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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 Findlaw: President Bush's New Iraq Commission Won't Be Investigating
2 Mercury News: Almost all Iraqi exiles misled U.S., officials say
3 US: baltimoresun: Nuclear credibility 
4 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Offers to Sell Its Nuclear Fuel
5 BBC: Iran 'ready to sell nuclear fuel' 
6 Guardian Unlimited: Europe's nuclear deal with Iran faces collapse 
7 Hi Pakistan: Iran may export N-fuel: Kharazi     --> 
8 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IAEA mulls latest report on Iran 
9 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: FM: Iran ready to sell nuclear fuel 
10 KoreaTimes: Nuclear Threats Dash Ratings Upgrade Hope 
11 KoreaTimes: NGOs Ask for Role in Nuke Talks 
12 KoreaTimes: Beijing Urges Seoul¡¯s Positive Role in Talks 
13 AU ABC: New hopes over Korean nuclear talks 
14 US: Seattle Times: Senate plans closed-door intelligence session
15 US: The Spectrum: Bill would ensure safe nuke testing - 
16 US: UW Daily: A wasted opportunity
17 Guardian Unlimited: British spy op wrecked peace move 
18 Las Vegas SUN: AP: Accused Nuke Smuggler Lived Lavishly
19 Washington Times: A bombshell for Musharraf
20 Hi Pakistan: ARD demands joint session on nuclear issue  
21 Hi Pakistan: Pakistan, India to enlarge N-stocks: report
22 Hi Pakistan: Israeli paper talks of 'Islamic bomb'     --> 
23 Hi Pakistan: Govt warned against N-plan rollback: ARD starts anti-Mu
24 Hi Pakistan: A superpower's limitations By Afzaal Mahmood     --> 
25 Hi Pakistan:  What in the world is a ‘conditional’ pardon? 
26 Hi Pakistan: From fame to shame 
27 Hi Pakistan: Pakistan's nuclear mess 
28 PakNews: Singapore To Negotiate Trade Agreement With Pak
29 New Straits Times: ‘KL has no part in nuke activity’ 
30 AU ABC: Malaysia rejects nuclear allegations 
31 Dar Al Hayat: Blair And Israels Weapons
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
32 UKAEA: Revealing the secrets of Pile One 
33 US: toledoblade.com: Davis-Besse: 2 years, $605M cost; no restart sl
34 US: CJOnline: Malfuntion idles Wolf Creek 02/14/04
35 ITAR-TASS: Reactor stopped for planned repairs at Ukrainian NPP
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
36 US: [DU-WATCH] Immediate Release: US admits DU risks in Military
37 DU is CHEMICALLY Mutagenic & Carcinogenic
38 US: [EMMAS] US military are perfectly aware of DU risks
39 US: Deseretnews: Matheson promotes N-safety
40 US: Salt Lake Tribune: 'Downwinders' safeguards focus of Matheson bi
41 US: baltimoresun: High radioactivity and low security 
42 Japan Times: Museum marks Bikini blast anniversary
43 AU ABC: Marshall islands concern over nuclear study funding 
44 US: Paducah Sun: Paducah beryllium cases spread Georgian becomes par
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
45 US: Salt Lake Tribune: House panel votes to close a waste loophole 
46 US: Deseretnews: Revamped waste bill pleases both sides
47 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Don't bow to business 
48 US: Contra Costa Times: Sandia lab seeks permit renewal for new haza
49 KoreaTimes: Puan Residents Vote Down Nuclear Waste Dump Plan 
50 KoreaTimes : Residents' Vote on Nuke Waste Site / Right Choice 
51 Salt Lake Tribune: Left with the offspring 
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
52 US: Presidents' Day Nuclear Perspectives
53 Hi Pakistan: IAEA for Big-5 move towards disarmament
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
54 NMBW: LANL responds to NMED fine - 
55 Rocky Mountain News: Black smoke halts Flats cleanup work
56 U.S. Newswire: Statement of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham 
57 Knox News: Nuclear pioneer Weinberg honored
58 Oak Ridger: Former Oak Ridge laboratory directors honored 							 		
59 Knox News: Y-12 leader defends security
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
60 Google News Alert - nuclear
61 Google News Alert - nuclear
62 Oakland Tribune:  U.S. OK to search thousands of ships
63 LJWorld.com : Professor recalled as brilliant, practical
64 Knox News: John Scalice, TVA's chief nuclear officer, to retire on J
65 PISJ: Wind power advances: Study gets favorable reception at council
*****************************************************************
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 Findlaw: President Bush's New Iraq Commission Won't Be Investigating the
Key WMD Issue:
How the Executive Order Fatally Limits Their Agenda
 ----
E-mail@Justice.com | MY FindLaw    

 By JOHN W. DEAN 
---- Friday, Feb. 13, 2004

	George W. Bush has been nothing short of a magician when it
comes to making unpleasant matters confronting his presidency
disappear. And on February 6, Bush once again did a bit of
conjuring. 

That day, he announced that he was creating an "independent
commission, chaired by Governor and former [Virginia] Senator
Chuck Robb, and Judge Laurence Silberman, to look at American
intelligence capabilities, especially our intelligence about
weapons of mass destruction." In doing so, Bush sought to head
off what potentially could be an aggressive Congressional
inquiry, or a Congressionally created independent commission, on
the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) justification for the Iraq
war. 

	Such an inquiry would doubtless focus on a set of questions
that is bound to make Bush very uncomfortable: the central issue
of whether Bush, and his Vice President Dick Cheney, accurately
represented the pre-Iraq war intelligence (or lack thereof) when
claiming that Saddam had WMD and that Iraqi had ties with al
Qeada. 

	Bush's magic appears to have worked again. His commission is a
sham, and simply ignores the very reason he was pressured to
create it. Yet it seems no one is complaining -- or at least, no
one who could force the commencement of an legitimate
investigation. 

Reacting to David Kay's Testimony: "We Got It Wrong" 

Bush established this commission to quiet the public reaction to
Congressional testimony by his weapons inspector David Kay. Kay
reported his failure to find weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq, and flatly asserted that we got it wrong, and there were
no stockpiles of WMD in Iraq. He also made clear that he does
not think they will be found even given more time to search. Kay
also recommended to Congress that an independent investigation
be undertaken of this intelligence failure. 

To get public attention off of Kay's report (and resignation),
Bush has used his political skills to try to silence his former
weapons inspector, and to preempt Kay's knowledge and
suggestions by making it yesterday's news. 

First, Bush invited Kay to the White House for lunch. Meanwhile,
his aides advised the news media that the president was
considering what he had earlier rejected -- an investigation of
the intelligence failure. Using the "wow" of a private lunch
with the president appears to have been unsuccessful in wooing
Kay, however. The Los Angeles Times spoke with Kay after his
lunch with the president. Kay told the Times that he and the
president did not get into a discussion about the investigation.
And when the Times asked Kay what he thought was an appropriate
way to investigate these problems, it reported that "Kay said
that his 'model' for the inquiry would be the special commission
named by President Reagan to investigate the January 1986
explosion of the space shuttle Challenger shortly after it was
launched." 

The Times further noted that White House aides were suggesting
that the intelligence probe would be patterned, instead, after
the Warren Commission (the panel created by President Lyndon
Johnson to investigate the 1963 assassination of President
Kennedy). 

The Country Deserves an Investigation, Not a Cover-up 

Neither of these suggestion is what is truly needed here.
Indeed, both the Challenger and Warren inquiries are excellent
models not for how to conduct an investigation, rather for how
to conduct a cover-up. 

The Warren Commission's work and findings were so shrouded in
secrecy that they have haunted history while creating a cottage
industry of JFK assassination conspiracy theories. 

The Challenger inquiry was so flawed, that following the recent
Columbia disaster, NASA's administrator went out of his way to
not repeat those mistakes. ''It is a hard, hard legacy of the
lessons learned from the post-Challenger experience. We've
learned a lot from that,'' Mr. O'Keefe was reported by the New
York Times as saying, "mindful that the cover-up in the
Challenger investigation ended many careers and soiled the
agency's reputation." 

In the end, however, Bush modeled his inquiry on a precedent
with which Dick Cheney was most familiar. But first, a look at
what he actually has initiated. 

	 

The Bush Commission's Stated Agenda Has Little, If Anything, to
Do with the Missing WMDs 

With a few strokes of his pen, Bush had an Executive Order that
he can now use to remove the issue of his administration's
distorting Saddam's pre-war WMD intelligence from the 2004
campaign. "The commission is studying the matter," they will
say, when asked about the missing WMD in Iraq, and Saddam's ties
to al Qeada. 

Everyone understands that Bush has removed the issue from the
2004 campaign by not requiring his commission to report until
March 31, 2005 -- long after the election. But in fact, he has
done much more than this to assure that this commission causes
him no political problems. One need only look at the president's
statement announcing the commissionto understand that Bush is
not playing it straight. 

	 

For example, he succinctly stated the inquiry's purpose (when
reading his prepared statement) as follows: "The commission I
have appointed today will examine intelligence on weapons of
mass destruction and related 21st century threats and issue
specific recommendations to ensure our capabilities are strong.
The commission will compare what the Iraq Survey Group learns
with the information we had prior to our Operation Iraqi
Freedom. It will review our intelligence on weapons programs in
countries such as North Korea and Iran. It will examine our
intelligence on the threats posed by Libya and Afghanistan
before recent changes in those countries." 

What does any of that have to do with whether or not the Bush
administration misused, falsely reported, or concocted
intelligence to take the nation to war? Nothing. 
Bush's Executive Order Establishing the Commission. 

	What about the Executive Orderitself? It shows either extreme
haste (and carelessness) in drafting, or a blatant effort to
pull the wool over the nation's eyes. The Commission's "mission"
is set forth in three sections. The first of these contains the
Commission's core assignment. 

That assignment which is spelled out in three rather convoluted
sentences, which I have summarized: 

	The first sentence states that the Commission's general purpose
and mission is "advising the President" about "the most
effective counter-proliferation capabilities" and "response to
the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the ongoing threat
of terrorist activity." In short, this commission is not
reporting to Congress, or the American people; rather, it is
only reporting to the president. 

	The second sentence instructs the Commission to "assess whether
the Intelligence Community" has the necessary wherewithal to
support the government's "efforts to respond to" the
"proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction" in the future. A
later section defines the "Intelligence Community" borrowing the
definition set forth in the National Security Act. 

It should be noted that this definition appears to exclude the
Office of Special Planning (OSP). The OSP once resided in the
Defense Department. It has been widely reported as a rogue
intelligence group, which operated outside the Intelligence
Community and provided the key information relied on by Bush and
Cheney. Similarly, it excludes the Office of the Vice President,
which is widely believed the source of much of the dubious
intelligence. Plainly, the OSP and Cheney's operation should be
at the top of the Commission's list of which agencies to
investigate. Instead, it seems they have dropped off that list
entirely. 

	The third mission sentence calls for the Commission to "examine
the capabilities and challenges" of the Intelligence Community
in collecting, processing, analyzing, producing, and
disseminating WMD related information. 

Note, this third section looks to the future, not the past. And
while an effort to improve intelligence-gathering for the future
is laudable, it is not the same as taking an honest look at
intelligence deficits of the past, and why they occurred. 

	In short, nothing in the first section of the Commission's
mission description looks to the very problem David Kay said
should be examined. Kay, who gives the administration the
benefit of the doubt, says "The charges are out there, and if
there was misuse or distortion [of the Iraq intelligence], we
need to know it." 



The Commission Is Likely to Be Delayed Completing Its Task 

	Bush's Executive Order only pretends to look at the issue of
pre-war Iraqi WMD intelligence. In fact, it does not look at
what is really the issue: the use of that intelligence by policy
makers. The questions of what the intelligence said, and how it
was used -- specifically, was it exploited or distorted? -- are
quite separate. Bush's Commission will answer only the first
question. And it may not be able to answer even that in a prompt
fashion. 

Bush has directed the panel to "specifically examine the
Intelligence Community's intelligence prior to [the Iraqi war]
and compare it with the findings of the Iraq Survey Group
[ISG]and other related agencies." That is it. 

But this assignment virtually guarantees delay. The ISG has not
yet completed its work. And it may not complete that work before
the commission's report is due in March, 2005. 

After all, the ISG appears to have no time limit on its own
work: When David Kay stepped down as the top CIA coordinator of
the Iraq Survey Group, he was replaced by Charles Duelfer, who
said, "The goal here is to put together the most complete,
credible and openly demonstrable picture of what Iraq had, what
their programs were and where they were headed . . . . That's
not going to be an easy task. The country has gone through a
war. Documents, facilities, people have been scattered. But I
think where the most sensitive judgment call will be called for
is when do you think you have pursued all possible avenues to
the extent that you can." In sum, Duelfer is not intending the
rush the ISG; he is seeking a comprehensive report from them. 

Accordingly, tying the Commission's report to the Survey Group's
results means they have no control over when they can issue a
comparative report, and a partial report is meaningless. 

	 

	 

Bush's WMD Commission Is Reminiscent Of The Rockefeller
Commission 

Bush's Executive Order's with its limited scope invites a
comparison not to the Warren Commission or Challenger inquiry,
rather with the Rockefeller Commission. This advisory panel,
named after the Vice President Nelson Rockefeller who chaired
it, was very familiar to the current Vice President, which
suggests Cheney's hidden hand in this inquiry. 

In December 1974, during the Ford presidency, a four-column
headline-grabbing story by Seymour Hersh appeared in the New
York Times. The headline was as follows: "Huge CIA Operation
Reported In U.S. Against Antiwar Forces, Other Dissidents In
Nixon Years." Hersh laid out a "massive, illegal domestic
intelligence operation" by the CIA, which by its charter was
restricted to foreign intelligence gathering. 

Dick Cheney was well aware of the story. At the time, he was
deputy chief of staff under Donald Rumsfeld at Gerald Ford's
White House (and traveling with the President during the
holiday). Cheney can't have forgotten the lessons that were
garnered from President Ford's response, given his role in
crafting it. 

The story broke after Sy Hersh picked up a few trinkets from the
CIA's later infamous "family jewels." In 1973, as Watergate was
falling apart, CIA Director James Schlesinger had sent a
memorandum throughout the agency requesting information about
past "questionable activities." The responses were summarized in
a seven-hundred page document that became known as the CIA's
family jewels. More accurately, it was a time bomb. 

President Ford's initial response to the Hersh story was to do
nothing. But in Washington, Ford's CIA Director, William Colby,
later wrote, Hersh's story "triggered a firestorm." Colby told
Ford it was likely to get worse, for amongst the "jewels" were
detailed reports of the assassination plots against foreign
leaders (Castro in Cuba, Lumumba in the Congo, and Trujillo in
the Dominican Republic). 

	 

Ford's staff recommended that the way to deal this information
buried and away from Congress was for Ford to initiate his own
investigation, and preempt the issue. In 1967, Lyndon Johnson
had similarly used a commission to head off a Congressional
investigation of the CIA. (Later, Ronald Reagan would, again
quite similarly, use the Tower Commission to stall the Congress
from looking into the Iran-Contra matter.) 

Indeed, this stalling tactic, in fact, is as old as the
Republic. George Washington used a presidential commission to
deal with the Whiskey Rebellion. 

Cheney's Advice to Ford Then, May Also Be His Advice to Bush Now 

On December 26, 1974, Dick Cheney drafted a memo to President
Ford in which he cautioned that when the commission was
selected, it was important that it not appear to be "a 'kept'
body designed to whitewash the problem." 

On December 27, 1974, in another memo to President Ford, Cheney
spelled out the goals for a proposed commission: it would
prevent Ford from being put on the defensive; it could minimize
damage to the CIA by heading off the "Congressional efforts to
further encroach on the executive branch" (a refrain that Cheney
repeats to this day three decades later); and it would show
Ford's leadership. 

Fortunately, the Rockefeller Commission did not prove to play
quite the role Cheney had scripted for it -- but that was not
for lack of trying 

Kenneth Kitts, a political scientist who focuses on
relationships between presidential power and national security
decisionmaking, reported on Ford's "commission politics" in the
Presidential Studies Quarterly (Fall, 1996). Kitts notes that
Ford's Executive Order creating the commission limited the scope
of the inquiry (seeking to prevent examination of the
assassination plots). Cheney may have taken a page from the Ford
Administration if he helped to draft Bush's very limited
Iraq/WMD Executive Order this year. 

Kitts also notes that while the members selected for the panel
appeared "to be quite conventional," in truth, the commission
had been stacked. Ford had personally called each appointee in
order to brace each of them -- stressing "the need to protect
the [CIA's] ability to operate" and advising them about "any
public positions on CIA activities that might be troublesome." 

Kitts also found that the Ford White House controlled the
Commission's staff selection. Moreover, once the Commission was
in operation, "[b]ehind-the-scenes maneuvering shaped the
panel's activity throughout the investigation and even altered
the content of the final report." 

In the end, the Rockefeller Commission did not do what Ford and
Cheney had hoped. For they did a good job, and when Ford tried
to suppress their report, public and Congressional outrage
forced its release. Rather than make the issues disappear, the
entire drill only focused more attention on those issues. 

Congress and the news media saw through the façade. As a result
Congress launched two highly aggressive investigations: the Pike
committee in the House of Representatives, chaired by
Congressman Otis Pike (D. -TX), and the Church committee in the
Senate, chaired by Senator Frank Church (D. - ID). 

It's High Time For An Independent Commission to Investigate Iraq
and WMD 

	The Bush Commission, too, may ultimately backfire. But it may
have been stacked even more heavily and effectively than the
Rockefeller Commission; Cheney appears to have learned from that
mistake. 

In any case, Bush and Cheney need only get beyond November 2,
2004. (If the Commission backfires in a later year, that will
not be as important, especially as the nation may have moved on
to other issues by then.) It appears they will succeed. 

They have preempted the Congress successfully by appointing a
commission with little expertise in intelligence matters that
will not report until after the election. They have mandated the
commission to do everything but what was being demanded --
namely, that it examine the role of the Bush administration in
dealing with the intelligence that was collected, then
exaggerated and manipulated. 

They have loaded the commission with work unrelated to the
reasons the public (and Congress) sought the inquiry. Finally,
they have created a study that will be reported only to the
president (and vice president), so unless Bush decides to
disclose its work, no one will ever know what was, or was not,
done by this commission. 

	Bush should be given an honorary membership in the
International Brotherhood of Magicians for his latest political
handiwork. 
What Do You Think? Message Boards 

John W. Dean, a FindLaw columnist, is a former counsel to the
President. 

Copyright © 1994-2004 FindLaw   
*****************************************************************
 2 Mercury News: Almost all Iraqi exiles misled U.S., officials say

 | 02/14/2004 | 

DEFECTORS HAD ROLE IN DECISION TO INVADE

 By Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay

 Knight Ridder

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that 
almost all of the Iraqi defectors whose information helped make 
the Bush administration's case against Saddam Hussein exaggerated 
what they knew, fabricated tales or were ``coached'' by others on 
what to say. 

As probes expand into the intelligence used to justify the war in 
Iraq, questions are growing about the defectors' role in building 
the momentum toward last spring's invasion. 

Most of the former Iraqi officials were made available to U.S. 
intelligence agencies by the Iraqi National Congress, a coalition 
of exile groups with close ties to the Pentagon and Vice 
President Dick Cheney's office. The INC had lobbied for years for 
a U.S. military operation to oust Saddam. 

The defectors claimed, among other things, that Saddam had built 
mobile biological weapons facilities, was rapidly rebuilding his 
nuclear weapons program and had trained Islamist fighters at a 
camp south of Baghdad. 

None of those allegations has been borne out so far. 

At least one defector provided by the INC -- an Iraqi engineer 
named Adnan Ihsan Saeed al-Haideri -- provided valuable 
information on Saddam's underground military facilities, U.S. 
officials said. 

But most of the information provided by the INC's defectors ``was 
shaky'' at best, said a senior Bush administration official. He 
and others spoke on condition of anonymity because of the 
classified information involved. 

The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, which handled the 
INC-supplied defectors, has since concluded that they provided 
little worthwhile information on Saddam's weapons programs or 
alleged ties to Islamist terrorism, a defense official said. 

Signs of `coaching' 

The officials said some of the defectors showed signs of 
``coaching'' because they used similar language. That raised 
suspicions that the INC had prepped them before their 
debriefings. 

Much of the defectors' testimonies were discounted in the run-up 
to the war by analysts at the CIA and State Department, which 
soured on the INC and its leader, Ahmed Chalabi, during the 
1990s. 

Nonetheless, some of the information found its way into the most 
critical prewar intelligence assessment on Iraq's suspected 
illicit weapons program, known as a National Intelligence 
Estimate; media reports; statements by top U.S. officials; and, 
in one instance, Secretary of State Colin Powell's watershed 
presentation to the U.N. Security Council in February 2003. 

Senior U.S. officials said that despite doubts about the 
defectors' reports, they continued to be sought by top civilians 
in the Defense Department and other officials eager to make the 
case for war. 

``These guys were persistent,'' the senior administration 
official said of the Iraqi exiles. 

Defectors were one of several sources of information on Saddam's 
Iraq. Their reports were combined with those from human spies, 
satellite photographs and electronic snooping. 

Cheney and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, two principal 
advocates for a U.S.-led invasion, underscored the importance 
placed on defectors and other human sources. 

In a January 2003 speech, Wolfowitz said, ``For a great body of 
what we need to know, we are very dependent on traditional 
methods of intelligence -- that is to say, human beings who 
either deliberately or inadvertently are communicating to us.'' 

Cheney, opening the administration's drive for public support for 
Saddam's ouster, said in an Aug. 26, 2002, speech that 
``firsthand testimony'' from defectors had disclosed that Saddam 
had resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. 

Those defectors, Cheney said, included Gen. Hussein Kamal, 
Saddam's son-in-law, who fled to Jordan in 1995 and was slain 
when he returned to Baghdad in 1996. 

Cheney's assertion, however, conflicts with Kamal's comments in 
an interview conducted by Rolf Ekeus, the then-head of a U.N. 
weapons-inspection program. 

``All weapons -- biological, chemical, missile, nuclear -- were 
destroyed,'' he said, according to an official U.N. transcript of 
the Aug. 22, 1995, session. 

Cheney's office did not explain the apparent discrepancy. 
Instead, Cheney's press secretary Kevin Kellems referred Knight 
Ridder on Friday to an interview earlier this month with St. 
Louis radio station KMOX, in which Cheney stood by his comments 
about Iraq's nuclear weapons program. 

``The fact is that if you look at the statements I made, they 
track almost perfectly with the National Intelligence Estimate'' 
on Iraq's weapons programs, Cheney told the interviewer. 
Intelligence is never perfect, Cheney said. ``This is a business 
where you don't have absolute proof on these subjects.'' 

Some contradictions 

U.S. officials also said Kamal, in his debriefings, made a 
variety of statements about Iraq's nuclear program, some of which 
contradicted one another. 

Kellems said the vice president's office gets its intelligence in 
daily briefings by the CIA and ``did not receive intelligence 
briefings on weapons of mass destruction or Baghdad's terror ties 
from the Iraqi National Congress.'' However, other officials said 
information provided by the INC found its way throughout the 
administration through routine intelligence channels. 

A report issued by the White House on Sept. 12, 2002, said former 
Iraqi military officers described how Iraq had been training 
Iraqis and non-Iraqi Arabs in ``hijacking planes and trains, 
planting explosives in cities, sabotage and assassinations'' at a 
secret terrorist facility in Iraq, Salman Pak. 

No information has surfaced since the war to support those
claims, defense and intelligence officials said. 

Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the
chair and vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee,
announced Thursday that they are expanding a probe into prewar
intelligence to include the use of information from the INC. 

The CIA already has announced changes in how raw intelligence is
shared with intelligence analysts, after it was discovered that
a May 2002 alert saying an INC-supplied defector was believed to
be fabricating data went unnoticed. 

The oversight led the NIE and Powell to claim that Iraq had
mobile biological warfare research facilities. 

CIA Director George Tenet, in a Feb. 5 speech, said the agency
also is ``finding discrepancies'' in defectors' claims about
separate mobile facilities for producing, as opposed to
researching, biological agents. 

Under the new procedures, analysts will be given more detail
about the sources of information provided by the CIA's
intelligence-gathering arm, such as whether it comes from
exiles. Previously, analysts often did not have access to that
information in order to protect the sources. 

Officials declined to disclose how many defectors were
interviewed. But the senior administration official said ``a
few'' defectors came from sources other than the INC.   

*****************************************************************
 3 baltimoresun: Nuclear credibility 

Originally published February 15, 2004          

THE LATEST discovery about Iran's 18-year-long secret nuclear 
weapons development program -- it possesses a design for an 
advanced centrifuge to enrich uranium -- couldn't have been more 
timely. The news broke within 24 hours of President Bush's speech 
Wednesday in which he offered a new U.S. plan to curb the spread 
of weapons of mass destruction. And of course that speech 
followed disclosure the week before of perhaps history's worst 
case of nuclear proliferation by a Pakistani-led black-market 
network. 

No one can argue with Mr. Bush: "The greatest threat before 
humanity today is the possibility of secret and sudden attack 
with chemical or biological or radiological or nuclear weapons." 
The need for tighter international controls is indisputable, and 
Mr. Bush's initiative more than welcome. 

But his plan, in essentially sidestepping strengthening 
international nuclear treaties in favor of voluntary coalitions, 
exudes an American unilateralism already backfiring on the world 
stage. Moreover, his proposals are undercut by long-standing U.S. 
failures to live up to its own nuclear-control responsibilities 
-- a discrediting double standard. 

The most controversial of the president's proposals is barring 
nonnuclear powers from acquiring enrichment technology for 
civilian nuclear energy, a loophole used by Iran and North Korea 
as cover for their weapons programs. To counter charges of 
discrimination against developing nations, Mr. Bush proposes that 
nuclear powers offer those nations, at reasonable cost, uranium 
for power generation. The laudable goal: prevent new nations from 
gaining the ability to develop nuclear weapons. 

But critically, the U.S. position on a stronger proposal by the 
International Atomic Energy Agency -- to ban all production of 
such material for weapons -- remains unstated. 

In line with the Bush administration's tensions with the United 
Nations agency, the IAEA was only given one day's notice of the 
new U.S. plan. 

Nonetheless, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who last year declared 
the world's nuclear-control regime "battered," quickly offered 
support for Mr. Bush -- along with the rebuke that the United 
States and other nuclear powers are a big part of the problem for 
not living up to their promises in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty to abandon weapons programs. 

Indeed, the Bush administration is increasing spending on 
researching more usable nuclear "bunker busters" and cutting U.S. 
funds for better securing former Soviet weapons. It isn't 
censuring Pakistan after it admitted that the father of its 
atomic bomb ran a global nuclear bazaar for the last 15 years. 
Then there's the long-standing blind eye of the United States to 
the open secret of Israel's nuclear weapons. 

Mr. Bush is right to raise alarms about the spread of nuclear 
weapons: "We must confront the danger with open eyes and 
unbending purpose," he said last week. But in that difficult 
challenge, the United States can only find success if it leads by 
example. 



	 	
Copyright © 2004,        | Get home delivery Talk about it     

  baltimoresun.com > opinion    back to top  
*****************************************************************
 4 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Offers to Sell Its Nuclear Fuel

Today: February 15, 2004 at 4:55:10 PST 

 By ALI AKBAR DAREINI ASSOCIATED PRESS 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - 

Iran has offered to sell nuclear reactor fuel on the
international market as a way to demonstrate that it has the
technology, a senior foreign ministry official said Sunday. 

Iran has the technology to enrich uranium for the fuel, but
hasn't done so, the official said, in remarks signaling Iran
soon may resume uranium enrichment, which it suspended last
fall. 

