IEER: Science for Democratic Action - V4N4

IEER

Science for Democratic Action Vol. 4 No. 4

1995 at IEER

Compiled by Tessie Topol

If you are new to IEER, this will give you some idea of the kind of work we do:

Plutonium as a Liability

January: Hosted an International Symposium on Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials
April/May: Hosted a breakfast meeting at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference in New York, "Plutonium on the Loose? Implications of the World's Growing Plutonium Stockpiles," attended by over 30 NPT delegates.
June: IEER President Arjun Makhijani traveled to DOE sites to promote vitrification as the best alternative for plutonium disposition. Visits included the Idaho National Engineering Lab in Idaho Falls, ID; cities in Colorado near the Rocky Flats Plant; and Amarillo, TX near the Pantex plant.

Grassroots Technical Support

Release of Major Publications and Articles

May/June: Arjun Makhijani's article "'Always' the Target?" appears in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. (See SDA Vol. 4 No. 3 for a summary)
July: IEER releases Nuclear Wastelands: A Global Guide to Nuclear Weapons Production and its Health and Environmental Effects (MIT Press 1995). The book was produced jointly with IPPNW, has 17 authors and was edited by Arjun Makhijani, Howard Hu and Katherine Yih.
October: IEER releases Mending the Ozone Hole: Science, Technology and Policy (MIT Press, 1995). Co-written by Arjun Makhijani and IEER Senior Scientist, Kevin Gurney.
December: IEER will release a Russian version of Fissile Materials in a Glass, Darkly, its report on vitrification and plutonium disposition.

Projects in the Works

Reprocessing Confusion, a report by Noah Sachs, is in the final review stage and will be released soon. The report provides an in-depth analysis of DOE reprocessing policy.
Web Update: This report is now complete. Release title: "Risky Relapse Into Reprocessing." To read more about this and other publications, see IEER's Publications Page.
In early 1996 IEER will release The Future of the Weapons Complex, a report by Hisham Zerriffi evaluating the need for a new tritium source and the rationale and need for the Science Based Stockpile Stewardship Program. Zerriffi is also completing a 10-page report on tritium, examining the relationship between nuclear strategy, health and the budget.

Revised March 21, 1996