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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 BBC: Nuclear assets 'vanish' in Iraq
2 [NYTr] Russia Urges Iran to Cooperate with IAEA
3 Interfax: Moscow says Iran, IAEA should continue cooperation
4 BBC: Russia makes nuclear plea to Iran
5 Guardian Unlimited: N.Korea Blames U.S. for Stalemate in Talks
6 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Roh asks forbearance for North
7 Xinhuanet: Bringing nuclear issue to UN could result in war - KCNA  
8 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: North's uranium put U.S. in policy quandry
9 Korea Times: Big Flaw Feared in Korea's Nuclear Safety 
10 Korea Times: Roh Warns Against Cornering NK 
11 Korea Herald: [ANN]It's paid off thus far to be a rogue state   
12 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL]Bush, Kerry and North Korea   
13 Korea Herald: [NEWS ANALYSIS]Seoul's 'regret' toward Tokyo putting t
14 US: Tri-Valley Herald: America's nuclear fears: rhetoric or real con
15 Guardian Unlimited: Missing Nuclear Equipment Worries Watchdog
16 Xinhuanet: Swiss man arrested in Germany in Libya nuclear case   
17 Daily Times: ‘Nuclear CBMs necessary for peace’ 
18 Daily Times: Pakistan has 55 to 90 nuclear weapons 
19 Daily Times: ‘India, Pakistan, must work on N-restraint’ 
20 Foldvary: Energy Problem - Solved! 
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
21 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Safety Concerns Rise at Nuclear Reactors 
22 US: New University: Concerns Raised Over UCI’s Nuclear Reactor
23 EU Business: Slovakia wants to postpone closure of nuclear reactor b
24 Korea Times: NK Reactor Project to Be Kept Afloat 
25 Scotsman.com: Nuclear Clean-Up Cost and Timescale Slashed
26 ITAR-TASS: No threat to environment after nuclear reactor shut down
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
27 Breathing Uranium Oxides: A Global Medical Crisis
28 US: [du-list] [Fwd: [CPEO-MEF] Aid to former nuclear workers]
29 Interfax: Norway may assign millions for radiation safety in Russia
30 US: Dartmouth Online: Albright warns of nuclear threats
31 US: Associated Press: Uranium demand, prices see increase
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
32 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Yucca should concern the state's voters
33 Las Vegas SUN: White House won't appeal Yucca ruling
34 Las Vegas SUN: Less nuke waste may be moved
35 US: AP Wire: Anti-nuclear interests still worried about precedent wa
36 US: PR Web: URANIUM Acquisition Complete
37 Sierra Club: Nevada Is Not a Wasteland
38 Las Vegas RJ: EDITORIAL: Yucca vote 
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
39 [du-list] USEC oasses license test
40 Salt Lake Tribune: Opinion Bennett plays politics
41 Daily Camera: Flats' 371 won't be imploded
42 amarillo.com: Pit facility choice may be delayed
43 WATE: Radioactive scrap headed to Oak Ridge landfill
44 Augusta Free Press: Curbing the threat of nuclear weapons
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
45 NRC: Research-Sponsored Meetings
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 BBC: Nuclear assets 'vanish' in Iraq
 
  Last Updated: Monday, 11 October, 2004
 
		 		 		 
[US troops look down on the nuclear facility at Tuwaitha, Iraq ]                                
The US has been blocking full UN inspections in Iraq                                                             

Equipment and materials which could be used to make nuclear arms 
have been vanishing in Iraq since the invasion last year, the 
United Nations warns. 

Satellite images show entire buildings have been dismantled 
without any record being made, said Mohamed ElBaradei, the head 
of the UN nuclear watchdog. 

Iraq's US-backed leaders have not reported to the UN on the state 
of nuclear plants despite a duty to do so. 

But they have asked the UN to help sell off unwanted nuclear 
material. 

The disappearance of su equipment and materials may be of 
proliferation significance            

Mohamed ElBaradei       

Inspectors from Mr ElBaradei's International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA), who established that Saddam Hussein had abandoned any 
nuclear weapons programme before the war, have not been allowed 
to move about Iraq freely by the US. 

Apart from a couple of limited checks on the main nuclear 
facility at Tuwaitha last June after reports of looting - and 
with no teams now on the ground - the IAEA has to rely on 
satellite imagery and other sources. 

In a letter to the UN Security Council, Mr ElBaradei said 
buildings related to Iraq's previous nuclear programme appeared 
to have been systematically dismantled and equipment and material 
removed. 

"The disappearance of such equipment and materials may be of 
proliferation significance," the IAEA director general warned. 

No reports 

Sensitive technology such as rocket engines has turned up for 
sale abroad, Mr ElBaradei said. 

However, high-precision "dual-use" items including milling 
machines and electron beam welders appear to have disappeared, as 
has material such as high-strength aluminium. 

Mr ElBaradei called on any state with information on the location 
of such items to inform his agency. 

The US removed nearly two tonnes of low-enriched uranium from 
Iraq earlier this year. The IAEA has verified that 550 tonnes of 
nuclear material still remain at Tuwaitha. 

Iraq, the agency says, has asked for help to sell the nuclear 
material and in dismantling and decontaminating former nuclear 
facilities. 

Mr ElBaradei reminded the Security Council that Iraq was still 
obliged to "declare semi-annually changes that have occurred or 
are foreseen at sites deemed relevant" by the IAEA. 

However, since March 2003 "the agency has received no such 
notifications or declarations from any state", he said. 

Last week, a report from chief US weapons inspector Charles 
Duelfer concluded that Saddam Hussein had stopped trying to build 
weapons of mass destruction following the 1991 Gulf War. 



*****************************************************************
 2 [NYTr] Russia Urges Iran to Cooperate with IAEA
 
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 12:31:10 -0500 (CDT)

 
Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Russia urges Iran to Cooperate with IAEA

Moscow, Oct 11 (Prensa Latina) Russia called on Iran to cooperate with
the International Atomic Energy Commission, and ratified its
commitment to continue supporting this Islamic republic, Russian
Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov siad in Teheran.

In a press conference with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Jarrazi,
Lavron advocated clear, open relations between Iran and the world
organization. For his part, the Iranian minister insisted its nuke
programs have a pacific nature and will continue under the IAEA
supervision.

According to Iranian authorities, the country is willing to accept any
constructive US initiative if Washington recognizes its right to the
pacific use of nuclear technology, including enriched uranium.

During Lavrov4s visit to Iran, both parties also analyzed the
possibility to sign new agreements on sending Russian nuke oil to
Teheran.

ef/dig/Ga
       
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 3 Interfax: Moscow says Iran, IAEA should continue cooperation

Interfax.com [http://www.interfax.com]     Text version

Oct 11 2004 2:21PM
 
ISFAHAN (Iran). Oct 11 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov confirmed Moscow's position regarding cooperation
between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

"An exchange of opinions on Iran's nuclear program took place in
Teheran. We have confirmed our position, stating that
cooperating with the IAEA on these issues would be in Iran's
interests," Lavrov told journalists in the Iranian city of
Isfahan on Monday. 

The IAEA board of governors accepted a resolution in September
that calls on Iran to complete negotiations on remaining issues,
Lavrov said.     


© 1991-2004 Interfax
 All rights reserved
 
News and other data on this web site are provided for
*****************************************************************
 4 BBC: Russia makes nuclear plea to Iran
 
  Last Updated: Monday, 11 October, 2004
 
By Sadeq Saba BBC regional analyst   

[A general view of Iran's first nuclear reactor, being built in 
Bushehr]                                 

Moscow say it wants to press ahead with its co-operation                                                           

Russia has urged Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment programme 
in order to avoid possible sanctions from the UN Security 
Council. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would continue 
nuclear co-operation with Tehran if it complies with the UN 
nuclear agency (IAEA). 

In its meeting last month, the IAEA called on Iran to suspend its 
nuclear fuel cycle. 

The US accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear 
weapons. 

The Russian foreign minister's visit to Tehran is widely seen as 
a mission to convince Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment 
programme as required by the IAEA. 

Russia has been helping Iran to build its first nuclear power 
plant in the southern port of Bushehr. 

Presidential visit 

Despite increasing pressure from Washington to abandon the 
project, Moscow has insisted that it is determined to press ahead 
with its nuclear co-operation with the Islamic Republic. 

But Russia is now concerned that if Tehran does not comply with 
the IAEA's ultimatum to suspend the uranium enrichment activities 
by the end of November, Iran could be referred to the UN Security 
Council for possible sanctions. 

At his press conference in Tehran, Mr Lavrov said Moscow was 
against such a measure. Any sanctions against Iran would threaten 
the $800m (£445m) Bushehr deal. 

Russia is also keen to continue its lucrative economic relations 
with Iran, a key partner for Moscow in the region. It is believed 
that if Mr Lavrov's mission to Tehran is successful, Mr Putin may 
visit the country afterwards. 

Construction of the Bushehr power plant has been severely delayed 
for other reasons. But now the Russian foreign minister and his 
Iranian counterpart say their countries are close to signing a 
deal on the supply and return of nuclear fuel for the plant. 



*****************************************************************
 5 Guardian Unlimited: N.Korea Blames U.S. for Stalemate in Talks
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Monday October 11, 2004 12:31 PM

By SOO-JEONG LEE 

Associated Press Writer 

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea on Monday blamed the United 
States for the stalemate in talks on its nuclear weapons 
programs, and warned it would use a ``war deterrent force'' if 
Washington brought the nuclear dispute before the U.N. Security 
Council. 

The United States, North and South Korea, Japan, China and Russia 
have met for three rounds of talks aimed at getting the North to 
give up its nuclear ambitions, but little progress has been made. 
A fourth round slated for September never took place because the 
North refused to attend. 

``If the U.S. applies more sanctions to the DPRK by putting the 
U.N. in motion, the DPRK will promptly and resolutely react to it 
with self-defensive war deterrent force,'' the North's official 
news agency, KCNA, said. 

``Sanctions mean a war and war does not know any mercy,'' KCNA 
said. 

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North 
Korea's official name. 

``The DPRK is not in a position to come out to the talks because 
the U.S. has deliberately laid a stumbling block in the way of 
the dialogue,'' KCNA added. 

North Korea has issued similar warnings in the past especially at 
the height of tensions last year, shortly after the current 
nuclear dispute erupted when U.S. officials said North Korea 
admitted to running a secret nuclear program in violation of 
international agreements. 

The warning by North Korea came despite reassurances from 
Washington that it wants to resolve the nuclear crisis through 
the six-party talks, instead of going to the Security Council, 
which could consider sanctions. 

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Japanese 
broadcaster NHK that the United States, Japan, South Korea, China 
and Russia all want a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. 

``And that being the case, there is no rush to go to the U.N.,'' 
he said. 

U.S. officials have also repeatedly said they have no plans to 
invade North Korea. Pyongyang says it wants security guarantees 
and economic aid in exchange for addressing concerns about its 
nuclear activities. 

However, the U.N. nuclear chief last week urged the Security 
Council to act on the North Korean dispute because the North had 
withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty early last 
year. 

Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy 
Agency, said a passive response by the Security Council could set 
``the worst precedent of all.''      
  
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 6 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Roh asks forbearance for North
 
Octorber 12, 2004 KST 12:14 (GMT+9)                                    
                       
  Says other nations must give Pyeongyang ¡®clear hope'   

  HANOI ¡ª President Roh Moo-hyun said yesterday that countries
trying to solve the North Korean nuclear problem should give
Pyeongyang "clear hope and expectations for opening and reform
so that it will not engage in any extreme behavior." 

Mr. Roh met yesterday with Korean reporters here as he wrapped
up his two-nation swing. "The United States, China, Japan and
Russia are all opposed to developing a situation that will drive
North Korea to choose to engage in an extreme act," he said. 

He continued, "The last time North Korea was directly or
indirectly involved in any terror was the bombing of a Korean
Air flight in 1987. All countries should understand that no
evident terror efforts have taken place since then. China,
Japan, Russia and South Korea never excite North Korea and they
will never gain anything by exciting North Korea."

 Concerning the current situation in which Pyeongyang is
squaring off with Washington, Mr. Roh said, "Every country is
concerned about the issue. But I don't think it is a
structurally serious or dangerous problem."

 Mr. Roh and other Asian heads of state met with EU leaders here
on Saturday. The group issued a joint statement that asked North
Korea to destroy all its nuclear programs. EU leaders also said
they supported Seoul's engagement policy with Pyeongyang, which
they said contributed to the resolution of the nuclear issue.

 Separately, Mr. Roh met with Vietnam's President Tran Duc Luong
over the weekend and asked him to help Korean businesses enter
the Vietnamese market. Korea has its eye on $4.9 billion worth
of construction orders from Vietnam. 

In a sweetener to get that business, Mr. Roh agreed that Korea
would contribute $10 million toward establishing an information
technology university. 