Once it produces nuclear fuel, Iran would market it under the
supervision of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the official added, speaking
on condition of anonymity. 

The United States seeks to restrict countries from acquiring
uranium enrichment technology if they have not already done so.
Iran's sale of fuel internationally would be proof that it
already possess the capability. 

The U.S. government suspects Iran of conducting a secret program
to build nuclear weapons. Iranian officials insist their program
is only peaceful and geared toward energy production. 

Iran is opposed to nuclear proliferation but wants to establish
itself as a country that possesses enrichment technology, the
foreign ministry official said in explaining remarks by Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharrazi that were reported Saturday by the
official Islamic Republic News Agency. 

IRNA quoted Kharrazi as saying that "the Islamic Republic of
Iran, as a country which has potential on producing nuclear
fuel, is ready to offer its produced fuel to international
markets." 

In October, Iran agreed to more intensive international
inspections of its nuclear facilities and to suspend the
production of enriched uranium. 

Kharrazi has said Iran's achievements in nuclear technology were
a source of "national honor" that Tehran won't relinquish. 

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 5 BBC: Iran 'ready to sell nuclear fuel' 
 
  Last Updated: Saturday, 14 February, 2004
 
[Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi] 
Kharrazi said the programme was a matter of national pride
			 			   		
Iran has announced that it is ready to sell nuclear fuel abroad. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi made the announcement on 
Saturday, the official Iranian news agency IRNA said. 

The US suspects that Iran is using a civilian nuclear programme 
as a cover for developing nuclear weapons - a charge that Tehran 
has often denied. 

Mr Kharrazi said Iran would not give up its nuclear programme, 
which he called a matter of "national pride". 

"The Iranian people are not ready to compromise on their national 
interests," IRNA quoted him as saying. 

"No government can relinquish an issue that has gained it 
national pride, but we are ready to co-operate internationally," 
he added. 

Inspections 

Iran agreed late last year to a tough inspections regime overseen 
by the IAEA, the United Nations atomic watchdog. 

Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, countries are allowed 
to enrich uranium, but must notify the International Atomic 
Energy Agency they are doing so. 

Iran promised the IAEA in October that it would suspend its 
uranium enrichment programme. 

Saturday's announcement may suggest that it has not done so. 

The declaration comes only days after US President George W Bush 
said the world needed tighter restrictions to prevent the spread 
of nuclear know-how. 

Washington said it would give Iran more time to fully disclose 
its nuclear activities before deciding whether to refer the issue 
to the United Nations Security Council. 



*****************************************************************
 6 Guardian Unlimited: Europe's nuclear deal with Iran faces collapse 

Ian Traynor
Saturday February 14, 2004
The Guardian 		

A European agreement with Tehran aimed at settling the Iranian 
nuclear crisis and hailed as a breakthrough last year is now 
deadlocked and in danger of collapse. 

Senior officials from Britain, Germany and France went to Vienna 
last week to negotiate with the Iranians and with Mohamed 
ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. 
The attempt to break the deadlock failed. 

"There was no breakdown, but there was no breakthrough," said a 
well-informed diplomat. Since the talks aimed at securing a 
comprehensive freeze of Iran's uranium enrichment activities, 
further evidence has emerged that Iran is continuing to cover up 
elements of its nuclear programme despite its claims to have 
revealed all to the IAEA. 

UN inspectors discovered designs for a centrifuge that can 
produce bomb fuel twice as fast as the machine the Iranians are 
currently assembling. The centrifuge designs were not reported by 
the Iranians, and constitute an apparent breach of their 
commitment to reveal all, although the significance of the 
finding is being played down by IAEA officials. 

The new design is believed to have come from the Pakistani 
network masterminded by the disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer 
Khan. Given that the Pakistanis also supplied Libya with a 
nuclear bomb blueprint, the assumption by IAEA investigators and 
western intelligence is that the same blueprint was made 
available to the Iranians. 

The Americans, the Europeans, and officials at the Vienna agency 
are convinced that the Iranians have reneged on the deal. 

"We're on a steep downward trajectory on Iran," warned Jon 
Wolfsthal, the US nuclear analyst and former Clinton 
administration department of energy official. 

While the uranium enrich ment issue is one of the biggest bones 
of contention, a range of other questions are emerging about Iran 
despite its delivery in October of what purported to be a full 
and comprehensive accounting of its 20-year-old nuclear projects. 

Questions also remain unanswered about the origins of traces of 
high-enriched uranium found by inspectors in the Iranian 
centrifuge equipment. In a study to be published next month, 
David Albright, the leading US nuclear analyst, says that Iran 
has still not answered key questions about its nuclear 
activities. 

"Between 1993 and 1995, Iran received through middlemen enough 
components to build 500 centrifuges," he writes. "As of late 
January 2004, the manufacturer of these components has not been 
publicly identified. Iran appears so far to be protecting the 
supplier of these components." 

Once in full swing, Mr Albright predicts, the Iranian centrifuges 
could be producing 500kg of weapons-grade uranium, or enough for 
up to 30 nuclear weapons a year. 

Last October, Jack Straw and his German and French counterparts, 
Joschka Fischer and Dominique de Villepin, went to Iran to secure 
the Tehran declaration, hailed as a breakthrough for Europe and a 
signal to the Americans that mediation and diplomacy can deliver 
while bullying and threats can be counter-productive. 

The negotiations were "very tense and difficult" and at one stage 
Mr Fischer threatened to walk out. The bargain struck in Tehran 
was that Iran would freeze its ambitious and extensive uranium 
enrichment activities in return for technology transfer for a 
civilian nuclear programme from Europe's three biggest generators 
of nuclear power - Britain, France and Germany. 

But Dr ElBaradei said the Iranians were continuing enrichment 
activity and refusing to suspend the building of gas centrifuges, 
the machines that convert uranium gas into high-enriched bomb 
fuel or low-enriched fuel for nuclear power stations. 

"They maintain the right to assemble centrifuges," he said. 

Experts and diplomats fear that Iran is continuing to acquire and 
perfect a bomb-making capability while technically observing a 
narrow interpretation of suspending uranium enrichment. 

Dr ElBaradei is to report on his inspections in Iran next week 
ahead of a meeting of the 35-strong IAEA board in Vienna in three 
weeks' time. 

Critics claim that the EU agreement contained a fatal flaw. 
Agreement was reached on a broad definition of freezing uranium 
enrichment, but only verbally. 
	
Guardian Newspapers Limited
*****************************************************************
 7 Hi Pakistan: Iran may export N-fuel: Kharazi     --> 
 
February 15 2004     
    
TEHRAN: The Iranian foreign minister said on Saturday that his 
country had the capacity to produce nuclear fuel and was ready to 
sell it to foreign buyers, the official news agency IRNA 
reported.

"As a country that is capable of producing nuclear fuel, the 
Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to sell it on the international 
market," Kamal Kharazi said on return from a two-day visit to 
Rome. "As a country that is capable of producing nuclear fuel, 
the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to sell it on the 
international market," Kamal Kharazi was quoted as saying by the 
state news agency IRNA. "The Iranian people are not ready to 
compromise on their national interests. No government can 
relinquish an issue that has gained it national pride, but we are 
ready to cooperate internationally," he added.

Iran, which denies US allegations it is using an atomic energy 
programme as a cover to develop nuclear weapons, last year 
pledged to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it 
would temporarily cease enriching uranium. That promise, which 
officials here have warned could expire at a moment of their own 
choosing, was part of a confidence-building package negotiated 
with Britain, France and Germany. Iran also agreed to allow IAEA 
inspectors to conduct tougher probes of its nuclear programme 
after admitting to a string of violations of the nuclear 
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Although the NPT permits the enriching of uranium for peaceful 
purposes, Iran has been under pressure to halt its work on such 
technology given concerns expressed by the United States and 
others over its ambitions. They see a longer-term risk that, once 
having mastered the full fuel cycle, Iran could be just months 
away from producing weapons-grade material.

However, Iran’s effort to produce its own nuclear fuel, let alone 
export it, had been considered limited given the country’s effort 
to acquire such fuel from Russia. Iran only announced in early 
2003 that it was beginning to mine its own uranium. Kharazi’s 
comments, which also included a new denial that Tehran was 
seeking nuclear weapons, come amid a fresh storm surrounding his 
country’s nuclear programme.

Kharazi’s assertions also come at a time when Iran is having 
problems acquiring nuclear fuel from Russia, which is withholding 
supplies for a nuclear plant it is helping build in the southern 
Iranian city of Bushehr. Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander 
Rumyantsev said on Thursday Tehran and Moscow still cannot agree 
on terms for a contract that would launch the Islamic state’s 
first nuclear reactor. The disagreement was over price and 
Russian demands that spent fuel be returned.

Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 8 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IAEA mulls latest report on Iran 

IranNews Tehran Times Iran Daily   

  2004/02/14   
  
Vienna, Feb 14 - The IAEA is to release its latest report on the 
Iranian nuclear programs as well as a number of other states next 
week.

 The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA) would submit his latest report on the nuclear programs of 
a number of countries to the IAEA governing council members, said 
the IAEA spokesperson Melisa Fleming in an interview with IRNA.

 According to the November resolution approved by the IAEA 
governing council, the report of the IAEA director general would 
be discussed in mid-February by the 35 members of the governing 
council, Fleming said.

 The report would examine the nuclear activities of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran, Libya, North Korea as well as the status of 
nuclear-fueled power stations of these countries, said Fleming.

 El-Baradei's report would give comment on the level of the 
cooperation between Iran and the IAEA and the topic of 
dispatching the UN inspectors to Iran. 

The report would be debated in a session of the IAEA governing 
council on March 8-10 and decisions would be taken in this 
regard.

 The governing council's next session is hence of high 
sensitivity, said Fleming.

 Fleming's comments came as Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal 
Kharrazi earlier in the day rejected recent allegations against 
Iran regarding its nuclear energy activities, stressing that the 
Islamic Republic is pursuing no plan for production of nuclear 
weapons.

 Kharrazi said Iran is determined to continue cooperation with 
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and that Tehran 
will cooperate with the IAEA inspectors.

 Iran's foreign minister was speaking in reaction to the remarks 
by US Under Secretary of State John Bolton in berlin that Tehran 
is still continuing a nuclear program.

 Kharrazi said Iran's nuclear energy program is meant for civil 
purposes, and that the Islamic Republic has a legitimate right to 
promote its nuclear energy technology.

mr/kd   

  Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran 
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. 
E-Mail: <font color="#ff0000" face>Webmaster@IRIBNEWS.ir</font> 
*****************************************************************
 9 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: FM: Iran ready to sell nuclear fuel 

IranNews Tehran Times Iran Daily   

  2004/02/14   
  
Tehran, Feb 14 - Iran's foreign minister said Saturday his 
country had the capacity to produce nuclear fuel and was ready to 
sell it to foreign buyers, the official news agency IRNA 
reported.

 "As a country that is capable of producing nuclear fuel, the 
Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to sell it on the international 
market," Kamal Kharazi said on return from a two-day visit to 
Rome.

 While the minister repeated his denials that Iran was seeking to 
develop nuclear weapons, his comments appeared to suggest Tehran 
would no longer be honouring a pledge to suspend the enrichment 
of uranium.

 "We have no programme to produce nuclear weapons," Kharazi was 
quoted as saying.

 "The Iranian people are not ready to compromise on their 
national interests. No government can relinquish an issue that 
has gained it national pride, but we are ready to cooperate 
internationally," he added.

 Iran is currently working on a bid to generate atomic energy, 
seen by the United States as a cover for the secret development 
of nuclear weapons.

 However, the state of Iran's effort to produce its own nuclear 
fuel, let alone export it, had been considered limited given the 
country's effort to acquire such fuel from Russia.

 Iran only announced in early 2003 that it was beginning to mine 
its own uranium.

 In October, it agreed to suspend its work on the nuclear fuel 
cycle and allow tougher inspections by the International Atomic 
Energy Agency (IAEA).

mr/kd   

  
  Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran 
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. 
E-Mail: <font color="#ff0000" face>Webmaster@IRIBNEWS.ir</font> 
*****************************************************************
 10 KoreaTimes: Nuclear Threats Dash Ratings Upgrade Hope 

Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Biz/Finance   

By Lee Chi-dong Staff Reporter

 The North Korean nuclear problem is likely to continue to take a 
toll on South Korea's credit rating, according to officials in 
Seoul.

 They expect no upgrade in the rating for the time being, despite 
a steady recovery of the economy.

 ``Moody's Investors Service is upbeat about the country's 
economic outlook as a whole, and especially it set a high value 
on the soundness of the external balance sheets,'' Kwon Tae-shin, 
deputy minister for international affairs at the Ministry of 
Finance and Economy said.

 The global ratings agency also believes the financial 
instability triggered by the LG Card crisis is surmountable, 
although it is keeping its eyes on rising credit delinquencies, 
he added.

 Nonetheless, Moody's is taking a lukewarm stance towards 
upgrading Seoul's credit rating from current A3 with a stable 
outlook.

 ``Moody's officials remain anxious about the geopolitical 
tension,'' Kwon said. ``Their minds will not change unless the 
upcoming six-way talks provides a breakthrough to the problem.'' 

The two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia, Japan are 
scheduled to resume the long-delayed talks on Feb. 25 in Beijing.

 The remarks came after a two-member mission from Moody's had an 
annual review on the economic situations here last week. The 
agency plans to issue the results a month later.

 The team, led by Thomas Byrne, vice president of the agency, 
visited the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Unification, 
showing it is paying keen attention to the geopolitical issue.

 Moody's is said to be taking the North Korean issue more 
seriously than the other two top global ratings agencies.

 It downgraded the outlook for South Korea's rating by two 
notches to negative in February of last year citing the growing 
tension surrounding the North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship. 

lcd@koreatimes.co.kr 02-15-2004 18:44         
        
*****************************************************************
 11 KoreaTimes: NGOs Ask for Role in Nuke Talks 

Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Nation   

Several civic groups said Saturday they have asked foreign 
ministry officials to consult with them before the new round of 
six-party talks on North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons program later 
this month.

 The People¡¯s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and other 
civic organizations recently sent a letter to Deputy Foreign 
Minister Lee Soohyuck, the country¡¯s chief delegate to the 
talks, asking for discussions with ministry officials on the 
country¡¯s role at the negotiations scheduled to begin Feb. 25, 
they said. 

¡°The government does not have the initiative in the 
(multilateral) diplomacy on the North Korean nuclear program,¡± 
the civic groups said in the letter. 

¡°We request Deputy Minister Lee to meet us so we can urge (South 
Korean officials) to play an active role in mediating the Korean 
Peninsula issue as a directly concerned party,¡± they said. 

The proposal is the first attempt by domestic civic groups to 
voice their opinion regarding the multilateral nuclear talks. 

02-15-2004 19:21 	 
        
*****************************************************************
 12 KoreaTimes: Beijing Urges Seoul¡¯s Positive Role in Talks 

Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Nation   

By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter

 Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed hope over the 
weekend that Seoul will play a more ``constructive'' role in the 
upcoming talks aimed at ending the North Korean nuclear crisis.

 While meeting South Korean Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Ban 
Ki-moon and other senior ministry officials, Wang said Seoul and 
Beijing should closely cooperate to produce tangible results at 
the six-party talks scheduled to open on Feb. 25.

 Chief Chinese delegate to the six-way talks, Wang said his 
country supports a peaceful resolution of the 16-month-long 
standoff through the current multinational dialogue.

 Wang arrived in Seoul on Friday evening, following his brief 
journey to Japan for a similar mission. He discussed the nuclear 
issue with North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-gwan in 
Beijing earlier last week.

 The Chinese envoy returned home on Sunday afternoon after 
meeting Lee Soo-hyuck, deputy foreign minister and top South 
Korean negotiator for the six-nation talks.

 Officials here said Wang and Lee agreed in the talks over the 
weekend to work closely to make the second round of six-way talks 
in Beijing ``successful.''

 In the meantime, senior officials from the United States, Japan 
and South Korea will meet in Seoul this week to fine-tune their 
joint strategy for the new round of talks, according to a 
Japanese newspaper.

 During the meeting of director general-level foreign ministry 
officials, the allies will reaffirm their position that North 
Korea should dismantle its nuclear programs in a ``complete, 
verifiable and irreversible'' manner, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun 
reported on Saturday.

 The U.S., China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas held the first 
round of talks in Beijing in August last year to ease tensions 
over Pyongyang's nuclear arms ambitions. The multilateral efforts 
earned a hard-to-regain momentum through the talks, but failed to 
produce a clear breakthrough.

 The current standoff began in October 2002 after U.S. officials 
claimed the North admitted to having secret nuclear weapons 
programs in breach of the 1994 agreed framework with Washington. 

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr 02-15-2004 19:22         
*****************************************************************
 13 AU ABC: New hopes over Korean nuclear talks 

RADIO AUSTRALIA
 
A senior Chinese official has expressed hope that upcoming 
multilateral talks would produce tangible progress toward 
defusing the stand-off over North Korea's nuclear programme. 

Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is to chair the six-way talks 
in Beijing beginning on February 25 to resolve the nuclear 
crisis, also called for patience in pursuing a peaceful 
resolution of the crisis through dialogue. 

He was speaking after after talks with with North Korea's Deputy 
Foreign Minister Lee Soo-Hyuck in Beijing.

The United States is seeking verifiable pledges from North Korea 
to eliminate not only its plutonium reprocessing programme but a 
highly-enriched uranium programme that Washington claims 
Pyongyang is developing. 

North Korea denies the existence of any uranium enrichment 
programme. 


14/02/2004 19:38:27 | ABC Radio Australia News 

*****************************************************************
 14 Seattle Times: Senate plans closed-door intelligence session
 	 	 	
Saturday, February 14, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
 			 			 			 			
WASHINGTON — The Senate will hold its first closed-door session 
in five years to discuss the nation's intelligence-gathering 
operations, the chamber's top Democrat said yesterday. 

Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he and Majority Leader 
Bill Frist, R-Tenn., have agreed to the session, which would bar 
the public and news media, but have not settled on a date. 

A Frist aide said the two leaders are "headed in that direction," 
although critical details have to be worked out. 

Other Senate officials said Daschle and Frist have discussed a 
possible session the week of March 1. 

The last time the Senate held a closed session was in February 
1999, during President Clinton's impeachment trial. Its most 
recent private session involving national-security matters was in 
1997, focused on the chemical-weapons treaty. 

For several weeks Democrats have been pressing for such a session 
— which would allow discussions of classified material — to 
debate the administration's use of intelligence as well as the 
quality of the intelligence itself. Democrats want to call 
national-security adviser Condolezza Rice and CIA Director George 
Tenet to address the Senate. They want Rice to explain how the 
administration came to make statements that appear to have been 
exaggerations of the available intelligence, said one top 
congressional aide. Democrats want Tenet to explain how the CIA 
apparently got the intelligence wrong. 

Phone call on wife's death in Iraq explosion was false 

WATERBURY, Conn. — A phone call to Eddie Valentin saying that his 
wife, a U.S. Army Reserve sergeant, had been killed in an 
explosion in Iraq turned out to be a hoax. 

But it took him nearly 24 hours to find out that the report of 
Sgt. Betsy Valentin's death was false. 

"I went crazy. I banged my head against the wall," Eddie Valentin 
said Thursday. 

The caller Wednesday claimed to be a colonel with the U.S. 
Department of Defense and knew personal information about Betsy 
Valentin, 37, including her Social Security number, her husband 
said. 
 
On Thursday afternoon, another call to Eddie Valentin cleared 
things up. It was his wife telling him that there had been no 
explosion and no injuries. 

Soldier in vehicle accident is 59th British GI to die 

LONDON — A British soldier has died of injuries suffered in a 
vehicle accident in southern Iraq, the Defense Ministry said 
yesterday. 

Cpl. Richard Thomas David Ivell, 29, a mechanic with the Royal 
Electrical &Mechanical Engineers, was fatally injured Thursday in 
the accident at Shaibah Logistics Base, the ministry said. Ivell, 
who had three children and came from northeastern England, is the 
59th British soldier to die in Iraq since war started there. 

U.S. commander says Iraqis must depend less on military 

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar — Iraqis must depend less on the U.S. 
military, even if that means a bigger risk of violence in coming 
months, the war's top commander said yesterday. 

"We have to take risk to a certain extent, by taking our hands 
off the controls," Gen. John Abizaid said a day after escaping 
injury in a gunbattle at an Iraqi security command post in 
Fallujah. 

During talks this week with American commanders in Baghdad, 
Fallujah and Balad, Abizaid stressed the importance of weaning 
the Iraqis from American assistance. 

He added that the intention is to maintain a steady momentum 
toward a normalized country, not to rush transition from 
occupation to sovereignty in order to ease the burden on the U.S. 
military. 

Ex-weapons inspector wants Bush to say he was wrong 

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay is advising 
President Bush to acknowledge he was wrong about hidden 
storehouses of weapons in Iraq and move ahead with overhauling 
the intelligence process. 

Kay said the "serious burden of evidence" suggests Saddam Hussein 
did not have caches of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons 
at the beginning of the Iraqi war but was seriously engaged in 
developing missiles. 

"You are better off if you acknowledge error and say we have 
learned from it and move ahead," Kay said. "I'm afraid if you 
don't acknowledge error, and everybody knows why you are afraid 
to acknowledge error, your political opponents will seize on it, 
the press will seize on it, and no one will give you credit." 

Also ... 

Gunmen riding in three cars fired on a police station and a 
government building in Fallujah today, wounding eight people. ... 
Emad Noures, a brother-in-law of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam 
Hussein who sought asylum in Britain last year, was refused the 
right to residency, the government said yesterday. Noures' 
whereabouts were unknown. ... The Netherlands yesterday approved 
dispatching an additional 108 troops to Iraq, increasing the 
number of Dutch forces in the region to 1,260. 

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company More nation &world 
*****************************************************************
 15 The Spectrum: Bill would ensure safe nuke testing - 

thespectrum.com
 
Saturday, February 14, 2004   

By PATRICE ST. GERMAIN
 patrices@thespectrum.com 
  
  [Photo] 
Jud Burkett / The Spectrum 
Kent Prisbrey, who lived in St. George during the time in which 
the U.S. Government conducted above-ground nuclear tests in 
Nevada, talks about his experiences Monday at his home in Ivins. 
  
HURRICANE -- In the event that renewed testing of nuclear weapons 
becomes a reality, Congressman Jim Matheson is proposing 
legislation that would protect the health and safety of 
Americans. 

Matheson, along with scientists, doctors and survivors of 
exposure to radioactive fallout, is proposing the legislation to 
ensure health and safety standards are met. Matheson, in the Utah 
State Capitol Supreme Court Chambers, announced the legislation 
called the Safety for Americans from Nuclear Weapons Testing Act 
Friday morning. 

Congress recently lifted the moratorium on the development of new 
nuclear weapons and voted to fund $25 million for the initial 
study and development of new nuclear weapons. Matheson said this 
is not some abstract issue -- it is real. But the legislation he 
is proposing would enforce some level of accountability. 

Downwinder Kent Prisbrey of Ivins said the new legislation is a 
good idea but Lois Iverson of St. George feels that, legislation 
or not, renewed testing is not necessary. 

"We lived in Cedar City during the testing. My husband died of 
cancer last year and my son of leukemia," Iverson said. "I just 
don't want any testing done. I hate that word." 

Iverson lost her oldest son 18 years ago to cancer of the 
esophagus and last year -- within three weeks of each other -- 
she lost her middle son to leukemia and her husband to cancer. 

A grandson also has problems, which Iverson said may be a result 
of genes passed down. 

"I personally think it carries over and the kids exposed are now 
passing it down to their kids," she said. 

Prisbrey, who just recently filed for compensation under the 
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, and has a 12-month wait to 
find out if he is covered. He is still suspicious of testing like 
Iverson but places some faith in Matheson. 

Matheson's father, Scott Matheson, former governor of Utah, died 
of what was believed to be downwinder-related cancer. 

Prisbrey said legislation with more monitoring and education for 
the public is the right track to get more people to know what is 
going on. Prisbrey said many people don't know what a downwinder 
is. 

Nearly 5,000 Utah residents have filed claims for cancer and 
other illnesses resulting from nuclear tests conducted 
above-ground in Nevada from 1951-1962 and underground until 1992. 
The nuclear fallout was picked up by jet streams and tracked 
across the country as far east as New York. Nuclear opponents say 
only a fraction of those affected by the fallout have been 
compensated. 

Matheson said his Safety for Americans from Nuclear Weapons 
Testing Act calls for a greater level of transparency and 
accountability in nuclear testing. 

Matheson said that the legislation would be an education process 
with the rest of the country but said, downwinders aren't just a 
western or Utah issue. 

Radioactive iodine 131, fallout from nuclear tests, has been 
detected as far away as the eastern seaboard as a result of 
nuclear testing during the 50s at the Nevada Test Site. 

Matheson said key points in the legislation he is proposing would 
be the establishment of a center for study of radiation in human 
health. Only the Iodine 131 isotope has been thoroughly studied. 

"Now, what we have allows the president to do a test in 18 
months," Matheson said. "The president hasn't announced a test 
but there are enough pieces of the puzzle in place to do 
testing." 

Matheson said the government doesn't have any weapon developed 
yet but Prisbrey isn't quite so sure. 

A recent rumbling in the sky earlier this week reminded Prisbrey 
of what A-bombs felt like when coming through the county back in 
the 50s. 

"It was the same velocity as it was back in the 50s," Prisbrey 
said. "I wouldn't be surprised if they (the government) were 
playing games down there." 

The Associated Press contributed to this story. 

Originally published Saturday, February 14, 2004
 
*****************************************************************
 16 UW Daily: A wasted opportunity

Daily of the University of Washington - Seattle]         
  
Patrick Sheehan 2004-02-13

When ex-chief weapons inspector David Kay admitted there were no 
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it was clear a response from 
the White House was needed. This was, after all, the government's 
justification for going to war.

Last week, that response came. Answering the calls from both 
Democrats and Republicans alike, President Bush announced he 
would form an independent commission to investigate what he 
deemed "intelligence failures" leading up to the war.

Some people will question the "independence" of a commission 
appointed solely by the president. Others will assert it shows 
the administration has nothing to hide, and is as interested in 
the truth as the public is. While it isa respectable move by the 
president, I believe the Bush administration, by taking this 
unexpected step, has wasted a glorious opportunity to show off 
some of its greatest strengths: double-speak, secrecy and deceit.

When Secretary of State Colin Powell went before the United 
Nations last February with his juiced-up PowerPoint presentation 
detailing Iraq's threat to the world and arsenal of WMDs, the 
Bush administration was at the peak of its powers. Among other 
things, Powell asserted that a grainy satellite photo of a square 
building with a truck parked nearby was a chemical weapons bunker 
with a decontamination vehicle.

In a report on 60 Minutes II, former intelligence analyst Greg 
Thielmann disputed that claim, saying, "My understanding is that 
these particular vehicles were simply fire trucks."

From fire trucks to decontamination vehicles -- now that's an 
impressive semantic jump. It is precisely this sort of thing the 
Bush administration has excelled at for so long, and is now 
failing to capitalize on in this time of crisis.

Don't forget the unsubstantiated claim in 2002's State of the 
Union address that Hussein had pursued buying uranium from 
Africa. In this case, the administration had taken an event that 
had never happened, and claimed it had. It's hard to get any more 
creative with the truth than that.

And yet, despite this wonderful pedigree, here Bush is forming 
independent commissions and looking for the truth. It is a 
worrisome ploy by this administration, especially considering 
this is an election year.

