India test response
Pam Rider
The following was sent to me by the director of San Diego's Peace Resource
Center. Forwarded material follows:
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 08:54:17 -0700 (PDT)
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From: Carol Jahnkow <prcsa...@igc.apc.org>
Subject: Re: India's test - action alert/response
Please use the info below to send your individual protest to the Indian
government. I will be sending a fax from the Peace Resource Center.
>
>
><< o : Abolitionists everywhere
> From: Bruce Hall at Peace Action
> Date: May 11, 1998
> Re : India's test
>
> Dear friends,
> Here's a suggested action step on India's nuclear test. I have sent
> this out with US activists in mind but I feel that it can easily be
> adopted to initiatives in other countries.
>
> Enjoy,
>
>
>
> Bruce
>
> URGENT URGENT URGENT URGENT
>
> INDIA TESTS THREE NUCLEAR BOMBS
>
> Dear friends -
>
> As many of you have heard by now, Indian officials have announced
> that three nuclear tests took place this afternoon in the western
> state of Rajasthan. Seismic stations in Britain have picked up the
> event and early estimates are that it was around 4.7 on the
> Reichter Scale.
>
> Here's an immediate suggestion on what to do, plus some background
> based on the information available. This is a nuanced issue with
> implications for US ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban
> Treaty and the US Stockpile Stewardship Program. It will probably
> take us all more time to fully formulate our response, but the very
> first thing that we all need to do is to reaffirm our opposition to
> nuclear testing at any place, any yield, or any time.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Bruce Hall
> Peace Action
>
> What you can do
>
> Fax the Indian Embassy!
>
> Ambassador Naresh Chandra
> Embassy of India
> 2107 Massachussettes Avenue
> Washington, DC 20008
> fax: 202 265-4351
>
> Your Excellency:
>
> * As a non-governmental group in the United States with a long-
> standing commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons, we
> strongly condemn India's decision to resume nuclear testing.
>
> * We have worked hard over the years to halt the U.S. nuclear
> testing program and continue urge the United States to live up to
> its obligations under Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty
> which obligates the United States to pursue in good faith
> obligations toward nuclear disarmament.
>
> * In particular, we continue to oppose the United States' multi-
> billion dollar Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program. We
> have protested US subcritical experiments.
>
> * We have appreciated India's historic leadership for a
> Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and for a world without nuclear
> weapons. We can only look upon these nuclear tests in Rajasthan
> with regret. They have tarnished your country's past leadership.
>
> * Worse, nuclear testing may ignite a dangerous nuclear arms race
> on the Asian subcontinent at a time when the world is waking up
> finally to the futility of nuclear weapons.
>
> * We strongly urge you renounce further nuclear testing and sign
> the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
>
> * We strongly urge you to join the growing diplomatic movement
> aimed at accelerating the nuclear disarmament process.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> BACKGROUND
>
> It is not absolutely clear what India did today, but based on a
> statement by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, weapons
> scientists conducted simultaneous experiments on a thermonuclear
> device (hydrogen bomb), fission device, and a low-yield device.
> India last conducted a nuclear test in 1974, but has tried to
> maintain a sort of nuclear ambiguity since then.
>
> Based on what I know about India's nuclear weapons program, I would say
> that some of these experiments may have been to develop smaller nuclear
> warheads for the long-range Agni and the medium-range Pritvhi missiles.
> India claims to have the capability to strike any target in Pakistan.
> With development of the Agni II, they are working on the capability to
> strike targets in large parts of China.
>
> In addition, I would bet that the fission device was an experiment
> in "boosting." Boosting describes the process in which tritium is
> injected into the center of the weapons plutonium core to provide
> more loose neutrons during the initial stages of a nuclear
> explosion. More loose neutrons means more fissioning atoms and
> therefore more bang for less buck in terms of explosive power.
> Almost all U.S. nuclear weapons use this boosting process which is
> why the United States Department of Energy wants to resume the
> production of tritium. Boosting is an essential concept for a
> nation that wants to develop lighter, more efficient nuclear
> weapons and was one of the major objectives of the early U.S.
> testing program.
>
> WHAT THIS MEANS
>
> We still need more information. The key question right now is, "Is
> this the beginning of a series of Indian nuclear tests or an
> isolated incident."
>
> Under a worst case scenario, expect a Pakistani nuclear test in the
> coming weeks or months and a miniature nuclear arms race on the
> Asian Subcontinent.
>
> Expect Republicans to use India's nuclear missile program to
> bolster their case for the ballistic missile defense program here
> in the United States.
>
> Expect Republicans (Senator Kyl from Arizona comes to mind) to
> begin discussions or even introduce legislation on the need for the
> United States to resume nuclear testing. Under the 1992 nuclear
> moratorium the United States is prohibited from conducting a
> nuclear test after 1996 unless another country first conducts a
> test. As you remember Kyl tried to undo that moratorium in the
> summer of 1996. Of course our signature on CTBT commits the United
> States to maintain its moratorium but that fact may not
>
> Obviously, this is very bad news for efforts to get the CTBT
> ratified in the United States Senate.
>
> The Silver Lining
>
> Yes, there is a potential silver lining in this scenario. India's
> test might serve as a bit of a wake-up call to a public and
> administration largely complacent on nuclear disarmament matters.
> In this sense, India's test might provide us with an organizing
> opportunity similar to, although smaller than, the opportunity
> given to us by French President Jacques Chirac when he resumed
> nuclear testing in the South Pacific. The repercussions of that
> decision ultimately included the Canberra Commission, the zero-
> yield CTBT, the South Pacific Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, and
> General Lee Butler's decision to come out publicly in favor of
> nuclear abolition. I'm sure it also had a major impact on the
> World Court decision.
>
> Hold on, things just got more interesting.
>
>
> >>
>
>
Carol Jahnkow
Executive Director
Peace Resource Center of San Diego
5717 Lindo Paseo, San Diego, CA 92115
Phone: 619-265-0730
Fax: 619-265-0791
e-mail: prcsa...@igc.apc.org
Pam Rider
Trying to walk cheerfully on the Earth