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"Shundahai" is a Newe (Western Shoshone) word meaning "Peace and Harmony with All Creation"

Nevada Desert Experience
Shundahai Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Susi Snyder 775-537-6088
September 26, 2001
susi@shundahai.org

UNITED STATES ATTACKS NEVADA DESERT
Subcritical Nuclear Weapons Test Threatens International Security

Mercury, NV- Early this morning, after sunrise ceremony led by Western
Shoshone Spiritual Leader, Corbin Harney, five (5) peace activists crossed
onto the Nevada Test Site and were cited and released. They gathered and
acted in response to the planned subcritical nuclear weapons test "Oboe 8",
scheduled today September 26, 2001.

"Now more than ever, is the time for peaceful legal responses," said Erik
Thompson who is facing court on October 4, 2001 for trespass at the test
site in August; "the US bombing of Nevada today is neither of these".

"Subcritical Nuclear weapons test "Oboe 8" has extremely poor timing, "
said Susi Snyder, spokeswoman for Shundahai Network, "at a time where the
President of the United States has declared a war on terrorism, this
senseless act breeds international instability, and continues to show the
world that the US has no interest in resolving conflicts peacefully."

This afternoon, at 4pm, activists from Shundahai Network, the Nevada Desert
Experience, and others will gather at the Foley Federal Building (300 S.
Las Vegas Blvd) for a peaceful demonstration against this, and future,
subcritical nuclear weapons tests.

"I am a true homeland defender," said Gregor Gable after being released by
the Nye County Sheriff's department. "I act, because I know Nevada is a
homeland, not a wasteland."

The "Oboe" tests are prepared by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
in Livermore, California. At noon today activists will gather at the
Bechtel headquarters in San Francisco to demonstrate at the corporate
offices of this contractor of death.

Upon the completion of the "Oboe" series next year with the "Oboe 7" test,
currently delayed by technical problems, the DOE intends to begin
detonating another series of underground subcritical tests at NTS in 12-18
month intervals. The Livermore and Los Alamos labs are the DOE's main
nuclear weapons research and development labs, and the subcritical tests
are paid for by funds from the Doe's Stockpile Stewardship Program, which,
despite its name, is an aggressive nuclear weapons program.

While the DOE claims that the underground subcritical tests are needed to
maintain the safety & reliability of the nuclear stockpile, antinuclear
groups believe that they are really about nuclear weapons development, and
that, among other things, they violate the spirit if not the letter of the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), compounding the difficulty of the
CTBT's ongoing international ratification.

For more information & photos, htttp://www.shundahai.org

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