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Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject
line and first line of body
NUCLEAR POLICY
1 NEWS.com.au: Key WMD report findings
2 War Wire: British government to proceed with Iraq inquiry despite
3 AU The Age: Doubt cast on Howard's reasons for Iraq war -
4 The Australian: Carl Ungerer: Iraq intelligence driven by politics
5 Las Vegas SUN: S. Korean Chief Seeks Less U.S. Reliance
6 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: South Korea Eyes Working-level Nuclear Ta
7 US: The danger of abuse of directed energy weapons
8 [toeslist] Russians Take up US Arms Challenge
9 JoongAng Daily: Lack of 6-party progress invites war, Russian says
10 Mainichi Interactive: Yaizu remembers fatal U.S. nuke test at Bikini
11 BBC: MoD 'threatening UK energy plans'
12 BBC: Q: Legality of the war in Iraq
13 US: Miami Herald: New department ill-equipped, critics say
14 The Australian: How we rewrote the script on Iraq
15 Daily Times: IAEA pleased with Pakistan’s cooperation
16 Daily Times: Nucleus of terrorism neutralised, says Faisal
17 Daily Times: NCA takes control of Kahuta Laboratories
18 Hi Pakistan: EU, US take up nuclear proliferation issue today
19 Hi Pakistan: Nuclear mess -
20 Hi Pakistan: Australia calls independent Iraq intelligence probe
21 Australian: One agency less gung-ho than others
22 Hi Pakistan: Terrorists to be dealt with iron hand, says Rashid
23 Japan Times: Six-nation working group to meet in March ahead of full
24 Japan Times: Lowering the bar in Beijing
25 Australian: Policy 'swayed assessments'
26 US: MoJo: Spies Like Us
27 AU ABC: Inquiry finds gap between PM and intelligence agencies
28 UK Independent: Threat of legal action fails to silence Short
29 Las Vegas SUN: U.S. to Malaysia: Tighten Nuclear Exports
NUCLEAR REACTORS
30 US: NRC: News Release - Region I - 2004-006 - NRC Proposes $3,000
31 US: NRC: NRC to Conduct Special Inspection at Palo Verde Nuclear Gen
32 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting March 8 on Proposed License Rene
33 US: NRC: NRC Announces Availability of License Renewal Application f
34 Taipei Times: Anti-nuclear activists laud DPP's attitude
35 allAfrica.com: South Africa: Company Optimistic On Nuclear Deal's Fa
36 EUobserver: Commission upbraided for pro-nuclear stance
37 US: NRC: STP Nuclear Operating Company, et al.; South Texas Project,
38 US: NRC: Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.; Designation Of Presiding Offic
39 US: NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Notice of Consideration of
40 PTI: 'Indian nuke installations are secure'
41 US: Herald Record: Plan for nuke plant no-fly zone fails
42 US: Platts: NRC makes new Davis-Besse demands
43 Bnn: Bulgaria Plans to Have Second Nuclear Plant in 2009
44 Platts: Swedish investigator struggles with nuclear phase-out challe
45 Sofia: Second Nuclear Plant Looming on Bulgarian Horizon till 2009
46 Sofia: Commission Lingers over Nuclear Reactors in Enlarged EU
47 US: NRC: Live NRC Meeting Webcast
NUCLEAR SAFETY
48 [DU-WATCH] Journalism Collapses from Global Overheating
49 [DU-WATCH] UK MoD warns troops DU may harm health
50 [DU-WATCH] health snapshot of returning soldiers: 11,000 have
51 [DU-WATCH] GOVERNMENT DU-PLICITY
52 US: [du-list] Mix of chemicals plus stress damages brain, liver in
53 US: [DU-WATCH] US policy of nuclear proliferation
54 CS Monitor: The spread of nuclear know-how
55 AU ABC: Guam anti-nuclear activists to hold demonstration
56 AU ABC: Marshall Islanders lobby Washington over nuclear testing leg
57 AU ABC: Survivors day renews Marshall Is aid call.
58 Independent: Post 71 uranium miners where are you?
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
59 Japan Times: MOX fuel may be used at Saga plant in fiscal 2008
60 US: Independent: Church Rock wells are radioactive
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
61 BBC: Bikini Atoll bomb test remembered
62 Chicago Sun-Times: Japan remembers Bikini atoll bomb test
63 Japan Times: Survivors mark anniversary of Bikini H-bomb test
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
64 U.S. Newswire: Secretary Abraham, Energy Officials to Testify
65 Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald cleanup changes sought
66 Oak Ridger: Governors support ORNL computing
OTHER NUCLEAR
67 Google News Alert - nuclear
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 NEWS.com.au: Key WMD report findings
(March 2, 2004)
KEY extracts from the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee
on ASIO, ASIS, and DSD, from its Inquiry into Intelligence on
Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction.
2.18 From this date (September 2002), the language of the ONA
assessments tends to be much more definitive. The changes are
ones of emphasis. The 'no firm evidence of new CBW production' in
the assessment of 12 September and the 'likely small stocks of
chemical and biological weapons' of 19 July become 'A range of
intelligence and public information suggests that Iraq is highly
likely to have chemical and biological weapons' and 'Iraq has
almost certainly been working to increase its ability to make
chemical and biological weapons.' The 'patchy and inconclusive'
evidence on nuclear weapons became 'there is no reason to believe
that Saddam Hussein has abandoned his ambition to acquire nuclear
weapons.' The aluminium tubes mentioned in the assessment of 19
July become, without the caveat of the US dispute, a more
accepted part of the evidence on Iraq’s nuclear programmes.
An example of how the Defence Intelligence Organisation was more
sceptical than other agencies:
2.32 However, in a report dated 31 December 2002, DIO argues
that: There has been no known offensive (biological weapons)
research and development since 1991, no known BW production since
1991 and no known BW testing or evaluation since 1991.
About NEWS.com.au | Advertise with us| Help and
Copyright 2003 News Limited. All times AEDT (GMT+11).
*****************************************************************
2 War Wire: British government to proceed with Iraq inquiry despite
opposition walkout
LONDON (AFP) Mar 01, 2004
The British government said Monday it would go ahead with an
inquiry into flawed intelligence on Iraq and weapons of mass
destruction, after the main opposition Conservatives withdrew
support for the probe.
In a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair, Tory leader Michael
Howard said he could not accept the "unacceptably restrictive
fashion" in which inquiry chief Lord Robin Butler was planning
to carry out his work.
In particular, Howard said there was "no justification" for
Butler to focus on "structures, systems and processes" and not
the actions of individuals in the run-up to the US and British
invasion of Iraq on March 20 last year.
"After careful reflection of these matters, I have, therefore,
decided with regret to withdraw my cooperation from the Butler
review," he said.
Blair's office reacted to Howard's letter by saying that the
inquiry -- announced in early February as it became clear that
Iraq no longer had weapons of mass destruction when the war
began -- would go ahead.
"This is an independent inquiry looking independently at the
issues and it has a broad-based membership," Blair's spokesman
said.
"Whether others choose to be a part of it or not is a matter for
them. But this inquiry will continue."
Despite withdrawing his party's support, Howard said the Tories'
representative to the inquiry, Michael Mates, would be free to
sit in on its deliberations "in his personal capacity".
Setting up the Butler inquiry marked an embarrassing U-turn for
Blair, who had cited Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's long-running
pursuit of weapons of mass destruction as the prime reason for
Britain joining the United States in invading Iraq.
Butler, a one-time aide to Margaret Thatcher, Conservative prime
minister during the 1980s, now sits in the House of Lords, the
upper house of parliament, after retiring as one of Britain's
top civil servants.
The Conservatives backed the Iraq war. More recently, however,
they have sought to reap political capital from the absence of
any hard proof that Saddam still had weapons of mass destruction.
Britain's second opposition party, the Liberal Democrats, has
already said it will not take part in the Butler inquiry because
the probe will not consider the political dimension of Britain's
entry into the war.
In January a judicial inquiry into the suicide of government
weapons expert David Kelly cleared Blair and his inner circle of
allegations that they had distorted the threat of Iraqi
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
WAR.WIRE
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3 AU The Age: Doubt cast on Howard's reasons for Iraq war -
National - www.theage.com.au
By Brendan Nicholson March 2, 2004
In the lead-up to the March 19 attack on Iraq, Prime Minister
John Howard made five major speeches outlining his reasons for
going to war and stressing that Australia's goal was to disarm
Iraq.
The committee challenged the evidence supporting key elements of
those speeches.
"The case made by the Government was that Iraq possessed WMD in
large quantities and posed a grave and unacceptable threat to the
region and the world, particularly as there was a danger that
Iraq's WMD might be passed to terrorist organisations," the
committee found.
"This is not the picture that emerges from an examination of all
the assessments provided to the committee by Australia's two
analytical agencies," the committee reported.
On February 4, the Prime Minister made it clear to Parliament
what was not his reason: "I couldn't justify on its own a
military invasion of Iraq to change the regime."
Mr Howard argued that central to the case was Iraq's "possession
of chemical and biological weapons and its pursuit of nuclear
capability".
On March 20, 2003, Mr Howard said in his address to the nation:
"The Australian Government knows that Iraq has chemical and
biological weapons and that Iraq wants to develop nuclear
weapons." In the same address Mr Howard said: "We believe that so
far from our action in Iraq increasing the terrorist threat it
will, by stopping the spread of chemical and biological weapons,
make it less likely that a devastating terrorist attack will be
carried out against Australia."
On March 18, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that
"Locating, securing and disposing of Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction capabilities must and will be a major objective for
the coalition. We must achieve the disarmament of Iraq."
Mr Downer also said Saddam had links to terrorism, which,
combined with WMD, was an "unacceptable threat".
Copyright © 2004. The Age Company Ltd
*****************************************************************
4 The Australian: Carl Ungerer: Iraq intelligence driven by politics
March 02, 2004
YESTERDAY'S joint parliamentary committee report on intelligence
and Iraq is right to point the finger at the Australian
intelligence community, and the Office of National Assessments in
particular, for any lapses in accuracy, independence and
objectivity. But, as the report notes, not all intelligence
assessments on Iraq before the war were wrong.
From 1998 to 2002, many in the intelligence community had
assessed that Iraq's WMD ambitions were disjointed and contained.
This view was clearly shared by US Secretary of State Colin
Powell in February 2001 when he said that Iraq had not developed
any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass
destruction. Powell was right and his comments were an accurate
reflection of Australian intelligence assessments at the time.
There was no new evidence that Iraq had reconstituted its
offensive chemical and biological weapons programs and there was
no evidence that Iraq was an imminent strategic threat. But by
mid-2002, the political dynamic changed. Stronger assessments
were called for. And it looks as if ONA took the bait.
Above all, two key pieces of information were seized on to
bolster the claim that Saddam Hussein was up to his old tricks.
The first was the mobile biological labs; the second was the
attempt by Iraq to procure aluminium tubes.
In both cases, the raw intelligence was patchy and incomplete but
it was considered sufficient by some allied intelligence agencies
to make the claim that Iraq was back on the WMD bandwagon.
US satellite photos were used to construct mock diagrams showing
that if Iraq was using mobile labs for the production of
biological agents, then they could produce several hundred
kilograms of anthrax, smallpox or other deadly pathogens. That
was a big "if". And, as we now know, it was the wrong call.
Similarly, the aluminium pipes case was embellished with dubious
information from Iraqi-defector reports about Baghdad's attempts
to acquire uranium oxide, or "yellowcake", from Africa to make
the claim that Saddam was close to achieving a nuclear weapon.
The intelligence effort was no longer being used to shape policy.
Politics was driving the intelligence.
In Australia, intelligence analysts tend to be cautious about WMD
claims. There were serious doubts expressed about some of the
judgments that were being made in Washington and London.
But in the spring of 2002, ONA appears to have been captured by
the prevailing political winds - unwilling or unable to present
the warts and all case to the Prime Minister in the months before
the war. ONA has engaged in what some call "faith-based"
intelligence - a willingness to overlook the inaccuracies in the
intelligence material and not to question the assumptions
underlying the assessments of others because they believe in the
political or strategic objective.
But even as the Australian intelligence agencies were putting the
best possible spin on the available evidence, the political case
against Iraq was being built on more than the sum of its
intelligence parts.
Repeated public statements in Australia about the immediate
"threat" posed by Iraq's WMD, and the "possibility" that such
weapons would find their way into the hands of terrorists,
created a climate of fear and misunderstanding about the nature
of the WMD problem. The Prime Minister will say he was simply
acting on advice. The irony of this will not be lost on many
serving and former ONA officers. It is well known the Prime
Minister was, for many years, a disinterested consumer of ONA
product and rarely read all the ONA assessments sent to him.
The Iraq case, however, highlights a broader pattern in the
evolving relationship between the Prime Minister and his peak
intelligence agency. The Prime Minister's use of selective
intelligence quotes to support a political cause is well known.
One line from an ONA report was famously used to defend the
Government's erroneous claim that children had been thrown
overboard.
But it was the Government's failure to acknowledge the many
instances where the intelligence advice on Iraq was qualified,
incomplete or speculative that should be most worrying to the
Australian public. It is nearly 20 years since Justice Hope
presented his final reports from the royal commission into the
Australian intelligence and security agencies. Many of the
reforms he suggested have been implemented. These new allegations
against the intelligence agencies are serious enough to warrant a
similar investigation.
Indeed, nothing short of a royal commission will resolve the
tensions that now exist between the Government and the
intelligence community. And failure to resolve these issues
quickly will compromise Australia's national security interests
and undermine our ability to deal with the real security threats
in our region.
Carl Ungerer was the senior Iraq WMD analyst at the Office of
National Assessments from 1999 to 2002. A former foreign policy
adviser to Labor leader Simon Crean, he is a lecturer in
international relations at the University of Queensland.
© The Australian
*****************************************************************
5 Las Vegas SUN: S. Korean Chief Seeks Less U.S. Reliance
Today: March 01, 2004 at 6:00:31 PST
By SANG-HUN CHOE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -
President Roh Moo-hyun called Monday for a foreign policy more
independent of the United States and criticized Japan for its
militaristic past, targeting his country's two biggest allies in
the North Korean nuclear crisis.
Giving a nationally televised address marking Korea's March 1,
1919, uprising against Japanese colonial rule, Roh dismissed
criticism that his foreign policy has fueled anti-Americanism
among young South Koreans.
"Let's not talk about whether we are pro-American or
anti-American," Roh said to rousing applause. "Whether we are
pro-U.S. or anti-U.S. cannot be the yardstick to assess
ourselves."
"Step by step, we should strengthen our independence and build
our strength as an independent nation."
Roh's call to lessen reliance on the United States in foreign
policy and security against North Korea came two days after
six-nation talks ended in Beijing without major breakthroughs on
how to end a dispute over the communist North's nuclear weapons
programs.
Roh hailed a recent U.S.-South Korea agreement to pull U.S.
troops out of the Yongsan district of central Seoul, reminding
people that Yongsan has been occupied by foreign forces for more
than a century and calling the area "a symbol of foreign
intervention, invasion and dependence."
The 7,000 U.S. troops and family members there are scheduled to
move to bases further south by 2006.
Roh described North Korea as a country that is "difficult to
explain and defies common sense in many aspects," but "part of
the Korean nation that we must embrace and eventually have to
take care of."
"Let's try to open our door with warm hearts and solve problems
(with the North) through dialogue," he said.
Roh then criticized Japanese leaders, saying he has a "piece of
advice to give them" about what many South Koreans say is
Japan's failure to repent for its often brutal 1910-45 colonial
rule of the Korean Peninsula.
"Just because we don't mention the unresolved problems, that
doesn't mean that they should think all those problems have been
resolved," Roh said.
Roh's comments follow a New Year's Day visit by Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi to a controversial shrine honoring
Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals.
Roh, a former human rights lawyer, has espoused more
independence from the United States, a traditional ally that led
U.N. forces defending South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.
While campaigning for president, Roh said he would not "kowtow"
to Washington. The message resonated with the country's young
postwar generations and helped Roh into office.
North Korea also marked the 1919 uprising on Monday, calling on
all Koreans to "struggle for independence against foreign
forces" to achieve reunification.
"All the Koreans should turn out as one in a just and patriotic
struggle to frustrate the U.S. and Japanese aggression forces'
reckless moves to invade Korea in a do-or-die spirit," said
Pyongyang's government-run newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.
--
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6 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: South Korea Eyes Working-level Nuclear Talks in March
Updated Mar.1,2004 14:13 KST
South Korea is aiming to hold the first working group meeting
on the stalemate over North Korea's nuclear programs in March
according to government officials. Those talks will be able to
take place as early as mid-March or by no later than the end of
March and that two or three lower-level meetings will probably
precede a third round of talks involving the two Koreas, the
U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
The agreement to establish working groups on a regular basis is
considered the most tangible outcome of the six-party nuclear
talks that ended in Beijing Saturday. A regular meeting of
lower-level experts, analysts say, could encourage a more
detailed discussion on the complicated issues at stake.
While these efforts are in place, North Korea stepped up its
rhetoric in reaction to the four-day negotiations. North Korean
officials announced the United States had ignored its overtures
and tried to isolate the North during the Beijing meeting, making
it "difficult to expect that any further talks would help find a
solution to the nuclear issue." While Pyeongyang's latest
comments cast doubts over the possibility of a third round, the
South Korean government is moving quickly to get working-level
talks off the ground this month.
Arirang TV
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7 The danger of abuse of directed energy weapons
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:00:33 -0600 (CST)
Greetings,
I've seen that the subject of this message: "non lethal weapons and
devices similar to radars which use energy to track, image or hurt
someone" has already been discussed on this list, therefore I thought
you might be interested to know about this action.
Below FYI the text of this petition with more details and a link.
A file with signatures and support of various organisations like
www.mikrowellen.de has already been sent end of the year (2003) to the
Presidency of the European Parliament, it has been registered and is
awaiting to be debated.
A second file with signatures received in between and more information
should be sent in the coming week.
If you wish to participate, please don't hesitate to sign by mail or
electronic form at : PETITION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
THE DANGER OF ABUSE OF DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS
We, the undersigned citizens of the European Union, wish to submit the
following petition to the European Parliament, asking for a more
thorough examination of the matter of Directed Energy Weapons. These
systems undermine the great principles and objectives of the European
Union, and we ask herewith that measures be taken.
Specialists' reports (including the reports of the European Parliament
and the publications of the Scientific and technological Options
Assessment Committee - STOA- published between 1995 and 1999) refer to
the continuous development and even circulation of technologies like
antipersonnel Directed Energy Weapons misleadingly named "non-lethal",
since they can actually become deadly if the power is increased or if
the targeted victim is weak. This way of addressing them is intended
to make them appear less dangerous and thus more acceptable in the
eyes of public opinion.
These technologies, which satisfy civilian as well as military aims
and which are still secret and taboo will become more and more common
as they are intended for crowd monitoring and control (demonstrations,
events) in European cities and in industrialized countries in general.
Among the various developments of this research which started several
decades ago, the electromagnetic or acoustic spectrum have been
subjected to research; and bands that until now were infrequently used
for any practical purpose find applications in fields like
localisation and imagery, even through walls and clothing, such as
T-ray (terahertz) technology and UWB (Ultra Wide Band) systems which
are not easily detectable. Acoustic weapons have been developed which
can fire sonic bullets or project sound to intimidate, terrorize or
disorient. Ultra-high frequency or microwave weapons have been
designed which cause intense burning sensations, faintness and even
permanent injuries.
Specialist reports state that there is no efficient legislation for
this arsenal. Moreover the obligation of secrecy which covers this
research, so as to protect its interests, combined with the lack of
legislation open the door to all kinds of abuse. The risks and abuses
include:
**The use of the repressive capabilities of these technologies by
public officials as an instrument for purposes of revenge or to exert
pressures; while facilitating the spread of a corrupted system, where
the money earned enables them to buy the silence and the participation
of more people;
**Abusive practices by "rogue scientists" and by "unscrupulous
research laboratories" "who are conducting experiments," to quote the
statement which was made on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of
the French National Ethics Committee (CCNE) regarding the topic of
bioethics, because it also applies to the research mentioned in this
petition too;
**The possibility that such weapons, operating at different ranges,
get into the hands of criminal networks, terrorists or mafias.
Ordinary citizens are not protected against these threats and certain
people are currently trapped in this lawless zone and undergo immense
violence. They have the whole burden of the proof even though these
weapons function remotely and are invisible and unrecognized
(technically speaking to measure a signal and to use the right testing
equipment the technician has to know rather precisely what type of
signal he is looking for and legally speaking, for evidence to be
admissible it has to correspond to something that is known and
admitted).
The signatories of this petition ask that the members of Parliament,
the public authorities, and public opinion take this issue into
account and call for serious discussions that will lead to the
recognition of this phenomenon so that safeguards can be set up.
Resources must be mobilised to investigate the many complaints in
Europe.
Practice is often ahead of legislation in many fields because of the
pace at which scientific advances are developed. These technologies
constitute a risk for public health and the personal freedoms of each
and every person. There is a need for action to put an end to these
abuses and to preserve the values and fundamental rights on which
society is built.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REFERENCES
**REPORT on the environment, security and foreign policy of 14 January
1999 A4-0005/99 Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence
Policy; Rapporteur: Mrs Maj Britt Theorin (n0 PE227.710)
**AN APPRAISAL OF TECHNOLOGIES OF POLITICAL CONTROL (STOA reports)
ref. n0 PE166.499 Updated Executive Summary prepared as a background
document for the September 1998 part-session.
**A growing scientific consensus regarding cellular and molecular
biology and environmental electromagnetic fields, by Dr. W Ross Adey,
of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University School of
Medicine, Loma, Linda, California, 92357 USA. In electromagnetic
transmissions: The latest scientific evidence, potential pollution and
strategies in view to reducing risks. Symposium of the European
Community, London 27 October 1994.
**New T-ray Space Camera also sees through Clothes, Walls 13/06/02 by
Robert Roy Britt, Senior Science Writer of Space.com
**X-Ray Vision for G.I. Joe, by Otis Port, October 18, 2002, Business
Week Online, The McGraw-Hill Cos i/a/w ScreamingMedia, Inc.
**The sound of things to come by Marshall SELLA, New York Times 23
mars 2003 Section 6, Page 34, Column 3
**Le Comiti national d'ithique frangais a 20 ans, AFP Paris 21/02/03
par Brigitte Castelnau
**The shocking menace of satellite surveillance, The English Pravda,
14/07/2001 by John Fleming, writer, author of "The War of All Against
All"
**Les armes de l'ombre, aux Ed. Carnot dic. 1999, par Marc FILTERMAN
**Les ondes de la mort, aux Ed. CEPHES - AURORE par Daniel DEPRIS
**Mikrowelle als Nahkampfwaffe, Welt am Sonntag, 08/10/02 par Julia
Winkenbach (mentions 150 complaints)
**Hypocrisie des armes non litales" par Steve Wright in Le Monde
Diplomatique Dic. 1999.
Thanks
*****************************************************************
8 [toeslist] Russians Take up US Arms Challenge
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:44:56 -0600 (CST)
----- Original Message -----
From: Bea Bernhausen
To: beabernhausen@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 4:24 AM
Subject: New Russian Weapon Makes Missile Defense Obsolete Before It's
Deployed
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,62350,00.html?tw=wn_techhea
d_11
Russia Tests New Wonder Weapon
Associated Press
Story location:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,62350,00.html
12:41 AM Feb. 19, 2004 PT
MOSCOW -- Russia has successfully tested a hypersonic anti-Star Wars
weapon capable of penetrating any prospective missile shield, a senior general
said Thursday.
The prototype weapon proved it could maneuver so quickly as to make "any
missile defense useless," Col.-Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the first deputy chief of
the General Staff
He said that the prototype of a new hypersonic vehicle had proved its
ability to maneuver while in orbit, thereby making it able to dodge an enemy's
missile shield.
"The flying vehicle changed both the altitude and direction of its
flight," Baluyevsky said. "During the experiment conducted yesterday, we
proved that it's possible to develop weapons that would make any missile
defense useless."
Baluyevsky's comment followed a statement by Russian President Vladimir
Putin, who said Wednesday after attending rocket launches from the Plesetsk
launch pad in northern Russia that experiments conducted during the military
maneuvers had proven the country could build new strategic weapons that would
be unrivaled in the world.
Putin said that the development of new weapons was not directed against
the United States, and Baluyevsky reaffirmed the statement, saying that the
experiment shouldn't be seen as Russia's response to U.S. missile defense
plans.
"The experiment conducted by us must not be interpreted as a warning to
the Americans not to build their missile defense because we designed this
thing," Baluyevsky told The Associated Press.
In Washington, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, was asked by reporters about the Putin statement.
"If you're in that business -- intercontinental ballistic missiles and
warheads -- you want them to be survivable, and maneuverability is one way to
increase their survivability against any potential defenses," he said.
Putin said that Russia has no intention of immediately deploying new
weapons based on the experimental vehicle. "We have demonstrated our
capability, but we have no intention of building this craft tomorrow," he
said.
Baluyevsky said that Russia had informed the United States about its
intention to conduct the experiment and added that U.S. officials issued no
objections.
He said that the new vehicle had "ceased to exist" after the experiment
-- presumably burning up in the atmosphere.
Baluyevsky refused to comment on what kind of engine the vehicle had,
how long its flight lasted or how exactly it maneuvered. He said that it had
been designed by several Russian companies, but refused to name them.
As part of this week's massive military maneuvers described as the
largest in more than two decades, the Russian military launched a Molniya-M
booster rocket with a Kosmos military satellite from the northern Plesetsk
launch pad, and launched two ballistic missiles -- a Topol from Plesetsk and
an RS-18 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Baluyevsky refused to say which of the rockets had carried the vehicle
into the orbit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard - Read only the mail you want.
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9 JoongAng Daily: Lack of 6-party progress invites war, Russian says
by You Chul-jong jieho@joongang.co.kr>
2004.03.01
Russia's top envoy to the recently concluded second round of
six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear arms program has warned
that if the negotiations continue without much progress, the
United States could take military action.
On his return to Moscow on Sunday, Deputy Minister Alexander
Losyukov was quoted by Russia's Itar-Tass as saying, "If this
goes on, mistrust will grow on the peninsula. The situation
could be aggravated and military intervention is possible."
Mr. Losyukov also said he could foresee attempts to blockade or
limit North Korea's relations with other countries. "All this
could seriously worsen the situation," he said.
The second round of talks aimed at seeking a resolution to the
crisis ended Saturday with parties agreeing broadly to resolve
the issue peacefully through dialogue, and more immediately, to
establish working groups to tackle the specifics of the
negotiations.
Mr. Losyukov added, "There was no substantial and specific
progress in solving the conflict in this round of talks."
Before leaving Beijing, Mr. Losyukov said in a press briefing,
that because there were political factors involved, the North
Korean problem "is unlikely to be solved before the U.S.
election."
He criticized the United States for taking a hard-line stance.
*****************************************************************
10 Mainichi Interactive: Yaizu remembers fatal U.S. nuke test at Bikini Atoll
YAIZU, Shizuoka -- A crowd of about 2,000 people gathered in
Yaizu on Monday to mark 50 years since a U.S. hydrogen bomb test
at Bikini Atoll irradiated a Japanese trawler, killing a
crewmember.
Mainichi Shimbun
Participants in the gathering march to the grave of Aikichi
Kuboyama, who was killed in the nuclear test.
Activists and survivors of the blast, which caused radioactive
fallout to drop on the 23 members of the No. 5 Fukuryu Maru tuna
fishing vessel from Yaizu on March 1, 1954, proceeded peacefully
to the grave of Aikichi Kuboyama, who died soon after the test at
the age of 40.
Participants held up banners displaying the crewmember's words "I
want to be the last atomic or hydrogen bomb victim" and laid
flowers in front of his grave expressing hopes for nuclear
disarmament.
The procession, which left JR Yaizu station at 9:45 a.m.,
included John Anjain, a former magistrate of Rongelap Atoll,
which also suffered from radiation exposure in the test.
Groups against hydrogen bombs were scheduled to hold similar
events in Shizuoka and Yaizu later in the day.
The United States' "Bravo" hydrogen bomb test was carried out at
Bikini Atoll, one of the atolls in the Marshall Islands.
The blast caused fallout later referred to as "ashes of death" to
rain down on the 23 crewmembers of the No. 5 Fukuryu Maru, which
is also known in English as the Lucky Dragon, without them
realizing the danger.
Twelve of the crewmembers have already died. (Mainichi Shimbun,
Japan, March 1, 2004)
© 2003 The Mainichi Newspapers Co. Under the
*****************************************************************
11 BBC: MoD 'threatening UK energy plans'
Last Updated: Monday, 1 March, 2004
By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent
[UK wind turbine by road PA]
The renewable energy target is challenging
The Royal Society says the Ministry of Defence is jeopardising
the development of the UK's renewable energy potential.
The UK's leading scientific body claims the MoD opposes any
application to build a wind farm within 46 miles (74 km) of air
defence radars.
The only other European country with a limit is Germany which
sets it at three miles (5 km), the society says.
The ministry says its opposition is by no means hard and fast,
and it often helps developers to choose a good site.
The society says wind energy is expected to make a significant
contribution to the government's "ambitious" target of generating
10% of the UK's electricity from renewable sources by 2010.
