Nanoose Conversion Campaign

2150 Maple Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6J 3T3 (604)739-0432 Tel/Fax e-mail: iabbey@alternatives.com

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N E W S R E L E A S E

For immediate release: February 25, 1998

MPs warned:

NANOOSE TEST-RANGE IN DIRECT CONFLICT

WITH WORLD COURT RULING

OTTAWA - An all-party committee reviewing Canadian nuclear policy will hear

tomorrow that the Nanoose nuclear submarine test range violates the spirit

of a recent World Court ruling and should be terminated.

The 1996 World Court ruling defines even the "threat of use" of nuclear

weapons as illegal and puts the onus on government to avoid criminal

liability by "bringing to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear

disarmament in all its aspects."

Norman Abbey, director of the Vancouver-based Nanoose Conversion Campaign

(NCC) will tell the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International

Trade (SC-FAIT) that the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test

Ranges (CFMETR) at Nanoose Bay, B.C._used primarily by nuclear attack

submarines of the U.S. Navy_is in direct conflict with international law.

"The CFMETR agreement must be cancelled," says Abbey. "It makes Canada part

and parcel of a U.S. policy which reserves the right to use nuclear weapons,

including first use."

NCC also endorses recommendations from academics, church leaders and public

interest groups from across Canada who are urging the government to phase

out all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, and instead build on the positive

momentum created by the World Court ruling and the land mines campaign.

Kristen Ostling, national coordinator of the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout,

noted there are inherent proliferation risks at all stages of the nuclear

fuel chain. For example, a joint-federal provincial panel has already stated

that "no proven method exists for preventing incorporation of Canadian

uranium into military applications."

Ostling also condemned the federal government's proposal to import weapons

plutonium from Russia and the U.S. to be used in Ontario Hydro reactors. "It

violates the spirit of Canada's nuclear non-proliferation policy, which is

intended to isolate the Canadian nuclear industry from the nuclear weapons

programs of other countries," said Ostling.

She urged the Committee to "immediately recommend that the federal

government cancel the spring test burn of weapons plutonium at Chalk River

Nuclear Labs and withdraw the entire proposal before it is too late."

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Information: Norman Abbey (NCC): (604) 351-1416 <iabbey@alternatives.com>

Kristen Ostling (Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout):(613) 789-3634 <cnp@web.net>

Mike Wallace (UBC; Political Science): (604) 822-4550 <mdwallac@unixg.ubc.ca>