In late 2006, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) announced its intention to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Complex 2030 - the latest in a long string of DOE proposals to provide environmental compliance cover for the endless refurbishment of the nuclear weapons complex. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the initial phase of this process provides for public input into the “scope” of the environ-mental review, which must, by law, analyze all “reasonable alternatives.” In fall 2007, scoping meetings on Complex 2030 were held at a dozen locations around the United States. 32,000 people said “no” to nuclear weapons in oral and written comments!

The NNSA has changed the name of the program to “Complex Transformation” and has announced a schedule of 18 public hearings on the draft Complex Transformation EIS, to be held at locations near nuclear weapon facilities and in Washington, DC from February 21 - March 25, 2008. The 90-day public comment period will begin with publication of the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register, expected in January 2008. In the meantime, the schedule of hearings and the Complex Transformation draft EIS are available at www.ComplexTransformationSPEIS.com.

The name may be different, but a quick reading of the draft EIS confirms that Complex Transformation is just the latest DOE proposal to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. While the NNSA claims that its intent is to consolidate operations in the complex, it proposes merely to relocate nuclear weapons activities among the existing sites while modifying or constructing major new nuclear facilities. All of the alternatives presented, from the “preferred” alternative to the “no action” alternative, will result in an increase over current nuclear weapons production capabilities. In the meantime, with or without Complex Transformation, individual nuclear weapons research and production facilities are being modernized or built at nuclear weapons labs and factories across the country, and the nuclear weapons juggernaut is forging ahead.

Zia Mian and M.V. Ramana, physicists and leading voices for nuclear disarmament, recently reminded us that the continuing U.S. modernization of its nuclear arsenal and of the nuclear weapons complex almost two decades after the end of the Cold War perpetuates a dynamic that has taken hold world wide, with nuclear weapons establishments in other nuclear weapons states arguing that they too need modern, active weapons design and testing capabilities. This path, however, only leads us further from disarmament.

If the world is to avoid living under the nuclear shadow until it goes out with a radioactive bang, then it is vital to let nuclear weapons designing skills wither and die. Attention and resources can then turn to dismantling the weapons that still remain and disposing of the highly enriched uranium and plutonium they contain. Zia Mian and M.V. Ramana, "Triumph of Fear," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July/August 2007, p.34

In California, the public hearings on the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement are: are:

Tuesday March 18, 2008
Tracy, California
Holiday Inn Express, 3751 N. Tracy Blvd.
One session only: 6 p.m.—10 p.m.

Wednesday March 19, 2008 - 5th anniversary of the U.S. attack on Iraq!
Livermore, California
Robert Livermore Community Center, 4444 East Avenue
2 sessions: 11 a.m.—3 p.m. and 6 p.m. —10 p.m.

Comments may be submitted by mail to:
Mr. Theodore Wyka, Complex Transformation SPEIS Document Manager,
Office of Transformation, NA-10.1, U.S. Department of Energy/NNSA
1000 Independence Avenue, SW. Washington, D.C. 20585

Or by fax: (703) 931-9222 (request confirmation of receipt)

Or by e-mail: ComplexTransformation@nnsa.doe.gov (request confirmation of receipt)

Additional materials and resources on Complex Transformation plan and its implications are available on our Complex 2030 information page.

Sunday, October 7, 9 am in the Berkeley Marina. Support Western States Legal Foundation by sponsoring our Executive Director Jackie Cabasso or our Board President Phyllis Olin. You can also sign up to run or walk for us. Just click on the names to sign up to be a sponsor.

Late breaking news! Beach Impeach #4 will follow the Run for Peace at 11 am, with special guests Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, and musician Michele Shocked.

Monday August 6th, the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, peace, environmental, and social justice activists will gather “In the Shadow of the Bomb” at the West Gate of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to commemorate the victims of nuclear weapons and war, and to call for the global elimination of nuclear weapons, starting with our own.

A memorial ceremony will begin promptly at 7:30 a.m. Through poetry, music and spoken word, participants will recall the horrific first use of a nuclear weapon in war and the ongoing effects of nuclear weapons use, production and testing.

Driving directions: Take I-580, exit south at Vasco Road. The West Gate is approximately 0.3 mile south of the intersection with Patterson Pass Road.

For additional information on this event, see the press release (pdf)

For information on coordinated events marking the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki nationwide, see www.August6.org

Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security is a non-governmental response to the June 2006 release of the final report of The Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Commission, Weapons of Terror: Freeing the World of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms. The product of a collaboration of Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy, Western States Legal Foundation, and Reaching Critical Will of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, it offers mostly praise, but sometimes criticism, for the Commission's report, and goes well beyond to provide a stand-alone assessment of U.S. nuclear weapons policy. It contains in-depth analysis and recommendations regarding U.S. policy in relation to the international security framework, disarmament and non-proliferation, nuclear weapons R&D, missiles and weapons in space, climate change and nuclear power, Iran and the nuclear fuel-cycle, and demilitarization and redefining security in human terms.

