manhattan Project”, said Braun. The Japanese science organization JSA, which is a member of INES, mutually supported a worldwide campaign for the civil clauses and began to collect signatures at the conference.
See the presentation of Reiner Braun at the JSA conference here:
Presentation+Japan.ppt (1M)
2. August 2010
Nuclear disarmament appeals 1945 - 2010. A compilation by the World Future Council and INES
On July 16th, 1945, the first atom bomb exploded at the Trinity Test Site in the New Mexico desert. Less than a month later atomic bombs would be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 250,000 people. A week before the 10 year commemoration of the Trinity Test, on July 9th 1955, Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell published the Russell-Einstein Manifesto in London in which they urged world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons and make an end to war. To draw attention to the global responsibility of scientists and engineers, the World Future Council and the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES) have compiled an overview of relevant appeals made by scientific networks throughout the Nuclear Age.
Note: David Krieger, the Chair of the INES Executive Committee is a Councilor of the World Future Council.
1. August 2010
Source: wikipedia.org
Appeal to the Indian Parliament to declare the entire South Asian sub-continent as a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone.
By Dhirendra Sharma
On 6 August 1945, in total disregard of the basic tenets of science and civilization, the first Atom Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, which created a new war paradigm: destroy an entire city. On 9 August, the second atom bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki. The sole purpose of creating the nuclear war science was to destroy and dominate other human beings. The Law of War, for 5000 years human history, avoided killing unarmed civilians and women, children, the sick and wounded were always protected. But at that hour, thousands of wounded soldiers and the sick civilians were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki hospitals. Tens of thousands of unarmed citizens – Buddhist and Christians, irrespective of gender, region and religion were killed instantly. The law of warfare was thus violated by a technically advanced democratic state that swore In God We Trust and claimed to follow the Christian morality.
The Nuclear Age has entered its 65th year. The first test of a nuclear device took place on July 16, 1945 at the Alamogordo Test Range in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto Desert. The Spanish name of this desert means “Journey of Death,” a fitting name for the beginning point of the Nuclear Age. Just three weeks after the test, the United States destroyed the city of Hiroshima with a nuclear weapon, followed by the destruction of Nagasaki three days later. By the end of 1945, the Journey of Death had claimed more than 200,000 human lives and left many other victims injured and suffering.
Scientists Condemn Government over Cuts to Environmental Watchdogs
Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) today condemned the government's decision to withdraw funding for the Sustainable Development Commission and abolish the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.
Dr Stuart Parkinson, Executive Director of SGR, said "The Sustainable Development Commission and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution have been highly influential watchdogs on environmental issues. Their robust reports have led to major changes in thinking within government and across British society. The announcement by the Environment Secretary is, in effect, saying that the government's environmental policies no longer need the level of scrutiny that these independent, expert bodies provided. This thoroughly undermines the government's claimed commitment to sustainable development."
Contact: Dr Stuart Parkinson +44 (0) 7941 953640
SGR is a member of INES and is an independent UK-based membership organisation of about 1,000 natural and social scientists, engineers, IT professionals and architects. It promotes science, design and technology that contribute to peace, social justice, and environmental sustainability.
For more information, see: www.sgr.org.uk/
6. July 2010
A Concerned Citizens’ Memorandum on Nuclear Policy to the Prime Minister of India
By Dhirendra Sharma
No Parliamentary Committee had discussed the reliability and performance of a “Peaceful Nuclear” programme. Yet, our government has been negotiating nuclear deals with seven countries, including the United States and France, costing the nation more than US$ 150 billion. In view of the Bhopal fiasco, we, the young citizens and scientists ask the government to re-assess the social cost of the long-term Nuclear Power programme.
The post-Chernobyl accident (1986) studies and research have “reaffirmed what an abyss will open if nuclear (accident or) war befalls mankind. Inherent in the nuclear arsenals stockpiled are thousands upon thousands of potential disasters far more horrible than the Chernobyl one,’ concluded Dr. Mould in “Chernobyl: The Real
Story”(March 1988; ISBN-13: 978-0080357188).
In Europe thousands of animals were destroyed and helicopters, vehicles, buildings, machines, tools, roads, soil, trees, and forests were contaminated and abandoned.
INES activities at the 6th European Social Forum 1. - 4. July 2010, Istanbul
Together with other international networks, INES took part in five events:
1. A forum on nuclear weapons in Europe, at which the 8th NPT Review Conference in New York City was analysed. The withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from five European countries (Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey), remains as a main focus for the freedom movement. At the beginning of the forum, a meeting of members from the peace movements from these countries occurred. This increased the coordination of national activities, and joint action for Brussels 2011 was agreed upon.
British Petroluem, Imagination, and Nuclear Catastrophe
By David Krieger
Before the catastrophic British Petroleum oil gush in the Gulf of Mexico, there were environmentalists who warned that offshore drilling was fraught with risk - risk of exactly the type of environmental damage that is occurring. They were mocked by people who chanted slogans such as "Drill, baby, drill." Now it is clear that the "Drill, baby, drill" crowd was foolish and greedy. The economic wellbeing of people in and around the Gulf coast has been badly damaged and, for some, destroyed altogether. Aquatic and estuary life, in the Gulf and beyond, has fallen victim to an environmental disaster that was foreseeable with a modicum of vision and imagination.
World military expenditure increases despite global financial crisis, says SIPRI
Worldwide military expenditure in 2009 totalled an estimated $1531 billion, according to new figures released today by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This represents an increase of 5.9% in real terms compared to 2008 and an increase of 49% since 2000.
SIPRI today launches the 2010 edition of its Yearbook on Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. In addition to the release of its much anticipated military expenditure figures, Yearbook 2010 offers an authoritative account and analysis of recent developments in a number of security-related fields. The global financial crisis, the conflict in Afghanistan, and nuclear weapons and disarmament are among some of this year's cross-cutting security themes.
Article in the German Newspaper "Frankfurter Rundschau", 29. May, 2010
Of Elephants and Ants
On Saturday, the eighth Review Conference of the Nuclear Weapons Disarmament Treaty ended in New York. Powerful interest groups have geared up even further. The majority of people want a nuclear-free world. What is there to do? Reiner Braun, of the freedom movement, calls for a nuclear weapons convention, and Giorgio Franceschini, of the Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Studies, favours pragmatic steps. Read on
A decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to send Mordechai Vanunu, the nuclear whistleblower, back to jail for three months has reignited calls for him to be freed from restrictions that have dogged his life for the past six years.
Amnesty International has accused the Israeli authorities of subjecting jailed nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by holding him in solitary confinement.
Report on IPB-INES Session at NPT: Misuse of brainpower: the conversion of science and technology for human and environmental needs.
This seminar, arranged by the International Peace Bureau (IPB) and International Network of Engineers and Scientists (INES), was chaired by Reiner Braun (INES) and brought attention to the military industrial complex.
15.781 signatures of the Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World were handed over to to the President of the NPT Libran N. Cabactulan by INES Program Director Reiner Braun.
May 1, 2010
UN Secretary General Keynoted International Peace Movement Conference to Abolish Nuclear Weapons on eve of NPT Review Conference.
U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, addressed an international conference of leading peace, justice and environmental activists this evening at the historic, Riverside Church in New York City to push for a world free of nuclear weapons. The conference and related events are being organized on the eve of this May’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.
Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, said to nearly 1,000 participants from around 30 countries regarding the NPT, “Let it heed our call. Disarm Now!” He continued, “Our shared vision is within reach…a nuclear-free world.” And that “nuclear disarmament is my top priority.”
The Secretary noted the significance of the Riverside Church hosting Nelson Mendela’s first speech in the U.S and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech against the Vietnam War.
April 20, 2010 Weeks after the signing of the cautious US-Russia START Treaty, the antinuclear movement has ratcheted up efforts to push for more rigorous steps toward a nuclear-free world.
On the eve of next week's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, 1,000 leading peace, justice and environmental activists and scholars from communities across the United States and more than 20 nations will gather for an international conference on April 30 and May 1 in New York City. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be among the participants.
Post conference, the network will hold a rally and march in Manhattan, and will then present millions of petition signatures to the NPT Review Conference, urging it to begin negotiations as soon as possible to eliminate the world's nuclear arsenals.
The conference has been organized by a network of 25 leading popular peace and nuclear weapons abolition organizations in the US, Europe, Japan and Israel. These activists seek a broader, more comprehensive, more effective nuclear strategy that goes far beyond President Obama's efforts to date.
US-Russia Nuclear Reduction Agreement an “Important Step Forward”
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation today welcomed the announcement of a new treaty to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and Russia.
While exact details of the new agreement are not yet known, it is reassuring to see that the two countries are moving ahead with nuclear reductions after years of no progress.
However, two major obstacles remain to full cooperation between the two countries on nuclear disarmament. First, the two sides still strongly disagree on the US missile defense plans, which would put missiles and radar installations close to the Russian border. It appears that the two countries have been able to work around the issue in this new treaty, but resolution of this issue is essential to making further progress toward nuclear weapon-free world.
Second, the US Senate must ratify the new treaty with at least 67 votes. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation urges the Senate to ratify this new treaty without conditions that would undermine the disarmament progress that has been made. Some senators want to invest billions of dollars in new nuclear weapons production facilities in exchange for a “Yes” vote on ratification.
