[Reply to Cordaro Come and resist the Sept 8 Groundbreaking ceremony at the 1st major new Nuke bomb plant in 32 years in KC MO

* Text & image sent from Frank Cordaro on Aug. 30, 2010.


Previous posting: "CWers COME TO KC AND HELP US PROTEST THE NEW
NUKE-PARTS PLANT Sept 7-8 and Oct 6-7"- a special message from Jane
Stoever
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What:
RESIST GROUNDBREAKING of the FIRST MAJOR NEW BOMB PLANT IN 32 YEARS!!!!!

When:
Wed. Sept 8, 2010

Where:
The site of the proposed new Kansas City Plant (KCP) for Nuclear
Weapons Components at Highway 150 and Botts Road

http://www.nukewatch.org/KCNukePlant/index.html

President Obama has declared that he intends to increase next year’s
funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s)
nuclear weapons research and production programs by 14%. Further,
despite crippling national debt, he claims their budgets will rise by
more than 40% from $6.4 billion in 2010 to $9 billion by 2018. This
means that eight years from now, nearly three decades after the end of
the Cold War, spending on NNSA research and production programs for
nuclear weapons will be 75% higher than the annual Cold War average of
$5.1 billion. Is this the right path to Obama’s declared long-term
goal of a nuclear weapons-free world?

Much of this escalating funding will be used for “modernization” of
the nuclear weapons complex:
http://www.nukewatch.org/facts/nwd/ModernizationPlanPR-5-14-10.pdf

This means new multi-billion dollar facilities to support the
production of plutonium pit primaries or “triggers” at Los Alamos, NM,
and thermonuclear uranium “secondaries” at Oak Ridge, TN:
http://www.nukewatch.org/facts/nwd/NewUS-productionfacilities4-29-10.pdf
http://www.nukewatch.org/facts/nwd/CMRR_NF.pdf

But these nuclear components can only become deliverable weapons of
mass destruction when combined with the thousands of nonnuclear
components that the Kansas City Plant (KCP) produces or procures (e.g,
radars, fuzes, parachutes, guidance systems, etc.). In all, KCP is
responsible for 85% of all nuclear weapons components, and makes
thousands of shipments each year to other NNSA sites for final
assembly ofnuclear weapons:
http://www.nukewatch.org/facts/nwd/KC_NWC.pdf

The Kansas City government has subsidized this new federal nuclear
weapons production plant with $815 million in municipal bonds outside
of NNSA’s annual budget. The new plant’s selected 180-acre site was
mostly used for soybean farming. However, the Kansas City government
declared that area “blighted” so that it could use bond authority
under Missouri state law designed to fight urban blight to give NNSA a
new bomb plant. Taxpayers will pay an estimated $4.5 billion over 20
years for the new Kansas City Plant, which the City will own until
private developers pay the bonds back through a lease-to-purchase
scheme backed up by a virtually certain revenue stream from the
federal government.

Meanwhile, previously unreported worker health concerns at the old
Plant are growing increasingly controversial, to the point where both
Missouri senators have called for federal investigations. In the past,
the federal government has vaguely talked about selling the federal
complex that sites the old Plant to private interests “as is” so that
badly needed local economic development can take place

However, there are no comprehensive plans for cleanup of groundwater
contaminated with PCBs and industrial solvents, and it’s not even
clear what federal agency will be responsible for managing and paying
for cleanup (estimated at greater than $200 million) once NNSA leaves
for its shiny new bomb plant.

There has been protest and civil disobedience at the new location,
Highway 150 and Botts Road, where site preparation has already begun.
Official groundbreaking for the new plant WILL BE SEPTEMBER 8, 2010.
We are organizing for protest at that first groundbreaking for a major
new nuclear weapons production facility in 32 years. As a first step,
please join us at our new kcnukeswatch e-mail list serve by sending a
message to Ann Suellentrop of the Kansas City Chapter of Physicians
for Social Responsibility. We will keep you informed of the latest
developments related to both the new and old Kansas City Plants and
protest plans as they develop. We are also seeking other groups to
sign on in support of our protests.

RESIST GROUNDBREAKING, at Highway 150 and Botts Road, on September 8,
2010, of the FIRST MAJOR NEW BOMB PLANT IN 32 YEARS!!!!!

As Concerned Residents we call on theKansas City Council, the General
Services Administration, the Department of Energy and the National
Nuclear Security Administration to respect the will of the people!

Don’t Build a New Bomb Plant!- It’s immoral and we can’t afford it
Clean Up the KC Plant! Protect our water, air and land!
Stop Killing Workers and take care of those who are sick!
Invest in Healthy Jobs and Sustainable Communities!

For more info on Sept 8th contact:

Jane Stoever
913 206-4088
janepstoever@yahoo.com

Ann Suellentrop
913 271-7925
annsuellen@gmail.com

Holy Family CW - KC MO
816 753-2677
holyfamilycw@gmail.com

Cherith Brook CW - KC MO
816 241-8047
cherithbrookkcmo@yahoo.com

See Archive of Actions and Resources bottom of link:
http://www.nukewatch.org/KCNukePlant/index.html

If You Want a Nuclear Weapons-Free World, Then Resist the First Major
New Bomb Production Plant in 32 Years
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Flickr slide show of Aug 16, 2010 Direct Action at site of new KC
Nuclear Weapons Plant Site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frank_cordaro_and_the_dm_catholic_worker/sets/72157624760833630/