National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger:
A Call to Action: Offering an Alternative Vision to the Nuclear Weapons Build-up
Nuclear Weapons: Moving in the Wrong Direction
To
the surprise of religious communities throughout the United States, our
government is about to begin producing new nuclear weapons. On October
19, the Department of Energy released a Notice of Intent to prepare a
programmatic environmental impact statement for “Complex 2030,” a
multibillion-dollar program that would reorganize and consolidate
nuclear weapons production facilities and build a major hydrogen bomb
factory.
National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger:
A Call to Action: Offering an Alternative Vision to the Nuclear Weapons Build-up
Nuclear Weapons: Moving in the Wrong Direction
To the surprise of religious communities throughout the United States, our government is about to begin producing new nuclear weapons. On October 19, the Department of Energy released a Notice of Intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement for “Complex 2030,” a multibillion-dollar program that would reorganize and consolidate nuclear weapons production facilities and build a major hydrogen bomb factory.
The program would result in the development of new, more usable nuclear weapons and could lead to the resumption of nuclear testing. It would divert attention from the need to begin planning for further nuclear reductions and the eventual elimination of such weapons, and would instead drive a new nuclear arms race.
The teachings of the Bible, the Qur’an and other sacred texts are clear that as people of faith, we must be committed to the task of peacemaking. Jesus told his followers, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Psalm 34 calls us to “seek peace and pursue it.” The Qur’an equates killing a single person unjustly with killing all humanity and saving a single life with saving the life of all humanity (5:32).We are to do everything we can to stop war and the preparation for war. We are also obligated to obey laws and keep our promises. The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty requires the nuclear states to negotiate in good faith to get rid of nuclear weapons.
North Korea’s recent nuclear test and the nuclear standoff with Iran show that the Non-Proliferation Treaty is in danger of unraveling. The U.S. plan to build new nuclear weapons plants will further undermine the nonproliferation regime. The U.S. policy of ’Do as I say and not as I do’ is hypocritical and will only make the world more dangerous.
The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program
The first step of the nuclear weapons build-up is the Reliable Replacement Warhead, (RRW). When the “bunker buster” earth-penetrating nuclear weapon was blocked by citizen protest and congressional action, weapons makers turned to the RRW as a “modernization” of the nuclear complex. Proponents have claimed that the program would pave the way toward reducing nuclear weapons levels, and that the new warheads would be “safer” to deploy, as if such weapons could be safe.
Most nuclear weapons experts agree that U.S. stockpiles are reliable and do not need to be modernized. What’s more, the “modernization” of nuclear weapons is actually based on outmoded Cold War thinking. There is no useful role for nuclear deterrence in an age when the greatest declared threat comes from non-state terrorist groups and the proliferation of weapons to other states.
The Pentagon's new program calls for bomb making operations to be consolidated into a single facility, the "Consolidated Plutonium Center," which would have the capacity to produce 125 new weapons per year. This facility would become the national storage site for plutonium. It would be located at one of the following sites: the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Pantex Plant in Texas, the Nevada Test Site, or Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Rep. David Hobson (R-OH) and others who helped block the "bunker buster" support the RRW and the goal of reducing nuclear weapons levels down to a thousand or less. Others in Washington support the RRW and want to maintain a large arsenal of thousands of weapons spread over many testing and production facilities. In his testimony before Congress in April 2006 discussing nuclear weapons infrastructure, Thomas D’Agostino, the National Nuclear Safety Administration’s Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs, stated “we seek an ability to design, develop, certify and begin production of refurbished or replacement warheads within 48 months of a decision to begin engineering development… these timelines would restore us to a level of capability comparable to what we had during the Cold War.”
The Alternative Vision
The modernization we need is in political thinking and strategic vision. The most “reliable replacement” for the dangers posed by nuclear weapons is systematic denuclearization. Detailed plans for de-emphasizing and eliminating reliance on nuclear weapons were developed by the Canberra Commission in 1996 and the Blix Commission in 2006. These reports provide a blueprint for moving toward zero nuclear weapons through step-by-step reductions and enhanced security measures, accompanied by ever more rigorous international monitoring and inspection. This alternative strategy would be framed as part of a restructuring of US and international security policy, away from excessive militarization toward a more cooperative, less militarized security system. It could be linked to demands for “Words, Not War” regarding Iran, direct negotiations with North Korea to end its nuclear program, and the withdrawal of US military forces from Iraq.
