Subject: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SAYS DE-ALERT N-WEAPONS FOR Y2K (text&press
release)
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SAYS TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT FOR Y2K
The European Parliament today passed by a substantial majority a resolution
called 'On the year 2000 Bug in the Civil and Military Sectors', in which
it called for nuclear weapons to be taken off hair-trigger alert and for
nuclear reactors to be shut down over the Y2K rollover. The European
Parliament has been lobbied by an unprecedented combination of Australian,
US, Japanese, and European activists who are concerned that the year 2000
date change does not see either global nuclear catastrophe or one or more
major reactor accidents.
According to Friends of the Earth Sydney Australia nuclear campaigner John
Hallam:
"The European Parliament has shown commendable commonsense. The Canberra
Commission of 1996, the Tokyo Forum, and two resolutions last year in the
United Nations General Assembly as well as two resolutions this year in the
same body have called for the de-alerting of strategic nuclear weapons. The
Senate here in Australia has passed two measures aimed at the avoidance of
what the US Senate has called 'unintended deadly consequences' as a result
of computer-generated false alarms in nuclear weapons related systems, and
71 US congressional representatives have signed on to a motion in the US
Congress calling for nuclear weapons to be taken off alert."
"A variety of bodies in the US, Europe, and Japan have pointed to the
unwisdom of allowing nuclear reactors in which safety functions are
controlled by complex computer software to operate through the date change.
Especial concern has been expressed concerning reactors in Russia and
Ukraine, but concern exists across the board in Europe (east and west),
Japan, the US, and Russia."
"We hope the year 2000 date change will pass without incident. However, the
measures we have asked for are commonsense ones, which have been advocated
for their intrinsic benefit, with or without Y2K. If nothing happens over
the Y2K rollover, so much the better. But why not take commonsense
precautions such as taking 5,600 nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert, and
ensuring that nuclear reactors have adequate backup power supplies when
these are things that should be done anyway?"
"These measures are far from radical. They are commonsense responses to a
problem that requires a cautious, responsible, and realistic approach. We
commend the resolution."
Contact: John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Sydney,
61-2-9517-3903, H61-2-9810-2598,
COMPROMISE RESOLUTION
Tabled by
Elly Plooij-Van Gorsel on behalf of the ELDR Group,
Maj-Britt Theorin on behalf of the PSE Group,
Heidi Hautala and others on behalf of the Green/EFA Group,
Giles Chichester and others on behalf of the PPE Group,
?? on behalf of the GUE Group
To replace resolutions B5-268/99 (ELDR), B5-279/99 (PSE), B5-292/99
(Green/EFA), B5-303/99 (PPE),
On the Year 2000 Bug in the civil and military sectors
The European Parliament,
- having regard to the responsibilities of the EU in the areas of major
accidents and their consequences, relating to radioactive and chemical
pollution, and its role in nuclear safety under the Euratom Treaty,
- having regard to the report of Parliament on the 'Year 2000 problem,
which requested a 3 monthly update from the Commission, as well as various
reports from the Commission, and the conclusions and the resolution of
Council, as well as the work of the G8 and the IAEA,
- having regard to the update given by the Commission to the Industry,
External Trade, Research and Energy Committee on November 8th,
A. noting growing concern worldwide that the failure of computers to
recognize the year 2000 date change could affect control systems at
nuclear and other environmentally sensitive plants, as well as off-site
electrical supplies from the networks to such plant, in addition to
command, control, communications and intelligence systems of nuclear
forces,
B. whereas nuclear power plant safety systems are not generally digitally
based, though monitoring systems normally are, and while the Commission
has recognised that enormous progress has been made, there is also
increasing acceptance about the infeasibility of bringing all such
computerised systems to year 2000 computer compliance, resulting in some
risk of infrastructure disruption, and a lack or preparedness amongst
SMEs [Small-Medium sized Enterprises],
C. noting that as a result, according to respected analysts, there exists
a small but unacceptable risk of serious nuclear or other accidents,
especially in Central and Eastern Europe, and the NIS, especially where
nuclear plant use plutonium fuel, and similar risk of an accidental
nuclear war,
D. whereas there are hundreds of operating nuclear plants and research
reactors and thousands of other environment-sensitive plants around the
globe, and whereas there are such installations in all EU Member States,
and whereas data errors have caused mishaps and near accidents at nuclear
power stations in the past,
E. whereas date errors and false signals may also affect the nuclear armed
forces, with potentially disastrous consequences, notably where nuclear
weapons are on "hair-trigger" alert, such as in the United States of
America and the Russian Federation, and whereas two EU Member States have
nuclear armed forces which may be affected by year 2000 computer problems,
F. welcoming the UK government's announcement that it has relaxed the