Realising the potential
But it says figures from the British Wind Energy Association show
the MoD objected to 48% of applications to build land-based wind
farms last year, and 34% in 2002, because of concerns they could
interfere with the radars.
Professor David Wallace, vice-president of the society, has
written to the ministry urging greater progress in resolving the
problem.
He writes: "My understanding is that the current MoD policy
appears to reject any wind development application within 74 km
of air defence radars. With 13 such installations, this effective
moratorium covers a fairly significant area of the UK.
[Group of UK wind turbines near houses BBC]
Germany's limit is far lower
"Understandably, the MoD has concerns over the effects that wind
farms may have on radar in terms of personnel safety, especially
for low-flying aircraft and the potential consequences of
compromised radars with regard to national security.
"It nevertheless concerns me that the restrictions imposed by the
MoD are at odds with the rest of Europe, where only Germany
imposes a ban, which is set at 5 km."
"Given the technical solutions being developed, how long do you
consider it will be before your policies can be brought more into
line with our European counterparts?"
Trying to help
The society has also told the Department for Trade and Industry
of its concern, and has included it in its submission to the
House of Lords science and technology committee's inquiry into
the practicalities of developing renewable energy.
An MoD spokesman told BBC News Online: "We can't have a wind farm
within 74 km of an air defence radar installation when it's in
the direct line of sight.
"But it does depend very much on the topography. Where you have
any natural or artificial feature in the way - a hill, say, or a
city with tower blocks - then there's no problem.
"We objected to fewer than five applications in 2003. Normally
companies suggest up to six or seven possible sites in any
application, and we say which would cause us problems and which
would not."
*****************************************************************
12 BBC: Q: Legality of the war in Iraq
Last Updated: Monday, 1 March, 2004
The British Government is being pressed to publish the full legal
advice it received from Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith on the
legality of war against Iraq. A summary of his advice that the
war was legal was published on 17 March 2003, just before the war
started.
BBC News Online world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds looks
at some of the key questions on this issue.
Why is the government not publishing the full advice?
Because it says that this would break the convention that legal
advice to the government is not published. This is seen as
similar to the principle that detailed legal advice to ordinary
citizens is normally confidential.
[British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith]
Lord Goldsmith: A summary of his advice was published before the
war
Lord Goldsmith himself told the House of Lords: "There is a long
standing convention adhered to by successive governments that
legal advice from the Law Officers is not publicly disclosed."
He quoted from the Ministerial Code which guides the actions of
British ministers. This states in paragraph 24: "The fact and
content of opinions or advice given by the Law Officers...must
not be disclosed outside Government without their authority."
Paragraph 23 says that if the Cabinet is given a summary, it
should also be given the full version. According to former
Cabinet minister Clare Short this did not happen.
If the advice is already published in summary, why not in full?
This is a point made by critics of the government who argue that
it is inconsistent to publish the summary but not the full
argument. The government certainly could do so.
The Ministerial Code says that the "authority" of the Law
Officers is required before their opinion can be published but
not that it cannot be published.
The decision to publish the Iraq summary was a compromise. The
government argued that, in this way, the advice was made known
but that some confidentiality was preserved.
The government argument is that such disclosures should be kept
to an absolute minimum. Otherwise, there would be demands for
such publication across the range of policies.
Would the full argument differ from the summary statement?
Lord Goldsmith says not. He told the House of Lords: "The
statement was ...consistent with my detailed legal advice."
However, getting access to the detailed advice would enable
critics to argue the case more closely and to see if there were
weaknesses in the arguments behind the advice.
Critics also want to know when the opinion was finally arrived at
and whether it changed during the run-up to war.
Protesters in one court case want to know whether, at the time of
their alleged offences, the Attorney-General himself was
wondering whether a specific Security Council Resolution
authorising war would be necessary.
What was the case the Attorney-General made?
The Attorney-General argued that "authority to use force against
Iraq exists from the combined effect" of three Security Council
resolutions, all adopted under the section of the UN Charter
"which allows the use of force for the express purpose of
restoring international peace and security".
These were Resolutions 678, 687 and 1441. 678 goes back to
November 1990. It authorised the use of force to remove Iraq from
Kuwait and to restore peace and security in the area.
Resolution 687 (April 1991) laid down conditions for the
ceasefire with Iraq after the Gulf War and Lord Goldsmith argued
that it "suspended but did not terminate the authority to use
force under Resolution 678".
Resolution 1441 (November 2002) said that Iraq had been in breach
of 687 because it had not disarmed properly and that if it did
not cooperate fully, a further material breach would occur.
Lord Goldsmith argued: "It is plain that Iraq has failed to
comply and therefore Iraq ...continues to be in material breach."
He stated: "Thus, the authority to use force under Resolution 678
has revived and so continues today."
He further said that if a new resolution specifically authorising
force had been required, 1441 would have made this clear.
What are the counter arguments?
The critics say that the Attorney-General relied too much on UN
resolutions from too long ago and ignored the requirement that
specific authorisation for war was needed.
Thus two lawyers for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament argued
in March 2003: "First, resolution 1441 does not expressly
authorise Member States to use force. The resolutions adopted by
the Security Council over the years, including Resolution 678,
show that that the language used to authorise force is bold and
consistent.
"Member states are 'authorised' to 'use all necessary means' or
'take all necessary measures' in pursuit of a specified goal.
These words are manifestly absent from Resolution 1441."
They also argued that "as a matter of principle, international
law precludes Member States from relying on any implied
authorisation to use force. The prohibition on the use of force
contained in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter is one of the most
fundamental principles in the Charter".
"Member States may only derogate from that prohibition in
self-defence or following an authorisation from the Security
Council to use force made under Chapter VII of the Charter."
Do lawyers agree on this issue?
No. Even within the government, opinions differed. The deputy
legal adviser at the Foreign Office, Elizabeth Wilmshurst,
resigned.
She said later: "I left my job because I did not agree that the
use of force against Iraq was lawful and in all the circumstances
I did not want to continue as a legal adviser."
Was the war against Serbia in 1999 not conducted without UN
approval?
Yes. The Nato powers decided not to ask for UN authorisation
because they knew that Russia would veto a resolution. So they
argued that there was a humanitarian crisis in Kosovo which
justified intervention.
Thus they developed a new concept in international law, that of
intervention on humanitarian grounds even in the absence of a
resolution authorising force. A feeling of guilt over the UN's
failure to act in Rwanda helped bring about such thinking.
This argument was not the main one used in the case of Iraq,
however.
Can the UN itself make a ruling on the legality of the war?
The UN's own court, the International Court of Justice, could be
asked for an advisory opinion but only by a relevant UN body such
as the Security Council or General Assembly. There is at present
no sign of that happening.
International law is not like national law. Certain principles
have been agreed but putting them into practice depends on agreed
interpretation and the co-operation of governments. These are
sometimes missing.
*****************************************************************
13 Miami Herald: New department ill-equipped, critics say
| 03/01/2004 |
As the Department of Homeland Security marks its first
anniversary today, analysts are saying it continues to lack the
proper resources to make the country safe.
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@herald.com
HOMELAND SECURITY
As the Department of Homeland Security marks its first
anniversary today, the mammoth agency responsible for protecting
the United States is saddled with funding woes, bureaucratic
power struggles and unfulfilled expectations, according to
lawmakers and security analysts.
Although important steps have been taken to make the nation safer
than it was before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, critics
say homeland security weaknesses still make the country
vulnerable to a variety of threats, including the smuggling of
biological, chemical or nuclear weapons through porous borders.
Most air and sea cargo is still not properly screened, for
example, and airliners remain vulnerable to easily obtained
shoulder-fired missiles. Moreover, the DHS has not developed a
comprehensive strategy to defend the United States against
various terrorist scenarios, and its intelligence unit is
woefully understaffed.
The department, which will mark its anniversary with a series of
events at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami, merged 22 federal
agencies and 180,000 employees into a mega-agency with many
kinks, analysts said.
''Really, they're facing some serious organizational problems,''
said Paul Light, a New York University professor who studies
government bureaucracies. ``Congress wants to build this
department on the cheap; it's like lashing together two mobile
homes and putting them in the path of a hurricane.''
MEETING CHALLENGES
Light, like most analysts, says a lack of funding is the
department's biggest obstacle.
In his proposed budget for the next fiscal year, President Bush
has requested $40.2 billion for the department, a 10 percent
increase. Critics say it is not enough.
'President Bush seems to have checked `homeland security' off on
his to-do list, persuaded that the public won't notice the
difference between building a robust, new homeland security
effort and merely rearranging the piecemeal efforts we had
before,'' Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said in a statement he
released on the department's progress.
Last week, Lieberman -- who pushed vigorously for the formation
of the department -- suggested that Homeland Security needs at
least $14 billion more next year than Bush's proposed amount.
Department officials acknowledge the agency can improve its
performance but defend what it has done so far.
''We have achieved a number of significant milestones in the past
year,'' said Brian Roehrkasse, a department spokesman in
Washington. ``We understand there is a long road ahead to achieve
the ultimate level of security.''
`TOP PRIORITIES'
Last week, House Democrats released a 135-page report skewering
the department and the Bush administration for numerous security
gaps in intelligence, infrastructure, cyberspace and other areas.
The report said there are fewer than 100 inspectors assigned to
overseas ports to inspect millions of cargo containers bound for
the United States. It also said the department has failed to
produce a comprehensive plan to respond to a biological attack.
Roehrkasse, the Homeland Security spokesman, said that many
elements in the Democrats' report are ``our top priorities for
the next year.''
Beyond security woes, Homeland Security has been lambasted by
immigration attorneys for what they say is a poor service record.
Late last year, for example, the immigration division of the
department had a backlog of 6.9 million immigration applications,
although officials say they are working to whittle that down.
''The government resources are less coordinated than they've ever
been,'' said Miami immigration attorney Tammy Fox-Isicoff. ``It's
everybody's worst nightmare.''
Analysts also say that the cost of homeland security falls too
often on state and local governments and that states more likely
to be attacked, such as Florida and New York, receive less per
capita than less vulnerable states, such as Wyoming or Vermont.
'What the local government people are saying is, `Show me the
green before you show me the orange,' '' said U.S. Rep. Kendrick
Meek, D-Miami, a member of the Select Committee on Homeland
Security.
PROGRESS
Still, Homeland Security officials say the department has enjoyed
tremendous success in only one year.
Entry into the United States is safer and smoother, federal
officials say, as a result of 50,000 trained screeners assigned
to the nation's airports along with high-tech baggage-screening
equipment.
''In less than a year, we deployed newly trained screeners,
thousands of federal air marshals and state-of-the-art
technologies, which, from the curb to the cockpit, have made
airline travel safer,'' Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge
said last week at George Washington University.
Thomas Winkowski, who heads Customs and Border Protection for
South Florida, said the consolidation of agencies has streamlined
what had been an unwieldy entry process at airports and borders.
Before, visitors had to run a gantlet of customs, agriculture and
immigration officers. Today, the border agency's officers handle
all those duties. ''It's good government,'' Winkowski said.
In the waters off South Florida, interdictions of Cuban, Haitian
and Dominican migrants have skyrocketed, and officials say it is
because of greater coordination between Immigration and Customs
Enforcement -- the ICE -- and the Coast Guard.
But uniting so many federal agencies has produced power struggles
and internecine squabbles.
Some agencies, for example U.S. Customs and the Coast Guard, were
well-regarded and worked well together before the merger. Others,
most notably the Immigration and Naturalization Service, were
bureaucratic nightmares. Now that so many formerly autonomous
agencies must work together, officials do not always get along.
Many former Customs agents who now are part of ICE worry about
the direction of the new agency.
''We don't know which direction we're going,'' said one Florida
ICE employee, who asked not be identified.
Christian Beckner, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies in Washington, said bureaucratic rivalries
and funding imbalances have undermined the department's
effectiveness. But, he added, the department deserves ``probably
a B-plus given the realities of the situation.''
Herald.com |
*****************************************************************
14 The Australian: How we rewrote the script on Iraq
[March 02, 2004]
By Cameron Stewart
IF there was a moment Australian intelligence lost the plot on
Iraq, it was on September 13, 2002. Hours earlier, US President
George W. Bush had stood before the UN General Assembly and urged
the world body to join forces against Saddam Hussein's regime.
In Australia, John Howard was reading from the same script,
calling on the UN to get tougher on Iraq. But inside the
country's premier intelligence agency, the Office of National
Assessments, Australia's script on Iraq was secretly being
rewritten.
On that day a handful of ONA analysts, working out of the
Canberra building they share with ASIO, made a crucial
reassessment on Iraq - a reassessment that would eventually be
used to justify Australia's involvement in war.
The effect of this reassessment was to say that Saddam's Iraq
represented a more serious and potent threat than was previously
believed. It was a seismic conclusion that would be echoed loudly
- and exaggerated by the Government - for the next six months as
justification for Australia's involvement in the invasion of
Iraq.
This was the moment - according to the parliamentary report on
intelligence released yesterday - that Australian intelligence
agencies no longer spoke with one voice on Iraq.
Before this, the assessments of the ONA - which provides direct
intelligence advice to the prime minister - were consistent with
those of its sister assessment agency, the Defence Intelligence
Organisation, which provides advice to the defence minister.
During 2000 and 2001 both ONA and DIO concluded that there was
"substantial but not conclusive evidence" that Iraq may have
revived its weapons of mass destruction programs.
The conclusion was that if Iraq had WMDs, they would be limited
in number and in a poor state. In March 2001, ONA stated that
"the scale of threat from Iraq WMDs is less than it was a decade
ago".
However, on September 13, 2002 - four days before Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer was due to make a key statement to
parliament on Iraq - ONA abruptly changed its tune. "There is one
(ONA) report, produced on September 13, 2002, which stands out,"
the committee's report states. "From this date, the language of
the ONA assessments tends to be much more definitive. The changes
are ones of emphasis."
The "no firm evidence" of new chemical and biological weapon
production in the assessment of September 12 and the "likely
small stocks of chemical and biological weapons" of July 19
became "a range of intelligence and public information suggests
that Iraq is highly likely to have chemical and biological
weapons".
Says the report: "The 'patchy and inconclusive' evidence on
Iraq's suspected nuclear program became 'there is no reason to
believe that Saddam Hussein has abandoned his ambition to acquire
nuclear weapons."'
The committee is unable to explain the reason for this abrupt
change, although it dismisses the notion that direct political
pressure was placed on ONA. It speculates that ONA may have been
influenced by the contents of Britain's now notorious WMD
dossier, which was about to be delivered in London. "The changes
in assessment certainly reflect the British views," the report
says.
However, ONA told the committee that it did not see the British
dossier until after it revised its stance on Iraq on September
13. By this time, the atmospherics of the debate in Australia and
the US was that war was likely barring an unexpected backdown
from Saddam.
The committee implies that ONA might have been affected by this.
"It is so sudden a change in judgment that it appears that ONA,
at least unconsciously, might have been responding to 'policy
running strong'," the report says.
"The (ONA) compilation was made at the request of the Department
of Foreign Affairs and was intended to be the basis of ministers'
speeches."
And it was. For a Government rapidly heading towards war, ONA's
new position added some welcome moral weight to help it sell the
conflict to a sceptical public.
Four days later, on September 17, Downer addressed parliament,
stating that Iraq needed to be dealt with. "Iraq's persistent
defiance displays a clear pattern of lies, concealment and
harassment that it would be dangerous to ignore," Downer said.
From this point on, both the ONA assessments and the Government's
rhetoric on the threat posed by Iraq became more certain and more
threatening. "It appears that after this date (mid-September) ONA
is influenced by the more assertive claims being made in Britain
and the US at that time."
The report notes that ONA's assessments began to denote "greater
culpability on Iraq's part and certainty on the part of the
analyst".
On January 31 last year, ONA stated bluntly that intelligence
"leaves little room for doubt that Saddam must have something to
hide - he must have WMDs - and confirms his deception efforts are
so systematic that inspectors could not find all his WMDs even if
given years to do so."
By contrast, DIO's reports over this period were described by the
committee as "more sceptical and circumspect than those of ONA".
For a Government anxious to make an argument for war, ONA's
assessments were far more attractive - and also more consistent
with those of US and British intelligence agencies.
The report shows that the Prime Minister and senior ministers did
not merely echo ONA's new position in their speeches - they took
these assessments a quantum step further.
"The statements by the Prime Minister and ministers are more
strongly worded than most of the Australian intelligence
community judgments," the committee's report concludes.
"This is in part because they quote directly from the findings of
the British and American intelligence agencies."
In Howard's speech to parliament on February 4 last year, the
committee found that Howard used US and British judgments that
comprised "stronger, more emphatic statements than Australian
agencies had been prepared to make".
Crucially, ONA did not question the use of these foreign
assessments in political statements, despite being unable to
always confirm the accuracy of the claims.
The report says that the presentation of intelligence by the
Australian Government "was more moderate and measured than either
of its alliance partners".
But it still accuses the Government of portraying Iraq as a
greater threat than was justified by the assessments being made
by the Australian intelligence community.
The committee says that the Government's emphatic claim about the
existence of WMDs accurately reflected the view of ONA after
September 13 last year. However, it says that the Government
failed to mention the caveats on these judgments - which included
the assessment that Saddam held only "small stocks" of WMDs and
DIO's assessment that Saddam may not have built any new WMDs
since 1991.
"The presentations by the Government seemed to suggest large
arsenals and stockpiles, endorsing the idea that Iraq was
producing more weapons and that the programs were larger and more
active than before the Gulf War in 1991."
On the question of whether Iraq posed an immediate threat, the
report also pointed out the sizeable gap between the Government's
rhetoric and the claims made by Australian intelligence agencies.
"Assessments by Australian agencies about possible degradation of
agents and restricted delivery capability cast doubt on the
suggestion that the Iraqi 'arsenal' represented a 'grave and
immediate threat' (Downer, September 17, 2002) and a 'real and
unacceptable threat'," as Howard did on February 4 last year.
The committee's report makes damning reading for those inside
ONA, the agency that bears prime responsibility for intelligence
misjudgments on Iraq.
But the report reaches the equally damning conclusion that the
Howard Government's rhetoric on Iraq exceeded the evidence
provided to it by its own intelligence agencies.
"The case made by the Government was that Iraq possessed WMDs in
large quantities and posed a grave and unacceptable threat to the
region and the world, particularly as there was a danger that
Iraq's WMDs might be passed to terrorist organisations," the
report states. "This is not the picture that emerges from an
examination of all the assessments provided to the committee by
Australia's two analytical (intelligence) agencies."
© The Australian
*****************************************************************
15 Daily Times: IAEA pleased with Pakistan’s cooperation
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Daily Times Monitor
ISLAMABAD: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has
expressed satisfaction with the cooperation by Pakistan in
efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear technology.
In an interview with VOA, IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming
maintained Pakistan was “cooperating effectively” in the efforts
to stop illegal proliferation of nuclear technology, a web portal
quoted her as having said on Monday. Responding to a question
regarding Pakistan’s investigation into the selling of nuclear
secrets abroad, Ms Fleming said, “We are not really commenting on
Pakistan’s internal investigation. I just can say that we have
been getting good cooperation from Islamabad.”
She said that the roots of the black market involved in the
proliferation of nuclear technology had spread to Europe, Asia
and Africa. “It is well known that Abdul Qadeer Khan was a sort
of mastermind of this network. He also has the designs and the
blueprints that were necessary to get the uranium enrichment
technology,” she added.
The IAEA spokeswoman said the agency was trying to learn how many
countries besides Iran, Libya and North Korea had benefited from
this black market. Home | National
Mufti promises to stop rights abuse BSF protests to
Pakistan after guard reports UFO landing Pakistan rejects report
of deal on Osama hunt Dodgy PIA engine re-routes returning Hajis
IAEA pleased with Pakistan’s cooperation IRSA protests water
storage by WAPDA LK Advani’s confederation idea a ‘mirage’
Pakistani beheaded in Saudi Arabia Top Chechen commander killed:
Russia Nucleus of terrorism neutralised, says Faisal IAF plans to
replace MiG-21s Mystery surrounds N Korean woman’s death in
Islamabad in 1998 Quetta law enforcers ordered to shoot
terrorists in the forehead Pakistani HC revives talk of
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline Mourners commemorate 9th
Muharram 30 FIA officials to be trained in United States and
France
Indian govt to propose special cricket aircraft, train and
bus services NCA takes control of Kahuta Laboratories Barrister’s
killer to die on Thursday Frontier government revives
foreign-funded projects Three killed in two accidents Girl’s body
found Experts demand appointment of SC judges Four injured in
clash between nazim and cop Elahi, Maqbool, Shujaat urge all to
follow Hussain Sawera to give Hardy a new direction HRCP wants
govt to stop targeting media Ghusal at Data Darbar Shalimar
Hospital to burn LGH medical waste Unions condemn rise in flour
price Teachers union threatens boycott of TEVTA classes 90,000
HIV/AIDS cases in Pakistan, says health official Punjab JI marks
2004 as ‘public service year’ Musharraf says Pakistan should be a
moderate state Man killed over property dispute Army helicopters
keep vigil in Gilgit ‘Karbala martyrs laid down their lives for
the supremacy of Islam’ Kite sales down in Rawalpindi JI protests
Wana killings No crisis in AJK govt, says Sikandar Hayat Britain
wants peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue, says Straw NWFP ARD
condemns Wana killings Musharraf’s moderation call deserves
respect: envoy ‘Govt failed to protect national interests’
‘Self-determination is Kashmiris’ birth right’ Nuclear scandal:
US to ask Malaysia to tighten export controls India offers
Pakistan expertise in social security schemes
Many held in Gujarat ahead of Ashura Israeli tanks enter
Gaza City and refugee camp Rapid reform leads to anarchy: Egypt
Boat capsizes in Indian river, 20 feared dead Russia to establish
Islamic university Sept 11 alleged coordinator Ramzi Binalshibh
at Guantanamo
US hands over 7 Russians from Guantanamo
Key points of the interim Iraqi constitution
US believes Taliban preparing spring offensive
Macedonia asks NATO to help probe crash
‘Powell and Musharraf often slip into general-to-general’
Baloch, Khurshid and Qazi nominated for JI top slot
Nazir made PML-N vice president
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
16 Daily Times: Nucleus of terrorism neutralised, says Faisal
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
By Shaukat Piracha
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat has observed that
it was not possible to set a timeframe on eliminating terrorists
but the nucleus of terrorism had been neutralised.
“It requires patience. We continue to devise fresh and innovative
strategies to handle this problem. We have been able to
neutralise the main nucleus of this problem,” the interior
minister told Daily Times in an interview. He said that was why
terrorism in Pakistan and the region had decreased substantially.
The minister said that information gathered from the arrested
associates of Osama Bin Laden indicated that the Al Qaeda leader
could be along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border or deep inside
Afghanistan.
“That is why our security agencies have been deployed there (on
the Pak-Afghan border) and we are using modern technology to
capture him,” the interior minister said.
“We are confident of his arrest as the net is closing around him.
Options and space are gradually being limited for terrorists,” Mr
Hayat said. A strong push was needed in Afghanistan, he said.
“The ISAF is doing a very good job, but it is imperative to make
its presence felt in every part of Afghanistan.”
The minister said some areas in Afghanistan were sanctuaries for
terrorists and needed a serious crackdown. “We are glad that the
ISAF is expanding its scope and NATO is also taking part in
ensuring safety in Afghanistan. With the acceleration of efforts,
the day will draw nearer when Al Qaeda will be eliminated,” he
said.
To a question regarding the detained terrorists, Mr Hayat said
several hundreds had been detained, including some Pakistanis.
“During the past year and a half, we have been able to arrest
around 150 terrorists from the tribal areas,” Mr Hayat added. He
said that terrorists’ facilitators had also been arrested in
large numbers. “They are using Internet and computers but we have
been able to make inroads into their technical hardware,” the
minister claimed.
To a question regarding threats of street power in the tribal
areas as a result of the operation in Waziristan, the interior
minister said, “Certainly, we are facing difficulties. [But]
President General Pervez Musharraf’s bold stance shows Pakistan’s
determination to crush terrorism. There are certain domestic
concerns but the government’s resolve is undiluted. We are making
no compromise in taking action and the locals are cooperating
with the security and administration,” he said.
The minister said the government had involved the local political
administration in South Waziristan Agency and the tribesmen were
also asking for action because the foreign elements had become a
nuisance. “Local have also handed over a substantial number of
foreigners,” the minister claimed.
However, he said there was no new operation in South Waziristan
Agency. “It is wrongly perceived as a fresh operation. We have
been engaged in such operations during the last one and a half
year. The recent activities in the Tribal Areas are part of the
same sequence. We are conducting such operations in other parts
of FATA like in Mohmand and other agencies,” Mr Hayat said. Home
| National
Mufti promises to stop rights abuse BSF protests to
Pakistan after guard reports UFO landing Pakistan rejects report
of deal on Osama hunt Dodgy PIA engine re-routes returning Hajis
IAEA pleased with Pakistan’s cooperation IRSA protests water
storage by WAPDA LK Advani’s confederation idea a ‘mirage’
Pakistani beheaded in Saudi Arabia Top Chechen commander killed:
Russia Nucleus of terrorism neutralised, says Faisal IAF plans to
replace MiG-21s Mystery surrounds N Korean woman’s death in
Islamabad in 1998 Quetta law enforcers ordered to shoot
terrorists in the forehead Pakistani HC revives talk of
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline Mourners commemorate 9th
Muharram 30 FIA officials to be trained in United States and
France
Indian govt to propose special cricket aircraft, train and
bus services NCA takes control of Kahuta Laboratories Barrister’s
killer to die on Thursday Frontier government revives
foreign-funded projects Three killed in two accidents Girl’s body
found Experts demand appointment of SC judges Four injured in
clash between nazim and cop Elahi, Maqbool, Shujaat urge all to
follow Hussain Sawera to give Hardy a new direction HRCP wants
govt to stop targeting media Ghusal at Data Darbar Shalimar
Hospital to burn LGH medical waste Unions condemn rise in flour
price Teachers union threatens boycott of TEVTA classes 90,000
HIV/AIDS cases in Pakistan, says health official Punjab JI marks
2004 as ‘public service year’ Musharraf says Pakistan should be a
moderate state Man killed over property dispute Army helicopters
keep vigil in Gilgit ‘Karbala martyrs laid down their lives for
the supremacy of Islam’ Kite sales down in Rawalpindi JI protests
Wana killings No crisis in AJK govt, says Sikandar Hayat Britain
wants peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue, says Straw NWFP ARD
condemns Wana killings Musharraf’s moderation call deserves
respect: envoy ‘Govt failed to protect national interests’
‘Self-determination is Kashmiris’ birth right’ Nuclear scandal:
US to ask Malaysia to tighten export controls India offers
Pakistan expertise in social security schemes
Many held in Gujarat ahead of Ashura Israeli tanks enter
Gaza City and refugee camp Rapid reform leads to anarchy: Egypt
Boat capsizes in Indian river, 20 feared dead Russia to establish
Islamic university Sept 11 alleged coordinator Ramzi Binalshibh
at Guantanamo
US hands over 7 Russians from Guantanamo Key points of the
interim Iraqi constitution US believes Taliban preparing spring
offensive Macedonia asks NATO to help probe crash ‘Powell and
Musharraf often slip into general-to-general’
Baloch, Khurshid and Qazi nominated for JI top slot Nazir
made PML-N vice president
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved Site developed and hosted by
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17 Daily Times: NCA takes control of Kahuta Laboratories
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
By Mohammad Imran
ISLAMABAD: The National Command Authority (NCA) has taken
administrative control of the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL)
to ensure that no leakage of nuclear-related information takes
place in the future, sources told Daily Times on Monday.
This administrative step has been taken after the proliferation
issue surfaced and some individuals were found to have committed
acts of indiscretion in the past, the sources added.
The sources said a comprehensive audit of the KRL accounts had
already been completed and a multi-layer security mechanism put
in place under the supervision of the NCA.
According to the sources, the government had decided to
“right-size and revamp” the KRL structure. “It has been decided
to go for a complete and comprehensive right-sizing programme and
in the process many employees will be retired from service”.
The sources said in the first phase of the KRL rightsizing,
employees having completed 25 years of their service but still
working for the KRL would be retired.
In the second phase, employees still working for the KRL despite
having reached the superannuation age would be retired, the
sources added.
The sources said that in consultation with the Strategic Plans
Division (SPD), the government had decided to also retire the KRL
employees who had been close to Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan in one way
or other.
“The SPD is likely to interview all these KRL employees before
taking a final decision as to how many of them should be retired
and who should be allowed to continue,” the sources said.