David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and the Chair of the Executive Committee of INES, said, “This new treaty is an important step toward President Obama’s stated goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. After this agreement is fully implemented, however, there will still be sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy civilization and most life on the planet. We will still be living with the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons, which requires us now to put the issue of a Nuclear Weapons Convention at the forefront of the debate.”
In a briefing booklet (see below) just published by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation for the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, the Foundation calls on all signatory states of the NPT to commence “negotiations in good faith on a Nuclear Weapons Convention for the phased, verifiable, irreversible and transparent elimination of nuclear weapons, and complete these negotiations by the year 2015.”
Dr. Krieger continued, “We believe that the time is right for the US and Russia to play a leadership role in bringing the other countries of the world into negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention.”
International Coalition of over 250 Groups Launches Campaign Calling on Obama and World Leaders to Begin Negotiations to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons Worldwide
May UN non-proliferation treaty review conference is focal point for international organizing
New York– On today’s seventh anniversary of the largest peace demonstration in world history—the historic February 15, 2003 mobilization against the US-led war on Iraq that saw 12 million people around the world march for peace-- an international network of more than 250 organizations publicly launched a campaign to press US President Barack Obama and other world leaders to initiate negotiations to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide.
The coalition, organizing under the banner “For Peace and Human Needs: Disarmament Now!” calls for negotiations on ridding the planet of the scourge of nuclear weapons to begin at or before the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon) at the United Nations in New York City this May.
“Representatives of the world’s governments will gather at the UN for nearly a month, to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime,” said Dr. Joseph Gerson of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC.) read on
January 26, 2010
Afghanistan: War is not the Answer - More Troops Mean More War
Statement of INES on the occasion of the Afghanistan Conference in London on January 28th 2010
President Obama’s recent decision to send 30,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan is part of a larger trend of escalating violence in a country renowned for being a graveyard of empires. Additional NATO troops are also being sent. The pressure on "not yet willing" NATO states has increased dramatically - especially on Germany which is supposed to increase its troops by 50 percent.
Nuclear disarmament should serve as the leading edge of a global trend toward demilitarization and redirection of resources to meet human needs and restore the environment.
Peace and justice now: new website about all activities at the NPT conference in New York City: peaceandjusticenow.org
Take a step towards a nuclear-free world!
Today, we launch a new website: For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! Hundreds of organizations from the US and around the globe are taking new steps, together, to renew the commitment to a nuclear free world.
For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! is a website dedicated to rebuilding the grassroots movement for nuclear disarmament and abolition! We need a nuclear disarmament movement to build momentum to cut the military budget for war to fund peace, jobs and justice in our communities.
President Obama shocked the world in Prague last April when he declared “I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” His call for real steps can only be realized through public debate, education and vocal support. And yes, marching in the streets.
For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! is a source for the most current writings and resources to take the grassroots movement for peace onto the new terrain of getting rid of all weapons of mass destruction.
Go to For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! to get involved in a massive international petition drive Let President Obama know that we want the administration to initiate good faith multilateral negotiations on an international agreement to abolish nuclear weapons, within our lifetimes! Yes, we can!
We have a terrific opportunity in May to progress toward nuclear abolition at an important United Nations conference, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference. Government representatives and activists from around the world will gather at a variety of events to consider how to move toward a nuclear weapons-free world and strengthen measures to stop the spread of these deadly weapons. Join us in NYC April 30-May 2!
Yours in peace,
International Planning Committee for Nuclear Abolition, Peace, Sustainability and Justice Website: peaceandjusticenow.org
January 15, 2010
Scientists against the Nuclear Bomb
By Dhirendra Sharma
The recent visit of the Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Yukio Hatoyama offered an opportunity for India to lead the United Nations towards a Nuclear weapons free world order. Japan and India can respond to challenges of the 21st century. It is an historical irony that the Japanese premier, asked New Delhi to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to accept the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Mordechai Vanunu: Nuclear Hero's 'Crime' was Making Us Safer
By Daniel Ellsberg
Mordechai Vanunu — my friend, my hero, my brother — has again been arrested in Israel on "suspicion" of the "crime" of "meeting with foreigners." I myself have been complicit in this offense, traveling twice to Israel for the express purpose of meeting with him, openly, and expressing support for the actions for which he was imprisoned for over eighteen years. His offense has been to defy, openly and repeatedly, conditions put on his freedom of movement and associations and speech after he had served his full sentence, restrictions on his human rights which were a direct carry-over from the British Mandate, colonial regulations in clear violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Such restrictions have no place in a nation evincing respect for a rule of law and fundamental human rights. His arrest and confinement are outrages and should be ended immediately.
