A compilation of hundreds of U.S. nuclear sites and activities that were to be declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency by the United States was transmitted to Congress last month by President Obama.
“The enclosed draft declaration lists each site, location, facility, and activity I intend to declare to the IAEA, and provides a detailed description of such sites, locations, facilities, and activities, and the provisions of the U.S.-IAEA Additional Protocol under which they would be declared,” the President wrote. “Each site, location, facility, and activity would be declared in order to meet the obligations of the United States of America with respect to these provisions.”
“The IAEA classification of the enclosed declaration is ‘Highly Confidential Safeguards Sensitive’,” the President noted in his May 5, 2009 transmittal letter, “however, the United States regards this information as ‘Sensitive but Unclassified’.”
But sensitive or not, the draft declaration was promptly published by the Government Printing Office. See “The List of Sites, Locations, Facilities, and Activities Declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency,” message from the President of the United States, May 6, 2009 (267 pages, 13 MB PDF file).
As humans expand our geographic reach, encroach on untouched natural territories, and interact more with animal populations, we will encounter novel zoonotic diseases that threaten the human body. The sooner we act to address these risks, the better.
This report serves as a landscape assessment and toolbox from which local governments can negotiate an informed position when it comes to the levers available to them and includes a first-of-its kind analysis of eight executed community benefits agreements.
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This is bigger than a singular elimination of race and ethnicity questions. It could accelerate the second wave of widespread reductions to demographic data, leaving public health officials with even less information to deliver better health outcomes for all Americans.