Democracy Now! June 11 , 2002

Date: June 11, 2002 CO-HOST: JUAN GONZALEZ 9:00-9:01 Billboard: Delegates at Afghanistan's Loya Jirga threaten to walk out in fury after the former king Mohammed Zahir Shah announces he will not be a candidate for head of state. The US doesn?:<-110>t want him to challenge Hamid Karzai?:<-110>s rule.Then, New York?:<-110>s Westchester county dispenses ?:<-109>radiation pills?:<-108> as a precaution against a nuclear disaster at Indian Point power plant And a storm swells in Japan as the government announces that it is considering breaking the taboo against nuclear weapons. All that and more coming up. 9:01-9:06 Headlines: 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break MUSIC 6: THAT'S WHAT THEY WILL DO - Peter Tosh 20: WAR OF THE FLEA - Holly Near Early Warnings (Appleseed Recordings) 40: AND WHEN I DIE - Laura Nyro Time and Love - The Essential Masters (Columbia/Legacy) End: HISTORY'S FRACTAL MOUNTAIN - Paranoise w/T, McKenna ISHQ (www.paranoise.com) 9:07-9:20 TRIBAL LEADERS POUR INTO KABULTO BEGIN THE LOYA JIRGA PROCESS THAT WILL DETERMINE AFGHANISTAN?:<-110>S FUTURE Delegates at Afghanistan's traditional assembly, or Loya Jirga, are threatening to walk out in fury after the former king Mohammed Zahir Shah announced he will not be a candidate for head of state. Zahir Shah made the announcement under heavy US pressure. The US feared Zahir Shah?:<-110>s candidacy could scuttle interim President Hamid Karzai's chances of becoming leader. The battle over the Shah?:<-110>s role plunged the Loya Jirga into chaos and delayed the proceedings yesterday. Pashtun delegates expressed shock at the announcement. One told the London Independent: "We want the king as a candidate. How can this be [a] step towards democracy? What kind of a democracy is this?" Guest: Philip Smucker, reporter for the Christian Science Monitor in Kabul Contact: www.csmonitor.com 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:21-9:40 NEW YORK?:<-110>S WESTCHESTER COUNTY DISPENSES ?:<-109>RADIATION PILLS?:<-108> AS A PRECAUTION AGAINST A NUCLEAR DISASTER AT INDIAN POINT POWER PLANT Officials in New York State?:<-110>s Westchester county began handing out potassium iodide pills to residents within 10 miles of the Indian Point nuclear power plant this weekend. Officials say the pills will help protect against thyroid cancer in the event of a radioactive disaster. They do not protect against other effects of radiation or other cancers. Potassium iodide was used after the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine that killed thirty people and exposed hundreds to acute radiation poisoning. Ten years later, the World Health Organization linked nearly 700 cases of thyroid cancer among children and adolescents to the Chernobyl accident. Since September 11th, there has been growing concern that Indian Point Energy Center could be a prime target for a terrorist attack. Indian Point sits just 40 miles north of Midtown Manhattan, and is within a 50- mile radius of 8 percent of the population of the whole country. Entergy, the company that owns Indian Point, launched a high profile public relations campaign marketing the plant as ?:<-109>safe, secure, and vital. But even in the absence of an attack, the plant's reactors have been plagued by minor leaks and safety lapses for years. Last October, four of seven control room teams failed recertification exams (though three later passed a retest). In February 2000, faulty tubes at Indian Point plant sent 20,000 gallons of radioactive water into the containment building and released radioactive steam into the air. Today we are going to have a debate on nuclear power and safety. Guest: Harvey Wasserman, anti-nuclear activist, senior adviser to Greenpeace USA and author of The Last Energy War: The Battle Over Utility Deregulation, published by Seven Stories Press Guest: Elizabeth Shanklin, coordinator, Close Indian Point NYC Campaign IN STUDIO Contact: (212) 561-1910 www.closeindianpoint.org TAPE: Guest: Mike Slobodien, director of Emergency programs for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the company that owns and operates Indian Point Energy Center. He is also a certified physicist. Contact: www.safesecurevital.org Guest: Susan Tolchin, chief advisor to Westchester county executive Andy Spano. Tolchin supervises the ?:<-109>comprehensive emergency response plan?:<-108> for Westchester county and passed out potassium iodide pills in Westchester on Saturday. 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58 NUCLEARIZING THE WORLD/BREAKING THE NUCLEAR TABOO IN JAPAN Japan set off wave of international concern last week when its chief cabinet secretary told reporters the country is considering breaking with its half-century-old policy banning nuclear weapons. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have given Japanese a deep aversion to nuclear weapons, and Japan has adhered to strict non-nuclear principles since the end of World War 2. Japan?:<-110>s Prime Minister Koizumi sought to assure Parliament yesterday that Japan does not plan to end its taboo against nuclear weapons. But the top aide?:<-110>s comments came barely a week after another senior official said publicly that Japan could legally possess nuclear weapons, so long as they were "small." Japan has shown increasing willingness to engage in military actions in recent years. The country dispatched warships overseas this fall for the first time in more than 50 years as a show of support for the American war on Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Japanese government is preparing to send off two boats loaded with enough plutonium to make 50 nuclear bombs. The plutonium was supplied by England and was originally intended for Japan?:<-110>s sizable nuclear power industry. But Japan rejected the shipment and is now sending it back to its British suppliers. The two "lightly armed" ships are set to embark on their 18,000-mile journey within the next week or two. Greenpeace and dozens of nations along the possible routes are protesting the voyage. They are particularly concerned that the ships amount to floating terrorist targets. A 1999 article in Jane's Foreign Report described the "lightly armed" fleet as "totally inadequate for transporting half a ton of plutonium half way around the world." Guest: Steven Clemons, Executive Vice President, New America Foundation. He is also the co-founder of the Japan Policy Research Institute with Asia specialist Chalmers Johnson. Contact: www.steveclemons.com, www.newamerica.net Guest: Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International Nuclear Campaigner in Japan.Contact: www.greenpeace.org 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits