Letters

Verifying BW

London, Ont. 12 May

I am currently working on a contract with the Verification Section of Arms Control and Disarmament CDept. of External Affairs). The contract, entitled “Collateral Analysis and the Verification of Compliance with the Obligations of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention which came into force in 1975 prohibits the development, production, stockpiling and acquisition of biological and toxin weapons. However, there is no practical restriction on research.

– Tim Brac

Vancouver

Our AGM was held in Calgary in April and I am now “past president”! It was a very important and worthwhile experience to be president of PSR for the year and a half, but I feel glad to hand on the reins to others. Obviously I will still be very much involved but in a different way. A lot of new things are happening with PSR: For one thing we changed the name to Canadian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. There is now an office in Ottawa, an executive director, and Jan Van Stolk, our new president in Edmonton, will be able to work closely with others there who have an incredible amount of energy to go with their ideas.

– Dorothy Goresky, M.D.

Nuclear powered subs

Dartmouth, April 26

Last winter we had our first nuclear submarine visitor of the year-a repeat visit of the SSBN Von Steuben -carrying 16 Trident I missiles with a total of 128 – 100 kiloton warheads.

It was a strange experience to be on a residential street (part of Shearwater CFB married quarters), peering across and down through the thick fog to the dim shape of the submarine less than 200 in away. Especially as there was not a soul in sight.

Had I been a terrorist with a powerful anti-tank gun, there wouldn’t have been anyone to stop me hitting the hull with a good chance -of blowing the rocket fuel up and scattering the reactor and warheads all over the harbour!

Dartmouth, May 11

Nuclear powered subs have been coming here since 1965. Since 1980 a small “sub watch group” has welcomed 29 nuclear powered attack submarines, 17 nuclear powered ballistic missile subs, and various nuclear weapons-capable surface ships….The sub power plants are in the 10-20 MW(E) power range, carrying a 7-10 year supply of uranium fuel. Many of the subs can carry small nuclear warheads for torpedos and the ballistics carry either 16 Trident I missiles or 16 Poseidons. The Trident I (range 7000 km) carries 8 – 100 kiloton indepen­dently targetable warheads.

I question whether the sub power plants are as well protected against accidental releases of radioactivity as the CANDU stations. The missiles – each with many tons of propellant and implosion explosives in each warhead – are clearly not ideal neighbours for a nuclear reactor, nor ideal things to welcome in an urban area.

For more information, write

John Osborne 5 Blink Bonnie Terrace Dartmouth, N.S. B2Y 2G9 Ottawa, 12 April

Exchange with Gorbachev

Dear Sirs:

We are very impressed by your support of the Soviet peace initiatives expressed in your letter to the General Secretary of the Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev.

It is very important to develop close and productive cooperation in the struggle for peace between peoples all over, the world who are in fact preoccupied with the destinies of peace on earth.

We think that our peaceful activity and your calls for an end to the arms race could help improve the world situation.

The Soviet Union will do everything possible to ensure to the people the possibility of working and living under conditions of enduring peace.

– I. Liakin-Frolov First Secretary Embassy of the USSR

Toronto, 15 May

Dear Mr. Gorbachev:

We were most gratified to learn that the Soviet Union has extended its moratorium on testing nuclear weapons. In our opinion, your steadfastness is the most promising way of mobilizing world public opinion to press for ending the arms race and for embarking on the road to disarmament and peace.

George Ignatieff, President Anatol Rapoport, Director

Bombing of Libya

Ottawa, 15 May

“…In assessing Canada’s role in this international crisis (the bombing of Libya by the US), the security of Canadian citizens becomes paramount. At the same time, however,we believe that the Canadian government has a wider responsibility to ensure that all peaceful means available,including the use of economic sanctions and the rule of international law, are exhausted before resorting to military action. John N. Turner

Ottawa, 15 May

I appreciate your bringing to my attention your views on the United States’ military action against Libya, a matter of great concern to all citizens and particularly those of us who work for world peace. …..We felt a responsibility to speak on behalf of Canadians who were shocked by the action of the Reagan administration and who fear that this attack will only lead to further violence.

– Edward Broadbent

See May BULLETIN for SfP statement.

Star Wars’ leaky roof

New York, 14 May

“A leaky roof on a home with no walls” – this is how Star Wars is characterized by the Center for Defense Information in its recent issue of THE DEFENSE MONITOR, “Star Wars: Vision and Reality”. If your organization could effectively use this issue, please write to Admiral Gene La Rocque at 1500 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.., Washington, D.C. 20005 U.S.A. He will be happy to send a reasonable number of them to you at no cost.

-Sidney Katz, CDI NGO Representative to the UN