notice to fire of its nuclear forces from minutes to days,
G. noting that in 1996 the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of
Nuclear Weapons recommended that all nuclear forces be taken off
hair-trigger alert, preferably by physical separation of the warheads from
delivery vehicles,
H. noting that a number of resolutions in the UN General Assembly, notably
Resolution 53/77Y "Towards a nuclear weapon- free world: the need for a
new agenda", have called for nuclear forces to be de-alerted,
1. Calls on the governments of the states having a nuclear weapon
capability to take all the necessary steps to avoid that year 2000
computer problems may lead to the accidental or unintended firing of
nuclear weapons by 'de-alerting' those weapons;
2. Calls on all non-nuclear-weapons Member States of the European Union to
make vigorous representations to that effect;
3. Calls on all governments to instruct the operators of all nuclear or
other environment-sensitive plant not able to verifiably demonstrate their
complete Y2K compliance, that such plant must be at least temporarily shut
down at the Millennium, and that in any case stand-by electrical power
should be available for up to 60 days at all nuclear plant to operate
cooling pumps and safety systems, and longer term back-up must be provided
for spent fuel cooling ponds; suggests that the Council and Commission
press all governments accordingly, especially in Central and Eastern
Europe, Russia and the NIS, and Turkey;
4. Recalls and restates its resolution of 25/02/99 on "The Year 2000
Computer Problem", and notes that in the meantime two particular problems
seem to persist:
- the degree of progress in some Member States is not sufficient, which
may lead to consequences in view of existing cross-border global and
sectorial levels of integration;
- SMEs are more exposed to possible disruption than big international
companies and a certain number of them may be liable to suffer heavy
financial consequences if they do not adjust in time, requiring urgent
action by the Commission, and national and regional administrations;
5. Strongly recommends that the European Council of Helsinki, to be held
just a couple of weeks before the turn of the century, adopt appropriate
measures, and make an awareness statement to the European citizens on the
precise situation of the problem and the potential risks;
6. Calls on the OECD Members to urgently provide specific resources to
Central and Eastern European countries and the NIS for the purpose of
financing alternatives to their nuclear power plants at the Millennium and
in the medium term, to close down those nuclear power plants no longer
fulfilling internationally recognised safety standards and to fund
alternative sources of energy;
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission,
the Council, the UN Security Council, the IAEA, the governments of the
Member States and the applicant states and the Members of the OECD and the
IAEA.
______________________________________________________
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 00:25:31 +0000
From: NHNE
Subject: [nhne*****] Y2K: NEWS: U.S. Senate panel chief blasts Europe Y2K vote
Thursday November 18, 9:00 pm Eastern Time
U.S. Senate panel chief blasts Europe Y2K vote
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/991118/bi5.html
WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The chairman of a special Senate panel on the
Year 2000 blasted as ill-informed a European Parliament call Thursday to
shut down nuclear weapon alert systems over the New Year to avoid accidental
launches.
"This vote is particularly troubling in that it demonstrates an overall lack
of awareness with regard to Y2K's potential effects on a country's
infrastructure," Sen. Robert Bennett, Republican of Utah, said in a
statement.
He said the European move also showed "a profound misunderstanding of Y2K's
potential effects on ballistic missile systems."
Deputies in Strasbourg voted to appeal to the United States and Russia in
particular to guard against possible errors in computer systems that may not
recognize the date change to 2000.
U.S. and Russian military officials are to spend New Year's Eve together in
a special command center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to monitor launch
data across the century date change.
Bennett -- who was involved in setting up the U.S.-Russian Center for Year
2000 Strategic Stability -- said shutting down missile warning systems would
be "far more dangerous than any problem that may arise from Y2K."
"What the European Parliament is asking countries to do is wear blindfolds
during the crucial date rollover," he said.
The so-called Y2K glitch could cause some computers and the systems they
control to crash or malfunction when their internal clocks encounter ``00''
in areas that track dates.
Bennett said there was no danger of missiles being launched by a computer
glitch because a person always is part of the command process.
"International cooperation and awareness are the keys to avoiding a Y2K
catastrophe, not pulling the plug and hoping for the best," he said.
The European Parliament also voted to ask countries with nuclear power
stations to shut them down over New Year's Eve unless they had been shown to
be millennium compliant.
Deputies said their appeal would be aimed specifically at countries in
central and Eastern Europe, Turkey, Russia and members of the former Soviet
Union.
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-- hiding in plain (sight@edge. of no-where), November 28, 1999