What We Can Do
Members of religious communities and supporters of nuclear sanity are called now to develop a campaign against new nuclear weapons. The campaign will have near-term goals and a longer-term vision. The near-term emphasis will be stopping the RRW, blocking new bomb factories and nuclear production facilities, and advocating a US-Russia treaty for further sharp reductions in nuclear weapons levels. The longer-term objective will be to advocate a planning process for reducing weapons levels to zero and establishing a global prohibition against the development, testing, or use of nuclear weapons.
Success in this new campaign will depend on educating and mobilizing existing constituencies to work systematically against renewed nuclear weapons production. It requires reaching out to communities near the major nuclear sites that will be affected by renewed nuclear production. The public comment periods taking place during November and December are the ideal time to do this work. Religious leaders will be able to point out that as people of faith, we have many reasons for opposing nuclear weapons, including our commitment to peacemaking, our call to protect all of creation, our commitment to diplomacy over military action as a way for resolving our differences, and the need to focus our resources on meeting human needs rather than building up our military presence.
We will partner with environmental groups and low-income communities that depend on nuclear production for their economic livelihood. (These communities are also the ones must affected by the environmental hazards innate to the nuclear weapons complex.)
From the "ban the bomb" movement of the late 1950s and early 60s to the nuclear freeze campaign of the 1980s and the recent fight against the nuclear “bunker buster,” the mobilization of public action has been key to reducing nuclear dangers. By the 1990s, thanks to citizen pressure and the ending of the cold war, a de facto nuclear weapons freeze was achieved: no nuclear production, no testing, and no new deployments. Now the weapons makers are trying to reverse the good work done by the religious community and others to make creation free from the nuclear threat.
Let us act now to prevent the government from building new nuclear weapons factories.
In the coming months, the Pentagon will focus its energy on the following sites: the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Pantex Plant in Texas, the Nevada Test Site, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. We call on all people of goodwill in these areas and across the country to join with us in opposition to this frightening development. Together we can steer our country away from the road of renewed nuclear production toward the safer path of nuclear disarmament.
At the November 14th meeting of the National Religious Partnership, the Partnership will be asked to consider a response to this Call to Action. Some of the questions to consider are: should religious groups respond with a common statement, or do groups prefer to issue separate responses? What kinds of action are possible for the National Religious Partnership as a whole, as well as each of the partners? Who is able to participate in drafting a statement of response? How should we formulate religious perspectives on this issue?
If you are interested in becoming a part of this process, please contact:
Jessica Wilbanks, Co-Coordinator
505-586-2291
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger (NRPN) is a collaboration of national denominations and faith groups committed to enabling the religious community to have a bold witness on this issue and equip their constituencies to bring new energy to the task of ending the nuclear weapons danger. Membership in NRPN is open to any national group wishing to participate. NRPN also works with state, regional, and local religious groups, including the state ecumenical agencies. As of November 1, 2006, the official partners of the National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger are: The Interfaith Committee for Nuclear Disarmament (ICND), The National Council of Churches, The General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church, Sojourners, The Episcopal Church, The Islamic Society of North America, The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and the American Baptist Churches, USA. You can join the National Religious Partnership’s list serve by going to: www.faithfulsecurity.org and clicking the “Join” button.
Draft Statement for Public Comment:
As a person of faith, I cannot endorse the Department of Energy’s Complex 2030 plan. Nuclear weapons are tools of terror, and it is immoral for any nation to possess or consider using them. Religious Americans will not tolerate the build-up of our nuclear arsenals.
The history of the United States’ involvement with nuclear weapons causes me great pain. I am deeply troubled that at the same moment that the U.S. is encouraging Iran to refrain from building nuclear weapons and at the moment that North Korea has conducted a nuclear test, we as a nation are contemplating rebuilding our nuclear arsenal.
The production of nuclear weapons brings with it a legacy of health problems and environmental degradation, borne in large part by the poorest of the poor. The renewal of the nuclear weapons complex as described in the Complex 2030 plan would create add to the devastation that these communities are already experiencing.
It is long past time that we enter into good faith negotiations with other nations to move toward disarmament. I affirm my opposition to the Complex 2030 plan.
Draft Action Alert: It’s time to break faith with nuclear weapons!
As religious Americans, we stand up for peace. We also feel called to protect human life and care for creation. When we hear that the U.S. wants to get back in the nuclear weapons business, we must share the reasons why the U.S. needs to break faith with nuclear weapons—once and for all.