Comments on Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security

This assessment of our Final Report and its 60 recommendations is exactly the kind of response we were hoping for. The Report has now been critically reviewed and scrutinized by experts from civil society organizations, adding to its credibility. A very timely and important contribution. - Hans Blix, Chairman, Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission

This book is an important contribution to the effort to rid our planet of weapons of mass destruction, and I encourage my colleagues in Congress to read it. - Congresswoman Barbara Lee

A lucid, compelling book with concise, detailed directions for reducing nuclear dangers on the path to disarmament, a reliable road-guide away from the nuclear abyss. But it simultaneously reports that the current U.S. administration is reading that map upside down, following the guidelines posted in precisely the wrong direction. There is no time to lose for the passengers on planet earth to take hold of the wheel, turn the map right-side up, and let its authors pilot us to safety. - Daniel Ellsberg, 2006 Winner of the Right Livelihood Award

$12 (plus $3 S&H) 275 pages soft cover May 2007

Order online
More information about the book and the project

“Complex 2030” is the latest euphemism assigned to the United States nuclear weapons research and manufacturing complex of the future. The United States plans to spend $150 billion over the next 25 years to replace its entire nuclear arsenal with new “Reliable Replacement Warheads” by the year 2030, and to establish the capability to produce new nuclear weapons designs. Complex 2030 means “Nukes Forever!”

On October 19, 2006, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the semi-autonomous nuclear weapons agency within the Department of Energy (DOE), announced its intention to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Complex 2030 - the latest in a long string of DOE proposals to provide environmental compliance cover for the endless refurbishment of the nuclear weapons complex. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the initial phase of this process provides for public input into the “scope” of the environmental review, which must, by law, analyze “reasonable alternatives.” Scoping meetings on Complex 2030 were held at a dozen locations around the United States, in communities near nuclear weapons facilities and in Washington, DC.

FOR MORE INFORMATION and links, see our Complex 2030 page and Jacqueline Cabasso, "Complex 2030: U.S. Plans for 'Nukes Forever,'" INESAP Bulletin No. 27, December 2006

Help turn the Complex 2030 EIS process into a national referendum on the future of nuclear weapons! Cast your “vote” for the elimination of nuclear weapons by printing out, filling in and mailing copies of the unofficial “ballot” to the Department of Energy, your two Senators and your Representative. The official public comment period on scoping ends January 17, 2007, but there's no time limit on contacting your elected representatives.

For a printer friendly pdf of the Unofficial National Referendum on the Future of Nuclear Weapons ballot, click here

For a pdf Action Alert for distribution with the Future of Nuclear Weapons referendum ballot, click here

Mail your signed ballots 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
 
Senator___________________________
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Representative_____________________
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso appeared on the August edition of "Other Voices," Peninsula Peace and Justice Center's Award-Winning Monthly Forum & TV Program, Named "Best Issues Talk Show" 2007 by the Alliance for Community Media. The August show, titled "In the Shadow of the Bomb Nuclear Proliferation in a Time of War," can be viewed by clicking here.

WSLF executive director Jacqueline Cabasso on KPFA's Against the Grain, July 31, 2007, show on nuclear power and nuclear weapons (streaming audio).

WSLF executive director Jacqueline Cabasso on the Chicago, Illinois talk show "Radio Islam," June 8, 2007 (streaming audio).


Security Council Called Hypocritical on Nukes, Thalif Deen, IPS, May 31, 2007

Demonstrators gather to re-create 'Peace Camp' protest Las Vegas Sun, May 24, 2006

U.S. Test to Model Low-Yield Nuclear Bomb Effects Global Security Newswire April 4, 2006

Blast to Simulate Nuke Explosion Albuquerque Journal, April 2, 2006

Channel 7 San Francisco (ABC TV affiliate): New Generation Of H-Bombs On The Horizon

The Wire, (radio, Australia): "International hypocrisy over Iran's nuclear ambitions" mp3 realaudio

KOPT 1600 AM - Oregon Progressive Talk Radio: One hour interview with WSLF executive director Jackie Cabasso on nuclear weapons issues, Feruary 9, 2006 (free sign in required).

