Group Denounces Pentagon Divine Strake Meetings:
Demands Real Hearings on Nuclear Simulation Blast
Outraged upon learning that the scheduled public hearings for the Divine Strake blast will not seek public input on the test, HEAL Utah and downwinders are calling upon Utah’s Congressional Delegation to demand real hearings that allow citizens to voice their concerns about the simulated nuclear detonation.
The group fears that the blast, which is predicted to create a 10,000 foot mushroom cloud, will disperse long-lived radionuclides at the Nevada Test Site, putting Utahns and other civilian populations down-wind once again. The group is also concerned that information from the test will lead to the development of new nuclear weapons and resumed nuclear testing at the test site.
“A hearing implies that public input will be solicited, but this event is nothing more than a public relations ploy allowing the Pentagon and Department of Energy to shower the public with propaganda,” says HEAL Director Vanessa Pierce.
Pierce spoke with a representative from the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration today, who told her that next Wednesday’s hearings in St. George and Salt Lake will be an open house format where people can look at informational posters and ask technical questions about the environmental assessment conducted for the test. The public will not, however, be able to voice concerns or offer comments about the decision to conduct the test itself.
The federal government has promised public hearings on Divine Strake in Nevada, Utah and Idaho. However, hearings been scheduled only in Las Vegas, St. George and Salt Lake City.
“The public has never had a voice in Divine Strake,” says Salt Lake City downwinder Mary Dickson. “Just like during the 1950s, our government is clearly not listening to the public. Where is our democracy?”
Says Pierce, “Politics is about protection, not just pork. We urge the Utah Congressional Delegation to do all in its power to obtain real, meaningful public hearings and do everything in their power to stop this test.”
According to Defense Department budget documents, the test is designed to identify the smallest proper nuclear yield necessary to destroy underground targets. Though the Defense Department now claims that there are no nuclear applications for the test, critics maintain that information from the blast will aid in the design of new nuclear weapons.
The blast from this detonation will be 50 times larger than the largest conventional weapon in the U.S. arsenal, and will have a yield of .6 kilotons – corresponding to the lowest yield of the B61 nuclear bomb.
“No more mushroom clouds, nuclear or not,” says Dickson. “We must not allow Divine Strake.”
For More Information:
Vanessa Pierce, HEAL Utah (1) 801-652-5151 or (1) 801-652-5151
Mary Dickson, Downwinder, (1) 801-232-3471
Please also see:
Divine Mushroom Cloud: A Call to Worship, by Karen Horst Cobb
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=2318&blz=1
Livermore to Poison San Francisco Area - On Purpose
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/04/18344023.php
A Mother Fights for a Soldier Who Said No to War
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301914_pf.html
Demands Real Hearings on Nuclear Simulation Blast
Outraged upon learning that the scheduled public hearings for the Divine Strake blast will not seek public input on the test, HEAL Utah and downwinders are calling upon Utah’s Congressional Delegation to demand real hearings that allow citizens to voice their concerns about the simulated nuclear detonation.
The group fears that the blast, which is predicted to create a 10,000 foot mushroom cloud, will disperse long-lived radionuclides at the Nevada Test Site, putting Utahns and other civilian populations down-wind once again. The group is also concerned that information from the test will lead to the development of new nuclear weapons and resumed nuclear testing at the test site.
“A hearing implies that public input will be solicited, but this event is nothing more than a public relations ploy allowing the Pentagon and Department of Energy to shower the public with propaganda,” says HEAL Director Vanessa Pierce.
Pierce spoke with a representative from the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration today, who told her that next Wednesday’s hearings in St. George and Salt Lake will be an open house format where people can look at informational posters and ask technical questions about the environmental assessment conducted for the test. The public will not, however, be able to voice concerns or offer comments about the decision to conduct the test itself.
The federal government has promised public hearings on Divine Strake in Nevada, Utah and Idaho. However, hearings been scheduled only in Las Vegas, St. George and Salt Lake City.
“The public has never had a voice in Divine Strake,” says Salt Lake City downwinder Mary Dickson. “Just like during the 1950s, our government is clearly not listening to the public. Where is our democracy?”
Says Pierce, “Politics is about protection, not just pork. We urge the Utah Congressional Delegation to do all in its power to obtain real, meaningful public hearings and do everything in their power to stop this test.”
According to Defense Department budget documents, the test is designed to identify the smallest proper nuclear yield necessary to destroy underground targets. Though the Defense Department now claims that there are no nuclear applications for the test, critics maintain that information from the blast will aid in the design of new nuclear weapons.
The blast from this detonation will be 50 times larger than the largest conventional weapon in the U.S. arsenal, and will have a yield of .6 kilotons – corresponding to the lowest yield of the B61 nuclear bomb.
“No more mushroom clouds, nuclear or not,” says Dickson. “We must not allow Divine Strake.”
For More Information:
Vanessa Pierce, HEAL Utah (1) 801-652-5151 or (1) 801-652-5151
Mary Dickson, Downwinder, (1) 801-232-3471
Please also see:
Divine Mushroom Cloud: A Call to Worship, by Karen Horst Cobb
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=2318&blz=1
Livermore to Poison San Francisco Area - On Purpose
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/04/18344023.php
A Mother Fights for a Soldier Who Said No to War
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301914_pf.html