DATE=6/11/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-233743
TITLE= DOOMSDAY CLOCK (S/L)
BYLINE= MICHAEL LELAND
DATELINE= CHICAGO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE KEEPERS OF THE SO-CALLED "DOOMSDAY CLOCK" HAVE MOVED
THE HANDS OF THE CLOCK FIVE MINUTES CLOSER TO MIDNIGHT. THE
CLOCK IS THE CREATION OF THE CHICAGO-BASED "BULLETIN OF THE
ATOMIC SCIENTISTS," AND IS CONSIDERED A SYMBOL OF HOW CLOSE THE
WORLD COULD BE TO NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE. V-O-A'S MICHAEL LELAND
HAS MORE.
TEXT: MOVING THE CLOCK UP, TO NINE MINUTES TIL MIDNIGHT, IS THE
LARGEST JUMP FOR THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK SINCE 1968, WHEN IT WAS ALSO
MOVED FORWARD FIVE MINUTES AFTER FRANCE AND CHINA ACQUIRED
NUCLEAR WEAPONS. BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS BOARD
CHAIRMAN LEONARD RIESER SAYS RECENT NUCLEAR TESTS IN INDIA AND
PAKISTAN AND THE SLOW RATE OF ARMS REDUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES
AND RUSSIA MAKE THESE PERILOUS TIMES.
// RIESER ACT //
WITH HUGE INVENTORIES OF WEAPONS IN THE UNITED STATES
AND RUSSIA PARTICULARLY AVAILABLE FOR LAUNCHING IN
MATTERS OF MINUTES, AND THEN NOW WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN
THE HANDS OF TWO NATIONS -- INDIA AND PAKISTAN --
SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH YEARS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN THEM.
// END ACT //
BULLETIN OFFICIALS POINT OUT WHILE INDIA AND PAKISTAN COULD
PRODUCE A FEW DOZEN NUCLEAR WEAPONS, THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA
STILL HAVE MORE THAN 30-THOUSAND BETWEEN THEM.
// REST OPT FOR LONG //
THE BULLETIN'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS WAS ALREADY PLANNING TO DISCUSS
RESETTING THE CLOCK, WHEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN CONDUCTED THEIR
NUCLEAR TESTS. BOARD MEMBERS WERE FRUSTRATED THAT EVEN WITH THE
COLD WAR OVER, NO NUCLEAR STATE IS MOVING SIGNIFICANTLY TOWARD
NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT. BOARD MEMBER DON LAMB SAYS IN THAT
ENVIRONMENT IT IS NO SURPRISE OTHER COUNTRIES WANT TO JOIN THE
NUCLEAR WEAPONS CLUB.
// LAMB ACT #1 //
WE REGARD THESE EVENTS AS SYMPTOMS OF THE LACK OF
COMMITMENT ON THE PART, PARTICULARLY OF THE NUCLEAR
STATES, TO THE PROMISES AND PLEDGES THEY HAVE MADE AS
PART OF THE NONPROLIFERATION TREATY TOWARDS REDUCING
THEIR STOCKPILES OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
// END ACT //
JUST SEVEN YEARS AGO, THE BOARD MOVED THE HANDS OF THE DOOMSDAY
CLOCK BACK, TO 17-MINUTES BEFORE MIDNIGHT. THIS CAME AT THE END
OF THE COLD WAR AND AT A TIME WHEN THE UNITED STATES AND SOVIET
UNION SIGNED THE STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATY AND ANNOUNCED
CUTS IN NUCLEAR STOCKPILES. THE BOARD SAYS THE OPPORTUNITY
CREATED BY THE END OF THE COLD WAR TO REDUCE THE THREAT OF
NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE HAS BEEN SQUANDERED, BUT MR. LAMB SAYS THE
WORLD IS STILL A SAFER PLACE THAN IT WAS IN 1984, WHEN THE CLOCK
READ THREE MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT.
// LAMB ACT #2 //
THERE HAS BEEN THE DISMANTLEMENT OF A LARGE NUMBER OF
LARGELY OBSOLETE NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND ALSO THE
DETARGETING OF THE MISSILES THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN
EXISTENCE, BUT THERE HAVE NOT BEEN FURTHER STEPS AT
THE PACE THAT COULD EASILY HAVE HAPPENED.
// END ACT //
THE BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS CREATED THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK
IN 1947, TO SYMBOLIZE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NUCLEAR AGE. THE
CLOSEST THE CLOCK HAS EVER BEEN TO MIDNIGHT WAS IN 1953 AFTER THE
UNITED STATES TESTED ITS FIRST HYDROGEN BOMB. THE HANDS WERE
MOVED TO TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT. THE HANDS HAVE BEEN MOVED
BACK OR FORWARD 13 TIMES SINCE THEN, INCLUDING THURSDAY'S SHIFT.
(SIGNED)
NEB/MJL/MMK
11-Jun-98 2:35 PM EDT (1835 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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