Monday, May 14, 2007

An Open Letter to UC Faculty


Re: An Open Letter to the Faculty of the University of California
It’s time to re-think UC’s management of Los Alamos and Livermore nuclear weapons labs

Dear faculty member,

As you know our University of California co-manages the Lawrence Livermore (LLNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) for the US government. UC has done so since these labs were established. You are also no doubt aware of the mission of these laboratories: national security. Therefore it might surprise you to learn that several dozen UC students and community members have initiated a hunger strike in opposition to UC management of these labs. The students have pledged to go without solid food until the UC Regents withdraw from their contracts to operate LLNL and LANL. As a supporter of the hunger strikers I have taken upon the task of informing you that their goal is to push the Regents to fully sever ties with the nuclear weapons complex and that the hunger strikers are seeking your support. Before I return to the hunger strikers, however, let me address some aspects of UC’s nuclear labs you may not be up to speed on.


UC is not the best manager for this mission

The mission of LLNL and LANL is changing. LLNL just succeeded in designing a new nuclear weapon, called the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW). Los Alamos is, as you read this, preparing the manufacturing infrastructure for the production of plutonium bomb pits, the core component of the bomb. In other words, these labs are leading an effort to design and build a whole new generation of nuclear warheads under direction of the National Nuclear Security Administration. Furthermore, there is a scoping process underway for the US nuclear weapons complex, called “Complex 2030,” which would pour many billions of dollars into the US nuclear weapons infrastructure far into the future.

Surprisingly, this is occurring in the absence of anything approaching a national consensus on the need for a new nuclear weapons program or the need for a capacity to produce weapons en masse. National defense is certainly a priority, but do new nuclear weapons equal true security? The Navy and Air Force have stated on several occasions that they see no pressing need for a new weapons design added to the arsenals, especially given our adherence to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Members of the US Congress are understandably weary of dedicating many billions (RRW and pit production will take many billions of dollars over the span of several decades) to these efforts. The environmental costs from nuclear weapons manufacturing and deployment are inevitably going to be high. The American people are unequivocal about their support for a gradual move toward a vastly smaller nuclear weapons arsenal and engagement with other nations on treaties toward disarmament (there are numerous scientific polls demonstrating this popular opinion). Finally, the international community is increasingly worried about these developments in the US. Various other nations see US nuclear weapons policies, and RRW and pit productions advancement in particular, as hypocritical and contrary to global security.

As a signatory of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the United States is obligated to working in good faith toward the cessation of the arms race and toward nuclear disarmament. As the preeminent nuclear power the US could lead the way toward large-scale nuclear disarmament, if the political will were present. One recent study on the RRW program released by the American Association for the Advancement of Science states that the program will “[lead] to concerns among friends and allies about the possible adverse nonproliferation impacts of U.S. nuclear policy and posture. In particular, unless explicit and credible efforts to counter those assumptions are made, some countries could view an RRW program as contrary to both the spirit and letter of the NPT.” In fact, many nations and NGOs already view the US as violating this treaty, and a powerful legal case can be made for this. RRW and pit production, the two driving programs of US nuclear weapons proliferation – which UC is being dictated to carry out – are by no means inevitable, and with your support can be defeated.
There is an alternative to RRW, pit production and “Complex 2030”: to not commit billions to these programs, not pursue new nuclear weapons, and to promote nuclear disarmament on whatever practical scales possible. California and its university can be a major power in choosing and executing this option. Just as our state shows great leadership in legislating environmental standards and shifting the national discourse on other critical issues like higher education, law enforcement and health and safety, so too can California contribute in an unparalleled way to our future national security.

How? Currently UC management of LANL and LLNL only fulfills a couple purposes for the labs. Perhaps the most instrumental is that it creates a pipeline for UC-trained scientists to work at the labs. We really do produce the best science for the mission, even when the mission is wrong. The second, and possibly most important function of UC management is that it provides university’s stellar reputation to the mission of nuclear weapons design and manufacturing. After all, it is often assumed that if the UC is doing it, it must be good for the state and nation.

UC has been forced to take a sideline role in the national labs after the recent competitions for their contracts. Bechtel Corporation is now the entity calling the shots at these facilities, as it is in truth the leading corporation in the limited liability partnerships formed with UC to operate LANL and LLNL. As such, the UC does not really manage the labs. Rather, the UC Regents help to select the executive officers who manage the labs. But in no way does the university – its faculty, students or majority of administrators – exert any substantive influence or oversight of the labs. The single most important fact is that in its capacity as manger of the labs, the UC has zero say whether the labs pursue RRW and pit production. Such a situation, combined with the new weapons mission means that it is time for UC to withdraw from LANL and LLNL. The single most positive impact our state’s university can have in this context is to withdraw from the laboratories, and to do so based on the grounds that the RRW program and preparations for plutonium pit production are violations of the NPT, that they endanger our national security, and will waste billions of our tax dollars. To put it simply, the direction that the nuclear weapons complex is headed in is not in the interest of the people of California and the nation, nor is it in the interests of the vast majority of the UC’s students, staff and faculty. It’s time for a principled stand.