The sources said that the contract of KRL Chairman Dr Arshad
Mirza might not be renewed. A senior military officer with the
knowledge of nuclear technology might be appointed KRL chairman,
they added. Home | National
Mufti promises to stop rights abuse BSF protests to
Pakistan after guard reports UFO landing Pakistan rejects report
of deal on Osama hunt Dodgy PIA engine re-routes returning Hajis
IAEA pleased with Pakistan’s cooperation IRSA protests water
storage by WAPDA LK Advani’s confederation idea a ‘mirage’
Pakistani beheaded in Saudi Arabia Top Chechen commander killed:
Russia Nucleus of terrorism neutralised, says Faisal IAF plans to
replace MiG-21s Mystery surrounds N Korean woman’s death in
Islamabad in 1998 Quetta law enforcers ordered to shoot
terrorists in the forehead Pakistani HC revives talk of
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline Mourners commemorate 9th
Muharram 30 FIA officials to be trained in United States and
France
Indian govt to propose special cricket aircraft, train and
bus services NCA takes control of Kahuta Laboratories
Many held in Gujarat ahead of Ashura Israeli tanks enter
Gaza City and refugee camp Rapid reform leads to anarchy: Egypt
Boat capsizes in Indian river, 20 feared dead Russia to establish
Islamic university Sept 11 alleged coordinator Ramzi Binalshibh
at Guantanamo
US hands over 7 Russians from Guantanamo Key points of the
interim Iraqi constitution US believes Taliban preparing spring
offensive Macedonia asks NATO to help probe crash ‘Powell and
Musharraf often slip into general-to-general’
Baloch, Khurshid and Qazi nominated for JI top slot Nazir
made PML-N vice president
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
18 Hi Pakistan: EU, US take up nuclear proliferation issue today
March 02 2004
BRUSSELS: The European Union foreign policy wizards will discuss
foreign policy and security issues with US Secretary of State
Colin Powell on Monday. The issues include Washington’s proposed
"greater Middle East initiative" and nuclear non-proliferation in
the context of Iran, Libya and Pakistan, a diplomatic source told
The News.
The EU delegation led by Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen,
accompanied by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and External
Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, the diplomat said, is
preparing to brief in Washington on Monday Powel on EU’s opinion
that "the NPT should remain the cornerstone of the global
non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the
pursuit of nuclear disarmament".
The foreign ministers of the EU and the US would also discuss
some elements of the 2005 Review conference of the NPT. The
diplomatic source underlined that the EU’s determination to
continue its policy of calling on, India, Pakistan and Israel to
accede unconditionally to the NPT as non-nuclear-weapon states
and to place all their nuclear facilities and activities under
the provisions of the IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards System.
They would also discuss the global fight against terrorism. The
foreign ministers are expected to tell Powel that the EU
continues to attach great importance to the fight against
terrorism, but would keep on emphasising that maximum possible
precautions should be put in place to prevent terrorists from
acquiring nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
The positions to be taken by the EU, the source said, would be
within the framework of the EU’s WMD strategy. It underscores
EU’s commitment to strengthening export control policies and
practices within its borders and beyond, in co-ordination with
partners.
The EU leaders would also like to discuss steps aimed at
improving export control mechanisms. Another EU diplomat in
Brussels, however, indicated that the future of the Middle East
is to dominate the meeting. Other agenda items include nuclear
non-proliferation in the context of Iran and Libya and Pakistan,
the possible raising of an EU arms embargo on China and
developments in the Balkans.
Washington’s "greater Middle East" initiative aimed at pushing
democratisation and economic liberalisation of the Arab and
Islamic world would also be discussed. US officials say the
initiative, which will be detailed in full at the June summit,
aims to be the impetus for a "coherent and long term" strategy
for the Middle East region.
US officials in Brussels claim that Washington’s "greater Middle
East" is still very much on the drawing board. They claim that
the US plan will aim to foster social, political and economic
reform in the Middle East. EU member states, however, believe
that any change in the direction of democracy should come from
within the Middle East. The talks in Washington are regarded
important as diplomats believe the meeting will be a starting
point for coordinating a common approach with the EU’s own
policies and long-held partnerships with Arab countries.
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved. No part
*****************************************************************
19 Hi Pakistan: Nuclear mess -
By Syed Shahid Husain -->
March 02 2004
Not a day passes when newspapers in Pakistan, or abroad, do not
carry some negative coverage emanating from the latest nuclear
imbroglio. Ominous cacophonies are heard in the international
media. One of the scariest scenarios has been sketched by Eric S
Margolis in a recent article where he says that ‘Israel is
covertly helping build India’s nuclear forces with tacit backing
from Washington. And the US plans to deploy a new generation of
nuclear weapons designed to attack Third World targets- such as
Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.’
The other is an article by Stephen P Cohen in the New York Times
published on 16th February 2004. Cohen is a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution and has authored many books on the
militaries of India and Pakistan. His forthcoming book is
‘Pakistan’. Among other things, he has cast serious doubts on the
bonafide of the Pakistan’s regime, and he has recommended that
people of Pakistan should not be allowed to govern themselves and
the military is the best bet for the US. After all, there cannot
be any dispute with the thesis that what is best for the US is
best for every body. He has patronizingly referred to Washington
having ‘accepted the explanation of General Pervez Musharraf’.
Mr Cohen has cast doubt on the veracity of President’s version by
saying that ‘as improbable as it may seem,... the President may,
for once, be telling the truth’. But more troubling, according to
the author, would be the lack of knowledge on the part of
Pakistan government and its army - the way they would like the
world to believe.
It is widely believed, both in Pakistan and abroad that the
Government knew of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan’s rogue activities, which
would make the President, as well as Army and Intelligence
Services complicit in the nuclear crime of the century. The
author has twisted the logic by lending support to an
undemocratic dispensation for Pakistan by saying that ‘the only
officials who know nuclear strategy and diplomacy are in the
army. The bomb is no doubt safer in their hands than in those of
another feeble government’. Mr Cohen has characterized a
democratic government as feeble and a military government strong
by implication, although it did not know that nuclear technology
and designs were being sold in its back yard.
In another report, appearing in the New York Times, Pakistan is
alleged to have given Libya 1.87 tones of Uranium, which could be
used for nuclear weapons, in February 2001 aboard a Pakistani
aeroplane. Dr A Q Khan’s key middleman Bukhari Syed Abu Tahir
helped arrange the clandestine transfer.
It was in 1988, or may be 1989 when this scribe was preparing for
his M.Sc. degree in Strategic Studies in National Defence
College, and a panel discussion on nuclearisation of Pakistan was
arranged. The panel was made up of Ms Shireen Mazari and Mr
Farhatullah Babar. Ms Mazari spoke very eloquently, and almost
convincingly, in favour of possessing a bomb. Mr Farhatullah
Babar, now a senator, offered equally persuasive arguments, if
not more so, against possessing a nuclear bomb. He said
nuclearisation would expose Pakistan to greater risk and make its
defence more vulnerable.
Since I am a pacifist, and opposed to all arms, particularly
nuclear whether in possession of Pakistan or of the US, I tended
to agree with Mr Babar. But the entire military brass was seen
grimacing at the utterances of Mr Babar, which to them looked
foolish, if not outright pernicious. As soon as he was finished,
the chief instructor, who was an Air Vice Marshal and had
difficulty in restraining himself, while Mr Babar was on his
legs, so to speak, started by accusing Mr Babar that ‘you must be
only person in Pakistan opposed to its possessing a nuclear
weapon’. I raised my hand to say that there are two, including
myself. Obviously, this did not please him.
In a group discussion in National Defence College, I argued
against nuclear weapons because I firmly believe that they are
not useable, least of all in Pakistan. But the brigadier disputed
my contention, and vehemently claimed that one could be used. I
countered by asking him, where would he use it? He said in east
Punjab or Delhi. Then I said its fallout would be equally
destructive to Pakistan. He had a ready answer to that, and
instinctively suggested that Pakistan would already have been
destroyed.
This kind of logic coming from the students of the highest
military training institute in the country should send chills
down anyone’s spines. What I am trying to say is that the
Military, all three arms in particular, and ordinary people in
Pakistan, in general tend to believe that nuclear weapons are a
good thing for Pakistan and their absence makes Pakistan’s
defences vulnerable to threats from India. Given half a chance,
these generals, (only one out of twelve became a general, and
that too because of strong safaris, reportedly by the then
President to the then Chief of Army Staff) are likely to use
nuclear weapons at the first indication of a military defeat at
the hands of India. This should worry Indians more.
And yet, Mr Cohen would argue that nuclear assets would be safer
in military hands, rather than under Democratic supervision.
After all, he is an intellectual connected to the prestigious
think tank of the US and a favourite friend of our military. And
one doesn’t take Americans intellectuals lightly.
In hindsight, it seems that Pakistan may have been better off
without nuclear weapons. We would have been on high moral ground
vis-‡-vis India and would have won the favours of the Americans
by listening to the sound advice of President Clinton, when he
tried to dissuade us from blasting our way into the nuclear club.
Indians would, in that case, have looked foolish, very foolish
indeed. Our policy guided and controlled by our military has now
exposed us to vilification by any one who counts. Even President
Bush had something to say only the other day. His statement
negatively affected Pakistan’s stock market.
If someone harbours an illusion that the nuclear crisis for
Pakistan has blown over, he must submit himself to a reality
check. The US will be pre-occupied on a whole time basis to
guarantee its security by whatever ‘it took’, using Bush’s words
on his resolve to defend Taiwan from China. Economics sanctions
would only be the start.
The fact is that by that infamous admission of Mr A Q Khan on TV,
we have registered an FIR against ourselves. The West will choose
it’s timing for raising the issue against the regime. It is one’s
guess, that as soon as Presidential elections are out of the way
in US, Pakistan would be under tremendous pressure to put aside
its assets beyond commission. In the unlikely event, the
incumbent President gets elected; even he would change tack and
put full pressure on Pakistan to place nuclear assets in safe
hands, read American hands. A team has already visited Pakistan
to lend us technical help in securing our assets. The pressure
will be much greater, if a Democrat goes to the White House.
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
20 Hi Pakistan: Australia calls independent Iraq intelligence probe
March 02 2004
CANBERRA: Australia ordered an independent inquiry on Monday into
pre-Iraq war intelligence, after a parliamentary report found the
threat of weapons of mass destruction may have been overstated.
Prime Minister John Howard, who sent 2,000 military personnel as
part of the U.S.-led invasion force, bowed to growing pressure to
follow the United States and Britain and hold an independent
inquiry to address concerns the threat of Iraqi weapons was
exaggerated to justify the war.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced without the
written permission and prior consent of the webmaster.
*****************************************************************
21 Australian: One agency less gung-ho than others
01 March 2004
By John Kerin
CAUTIOUS and sceptical: the Defence Intelligence Organisation -
the Defence Minister's main assessment agency - was "more
sceptical and circumspect" than the Prime Minister's primary
analyst, the Office of National Assessments.
"The pre-war assessments that appear to be most accurate are
those that were sceptical," the Jull report says.
"These were after September 2002, largely the assessments
provided by DIO."
The bipartisan committee says the DIO "thought it likely Iraq
still retained some of the weapons of mass destruction that had
been produced prior to the Gulf War".
"But (it) did cast some doubts about the likely state, fragility
and reliability of those weapons of mass destruction from that
period," the report found.
In fact, in December 2002, the DIO was maintaining that "Iraq
does not have nuclear weapons".
The organisation also said at the time that there was no evidence
chemical warheads for Al Samoud or other ballistic missiles had
been developed by Iraq.
The report found the assessments of the Australian intelligence
services were more moderate and cautious than their partner
agencies in the US and Britain.
"However, even with their caution, it is arguable they overstated
that degree to which weapons of mass destruction existed," it
says.
In his evidence to the committee, DIO director Frank Lewincamp
acknowledged there was a risk of agencies being under pressure to
come up with the findings the Government wanted to hear, but he
"assured the committee his organisation had not succumbed to it".
Mr Lewincamp told the inquiry that in October he was aware the US
was committed to military action in Iraq.
"We made a judgment here in Australia too, that the United States
was committed to military action against Iraq.
"We had a view this was in a sense independent of the
intelligence assessment."
© The Australian
*****************************************************************
22 Hi Pakistan: Terrorists to be dealt with iron hand, says Rashid
March 02 2004
RAWALPINDI – Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid
Ahmad said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had made it clear
that there was no room for terrorists and terrorist activities
in Pakistan.
He was talking to a group of journalists after visiting
Imambargah Yadgar-i-Hussain where a suicide attacker was killed
when the detonator strapped with his body exploded on Saturday
evening. Rashid said that nobody would be allowed to interfere
in the religious affairs of other sects.
Rawalpindi Range Police DIG Ch Iftikhar Ahmad, DPO Syed Moravat
Ali Shah, New Town ASP Ehsan Abbas and other officials were also
present on the occasion and briefed the minister about the
incident.
Rashid said that Rawalpindi always remained the target of
terrorists as it was adjacent to federal capital and anything
happening here would flash in international media. The minister
said that terrorism would not be tolerated in any of its
manifestation and government would deal terrorists with iron
hand.
To a question he said that security arrangements were very
strict and presence of DIG and DPO here was an ample proof of
it. He further said that government agencies were investigating
the matter and culprits would soon be brought to justice.
About the rumours of Osama bin Laden’s capture on Saturday,
Rashid Ahmad said that there was no truth in it and Osama was
not arrested yet.
To another question about Wana operation he said that operation
was being launched by Pakistani forces against terrorists in
collaboration with tribal elders.
Earlier, the minister assured the Imambargah management that
culprits of the blast would soon be arrested. He also assured
them of enhanced security in the coming days.
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
23 Japan Times: Six-nation working group to meet in March ahead of full talks
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
By KANAKO TAKAHARA Staff writer
The six countries holding talks on North Korea's nuclear arms
program are expected to set up a working group by the end of the
month to prepare for their next meeting.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that during last
week's six-party talks in Beijing, the participants "agreed to
hold the next round by the end of June and set up a working group
within March."
Koizumi spoke to reporters after being briefed by Mitoji
Yabunaka, a senior Foreign Ministry official who headed Japan's
delegation during the Beijing talks.
North and South Korea, China, Japan, the United States and
Russia ended the talks Saturday without announcing when the first
working group meeting would be held.
Yabunaka also briefed senior government officials and Shinzo
Abe, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, on the
Beijing talks. He was expected to meet Tuesday with relatives of
Japanese who had been abducted to North Korea.
Vice Foreign Minister Yukio Takeuchi said officials of the six
nations will coordinate the details of the working group
discussions, including the topics it will handle and whether
several groups would be necessary, via diplomatic channels.
During his regularly scheduled news conference, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yasuo Fukuda welcomed the formation of the working
group and expressed hope that it would lead to more regular talks
among the parties involved.
He said Japan will continue urging North Korea to abandon its
nuclear program, despite North Korea's demand that the pursuit of
peaceful nuclear activities be excluded.
"If it is unclear whether (North Korea) will completely limit
its nuclear activities to peaceful means, (the government will)
demand a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling,"
Fukuda said.
Hajime Izumi, an expert on North Korea issues, said the
six-party talks were significant because Japan and the U.S.
clearly told Pyongyang they would not condone nuclear activities,
even for peaceful purposes.
Abductee testimony NARITA, Chiba Pref. (Kyodo) Three South
Koreans abducted by North Korea decades ago arrived Monday in
Japan to testify in the Diet on their experiences.
"I would like to speak at the Diet about abductees suffering in
North Korea," said Lee Jae Gun, 65, after arriving at Narita
airport.
Yukio Hatoyama, who leads an abduction issue panel within the
Democratic Party of Japan, met Lee and the other former abductees
at the airport.
They plan to appear as unsworn witnesses Tuesday before the
House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee's subcommittee
on North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals.
They are to leave Japan on March 7.
The three are fishermen who were taken to North Korea after
their boats were captured between 1967 and 1973.
They were forced to stay in North Korea for about 30 years until
they fled to China.
Hatoyama asked them to visit Japan when he went to South Korea
in early February.
The South Korean government says the North has abducted 486 of
its nationals, chiefly fishermen taken on the maritime borders of
the two Koreas, though Pyongyang has not admitted to these
allegations.
North Korea admitted in September 2002, however, that it
abducted 13 Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.
Five of these were repatriated to Japan the following month,
with the North saying the other eight had died.
The Japan Times: March 2, 2004 (C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
24 Japan Times: Lowering the bar in Beijing
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
EDITORIAL
One thing is very clear after last week's round of six-party
talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis: No one wants the
negotiations to fail. While that has spurred diplomacy to solve
the problem, it also means that "progress" could become illusory.
Apparently, agreement to continue working-level discussions is
now sufficient to declare victory. Yet the basic issues dividing
the key parties remain. North Korea refuses to acknowledge a
clandestine nuclear program and, without taking that step,
assistance and diplomatic normalization are impossible. Stalemate
has serious consequences, however: it allows North Korea to
continue secret efforts to build a bomb. Time works for
Pyongyang.
Four days of talks in Beijing last week marked the second round
of six-party negotiations. No one seriously expected a
breakthrough. Prior to the meetings, all six governments dampened
expectations to the point where merely concluding as scheduled
would constitute a victory for diplomacy. Some fretted that the
talks might be scuttled if Japan raised the issue of its
abductees, others worried that U.S. insistence that North Korea
had a secret enriched uranium program -- which Pyongyang denies
-- would prompt a walkout.
Neither happened. North Korea has learned that it cannot afford
to appear unreasonable. Its negotiators have toned down the
rhetoric and stressed their country's readiness to find a
diplomatic solution. The appearance of flexibility is critical;
that puts the burden on the U.S. to do the same and prevents the
creation of a five-party consensus that holds Pyongyang
responsible for any lack of progress.
As a result, last week's meetings concluded with an agreement to
hold negotiations before July and to form a lower-level working
group to handle the details of the dispute. All the while, North
Korea has refused to admit to the second nuclear program -- in
addition to the acknowledged reactors at Yongbyon -- and blames
the United States' "hostile policy" toward the North for the lack
of real progress.
That second program lies at the heart of the crisis. Pyongyang
is demanding security guarantees, oil and other aid from the U.S.
in exchange for freezing its military nuclear program. Washington
wants a "complete, verifiable, and irreversible" dismantling of
North Korea's nuclear programs; while the details of that
arrangement will take considerable time to work out, the process
must begin with acknowledging the secret program. A failure to do
so would guarantee that any dismantlement would not be
"complete." The other parties to the talks -- Japan, China, South
Korea and Russia -- would appear to back that position since they
have all called for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
Pyongyang has refused to take that crucial step. Instead, it
reportedly backed away from a previous offer of an undefined
freeze of all nuclear activities and said that it will maintain a
civilian nuclear energy industry. When pressed to explain that
program, the North's negotiators were said to be vague. They have
to be; details might confirm the U.S. allegations, which Beijing,
Moscow and Seoul have been reluctant to support.
From an economic perspective, a civilian nuclear energy program
makes no sense for North Korea. The country does not even have
the grid to distribute the energy. But it does help drive a wedge
between Washington and Seoul, which has already invested hundreds
of millions of dollars in the North to help build light-water
reactors as part of the now-abandoned Agreed Framework. An end to
all nuclear ambitions would force the South to write those
investments off. Pyongyang is also calculating that the other
governments will not deny the North a capability that they
possess.
An even more likely calculation is that Pyongyang feels time is
on its side. As long as the talks drag on without a complete
freeze, North Korea can continue efforts to obtain a nuclear
weapons capability. If it does, the entire strategic calculus
changes; at a minimum, Pyongyang can demand a great deal more to
give up the program. Dragging things out suits the U.S., too.
Washington does not want a crisis given the situation in Iraq and
the beginning of an election campaign. Working level talks allow
the situation to be "managed."
Japan must also be ready to be "managed." Pyongyang is likely to
continue to lay the groundwork for a deal on the abductees. From
Pyongyang's perspective, that is the best way to bring Tokyo
around and distance it from Washington. The abductees are
important, but Japan's vital interest is directly affected by
North Korea's nuclear capability. Tokyo, along with other members
of the six-party talks, must stay focused on that issue.
Eliminating North Korea's nuclear programs is the real benchmark
for success in the six-party talks.
The Japan Times: March 2, 2004 (C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
25 Australian: Policy 'swayed assessments'
01 March 2004
By John Kerin
JOHN Howard's lead intelligence agency, the Office of National
Assessments, may have been swayed in its findings from pre-war
intelligence on Iraq by "policy running strong" in support of
going to war, a parliamentary inquiry has found.
The report of the joint committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD says that
before September 2002 - about six months before the war - both
the ONA and the lead defence intelligence assessment agency, the
Defence Intelligence Organisation, set many qualifications on the
state of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs.
But the report says there was an as-yet-unexplained divergence
after that date.
"From this date the language of ONA assessments tends to be much
more definitive," the report says.
These included claims that "a range of intelligence and public
information suggests Iraq is highly likely to have chemical and
biological weapons" and that "Iraq has almost certainly been
working to increase its ability to make chemical and biological
weapons".
"Patchy and inconclusive" evidence on nuclear weapons in early
ONA assessments subsequently became, in the ONA's view, "no
reason to believe Saddam Hussein has abandoned his ambition to
acquire nuclear weapons. The report comments: "It is so sudden a
change in judgment that it appears ONA, at least unconsciously,
was responding to policy running strong (in support of the war)."
The report expresses concern that the agency had only three
analysts working on Iraqi intelligence in the lead-up to the war,
despite heavy intelligence traffic after September 2002.
It says the ONA should either be staffed appropriately to assess
military matters or concentrate its analysis on economic and
political issues.
The chair of the inquiry, Liberal MP David Jull, said yesterday
one of the report's key recommendations was that the role and
resources available to ONA be reviewed.
"It appeared that ONA, particularly after September 13 (2002),
was more ready to extrapolate a threatening scenario from
historical experience, more ready to accept the new and mostly
untested intelligence, and to see the rebuilding of dual-use
infrastructure and mobile facilities as indicating the
concealment of new production and the consequent possession by
Iraq of WMD," Mr Jull said.
"Our situation on that is to make sure ONA is adequately staffed,
that the qualifications of ONA staff are suitable for the work
they have to undertake."
© The Australian
*****************************************************************
26 MoJo: Spies Like Us
[MotherJones.com] [Mother Jones] [News]
March 1, 2004
It's hard to work up a whole lot of surprise when government
snooping operations come to light. After all, we know that spies
exist; what do we think they do all day? So last week, when Clare
Short, a former minister in Tony Blair's cabinet, revealed that
Britain had bugged the offices of U.N. chief Kofi Annan, some
jaded observers brushed off the news off with an
everybody-does-it shrug, and Blair hinted that whatever his
snoops got up to was no doubt in the national interest.
It's true that governments, even friendly ones, spy on each other
as a matter of course. And yet, there's something a little
shocking in the notion that a government would spy on the mild,
courtly Kofi Annan. And that, coupled with the public nature of
the charges, will hurt Tony Blair and further strain relations
between Britain and the U.S. on one side and the U.N. on the
other.
Short, who served in the Blair government as secretary of
international development -- and who quit in protest at the Iraq
war -- said she had of Mr. Annan's conversations while she was a
member of the government. The British intelligence had been
explicitly directed to spy on Annan and other top U.N. officials.
Short told the BBC: "I have seen transcripts of Kofi Annan's
conversations. In fact I have had conversations with Kofi in the
run-up to war thinking 'Oh dear, there will be a transcript of
this and people will see what he and I are saying.'"
condemned Short as "deeply irresponsible" and accused her of
undermining Britain's national security:
"I'm not going to comment on the operations of our security
services. But I do say this: we act in accordance with domestic
and international law, and we act in the best interests of this
country, and our security services are a vital part of the
protection of this country."
Short retorted that Blair hadn't denied her claims -- precisely
because he knew they were true. If so, the British government's
actions certainly . The 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic
relations contain provisions about inviolability of the U.N.
premises.
Britain’s Guardian speculates that the U.S. and Britain may have
bugged to gauge the U.N.'s attitude toward the planned invasion
of Iraq:
"In the last few weeks before the invasion of Iraq it became
clear that George Bush, with Tony Blair in tow, was bent on war -
and one of the key people standing in his way was the U.N.
Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. While the U.S. President was
impatient to get on with the attack, regarding Saddam Hussein as
a bad guy who should be ousted as soon as possible, the British
PM hoped the U.N. would give international backing, but it was
not going well. As far as Britain and the US were concerned, the
UN was becoming an obstacle to the overthrow of Saddam, rather
than a means of facilitating it. ...
Whatever Britain might have gleaned from any transcripts of his
conversations, it was not enough. The proposed resolution had to
be dropped and the war began without it."
People with first-hand -- and often uncomfortable -- experience
of intelligence gathering said they were unsurprised by Short's
allegations. Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Richard Butler
said he was that his telephone calls were being monitored during
his tenure by the U.S., Britain, France, and Russia. According to
another intelligence agent, the phone of the U.N.'s most recent
chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, was tapped whenever he was in
Iraq hunting for banned weapons, and the information shared
between the United States and Britain and their allies.
James Bamford, a specialist in intelligence, explains in the
Guardian just how fundamental is to intelligence operations. He
says that every hour the U.S. and British intelligence agencies
intercept millions of telephone calls, emails and faxes.
Bamford describes "Echelon," a joint snooping operation of the
U.S. National Security Agency and its British counterpart, GCHQ,
as "the largest espionage organization the world has ever known,
one capable of eavesdropping on conversations virtually anywhere
on the planet". Spain’s ambassador to the U.N. responded to the
over Short’s statement by saying that "everybody spies on
everybody."
One argument holds that snooping is justified today, given the
level of concern over imminent terrorist attacks or "rogue
countries" possessing nuclear weapons. The Belfast Telegraph
suggests that Short violated an in the intelligence community:
everyone knows, but no one says:
"For obvious reasons, the public cannot expect to know what went
on behind the scenes, and must take a considerable amount on
trust. But what applies in Belfast applies around the world, and
all governments rely on their intelligence agencies. …
This well-established protocol has been broken in no uncertain
style by Clare Short, the former Cabinet Minister who has accused
the security services of spying on the United Nations."
But, as an opinion in the Guardian notes, the fact that spying is
the norm doesn’t make it right. In fact, it’s and violates public
confidence:
"Diplomatic spying takes place. Both the Pakistan embassy in
London and the EU offices in Brussels have allegedly been recent
targets. But it is also wrong. The Vienna convention governing
the conduct of diplomatic relations explicitly bans it. The 1946
convention establishing the UN, signed by the UK, expressly
asserts its inviolability (though that does not stop the UN
having its own counter-intelligence department). As Mr Annan's
spokesman pointed out, everything the secretary-general does
would be undermined if those to whom he spoke lost confidence in
the confidentiality of their conversations. Few would dispute Mr
Blair's assertion that in the era of global terror, the work of
the intelligence agencies is more important than ever. It is less
obvious that to question it is to compromise it. Indeed, it is
because their work is important that public confidence must be
nurtured."
Arguably, of course, in the era of global terror, cooperative
ties between allies are more important than ever -- and Short's
revelations will do nothing to improve already between Britain,
the U.S. and the U.N. The Economist:
"In the messy aftermath of the Iraq war, America and Britain
have tried to patch up their relations with the UN. America has
closely consulted Mr Annan about when and how to create a new
system of government for Iraq (see article). But tensions
remain—and the accusations of spying, which may surprise no one
but are rarely aired in such a public way, are hardly likely to
help." … "In 2002, President George Bush said the UN would become
"irrelevant" if it did not enforce its own resolutions against
Saddam Hussein, and the organisation subsequently did balk at
approving America’s march to war. It now seems ironic that
America and Britain have apparently been caught spying on
officials of a supposedly "irrelevant" organisation."
Considering that both are under fire in their respective
countries for questions over Iraqi and WMD intelligence, this new
information won’t sit well. The Seattle-Post Intelligencer:
"British Prime Minister Tony Blair says former Cabinet minister
Clare Short's allegations are "deeply irresponsible." But the
very same condemnation surely could be made of spying on U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan during the run-up to the Iraq war.
The stain of this new scandal surely will taint the White House
as well. At best, snooping on diplomats at U.N. headquarters is
inhospitable. At worst, it may be illegal. If true, these
allegations would, if nothing else, suggest that the Blair and
Bush administrations were both desperate and paranoid in their
efforts to persuade the world go to war in Iraq." [.] [Email]
© 2003 The Foundation for National Progress Support Us
*****************************************************************
27 AU ABC: Inquiry finds gap between PM and intelligence agencies
PM - Monday, 1 March , 2004 18:10:38
Reporter: Louise Yaxley
MARK COLVIN: But first, after weeks of spin, now we can see the
facts, and the report of the parliamentary committee into the
intelligence on weapons of mass destruction is on the public
record.
One angle that wasn't spun ahead of time, the report says the
Prime Minister made a case for war that was stronger than the
information coming from his intelligence agencies.
On the other hand, it has found that both the Australian
Government and its agencies were more cautious than their
overseas counterparts.
But when it comes to the words the Prime Minister used about the
immediacy of the Iraqi threat and the information from the
Australian intelligence agencies, the committee says there is a
gap between them.
Louise Yaxley reports.
LOUISE YAXLEY: The committee's examined the intelligence agencies
and the way the case for war was made politically.
And the committee chairman David Jull says there's intelligence
agencies weren't put under political pressure.
DAVID JULL: The Australian agencies denied any political
pressure; the Committee noted this and accepted it.
LOUISE YAXLEY: Mr Jull says the Defence Intelligence Organisation
was the more accurate of Australia's two agencies.
DAVID JULL: Right up to the war they assessed that there were no
nuclear weapons, no evidence of construction of chemical or
biological weapons, no intelligence on the location of WMD, and
no reliable intelligence that Saddam had delegated authority to
use chemical or biological weapons in the event of war.
LOUISE YAXLEY: From the middle of September 2002, the committee
found there was a divergence in emphasis and judgment between
Australia's two intelligence agencies.
It says the Office of National Assessments was much more
definitive in its language after that time, while the detailed
reports from DIO remained more sceptical and circumspect than
ONA.
The committee chairman David Jull says ONA's assessments suddenly
changed between September 12th and 13th, 2002.
DAVID JULL: The committee was aware of a sudden, and as yet
unexplained change in the assessments provided by ONA between the
12th and 13th of September 2002. The assessment of the 13th of
September was made at the request of the Department of Foreign
Affairs, and was the basis of Government speeches.
The change makes a divergence in assessments between ONA and DIO,
and DIO's commented in their submission that the final product
was not formally cleared by the contributing agencies. This was
the only hint the committee received of any dispute between the
agencies.
LOUISE YAXLEY: There are just three recommendations in the
committee's report. The major one is for a new independent
inquiry into the agencies' performance, and the Government has
already accepted that.
But beyond the performance intelligence agencies, there are
political implications in this report.
It found the Prime Minister's statements were more strongly
worded than most of the judgements from the Australian
intelligence community.
Committee member, and former defence minister, Kim Beazley, says
Australian political leaders went further than the agencies or
the UK or US bodies.
KIM BEAZLEY: What this report makes amply clear is that there
were deficiencies in intelligence and our intelligence
structures. There was never, however, particularly from the
Defence Intelligence Organisation, but also from the Office of
National Assessments, emphatically delivered hard advice without
some form of qualification attached.
The exaggerations, the sense of immediacy, was the work of
politicians outside the intelligence advice they are being
presented, at least from the Australian agencies and I'd suggest
also from the American and British counterparts.
LOUISE YAXLEY: It's a unanimous bipartisan report by some of the
Parliament's most senior and respected figures.
And contained within it is criticism of the way Government made
the case for war.
Kim Beazley.
KIM BEAZLEY: As the committee finds in Paragraph 516, "therefore
the case made by the Government was that Iraq possessed WMD in
large quantities, and posed a grave and unacceptable threat to
the region and the world, particularly as there was a danger that
Iraq's WMD might be passed to terrorist organisations". But as
the committee says – in Para 517 – "this is not the picture that
emerges from an examination of all the assessments provided to
the committee by Australia's two analytical agencies". As the
committee says, and I quote again: "Accuracy must also encompass
whether the picture being presented is complete. Ignoring
significant elements of fact or opinion when citing intelligence
assessments can have a distorting effect", unquote.
Completely excluded from any minister's presentation were
intelligence assessments that war might provoke the circumstances
in which WMD might be used or passed on to terrorists. The
Government, however, in fact from the intelligence community,
received such advice. Ignoring it was a very big call indeed,
given the circumstances of September the 11th.
MARK COLVIN: The former Opposition leader, now a backbencher and
member of the intelligence committee, Kim Beazley, ending Louise
Yaxley's report.
*****************************************************************
28 UK Independent: Threat of legal action fails to silence Short
By Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor
01 March 2004
The confrontation between Clare Short and Tony Blair over the
Iraq war escalated yesterday after she defied a warning from the
Cabinet Secretary of possible legal action for speaking to the
media about government secrets.
Sir Andrew Turnbull faxed Ms Short a "threatening" letter in
response to an article in Saturday's Independent in which she
refused to back down on her claim that Britain spied on the UN
and that the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC, may have been
"leant upon" to give military action legal authority. Ms Short
stunned Westminster yesterday when she revealed on a live
television programme that Sir Andrew had warned her of her
duties under the ministerial code, as a member of the Privy
Council and her oath of allegiance to the Crown.
In the letter, seen by The Independent, Sir Andrew said that he
reserved the right of the Crown to take "any further action as
necessary. I have to admit to being extremely disappointed at
your behaviour. I very much regret that you've seen fit to make
claims which damage the interests of the United Kingdom".
It also emerged from a government source that the US had in
effect ordered Britain to get legal advice backing war weeks
before the invasion began. Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, a
Labour peer, said the source had told her that in January 2003,
three months before the war, the majority view of Whitehall
lawyers was that a second UN resolution would be needed to
legitimise action.
John Major, the former prime minister, also pressed Mr Blair to
publish the legal opinion on the war drafted by Lord Goldsmith.
UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
29 Las Vegas SUN: U.S. to Malaysia: Tighten Nuclear Exports
Today: March 01, 2004 at 11:35:42 PST
By PATRICK McDOWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - The United States will urge
Malaysian leaders to tighten export controls after the discovery
that a local company controlled by the prime minister's son
manufactured parts for Libya's nuclear program.
U.S. envoy John Stern Wolf, an assistant secretary heading the
State Department's bureau of non-proliferation, is scheduled to
meet top government officials on Tuesday, officials said. It
wasn't immediately clear if Wolf would hold talks personally
with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The meetings follow complaints by Malaysia that this Southeast
Asian country has been unfairly singled out as part of the
network led by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's
nuclear program, to supply nuclear technology and know-how to
Libya, Iran and North Korea.
But U.S. officials are keen for Malaysia to stiffen export
controls and take sterner measures against proliferation
following the seizure of a ship carrying Malaysian-made
centrifuge parts to Libya, the key that unlocked Khan's secret
network.
"Assistant Secretary Wolf will be seeking to increase the
existing cooperation between the U.S. and Malaysia on
non-proliferation," U.S. Embassy spokesman Frank Whitaker said
Monday.
Wolf will provide information to the Malaysians about steps
taken at the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy
Agency as well as President Bush's campaign against
proliferation, Whitaker said.
The Bush initiative includes plugging loopholes and taking
stiffer action against criminals.
The middleman that Malaysian police have accused of
orchestrating the parts shipment for Libya, Buhary Syed Abu
Tahir, remains free in Malaysia because officials insist that he
has broken no local laws.
Bush has described Tahir, a Sri Lankan businessman, as the
"chief financial officer and money launderer" of Khan's network.
Tahir is married to a Malaysian and lives part-time here.
Malaysian police said in a recent report that he tricked a local
company, Scomi Precision Engineering, or SCOPE, into making
centrifuge parts that could be used to enrich uranium for
nuclear weapons.
SCOPE, a wholly owned subsidiary of oil-and-gas company Scomi,
thought the parts were bound for the oil and gas industry in
Dubai, police said.
Scomi is majority owned by Kaspadu, an investment company in
which the prime minister's son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, has a
controlling stake. Tahir also had a seat on Kaspadu's board,
though he stepped down a year ago.
Malaysia has ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but
has never signed protocols that prohibit trading in single-use
components for nuclear weapons programs.
Malaysia contends that the components made by SCOPE could have
had other, dual-use purposes. Abdullah said it would have been
unreasonable to expect the company to have questioned what
seemed like a legitimate contract.
--
*****************************************************************
30 NRC: News Release - Region I - 2004-006 - NRC Proposes $3,000
Fine Against VA. Firm for Radiography Violations
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region I
475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406
www.nrc.gov
No. I-04-006 February 26, 2004
CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330
Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $3,000
fine against a Virginia company for two deliberate violations of
agency requirements. The violations by Precision Testing and
Inspection of Chantilly, Va., occurred last August and involve
failing to post warning signs during radiography operations and
providing inaccurate information to the NRC.
An NRC inspection and a subsequent investigation by the NRC
Region II Office of Investigations identified the violations.
They were discussed during a predecisional enforcement
conference between NRC staff and representatives of the company
on January 20.
The first violation occurred during industrial radiography
operations on August 21 at a temporary job site in Reston, Va.,
when a radiographer deliberately failed to post warning signs in
a work area as required. (Industrial radiography is a process
used to inspect metal parts and welds. A sealed radiation source
beams radiation at an object to be checked. Special
photographic, or radiographic, film placed on the opposite side
of the object is then exposed by radiation passing through,
creating an image of the object much like an X-ray.) In this
case, radiography was being used to make sure there were no
embedded wires or piping in a concrete floor so holes could be
safely drilled there. The NRC concluded the violation was
deliberate because: (1) The radiographer was trained and
knowledgeable about NRC requirements for posting warning signs
during radiography operations; and (2) the radiographer admitted
during an interview with an NRC investigator on September 30
that while he knew about the requirements, he failed to adhere
to them because he was in a hurry to finish the work.
The second violation involved a failure by the companys
Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) to provide accurate information
to the NRC on August 25. On that date, the RSO told two NRC
inspectors he did not hold that job when in fact he did.
However, when interviewed by an NRC investigator on September
30, the individual admitted he had previously lied so that the
NRC inspectors would leave and return to perform the inspection
on another date. The inaccurate statement delayed the start of
an NRC inspection of the facility.
Deliberate violations are a very serious concern to the NRC
because the NRC regulatory program relies, in part, on the
honest and integrity of NRC licensees and their employees. As
such, deliberate violations cannot be tolerated, NRC Region I
Administrator Hubert J. Miller wrote to Precision Testing and
Inspection in a letter detailing the violations.
The company is required to provide the NRC with a written reply
to the violations within 30 days.
In addition to issuing a fine to Precision Testing and
Inspection, the NRC has issued a Notice of Violation to both the
radiographer and RSO involved because their actions were
deliberate.
Last revised Friday, February 27, 2004
*****************************************************************
31 NRC: NRC to Conduct Special Inspection at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station
News Release - Region IV - 2004-00
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region IV
No. IV-04-007 March 1, 2004
CONTACT: Victor Dricks
Phone: 817-860-8128
E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a special inspection
to evaluate problems related to a new steam generator and the
operation of the shutdown cooling system at the Palo Verde
Nuclear Generating Station, located 50 miles west of Phoenix,
Arizona.
On February 19, operators shut down Palo Verde Unit 2 after
monitors detected a minute leak in one of two steam generators
that had been replaced last fall. Despite some problems
subsequently encountered, the plant remained in a safe condition
at all times and there was no danger to public health or safety.
After the reactor cooled, operators reduced the level of water
in the reactor coolant system to facilitate access to the
leaking steam generator. However, problems with some equipment
led them to prolong the time that the plant remained in this
condition. Workers discovered that air had displaced some of the
water in the reactor shutdown cooling system, forcing them to
open valves to vent air into the auxiliary building every two
hours.
The NRC staff has decided to conduct a special inspection to
evaluate the adequacy of the licensees response to the
situation, the root cause, and corrective actions.
The NRCs Special Inspection Team, consisting of two reactor
engineers from the NRCs Region IV Office in Arlington, Texas,
an inspector from the Callaway nuclear plant in Missouri, and a
Headquarters specialist, arrived on site last week and have
begun their review.
The inspection report will be issued about four weeks after the
inspection is completed, and will be available on the agencys
web site and through its Electronic Reading Room at:
http//www.nrc.gov as an Agencywide Document Access and
Management System (ADAMS) document. Help in using ADAMS is
available through the NRC Public Document Room at 301-417-4737
or 1-800-397-4209.
Last revised Monday, March 01, 2004
*****************************************************************
32 NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting March 8 on Proposed License Renewal of D. C. Cook
Nuclear Plant
News Release - Region III - 2004-01
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region III
No. III-04-010 February 27, 2004
CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663
Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov
public meetings on March 8th in Bridgman, Michigan, on the
environmental review related to the application of Indiana
Michigan Power Company (I&M) to renew the operating licenses for
the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2. Members of the
public are invited to attend and comment on environmental issues
the NRC should consider in its review of the proposed license
renewal.
The meetings will be held on March 8th at the Lake Charter
Township Hall, 3220 Shawnee Road, in Bridgman. There will be two
similar sessions, one in the afternoon at 1:30 and one in the
evening at 7:00. In addition, the NRC staff will host informal
discussions one hour prior to each meeting. NRC staff members
will be available to answer questions and provide additional
information about the process during those informal sessions,
but no comment submittals on environmental issues will be
accepted at that time.
All are welcome to attend. For planning purposes, those who wish
to present oral comments at the meeting may register by
contacting Robert Schaaf of the NRC by telephone at 1-800-
368-5642, Extension 1312, or by email at CookEIS@nrc.govno later
than March 3th. Interested persons may also register to speak
before the start of each session. Individual comment time may be
limited by the time available.
The meetings will include an overview and NRC staff presentation
on the environmental process related to license renewal, after
which members of the public will be given the opportunity to
present their comments on what environmental issues the NRC
should consider during its review.
Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a
nuclear power plant is issued for up to 40 years. The license
may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC
requirements are met. The current operating licenses for D.C.
Cook will expire on October 25, 2014 , and December 23, 2017,
respectively. I&M submitted its application for license renewal
on October 31, 2003.
The application is available for public review at the Bridgman
Public Library, 4460 Lake Street, Bridgman, and at the Maud
Preston Palenske Memorial Library, 500 Market Street, St.
Joseph, Michigan. It is also available in the NRC Public
Document Room at NRC Headquarters, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, on the Internet at
www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/coo
k.html and from the Publicly Available Records component of
NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS),
accessible at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do
not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems accessing the
documents in ADAMS should contact the NRCs Public Document Room
reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or by email at
pdr@nrc.gov.
An existing NRC document, Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, (NUREG-1437),
assesses the scope and impact of environmental effects that
would be associated with license renewal at any nuclear power
plant site. The NRC staff is gathering information at these
meetings for a supplement to the generic environmental impact
statement that will be specific to D.C. Cook. It will contain a
recommendation regarding the environmental acceptability of the
license renewal action.
At the conclusion of the information-gathering process, the NRC
staff will prepare a summary of significant issues and will send
a copy to interested persons who participated in the scoping
process. The summary will also be available for public review at
the Bridgman Public Library and at the Maud Preston Palenske
Memorial Library, and accessible electronically through the NRC
Public Electronic Reading Room at
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
The NRC staff will then prepare a draft environmental impact
statement supplement for public comment and will hold a public
meeting to solicit comments. After consideration of comments
received on the draft, the NRC will prepare a final EIS
supplement.
Members of the public may also submit written comments on the
scope of the D. C. Cook-specific supplement to the generic
environmental impact statement. Comments should be submitted by
April 6, either by mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives
Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Mail Stop T-6-D-59,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C.,
20555-0001, or by email to: CookEIS@nrc.gov.
Last revised Monday, March 01, 2004
*****************************************************************
33 NRC: NRC Announces Availability of License Renewal Application for Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant
News Release - 2004-02
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200
Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov
No. 04-029 March 1, 2004
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is announcing that copies of
an application for a 20-year renewal of the operating licenses
for Units 1 and 2 at the Point Beach nuclear power plant are
available to interested parties. Nuclear Management Company, LLC
submitted the application on February 26.
The Point Beach plant is located near Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and
the current operating licenses for Units 1 and 2 expire on
October 5, 2010, and March 8, 2013, respectively.
A copy of the application is available on the NRC web site at
this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applicati
ons/point-beach.html. The application is available through the
NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS).
Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC Public
Document Room staff at 301-415-4737 or 800-397-4209.
In addition, a copy of the license renewal application will be
available at the Lester Public Library, at 1001 Adams Street,
Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
The NRC staff is currently conducting an initial review of the
application to determine whether it contains enough information
for the required formal review. If the application has
sufficient information, the NRC will formally docket, or file,
the application and will announce an opportunity to request a
public hearing.
Last revised Monday, March 01, 2004
*****************************************************************
34 Taipei Times: Anti-nuclear activists laud DPP's attitude
Mon, Mar 01, 2004
GREEN POWER: A questionnaire showed that the DPP is more in tune
with global nuclear power trends than the KMT, which scorns
renewable energy sources
By Chiu Yu-Tzu STAFF REPORTER
"We are not surprised at the pan-blue camp's reluctance to
liberalize the power industry."
Shih Shin-min, member of the Taiwan Environmental Protection
Union
President Chen Shui-bian's (³¯¤ô«ó) attitude toward nuclear power
issues and energy policies is keeping abreast with global trends,
whereas Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (³s¾Ô)
remains in favor of nuclear power rather than using renewable
energy sources, a group of anti-nuclear activists said yesterday.
The No Nuke Taiwan Union («D®Ö¥xÆWÁp·ù), which was formed by
activists from more than 88 civic and environmental groups early
last month, sent a questionnaire containing 12 questions about
energy policies and nuclear topics to the Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) and the KMT on Feb. 19.
According to the union's convener, Cheng Hsien-yu (¾G¥ý¯§), the
questionnaire was designed to determine both camps' attitude
toward the promotion of renewable energy sources, the efficient
use of energy, green industries, liber-alization of the power
industry, nuclear safety and other nuclear-related issues.
Cheng said that the DPP's attitudes are similar to those of
environmentalists engaged in the promotion of sustainable energy
sources, but that the pan-blue camp remained an advocate of
policies that had been established by the former KMT government
before the 2000 presidential election.
"For example, President Chen Shui-bian now prefers holding a
referendum to decide the future of the Fourth Nuclear Power
Plant, while the KMT's Lien Chan would like to have the
construction completed at any cost," Cheng said at a press
conference yesterday.
Shih Shin-min (¬I«H¥Á) of the Taiwan Environmental Protection
Union said it was a shame that the KMT's approach was so
outdated.
"We are not surprised at the pan-blue camp's reluctance to
liberalize the power industry," Shih said.
Mary Chen (³¯°ÒÄR), chairwoman of the Homemakers' Union and
Foundation, said the KMT's response to the questionnaire did not
clearly explain how it proposes to restructure the country's
energy supplies, how to deal with radioactive waste or how to
ensure the public's safety.
She said that the pan-blue camp lags behind the DPP in its
awareness of global trends in sustainable development.
However, Chen said that activists are slightly worried about the
DPP's forthright answers.
"The DPP had to eat some of its words about environmental issues
after its victory in the 2000 presidential election, including
its promise to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant," she said.
"We estimate that only 20 percent of Taiwanese people are aware
of nuclear power problems. That's not enough to enable us to
phase out nuclear power plants in the nation," said the No Nuke
Taiwan Union's deputy convener, Chen Jiau-hua (³¯´ÔµØ).
According to the union, more than 300 workshops and forums will
be held nationwide before July to promote sustainable development
and energy-related issues.
Meanwhile, some anti-nuclear activists are set to start a 10-day
nonviolent demonstration in front of the Legislative Yuan today
by fasting in rotating groups to urge the legislature to halve
the number of seats.
Former DPP chairman Lin Yi-hsiung (ªL¸q¶¯), one of the founders
of the Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association, will join other
activists in the fast. This story has been viewed 306 times. +
Advertising [ height=] [ height=]
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35 allAfrica.com: South Africa: Company Optimistic On Nuclear Deal's Fate
Company Optimistic On Nuclear Deal's Fate
Business Day (Johannesburg)
March 1, 2004
Posted to the web March 1, 2004
Larry Claasen, Industrial Reporter
Johannesburg
JSE Securities Exchange SA-listed electrical group IST said
yesterday it was confident that the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor
project would get off the ground despite concerns over funding.
The group's optimism comes a week after a government delegation
led by key players from Eskom Enterprises and the departments of
trade and industry and minerals and energy held talks with French
nuclear giant Areva to woo them into the project as an
international equity partner.
It is hoped that Areva would invest the full $1bn required to
build the nuclear demonstration unit at Koeberg and a fuel plant
at Pelindaba near Pretoria. This comes after US energy
heavyweight Exelon pulled out of the reactor project two years
ago. There was also talk of British Nuclear Fuels, which had a
22% stake in the reactor company that oversees the
commercialisation of the mininuclear reactor, being on the verge
of bankruptcy.
Other shareholders in the reactor company include Eskom (30%)
and the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (25%).
IST CE Harry Coetzee said yesterday acquiring funding for the
project would probably be harder than getting government
approval.
IST has a R260m contract for the design of three key systems for
the full-scale demonstration plant at Koeberg, but is awaiting
the go-ahead from the minerals and energy department.
The development of the reactor is not only touted as a way of
providing SA with cheap electricity but is seen as an additional
huge source of foreign revenue.
Coetzee believed the project would eventually get approval and
funding, but he cautioned that this would not happen at a quick
pace. He said the group did relatively well despite the strong
rand putting strain on its customer base.
IST closed 2,94% down at R1,65 on Friday.
Make allAfrica.com your home page
Copyright © 2004 Business Day. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
36 EUobserver: Commission upbraided for pro-nuclear stance
01.03.2004 - 09:24 CET
Currently there are 8 member states with nuclear reactors,
from 1 May this number will rise to 13 (Photo: These Tides)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The controversial issue of nuclear energy
and how far it should be promoted in the EU is set to raise its
head again this month when the European Commission decides
whether to fund a nuclear reactor in Romania.
Green organisation Friends of the Earth has sent a letter to all
European Commissioners demanding that the decision, set to be
taken on 24 March, be postponed.
"Euratom [the EU’s nuclear treaty] loans are currently arranged
in secret. There is as yet no requirement on the Commission to
publicly register loan applications as they are received, nor to
hold any kind of public consultation on applications that are in
progress", says the letter.
The organisation wants to take the matter to the European
Ombudsman as it accuses the Commission of withholding key
assessment reports and not saying what the money should be used
for.
The "decision must be postponed while information about it has
been released and can be assessed. As EU citizens, we demand our
rights under the treaties to openness and transparency, and to
participate in decisions", said Friends of the earth campaigner
Mark Johnston.
If the Commission does agree to fund the nuclear plant in Romania
- which is likely to become a member of the EU in 2007 - it is
set to re-open a general discussion about nuclear safety in the
EU as enlargement creeps closer.
Many reactors, no common rules As of 1 May, thirteen of the
twenty-five member states will have nuclear energy but there will
be no common set of rules for regulating safety.
In several of the new member states concern about the state of
nuclear reactors has been expressed - particularly in the Czech
Republic and Lithuania.
They have all promised to take steps to upgrade their reactors or
close them down as a condition of EU membership.
However, as there are no common rules from 1 May, there are fears
that their Soviet style reactors will not be properly secured.
"There are no rules; they can do nothing if they want", an EU
official told the EUobserver.
In 2002, Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio proposed
unprecedented powers for the Commission to supervise the safety
of reactors.
However, her plans were immediately opposed by France and the UK
– big users of nuclear power in the EU – and have yet to be
approved.
"Opposition is led by the UK", claimed one diplomat adding, "you
could ask why they are against having inspections".
Nuclear treaty For anti-nuclear green organisations, the whole
issue of revising Euratom is thrown into the equation.
This founding treaty of the EU (1957), which has an indefinite
lifespan and has never been reviewed, promotes nuclear power in
the Union.
And while nuclear issues are so contentious, the issue was never
really fully dealt with during the Convention on the Future of
Europe in 2002/2003, which drew up the EU Constitution.
This means that the treaty is likely to be tacked on as a
protocol to the Constitution - however non-nuclear states, such
as Austria, have not given up the fight.
Together with green groups they are hoping that the whole issue
of nuclear power in a future EU may eventually be dealt with in a
separate intergovernmental conference.
Written by Honor Mahony
*****************************************************************
37 NRC: STP Nuclear Operating Company, et al.; South Texas Project,
FR Doc E4-431
[Federal Register: March 1, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 40)]
[Notices] [Page 9650-9651] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr04-102]
Units 1 and 2; Notice of Withdrawal of Application Regarding
Proposed Corporate Restructuring The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (the Commission) has granted the request of STP
Nuclear Operating Company (the licensee) to withdraw the
September 29, 2003, application for an order under section 50.80
of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) approving
the indirect transfer of Facility Operating Licenses Nos. NPF-76
and NPF-80 for South Texas Project (STP), Units 1 and 2,
respectively, to the extent held by Texas Genco, LP (Texas
Genco). STP, Units 1 and 2, are located in Matagorda County,
Texas.
The Commission had previously issued a Notice of Consideration of
Approval of Application and Opportunity for a Hearing in the
Federal Register on November 5, 2003 (68 FR 62641). However, by
letter dated January 29, 2004, the licensee withdrew the proposed
change.
For further details with respect to this action, see the
application for amendment dated September 29, 2003, and the
licensee's withdrawal letter dated January 29, 2004, which
withdrew
[[Page 9651]] the application for license amendment. Documents
may be examined, and/ or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public
File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible
electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and
Management Systems (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the
Internet at the NRC Web site,
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html. Persons who do not have
access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference
staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737 or by email
to pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of
February, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William D. Reckley, Acting Chief, Section 1, Project Directorate
IV, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E4-431 Filed 2-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
38 NRC: Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.; Designation Of Presiding Officer
FR Doc E4-432
[Federal Register: March 1, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 40)]
[Notices] [Page 9649] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr04-100]
Pursuant to delegation by the Commission, see 37 FR 28710
(December 29, 1972), and the Commission's regulations, see 10 CFR
2.1201, 2.1207, notice is hereby given that (1) a single member
of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel is designated as
Presiding Officer to rule on petitions for leave to intervene
and/or requests for hearing; and (2) upon making the requisite
findings in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1205(h), the Presiding
Officer will conduct an adjudicatory hearing in the following
proceeding: Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., Erwin, Tennessee,
(Material License Amendment-3).
The hearing will be conducted pursuant to 10 CFR part 2, subpart
L, of the Commission's regulations, ``Informal Hearing Procedures
for Adjudications in Materials and Operator Licensing
Proceedings.'' This proceeding concerns two requests for hearing
submitted on February 2, 2004, one from Friends of the Nolichucky
River Valley, Inc., the State of Franklin Group of the Sierra
Club, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, and the
Tennessee Environmental Council, and the second from Kathy
Helms-Hughes. These petitions were filed in response to an NRC
staff December 17, 2003, notice of receipt of a request by
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) to amend its 10 CFR part 70
license to authorize processing operations in the Oxide
Conversion Building and the Effluent Processing Building at the
NFS Blended Low-Enriched Uranium Complex in Erwin, Tennessee. The
notice of receipt of amendment request and opportunity for a
hearing were published in the Federal Register on December 24,
2003 (68 FR 74653).
The Presiding Officer in this proceeding is Administrative Judge
Alan S. Rosenthal. Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.722,
2.1209, Administrative Judge Richard F. Cole has been appointed
to assist the Presiding Officer in taking evidence and in
preparing a suitable record for review.
All correspondence, documents, and other materials shall be filed
with Judges Rosenthal and Cole in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1203.
Their addresses are: Administrative Judge Alan S. Rosenthal,
Presiding Officer, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001
Administrative Judge Richard F. Cole. Special Assistant.
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Washington, DC 20555-0001
Issued in Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of February, 2004.
G. Paul Bollwerk III, Chief Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety
and Licensing Board Panel.
[FR Doc. E4-432 Filed 2-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
39 NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Notice of Consideration of
FR Doc E4-433
[Federal Register: March 1, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 40)]
[Notices] [Page 9649-9650] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr04-101]
Issuance of Amendment to Facility Operating License and
Opportunity for a Hearing The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(the Commission) is considering issuance of an amendment to
Facility Operating License No. DPR-20, issued to Nuclear
Management Company, LLC (the licensee), for operation of the
Palisades Plant located in Covert Township, Van Buren County,
Michigan.
The proposed amendment would add a paragraph to Section 2C of the
operating license authorizing the licensee to update the final
safety analysis report (FSAR) to reflect a change in the
licensing basis for the handling of heavy loads using the main
hoist of the fuel pool building crane (L-3 crane). The revised
licensing basis is based upon the upgrading or re-evaluation of
the lifting capacity of the L-3 crane main hoist, bridge,
trolley, and the supporting structure from 100 tons to 110 tons,
and the incorporation and crediting of single-failure- proof
technology meeting the requirements of NUREG-0554, ``Single-
Failure-Proof Cranes for Nuclear Power Plants'' and NUREG-0612,
``Control of Heavy Loads at Nuclear Power Plants.'' (NUREG-0612
requires analyses of postulated load drop accidents from spent
fuel pool area cranes unless the handling system is designed to
be single failure proof). The modified L-3 crane is the
single-failure-proof crane designed by Ederer Incorporated in
accordance with the NRC- approved report, EDR-1, ``Generic
Licensing Topical Report.'' The upgrade, with its increased
lifting capacity, will provide for use of a new, heavier dry fuel
storage cask system which, due to dimensional changes, results in
elimination of the impact limiting pad previously installed in
the spent fuel pool to protect the pool structure from postulated
transfer cask drop accidents during dry fuel storage operations.
The 15-ton auxiliary hoist of the spent fuel pool crane is not
upgraded to be single-failure-proof and continues to be bounded
by existing cask drop accident analyses in Section 14.11 of the
FSAR.
Before issuance of the proposed license amendment, the Commission
will have made findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's regulations.
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, the
licensee may file a request for a hearing with respect to
issuance of the amendment to the subject facility operating
license and any person whose interest may be affected by this
proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in the
proceeding must file a written request for a hearing and a
petition for leave to intervene. Requests for a hearing and a
petition for leave to intervene shall be filed in accordance with
the Commission's ``Rules of Practice for Domestic Licensing
Proceedings'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult
a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is available at the
Commission's PDR, located at One White Flint North, Public File
Area 01F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible from the
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System's (ADAMS)
Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web
site, http://www.nrc.gov/ reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. If a
request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene is filed
by the above date, the Commission or a presiding officer
designated by the Commission or by the Chief Administrative Judge
of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, will rule on the
request and/or petition; and the Secretary or the Chief
Administrative Judge of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
will issue a notice of a hearing or an appropriate order.