The Department of Energy recently released a Notice of Intent for the massive renovation of the nuclear weapons complex. Under the DOE’s plan, “Complex 2030,” the U.S. would have the ability to produce up to 125 nuclear weapons per year – a level comparable to what we had during the Cold War.
It’s not every day that the U.S. government invites us to tell them exactly what we think of the nuclear weapons complex. But on November 9th, you will have a chance to do just that.
North Augusta Community Center, 495 Brookside Avenue will host two public comment sessions on the proposed nuclear weapons build-up on November 9th.
Thursday November 9, 2006
First Session: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Second Session: 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
North Augusta Community Center
495 Brookside Avenue
North Augusta, South Carolina
Here’s your chance to tell officials from the Department of Energy that instead of building up nuclear arsenals, we need to break faith with nuclear weapons. The Complex 2030 plan is:
- Hazardous to creation. Under Complex 2030, DOE proposes a Consolidated Plutonium Production Center which would include a bomb plant capable of producing up to 125 plutonium pits (bomb core) per year. Plutonium pit production creates a threat to public health and to creation. The US is planning to proceed with a major overhaul of the US nuclear weapons complex, when they have yet to clean up the mess from past production of nuclear weapons.
- Poor stewardship. The renovation of the nuclear weapons complex is expected to cost upwards of $150 billion dollars. It is immoral to spend our resources on unnecessary weapons when there are so many other human needs left unmet.
- Hypocritical. North Korea has just tested a nuclear weapon, and Iran is pursuing a nuclear program. By building up its nuclear arsenal right now, the U.S. is advocating the hypocritical “Do as I say, not as I do” policy.
- Unnecessary. In addition to posing a huge threat to human life, nuclear weapons are a Cold War relic and are strategically useless. We should partner with other nations to eliminate nuclear weapons—not build more!
Please join us at one of the public comment sessions in North Augusta, SC on November 9th. Encourage members of your faith community, as well as local religious leaders, to submit a statement saying that it’s long past time to break faith with nuclear weapons.
Can’t come to the meeting in person? You still have a chance to speak out. Between now and January 17, 2006, the Department of Energy is collecting public comments via e-mail at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. You can also mail your comment to: Theodore A. Wyka, Complex 2030 SEIS Document Manager, Office of Transformation, U.S. Department of Energy, NA-10.1, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585. Please also consider forwarding your comment to your members of Congress as well as your local newspaper.
Why are people of faith standing up to the nuclear weapons complex? Visit www.faithfulsecurity.org to learn more about why nuclear weapons are so abhorrent to our common values.
Dates and Locations for Public Hearings:
South Carolina/Georgia:
November 9, 2006:
North Augusta, South Carolina, North
Augusta Community Center, 495
Brookside Avenue. November 9, 2006,
11 a.m.—3 p.m., 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
Tennessee:
November 13, 2006:
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Oak Ridge City
Center Club Room, 333 Main Street.
11 a.m.—3 p.m.,
6 p.m.—10 p.m.
Texas/Oklahoma:
November 15, 2006:
Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo Globe-News
Center, Education Room, 401 S.
Buchanan. November 15, 2006, 11
a.m.—3 p.m., 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
Nevada:
November 28, 2006:
Las Vegas, Nevada, Cashman Center,
850 Las Vegas Boulevard North (at
Washington). 11
a.m.—3 p.m., 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
November 29, 2006:
Tonopah, Nevada, Tonopah Convention
Center, 301 Brougher Avenue.
6 p.m.—10 p.m.
New Mexico:
December 4, 2006:
Socorro, New Mexico, Macey Center (at
New Mexico Tech), 801 Leroy Place.
6 p.m.—10 p.m.
December 5, 2006:
Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Albuquerque Convention Center, 401
2nd St. NW. 11
a.m.—3 p.m., 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
December 6, 2006:
Los Alamos, New Mexico, Mesa Public
Library, 2400 Central Avenue.
10:30 a.m.—2:30 p.m.
December 6, 2006:
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Genoveva
Chavez Community Center, 3221
Rodeo Road. 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
California:
December 12, 2006:
Livermore, California, Robert Livermore
Community Center, 4444 East
Avenue. 11 a.m.—3 p.m.
December 12, 2006:
Tracy, California, Tracy Community
Center, 950 East Street. 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
DC/MD/VA:
December 14, 2006:
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Room
1E–245, Washington, DC. 1 p.m.—5 p.m.
|
Post Office Box 7933