Having already established a reputation for secrecy, whether it 
be refusing to cooperate with the 9/11 Independent Commission or 
refusing to disclose details behind Vice President Cheney's 
meetings with former Enron CEO Ken Lay, now is hardly the time 
for the Bush administration to change its game plan.

John Kerry's recent primary wins in Tennessee and Virginia have 
established him as the frontrunner to oppose Bush this November. 
In addition to his notable advantage of having been shot in a 
war, his campaign to this point has also established an image of 
relative honesty. If the Bush administration thinks it can beat 
Kerry based on honesty, it may find itself fighting an uphill 
battle.

However, there is still time for the Bush administration to get 
back on track, and re-embrace the game plan that got it elected. 
To do so, it could even take a cue from the previous 
administration.

In much the same way Bill Clinton debated the meaning of the word 
"is" during his impeachment proceedings, the Bush administration 
could choose to fight a semantic war in defense of its 
much-publicized military war. Using the same strategy as Clinton, 
Bush could easily clarify exactly what he meant when he said 
there was "no doubt" Hussein was stockpiling WMDs. Perhaps he was 
simply referring to his favorite rock group, for example.

Now that would be more like the Bush administration we've come to 
know and love.

*****************************************************************
 17 Guardian Unlimited: British spy op wrecked peace move 

[UP] 

Martin Bright, Peter Beaumont and Jo Tuckman in Mexico
Sunday February 15, 2004
The Observer 		
		
A joint British and American spying operation at the United 
Nations scuppered a last-ditch initiative to avert the invasion 
of Iraq, The Observer can reveal.

Senior UN diplomats from Mexico and Chile provided new evidence 
last week that their missions were spied on, in direct 
contravention of international law.

The former Mexican ambassador to the UN, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, 
told The Observer that US officials intervened last March, just 
days before the war against Saddam was launched, to halt secret 
negotiations for a compromise resolution to give weapons 
inspectors more time to complete their work.

Aguilar Zinser claimed that the intervention could only have come 
as a result of surveillance of a closed diplomatic meeting where 
the compromise was being hammered out. He said it was clear the 
Americans knew about the confidential discussions in advance. 
'When they [the US] found out, they said, "You should know that 
we don't like the idea and we don't like you to promote it."'

The revelations follow claims by Chile's former ambassador to the 
UN, Juan Valdes, that he found hard evidence of bugging at his 
mission in New York last March. The new claims emerged as The 
Observer has discovered that Government officials seriously 
considered dropping the prosecution against Katharine Gun, the 
translator at the GCHQ surveillance centre who first disclosed 
details of the espionage operation last March.

According to Whitehall sources, officials feared the prosecution 
would leave the Government and the intelligence services open to 
embarrassing disclosures. They were known to be concerned that 
the 29-year-old Chinese language specialist would be seen as a 
patriotic young woman acting out of principle to reveal an 
illegal operation rather than as someone who betrayed her 
country's secrets. They are also known to be worried that any 
trial would force the disclosure of Government legal advice on 
intervention in Iraq, described by one source as 'at best 
ambiguous'.

Gun has attracted high profile support, particularly in the US, 
where her case has been taken up by Hollywood stars, civil rights 
campaigners and members of Congress. Yesterday, Oscar nominee, 
Sean Penn, told The Observer that Gun was 'a hero of the human 
spirit'.

Aguilar Zinser also paid tribute: 'She is serving a noble cause 
by denouncing what could be illegal acts,' he said.

The operation by the US National Security Agency and GCHQ was 
revealed by The Observer last March, after a leaked memo showed 
US spies had begun an intelligence 'surge' on members of the UN 
security council in which they needed British help.

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell last 
night called on Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to clarify Britain's 
role: 'If the allegations that these operations had ministerial 
authority are well-founded, then it could hardly be more serious 
for the Government. There will be understandable uproar at the 
UN. On the other hand, if the eavesdropping took place without 
Ministers knowing, then the question is, who was in charge?'

The Mexican government confirmed last week that diplomatic 
letters were sent to Straw last December asking him to clarify 
whether GCHQ was involved in spying on its UN allies. They have 
yet to receive a response. The Foreign Office refused to comment 
on the new allegations.

But the revelations of the former Mexican ambassador will not go 
away as he is planning a book about his experiences at the United 
Nations.

Aguilar Zinser told The Observer that the meeting of diplomats 
from six nations took place about a week before the decision not 
to put the resolution to the vote. They were working on a draft 
document of a compromise solution when the American intervened.

'We had yet to get our capitals to go along with it, it was at a 
very early stage. Only the people in the room knew what the 
document said. The surprising thing was the very rapid flow of 
information to [US] quarters.

'The meeting was in the evening and they call us in the morning 
before the meeting of the Security Council and they say, 'We 
appreciate you trying to find ideas, but this is not a good 
idea." I say, "Thanks, that's good to know." We were looking for 
a compromise and they [the US] say, "Do not attempt it."'
	
        Observer special reports Iraq: Observer special Observer 
Worldview 

Guardian Newspapers Limited
*****************************************************************
 18 Las Vegas SUN: AP: Accused Nuke Smuggler Lived Lavishly

February 14, 2004 

 By ANWAR FARUQI ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - 

The Sri Lankan businessman President Bush accused of brokering
black-market deals for nuclear technology had a taste for
Versace suits and liked to mingle with diplomats and
politicians. 

At his business, Bukhary Syed Abu Tahir, kept a low profile,
leaving daily operations to his brother but making major
decisions himself and often meeting privately with clients. 

Now he is gone to Malaysia, leaving behind employees stunned by
accusations that his Dubai-based SMB Computers was a front for
money laundering and illegal nuclear shipments. The company is
part of a small-business empire with interests in Pakistan, Iran
and Libya, key countries linked to the clandestine weapons
network. 

Several employees and one former employee of SMB spoke to The
Associated Press about Tahir's life and company. None said he
had witnessed any wrongdoing, though some who interacted with
him daily said he tended to meet alone only with certain
business contacts. 

All who spoke to AP insisted on anonymity, with those still
employed saying they feared being fired for speaking to a
journalist. 

Their boss could not be reached for comment. Tahir was said to
have left town in October with his family. The last time he was
seen in public was shortly before that, at gala dinner at a
computer exhibition in Dubai, an industry executive said. 

Tahir, now in his mid-40s, launched his information technology
enterprise from a small, rundown office in Dubai's Deira
district in 1988, according to a former employee, who said he
was with the company for several years. 

Within five years, SMB - named for Tahir's grandfather Syed
Muhammed Bukhary - was an industry leader, distributing brands
including Epson, Palm, Acer and Samsung. Today, the company's
headquarters is in the upscale, marbled Al Musalla Tower in the
heart of Dubai's commercial district. 

Tahir shared his seventh-floor office with his younger brother
Syed Ibrahim Bukhary, who ran day-to-day affairs at the company.
Tahir stayed in the background yet made all the major decisions. 

Employees described Tahir as intelligent and religious, praying
late into the night during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of
fasting, a practice of devout Muslims. 

He also was a bit flamboyant, always well-groomed and favoring
designer suits and fast cars. He drove a Mercedes S320 for a
while, then a white BMW X5. 

Tahir and his Malaysian wife lived with their pre-school-age son
in a four-bedroom condo in the chic Majestic Palace, a
tinted-windowed building where the ground floor houses expensive
boutiques selling gold jewelry, designer clothes and Fendi
accessories. 

A security guard at the Majestic Palace said Tahir left with his
family in October. A close employee said Tahir had gone to
Malaysia but returned in November and December for brief visits
to the Dubai office. 

In Washington on Tuesday, Bush named Tahir a key link in a
clandestine network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced
father of Pakistan's atomic program who confessed leaking
nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. 

Bush described Tahir as the network's chief financial officer,
money launderer and shipping agent, "using his computer firm as
cover for the movement of centrifuge parts to various clients." 

Khan and his associates allegedly used a company in Malaysia to
make parts for centrifuges - used to enrich uranium for weapons
- and Bush said front companies deceived legitimate firms into
selling the tightly controlled materials. 

Revelations about SMB's alleged illegal activities stunned
company workers, an employee said. The atmosphere today is tense
among the staff of 150 at the company's headquarters, and a week
ago, Tahir's name was removed from a company Web site. 

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Thursday
questioned U.S. intelligence on Tahir's alleged role in the
network. He acknowledged that Tahir was in Malaysia but said he
would not be arrested - for now. "He is on his feet and free to
move around," Badawi said. 

Badawi's only son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, also has been implicated
in the nuclear proliferation scandal. He is a major shareholder
in the Malaysian company, Scomi Precision Engineering, whose
factory made parts found in a shipment for Liyba that could be
used to enrich uranium. 

The factory admits it made 14 semifinished machine components
ordered by Tahir, but says it thought the parts were for the oil
and gas industry. 

Tahir allegedly started ordering the centrifuge components in
2001 for another Dubai-based company, Gulf Technical Industries
LLC. The multimillion-dollar contract made GTI Scomi's biggest
customer in fiscal 2002, according to Scomi's public financial
reports. 

GTI's British owner, Paul Griffin, who has a commercial license
to trade in pumps, engines, valves and spare parts, was reached
Friday in Dubai and denied any wrongdoing. 

Griffin said he knew Tahir and Khan as acquaintances, but that
his company had never ordered the illicit shipments. Griffin
said he had not been contacted by Emirates authorities, or by
British or U.S. officials, and that he was corresponding with
Scomi to clear his company's name. 

At the SMB electronics showroom that allegedly was a front for
nuclear black marketeering, the motto is: "Customers are Kings
and Kings Don't Bargain." It was business as usual the day after
Bush's comments. Newspapers in the Emirates did not report the
president's accusations against SMB until four days later. 

According to SMB's Web site, it has subsidiaries in Egypt and
Kazakhstan and owns Dubai-based Peripherals Gulf Limited, a
distributor for American giants Hewlett Packard and Tripplite in
the former Soviet states. The possible theft of highly enriched
uranium in Kazakhstan and other former Soviet republics has been
an ongoing U.S. concern. 

A current employee familiar with the company's accounts said he
never noticed anything out of the ordinary in SMB's cash flow,
such as large, unexplained shipments or money transfers. 

The former employee said a female Sri Lankan politician and a
retired Pakistani military officer who introduced himself only
as Iftikhar, as well as a U.S.-educated Indian engineer who was
a go-between for Tahir on his business dealings in Iran, were
visitors he always received in private. 

The Emirates' government had no comment on the allegations, a
spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity, and it was
unclear if it would take any action against SMB. 

Dubai has been in the crosshairs of U.S. and Western
investigators for banking, trade and visa regulations that can
be easily abused for money laundering and illicit trade. The
recent revelations - and Bush's fingering of SMB and Dubai -
highlight the rich, freewheeling emirate's role as a center for
traders and middlemen running the black market. 

Dubai also has been at the center of shady dealings, including
illicit money transfers. About half the $250,000 spent on the
Sept. 11 attacks was wired to al-Qaida terrorists in the United
States from Dubai banks, say officials of the U.S. Treasury and
U.A.E. Central Bank. Al-Qaida money in Dubai banks also has been
linked to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. 

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 19 Washington Times: A bombshell for Musharraf
 
  February 15, 2004 			   

The impact of recent disclosures regarding Pakistan's nuclear 
proliferation is for the most part felt globally. But it also has 
domestic political repercussions for President Pervez Musharraf. 
Pakistan's most celebrated nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, 
recently admitted selling nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran 
and Libya. The next day he received a presidential pardon for his 
confessed activities. And though Mr. Khan said no government 
officials were involved in the proliferation, Gen. Musharraf 
remains vulnerable to his people's anger regarding the whole 
affair. This vulnerability is significant to the United States, 
because Pakistan's stability is in America's interest. 
 
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto met this week 
with editors and reporters from The Washington Times to discuss 
Gen. Musharraf and the situation in Pakistan. The timing of her 
media outreach is somewhat telling in and of itself, indicating 
she currently sees political weakness in him. Mrs. Bhutto, who 
fled Pakistan under Gen. Musharraf's regime, was unsparing in her 
criticism of the president. "It's obvious that a deal was done," 
said Mrs. Bhutto of Mr. Khan's confession, which cleared the 
government of complicity and elicited a quick pardon. Mrs. Bhutto 
said she believes that the scientist was a scapegoat and that 
Gen. Musharraf has long been aware that the proliferation was 
occurring. She said that an advertisement that Pakistan's 
Ministry of Commerce put out in July 2000 in the country's "The 
News" newspaper offering a laundry list of nuclear technology was 
proof the president must have been aware of the exports. 
 
In an Aug. 3, 2000 article, the Guardian made reference to that 
ad: "In a full-page newspaper advertisement the Pakistani 
commerce ministry has published an application form for the 
export of 11 radioactive substances, including depleted uranium, 
enriched uranium, plutonium and tritium, and 17 types of 
equipment, including nuclear power reactors, nuclear research 
reactors and reactor control systems." Some Pakistani officials 
quoted in the Guardian article denied that all the technology 
offered in the ad was offered by Pakistan. 
 
Mrs. Bhutto and politicians from her party, the Pakistan Peoples' 
Party, have the clear intention of keeping the pressure on Gen. 
Musharraf, and she remains, even from exile, a political force in 
Pakistan. This political pressure will weaken Gen. Musharraf's 
support among mainstream Pakistanis, who are alarmed to see their 
country exposed internationally as the lead nuclear proliferator. 
They are also concerned about what impact the proliferation could 
have on the sustainability of their country's own nuclear 
program. 
 
There is also another political dynamic. Islamic fundamentalists 
have also been enraged at seeing Mr. Khan, the father of the 
Islamic bomb, so publicly debased on national television. This 
anger is being squarely focused on Gen. Musharraf. 
 
Though it remains unclear just which Pakistani leaders share 
blame for nuclear proliferation, Gen. Musharraf is currently the 
most conspicuous target. This singular blame may not be fair, but 
it is a political reality. Another political reality is that, for 
the time being, a stable government led by Gen. Musharraf is in 
America's interests. 
 

 
*****************************************************************
 20 Hi Pakistan: ARD demands joint session on nuclear issue  

February 15 2004     
    
RAWALPINDI: The Alliance for the Restoration for Democracy (ARD) 
has demanded of the government to convene a joint session of 
parliament to take the elected representatives into confidence 
over the nuclear proliferation issue.

It made the demand at a protest camp outside the district courts 
here on Saturday as part of its "Remove Musharraf" movement.

The ARD is setting up protest camps throughout the country from 
Feb 13 till Feb 19 against what it calls illegal actions, 
political victimisation, failed economic policies, deteriorating 
law and order situation and threat to the country’s nuclear 
assets and integrity under the military regime due to its 
ill-conceived policies.

"The nation wants its elected representatives to be taken into 
confidence on the critical issue," said ARD chairman Makhdoom 
Amin Fahim, while addressing the ARD workers at the camp.

He said the government should adopt a prudent and rational 
approach on the alleged involvement of country’s scientists in 
selling nuclear secrets abroad. He said people want real facts, 
which led to the humiliation of our national heroes, especially 
Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.

"The government made Dr Qadeer a scapegoat in the proliferation 
issue," he added. He said the government succumbed to the US 
pressure and first removed him from key positions and 
subsequently declared him prime proliferator. "The humiliating 
attitude meted out to Dr Qadeer by Gen Musharraf is hurting the 
feelings the common man has for him owing to his services to make 
the country’s defence impregnable," he added. ARD Secretary 
Information Syed Zafar Ali Shah also slammed the government 
handling of the nuclear issue. "Nawaz Sharif exploded the nuclear 
devices. Dr Qadeer equipped the country with nuclear technology. 
But pathetically, the military government termed the two national 
heroes culprits," he said. He said Nawaz was forced to go into 
exile abroad while Dr Qadeer is being targeted in the country.

Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 21 Hi Pakistan: Pakistan, India to enlarge N-stocks: report
 
February 15 2004     
    
ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan should demonstrate responsible 
stewardship of their nuclear capabilities and New Delhi, in 
particular, should adopt and implement strengthened export 
controls.

In the absence of some "new" nuclear understandings, Pakistan and 
India are likely to enlarge their stocks of fissile material and 
expand their nuclear arsenals and delivery capabilities which 
will increase the already dangerous proliferation risks in South 
Asia as well as the chances for leakage from the region, of 
sensitive nuclear technology and material.

These were the findings and recommendations made to the US policy 
makers in the chairmen’s report of an Independent Task Force 
co-sponsored by the US Council on Foreign Relations and the Asia 
Society.

The report further said that it is unrealistic to believe that 
either India or Pakistan will give up this capability or that any 
conceivable external pressure will be sufficient to convince them 
to alter their positions. However, the US government needs to 
think much more searchingly about possible ways to fit India and 
Pakistan into the global non-proliferation system.

To-date, the Bush administration has not tackled the thorny 
problem of trying to find a place for India and Pakistan in the 
international nuclear system. The basic bargain of the nuclear 
Non-Proliferation Treaty - NPT, was that states willing to forego 
the development of nuclear weapons would be eligible to receive 
peaceful nuclear cooperation, commerce, and technology and the 
nations refusing to give up the weapons option would be 
ineligible for nuclear assistance and trade.

The NPT does not allow for recognition of "new" nuclear weapon 
states, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act 1978 (NNPA) 
precludes US nuclear cooperation or commerce with countries, like 
India, that have not accepted International Atomic Agency 
safeguards on all their nuclear facilities (so-called full scope 
safeguards).

The NPT system has become virtually universal, only India, 
Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea- since it withdrew from the 
treaty earlier in 2003, are non-parties to the treaty. Because 
India and Pakistan both exploded nuclear devices after the 
January 1, 1968, cut-off date, they are in any case no longer 
eligible to join the treaty (even in the unlikely event that they 
chose to do so) unless they destroy their weapons as South Africa 
did.

In acquiring nuclear weapons, Pakistan’s goal was to match the 
capability that India had demonstrated in 1974 and to provide a 
deterrent against its neighbour’s conventional military 
superiority. Possession of nuclear weapons has taken the edge off 
India’s conventional arms advantage by raising the stakes any 
time New Delhi considers military action against Islamabad.

Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 22 Hi Pakistan: Israeli paper talks of 'Islamic bomb'     --> 
 
February 15 2004     
    
RIYADH, Feb 13: An Israeli daily Haaretz has raised anew the 
question of the Islamic bomb and chances of its proliferation. 

In a report published on Friday, it recommends that in the light 
of new revelations, it's worth re-examining the rumours that 
Pakistani nuclear plans were carried out in conjunction with 
Saudi Arabia, which in the past, had funded part of the Pakistani 
nuclear project. 

"The latest revelations show that Pakistan constitutes a 
potential threat that has to be kept under supervision, as India 
has been saying for some time," the paper added. The Israeli 
deputy premier was in New Delhi last week. 

The daily says: "One has to be naive to the point of stupidity in 
order to believe that the Pakistan government did not know about 
the transfer of nuclear know-how to a number of countries, most 
of them Muslims, by Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. 

"This was a complex operation that went on for years and included 
extensive deals, the movement of equipment, training and managing 
hefty bank accounts. "Scientists, technicians and others worked 
with Khan. It is inconceivable that neither Pakistani 
intelligence nor the country's military had any knowledge of 
these operations." 

The daily also revealed that some of the information, coming out 
in the wake of Dr Khan's confessions, was known in Israel, but it 
added that intelligence in Israel was taken by surprise by 
Malaysia's involvement in the manufacture of centrifuges for 
enriching uranium for countries that purchased the know-how from 
Pakistan. 

The daily said it were the French inspectors who stated that the 
equipment at the Iran facility had come from Pakistan and that 
Pakistan had become a leading disseminator of nuclear know-how. 

The article says that in Jan 1999, after the nuclear tests in 
Pakistan, the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif promised that 
Pakistan would step up supervision of the export of nuclear 
technology. That promise was reiterated by Gen Musharraf. 
However, the paper added, Abdul Qadeer Khan recently offered a 
different explanation of his actions. He maintains that he 
planned it all so that the Muslim countries would be able to 
match the West. 

The French are reassuring themselves by noting that the secrets 
were sold to a non-Muslim country as well (North Korea), though 
that should naturally be seen as the exception that proves the 
rule, it commented. 

Concluding the report, the Israeli newspaper says that even if 
General Pervez Musharraf is a friend of the United States, no one 
knows who will succeed him. "Do the Americans know, for example, 
where the nuclear bombs in Pakistan are stored and who guards 
them.? 

Islamist groups are becoming stronger in the country and are 
infiltrating the army as well. It's more than possible that the 
affair of Abdul Qadeer Khan was only the first act in a drama 
that is still being played out, the paper said.                                             
							 				 				   				 				
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 23 Hi Pakistan: Govt warned against N-plan rollback: ARD starts anti-Musharraf
campaign     --> 
 
February 15 2004     
    
HYDERABAD, Feb 13: On the call of the Alliance for Restoration of 
Democracy, protest camps were set up at all district headquarters 
of interior Sindh on Friday against policies of President Gen 
Pervez Musharraf. 

A large number of People's Party Parliamentarians activists of 
district and city chapters set up a camp and observed a token 
hunger strike outside the press club. However, Pakistan Muslim 
League-N activists remained conspicuous by their absence. 

The protesters raised slogans against Gen Musharraf and in favour 
of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto. They demanded withdrawal of 
cases against Ms Bhutto. They also demanded the release of Asif 
Ali Zardari. 

NAWABSHAH: MNA Dr Azra Pechuho has alleged that Gen Musharraf has 
rolled back the nuclear programme and handed over its control to 
the US. 

Talking to journalists at a protest camp of the PPP outside the 
press club, she said Gen Musharraf had no right to decide the 
future of the nation on his own. 

The MNA also blamed the president for a compromise on the Kashmir 
issue. About the Thal canal and the Kalabagh dam, she said army 
generals had their own interests in the projects. She called for 
accountability of the generals. 

She said the increasing graph of poverty and the deteriorating 
law and order showed the inefficiency of the government. Praising 
nuclear scientists, Ms Pechuho said Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan was a 
hero and he should be presented before parliament. 

Meanwhile, PPP activists took out a protest procession and staged 
a sit-in outside the press club. 

THATTA: Dictatorial regimes in Pakistan have always betrayed 
national heroes and the recent nuclear scandal is a part of a 
conspiracy to entangle Ms Bhutto. This was observed by Sindh PPP 
deputy general-secretary Maula Bux Chandio, MNA Shagufta Jumani, 
MPA Sassui Palijo and other party leaders while speaking at a 
hunger strike camp outside the press club. 

The leaders said real hands in the nuclear proliferation should 
be exposed. Terming a proposal to convert all divisions in Sindh 
into provinces a conspiracy to bifurcate the province. 

Criticizing the performance of the Sindh government, they said 
Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar was playing in the hands of 
coalition partners. Earlier, PPP activists took out a procession 
and held a public gathering outside the press club. 

DADU: Led by MNA Rafiq Ahmad Jamali, MPA Marvi Mazharul Haq and 
others, PPP activists held a demonstration outside the press 
club. 

Speaking on the occasion, MNA Jamali alleged that President 
Musharraf himself was involved in the transfer of nuclear 
technology and he had attended a talk on uranium in Libya. He 
claimed that Dr Khan was not involved in the transfer of the 
technology. Ms Haq feared that the economy and agricultural 
system of Sindh would be destroyed after construction of the 
Kalabagh dam and the Thal canal. 

SHIKARPUR: The PPP staged a sit-in at the Mirani Eidgah against 
Gen Musharraf's policies and poor law and order situation. Aftab 
Shaban Mirani, MPA Agha Tariq Khan, central committee member Qazi 
Hafizur Rehman and other PPP leaders and activists participated 
in the sit-in. Talking to journalists, they deplored 
anti-democratic activities of the rulers which they termed 
against interests of the country and its people. They demanded 
that the government should stop political victimization. 

KHAIRPUR: PPP MPA Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said only a political 
government can bail out the country from the nuclear crisis. He 
was talking to party activists and office-bearers of eight 
talukas of Khairpur at a token hunger strike camp set up at the 
Chati Chowk. He said legislators should be taken in confidence on 
the issue of nuclear proliferation. 

MIRPURKHAS: The PPP district chapter set up a protest camp at a 
taxi stand. Speaking on the occasion, MNA Nawab Yousuf Talpur 
said the rulers had weakened every department of the country as 
economic conditions were worsening and government employees were 
taking to the streets. 

He said to protect the nuclear technology was the government's 
top responsibility. 

SUKKUR: PPP activists staged a sit-in in front of the press club 
and observed a hunger strike to protest against the government 
for disgracing nuclear scientists and allegedly rolling back the 
nuclear programme on the behest of the US. 

They said the government was blaming Ms Bhutto for trying to roll 
back the nuclear programme. If it was true, how was it possible 
to conduct nuclear tests in May 1999, they asked. 

JACOBABAD: Activists of the PPP, PML-N and other component 
parties of the ARD took out a procession from the district PPP 
office. The procession after marching through different roads 
terminated at the DC Chowk. 

Speaking on the occasion, MNA Aijaz Ahmad Hussain Khan Jakhrani, 
MNA Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani and others strongly condemned the 
government policies. They said generals had always pushed the 
country into crisis. 

Processions were also taken out in Kashmor, Kandhkot, Thul, Garhi 
Khero, Dera Allahyar, Dera Murad Jamali, Dadhar, Osta Mohammad 
and Sohbatpur. 

BADIN: PPP activists, led by MPA Nawaz Chandio and others, took 
out a procession that marched through main thoroughfares. 

The protesters later staged a sit-in outside the press club for 
two hours. Earlier, they observed a token hunger strike at the 
Shahnawaz Chowk. 
					     							 				 				   				 				
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 24 Hi Pakistan: A superpower's limitations By Afzaal Mahmood     --> 
 
February 15 2004     
    
"At some point we may be the only one left. That is okay with me. 
We are America." -President George W. Bush, 2002 

The Roman Empire (27 BC-180 AD), established by Augustus, brought 
about comparative peace and security over the Mediterranean 
region, and that period of Roman peace is known in history as Pax 
Romana. 

In the 21st century the sole superpower, through its national 
security strategy, called the Bush doctrine, seeks to acquire a 
universal presence and accomplish on a global scale what the 
Romans could achieve on a regional basis only. 

Pax Americana envisions a world in which the United States will 
enjoy permanent military dominance over all countries, allies and 
potential foes alike. 

It espouses, in a way, the Monroe Doctrine on a global scale as 
it asserts the right of the United States to intervene wherever 
and whenever it perceives that a threat of terrorism or mass 
destruction exists. 

With imperialist overtones, it gives the United States the right 
to not only decide who is a terrorist and which state is 
supporting terrorist activities, but also the right to launch 
unilateral preventive strikes without even waiting for the 
go-ahead from the UN Security Council. 

In a recent interview in the NBC's "Meet the Press" programme, 
President Bush conceded that weapons of mass destruction had not 
been found in Iraq. He, however, justified his invasion of Iraq 
as a "war of necessity". Defending his decision, the US president 
said Saddam Hussein had the capacity to develop unconventional 
arms, if not the actual weapons. 

It may be recalled that, before going to war against Iraq last 
March, President Bush told the American people and the rest of 
the world that he was certain that the Iraqi dictator was not 
only in possession of chemical and biological weapons but also 
long-range missiles to deliver them and was actively seeking an 
atomic bomb. That was said to be the justification for the 
invasion of Iraq. 

But ten months after the invasion and despite interrogation of 
hundreds of captured Iraqi officials, none of these weapons has 
been recovered. The non-recovery of these weapons raises the 
question whether there was any justification for the invasion of 
Iraq and whether the war was fought on a false premise. 

Before the invasion Saddam Hussein was virtually told: show us 
the weapons of mass destruction we think you have, or prove 
definitively you do not have them (and it is up to us to tell you 
what constitutes definitive proof)) or you will be destroyed. 

Pax Americana seeks to legitimize the right of the stronger, who 
also claims to be morally superior, to intimidate the weaker, who 
is deemed morally inferior. This in fact is the Law of the Jungle 
rationalized. 

Even if there has been a massive failure of intelligence, as is 
now admitted by the Bush administration, the all-important 
question is whether Mr Bush allowed his conviction to distort the 
evidence he put before his people. 

He conjured up a link between Iraq, Al-Qaeda and September 11 
that does not seem to have existed. The fact is that an 
impression of a threat to the United States was created that the 
available intelligence does not seem to justify. The seemingly 
unwarranted Iraq war has caused the deaths of 55,000 Iraqis, 
including 9,600 civilians and over 500 Americans. 

After the former chief US weapons hunter, David Kay, has reported 
that the weapons of mass destruction at the core of Bush's case 
for Iraq war did not exist on the eve of US-led March 2003 
invasion, Mr Bush's credibility, under increasing attacks from 
his likely Democratic rival Senator John Kerry, has become an 
election issue. 

Whether Kerry succeeds in beating Bush or not, his most valuable 
contribution is that he has already stimulated a much needed 
debate on America's role in the world. 

The Bush administration seems to be obsessed with the idea of 
"rogue states" as the primary source of threats to the US and 
firmly believes that if America has the military power to contain 
them, it should use it. 

It was obviously this frame of mind that produced President 
Bush's famous phrase about the "axis of evil", describing Iraq, 
Iran and North Korea in one breath. 

At the moment the American focus is on Iran and North Korea 
supposedly seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. What about those 
who have already got them by the back door - India, Israel and 
Pakistan. 

As they are identified as friends of the United States, they have 
so far suffered no consequences for acquiring nuclear weapons. 
But the problem is that the countries that are friends today may 
become foes in the future and vice versa. 

There is no excuse at all for the unpatriotic conduct and gross 
delinquency of those Pakistanis who have committed nuclear 
proliferation. But the world-wide media campaign against Pakistan 
is ominous. 

Was such a hue and cry raised against Israel when it was 
discovered to have cooperated closely with the apartheid regime 
of South Africa in the latter's secret nuclear programme in the 
late 1970s and early 1980s? 

Mr Rafi Raza, in a recent perceptive piece in this newspaper, has 
rightly drawn attention to the dangers that Pakistan's nuclear 
programme now faces. It will be naivete of the highest degree if 
our policy makers act on the assumption that American approval of 
or unconcern with our nuclear capability will continue even after 
our utility diminishes or ceases for Washington. 

Even a cursory look at recent history should make us more 
cautious and watchful. Who first sold nuclear plants to Iran? 
America, of course. But those were the days when Iran was seen as 
a close ally. 

Who sold chemical reagents to Saddam Hussein in Iraq for use in 
chemical weapons to be used against Iran because by that time 
Iran had become an enemy? And who backed Osama bin Laden in 
Afghanistan? Both Republicans as well as Democrats supported him 
because he was anti-Soviet. 

Coming back to Pax Americana, the problems of post-war Iraq 
clearly demonstrate the severe limitations of the sole superpower 
in enforcing its new order. 

Going it alone without the support of the UN Security Council has 
undermined the entire re-building effort. Iraq has clearly shown 
that solo action by one country can make reconstruction a lot 
more difficult and complex. 

Speaking at Royal Institute for International Affairs in London 
some time back, Strobe Talbott, US deputy secretary of state in 
Clinton administration warned of a world where American power was 
seen by others as a problem "to be managed and contained". 

According to him, the key was "whether the US recommits itself to 
the utility of collaborative institutions and consensual 
arrangements." Or will America continue to act on Machiavelli's 
advice (in The Prince): "It is better to be feared than loved". 

Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 25 Hi Pakistan:  What in the world is a ‘conditional’ pardon? 

By Kamran Shafi    
 
February 15 2004     
    
Is a "conditionally" pardoned convict hanged by half his
neck? If only our ruling elites and their hangers-on and toadies
gave us some breathing space; if only they gave us some respite
from their daily stupidities; from their cretinous and imbecilic
behaviour which not only hurts us Pakistanis deeply on the
individual level, it drags our country’s name through the mud
and exposes it to great dangers. If only, for there is such a
lot one would like to write about: about the very ugly city
Islamabad the Beautiful has become; about my own village and its
environs, and how ugly they have become; about times gone by,
and the value system that we once had; about my son’s recent
trip to India as part of an IT delegation and his experiences
there. If only. But what can one do in these circumstances than
write about the mole-hills that are turned into mountains by the
deft touches of an increasingly out of touch ruling elite intent
only on keeping power? Believe me when I say that it is no
pleasure writing about these heart-breaking issues; believe me
when I say that it takes such a lot out of one emotionally;
believe me when I say that many are the times that I weep tears
of rage and helplessness whilst writing about the depths to
which a once proud country has been made to sink.

While this lot has arrogated to itself and its acolytes the
perfect right to go about making utter fools of themselves, and
painting us ordinary Pakistanis in those colours too, the rest
of the world is literally up in arms at their antics. And saying
so loudly and stridently. While those that enjoy the confidence
of the Establishment so to say, go on ad nauseam advising the
government to "stand firm" and other such nonsense, the rest of
us who can read and hear and see, sit petrified to note that
despite what has happened over the past month or so, these, what
I call hawks and hawkesses still haven’t learnt any lessons at
all. Whilst the very daylights are scared out of the rest of us
when we take stock of what lies in store for us if we keep to
the quite mad course we are embarked upon, this lot go on with
gay abandon; probably deluding themselves that if Pakistan
wasn’t the most powerful country on the face of the earth it was
the second or third most powerful at any rate. Despite the fact
that its rulers, aided and abetted and egged on by selfsame
sycophants and yes-men, shoot themselves in the foot with such
great regularity. How can they "stand firm" when they have no
feet to stand on at all?

Lets start with the so-called "pardon" which was granted to Dr
AQ Khan on Thursday, the 5th of February, only to be withdrawn
on Monday, the 9th of February. First things first: if Dr Khan
was guilty of all that he was being blamed for through
calculated leaks to the press - no prizes for guessing who was
leaking like several sieves - for weeks before he asked for
‘mercy’; if he had really proliferated nuclear weapons
technology to other countries particularly those our "tight"
friend George Dubya considers "rogue states", he would be an
international criminal. Right? If that were the case, what gave
the Pakistan government the right to "pardon" his crimes? Once
pardoned, what induced the government of the Land of the Pure to
say it was not a "blanket pardon" but a "conditional" one,
specially when Amreeka Bahadur had put its seal of approval on
the original, surely ‘blanket’, pardon? Is it not the case that
despite the blessings of the US government, the government of
the Islamic Republic executed a quick U-turn when the IAEA’s Mr
AlBaradei said chillingly that this was "only the tip of the
iceberg" (see my article of 7th February 2004 in this same
space), and the most influential among the US press came down
hard on their own government? Is it not the case that as usual
our Establishment is merely trying to impress us poor things, as
if we weren’t impressed with its machismo already?

We are in very dire straits, extreme dire straits, let no one
fool us with false bravado. Just for the record, it would do us
good to see the language the Washington Post, which every
congressman and senator reads every day for their very futures
depend on it, uses for us in two editorials, back to back: On
the 5th February in one titled ‘Pakistan’s Nuclear Crimes’:
"Under pressure from the United Nations, Pakistani officials
have acknowledged that nuclear designs and materials were given
to Iran, Libya and North Korea, either directly or through an
underground network ... hoping to avoid prosecution, Mr Khan
duly confessed on Pakistani television yesterday and absolved
his government ... but previously gave investigators a more
plausible account: that President Pervez Musharraf and other
senior military leaders approved the deals. For more than two
years the Bush administration has embraced Mr Musharraf as a
strategic ally and overlooked his suppression of Pakistani
democracy and his coddling of Islamic extremists. Now the
administration must confront the reality that Pakistan’s
military leadership has done more to threaten U.S. and global
security with weapons of mass destruction than either al Qaeda
or Saddam Hussein. Were Pakistan not a professed ally of the
United States, its behavior would meet the criteria for
preemptive military intervention outlined in Mr. Bush’s national
security strategy. He is not contemplating such action, nor
should he be. But the United States must ensure that Pakistan
never again markets its nuclear weapons technology. That will
require more than extracting further promises of good behavior
from an unreliable general."

On 6th February: "The attempt by Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf to whitewash his country’s marketing of nuclear
weapons technology to rogue dictatorships and sponsors of
terrorism comes as no surprise. The general and his government
have been lying for years about the illegal traffic. Now that
their cover has been blown ... they are attempting to pin all
the blame on a single scientist while stonewalling any
international investigation ... Mr. Musharraf declared that
Pakistan would not supply documentation to the International
Atomic Energy Agency. Such belligerence could be expected from a
military ruler. What’s hard to believe is the Bush
administration’s reaction to it. Rather than moving to impose
sanctions on Pakistan ... it has swallowed his cover-up and even
congratulated him on it ... (while Bush’s) doctrine declares
that even preemptive military action is justified in order to
stop it. Yet ... his administration is seemingly prepared to
accept its implausible alibi, allow the very generals who
oversaw the traffic to investigate it, and trust that they won’t
do it again ... the administration’s dilemma is that it has
banked its policy toward Pakistan on its relationship with Mr
Musharraf, who has been showered with aid and praise in exchange
for half-measures against terrorism and promises about stopping
proliferation. Perhaps there is no alternative to a relationship
with the general. But that relationship cannot be the only
defense against further delivery of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons
technology to enemies of the United States. Mr. Bush should
insist that Pakistan supply the details of its trafficking to
the IAEA and allow outside monitoring of its programs."

Now, if that doesn’t send the chills up several VVVVIP spines, I
don’t know what will. Or are they just plain stupid as I’ve long
suspected? Let me also give them some more advice with the usual
apologies to Charlie and his aunt: Pray very hard, gentlemen,
that this nuke proliferation that we ourselves have admitted to,
doesn’t become a US Presidential election issue with your
"tight" friend finding himself increasingly on the defensive. At
any rate, "it ain’t goin’ nowhere fast", as they say in Texas.

It is, however, not my intention to put the wind up anybody: all
I want to say is that knee jerk reactions are bad in themselves,
that deep thought must be given to problems that confront us
(which are mostly ALL of our own making, incidentally) before we
come to decisions such as granting people pardons which are not
only inappropriate, they are outside our remit anyway. That, in
any case, we should not swing from one edge of the spectrum to
the very other, much like apes swinging from one part of the
jungle to another: one day flaunting our nuclear power and
talking down to the world, and the very next sitting whimpering
in a corner like bad boys about to be caned by the headmaster.

In the instant case far better to have come absolutely clean
through a high-powered judicial inquiry, and if there was prima
facie evidence of guilt, to have prosecuted the guilty in a
higher court of law, such as the Honourable the Lahore High
Court. In camera, if need be.
 					     							 				 				   				 				
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 26 Hi Pakistan: From fame to shame 

By Ikram Sehgal     --> 
 
February 15 2004     
    
The world's view about Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan is 180 degrees
different from how the domestic population views him. The world
sees a rogue scientist who used a vast nuclear underworld black
market to make money for himself, the jury is still out whether
his entrepreneur-ship was with or without official sanction
and/or connivance. Speaking to the National Defence University
(NDU), US President George Bush outlined a new major campaign
against nuclear proliferation, detailing US intelligence
findings on Dr AQ Khan and the underground network he used. Khan
is generally regarded as a hero within Pakistan, a greater
percentage of the population tending to disbelieve rather than
believe the allegations against him. 

Independent analysts within the country are caught betwixt and
in-between i.e. the supreme national interest makes one cautious
and circumspect out of national security considerations, on the
other hand the truth is staring us in the face, reinforced by
the need to adhere to the accountability principles of a free
media. Another dire reason to lay out the facts, the absence
thereof has evoked a spate of rumours and turned it into a
virtual firestorm of misinformation.

Among the reasons that make it near impossible for any our
rulers to make AQK really accountable are, viz
(1) the population adores him as a genuine hero who gave

Pakistan a nuclear capability

(2) the public is aware that AQK carried out this clandestine
operation with great difficulty against the combined opposition
of the US and other western countries, and therefore subscribes
to the conspiracy theory that they mean to physically eliminate
AQK 

(3) the public disbelieves that AQK could have taken any
initiative without official sanction (and/or connivance) and
feel he is being made a scapegoat to cover the wrongdoings of
others in authority 

(4) without documentary evidence of illegal monetary and
real-estate holdings of AQK (and his 10 associates) being made
public, the population is skeptical about his alleged corruption

(5) the public feels that AQK's international vilification is
only being used as a pretext by a Western/Indian conspiracy to
de-nuclearise Pakistan 

(6) there is general skepticism AQK could have gotten away with
it without active connivance of senior army officials and
financial experts 

(7) Pakistan's existing nuclear programme can only be sustained
by keeping the procurement process secret 

(8) the government desperately needs to sustain the morale and
address the insecurity of other nuclear scientists not tainted
by AQK's shenanigans and 

(9) preserve the sanctity of our nuclear deterrent by keeping
secure its operational employment.

Pakistan did not acquire nuclear expertise as a weapon per se
but as a deterrent to India's capability. The world very
reluctantly came to terms with Pakistan's nuclear potential as
an India-specific deterrent as legitimate self-defence. On the
back of India's 1998 Pokhran explosions, it gave us the
opportunity to come out of the nuclear closet and become a
declared nuclear power rather than remain a clandestine one. Had
the world regularised us as a recognised nuclear power and not
imposed sanctions upon us, we would not have had any further
need for our clandestine supply sources. The world must partly
accept responsibility for forcing us to remain in the nuclear
nether world. 

The external view is two-track, having recognised Pakistan's
legitimate self-defense needs given our conventional disparity
we have with India, the US simply wants nuclear proliferation to
stop. Terrorists upped the ante with 9/11 so that the
unthinkable has now become a distinct possibility, the use of a
"dirty" nuclear bomb to kill masses of people. The other world
view is an orchestrated extension of the motivated and vested
interest of India in de-nuking Pakistan and get us declared a
"rogue State", at the very least to close down our nuclear
supply network. For nuclear imports, we do not need to make
apologies to anyone but the "exports" of plans, drawings,
components etc. to countries such as Iran, Libya and North Korea
are not only illegal but something else. It is interesting to
note that Ms Benazir acknowledges we bought missile plans from
North Korea with cash on the barrel. 

Within Pakistan our media and politicians are seemingly unable
to understand the necessity for acting responsibly and trying to
accomplish their own political objectives. In effect they are
destabilising Pakistan in trying to overturn the ruling regime
on this issue, playing into the hands of our detractors. Without
our nuclear deterrent, India could have gambled a conventional
offensive against Pakistan, whether they would have succeeded or
not is open to question but the collateral damage to our
economic infrastructure would be incalculable. 

AQK cleverly force-multiplied his popularity by the help of
media persons paid huge payments of money to embellish his
reputation. The May 1998 explosion took AQK's image to a high
within the country even though there is doubt whether the device
was from Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) or Pakistan Atomic
Energy Commission (PAEC). PAEC probably did most of the work at
Chagai but could not compete with AQK's established place in the
hearts and minds of the Pakistani populace, one doubts if there
is name recognition of Dr Samar Mobarakmand among 3-5 percent of
the population. With this perception of unadulterated adulation,
how do we deal with our hero well-knowing he was also blatantly
corrupt in allowing his openly corrupt lifestyle? Though very
few dared say so, it was generally believed that he was skimming
money from procurements, the "no-questions asked" attitude
accepted this blatant corruption as legitimate. 

Gradually an image of omnipotency, of being above the State, was
built-up, carefully nurtured by AQK, his associates and his
friends. The Musharraf regime gets good marks for
institutionalising accountability, even though NAB is quite
selective. In this case NAB must target AQK and his associates,
particularly in seizing their assets. Accountability in Pakistan
is usually compromised by, viz (1) active neglect and (2) benign
neglect. "Active neglect" involves looking the other way while
knowing that certain categories of people have free rein to loot
and plunder while "benign neglect" allows a favourite to run
riot by feigning ignorance of his/her misdeeds. 

By the time the President removed AQK from KRL two years ago and
put him in an Advisory post, documented intelligence about the
complex nature of his illegal holdings was available. Even so
when US officials Richard Armitage, Christine Rocca and Lt Gen
Abizaid (separately) briefed Musharraf last October about AQK's
involvement in nuclear proliferation through a vast underground
network, the nuclear proliferation charge should not have been a
surprise for the President. We have a failure of intelligence in
critical areas at critical times, it has taken two months since
the assassination attempt on the President to sack an
intelligence chief. 

Nuclear proliferation to the so-called rogue states, Iran, Libya
and North Korea, considered by the world to be unstable and
dangerous is a serious matter. The President has a real dilemma,
notwithstanding AQK's "confession", how to separate the State
from the actions of a rogue scientist so that the rogue
scientist does not take the State down with him for the sake of
his own hide and his illegitimate billions. What about his
pre-emptive media strike that AQK had already launched in the
form of rumours, leaked stories, etc. implying that whatever he
had done was with official sanction, a sort of a "reverse
blackmail", holding the country to ransom in bartering his
freedom. AQK had already compromised the security staff meant to
keep an eye on things, among those detained are two retired
Brigadiers and one retired major. 

What Pakistan requires from AQK is a full rendition of the
clandestine underworld organisation/individuals and a return of
the loot that he illegally acquired. The government must proceed
against the Pakistanis involved and inform US and other
governments about those of different nationalities in the
illegal "export" chain. Giving AQK a pardon may be a suitable
stopgap compromise to contain the possible public outcry, now
his network must be dissembled with full vigour. We allowed AQK
to run riot at the expense of the country, in sowing the wind
thus we must be prepared to reap the whirlwind.
 					     							 				 				   				 				
      
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 27 Hi Pakistan: Pakistan's nuclear mess 

By Eric S. Margolis     --> 
 
February 15 2004     
    
The timing of the scandal over Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan is either an 
incredible coincidence, or it is part of a brilliantly 
orchestrated campaign to eliminate Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. 

This writer noted some months ago that Israel and its American 
supporters have been pressing the Bush administration to make 
dismantling Pakistan's nuclear forces a top priority. If that is 
not immediately possible, pro-Israel neo-conservatives in the 
Bush administration are agitating for a high degree of US control 
over Pakistan's nuclear weapons and nuclear industries. 

Dr Khan's bizarre admission on national TV that he headed a 
massive, international smuggling operation supplying Iran, North 
Korea and Libya with assorted nuclear technology was not just an 
unprecedented political and public relations disaster for 
Pakistan. It also handed Washington a club with which to beat 
Pakistan over the nuclear issue. 

It's hard to believe Pakistan's claims that it was all the fault 
of the miscreant Dr Khan. His TV confession next to a 
stern-looking President Musharraf looked more like a naughty 
school boy being reprimanded by the school director. 

The prevailing view abroad is that the military and ISI could not 
have been unaware of Dr. Khan's activities and, indeed, may have 
been collaborators. Suspicions are even being voiced about how 
much President Musharraf knew in recent years, though he is being 
largely shielded by his continuing usefulness to the US strategic 
policy in South Asia. 

The view among Pakistan-watchers is that Dr Khan has been made 
the fall guy for a much larger and more sinister conspiracy that 
may yet explode into view and consume the current regime in 
Islamabad. 

What can a long-time observer and friend of Pakistan say about 
this ghastly mess? First, one can only hope that the diversion of 
nuclear technology to other nations was motivated by some sort of 
Islamic zeal to help defend small, vulnerable countries 
threatened by the United States. This argument certainly applies 
to Iran, which has as much right to nuclear weapons for 
self-defence as, say, France or India. 

But selling even proto-type nuclear plans to Libya's erratic, 
mercurial leader, Col. Muammar Qadhafi, was unwise and dangerous 
in the extreme, no matter how much Libya was threatened from 
without. 

Libya has admitted blowing up a French airliner and was almost 
certainly responsible for the downing of an American Pan Am 
transport. No Pakistani had any business supplying nuclear 
technology to a regime that would commit such crimes. 

Selling or bartering nuclear technology to North Korea, a 
nightmarish, Stalinist dictatorship that has repeatedly 
threatened nuclear and chemical attack on North Korea and US 
Pacific bases, cannot under any circumstances be excused. 

North Korea may have provided Pakistan with missile technology to 
counter India's extensive and very threatening missile 
programmes, but covert dealings with the Pyongyang regime - if 
true - badly besmirch Pakistan's name and leave it open to 
charges of reckless irresponsibility. 

Pakistan's credibility in the West, and particularly Washington, 
is around zero. In fact, after Dr. Khan's bombshell revelations, 
it is highly likely Pakistan would have been hit with an oil 
embargo and crushing financial sanctions - or even declared a 
pariah state - were not General Musharraf so valuable to 
Washington's campaign against Islamic resistance forces. 

India, which has long tried to brand Pakistan a 'terrorist 
state,' is crowing with delight. No one in the West cares a whit 
that important parts of Delhi's nuclear arms development was 
based on US technology stolen by Israel and then sold to India. 

The US will now sharply intensify pressure on Islamabad to accept 
some form of 'joint control' over its nuclear arsenal. The first 
steps have already been accomplished by pressuring Pakistan to 
accept United States nuclear command and control technology and 
security codes. 

Washington will now use the Khan scandal to demand integration of 
the CIA and US military personnel in Pakistan's nuclear forces 
structure. The next step: joint guarding of weapons and reactors 
and, finally, their total control by US forces. 

Washington's long-standing contention that Muslim nations are too 
irresponsible, corrupt and unstable to be allowed nuclear weapons 
has now been vindicated in spades by the Khan disaster. It will 
be very hard for Islamabad to resist onrushing US demands - 
backed by financial and political threats - for nuclear joint 
control. - Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2004 

Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved. No part 
*****************************************************************
 28 PakNews: Singapore To Negotiate Trade Agreement With Pak
 
February 15, 2004  Zil - Haj 23, 1424 Hijri     Feb 01,
2003 Ziqaad 28, 1423 Hijri
     	 
Editor-in-Chief: Asim Mughal            

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan : Feb 15 (PNS) - Singapore has expressed
willingness To negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with
Pakistan, and a Singapore Ministerial Mission will arrive here
in April this year. 

Prior to the ministerial mission, a two-member delegation of
International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the investment and
trading arm of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, will
undertake a trip to Pakistan in the first week of March this
year. This development comes in response to Commerce Minister,
Humayun Akhtar Khan's comprehensive negotiations with George
Yeo, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore, in which
Humayun maintained that though Singapore and Pakistan were
significant economies of the region, the quantum and diversity
of their bilateral trade did not commensurate with the existing
potential, says a Commerce Ministry press release here Friday. 

The objective of the recce trip is to get a feel of the
Pakistani market for trading and investment, meet the relevant
government officials to understand trade laws and practices, EPZ
operations, investment and privatization procedures, and hold
discussions with various chambers in Pakistan. This delegation
will visit Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Export Promotion
Bureau, Ministry of Commerce, will arrange their meetings at
appropriate level with all concerned government and private
sector outfits. 

Humayun Akhtar Khan has hoped that the ministerial delegation's
visit would provide an excellent opportunity to appreciate the
favorable business environment in Pakistan whereas officials and
entrepreneurs from both sides would be able to have useful
interaction to augment bilateral trade. 

Humayun said that Pakistan foresees potential for enhanced
exports of rice, fish and fish preparations, fruits and
vegetables, petroleum and petroleum products, cotton fabric,
cotton yarn, synthetic fabric, textile made-ups to the
Singaporean markets whereas an increased import of chemicals,
oil seeds, palm oil, machinery and other finished goods from
Singapore was also possible. The Commerce Minister while
welcoming the likely visit of the Singapore delegation further
hoped that both the countries would get moving on initiating
formal FTA negotiations. 
The End.  
  
*****************************************************************
 29 New Straits Times: ‘KL has no part in nuke activity’ 

 -Malaysia News Online
 
Ridzwan Abdullah

PEKAN, Feb 14:

  Malaysia never has and never will support or be involved in any 
kind of activity involving nuclear proliferation or weapons of 
mass destruction, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun 
Razak said yesterday.
 
Najib said not only did the country's policies forbid involvement 
in such activities, Malaysia also did not have the technology nor 
ability to produce components for nuclear weapons.

He expressed disappointment that United States President George 
W. Bush and that country's intelligence services had made it 
appear that Malaysia had a facility to produce components for 
uranium enrichment centrifuge for nuclear weapons.

"I do not see how Malaysia can be accused of being involved. 
First of all, it is not our policy to develop or help others 
develop nuclear arms. Second, we do not have the technological 
capabilities to do so," Najib, who is also Defence Minister and 
MP for Pekan, said at a meet-the-people session in Kampung 
Langgar, today.

Referring to claims that Malaysian company Scomi Precision 
Engineering (SCOPE) Sdn Bhd had supplied Dubai-based Gulf 
Technical Industries (GTI), controlled by a Briton, with 14 
components which could be used for a centrifuge, Najib said these 
were generic components with dual applications.

"The police have investigated and cleared the company of any 
wrongdoing. We are definitely not involved," he said.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said in 
Yangon that Malaysia was offended that it had been unfairly and 
deliberately targeted by Bush on the issue of nuclear 
proliferation. Bush had made several references to Malaysia in 
his recent speech at the US National Defence University.

Both Bush and the US intelligence services have come under global 
criticism for their unfounded assessment that Iraq had weapons of 
mass destruction. Using these intelligence reports, the US and 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair led a coalition of countries, 
against United Nations views, to invade Iraq.

Thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the invasion last 
March. More than 500 US soldiers have also died, the majority 
after Bush declared the war on Iraq as over last May. Both Bush 
and Blair are now facing domestic pressure to justify their 
invasion of Iraq and both countries have ordered a commission of 
inquiry into their intelligence services' failures in Iraq.

Some Malaysians in senior positions have expressed views that 
both Bush and his intelligence services may be using the 
components-forcentrifuge story to redeem their reputation after 
their failure on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Even US newspapers have been critical of Bush's comments on the 
illegal nuclear network. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd 
pointed out the double standard in Bush's comments, which 
included the references on Malaysia, saying, sarcastically, "yes, 
it all makes perfect sense, through the Bush looking glass".

She wrote: "Bush officials thought they knew what was going on 
inside our enemy's country (Iraq); that Iraq had WMD and might 
sell them on the black market. But they were wrong.

"He (Bush) said on Wednesday that smaller, developing countries 
must stop developing nuclear fuel, even as the US develops a 
whole new arsenal of smaller nuclear weapons to use against 
smaller, developing countries that might be thinking about 
developing nuclear fuel." [Email To Friend]   [Printable Page]   
[Talkback]   


Copyright © 2004 NST Online. All rights reserved. Powered by:
*****************************************************************
 30 AU ABC: Malaysia rejects nuclear allegations 

RADIO AUSTRALIA
 
Malaysia will protest against allegations by US President George 
W. Bush that it was involved in black market nuclear 
proliferation.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar is quoted by the Sunday Star as 
saying Malaysia is being unfairly targeted.

He says that's because it's a Muslim country and lumped together 
with countries such as Iran, North Korea and Libya. 

The Minister says Malaysia does not have nuclear proliferation 
capabilities.

He says America's Preisdent George W Bush has ignored Malaysia's 
cooperation with the United States on issues such as the 
international fight against terrorism and the non-proliferation 
of nuclear weapons. 

In a speech at the National Defense University in Washington last 
Wednesday, Mr Bush repeated charges that centrifuge parts for 
Libya's nuclear weapons uranium-enrichment programme were 
manufactured in Malaysia. 

He is seeking global support for tighter curbs on nuclear 
know-how, taking aim at North Korea, Iran and black-market sales 
by Pakistan's top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. 

15/02/2004 20:33:57 | ABC Radio Australia News 
*****************************************************************
 31 Dar Al Hayat: Blair And Israels Weapons

  english.daralhayat.com     2004/02/16

Abdulwahab Badrakhan     Al-Hayat     2004/02/14

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is still stressing a deep 
change in his position from the Middle East file. It is 
reiterated in his statements and speeches. It is as if he is 
bound not to deviate from the Bushite track, or this was his 
original stance, which he was camouflaging in the past until he 
decided to announce it. 

Last Wednesday, Sir Peter Tapsell (Tory MP) asked Blair in the 
House of Commons, what steps have been taken to persuade Israel 
to give up its weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)? Blair 
answered: "I would like to see the whole of the middle east free 
from the threat of weapons of mass destruction, but I hope that 
the hon. Gentleman will recognise the particular worries that 
Israel has about security, given that it is surrounded by many 
countries, some of whose stated objective is still to get rid of 
the state of Israel altogether. I have my criticisms of Israeli 
policy, but I would remind the hon. Gentleman that it is a 
democracy, whose Governments are elected by its people. At the 
same time as we try to strive for a region free of weapons of 
mass destruction, in whatever country, we must recognise that it 
is important to respect the security of Israel."

This means that Mr. Blair supports Israel's possession of WMDs 
under the pretext that it is a security requirement. It seems, 
again, that the intelligence agencies "failed" in giving the PM 
precise information on Israel's Arab neighbors' armament, and on 
the real threat that they currently pose on Israel and its 
security; especially on the counter-threat, which is Israel's 
nuclear, chemical, and biological arsenal. Security is a two-way 
street. This "information" is available. Blair knows it. So does 
Bush. However, they prefer not to see the truth so they do not 
have to admit it. Hence, they built their Middle Eastern policy 
based on one-sided vision.

Blair's biased announcement coincided with an "initiative" 
announced by Bush himself on the same day; the latter wants to 
reconsider the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons 
(NPT) to define the countries allowed to produce such energy. 
Bush is not thinking of Israel, but he is trying to deprive 
specific countries of nuclear energy - whether they already have 
it, or are working toward it. It is obvious that the American 
president would exclude Israel from the conditions he wants to 
add to the NPT. Moreover, protecting the Israeli arsenal is among 
Bush's major motives that he relies on in his "initiative." As 
long as the "Greater" Middle East (GME) is currently at the heart 
of the strategic obsession in Washington (North Korea seems 
marginalized) - since it extends from Morocco to Pakistan - it 
would not be surprising if the known international slogan was 
altered to become: "A Greater Middle East (excluding Israel) free 
from weapons of mass destruction."

There is no doubt that the Israeli arsenal would be one of the 
"constants" in any "peaceful settlement" - should it happened - 
in the Middle East. However, in the meantime, no one is looking 
for this solution; Israel did not frustrate, and is not 
frustrating, any attempt. Neither did the U.S., Europe or the 
Arabs. Everyone is looking for the solution from the 
Palestinians; as if the WMDs that disappeared from Iraq are now 
in their possession.

Meanwhile, reality is being treated with malicious impudence; 
same as the stance from the wall and presenting before the 
International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Americans moved from 
silence to threats. The Europeans are still hesitant, advising 
that going to Lahaye would "negatively" affect  the efforts for a 
settlement; as if the solution was in their hands and were about 
to implement it and something hindered their attempts. It seems 
that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw searched hard for the 
kindest words to say to his war criminal visitor Shaul Mofaz; he 
found nothing better than saying that Britain is "concerned" 
about Israel's "excessive" use of force against the Palestinians. 
Undoubtedly, Mofaz met these words' naïveté with much sarcasm.

                                
                                
Blair And Israels Weapons Abdulwahab Badrakhan     Al-Hayat     
2004/02/14


British Prime Minister Tony Blair is still stressing a deep 
change in his position from the Middle East file. It is 
reiterated in his statements and speeches. It is as if he is 
bound not to deviate from the Bushite track, or this was his 
original stance, which he was camouflaging in the past until he 
decided to announce it. 

Last Wednesday, Sir Peter Tapsell (Tory MP) asked Blair in the 
House of Commons, what steps have been taken to persuade Israel 
to give up its weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)? Blair 
answered: "I would like to see the whole of the middle east free 
from the threat of weapons of mass destruction, but I hope that 
the hon. Gentleman will recognise the particular worries that 
Israel has about security, given that it is surrounded by many 
countries, some of whose stated objective is still to get rid of 
the state of Israel altogether. I have my criticisms of Israeli 
policy, but I would remind the hon. Gentleman that it is a 
democracy, whose Governments are elected by its people. At the 
same time as we try to strive for a region free of weapons of 
mass destruction, in whatever country, we must recognise that it 
is important to respect the security of Israel."

This means that Mr. Blair supports Israel's possession of WMDs 
under the pretext that it is a security requirement. It seems, 
again, that the intelligence agencies "failed" in giving the PM 
precise information on Israel's Arab neighbors' armament, and on 
the real threat that they currently pose on Israel and its 
security; especially on the counter-threat, which is Israel's 
nuclear, chemical, and biological arsenal. Security is a two-way 
street. This "information" is available. Blair knows it. So does 
Bush. However, they prefer not to see the truth so they do not 
have to admit it. Hence, they built their Middle Eastern policy 
based on one-sided vision.

Blair's biased announcement coincided with an "initiative" 
announced by Bush himself on the same day; the latter wants to 
reconsider the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons 
(NPT) to define the countries allowed to produce such energy. 
Bush is not thinking of Israel, but he is trying to deprive 
specific countries of nuclear energy - whether they already have 
it, or are working toward it. It is obvious that the American 
president would exclude Israel from the conditions he wants to 
add to the NPT. Moreover, protecting the Israeli arsenal is among 
Bush's major motives that he relies on in his "initiative." As 
long as the "Greater" Middle East (GME) is currently at the heart 
of the strategic obsession in Washington (North Korea seems 
marginalized) - since it extends from Morocco to Pakistan - it 
would not be surprising if the known international slogan was 
altered to become: "A Greater Middle East (excluding Israel) free 
from weapons of mass destruction."

There is no doubt that the Israeli arsenal would be one of the 
"constants" in any "peaceful settlement" - should it happened - 
in the Middle East. However, in the meantime, no one is looking 
for this solution; Israel did not frustrate, and is not 
frustrating, any attempt. Neither did the U.S., Europe or the 
Arabs. Everyone is looking for the solution from the 
Palestinians; as if the WMDs that disappeared from Iraq are now 
in their possession.

Meanwhile, reality is being treated with malicious impudence; 
same as the stance from the wall and presenting before the 
International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Americans moved from 
silence to threats. The Europeans are still hesitant, advising 
that going to Lahaye would "negatively" affect  the efforts for a 
settlement; as if the solution was in their hands and were about 
to implement it and something hindered their attempts. It seems 
that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw searched hard for the 
kindest words to say to his war criminal visitor Shaul Mofaz; he 
found nothing better than saying that Britain is "concerned" 
about Israel's "excessive" use of force against the Palestinians. 
Undoubtedly, Mofaz met these words' naïveté with much sarcasm.

        
*****************************************************************
 32 UKAEA: Revealing the secrets of Pile One 

[Pile One core] The countdown to the first full-scale surveys of 
the fire-affected zone of Windscales Pile One reactor has begun. 

In December, the outer two of nine accessible foil holes, which 
pass vertically through the reactor core, were uncapped. Video 
images were taken using a long focal camera. This is the first 
time these holes on the pile cap have been opened since the 
mid-1980s, when they were modified as part of a programme of 
safety-related improvements. 

The vertical holes are seen as the keys to surveying the part of 
the core in which the 1957 fire occurred. They offer access to 
the area without having to place any load on the core graphite. 
Previous horizontal inspections of selected fuel channels using 
CCTV have concentrated on areas remote from the fire-affected 
zone. 

The equipment used included a LASER range finder, which allowed 
the depth of the hole to be measured. Both inspected holes were 
2 in diameter and were found to be flat at the bottom end, which 
in both cases was 17 metres below the Pile cap level - the full 
depth of the holes at those positions in the core. 

Both holes are empty which, whilst not providing particularly 
exciting photography, is good news for us as it confirms that the 
holes are clear and in good condition, explains UKAEAs Edwin 
Perrott. 

The success both of the equipment used for the inspections and 
the procedures followed to ensure nothing fell down into the core 
will allow us to proceed with confidence to the next phases of 
the fire-affected zone inspections. 

The future visual inspection programme for the Pile One foil 
holes is: + Use the same non-intrusive viewing rig to check the 
state of the other seven foil holes, five of which pass through 
the fire-affected zone + Having established the state of each 
hole, and if it is reasonably clear, lower an intrusive 
inspection unit carrying four cameras, into the foil holes. This 
unit will also carry a radiation dose meter. page up 

----------


Fusion fundamentals 

[Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith] How do you explain the complicated 
physics of fusion energy research to non-physicists? 

Powerful magnets, golf balls, jugs of water and mobile phones 
were all props in an Oxfordshire Science Festival talk at Culham 
Science Centre in January, entitled Culham - providing the power 
of the future! 

A keen audience braved the snow to hear Professor Sir Chris 
Llewellyn Smith, Director of UKAEA Culham explain the basic 
science of fusion research and how important it was to get fusion 
energy working. Existing fossil fuels were becoming more scarce 
and problems remained with the public acceptability of nuclear 
power. Renewable energy sources such as wind, tide and solar 
power could not provide a reliable substitute, he said. 

Sir Chris told his audience that work remained to be done on the 
actual technology of future fusion power plants. Decisions are 
expected to be taken in the next month or two on the siting of 
ITER, an international fusion experiment which would bring fusion 
energy a step nearer to making an important contribution to the 
worlds future energy sources in our lifetime. page up 

---------------



NEDCON04 

[NEDCON&#8217;04] The NEDCON04 conference will be held on 28-29 
April at the NRPB Training Centre at Chilton in Oxfordshire. 

The event, entitled Managing Radioactive Discharges to the 
Environment will cover the policy, regulatory, operational and 
technical aspects of managing radioactive liquid and gaseous 
discharges to the environment. 

For more details please contact Kevin Wilson on 01235 466487 or 
 
*****************************************************************
 33 toledoblade.com: Davis-Besse: 2 years, $605M cost; no restart slated
 
Sunday, February 15, 2004 

 
  [Photo] 
This is the containment building of Davis-Besse and the power
structure around it. 
( THE BLADE/ALLAN DETRICH ) 

By BLADE STAFF WRITER
 

Feb. 16, 2002. The date will be etched in the annals of American 
nuclear history - not for what happened at Davis-Besse, but for 
what didn't.

Through sheer luck, the nation's biggest nuclear accident since 
Three Mile Island in 1979 was avoided by the mere width of a 
pencil eraser. FirstEnergy Corp. has admitted it sacrificed 
safety for production. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has 
conceded it was oblivious to the near-hole in the plant's reactor 
head and some of the site's other longstanding problems. And the 
two-year outage has cost the utility more than $605 million.

"Safety was not an afterthought," FirstEnergy spokesman Richard 
Wilkins said. "But there were clearly some decisions made [prior 
to the shutdown] when a [production] schedule was given more 
significance that it should have."

To FirstEnergy's critics, the date focuses attention on 
longstanding allegations that the nuclear industry and the NRC 
have had a cozy relationship. They contend it stands out as the 
date that a senior-level NRC official, Sam Collins, arbitrarily 
chose to shut down the plant after bowing to industry pressure.

So what really has changed in the two years that Davis-Besse has 
been offline?

While the NRC vows there will be long-term safety benefits for 
the nation, skeptics fear the industry has marshaled its way 
through another high-profile embarrassment. And with $3.8 million 
in property tax revenues and 700 employees paying $3.5 million in 
state and local income taxes a year, Davis-Besse has significant 
leverage with local politicians.

Fourteen political units of Ottawa County, from Port Clinton to 
rural townships, have passed resolutions in favor of restart. 
"There needs to be an end in sight. We need to get back in the 
business of operating it," Ottawa County Administrator Jere Witt 
said.

A dissenting voice has come from Kelleys Island in neighboring 
Erie County, where 150 residents signed a petition calling for 
permanent shutdown because they're leery of being trapped on the 
tiny Lake Erie island if a meltdown occurred.

There are signs that those in power at the national level also 
are eager to put the ordeal behind them.

In an Oct. 30 speech in Columbus, President Bush extolled the 
virtues of nuclear power while calling on Congress to pass his 
national energy bill. But the President said nothing about the 
fact he was standing about 100 miles south of the nuclear 
industry's biggest crisis in the last quarter of a century.

Nor was there any mention of Davis-Besse when Joe Colvin of the 
Nuclear Energy Institute delivered a Nov. 24 speech in Washington 
in which he claimed the industry's confidence was running high 
during the 50th anniversary of former President Dwight 
Eisenhower's famous Atoms for Peace speech on Dec. 8, 1953 - a 
watershed mark for the creation of the nuclear industry.

Finally, there was no mention of Davis-Besse when Energy 
Secretary Spencer Abraham said in a Jan. 9 speech in Tokyo that 
the United States and Japan "must deal with a similar array of 
political and regulatory challenges" to promote nuclear power. 
But critics say the speech that looms largest was one delivered 
April 16 in Washington by NRC Chairman Nils Diaz. Installed in 
that position only 15 days earlier by Mr. Bush, Mr. Diaz told 
1,200 people from 15 countries that Davis-Besse never put the 
public in danger.

Laboratory tests months later showed the opposite: In at least 
one mock-up, steel of simulated thinness blew apart. The NRC had 
learned by then that if Davis-Besse's reactor head had blown open 
and radioactive steam had formed in the containment building, the 
backup emergency cooling systems probably would not have worked. 
That, in turn, could have left workers scrambling to avoid a 
meltdown potentially worse than Three Mile Island.

Opponents said they fear the impact of Davis-Besse hasn't truly 
sunk in. "The hole in the safety net that's still there is the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission," Paul Gunter of the Nuclear 
Information & Resource Service said.

He and others question why the NRC has done virtually nothing to 
discipline those involved with Davis-Besse. Mr. Collins, the one 
who set the compromise shutdown date, was promoted. So was Jim 
Dyer, who - as former administrator of the NRC's Midwest regional 
office - had jurisdiction over Davis-Besse before the reactor 
head's near-hole was discovered.

"How can [the NRC] make changes when they haven't even 
acknowledged underlying problems?" asked Jim Riccio, Greenpeace 
nuclear policy analyst.

The NRC has said institutional weaknesses are being addressed 
through recommendations made by the agency's Lessons Learned Task 
Force.

David Lochbaum, a Union of Concerned Scientists nuclear safety 
engineer, said one thing that'll stick with him is "that big gap 
between perception and reality." For several years prior to the 
Feb. 16, 2002, shutdown, Davis-Besse scored near-perfect 
evaluations from the NRC. On March 21, 1997, another former NRC 
Midwest regional administrator, A. Bill Beach, went so far as to 
say he viewed Davis-Besse as "certainly one of the better, if not 
the best, performers in the region." The NRC's Office of 
Inspector General has said it was obvious the agency was clueless 
to what was going on.

Some want Congress to take a harder look at the NRC's 
relationship with the industry - something which has only been 
done sporadically since former U.S. Sen. John Glenn (D., Ohio) 
introduced a bill in 1987 that ultimately established the 
inspector general's office within the NRC as an internal 
watchdog. A House subcommittee report that same year concluded 
that the NRC had failed to keep an arm's length from the industry 
it was assigned to regulate.

U.S. Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) and Dennis Kucinich (D., 
Cleveland) are among those raising questions. "There was a 
failure at every rung of the bureaucratic ladder at the NRC," 
Doug Gordon, Mr. Kucinich's press secretary, said.

FirstEnergy claims it has learned from Davis-Besse. It vows never 
to let down its guard again, even though people recall similar 
promises made in December, 1986, when an outage that had lasted 
more than 18 months was about to end. That outage was centered 
around problems that had allowed a series of pumps and valves to 
fail, causing a temporary loss of coolant water over the core - a 
precursor to a meltdown.

For earlier stories on Davis-Besse, go to 
www.toledoblade.com/davisbesse

        © 2004 The Blade.OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 To contact a 
specific department or an 
*****************************************************************
 34 CJOnline: Malfuntion idles Wolf Creek 02/14/04
 
+ [CJOnline.com - return to home page] 

Topeka Capital-Journal                          

021404 kansas 7 CJOnline.com BURLINGTON -- Wolf Creek Generating
Station shut itself down Friday morning because of an apparent
equipment malfunction.--> 

The Associated Press

 BURLINGTON -- Wolf Creek Generating Station shut itself down 
Friday morning because of an apparent equipment malfunction.

 Susan Maycock, a spokeswoman at the nuclear power plant, said a 
preliminary review indicated a malfunction of the feedwater 
control system caused a loss of flow to one of four steam 
generators. The plant automatically shut itself down as a result.

 Officials said the plant systems and equipment responded as 
designed.

 "The plant is in a safe condition," said Rick Muench, president 
and chief executive officer of the plant, in a statement. "We 
will fully understand the cause of the shutdown and (will) take 
the necessary steps to ensure the plant is safely returned to 100 
percent power."

 Maycock said power from other plants was diverted to provide 
electricity to the customers served by Wolf Creek. She said it 
wasn't known when the plant would resume operations. 

© Copyright -->                                                 
*****************************************************************
 35 ITAR-TASS: Reactor stopped for planned repairs at Ukrainian NPP
 	 	 	 
[ITAR-TASS News Agency of Russia]     

14.02.2004, 19.33

DONETSK, February 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Power unit No. 6 at
Ukraine’s Zaporozhskaya nuclear power plant was stopped on
Saturday for planned repairs. 

The repairs are to be finished by April 8. Currently five power
units are operating at the plant. Their combined generation
exceeds 5,000 megawatt. 

According to the Energoatom nuclear operating facility, out of
13 nuclear reactors in Ukraine 12 are operating. The level of
radiation at and around the power plants is normal. 
       
© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,





*****************************************************************
 36 [DU-WATCH] Immediate Release: US admits DU risks in Military
 
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 11:16:20 -0600 (CST)

 
FYI - This is hardly news now to this august list. Thought you may be
interested in the notice just sent out.
Best wishes to DU-Watch
Charlie

**

Document shows that Military well aware of dangers of using DU in populated
areas. Children at risk from DU in battle areas, as well as US soldiers and
civilian population. Document cites chromosomal damage, cancer risks, risks
to food and water supplies.

See http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_dtic_wakayama_Aug2002.html for links to
Col. Wakayama 2002 conference presentation and links to other US documents
that show US has been aware of DU risks for years.

********

Depleted Uranium (DU) Munitions
COL J. Edgar Wakayama
OSD/DOT&E/CS
August, 2002 

Read this report for the military's own view on risks to health and the
environment.

At http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_dtic_wakayama_Aug2002.html
download PDF version of PowerPoint Presentation (or rtf version for low
bandwidth). PDF version is 2.6 mg.

The report was presented at the 5th Annual Testing and Training Symposium &
Exhibition, 19 - 22 August 2002, National Defense Industrial Association

Overview

Among its warnings, the report recognizes that it is not safe to leave shell
fragments in the body as per US military policy; warns that uranium would be
solubilized and redistribute to various tissues as early as one day after
implantation; highlights the special risks faced by children in the battle
area, with risks to water and food supplies; recognizes risks of cancer,
lung fibrosis, and DNA damage from DU deposited in bones.

The report recommends health monitoring of children, soldiers and civilians;
epidemiological monitoring of cancer incidents of soldiers (what about
civilians and soldiers' children?), including urine uranium testing, kidney
function tests and neurological evaluations; removal of heavily contaminated
soil in areas populated with civilians; and long term water and milk
sampling in imact site.

One Recommendation is missing. Stop the production, stockpiling and use of
'depleted' uranium munitions.

Charles Jenks, attorney at law
President of the Core Group
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-1633; Fax 413-773-7507
charles@mtdata.com
http://traprockpeace.org

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 37 DU is CHEMICALLY Mutagenic & Carcinogenic
 
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 11:51:50 -0600 (CST)

 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12121782&dopt=Abstract

Depleted uranium-catalyzed oxidative DNA damage: absence of significant
alpha particle decay.

Miller AC, Stewart M, Brooks K, Shi L, Page N.

Applied Cellular Radiobiology Department, Armed Forces Radiobiology
Research Institute, 8901 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD 20889-5603,
USA. millera@mx.afrri.usuhs.mil

Depleted uranium (DU) is a dense heavy metal used primarily in
military applications. Published data from our laboratory have
demonstrated that DU exposure in vitro to immortalized human
osteoblast (bone-forming -rw) cells (HOS) is both neoplastically
transforming (carcinogenic -rw) and genotoxic (mutagenic -rw). DU
possesses both a radiological (alpha particle) and a chemical (metal)
component. Since DU has a low-specific activity in comparison to
natural uranium, it is not considered to be a significant radiological
hazard. In the current study we demonstrate that DU can generate
oxidative DNA damage and can also catalyze reactions that induce
hydroxyl radicals in the absence of significant alpha particle
decay. Experiments were conducted under conditions in which chemical
generation of hydroxyl radicals was calculated to exceed the
radiolytic generation by 10(6)-fold. The data showed that markers
of oxidative DNA base damage, thymine glycol and 8-deoxyguanosine
could be induced from DU-catalyzed reactions of hydrogen peroxide
and ascorbate similarly to those occurring in the presence of iron
catalysts. DU was 6-fold more efficient than iron at catalyzing the
oxidation of ascorbate at pH 7. These data not only demonstrate
that DU at pH 7 can induced oxidative DNA damage in the absence of
significant alpha particle decay, but also suggest that DU can
induce carcinogenic lesions, e.g. oxidative DNA lesions, through
interaction with a cellular oxygen species.

PMID: 12121782 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
*****************************************************************
 38 [EMMAS] US military are perfectly aware of DU risks
 
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 00:58:26 -0600 (CST)

 
    Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 13:59:03 -1000
    From: viviane <vlerner@interpac.net>
Reply-To: viviane <vlerner@interpac.net>
 Subject: US military are perfectly aware of DU risks

 Page created February 13, 2004 by Charlie Jenks

 http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_dtic_wakayama_Aug2002.html
Depleted Uranium (DU) Munitions
COL J. Edgar Wakayama
OSD/DOT&E/CS
August, 2002

Read this report for the military's own view on risks to health and the
environment.

Download PDF version of PowerPoint Presentation

Traprock site ( 2.6 mg) - http://www.traprockpeace.org/wakayama2.pdf
Traprock has a copy on its site in the event that it 'disappears' from DTIC
site. Remember the Futures Market program that DOD pulled from its site?

People with low bandwidth may prefer the RTF file (easy down load - test
only) http://www.traprockpeace.org/wakayama2.rtf

Official download - Defense Technical Information Center -
http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2002training/wakayama2.pdf

Presented at the The 5th Annual Testing and Training Symposium & Exhibition
19 - 22 August 2002 (table of contents)
http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2002training/

Overview

Among its warnings, the report recognizes that it is not safe to leave shell
fragments in the body as per US military policy; warns that uranium would be
solubilized and redistribute to various tissues as early as one day after
implantation; highlights the special risks faced by children in the battle
area, with risks to water and food supplies; recognizes risks of cancer,
lung fibrosis, and DNA damage from DU deposited in bones.

The report recommends health monitoring of children, soldiers and civilians;
epidemiological monitoring of cancer incidents of soldiers (what about
civilians and soldiers' children?), including urine uranium testing, kidney
function tests and neurological evaluations; removal of heavily contaminated
soil in areas populated with civilians; and long term water and milk
sampling in imact site.

One Recommendation is missing. Stop the production, stockpiling and use of
'depleted' uranium munitions.

Select Sections (see links above for entire report)

Emerging Medical Management Issues:

-During the Persian Gulf War, a number of
allied military personnel internalized DU
fragments as a result of several friendly fire
incidents (only the allied forces possessed
DU munitions).
-The three major routes of human exposure
to DU are:
a. Wounding by shrapnel,
b. Inhalation (lungs and thoracic lymph nodes),
c. Ingestion (most among children playing and
eating contaminated soil and contaminated
drinking water and food in the community).
1. At that time, existing DoD fragments
removal guidelines indicated that shrapnel be
remained in place unless they cause future
health threat.
2. Because DU is still radioactive, studies
were performed in rats with embedded DU
fragments.
3. Indicated that uranium would be
solubilized and redistribute to various tissues
as early as one day after implantation.
4. As expected, the highest uranium
concentrations were in kidneys and bone.
5. Other tissues also showed significantly
higher levels.
6. Urine samples containing uranium
showed mutagenic as determined by the
Ames test.
7. The cultured human stem bone cell line
with DU also transformed the cells to
become carcinogenic.
8. Because of these findings, there are
proposed changes in the DU shrapnel
removal policy. For example, it is now
advised that DU fragments greater than 1 cm
be removed unless the medical risk is
determined to be too grave.
9. The other significant changes include a
procedure to detect the presence of DU in the
metal fragments and treatment guidelines.
Emerging Environmental Concerns Include:
 A significant exposure to DU among
children playing in the impact sites by
ingesting heavily-contaminated soil,
 Slow leaching of DU in local water
supplies over years,
 Consuming DU contaminated food
sources (animals and plants).
Radiation Health Effects:
 Inhalation exposure (major effect): Lungs and
thoracic lymph nodes;
 The lifetime risk of lung cancer in general
population: 1:250 for non-smoker, and 1:6 for
cigarette smokers;
 Soldiers on battlefield: Estimated lung cancer:
<1:40,000 (The Royal Society Report, March 2002)
 The most heavily exposed soldier: Estimated lung
cancer for the most worst-case to be about 1:15,
but more likely 1:1,000 surviving in a struck tank
(The Royal Society Report, March 2002);
 DU can be deposited in bone causing DNA damage
by the effects of the alpha particles;
 A large inhalation of dust (without radiations):
Long-term respiratory effects (Lung fibrosis, in
addition to risk of lung cancer).
 Immune deficiency: Negligible effect (The Royal
Society Report, March 2002);
 An extra risk of death from leukemia and other
cancers: Insignificant and much lower than that of
lung cancer (The Royal Society Report, March
2002).
Future Studies/Recommendations:
a. Monitoring of kidney function and urine
uranium levels among children,
peacekeepers, and inhabitants.
b. Epidemiological monitoring of cancer
incidents among soldiers surviving
during friendly fire and soldiers working for
protracted periods in heavily contaminated
vehicles, including urine uranium testing,
kidney function tests, and neurological
evaluations.
c. Heavily contaminated soil should be
removed if the area is to be populated
with civilians.
d. Long-term annual water and milk
sampling for DU levels in the impact site.
----
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road, Woolman Hill
Deerfield, MA 01342
Phone: (413) 773-7427; Fax:(413)773-7507; contact by email

 =========
*** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.***

#################################################################
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*****************************************************************
 39 Deseretnews: Matheson promotes N-safety
        
[deseretnews.com] 
 	
Saturday, February 14, 2004
 	   	 
Legislation aims to protect citizens if testing resumes

By Jerry Spangler Deseret Morning News

The Mathesons have long maintained the
family patriarch, former Gov. Scott Matheson, died of cancer
caused by fallout from above-ground nuclear tests that billowed
over southern Utah.