[[Page 9650]] As required by 10 CFR 2.309, a petition for leave
to intervene shall set forth with particularity the interest of
the petitioner/ requester in the proceeding, and how that
interest may be affected by the results of the proceeding. The
petition should specifically explain the reasons why intervention
should be permitted with particular reference to the following
general requirements: (1) The name, address and telephone number
of the requester or petitioner; (2) the nature of the
requester's/petitioner's right under the Act to be made a party
to the proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the requester's/
petitioner's property, financial, or other interest in the
proceeding; and (4) the possible effect of any decision or order
which may be entered in the proceeding on the
requester's/petitioner's interest. The petition must also
identify the specific contentions which the petitioner/requester
seeks to have litigated at the proceeding.
Each contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue
of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the
petitioner/requester shall provide a brief explanation of the
bases for the contention and a concise statement of the alleged
facts or expert opinion which support the contention and on which
the petitioner intends to rely in proving the contention at the
hearing. The petitioner must also provide references to those
specific sources and documents of which the petitioner is aware
and on which the petitioner intends to rely to establish those
facts or expert opinion. The petition must include sufficient
information to show that a genuine dispute exists with the
applicant on a material issue of law or fact. Contentions shall
be limited to matters within the scope of the amendment under
consideration. The contention must be one which, if proven, would
entitle the petitioner/requester to relief. A petitioner/
requester who fails to file such a petition/request that
satisfies these requirements with respect to at least one
contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
If two or more requesters/petitioners seek to co-sponsor a
contention, the requesters/petitioners shall jointly designate a
representative who shall have the authority to act for the
requesters/ petitioners with respect to that contention. If a
requester/petitioner seeks to adopt the contention of another
sponsoring requester/ petitioner, the requester/petitioner who
seeks to adopt the contention must either agree that the
sponsoring requester/petitioner shall act as the representative
with respect to that contention or jointly designate with the
sponsoring requester/petitioner a representative who shall have
the authority to act for the requesters/petitioners with respect
to that contention.
Each contention should be given a separate numeric or alpha
designation within one of the following groups: (1) Technical
(primarily related to safety concerns); (2) environmental; or (3)
miscellaneous.
Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding,
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to
intervene, and have the opportunity to participate fully in the
conduct of the hearing.
A request for a hearing or a petition for leave to intervene must
be filed by: (1) First class mail addressed to the Office of the
Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff; (2) courier, express mail, and expedited
delivery services: Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland,
20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; (3) E-mail
addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV; or (4) facsimile transmission
addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff at (301) 415-1101, verification number is
(301) 415-1966. A copy of the request for hearing and petition
for leave to intervene should also be sent to the Office of the
General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001, and it is requested that copies be transmitted
either by means of facsimile transmission to 301-415-3725 or by
email to
OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. A copy of the request for hearing and
petition for leave to intervene should also be sent to the
attorney for the licensee, Jonathan Rogoff, Vice President
Counsel and Secretary, Nuclear Management Company, LLC, 700 First
Street, Hudson, WI 54016.
Nontimely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be
entertained absent a determination by the Commission or the
presiding officer of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that
the petition, request and/or the contentions should be granted
based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR
2.309(a)(1)(i)-(viii). For further details with respect to this
action, see the application for amendment dated January 29, 2004,
which is available for public inspection at the Commission's PDR,
located at One White Flint North, File Public Area O1 F21, 11555
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly
available records will be accessible from the Agencywide
Documents Access and Management System's (ADAMS) Public
Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site,
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have
access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference
staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail
to pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of
February 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Darl S. Hood, Senior Project Manager, Section I, Project
Directorate III, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E4-433 Filed 2-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
40 PTI: 'Indian nuke installations are secure'
Monday, 01 March , 2004, 16:51
Mumbai:The Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission on Monday said
that the country's nuclear installations are secure and the
Department of Atomic Energy undertakes periodical review of the
security of all its installations.
"Clandestine transfer of technology by the neighbouring country
was everyone's concern in the region and we have to protect our
interest and everything around us," he said. "Our installations
are very secure. Measures are in place and periodical reviews are
undertaken by the department and is a matter of routine,"
Kakodkar told reporters after inaugurating 15th Foundation Day
celebrations of Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT)
here.
"Because of our strength in security measures, even the
International Atomic Energy Commission had requested for a
training programme for its few member states by DAE and one
course of training has already been completed", he added.
"The next training programme for IAEA member states is again
scheduled for anytime this year," Kakodkar said. About the
content of training programme for IAEA members, he said: "During
the training, we tell them what measures are to be taken up for
strengthening and maintaining security."
Asked about the recently held joint meeting of US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and AERB and other DAE officials, the AEC
Chairman said: "It was a sound technical exercise and a mutually
beneficial discussion which will continue." "It is a cooperative
programme initiated in 1998 and began officially from February
last year," he added.
Sify.com hosted at SifyHosting India's first Level 3 Internet
© Copyright Sify Ltd, 1998-2004. All rights reserved. See
*****************************************************************
41 Herald Record: Plan for nuke plant no-fly zone fails
February 27, 2004
By Greg Cannon Times Herald-Record gcannon@th-record.com
Buchanan – A federal court this week rejected an appeal by
local environmental group Riverkeeper to get a permanent no-fly
zone over the Indian Point nuclear plant and to require the
plant to better secure its used fuel.
In its decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said that it's up to the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not the courts, to make nuclear
safety decisions.
It's the second setback this week for the environmental group
as it continues its campaign to close the plant, saying it's
unsafe and a terrorist target.
Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Riverkeeper
petitioned the NRC to shut down Indian Point until a no-fly zone
was established over the Hudson River site, an air defense
system installed, and spent nuclear fuel moved from covered
pools to more secure dry casks. The NRC denied the petition and
Riverkeeper took its case to court.
"The issues Riverkeeper raises are plainly serious and of
pressing concern," the court said.
Indian Point is aware of those issues and has dealt with
them, said Jim Steets, spokesman for plant-owner Entergy. "The
courts don't have the technical expertise to decide these
issues," Steets said, "that's why they're leaving it to the NRC."
In responding to the petition, the NRC said it was handling
safety concerns, specifically terrorism-related ones, by
ordering security upgrades at the nation's nuclear plants. It
said threats to nuclear plants from airplanes are being dealt
with through increased airport and onboard security, and better
intelligence.
Last week, Riverkeeper and the Washington, D.C.-based Union
of Concerned Scientists learned the NRC would deny a separate,
joint petition that called for Indian Point to close until
potentially faulty cooling pumps could be replaced.
The NRC is requiring many of the nation's nuclear plants,
including Indian Point, to study the issue and make any
necessary fixes by 2007. The risk of the kind of event that
would cause problems with the pumps is very low, said NRC
spokesman Neil Sheehan.
"We think the NRC's wrong," said David Lochbaum, a nuclear
expert with UCS. He said the groups would appeal the decision.
"It's not that the NRC disagrees with us that the problem needs
to be fixed," he said, "they just disagree about when."
Have a tip about a news story? Contact THR Managing Editor Meg
McGuire at mmcguire@th-record.comor call 346-3401.
Record Online is proudly brought to you by the Times
Herald-Record, serving New York's Hudson Valley and the
Catskills.
40 Mulberry Street * PO Box 2046 * Middletown, NY 10940 Telephone
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*****************************************************************
42 Platts: NRC makes new Davis-Besse demands
+ Washington (Platts)--26Feb2004/631 pm EST/2331 GMT NRC placed
new demands on FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (Fenoc) for
restarting Davis-Besse. In a letter to Fenoc today, NRC spelled
out two conditions that are to be contained in a forthcoming
order.
First, Fenoc must conduct a mid-cycle visual inspection in the
first cycle after restarting to insure there is no boric acid
leakage. Davis-Besse has been shut for two years after severe
boric acid corrosion was found in its reactor head.
Second, Fenoc must "contract with independent outside
organizations to conduct comprehensive assessments" of the
plant's operations, safety culture, and other issues. The
assessments are to be conducted by year's end and "annually
thereafter for 5 years," NRC said.
An agency official told Platts that it was up to Fenoc to propose
the assessment, but NRC staff is of the view that "independent"
means the assessment will be conducted by entities outside the
company. In its letter, NRC said Fenoc's acceptance of the
conditions is necessary for restart approval but the "letter does
not imply that permission from the NRC to restart will be
forthcoming."
The NRC official said Fenoc had accepted the conditions.
NRC makes new Davis-Besse demands
Washington (Platts)--26Feb2004
NRC placed new demands on FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co.
(Fenoc) for restarting Davis-Besse. In a letter to Fenoc today,
NRC spelled out two conditions that are to be contained in a
forthcoming order. First, Fenoc must conduct a mid-cycle visual
inspection in the first cycle after restarting to insure there is
no boric acid leakage. Davis-Besse has been shut for two years
after severe boric acid corrosion was found in its reactor head.
Second, Fenoc must "contract with independent outside
organizations to conduct comprehensive assessments" of the
plant's operations, safety culture, and other issues. The
assessments are to be conducted by year's end and "annually
thereafter for 5 years," NRC said. An agency official told Platts
that it was up to Fenoc to propose the assessment, but NRC staff
is of the view that "independent" means the assessment will be
conducted by entities outside the company. In its letter, NRC
said Fenoc's acceptance of the conditions is necessary for
restart approval but the "letter does not imply that permission
from the NRC to restart will be forthcoming." The NRC official
said Fenoc had accepted the conditions.
Copyright © 2004 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill
*****************************************************************
43 Bnn: Bulgaria Plans to Have Second Nuclear Plant in 2009
, Bulgarian news network - online news agency \ Áíì,
Tuesday, 02.03.2004
SOFIA (bnn)— Bulgaria hopes to have a second nuclear power
plant by 2009, an official said Monday. The government has
decided to resume construction of the Belene nuclear power plant
on the Danube River, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of
Sofia. The project has been mothballed back in 1990 under
pressure from environmentalists.
Now Bulgaria is planning to invest up to EUR 1 billion to
complete the facility that will have an initial capacity of
between 600 megawatts and 1,000 megawatts, said lawmaker Veselin
Bliznakov, head of the parliamentary commission on energy.
U.S. company Parsons is working on an expert report aimed to help
Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha choose between
technologies international bidders are offering to Bulgaria for
the new station, Bliznakov said.
The options Bulgaria has include a CANDU heavy water reactor
proposed by the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and a
pressurised-water reactor of the VVER type to be built by an
international consortium including U.S. Westinghouse, France’s
FRAMATOME ANP, Russia’s Atomexportstroy and Czech Skoda.
Bulgaria has two such reactors in its only nuclear plant in
Kozlodui. The equipment for a third such unit has been supplied
to Belene form the Czech Republic back in the 1980s.
The Belene plant is supposed to replace four older units at the
Kozlodui plant that Bulgaria has agreed to gradually shut down by
2006 in its accession talks with the European Union.
Building the plant will take four years and its lifespan will
stretch to 40 years, Bliznakov said. /bnn/
Back to top Copyright © 2002 Bulgarian News Network (BNN)
*****************************************************************
44 Platts: Swedish investigator struggles with nuclear phase-out challenge
+ London (Platts)--1Mar2004/735 am EST/1235 GMT Bo Bylund, the
Swedish government investigator on nuclear power phase-out,
looks unlikely to recommend that the country's nuclear plants
can be closed prematurely, according to reports. The
investigator, who is due to deliver his report to the government
this April, is said to believe Sweden cannot afford to use even
the conservative phase-out model being implemented in Germany.
Until now this has been widely regarded as the most likely option
to be embraced by the investigator and so the government. Bylund
revealed his position at a recent conference, as reported by the
weekly news magazine Affarsvarlden in February.
The investigator said the German model was inappropriate because
Sweden had a greater reliance on nuclear (nuclear makes up 40-45%
of Swedish output compared to 30-35% in Germany), and more
stringent environmental requirements for new plant.
Copyright © 2004 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
[The McGraw-Hill Companies]
*****************************************************************
45 Sofia: Second Nuclear Plant Looming on Bulgarian Horizon till 2009
Sofia Morning News "novinite.com"
Business: 1 March 2004, Monday.
Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg is likely to sign a decree for
resuming construction works at the site of second Bulgarian
N-plant in Belene till end of May, Chairman of Parliamentary
Energy Commission Vesselin Bliznakov said on Monday.
As soon as it happens, tenders for the design and building of the
nuclear facilities will be opened. Bliznakov projected that
construction works in Belene will take as much as four years and
the new n-plant will have a capacity to function at least 4
decades.
According to Vesselin Bliznakov, the construction works will
benefit the economic development of the whole Danube-long region,
considering the costs of nearly EUR 1 B.
Last week the Energy Ministry presented to the parliamentary
commission a report backing up Bulgaria's need to have a second
nuclear plant. Vesselin Bliznakov set the capacity of the new
n-facilities at approximately 600-1000 mWh.
The government decided to resume construction of the Belene
nuclear power plant on the Danube River, some 250 kilometres (155
miles) northeast of Sofia, in 2003. The project has been
mothballed back in 1990 under pressure from eco groupings.
A US company is engaged in drafting an expert report on the
advantages of each of two technologies - Canadian and Russian -
proposed by international bidders.
Bulgaria has the options to buy a CANDU heavy water reactor,
proposed by the Atomic Energy of Canada, and a pressurized-water
reactor of the VVER type to be built by an international
consortium including US Westinghouse, France's Framatome,
Russia's Atomexportstroy and Czech Skoda.
All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2004 - Copyright
*****************************************************************
46 Sofia: Commission Lingers over Nuclear Reactors in Enlarged EU
Sofia Morning News novinite.com
Politics: 1 March 2004, Monday.
A controversy is looming in the European Commission over the
issue of nuclear energy and how far it should be promoted in the
enlarged Union, EUobserver informed on Monday.
The EU Commission is set to consider this month the decision of
funding a nuclear plant in Romania, which is likely to become a
member of the EU in 2007, and it might trigger off a general
discussion about nuclear safety in the EU as enlargement creeps
closer.
Green organization Friends of the Earth has sent a letter to all
European Commissioners demanding that the decision, to be taken
on 24 March, be postponed. They blame the Commission of lacking
the practice to publicly register loan applications for energy
safety upgrades. The organization wants to take the matter to the
European Ombudsman as it accuses the Commission of withholding
key assessment reports and not saying what the money should be
used for.
As of 1 May, thirteen of the twenty-five member states will have
nuclear energy, including Bulgaria when joining two years later,
but there will be no common set of rules for regulating safety.
However, as there are no common rules from 1 May, there are fears
that their Soviet style reactors will not be properly secured.
The Czech Republic and Lithuania are particularly addressed by
warnings to take steps to upgrade their reactors or close them
down as a condition of EU membership.
Bulgaria's Kolzoduy n-units 3 and 4, made in Russia, have also
been negotiated for decommissioning prior to EU accession,
despite many objections and expert peer reviews that their safety
is enough guaranteed for a longer period of usage.[ width=]
All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2004 - Copyright
*****************************************************************
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48 [DU-WATCH] Journalism Collapses from Global Overheating
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:44:38 -0600 (CST)
Journalism Collapses from Global Overheating
By Piotr Bein, piotr.bein@imag.net
February 25, 2004
Why an article is called a story? In Poland, stories are read to children
for goodnight. Climate Collapse by David Stipp (Fortune 26.1.2004,
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/print/0,15935,582584,00.html) gives the
answer; it is a tale.
For American optimism about free market and technology, it is a pessimistic
tale. In global climate change, technological progress and market forces,
which have long helped boost Earth's carrying capacity, can do little to
offset the crisis. The authors are biz experts. We may as well quit
development and progress.
The tale is of a chameleon variety. The unclassified report, completed
late last year, that the Pentagon has agreed to share with FORTUNE, turned
secret in a recent article in The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4864237-102275,00.html. One of
the publications is not telling the truth.
Supposedly serious press turns into tabloids. To lure the public away from
copious blood-letting and spectacular car crashes on TV, The Observer also
promised a dramatic sea-level rise next year, presumably from a nuclear
holocaust in the Antarctic that will melt the icecap. Fortune tale showed
more sense.
It is also a fantasy tale that violates physics. Emissions steadily rise.
Progressing increase of greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere
enhances the warming. How will the average climate cool off? Somewhere
things must get unbearably hot to offset European and North American
Siberia. But evidently, the authors had access to some classified
information that government archives will spit out in 50 years for the rest
of us to see.
Balanced as climate change
The truth hides in one sentence, tucked amidst science-fiction: Scientists
generally refuse to say much about [what climate change would be really
like], citing a data deficit. Stipps apocalyptic narration of market
effects on Earth's carrying capacity, or of a changing ocean current, are
only theories. Scientists remind of unknowns nobody can envisage. Human
adaptability is one of the least understood factors in climate change.
Coming to the rescue of data deficit, the tale gives clues about who
commissioned the Fortune article: recently, renowned Department of
Defense planner Andrew Marshall sponsored a groundbreaking effort to come to
grips with the question. Why? Because Marshalls pronouncements on looming
risks have long had an outsized influence on defense policy.
Climate predictions are tricky, for never in Earths history have greenhouse
gas concentrations increased as fast. The rate of the long-term trend is
unprecedented. Journalists like Stipp should read the ICPP reports.
Stipps comments that the Pentagon report doesn't pretend to be a forecast
[but] sketches a dramatic but plausible scenario. As if to contradict
common sense, he proceeds with doom and gloom. Was the honorarium
proportional to percent compliance with the goals of his sponsors?
Earth and climate scientists are humble, compared to Pentagons leaking
think-tanks. They name the driving factors and processes they dont quite
understand, preventing failproof predictions. Only the future will tell what
happened and why; Pentagons eldest wisemen will not, regardless of
research grants.
Yet, the Pentagon report concentrates on iffy things. The data was
yanked out of the scientists minds. Marshalls consultants Peter Schwartz
and Doug Randall contacted top climate experts and pushed them to talk
about what-ifs that they usually shy away fromat least in public.
Normal scientists dont inform the military differently than they do the
public, unless they work for the likes of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and
Global Business Network. Recorded in IPCC reports, extreme scenarios dont
earn publicity. Normal reporters normally have enough to write about the
more normal scenarios.
The climate change facts inspired Schwartzs well-paid fantasy, trained
over Hollywood productions, Stipp explains. Like a boy over a Nintendo game,
Schwartz pits Eastern Europe against Russia. Does he mean Western Russia
against the rest of it, or Central European countries of former Soviet bloc
against Russia?
What for? Ukraine or Poland alone could feed half of Western Europe if
Brussels did not kill the competition to subsidized French and German
farmers. Hardly anyone adapts better to calamities, than a Polish farmer.
Western experts and tourists alike admire Polish food produced without
subsidies, genetic manipulation and chemicals, and against tremendous odds,
compared to which Siberian or monsoon weather fades, European Union
standards including.
Energy? Poland has enough coal for abrupt climate cooling. That is, if the
country re-builds the mines destroyed in the name of privatising, i.e.
eliminating the Wests competition. In warming, however, we would rather
import ice from the Eskimos.
Perhaps our Nintendo boys meant to say that Eastern European NATO countries
attack Russia, duped by Washington into believing they have to defend their
grain, sugar, pork, fruit, milk and butter surplus against the Moscow mafia.
Writing futuristic stories for Spielberg does not help define real-world
scenarios. If anything, Russia would dump wheat, potatoes, borshtch,
reindeer meat, Sovietskoie Champaignskoie, oil and gas on Poland, Japan and
the rest, only to prove Pentagons war on climate wrong.
Hollywoods hot production
The rest similarly reads like poor Hollywood productions. Extreme
fluctuations of weather, normal for any climate change, but ridiculed by the
US establishment to steer away from any Kyoto-like commitments, become a
useful, sexy artifact for justifying a re-newed existence of the military:
Siberia in Europe, angry storm waves reaching all the way to SF central
business district, breaking California dykes on the way. Big deal, say real
estate industry. We will move coastal Californians to new Renos in the
desert. Good profit, too.
Aqueducts destroyed by the mean storms? Evian and Coca Cola will come to
rescue. If not, Americans can learn caving for water from Iraqis, today,
instead of guarding oil pipelines constantly blown up. Megadroughts, dust
storms and soil loss? Perhaps a crush course in permaculture, or spying on
Iraqi and Afghan farming practices instead on terrorists and WMD. would
help US decision-makers?
Music to militarist ears, U.S. effectively seeks to build a fortress around
itself to preserve resources against starving immigrants from Mexico,
South America, and the Caribbean. The fast deepening cold, pole-bound from
the tropics, devastates everyone, except North Americans. But how do the
boat people get thru the coastal ice to the USA?
Like Europe-turned-Siberia, the US is better positioned to cope than
others, thanks to diverse growing climates and abundant resources that
are nowhere else to be found, of course (because the US siphoned them?).
History will repeat itself: jealous, lazy nations will engage in bellicose
finger-pointing at America.
Yet America survives in one piece, meeting its rising energy demand with
nuclear power and onerous Middle Eastern contracts (while winds and waves
increase sufficiently to boost renewable energy sources). Unwed to the
nuclear industry and deprived of onerous wars for resources of other
nations, the Complex would die.
Beleaguered with refugees from the South (seeking cooler climate), and from
Scandinavia (seeking warmer climate), Siberian Europe will become a
schizophrenic paradise, albeit wealthier from the cheap southern refugee
labour and Nordic intellect and efficiency. Malcontents like Spain and
Portugal will be fighting, however, over fishing rights as the fish migrate
to a better cold over in the US territorial waters.
Aussies are lucky: the cooling does not affect them as much (an effect
opposite to the catastrophes that drive the Caribbean people in boats to the
US?), but fail to turn the continent into a corn field to feed the frozen
world. Predictably, the Japs recycle food and energy, thus eliminating any
need for trade and dependence.
While others are blessed with cold or no change, the Chinese are hit with a
change to monsoon climate over its vast continental part. Downpours flood
the deserts beyond any hope for drainage and farming. Named after Mao Tse
Tung, a Central China Sea forms, giving rise to a revival of
nationalist-communist sentiments. Red Chinese army of ten million poses a
nuclear threat to US bases on Mars. To practice, one million invades Russia
for that precious oil, since own reserves in Western China got diluted by
monsoon rains. Japan surrenders, without the need to detonate one single
A-bomb.
Canada joins fortress America. Soon, Quebec mavericks blackmail the
Americans with diverting the hydropower to Haiti. A nuclear skirmish ensues
on the border with British Columbia (preventive strike, to teach that
withholding lumber, metals, beef and water will not be tolerated, either).
Nuclear blasts warm up the water pipelines that Canadians obediently kept
pumping into, but could not help that it froze on one exceptionally cold
night. The incident ends cordially, with Canada re-joining AU (American
Union) and embarking with the US on a nuclear mission to persuade Mexico and
Central America to do the same.
End of (cool) free market
Nevertheless, the threats from tribal quests for resources, and from nuclear
fireplaces of freezing terrorists (who turned into climate aggressors after
2004 US presidential elections), define human life in the 2010s.
25% of Muslim teen and adult males die in their climate suicide attacks.
Islam becomes a religion of a few snow-bound tribes on the Arabic peninsula,
after Israel nukes Mekka. Osamas son, Usama, retaliates from a North Pole
cave, warming New York climate for a few days. The homeless thank him,
triggering Patriot Act 36th Amendment by edgy US leaders in mink coats.
The Pentagon report resurrects the market forces, as a weapon (pun not
intended) against the forces that can trigger abrupt climate change. A
recommendation of Pentagons climate geniuses reads: Sponsor studies on
the scenarios that might play out, including ecological, social, economic,
and political fallout on key food-producing regions. Call it food security
strategy.
A bunch of think-tanks will sprout to feed Washingtons militarist
imagination: Identify no regrets strategies to ensure reliable access to
food and water and to ensure our national security. Finally, someone on
the banks of the Potomac realized that one cant eat oil and drink gas.
Reason is also missing regarding faith in technology and geo-engineering to
offset abrupt cooling. For a global power who cant predict refugee exodus
as a consequence of bombing, or guerilla resistance after liberation,
playing with forces of nature is equally irresponsible. Schwartz and Randall
show as little understanding of the traps of geo-engineering, as of the
fallacies of free market and scientific predictions. Stipp found a fitting
company.
Superficiality of the article, and of the source it draws on, are obvious in
intense market predictions. In case climate scare would frighten
politicians into acting against the greenhouse effect, steps such as
tightening fuel-economy standards for new passenger vehicles may even be
emboldened. In fact, the consumers in the US and other wealthy nations
offset efficiency increases with bigger cars and more of the unsustainable
consumption. But what do I know, perhaps freezing buts will change human
behaviour.
Vicious circus
Like Mark Townsend and Paul Harris in The Observer, Stipp suggests a yet
unappreciated, climate-based threat to US national security, comparable to
terrorism after 9/11. He insists again, towards the end of the tale, that
although the risk of said scenario is small, its dire consequences
elevate the issue beyond a scientific debate: It is time to recognize it
as a national security concern.
Pentagon needs scientists only to develop new weapons. Otherwise, some
professor might point out that if Washington was concerned about threats, we
would need a war on tobacco. Hundreds of thousands of Americans get sick
and die of cigarettes every year. How many died of terrorism? How many will
die of changes in climate? So far, it looks that less than from US-UK
radioactive wars.
Stipp pictures Marshall as a mentor of the report, who nevertheless
declined to be interviewed. He did not need to. Consultants Schwartz and
Randall said everything Pentagon needed to transmit to the public opinion.
Epilogue
I understand now why Canadians call their southern neighbour a United
States of Hysteria. I do not understand, however, that some reporters still
consider themselves part of the journalist profession, having written
rubbish like Snipp, Townsend and Harris did.
As in the case of spreading deceptions on own uranium weapons, the enemys
WMD and terrorism, these scribes are accomplices in crimes against humanity.
How? By repeating mumbo-jumbo of madmen in military penthouses and their
researchers, all lost in the whirls of materialism, false patriotism (or
outright cynicism?), and ...hysteria to whip up justification for more wars.
Dr. Piotr Bein, PEng
Vancouver, Canada and Szczecin, Poland
among other things, Assistant Chief Editor, Info nurt, www.infonurt.com
Toronto and intl
-------------------
Piotr Bein, a professional engineer and planner, is a former lead researcher
on socio-economic issues of climate change with the Canadian federal
government. Previously, he led the British Columbia Ministry of
Transportation into state-of-the-art, multi-criteria evaluation of public
infrastructure investments. A member of the Institute for Risk Research at
the University of Waterloo, since NATO attack on Yugoslavia in 1999, he
specializes in de-bunking militarist propaganda.
------------- Copyleft Piotr Bein 2004: pass on, acknowledging the source.
Commercial exploitation of the article subject to copyright.
===========================================================
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/print/0,15935,582584,00.html
CLIMATE COLLAPSE
The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare
The climate could change radically, and fast. That would be the mother of
all national security issues.
FORTUNE
Monday, January 26, 2004
By David Stipp
Global warming may be bad news for future generations, but let's face it,
most of us spend as little time worrying about it as we did about al Qaeda
before 9/11. Like the terrorists, though, the seemingly remote climate risk
may hit home sooner and harder than we ever imagined. In fact, the prospect
has become so real that the Pentagon's strategic planners are grappling with
it.
The threat that has riveted their attention is this: Global warming, rather
than causing gradual, centuries-spanning change, may be pushing the climate
to a tipping point. Growing evidence suggests the ocean-atmosphere system
that controls the world's climate can lurch from one state to another in
less than a decadelike a canoe that's gradually tilted until suddenly it
flips over. Scientists don't know how close the system is to a critical
threshold. But abrupt climate change may well occur in the not-too-distant
future. If it does, the need to rapidly adapt may overwhelm many
societiesthereby upsetting the geopolitical balance of power.
Though triggered by warming, such change would probably cause cooling in the
Northern Hemisphere, leading to longer, harsher winters in much of the U.S.
and Europe. Worse, it would cause massive droughts, turning farmland to dust
bowls and forests to ashes. Picture last fall's California wildfires as a
regular thing. Or imagine similar disasters destabilizing nuclear powers
such as Pakistan or Russiait's easy to see why the Pentagon has become
interested in abrupt climate change.
Climate researchers began getting seriously concerned about it a decade ago,
after studying temperature indicators embedded in ancient layers of Arctic
ice. The data show that a number of dramatic shifts in average temperature
took place in the past with shocking speedin some cases, just a few years.
The case for angst was buttressed by a theory regarded as the most likely
explanation for the abrupt changes. The eastern U.S. and northern Europe, it
seems, are warmed by a huge Atlantic Ocean current that flows north from the
tropicsthat's why Britain, at Labrador's latitude, is relatively temperate.
Pumping out warm, moist air, this "great conveyor" current gets cooler and
denser as it moves north. That causes the current to sink in the North
Atlantic, where it heads south again in the ocean depths. The sinking
process draws more water from the south, keeping the roughly circular
current on the go.
But when the climate warms, according to the theory, fresh water from
melting Arctic glaciers flows into the North Atlantic, lowering the
current's salinityand its density and tendency to sink. A warmer climate
also increases rainfall and runoff into the current, further lowering its
saltiness. As a result, the conveyor loses its main motive force and can
rapidly collapse, turning off the huge heat pump and altering the climate
over much of the Northern Hemisphere.
Scientists aren't sure what caused the warming that triggered such collapses
in the remote past. (Clearly it wasn't humans and their factories.) But the
data from Arctic ice and other sources suggest the atmospheric changes that
preceded earlier collapses were dismayingly similar to today's global
warming. As the Ice Age began drawing to a close about 13,000 years ago, for
example, temperatures in Greenland rose to levels near those of recent
decades. Then they abruptly plunged as the conveyor apparently shut down,
ushering in the "Younger Dryas" period, a 1,300-year reversion to ice-age
conditions. (A dryas is an Arctic flower that flourished in Europe at the
time.)
Though Mother Nature caused past abrupt climate changes, the one that may be
shaping up today probably has more to do with us. In 2001 an international
panel of climate experts concluded that there is increasingly strong
evidence that most of the global warming observed over the past 50 years is
attributable to human activitiesmainly the burning of fossil fuels such as
oil and coal, which release heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Indicators of the
warming include shrinking Arctic ice, melting alpine glaciers, and markedly
earlier springs at northerly latitudes. A few years ago such changes seemed
signs of possible trouble for our kids or grandkids. Today they seem
portents of a cataclysm that may not conveniently wait until we're history.
Accordingly, the spotlight in climate research is shifting from gradual to
rapid change. In 2002 the National Academy of Sciences issued a report
concluding that human activities could trigger abrupt change. Last year the
World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, included a session at which
Robert Gagosian, director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in
Massachusetts, urged policymakers to consider the implications of possible
abrupt climate change within two decades.
Such jeremiads are beginning to reverberate more widely. Billionaire Gary
Comer, founder of Lands' End, has adopted abrupt climate change as a
philanthropic cause. Hollywood has also discovered the issuenext summer
20th Century Fox is expected to release The Day After Tomorrow, a big-budget
disaster movie starring Dennis Quaid as a scientist trying to save the world
from an ice age precipitated by global warming.
Fox's flick will doubtless be apocalyptically edifying. But what would
abrupt climate change really be like?
Scientists generally refuse to say much about that, citing a data deficit.
But recently, renowned Department of Defense planner Andrew Marshall
sponsored a groundbreaking effort to come to grips with the question. A
Pentagon legend, Marshall, 82, is known as the Defense Department's "Yoda"a
balding, bespectacled sage whose pronouncements on looming risks have long
had an outsized influence on defense policy. Since 1973 he has headed a
secretive think tank whose role is to envision future threats to national
security. The Department of Defense's push on ballistic-missile defense is
known as his brainchild. Three years ago Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
picked him to lead a sweeping review on military "transformation," the shift
toward nimble forces and smart weapons.
When scientists' work on abrupt climate change popped onto his radar screen,
Marshall tapped another eminent visionary, Peter Schwartz, to write a report
on the national-security implications of the threat. Schwartz formerly
headed planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group and has since consulted with
organizations ranging from the CIA to DreamWorkshe helped create futuristic
scenarios for Steven Spielberg's film Minority Report. Schwartz and
co-author Doug Randall at the Monitor Group's Global Business Network, a
scenario-planning think tank in Emeryville, Calif., contacted top climate
experts and pushed them to talk about what-ifs that they usually shy away
fromat least in public.
The result is an unclassified report, completed late last year, that the
Pentagon has agreed to share with FORTUNE. It doesn't pretend to be a
forecast. Rather, it sketches a dramatic but plausible scenario to help
planners think about coping strategies. Here is an abridged version:
A total shutdown of the ocean conveyor might lead to a big chill like the
Younger Dryas, when icebergs appeared as far south as the coast of Portugal.
Or the conveyor might only temporarily slow down, potentially causing an era
like the "Little Ice Age," a time of hard winters, violent storms, and
droughts between 1300 and 1850. That period's weather extremes caused
horrific famines, but it was mild compared with the Younger Dryas.
For planning purposes, it makes sense to focus on a midrange case of abrupt
change. A century of cold, dry, windy weather across the Northern Hemisphere
that suddenly came on 8,200 years ago fits the billits severity fell
between that of the Younger Dryas and the Little Ice Age. The event is
thought to have been triggered by a conveyor collapse after a time of rising
temperatures not unlike today's global warming. Suppose it recurred,
beginning in 2010. Here are some of the things that might happen by 2020:
At first the changes are easily mistaken for normal weather
variationallowing skeptics to dismiss them as a "blip" of little importance
and leaving policymakers and the public paralyzed with uncertainty. But by
2020 there is little doubt that something drastic is happening. The average
temperature has fallen by up to five degrees Fahrenheit in some regions of
North America and Asia and up to six degrees in parts of Europe. (By
comparison, the average temperature over the North Atlantic during the last
ice age was ten to 15 degrees lower than it is today.) Massive droughts have
begun in key agricultural regions. The average annual rainfall has dropped
by nearly 30% in northern Europe, and its climate has become more like
Siberia's.
Violent storms are increasingly common as the conveyor becomes wobbly on its
way to collapse. A particularly severe storm causes the ocean to break
through levees in the Netherlands, making coastal cities such as the Hague
unlivable. In California the delta island levees in the Sacramento River
area are breached, disrupting the aqueduct system transporting water from
north to south.
Megadroughts afflict the U.S., especially in the southern states, along with
winds that are 15% stronger on average than they are now, causing widespread
dust storms and soil loss. The U.S. is better positioned to cope than most
nations, however, thanks to its diverse growing climates, wealth,
technology, and abundant resources. That has a downside, though: It
magnifies the haves-vs.-have-nots gap and fosters bellicose finger-pointing
at America.
Turning inward, the U.S. effectively seeks to build a fortress around itself
to preserve resources. Borders are strengthened to hold back starving
immigrants from Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean islandswaves of
boat people pose especially grim problems. Tension between the U.S. and
Mexico rises as the U.S. reneges on a 1944 treaty that guarantees water flow
from the Colorado River into Mexico. America is forced to meet its rising
energy demand with options that are costly both economically and
politically, including nuclear power and onerous Middle Eastern contracts.
Yet it survives without catastrophic losses.
Europe, hardest hit by its temperature drop, struggles to deal with
immigrants from Scandinavia seeking warmer climes to the south. Southern
Europe is beleaguered by refugees from hard-hit countries in Africa and
elsewhere. But Western Europe's wealth helps buffer it from catastrophe.
Australia's size and resources help it cope, as does its locationthe
conveyor shutdown mainly affects the Northern Hemisphere. Japan has fewer
resources but is able to draw on its social cohesion to copeits government
is able to induce population-wide behavior changes to conserve resources.
China's huge population and food demand make it particularly vulnerable. It
is hit by increasingly unpredictable monsoon rains, which cause devastating
floods in drought-denuded areas. Other parts of Asia and East Africa are
similarly stressed. Much of Bangladesh becomes nearly uninhabitable because
of a rising sea level, which contaminates inland water supplies. Countries
whose diversity already produces conflict, such as India and Indonesia, are
hard-pressed to maintain internal order while coping with the unfolding
changes.
As the decade progresses, pressures to act become irresistiblehistory shows
that whenever humans have faced a choice between starving or raiding, they
raid. Imagine Eastern European countries, struggling to feed their
populations, invading Russiawhich is weakened by a population that is
already in declinefor access to its minerals and energy supplies. Or
picture Japan eyeing nearby Russian oil and gas reserves to power
desalination plants and energy-intensive farming. Envision nuclear-armed
Pakistan, India, and China skirmishing at their borders over refugees,
access to shared rivers, and arable land. Or Spain and Portugal fighting
over fishing rightsfisheries are disrupted around the world as water
temperatures change, causing fish to migrate to new habitats.
Growing tensions engender novel alliances. Canada joins fortress America in
a North American bloc. (Alternatively, Canada may seek to keep its abundant
hydropower for itself, straining its ties with the energy-hungry U.S.) North
and South Korea align to create a technically savvy, nuclear-armed entity.
Europe forms a truly unified bloc to curb its immigration problems and
protect against aggressors. Russia, threatened by impoverished neighbors in
dire straits, may join the European bloc.
Nuclear arms proliferation is inevitable. Oil supplies are stretched thin as
climate cooling drives up demand. Many countries seek to shore up their
energy supplies with nuclear energy, accelerating nuclear proliferation.
Japan, South Korea, and Germany develop nuclear-weapons capabilities, as do
Iran, Egypt, and North Korea. Israel, China, India, and Pakistan also are
poised to use the bomb.
The changes relentlessly hammer the world's "carrying capacity"the natural
resources, social organizations, and economic networks that support the
population. Technological progress and market forces, which have long helped
boost Earth's carrying capacity, can do little to offset the crisisit is
too widespread and unfolds too fast.
As the planet's carrying capacity shrinks, an ancient pattern reemerges: the
eruption of desperate, all-out wars over food, water, and energy supplies.
As Harvard archeologist Steven LeBlanc has noted, wars over resources were
the norm until about three centuries ago. When such conflicts broke out, 25%
of a population's adult males usually died. As abrupt climate change hits
home, warfare may again come to define human life.
Over the past decade, data have accumulated suggesting that the plausibility
of abrupt climate change is higher than most of the scientific community,
and perhaps all of the political community, are prepared to accept. In light
of such findings, we should be asking when abrupt change will happen, what
the impacts will be, and how we can preparenot whether it will really
happen. In fact, the climate record suggests that abrupt change is
inevitable at some point, regardless of human activity. Among other things,
we should:
Speed research on the forces that can trigger abrupt climate change, how
it unfolds, and how we'll know it's occurring.
Sponsor studies on the scenarios that might play out, including
ecological, social, economic, and political fallout on key food-producing
regions.
Identify "no regrets" strategies to ensure reliable access to food and
water and to ensure our national security.
Form teams to prepare responses to possible massive migration, and food
and water shortages.
Explore ways to offset abrupt coolingtoday it appears easier to warm than
to cool the climate via human activities, so there may be "geo-engineering"
options available to prevent a catastrophic temperature drop.
In sum, the risk of abrupt climate change remains uncertain, and it is quite
possibly small. But given its dire consequences, it should be elevated
beyond a scientific debate. Action now matters, because we may be able to
reduce its likelihood of happening, and we can certainly be better prepared
if it does. It is time to recognize it as a national security concern.
The Pentagon's reaction to this sobering report isn't knownin keeping with
his reputation for reticence, Andy Marshall declined to be interviewed. But
the fact that he's concerned may signal a sea change in the debate about
global warming. At least some federal thought leaders may be starting to
perceive climate change less as a political annoyance and more as an issue
demanding action.
If so, the case for acting now to address climate change, long a hard sell
in Washington, may be gaining influential support, if only behind the
scenes. Policymakers may even be emboldened to take steps such as tightening
fuel-economy standards for new passenger vehicles, a measure that would
simultaneously lower emissions of greenhouse gases, reduce America's
perilous reliance on OPEC oil, cut its trade deficit, and put money in
consumers' pockets. Oh, yesand give the Pentagon's fretful Yoda a little
less to worry about.
Feedback: dstipp@fortunemail.com
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49 [DU-WATCH] UK MoD warns troops DU may harm health
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:25:45 -0600 (CST)
MoD lied9 over depleted uranium
.INVESTIGATION.
Army advises troops in Iraq of health risk but insists Scottish firing range
is safe, despite growing international concern
By Neil Mackay and Amy Wilson
http://www.sundayherald.com/40306
CLAIMS by the Ministry of Defence that depleted uranium (DU) is not a risk
to life have been undermined by a Sunday Herald investigation that found the
British army is telling soldiers in Iraq that it can cause ill-health.
The revelation has outraged the military, scientists and politicians.
Studies have shown DU leads to cancers, birth defects, memory loss, damage
to the immune system and neuro-psychotic disorders. But the MoD has claimed
since the first Gulf war that 3DU does not pose a risk to health or the
environment2.
However, military sources have passed an MoD card to the Sunday Herald which
is being handed to troops on active service in Iraq. It reads: 3You have
been deployed to a theatre where depleted uranium (DU) munitions have been
used. DU is a weakly radioactive heavy metal which has the potential to
cause ill-health. You may have been exposed to dust containing DU during
your deployment.
3You are eligible for a urine test to measure uranium. If you wish to know
more about having this test, you should consult your unit medical officer on
return to your home base. Your medical officer can provide information about
the health effects of DU.2
The MoD had fired more than 6350 DU rounds into the Solway Firth from its
testing range at Dundrennan by 1999. In the first Gulf war 320 tonnes of DU
were used, in the second more than 1000 tonnes were used .
Locals in the Dundrennan area and their political leaders are angry that
British troops are being warned about the risk of DU, while they are not.
A UN sub-commission has ruled that the use of DU breaches the Geneva
Convention and the Genocide Convention. DU has also been blamed for the
effects of Gulf war syndrome among some 200,000 US troops.
It has led to birth defects in the children of veterans and Iraqis and is
believed to be the cause of the 3worrying number2 of anophthalmos cases -
babies born without eyes - in Iraq. A study of veterans showed 67% had
children with severe illnesses, missing eyes, blood infections, respiratory
problems and fused fingers.
Professor Doug Rokke, the ex-director of the Pentagon9s DU project and a
former US Army colonel who was tasked by the US defence department to deal
with DU after the first Gulf war, said: 3The MoD card acknowledges the
risks. It contradicts the position it has taken publicly - that there was no
risk - in order to sustain the use of DU rounds and avoid liability.2
Rokke attacked the US and UK for 3contaminating the world2 with DU munitions
and said the issuing of the card meant that they had 3a moral obligation to
provide care for all those affected2 and to clean up the environment in
Iraq.
3DU is in residential areas in Iraq, troops are going by sites contaminated
with it with no protective clothing or respiratory protection, and kids are
playing in the same areas.2
He added: 3What right does anyone have to throw radioactive poison around
and then not clean it up or offer people medical care?2 Rokke said that the
use of DU in Iraq should be deemed a war crime.
3 This war was about weapons of mass destruction, but the US and UK were the
only people using WMD - in the form of DU shells.2
Ray Bristow, trustee of the UK9s National Gulf Veterans and Families
Association, said the MoD card 3confirms what independent scientists have
said for years2. Bristow, 45, suffers from chromosomal abnormalities and
conditions similar to those who survived the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima.
A former warrant officer in the medical corps in the first Gulf war, he is
now only able to walk short distances with a walking frame and often has to
use a wheelchair.
3While the card may have been issued to British troops we have to ask, what
about the Iraqi people?9 They are living among DU contamination. And what
about the people in Dundrennan?
3The MoD line has always been that DU is safe - it has been caught out in a
lie.2
Bristow says some 29,000 British troops could be contaminated. He was found
to have uranium in his system more than 100 times the safety limit. 3I put
on a uniform because I believe in democracy and freedom,2 he said. 3Now I
can9t believe a word my government says.2
He also believes the discovery of the DU card will help affected troops sue
for compensation. 3Globally, this discovery is of huge significance.2
Alasdair Morgan, the SNP MSP for the Dundrennan area, called for a ban on
DU. He added: 3This find vindicates those who have said DU should never have
been used or tested. T esting should stop in this area completely.2
Chris Ballance, the Green list MSP for the area, added: 3DU is a weapon of
mass destruction that must be banned.2
He said the MoD must remove the shells that had been fired into the Solway
Firth and tell the people of Dundrennan about the risks.
Malcolm Hooper, emeritus professor of medicinal chemistry at Sunderland
University and an expert on DU, said it was 3administrative deception2 for
the MoD to claim DU was not a risk to health while issuing warnings to
troops.
Hooper, who is a government adviser on DU, described the government9s
behaviour as 3a dreadful experiment
an obscenity
and a war crime against
our own troops2.
He said that the issuing of the card was 3a confession of failure2 by the
government .
Peter Kilfoyle, a former Labour defence minister, said: 3 I can remember
similar denials about Agent Orange, but invariably we discover these
substances do have long-term consequences.2
Despite claims on its own website saying DU does not lead to health risks,
an MoD spokesman said, when confronted with the card issued to troops: 3We
never said it was a safe substance. It is radioactive, but there is no
evidence to link it to ill-health.2
He said the cards had been issued to 3reassure2 troops, adding that the
take-up of testing had been low as 3most soldiers understand the risks are
minimal2.
The MoD insisted it had not changed its policy.
29 February 2004
***
See warning card, comment and related information at
http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_mod_warning_cards.html
And more breakings news and resources on uranium weapons at
http://www.traprockpeace.org/#breakingnews
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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50 [DU-WATCH] health snapshot of returning soldiers: 11,000 have
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:21:50 -0600 (CST)
Health snapshot of returning soldiers: 11,000 have sought treatment
By Hal Bernton Seattle Times staff reporter Saturday, February 28,
2004 - Page updated at 01:24 A.M.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001867435_vetills28m.html
A new federal report offers a statistical snapshot of the health
of U.S. veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, indicating more
than 11,000 have sought treatment for conditions that range from
hypertension to deafness to
mental disorders.
Overall among the veterans, 11 percent have had health
concerns, with veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars reporting
roughly the same types of health problems at close to the same
rates.
The report is part of an early-warning-detection system created by
the Department of Veterans Affairs to help identify any mysterious
syndromes or spikes in illnesses such as post-traumatic stress
syndrome. The report also is intended to help the VA prepare for
the tens of thousands of veterans who will be using clinics and
hospitals in the months and years ahead.
The biggest numbers of health problems have involved muscle, skeletal
or digestive problems.
But 1.6 percent of those who have sought treatment 1,598 veterans
have been treated for mental disorders that
included substance abuse, post-traumatic stress syndrome and
psychoses.
A larger group of veterans, some 2,024, have health issues that
fall into a category of "symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions."
Most of these veterans are from Iraq, a first flush of early
discharges that does not include the thousands of active-duty
soldiers who have endured long, stressful months fighting insurgents.
VA officials say that, so far, they have found nothing considered
to be a mystery disease or unusually high rates of any health
problems.
"This is just an initial snapshot and over time may change,"
said Dr. Craig Hymans, the VA's chief consultant on environmental
and occupational health. "But we now have the health records
computerized and will be able to follow what happens. We didn't
have this after the Gulf War."
Some veterans returning from the 1991 war reported joint pain,
fatigue, memory and sleep symptoms that collectively came to be
known as Gulf War syndrome.
Concerns about the fate of these veterans heightened after the
Pentagon disclosed that 145,000 troops were inadvertently exposed
to low levels of sarin nerve gas
released by the detonation of an Iraq ammunition dump.
And the U.S. government has spent more than $200 million studying
the syndrome.
Upon their return, many of the Gulf War veterans went to private
physicians rather than VA facilities, so early on it was hard to
track what was happening. Today's veterans are entitled to two years
of free health care at facilities such as the VA Puget Sound and
other VA facilities around the country, according to VA officials.
Veterans' visits to these facilities were used to compile the new
report.
During the post-Sept. 11, 2001, Afghanistan and Iraq wars, there
have been no documented releases of nerve gases.
So there appears to be less risk from exposure to toxic chemicals,
as well as the smoke clouds emitted by the 1991 fires in Kuwait's
oil fields.
But during these new conflicts, physicians say there could be more
incidents of post-traumatic stress syndrome.
The first Gulf War ended after less than a week of major ground
fighting, while the present Iraq occupation has involved long,
stressful months of battling insurgents.
"This is a whole different situation. Really, almost everywhere is
a combat zone, and there are so many improvised explosive devices,"
said Dr. Stephen Hunt, medical director for the VA's Deployment
Health Clinic in Seattle and at American Lake in Pierce County.
Hunt says rates of post-traumatic stress syndrome will likely be
higher than in the Gulf War.
Moreover, the incidence of post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq
may be underrepresented in the new report because many early
discharged veterans who sought treatment were from the Air Force
or Navy, which had a short combat role in the war.
Many Army soldiers who have suffered the greatest combat stress
have yet to be discharged or have moved through the VA system.
Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource
Center, said the soldiers now in Iraq also may face risks from
depleted uranium shells from U.S.
munitions, as well as vaccines they received to ward off disease
and
anthrax attacks. Another problem has been sand flies, which can
spread disease.
Department of Defense officials, in recent days, have been reviewing
the VA report. They say they have yet to do a similar survey of the
health problems of active-duty troops.
But the types of complaints appear similar to those of
active-duty soldiers, said Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director
of deployment health in the Department of Defense.
Overall, about 4 percent of the active-duty troops in Iraq report
some type of medical concern each week, Kilpatrick said. That's the
lowest of any war fought by the United States in recent decades,
he said.
With sandstorms and dust inhalation, respiratory problems have been
a concern. But most of the problems appear to be short-term. "We're
not seeing a lot of acute stuff,"
Kilpatrick said.
Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com
Where vets can call
Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans with health concerns in the Puget
Sound region may call the Department of Veterans
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51 [DU-WATCH] GOVERNMENT DU-PLICITY
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:19:35 -0600 (CST)
look at the website, some great graphics on it!!!
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=1487&blz=1
GOVERNMENT DU-PLICITY
By Susan Riordon & Davey Garland
Great liars are also great magicians" - Adolf Hitler.
IT IS appropriate to quote from someone so despicable,
about those who have created a despicable act, and
have lied and covered up their crimes for over 12
years. The wall of silence or dis-information over
Depleted Uranium held by the US and UK government has
been near impregnable. But cracks have now emerged, be
it from veterans, or scientists, over a decade of
collating, researching and painstaking digging by
activists and academics which may rock or even ruin
some government Ministers and officials. The last
months have seen a number of incidents which has seen
the tight DU ship of lies spring a number of leaks.
It hit choppy waters first at the World Uranium
Weapons Conference held in Hamburg in October, 2003,
at which the global DU movement came together
pro-actively for the first time, with activists,
veterans, scientists and lawyers agreeing on solid,
cohesive means of action. The Conference called for
the abolition of all uranium weapons and confirmed
acceptance of the United Nations Sub-commission on the
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights finding, that
Depleted Uranium weapons are illegal. Accordingly, the
Hamburg officially called for the abolition of the use
of and halt to the proliferation of these weapons.
The Hamburg Conference concluded: The evidence from
scientists, medical professionals and legal experts at
this conference is clear: DU is causing significant
health effects worldwide... is illegal under existing
International Law and Conventions The Conference also
called for the cessation of the manufacture testing,
or use of these weapons. This was the final and
unanimous agreement of Conference.
Rubbing in the Salt
A recent DU milestone was that of Kenny Duncan, who
brought the U.K. Ministry of Defence to an Edinburgh
based Pension Appeal Tribunal in January, claiming DU
contamination from active service during Gulf war 1.
The Tribunal ruled for DU contamination from dust from
burnt out tanks. However, showing its own confusion
and duplicity in the affair, the MoD and Government
managed to turn down an appeal by over 2000 Gulf
veterans, over Gulf War Syndrome, while at the same
time, agreeing to commission an independent
investigation into the causes of GWS, based at the
Cambridge Centre. Many involved with the DU question
regard this as another empty gesture. This particular
unit, is infamous for its research on ME, which it
opined mainly a psychological problem and may well
conclude the same regarding GWS, given the track
record of previous government investigation into the
debilitating health problems.
The Ministry of Defence, however has opened itself to
attack should it deny DU is a threat, since soldiers
in Iraq have been issued with Medical card F Med
1018 in which the MoD states:
You have been deployed to a theatre where Depleted
Uranium (DU) Munitions have been used. DU is weakly
radioactive heavy metal, which has the potential to
cause ill health. You may have been exposed to dust
containing DU during you deployment.
The card continues to advise soldiers to check with
their medical officer on return to their home base.
They even gave out a Website:
http://www.mod.uk/issuesdepleted_uranium/index.htm
The British government and its military forces,
however, largely continue to reinforce an
international policy which has continued since the
dawn of the nuclear age, in concert with pro-nuclear
institutions such as the International Atomic Energy
Authority (IAEA) actively suppressing reports and
documents which link DU/Uranium weapons and
ill-health.
A recent example is a Report commissioned by the World
Health Organisation (WHO) on the effects of DU amongst
the civilian populations of Iraq. Professor Keith
Braverstock who completed the study in 2001 believes
that the WHO purposely suppressed the findings, and
that if the Report had been published it would have
seriously affected public support for any new war in
Iraq. Braverstock and two other radiation experts Mike
Thorne AND Carmel McMaster, reinforced the already
accepted view by authorative opponents of DU, that the
chemically toxic and radioactive dust emanating from
such weapons can cause cancer and other severe
ailments. This might also explain why the United
Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has been
refused permission by the US authorities to enter Iraq
and make environmental impact assessments and monitor
DU related health effects since the latest US/UK
attack. No doubt anyway, its mandate would be as
woefully and duplicitously restricted as it was in
Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan!
We are dealing with a war on information, a
determination there be a lack of it. Information
warfare is term that has been increasingly used by
the military to undermine its opponents. However,
historically, it has been more often used against it
own people, particularly in the United States and
Britain, through the FBIs Cointelpro and the MI5
respectively, which on numerous occasions have
targeted informed progressive movements. This murky
world of censorship, hyped paranoia and attack on free
speech has been recently updated in the US (and
Britain also) with the introduction of the Patriot
Act.
When they are not successful through smear campaigns
and infiltration, then they resort to intimidation and
even assassination. The anti-nuclear (including the
anti-DU groups) movement being a prime witness to
these tactics with threats, arrests, murders, offices
broken into, records, computers and data removed. But
determined opposition will not crumble and in recent
years, many committed activists have brought about a
global alert and awareness. Much of the general public
now knows of the dangers of DU and other uranium
weapons, but has realised that terrifyingly, five
radioactive wars have been fought since 1991.
To highlight just a few of the now numerous campaigns:
US Gulf Veteran and radiation expert, former Pentagon
advisor, Dr Doug Rokke himself severely sick from DU
- ex-Major, turned whistle-blower after being sent to
Iraq following the first Gulf War, to estimate the
dangers of DU for the US Department of Defence (DoD),
He, and other gravely ill soldiers and civilian
victims travel the world relentlessly alerting
audiences to the justice and health care that
sufferers so vitally need. Rokke's unique expertise
and recommendations on the clean-up possibilities and
unique dangers of DU have been scrupulously ignored,
because of combat needs on the ground and the fact
that this lethal weapon has another unique property
it is radioactive redundancy from the nuclear fuel
cycle, so the military gets it free of charge, since
no one wants it in their back yard, - and it costs a
fortune to keep in a safe and stable environment.
Thus, dropping it on a hospital, mosque, kindergarten,
or government building is a cheap method of disposal
and ensures maximum destruction. It also remains
polluting, poisoning and radiating for four and a half
billion years.
The tireless work of Dr. Asaf Durakovic and his
independent team of scientists from the Uranium
Medical Research Centre have tested and found positive
many DU contaminated veterans. Im addition to this -
at great health risk to themselves - the team has
visited the world's radiological battle zones, testing
the local population and environment. Their work has
proven the direct link between uranium weapons and
radioactive contamination of these countries. The
UMRC'S findings contradict starkly the official
governments' scientific evaluation, both of the
countries and the amount of uranium weapons used. They
remain unwavering in their determination to expose the
toxicity of uranium weapons and present and future
damage to the populations of Iraq, the Balkans and
Afghanistan, despite all efforts to demean their
expertise and threats to their very existence.
The Afghan DU Relief Fund is operated and privately
financed by an Afghan exile, US based, Dr Mohammed
Miraki. Like the country that has disappeared from our
view, so has the continued suffering and hardship of
the people. But Dr Miraki travels on his own finances
to raise further funds and to not alone relate the
suffering, but to attempt to ensure sufficient relief
and health care to treat the terrible illnesses that
the population is now encountering. "They have turned
my sweet Afghanistan into a poisoned burial ground
comments Miraki.
It is not alone the veterans, but also their families
or remaining partners who crave and fight for justice.
Susan Riordon is the widow of Captain Terry Riordon,
late of the Canadian army, who was the worlds first
veteran to be officially diagnosed as dieing with Gulf
War Syndrome. Terry had served his country for 23
years and convinced that he was contaminated with DU,
asked his wife to use his body to prove that DU was
the cause. He donated his body to research for his
fellow veterans. His death certificate records: "Cause
of death: Gulf War Syndrome.
DU was the proven Killer. It had invaded virtually
every tissue and organ of his body. Dead five years,
Terry speaks to Science. A dead man standing for the
veterans, for DU's Dead and Dying. His wife now
relentlessly challenges the Canadian government to
accept her husbands diagnosis and to support those
other veterans who are going down with GWS.
Richard Nibby David, in the UK, illustrates how
DU/uranium reaches not only military but civilian
levels. David is taking one of the worlds biggest
multi-nationals to court, to prove his contamination
from uranium metal while working in the aerospace
industry - and to prove its proliferation into a whole
variety of civilian products. This is a modern David
&Goliath battle, with a DU victim prepared to
sacrifice everything to prove both the cause of his
own illness and to more widely expose how these metals
are seeping into our environment, our workplaces and
our homes.
Terry Riordon, Doug Rokke, Richard David, one dead,
two dying, all victims of the emotional and financial
rape of their families. They are the few. Countless
others struggle financially and physically to raise
their voices in the political wilderness. DU is
banned; it kills - and one microscopic particle is
enough. As in Iraq and other testing grounds, it
leads to omnicide, poisoning humanity, the new born,
the unborn, fauna, flora and water supply leaving
nothing unscathed or unpolluted - for all time
Never has this dynamic movements grass-roots
expertise, commitment and resilience been more needed.
With every small victory, such as Kenny Duncans and
the courage of Professor Braverstock to speak out over
the WHOs partisanship, the movement will be that much
closer to eliminating this uniquely shameful and
lethal scourge on humanity and everything living
thing.
But more of those with power and influence must also
speak out. In the US, it is election year, and so far,
in the Democratic Party primaries, only Dennis
Kucinich has spoken for the need to abolish DU. Will
Kerry, one wonder, have the guts to address DU as he
did Agent Orange and the health of Vietnam veterans?
The Hamburg Conference demonstrated the empowerment of
unity, with world experts and committed activists from
all corners of the globe sharing knowledge, strategies
and ideas. That unity is now needed in the wider
public arena to reinforce the illegality of these
weapons and to force their abolition on governments.
Karen Parker, the lawyer responsible for determining
the UN rule on Depleted Uranium Weapons being illegal,
asked if she sees DU as a nuclear weapon, responded:
I think so. The UN has condemned the use of them.
They are illegal weapons, and they are illegal for
more reasons than the depleted uranium. Theyre just
indiscriminate weapons.
Susan Riordan is the widow of Captain Terry Riordon,
and Atlantic Director, Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans
Association and Davey Garland is organiser for the
Pandora DU Research Project and a Tutor in Radical
Media Studies. Both are part of the International
grass-roots initiative to abolish DU and all
radioactive weapons.
Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association:
http://members.shaw.ca/cpva/
Pandora DU Research Project:
http://www.pandoraproject.org
Suggested Sites to look at in regard some of the real
shakers and movers in publicising the case over
DU/uranium weapons/products
Beatrice Boctor and her environmental work for Iraq:
http://www.desertconcerns.org
Dai Williams: http://www.eoslifework.co.uk/du2012.htm
Doug Rokke:
http://traprockpeace.org/RokkePressConf23July03.html
Karen Parker:
http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de/speakers/parker_illegality.pdf
Low Level Radiation Campaign: http://www.llrc.org/
Dr Miraki Afghan DU Recovery Fund:
http://www.afghandufund.org/
Dr Leuren Moret: What does the US government know
about DU:
http://traprockpeace.org/moret_25nov03.pdf
Nibby David Campaign article:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/westcountry/2003/11/282063.html
Uranium Medical Research Centre: http://www.umrc.net/
& for Spanish readers:
Coalicisn Internacional para la Abolicisn de las Armas
Radiactivas and the work of Alfredo Embid:
http://www.amcmh.org/
All information from the Uranium Weapons Conference
can be found at:
http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de
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52 [du-list] Mix of chemicals plus stress damages brain, liver in
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2004 19:54:12 -0800
Mix of Chemicals Plus Stress Damages Brain, Liver in
Animals and Likely in Humans
date : 2/26/2004media contact : Becky Levine , (919)
660-1308 or (919) 684-4148
levin005@mc.duke.edu
http://dukemednews.org/news/article.php?id=7433
DURHAM, N.C. -- Stress is a well known culprit in
disease, but now researchers have shown that stress
can intensify the effects of relatively safe
chemicals, making them very harmful to the brain and
liver in animals and likely in humans, as well.
Even short-term exposure to specific chemicals -- just
28 days -- when combined with stress was enough to
cause widespread cellular damage in the brain and
liver of rats, said Mohamed Abou Donia, Ph.D., a Duke
pharmacologist and senior author of the study.
Results of the study were published in the Feb. 27,
2004, issue of the Journal of Toxicology and
Environmental Health.
Abou Donia's study was designed to reproduce the
symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome, a disorder marked by
chronic fatigue, muscle and joint pain, tremors,
headaches, difficulties concentrating and learning,
loss of memory, irritability and reproductive
problems. The Gulf War Syndrome symptoms have been
difficult to explain because veterans outwardly appear
healthy and normal, said Abou Donia. Likewise, the
chemically exposed animals in Abou Donia's studies
looked and behaved normally.
But a decade of neurologic research has revealed
widespread damage to the brain, nervous system, liver
and testes of rats exposed to 60 days of low-dose
chemicals -- the insect repellant DEET, the
insecticide permethrin, and the anti-nerve gas agent
pyridostigmine bromide. These are the same drugs that
the soldiers received during the 1990 - 1991 Persian
Gulf War, and Abou Donia's rats were exposed to the
same levels -- in weight adjusted doses -- as the
soldiers were reportedly given.
Now, Abou Donia has demonstrated that the combination
of stress and short-term exposure to chemicals (28
days) can promote cellular death in specific brain
regions and injury to the liver. Moreover, the
chemical trio combined with stress caused damage to
portions of the brain where its protective blood-brain
barrier was still intact.
The latter finding suggests that the chemicals
permeated the protective barrier in one region, then
leaked into other regions of the brain where the
barrier remained intact. The ability of chemicals to
leak from one area of the brain to another holds the
potential for much greater damage to occur to the
entire brain.
Brain regions that sustained significant damage in
this study were the cerebral cortex (motor and sensory
function), the hippocampus (learning and memory) and
the cerebellum (gait and coordination of movements).
Abou Donia's earlier studies demonstrated severe
damage to the cingulate cortex, dentate gyrus,
thalamus and hypothalamus.(The thalamus is the major
relay for visual and auditory information going to the
cortex and is also responsible for subjective
feelings. The hypothalamus regulates metabolism, sleep
and sexual activity, as well as control of emotions.)
Abou Donia's team found a significant number of dead
or dying brain cells in all of these brain regions, as
well as major alterations to brain chemicals that are
necessary for learning and memory, muscle strength and
body movement. Stress alone caused little or no brain
injury in the rats, nor did the three chemicals given
together in low doses for 28 days.
"But when we put the animals under moderate stress by
simply restricting their movement in a plastic holder
for five minutes at a time every day, the animals
experienced enough stress that it intensified the
effects of the chemicals dramatically," said Abou
Donia.
Soldiers in the Gulf War were likely under stress 24
hours a day for weeks or months at a time, a scenario
which could explain the origins of their diverse
physical and cognitive complaints, said Abou Donia.
"The brain deficits we found in rats reside in
specific areas of the brain that we can't measure in
living humans," said Abou Donia. "This is why the
deficits are so difficult to assess clinically and why
animal studies are so critical to understanding the
cellular damage."
In addition to brain injuries, the Duke study found
unexpected damage to the liver, including swollen
cells, congested blood vessels and abnormal fatty
deposits that diminish the liver cells' function.
Liver cells also showed reduced activity of an
important enzyme -- BuCHE -- that helps rid the body
of some toxic substances. Neither stress by itself nor
chemicals alone had any impact on BuCHE levels, but
the combination did.
Such damage to the liver can reduce its ability to rid
the body of toxic substances -- its primary function
as a vital organ. And, the less effectively the liver
filters out toxic substances, the more the chemicals
can concentrate in the brain and nervous system, he
added.
Finally, the study showed that stress plus chemicals
increased the amount of destructive molecules in the
brain called reactive oxygen species -- also known as
oxygen free radicals. Reactive oxygen species are
produced by the body as it metabolizes various
substances in the presence of oxygen.
Reactive oxygen species attack DNA, RNA and proteins,
causing cellular and membrane damage. Normally, the
body removes these chemicals from the body and the
brain. But excessive production of reactive oxygen
species can overwhelm the body's ability to dispose of
them.
"In our study, there was an increase in reactive
oxygen species. We think that either the three
chemicals and stress directly produce these free
radicals, or the chemicals impede the body's ability
to get rid of them," said Abou Donia.
relevant links :http://www.dukemednews.org/news/article.php?id=6326
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53 [DU-WATCH] US policy of nuclear proliferation
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 00:45:07 -0600 (CST)
quote from the Parenti interview below:
"That's right. After attacking Iraq, Michael Ledeen
and Paul Wolfowitz immediately made similar noises about Iran and
Syria, declaring that Iran may have weapons of mass destruction and
harbors terrorists, and the same with Syria. Now they are saying this
about North Korea. But the North Koreans have responded: Hey, we were
cooperating with you. We were going to proceed with nuclear
disarmament, but now we see what happens. You use the United Nations
to disarm a targeted country. The country cooperates with the U.N.,
hoping to avoid being attacked by you. But then you ignore the U.N.
resolutions and unilaterally attack the country anyway. And we notice
that the countries you attack are countries that are the most
helpless, the ones that cannot retaliate. We notice that for 30 years
you never attacked the Soviet Union, and the reason you didn't was
because they had nuclear weapons and could retaliate. So we're going
to have to do the same-develop a nuclear deterrence."
this applies across the board with the US, is irrefutable. so do read
it all right down to the punchline:
wrote:
February 19, 2004
Empires, Old and New
An Interview with Michael Parenti
Michael Parenti received a PhD in Political Science at Yale
University. He is one of the nation's leading progressive thinkers,
an uncompromising advocate for political, economic, and social
justice. He has written seventeen books, including: Democracy for the
Few, Dirty Truths, Against Empire, and The Terrorism Trap. His latest
book is titled, The Assassination of Julius Caesar: The People's
History of Ancient Rome. His website is www.michaelparenti.org.
David Ross (D.R.): What are the similarities and differences between
the Roman Empire and the U.S. Empire?
Michael Parenti: Both empires are directed by a ruling class that
wants it all, a ruling class that gives less and less to the people,
making them pay all the taxes, while those at the top pocket all the
wealth; a ruling class that prefers maximizing its wealth rather than
protecting or serving the needs of the common people. We see that in
the United States today, where there is a basic antagonism between
democracy and multinational corporate, finance capital. The
plutocracy treats everything we have-the land, labor, natural
resources, markets, and technology for one primary purpose-the
maximization of profit, as opposed to the democratic idea that all
those things are for the use and welfare of the people and for
maintaining a sustainable environment.
D.R: What is the scope of the U.S. Empire?
Michael Parenti: Militarily, it is the most powerful empire that has
ever existed on the face of the earth in its striking power and
destructive force. It has an unanswerable military superiority over
every other country. Every year, we now hand over $400 billion
dollars of our tax money, including money we don't even have to the
military-industrial complex. George Bush has gone back to deficit
spending, which means, in effect, borrowing money on the future-on
future taxes, and future services. It's an empire that has over 300
major military bases all over the world. It has giant fleets making
port in about 30 or 40 different countries. In recent years, it has
attacked and invaded Grenada, Panama, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq twice,
Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan. It's got troops now stationed in
Kyrgyzstan, Turkistan, Uzbekistan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia, South
Korea, Japan, Iraq, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere. Currently, it's
got troops fighting in Colombia, the Philippines, Iraq, Afghanistan,
and various other places. Its purpose is to make the world safe for
the giant multinational companies. And it targets any country that
tries to use its land, labor, and resources for its own self-
development. The imperial goal is to transform the entire world into
a free-market New World Order.
That's not my analysis; they have been saying it themselves for
years. They say: We now have an unprecedented opportunity to
transform the entire world, to rule the entire planet, to make the
United States the only superpower, to prevent any other superpower or
regional power from arising, and to make sure that subordinate
countries will be compliant states.
We ordinary Americans don't gain from it. We pay the costs of empire,
but we don't get the benefit. The profits go to a few, while the
costs are sustained by the general populace, and that's been true of
every empire, by the way.
D.R: Last time we talked, the Bush administration had just invaded
Afghanistan, and you talked about a "very repetitive, rather obvious,
and predictable formula" Now the Bush administration has attacked
Iraq and it appears like another "very repetitive, rather obvious,
and predictable formula."
Michael Parenti: That's right. After attacking Iraq, Michael Ledeen
and Paul Wolfowitz immediately made similar noises about Iran and
Syria, declaring that Iran may have weapons of mass destruction and
harbors terrorists, and the same with Syria. Now they are saying this
about North Korea. But the North Koreans have responded: Hey, we were
cooperating with you. We were going to proceed with nuclear
disarmament, but now we see what happens. You use the United Nations
to disarm a targeted country. The country cooperates with the U.N.,
hoping to avoid being attacked by you. But then you ignore the U.N.
resolutions and unilaterally attack the country anyway. And we notice
that the countries you attack are countries that are the most
helpless, the ones that cannot retaliate. We notice that for 30 years
you never attacked the Soviet Union, and the reason you didn't was
because they had nuclear weapons and could retaliate. So we're going
to have to do the same-develop a nuclear deterrence.
People all over the world opposed the attack on Iraq with record-
breaking, unprecedented, demonstrations. They were demonstrating,
partly out of sympathy for the people of Iraq, but also because they
were opposed to the idea that one country, one leader-the president
of the United States-can appoint himself world monarch and rule over
the entire planet, with the power to decide who shall live and who
shall die. And if he can attack any country, unilaterally, without
any regard for international law, then no one is safe.
International law states that you cannot attack another country
unless that country is committing acts of aggression against you or a
very close ally, or endangering you in some way. But there was no
evidence of such endangerment or imminent threat. Iraq was a battered
country. It had already been pulverized and destroyed by the 1991
Gulf War and the dozen years of sanctions. It was vastly weaker in
2003 than it was in 1991. But George W. Bush found it necessary to
attack. And the first thing the American forces secured and protected
were the oil well heads, while bombing just about everything else.
D.R: The right contends that if the U.S. government doesn't rule the
world, a more totalitarian government will-a social Darwinistic
ideology of sorts between nation states. How would you respond to
this?
Michael Parenti: What gives George Bush-a draft dodger, who went into
the Air Force National Guard, but didn't even show up for two years
(and is still legally AWOL), who had a drug and drinking problem most
of his life, and is now a born-again Christian-what gives this
character the right to decide to bomb and kill people in other
countries? And what gives him the right to lie to the American people
and not tell them that, in fact, it was the United States that put
Saddam Hussein in power. It was the United States who backed him when
he killed every democrat, progressive, and communist who was trying
to make reforms in Iraq after the Iraqi revolution of 1958. Saddam
Hussein's party came into power in the late 1960's, and started
killing these people. He even exterminated the left wing of his own
Ba'ath Party. But he was Washington's poster boy in those days. The
United States gave him the chemical weapons that he used against
Iran. The United States also gave weapons to Iran, which they used
against Iraq. But we are not told this in our "free and independent
press."
It was only when Saddam Hussein and his cohorts took control of
Iraq's oil, and when they started using their oil resources, not to
fatten the capital accumulation of global free market multinational
corporations, but for the development of their own country-only then
was he marked as an enemy of America. The Iraqis sold the oil on the
world market. They sold it to us at as reasonable a price as Exxon
would sell it to us. We could get oil from them. We would get enough
gasoline for our cars. The Bush administration is not fighting to
protect the American consumer like they sometimes say. Oil-rich
countries are happy to sell their oil to us, and they sell it at a
more reasonable price, usually, than the big corporations do.
But what the U.S. leadership wants is not only to be able to buy that
oil, but to own it; that is much more profitable. They want to be the
people that are selling the oil, who own it as it's coming out of the
ground. You see, you don't have to pay the earth for that oil. So if
you own it, it's yours. It's your wealth, and then you get to sell it
for beaucoup bucks. This is why they hated Iraq. It was becoming a
self-developing, self-defining country. Even though Saddam Hussein
killed most of the people on the left, he kept some of their
programs. He trained cadres of engineers and built health clinics and
schools in Iraq. And just about the entire economy was government
run. He turned out to be not a puppet ruler in the way that Pinochet
was in Chile, or Fujimora in Peru, or Batista in Cuba before Fidel
Castro came in, or Marcos in the Philippines, or Suharto in Indonesia.
Such comprador rulers say: "Come on in boys. It's all yours. Anything
you want. Bring in your corporations. There'll be no taxes on you.
There are no minimum wage laws. There are no child labor laws.
There's no environmental or occupational safety laws, no pension
funds. Your profits will be terrific. And you can take our people,
pay them whatever few pennies you want, and work them as hard as you
want, just as long as you give me mine. It's all yours on terms that
you want." That's the pure comprador leader, the puppet leader who
throws his country wide open to the Western global investors and
speculators, who throws opens the markets, land, natural resources,
and labor.
Saddam Hussein didn't do that, and that is why he was demonized. It
is a set formula: You demonize the leader. You start talking about
how bad he is, how he hates us, how he's a threat to our security, to
the security of his neighbors and to the peace, and what a tyrant he
is. They said that Saddam was worse than Hitler. They said that about
Noriega in Panama; he's an admirer of Hitler. They said that about
Kaddafi of Libya, and President Aristide in Haiti. The minute any
leader stands up to U.S. government, he is subjected to ad hominem
attacks.
D.R: Are corporations forced to further exploit labor and the
environment so they don't lose profits, and therefore, investors?
Michael Parenti: Every corporation has to maximize profits.
Occupational safety does not maximize profits; you're spending money
in the workplace to safeguard workers, and that cuts into your
profit. And when you hoist your dis-economies onto the environment
you save money and you increase your profits. That's why we need
regulation, and need to force all corporations to abide by
occupational and environmental standards. The environment cannot
defend itself. It is reaching the point of no return with the ecology
of the entire globe at risk. This is all the more reason why you need
government to impose regulations in accordance with the democratic
will.
D.R: Many anarchists believe that because of hierarchy, any state
governing system will inherently be exploitive. How would you respond
to this proposition?
Michael Parenti: Essentially, the anarchist position is that the
state, itself, is the enemy. That's not my position. A state can be
used for good things. In fact, given the realities of private economy
and the power of private capital, a democratic state is about the
only hope we have of reining in these kinds of moneyed powers. In
Venezuela, for instance, the problem is not the power of the state;
it's the power of the giant cartels, private capital, and the
affluent class that doesn't want to see the slightest concession
given to the poor. So that's where the struggle is: It's called class
struggle, and the state is part of the arena in which class struggle
takes place.
I feel our biggest enemies are the people who actually own most of
the world and who are oppressing, killing, conquering, destroying,
impoverishing and expropriating the peoples of the world. Our enemies
are in the White House, the people who are expropriating the world's
resources and the land, who are determining the quality of the air we
breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. They are setting up
more and more police states, paramilitary forces, military forces,
and police forces in countries all around the world. That's the
enemy: those in the White House who are literally killing people,
either by direct military force or by economic systems that exploit,
impoverish, and sicken people, destroying the conditions that make
life livable for them.
Our hope is that people are waking up to this global threat. In Iraq,
a people's resistance has developed that has become politically
costly for the empire-builders. Maybe we can start turning things
around by organizing, educating, agitating, and resisting-it's called
democracy.
--- End forwarded message ---
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54 CS Monitor: The spread of nuclear know-how
| csmonitor.com
March 02, 2004 edition
How key nuclear secrets were leaked and copied all over the
world.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON In the early 1970s, at a factory in the Dutch town
of Almelo, the governments of Britain, West Germany, and the
Netherlands were perfecting a secret uranium-enrichment
technology: the ultracentrifuge.
The machines were made of precisely crafted tubes of metal that
spun at fantastic speeds.
The centrifugal force this spinning created was so great it could
physically separate the different isotopes of natural uranium.
Naturally, this technology was housed in a factory that was
supposed to be secure.
But in practice the atmosphere at Almelo was relaxed. The
centrifuge building housed a snack shop, and workers without full
clearance routinely filtered through - including a well-liked
Pakistani metallurgist named Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Other workers thought nothing of their repeated sightings of Dr.
Khan walking through the centrifuge facility, notebook in hand.
Fast forward to 2004. Khan, who became the father of Pakistan's
nuclear-weapons program, has admitted to peddling nuclear
know-how for profit - and the secrets of the centrifuges of
Almelo have leaked all over the world.
The characteristics of the machines can be as distinctive as
fingerprints. Parts and plans related to centrifuges have proved
crucial clues linking Iran, Libya, and Pakistan together in a web
of nuclear proliferation.
Their dissemination is particularly dangerous because they can
solve the most daunting aspect of building nuclear weapons -
acquiring the fissile core.
"There is no secret to making a nuclear bomb," says Matthew Bunn,
a nuclear expert at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School
of Government. "The hard part is getting the [fissile] material."
Libya has admitted to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
officials that it first bought centrifuges and centrifuge parts
in 1997. This initial batch - enough for at least 220 machines,
according to IAEA documents - was similar in design to the first
centrifuge model produced by the British-German-Dutch Urenco
consortium.
Beginning in 2000, Libya set its sights on a more advanced
centrifuge. This design, dubbed "L-2" in IAEA documents, was
itself based on a second- generation Urenco centrifuge that uses
super strength maraging steel instead of aluminum for rotors.
Libya ordered parts for 10,000 L-2s. These components began to
arrive in large quantities in December 2002.
Iran, for its part, has some 920 centrifuges of the
less-sophisticated aluminum rotor design, according to the IAEA.
It declared ownership of these machines to the IAEA last year.
But further investigation - including interviews with ex-Iranian
officials - led international inspectors to suspect that Iran
knew more than it was saying about advanced steel rotor
centrifuges. This January Iranian officials admitted that they
had received blueprints from foreign sources for advanced "P-2"
machines.
The Iranians said that they decided they weren't capable of
making the finely machined rotors out of steel, and instead had
tried to make them from carbon composites. This failed. So they
did what any backyard inventor frustrated with a balky whiz-bang
might do - they threw the whole thing in the garbage.
According to Iran, after June 2003 "all of the [P-2] centrifuge
equipment was moved to the Pars Trash Company in Tehran," says
the IAEA's recent Iran report.
Centrifuges in the trash? Right.
The IAEA - not to mention the Bush administration - isn't buying
this part of the story. They want the Iranians to talk more about
what they really have in terms of P-2 equipment.
But Iran continues to insist that its nuclear program is meant
only to produce electricity. Squeezing them too hard at this
point might be counterproductive, say some experts. They're like
someone hauled in by law enforcement for an interview who can
leave at any moment, since they haven't officially been charged
with a crime.
"We want them to continue cooperating with the police," says
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Agency.
The development of gas centrifuges was an attempt to solve a
problem which has dogged scientists since the beginning of the
atomic age: the tremendous expense and energy involved in
refining fissionable material.
The enriched uranium thus produced can be used in nuclear power
plants. Urenco began its own work so that Western Europe would
not have to depend on the US to supply reactor fuel, for example.
But centrifuges can also produce higher enriched uranium. This,
or plutonium, is the material necessary for the core of a bomb.
Clues in a technology trail
The presence of centrifuges doesn't establish intent to make
weapons. But combined with other clues they can be a powerful
indicator of an intention to develop a home-grown arsenal.
"The technology is inherently dual-use," says Corey Hinderstein,
a senior analyst at the Institute for Science and International
Security (ISIS). Thus Western intelligence agencies were
suspicious of Iran as early as 13 years ago. In 1991, Italian
intelligence reported that Sharif University in Tehran had
ordered a sophisticated ring magnet from the Austrian firm
Tribacher, according to an ISIS article.
The magnet in question was suitable for use in the upper bearing
of a Urenco-like centrifuge.
Centrifuges work by spinning at a very high speed - close to or
surpassing the speed of sound. Uranium gas is pumped inside the
spinning cylinders.
The gravitational force is so strong that the heavier molecules
of U-238, the most-common isotope in natural uranium, move toward
the outside. The lighter, much rarer, and highly fissionable
isotope U-235 collects closer to the center.
A stream of gas slightly enriched in U-235 is withdrawn and then
fed into the next of a train of centrifuges, and so on until it
becomes more than 90 percent pure.
This is simple in theory but highly difficult in practice. The
precision necessary to keep intact a rotor moving at more than
100,000 revolutions a minute is at the limits of modern
engineering methods.
In fact, the Urenco P-1, the base design for the first machines
acquired by Libya and Iran, was never all that great, according
to David Albright, head of ISIS and a former international
weapons inspector.
Thus the proliferation network which provided them may have been
selling off the centrifuge equivalent of bug-ridden version 1.0
software.
"The P-2 - now that worked like a charm," says Mr. Albright,
former international weapons inspector.
" Faye Bowers contributed to this report.
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2004 The Christian Science
Monitor. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
55 AU ABC: Guam anti-nuclear activists to hold demonstration
Anti-nuclear activists are scheduled to hold a demonstration in
Guam, in remembrance of those who lost their health and lives to
nuclear bombs in the Pacific.
Fifty years ago, the US military detonated the 15-megaton
hydrogen bomb 'Bravo,' on a tiny atoll in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, which is now part of the Marshall Islands.
Hundreds of islanders, as well as US weather observers and
Japanese fishermen in the area, were affected by radiation from
those experiments.
Guam activist, Fanai Castro, has told the Pacific Daily News that
the protest will call for the end of all nuclear testing in the
region.
01/03/2004 12:47:46 | ABC Radio Australia News
*****************************************************************
56 AU ABC: Marshall Islanders lobby Washington over nuclear testing legacy
Marshall Islanders are in Washington lobbying the American
government for compensation for the testing of a hydrogen bomb on
Bikini Atoll.
The bomb -- codenamed Bravo -- was detonated on March the first
1954, gouging out a massive crater and blasting radioactive
debris across people living on other islands in the group.
Washington provided 270 million dollars in compensation that
ended last year, but the Marshall's government says this has not
satisfied America's obligations
The Trust Liason Officer for the people of Bikini, Jack
Niedenthal, explains Washington's responsibilities in the matter.
'They knew that if this bomb went off the fallout would go
towards people who were living on islands at the time, and yet
these decisions were made at the highest level of the US
government.
'This was not some general pushing the button, this is the
president of the United States saying go ahead and push that
button for that Bravo shot and that's what happened.'
02/03/2004 04:35:16 | ABC Radio Australia News
*****************************************************************
57 AU ABC: Survivors day renews Marshall Is aid call.
01/03/2004. ABC News Online
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
Fifty years after the United States tested its biggest-ever
hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, flags flew at half-mast in honour
of national Nuclear Survivors Remembrance Day.
The legacy of the radioactive fallout spewed out by the Bravo
bomb across the Marshall Islands continues.
President Kessai Note and representatives of nuclear-affected
islands are repeatedly calling on the US to meet its
responsibility to the survivors.
Bikini itself can now be visited for limited periods of time but
its food crops still cannot be eaten as they remain tainted by
radioactivity.
"For our people, for the Marshall Islands, March 1, 1954 is the
defining moment in world history," said Rongelap Island Mayor
James Matayoshi.
"At a time when the US is spending billions to study nuclear
clean-ups at US mainland weapons productions sites, and hundreds
of billions to make the world a safer place, the US has a legal
and moral obligation to finally resolve the legacy of nuclear
testing in the Marshall Islands."
The US detonated Bravo in a bid to show the Soviets that America
had a deliverable H-bomb.
The US denies it ignored warnings that winds were blowing
toward inhabited islands.
The Americans tested 67 nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands, a
string of 1,200 islands totalling 187 square kilometres of land,
just north of the Equator in the mid-Pacific.
Bravo was the biggest of all, with 15 megaton blast equivalent
to nearly 1,000 Hiroshima bombs.
To mark the anniversary, a police honour guard led nuclear
survivors, anti-nuclear activists, a high-level US church
delegation and local students on a march to the capital building
for a day-long program of speeches and music.
Mr Note says the nation is asking the US "to help us to overcome
the severe obstacles of the nuclear weapons program".
He says $US270 million in compensation provided by the US in a
recently-expired Compact of Free Association "was not enough".
-- AFP
© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
*****************************************************************
58 Independent: Post 71 uranium miners where are you?
February 25, 2004
'Downwinders' also sought for RECA update
Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau
FORT DEFIANCE Phil Harrison of the uranium office in Shiprock
is looking for a "few good men," so to speak: Uranium miners from
Post 71, located mostly in the Eastern Agency.
Harrison also wants to hear from downwinders, and invites them to
show up Saturday at the Shiprock Chapter House for an update on
obtaining federal compensationfor uranium-related illnesses and
those which could have resulted from radioactivefallout.
"There's a question about the Post 71 miners. Are they sick?
Where are they?They're not coming forward," Harrison said
Tuesday.
There are approximately 135 Post 71 workers known to the uranium
office in Shiprock.
"We went ahead and put that on the problems (list), extending
coveragesto Post 71. We don't know where they are and we don't
have any data on that.We also don't have data on the downwinders,
so we don't even know how many downwinderswe have," he said.
This type of information would be extremely useful to
representatives of theNavajo Nation when they journey to
Washington, D.C., on March 24 for a NationalAcademy of Sciences
hearing regarding making changes to the Radiation
ExposureCompensation Act Amendment 2000. Harrison hopes to obtain
some of this informationat Saturday's meeting, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Larry Bedonie of the Shiprock uranium office, who represents
spouses and childrenof the miners, will be on hand Saturday to
answer questions about what is happeningwith the RECA amendment,
what's being done on the backlog of uranium cases thathave been
filed with the Department of Justice, and the issue of not
receivinga favorable response to requests for compensation
"What we're hearing, too, is a lot of cases are pending and a lot
of casesare not moving fast enough for them to get their
compensation," Harrisonsaid. "For that reason, as advocates for
the uranium worker, we're takingit seriously that we need to do
something for them again. So we are pursuingsome proposed changes
to the RECA Amendment Act 2000, and also some recommendations.
"We did an executive summary, a physicians' statement, that we
would liketo carry to Window Rock and then from our own
government to the Department ofJustice, and also to our
congressmen in Washington, D.C. We would like to seewhat the
possibilities are to improve the RECA program and we would like
to seewhat the possibilities are, if more people would be paid,"
he said.
