May 1982 RAIN Page 5 based public education drives, have succeeded in catalyzing tremendous regional pressure against continued operation of Rocky Flats, which produces plutonium "triggers" for U.S. nuclear warheads. The longstanding work against Rocky Flats has served as a model for scores of newer efforts in communities around the country. Often, even locally, the role of a particular nuclear or military facility is unknown to the general public, so thorough, ongoing research is essential for developing long range strategies. As the sophistication of anti-nuclear organizing grows, there has been increasing attention to jobs issues. Along with demanding conversion of nuclear facilities to non-nuclear and non-military purposes {or establishment of employment at other area sites if the original location is hopelessly contaminated with radioactivity), local organizers are developing in-depth analyses of just how conversion could be practically implemented. In some areas, proposals are being put forward in terms of establishing "nuclear-free zones." The nuclear weapons assembly line is strewn across the United States, and though sometimes low-profile, nuclear facilities have a presence in hundreds of communities (see map), ominously comprising both a "local hazard" and a "global threat." They must be The nuclear weapons assembly line is strewn across the United States , . . it must be challenged in the communities which host it. challenged in the communities which host them. The military means business; so must we. All segments of the population are potential allies in the arduous tasks of shutting down these facilities. National policies must be oriented toward closing nuclear sites or converting them to other purposes. At the federal level, we need to force the government into a comprehensive test ban (the U.S. currently explodes full-fledged nuclear warheads underground in southern Nevada at an average rate of once every three weeks); a freeze on new weapons production; dismantling of first-strike- oriented new weapons systems already produced, like Trident subs and cruise missiles; removal of nuclear weaponry from European bases; and a steady diplomatic push for disarmament in all countries. The Reagan administration is moving in all the wrong directions, including a large boost in plutonium production that amounts to an attack on local ecologies all over the U.S. The need to change the course of federal policies is critical. And time is precariously short. A statewide ballot measure calling for a bilateral nuclear arms freeze (currently in progress in California) must be seen as one of many possible small steps in a long, difficult and multifaceted groundswell; electoral campaigns are unlikely to provide the basis for a strong movement. Systems sanctioned by the state are prone to deflect us away from strengthening true community-based movements with independent power that cannot be co-opted, sidestepped or betrayed by politicians and administrators. Our best hopes are to be found in developing movements that will continue to gain momentum no matter who is in politicial office and no matter what ballot measures win or lose at the polls. □□ The H-Bomb Inc. General Electric I*— Ul m. —•! From: Makers of the Nuclear Holocaust by Howard Morland Some of America's best-known corporations put their stamp on the hydrogen bomb. General Electric ("Progress for People") builds the neutron generator at its Pinellas plant near St. Petersburg, Florida. Monsanto ("Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible") manufactures explosive detonators at its Mound Laboratory near Miamisburg, Ohio. Du Pont ("The leading edge") supplies tritium gas from its Savannah River, South Carolina, plant. Rockwell International ("Where science gets down to business") fabricates plutonium and beryllium components at the Rocky Flats plant near Denver, Colorado. Union Carbide ("Today, something we do will touch your life") contributes uranium, deuterium, and lithium parts made in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The paper honeycomb shield and polystyrene foam which help focus radiation pressure on the H-bomb's fusion tamper are made by Bendix ("We speak technology") at Kansas City, Missouri. Not so well known is Mason & Hanger—Silas Mason, the firm that shapes the chemical explosive charges and supervises final assembly at a plant near Amarillo, Texas. Western Electric, a subsidiary of American Telephone and Telegraph ("The system is the solution") does general engineering for the H-bomb at its laboratory at Albuquerque, New Mexico, in cooperation with two laboratories which conduct research at Livermore, California, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, under auspices of the University of California ("Let there be light").
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz