News conferences Announces Puget Sound Nuclear Weapon Free Zone

The Bangor base houses more nuclear warheads than China, France, Israel, India, North Korea and Pakistan combined.

A Chernobyl classroom as it appears today; the press conference marks the anniversary of this tragic event.

(SEATTLE, Wash.) - On Tuesday, April 26, 2011, the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, initiators of the Puget Sound Nuclear Weapon Free Zone will hold news conferences in Tacoma and Seattle to announce the launch of a Declaration of the Puget Sound Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.

Puget Sound, home to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor and Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific, contains the largest concentration of operational nuclear weapons.

In November 2006, the Natural Resource Defense Council declared that the 2,364 nuclear warheads at Bangor are approximately 24 percent of the entire U.S. arsenal.

The Bangor base houses more nuclear warheads than China, France, Israel, India, North Korea and Pakistan combined.

Even though the U.S. recently ratified the New START Treaty and is a signatory to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, it continues spending billions of dollars rebuilding its nuclear weapons research and manufacturing facilities.

The Navy plans to build a new generation of ballistic missile submarines to replace the current Trident fleet. The cost for 12 of these new subs will reach $99 billion (Source: Congressional Budget Office), and they would operate through 2082.

The Declaration for the Puget Sound Nuclear Weapons Free Zone already has dozens of individual and organizational endorsers. See psnukefreefree.org and click on Declaration.

Contact:

Leonard Eiger  subversivepeacemaking@gmail.com (425) 445-2190

Tom Shea  tomshea@centurytel.net (425) 831-0033

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (Media & Outreach) www.gzcenter.org
Puget Sound Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (Coordinator) www.psnukefree.org 
Disarm Now Plowshares (Media & Outreach) http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com
Email:  subversivepeacemaking@gmail.com  
Blog:  http://nuclearabolitionist.blogspot.com  
Blog:  http://subversivepeacemaking.blogspot.com