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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No.12/2001 |
Dateline: March 23, 2001 |
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This is the weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:
INES homepage: http://inesglobal.org
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner
CONTENTS of WNII No. 12/2001
Message from Tom Munsey, INES webmaster
Dear WNII readers: I recently received two excellent questions from people who had seen the INES web site and gotten my e-mail address from there [see the two items following below; the ed.]. I passed these on to the INESnet discussion list and got some excellent responses.
I am only listed on the site as the webmaster, who, in general, is usually someone who only answers technical questions or comments about the site itself. Perhaps we could add a line to the main INES web page which says something like "If you have questions or concerns about the use or mis-use of science and technology in education, government or the private sector, contact [some e-mail address at INES hq], and we'll try to help." With this setup, INES would:
- most likely have increased interaction with the public,
- have control over responses sent out in their name,
- probably request INESnetters to answer more of these inquiries
- be seen as responsive to and involved with the public.
The best of these questions and answers could be put on the web site as an FAQ page. What do you think? Your comments and suggestions please. Responses to Tom Munsey:
Synchrotron query (NOTE: This message forwarded by Dr Tom Munsey has already been forwarded via INESnet)
Friends, Can anyone help this gentleman with his inquiry about synchrotron radiation? I think this is the radiation given off by particles as they spiral into a black hole; but this is the extent of my knowledge. Tom
----- Original Message ----- From: Ross Gwyther
I have a query regarding possible adverse effects from a synchrotron facility. We have a local community in which a new synchrotron facility is proposed to be built, presumably for production of radioisotopes. There is some concern about possible adverse effects on the surrounding community (radiation leakage, etc?) Can you suggest some sources of information on the arguments on both sides of this issue? (I have been a member of SGR [Scientists for Global Responsibility; the ed.], through the Australian body SANA for many years) Thanks, Ross Gwyther Research Geophysicist, CSIRO Exploration & Mining, Technology Court Pullenvale/POB 883, Kenmore QLD 4069, Australia; e-mail:
Socially Responsible Careers (NOTE: This message forwarded by Tom Munsey has already been forwarded via INESnet)
Dear Friends, Can INES help this kid? You did so well with the synchrotron question[see above; the ed.] (about 10 responses), perhaps you can come through here also. It seems to me that assistance of this type is a logical function of INES. I don't think we're likely to be overwhelmed by these requests. Tom
----- Original Message ----- From: Jonathan Jump
I am a graduating electrical engineering student looking for a socially responsible career. While searching on the web I found your email at http://inesglobal.org/ines6.htm . Could you please forward my resume [*] or recommend any employers who are looking for socially responsible engineers. Jonathan Jump
[*] This was a file attached to the original message. I do not forward this attachment without permission by its sender. The ed.
Ireland: Message from INES member Dr Roy H.W. Johnston
Here in Ireland we have a thriving socially responsible science tradition, with roots deep in the colonial past, and currently interacting strongly with high-tech industry at the cutting edge. We have largely in recent time managed to avoid domination by the military-industrial complex, being a small nation at the periphery, though in colonial times there was a strong imperial orientation. The transition however was quite painful, with decades dominated by 'brain-drain' between the 1920s and 1960s; the post-colonial Irish government only began to wake up to the importance of science in national economic development in the 1970s, a lag-time of a half-century, during which there was mass emigration.. The experience of this 'colonial to post-colonial transition' in science is well-documented in Ireland, and it is on the agenda of the present writer to make it somehow web-accessible. This experience, in its negative and positive aspects, could be part of a global experience, if we were to network with other similar peripheral countries, where science perhaps initially has a bad image as an imperial tool, and its positive role in national cultural development remains unperceived. Expressions of interest in this approach will be welcome; maybe we can get some funding into a suitably specified development project of which the output might be useful in the support of socially responsible science via the political process.
Contact Roy Johnston:
I have also put up a few relevant papers on my own web-site: http://www.iol.ie/~rjtechne/ and I would welcome feedback.
