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June 24, 1998 UN Press Conference Update
-regarding the 1967 Treaty on the Peaceful Use of Space

Press Conference and Press Release
 Plutonium NoFlyby Statement


The June 24, 1998 conference at the UN Press Club featured presentations by Karl Grossman, Michio Kaku and Ernest Sternglass and was moderated by Tina Bell. Startling new information was revealed on governments plans to appropriate and control the heavens with dangerous nuclear power and weapons. Not too surprisingly, the NoFlyby Press Conference was scantly attended by the mainstream media. We were informed by the UN Press Club that many UN correspondents were interested, but they had to cover a special Security Council meeting on Iraq. However, around five UN correspondents and Steve Jambeck of EnviroVideo and two other video groups covered the conference.

After the question and answer period, Dr. Robert Mueller, the initial Director of the UN peace University in Costa Rica, said he would bring the issue up before the Director of the World Health Organization, Ms. Gro Brundtland, who was formerly the Prime Minister of Norway. A TV cable crew from New York said they would publicize the coverage of the event. The UN Press Club's director was very impressed by the press conference and invited us to return. Tina Bell of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (NY Metro) was an effective moderator, and rounded off the press conference well by alerting people to action suggestions that were provided in the press kit.

Presenters at the press conference revealed that the Cassini Earth flyby could have been avoided by waiting for a launch date in 2001. NASA also could have waited around two months for the Cassini launch to lower the flyby speed to improve the chances of the modules surviving a reentry accident. A NASA report quoted at the conference contradicts NASA's own claims that few would be harmed by a Cassini flyby accident. The report was sent to John Gibbons, Science and Technology advisor to the President, and state that a Cassini flyby accident could cause "..several tens of thousands of latent cancer fatalities worldwide over the next fifty years."

Dr. Ernest Sternglass' presented evidence from studies showing the correlation of nuclear bomb-testing and reactor emissions with the rise in infant and prenatal health problems such as Leukemia. Low level radiation is most damaging to the youngest and those with compromised immune systems. NoFlyby will be linking to a website to provide detailed information on the work of Ernest Sternglass and colleagues at www.radiation.com, which they will go online this August. Their information shows that the curve used to measure the impact of radiation exposure by mainstream health officials is incorrect. Thosemodels were based on studies from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb explosions. They need to use new models from recent studies of the impact of low level radiation exposure. Even the estimate of tens of thousands of latent cancer deaths from a Cassini flyby accident is far below the true risk assessment based on these critical new studies. Also, Dr. Sternglass has shown how the rises in tobacco-related cancers correspond to low level releases of plutonium radiation into our atmosphere. I am pasting below information received from Dr. Sternglass and excerpts from the Conference by Karl Grossman.

The rally following the press conference, sponsored by WILPF Metro NY and NoFlyby, was also helpful in sharing information compiled from different speakers on health-related concerns. NoFlyby Coordinator, Jonathan M. Haber read from parts of the NoFlyby statement, which is now endorsed by hundreds of organizations and individuals. This statement is posted at

http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/alerts/sign-on.htm.

It is vital for us to unite together and demand a responsible space program that follows the UN treaty signed by the United States in 1967 for the peaceful use of space. It doesn't make sense to risk adding more plutonium radiation into our environment for space or defense-related projects.

Please advise if interested in reviewing Karl Grossman and EnviroVideos "Nukes in Space 1, 2" and Karl Grossman's "The Wrong Stuff: The Space Program's Nuclear Threat to Life", published in 1997 by Common Courage Press (ME).

Please cover the Cassini Earth Flyby issue and the dangers of an atomic arms race in outer space.

The flyby has been scheduled for August 18, 1999 and threatens our world with the doubling of human-made radiation, 400,000 curies.

What you do now is more vital and has more beneficial potential than in reacting to the flyby next August or the next time they launch another probe carrying dangerous amounts of plutonium on board. Any exposure or integrity in reporting this issue is a gift for our future.

Sign-on to the "Plutonium Noflyby Statement"

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This page was last revised 8/9/98 10:20:43 AM by The NoFlyby Webmaster

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