***************************************************************** 03/21/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.69 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Las Vegas SUN: Fears Impacted U.S. Reporting on Iraq 2 US: Washington Times: An eye-opener from Blix 3 NYT:'Disarming Iraq': Blix Blames Politicians, Not Intelligence, for 4 KRT Wire: Faulty intelligence continues to plague U.S. efforts in Ir 5 US: Daily Times: US tried to plant WMDs, failed: whistleblower 6 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: High price for Iraq war 7 Guardian Unlimited: Iraq: Blair and Bush seek new UN backing 8 Guardian Unlimited: U.N. Chief Skeptical of Iran Nuke Program 9 Hi Pakistan: Iran's nuclear imbroglio By Afzaal Mahmood --> 10 People's Daily: IAEA, US making plans for nuclear inspection in DPRK 11 US: Miami Herald: How safe are we from nuclear threat? 12 US: Tri-Valley Herald: Pentagon considers more nukes 13 US: Palm Beach Post: Scalia ducks his judicial duty 14 NEWS.com.au: Brigitte's links to world terror network 15 Singapore Press: Scomi may sell unit involved in N-arms controversy 16 AU SMH: Journalist says al-Qaeda has black market nuclear bombs - 17 In These Times: Chinas Nuclear Ties 18 Daily Times: No pressure to sign NPT, says Rashid 19 Daily Times: India may join global nuclear fusion project 20 Hi Pakistan: Terrorists can go nuclear, warns ElBaradei --> 21 Hi Pakistan: No question of NPT signing --> 22 Hi Pakistan: Curbing nuclear proliferation 23 PakNews.Com: Nuclear Programme Will Not Be Rolled Back 24 Brazil: Is Brazil Readying Its Atomic Bomb? - 25 DW: Plutonium Plant Sale Vetoed? NUCLEAR REACTORS 26 US: Seattle Times: 'Whoops' no more: Energy Northwest gets major boo 27 Bellona: Lifetime of Bilibino NPP extended for 15 years more 28 US: KSBY: State Attorney General supports lawsuit against Bush Admin 29 AFP: Germany to stop sale of nuclear plant to China: report 30 US: KRT Wire: Three Mile Island Officials Discuss Security Upgrades 31 US: KRT Wire: Harrisburg, Pa.-Area Experts Discuss Preparedness for 32 US: SF Chronicle: Lockyer seeks report on risk of terrorism at Diabl 33 ITAR-TASS: Russia ready to help Ukraine extend n-plants’ life-cycle 34 Business Centre: Power producers await clear message from Ontario on NUCLEAR SAFETY 35 [DU-WATCH] Parliamentary questions on du 36 [DU-WATCH] watch the presentations from DU conference 37 [DU-WATCH] DoD lies about Iraq and DU again 38 Haaretz: Nuclear workers petition High Court in cancer claim battle 39 US: The Sun News: Uranium-free taps strap residents NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 40 The Ultimate Dirty Bomb: Al Qaeda Targetting N-Waste Shipments Heade 41 The Sun: Macca Mull 'to be dump' 42 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Bramble should go 43 US: Salt Lake Tribune: NAC refuses to run questionable obit 44 UKAEA: Destruction of liquid metal is milestone in decommissioning D 45 Mainichi Interactive: Fukui gives go ahead to controversial nuclear 46 Daily Yomiuri: KEPCO gets OK to use MOX fuel in N-plants 47 Las Vegas RJ: Congress to hear appeal to free Yucca money 48 US: KRT Wire: Road to U.S. Nuclear Waste Depository May Run through 49 FT: Babcock chief set to lead BNFL 50 Japan Times: Kepco gets formal nod to pioneer MOX fuel 51 US: TCJ: Sides discuss waste settlement 52 IEER: Comments on NRC Notice of Intent for Proposed Uranium Enrichme 53 US: theindependent: Nuclear waste site would disrespect land NUCLEAR WEAPONS 54 US: [DU-WATCH] Nuke weapons immoral say religious & science US DEPT. OF ENERGY 55 chillicothe gazette: DOE to hold meeting about document 56 Star Telegram: Nuclear nightmares 57 Star Telegram: 3 UT campuses sign deal with lab 58 U.S. Newswire: DOE to Launch New Hydrogen Education Effort in Lansin 59 Hawk Eye: Harkin seeks to replace funds 60 Daily Camera: Pace of Flats cleanup questioned OTHER NUCLEAR 61 Google News Alert - nuclear 62 Google News Alert - nuclear ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Las Vegas SUN: Fears Impacted U.S. Reporting on Iraq March 19, 2004 By MIELIKKI ORG ASSOCIATED PRESS BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Competitive pressures and a fear of appearing unpatriotic discouraged journalists from doing more critical reporting during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, according to reporters and others at a conference on media coverage of the war. The journalists on the panels at the University of California at Berkeley this week blamed the Bush administration for leaking faulty information, but said the media also has itself to blame for not being more skeptical about the case for war. "The press did not do their job," said Michael Massing, who wrote an article in the New York Review of Books that found The New York Times and The Washington Post particularly at fault. Journalists fear they will be seen as unpatriotic if they challenge White House statements, said Robert Sheer, a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times. "There is no doubt that there is an atmosphere of fear in the media of being out of sync with the punitive government," Sheer said. Much of the criticism focused on a Sept. 8, 2002, New York Times article by Judith Miller and Michael Gordon, which said Iraq was importing aluminum tubes that could be used in centrifuges to enrich uranium, a critical step in making an atomic bomb. Massing said nuclear experts or weapons inspectors would have refuted the evidence had the Times consulted them. Experts later verified the tubes were not used for nuclear weapons, but The New York Times and other papers buried that news in their inside pages, he said. Massing noted that a phrase from the article - "The first sign of a smoking gun may be a mushroom cloud" - made it into a speech given by President Bush in the fall of 2002, days before Congress gave him war powers, as well as speeches by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell to justify the war. A call to the Times for comment was not immediately returned on Friday. John Burns, the Times' bureau chief in Baghdad, speaking by satellite phone from Iraq, said American reporters are doing a good job of covering the war's aftermath. In fact, reporters accused of being insufficiently critical are going too far in the other direction when they suggest Iraq is already descending into chaos and civil war, Burns said. He called it "a growing deception among the press and others that there is an air of error and disillusion" in Iraq. The only government representative at the conference that ran Tuesday through Thursday was Lt. Col. Rick Long, a Marine Corps spokesman. He deflected accusations that the Pentagon decision to embed about 700 journalists with troops fighting in the Iraq war allowed the government to influence their coverage. "The reason we embedded so many journalists is that we wanted to dominate the information environment," Long said. "We wanted to beat any kind of disinformation or propaganda by beating them at their own game." All contents copyright 2004 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 2 Washington Times: An eye-opener from Blix March 20, 2004 Hans Blix has pounded the final nail in the coffin of left-wing bilge that has despicably charged President Bush and his administration with lying about intelligence on WMD in Iraq. In fact, in his new book, "Disarming Iraq," Mr. Blix acknowledges that he also believed that Iraq had failed for years to comply with its post-Gulf War (1991) obligation to destroy its WMD. Given Mr. Blix's long and varied experience as an international arms-control official, his endorsement of the integrity of Mr. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair needs to find its way to the Democratic congressional caucuses, the Democratic National Committee and the campaign office of Sen. John Kerry. Since 2000, when the U.N. Security Council approved Mr. Blix's compromise appointment as head of UNMOVIC, the U.N. commission overseeing the disarmament of Iraq, Mr. Blix has never hidden the frequently contentious relationship he has had with American officials, especially those in the Bush administration. Indeed, the many public disagreements over policy have played out on center stage for all to see. In fact, on the day before hostilities commenced, after the United States rejected Iraq's last-minute invitation to Mr. Blix to discuss "means to speed up joint cooperation," Mr. Blix declared that it was "a pity" that "some people have given up patience a little earlier than others." So, in the run-up to the first-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein by the U.S.-led military coalition, it was a newsworthy event when Mr. Blix asserted in an interview on National Public Radio that the Bush administration and the British government "were 100 percent convinced that there were weapons of mass destruction" before the invasion. Even UNMOVIC's failure to find WMD in places identified by U.S. and British intelligence did not dissuade coalition officials of their complete belief that Iraq possessed WMD. It is worth noting, as Mr. Blair reminded Mr. Blix, that French, German, Russian and Egyptian intelligence agencies believed the same. Having served from 1981 through 1997 as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. watchdog group charged with preventing nuclear proliferation, Mr. Blix undoubtedly understands the shortcomings of intelligence and inspections, no matter how extensive the access. After all, both Iraq and North Korea managed to surreptitiously pursue advanced-nuclear-weapons development under the watchful eye of Mr. Blix's IAEA. Although no WMD have been located in Iraq since the fall of Saddam, postwar interviews with many of his captured generals have revealed an interesting pattern: While their own Republican Guard units did not possess WMD, these generals uniformly believed that other units did. In other words, Messrs. Bush and Blair believed precisely what Saddam's generals believed. To wit: The Iraqi dictator, following 12 years of deceit, remained in violation of the numerous U.N. resolutions mandating his WMD disarmament. ***************************************************************** 3 NYT:'Disarming Iraq': Blix Blames Politicians, Not Intelligence, for Iraq Books of The Times DISARMING IRAQ By Hans Blix 285 pages. Pantheon Books. $24. By MICHAEL O'HANLON Published: March 20, 2004 [A] ccording to the jacket flap of Hans Blix's new book, Mr. Blix is arguably the only key player to emerge from the Iraq crisis "with his integrity intact." Whether or not that is true, this is a good book and a useful memoir, clearly describing the process leading up to last March's invasion of Iraq from the perspective of the United Nations employee charged with trying to verifiably disarm Saddam Hussein's regime. As is well known, Mr. Blix was not happy with the United States and Britain's decision to go to war, seeing the invasion as premature and perhaps unnecessary. Unlike his former colleague David Kay, he does not place primary blame for the rush to war on the world's intelligence services. Rather, he convincingly places the responsibility where it belongs, squarely on the backs of political leaders. "I am not suggesting that Blair and Bush spoke in bad faith," he writes, "but I am suggesting that it would not have taken much critical thinking on their own part or the part of their close advisers to prevent statements that misled the public." Continuing his critique of Washington's and London's prewar diplomacy, he writes, "It is an interesting notion that when a small minority has been rebuffed by a strong majority, it is the majority that has failed the test." Mr. Blix's main argument will not come as a surprise to those who followed last year's debate. He claims that the United Nations weapons inspections that resumed in November 2002 after a four-year hiatus were working reasonably well and certainly had not run their course when the United States and Britain decided to invade Iraq. While recognizing that the demise of Mr. Hussein's regime removed a monster from power, he also argues that the world could have lived with a defanged Baathist regime. Mr. Blix may be too multilateralist and legalistic for many, including me. But his book makes clear that he is not simply naïve or categorically opposed to the use of force. He understands that the world could not inspect Iraq forever, and his thinking on what should have happened in 2002-03 is neatly summarized in the book's introductory chapter: "Without a military buildup by the U.S. in the summer of 2002, Iraq would probably not have accepted a resumption of inspections. However, if we assume this buildup and the return of inspectors, it is conceivable that a moderate continued buildup, continued inspections with no denials of access, and a guarantee of large-scale interviews with technical people in Iraq could have shown in time that there were no weapons of mass destruction. It would surely have been difficult to persuade both inspectors and the world, let alone the U.S., but if there had not been hopeful results by, say July 2003, it seems likely that a majority in the Security Council might have been ready to authorize armed action, which could have started with U.N. legitimacy after the summer heat — and revealed that there were no weapons." In reviewing what he and his colleagues were able to do in Iraq from November 2002 through March 2003, he generally gives the Iraqis high marks for allowing quick and unconditional access to all sites. He criticizes them for often failing to make weapons scientists available for interviews without minders present; for resisting inspectors' demands that reconnaissance planes like the U-2 be assured safe passage in Iraqi airspace; for failing to provide more documentation about what they had done with stocks of chemical and biological agents, which he himself thought might well still exist; and for possessing illegal stocks of Al Samoud 2 missiles. But the United States and Britain receive ample criticism too: for exaggerating the dependability and accuracy of their intelligence, for insisting that Iraq possessed mobile biological weapons factories and nuclear weapons programs when in fact it did not, for trusting the reports of defectors too much and for disparaging the track record and the future potential of weapons inspections. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company | Home| ***************************************************************** 4 KRT Wire: Faulty intelligence continues to plague U.S. efforts in Iraq | 03/19/2004 | BY JONATHAN S. LANDAY, WARREN P. STROBEL AND JOHN WALCOTT Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The U.S.-led war against Iraq began one year ago with an urgent message from a clandestine team of U.S. intelligence officers who'd infiltrated Baghdad: An Iraqi agent who said he had "eyes on" on Saddam Hussein was reporting that Saddam would be spending the night at a compound in southern Baghdad. The encrypted message arrived at CIA headquarters outside Washington on Wednesday afternoon, March 19. At 7:12 p.m., President Bush ordered an airstrike on the compound. Two hours later, 37 minutes before dawn March 20 in Baghdad, two Air Force F-117 stealth warplanes dropped four 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs on the compound, known as Dora Farms. The attack reportedly killed one civilian, injured 14 others and obliterated the target, but Saddam and his two sons, Odai and Qusai, survived. Either they weren't there or, as some intelligence officers have since theorized, the agent's information was misunderstood or mistranslated because the Arabic words for "bunker" and "compound" sound somewhat alike, and Saddam was in an outbuilding in the compound, not in a bunker. Meager, mishandled and made-up intelligence plagued the U.S.-led mission in Iraq long before the war and continues to plague it now. Many of the Bush administration's charges about Iraq's weapons programs and ties to terrorism now appear to have been wrong. U.S. troops are battling a stubborn insurgency that their civilian leaders didn't expect. There are hopeful signs. The country's 25 million people are freed from a ruthless dictatorship and some are enjoying electricity and water for the first time. Iraq's economy is beginning to pick up, oil output is slowly growing, and just over half the respondents to a recent public opinion survey said their lives are better than before the war and expect the improvement to continue. But the cost of rebuilding Iraq far exceeds initial estimates and handing power back to Iraqis is proving to be harder than the proponents of war thought it would be. In the recent survey of which leaders Iraqis did and didn't trust, the favorite of some administration officials, former exile leader Ahmad Chalabi, finished dead last, behind even Saddam. At least seven official inquiries into U.S. intelligence involving Iraq are under way in Washington, including one by the Senate Intelligence Committee and another by an independent commission appointed by Bush. As more and more questions are raised about why the United States seems now to have had so little accurate information about Iraq, it's clear that there's more than enough blame to go around: _U.S. intelligence agencies had few if any independent sources of information in Saddam's Iraq. There was no U.S. Embassy in Baghdad - relations were essentially severed ahead of the 1991 Gulf war - to provide diplomatic cover for American spies. The best sources of information on Iraq's weapons and missile programs were the U.N. weapons inspectors who were kicked out of Iraq in 1998. _Lacking any good intelligence on Saddam's weapons programs, the CIA erred on the side of what appeared to be caution and extrapolated - essentially, it guessed - the size of Iraq's hidden chemical and biological weapons stockpiles and the extent of its nuclear weapons program from the last data the U.N. inspectors had collected. _Without its own sources of information from inside Iraq, the United States came to rely increasingly on Iraqi exiles and Kurds living in areas of Iraq that had been under U.S. protection and essentially autonomous since the Gulf War. Intelligence professionals at the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department regarded many of the exiles, particularly Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress, with disdain. Much of the exiles' information has been found to be marginal at best, and sometimes exaggerated or fabricated. But that information became increasingly important to U.S. judgments, particularly in the absence of other sources. How the exiles' information affected judgments about Iraq is one element of the probes into the way the war in Iraq was conducted. CIA Director George Tenet has acknowledged that official government assessments of Iraq included information from known fabricators and has promised an investigation. Some Washington officials believe the seeds of the intelligence problems in Iraq can be traced to the 1970s when people now influential in the Bush administration concluded that the Central Intelligence Agency had grossly underestimated the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The group of outside experts asked to reassess the Soviet threat included Paul Wolfowitz, who's now deputy secretary of defense. Their allies included Richard Perle, who recently resigned from the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, an advisory panel that consults with Pentagon leaders about policy. Their distrust of the CIA was still evident 30 years later. The CIA's analysis "isn't worth the paper it's written on," Perle, then chairman of the Defense Policy Board, told Knight Ridder in 2002 as the administration's internal intelligence wars over Iraq escalated. The CIA had stopped working with Chalabi in the mid-1990s. An audit found that the INC couldn't account for how it had spent all of the millions of dollars provided by the U.S. government. In January 2002, the State Department suspended funding for the INC in a similar dispute over its accounting for government funds. Funding eventually was restored. Some of the money supported the INC's Information Collection Program, an intelligence-gathering effort that supplied information from Iraqi defectors that appeared to substantiate assessments that Saddam had illicit weapons and worked with al-Qaida. Responsibility for the $4 million-a-year effort was transferred in late 2002 to the Defense Intelligence Agency. A letter written to the Senate Appropriations Committee by the INC in June 2001 said that information gathered by the group went directly to the Defense Department and Vice President Dick Cheney's office, the chief proponents of a pre-emptive attack on Iraq. Officials in the Pentagon and the vice president's office deny they were recipients of the INC-supplied information. Many of the unsubstantiated assertions the administration made can be traced to INC information, including: _ A September 2002 paper on Iraq released by the White House in conjunction with President Bush's speech to the United Nations claimed that Iraq was training international terrorists in airplane hijacking at a facility south of Baghdad called Salman Pak. At the time, several intelligence officials told Knight Ridder and CBS News, among others, that the allegation wasn't true and that the facility probably was used by the Iraqis for counterterrorism training. Since then, inspections in Iraq found no such facility. _ Secretary of State Colin Powell's claim before the United Nations on Feb. 5, 2003, that three human sources had described Iraq's mobile germ weapons production labs and a fourth had revealed a mobile biowarfare research facility. The DIA concluded that the defector who described the mobile research lab was a fabricator, but an alert on that went unnoticed. Tenet later said questions also have been raised about the veracity of the defectors who described the mobile production facilities. No mobile biowarfare production or research facilities have been found in Iraq. The same combination of dubious intelligence and distrust of the intelligence bureaucracy also infected planning for the war and for the postwar period. Largely on the strength of what INC sources had told them, Pentagon planners expected U.S. troops to be welcomed with opened arms. Pentagon civilians led by Wolfowitz dismissed warnings from then-Army Chief of Staff Eric K. Shinseki and others about how many troops it might take to secure postwar Iraq and largely ignored a huge "Future of Iraq" project assembled by 17 U.S. agencies and led by the Department of State. Instead, U.S. troops were met by a series of guerrilla attacks by Iraqi irregular forces and an insurgency that persists to this day. U.S. occupiers found Iraq's infrastructure in much worse shape than they had been led to believe - though the State Department report had laid out many of the problems. A U.S. Army War College study last August found that Iraqi scouts in civilian clothes reconnoitered U.S. positions continuously, reporting via cell and satellite phones, landlines and couriers. The Iraqis and their foreign allies who've been attacking the U.S.-led occupation for 11 months appear to be employing the same techniques: using civilians to keep tabs on U.S. forces, Western civilians and Iraqis who are cooperating with the occupation to prepare ambushes, plant improvised explosive devices and mount other attacks. In addition, military and civilian officials in Iraq say, Saddam loyalists and others may have infiltrated some coalition offices, much as the Viet Cong did in Vietnam, to provide intelligence on high-ranking coalition officials and other plans. "Some of the Iraqis may have prepared for what came after the war better than we did," said one senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because his remarks weren't authorized. The official said some Iraqi commanders appear to have realized that fighting the American military was hopeless and prepared instead for what he called "a Vietnam, Lebanon, Somalia-style war that they thought they had a better chance of winning." The CIA station in Baghdad, now the largest in the world with hundreds of officers, reported in November that growing numbers of Iraqis were concluding that the U.S.-led coalition could be defeated and were supporting the resistance. In January, agency officers in Iraq warned that the country could be on a path to civil war. There Iraq remains one year after the war began, teetering between democracy and disaster. --- © 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. ***************************************************************** 5 Daily Times: US tried to plant WMDs, failed: whistleblower Monday, March 22, 2004 Daily Times Monitor According to a stunning report posted by a retired Navy Lt Commander and 28-year veteran of the Defense Department (DoD), the Bush administration’s assurance about finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was based on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plan to “plant” WMDs inside the country. Nelda Rogers, the Pentagon whistleblower, claims the plan failed when the secret mission was mistakenly taken out by “friendly fire”, the Environmentalists Against War report. Nelda Rogers is a 28-year veteran debriefer for the DoD. She has become so concerned for her safety that she decided to tell the story about this latest CIA-military fiasco in Iraq. According to Al Martin Raw.com, “Ms Rogers is number two in the chain of command within this DoD special intelligence office. This is a ten-person debriefing unit within the central debriefing office for the Department of Defense.” The information that is being leaked out is information “obtained while she was in Germany heading up the debriefing of returning service personnel, involved in intelligence work in Iraq for the DoD and/or the CIA. “According to Ms Rogers, there was a covert military operation that took place both preceding and during the hostilities in Iraq,” reports Al Martin Raw.com, an online subscriber-based news/analysis service which provides “Political, Economic and Financial Intelligence”. Al Martin is a retired Lt Commander (US Navy), the author of a memoir called “The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran-Contra Insider,” and is considered one of America’s foremost experts on corporate and government fraud. Ms Rogers reports that this particular covert operation team was manned by former military personnel and “the unit was paid through the Department of Agriculture in order to hide it, which is also very commonplace”. According to Al Martin Raw.com, “the Agriculture Department has often been used as a paymaster on behalf of the CIA, DIA, NSA and others”. According to the Al Martin Raw.com story, another aspect of Ms Rogers’ report concerns a covert operation which was to locate the assets of Saddam Hussein and his family, including cash, gold bullion, jewelry and assorted valuable antiquities. The problem became evident when “the operation in Iraq involved 100 people, all of whom apparently are now dead, having succumbed to so-called ‘friendly fire’. The scope of this operation included the penetration of the Central Bank of Iraq, other large commercial banks in Baghdad, the Iraqi National Museum and certain presidential palaces where monies and bullion were secreted.” “They identified about $2 billion in cash, another $150 million in Euros, in physical banknotes, and about another $100 million in sundry foreign currencies ranging from Yen to British Pounds,” reports Al Martin. “These people died, mostly in the same place in Baghdad, supposedly from a stray cruise missile or a combination of missiles and bombs that went astray,” Martin continues. “There were supposedly 76 who died there and the other 24 died through a variety of ‘friendly fire’, ‘mistaken identity’ and some of them—their whereabouts are simply unknown.” Ms Rogers’ story sounds like an updated 21st-century version of Treasure Island meets Ali Baba and the Bush Cabal Thieves, writes Martin. “This was a contingent of CIA/ DoD operatives, but it was really the CIA that bungled it,” Ms Rogers said. “They were relying on the CIA’s ability to organise an effort to seize these assets and to be able to extract these assets because the CIA claimed it had resources on the ground within the Iraqi army and the Iraqi government who had been paid. That turned out to be completely bogus. As usual.” “CIA people were supposed to be handling it,” Martin continues. “They had a special ‘black’ aircraft to fly it out. But none of that happened because the regular US Army showed up, stumbled onto it and everyone involved had to scramble. These new Iraqi “asset seizures” go directly to the New US Ruling Junta. The US Viceroy in Iraq Paul Bremer is reportedly drinking Saddam’s $2000 a bottle Napoleon-era brandy, smoking his expensive Davidoff cigars and he has even furnished his office with Saddam’s Napoleon-era furniture. Daily Times - All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 6 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: High price for Iraq war Rebuilding Iraq is the path to a new world order. If the government claims that Japan has won the trust of the United States, it should offer its own ideas for creating a new United Nations and induce the United States to cooperate in such efforts. That surely is the role that Japan should play. Already one year has passed since the United States and Britain started war in Iraq under a new pre-emptive strike doctrine to eliminate threats of devastating terrorist acts and weapons of mass destruction (WMD). One thing is for sure; U.S. and British troops liberated the people of Iraq from Saddam Hussein's oppressive rule. And for the time being, there is no possibility of Baghdad posing a military threat to the United States or Iraq's neighbors. Over the long term, there is a glimmer of hope for the democratization of Iraq. Even though a year has passed, we still cannot agree that waging war was the right thing to do. As we warned before it started, war has imposed immense suffering on the Iraqi people and the cost to the world has been too high. U.S. President George Bush has so far not managed to end the war. Even though troops of the ``coalition of the willing''-numbering about 140,000-have been engaged in keeping law and order, terrorist acts and guerrilla attacks show no letup. Terrorists have widened their targets to include the Iraqi people. The latest evidence of that was the mighty explosion that occurred in the center of Baghdad on March 17 local time. Some estimates put the civilian death toll since the start of the war at about 10,000. Conflicts of interests among the various religious sects and ethnic groups in Iraq have prevented reconstruction efforts from getting on the right track. This is probably the biggest mistake the United States made in its planning. Much is lost in war The war caused a deep rift in the close-knit Western alliance. Furthermore, the ``coalition of the willing,'' which was supposed to take the place of the Western alliance, has in part crumbled. Spanish voters' choice for a change of government following the massive terrorist explosions in Spain sent shock waves around the world. Voters reacted in general elections held three days later by endorsing an opposition party that had argued the Iraq war was a mistake and would withdraw its troops from Iraq if it took power. Has the road to democratization of the Middle East been truly opened? A sinister anti-American sentiment, coupled with a sense of helplessness, has come to settle like sediment among people of the Arab world. That is today's reality. It may be that the United States has lost more than any other country. It lost the trust of people around the world who had faith in the American way of doing things. Relying on its military power, the United States plunged into war without the consent of the United Nations Security Council. That was the culmination of unilateralist moves that mark the Bush administration. It previously turned its back on international accords in fields ranging from global warming to the prohibition of nuclear tests. Moreover, its justification for war was replaced by new arguments made in rapid succession. The existence of WMD that the Bush administration cited with such force was found to be without foundation. Now Bush talks about the liberation of Iraq. The sympathy that people around world had shown for the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington has been wasted by Bush's posturing in justifying the war. To contain terrorism The Bush administration says terrorism must be confronted. For Americans, their government was probably most persuasive after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in explaining the purpose of the war was to prevent WMD from spreading from Iraq to international terrorist rings. Recent opinion polls in the United States found that 55 percent of the respondents still support the war and 50 percent said they thought the threat of terror had diminished because of the war. But the United States aside, how many people take Bush at his word that the world has become safer due to the Iraq war? The prevalent view is that foreign terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, are behind the flurry of suicide bombings taking place in Iraq. Even though a dangerous dictatorial regime has been eliminated, that alone did not eradicate the danger of terror. On the contrary, exactly the opposite is becoming reality. Powerful terrorist bombings by groups claiming to be affiliated to al-Qaida have spread from Turkey to Spain. In a letter to an Arabic newspaper, the organization claiming responsibility for the train bombings in Madrid that killed 201 people warned that Japan would be one of its next targets. The threat of terror has proliferated rather than being reduced. Why did the U.S. government not choose to corner terrorist groups on the strength of solidarity in the international community? A very regrettable course of action was taken, as it turns out. If the war has turned Iraq into a stronghold for terrorist action, it first of all must be contained. That requires, more than anything else, prompt action for ``peace building.'' This can be accomplished by creating governing machinery through the cooperation of the United Nations and the Iraqi people. That will allow Iraq to maintain unity as a nation and lead to the retrieval of weapons now in the hands of Iraqis. The United States has finally begun to request help from the United Nations. It is a bitter irony of history that war fought without a U.N. mandate shows the fight against terrorism cannot be won without input from the world body. Containing terror requires the United States to rebuild cooperative relations with France, Germany, Russia and other major countries of the world that have been strained by the war. To do that, the United States and Britain will have to show the world they regret the way events have unfolded. They should cool-headedly reflect on why the war in Iraq, unlike the situation in Afghanistan, failed to win the unanimous support and sympathy of the international community. On the other hand, it is also incumbent on countries that opposed the war to step up their cooperative efforts to contain the threat of terrorism. U.S. and U.N. cooperation indispensable The United States will continue to play a major role in the fight against terrorism. But this battle will be effective only if it is coupled with the experience and know-how that the United Nations has acquired for building peace and preventing the proliferation of WMD. On this first anniversary, it should be noted that a year has already passed since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed his support for the war. His posture in this regard resulted in an important turnaround of Japan's traditional policy and led to the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces to an overseas area that could quickly flare as a combat zone. While we pray that it will not eventually bring about a disaster, it is a shame that Japan's external policy has been considered only from the standpoint of complying with the request by the United States. Politicians gallantly talk about ``not giving in to terrorism,'' but they hardly talk about playing an active role in building a new order in Iraq and the Middle East. Rebuilding Iraq into a stable country and containing international terrorism depend on how the potentiality of the United Nations and the power of the United States are combined. If the government claims that Japan has won the trust of the United States, it should offer its own ideas for creating a new United Nations and induce the United States to cooperate in such efforts. That surely is the role that Japan should play. Having paid too high a price for the war, the world should turn the conflict to its advantage and build a new order by reconstructing Iraq. --The Asahi Shimbun, March 19(IHT/Asahi: March 20,2004) (03/20) ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: Iraq: Blair and Bush seek new UN backing [UP] Kamal Ahmed, political editor Sunday March 21, 2004 The United Nations is to be given a lead role in post-occupation Iraq under British and American plans to shore up crumbling international support for the continuing military presence in the country. UK officials told The Observer there will be a sustained push for a fresh UN resolution 'mandating' the continued military presence in Iraq after the handover to the transitional government in June. The move comes a week after the new Spanish Prime Minister, José Luís Rodriguez Zapatero, threatened to withdraw troops from the coalition force unless it was given a greater degree of international legitimacy. British officials said Republican claims from America that Spain had 'appeased' terrorists were unhelpful and wrong. The Polish government, which also supports the military action in Iraq, has now also suggested that it was misled on the reasons for war. The resolution, which British sources believe will be backed by the Security Council, will also allow the UN a role in overseeing Iraq's first democratic elections and the judicial and legal framework which the new government will rely on to protect individual freedoms. Britain will then suggest a Nato role in security matters in Iraq, as happened successfully in Afghanistan. The move comes as the Labour Party adopted a new foreign policy document this weekend which said that all international conflict had be 'within a UN framework'. In a potential snub to Downing Street, the document, which is likely to be published as a policy paper before the next election said that military action could only be taken 'as a last resort' and had to be 'in accordance with international law'. An amendment demanding that all military action must be sanctioned by the UN was defeated at the party's national policy forum in Warwick. The push by British diplomats for a new resolution reveals Tony Blair's enthusiasm for UN 'cover' in Iraq. With international support slipping, Whitehall sources believe that the UN is the only route which can ensure pan-European support for a continued presence in Iraq. 'When we need a resolution is fairly clear - when we are coming up to May and June. We will then need to address the prospect of a transitional government,' said one senior British official closely involved in the negotiations. 'We will have to cover the continuing multinational force and endorse that as being the clear wish of the Iraq people. And we'll need to look forward to what is going to be this enhanced UN role post 30 June.' He said the UN could ratify decisions made by the transitional government, help it prepare for elections and enshrine democracy. 'My sense of the Security Council dynamic now is that we are all agreed on an increasing UN role,' the official said. 'We are all agreed we should transfer responsibility to the Iraqis on 30 June, and that is the moment when we say you have a transitional government.' ·A former senior White House aide claimed yesterday that US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld almost immediately urged George W. Bush to consider bombing Iraq after the 11 September terrorist attacks. Richard A. Clarke, the counter-terrorism co-ordinator at the time, recounts in a forthcoming book details of a meeting the day after the attacks when officials considered the American response. Even then, he said, they were certain that al-Qaeda was to blame and there was no hint of Iraqi involvement. 'Rumsfeld was saying we needed to bomb Iraq,' Clarke said. 'We all said, "No, no, al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan."' Guardian Newspapers Limited ***************************************************************** 8 Guardian Unlimited: U.N. Chief Skeptical of Iran Nuke Program Monday March 22, 2004 1:16 AM NEW YORK (AP) - The head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Sunday his inspectors remain skeptical about the intentions of Iran's nuclear program because of Tehran's past secrecy. In an interview on CNN's ``Late Edition,'' Mohammed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged Iran to be completely open about its nuclear program if it wants to clear itself of suspicions it is developing weapons. The IAEA has made ``very good progress'' in learning details of the Iranian nuclear program, ElBaradei said. ``Iran has agreed to fully suspend its enrichment program as a confidence-building measure, so we have to acknowledge we have made a good headway along our effort to make sure that Iran's program is completely for peaceful purposes,'' ElBaradei said. However, he said Iran has not been able to remove all doubts because ``it's a program that has been undeclared for over 15 years. ``There's still a lot of skepticism that something might still be hidden,'' ElBaradei said. Iran says its nuclear activities are designed to generate electricity. ElBaradei said he hoped to visit Iran in the next couple of weeks and intended to make clear ``that transparency is an absolute key if they want to clear their name, and for us to be able to conclude that the program is completely for peaceful purposes.'' Earlier this month, Iran barred U.N. nuclear inspections for two weeks after the IAEA adopted a resolution deploring recent discoveries of uranium enrichment equipment and other suspicious activities Tehran failed to reveal. Iran later agreed to allow inspections to resume March 27. ElBaradei has said he hopes to have a more definitive assessment of Iran's nuclear activities by June, when he is due to give his next report to the IAEA Board of Governors. ElBaradei, who met last week with President Bush and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, said it is important to learn the right lessons from the experiences of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq. ElBaradei said the Iraqi experience showed that ``an inspection takes time, that we should be patient, that an inspection can, in fact, work.'' But he also faulted Saddam Hussein's regime for not openly cooperating with U.N. inspectors. On the same CNN program, Hans Blix, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq, said evidence brought forward by the Bush administration about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction programs ``was rapidly falling apart'' just before the United States attacked Iraq. Blix said the Bush administration initially gave the U.N. inspectors a lot of support and information but ``lost their patience much too early.'' After Secretary of State Colin Powell presented America's case against Saddam to the U.N. Security Council, Blix had his experts look into it and reported back to the council that the ``evidence was shaky.'' ``I told that to Condoleezza Rice, as well, so I think they were aware of it, but I think they chose to ignore us,'' he said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 9 Hi Pakistan: Iran's nuclear imbroglio By Afzaal Mahmood --> March 22 2004 With the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopting a resolution criticizing Iran for withholding sensitive information and Tehran, in response, threatening to revise the level of its co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions has taken a serious turn. The resolution adopted by the 35-nation board of governors of the IAEA at its Vienna headquarters on March 13, not only sent a strong warning to Iran for concealing vital information about its nuclear programme but also left open the option of eventual UN sanctions. Reacting to the criticism of its co-operation in the nuclear field, Tehran put off the visit of an inspection mission that was due to arrive in Iran last week. It has, however, now reversed this decision and agreed to allow the IAEA's inspectors into the country by the end of this month. Confirming this, Iran's top nuclear policy maker, Hassan Rowhani, who is widely considered Iran's leading presidential candidate in the next elections, said Iran would accept IAEA inspection unconditionally. The UN watchdog's team will arrive in Tehran on March 27, in time for the IAEA to prepare its report for its findings on Iran to the next board meeting in Vienna in June. Many in Pakistan hoped that after Dr A. Q. Khan had come clean on his peddling of nuclear technology and equipment, Pakistan's nuclear sins would become a thing of the past and would cease to attract headlines in world press. This, however, has not happened. Whenever and wherever a case of nuclear transgression comes to light, the name of Pakistan somehow gets dragged into it. The influential Economist has described Pakistan as "the headquarters of a global mail-order business in nuclear bomb technology with Libya, Iran and North Korea as its known customers." The New York Times has reported that IAEA is seeking Islamabad's permission to acquire environmental samples from Pakistani uranium enrichment facilities to see if they match the weapon-grade traces its inspectors found in Iran. In a related development, US ambassador to the IAEA Kenneth Brill recently stated that members of the UN watchdog were interested in knowing whether Iran had received "nuclear weapons design materials" from a Pakistani-led nuclear smuggling network as did Libya. Mr. Brill also said that the IAEA should also tell whether a temporary halt, declared by Iran, in allowing the inspectors into the country was actually meant to sanitize its suspect nuclear sites. Iran vehemently denies that it wants to put its fingers on a nuclear button. It claims that its nuclear programme is strictly for peaceful purposes. The IAEA, on the other hand, says that its nuclear weapons inspectors in Iran have found blueprints for an advanced uranium enrichment centrifuge, the G2, that Tehran failed to declare even as it claimed to have provided full disclosure on its atomic energy programme. Enriched uranium is used for nuclear reactors but can also be used for making atomic bombs. Iranian efforts in Vienna last week to lobby the IAEA board members to block criticism of its failure to tell about G2 centrifuge did not succeed. The IAEA head, El Baradei, had previously patted Iran on the back for its co-operation since last October when it came forward with, what it claimed to be, a complete account of its nuclear programme. It may be recalled that in October German, French and British foreign ministers persuaded Tehran to fully co-operate with the IAEA and suspend its uranium enrichment programme in return for trade relations that Iranian economy sorely needed. The IAEA's foremost concern is about traces of militarily useful highly enriched uranium found in Iran. Tehran's explanation is that it is due to contamination from imported machinery. It is here that Pakistan's name has been dragged in the controversy as the suspected place of origin because Iran's nuclear programme seems to resemble that of Libya and North Korea, the two known-customers of Pakistan-centred supply net-work. Iranian leaders insist that they do not want nuclear weapons and that their nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Its detractors, however, point out that over the past year there have been several occasions when Tehran failed to give full account of its nuclear activities. The Americans have accused Iran of constantly changing its story with each new leak. "The continuing pattern of Iranian deception," says Kenneth Brill, US envoy to the IAEA, "and delayed admissions about its nuclear activities, as well as specific information in the IAEA report, strengthens our assessment that Iran's nuclear programme is clearly geared towards the development of nuclear weapons." The head of the UN atomic watchdog, Mohammed El Baradei has also criticized Iran's failure to disclose that it had designs for advanced centrifuges capable of producing highly enriched uranium for use in a nuclear reactor or, potentially, an atomic weapon. The IAEA chief has urged Tehran to ensure full transparency and help restore international confidence by taking the initiative "to provide all relevant information in full detail and in a prompt manner." Rebutting the accusation of concealing any vital information, Iran says it is the victim of "a war of propaganda" over its nuclear programme which is purely for generating electricity. According to some western diplomats, the IAEA has found parallells between Libya's nuclear weapons programme and Iran's atomic programme. Since December, when Libya owned up to nuclear ambitions, sensitive nuclear documents, including a design for the bomb, have flown to America for safe keeping. The centre of controversy is the discovery of blueprints based on the so-called "G2" centrifuge developed by the British-German-Dutch enrichment consortium, Urenco. There are no indications that Urenco, which has denied selling technology to Iran, has provided the design. In a related development, Moscow's plan to complete an atomic reactor in Iran in defiance of Washington has run into obstacles. Sources at the IAEA have said that for the time-being it is unlikely that Russia will resume work at Bushehr nuclear plant until Iran convinces the UN nuclear watchdog that its nuclear programme is peaceful. Gas centrifuges spin at supersonic speeds to separate fissile uranium 235 from the non-fissile uranium isotopes. The steel G2 centrifuge is better than the earlier aluminium G1, a version of which has been mass producing. Though White House has played down suggestion for US-Iran talks, there are indications that serious thought is being given to the idea of direct talks on the nuclear issue. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has already made it clear that, if elected, he will hold direct bilateral talks with Iran and North Korea. IAEA chief EL Baradei has suggested in his recent meetings in Washington that dialogue could lead to a deal on the nuclear issue in exchange for US move towards normalized ties with Tehran. Having already invested so much political capital in the invasion of Iraq, Mr Bush will hardly be interested in another foreign conflict. He may well agree to a dialogue with Iran since he knows he cannot win re-election in November by making himself look like a compulsive warmonger. Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 People's Daily: IAEA, US making plans for nuclear inspection in DPRK Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 20, 2004 Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday that his agency and the United States are working together on a plan for the eventual return of nuclear inspectors to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday that his agency and the United States are working together on a plan for the eventual return of nuclear inspectors to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). At a press conference at the IAEA headquarters here after a four-day visit to the United States, Mohamed ElBaradei said he had discussed with US President George W. Bush a plan for the eventual return of nuclear inspectors to the DPRK. ElBaradei stressed that the new inspections will be stricter than all the previous ones, saying, "We need to consult to see how we can come up with a plan that avoids the pitfalls of the past and makes sure that we have a comprehensive, verifiable action plan that ensures we will be able to have a complete survey of their nuclear program." ElBaradei added that if the six-party talks, involving the DPRK,South Korea, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, reach any deal on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, it should include unfettered UN inspections. According to an IAEA statement released on Friday, ElBaradei also held meetings with US officials on the control of nuclear materials export and prevention of nuclear proliferation. In response to the US suspension of fuel supply, the DPRK withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in January lastyear and later expelled IAEA inspectors who were responsible for verifying the nuclear facilities located in Yongbyon Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 11 Miami Herald: How safe are we from nuclear threat? | 03/20/2004 | BY SALLY ANN BAYNARD February brought news we should all pay attention to. The good news is that Libya spent 20 years and untold millions of dollars trying to develop a nuclear-weapons program but failed. Now Moammar Gadhafi is cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency to dismantle the program and disclose the sources of supply. The bad news is the existence of an international black-market network for supplying parts, machines, technology and even designs for manufacturing nuclear weapons. Stretching from its roots in the company established by Pakistani nuclear-program guru Abdul Qadeer Khan, the covert system has operated through companies from Europe to Malaysia to South Africa, with a hub of operations in Dubai and links to China. Khan has admitted selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. The network leading from Khan is so extensive an operation for one-stop nuclear shopping that International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Mohamed El Baradei called it an ``international Wal-Mart.'' What does this mean to us? Are we safer, or less safe than we thought? Three kinds of threats • With the Cold War over and China's nuclear program decades behind the United States', the most damaging nuclear threat, all-out nuclear war, has become extremely improbable -- although we should not forget the thousands of nuclear weapons still sitting atop intercontinental ballistic and cruise missiles in Russia and continued IBCM development in China. • The second way nuclear bombs can threaten us is indirect. A regional rogue state, such as North Korea or Iran, might decide to use a nuclear weapon against an enemy in its region, for example Japan or Israel. Or one of the regular confrontations between such regional enemies as India and Pakistan could erupt into a nuclear exchange. The damage would severely affect the global economy and cause incalculable harm to the environment, not to mention the resulting worldwide instability, but its effect on the United States is no greater than on the rest of the world. • The third way is probably the one that gives most of us the greatest anxiety these days: a nuclear weapon in the hands of an anti-American terrorist group. Is it plausible that such a terrorist group possesses such a weapon? Does the existence of the nuclear black market make this terrifying scenario more likely? It is unlikely that a group possesses such a weapon now, or we probably would already have experienced this nightmare. It is remotely plausible that such a group could obtain one or more nuclear bombs, but the likelihood diminishes daily if the United States and international officials do their jobs right. So the question is: Are they? The wrong cut The IAEA seems to be on the ball, but the Bush administration could do much better. The administration and Congress must more aggressively fund and implement the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, a 10-year program that has done much in areas of the former Soviet Union to guard and destroy nuclear materials, weapons and expertise that otherwise might become available on the black market. President Bush has said that he supports this, but his 2005 budget request includes a cut, and the administration has not acted quickly in the past to remove bureaucratic barriers to this critical program. Similarly, after the revelations in February of Pakistan's nuclear aid to Libya, Iran and North Korea and the links with China, Bush proposed new measures to restrict the trade in nuclear material. But his proposals and strategy are, in the words of one arms-control expert, ``too limited and contradictory to address current and future nuclear-weapons dangers adequately.'' Diminished risk We are no more at risk than we were before this nuclear black market was exposed, and perhaps less so. We can take comfort in the failure of Libya to achieve its ends after two decades, even with plenty of oil money to spend. A full-fledged nuclear program turns out not to be so easy to set up. If the IAEA continues its investigative work, if the Bush administration steps up to the plate in funding Nunn-Lugar and other programs to control the spread of nuclear weapons and if Bush has the courage to deal seriously with Pakistan over its behavior -- if all this happens -- then maybe we will be significantly less threatened in the future by nuclear weapons. Sally Ann Baynard is a professorial lecturer in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. ©2004 Newsday ***************************************************************** 12 Tri-Valley Herald: Pentagon considers more nukes Article Last Updated: Sunday, March 21, 2004 - Move would reverse decade-long trend By Ian Hoffman - STAFF WRITER The Pentagon is weighing the prospect of keeping multiple nuclear warheads on its land-based ballistic missiles, a reversal of a decade-long move toward aiming fewer nuclear weapons at Russia. Strategic-force planners are looking at preserving as many as 800 warheads on the nation's 500 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, up from earlier plans for one warhead per missile. The heavy Minuteman missiles, based in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota, carry warheads designed by University of California scientists as "hard-target killers" for destroying concrete missile silos. They chiefly are aimed over the North Pole at Russian ICBM sites. Researcher Hans Kristensen, a weapons consultant for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the notion of keeping 800 warheads on the Minuteman missiles is puzzling, given the thaw in U.S.-Russian relations. But it could reflect the Air Force's desire to reinforce targeting of Russia's most threatening multi-warhead missiles, SS-18s and SS-19s. They were to have been scrapped under an early 1990s arms-reduction treaty that also committed the United States to single-warhead missiles. "It's tit-for-tat nuclear planning, where Russia is on the other side of the nuclear crosshairs. One would hope we had gotten beyond that now," said Kristensen, who unearthed the proposal in Air Force statements last year. "It seems like we're continuing to fight yesterday's battles," said Victoria Samson, a research analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. Pentagon officials confirmed the idea is under consideration as part of a larger study of U.S. strategic forces, covering sub-launched missiles, bombs and cruise-missile warheads, as well as missile defenses. That assessment is aimed partly at finding the proper mix of U.S. strategic forces to meet the May 2002 Moscow Treaty. In that pact, President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to reduce their "operationally deployed" strategic arsenals to 1,700-2,200 weapons by the end of 2012. The treaty replaced an earlier agreement known as START II, originally proposed by President George H.W. Bush. In 1991, close on the heels of the START treaty, the elder Bush suggested a new agreement to reduce nuclear tensions between the superpowers by scrapping or converting all multi-warhead, land-based ICBMs to single warheads, a process known as downloading. "This step would eliminate the most unstable part of our nuclear arsenals," he said. In negotiating that treaty, the United States and Russia agreed that keeping large forces of multiple, retargetable warheads or MIRVs on vulnerable, ground-based missiles was destabilizing. The destructive power invested in a missile -- and the ease of destroying it in a fixed silo -- underscored the use-it-or-lose-it logic of nuclear confrontation and, the argument went, tempted each side to consider a disarming first strike. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty in 1996, but it bogged down in the Russian Duma for the next four years. Russian lawmakers criticized the treaty as lopsided in its emphasis on reducing land-based nuclear forces, where Russia deployed the largest portion of its strategic arsenal. The treaty did not require conversion of multi-warhead missiles on submarines, leaving the most invulnerable U.S. nuclear forces untouched. When the Duma ratified START II in 2000, Moscow insisted on a variety of new arms-control measures, including promises that the United States would not withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. President Bush pulled out of the treaty on June 13 so the United States could deploy missile defenses. The next day, Russia's foreign ministry declared START II dead. That frees Russia to preserve its SS-18 and SS-19 missiles, aimed chiefly at the United States, and the United States to keep multiple warheads on at least some of its Minuteman missiles. "According to the war we're looking at that, we're looking at eventually ... 500 missiles that could be uploaded to as many as 800 warheads," Gen. Robert Smolen, the Air Force director of nuclear and counterproliferation, told Air Force Magazine last July. "So somewhere in that mix of 500 is 800. And it could be one on some, two one another, three on another." Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the reasons for keeping 800 warheads are difficult to understand "unless there's some clear pattern of force modernization in China or something else we haven't heard of. It's a very substantial force-mix change if it's taking place." The Pentagon could chose to retain 500 warheads on the Minuteman missiles and hold 300 ready to upload on short notice. But if all 800 are kept on the missiles, the Bush administration will be forced to sacrifice 300 other, generally more versatile nuclear weapons in order to stay under the Moscow Treaty's cap of 2,200. Last week, administration officials continued their upbeat assessment of the new U.S. relationship with Russia in congressional testimony. A. Elizabeth Jones, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told lawmakers that the two nations "have become strong allies in the global war on terrorism." Most notably, she said, "We have essentially eliminated the threat of global nuclear annihilation. No longer are Russian and American missiles targeted against our respective homelands." NRDC's Kristensen said that's not the message that the Air Force is sending. "If that's what they call a new relationship with Russia, I don't think so," he said. "We saw that for 40 years." ©1999-2003 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 13 Palm Beach Post: Scalia ducks his judicial duty [PalmBeachPost.com Home] By Stebbins Jefferson, Palm Beach Post Columnist Saturday, March 20, 2004 In ordinary times, we Americans respect our national officials' right to go wherever they choose and socialize with whomever they please. Under ordinary circumstances, we readily concede that on such occasions, their integrity is not to be questioned. Such courtesy is due those who perform the arduous tasks of government. But these are neither ordinary times nor ordinary circumstances. Our nation is threatened not only by foreign terrorists, but also quaked to its foundation by a growing conviction that government cannot be trusted to tell Americans the truth about matters of public interest. These perilous times demand more than ordinary propriety. On Jan. 5, seeking rest and relaxation, Vice President Dick Cheney went duck hunting in southern Louisiana. Flying with the vice president on the small government plane that served as Air Force Two was his old hunting buddy, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. They would spend the better part of a week as guests of Wallace Carline, owner of Diamond Services Corp., an oil services company in Amelia, La. This little outing took place three weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to review the lower court ruling that Mr. Cheney must make public the details of the administration's Energy Policy Task Force. The case, brought by the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch, contends that Mr. Cheney and his staff violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act by meeting in private with lobbyists for the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries. The court is expected to hear arguments next month. Given the controversy over the Supreme Court's role in the last presidential election, the lingering questions about the influence of the oil industry on the preemptive war in Iraq and the growing perception that oil made Iraq a Bush administration priority long before 9/11, the public has the right to expect that Mr. Cheney and Justice Scalia not fraternize with each other until after the Supreme Court rules on the vice president's case. Perhaps the two old friends never discussed the case. Perhaps Mr. Carline, who hosted the party, had no self-serving motives. Perhaps everyone focused on shooting ducks every minute of every hour of every day the group was together. Perhaps access to power never was part of the mix. Still, given the nature of human fallibility, the situation reeks. We have long ceased to expect a higher standard of propriety from Mr. Cheney, who was happy to have the administration give Halliburton -- the firm he once ran -- and its subsidiaries contracts for Iraq that the company says amount to about $1 billion per month. Supposedly because of the need to move quickly, bidding requirements for services had to be dismissed, allowing the Texas-based conglomerate to receive the contract to repair and refit Iraq's oil fields and refineries. In addition, through subsidiaries, Halliburton was contracted to arrange housing, transportation, food, laundry and recreation for the troops. But the company took more than $6 million in kickbacks from Kuwaiti officials and allegedly has overcharged for gas and counted more meals than were delivered. The Pentagon has said it will begin withholding 15 percent of Halliburton's money. Mr. Cheney says the government's financial arrangement has nothing to do with him, since his ties to the company ended with his $20 million retirement package. So much for the illusion of propriety at the executive level. But the judiciary branch that Justice Scalia represents is obliged to be more circumspect. The Code of Conduct for Federal Judges dictates that they "act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary." Nor should they allow "or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge." Having accepted something of value from a litigant, Justice Scalia has compromised the highest court in the land. He should recuse himself from judging the task-force case. He vowed Thursday that he will not. Seeming to endorse this audacious behavior, Chief Justice William Rehnquist stated that concern about this matter is "ill-considered.... Each justice must decide such a question for himself." If Justice Scalia sits on this case, he will affirm that the checks and balances intended to separate the branches of our government no longer apply. Those in power have no obligation to respect the public. That's a dangerous public declaration to make, given the fragile state of our nation's ethical health. Copyright © 2004, The Palm Beach Post. All rights reserved. By using PalmBeachPost.com, you accept the terms of our visitor ***************************************************************** 14 NEWS.com.au: Brigitte's links to world terror network (March 22, 2004) EXCLUSIVE By BEN ENGLISH in Paris TERROR suspect Willie Brigitte has been linked to senior operatives of al-Qaida, including some of leader Osama bin Laden's most trusted lieutenants. French investigators have established Brigitte had connections with the organisers of the September 11 and March 11 Madrid terror attacks and believe his planned attack in Australia could have been on the scale of September 11, 2001. One of the key plotters planned to use the Rugby World Cup to slip into Australia posing as a fan of the Georgian team. Those findings are contained in a classified dossier from France obtained by The Advertiser. In it, French anti-terror judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere requests a joint inquiry by the countries into Brigitte and a foiled Sydney plot. Brigitte's terror network placed him in close contact with the leaders of the jihad against Jews and interests in France, Belgium, Britain, Spain, Australia and a terror cell in the US. He also was linked to groups which organised the assassination of an Afghan commander. Brigitte, now in Paris's Fleury-Merogis prison, has told French investigators extensive details about alleged terrorist activities in Sydney. Australian and French authorities now are trying to verify his statements. He has claimed, however, a terror network, at least in an informal sense, is operating in the western suburbs of Sydney. It is charged with recruiting people for jihad operations. Brigitte has named several people and the man he says is at the centre of the operation is believed by French investigators to be connected with some of the world's most dangerous terrorists. Abdul Salam Mohamed Zoud, the Muslim imam who presided over Brigitte's wedding to Melanie Brown last August, has been named as the chief recruiter of Australia's jihad network. The dossier portrays him as a link figure in the world terror network. It says he has connections to groups behind the March 11 Madrid massacre and the 2001 September 11 attacks in the US. The French request to Australia says Brigitte was a key figure in a plan to "prepare a terrorist act of great size in Australia". His potential targets included the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, the Australian Army's administrative compound at Victoria Barracks and the Perth headquarters of Australia's SAS regiment. SAS troops have been at the forefront of Australian military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. The French believe Brigitte also was targeting US military bases, the Pine Gap intelligence base and nuclear sites. He was found with a map of nuclear installations in Australia. The dossier also lists the names of the people claimed by Brigitte to be leading figures of Sydney's Islamic terror network. At its heart is Zoud, the spiritual head of the Haldon St prayer hall that for the past year has been under ASIO surveillance. According to a request for judicial assistance from Australian authorities by French anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, Zoud has connections with terror chiefs spanning the globe from Virginia in the US to London and Madrid. In the request, he is named as "the recruiter in Australia of volunteers for the jihad, operating from the Mousalla mosque of Lakemba". Zoud is said to have links to Abu Dahdah, the jailed head of a Spanish terror cell alleged to have helped plan the September 11 attacks. Dahdah was also the mentor of Jamal Zougam, the chief suspect in the Madrid train bombings that killed 202 people in Europe's worst modern terrorist atrocity earlier this month. CIA investigations into a major terror cell in Virginia have established that Zoud was regularly in contact with the cell's alleged chief recruiter, Ali Timimi. Brigitte's commander in the Sydney network is named as Faheem Khalid Lodhi, who also is known as Hamza. According to Judge Bruguiere's letter to his Australian judicial counterparts, Brigitte's job in Sydney was to harbour a Chechnyan explosives expert, believed to be Abu Salah. Brigitte, 35, met Salah during his training at the Faisalabad terror camp of the al-Qaida-linked extremist group Lashkar e Toiba (LET) in September 2001. Salah is identified in the dossier as the commander-in-chief of some of the world's biggest terror-training camps and he has close ties to senior commanders within al-Qaida. In the judicial memo, Judge Bruguiere urges Australian authorities to launch a major investigation into the Sydney terrorist cell. He also asks for permission to fly French investigators to Australia to join the operation. "The present international judicial mission presents a dual interest for France," Judge Bruguiere says. ". . . involving on the one hand, the plan for an attack that would involve at least one French person and, on the other hand, terrorist networks based in part on French soil. "Due to the special nature of this investigation and its sensitivity, we request of the recipient authorities that we be authorised, accompanied by police officials of the Territorial Surveillance Administration, to come to Australia to assist in the progress of the investigations." The Advertiser Copyright 2004 News Limited. All times AEDT (GMT+11). ***************************************************************** 15 Singapore Press: Scomi may sell unit involved in N-arms controversy - March 20, 2004 --> Company calls for suspension of trading on Monday, pending announcement of plan to sell 'non-core businesses' By EDDIE TOH IN KUALA LUMPUR THE company controlled by the son of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may sell its precision engineering arm that was recently embroiled in a nuclear arms controversy - an issue which the opposition has made political capital of ahead of Malaysia's election. Election issue: the Scomi scandal has provided fodder for the opposition. Scomi is controlled by Kamaluddin Abdullah (left), son of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi (right) Scomi said yesterday that it has requested a suspension of its counter on Monday to disclose its plan to dispose of its 'non-core businesses'. The oil and gas company did not elaborate. A company executive declined to elaborate when contacted yesterday but said the company has called a media briefing on the planned sale on Monday. An analyst said one of the non-core businesses could be Scomi Precision Engineering, which had unwittingly manufactured nuclear parts for disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan's network of illegal nuclear arms suppliers. The US authorities and Malaysian police had subsequently absolved Scomi, which said it was unaware of the end use of the parts manufactured at its factory in Shah Alam. Although Scomi was cleared of any wrongdoing, the issue had provided fodder for the political opposition in the lead-up to the country's eleventh general elections tomorrow. Some members of the opposition had charged that there was a cover-up although Mr Abdullah had personally ordered the Malaysian police to conduct a probe. Kamaluddin Abdullah, the Prime Minister's only son, is the controlling shareholder of Scomi but he holds no management position in the company. Apart from the nuclear incident, some opposition politicians have questioned the wealth of Mr Kamaluddin, who was ranked by Malaysian Business magazine as the 32nd richest man in Malaysia and its 10th richest Malay with assets of RM320 million (S$140.8 million). The 36-year-old, Cambridge-educated businessman's fortunes have multiplied significantly following the listing of his oil and gas company last May. Scomi's share price has skyrocketed to more than RM15 from its listing price of RM1.38 following the discovery of massive oil reserves off the coast of Sabah. The counter closed at RM13.20, up 60 sen, yesterday. © Copyright Singapore Press Holdings 2004. ***************************************************************** 16 AU SMH: Journalist says al-Qaeda has black market nuclear bombs - www.smh.com.au [Sydney Morning Herald Online] March 22, 2004 - 12:16AM Osama bin Laden's terrorist network claimed to have bought ready-made nuclear bombs on the black market, the al-Qaeda chief's biographer has said. Pakistani journalist Hamad Mir said bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, made the claim following an interview by Mr Mir with bin Laden in November 2001. Mr Mir said he told al-Zawahri it was difficult to believe al-Qaeda had nuclear weapons when they did not have the equipment to maintain or fire them. "Dr Ayman al-Zawahri laughed and he said 'Mr Mir, if you have $30 million, go to the black market in central Asia, contact any disgruntled Soviet scientist, and a lot of ... smart briefcase bombs are available,'" Mr Mir said in an interview with ABC TV's Andrew Denton. "They have contacted us, we sent our people to Moscow, to Tashkent, to other central Asian states and they negotiated, and we purchased some suitcase bombs." Western intelligence agencies have dismissed al-Qaeda claims to have nuclear weapons, although in 2001, documents giving details of how to build a nuclear bomb were found in an al-Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan. The US State Department's top anti-terror official, Cofer Black, said recently terror groups had the will and possibly the expertise to build a bomb, and would just need the materials. But buying a ready-made Russian bomb on the black market would avoid the need for special equipment or expertise. In the interview to be screened on Monday night, Mr Mir said al-Zawahri had travelled to Australia in the early 1990s in a bid to establish a global terror network. He described al-Zawahri as the brains behind al-Qaeda. "He is the real brain behind Osama bin Laden ... he is the real strategist, Osama bin Laden is only a frontman," Mr Mir said. "I think that he [al-Zawahri] is the man responsible for all the big terrorist attacks in the recent past." "I think he is more dangerous than bin Laden." Al-Qaeda might attack Australia because of its support for the war on terror, he said. Mr Mir said before meeting bin Laden, al-Qaeda officials forced him to take 10 hot baths in 40 or 50 minutes because they were afraid he had been sprayed with chemicals that could give away his location. After he and bin Laden left, US B52 bombers attacked the house. AAP Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald. [1 height=1] ***************************************************************** 17 In These Times: Chinas Nuclear Ties White House downplays reports that country gave weapons plans to Pakistan By Jehangir Pocha| 3.18.04 BejingDocuments declassified March 6 indicate that while President Bush was crusading against Iraqs mythical nuclear program, three other axis of evil countriesLibya, Iran and North Koreawere building nuclear weapons that could reach New York using missile designs provided by Pakistan and China, both of whom are U.S. allies in the war against terror. The documents, dating from 1965 to 1997, reveal that China provided assistance to Pakistans program to develop a nuclear weapon capability and stalled U.S. investigations through deceptions, false promises and lies. And even today, the CIA cannot confirm that China has cut illicit nuclear ties with its client states. The International Atomic Energy Agency, investigating Libya and Irans illicit nuclear programs, already has said they were based on Chinese technology provided through Pakistan. By Bushs own definition this should crown the China-Pakistan axis as the most evil of them all. Yet the White House is trying to dismiss Chinas violation of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty as a momentary lapse that belongs to the past. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, the top U.S. arms control official with close political links to the White House, flew to Beijing two weeks before the declassified documents were released and declared that Beijing is now cooperating with the United States to prevent proliferation. Despite Bushs I-will-protect-America-at-any-cost mantra, the administration knows it cant get too tough with China and Pakistan. Sino-U.S. trade stands at $150 billion, and China is funding a substantial part of Bushs $1.5 trillion deficit by holding almost $350 billion in U.S. treasury bills. Bush also needs China to keep a lid on the fracas his own bluster has created in North Korea. And in Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraff remains indispensable in the war against terror. But doubts remain about whether China is taking U.S. nuclear concerns seriously. Just four days after the declassified documents were released, Beijing announced that it would help Pakistan build a new nuclear facility at Chashma in the Punjab state. Washington had opposed the deal, particularly as Musharraff is only midway in his effort to cleanse Pakistans nuclear establishment of rogue scientists. China says the Chashma plant is civilian and does not break a 1996 promise made to President Bill Clinton that China would end all assistance to nuclear plants not under international safeguards. But the CIA has consistently said that China has not adhered to the promise. Some sources allege that Beijing facilitated the supply of nuclear technology to North Korea via Pakistan as recently as 2002when Bush was asking Beijing to join Tokyo, Seoul and Moscow in pressuring Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear program. In late 2002, Western intelligence agencies caught Pakistan flying nuclear weapons technology to North Korea in exchange for ballistic missile parts. Less publicized was the fact that the planes, Hercules C-130s, could not have flown from Islamabad to Pyongyang without using Chinese airspace. Some intelligence sources say the planes re-fueled at the Lanzhou military base in central China. It is possible, even likely, that the Bush administration is using behind-the-scenes arm-twisting (in the case of Pakistan) and parlays (in the case of China) to address these concerns. But Washington has a long history of prioritizing more immediate economic and security interests. The declassified documents reveal how Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush certified to Congress that China had not assisted Pakistan in acquiring nuclear capability, even when they knew this was untrue. Bush is likely to come under pressure to get China and Pakistan to come clean on their illicit nuclear activities. The international community will want to know how the clandestine network was built and run and who its third-party associates were. Unless this is done, the network could be revived and the rogue middlemen involved could resume their trade. The presence of Chinese nuclear technicians in Myanmar already is causing concern in security circles. An investigation by China into its proliferation would be a great victory for transparency, [but] Beijing is more likely to sustain the secrecy surrounding its decisions on the Pakistani nuclear program, said William Burr, director of the National Security Archives Nuclear Project Documentation center and one of the people responsible for getting the documents declassified. If China resists an inquiry, some say the United States and European Union, which already have arms embargoes in place against China, should expand those to cover dual-use technologies and pressure Russia into joining the effort. But the most important thing, says a Western diplomat familiar with Beijing, is that the West needs to change its mindset. We need to accept that for now these countries are not our friends, he says. They may be allies of convenience and we can do business with them. But we need to look to countries like India, Indonesia and Japan to secure our Asian interests. Jehangir Pocha, a native of Bombay, is an international journalist based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In These Times ©2004 | Powered by pMachine Pro| Contact web ***************************************************************** 18 Daily Times: No pressure to sign NPT, says Rashid Monday, March 22, 2004 * Minister says Wana operation might end within two days Staff Report LAHORE: Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has said that the military operation in Wana might end within two days. Talking to newsmen and columnists on Saturday, he said that President Pervez Musharraf, through the North West Frontier Province governor, had offered amnesty to foreigners hiding in Wana, assuring them that they would be sent to their home countries, but they did not surrender. He said that the paramilitary forces of Pakistan had carried out a routine operation but met with stiff resistance. “There is a network of extremists and 20 percent of the locals are backing them. They want some people escaped, but the security forces foiled their attempt,” the minister said. He said that 18 Frontier Constabulary personnel were killed in the operation. “We don’t know whom they are protecting but one thing is clear that a high value target is hiding in the area and is trying to escape,” Sheikh Rashid said. He said that Pakistan was passing through the most crucial phase of its history and coming 12 or 14 months were very important. “We will have to decide whether we should live with our neighbours like a friend or a foe,” he said. The minister said that proliferation crisis was over and Pakistan was an established nuclear force. His dispelled the impression that US Foreign Secretary Colin Powell pressured the government into signing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Asked about the differences among the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-QA) leadership, he said all the PML-QA leaders including Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi were working for President Musharraf and differences among them were a routine matter. He said that Kashmir was the only dispute between Pakistan and India and there was a positive development on the issue. “The US played a key role in bringing Pakistan and India closer. Daily Times - All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 19 Daily Times: India may join global nuclear fusion project Monday, March 22, 2004 NEW DELHI: India is considering taking part in the ambitious international project to develop a nuclear fusion reactor, billed as a clean and inexhaustible source of energy, an official said on Sunday. VS Ramamurthy, secretary in the science and technology ministry, said India, which declared itself a nuclear power in 1998, found the fusion project “interesting.” “The government will be considering it,” Ramamurthy said, noting that India had abundant skilled labour to work on a hi-tech project. The Hindu newspaper reported that Ramamurthy discussed the reactor plan last week in New Delhi with the visiting chief science adviser to the British government, David King. The report said King suggested that India could be a “junior partner” to reduce its financial contribution to the 10-billion-dollar project. Ramamurthy said Sunday that if India joined the effort it would have to contribute around “several billion rupees.” —AFP Daily Times - All Rights Reserved Site developed and hosted by ***************************************************************** 20 Hi Pakistan: Terrorists can go nuclear, warns ElBaradei --> March 22 2004 VIENNA: UN atomic energy agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Friday that successful terrorist attacks such as the train bombings in Spain heightened concerns that one-day terrorists could go nuclear. "There’s obviously a high level of sophistication in the terrorist community," ElBaradei told reporters while flying back to Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is based, from a trip to Washington. "That heightens the sense of concern that they (terrorists) might get their hands on any nuclear device or nuclear material," ElBaradei said in answer to a question about the implications of the March 11 Madrid bombings that killed 202 people. ElBaradei had Wednesday urged in a meeting with US President George W Bush for dangerous nuclear material such as highly enriched uranium used in civilian programs to be recycled or disposed of. "One of the first priorities that I put to President Bush and he fully agreed is that we need to clean up all the nuclear materials that lie around, either in highly enriched uranium in research reactors or in fabrication facilities," he said. "I would like to see a civilian cycle completely free from weapons-useable material if possible," he said. ElBaradei said that he had found in his meetings in Washington, which also included national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, "a commitment in the United States at all levels to work in partnership with the agency (IAEA) to fight this new menace, which we are facing, which is (an international nuclear materials) black market and the interests of terrorists to get their hands on nuclear technology". He said: "We have first to make an inventory (of the facilities and what is in them)." He said the US Department of Energy was already working on this and that the IAEA may take part. "Then we have to contact the countries (involved) in order to take this material and neutralise or dilute it," ElBaradei said. ElBaradei said that he and Bush had also agreed the time had come to "change many of the rules" in order to strengthen the fight against nuclear proliferation that is the mission of the IAEA. One measure would be to improve export controls "as a result of AQ Khan associates and the lesson we have learned from that", he said. Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 Hi Pakistan: No question of NPT signing --> March 22 2004 LAHORE-Federal Minister for Information and Media Development, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad on Saturday said Pakistan would not allow inspection of its nuclear installations under any circumstances. While addressing a press conference here at a local hotel, the Federal Minister said that Pakistan is a declared nuclear power and there was no question of signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). To a question about Wana Operation, he dispelled the impression that the same was being carried out under US pressure. He also denied involvement of US military forces in the said operation, saying, our forces are better equipped to undertake such operations compared to those of the US. “We do have US Cobra Helicopters but they are piloted by the Pakistanis and not by the Americans’, he said. Sheikh Rashid, however, admitted that Pak forces are getting some sort of technical support from the US army. He said that keeping in view the current situation in Wana it seems quite probable that the operation may prolong for another couple of days. He said crackdown on the terrorists had become inevitable after they refused to surrender in response to government’s offer of amnesty. They were also assured that they would not be handed over to any other country but they opted to resist, and hence the government had to take action, he added. He said around 70 to 80 per cent of people in Wana are cooperating with the government while the rest are having soft corner with the terrorists as they consider them as their guests. Replying to question about the interrogation of eight captured persons from Wana, he said that they are not the kind of stuff to divulge each and everything so easily. When asked as to why the MMA was not taken into confidence before the start of the operation, he said that President Musharraf announced amnesty for the terrorists when he was in the NWFP. The Governor and the Chief Minister was also present on that occasion, he further said. Reacting to a question he said that there is hell of difference between the circumstances of 1971 and those of 2004. “Wana is not East Pakistan”, he asserted. To a question about differences within the ruling party, he said that Jamali, Shujat and Pervaiz Elahi are all working for President Musharraf who in turn is working for Pakistan. He, however, admitted the existence of differences among the three but termed them as “light music”. Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 Hi Pakistan: Curbing nuclear proliferation By Dr Zafar Hassan --> March 22 2004 From what is evident now, the spread of nuclear science is threatening the entire world. It would be very naive to think that the current flare up of the nuclear issue is a fallout of developments in Pakistan. Not only the acknowledged nuclear powers, but all leading nations which have no ostensible nuclear establishment have been pushing the nuclear issue under the carpet over the past five decades. Now the nuclear problem is out in the open with its multifarious manifestations including its destructive potential. As a consequence, the complex problems confronting the world today on the nuclear landscape need to be addressed collectively. Any piecemeal approach would not only be unworkable but also ineffective. The nuclear crisis promises to unfold into a global saga of lapses, lechery and sheer ineptitude. A global conference needs to be convened to curb nuclear proliferation. Firstly, several nations, particularly European countries, the Soviet Union (and now the Russian Republic), and above all the United States have been dispensing nuclear know-how and technology both overtly and covertly for nearly half a century. Secondly, nuclear knowledge for peaceful or military purposes is almost identical. Tens of thousands of nuclear scientists have been trained in the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada, India, Pakistan, Australia and China so singling out any one country like Pakistan will not impede the dangerous effects of nuclear know-how if left uncontrolled. Indeed there are thousands of unemployed nuclear scientists from the erstwhile Soviet Union and now in its former republics who have been peddling nuclear know-how and related material at cut-rate prices throughout Eastern Europe and in the Central Asian Republics. The unemployed nuclear scientists in Russia and several of its former republics are said to have been carrying radioactive material in briefcases and suitcases for gainful disposal to the first credible buyer be it a nation-state or a private proliferator. Knowledge of nuclear science started being imparted to various countries in the early 1950’s under the “atoms for peace” programme initiated by President Dwight Eisenhower. Soon the benefits of radio-isotopes in agriculture, medicine and industrial production and quality control were highlighted and started being used profitably by dozens of nations around the world. The option to set up nuclear-fuelled power stations became widespread which further advanced and dispersed nuclear know-how and technology to several countries in Asia and as far as South Africa, Brazil and Argentina. In a recent report it has been conceded by the United States that they supplied large quantities of enriched Uranium to 43 countries over the last half a century. This enriched Uranium was lent or leased to dozens of countries so that they could conduct research in science, industry agriculture or medicine. Most of this enriched uranium has not been returned to the United States, or recovered by it and remains dispersed over all the five continents. Though most of it is in the possession of Western Europe or with its allies, the remainder of it is still capable of being diverted for producing weapons. There have even been charges made by the United States government that the Chinese have transferred nuclear know-how to Pakistan since the 1960’s, but these charges remain unsubstantiated. In any case they have become irrelevant now. Therefore, any presumption that the western powers can control and punish nuclear users or proliferators around the world would appear to be a difficult exercise, like the war on terror which remains elusive and unending, nuclear proliferation could continue to be a game of hide and seek with no easily defined objective or achievable goals. It is only a collective international will which should be obtained through consensus to address these global problems in truly representative terms. The general problems emerging from war on terrorism, the failure of so-called globalisation, and now the burning issue of nuclear proliferation need to be tackled on more equitable basis which should address the political as well as the socio-economic grievances of many countries around the world on credible lines. The security concerns of many countries need to be looked after in a nuclear infested world. The political leaders will remain helpless in tackling the nuclear proliferation problem unless they are enabled to bestow economic fairness and political justice to citizens from external threats. Otherwise, the terrorists or nuclear proliferators or the suicide bombers, would continue to vent their feelings against what they deem to be blatant injustices being perpetuated on them or their people in a politically lopsided and an economically disproportionate world. There are more than a hundred thousand trained nuclear scientists around the world and their numbers are growing. They have acquired skills from prestigious institutions in America, Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, Japan, India, Pakistan and other international academies and research institutes like Cern in Geneva, Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Bhaba Institute of Atomic Research in India, Nilore in Pakistan etc. Applied science institutes and scientific outfits like Arenco in Holland, Fermilab in the United States, the AQ Khan Research Laboratory (KRL) etc have been functional for several decades so that nuclear science in its substantive sense has actually been an “open secret”. It has been available to practically anybody, desirous or persistent enough, without any let or hindrance. Indeed college textbooks and information from the United States Patent Office makes available most of what we need to know for the development of atomic bombs. Initially the United States attempted to impede spread of nuclear knowledge to France, the erstwhile Soviet Union, China or India, or any other country. But such efforts were futile. With the growth of nuclear driven power industry, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Israel, France and others producing or operating atomic power stations themselves offered and transferred nuclear technologies to several countries with no apparent hitch or compunction. In the existing world of nuclear capabilities and their sale from Sri Lanka to Dubai, or from Moscow to New York, the more workable option would be to hold a global conference of concerned nations. The attempt to cope with the problem on an exclusive basis is unlikely to tackle nuclear proliferation effectively. Now open discussions and deliberations under a global umbrella appear to be the only course to deal with the nuclear crisis and regulate it before it converts itself into a fiasco. Above all, the status of India and Pakistan should be immediately changed from de facto to de jure members of the nuclear club. It would enable them to acquire the formal authority to curb dispersal of nuclear knowledge and at the same time allow them their legitimate option to pursue peaceful uses of nuclear science more systematically. In this connection, the French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin who visited Pakistan recently declared that France acknowledges Pakistan’s nuclear capability to be a fact and a reality. Monsieur Villepin said that France is prepared to open a dialogue with Pakistan on strengthening export control, greater transparency regarding nuclear activity, and participation of Pakistan in international non-proliferation efforts. This is a step in the right direction. The enrichment and sale of nuclear material for peaceful purposes, particularly to keep the hundreds of nuclear power plants and research institutes running in various parts of the world would continue to be required. This responsibility could be shared by existing nuclear powers, including Pakistan. A world without nuclear-driven power generation is to a large extent now inconceivable. Nuclear enrichment activities concerning the use of enriched uranium should not remain the monopoly of a few countries. Pakistan, like Canada, Holland, Russia, and Switzerland, could provide enriched uranium and other nuclear technologies to desiring countries under some internationally agreed protocol. The world still wants to see the United States and the Soviet Union to reduce if not eliminate their arsenals of nuclear weaponry as promised by them. Israel should also be brought under a global safeguard regime to control its nuclear activities in the international interest. Furthermore, the United States or the Soviet Union should stop pursuing their development of more varieties of nuclear bombs, be they “dirty” or otherwise. To achieve all these necessary ends, a global conference is imperative to stop any further damage through nuclear proliferation. The author, a former Chairman of the Karachi Cotton Association, is the lead editor of Professor Abdus Salam’s book “Ideals and Realities” published in 1984. Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 PakNews.Com: Nuclear Programme Will Not Be Rolled Back March 22, 2004 Muharram 30, 1425 Hijri Feb 01, 2003 Ziqaad 28, 1423 Hijri Editor-in-Chief: Asim Mughal Updated on 2004-03-21 09:24:59 SARGODHA, Pakistan : March 21 (PNS) - Punjab Governor, Lt.Gen. (retd) Saturday said that the nuclear programme of the country will not be rolled back at any cost and the test of Shaheen-II is a proof that the country is achieving success in this field. He said this while inaugurating the provision of Sui Gas to New Satellite Town here.District Nazim, Malik Amjad Ali Noon, Punjab Ministers--Ch. Aamir Sultan Cheema, Manazar Ali Ranjha, MNAs,MPAs and various government officials were present on the occasion. Governor said that present government is endeavouring to provide all the civic amenities to the people at their door step. "The record development during short span of the government is a solid proof to this effect", he added. Khalid Maqbool said that Rs 3 billion would be spent during the next fiscal year for the provision of Sui gas across the country. He said that government would be spending Rs. 450 million in every district in three years period to provide better facilities in the schools. Governor said that Punjab government has earmarked Rs 150 million to improve the sewerage system of Sargodha city. He assured that Sui gas would also be provided in all the localities of the city and said he had already ordered the department to conduct survey in this regard. Governor Khalid Maqbool said that due to the dynamic leadership of President Pervez Musharraf the country has overcome several crises, and enjoys respect amongst the comity of nations. Earlier, District Nazim presented welcome address and thanked the Governor for taking keen interest in the development of the district. He demanded that Sui gas may also be provided to Bhalwal, Silanwali and Sahiwal tahsil. Punjab Irrigation Minister, Aamir Sultan Cheema also spoke on this occasion and thanked the governor for his efforts regarding development of this backward area. Meanwhile, the Governor also visited University of Sargodha and inaugurated newly constructed Ch.Muhammad Ali and Ghazali blocks. The End. ***************************************************************** 24 Brazil: Is Brazil Readying Its Atomic Bomb? - - March 2004 All Systems Go for Brazil's A-Bomb Brazil has refused to allow inspections that would reveal the capacity, characteristics and scope of the equipment developed by its navy to enrich uranium. These inspections would assist in determining whether Brazil is seeking the enrichment of uranium for peaceful purposes or is pursuing a weapons program. The war on terror has preoccupied Washington policy-makers with the Middle East, even as America's own backyard festers in political crisis. Since the days of FDR the U.S. has pursued America's "Good Neighbor policy," aimed at fostering close ties and friendship with the nations south of the Rio Grande. But today that policy is in shambles as one major Latin country after another has fallen to anti-American leaders who admire Fidel Castro. Behind the growing anti-U.S. atmosphere is a carefully planned and executed drive to turn South America into a Marxist stronghold challenging the U.S. and eliminating every shred of its influence there. This special report explores the Latino attitude towards the United States and how it is affecting U.S. policy on South and Central America. Venezuela's Castro Wannabe Nothing is more indicative of the growing surge to the extreme left south of the border than what happened at the end of the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey on Jan. 14, when Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez jetted off to Havana for one of his frequent chats with Fidel Castro. Communist-led Cuba was the only country in the Western Hemisphere not invited to the 34-nation meeting. The summit of freely elected heads of state wrapped up its gathering the night before. Chavez was the only leader to sign the final declaration with reservations because of his opposition to free trade. He refused to attend the official dinner and called the gathering of regional leaders a "waste of time." He said he missed one luncheon because he was on the phone with Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi planning a summit between Latin American and African nations. Tensions have increased between the U.S. and Venezuela since Chavez called national security adviser Condoleezza Rice a "true illiterate" for noting he has not played a constructive role in Latin America. Rice had said Chavez should show "that he believes in democratic processes" by allowing a recall referendum on his rule. He responded by saying that U.S. officials shouldn't "stick their noses" in Venezuelan affairs. Argentina and Brazil Relationships between the U.S. and Argentina have also soured. Washington has yet to get a handle on Argentina's president, Nestor Kirchner. While the United States has praised his leadership it has also criticized him for not taking "difficult decisions" to deal with Argentina's staggering $81 billion debt. Moreover, Washington officials warn that Kirchner is a little too buddy-wuddy with Castro. And while the White House feels all warm and cuddly about Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's economic policies, he is busy plunging his nation into communism and allying himself with Castro and Castro's puppet in Venezuela, Chavez. Moreover, there is friction between the U.S. and Brazil over new U.S. security measures that include photographing and fingerprinting foreign visitors. Brazil has retaliated by imposing similar measures for U.S. travelers entering crime-ridden Brazil. Angry About Iraq Disagreement over the war in Iraq has added to the rift. Most Latin American nations refused to support the U.S.-led war, and Honduras has just decided to follow socialist Spain's cue and leave Iraq. In the United Nations Security Council, Chile and Mexico opposed a resolution authorizing force in Iraq. Only seven out of the 33 Latin American and Caribbean nations supported U.S. military action in Iraq. Throughout Latin America, there was strong and widespread resistance to an American strategy that Latinos viewed as unilateral and pre-emptive. That ill will has continued among nations whose support for U.S. actions have long been taken for granted. Gabriel Marcella, a Latin America expert at the United States Army War College, told the New York Times that Latin Americans "were asked by the United States to support a preventive war." "They did not," he said. "The ugly head of unilateralism seemed to reappear." Peter Hakim, the president of Inter-American Dialogue, a forum for leaders in the hemisphere, told the Times: "I don't think you can overestimate the damage to the U.S.-Mexican relations. No relationship was more damaged, with the possible exception of France." Colombia ran into trouble with the administration on the International Criminal Court. When Bogotá balked at signing an exemption from prosecution for American personnel, the administration withheld some aid and threatened to cut off $160 million more. Colombia, which gets more American aid than any other country except Israel and Egypt, eventually acceded. Communist China, fast becoming a favorite trading partner, draws in airplanes from Brazil, soybeans from Argentina, thus boosting economies and leading to new political alliances. Brazil's exports to China surged 81 percent in the first 11 months of last year to $4.23 billion, Dr. Constantine C. Menges reports. Brazil's Lula last year persuaded China to join a bloc of developing nations that forced the collapse of the World Trade Organization's talks by demanding that the United States and Europe abandon their farm subsidies. "China is importing from others and selling to us," said David Malpass, chief global economist for Bear, Stearns in New York. "As in any commercial relationship, they are treated well as a customer. This raises China's importance relative to that of the U.S." But these are merely symptoms of the turmoil in U.S. relations with its southern neighbors. The danger lies in the steady advance of a Latino version of the Soviet Union. Already three major South American countries are infected with the Marxist virus: Venezuela, a major source of oil for the U.S.; Brazil; and Cuba, where Fidel Castro is acting as the midwife for communism's rebirth. Danger in Brazil Brazil is the locus of the newest Marxist threat to the region. Since "Lula" da Silva took office in January, 2003, Brazil has become a new staging area for communism in our hemisphere. It has toyed with becoming a nuclear threat. Working behind the scenes is Lula's foreign policy adviser, Marco Aurélio Garcia, a notorious hard-line Marxist operative and founder and executive secretary of São Paulo Forum, a coalition of leftist parties and revolutionary movements dedicated, he admits, to "offsetting our losses in Eastern Europe with our victories in Latin America." In an article he wrote about Marx's "The Communist Manifesto," he concluded: "The agenda is clear. If this new horizon which we search for is still called communism, it is time to re-constitute it." In other words, rebuild shattered world communism in Latin America. An investigation by NewsMax.com revealed that Garcia, as head of São Paulo Forum, controls and coordinates the activities of subversives and extremists from the Rio Grande to the southernmost tip of Argentina. In a policy dictated by Havana, Garcia has shown special interest in the terrorist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Every year since 1990, Garcia has made it his priority to meet with murderous FARC. The meetings have not just taken place in Havana (with Castro himself always present), but also in Mexico, where Garcia traveled to meet with FARC member Marco Leo Calara on Dec. 5, 2000. Brazilian-American Gerald Brant, a former candidate for federal deputy (Congress), wrote that in his native land, "a country of significant social inequalities, Marxism in Brazil has always been a force, but it has never been as close to realizing true power in this country as it is now. By abandoning the traditional Marxist strategy of launching an armed insurgency and revolution, Brazil's Workers' Party, known as the `PT,' has been able to effectively elaborate a `Gramscian' [inspired by renowned Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci, widely read in PT circles] strategy of penetrating the key institutions of civil society and democracy first, and then using the legitimate authority conferred by elections to abridge constitutional restraints to establish a Marxist state." Look Who's Being Unilateralist The Times reported that Brazil would resist a plan by the International Atomic Energy Agency that would allow for spot inspection of nuclear sites. In addition, "Brazil has announced that by mid-2004 it expects to join the select group of nations producing enriched uranium and that within a decade it intends to begin exporting enriched uranium. But it is balking at giving international inspectors unimpeded access to the plant that will produce the nuclear fuel. "Government officials say efforts to enrich uranium are entirely peaceful in purpose … as a peaceful nation, Brazil, which has the world's sixth-largest known deposits of uranium, should not be subject to the same regimen of unannounced spot inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran and Libya have recently accepted." Brazil has refused to allow inspections that would reveal the capacity, characteristics and scope of the equipment developed by its navy to enrich uranium. These inspections, if allowed, would assist in determining whether Brazil is indeed seeking the enrichment of uranium for peaceful purposes or is pursuing a weapons program that many officials within the Brazilian government have occasionally alluded to in the past. These are indicators of movements toward development of nuclear weapons. Luiz Vieira, president of Nuclear Industries of Brazil, admits that the technology developed by the navy's São Paulo Technology Center could be used to build an atomic bomb. Phil Brennan is a veteran journalist who writes for NewsMax.com - , where ths article appeared originally. He is editor & publisher of Wednesday on the Web - - and was Washington columnist for National Review magazine in the 1960s. He also served as a staff aide for the House Republican Policy Committee and helped handle the Washington public relations operation for the Alaska Statehood Committee, which won statehood for Alaska. He is also a trustee of the Lincoln Heritage Institute and a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers He can be reached at ***************************************************************** 25 DW: Plutonium Plant Sale Vetoed? | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 20.03.2004 Environmentalists oppose the proposed sale of the plant. The German government has allegedly decided to veto the proposed sale of a plutonium plant to China as it could provoke a crisis for the coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, according to news reports. While a government spokesperson denied a report by German news magazine Der Spiegel that a decision had been made, Greens party leader Reinhard Bütikofer said new questions regarding the proposed use of the plant in China had been raised recently. Quoting a Chinese engineer involved in the project, German daily Frankfurter Rundschau had reported that China wants to use the plant to produce fuel rods for nuclear plants that produce weapon grade plutonium. [A room inside the plant.] "That would definitely cross the line," Bütikofer told Kurier am Sonntag in Bremen. "That would mean that we couldn’t legally approve the sale." According to Der Spiegel, the sale fell through after German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer (Greens) warned Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) that a sale would not be tolerated by Green party members and would provoke a crisis for the coalition. Opposition members criticized the move as a "catastrophic mistake" that resulted from the need to give in to the interests of Green party members. "The chancellor's word obviously doesn't count for much any more," said Wolfgang Gerhardt, the parliamentary leader of the liberal Free Democrats. Schröder had voiced his support for the sale during a visit to China last December. The application for the sale of the dismantled plant near Frankfurt by Siemens is currently being checked by the foreign ministry. As a consolation prize for the lost sale, which would bring Siemens around €50 million ($61 million), Schröder allegedly introduced Siemens to a consortium of companies that is setting up a truck toll system for Germany, Der Spiegel reported. Siemens is scheduled to supply the oftware for the troubled project. A government spokesman denied any connection between the two matters. DW staff (win) ***************************************************************** 26 Seattle Times: 'Whoops' no more: Energy Northwest gets major boost in credit rating Saturday, March 20, 2004 - Page updated at 12:35 A.M. By William Selway Bloomberg News SAN FRANCISCO — Energy Northwest, which had the biggest U.S. municipal-bond default in 1983 when it was known as the Washington Public Power Supply System, received a top Aaa credit rating from Moody's Investors Service. The upgrade on $5.9 billion in debt caps a two-decade recovery for the power supplier, known as WPPSS and the nickname "Whoops" when it defaulted on $2.25 billion of revenue bonds sold for building nuclear-power plants. WPPSS became "synonymous with default," said David Thompson, who manages bond investments for Hale and Dorr Capital Management in Boston with $1.8 billion under management, who said he doesn't own the bonds now, though he profited from them in the late 1980s. "It's taken the market 10 years to forget it was 'Whoops.' " WPPSS, which changed its name to Energy Northwest in 1999, defaulted on bonds sold to build two nuclear-power plants after construction costs soared and the Washington state Supreme Court ruled that state utilities that backed the bonds couldn't be forced to make payments on the debt. The nuclear-power plants were seen as a way of coping with a projected power shortage as the economies of the Pacific Northwest expanded. Only one of the five power stations was completed. "The whole default caused a whole lot of litigation that took years and years to get through," said Gary Miller, a spokesman for Energy Northwest and the author of a 610-page history of the Washington power system. The Bonneville Power Authority, which sells power generated from federal dams in the Northwest, guaranteed that the payments on the other bonds would be met and no payments were ever missed. Those bonds had their ratings raised by Moody's yesterday, the credit-rating company said. Standard and Poor's and Fitch Ratings have Energy Northwest at AA-, their third-highest level. "We believe there is implicit support from the federal government," said Dan Aschenback, a Moody's analyst. The default still affects its bond price. Insured Energy Northwest bonds trade at higher yields than uninsured bonds with the same underlying rating. "The company has continued to be punished for its '83 default, which has nothing to do with paying back today's bonds," said Josh Gonze, a credit analyst with Thornburg Investment Management in Santa Fe, N.M., which has been increasing its holdings the last few years and now owns $30 million of the bonds in its $3 billion of municipal debt. That makes it one of the firm's five largest holdings. "In the municipal market, people have a long memory," he said. Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company ***************************************************************** 27 Bellona: Lifetime of Bilibino NPP extended for 15 years more This is the last extension and then the plant should be taken out of operation in 15 years, ITAR-TASS reported. 2004-03-19 18:01 According to Mikhail Chudakov who spoke with ITAR-TASS, Rosenergoatom concern will cover most of the expenses for the plant’s operation. In particular, about $20m is allocated for the safety of the plant and also for equipment replacement. $700 thousand has been allocated through the Russian Federal program ”Nuclear and radiation safety of Russia”. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 28 KSBY: State Attorney General supports lawsuit against Bush Administration [www.ksby.com] On Friday, State Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a brief in support of a lawsuit against the Bush Administration, which claims that the federal government has failed to address security risks at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The lawsuit filed by Mothers for Peace and the Sierra Club charges that the Bush Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have refused to hold hearings on terrorism risks posed by the proposed storage facility for radioactive waste at Diablo Canyon. Lockyer called the Bush Administration’s position on the terrorism risk, “ludicrous,” and added that it is “hazardous to the health of California residents and the environment.” Copyright © 2004 Local Solutions Network ***************************************************************** 29 AFP: Germany to stop sale of nuclear plant to China: report BERLIN (AFP) Mar 20, 2004 The German government is to stop the sale of a nuclear plant to China by the German giant Siemens even though the accord was approved by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a report said. According to a report to appear in Monday's weekly Der Speigel magazine, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who is the head of the Green Party in the ruling coalition, had warned Schroeder the Greens would not accept the sale. Schroeder had announced the controversial deal between Beijing and electronics giant Siemens during a trip to China in December. Beijing also offered guarantees that the facility would only be for civilian use, dismissing concerns the facility could be used to develop weapons. Spiegel said the decision to reject the sale had been made internally to avoid a crisis within the coalition between Schroeder's Social Democrats and its junior partner, the Greens. A German government spokesman however said "no decision has yet been taken" and that the government "was continuing to study the sale." The plutonium plant at Hanau, western Germany, was built by Siemens in 1991 but never went into production, although the technical equipment remains on site. It is estimated to be worth about 50 million euros today, although Siemens has never commented on the figure. China's nuclear power industry, although only providing a small percentage of its overall energy, is expected to be one of the world's fastest growing in the coming years. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 30 KRT Wire: Three Mile Island Officials Discuss Security Upgrades at Nuclear Plant | 03/21/2004 | By Garry Lenton, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 21 - Three Mile Island looks more like a prison than a power plant. From the guards toting semiautomatic weapons to the razor wire-topped fences that surround areas of the plant, the message is clear intruders are not welcome. Stop to ask directions at the front gate, and you will be photographed and interrogated, said Michael J. Bruecks, manager of security at TMI. "This is for potential intelligence down the road," he said. And that's the way it has to be, said federal regulators who have imposed tougher security standards on commercial nuclear plants since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The nuclear industry has spent more than $1 billion on security upgrades since that day. Industry critics have been calling for more stringent security at the plants since the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. But some critics said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's response was slow and did not push the industry far enough. "We lobbied for years to get some of these improvements in place, so we're happy that these have been done," said Scott Portzline, a Harrisburg resident who has studied plant security and testified before congressional committees. "But we still see huge gaps, which terrorists can fly right through." Exelon officials, sensitive to criticisms like Portzline's, recently reversed their policy of not talking about security upgrades at their plants. In recent months the company has allowed reporters onto Three Mile Island for tours. "We recognize that the public doesn't have an appreciation for security at the plant," said Hugh McNally, Exelon's manager of nuclear security for the mid-Atlantic region, which includes TMI, Peach Bottom and Limerick. He said the company saw a need to balance its desire to keep some programs secret with the need to instill confidence. "The public is rightfully concerned about what happens here," he said. But they should be assured as well, McNally said. "We're confident we are positioned to handle the threat." A successful terrorist attack on a commercial nuclear plant could cause a catastrophe on the scale of the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl plant in the Ukraine. The United Nations estimates the meltdown at Chernobyl killed 31 people and contributed to the deaths of nearly 8,000 more. Another 7 million were injured by the accident, and fallout contaminated 231,000 square miles, an area five times the size of Pennsylvania. Critics, including the investigative arm of the Congress, said some security weaknesses remain at nuclear plants. Those include: -- Mock attacks, known as force-on-force tests, conducted by the NRC are infrequent and not realistic. TMI has not had one since 1994. -- Federal law prohibits security guards from using automatic weapons, even though they are expected to face them in an attack. --Plants remain vulnerable to airplane attacks. And many plants, including TMI, are short distances from private and commercial airports where security measures may be limited. The General Accounting Office, the independent investigative arm of the Congress, last fall faulted the NRC with inadequately overseeing security at the plants. It said the agency does not adequately test security systems; minimizes security problems; and does not follow up inspections to determine if changes were made. NRC officials said the report did not note changes made since Sept. 11. Security at TMI, like all nuclear plants, is designed to prevent intruders from getting close enough to the nuclear reactor to cause a meltdown. The site, which has a checkered history of keeping out unauthorized visitors, has changed since Sept. 11, 2001. The guard force has been doubled (Exelon will not say how many guards it now has); weapons have been upgraded; guards are authorized to shoot to kill; and new fencing designed to slow down intruders surrounds the area of the plant where the vital buildings are located. The changes begin at the main gate, where two guards, sometimes augmented by National Guard troops and state police, stop all vehicles. Guards identify the occupants and the purpose of the visit before allowing the vehicle to cross the bridge onto the island. Employees undergo this check every time they go to work. And, as a precaution against truck bombs, their parking is limited to an area hundreds of yards from the nearest building. Visitors who need to go farther onto the island must stop at a second checkpoint for a more thorough search. Here, about 200 yards from the nearest building, a barricade designed to crush the engine of vehicles that attempt to crash through blocks the way. Two more guards require the driver and passengers to get out of the vehicle, which is searched. The guards check the undercarriage for bombs. They swipe door handles, the steering wheel and glove compartment with a piece of material that is checked for explosive residue. If the test reads positive twice, the vehicle is denied entrance. "This past summer we had … stone being delivered here in dump trucks that had been recently blasted in a quarry," Bruecks said. "The trucks tested positive for nitro … so he never got past here." The protected area of the plant is surrounded by two chain-link fences about 15 feet tall and spaced about 15 to 20 feet apart. Between them are coils of razor wire. The fences were designed by CompuDyne, a security firm that has installed fencing and sensors around the Kennedy Space Center, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and more than 200 U.S. Air Force bases. The purpose of the fence is to slow intruders, said Roy Lane, director of nuclear security for all of Exelon's plants. The fence is also equipped with sensors that trigger alarms. Exelon officials would not disclose details about the fence's capabilities, but the manufacturer's Web site describes the fences' thermal sensors, which are capable of differentiating between an animal or human. Workers entering the plant must pass through a sniffer that detects explosives and a metal detector, then they have their bags scanned by an X- ray machine. Once through all that, they swipe their identification card in a machine and have their hand print scanned by a computer. All of this is overseen by two armed guards, one of whom is hidden in a fortified booth with the ability to lock down the entrance. "[The employee] has been searched for weapons. He's been searched for explosives. He's been verified to be the owner of the badge by hand geometry," McNally said. Most of the island, including the river, are monitored by video cameras. In addition to the physical barriers, the security force, provided under contract by Wackenhut Security, passes 270 hours of training to qualify, Bruecks said. They undergo 90 hours of training a year, including 30 hours of antiterrorism training, he said. Portzline, who serves as a consultant on security issues to anti-nuclear group Three Mile Island Alert, said the industry needs to do more to protect itself from truck bombs. The checkpoint on TMI is still too close to the reactor, he said. "A large truck bomb … can send a shock wave through the ground that can overcome the earthquake measures" built into the plant, he said. The shock can dislodge pipes and other equipment that could cause the operators to lose control of the plant, he said. "We think TMI should have vehicles checked for bombs before they cross the bridge," Portzline said. Setback distances for truck bombs are set by the NRC, McNally said. "Controls have been implemented at TMI to prevent a vehicle capable of carrying the bomb beyond the safe stand-off distance without an explosive search by security," he said. Though the NRC has not done mock attacks at TMI for years, Exelon does perform them in-house, he said. The agency also conducts computer simulation attacks frequently, known as table-top exercises. Exelon hired Global Security Consultants, a Florida firm, to test security measures, Lane said. Global was chosen because many of its employees are former special operations veterans whose work in the military involved designing assaults on industrial facilities. Though state law prohibits guards from using machine guns, company officials said they would not use them anyway. "Automatic fire is not a good defensive weapon," Lane said. ----- To see more of The Patriot-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to . © 2004, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. FALCK, EXC, ***************************************************************** 31 KRT Wire: Harrisburg, Pa.-Area Experts Discuss Preparedness for Nuclear Emergency | 03/21/2004 | By John Luciew, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 21 - Midstate residents could find themselves on a road to nowhere if they ever had to evacuate due to an emergency at Three Mile Island. Despite 25 years of emergency planning, experts said there's just no accounting for variables such as weather, timing and human nature. "There are an unimaginable number of variables," said David M. Sanko, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. In 1979, there only had to be evacuation plans for people who worked at the plant. Many of the lessons learned from the crisis help set standards for emergency planning across the country. These days, the five counties and numerous municipalities that fall inside TMI's 10-mile evacuation radius have emergency plans in place and are updating them constantly and conducting drills every two years. But there is no dress rehearsal for an all-out evacuation. Critics said it's impossible to plan for all the contingencies. And there's no accounting for human nature. "We should assume we have to evacuate on a snowy Friday evening before homecoming at Penn State," said Eric Epstein, chairman of the watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert and coordinator of the EFMR Monitoring Group, which checks for radiation around the plant. "One of the things we don't take into account is that this is a tourist hub," he said. "You capture tourists, hunters, Penn State fans." Or what about the fall ritual of high school football? "Friday nights in the fall, there are 50 high school football games going on," Epstein said. Or the weather. "You don't know which way the wind is going to blow," Epstein said. "What if the event is caused by a flood. Then, all the evacuation plans become moot. You're not crossing any bridges. We're all sitting ducks." Officially, an evacuation of the 10-mile zone is estimated to take anywhere from 9 1/2 to 13 hours, depending on the day of the week, according to figures provided by Dauphin County Emergency Management. What would unfold in a real emergency is anybody's guess. Several veteran public officials who have spent careers pondering the problems said they are less than optimistic about the outcome of an evacuation. "It would be bedlam," said state Sen. Bruce Smith, R-Dillsburg. "More people would evacuate than the highways could carry." It is no coincidence Smith moved to Dillsburg from Newberry Twp. shortly after TMI Unit I restarted in 1985. He said his wife could no longer tolerate life in the shadows of the cooling towers. "As an optimist, I would hope that it would be more orderly," he said of any future emergency. "I would hope that it would be handled much better. The reality is, there still will be problems. People won't follow directions. They'll want to go in different directions. So many facts are pessimistic." Mayor Stephen R. Reed predicted the worst traffic jam ever. "For hours on end, there would be a gridlock unlike anything ever seen in southcentral Pennsylvania," he said. Part of the reason, according to many critics, is most people would try to make two movements. They'd drive from work to home to rescue a pet, collect valuables or pick up their children from school. Then, they'd evacuate. Another reason is that a mass evacuation would not stop at the 10-mile radius defined in the emergency plans and listed in every midstate telephone directory, along with other emergency instructions. "You would have a mass exodus," Reed said. "It is absolutely foolish to think people are going to stop evacuating at the 10-mile radius." According to census figures, the 10-mile radius takes in about 202,000 people. The actual figure of how many would need to leave fluctuates depending on whether it is a workday or a weekend. The larger metropolitan area surrounding the zone swells to more than 600,000 people. But all of the evacuation plans focus on the core. "Our plans are specifically for the 10-mile radius," said Chris Fisher, assistant manager of hazardous materials for Dauphin County emergency management. The perimeter is set by the NRC, but critics said it fails to account for the way radiation can be carried by the wind, and the way people react to an unseen threat. "The government assumes there's an invisible lead curtain 10 miles from a nuclear power plant," Epstein scoffed. People, however, vote with their feet. In 1979, the malfunction happened at 4 a.m. on March 28. It wasn't until two days later that Gov. Dick Thornburgh advised pregnant women and children under 5 who were within 5 miles of the plant to leave. A general evacuation was never called. Despite this, residents living as far as 50 miles away left their homes. And the communities nearest the plant became virtual ghost towns. The target population of Thornburgh's evacuation was estimated at less than 5,000 people. In reality, about 200,000 people evacuated. "People were running from what they couldn't see," Epstein said. "It was a form of psychological terrorism." Critics said the current plans come up short in other ways, too. Day care and nursery schools are excluded from the planning, a situation that has prompted corrective bills in the Legislature. Others pointed out that the plans don't take into account dealing with the area's Amish and Mennonite populations, people who would be reluctant to leave their homes, farms and animals. Emergency management officials said many people would bypass the designated mass shelters for their own safe havens. It is estimated that only 20 percent of those evacuated would stay in mass-care shelters, where there are few amenities and no pets are allowed. "People are going to go where they feel safe and secure," said Greg Kline, acting emergency management director for Dauphin County. "If you had the choice of going to a gym with a cot and 100 other people or going to your cabin up in the mountains, what would you do?" An emergency at TMI would start with the wail of sirens, now placed around the 5-mile radius of the plant. Emergency management officials would go on radio and television with information and instructions. Schools, hospitals and public officials would break out their emergency plans. Mass shelters would take shape at designated locations. If an evacuation were ordered by the governor, police and emergency workers would secure escape routes and direct traffic. Major highways would be turned into one-way roads to speed exit routes. Schools would evacuate to designated shelters. Parents would be urged not to flock to schools to pick up their children but rather meet them at predetermined shelter locations. But Epstein and others said they see a lot of assumptions. First, emergency officials are banking on some warning between the time of a plant malfunction and any release of radioactivity, they said. They would need that time to put their plans into motion and begin preparing for an evacuation, if necessary. But there may not be a lot of warning and little outward sign that something is wrong, critics said. "You can see a hurricane," Smith said. "You can understand a fuel spill. You can smell gas. Radiation is something you can't see, you can't taste, you can't smell." In addition, all of the plans are predicated on emergency workers showing up for duty and on people like teachers, bus drivers and even parents following instructions, rather than acting on instinct, critics said. "There is no guarantee that teachers will stay behind with the school children," Epstein said. "There's no guarantee that school bus drivers will respond to duty." After all, they have families, too. The instinct to go to their own children or flee to safety may be too strong, he said. Likewise, parental instincts could cause many others to disregard official instructions and go directly to the schools instead. On a brighter note, both Smith and Dauphin County officials said they were impressed with the number of emergency workers and municipal officials many of them volunteers who stayed behind to work the 1979 disaster. They said they're confident that history would repeat itself in any future crisis. Also, the community is more knowledgeable; the company is more cooperative; and reliable information is more readily available than it was in 1979, officials said. "The biggest difference is the way we communicate with the facility," said Sanko. "If someone falls down and breaks their ankle and an ambulance is called there, we know about it. We have a phone line directly into the control room." But there's an added dimension that didn't exist much 25 years ago: the threat of terrorism. "TMI remains vulnerable to air, land and water strikes," Epstein said. "Now, terrorism is the more likely scenario. We are a marquee target." But others said the risks must be put into perspective. "When I get up in the morning, it's not the first thing that I worry about," Kline said of another TMI emergency. "It is a risk you take living in the area. But what are the odds?" ----- To see more of The Patriot-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to . © 2004, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. ***************************************************************** 32 SF Chronicle: Lockyer seeks report on risk of terrorism at Diablo Canyon Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, March 20, 2004 California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and his counterparts in three other states accused the Bush administration Friday of brushing off the danger of a terrorist attack on stored nuclear waste at Diablo Canyon and asked a federal appeals court to order an environmental review. A similar complaint had been filed earlier by the Sierra Club and the anti-nuclear group San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace. They challenged the refusal of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to hold hearings or conduct a study of the environmental consequences of an attack on a proposed facility to store high-level radioactive waste in casks at the nuclear plant on the San Luis Obispo County coast. The NRC's position -- that the possibility of a terrorist attack at the site is too remote to justify a study -- is "ludicrous, contrary to the president's public statements and hazardous to the health of California's residents and environment,'' Lockyer said. His brief to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on behalf of California was joined by the states of Washington, Utah and Massachusetts, which said they might face similar circumstances in the future. They asked the court to order the NRC to examine how Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the plant operator, could reduce the possibility of a successful terrorist attack and to study the health and environmental effects of an attack. One prominent scientist, Frank Van Hippel of Princeton University, co- author of a study on the topic, said last year that an attack on stored waste at Diablo Canyon could release deadly clouds that would force long-term evacuation of an area the size of New Jersey. NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said, "We have confidence in (PG's) ability to protect the site.'' The NRC said in 2002 that tests showed the existing waste storage facility at Diablo Canyon would survive a crash by a Boeing 767 at 500 mph. The new structure is being proposed because the current facility will run out of room in three years. Lockyer's filing cited President Bush's statement in his 2002 State of the Union speech that U.S. intelligence agencies had found diagrams of nuclear plants at al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan. The brief quoted other administration warnings, including a May 2002 Department of Homeland Security advisory that al Qaeda had been looking at nuclear facilities as targets; a March 2003 statement by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham that terrorists may have targeted the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona; and a January 2004 Homeland Security request that Pennsylvania maintain heightened security at five nuclear plants. "These statements indicate that at a minimum it is inevitable that a terrorist attack will be attempted against at least one American nuclear facility,'' the attorney general's brief said. E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com. ©2004 San Francisco Chronicle ***************************************************************** 33 ITAR-TASS: Russia ready to help Ukraine extend n-plants’ life-cycle [ITAR-TASS News Agency of Russia] 20.03.2004, 04.10 KIEV, March 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia is prepared to participate in Ukraine’s efforts to extend the life cycle of its nuclear power plants, the general director of Russia’s nuclear power concern Rosenergoatom, Oleg Sarayev said on Friday - the third, last day of his visit to Ukraine. “We are fully open to discussing this theme and I am certain there is joint work in store for us,” he said. Sarayev said Rosenergoatom had already extended the operation of two 440-megawatt VVER water-moderated reactors, one at the Novovoronezh nuclear plant, and the other at the Kola nuclear plant. Such work is nearing completion at the first RBMK-type graphite-moderated reactor at the Leningrad nuclear power plant. “This work may well develop into a new line of business,” the Rosenergoatom chief said. “Already now there is a great deal we can share.” He remarked, though, that Russia and Ukraine had not entered the commercial phase of their cooperation yet. Ukraine’s nuclear power plants operate a total of thirteen reactors, including two 440-megawatt VVER reactors and eleven 1,000 megawatt VVER reactors. The service life of the oldest VVER-440 reactors at the Rovno nuclear plant will expire in 2010-2011, and of the first VVER-1000 unit of the South Ukraine nuclear plant, in 2012. The costs of extending a reactor’s life cycle by 10-15 years constitute a mere one-tenth of the cost of building a new reactor. According to various estimates Ukraine may need 2.5-4 billion dollars to upgrade all of its nuclear power units. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 34 Business Centre: Power producers await clear message from Ontario on nuclear future - canada.com network STEVE ERWIN Canadian Press Sunday, March 21, 2004 TORONTO (CP) - A potential nuclear surge in Ontario's electricity market is attracting interest from companies that deal in the controversial power source - as long as regulatory policies are clear and consistent. Their interest was heightened by a report last week from a panel led by former deputy prime minister John Manley recommending that Ontario look to nuclear power to cope with a power shortage that looms as early as 2007. "We see quite a role for Cameco there," said Jerry Grandey, president and CEO of Saskatoon-based uranium miner Cameco Corp., which already owns almost one-third of the province's Bruce Power nuclear complex on the shore of Lake Huron. The Manley report recommends the province consider private-sector involvement in financing new nuclear power stations through joint ventures, partnerships and long-term leases. At the same time, Manley urged the government to end years of political interference at Ontario Power Generation, the former Ontario Hydro utility that generates more than 70 per cent of Ontario's electricity, much of that from nuclear stations. Years of costly mismanagement have ravaged OPG's finances. Government estimates suggest it could cost $40 billion to fix OPG and revamp the province's electricity sector. Grandey suggested groups of corporations will build next-generation nuclear plants. "In the future it will be that - it will be people who are the designers and constructors of these plants and ultimately the users - who will form consortiums and proceed with the construction." Environmental groups insist nuclear power is too expensive, with or without private-sector financing. Add in volatile electricity prices that have angered voters and skewed policies, and there's no shortage of political heat being generated. "The danger here is that the public sector gets the risk and the private sector gets a risk-free return or substantially risk-reduced return," said Tom Adams, executive director of industry watchdog Energy Probe. While some public-private partnerships in the electricity sector have worked, "my concern is that there's a very substantial danger, based on the track record, that the public will get hosed," Adams said. Companies will wait until the province lays out its policies before they put their money on the table, said Genevieve Lavallee, a utility analyst at Dominion Bond Rating Service. Issues include whether the government will go ahead with the revamp of Unit 1 at the Pickering A nuclear station, and then proceed with fixing Units 2 and 3. Lavallee doubts any company will be interested in getting involved in Pickering, and suggests OPG should continue to manage that project. Before they invest elsewhere, companies will want to be sure that Ontario's coal plants will close in 2007, as the Liberal government has promised. If they don't, fewer new generating stations will be needed. "Establish the right conditions and they will come," Lavallee said. "That's basically what it comes down to." "If you want private-sector involvement, give them the tools, give them the rates of return required for them to invest and I'm sure you'll have lots of people ready to invest." Grandey says the industry needs political consistency. "You can't have a major capital investment move forward with regulatory unpredictability," he said. "Because it takes you years to make the decision and license and then build, you want to make sure that a change of government isn't going to derail your project." Other Canadian energy players, including Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., agree that consistent policies are needed before corporations can commit themselves to investing in the power grid. "We believe that Ontario will benefit from a power market that offers stability for those investing in that market," said Hejdi Feick, a spokeswoman for TransCanada, which has been an "active participant" in the Ontario power market for over 10 years, including a stake in Bruce. Tim Richter, a spokesman for Calgary-based TransAlta, one of Canada's biggest private power producers, said the company is taking a wait-and-see approach. "Ontario is not going to be able to build this much power . . . without the private sector," he said. "They need it, we build it, and we're keeping a close eye on things." © Copyright 2004 The Canadian Press ***************************************************************** 35 [DU-WATCH] Parliamentary questions on du Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 13:02:07 -0600 (CST) Parliamentary questions Gulf War Illness Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 23 February 2004, Official Report, columns 1112W, to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Flook), on Gulf War illness, if he will publish a description of the monitoring tests for depleted uranium to which he refers. [158259] Mr. Caplin: The tests involve chemical processing of urine samples and analysis using inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry. This reveals both the total concentration of uranium in the urine and the relative amounts of its two principal isotopes, 238U and 235U. The Depleted Uranium Oversight Board has judged that, taking into account experimental uncertainty, a 238U/235U ratio of 142 or higher indicates the presence of depleted uranium. A pilot exercise will soon be underway to evaluate the logistic arrangements for the testing process and to establish whether urine samples collected over a 24-hour period or single ("spot") samples are more appropriate. If reliable results can be obtained from spot samples, they will be used for the main testing programme as they are more convenient for the donor ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 36 [DU-WATCH] watch the presentations from DU conference Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 13:02:32 -0600 (CST) Film footage of speakers from the Uranium weapons conference in Hamburg last October is now available watch online from teh trapock peace centre. go to: http://traprockpeace.org/depleted_uranium_hamburg03.html ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 37 [DU-WATCH] DoD lies about Iraq and DU again Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 00:31:05 -0600 (CST) http://www.traprockpeace.org/kilpatrick_who_iraq.html Another US Department of Defense Lie about Iraq Lie: That Iraq would not cooperate with WHO study of DU health effects before Gulf War II Truth: Iraq invited WHO study; US lobbied hard against it and prevailed in quashing it at the UN In the discussion at the Mar 6 conference, Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, US Department of Defense, stated that WHO wanted to go to Iraq to study depleted uranium effects on the Iraqi population, but Iraq would not allow them in. This is false. Iraq invited/requested WHO to study effects of DU on the Iraqi population and in August 2001 a WHO team was sent to Iraq. In November the UN General Assembly voted to stop the WHO study in Iraq - I'm not sure who introduced this measure into the General Assembly, but the US lobbied very hard to prevent the WHO from doing this study. The vote was 45 for WHO to continue, 54 to stop the WHO study and 45 abstentions. The US seems to have coerced a lot of countries, which resulted in this unusual number of abstentions. [photo of Michael Kilpatrick ) 2004 Charlie Jenks] Prof. Glen D. Lawrence Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Long Island University Hear Dr. Kilpatrick's false claim at http://www.traprockpeace.org/kilpatrick_who_iraq.html For an account of the UN quashing the WHO study, see http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2001/msg01051.html 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 [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 38 Haaretz: Nuclear workers petition High Court in cancer claim battle News Updates Mon., March 22, 2004 Adar 29, 5764 Israel By , Haaretz Correspondent Some 17 nuclear reactor workers, along with families of workers who died of cancer, Sunday petitioned the High Court of Justice in the latest in a series of steps in a compensation battle against the state. The petitioners - workers from the nuclear reactor in Dimona and the Nahal Sorek nuclear research facility - claim the state is using every possible "trick" to derail justifiable legal attempts to attain compensations due to illnesses incurred because of work at the nuclear installations. All compensation claims that have been submitted, says attorney Ilan Kanner, who is representing the petitioners, "relate to cancer diseases incurred by workers at the nuclear facility as a result of their exposure to radioactive materials on the job." The petitioners object to the state's use of statute of limitations arguments in its attempts to dismiss the compensation claims. Kanner said Sunday that in civil cases the state does not generally bring up statute of limitations arguments - it only does so with the approval of the government attorney general. "The state hasn't missed a single opportunity to bring up statute of limitations arguments," the attorney protested. "As a defendant, the state should try to help the petitioners and the court attain the truth, so that justice is served." Legal proceedings regarding the nuclear facility compensation claims are being held in the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv district courts; and appeals are also pending in the Supreme Court. In the Jerusalem District Court proceeding, the state agreed to refer compensation claims of 37 workers from the Dimona plan to arbitration, even though a panel of experts appointed by the court found that no causal link between work and cancer can be found in 31 of the cases. © Copyright Haaretz. All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 39 The Sun News: Uranium-free taps strap residents | 03/20/2004 | GREENVILLE WATER SYSTEM Expenses for new lines too much for some The Associated Press SIMPSONVILLE - Homeowners suffering from years of worry about uranium in their well water have relief only a few feet away in their front yards, but they're having a hard time paying for it. Greenville Water System's new water line runs through Wasson Way residents' yards, but they have to pay a $1,285 tap fee to hook into it. Plumbing costs can push the bill up to $2,500. "They don't let you make payments," said Luz Liriano, 45. "Not everybody has that money upfront." Her husband borrowed from his mother to cover the connection costs. "There are a lot of families along this road who can't pay," Liriano said. "They need to make it affordable for the people." But residents have known the standard fee for tapping into the system for nearly two years, said Lyn Stovall, general manager of the Greenville Water System. New lines came after the discovery of naturally occurring uranium in Upstate wells three years ago. Tests of more than 1,000 private wells, mostly in the Upstate, found 80 wells with uranium levels higher than the maximum federal contaminant level. The radioactive element can cause kidney damage but is not known to cause cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Drinking the water is discouraged, though bathing is safe in a well-ventilated bathroom, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Radioactive radon gas also was found in many water samples at as much as 90 times safe levels. "The knowledge that those lines were going to be there has been known for, what, two years?" he said. The tap costs are "low enough that over the past two years, it would be reasonable to put that together." Next door to Liriano, Robin Schafrick's husband has been working overtime for a year to save money for the connections while they continue to drink bottled water and gather water from a friend's home. "It's ridiculous," Schafrick said. MyrtleBeachOnline.com ***************************************************************** 40 The Ultimate Dirty Bomb: Al Qaeda Targetting N-Waste Shipments Headed To Yucca Mt. Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 00:55:04 -0500 The shipments are going across 43, 44 or 45 states depending upon whom you read and Wash., D.C. Picture the detonations that took place in Spain on trains filled with high level nuclear waste- especially timed to explode [the ultimate dirty bomb] as they go through cities. If you were Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group dosen't this sound like heaven? >Al Qaeda has looked at derailing trains, perhaps >carrying hazardous materials, to attack U.S. >interests, he said. >Nuclear power plants, water treatment facilities, >and other public utilities are high on al Qaeda's >target list, he said. http://www.nytimes.com http://snipurl.com/4kfb http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-security-qaeda.html U.S. Intelligence Official: Qaeda Posed Plane Threat By REUTERS Published: February 17, 2004 Filed at 3:26 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has deployed operatives to hijack planes and fly them into targets in an echo of the Sept. 11 attacks and is looking at derailing trains possibly carrying hazardous material, according to a top U.S. intelligence official. Robert Hutchings, chairman of the National Intelligence Council which reports to the CIA director, did not give details of the plots but provided the most recent public outline from an intelligence official of the al Qaeda threat. The network, blamed for the Sept 11, 2001, attacks that killed 3,000 people, seeks targets that would strike a blow to the U.S. economy, Hutchings said in a Jan. 14 speech to the International Security Management Association in Arizona, the text of which was posted on Feb. 4 on the NIC's Web site. ``Soft targets, including the U.S. stock market, banks, major companies, and tall buildings are a primary focus of active al Qaeda planning,'' he said. Those targets are seen as easier to hit than U.S. government buildings and major infrastructure, which have higher security, Hutchings said. Al Qaeda has looked at derailing trains, perhaps carrying hazardous materials, to attack U.S. interests, he said. Nuclear power plants, water treatment facilities, and other public utilities are high on al Qaeda's target list, he said. The U.S. government is concerned that al Qaeda will try to take its ability to build truck bombs as demonstrated by past attacks in Kenya, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, and marry it with toxic or radioactive material to increase the damage and psychological impact of an attack, Hutchings said. ``My biggest worry, however, is how far al Qaeda might have progressed in being able to deploy a chemical, nuclear, or biological weapon against the United States or its allies,'' he said. U.S. authorities have found several examples of al Qaeda adjusting its tactics to circumvent increased airline security, Hutchings said, without providing details. ``Although we have disrupted several airline plots, we have not eliminated the threat to airplanes,'' he said. ``There are still al Qaeda operatives who we believe have been deployed to hijack planes and fly them into key targets.'' The United States has beefed up security at airports and on airlines. There were a spate of flight cancellations since late December because of potential threats. U.S. authorities have succeeded in disrupting the network, Hutchings said. ``We have disrupted scores of plots at home and abroad -- plots that were audacious in terms of the numbers of attacks under consideration and their global scope,'' he said. ***************************************************************** 41 The Sun: Macca Mull 'to be dump' Sir Paul ... adores haven By CAROLINE IGGULDEN A NUCLEAR waste dump may be built alongside Sir Paul McCartney’s Scottish hideaway. Military chiefs want to store radioactive submarine material on a former RAF base just five miles away from his Mull of Kintyre estate. It will also overshadow a memorial garden and statue dedicated to the rock star’s late wife Linda in Campbeltown. The plan is to bury waste containers the size of two double-decker buses on the base, where Sir Paul lands his private plane. The 61-year-old environmental campaigner is abroad and believed to be unaware of the threat to his 600-acre estate. But locals are outraged. Nancie Smith, of the Campbeltown Community Council, branded the dump a “death sentence” on the fragile economy. Local Lib-Dem MP Alan Reid said it would deter tourists and prospective businesses. Sir Paul, who bought the west coast plot in the 1970s, says: “I love it. I can breathe up there.” His 1977 song Mull of Kintyre is one of the biggest selling singles of all time. The base is on a shortlist after the MoD looked at 107 possible sites. © 2004 News Group Newspapers Ltd. "The Sun", "Sun", and "Sun Online" ***************************************************************** 42 Salt Lake Tribune: Bramble should go March 21, 2004 Remarks by Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, before a meeting of Envirocare employees and supporters on March 5 calls into task force studying waste issues. The head of a legislative task force that has been charged with the duty to study the regulation of radioactive waste in Utah has no business attending a political organizing meeting designed to influence the political process in favor of Envirocare, the corporation involved in storing such waste in Utah. For Sen. Bramble to attend such a meeting shows his lack of impartiality as well as a complete disregard for the protection of the public's interest in matters of public health. To believe that he can conduct these hearings in a neutral manner, seeking knowledge from experts to permit the task force to come to an informed conclusion, is comparable to believing in the tooth fairy, but not as benign. This is a serious matter, and anyone who attended the task force's public hearings last year will recall Sen. Bramble's lack of fair treatment of those who came to comment. Sen. Bramble should do the right thing and resign from the task force immediately. If he does not, the Senate leadership should replace him and restore public confidence in the process of inquiry. Jill Sheinberg Park City "> Copyright Salt Lake City Tribune ***************************************************************** 43 Salt Lake Tribune: NAC refuses to run questionable obit March 20, 2004 By Christopher Smart The Salt Lake Tribune The advertising arm of The Salt Lake Tribune has refused to print an obituary submitted by a Tooele native's widow because, she said, Newspaper Agency Corp. brass found it too controversial. Bonnie Adamsson-Vorwaller said she submitted an obituary for her husband, Alan Vorwaller, 42, on March 6 but was not informed until March 12 that NAC executives found it unacceptable. The obituary said that Alan Vorwaller died from "exposure to nuclear, biological and chemical weapons tests." She said NAC ad executives wanted to insert the word "suspected" in front of "exposure." But Adamsson-Vorwaller balked. "In a classified ad, you're governed by the rules of advertising, not the rules of journalism," Adamsson-Vorwaller said. "In an ad you wouldn't say, 'I suspect I have the best cars in town.' " A spokeswoman for NAC, which handles printing, circulation and advertising for The Tribune and the Deseret Morning News, said company policy forbids commenting on the purchase or potential purchase of advertising. "I can't discuss an ad," Jeannine Duvall, director of classified advertising, said Friday. Adamsson-Vorwaller offered a compromise to NAC: "His physicians attribute his condition to exposure" to nuclear, biological and chemicals weapons testing. "But NAC said they could not accept it," she said. "This is totally bizarre to me." The Tooele Transcript Bulletin earlier had refused to run the obituary. In a March 4 Tribune story, Adamsson-Vorwaller said she saw that as a conspiracy of silence by those sensitive to Tooele County's reputation as a test area. Clayton Dunn, the Transcript Bulletin's associate publisher, denied the allegation, saying claims made in the obituary could not be substantiated. Provo's Daily Herald did print Vorwaller's obituary as submitted. "> Copyright Salt Lake City Tribune ***************************************************************** 44 UKAEA: Destruction of liquid metal is milestone in decommissioning Dounreay 17th March 2004 Ref: 2004/014 Contact: Colin Punler, 01847 806080 The largest plant in the world for the destruction of liquid metal has commenced full operation at Dounreay. Built at a cost of £17 million, the plant converts sodium from the decommissioning of the coolant circuits of the Prototype Fast Reactor to salt water that can be discharged safely to sea. Following the success of its active commissioning phase, during which it destroyed 280 tonnes of sodium, consent has now been obtained from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate of the Health and Safety Executive to begin destroying the remainder of the 1500 tonnes of liquid metal at the reactor. Dounreay director Norman Harrison said: This is another milestone in the delivery of the Dounreay Site Restoration Plan and I am delighted for the team of UKAEA and contractor staff who have worked so hard to get the plant to this stage. The decommissioning of the site is prioritised towards dealing with the major hazards, and the commencement of full operations at PFR is a major step towards the elimination of one of these hazards. The fast reactors developed at Dounreay were unique in the UK for their use of liquid metals to transfer the heat from the core to steam generators to produce electricity. A number of other countries, including the USA, France, Russia, Japan and Kazakhstan, also experimented with liquid metal coolant systems and the success of the decommissioning programme at Dounreay is being monitored closely in these countries as they prepare to meet their own clean-up challenges. Situated in the former turbine hall at PFR, the sodium disposal plant reacts small quantities of sodium with large quantities of aqueous sodium hydroxide which, following neutralisation with hydrochloric acid, produces salt water. The salt water passes through an ion exchange column to clean up any radioactivity before it is discharged to sea in accordance with the sites waste disposal authorisation. Len Mason, PFR facility manager, said: The success of the team in solving teething problems during the active commissioning phase is a credit to the local and national decommissioning companies involved in this project. RWE Nukem and NNC have worked closely with JGC Engineering and Technical Services and Nicolsons Engineering under the supervision of UKAEA to deliver a major project that can enhance the growing world-wide reputation of the commercial decommissioning sector in Caithness and north Sutherland. Safely processing the bulk liquid metal and cleaning of the residues will enable us to get on with the more conventional aspects of demolishing the reactor and its ancillary systems. The successful blend of local and national expertise in decommissioning the coolant augurs well for being able to accelerate the overall timescale for decommissioning of the reactor. Ends Notes to Editors: 1. Dounreay was Britains centre of fast reactor research and development from 1955 until 1994. The 250MW Prototype Fast Reactor operated from 1974 until 1994. 2. A gratis colour photograph of the handover of the sodium disposal plant from the project team to UKAEA is available on request from UKAEA. To request transmission, please contact Pauline Maclean on 01847 803002. 3. The Dounreay Site Restoration Plan was published by UKAEA in October 2000 and describes approximately 1500 projects required to decommission and restore the environment of the site at a cost in the region of £4 billion. 4. UKAEA is spending £140-150 million a year to decommission Dounreay, of which approximately £100 million a year is let in contracts. Decommissioning Dounreay is worth an estimated £80 million a year to the economy of the Highlands in general and Caithness and north Sutherland in particular. 5. For more information, please contact Colin Punler, Communications Manager, Dounreay on 01847 806080 or 0776 4164812. Outwith normal office hours (0800-1615hrs) telephone 01847 802121 and ask for the Duty Press Officer Copyright© UKAEA 2003 ***************************************************************** 45 Mainichi Interactive: Fukui gives go ahead to controversial nuclear project FUKUI -- The Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) is set to begin a controversial project using recycled nuclear fuel after a local government gave its approval on Saturday. The Fukui Prefectural Government first decided to introduce the "pluthermal" project, which uses plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel (MOX), at a KEPCO nuclear power plant in 1999. But the local government scrapped the plan following a revelation in September 1999 that British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL) falsified data on MOX supplies to the Osaka-based power company. Some four years after the trouble, Fukui Gov. Kazumi Nishikawa told KEPCO President Yosaku Hara on Saturday that the prefecture would now approve the pluthermal project at the company's Takahama nuclear plant. "We hope that the falsification of data will never take place again," Gov. Nishikawa told the KEPCO president. Fukui officials said they decided to accept the project after KEPCO showed them detailed preventive measures to avoid any trouble. KEPCO officials said that they would shortly make a contract with a European company for the purchase of MOX fuel in the hope that they will start using it at the Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture in fiscal 2007. Anti-nuclear activist groups in Fukui and the Kansai area in western Japan immediately denounced the decision. "We strongly protest against the decision that was made despite the opposition of many people," one of the statements said. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) had also planned to begin a pluthermal project at its plants in Fukushima and Niigata prefectures. But both Fukushima and Niigata prefectural governments withdrew their approval after the cover-up of cracks at TEPCO nuclear power plants came to light in August 2002. (Mainichi and wire stories, Japan, March 20, 2004) © 2003 The Mainichi Newspapers Co. ***************************************************************** 46 Daily Yomiuri: KEPCO gets OK to use MOX fuel in N-plants Yomiuri Shimbun Kansai Electric Power Co. was given the final go-ahead by the Fukui prefectural government Saturday to restart the stalled pluthermal program under which plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel will be used in two nuclear reactors in Takahamacho in the prefecture. The MOX fuel is a blend of uranium with plutonium chemically extracted from spent nuclear fuel. In a meeting with KEPCO President Yosaku Fuji at the prefectural government building, Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa formally told Fuji the prefecture would permit the firm to order MOX fuel from overseas suppliers. Following the consent, KEPCO intends to sign a contract for supply of the fuel as early as this month, with MOX to go into use for the first time in the country in 2007 at the No. 3 and No. 4. reactors at the Takahama plant. The pluthermal plan is part of Japan's national energy policy, but has stalled since 1999, when British Nuclear Fuels PLC was found to have doctored inspection data on MOX fuel it produced for KEPCO. The prefectural government decided to give KEPCO the green light to restart the pluthermal power program after examining measures to be taken by the company to prevent any future falsification of data. The prefectural government also confirmed the intention of the Takahamacho municipal government to approve the project before giving the go-ahead. During their meeting, Nishikawa asked Fuji to keep the prefectural government and the central government informed as the program passed key milestones. KEPCO will notify the authorities when it signs a reprocessing contract with a supplier and will ask the central government to inspect all MOX fuel delivered. "Safety will be our top priority during procurement of the fuel and throughout the project," Fuji responded. Elsewhere in the country, Tokyo Electric Power Co. had previously obtained approval from the Fukushima and Niigata prefectural governments to start its pluthermal plans, but the plan was put on hold after revelations in 2002 that the nation's largest power company covered up problems with its reactors. Copyright 2004 The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 47 Las Vegas RJ: Congress to hear appeal to free Yucca money Saturday, March 20, 2004 Energy officials want access to $20.4 billion collected from utilities for nuclear waste storage By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Energy Department officials will make their case in Congress on Thursday for help in easing financial pressures on the Yucca Mountain Project. The House energy and air quality subcommittee is set to consider bills that would change the way the government's nuclear waste repository program is funded. While the changes involve accounting practices, as a practical matter they would enable the Energy Department to gain easier access to portions of a special fund that has collected more than $20.4 billion from utilities for nuclear waste storage. The legislation is being promoted by the Bush administration, by the nuclear industry and by utilities and state regulators that monitor the planned repository, which would be built 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. On the other side are officials from Nevada and environmental groups that oppose the repository. They view the changes as an effort to rush a program they say should be terminated, not encouraged. Similar accounting changes have been proposed before but have not gained traction. Congressional budget hawks have resisted loosening the strings on the nuclear waste fund, whose balance helps offset the federal budget deficit. The matter has taken on increasing urgency among repository backers, because the Energy Department is nearing construction phases of the Yucca Mountain project that will demand more than $1 billion in annual funding. Congress has never appropriated more than $580 million for the Yucca Mountain Project in the face of resistance from Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has engineered opposition to the program. The fund balance at the end of 2003 was $14.46 billion, according to an Energy Department report. Almost $6 billion has been spent from the fund since the government began collecting fees in 1983. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced a bill at the Bush administration's request this month to reclassify annual fees that utilities pay into the nuclear waste fund. About $749 million would be reclassified this year if the bill passes. That means those fees could be made available to the Energy Department without running afoul of congressional budgeting regulations, although Congress would retain authority to review how the money is spent. Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill., and Bobby Rush, D-Ill., have sponsored a bill that would have a similar effect. "Legislation has been introduced that follows our common sense Yucca funding proposal," Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said Friday. "We believe that the money taxpayers have already paid Washington, which has been set aside to build Yucca Mountain, should be used for Yucca Mountain, rather than on other things unrelated to Yucca Mountain." Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 48 KRT Wire: Road to U.S. Nuclear Waste Depository May Run through Harrisburg, Pa. | 03/21/2004 | By Brett Lieberman, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 21 - Casks containing radioactive sludge, spent fuel rods and other lethal concoctions may pass just a few blocks from Pennsylvania's Capitol, schools, homes and over the Susquehanna River when nuclear waste moves west. The first shipments of waste from Three Mile Island and 130 other sites might head toward the Yucca Mountain dump in Nevada by 2015 at the earliest, experts said. And the roads and rails that would carry a portion of that waste cut through Pennsylvania. The potential to consolidate 77,000 tons of nuclear waste in a single, remote site has been debated since the U.S. Department of Energy began studying the Nevada site in 1978. The risks of accidents or terrorist attacks from trans--porting such the material through populated areas has raised concerns that such an effort could create more problems than it solves. "It's just not a hard thing to take an anti-tank weapon, stand on a bridge at night and shoot at a convoy, even a well-guarded one," said Mike Casey, a spokesman for the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based environmental group opposed to the Yucca site. "There's a lot of highway overpasses between Harrisburg, Pa., and Yucca Mountain." The waste is now stored mostly in pools of water, which shields radiation, or concrete containers at nuclear plants and other sites in 39 states. It would be transported to Yucca in specially designed containers that weigh 25 to 125 tons and use layers of lead, steel and other materials. Besides questions about putting tons of hazardous waste on the road, there are also questions about the safety of the Yucca site. Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, grew from volcanic rock and ash eruptions at now-extinct volcanoes 11 million to 14 million years ago. Supporters said the site's remoteness, geology and climate make it well-suited for storing nuclear waste. Yucca Mountain receives less than 7.5 inches of precipitation on average a year, and the closest residents live 14 miles away from the 150,000-acre facility. But it also sits on an earthquake fault. And federal officials have recently said that workers digging the first 5 miles of an estimated 100 miles of tunnels at the site were exposed to dangerous levels of silica and other cancer-causing dusts. Paul Craig, a University of California-Davis physicist and engineering professor who quit the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board earlier this year, has said the Bush administration and Yucca supporters are rushing to open the site despite scientific questions about safety. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham disagreed. "I have considered whether sound science supports the determination that the Yucca Mountain site is scientifically and technically suitable for the development of a repository. I am convinced that it does," Abraham said in a 2002 letter to Bush. Having lost the battle in Congress, Nevada's last stand has come down to a legal fight to delay, if not defeat, the proposed repository. "We think there's an excellent chance of outright winning a couple of those cases and perhaps prevailing in some split decisions that give us enough to delay the project considerably," said Joe Strolin, planning division administrator for the Nevada governor's Nuclear Waste Project Office. Nevada's congressional delegation is also working to choke off funding for Yucca. In a series of cases heard Jan. 14, the state challenged the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to use a lower standard of radiation protection at Yucca than is required nationally. Should Nevada prevail, the EPA could be forced to re-issue the standards to meet a National Academy of Sciences recommendation that the government must demonstrate radioactivity could be contained for as long as 300,000 years, instead of the 10,000-year standard EPA adopted. Such a ruling could set the process back five to 10 years and possibly kill any future waste site, according to some estimates. "We think that if that happens the project is likely to be dead," Strolin said. Regardless of how the court rules, some experts have said Yucca may not be ready until 2015 at the earliest. Utility and nuclear plant owners are already seeking billions of dollars in damages in lawsuits against the Energy Department because Yucca did not meet a 1998 deadline to begin receiving waste. Another of Nevada's legal arguments is that the decision to locate the waste site at Yucca was unfair and unconstitutional because Nevada was being singled out by other states against its will. A court ruling, which is sure to be appealed, is expected by July at the latest. Should Yucca eventually get the go-ahead, critics said it will do little to solve the nation's problem of dealing with nuclear waste and will provide a false comfort to Americans who think the waste problem has been solved once and for all. "It's built on a lie to the American public that Yucca Mountain will get rid of the waste," Casey said. "It would be a very different discussion in America if we were going to stop producing waste." By the time Yucca reaches its expected capacity 38 years after it begins receiving waste shipments, an equal amount of waste is expected to exist because of continued production of nuclear power, nuclear weapons and other nuclear-related materials, such as medical waste, experts said. Some Yucca opponents suggest leaving the waste at current sites and using money that would be spent on the repository to develop reprocessing technology to eliminate or reduce the need for final disposal. "We think that makes more sense instead of rushing to put the stuff in a hole in the ground that is porous and is only going to cause problems for future generations," Strolin said. However, Abraham and other Yucca advocates said there is a compelling national interest to consolidate the waste at one site instead of the dozens of current sites that are within 75 miles of more than 161 million Americans. "The facilities housing these materials were intended to do so on a temporary basis," Abraham said. "They should be able to withstand current terrorist threats, but that may not remain the case in the future. These materials would be far better secured in a deep underground repository at Yucca Mountain." ----- To see more of The Patriot-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.patriot-news.com. © 2004, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. ***************************************************************** 49 FT: Babcock chief set to lead BNFL By Carola Hoyos and Andrew Taylor in London Published: March 19 2004 23:41 | Last Updated: March 19 2004 Ministers are expected to appoint Gordon Campbell as the new chairman of British Nuclear Fuels, the troubled government-owned nuclear energy business. Mr Campbell will replace Hugh Collum, 63, a former executive vice-president and chief financial officer of SmithKline Beecham, due to step down this summer. Mr Campbell, 56, who joined the board of BNFL on August 1 2000, is executive chairman of Babcock International, the engineering group, and former chief executive of Courtaulds. He is also ITI Scotland's chairman. Barring any last-minute changes, a formal announcement is expected to be made within a fortnight. Mr Campbell beat Richard Maudslay, managing director of the industrial power group at Rolls-Royce in the 1990s, to the job, say insiders. "He'll be a terrific appointment for the company because of his experience in engineering and the fact that he has already been on the board for two years at a time of great change for the company. He will work well with the new chief executive, Mike Parker," said one industry insider. Others, however, have questioned whether Mr Campbell is as much of a heavyweight as Mr Collum. They point out that the BNFL team is rather new, with Mr Parker only having become CEO last summer. Mr Campbell takes over at a crucial time for the nuclear group, following the government's decision to establish a new state-owned body to take over its nuclear decommissioning liabilities, as well as the ownership of its non-nuclear fuel manufacturing interests, including its reprocessing arm. Plans to sell up to 49 per cent of BNFL were shelved this summer by Patricia Hewitt, trade and industry secretary. The company has been criticised by anti-nuclear campaigners and environmentalists who want the Sellafield reprocessing and mixed-oxide uranium fuel plants shut down. The size of the group's nuclear decommissioning liabilities has continued to weigh it down. It reported a £1.09bn pre-tax loss for the year to March 31 2003. Falling electricity wholesale prices have hit the group's ageing Magnox power stations. Britain is also facing legal action by the Irish government over discharges into the sea from its Sellafield plant. BNFL has also had an uneasy relationship with unions, who have threatened to strike at Sellafield. Mr Collum oversaw a big overhaul of the company's management and working practices, including sacking most of the board after a series of crises that included staff falsifying quality control documents for mixed-oxide fuel destined for Japan. One of Mr Collum's biggest disappointments was the failure of the government to back construction of new nuclear power stations in its energy white paper published last year. He said: "The white paper left a great big hole by failing to underpin future security of energy supply." © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2004. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. Privacy ***************************************************************** 50 Japan Times: Kepco gets formal nod to pioneer MOX fuel Sunday, March 21, 2004 FUKUI (Kyodo) Kansai Electric Power Co. was given formal, final approval Saturday to restart a stalled program using reprocessed spent nuclear fuel in nuclear power reactors. [News photo] Fukui gov. Issei Nishikawa (left) gives the final OK on Saturday to Kansai Electric Power Co. President Yosaku Fuji to restart the MOX fuel program. In a meeting with the utility's president, Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa announced a decision to follow the national government and the Takahama Municipal Government in allowing Kepco to use mixed uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX) fuel at its Takahama plant. With the consent, Kepco is expected to sign a contract, probably later this month, to manufacture MOX fuel overseas. Kepco aims to use MOX fuel in 2007 at the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Takahama plant, making it the first utility in Japan to use reprocessed nuclear fuel for power generation. Kepco's plan had been stalled after a data falsification scandal surfaced in September 1999, but the Fukui governor decided to restart the project earlier this month after the utility took preventive steps last year. During their meeting, Nishikawa told Kepco chief Yosaku Fuji, "I request you take each step appropriately in order not to repeat the problem." "We regret that we had inadequacy," Fuji responded. "We intend to advance (the project) carefully to ward off a recurrence." The MOX plan was originally approved by the national government in 1998 and by the Fukui and Takahama governments in June 1999. The plan stalled after the data falsification scandal, in which British Nuclear Fuels PLC doctored inspection data on MOX fuel it produced for the Takahama plant. Fuji declined to say if Kepco will rule out the British firm in the planned new contract, although it is widely expected that it would prefer French nuclear fuel firm Cogema in view of apparent local sentiment against the scandal-tainted BNFL. "At the moment, we are not completely excluding it," he said. "We will seek products that are as safe as possible." In Takahama, Mayor Riichi Imai asked Kepco Vice President Tetsuji Kishida to develop the plan "by placing utmost priority on safety and responding to residents' trust." Local opponents, though, still express concern about the safety of the project, which advocates say will help address Japan's energy needs. Takashi Watanabe, a town assembly member, said: "We cannot trust the claim by the government and Kansai Electric Power that pluthermal is safe. The data falsification scandal has proved this. "Takahama residents are living with worries about the four reactors located here and have no obligation to cooperate further in the national energy policy," Watanabe said. "The safety of the four reactors is what they should recheck and they should stop the (pluthermal) plan." Kepco took a series of measures in October to prevent a recurrence. These included stationing staff overseas to inspect the manufacturing process. The Japan Times: March 21, 2004 (C) All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 51 TCJ: Sides discuss waste settlement 03/21/04 + [CJOnline.com - Topeka Capital-Journal Sides discuss waste settlement The Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. -- Members of the attorney general's staff met Friday with lawyers for a regional group to talk about a possible settlement of a nuclear waste lawsuit in which Nebraska has been ordered to pay $151 million. "There was a meeting -- and we'll just leave it at that," said Alan Peterson, the lead attorney for the regional group that sued Nebraska. He declined to comment further. Attorney General Jon Bruning couldn't be reached for comment. His spokeswoman, Holley Bolen, declined to comment. Nebraska has been pushed into a corner by the lawsuit. Last month, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Nebraska acted in bad faith by blocking the regional compact from building the dump within its borders. Bruning has asked the entire 8th Circuit to review the ruling, but few people are giving the state much -- if any -- chance to win there or in the U.S. Supreme Court, which would be the next and final step in the case. The ruling upheld an earlier decision by U.S District Judge Richard Kopf of Lincoln. Kopf ruled that former Gov. Ben Nelson, now a U.S. senator, engaged in a politically motivated and orchestrated plot to keep the dump out of Nebraska. Nebraska officials argued that they refused to license the dump because of concerns over possible pollution and a high-water table at the proposed site in Boyd County, near the South Dakota border. Finding the money to pay the judgment would be difficult. The state faces a $315 million budget shortfall and lawmakers are struggling to balance the books. A budget proposal pending in the Legislature acknowledges that the state could be forced to pay the judgment plus $9 million in interest, but it does not say where that money will come from. Gov. Mike Johanns wants the Legislature to approve a one-year 1/2-cent sales tax increase to help pay the judgment or settlement. The Legislature's Revenue Committee also has revived a bill it had earlier voted to kill that would impose a 3.5 percent tax on electric bills to pay the damages. A settlement could possibly involve allowing the site to be built in Nebraska. Officials in Kimball County have said they would interested in talking about hosting the site. Entergy Nuclear, one of the companies that originally filed the lawsuit, said earlier this month that it would prefer getting a site in Nebraska to getting its money back. The company said it would consider another site in Nebraska only if it was regulated by the federal government -- not Nebraska. The dump was to hold waste from Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma -- which joined in 1983 to form the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact. The battle had its genesis in 1970, when Nevada, South Carolina and Washington grew tired of accepting low-level radioactive waste from the rest of the country. Congress told states in 1980 to build their own dumps or join regional groups to dispose of the waste, which includes contaminated tools and clothing from nuclear power plants, hospitals and research centers. The other states in the Central Interstate compact voted in 1987 to put the dump in Nebraska. The fight began soon after, with both sides wrestling in court on several issues. ***************************************************************** 52 IEER: Comments on NRC Notice of Intent for Proposed Uranium Enrichment Facility Comments of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Notice of Intent of Feb. 4, 2004 to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed LES Gas Centrifuge Uranium Enrichment Facility Submitted by Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D. President, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research 18 March 2004 The scope of the EIS should include the following: 1. The No Action Alternative should consider the non-proliferation merits of using downblended LEU fuel derived from US and Russian surplus highly enriched uranium. It should also consider the effect of the enrichment plant proposed by USEC on total enrichment capacity in the U.S. and the world in regard to evaluating the no action alternative, with due consideration for the fact that USEC is already building a pilot plant. This alternative should also consider the environmental benefits in terms of reducing mining, milling, and uranium processing and enrichment and reduced depleted uranium generation from using downblended HEU compared to LEU made from mined uranium. 2. The EIS should add an alternative of increasing the amount and pace of downblending. Specifically, it should evaluate the benefits for the environment and for non-proliferation of additional purchases of HEU from Russia and of increasing the pace of purchase of downblended reactor fuel. It should similarly evaluate the effect of increasing the pace and amount of US downblending. This effect should consider the benefits of the U.S. adopting a policy of non-proliferation leadership by example instead of by fiat as is the tendency at present (see below). 3. The proposed alternative should consider the proliferation impacts of putting additional LEU capacity on the market when HEU downblending is already slower than it should be. The NRC should also consider the combined effect of the LES plant and the proposed USEC plant on prices and the potential that depressed prices may slow downblending of surplus HEU, with consequent heightened risks of proliferation. 4. For the proposed action, the NRC should compare the generation of additional DU tails relative to the no action alternative. It should include an evaluation of the waste characteristics of DU relative to TRU waste in the scope of the EIS. 5. The NRC should evaluate the economic effect on the plant on the contingency that DU is declared a waste equivalent in radiological terms to transuranic waste, so that it would have to be disposed on a repository comparable in cost to WIPP. It should not use WIPP as a disposal possibility because, among other things, it is designated for military transuranic waste. The NRC should specifically consider the possibility the DOE will not be in a position to accept DU from a commercial facility. The DOE has not always kept its promises to the public or industry, so this issue is very germane. The missing of the 1998 deadline for accepting spent fuel from nuclear utilities the most relevant example that the NRC should consider. 6. The EIS should evaluate the effect of building a new commercial enrichment plant at a time when the United States is trying to stop other countries, specifically Iran, from building one. Specifically, the NRC should evaluate the corrosive effect of such a policy on proliferation in the context of the deleterious impact that this U.S. approach has already had on proliferation. It was the opinion of Mahatma Gandhi (among others) that policies advocated by example are far more powerful than those rendered from on high by fiat. It is the considered judgment of IEER that the NRC should evaluate the effects on alternatives using this Gandhian framework specifically in regard to nuclear proliferation issues and in regard to U.S. policy regarding the Iranian enrichment plant. The matters relating to the proliferation impact of the proposed LES enrichment plant as well as the reasons for classifying DU as a waste equivalent to TRU for purposes of management have been discussed in detail in an IEER comments on the LES plant made public on January 7, 2004. These comments are incorporated here by reference. They are available at http://www.ieer.org/comments/uenrichnm.html IEER has, jointly with the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy, also evaluated the deleterious effect of a U.S. policy of do-as-I-say and-not-as-I-do in a book, Rule of Power or Rule of Law?, Apex Press, New York, 2003. A summary of this book is at http://www.ieer.org/reports/treaties/execsumm.pdf This summary is incorporated into these comments by reference. The purpose of incorporating the summary of Rule of Power or Rule of Law? and the January 7, 2004 comments of IEER on LES's proposal here is to indicate in more detail than I have given in these brief comments the kinds of considerations that the NRC should include when it publishes its draft scope. If there are any questions about the interpretation of these documents in regard to the scope, I would be happy to work with the NRC staff to clarify them. IEER can also supply the entire book, Rule of Power or Rule of Law, to the NRC staff free of charge, as well as literature on Gandhi (also free of charge), and specific proliferation examples, should the NRC desire clarification or amplification of these comments. Please address your inquiries to arjun[at]ieer.org or ieer[at]ieer.org. Thank you for your consideration of these comments. Also on this site: + IEER Comments on the proposed uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico(January 7, 2004) + IEER Comments on White papers presented by LES regarding the proposed enrichment plant at Hartsville, Trousdale County, Tennessee(14 November 2002) + Uranium Factsheet Institute for Energy and Environmental ResearchComments to Outreach Coordinator: ieer{insert the symbol at}ieer.org Takoma Park, Maryland, USA Posted March 19, 2004 ***************************************************************** 53 theindependent: Nuclear waste site would disrespect land theindependent.com Opinion Last modified at 11:52 p.m. on Friday, March 19, 2004 In response to the recent development of the proposed waste dump, I don't think enough people really know what they are letting themselves in for here in Nebraska. I have come to work and live in Nebraska, it is a great place to live. But you cannot be seriously considering becoming the dumping grounds for waste of this society's trash. I am Lakotah, great-grandson of Sitting Bull, the land and all its surroundings was the second most sacred place in our creator's plan, the gift of life for which the earth provided. We American Indians have seen and known devastation to the land, to the animals and to the people. During the constant siege of our homeland we have seen the land wasted and attacked as if the earth was a monster and refused to share the bounties that the soul-maker gave us to honor and care for. I am not privy to just what we will do with our waste, however, I do know what this "low-level nuclear waste" is never quite what the powers that be say it is. For instance, in a southern swamp this waste was fraudulently "dumped" in a swampy area. Nothing grows, there is no life or any indications in the place itself and the surrounding areas. And it was "just low-level waste." In the west in the high desert plains, this waste was buried in sealed containers, which after time developed leaks. Nothing grows or lives in the surrounding areas. One can imagine what is happening to the subsurface water tables that many people use. The life of this low-level nuclear waste is 24,000 years. We the first Americans have witnessed the only "low level," "the only temporary" situations through many years of being a conquered people. You are doing to yourselves of what you did to entire Indian nations. Under this society's mindset, that would be ample retaliation, but your young, your old, your women and the rest of the innocents do not need this. Like one of our great orators of our time in part spoke when he was agreeing to go on the Indian reservation: "It matters little where we pass the remnant of our days. They will not be many. The Indians' night promises to be dark. Not a single star of hope hovers above his horizon. "Sad-voiced winds moan in the distance. Grim fate seems to be on the red man's trail, and wherever he goes he will -- hear the approaching footsteps -- of his fell destroyer and prepare stolidly to meet his doom, as does the wounded doe that hears the approaching footsteps of the hunter. "A few more moons, a few more winters -- and not one of the descendants of the mighty hosts that once moved over this broad land or lived in happy homes protected by the Great Spirit, will remain to mourn over the graves of a people once more powerful and hopeful than yours. "But why should I mourn at the untimely fate of my people? Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless. "Your time of decay may be distant, but it surely comes. Even the white man, whose God talked with him as friend with friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. "Let him, the white man, deal kindly with my people. For the dead are not powerless. "Dead, did I say? There is no death. Only a change of worlds." -- Chief Seattle, 1851 It is only an excerpt from his speech at that time. It was appropriate then, as it is today. But now you are attacking your own people. Native spirituality advocates harmony with nature at most and minimally maintenance of respect. The indigenous philosophy teaches to keep nature and creation sacred. The underlying ethics were intergenerationally continuous until forced to change after contact with the materialistic races. Significant remnants of the native spiritual have survived, irrespective of all the efforts to colonialize, to assimilate, to enculturate, and to terminate the indigenous peoples. The teachings are circular. What we do shall rebound back upon us in the future. Spirituality exists without humanity, but humanity shall die without it. My plea, then, to you our leaders who elected to care for our welfare, insomuch as the place in which we live can be protected. I don't know how Nebraska got into this business of agreeing to a "dumping ground" but it should not have happened any more than the bomb should not have been dropped. But we need to start caring about the place we live in. Even the frog does not defecate in the pond that he lives. Please do something to stop this stupendous disaster that will create such conditions that will contaminate the living conditions for all creatures and all things living on this planet. We are the caretakers, and we have chosen you to lead that situation. Thank you most respectively and with respect to all peoples of the Earth. Sibby LeBeau lives in Grand Island. published by The Grand Island Independent · All content © ***************************************************************** 54 [DU-WATCH] Nuke weapons immoral say religious & science Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 00:27:36 -0600 (CST) Published on Tuesday, March 9, 2004 by OneWorld.net Nuclear Weapons 'Immoral,' Say Religious, Scientific Leaders by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON -- An international group of religious and scientific leaders Monday launched an appeal to the United States and all other nuclear states to pledge never to use nuclear weapons and re-affirm their commitments to achieving total nuclear disarmament. My prognosis is, if nothing changes and Bush is re-elected, within ten or 20 years, there will be no life on the planet, or little. It's good to use the words 'sin' and 'evil' (in this context). It is true that it is evil to have power to destroy life on Earth. Dr. Helen Caldicott 1985 Nobel Prize winner The appeal, signed by the head of the U.S. National Council of Churches (NCC) and the president of the international Catholic peace group, Pax Christi, and 74 others--including four Nobel laureates--declared such weapons to be "inherently immoral" and expressed particular concern over U.S. plans to develop of a new generation of nuclear bombs. "Even so-called 'mini-nukes' and 'bunker-busters' would have disastrous effects," the statement declared. "Threatened use of nuclear weapons in the name of deterrence is morally wrong because it holds innocent people hostage for political and military purposes." "Why do we continue to construct weapons that have the power to destroy us," asked Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the NCC, which represents some 140,000 Protestant congregations in the U.S., "rather than build systems and structures that will save lives and help all persons reach the potential for which God created them?" Edgar said the appeal was being made with a "sense of real urgency," in light of new nuclear planning by the Bush administration and the failure to date of any of the declared nuclear powers to substantially reduce their stockpiles. More than a decade after the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia retain a total of about 10,000 tactical and strategic nuclear weapons each. Together, they account for more than 95 percent of the world's total arsenal. According to recent estimates by the Washington-based Center for Defense Information, China is next with an estimated 400 warheads, followed by France, with 350; Israel, with perhaps 200; Britain, with 185; India, with 60 or more; and Pakistan, with as many as 48. The Central Intelligence Agency says it believes North Korea has had as many as two devices for several years. Under the 1968 Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), nuclear countries must not only halt the spread of nuclear weapons to non-nuclear countries, but also agree to reduce their own arsenals to zero. In 1996, the International Court of justice at The Hague ruled that the NPT required eventual disarmament, a position that was formally reaffirmed in 2000 by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Since the Bush administration took power in 2001, however, the U.S. has been ambiguous on the question, while its opposition to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty--seen as a key step toward eventual disarmament--has fanned concerns that Washington does not intend to follow through on its earlier commitments. Adding to these concerns are the administration's efforts to reverse a unilateral 1993 ban on research and development of low-yield atomic weapons, such as "mini-nukes" and bunker-busters" which Bush officials insist would provide greater flexibility in dealing with small-scale conflicts, such as last year's war in Iraq, or with terrorists holed up in remote regions. Such weapons could destroy small targets with much less damage in terms of blast and radiation, according to their proponents. Democrats in Congress tried to prevent the administration from going forward by denying funding for development, but the administration succeeded in prying loose $7.5 million for the project late last year. Critics have strongly assailed the administration for these efforts, arguing that they not only dramatize the value of having nuclear weapons, but they also undercut the NPT by showing that the world's strongest nuclear power has no intention of giving them up. Scientists and weapons specialists who signed the Appeal stressed that the administration's insistence on retaining a nuclear arsenal and developing new weapons not only risked undermining the NPT and global non-proliferation efforts, but also made little military sense in an era when smaller, more precise conventional weapons using sensors and other systems are available. "Military leaders don't see any military utility for making these weapons," according to Ivan Oerlich, a nuclear physicist at the Federation of American Scientists. "It's the civilians who want them," he said. "There is no military mission that cries out for nuclear weapons. These are weapons in search of a mission." Monday's appeal, however, is based more on questions of morality than on utility, according to its signers, who also include Helen Caldicott, founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Nuclear Policy Research Institute who shared the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. "My prognosis is, if nothing changes and Bush is re-elected, within ten or 20 years, there will be no life on the planet, or little," she said. "It's good to use the words 'sin' and 'evil' (in this context)," she added. "It is true that it is evil to have power to destroy life on Earth." Marie Dennis, who serves on the executive committee of Pax Christi International, noted that U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference recently endorsed a global ban on nuclear weapons as a policy goal and called on the U.S. to issue a no-first-use policy on their use. As recently as one year ago in the run-up to the Iraq War, the Bush administration refused to do so. Copyright 2004 OneWorld.net Weblinks to groups and treaties mentioned above: National Council of Churches http://www.ncccusa.org/ Pax Christi http://www.paxchristiusa.org/ Center for Defense Information http://www.cdi.org/ 1968 Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/treaty/ Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty http://www.ctbto.org/ Federation of American Scientists http://www.fas.org/ Physicians for Social Responsibility http://www.psr.org/home.cfm?id=home Nuclear Policy Research Institute http://www.nuclearpolicy.org/ International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War http://www.ippnw.org/ --------------------------------- Post your free ad now! Yahoo! Canada Personals ***************************************************************** 55 chillicothe gazette: DOE to hold meeting about document Sunday, March 21, 2004 By The Gazette staff PIKETON -- The U.S. Department of Energy will conduct a follow-up public meeting on the Draft Risk-Based End State Vision Document for the Piketon uranium enrichment plant from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the OSU South Centers, 1864 Shyville Road, Piketon. The Department of Energy will be making a presentation at the meeting, and the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative will take comments from anybody in the community in hopes to add public comment into the document, which the DOE uses to ensure environmental cleanup at the plant will be consistent with the long-term use of the site. The DOE will provide an update to the public before finalizing the document to submit to DOE headquarters in Washington by March 30. To get a copy of the document or to view written comments submitted by SODI, residents may call Barbara Brackman at (740) 289-2071 or (740) 289-3654. The document is also available online at . Originally published Sunday, March 21, 2004 Copyright ©2004 Chillicothe Gazette. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 56 Star Telegram: Nuclear nightmares | 03/20/2004 | Serious questions are being raised as to whether America's nuclear facilities have adequate security programs in place to thwart terrorist attacks. Security operations are being weakened by deteriorating training programs, personnel shortages and employee fatigue resulting from excessive overtime work, according to federal inspectors and a public watchdog group. Ten nuclear weapons facilities, including the Pantex site near Amarillo, have reduced or eliminated key elements of a training curriculum designed in part to fend off terrorists, the Department of Energy's inspector general reported Tuesday. Pantex, the nation's only facility where nuclear weapons are assembled, drew dubious attention in January after disclosures that workers taped together broken pieces of a high explosive being removed from the plutonium trigger of an old warhead. A federal oversight agency said the incident risked a "violent reaction." The Washington-based Project On Government Oversight, or POGO, charged last week that the nation's 65 nuclear power plants are "not even close" to being prepared against terrorist threats. Most plants would have to quadruple their security to adequately deal with a terrorist strike, said POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian. The admonitions should cause operators of nuclear facilities to at least re-examine their training programs and staffing levels to ensure that safeguards are adequate. The closest nuclear facility to Tarrant County is the Comanche Peak power plant at Glen Rose, 45 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Officials of Dallas-based TXU, owner and operator of Comanche Peak, previously have stressed that they significantly enhanced security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and have taken "appropriate measures" to guard against hostile actions. Strong training programs and adequately staffed security teams are crucial to ensuring that terrorists will fail if they attack a nuclear facility. Everyone must remember that complacency is among America's deadliest enemies in its effort to foil future terrorist acts on American soil. ***************************************************************** 57 Star Telegram: 3 UT campuses sign deal with lab | 03/20/2004 | By Patrick Mcgee Star-Telegram Staff Writer DALLAS - The three University of Texas campuses in North Texas signed a memorandum of understanding with a major nuclear weapons research complex Friday hoping to boost their research programs. The $2.2 billion Sandia National Laboratories will collaborate with UT-Arlington, UT-Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas by linking its scientists with engineering and science programs at the campuses. "It enhances the stature of our research schools," Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said at the announcement at UT Southwestern. "We will have the stature of having a formal association with a national lab." The signed memorandum of understanding does not bring any money to the UT campuses -- federal laboratories are forbidden to give such grants -- but university leaders hope the link to the New Mexico lab will bolster their research programs. "It makes sense to partner with them," UT System Chancellor Mark Yudof said. "It is like collaborating with a major research university." The memorandum calls for collaboration in specific, complicated areas of science and engineering. It sometimes mentions specific UT programs or even employees to work with. With UT-Dallas, it calls for collaboration in nanoscale science, engineering and microsystems, among other areas. With UT Southwestern, it calls for collaboration in biodefense and bioinstrumentation, among other areas. With UT-Arlington, the memorandum calls for collaboration in many areas, including chemistry and biochemistry. It calls for partnership with several centers, including the year-old Converging Biotechnology Center. "Anytime you can collaborate it's a good thing, especially with the national laboratory. They have resources that often are hard to come by," said Paul Medley, UT-Arlington's assistant science dean and director of the Converging Biotechnology Center. "What will emerge is things on the project level. ... It's sort of a matchmaking effort to find the people that will work together best. Things evolve. They don't happen by force; they happen over time." C. Paul Robinson, president of the Sandia Corp., which runs the facility, said Sandia collaborates with 28 universities nationwide. He said the sprawling partnerships are not aimed at winning allies in Congress but at enhancing the important research being done. Michael Spencer, associate dean for research at the College of Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., said his university collaborates with Sandia and has seen great benefits. He said Cornell professors have access to better equipment and fellow scientists with the right expertise. Sandia paid to fly some Cornell students to the lab for research work, and they ended up working for Sandia after graduation. "Sandia has an outstanding reputation in certain areas of research, and I think that it will boost the reputation of the UT campuses, particularly in certain areas," Spencer said. "The main thing with these collaborations is to get the two parties exposed to each other so there's an awareness of what Sandia is doing and what they're interested in." Robinson said the lab needs to plug in to the brain power that universities have for a better defense and even economic development as new products emerge from scientific breakthroughs. Sandia is one of the nation's top three nuclear labs, but Robinson said scientists at the facility of 8,300 employees also do research for homeland security, such as making sensors to detect chemical agents. Robinson and Hutchison credited Yudof with pushing for the collaboration. But the UT System has had Sandia on its radar screen since before Yudof became chancellor in 2002. The UT System is trying to form greater links with government labs, and like other Texas universities, it's trying to get more involved in government grant-rich defense and homeland security issues. The UT System was studying a bid for Sandia's management contract in 2002, but the lab decided against putting the contract out to bid and had Lockheed Martin continue running the facility. Last month, the UT System announced that it would spend $500,000 to study a bid on the Los Alamos National Laboratory contract. Last fall, the UT Medical Branch at Galveston won $158 million worth of federal grants for biodefense and emerging infectious diseases. The UT System's special engineering adviser, Charles Sorber, led the Sandia contract study effort and said the contacts made at the lab helped the system create the new collaboration. Sorber and others said, however, that it's now up to faculty members and midlevel administrators like Medley to get involved with Sandia for the partnership to work. "All the researchers are in there finding out what they can collaborate on," Sorber said, pointing to a UT Southwestern building. "That's the most important thing, what's going on right in there." Patrick McGee, (817) 548-5476 pmcgee@star-telegram.com ***************************************************************** 58 U.S. Newswire: DOE to Launch New Hydrogen Education Effort in Lansing 3/19/2004 4:47:00 PM To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Tom Welch of the U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-5806 News Advisory: A new effort to educate state and local government officials about the vision of a hydrogen economy will begin in Lansing, Mich. on Tuesday, March 23. The "Hydrogen Power" workshop is offered in partnership with Lansing Community College and Michigan's NextEnergy. Working with regional, state, and local partners on a six-city tour, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will offer "Hydrogen 101" to state and local officials who do not have a technical background, but are interested in learning more about hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, hydrogen safety, and the challenges to achieving the hydrogen vision. President Bush has called on DOE to pursue the promise of hydrogen. The hydrogen workshop series is a cornerstone of DOE's public education strategy for hydrogen, as recommended in the President's National Energy Policy. WHO: Federal, state and local officials, academic and industry leaders WHAT: "Hydrogen Power: The Promise, The Challenge," a hydrogen technology regional workshop WHEN: Tuesday, March 23, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Radisson Hotel, 111 North Grand Ave, Lansing, Mich. 48933, phone: 517-482-0188. http://www.usnewswire.com/ ***************************************************************** 59 Hawk Eye: Harkin seeks to replace funds Saturday, March 20, 2004, Site updated daily at 11 a.m. CST Senator hopes an extra $22 million will quicken claim processing for former IAAP workers. By RANDY MILLER rmiller@thehawkeye.com To quicken claims processing by former workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Sen. Tom Harkin is seeking to restore full funding of a nuclear worker compensation program administered by the Office of Environment, Safety and Health in the Department of Energy. In a letter sent Friday to Sen. Pete Domenici, R.–N.M., chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Harkin, D–Iowa, asked that $22 million cut by the Bush administration from the proposed Department of Energy budget be restored in fiscal 2005. The Office of Environment, Safety and Health is responsible for all of the health studies of former IAAP workers and those at other nuclear facilities around the country. The office received funding of $67.3 million for the program in fiscal 2004, but the administration requested it be reduced to $45.2 million in fiscal 2005. The Atomic Energy Commission, and later the Department of Energy, assembled, test–fired and disassembled nuclear weapons at the 19,000–acre Middletown plant from the 1940s to the mid–1970s. The work has been linked to cancer, beryllium disease and other illnesses, making some former employees eligible for a one–time $150,000 federal compensation payment under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. However, both Harkin and Sen. Charles Grassley, R–Iowa, have been critical of the snail's pace of work by the DOE to screen the health claims of hundreds of former workers. Grassley tried to insert an amendment into a spending bill last year that would have switched control of some of the compensation claims to the Labor Department. The move would have expedited the claims process, he said, but the amendment was defeated. Harkin also requested continued funding of a University of Iowa health studies program to assist former workers in filing claims and asked for a Congressional directive to the DOE to prevent the destruction of worker health records. In letters to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham in mid–February, Harkin asked for information about missing claims filed by some former IAAP employees under the EEOIC. He cited "a sick former worker" who says the Labor and Energy departments may have lost health compensation claims filed by former IAAP employees who have work–related cancer. "If true, this is alarming and deeply disturbing," Harkin wrote. "In order for these nuclear weapons workers to receive compensation for this injustice, detailed records of their illnesses and possible exposures must be maintained." The EEOIC is administered by both the Labor and Energy departments. Passed by Congress in 2000, the program has yet to process thousands of claims filed by sick and dying former Energy Department workers. As of Feb. 10, according to Labor Department statistics, 1,602 claims had been filed by former IAAP workers, while only 39 payments had been made. The General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, said only 6 percent of EEOIC claims filed by workers in nine states have been completely processed. Claimants have complained that they've been told to send the same health information to federal officials numerous times. "We must make improvements critical to ensuring that these workers get what they deserve," Harkin said. "Without adequate resources to process these claims, we can offer them little more than empty promises." Grassley continues to push for moving the program to the Department of Labor, where he believes claims would be processed much more quickly. Harkin supports that effort, his spokeswoman, Allison Dobson, said Friday, but the senator also believes the program needs to be fully funded regardless of who administers it. The Hawk Eye 800 S. Main St., Burlington Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 Front Desk · 319-754-6824 FAX · 1-800-397-1708 ***************************************************************** 60 Daily Camera: Pace of Flats cleanup questioned Half-million dollar fine has officials worried about safety By Alisha Jeter, Camera Staff Writer March 20, 2004 The Department of Energy has fined Rocky Flats clean-up contractor Kaiser-Hill Co. about $1 million for six safety violations since 1996. But the latest fine — a $522,000 penalty stemming from a May 2003 fire and two radioactive contamination incidents — and a new fire in February have several local government officials worried the company is hurrying work at the former nuclear weapons plant to rack up performance bonuses. In its most recent contract with the Department of Energy, Kaiser-Hill earns 30 cents on the dollar for cost savings and keeping on schedule. The company could earn up to $461 million in incentives and awards for accelerating the site's closure. Kaiser-Hill contract manager Rob Nagel said the company hopes to earn $341 million for keeping the project on time and on budget. The company's most recent contract, signed in 2000, is for $3.973 billion. The total budget for cleanup is $7 billion. "They have no motivation to have safety violations occur," said Broomfield City Councilman Gary Brosz, a member of the Rocky Flats Coalition of Local Governments. "That said, they have big incentives to close the plant early. They get very significant bonuses if they close ahead of schedule." The latest safety incident occurred last month, just days after the $522,000 fine was levied for the three previous incidents. Foam used to fill parts of a cleaned building, Building 991, ignited in February during work to prep the building for demolition. The foam, ordinarily used to fill small areas like pipes, was used to fill an approximately 500-square-foot room after workers sidestepped normal procedure. Frank Gibbs, Kaiser-Hill deputy project manager for risk, said workers did not allow the foam time to harden between applications. The foam heats as it hardens and it began smoldering and producing acrid black smoke. Kaiser-Hill stopped work at the site for two days after the fire. The use of foam is now being re-evaluated, Gibbs said. Kaiser-Hill spokesman John Corsi said it was that fire, the fine and several subsequent safety breaches and near misses that moved managers to shut down work for two days. Supervisors admitted crews have ignored their own recommended procedures, as well as those of the foam's manufacturer. "We screwed up, quite frankly. ... We got in too big a hurry," Gibbs told members of the Rocky Flats Coalition of Local Governments after the accident. "The last couple of months have not been our shining hour." Renewing focus The Department of Energy cited failures in work planning, attention to procedure and safety oversight in the May 6 fire that shot 15-foot flames into the air, as well as two radioactive contamination incidents in March 2003, when levying the latest fine. Cleanup of the former nuclear weapons site is scheduled for completion in December 2006. The Department of Energy, which owns the site, plans to hand it over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a wildlife refuge. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Board, an independent group of experts that studies safety incidents at the nation's nuclear sites, recommended Kaiser-Hill renew a focus on safety in a report issued in December. The review concluded that although the Rocky Flats contractor has implemented a number of positive practices, its recent safety performance was unsatisfactory. The review also found that the oversight capability of the energy department's Rocky Flats Field Office has degraded considerably in recent years. Last month's work stoppage — called a safety pause — was at least the second of its kind since contractor Kaiser-Hill stepped in on the cleanup. The move called together workers, managers, safety experts and others to regroup and renew focus on safety at the site, Corsi said. "Overall, we are very proud of our safety record. At the same time, we are held to a higher standard and we should be. It's a nuclear environment," Corsi said. Initiatives include better work planning, an issue continually raised by regulators and the independent safety board experts. Broomfield councilman Brosz said the accidents themselves would likely be par for the course in a non-nuclear industry. He said he worries that the incidents paint a larger picture of faltering discipline in work at the site. That was particularly evident in the foam fire, he said. "That raises our concern about, well, are processes being followed in contaminated areas? Can we believe it's perfect in contaminated areas?" Brosz said. The energy department has called notice to several safety violations, but only sought to impose penalties in the six cases. In most cases, the department concluded Kaiser-Hill's corrective plans were sufficient without the added penalty, according to energy department notices. The department often discounted the full allowable fines to recognize Kaiser-Hill for voluntarily reporting accidents. However, the department repeatedly indicated accidents were rooted in systematic problems with management practices like procuring proper safety equipment and adequately planning work conducted by the site's 3,200 workers. "We were losing focus and we weren't meeting our own (procedures)," Corsi said. Better communication Possible contributing factors include workers doing a job that will mean they'll be unemployed when they're done, as well as the change in work from radioactive to industrial jobs, Corsi said. The latter might have created a complacency among workers, he said. Tony DiMaiori, a 25-year veteran of the site and president of the United Steelworkers Union Local 8031, said he has mixed feelings about how Kaiser-Hill handled the recent events. "We didn't feel they did enough after these incidents for awareness," DiMaiori said. He said he didn't think there were enough safety pauses enacted last year and he'd like to see the contractor employ them more often. DiMaiori said the safety pauses give the best opportunity to slow down and carefully ponder the safest way to proceed. "We feel we're far enough ahead right now to continue at a slow, steady pace and still finish and make everyone happy," he said. DiMaiori's union, which represents about a third of the site's workers, is always at the table when management discusses safety. "We partner with Kaiser-Hill on safety," he said. "When they take a black eye, we take a black eye." DiMaiori calls Kaiser-Hill the best employer he's worked for on the site in terms of safety. "If there's any problem with the safety program, it's in communication to the community. That's where Kaiser-Hill is falling down. We feel we need to do more reporting to the community," he said. The site's mission has changed. The last of the weapons-grade plutonium on the site was shipped away last year. Most of the work there now is heavy industrial jobs, including dismantling equipment and buildings, preparing the pieces for disposal. Kaiser-Hill officials say there are adequate incentives in place to ensure safety is a top priority. The 2000 contract includes penalties for significant safety problems, ranging from a possible $250,000 penalty for incidents like safety trend issues the contractor has paid for already to the most serious events such as a death or nuclear accident, which could cost the company up to about $9 million per incident. "If I don't work safely, my ability to earn fee goes in the toilet," Nagel said. Former Boulder City Councilwoman Lisa Morzel, another member of the local governments coalition, has asked for a comprehensive report on the incentives. At least a few observers would also like to see a slower approach to the job. "Nothing short of a safe cleanup is acceptable," said local governments coalition director David Abelson. "The data we've been provided with certainly suggests (that is occurring). But again, you can have the best statistics in the world — that doesn't mean anything to somebody who gets hurt." ***************************************************************** 61 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 13:18:31 -0800 (PST) FUKUI gives go ahead to controversial nuclear project Mainichi Shimbun - Tokyo,Japan (KEPCO) is set to begin a controversial project using recycled nuclear fuel after a local government gave its approval on Saturday. ... See all stories on this topic: HOW safe are we from nuclear threat? Miami Herald - Miami,FL,USA ... The good news is that Libya spent 20 years and untold millions of dollars trying to develop a nuclear-weapons program but failed. ... See all stories on this topic: CALIFORNIA says feds ignore terror threat at nuclear plant San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego,CA,USA ... General Bill Lockyer filed a legal brief Friday opposing the Bush administration's refusal to address possible security risks at the Diablo Canyon nuclear ... See all stories on this topic: EXPOSING the web of nuclear WMD: The Khan con... Town Hall - Washington,DC,USA (This is the second of a two-part commentary on how the CIA scooped the nuclear WMD black-market.). "If you know the enemy and know ... PAK rejects US plea for nuclear asset inspection Webindia123.com - India Pakistan has turned down the US plea for allowing US and international inspectors to inspect its nuclear installations and assets. ... COUNTRY'S Nuclear Programme In Strong Hands Pakistan News Service - Lahore,Pakistan ... March 20 (PNS): Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal Friday said the government is fully alive to its obligations to country's defence and security of nuclear ... US monitoring China, Pakistan's nuclear activities since '60s Hi Pakistan - Lahore,Pakistan ISLAMABAD, March 19: The US has been carrying out intelligence operations on Pakistan's territory since 1960s - first to monitor the nuclear activities of ... SIDES meet to discuss nuclear waste settlement Kansas City Star - Kansas City,MO,USA LINCOLN, Neb. - Members of the Attorney General's staff met Friday with lawyers for a regional group to talk about a possible settlement of a nuclear waste ... NUCLEAR nightmares Fort Worth Star Telegram - Fort Worth,TX,USA Serious questions are being raised as to whether America's nuclear facilities have adequate security programs in place to thwart terrorist attacks. ... IRAN'S nuclear imbroglio By Afzaal Mahmood Hi Pakistan - Lahore,Pakistan ... criticizing Iran for withholding sensitive information and Tehran, in response, threatening to revise the level of its co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog ... This daily-once News Alert is brought to you by Google News (BETA)... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Remove this News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts/remove?s=92d1672a1b037a07&hl=en Create another News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en Try Google News: http://news.google.com/ ***************************************************************** 62 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 12:34:38 -0800 (PST) POWER producers await clear message from Ontario on nuclear ... National Post (subscription) - Canada A potential nuclear surge in Ontario's electricity market is attracting interest from companies that deal in the controversial power source -- as long as ... See all stories on this topic: AL Qaeda has nuclear weapons, journalist claims Toronto Star - Toronto,Ontario,Canada SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Osama bin Laden's terror network claims to have bought ready-made nuclear weapons on a Central Asian black market, the biographer of ... See all stories on this topic: CURBING nuclear proliferation By Dr Zafar Hassan Hi Pakistan - Lahore,Pakistan >From what is evident now, the spread of nuclear science is threatening the entire world. It would be very naive to think that the ... NUCLEAR workers petition High Court in cancer claim battle Ha'aretz - Israel Some 17 nuclear reactor workers, along with families of workers who died of cancer, Sunday petitioned the High Court of Justice in the latest in a series of ... LIBYA'S last nuclear weapons docked in Wilmington WECT - Wilmington,NC,USA The National Security Council confirmed it's loaded with the last remaining equipment associated with Libya's nuclear weapons program. ... NUCLEAR Programme Will Not Be Rolled Back Pakistan News Service - Lahore,Pakistan SARGODHA, Pakistan : March 21 (PNS) - Punjab Governor, Lt.Gen. (retd) Saturday said that the nuclear programme of the country will not be rolled back at any ... NUCLEAR industry is 'upbeat' about future Penn Live - Harrisburg,PA,USA WASHINGTON - Three years ago, Ron Simard built a series of speeches on nuclear power around his theory: "The future isn't what it used to be.". ... CLINTON sees nuclear deal with North Korea in months New Zealand Herald - Auckland,New Zealand Former US President Bill Clinton said on Friday North Korea must not be allowed to develop or sell nuclear weapons, but said a deal to defuse a nuclear crisis ... CONVERSION of nuclear site costing more than expected Charleston Post Courier (subscription) - Charleston,SC,USA ... The uranium is highly enriched, which means it is fissile and poses the constant threat of nuclear criticality -- an uncontrolled chain reaction with release ... GERMANY to stop sale of nuclear plant to China: report SpaceDaily - USA The German government is to stop the sale of a nuclear plant to China by the German giant Siemens even though the accord was approved by Chancellor Gerhard ... This daily-once News Alert is brought to you by Google News (BETA)... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Remove this News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts/remove?s=92d1672a1b037a07&hl=en Create another News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en Try Google News: http://news.google.com/ ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************