Mr. Roh finished his official schedule here yesterday and
returns to Seoul today.
 
by Choi Hoon, Min Seong-jae iamfine@joongang.co.kr>   

  2004.10.11       

[http://joongangdaily.joins.com/faq.html]    		 		
*****************************************************************
 7 Xinhuanet: Bringing nuclear issue to UN could result in war - KCNA   

  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-10-11 17:32:12   

    ¡¡PYONGYANG, Oct. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's 
Republicof Korea (DPRK) warned Monday that any attempt by the 
United States to refer the nuclear issue to the UN Security 
Council could result in war. 

    "Sanctions mean a war. If the United States applies more 
sanctions to the DPRK by putting the UN in motion, the DPRK will 
promptly and resolutely react to it with self-defensive war 
deterrent force," said the official Korean Central News Agency 
(KCNA) in a commentary. 

    "This reveals the US's attempt to shift the blame for the 
delayof the resumption of the six-party talks on to the DPRK, and 
its true intention to settle the nuclear issue by strength, not 
through dialogue," said the KCNA. 

    The KCNA commentary pinpointed recent remarks by US Deputy 
Secretary of State Richard Armitage that his country could hand 
the nuclear issues to the UN Security Council, if Pyongyang 
rejects the resumption of the six-party talks. 

    "The DPRK's stand to seek a negotiated settlement of the 
nuclear issue remains unchanged. The DPRK set it as its general 
goal to denuclearize the Korean peninsula," the commentary said. 

    "However, the United States refused to give reward for the 
DPRKnuclear freeze, consistently asserting that the DPRK must 
accept the CVID (complete, verifiable and irreversible 
dismantlement)," it added. 

    "The nuclear issue can be solved only when the DPRK and the 
United States discuss the issue from an equal stand of respecting 
and trusting each other," it concluded. Enditem   

  Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 8 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: North's uranium put U.S. in policy quandry
 
Octorber 12, 2004 KST 12:14 (GMT+9)                                    
	 	
  2nd in a series   

  North Korea's renewed nuclear aspirations emerged two years
ago, but little progress has been made to resolve the crisis
since then. The JoongAng Ilbo reconstructed the nuclear crisis
based on interviews with officials and experts involved in the
efforts to make the peninsula nuclear-free. -Ed
 
Meeting with North Korean officials in Pyeongyang on Oct. 3,
2002, James Kelly, the U.S. State Department's assistant
secretary for East Asian affairs, dropped a verbal bombshell.
Washington had obtained information on North Korea's pursuit of
a clandestine program to produce highly enriched uranium, Mr.
Kelly told the North Koreans, demanding that Pyeongyang
dismantle it immediately.

 Later, Kim Kye-kwan, North Korea's vice foreign minister and
Mr. Kelly's counterpart at the talks, admitted to U.S. officials
that he was extremely surprised by Mr. Kelly's accusations.
According to diplomatic sources, Mr. Kim looked angry and
perplexed as he denied Washington's charges. 

The next day, Kang Sok-ju, North Korea's top nuclear negotiator
and the first deputy foreign minister, met with the U.S. envoy.
According to South Korean officials, North Korea's statements
and interviews with Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kang said North Korea was
entitled to have everything, including nuclear weapons, to
defend the country from the Bush administration's threats. Mr.
Kang demanded a nonaggression treaty from the United States,
adding, "We can discuss this matter at a highest-level talks
between North Korea and the United States."

 Pyeongyang's reaction shocked Washington. At a speech at the
Woodrow Wilson International Center on Dec. 11, 2002, Mr. Kelly
said Mr. Kang surprised him by admitting first to the
uranium-based weapons program and then by saying that North
Korea sees the 1994 Geneva Agreed Framework as a dead letter. 
Why did the North admit to the clandestine nuclear weapons
program? 

Speculation said the United States presented receipts proving
North Korea's purchase of core components to build a centrifuge
to produce highly enriched uranium, but Seoul officials
dismissed that claim.

 They said North Korea's new tactic of "confessional diplomacy"
was behind the admission. "North Korea decided to challenge the
United States head-on because it believed that Washington
already had all information," a senior Seoul official said. 

"Mr. Kang's remarks are probably the product of North Korea's
Defense Commission and Foreign Ministry as well as its leader
Kim Jong-il," said another senior official who was involved in
the nuclear issue in 2002. 

Don Oberdorfer, professor of international relations at Johns
Hopkins University, also said he was convinced that Kim Jong-il
was involved in the North's admission based on information
gathered during a trip to Pyeongyang after Mr. Kelly's meetings.

 After meeting with Mr. Kang, U.S. officials in Pyeongyang
urgently assessed the situation. They wanted to make sure that
Pyeongyang's admission of having begun the uranium-based nuclear
program was not a misunderstanding or interpretation error.

 Concluding that North Korea had come clean about its nuclear
aspiration, Mr. Kelly briefed South Korean officials about the
news on Oct. 5. 

When did Washington become certain about its suspicions of North
Korea's nuclear program? According to the New Yorker magazine's
Jan. 27, 2003 issue, the Central Intelligence Agency told U.S.
president George W. Bush about the highly enriched uranium
program in the North in June 2002. 

But Washington did not want to address the issue immediately
with Pyeongyang, because the Bush administration wanted to focus
on its preparations for the campaign against Iraq, the
Washington Post reported. 

During his meeting with North Korea's foreign minister, Paek
Nam-sun, in July 2002, Colin Powell, the U.S. secretary of
state, did not raise the issue. For Washington, North Korea's
highly enriched nuclear program was a Pandora's box that was
best not opened at that time.

 While officials in Seoul and Washington remain tightlipped, the
first news about Korea's nuclear crisis broke 12 days later. 

by Oh Young-hwan, Jeong Yong-soo myoja@joongang.co.kr>   
    
  2004.10.11       

[http://joongangdaily.joins.com/faq.html]    		 		
*****************************************************************
 9 Korea Times: Big Flaw Feared in Korea's Nuclear Safety 

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times   

By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter

 On Sept. 14, 11 workers were exposed to radioactivity after over 
3,000 kilograms of heavy water leaked due to their carelessness 
at a nuclear power plant in Kyongju, North Kyongsang Province.

 With no report of casualties, the accident was mostly forgotten, 
but a lawmaker warns it could be an omen of far bigger things to 
come lest Korea increases its number of nuclear safety officials. 

Kang Jae-sup of the main opposition Grand National Party made the 
point on Monday during a parliamentary inspection into the Korea 
Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS). 

``The number of safety officials stands at a jarring 12.7 per 
nuclear reactor in Korea. The figure is less than half compared 
to advanced nations like the United States, France and 
Canada,¡¯¡¯ the fifth-term assemblyman said.

 A total of 330 personnel are currently in charge of overseeing 
Korea¡¯s 26 nuclear reactors across the country, with the average 
of 12.7 per facility.

 By contrast, Canada deploys an average of 31.8 experts for each 
of its 22 reactors, followed by France with 30.5, the U.S. with 
27.9 and Germany with 23.5.

 The lack of relevant manpower was amply demonstrated by seven 
accidents caused by operators¡¯ mistakes among a total of 14 
accidents this year, Kang claimed. 

In response, however, the KINS seemed not to feel any sense of 
urgency to plug the gaping security holes because it came out 
with a disappointing scheme of raising its head count by just 
22.7 percent by 2015. 

``From 2000, we increased our workforce by 72 to 330. We aim at 
boosting the number further to 405 by 2015,¡¯¡¯ the KINS said 
during the parliamentary inspection. 

Observers raise concerns more experts are needed to ensure the 
safety of the nuclear industry and to strengthen radiological 
emergency preparedness. 

``If the current security crack remains unchecked, such 
disastrous accident as Chernobyl will not be the story of distant 
nations. We should not run any risk with regard to atomic 
facilities due to its potential peril,¡¯¡¯ a Seoul National 
University professor cautioned. 

Since starting to produce atomic power back in 1978, Korea has 
expanded its reliance on the electricity source. Nuclear power 
from 26 reactors now provides more than 40 percent of the 
nation¡¯s electricity. 

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr 10-11-2004 17:11         
*****************************************************************
 10 Korea Times: Roh Warns Against Cornering NK 

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times   

By Shim Jae-yun Korea Times Correspondent 

Ho Chi Minh - President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday cautioned against 
moves to press North Korea into further difficulties, saying it 
would only worsen the security situation on the Korean peninsula.

 ``Even though there has been a harsh war of words as the United 
States regards it as very serious problem, the situation 
involving the North Korean nuclear issue has remained very 
safe,¡¯¡¯ Roh said during a meeting with a group of Chong Wa Dae 
correspondents at the Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi.

 ``Many nations harbor concern over the matter but it does not 
necessarily mean it is the knottiest issue to be resolved,'' Roh 
said.

 Roh said he is confident that North Korea will open itself to 
the outside world and carry out reform, despite the continuing 
standoff over its nuclear weapons program.

 ``As relevant nations like China, Russia and Japan earnestly 
wish to see peace on the Korean peninsula and oppose pressure 
that would result in provoking the North to seek extreme acts, 
there will be no catastrophic situation regarding the nuclear 
issue,'' he said.

 He defended North Korea had never engaged in any particular 
terror attacks since 1987 when the bombing of a KAL airplane took 
place by the North. Roh's statement is likely to create a stir as 
the United States continues to list the North as a 
terrorism-sponsoring state.

 But he ruled out the possibility that the stalled six-party 
talks designed to resolve the nuclear crisis will be held soon, 
due mainly to the upcoming U.S. presidential election in 
November.

 ``Any talks are unlikely ahead of the elections,'' Roh said.

 On the second leg of his visit to Vietnam, Roh arrived here 
Monday afternoon to look at facilities run by Korean companies in 
Ho Chi Minh and met with ethnic Koreans living here. He will 
return home Tuesday.

 Roh noted he had been focusing on persuading Asian and European 
leaders that the situation on the Korean peninsula has remained 
stable during the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) session and his 
visits to India and Vietnam.

 Seoul officials said the president managed to reap substantial 
fruits during his visits to the two nations by focusing on 
``sales diplomacy'' in the areas of energy, natural resources and 
information technology.

 Given the emphasis on the economic issues, Commerce, Industry 
and Energy Minister Lee Hee-bum seemed to have tighter schedules 
than any of Roh¡¯s other entourages, including Foreign 
Affairs-Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon.

 ``President Roh's tours have helped the nation lay the 
groundwork for further cooperation with the two nations in the 
areas of mineral resources, construction and information 
technology,'' Lee said.

 ``President Roh's tours have helped the nation lay the 
groundwork for further cooperation with the two nations in the 
areas of mineral resources, construction and information 
technology,'' he added.

 Roh himself acknowledged his visits succeeded in speeding up 
lackluster projects, while highly praising domestic companies 
doing businesses in India and Vietnam.

 India has been touted as the newly emerging market as one of the 
BRICs and the third stop for Roh following China and Russia. Next 
month, Roh is set to complete his visits to BRICs nations by 
traveling to Brazil.

 Prompted by Roh's brisk diplomacy, a growing number of domestic 
companies are set to advance into the two nations' markets for 
oil exploration and construction of infrastructure facilities 
such as roads and dams, including POSCO's bid to build a massive 
steel mill in India.

 Lee went on to praise Roh for having helped upgrade the national 
image with the recent visit, facilitating domestic companies in 
their bids to expand exports into the nations.

 Regarding security, Roh continued to stress the need to find a 
peaceful solution to the stalled confrontation over the North 
Korean nuclear program and explained that South Korea has never 
attempted to develop its nuclear capacity for military purposes.

 Against this backdrop, Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) members backed 
Seoul's stance with the European Commission taking ``good notes'' 
on South Korea's position.

 But while focusing on the economic issues, Roh has largely 
failed to extract concrete agreements with relevant nations 
regarding how to resolve North Korean issues.

 In Vietnam, Roh also discussed the issue of North Korean 
defectors but Roh's aide for foreign policy Chung Woo-sung 
declined to specify further. 

jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr 10-11-2004 17:03         
        
*****************************************************************
 11 Korea Herald: [ANN]It's paid off thus far to be a rogue state   
 
2004.10.12
 
By Kavi Chongkittavorn The Nation (Thailand) / Asia News Network
        
Asia has the world's largest number of rogue states. Burma, North 
Korea and Turkmenistan are three leading contenders. 

As Burma has shown, it is beneficial being a rogue state, 
provided the country knows how to play the game. Burma's success 
should be the envy of any tyrant state in the world. Its presence 
in Hanoi this weekend was an excellent illustration that when a 
despotically ruled nation plays its cards right and is consistent 
with its hard-line positions it can go a long way. 

How on earth can one explain the admission of Burma to the 
Asia-Europe Meeting process then, amid the outcry about political 
suppression and human-rights violations? Thank the unwavering 
support from Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as 
those shameless trade-hungry EU members. Burma has set a very 
good example for other half-baked rogues in the world to follow. 
With Burma's induction into ASEAN in 1997, the junta was able to 
strengthen its grip on the country, through regional support. 

While Burma's survivability has highlighted the imperatives of 
regional support and consistency, North Korea's longevity, with 
its current closed system, has been partly thanks to its 
leadership idiosyncrasy and high-stakes nuclear gambit. In that 
sense North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is a master of power 
politics. Since the demise of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994, 
he has emerged as a skilful negotiator and manipulator. In the 
past decade, he has successfully consolidated his power base and 
wrested total control of the ruling Korean Workers' Party and the 
military apparatus. In her memoir, Madame Secre|tary, former U.S. 
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright disclosed that the North's 
leader wanted to follow the Thai model, meaning to reign but not 
to rule. That also explains why, despite the nature of the 
regime, Thai-North Korean relations are considered much better 
than Thai-South Korean relations. This is no exaggeration, 
judging from the numbers of official, especially high-level, 
visits.

 North Korea's nuclear capability, imagined or real, has become 
its main bargaining chip. It is interesting to note that 
Pyon-gyang has adroitly framed the argument for peace and 
stability on the Korean Peninsula in terms of its nuclear 
potential. Ther-

 efore, even under the shadow of consistent threats, countries 
like South Korea and Japan, as well as international 
organizations, continue to give humanitarian aid to Pyongyang.

 In multilateral negotiations that began in 1994, North Korea, 
like Burma, has continued to do what it does best - use a variety 
of evasive strategies to dodge international pressure. After all, 
neither country has an opposition. As such, both Burma and North 
Korea are learning from each other. For one thing, Burma has 
begun to realize that being a pariah state with good regional 
support is still not sufficient to guarantee long-standing 
survivability; it must construct a so-called negative deterrent 
to engage regional and internal communities on its own terms. 

Unconfirmed reports indicate that Burma wants to acquire 
knowledge of and research skills in nuclear weapons. Burma has 
eyed Russia and North Korea as potential mentors. Earlier this 
year, the U.S. government warned Russia to abstain from providing 
any nuclear-related technologies to Burma, whether through 
bilateral arrangements or trade deals. 

Turkmenistan could soon take a turn in the news headlines. This 
rich country is increasingly visible, because of its strategic 
location and abundant natural-gas reserves. Listening to a recent 
briefing by Turkmen journalists, one felt that the situation is 
similar to North Korea's, because Turkmen President Saparmurad 
Niyazov's personality cult permeates every inch of this former 
Soviet state. 

He is president for life; every deed and every word that is 
performed and spoken must bear his name. All news is checked and 
scrutinized to ensure there is not even the smallest aberration 
in the perception of the leader. Political structures are 
manipulated to guarantee Niyazov's iron-fisted rule.

 All in all, Asian tyrants in Burma, North Korea and Turkmenistan 
may exhibit different diplomatic methods in manipulating regional 
and international communities, but they share common traits when 
it comes to repression.

 
The author is the executive editor of the Nation. - Ed.

 

By Kavi Chongkittavorn The Nation (Thailand) / Asia News Network

2004.10.12
 
*****************************************************************
 12 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL]Bush, Kerry and North Korea   
 
2004.10.12
 
By Kavi Chongkittavorn The Nation (Thailand) / Asia News Network
        
With the U.S. presidential election just three weeks away, North 
Korea's leaders, after releasing a barrage of insults on 
incumbent President George W. Bush, must be holding their breath 
watching the seemingly neck-and-neck race. Many South Koreans 
might also be wishing a John Kerry victory, finding in his stated 
policies a little more flexibility on how to deal with North 
Korea plus his opposition to the plan to cut the U.S. forces in 
Korea by a third. 

The two rounds of televised debates between the two candidates 
showed that the North Korean nuclear weapons drive occupies a 
major area of concern for both but that they have clearly 
different formulas. Bush stuck to the existing multilateral 
approach while his Democratic opponent favored bilateral talks 
with Pyongyang.

 During their first encounter, Kerry said he wanted a one-on-one 
to solve "all of the issues," ranging from the nuclear problem to 
the economic, human rights, missile development and the overall 
security questions involving the North. Bush brushed aside the 
bilateral method as unraveling the six-way talks, which he said 
was exactly what the North Korean "tyrant" Kim Jong-il wants. 

