Reid assured 'Divine Strake' will be safe

[NVMojo]

Which is why he and the other State officials ignored the notice about this several months ago in the first place ...sigh ...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday that he's satisfied with the Pentagon's explanation about an upcoming test at the Nevada Test Site, and has no fears about the health or safety of Nevadans.

Reid made the comments after meeting with the Pentagon official who stirred controversy last week by saying a test planned for June of a 700-ton explosive would create "a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas."

"The language in the media has unfortunately blown this issue out of proportion," said Reid after meeting with James Tegnelia, head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

"We discussed the details of this operation tonight, and I now feel comfortable that DTRA is taking all necessary precautions to make sure the test is done safely," Reid said.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/apr/06/040610266.html

[formercia]

1. Hope ther are some DU ers out there

with their surplus radiation detectors just in case.

[dysfunctional press]

2. some people get their undies in a bunch over a whole lotta nothin'...

so they're testing a big(NON-nuclear) bomb in nevada...so what?
they're doing it at a testing ground, right?
that's what "testing grounds", by definition- are for, right?

so what's the big deal to some people???

:shrug:

[wordpix]

12. they are testing at NV Proving Grounds, where nukes were tested

decades ago and soil is still contaminated. Blowing place up will result in contam. soils spread far and wide---do you really trust these people with their "safety" mantra? I don't.

See my post #8, also, which dissects their statements featuring "might" and "should be" safe pronouncements.

[dysfunctional press]

14. as far as the contaminated soil goes-

much of the "contaminated soil" has been blowing away with the wind for years and years.
and just how much dust and dirt is this kind of test supposed to throw into the air? -do you have any actual data to support your claims, or is it just your own suppositions about what/how much will be thrown into the air?

[enlightenment]

17. You know, I live in Las Vegas.

I'm not terribly upset over this one - except for all of the "mights" and "shoulds" being tossed around by the folks doing the testing, and the idea that this will be an open air, not an underground, blast.

I've read the pre-approval document and it has so many conditionals that even you, way over there in IL, would raise an eyebrow.

Even if this doesn't blow radioactive dust into the air (and you might ask the people in S. Utah, who have suffered the after-effects of being downwind of such stuff what the "big deal" is to them) -- it will blow a heck of a lot of ammonium nitrate into the air, and at the least that can severely irritate skin, mucus membrane, and the lungs. We have enough crap in the air already.

The actual location in the test site is 65 miles from Las Vegas (the NTS is a very large area), which is closer by 15 miles than Yucca Mountain, where they're planning on putting the nation's nuclear waste (not Nevada's - we don't have any nuclear power plants).

For me the big deal isn't this blast. It's what this blast is supposed to simulate; a "bunker-busting" nuclear bomb. Apparently, Bushco is not quite ready to take the step of defying the LTBT that the US signed and ratified, so they'll take the next best step.

But if it works, and it blows the hell out of the tunnel that they've dug underneath the bomb site, what will they do with the information? Write a tidy report and file it under "cool things that we can blow up at the "testing grounds"?" I suspect they might have more in mind.

[dysfunctional press]

21. you "suspect"???

"...I suspect they might have more in mind"

what?

[enlightenment]

24. You're right -- an incomplete sentence.

Mea culpa.:blush:

I 'suspect' (because I have no proof, only great suspicion) that they if they successfully blow up the tunnel with this conventional, but completely unwieldy bomb, that they will decide that the low-yield nukes that Bush and the Pentagon really want will be put into full development.

I dislike the idea of developing, testing, and building more nukes -- particularly when we have a madman in control of the launch codes (old language, I know. Do they need launch codes to use these things preemptively?)

Here's a clip from an article at the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (http://www.ananuclear.org/rnep.html)

"The Bush administration and some Members of Congress want to develop a nuclear bunker buster to destroy hardened and deeply buried targets that may contain command and control centers, key leadership personnel and stockpiles of chemical and/or biological weapons. The Department of Energy is currently engaged in a three-year "feasibility study" to research and develop the nuclear bunker buster, costing $15 million per year. The design is based on modified, rather than new, nuclear warheads which have the ability to be given large yields in the hundreds of kilotons or small yields less than 5 kilotons, thereby avoiding the Spratt-Furse prohibition . . ."

"Section 3136 of the Fiscal Year 1994 Defense Authorization Act includes a prohibition on "research and development which could lead to the production by the United States of a low-yield nuclear weapon" of less than five kilotons (the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of approximately 15 kilotons). Championed by Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) and Rep. Elizabeth Furse (D-OR), the "Spratt-Furse prohibition" has remained in effect for almost a decade despite previous attempts in Congress to overturn it. This year <2005>, the Pentagon sent Congress a draft Defense Authorization bill that includes a request to repeal the Spratt-Furse prohibition (Section 221 of H.R. 1588). In addition, the Republican House Policy Committee issued a report explicitly stating a desire to overturn this prohibition."

This kind of development and testing could (note the "could"!) violate the LTBT, which is problematic in and of itself -- violating, or thinking about violating, international treaties is becoming far too common-place for this administration.

[soothsayer]

3. What's with the word 'strake' anyway? Is it all girded together and

planky looking of something?

[tanyev]

4. What's with the word "divine"?

That's even more scary in the context of a weapon of mass destruction.

[phantom power]

5. Exactly. I don't like to see religion within a mile of the military.

[oneighty]

7. A mystery

I am familiar with lapstrake boat construction and I do not see a connection.

Google mentions a 'strake' tool involved in lapstrake construction but has no description of it.

Strike? Struck? Strake?

Still a mystery.

180

[anotherdrew]

6. rename the damn thing. nothing 'divine' about it.

typical their only conception of 'divine' is as some massively destructive event.