The student hunger strike and your role?

The student-led hunger strike calling for severance from the weapons labs has been initiated by more than 40 students at UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, and now a professor at UC San Francisco. Many of the students and community members have dedicated themselves to going without solid food until the Regents withdraw from the labs. You can learn more about their campaign here: http://nonukeshungerstrike.blogspot.com. Their stand is a principled one based on facts, deep analysis and moral clarity. However, it is a stand that can only succeed if persons in positions of power express support and do what they can to ensure their success.

If you believe, like us, that current US nuclear weapons policies are counterproductive then we ask that you support our ultimate goal in any capacity you can. If you believe, as we do, that given UC’s now marginal but legitimizing (read “rubber stamping”) role in laboratory management, that the best thing our University can do at this point is to withdraw from the labs and reject the missions they are pursuing, then please join us. Or, if you believe that the mission at these labs now demands faculty input, regardless of your stance on UC’s management role, please get involved.

While we do not know the most effective means by which you could support us, we have several ideas:

1. Discuss this issue with your students. Dialogue is important, especially given the wide range of opinions and serious lack of information around this issue.
2. Draft, introduce or support a resolution in the Faculty Senate either (1) supporting the hunger strike and calling for severance from LANL and LLNL, or (2) Questioning RRW and pit production at the labs and therefore bringing the Faculty’s intellectual authority to bear on this critical and timely issue.
3. Make a public statement in support of the UC student hunger strike for lab severance.
4. Make a public statement in opposition to RRW, pit production and Complex 2030.
5. Contact the UC Regents and your campus administrators and inform them about our position, demand, and reasoning.
6. Join the hunger strike.

Sincerely,

Darwin BondGraham
Graduate student, UC Santa Barbara
Member, Associated Students DOE Laboratory Oversight Committee (DOELOC)
darwin@umail.ucsb.edu

The Big 100, Letters of Support

Congratulations! At 1:43 PST our web form delivered its 100th email to the Regents. There have been over 32 letters of support to the strikers as well. Here are some snippets...

"I am so proud to know this collection of people who are putting their bodies on the line. This is a momentous step. This is history."

"I have recently been diagnosed with cancer of the thyroid. It is a disease with the only known cause being radiation exposure...The Regents must end their involvement in the wanton development of these dangerous weapons. Even if they are never used, the weapons are killing people by environmental poisoning."

"I saw the online news about your hungerstriking. I was very much impressed that you act so sincerely and powerfully for nucear abolition. I live close to Hiroshima and work there with Hibakusha people. We all have the same goal. We are proud of you."

"As your spirits soar with joy, as they join with truth and beauty, be sure to put your light under a barrel as you want your oppressors to see suffering. Show them the suffering that war and killing and domination brings. Save the light for the future. What you are doing will change you forever. You are visiting an island of purity and abiding love which will live in your hearts forever.

When I fasted, a friend sent me this quotation which I have never forgotten ~ Apache Chief Magnus Colorado said, “Only people with empty heads feast while their hearts are heavy with grief.”"

"On behalf of the French NGO "Action of Citizens for the total Dismantling of Nukes", I congratulate you for your courageous initiative. We support your action. We spread the information on it...In the name of ACDN, I wrote to the Regents."

"Frankly I am ashamed to be associated with the great CAL as an institution over this matter.
In fact I was disappointed that our daughter chose this unuversity for this reason.
How can FIAT LUX be the motto when we have the destructive darkness of continuing work with nuclear weaponry ?? University as an institution needs to make a change regarding this and inject ethics into the reasoning for this change.
You are the bridge to change and I salute that!"

"I just tpoke to the regents' secretary and learned that approx 100 people who are in solidarity with you will be speaking out on Thursday.
BRAVO For the light you are spreading!"

"I am writting from Mexico city.
Keep up the struggle, what you are doing is a lesson for everyone around the world.
Your courage is refreshing and confronting."

"I am a french girl and I would like to support you. Your act is mervellous and necessary. I will give your message to my friends.
I am also against civil and military nuclear. We have to do our best for a best future for the new generation and our life too!
Resist, it's create!
We are right and never give up because we are not alone! Good luck. In France (a nuclear country) I think at you."

UCSB Staff & Faculty Solidarity Rally Tomorrow!

I received this e-mail in my Inbox today, which marks a major breakthrough for the hunger strike not only at UCSB, but at all the other locations!

----- Forwarded message from foran@soc.ucsb.edu -----
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 10:16:54 -0800
From: John Foran <*e-mail deleted*>
Reply-To: John Foran <*e-mail deleted*>
Subject: [socforum] UCSB Staff and Faculty Rally TUESDAY MAY 15th 12 noon
To: *e-mail deleted*

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

UCSB staff and faculty will rally to protest nuclear weapons development by
the University of California at the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos Labs.

TUESDAY May 15th 12 noon
Outside Cheadle Hall, UCSB

Please come and learn what the student hunger strikers are asking the UC
Regents to do, and why they are engaging in a hunger strike.

The students leave on Wednesday to attend the UC Regents meeting in San
Francisco on Thursday May 17.

ALL WELCOME