Ignoring the U.S.'s "Bad Atoms": For the New York Times, Washington is NPT's enforcer, not a violator, By Steve Rendall, in Extra!, a publication of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, July/August 2005

The Divine Strake Nuclear Weapons Simulation: A Bad Signal at a Bad Time, Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Information Brief, Spring 2006 pdf download

Vandenberg Air Force Base: Where the Present and Future of U.S. Warmaking Come Together Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation Information Brief, Spring 2006 pdf download

Questions and Answers About Weapons of Mass Destruction, Western States Legal Foundation Information Brief, Spring 2006 pdf download

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Operations Doctrine

Draft Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations, Joint Publication 3-12, Final Coordination (2) 15 March 2005

This document, along with the comments from the various commands on the draft, were downloaded from the Joint Chiefs of Staff doctrine public web site. The site was shut down on April 7, 2005 and this and other doctrine documents are not available from that source for several weeks. In early 2006, both the draft Joint Nuclear Operations documents and those they were slated to replace were withdrawn altogether. We have archived these nuclear doctrine documents and other related documents on the WSLF site so they will continue to be available to the public on our Nuclear Weapons Doctrine page.

Signs of Change in the First Committee, Jacqueline Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation Information Brief, Fall 2005 pdf download

The Nevada Test Site: Desert Annex of the Nuclear Weapons Laboratories, Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation and Nevada Desert Experience Information Bulletin, updated Summer 2005 pdf download

Compliance Assessment: The NPT Declared Nuclear Weapon States, Presentation to the 2005 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, Western States Legal Foundation and Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy, May 11, 2005

Web Research Guide: Military Spending: Researching Impacts on your Campus or Community, updated May 2005

War is Peace, Arms Racing is Disarmament: The Non-Proliferation Treaty and the U.S. Quest for Global Military Dominance, Western States Legal Foundation Special Report, May 2005 full document(pdf) summary (6 pages, pdf) Information Brief version (2 pages, pdf)

Slide Presentation: “No More Nuclear Excuses for War!” In the midst of the ongoing war in Iraq, why is it important to demand the elimination of nuclear weapons? This presentation provides an overview of global nuclear weapons issues, U.S. nuclear policies, and their relationship to the wars the U.S. is fighting today and may fight tomorrow. PowerPoint or pdf

Military Spending: Researching Impacts on your Campus or Community

This web page provides resources for researching military spending and related issues. Topics include the military budget, military funding of university research, the impacts military spending, and the trade-offs between military spending and government spending on other types of programs. Additional resources are provided for California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Science cheerleaders shout out for global strike weapons May 18, 2007

Next generation strategic weapons and the possibility of arms races to come April 7, 2007

No Shortcuts: From This March to the Next February 13, 2007

From Los Alamos to Kwajalein to Iraq: Bechtel and the engineering of empire August 12, 2006

Pentagon Envisions New Warheads for New Delivery Systems July 27, 2006

War without end July 20, 2006

The rise of the surveillance industrial complex July 7, 2006

Potemkin Missile Crisis July 2, 2006

A world still on the nuclear brink June 2, 2006

Worlds apart: from Washington to the Nevada Test Site gates May 30, 2006

Government withdraws environmental finding, Divine Strake test delayed May 26, 2006

April 29, 2006 March for Peace, Justice and Democracy May 20, 2006

Government admits Divine Strake test data likely will be used to research nuclear weapons effects May 1, 2006

Bringing Nuclear Disarmament "Home" to the Peace and Justice Movement April 24, 2006

"Divine Strake" and the talk of a nuclear attack on Iran April 12, 2006

The “Divine Strake” low-yield nuclear weapons simulation: government denials and responses April 12, 2006

U.S. plans for Iran “options” and the nuclear weapons debate April 9, 2006

What should go without saying (The United States and International Law) April 6, 2006

Did the WashPost Miss Explosive Story? (Divine Strake nuclear simulation test) March 31, 2006

Scale, Locale, and Demonstrations March 25, 2006

Insider critiques of the “Reliable Replacement Warhead:” peer review for a nuclear-armed empire March 16, 2006

Vandenberg Air Force Base: the role of military space in U.S. warmaking March 14, 2006

The Global Free Fire Zone: "Prompt Global Strike" and the Next Generation of U.S. Strategic Weapons, February 10, 2006

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Doctrine: Disappearing from Public View, February 3, 2006

From the Other Side of the Glass: Some Responses to the State of the Union Address, February 2, 2006

The Quadrennial Defense Review, the State of the Union, and the "Long War", February 1, 2006

U.S. strategic weapons programs: too many to talk about, January 22, 2006

Iran and the United States: assessing the nuclear threats, January 12, 2006

ALERTS AND EVENTS

Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, WSLF joined with a number of local peace organizations and activists to form the Peoples' NonViolent Response Coalition. This coalition has been active continuously since then, hosting a variety of educational events and playing a significant role in Bay Area peace organizing.

Peoples' NonViolent Response Coalition-- further information

Peoples' NonViolent Response Coalition Weekly Bulletin

Information about PNVRC activities, how to get involved, and a calendar of Bay Area peace and justice events. Subcribe to the PNVRC bulletin at pnvrc@aol.com

Peoples' NonViolent Response Coalition Web Site

PNVRC Statement released June 11, 2002

PNVRC Original Call for Action