INESAP/NAPF: Moving Beyond Missile Defense
Moving Beyond Missile Defense, a joint project of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation (INESAP) and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), held its first international workshop in Santa Barbara, California, March 19-21, 2001. It was the first in a series of workshops that will take place in several different international regions, including Northeast Asia, Europe, South Asia and the Middle East. For three days, 17 experts in science, technology and security gathered to discuss the technological and geopolitical problems as well as the negative impacts of missile defenses on international security. Participants of the Moving Beyond Missile Defense conference argued that deployment of a U.S. missile defense system could provoke new arms races, including in outer space. Experts from Russia, Germany, Egypt, India, Israel, China, Pakistan, Japan and the U.S. provided regional perspectives on missile defenses and offered alternatives. "There is great concern among Europeans about these plans," said Juergen Scheffran, a senior researcher with the Interdisciplinary Research Group in Science Technology and Security at the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany. "And not only among Europeans, but also Chinese and Russians. They fear that the United States is adding to its nuclear weapon capabilities." Russian and Chinese leaders, as well as most allies in Europe, have decried the planned system as the start of new nuclear arms races. Missile defense opponents also contend that such a system would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed by the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, which prohibits national missile defenses. "We think the way to go forward on this question of threat from other countries is to pursue diplomatic means and find ways of actually banning these missiles, globally." Said M.V. Ramana, a research associate at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton University. "The U.S., Russia and China will also have to cut back their arsenals if they expect other countries to do the same." David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, said that "the Moving Beyond Missile Defense project aims to present alternatives to missile defense that would not undermine international stability and security." "It's very good to have people from all over the world cooperating in this," observed Regina Hagen, Coordinator of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation at the organization's headquarters in Germany. The conclusions and recommendations from the Santa Barbara workshop will be utilized by an International Study Group to further explore alternatives to missile defenses and in a series of international regional meetings over the next three years. They will also be made available to government policy makers and non-governmental organizations working in the arena of global security. Participants in the workshop reached the following preliminary findings:
The deployment of missile defenses and the militarization of outer space are inextricably linked. The weaponization of space must be prohibited. We therefore recommend:
Video clips and articles are available on the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's website at: http://www.wagingpeace.org
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org
Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
Conference on facilitating the entry into force of the CTBT (Source: UN Vienna International Centre Press Release, 13 March 2001)
The United Nations Secretary-General, in his capacity as Depositary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), has issued an invitation for the second Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), to be convened at UN Headquarters in New York from 25 to 27 September 2001.
(..) All States, both Signatories and non-signatory are invited to attend the Conference. The conference will also be open to specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and entities that have been granted observer status in the United Nations General Assembly, as well as non-governmental organizations. (..)
"Nuclear Weapons, Uncertainty and the Law"
This is the title of a very interesting briefing paper just written by George Farebrother, Secretary of the World Court Project UK. You can obtain this paper as an email attachment from the author:
UNIDIR Brief: "Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Options for Control"
"Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Options for Control" is the first in a series of studies to be published by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) on this subject. The study examines the situation regarding Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNWs) with an emphasis on those issues most relevant to their control. The volume comprises two chapters. The first Chapter entitled "The Nature of the Problem", authored by William C. Potter and Nikolai Sokov of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, USA, analyses the nature of the problem of TNWs, the shortcomings of the existing informal US-Russian control regime, and possible immediate and longer term alternatives for the regulation of TNWs. The second Chapter entitled "Definitions, Types, Missions, Risks and Options for Control: A European Perspective," authored by Harald Müller and Annette Schaper of the Peace Research Institute, Frankfurt, Germany, addresses the contentious though crucial matter of the definition of TNWs, their inherent risks, and potential policies for their control. In their respective contributions, all four authors paint a picture of new emerging challenges connected with TNWs and suggest a need for placing TNWs controls on a more secure and extensive footing. The policy recommendations presented by both sets of authors at the end of their respective chapters, are an attempt to respond to this need.
You can order this publication (Sales No. GVE.E.00.0.21; ISBN: 92-9045-136-X; Price: US$15) from the UN Publications Sales and Marketing Sections: Geneva: New York:
Asia's security and the US Missile Defense policy
On this theme, I have compiled the following articles which are available as an rtf-formatted email attachment (size: ~ 300 Kb):
*: Paper presented at the Workshop "East Asian Regional Security Futures: Theater Missile Defense Implications", convened by The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development, and The United Nations University, 24-25 June 2000
As a separate rtf-formatted email attachment (size: ~ 100 Kb), you can obtain in addition:
NOT available from me is:
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
International interdisciplinary scientific - practical Symposium "Reflexive processes and control" (RPC '2001)
Registration fee: 350 US dollars For more details, contact Dr. Vladimir Lepsky, Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences:
No new or changed addresses.
All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
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