       Now Matheson's son, 2nd District Rep. Jim Matheson,
D-Utah, wants to make sure that situation never occurs again. On
Friday, he announced new legislation, the Safety for Americans
from Nuclear Weapons Act, to ensure the safety of Americans if
and when nuclear weapons testing resumes at the Nevada Test Site.

       "Like thousands of Utah families, I am painfully aware of
the federal government's failure to protect its citizens from
the dangers of radioactive fallout created during atomic testing
in Nevada in the 1950s and 1960s," he said. "The federal
government said we were safe. The federal government knew we
were at risk."

       To date, almost 5,000 Utahns have been awarded $179
million in federal compensation claims for cancers and other
illnesses caused from atomic fallout. Compensation was based on
government studies of a single radioactive isotope, Matheson
said, and more studies are needed to fully appreciate the
far-reaching effects of nuclear testing on Utah residents.

      "I will not stand by and let the government take Utah
families down that path again," he said during a press
conference at the state Capitol. "We need greater accountability
before we even consider putting citizens at risk again."

       The legislation would, among other things, require
congressional authorization before nuclear weapons testing could
resume. It would require the federal government to conduct an
environmental review prior to conducting tests. And the
Environmental Protection Agency, now headed by former Utah Gov.
Mike Leavitt, who has family members who are downwinders, would
monitor the tests and report to the public on the findings.

       The bill also calls for a study of the health effects of
radiation exposure, related illnesses and the various
radioactive isotopes linked to adverse health. And it sets up a
grant program whereby universities can conduct independent
monitoring.

       Other provisions call for:

       • At least one week public notice before each test.

       • If any radiation leaks beyond the Nevada Test Site, the
government must cease testing.

       • The National Cancer Institute will provide estimates of
radioactivity dosages on humans and report to Congress and the
public within three years.

       Scott Matheson died at age 61 of a cancer associated with
exposure to radioactive fallout. It happened at about the same
time the federal government finally acknowledged it was
responsible for fallout deaths with the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act.

E-mail: spang@desnews.com
	 
 © 2004 Deseret News Publishing Company 
*****************************************************************
 40 Salt Lake Tribune: 'Downwinders' safeguards focus of Matheson bill 
 
February 14, 2004   
 
 By Judy Fahys 
 
    U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson announced legislation Friday to
prevent creation of a new generation of "downwinders" -- people
whose health is damaged by nuclear weapons testing. 
 
    The 2nd District Democrat said his "Safety for Americans
from Nuclear Weapons Testing Act" would foster government
accountability as the Bush administration considers using the
Nevada Test Site once again to try out its nuclear arsenal.
Calling the bill national in scope and bipartisan, Matheson
hopes for support from the four Republicans representing Utah in
Congress once the bill is drafted by congressional lawyers. 
 
    "This is not some abstract concept," said Matheson.
"Congress is moving down that path, and now is the time to
address it." 
 
    As he presented the bill at a State Capitol press
conference, Matheson stood in front of a poster illustrating the
path of radioactive iodine-131 contained in atomic-weapons test
fallout. 
 
    The map showed "hot spots" that began in southern Utah,
stretched through the Rockies and Great Plains, and even reached
into Vermont. 
 
    Studies by the National Cancer Institute show that the tests
in the last century increased American cancer deaths by tens of
thousands. In Utah, 3,130 people have been awarded a total of
$179 million because of their exposure, under the 1990 Radiation
Exposure and Compensation Act spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Orrin
Hatch, R-Utah. 
 
    Matheson mentioned, too, that his father, the late Utah Gov.
Scott Matheson, was the victim of a common downwinder cancer. 
 
    He added that the toll has been much broader, extending to
thousands of people nationwide who were exposed to fallout from
900 tests in Nevada between 1951 and 1992. 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
    Among the provisions of the bill is one that would require a
congressional vote on the resumption of testing and an
environmental impact statement. Any tests would be monitored by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and could be
independently verified by outside organizations, such as
universities. 
 
    Although local groups and the 300,000-member Navajo Nation
pledged their support for the bill, even Matheson acknowledged
it may be tough to persuade lawmakers from outside the Rockies. 
 
    They may know about the Bush administration's push to
prepare for new nuclear weapons in the war on terror, he said,
but many may not have heard about the effects of the
government's past nuclear tests. 
 
    "As Jim says," noted downwinder Mary Dickson, "there is a
lot of education to be done." 
 
    fahys@sltrib.com
 
    
 
   
 
   
 
              
 
  
Copyright Salt Lake City Tribune
*****************************************************************
 41 baltimoresun: High radioactivity and low security 

Scattered across remains of U.S.S.R. are materials to make 'dirty 
bombs'

        By Douglas Birch        Sun Foreign Staff       

Originally published February 14, 2004 

SOKHUMI, Abkhazia - It's the stuff from which nightmares are 
made.
 
Ignoring the ominous graffiti scrawled on the rusting steel doors 
- "Radiation! Danger!! Stop! Cancer!" - three men broke into a 
masonry bungalow at a medical research institute here in May 
2002. They fished seven lead-lined capsules out of a containment 
pool.
 
The thieves took the containers, shaped like coffee cans, back to 
a garage, stripped the lead out of at least one, and planned to 
melt down the metal to make shotgun pellets.
 
But these were not ordinary canisters. Lerry Meskhi, head of 
nuclear and radiation safety for the former Soviet republic of 
Georgia, said they contained a small but potent amount of cesium 
137, emitting about 33,000 curies of radioactivity - enough to 
cause radiation sickness or death.
 
The three thieves quickly fell ill. Abkhazia's de-facto 
government - rebels who led a successful revolt against Georgia 
in 1993 - had the cesium moved to the ruins of a nearby physics 
institute for safer storage.
 
But the danger posed by this deadly cache, and thousands of 
others like it scattered through the former Soviet empire, has by 
no means disappeared.
 
When the Soviet Union and its satellite regimes collapsed, Cold 
War fears of mutual annihilation were replaced by fears that 
Soviet-era stockpiles of plutonium and highly enriched uranium 
could, through bribery or theft, fall into the hands of rogue 
states or terrorists.
 
But those fears now extend to relatively common radioactive 
materials, including those used in medical research, agriculture 
and navigation devices.
 
Cesium 137 and these other common materials can't detonate. But 
an ounce or so - the weight matters less than the level of 
radioactivity, measured in curies - could be used to make a 
"dirty bomb," a conventional high-explosive salted with 
radioactive matter.
 
Frightening, costly 

Such a device would have no more explosive power than a 
conventional bomb. But it would spread a cloud of radioactive 
particles that could cause additional injuries or deaths. It 
would certainly trigger panic.
 
A recent study by the U.S. National Defense University in 
Washington, D.C., estimated that the cleanup after detonation of 
one large device in Lower Manhattan would cost $40 billion.
 
No one has ever used a dirty bomb. But after the defeat of the 
Taliban in Afghanistan, U.S. troops scouring caves used by 
al-Qaida discovered the blueprints for one. Justice Department 
officials said in June 2002 that they had foiled a plot to use 
such a device in a major American city.
 
The radioactive ingredients for a dirty bomb can be found in just 
about every country in the world. But nowhere, it seems, are more 
of them kept under poor security than in the former Soviet Union.
 
And probably nowhere in the wreckage of the U.S.S.R. is the 
material less secure than in Abkhazia and other rebel-controlled 
bits of post-Soviet states where corruption is endemic, the rule 
of law weak and smuggling a mainstay of the economy.
 
If the three Abkhazian thieves had known what they had, they 
might have tried to smuggle the cesium to Turkey with a shipload 
of lumber. Or tried to carry it in a car through Georgia and 
south toward Iran.
 
In recent years, hunters and farmers in Georgia have stumbled on 
radioactive devices scattered through the countryside. They have 
used the hot cores to make hot water or keep them warm while 
camping in the mountains. This month, the Georgian government 
said it had found tiny amounts of cesium 137 at 30 gasoline 
stations across the country, used to measure the level of gas in 
tanks.
 
Abkhazia is a breakaway part of Georgia where separatists routed 
government troops in the fall of 1993, after a civil war that 
killed 10,000 people.
 
Today Abkhazia is one of four ethnic enclaves - the others are 
Chechnya, Nagorno-Karabakh and Trans-Dniester - to claim 
independence. Most have become havens for smugglers and criminal 
groups.
 
With its palm-fringed beaches, orange groves and sunny 
Mediterranean climate, Abkhazia seems like a dreamy refuge from 
the world of war and terrorist threats. That appearance masks a 
different reality.
 
The country is carved up among four criminal gangs who smuggle 
everything from timber and hazelnuts to hashish and stolen cars, 
according to a draft report by American University's 
Transnational Crime and Corruption Center. Kidnapping and 
assassination are common. Police are ineffective.
 
"The distinction among official security and police forces, 
criminals [and] various armed formations is totally blurred," the 
report says.
 
During the war, the medical research institute in Sokhumi was 
ransacked. But its radioactive cesium, used in leukemia research, 
was untouched.
 
Theft and recovery 

The institute's director, Sergei K. Ardzinba, resisted foreign 
pressure to move the material to a more secure storage site. He 
hoped, he said in a recent interview, to resume radiological 
experiments one day.
 
After the theft and recovery of the cesium in May 2002, Ardzinba 
relinquished the material. The rebel government moved it to a 
vault at a former nuclear weapons lab called the Sokhumi 
Institute of Physics and Technology. There, it was stored with 
about 240 other samples of radioactive material.
 
Unfortunately, the Sokhumi physics institute has a poor record of 
protecting nuclear materials. According to Western experts, in 
spring 1993 it held between 1.4 and 4.4 pounds of highly enriched 
uranium, suitable for a nuclear bomb. Sometime after that, 
nonproliferation experts say, the uranium vanished.
 
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there have been at least 18 
reports of stolen plutonium or highly enriched uranium. But the 
theft in Sokhumi is unique.
 
"It represents, to the best of my knowledge, the only confirmed 
instance of missing or diverted highly enriched uranium or 
plutonium that was not recovered," said William Potter, a 
nonproliferation scholar with the Monterey Institute of 
International Studies in California.
 
For several years after the war with Georgia, Abkhaz officials 
barred international inspectors from visiting the physics 
institute. Experts with Russia's atomic energy agency, Minatom, 
finally gained access in December 1997. They found most buildings 
vacant. Any highly enriched uranium was gone.
 
Abkhazian officials insist they haven't lost any nuclear bomb 
materials. Anatolia I. Markolia, director of Sokhumi's physics 
institute, says he has no evidence the facility ever had highly 
enriched uranium. "Nothing went missing during the war," he said.
 
But most foreign experts believe otherwise. Valter G. Kashia, a 
former researcher at the institute, said in an interview he 
personally used 655 grams - 1.4 pounds - of highly enriched 
uranium at the institute to test designs of nuclear-powered 
electric generators for spacecraft. Kashia fled Abkhazia in 1992 
and now lives in exile in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.
 
Abkhazia's security chief turned down requests to visit the 
Sokhumi physics institute and see the vault where the radioactive 
materials are held.
 
Lack of security 

Nonproliferation experts say they think cesium 137 from the 
medical research center is still safely stored there. But some 
still worry about what might happen to the material.
 
"Even if [radioactive material] is under lock and key and 
guarded, how reliable is that under the Abkhaz regime?" asked 
Scott Parish, a proliferation researcher at the Monterey 
Institute, who has been to Abkhazia.
 
Vilmos Friedrich, an official with the International Atomic 
Energy Agency in Vienna, helps run that agency's program to clean 
up radioactive materials in the former Soviet Union. Among the 
most troublesome regions for regulators, he said, are those where 
central governments have little or no control.
 
"Of course, where the political structure is not well 
established, where smuggling and illicit trafficking of any kind 
of materials is going on, there is much higher probability that 
this illicit activity also includes radioactivity," he said.
 
Georgian authorities have caught several people attempting to 
smuggle materials that might be used in a dirty bomb. Last May, a 
taxi driver was caught headed for Tbilisi's main railroad station 
carrying a trunk loaded with containers of highly radioactive 
cesium 137 and strontium 90.
 
A month later, an Armenian man was arrested in a border town, on 
his way south to the Armenian capital, Yerevan. American-supplied 
radioactivity detectors set up at the roadside sounded an alarm, 
and border guards discovered a 4.4-pound disc of uranium hidden a 
shopping bag filled with tea.
 
Lt. Gen. Valeri Chkheidze, chief of the Georgian border guards, 
said Abkhazia's long coastline on the Black Sea makes it 
difficult to control what goes in and what comes out.
 
"Contraband is widespread," he said. "Drugs are being trafficked. 
Where there is no control, it is easy to smuggle radioactive 
materials as well."
 
Copyright © 2004,        

  baltimoresun.com > nation
*****************************************************************
 42 Japan Times: Museum marks Bikini blast anniversary

    Sunday, February 15, 2004   

 Fukuryu Maru exhibition details aftermath of infamous 1954
nuclear test

 By NAO SHIMOYACHI Staff writer

 Early on March 1, 1954, the United States exploded a hydrogen 
bomb, code-named Bravo, on the Pacific Ocean's Bikini Atoll, in 
the Marshall Islands.

  [News photo]   
  Amatlain E. Kabua, the Marshall Islands ambassador to Japan, 
speaks at a ceremony Saturday at the Daigo Fukuryu Maru 
Exhibition Hall in Tokyo's Koto Ward.   

It was the most powerful thermonuclear device ever tested by the 
U.S. -- 1,000 times larger than those dropped on Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki -- and exposed local islanders, 28 U.S. military weather 
observers and 23 Japanese fishermen who happened to be near the 
test site aboard a tuna trawler to near-fatal amounts of 
radiation.

 Because of the power of the bomb, which was beyond even the 
expectations of its designers, as well as the resulting 
radioactive contamination of people and the environment, the 
Bravo blast triggered large-scale antinuclear movements in Japan 
and around the world, including the Russell-Einstein Manifest.

 To mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of the incident, the Tokyo 
museum that is now home to the 140-ton wooden trawler, the 
Fukuryu Maru No. 5, which is also known in English as the Lucky 
Dragon, began a special memorial project on Saturday in a bid to 
raise public awareness of the continuing threat of nuclear 
weapons.

 "I think it is important to get back to the starting point now 
that political, moral and technological brakes on nuclear weapons 
appear to be uncertain," said Shoichiro Kawasaki, president of 
the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Foundation, during a ceremony to open the 
exhibition.

 The foundation is entrusted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government 
with the management of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall, in 
Tokyo's Koto Ward.

 Amatlain E. Kabua, the Marshall Islands ambassador to Japan, 
attended the opening ceremony and said "Marshall islanders have 
suffered the same" as the Japanese, adding that "the tragedy 
should never be repeated again."

 The exhibition hall has renovated its main display hall, 
detailing the Bravo blast as well as the history of nuclear 
weapons with colorful panels and updating descriptions.

 Over the coming year, it will hold special photo exhibitions 
featuring the lives of people in the Marshall Islands, where the 
U.S. conducted a total of 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, 
and display letters sent from around the nation to the 
hospitalized crew members of the Fukuryu Maru No. 5.

 The museum also plans to dispatch mobile exhibitions to a number 
of cities around Japan, including Yokohama, Kyoto and Yaizu, 
Shizuoka Prefecture, from June.

 "We may no longer see such a large-scale nuclear test as was 
carried out at Bikini," said Kazuya Yasuda, secretary general of 
the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Foundation, but the issue of nuclear 
weapons "has never been solved and continues in a different 
form," he said, citing the fact that there are some 20,000 
nuclear weapons still deployed around the world.

 Yasuda also referred to U.S. plans to deploy miniature nuclear 
weapons -- a move widely seen as blurring the traditional 
boundaries between conventional and nuclear weapons.

 The museum opened in 1976 as a result of citizens' efforts to 
preserve the Fukuryu Maru.

 After radioactivity levels aboard the vessel had decayed to a 
safe level, the tuna trawler was moved in 1956 to the Tokyo 
University of Fisheries as a training ship.

 After 10 years of service, the ship was sold to a scrap dealer 
and was eventually abandoned at Yumenoshima, in Tokyo.

 Citizens learned of the ship's fate through media reports and 
launched a campaign to preserve the vessel, resulting in the 
establishment of the museum with the trawler displayed as a 
symbol of peace and a world free of nuclear weapons.

 The Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall is located in Yumenoshima 
(Island of Dreams) Park, a 10-minute walk from Shinkiba Station 
on the JR Keiyo Line or the Subway Yurakucho Line.

 It is open between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., except Mondays. 
Admission is free. For more information, call the secretariat at 
(03) 3521-8494 or e-mail 

The Japan Times: Feb. 15, 2004 (C) All rights reserved 
*****************************************************************
 43 AU ABC: Marshall islands concern over nuclear study funding 

RADIO AUSTRALIA
 
Marshall Islands officials have angrily accused the US Department 
of Energy of secretly removing 740,000 dollars from annual 
funding for nuclear test-related studies in the central Pacific 
nation. 

According to officials on Bikini Atoll, the cuts to the Lawrence 
Livermore Laboratory's Marshall Islands radiological studies 
program will result in the closure of a field station at Bikini 
that is used to support long-term scientific studies at the 
former nuclear test site. 

It will also halt other studies on Bikini, Enewetak and Rongelap 
atolls. 

The Department of Energy has always maintained a presence at 
Bikini Atoll which was the site of 23 nuclear tests in the 1940s 
and 1950s.

Bikini Atoll local government's liaison officer, Jack Niedenthal 
says the DOE needs the presence to do long-terms studies.

US State Department officials in Majuro said they had no comment 
other than that they were looking into the matter. 

14/02/2004 18:07:17 | ABC Radio Australia News 
*****************************************************************
 44 Paducah Sun: Paducah beryllium cases spread Georgian becomes part of mystery 

  Saturday, February 14, 2004;Paducah, Kentucky     

@@PICTURE:0hYp_business.jpg @@SUMMARY:Former Paducah Gaseous
Diffusion Plant worker Bob Butler had never heard of beryllium
when he began to breathe heavily while walking to and from the
mailbox a few years ago. @@EOM:End of Marker Required -- END OF

By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650
 
  Sun files One contaminated site: The C-400 building, where
weapons parts were cleaned and decontaminated, was the site of
beryllium exposure. 

Former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant worker Bob Butler had
never heard of beryllium when he began to breathe heavily while
walking to and from the mailbox a few years ago.

 Butler, a 75-year-old native Georgian, figured his shortness of
breath was merely from having moved from flat Albany to hilly
Rossville, just below Chattanooga, Tenn.

 But when his son told him of free health screenings for nuclear
workers, he took blood tests, and the results in April 2002
showed he had beryllium sensitivity, a bodily reaction to the
highly toxic metal.

 "When they told me what I had, I had to look up beryllium (in a
medical book) to see what it was," Butler said.

 He then went for a CT scan, which showed a tiny spot in one of
his lungs. Several scans later, the spot hasn't grown, and
doctors tell him he has chronic beryllium disease, which scars
the lungs and can be fatal. "As I understand it, it can turn
into cancer, and that's why they keep checking it."

 As of Feb. 4, Butler was among 29 former Paducah employees with
the disease and 20 with beryllium sensitivity, according to the
Department of Labor in Washington. Those with the disease
qualify for a $150,000 lump-sum payment. 

Butler, who worked at the plant from 1953 to 1961, won't discuss
his claim status but says the government pays his medical bills,
including those of a lung specialist in Chattanooga. Like the
other former workers, he wonders how and where he breathed the
dust of beryllium, a durable silvery metal stronger than steel
and lighter than aluminum. It was known to have been used
elsewhere to harden nuclear weapons parts and in electrical
circuitry.

 Beryllium wasn't part of the plant vocabulary until 1999, when
the Department of Energy announced a compensation program but
said there was no evidence beryllium was used at Paducah. Then a
health physicist found an old DOE memo mentioning beryllium use
at the plant. In interviews, a few former workers recalled
dismantling nuclear missile parts for smelting many years ago
but knew nothing about beryllium.

 In 2000, DOE admitted that nuclear weapons parts and related
contamination at the plant were more widespread than previously
disclosed. Some parts were secretly built in the huge machine
shop and shipped to customers. Others were dismantled in a
cleaning building to salvage gold and silver. The shop may also
have done beryllium coating work for other agencies. In the
early years, the work mainly was for defense plants.

 Also in 2000, DOE published an investigative report saying
beryllium-copper components may have been machined or cleaned
for customers in the 1960s. The department acknowledged that for
the past decade, elevated levels of beryllium had been found in
groundwater and soil, mainly around buildings used for weapons
work and at landfills where parts were scrapped. 

As an electrical maintenance mechanic, Butler worked out of the
shop but says he wasn't involved with weaponry. The process was
classified at the time, so those involved never discussed it. A
nuclear workers' union screening program now has found that at
least 10 people exposed to beryllium never worked where it was
milled.

 "I don't think there's any way they can pinpoint how I got the
disease because I was all over the plant as part of my daily
routine," Butler said. "I understand the blood test costs an arm
and a leg, and without it I never would have known."

 Questions about the disease heightened last month when
unexpectedly high levels of beryllium dust were found in the
machine shop at Paducah's closed companion plant in Piketon,
Ohio. The dust was near equipment used to machine the ends of
compressor blades that push uranium gas through miles of piping.
Before that discovery, the Energy Department had said beryllium
was never used at Piketon. 

Compressor blades at Paducah haven't been tested. Bill Murphie,
DOE cleanup manager for both plants, said the Piketon results
were surprising and warrant a more thorough check to see if
beryllium may have gotten into Paducah production areas. 

"We're definitely going to do some more testing," he said. "The
plan is to sit down and look at what we can do to get ahead of
it and take appropriate action."

 Murphie said the nuclear workers' union and USEC Inc., which
leases much of the plant for production, will be involved in
meetings to determine the scope of testing. 

Union President Philip Foley said DOE has never responded to two
Freedom of Information requests — one filed four years ago and
another more than a year ago — about beryllium at the plant. The
union has long suspected that beryllium was more prevalent than
has been disclosed, and the Piketon findings suggest that more
workers need to be tested, said Foley, who formerly coordinated
the screening program. Previously, people were tested for
beryllium sensitivity only if they worked in areas where the
metal was used. 

Nearly 700 samples were taken last May and June in 11 areas of
the Paducah plant with known or suspected beryllium history.
Notable areas were the machine shop, cleaning building and a
closed smelter.

 No beryllium was found in the air. Only a few samples had
concentrations of beryllium above the level found naturally in
soil or on surfaces above the DOE standard for plant
housekeeping. The sampling report recommended an assessment of
exposure potential in work areas.

Testing

Two programs test for beryllium disease among current and former
Paducah plant workers.

 As of Feb. 4, a Department of Labor program had found 20
workers had beryllium sensitivity, a bodily reaction to the
toxic metal, qualifying them for free medical screening for the
rest of their lives. Twenty-nine workers had been diagnosed with
chronic beryllium disease, of whom 26 had received $150,000
lump-sum payments. The payments to the others were pending.
Total payments were $3.9 million.

 The Department of Labor claims office in Paducah is in Barkley
Centre off Blandville Road. The phone number is 534-0599.

 A nuclear workers' union/DOE program provides free health
screenings for beryllium sensitivity and disease. Those exposed
are routinely referred to the Labor Department for potential
compensation. 

Contact 513-558-1843 or log onto www.eh.doe.gov/health. 

*****************************************************************
 45 Salt Lake Tribune: House panel votes to close a waste loophole 
 
February 14, 2004   
 
 By Judy Fahys 
 
    A House committee revived a bill Friday that would cap all
radioactive waste coming to Utah at certain hazard levels unless
the Legislature and the governor specifically approve hotter
waste. 
 
    The measure would give the state better control over
low-level radioactive waste, in particular at Envirocare of
Utah, the radioactive-waste landfill in Tooele County. Rep.
Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, proposed the bill after the U.S.
Energy Department used a regulatory loophole and an act of
Congress last fall to push for disposal of highly concentrated
cleanup waste from Fernald, Ohio, and Niagara Falls, N.Y., at
the privately owned Envirocare. 
 
    "We had a loophole that was big enough to drive a truck or
train through," said Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake City, "and
this would appear to close the loophole." 
 
    The prospect of the disposal of the Ohio and New York waste
in Utah sparked calls for tighter control. Over the objections
of Envirocare, the House Public Utilities and Technology
Committee unanimously approved Urquhart's House Bill 145. 
 
    The measure appeared dead on Tuesday. Originally, it would
have forced Envirocare to seek legislative and gubernatorial
approval to dispose of more concentrated waste in the "mixed
waste" section of the landfill, which now contains mildly
radioactive material tainted with hazardous chemicals. It also
would have allowed waste called "Special Nuclear Materials" to
avoid such a vote, and enter Utah with approval by state
regulators instead of the governor and legislators. 
 
    But the bill was amended to rely on the A-B-C classification
scale, which is used by states and the federal government to
measure the hazard level of low-level radioactive waste. And, as
long as the waste has a Class A hazard or lower, Envirocare can
take it no matter whether it is "mixed waste," "Special Nuclear
Material" or something else. 
 
    Class A waste, the lowest of the three levels, is the
maximum currently allowed in Utah. Under current law, the A-B-C
classification scale applies only to a small portion of the
Envirocare site, but would be expanded under Urquhart's bill to
apply to the whole site. 
 
    With the modification, Urquhart was able to win support of
fellow committee members who had struggled with the complexities
of radioactive waste regulation. 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
    Urquhart said there is widespread public support for keeping
the waste under the control of elected leaders, rather than
state and federal regulators who have been making most of the
state's past waste decisions. 
 
    Envirocare said its main concern was a 10 percent gross
receipts tax imposed by the bill on the higher levels of mixed
waste. The tax would parallel those imposed last year by the
Legislature on other waste. 
 
    "Clearly, we have some heartburn with this tax," said Tim
Barney, senior vice president for the company, which has said
its annual revenues were about $140 million. 
 
    Last fall, the U.S. Energy Department persuaded Congress to
pass legislation to allow highly contaminated cleanup sludge to
go to Envirocare even though radium waste with such a high
hazard level is currently banned in state-controlled facilities.
Public pressure prompted Envirocare to pull out of the bidding
for that waste contract, although Congress cleared the way for
it anyhow. 
 
    The environmental group Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah
(HEAL) said they generally supported the bill as a way to
prevent higher concentrations of radioactive waste from coming
to the state. 
 
    fahys@sltrib.com
 
    
 
   
 
   
 
              
 
  
Copyright Salt Lake City Tribune
*****************************************************************
 46 Deseretnews: Revamped waste bill pleases both sides
 
[deseretnews.com] 
 	
Saturday, February 14, 2004
 	   	 
Envirocare would pay higher taxes, limit hotter waste

By Jerry Spangler Deseret Morning News

Envirocare of Utah will pay higher taxes on some
wastes going to its Tooele County landfill, and it will not be
allowed to take hotter wastes without legislative and
gubernatorial approval, under terms of a revamped bill.

       Now, almost everybody on both sides of the contentious
debate feels pretty good about HB145, sponsored by Rep. Steve
Urquhart, R-St. George.

       "It closes a loophole and sets tax policy for the (waste)
task force to discuss in the months ahead," said Sen. Curt
Bramble, R-Provo, who had led the Senate's opposition to the
bill but is now the Senate sponsor. "I am fine with it. Our
biggest concern was that we did not want the Legislature
micromanaging Class A wastes. But this bill is appropriate
because we are saying the Legislature should have a say for
wastes outside that stream."

       Bramble and Urquhart are the co-chairmen of a task force
looking at waste issues, including Utah's tax structure on waste
companies. The task force meets through the end of 2004 and will
make recommendations to the Legislature in 2005, when the real
fireworks over waste will begin.

       Given that Envirocare last year was seeking radioactive
wastes from Fernald, Ohio, that were hotter than its current
state license, Urquhart said lawmakers could not wait until 2005
to close a loophole that would have skirted current law
requiring legislative and gubernatorial approval for hotter
wastes, the so-called Class B and C wastes.

       Even though Envirocare dropped its request to federal
regulators to modify its license to accept the Ohio waste, the
loophole came to the attention of lawmakers who last year passed
a moratorium on Class B and C wastes pending the task force
report. The loophole was created when the Ohio wastes were
reclassified as uranium mill tailings, something that is
included in Envirocare's current federal license but would have
required tweaking by federal regulators.

       "It was a loophole big enough to drive a truck or a train
through," said Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake.

       Under Envirocare's current license it can take wastes up
to 10,000 "picocurries" per gram. The Ohio wastes were 200,000
picocurries per gram.

       In its original form, HB145 contained detailed provisions
about isotopes and types of waste that would require legislative
approval, leading to opposition from Envirocare and some GOP
senators, who said it was too much micromanagement. And many
House members were confused and overwhelmed by the technical
aspects of measuring the amount of radioactivity in waste.

       In its current form, the bill says Envirocare can accept
the Class A wastes it has always accepted, and any new wastes,
regardless of how they are labeled, have to fall within the same
levels of radioactivity as what the company now accepts.

       "It looks at the contents (of the waste container) rather
than the label on the container," said Jason Groenewold with
Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, who spoke in favor of the
bill.

       What does Envirocare get out of it? For one, radioactive
wastes mixed with hazardous wastes could contain radioactivity
up to the same limits as the rest of the waste dump (currently,
the limit on the "mixed waste cell" is dramatically lower than
the rest of the facility). And two license applications pending
before state regulators are not affected by the legislation so
long as the company stays within its current Class A limits.

       But the company will pay a 10 percent gross receipts tax
on the mixed wastes that are hotter than the mixed wastes it now
accepts up to the Class A limit.

       Tim Barney, senior vice president at Envirocare, said the
company is concerned about the "new tax brought in at the 11th
hour," and he warned it is difficult, if not night impossible,
to sort the wastes to determine which ones are taxed at 10
percent and which ones should be taxed under the old rate of 5
percent.

       The tax is not likely to generate much money for the
state. Most of the mixed waste comes from federal government
cleanup projects, which are exempt from the tax.

       The bill, which unanimously passed the House Utilities
and Technology Committee, was also supported by the Utah
Department of Environmental Quality. It now goes to the full
House.

E-mail: spang@desnews.com

 © 2004 Deseret News Publishing Company 
*****************************************************************
 47 Salt Lake Tribune: Don't bow to business 
 
February 15, 2004   
 
    I am writing in response to Judy Fahys' Feb. 5 article
entitled "Utah may gain say-so on N-waste." While I commend St.
to put the decision-making power on hotter nuclear waste where
it belongs -- in the hands of elected officials -- I must take
issue with the exception it gives for certain materials. 
 
    While this bill is noble in intent, it loses much of its
power to enact change in this very exception. This language
allows Envirocare to accept a greater amount of plutonium and
enriched uranium. If anything should be subject to the approval
of elected officials, it should be dangerous materials such as
these. To suggest otherwise, as Envirocare spokesperson Tim
Barney did, is ridiculous. The time is long overdue for
legislators to take the power out of the hands of bureaucrats
and stop bowing to the interests of big business. 
 
    As U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett so effectively stated, let Utah "be
known as the state that had the Olympics, rather than the state
that takes nuclear waste." 
 
    
 
   Brandon Rufener 
 
   Salt Lake City 
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
   
 
   
 
              
 
  
Copyright Salt Lake City Tribune
*****************************************************************
 48 Contra Costa Times: Sandia lab seeks permit renewal for new hazardous waste facility

 | 02/14/2004 | 

By Andrea Widener

 CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Sandia/California Laboratories aims to get a new hazardous waste 
permit to open a rebuilt waste storage and shipment building. 

The building will open once the Sandia lab in Livermore is 
awarded the 10-year permit, which would allow the lab to move 
waste inside from older buildings and tents and more easily ship 
it to storage and treatment facilities. 

The proposal carries with it little controversy, but an ongoing 
public comment period is allowing the lab's neighbors to share 
their thoughts about the building. 

Jim Bartel, manager of Sandia's environmental operations, said 
lab officials have already talked to city and county officials 
and local groups. 

"I think we're doing a good job," Bartel said. 

The Sandia lab deals with several types of hazardous waste 
through its basic science and national security research. While 
it produces a small amount of radioactive waste, hazardous 
chemicals are the majority of its waste. 

The new building, completed early last year, is basically a 
glorified shed that will allow lab workers to store waste and 
process it indoors. It also has a covered loading and unloading 
dock that would help minimize spills. 

The current site is next to an arroyo, so the new building would 
move much of the waste inside a more secure facility and away 
from the waterway. 

The lab doesn't treat that waste at its own site, except to pack 
it into drums. Instead, it ships the waste to various treatment 
facilities around the country. 

The permit itself is a renewal of an old one, which expired a 
year ago but was extended because the lab was in the application 
process. 

The building is a good addition because it gets the waste inside 
and spills could be more easily contained, said Cherry Padilla 
with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, which 
issues the permit. But she doesn't expect a flood of letters 
either way. 

"There is not much interest in the project," she said. 

For more information on the hazardous waste permit, go to the 
state Department of Toxic Substances Control Web site at 
www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Sandia. To comment on the 
proposal, write to Cherry Padilla, DTSC Berkeley Office, 700 
Heinz Ave., Suite 200, Berkeley, CA 94710; or e-mail her at 
cpadilla@dtsc.ca.gov. The comment period ends March 10. Reach 
Andrea Widener at 925-847-2158 or awidener@cctimes.com.   

About The Contra Costa Times 
*****************************************************************
 49 KoreaTimes: Puan Residents Vote Down Nuclear Waste Dump Plan 

Hankooki.com > Korea Times   

By Byun Duk-kun Staff Reporter

 Nearly 92 percent of the residents in Puan county, North Cholla 
Province, who cast their ballots in a residents' vote held on 
Saturday, opposed the construction of a highly-controversial 
nuclear waste reprocessing facility on Wido, an islet off the 
county's coast.

 In a local referendum organized by the residents for the first 
time in South Korea, 91.8 percent or 34,472 residents of Puan 
opposed the building of a nuclear waste facility on Wido while 
only some 5.7 percent or 2,146 residents voted for the nuclear 
facility, according to the residents' organizing committee. But 
Wido residents were blocked from taking part in the vote due to 
disruptions from organizations in favor of hosting the nuclear 
storage facility. 

More than 37,000 voters out of the total 52,108 eligible 
constituents in the county cast their ballots, recording a 72.04 
percent turnout of voters, is one of the highest turnouts ever 
for the region. The county recorded a 69 percent voter turnout in 
the 2002 local election. ``Such a high turnout is a demonstration 
of the residents' willingness to solve the problem through a 
democratic vote,'' Ha Seung-soo, a lawyer who is working for the 
residents' election committee, said in an interview.

 ``We will deliver the result of the vote to the government this 
week. The government will have to accept the result and scrap the 
nuclear facility project,'' he added. 

Still, more disputes are expected in Puan as those working to 
house the nuclear facility, especially the residents of Wido, the 
site for the projected nuclear waste reprocessing facility, are 
refusing to accept the results of the poll. 

The vote was originally scheduled to take place at 37 polling 
stations within the county including one on Wido. However, a 
resident group that supports the housing of the nuclear waste 
facility seized the polling station on Wido by force, preventing 
more than 1,000 voters on the islet from casting their ballots. 
Those in favor of the project believe the nuclear facility will 
bring various economic benefits to the region. 

The Puan county government, which also is a stanch supporter of 
the project, had asked the court to prohibit the residents from 
holding their vote, arguing such acts are illegal until a law 
which provides the legal background for residents to hold a vote 
on government-initiated projects becomes effective at the end of 
June. But on Thursday, the Chonju District Court dismissed the 
county office's request and ruled that residents are free to hold 
a vote on the issue.

 Still, it is not clear whether the outcome of the residents' 
vote would have any impact on future discussions on the disputed 
nuclear facility as the Chonju District Court had also reaffirmed 
in its ruling that the result of a residents' vote would not be 
legally binding.

 No major clashes between the residents working against and for 
the projected nuclear facility were reported. An official from 
the county office, identified only by his surname Lee, was 
reported to have been mobbed by 6-7 officials working for the 
residents' election committee and was taken to a hospital. His 
conditions are now stable, according to sources. 

benjamine@koreatimes.co.kr 02-15-2004 15:31         
        
*****************************************************************
 50 KoreaTimes : Residents' Vote on Nuke Waste Site / Right Choice 
for National Interest 

Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Opinion > Today's Editorial   

An absolute majority of Puan County residents in North Cholla 
Province voted Sunday against the government's controversial plan 
to build a nuclear waste dumping facility on Wido Island, just 
off the coast of their district. The plan has been a ``hot 
potato,'' for the past year, triggering violent demonstrations by 
opponents.

 In the referendum, nearly 92 percent of the voters, about 72 
percent of the total 52,108 eligible ones in the county _ with 
the notable except of the inhabitants on the island _ opposed the 
plan.

 The government has not recognized the vote and is preparing to 
hold its own residents' poll on the fate of the controversial 
project. Therefore, the Sunday on vote, which was arranged by 
groups opposing the plan, is not legally binding.

 In particular, the vote on Wido, the site of the envisioned 
dumping facility, could not be held as the residents of the 
island who are supporting the plan took over the polling station 
to block the ``unauthorized'' event.

 Nevertheless, the vote result is significant because it clearly 
reflects the residents' near-total opposition to having the 
nuclear waste storage facility in their neighborhood.

 It is expected to have a decisive affect on the 
``not-in-my-backyard'' campaign against the project.

 Irrespective of the legality of the vote, the result implies 
that it will be hard for the government to find any justification 
to push the project through as scheduled.

 The government's project was problematic from the start because 
it was unilaterally and hastily decided on without first hearing 
the opinion of the residents.

 The outcome of the vote should provide a strong lesson to the 
government, that it should not promote policies or projects 
without public consultation, especially when one group in 
particular is affected.

 Despite the damage to its authority, the government should 
recognize the reality of its failure and not proceed with the 
project against the will of the residents so as to prevent any 
further unhappy incidents from occurring.

 The government should respect the residents' almost unanimous 
decision, scrap the project and seek another site through a 
proper public consultation process.

 On the other hand, though, authorities have to take proper legal 
action against those who used violence in the course of staging 
radical protests against the project. Citizens must be made aware 
that violence won't be tolerated under any circumstance.

 Further disputes and conflicts over the project following the 
vote result will only hurt the interests of the nation as well as 
the county.

 
Right Choice for National Interest Efforts to Minimize Damage to 
Troops Most Important

 The approval by the National Assembly of the government's plan 
to dispatch an additional 3,600 troops to post-war Iraq was the 
correct move to make in view of our national interests.

 The troop dispatch to Iraq is the largest overseas military 
operation for Korea since the Vietnam War almost forty years ago. 
It is also the third largest force in the war-torn Middle East 
country after the U.S. and British forces.

 The parliamentary approval of the troop dispatch is expected to 
earn the Republic of Korea recognition worldwide that it has 
undertaken the role and responsibility befitting a country with 
the world's 12-largest economy.

 The U.S.-requested troop dispatch has been a major point of 
contention between Seoul-Washington over the past five months. So 
the parliamentary passage of the bill holds additional 
significance in that it may pave the way for the two allies of 50 
years to mend their sour relations.

 It cannot be overemphasized that for the mission of the troops 
to be successful, we need closer cooperation between the two 
countries.

 Now the question is how to maximize the effect of sending our 
young soldiers to Iraq where terrorist attacks are rampant 
against all foreign forces, not just Americans.

 Therefore, our deepest concern cannot be focused on anything but 
the safety of our young men. Kirkuk in the northern part of Iraq 
where our soldiers will work for the post-war restoration and 
stabilization is particularly known as one of the most dangerous 
areas because of its intensifying racial conflict.

 Nothing is as important as securing the safety of the troops. 
For this, there must be a thorough education process for the 
soldiers to help them win the understanding of the residents 
there and not invite their hostility due to unnecessary cultural 
friction.

 The case of the ``Evergreen'' unit that successfully befriended 
local residents of East Timor in 1999 could be a good model for 
the troops that will be sent to Iraq next month to follow.

 At the same time, the government should double its efforts 
through diplomatic channels to have the Arab and Islamic bloc 
understand that the Korean troops' purpose is not to fight, but 
to help the reconstruction and peaceful restoration in war-torn 
Iraq.

 Economic gains are also important. Related government agencies 
and business concerns should strive to use the troop dispatch as 
a chance to enhance the national interest by fully backing the 
mission of the troops.

 And, now that the matter has been settled by our elected 
representatives, we should behind our troops and have no more 
disputes about the dispatch. 

02-15-2004 20:33 	 
        
*****************************************************************
 51 Salt Lake Tribune: Left with the offspring 

February 14, 2004   

   How to submit a public forum letter: 

Mail: Public Forum Salt Lake Tribune P.O.Box 867 Salt Lake City, 
Utah 84111 

E-mail: <b>letters@sltrib.com</b>(NO attachments)
 
Fax: 801-257-8950 

    The state of Utah has officially requested information on a
financial plan from Private Fuel Storage, a limited liability
corporation that wants to store radioactive nuclear waste in
Utah (Tribune, Feb. 2). 

    Quality information on the skimpy, long-term
responsibilities of LLCs should also be brought to light. Utah
citizens need to be informed by regulatory officials of the
procedures the state will use when responding to a limited
liability corporation's (no assets of its own) bankruptcy or
going out of business. 

    For instance, when PFS or Envirocare have had their way with
Utah and they have finished their business here, what happens?
What responsibilities would the state of Utah be obligated to
assume? What role would the federal government play? How would
the sovereign tribal land of the Skull Valley Goshutes be dealt
with? How would the private/state land used by Envirocare be
handled? Ultimately, these limited liability corporations will
be finished with Utah, and Utah will be left with their
offspring. 
    
   Rosemary A. Holt 
   Salt Lake City 
    
 
© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 52 Presidents' Day Nuclear Perspectives
 
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 22:12:30 -0600 (CST)

 
Presidents' Day Nuclear Perspectives

This Presidents' Day weekend, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation presents
perspectives from past and present US presidents, as well as from
candidates running in this year's election. Despite calls from past
Presidents, nuclear weapons have assumed a far more central role in US
security policy. As the past presidential statements make clear, it is
patriotic to the country and the world to oppose policies of nuclear
annihilation and to call for US leadership toward ending the nuclear
weapons threat to humanity and all life. In this election year, we
encourage you to examine what candidates have to say about nuclear
weapons policy. As a US citizen, you have the power to voice your
concerns and challenge nuclear policy decisions.

Past Presidents

President Franklin D. Roosevelt:
"Truly if the genius of mankind that has invented the weapons of death
cannot discover the means of preserving peace, civilization as we know
it lives in an evil day."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower:
"Let no one think that the expenditure of vast sums for weapons and
systems of defense can guarantee absolute safety for the cities and
citizens of any nation. The awful arithmetic of the atomic bomb does not
permit any such easy solution."

President Harry S. Truman:
"There is nothing more urgent confronting the people of all nations than
the banning of all nuclear weapons under a foolproof system of
international control."

President John F. Kennedy:
"Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles,
hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment
by accident or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be
abolished before they abolish us .."

President Lyndon B. Johnson:
"...uneasy is the peace that wears a nuclear crown. And we cannot be
satisfied with a situation in which the world is capable of extinction
in a moment of error, or madness, or anger. "

President Richard M. Nixon:
"A direct clash between the superpowers would almost certainly escalate
to nuclear weapons. Over 400 million people in the United States and the
Soviet Union alone would be killed in an all-out exchange."

President Gerald R. Ford:
"The world faces an unprecedented danger in the spread of nuclear
weapons technology."

President James E. Carter:
"In an all-out nuclear war, more destructive power than in all of World
War II would be unleashed every second during the long afternoon it
would take for all the missiles and bombs to fall. A World War II every
second -- more people killed in the first few hours than all the wars of
history put together. The survivors, if any, would live in despair amid
the poisoned ruins of a civilization that had committed suicide."

President Ronald W. Reagan:
"Nuclear War cannot be won and must never be fought."

President George H.W. Bush:
"School children once hid under their desks in drills to prepare for
nuclear war. I saw the chance to rid our children's dreams of the
nuclear nightmare, and I did."

President Bill Clinton:
"I am very disappointed that the United States Senate voted not to
ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This agreement is
critical to protecting the American people from the dangers of nuclear
war. It is, therefore, well worth fighting for. And I assure you, the
fight is far from over."

Current Presidential Candidates

President George W. Bush:
The Bush 2001 Nuclear Posture Review called for the development of new,
more "usable" nuclear weapons; for developing contingency plans for the
use of nuclear weapons against nuclear and non-nuclear states; and for
reducing the time required for the United States to resume nuclear
weapons testing. Below are statements taken from the Review:

"Nuclear weapons play a critical role in the defense capabilities of the
United States, its allies and friends. They provide credible military
options to deter a wide range of threats, including WMD and large-scale
conventional military force. These nuclear capabilities possess unique
properties that give the United States options to hold at risk classes
of targets [that are] important to achieve strategic and political
objectives." 

"Advances in defensive technologies will allow U.S. non-nuclear and
nuclear capabilities to be coupled with active and passive defenses to
help provide deterrence and protection against attack, preserve U.S.
freedom of action, and strengthen the credibility of U.S. alliance
commitments." 

"Nuclear weapons could be employed against targets able to withstand
non-nuclear attack, (for example, deep underground bunkers or bio-weapon
facilities)."

"The need is clear for a revitalized nuclear weapons complex that will:
..be able, if directed, to design, develop, manufacture, and certify
new warheads in response to new national requirements; and maintain
readiness to resume underground nuclear testing if required."

Howard Dean:
"Because nuclear weapons are a fact of life, strategic deterrence will
remain essential to the US's security strategy. However, it is equally
critical to halt nuclear proliferation - for the spread of nuclear
weapons will badly undercut our security, risking among other things
that such weapons fall into the hands of terrorists."

John Edwards:
"Making nuclear weapons more 'usable' will not make Americans more
secure. Reversing the ban on developing these weapons is both
unnecessary and irresponsible. This would send exactly the wrong message
to the rest of the world." 

John Kerry:
"George Bush is taking the world in the wrong direction. He is poised to
set off a new nuclear arms race by building bunker-busting tactical
nuclear weapons -- smaller and more usable nuclear bombs. I don't want a
world with more useable nuclear bombs. I don't want America to turn its
back on half a century of effort by every President to reduce the
nuclear threat. I'm running to put America where we rightfully belong --
leading the way to a new international accord on nuclear proliferation
to make the world itself safer for human survival."

Dennis Kucinich: 
"A Kucinich administration would work to end nuclear proliferation by
actually setting an example for the rest of the world by turning away
from the true weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear disarmament would be
a priority and the madness of moving towards battlefield nuclear weapons
would be reversed."

To find out more on presidential candidate's position on US nuclear
weapons policy, go to 
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/action/urgent-actions/us-nuclear-weapons-policy/index.htm 
*****************************************************************
 53 Hi Pakistan: IAEA for Big-5 move towards disarmament
 
February 15 2004     
    
NEW YORK, Feb 13: The head of the International Atomic Agency 
(IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, on Thursday called upon the five 
nuclear states recognized under the non-proliferation treaty 
(NPT) - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - to 
move towards disarmament. 

"Recent agreements between Russia and the United States are 
commendable, but they should be verifiable and irreversible. A 
clear roadmap for nuclear disarmament should be established _ 
starting with a major reduction in the 30,000 nuclear warheads 
still in existence _ and bringing into force the long-awaited 
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," he wrote in an article 
published in the New York Times. 

He said "if the global community is serious about bringing 
nuclear proliferation to a halt, these measures and others should 
be considered at the non-proliferation treaty review conference 
next year". 

The IAEA chairman underscored: "We must also begin to address the 
root causes of insecurity. In areas of long-standing conflict 
like the Middle East, South Asia and the Korean Peninsula, the 
pursuit of weapons of mass destruction _ while never justified _ 
can be expected as long as we fail to introduce alternatives that 
redress the security deficit." 

"We must abandon the unworkable notion that it is morally 
reprehensible for some countries to pursue weapons of mass 
destruction, yet morally acceptable for others to rely on them 
for security, and indeed to continue to refine their capacities 
and postulate plans for their use," he wrote in the article. 

Similarly, Mr ElBaradei said: "We must abandon the traditional 
approach of defining security in terms of boundaries, city walls, 
border patrols, racial and religious groupings. 

The global community has become irreversibly interdependent, with 
the constant movement of people, ideas, goods and resources. In 
such a world, we must combat terrorism with an infectious 
security culture that crosses borders _ an inclusive approach to 
security based on solidarity and the value of human life. In such 
a world, weapons of mass destruction have no place." 

Mr ELbaradei also called upon the international community to 
toughen the NPT to tailor it to fit the 21st century, suggesting 
punitive measures for countries which violate its provisions. 

"The first step is to tighten controls over the export of nuclear 
material, a priority President Bush identified in his speech (on 
Wednesday) on nuclear non-proliferation," the IAEA head observed. 

"The current system relies on a gentlemen's agreement that is not 
only non-binding, but also limited in its membership: it does not 
include many countries with growing industrial capacity. And even 
some members fail to control the exports of companies 
unaffiliated with government enterprise." 

Asserting that "if the world does not change course, we risk 
self-destruction", Mr ElBaradei said "proliferation is on the 
rise". "Equipment, material and training were once largely 
inaccessible. 

Today, however, there is a sophisticated worldwide network that 
can deliver systems for producing material usable in weapons. The 
demand clearly exists: countries remain interested in the illicit 
acquisition of weapons of mass destruction," he said. 

He warned "If we sit idly by, this trend will continue. Countries 
that perceive themselves to be vulnerable can be expected to try 
to redress that vulnerability _ and in some cases they will 
pursue clandestine weapons programmes. 

The supply network will grow, making it easier to acquire nuclear 
weapon expertise and materials. Eventually, inevitably, 
terrorists will gain access to such materials and technology, if 
not actual weapons." 
					     							 				 				   				 				
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 54 NMBW: LANL responds to NMED fine - 

2004-02-12 - New Mexico Business Weekly
 
 Jason Gil Bear NMBW Staff 

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) says it is concerned with 
recent findings by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) 
regarding seven hazardous waste violations by the lab. LANL says 
it will continue its efforts to ensure full compliance. 

The NMED claims the Department of Energy lab violated seven 
hazardous waste regulations, including failing to perform an 
adequate waste disposal of chemicals, failing to adequately track 
mixed waste contained in six 55-gallon drums, failing to maintain 
waste piles at three locations, and failing to keep an eyewash 
unit in operable condition during a "wall-to-wall" inspection in 
2001. 

Los Alamos National Laboratory was fined $854,087 on Feb. 3 by 
the New Mexico Environment Department for the environmental 
violations. 

In an emailed statement to the New Mexico Business Weekly, Linn 
Tytler of the LANL public affairs office wrote, "We are always 
concerned when the laboratory is alleged to be in violation of 
regulations with which we are expected to comply. We continue our 
efforts to ensure full compliance." 

"In recent years, the department's initial allegations of 
violations, and their accompanying fines, have been of similar 
magnitude. However, when the facts were fully evaluated, the 
number of actual violations -- and their accompanying fines -- 
were substantially reduced. We hope that also will be the case 
with the 2001 findings," Tytler wrote. 

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said in a 
press release on Feb. 3 that he expects LANL to fully comply with 
his order. 

"I hope this order sends notice to LANL that NMED is catching up 
on enforcement actions that have been left unaddressed for far 
too long," said Curry. "I expect the highest level of 
environmental compliance and protection from LANL. Unfortunately, 
the lab has not met this mark in the past. I will continue to 
take vigorous enforcement action whenever necessary to make sure 
the lab lives up to its promises it has made to the people of New 
Mexico," he said. 

The laboratory has 30 days to request a hearing in the matter, 
and it could also request a settlement conference. The state's 
environment department says all penalties paid will go to the 
state's Hazardous Waste Emergency Fund, where it will be used for 
other environmental clean up projects. 

© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.
*****************************************************************
 55 Rocky Mountain News: Black smoke halts Flats cleanup work

 Workers to undergo mandatory safety reviews on Monday

By Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News
February 14, 2004

The Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant has halted demolition and 
cleanup work by 3,500 employees for a safety review, after black 
smoke billowed from a building barely a week after the contractor 
was fined $500,000 for safety violations. 

Department of Energy spokeswoman Karen Lutz said contractor 
Kaiser-Hill called the "safety pause" on its own. Workers were 
off Friday, anyway, under the normal every-other-Friday-off work 
schedule, but they will go into mandatory safety reviews on 
Monday rather than continue demolition, she said. She did not 
know how long the delay would continue. 

 The accident occurred Thursday, when workers filling an 
underground tunnel with foam smelled smoke. 

That location was not contaminated with radioactivity, Lutz said. 
But it was part of Building 991, which was once used for final 
assembly of plutonium bomb cores for nuclear weapons, she said. 

No flames appeared but black smoke billowed, Lutz said. Rocky 
Flats firefighters sprayed it with water and "contained it in 
that area," Lutz said. 

"We're not classifying it as a fire," she said, because there 
were no flames. 

Building 991 was due to be demolished next week. Workers were 
filling up human-sized tunnels underneath with hardening foam to 
stabilize them because they will remain after the weapons plant 
has been demolished, Lutz said. 

Just a week ago, the Department of Energy fined Kaiser-Hill 
$522,500 for safety violations that led to the contamination of 
10 employees and risked "significant adverse consequences" 
involving plutonium. 

The most dangerous violations involved "significant lack of 
attention or carelessness" in the storage of weapons-grade 
plutonium and combustible materials in 2002, the Department of 
Energy said. 

Other violations were connected to three accidents in 2003. 

Kaiser-Hill is being paid $7 billion to demolish and clean up the 
sprawling bomb factory 17 miles northwest of downtown. 

It is due to complete the job in 2006. 

Asked if DOE is concerned with Kaiser-Hill's repeated safety 
problems, Lutz said, "DOE is going to continue to challenge 
Kaiser-Hill."   

*****************************************************************
 56 U.S. Newswire: Statement of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham 
Regarding United States Leadership on Global Climate Change
 
 2/13/04 9:24:00 PM 

To: National Desk, Energy and Environment reporters 

Contact: Joe Davis, 202-586-4940 or Corry Schiermeyer, 
202-586-5806, both of the U.S. Department of Energy 

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Energy Secretary 
Spencer Abraham released the following statement on the 
Administration's global climate change initiatives: 

"The Bush Administration is committed to a comprehensive, 
innovative program of domestic and international initiatives to 
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those who question the 
Administration's commitment to addressing global climate change 
do not fully appreciate the global benefit of the scientific and 
technological investments the U.S. has made and is making through 
a variety of programs. The U.S. takes the issue of global climate 
change very seriously and is leading the world in investments, 
several billions of dollars each year, to understand and address 
it. 

"The United States is a Party to the United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change, which has the ultimate goal of 
stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a 
level that prevents dangerous human interference with the climate 
system. This can be accomplished in one of two ways -- through 
short-term excessive regulations like those that would be 
required for U.S. compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, or through 
the development of new low- or zero-emissions energy technologies 
that will allow us to make larger long-term reductions in 
emissions while maintaining economic growth. 

"We have chosen the latter approach: the Bush Administration will 
spend approximately $4 billion during this fiscal year on climate 
change science and technology R&D and has requested increases in 
key investments in FY 2005. President Bush also supports more 
than $4 billion in tax incentives to spur the use of clean, 
renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies. 

"For FY 2005, the Bush Administration has requested increases of 
$115 million, or 50 percent, for U.S. participation in four 
international climate change technology initiatives: the Hydrogen 
Fuel Initiative, Carbon Sequestration, Generation IV Nuclear 
Systems, and the International Thermonuclear Experimental 
Reactor. International cooperation is a key aspect of our 
technology approach, and we are pleased to be partners with the 
U.K. and/or the European Union in four of our most important 
multilateral efforts to address the risk of climate change. We 
have also negotiated climate change agreements with 14 countries 
or regional groups that together account for more than 70 percent 
of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

"As we work on developing these long-term breakthrough energy 
technologies, we are also taking action in the near-term. Two 
years ago, President Bush set an aggressive national goal of 
reducing greenhouse gas intensity 18 percent by 2012. Since then 
we have vigorously pursued that goal through nearly 60 Federal 
programs, including: DOE's Climate VISION program, which involves 
voluntary industry-wide commitments to reduce emissions in 12 
energy-intensive sectors, and EPA's Climate Leaders, which 
involves 50 major companies that have developed comprehensive 
climate change strategies with corporate-wide emissions reduction 
goals. The USDA has also modified its farm conservation programs 
to encourage farmers to set aside farmland for carbon 
sequestration. 

"This Administration is proud of our Nation's leadership in 
climate change science and technology, and we intend to continue 
leading the world in our efforts." 

http://www.usnewswire.com/

*****************************************************************
 57 Knox News: Nuclear pioneer Weinberg honored

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
February 14, 2004

OAK RIDGE - After receiving an award and the first of two 
standing ovations, 88-year-old Alvin Weinberg charmed a crowd of 
business and community leaders with a modest assessment of his 
extraordinary career. 

"I'm just a guy trying to make a living,'' the nuclear pioneer 
and science ambassador told a packed ballroom at the Doubletree 
Hotel. 
            
 Weinberg worked on early reactor designs during the World War II 
Manhattan Project and later directed Oak Ridge National 
Laboratory for 18 years. He was on hand Friday to receive a 
"Muddy Boot" award from the East Tennessee Economic Council, 
which cited his contributions to the region's economic base. 

About 200 people, including two congressmen and a stable of 
dignitaries, turned out for ETEC's annual gathering. 

Also honored Friday was Bill Madia, a former ORNL director who's 
expected to soon become a candidate for president of the 
University of Tennessee. Madia is credited with a dramatic 
turnaround at the Oak Ridge lab over the past five years. He 
launched a $300 million modernization program and helped boost 
the lab's research base with a string of new projects. 

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp introduced Madia and called him a "giant of a 
man" and an energizing force. 

"He was the Energizer bunny for five years at the national 
laboratory," Wamp said. The congressman lauded Madia for his 
knowledge, his influence and his integrity. 

In accepting his Muddy Boot, which signifies the work ethic of 
Oak Ridge during the wartime A-bomb project, Madia took time to 
honor Weinberg as well. 

"He has been my personal hero for 25 years," Madia said. 

UT Chancellor Loren Crabtree introduced Weinberg and called him 
the "master of the majestic concept," borrowing a description 
once used by U.S. Sen. Howard Baker, a friend and confidante of 
Weinberg's. 

Weinberg is credited with coining terms such as "Big Science," 
"technological fix" and "nuclear priesthood." The physicist has 
been an advocate of nuclear power throughout his career. 

Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 					

Copyright Clearance] Copyright 2004, Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
*****************************************************************
 58 Oak Ridger: Former Oak Ridge laboratory directors honored 							 							
 
Story last updated at 12:00 p.m. on February 13, 2004
							

GIVEN TO: The Muddy Boot has been presented to elected
officials, business leaders, representatives of the Department
of Energy and others. 

By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff
paul.parson@oakridger.com

If the boot fits ...

Then, this year, Alvin Weinberg and Bill Madia should both wear
a pair. The two former directors of Oak Ridge National
Laboratory were presented this morning with the East Tennessee
Economic Council's Muddy Boot awards.

"That's like two giants," said U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd
District, who participated in the awards ceremony.

Marie Moffitt/Staff                                                                                                     

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, left, presented the Muddy 
Boot award to Bill Madia, former director of Oak Ridge National 
Laboratory.                                                                                          

Wamp said Weinberg's work, from the early days of the Manhattan 
Project through his 18-year run as ORNL's director, contributed 
an enormous amount to the science and history of Oak Ridge.

As for Madia, according to Wamp, the former lab director left a 
lasting impression on the community even though he only led ORNL 
for three years. Although the lab was "going in the right 
direction," Madia helped put the federal facility on a "path to 
excellence," the congressman said.

ETEC members said Weinberg's work developed much of the nation's 
nuclear energy infrastructure, and they praised Madia for being a 
trailblazer in developing ways for the nation to commercialize 
technologies out of its federal laboratories to spark economic 
growth.

Madia currently serves as an executive vice president at Battelle 
headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. UT-Battelle, which is a 
partnership between Battelle and the University of Tennessee, has 
managed ORNL for the federal government since April 2000.

In November, the East Tennessee Economic Council adopted a 
resolution recommending Madia as president of UT. A search is 
currently under way to replace John Shumaker who resigned in 
August amid questions about his spending and the use of the 
university's airplane for personal business, among other things.

ETEC is a regional membership organization created to help the 
business community learn about science, national security and 
environmental management programs operated by the federal 
government in East Tennessee.

Marie Moffitt/Staff Former Oak Ridge National Laboratory director 
Alvin Weinberg, left, receives the Muddy Boot award from Loren 
Crabtree of the University of Tennessee.                                                                                                

Each year, the council presents the Muddy Boot awards to 
individuals or groups who have helped build the community's 
economic base. The award was started in 1973 by the council - 
then known as the Roane Anderson Economic Council - to reflect 
the Manhattan Project founders of Oak Ridge, who worked through 
adverse conditions to build this community.

The Muddy Boot has been presented to elected officials, business 
leaders, representatives of the Department of Energy and others. 
Past award winners include Wamp; A. K. Bissell, the first mayor 
of Oak Ridge; Frank Bruce, the first president of the Oak Ridge 
Chamber of Commerce; and Jim Hall, a former manager of DOE's Oak 
Ridge Operations office who initiated the reindustrialization 
program.

Wamp and Chancellor Loren Crabtree of the University of Tennessee 
made this year's presentations to Weinberg and Madia following a 
keynote address by Glenn McCullough, chairman of the Tennessee 
Valley Authority. U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-2nd District, 
and ETEC officers Pat Beasley, Ron Townsend and Nat Revis also 
participated in the program. 

*****************************************************************
 59 Knox News: Y-12 leader defends security

 Reports plant flunked exercise 'absolutely untrue,' Ruddy says

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
February 15, 2004

OAK RIDGE - Y-12 chief Dennis Ruddy dodged several security
questions in an interview Friday and offered limited responses on 
others, citing security restrictions. 

He said it is still too early to discuss details of a January 
project that airlifted sensitive nuclear material out of Libya 
and brought it to Oak Ridge for safekeeping. 
     		
 But he wanted to make one thing very clear: The nuclear weapons 
plant did not flunk a security exercise. 

"I can tell you that point-blank. I don't know where those 
reports came from. They're absolutely untrue," Ruddy said in his 
first public comments on the security flap. 

Security at the Oak Ridge installation has come under fire in 
recent months from multiple sources. 

Among the allegations was that guards at the Y-12 National 
Security Complex performed poorly in a December exercise and 
failed to protect the plant's nuclear assets. The Project On 
Government Oversight, a watchdog group, said results obtained 
from unnamed federal sources indicated the Oak Ridge facility was 
vulnerable to terrorist attack. 

Also, the U.S. Department of Energy's inspector general issued a 
report that basically said Y-12's security force cheated on a 
terrorist exercise by giving advance information to some of the 
participating guards. The report said there is a history of 
problems at Oak Ridge. 

The "60 Minutes" news magazine on CBS is scheduled to air a 
segment tonight that documents "lax" security at Y-12 and other 
federal nuclear installations. 

Ruddy is president and general manager of BWXT Y-12, the 
government's managing contractor. He acknowledged there is "some 
truth" to news reports about security problems. 

"Did we do everything pluperfect? Nobody does. If you went 
through high school and never got an answer wrong on any of your 
exams, I would like to shake your hand," he said. 

However, the image of Y-12 security has been distorted because 
the people with the facts are not allowed to talk, Ruddy said. 
And it's unreasonable to expect officials to discuss these issues 
in public because they're so closely tied to national security, 
he said. 

"I would love to bring you inside the plant and walk you around 
and show you all the stuff," he said. "I'd love to show you the 
results of recent (security) exams." 

Ruddy said plant officials have evaluated the missteps in Y-12 
security exercises, even if there are a relative few, and tried 
to learn from them. 

"When we get the results from these inspections, we lay them out 
on the ground and say, OK, we did all of this stuff good, but 
when we got to this point in the exercise, this little glitch 
happened. What are we going to do to fix that glitch? And the 
focus is on all the negatives because you don't learn anything by 
the things you succeeded on." 

The way security is viewed has changed completely since the 
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Ruddy said. What once was 
acceptable or laudable is now considered a problem, and Y-12 is 
working overtime to perform up to expectations in the new 
environment, he said. 

"We have people now having to take off their shoes to go through 
a checkpoint to get on an airplane. Whereas three years ago, 
there was nothing - nowhere near that level of security," Ruddy 
said. 

The sophistication and difficulty of the security drills have 
increased as well, partly because of Y-12's past success, he 
said. It's like starting a game of chess at the 14th move and 
expecting checkmate in three or four moves, he said. 

On Jan. 27, the White House confirmed that the U.S. government 
had airlifted nuclear materials and sensitive nuclear-related 
equipment out of Libya and had brought it to Oak Ridge for 
safekeeping. The nuclear cargo reportedly contained uranium 
hexafluoride, a feed material for enriching uranium, and some 
centrifuge equipment capable of enriching uranium for weapons 
purposes. 

Ruddy said he could not confirm anything or discuss Y-12's role 
in the project. He hinted there could be additional operations 
yet to come. 

But he acknowledged that positive feedback on the Libyan project 
- and the fact that Y-12 was chosen as the storage site - had 
served as an "antidote" for some negative reports about plant 
security. 

The primary mission at Y-12 is production of parts for nuclear 
weapons, specializing in the second stage of warheads - so-called 
secondaries. The plant also is the nation's principal repository 
for weapons-grade uranium. 

While Ruddy declined direct comment on the Libyan cargo, he 
acknowledged it would be of small significance compared to the 
nuclear stockpile already at Y-12. 

"The things that we get in, when we participate in these 
programs, are in fact just an extraordinarily minute increment to 
the other things that we have to safeguard," he said. 

Ruddy compared it to a child who opens a bank account as a 
grade-school learning exercise and deposits a dime a week in a 
big-time bank. Even though the bank has a billion dollars in 
assets, it accepts the child's dime and keeps it safe, he said. 

"I would characterize this the same way," he said. 

Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 					

Copyright Clearance] Copyright 2004, Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
*****************************************************************
 60 Google News Alert - nuclear
 
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 14:02:36 -0800 (PST)

 
DAMAGE CONTROL Can Delhi get a foot into the nuclear club?
The Statesman - Calcutta,India
President Bush’s declaration of intent on nuclear proliferation has mixed
implications for Delhi. He described AQ Khan forthrightly ...
<http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=35780>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php%3Fclid%3D3%26theme%3D%26usrsess%3D1%26id%3D35780>

BUSH Warns of Nuclear Weapons Threat
Voice of America - USA
... destruction. Mr. Bush used his weekly radio address to repeat his call
to limit sales of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing equipment. As ...
<http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=289EEF2E-1D3A-4A46-85BF270E1681C0B1>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm%3FobjectID%3D289EEF2E-1D3A-4A46-85BF270E1681C0B1>

IRAN Announces Readiness to Sell Nuclear Fuel to International ... 
Voice of America - USA
Iran's foreign minister says his country may be prepared to sell nuclear
fuel to international buyers. The disclosure comes amid ...
<http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=8244DC1A-3751-48C7-9082384D007B3696>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm%3FobjectID%3D8244DC1A-3751-48C7-9082384D007B3696>

FOREIGN Minister: Iran May Sell Nuclear Fuel To Others
Radio Free Europe - Prague,Czech Republic
Tehran, 14 February 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi
said today that Iran has the capacity to produce nuclear fuel and is ready
to sell ...
<http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/02/4fca0d4f-9391-4092-a9ad-c63c0c5515a5.html>
See all stories on this topic:
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AMID international concerns, Iran hints at resuming nuclear fuel ... 
Channel News Asia - Singapore
TEHRAN : Iran signaled it might resume its controversial effort to produce
nuclear fuel, with its foreign minister saying Tehran was even ready to
sell its ...
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/71098/1/.html>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/71098/1/.html>

BUSH Urges UN Action to Stop Nuclear Proliferation
Reuters - United States
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush urged the United Nations on Saturday
to enact tougher controls to stop the spread of nuclear weapons as he
warned ...
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4359515>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml%3Ftype%3DtopNews%26storyID%3D4359515>

INDIA'S nuclear capability only a deterrent: President
Malayala Manorama - India
Ranchi: Stressing that India's nuclear programme was meant for peaceful
purposes, President A.PJ. Abdul Kalam said the country's ...
<http://www.manoramaonline.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=manorama/MmArticle/CommonFullStory&c=MmArticle&cid=1076706011305&channel=News&p=1002194839100&count=7>
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DESPITE Nuclear Controversy Eurobonds Get Response
Pakistan News Service - Lahore,Pakistan
LONDON, UK : Feb 14 (PNS) - Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said
on Friday despite the nuclear controversy, the $ 500 million Eurobonds
launched from ...
<http://www.paknews.com/flash.php?id=14&date1=2004-02-14>

PAKISTAN'S nuclear mess By Eric S. Margolis
Hi Pakistan - Lahore,Pakistan
... the scandal over Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan is either an incredible coincidence,
or it is part of a brilliantly orchestrated campaign to eliminate Pakistan's
nuclear ...
<http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en53909&F_catID=&f_type=source>
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NEW hopes over Korean nuclear talks
Radio Australia - Australia
... Chinese official has expressed hope that upcoming multilateral talks
would produce tangible progress toward defusing the stand-off over North
Korea's nuclear ...
<http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_1045107.htm>
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 61 Google News Alert - nuclear
 
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 13:05:16 -0800 (PST)

 
NUCLEAR Development Ruins 10 Yrs of Progress: NK Symposium ... 
Chosun Ilbo - South Korea
At a panel held Friday during a symposium titled "International Cooperation
for the Peaceful Solution of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis" held in
Washington DC ...
<http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200402/200402150029.html>
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IRAN to market nuclear fuel
The Australian - Australia
IRAN intends to sell nuclear reactor fuel internationally, the foreign
minister said today - a move that would require restarting its nuclear
enrichment program ...
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8696625%255E1702,00.html>
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A tale of nuclear proliferation: How a Pakistani built his ... 
ABS CBN News - Quezon City,Philippines
The break for US intelligence operatives tracking Abdul Qadeer Khan’s
nuclear network came in the wet August heat in Malaysia, as five giant
cargo containers ...
<http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=Focus&oid=44854>
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NUCLEAR proliferation controversy refuses to die down in Pak
Deepika - India
Islamabad, Feb 15 (UNI) The nuclear proliferation controversy refuses to
die down in Pakistan despite the military establishment's best efforts
to put an end ...
<http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=41836>
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US says nuclear proliferation must be stopped
Radio Australia - Australia
US President George W. Bush says the United States still faces the threat
of catastrophic attack by nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. ...
<http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_1045323.htm>
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A China nuclear arms link is reported
Boston Globe - Boston,MA,USA
WASHINGTON -- Investigators have identified China as the origin of nuclear-weapon
designs found in Libya last year. Such a connection ...
<http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2004/02/15/a_china_nuclear_arms_link_is_reported>
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EU for stricter nuclear programme safeguards
The Hindu - Chennai,India
... level EU delegation would visit Pakistan next week to discuss a host
of issues, specially the progress made by it in the probe into proliferation
of nuclear ...
<http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/00315154560.htm>
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NUCLEAR Threats Dash Ratings Upgrade Hope
Korea Times - Seoul,South Korea
By Lee Chi-dong. The North Korean nuclear problem is likely to continue
to take a toll on South Korea's credit rating, according to officials
in Seoul. ...
<http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200402/kt2004021518433711890.htm>
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NUCLEAR credibility
Baltimore Sun - Baltimore,MD,USA
THE LATEST discovery about Iran's 18-year-long secret nuclear weapons development
program -- it possesses a design for an advanced centrifuge to enrich
uranium ...
<http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.nukes15feb15,0,4773849.story?coll=bal-opinion-headlines>

MALAYSIA denies nuclear links
Al-Jazeera - Qatar
Malaysia will write to the US embassy to protest against allegations President
George Bush that it was involved in black market nuclear proliferation.
...
<http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A3D4608C-0494-4CDC-95EE-45983B17F7AF.htm>
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 62 Oakland Tribune:  U.S. OK to search thousands of ships

Saturday, February 14, 2004 -
 		   	 	
Liberia agrees to deal to thwart transportation of weapons
By Edward Harris, Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal -- U.S. Navy sailors may board thousands of 
commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of 
mass destruction under a landmark pact between the United States 
and Liberia, the world's No. 2 shipping registry. 

State Department spokes-man Richard Boucher confirmed Friday that 
the United States is seeking similar deals with other nations, 
but he declined to identify them. 

Wednesday's accord -- the first of its kind, Boucher said -- 
comes amid fears that terror networks would use ships for 
attacks, taking advantage of comparatively lax security on the 
waters after crackdowns in the skies. 

Liberia, an American-founded West African nation emerging from 
nearly 15 years of civil war, has held a U.S.-based shipping 
registry since 1949 and now hosts more than 2,000 foreign 
vessels. It ranks second only to Panama in total shipping tonnage 
in U.S. ports, under so-called flags of convenience that offer 
cheap fees and easy rules. One-third of America's imported oil 
arrives in the United States on Liberian-flagged tankers. 

With the pact, American forces may board and search any 
Liberian-registered foreign ship they suspect of carrying weapons 
of mass destruction, their delivery systems, or related material, 
Boucher said in Washington. 

"It's based on the need to stop the proliferation in weapons of 
mass destruction and means to deliver them," Boucher said. 

With commercial ships transporting 80 percent of the world's 
traded goods, security experts worry that vessels, ports and 
other links in the maritime economic chain might make tempting 
targets. A terrorist attack could sink a ship, cripple a port, 
panic markets and disrupt trade. 

Suicide attacks killed 17 sailors on the American destroyer USS 
Cole in Yemen in 2000 and a crewman on the French oil tanker 
Limburger off Yemen's coast in October 2002. 

Terrorists tried and failed to attack another U.S. destroyer 
before succeeding against the Cole, and authorities in Singapore 
and Morocco have recently foiled similar plots. 

Ships can also be used to transport weapons or nuclear components 
for use on land. 

Explosives used to blow up two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998 
and nightclubs in Bali in 2002 allegedly were brought in by 
ships. And in October, British and American authorities 
intercepted a shipment of nuclear components bound for Libya on a 
German freighter. 

Without the U.S.-Liberia pact, Liberian-flagged ships carrying 
suspect materials had to be shown to be breaking international 
law, or enter U.S. waters, before the United States could act 
unilaterally, experts say. 

If the U.S. Navy wanted to interdict a ship flying a foreign 
flag, it had to work through diplomatic channels with the 
government where the ship is registered -- a time-consuming 
process, they said. 

"With this accord, the U.S. and its allies can feel more secure, 
and our ships can feel more secure under the U.S. security 
umbrella," Yoram Cohen, head of Liberia's shipping registry, said 
in a statement. 

The registry said U.S. authorities still must contact it before 
boarding any vessel. 

But shipping industry analysts said the United States was already 
frequently stopping and searching vessels on the high seas at 
will. 

"It puts existing practice on a friendlier footing," said David 
Osler of the respected Lloyd's List shipping daily. 

"The U.S. Navy will continue to board vessels when they want to," 
Osler said. "But at least in the case of Liberia, they'll be able 
to do it legally." 

The United States says the accord is based on similar pacts to 
block narcotics trafficking. 

"I think it's likely to be replicated with other flags," said 
Chris Austen, CEO of London-based Maritime and Underwater 
Security Consultants. 

"It's following the path that the U.S. has been following for a 
while of setting up bilateral agreements rather than going 
through the painful process of reaching a multilateral 
agreement," Austen said. 

Panama, the top country for flags of convenience, has no such 
agreement and isn't currently negotiating one, Deputy Foreign 
Minister Nivia Rossana Castrellon said in Panama City. 

Even with the deal, the U.S. military doesn't have the manpower 
to guard all the world's waters, shipping experts said. 

"If they want to be the policeman of the high seas, they can be," 
Osler said of the United States. "But even they haven't got the 
reach."

*****************************************************************
 63 LJWorld.com : Professor recalled as brilliant, practical
 
  [LJWorld.com - Lawrence, Kansas]     Current weather 

By Abby Mills, Journal-World staff writer 
Friday, February 13, 2004 

Friends of Paul W. Gilles, a native Kansan who became an 
internationally renowned scientist, will remember not only his 
scientific talents but also his practical skills and 
intelligence. 

Gilles died Thursday at age 83. 

The retired Kansas University professor, who specialized in
high-temperature chemistry, was one of the first four
distinguished professors at KU, where his career spanned more
than 50 years. 

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from KU in
1943. From there, he moved to the University of California at
Berkeley, where he earned a doctorate in 1947. 

While at Berkeley, Gilles worked on the Manhattan Project, which
contributed to producing the atomic bomb. His part of the
project was to make containers for holding molten plutonium, as
he explained in a 1995 interview with the Journal-World. 
Gilles said in the interview that he had been excited about the
project's research benefits. 

"Almost immediately in Berkeley, as well as in Chicago,
scientists began to work for peaceful uses of atomic energy, as
in medicine, electricity generation, process monitoring and
environmental surveillance," he said. 

But while Gilles' research might benefit the world, it did him
harm. His wife, Helen Gilles, said her husband worked with
beryllium on the project, which gave him berylliosis. The
exposure caused lung damage, which led to his death. 

Gilles returned to KU after the project, where he continued work
in high-temperature chemistry. One of Gilles' colleagues in the
chemistry department, Richard Schowen, said Gilles examined how
chemicals reacted to very high temperatures, which had
applications in space travel as well as manufacturing. 

Schowen said Gilles was one of the top scientists in this branch
of chemistry and worked hard to pass his knowledge to graduate
students. 

"His was a tremendously rigorous education program," he said.
"He had a clear idea of what it took to be a high-temperature
chemist." 

Schowen said Gilles expected his students to be adept at math
and physics and conducting difficult experiments. He said
Gilles' students often took up to two years longer to complete
their degrees, but they came out the best in their fields and
held high posts in academia and manufacturing. 

Gilles also used his abilities to help his community. 

"Paul was a person who was not only effective at the most
difficult and abstract mathematics, but he had a great practical
bend," Schowen said. "He could repair and fix things." 

Schowen said Gilles often helped repair the building of the
Lawrence Unitarian Fellowship, where he was an active member. 
Another retired KU professor, Calder Pickett, got to know Gilles
through the fellowship and said his logical mind made him an
excellent problem-solver for the organization. 

"He was one of the most intelligent men I have ever known,"
Pickett said. 

Copyright © 2004 The Lawrence Journal-World. All rights
*****************************************************************
 64 Knox News: John Scalice, TVA's chief nuclear officer, to retire on June 1

By News Sentinel staff
February 14, 2004

TVA Chief Nuclear Officer John Scalice - who has led TVA's 
nuclear program for 14 years, setting records in production and 
refueling, according to TVA - announced Friday that he will 
retire, effective June 1. 

"John Scalice has played a key role in the success of TVA's 
nuclear-power program," said TVA President and Chief Operating 
Officer Ike Zeringue. 

 "Under his leadership, TVA's nuclear facilities hold the highest 
performance ratings and rank among the most efficient plants in 
the country." 

Karl Singer, currently senior vice president of nuclear 
operations, will assume the position of chief nuclear officer on 
June 1. 

Singer has about 20 years of nuclear experience. He served in the 
U.S. Navy from 1984 to 1993, then joined TVA as a project 
engineer at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in north Alabama. 

After several promotions, Singer took over the senior vice 
presidency of TVA in 1999. He's responsible for managing 
operations and support activities at TVA's three operating 
nuclear power plants, and he oversees corporate nuclear 
operations activities. 

 2004 The Knoxville News Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 65 PISJ: Wind power advances: Study gets favorable reception at council

 Pocatello Idaho State Journal: 


 
Power-generating windmills like this one could have a future in
Pocatello's energy plans. Journal photo by Doug Lindley  

By John O'Connell - Journal Writer

POCATELLO - City Council members said Thursday they support
erecting towers on area ridges to study wind conditions, in
hopes of finding ideal spots to build power-generating windmills.

Dan Sharp, Pocatello environment and floodway engineer, plans to
order two towers with anemometers, devices which measure wind
speed over a period of time to determine if an area can support
windmills.

As city officials prepare for a fiscal year 2005 budget debate
they say will include many difficult decisions, they believe
windmills could provide a long-term income source.

They could start building windmills after a year-long study and
plan to sell the energy to Idaho Power.

"There are some very good sites within five miles of the city
and close to transmission lines," said Sharp, who will prepare a
financial analysis for the council before members make a formal
decision.

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and
Idaho State University will analyze the city's wind data and
help the city pick the best spot for building.

With their help, it will cost the city between $10,000 and
$20,000 to complete the study, less than half the cost of hiring
a consultant for assistance, Sharp said.

"We ourselves are a big power user," said Councilman Brian
Underwood. "I'm fundamentally in favor of it."

Councilman Harry Neuhardt added, "Let's go forward."

Sharp said he plans to purchase a 50-meter monitoring tower with
three anemometers on it, which would collect data detailed
enough to determine a precise location for building windmills.

He also plans to buy a 20-meter tower with one anemometer, which
would help the city rule out ridges which aren't well-suited for
wind power.

Sharp said the city could build windmills in clusters over the
years. He recommends building as many windmills as the city can
afford, if the council opts to produce power.

It would cost the city $12 million to build a 9-megawatt
windmill operation. Sharp said the city would probably buy
windmills capable of producing about 1.8 megawatts each.

INEEL currently analyzes information from 31 anemometers
throughout the state, including several in southeast Idaho, as
part of a Department of Energy initiative to promote wind power.

Gerald Fleischman, with the Energy Division of the Idaho
Department of Water Resources, said the state is also
considering building windmills on state endowment land for
revenue.

During his presentation, Fleischman showed the council a slide
depicting rising costs of energy from coal and natural gas, and
the dropping cost of producing wind energy.

"Idaho is rated 13th in wind resources, but we don't have any
wind development really," Fleischman said. "The wind turbine
technology is maturing. That's why this is something a lot of
companies are looking at. It is probably the lowest cost next
resource that's going to be available." 

Copyright © 2004 Pocatello Idaho State Journal
 P O Box 431 Pocatello, ID 83204-0431   
    
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material is distributed without profit or payment to those who 
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