Three years after approval of the 2000 amendment, only 25 percent
of cases areapproved, he said. "By now, I would think that more
than 70 percent wouldhave been approved for compensation. And
yet, we are still going through a lotof bureaucracy. It is
uncalled for, especially when the government has said thatthey
were wrong and they did the injuries. They admitted the wrongs. I
wouldthink that they would be giving a lot of the
benefit-of-a-doubt to each caseso people would be getting their
entitled compensation."
At Saturday's meeting, Harrison and others will be reviewing the
statement theypropose to make in Washington. "We'll be letting
them know what this packageis all about, what the crusade is all
about, and what we're going to be doing," hesaid.
Harrison said Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. has been
asked to advocatein Washington for a hearing on behalf of uranium
workers and downwinders. "Wewould like very much to have a
congressional public hearing out here on Navajoland,"
Harrisonsaid. The group is hoping to have the president testify
at the March 24 hearing,along with either Harrison, Perry
Charley, or Larry Martinez of the uranium office.
Navajo representatives also will be seeking an increase in
compensation for downwinders,from $50,000 to $150,000, with
medical benefits.
"Right now, they just get $50,000 and no medical benefit," he
said.Depending on the type of illness the victim has, it may not
be treatable at anIndian Health Services facility, necessitating
the victim to seek treatment offreservation. "I don't think
$50,000 will cover that," he said. "Theyneed to take care of the
Native Americans, it's just plain and simple. Here theyprovide
billions of dollars in search-and-destroy (in Iraq), and then
they gorepair it again."
Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, 2nd District, together with scientists,
doctors and survivorsof exposure to radioactive fallout, is
proposing legislation that puts mechanismsin place that would
ensure health and safety standards are met in the event
thatnuclear weapons testing resumes in Nevada, as proposed in the
energy bill nowback before Congress.
The son of a downwinder, Rep. Matheson says the issue of
radiation exposure andcompensation for federal
government-sponsored nuclear weapons testing is veryimportant to
him.
"I want the federal government to be held accountable for past
mistakesand to ensure that citizen's lives and health are
protected going forward," Mathesonsaid prior to the Feb. 13
announcement.
RECA provides lump sum payments to onsite nuclear test
participants (1945-1962), "downwinders" (1951-1958or July 1962),
and uranium miners, millers, and ore transporters
(1942-1971).Persons living in areas of Nevada, Arizona, or Utah
downwind of nuclear testsites and who have developed specified
lung or kidney diseases or one of 21 typesof cancer can check the
Department of Justice's RECA website for informationabout RECA
claims for lump-sum payments of between $50,000 and $100,000.
Wednesday February 25, 2004 Selected Stories: Turning lives
around - Drug Court grad 'I like living sober'
Special ed students exempted from tests
Judge makes example of 2 who sold booze to those already drunk
Post 71 uranium miners where are you? - 'Downwinders' also sought
for RECA update
Leaders pleased by what they 'weasled' from state
Gallup Independent
*****************************************************************
59 Japan Times: MOX fuel may be used at Saga plant in fiscal 2008
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
FUKUOKA (Kyodo) Kyushu Electric Power Co. plans to begin using
the controversial nuclear fuel known as MOX at its atomic plant
in Genkai, Saga Prefecture, as early as fiscal 2008, sources said
Monday.
Environmental groups oppose use of the plutonium-uranium mixed
oxide fuel due to its potential dangers.
The power industry's plans to introduce MOX fuel have met with
fierce public resistance, especially after it was revealed that
safety data on the fuel had been falsified. Shipments from Europe
at the time were subsequently rejected.
Saga Gov. Yasushi Furukawa voiced surprise at the utility firm's
announcement, saying, "I understand that there is no such plan at
the moment."
Yet proponents of the MOX project say they believe Kyushu
Electric's plan will go ahead smoothly because the firm maintains
favorable ties with local governments in the area.
MOX is the core component of the government's pluthermal power
generation scheme, under which the fuel is burned in light-water
reactors to produce energy.
Kyushu Electric had said it wanted to start using MOX by 2010.
The utility wants to introduce the fuel quickly. It combines
plutonium and uranium oxide recycled from spent nuclear fuel, and
Kyushu Electric's spent fuel stockpiles have been increasing at a
rapid rate.
"We want to start (using MOX) as quickly as possible," a senior
Kyushu Electric official said.
The utility said it would take at least four years before
starting to use the fuel, in view of procedures to apply for
government approval and sign contracts with MOX providers.
MOX can be used at existing nuclear power stations after
modifications.
It is considered desirable by power plant operators because it
reduces uranium consumption and is a way to use the plutonium
produced by burning other sorts of nuclear fuel.
Sources said the new fuel would probably be introduced at the
relatively new No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of the Genkai Nuclear
Power Plant.
The Japan Times: March 2, 2004 (C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
60 Independent: Church Rock wells are radioactive
Independent - February 26, 2004
Annabelle Allison, from the Tribal Air Monitoring Suppot Center,
talks Tuesday about the air sensor units that are going to be
placed around the Church Rock Chapter. (Photo by Jeff
Jones/Independent)
By Kathy Helms Diné Bureau
FORT DEFIANCE Two unregulated wells out of 12 tested in the
Church Rock area in October, exceed safe drinking water standards
for radioactive contaminants, while a third exceeds safe levels
for arsenic, according to Gerald Brown, project administrator for
the Church Rock Uranium Monitoring Project.
Tuesday evening, chapter residents were presented information
from the well-sampling project, an ongoing radon monitoring
program, and an upcoming, year-long air particulate monitoring
project.
Brown said field reconnaissance for the water sampling was
conducted in July and August 2003, with samples actually
collected in August and October. The sampling program was a joint
effort of a water assessment team made up of Church Rock Chapter
officials and representatives from Navajo Nation Water Resources,
Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, New Mexico
Environmental Department, Southwest Research and Information
Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Las Vegas, and
the University of New Mexico.
"Unregulated water resources was their target," Brown said.
"Water in these wells are not regulated, tested, or treated to be
safe for human consumption. It's called livestock-only wells.
Those are windmills, developed springs, and drilled wells." The
Navajo Nation discourages human consumption from livestock wells.
"The wells were evaluated for human, domestic, and livestock use.
Some of the wells were near abandoned mines," Brown said. In all,
13 wells were chosen but at the time of sampling, one well was
dry.
During Tuesday night's meeting, Perry Charley of Din College's
Uranium Education Program in Shiprock, translated information
presented by Chris Shuey of Southwest Research.
"Eight wells in the Church Rock Chapter area were sampled," Brown
said, along with two in Coyote Canyon Chapter, two in Pinedale
Chapter, and one in Standing Rock Chapter. The results were
classified into three separate categories: good water, hard/salty
water, and bad water.
Only one well out of the total 12 wet wells sampled made it into
the "good" category. "Well 16T-559, a windmill located in
southern Church Rock Chapter on a hill near a mine, met all
primary and secondary drinking water standards except secondary
standards for pH. The water may have a slight alkaline taste,
(but) it does not pose any health hazards to people," Brown said.
Even so, there are other matters that must be taken into
consideration. "We did not test for bacteria solutions, oils and
gas. This well is located south of Sundance in the old mining
area. Even though it's considered good drinking water, the water
tank itself does not have a cover. And yesterday, while we were
out there we saw some disposed diapers. So even though this is
considered 'good' water,"he said, it doesn't take into account
"beer cans, bottles, dirty clothes, old clothes, rocks, brush
whatever anybody throws in there."
The second category was hard/salty water. "These waters meet
primary and secondary drinking water standards but exceed several
secondary standards. Secondary meaning smell, taste, and
discoloration. The water will have an unpleasant taste to people
and may smell bad, but is not unhealthy. The water is suitable
for livestock but it is moderately alkaline and cows and sheep
may not like the water from this well," Brown said.
There were eight wells which fell into the hard/salty water
category. "These are spread out all over," he said and are
located in such areas as the arroyo south of the Kerr-McGee mine,
about a half-mile north of the Church Rock Chapter, one in the
Hard Ground, and two in the Superman Canyon Road area.
Four wells fell into the category of "bad water," meaning water
which approaches or exceeds drinking water standards for primary
contaminants.
"The Lime Ridge water well, right across the King's Ranch,
exceeded uranium standards. Well 16T-606 exceeds the radium
standards and Well 14K-586 exceeds the arsenic standards," Brown
said. There also are secondary contaminants such as total
dissolved solids, calcium, fluoride, iron and phosphate.
This water is primarily used for livestock, according to Brown.
"As of today, we know that nobody drinks this water. The
recommendation was not to have even livestock use that. A lot of
what we were looking at was: Water that is good for people; water
that is good for people and livestock; water that is not good for
people but good for livestock; and then the 'bad water' is for
cattle and people NOT to use at all," he said.
Chapter officials will release the actual data at a later date,
as that information is still being compiled.
"One of the things Navajo Nation is stressing is not to utilize
unregulated water resources," Brown said. Officials are working
with Navajo Tribal Utility Authority to get all residents served
by NTUA. "I'm not sure how many people are being served in this
area, but a lot of these areas are on NTUA's water resource," he
said.
Brown and John Plummer of Navajo Nation EPA are continuing to
test homes in the Church Rock area for radon. "We're about 50
percent completed with our radon program testing. Our goal is to
test 175 homes," Brown said. Results from the radon testing could
be available in April. Results of a survey for gamma radiation
conducted in October are still coming in and also are not
expected to be available until late March or early April, he
said.
The Church Rock Chapter also is working with Annabelle Allison of
the Tribal Air Monitoring Support Center to set up air monitoring
stations."We have two air monitors that came from the Las Vegas
EPA center. One is going to be set up on Water Pond Road and the
second is going to be set up on Pipeline Road," Brown said.
A site reconnaissance to determine the locations for installation
was conducted on Tuesday. The monitors run off electricity, so
the chapter will be working with residents and Continental Divide
Electric Co. to power the monitors.
Anyone interested in assisting with the air monitoring is
encouraged to contact the chapter. The monitors are tentatively
set to be installed in mid-March, and a training date will be
scheduled, Brown said. "They go out once a week and change the
filters," which then will be sent to Las Vegas for analysis.
Results will be given to the chapter on a monthly basis once
monitoring gets under way.
Brown said students from Wingate High School and a teacher at
Gallup Junior High have expressed interest in the monitoring
program. By working with students, he said, it would give them
hands-on laboratory experience and insights into particulate
monitoring, which might lead to interest in a career with EPA, he
said. "You never know." Thursday February 26, 2004 Selected
Stories: Oil refinery accused of dumping Zuni man held for murder
Apache County celebrates 125th Birthday
Church Rock wells test out radioactive Fiancé recalls the victim
of bishop's deadly hit-and-run Deaths | Home | Daily News |
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*****************************************************************
61 BBC: Bikini Atoll bomb test remembered
Last Updated: Monday, 1 March, 2004
[Former crew member Matashichi Oishi, 70]
Japanese survivor Matashichi Oishi wants government compensation
Peace activists in Japan have marked the 50th anniversary of an
atomic bomb experiment in the Pacific which killed one person and
injured dozens more.
The US test on tiny Bikini Atoll in the Marshall islands
contaminated a passing Japanese fishing boat and showered nearby
villagers with radioactive ash.
The bomb was 1,000 times more powerful than the one dropped on
Hiroshima.
Those affected still claim to suffer from radiation exposure, and
Bikini Atoll islanders are exiled as a result.
About 2,000 peace activists marched in Yaizu, the home port of
the contaminated Japanese fishing trawler the Lucky Dragon. They
went to the grave of radio operator Aikichi Kuboyama, who died
several months after the 1 March, 1954 bombing, at the age of 40.
His dying wish was to be the last victim of an atomic bomb.
"The tragedy 50 years ago must not be repeated in the 21st
century," survivor Yoshio Misaki, 78, told an assembly in the
city.
Eleven of Kuboyama's colleagues have also since died, many
perishing in their 40s or 50s from cancer, liver disease or
hepatitis.
For the inhabitants of Bikini Atoll, the test has left a
devastating legacy.
The 1 March 1954 test - codenamed Bravo - exploded with far
greater power than scientists predicted.
The Bikinians were evacuated, but nevertheless some of the atolls
they were moved to - including Rongelap, about 125 miles east of
Bikini - were irradiated.
John Anjain, the community leader of Rongelap Island at the time,
visited Yaizu for the anniversary.
"On the day of the hydrogen bomb blast, white powder fell on us
like snow," he said. "We soon began to feel sick and our hair
started falling off."
Both the surviving Japanese fishermen and the former inhabitants
of Bikini Atoll are still agitating for compensation.
Unlike the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the crew of the
Lucky Dragon are not entitled to medical and financial support
from the Japanese government because the US agreed to pay each
crew member an average of 2m yen ($18,350) as "sympathy money" in
a political settlement.
Dozens of US military and civilian personnel received high doses
of radiation during the test, but only a few have successfully
claimed compensation.
The Bikinians are still unable to return to their atoll because
its land-based food chain remains contaminated.
Tibon Bejiko, a 72-year-old islander, who left Bikini in 1946,
told the BBC that the atoll's inhabitants agreed to co-operate
with the US then because they were promised that Washington would
look after them.
He said financial compensation was not adequate; that he wanted
the US to clean up Bikini so he could return.
"I'm an old man now... I haven't been able to go back and live on
my homeland Bikini, my gift from God," he told the World Service
programme The World Today.
He, like many of the other Bikini inhabitants, now lives on Kili
island, where the islanders were resettled in 1948. Kili is far
more difficult to fish from than Bikini.
"Now I'm getting ready to die and I know I'm not going to see
Bikini cleaned before I'm gone," Mr Bejiko said.
Gy = gray, radiation dose received during days after detonation
10 Gy is a lethal dose
*****************************************************************
62 Chicago Sun-Times: Japan remembers Bikini atoll bomb test
March 1, 2004
BY MARI YAMAGUCHI
TOKYO -- On the night of March 1, 1954, the No. 5 Fukuryu-maru
was trolling for tuna off the Bikini atoll in the Pacific.
Suddenly, fisherman Matashichi Oishi saw the sky flash orange
and felt a rumbling shake the trawler. As he and 22 other crew
members rushed to the deck, tiny white flakes began to fall on
them like snow.
The crew thought an underwater volcano had erupted. But what
they saw that night was something far more destructive: an
American hydrogen bomb.
The No. 5 Fukuryu-maru, or Lucky Dragon, was about 100 miles off
Bikini island in the central Pacific when the United States
tested a bomb there, engulfing the fishermen with high levels of
radiation.
The bombing 50 years ago today inspired outraged protest in
Japan, gave impetus to the country's anti-nuclear movement and
strongly reinforced the image of Japan -- the site of the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks -- as a unique witness to the
atomic age.
''We were the victims of the nuclear arms race,'' said Oishi,
70, who runs a laundry in Tokyo and recently published a book on
the bombing. ''The Bikini incident is not a problem of the past.
It's an issue of nuclear weapons that affects all of us today.''
For the fishermen exposed, the effects of the bomb were
devastating. By the time the trawler returned home two weeks
later, some crew members had lost hair, developed skin burns or
had discolored faces. They suffered from diarrhea and jaundice.
Their white blood counts dropped dangerously low. The boat's
radio telegraph operator, Aikichi Kuboyama, died in September
1954.
Survivors have suffered from liver and blood disorders. In
addition to Kuboyama, 11 crew members have died in the
half-century since the exposure, at least six from liver cancer.
Oishi has had surgery for liver cancer.
Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 66 nuclear
tests at Bikini. AP
Copyright 2004, Digital Chicago Inc.
*****************************************************************
63 Japan Times: Survivors mark anniversary of Bikini H-bomb test
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
YAIZU, Shizuoka Pref. (Kyodo) Survivors and peace activists on
Monday marked 50 years since 23 crew members of the Japanese
trawler Fukuryu Maru No. 5 and residents of Rongelap Island were
irradiated by the blast from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test at Bikini
Atoll in the Central Pacific.
[News photo]
People march through Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, in memory of a
crew member of Japanese trawler Fukuryu Maru No. 5 who died after
being irradiated during a 1954 U.S. H-bomb test at Bikini Atoll
in the Central Pacific.
Braving chilly weather in the morning, about 2,000 people marched
2 km from Yaizu Station in Shizuoka Prefecture to the grave of
Aikichi Kuboyama, chief radio operator of the Fukuryu Maru, and
laid his favorite red roses and offered incense.
Kuboyama died six months after the March 1, 1954, blast at age
40. His dying wish was, "Please make sure that I am the last
victim of a nuclear bomb."
Twelve of the 23 crew members of the 140-ton vessel have died,
most after years of treatment for illness believed to be linked
to radiation exposure. Most surviving members have also suffered
serious health problems. The vessel, better known overseas as the
Lucky Dragon, was from Yaizu.
In a message delivered on his behalf at a ceremony at Kuboyama's
grave, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba called for more efforts to
tell the younger generation and the world of the need to abolish
nuclear weapons.
Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito said in a separate message that the
global nonproliferation framework is being threatened by
countries that continue to hold onto their nuclear arms and
others that are suspected of having recently obtained such arms.
The crew were fishing for tuna about 160 km east of the test
site when the explosion occurred. The hydrogen bomb, code named
Bravo, was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bombs
dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
The survivors have been excluded from the government's relief
measures for atomic-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and
have never been recognized as victims of a nuclear bomb.
Participating in the event for the first time, Joseph Gainza of
the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) in Vermont said:
"I think it was a very unfortunate but a very political decision
made by the Japanese government under pressure from the United
States not to publicize the incident. The U.S. government wants
to keep from U.S. people the truth of nuclear weapons.
"They want to keep the myth that nuclear weapons are a way to
protect U.S. freedom," Gainza, 60, told Kyodo News. "If people in
the U.S. understood it better, maybe we can get the U.S.
government to sign a (nuclear arms) abolition treaty."
Yoko Honjo, 60, who traveled to Yaizu, said it was the eighth
time she had participated in the event because she wants to pass
the message on to young people.
"I was too young at the time of the incident to remember much,
but I visited the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall in Tokyo and
was touched by Mr. Kuboyama's dying wish that he be the last
nuclear victim," she said after visiting the grave.
Referring to U.S. nuclear tests at the Marshall Islands and the
war in Iraq, Honjo said, "I realize that Japan is not the only
place to have suffered from nuclear bombs, and the situation has
gotten worse" in the half century since the Bikini disaster.
John Anjain, 81, former community leader of Rongelap Island,
also participated in the march to Kuboyama's grave. He said at
one of the earlier events that births of malformed or disabled
children were observed after the hydrogen bomb test.
"Recent U.S. Congress members are so young they don't know much
about the problems Rongelap islanders have faced," said the
islander, who lost his son to leukemia at age 19. "We need to let
the world know the U.S. government caused us these hardships."
Various anniversary events, including symposiums and assemblies,
were held over the weekend in the cities of Yaizu, Shizuoka and
Tokyo to raise awareness and remind people of the tragedy.
The Japan Times: March 2, 2004 (C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
64 U.S. Newswire: Secretary Abraham, Energy Officials to Testify
Before Congressional Committees March 3-4
3/1/04 10:47:00 AM
To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor, Energy Reporter
Contact: Jana Toner of the U.S. Department of Energy,
202-586-4940 or
News Advisory:
The following officials from the Department of Energy are
scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill this week:
-- Raymond Orbach, director of the Office of Science, is
scheduled to testify before the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development on March 3. Dr.
Orbach will speak on the FY 2005 budget request for the Office
of Science.
-- David Garman, assistant secretary of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, is scheduled to testify before the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development on
March 3. He will testify on the FY 2005 budget request for the
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Garman is also
scheduled to testify before the House Senate Committee on the
President's Hydrogen Initiatives on March 3.
-- William Magwood, director of the Office of Nuclear Energy,
Science and Technology, is scheduled to testify on March 3,
before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and
Water Development on the FY 2005 budget request for his office.
-- Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham is scheduled to testify
before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and
Related Agencies on the FY 2005 budget request on March 4.
-- Director of Security and Safety Performance Assurance Glenn
Podonsky and Inspector General Gregory Friedman are scheduled to
testify on security matters before the House Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on March 4.
Following are details for the hearings.
--
Wednesday, March 3:
WHO:
Raymond Orbach, director of the Office of Science
WHAT:
Testimony, FY 2005 budget request for the Office of Science
WHEN: Wednesday, March 3, 10 a.m.
WHERE:
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water
Development, 138 Dirksen Senate Office Building
------
WHO:
David Garman, assistant secretary of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
WHAT:
Testimony, FY 2005 budget request for the Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy
WHEN:
Wednesday, March 3, 10 a.m.
WHERE:
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water
Development, 138 Dirksen Senate Office Building
------
WHO:
Bill Magwood, director of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science
and Technology
WHAT:
Testimony, FY 2005 budget request for the Office of Nuclear
Energy, Science and Technology
WHEN: Wednesday, March 3, 10 a.m.
WHERE:
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water
Development, 138 Dirksen Senate Office Building
------
WHO:
David Garman, assistant secretary of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
WHAT:
Testimony, President's Hydrogen Initiative
WHEN:
Wednesday, March 3, 2 p.m.
WHERE:
House Science Committee, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building
---
THURSDAY, March 4:
WHO:
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
WHAT:
Testimony, FY 2005 budget request
WHEN:
Thursday, March 4, 9:30 a.m.
WHERE:
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related
Agencies, 124 Dirksen Senate Office Building
------
WHO:
-- Director of Security and Safety Performance Assurance Glenn
Podonsky
-- Inspector General Gregory Friedman
WHAT:
Testimony, security matters
WHEN:
Thursday, March 4, Time TBD
WHERE:
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations, Location TBD
http://www.usnewswire.com/
-0-
/© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
© 2004 U.S. Newswire
*****************************************************************
65 Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald cleanup changes sought
Monday, March 1, 2004
Rules may be relaxed to get job done faster
By Dan Klepal
CROSBY TWP - Fernald officials are expected today to meet with
Hamilton County commissioners to discuss relaxing nuclear cleanup
standards at the former uranium processing plant.
Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Energy has been re-evaluating
standards at nuclear cleanup facilities in an effort to get the
projects done more quickly and cheaply.
Fernald was a Cold War-era plant that produced uranium for
enrichment and use in nuclear weapons. A $4.4 billion cleanup of
the site is scheduled to be complete in 2006.
The Energy Department re-evaluation would base cleanup standards
on minimum requirements to protect public health. That approach
would clash with higher standards for cleaning up Fernald that a
citizens group and state and federal environmental agencies
fought to set more than a decade ago. "This is all about money.
They are looking at every way possible they can get out of doing
what they promised, and what we expect done," said Lisa Crawford,
who heads Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health.
"I'm the first person to want to save taxpayer money, but we are
not going to accept a shoddier cleanup."
Crawford and others say the Fernald project has legally binding
agreements in place that set limits on how much radioactive waste
will stay at the site and how much uranium will be allowed in
groundwater and soil. They now question whether the Energy
Department is trying to change those agreements.
"At this stage of the game, (changing the clean-up agreements) is
something not likely to happen," said Gary Stegner, spokesman for
the Department of Energy. "The reality of the situation is, with
us shooting for a 2006 completion, it would be extremely
difficult" to change the standards.
Still, a written proposal that will be sent by local Department
of Energy managers to Washington, D.C., proposes a handful of
ideas that could do just that.
The proposal, which Fernald officials will discuss with
commissioners, proposes:
• Using an overall average of radioactivity levels to decide what
waste can go into the on-site disposal facility, instead of the
current rule that caps the level of radioactivity for individual
pieces of waste. This would mean more items with higher
radioactivity levels would stay at Fernald than originally
planned.
• Replacing the on-site treatment plant that cleans
uranium-tainted groundwater with a smaller, portable facility
within a year. This would extend the groundwater cleanup by three
years.
• Leaving behind pipes that carry tainted water to the Great
Miami River, rather than removing them.
Citizens can tell the Energy Department what they think of the
proposals until March 15. Then the report will be sent to
Washington, where senior officials will decide whether to pursue
any of the proposals.
Tom Schneider, site coordinator at Fernald for the Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency, said he is concerned that the
Energy Department is trying to push through a cheaper cleanup.
"All we can do is react to what they're putting in writing. So
no, I don't have a high level of confidence that DOE won't pursue
this," Schneider said. "If they know that nobody finds a lesser
cleanup unacceptable, I'm not sure why they put it in writing."
Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune said today's meeting,
which is open to the public, is important for a number of
reasons.
"We need to keep the pressure on them to make sure these
suggestions don't become the standard," Portune said. "It's
important for us to formalize our objections to their report and
give citizens the opportunity to voice their concerns."
The Fernald site has been besieged with problems during the past
year, including two critical nuclear safety reports, several
near-miss accidents that could have resulted in worker deaths,
and the shutting down of two major projects because of repeated
safety problems.
The cleanup contractor, Fluor Fernald, is shooting for a June
2006 completion. The California-based company will earn hundreds
of millions of dollars in incentives if they meet that deadline.
Additional incentives include $8 million for every month the
project is completed before June 2006. The company is penalized
an equal monthly amount if they miss their deadline.
*****************************************************************
66 Oak Ridger: Governors support ORNL computing
Story last updated at 11:45 a.m. on March 1, 2004
RESOLUTION: 'High performance computing is central to the
future of the science driven economy of the South.'
By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff
High performance computing is central to the future of a
science-driven economy, according to Gov. Phil Bredesen, who
recently co-sponsored a resolution supporting Oak Ridge National
Laboratory's goal to boost its technological capabilities.
Billy Stair, a spokesman for ORNL, said the resolution supports
the plan to house the world's fastest supercomputer.
Sponsored by Bredesen and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, the
resolution was adopted during a recent meeting of Southern
governors in Washington, D.C. and carries the support of close
to a dozen governors.
With the resolution, the Southern Governors' Association is
sending a message to Congress and the executive branch to
provide financial support for high performance computing
initiatives.
"High performance computing is central to the future of the
science driven economy of the South, especially in the areas of
bioinformatics and computational biology, climate and carbon
systems modeling, and nanoscience modeling," the resolution
states.
According to the Southern Governors' Association, a high
performance supercomputer network grid can foster tremendous
research and development opportunities for universities and
federal research labs throughout the South.
In November, the 22nd edition of the "Top 500" list of the
world's fastest supercomputers once again ranked as No. 1
Japan's Earth Simulator, which can perform 35.8 trillion
operations per second. The list is compiled by researchers at
the University of Tennessee, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory in California and the University of Mannheim in
Germany.
ORNL officials hope to out-distance the competition with a
supercomputer that could be completed by 2008. The computer is
expected to be extremely faster than the Japanese supercomputer.
Stair said ORNL is working on a proposal to build what he
described as a "leadership class computer." The proposals must
be submitted to the Department of Energy by April 2, with the
federal government deciding afterward which team would get the
computer project.
According to Stair, ORNL will be working with several
universities, including the University of Tennessee, and
possibly several other research facilities.
*****************************************************************
67 Google News Alert - nuclear
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:59:44 -0800 (PST)
50 years on, nuclear blast felt on Bikini Atoll
San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego,CA,USA
... But March 1, 1954, it became ground zero during the Cold War. A half
century ago Monday, the United States conducted its largest nuclear test.
...
See all stories on this topic:
OHIO power company to sell stake in Texas nuclear plant
Austin Business Journal - Austin,TX,USA
has agreed to sell its 25.2 percent share of the South Texas Project nuclear
plant -- owned partly by Austin Energy -- for about $332.6 million. ...
See all stories on this topic:
US to urge Malaysia to tighten export controls after nuclear ...
Hindustan Times - New Delhi,India
... leaders to tighten export controls following the discovery that a local
company controlled by the prime minister's son manufactured parts for
Libya's nuclear ...
DEADLOCK in Korea nuclear crisis
Telegraph.co.uk - London,England,UK
Hopes of an early end to the North Korean nuclear crisis vanished yesterday,
with delegations from Pyongyang and Washington blaming each other for
failing to ...
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INDIA Nuclear Chief Tells AP Stores Safe
Guardian - UK
BOMBAY, India (AP) - India's nuclear chief defended the country's atomic
security, telling The Associated Press Monday that weapons secrets can't
easily leak ...
INDIA Nuclear Chief Tells AP Stores Safe
San Jose Mercury News - San Jose,CA,USA
BOMBAY, India - India's nuclear chief defended the country's atomic security,
telling The Associated Press Monday that weapons secrets can't easily
leak and ...
INDIA Nuclear Chief Tells AP Stores Safe
ABC News - USA
BOMBAY, India March 1 — India's nuclear chief defended the country's
atomic security, telling The Associated Press Monday that weapons secrets
can't easily ...
SECOND Nuclear Plant Looming on Bulgarian Horizon till 2009
Novinite - Bulgaria
... on Monday. As soon as it happens, tenders for the design and building
of the nuclear facilities will be opened. Bliznakov projected ...
See all stories on this topic:
COMMISSION Upbraided for Pro-nuclear Stance
Novinite - Bulgaria
The controversial issue of nuclear energy and how far it should be promoted
in the EU is set to raise its head again this month when the European
Commission ...
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NUCLEAR entrepreneurs are our most serious threat
Indianapolis Star - Indianapolis,IN,USA
Recent newspaper accounts of a nuclear black market read more like a spy
novel than your average front page. But the world needs ...
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