From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: ORIGINAL BOMB DESIGNERS CHALLENGE BUSH POLICY
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 00:55:28 GMT

/** psr.bulletins: 38.0 **/
** Topic: Mnhtn Prjct Phys. Test Moratorium **
** Written  7:29 am  Jul 29, 1992 by psrnatl in cdp:psr.bulletins **
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:  Dr. Robert K. Musil July 28, 1992
or Emily Green (202)785-3777

ORIGINAL BOMB DESIGNERS CHALLENGE BUSH POLICY
ON NUCLEAR TESTING
Call on Senate to Enact Immediate Moratorium

        WASHINGTON D.C. -- Six physicists from the world-renowned
        Manhattan Project, which led to the first atomic bomb,
        joined together in an unprecedented call for the U.S.
        Senate to enact a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing.
        The signers include Nobel Laureate and former Chairman of
        the Atomic Energy Commission under Presidents Kennedy,
        Johnson and Nixon, Dr. Glenn Seaborg, and Nobel Laureate
        Dr. Owen Chamberlain.

        "The advantages of an immediate mutual moratorium and of a
        comprehensive test ban outweigh, in our judgement, any
        perceived benefits of further tests for any reason,"
        states a letter directed to all U.S. Senators and signed
        by Drs. Glenn Seaborg, Owen Chamberlain, Bernard Feld,
        Carson Mark, Joseph Rotblat, and Herbert York.  The Bush
        Administration continues to maintain that nuclear testing
        is necessary to ensure the safety and reliability of the
        U.S. nuclear deterrent.

        The Manhattan Project, which was launched in 1942 under
        President Franklin Roosevelt, led to the first test of a
        nuclear weapon at Alamogordo New Mexico, on July 16, 1945.
        Since that time, the U.S. has conducted 940 test nuclear
        weapons explosions.

        The Nuclear Testing Moratorium Act would establish a
        one-year moratorium on U.S. tests as long as Russia
        continues its current moratorium.  The legislation has
        accumulated 53 co-sponsors in the Senate and is expected
        to come to a vote within the week.  It was approved by a
        vote of 237-167 in the House of Representatives on June 4.


        The physicists' letter was released by the Manhattan
        Project II - a campaign of Physicians for Social
        Responsibility -- which aims to undo, as completely and
        quickly as possible, the legacy of nuclear danger left by
        the original Manhattan Project.  It calls for a global
        moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons and
        international controls on weapons dismantlement as well as


- more - much deeper reductions in strategic weapons and a
strengthened non-proliferation regime, among other measures.
Manhattan Project II is directed by former Defense and State
Department official Dr. Daniel Ellsberg and has been endorsed by
over 60 national and international organizations.

        "The judgement of these original bomb designers clearly
        matches that of the majority of the American public that
        U.S. national security is best served by an immediate
        moratorium and a global test ban rather than by further
        nuclear testing," stated Dr. Ellsberg.

- 30 -

Founded in 1961, PSR is a national organization of over 25,000
health professionals and supporters in more than 120 chapters
working to prevent nuclear war, protect the environment, and
reorder national spending priorities.  It is the U.S. affiliate of
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War,
recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

For further information about Manhattan Project II, call Daniel
Ellsberg at 510/526-4310.  To arrange interviews with Manhattan
Project scientists who have signed the statement of support for a
test moratorium, call Emily Green at the number listed above.

See attached listing of statement signers, their backgrounds and
organizational affiliations (for identification purposes only.)

** End of text from cdp:psr.bulletins **
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive