06/03/06 U.S. Nuke Plans Worse Than Iran's

Dear Editor: I was misquoted in The Capital Times' article on the Iran discussion at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center last week. At that meeting, I stated that Louisiana Energy Services was planning to build a facility in New Mexico to enrich uranium; the story erroneously reported that I stated that LES was enriching uranium there. I am in agreement with Marshall Cohen of LES, in his May 31 letter to the editor, regarding the current status of the project.

The LES project was mentioned in the context of the ongoing efforts to revive the nuclear industry in the U.S. and around the world, involving both weapons and energy production. The U.S. programs to build new nuclear weapons and to speed their readiness for use, combined with the current U.S. Nuclear Posture Review putting first use of nuclear weapons "on the table" seem much more dangerous and illegal than Iran's general compliance with treaties as it pursues the "peaceful use of the atom," as promoted by both the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Nuclear weapons, materials and radioactive pollution uniquely threaten life on earth and thus demand stringent management. To promote public health, Physicians for Social Responsibility has always prescribed prevention as the best course of treatment.