[wordpix]

8. The morons are drawing conclusions before test results are completed

re: "all necessary environmental tests & safety precautions are being done"

First, if they "are being done," it means the tests and precautions are not completed yet, so why is Reid jumping on the bandwagon that Divine Strake is safe? That is akin to making a conclusion without getting all data first.

Second, Reid did not address the issue of the radioactively contaminated soils that will be blown up and spread around, since this area was the site of nuclear tests previously. He is conveniently ignoring this very important issue.

Third, if "the test is designed to study ground motion and shock waves," those doing the tests don't know the results yet. To say that Las Vegas "should" receive no impact is again drawing a conclusion before the test occurs. Notice phrases like, "Indian Springs 45 miles away might feel ground movement... Las Vegas 90 miles away, should not detect anything.
Maybe, would, could, should, might, these words mean the PTB don't have the answers about the impact of 700 tons of explosives.

I am really disappointed in Reid. He folds very quickly when the military-industrial-war profiteering complex pushes back, doesn't he?

snip: According to Reid's office, the test will detonate 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, a commercial explosive used in mining and blasting operations. The test is designed to study ground motion and shock waves.

snip: Residents of Indian Springs some 45 miles away might feel slight ground movement or hear a noise similar to distant thunder, But communities farther from the test site, such as Las Vegas 90 miles away, should not detect anything.

snip: "I do not support the resumption of nuclear testing, but this test uses only commercial explosives," Reid said. "It seems to be well-planned, and all the necessary environmental tests and safety precautions are being done. At this point, there is no reason for the test not to go forward."

--

[wordpix]

9. K&R! STOP THE WAR MACHINE. If we don't, no one else will except

maybe the al Quaeda nutcases

[NV Whino]

10. Divine Strake =

a misspelling. It's really supposed to be Divine Strike.

Sounds more like them, doesn't it?

[wordpix]

11. no, we had a thread about the name here earlier, it's "strake"

Unfortunately, I can't remember what the name means. Dictionary says it's a nautical term for planking or metal plate along hull of ship from stem to stern. However, in other thread, someone came up with a different take.

[NV Whino]

13. Naw.

It's gotta be a misspelling. Nobody would name a bomb Divine Strake.
:sarcasm:

[daleo]

19. It is also a synonym for a screed, as in concrete laying

"3. Straightedge
The word Strake also refers to a straightedge used for leveling a bed of sand, or striking poured concrete or plaster level with the edges of the formwork or mould into which it has been poured. A strake used for flooring or paving work is often called a 'screed'."

Basically, screeding is leveling smooth a concrete surface. That is kind of what a big nuclear bomb does to a city.

[Igel]

20. 'Strake' has a lot of meanings.

Among others, it's also a kind of plowshare, IIRC. Various other things, too, all related to 'strike'. "Strake" is archaic, but they share the same root.

[donsu]

15. having never dropped this bomb before how can they say it's safe?

nothing the bushmilhousegang's military does is safe

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. 'Divine Strake': The Process Behind Naming Bombs

.
.
.

'Divine Strake': The Process Behind Naming Bombs

All Things Considered, March 31, 2006 · The Pentagon announces it will explode a new bomb at a Nevada test site on June 2. The 700-ton bomb is called "Divine Strake." William Arkin, author of Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs, and Operations in the 9/11 World explains how bombs get their funny names.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5316466

audio link at above link
--------------------------------------------------------------

on edit:

Another link with lots of info about this test

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/ops/divine-strake.htm

DIVINE STRAKE is one of several "DIVINE" efforts under the Hard and Deeply Buried Target Defeat (HDBTD) program. DIVINE WARHAWK consists of deep underground operational tunnel facility defeat demonstrations using advanced weapons at the White Sands Missile Range. DIVINE HELCAT was a 2004 reconstitution exercise to determine reconstitution time for the C3I tunnel facility at Nevada Test Site (NTS). Also in 2004 planning began for DIVINE HATES, which is a WMD production and storage tunnel complex functional defeat effort.

[darkstar]

22. delete

self-delete

[hedgehog]

18. Just out of curiousity

I heard the othe day that the new budget cuts research into treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Anyone have the numbers on the cuts vs. the cost for this test?

[Opusnone]

23. Is "Divine Strike" our response to "Holy Prophet war games in the gulf?

[IndianaGreen]

25. Reid should park his butt right over the ground beneath which

the detonation of a new nuke trigger will take place. Let's see him put his ass on the line!

[IndianaGreen]

26. Harry Reid has lied to us! Test is a prelude to a nuke attack on Iran

This story was just published today:

Bush administration 'secretly plans air strikes' as it seeks regime change in Iran

By Raymond Whitaker

Published: 09 April 2006

One option under consideration, Mr Hersh reports, involves the possible use of a B61 nuclear "bunker-buster" bomb against Iran's main centrifuge plant, at Natanz. Last week the Federation of American Scientists alleged that a weapons test to be carried out in the Nevada desert in June was designed to simulate the effects of just such a bomb. Conventional explosives would be used, it said, for "a low-yield nuclear weapon ground shock simulation against an underground target".

The US Defence Threat Reduction Agency told The Independent on Sunday that the test, codenamed "Divine Strake", was intended "to assess the capability of computer codes" to predict the effects of the explosion. The experiment aimed to improve "warfighters' confidence in their ability to plan to defeat hardened and deeply buried targets". It did not refer to tactical nuclear weapons like the B61.

According to Mr Hersh, some officials are shocked at what they describe as "operational" planning which goes far beyond the usual work on hypothetical scenarios. One former defence official is quoted as saying the planning was based on a belief that "a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government".

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article356679.ece