Both candidates demonstrated their attention toward and 
understanding of the Korean problem but their remarks in the 
debate exposed something that needs to be closely examined. First 
of all, Bush had an excessive amount of expectations on China's 
role and somewhat exaggerated its influence on North Korea.

 Bush told the American public that he had gotten China involved 
in the process to resolve the North Korean nuclear question - 
through his summit talks with then President Jiang Zemin at his 
Crawford, Texas, ranch in October 2002 - because a nuclear-free 
Korean Peninsula was primarily in the interest of China. He 
observed that China's influence over North Korea was "in some 
ways" greater than the United States' and that Kim Jong-il would 
not breach an agreement to be produced by the six-way talks 
because it would be "doing injustice" not only to the United 
States but also to China.

 He is right to note the special relations existing between 
Pyongyang and Beijing based on their historical alliance and 
current economic ties. Yet, he is mistaken if he believes that 
Washington can move North Korea better through the intervention 
of China than through any bilateral approach. 

His negative stand on direct talks with the North might have come 
from what resulted from the 1994 Geneva Agreed Framework which 
failed to prevent Pyongyang's scheme to develop weapons of mass 
destruction. However, as we look back, the breakdown of the 
"framework" involved multiple factors, including North Korea's 
rocket firing in 1998 that stalled the energy aid and light-water 
reactor project for the North, which worsened the vicious circle 
of mistrust and escalated reaction. 

In Kerry's camp, on the other hand, the Democratic logic puts all 
the blame on Bush's reversal of the non-proliferation structure, 
which had been meticulously built and implemented by the Clinton 
administration. Kerry estimates four to seven nuclear bombs - 
five to eight according to the intelligence available to his vice 
presidential candidate John Edwards - resulted from two years of 
total absence of dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang chosen 
by the Bush administration. There still is no proof for the 
correlation and the numbers. 

To onlookers here, who have many times stronger interest in the 
issue than the American audience, the dispute over multilateral 
and bilateral processes sounds overstretched in the course of 
political contention. Neither approach has an absolute 
justification and practicability. Whoever wins the election needs 
to reassess the reality and adjust his policies to apply to 
changing circumstances.

2004.10.12
 
*****************************************************************
 13 Korea Herald: [NEWS ANALYSIS]Seoul's 'regret' toward Tokyo putting ties
at risk   
 
2004.10.12
 
By Choi Soung-ah 
        
    
Scornful attitudes from some in the international community over
South Korea's past experiments with nuclear substances was
expected, but suspicions brought out by neighbor and ally Japan
was more than enough to blow Seoul's top. 

President Roh Moo-hyun last week expressed deep "regret" over
Tokyo's criticism and suspicion toward experiments done by South
Korean scientists and demanded an explanation for such attitude. 
Early last month, soon after Seoul admitted that its scientists
experimented with nuclear particles, Hiroyuki Hosoda, Japan's
chief cabinet secretary and government spokesman criticized
South Korea for conducting an "out-of-line" testing and called
for a probe by the U.N. nuclear watchdog. 

"The enrichment level of the obtained uranium, though it was a
very small amount, was not an adequate experiment because it
requires a thorough inspection," he said, urging for an
inspection from the IAEA. 

Japan's Sankei Newspaper along with most other media there
reported that South Korea's uranium test is hindering the
six-way talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. 

An official at the Foreign Ministry said the government had
formally expressed regret through diplomatic channels over the
Japanese government's and media's suspicions and that Seoul will
not back down on its demand for an explanation. 

"It would not be right to let Japan just get away with making
accusations and raising suspicions on us," an official at
Seoul's foreign ministry said. 

Although it appears that Seoul is sticking-up for itself, some
diplomatic experts voice concern that such a move by the
president and or government in the long run hinder the decades
old Korea-Japan alliance which still has more "significant"
knots to comb out. 

Instead of Roh's comments making a stronger position for Korea,
many feel it may be another bump in the diplomacy road ahead
with Tokyo. 

Experts point out that the litmus test of a strong Korea-Japan
alliance is whether or not the two sides can iron out
differences on historic and diplomatic issues and with Roh
scheduled for a Japan tour in December, they deem likely that
such remarks by the South Korean government will hinder talks
coming forth. 

South and North Korea, the United States, Japan, China and
Russia have engaged in three rounds of six-nation disarmament
talks that ended with no concrete breakthrough. 

Last Friday, the South Korean embassy to Japan reported during a
National Assembly inspection of the administration, that Tokyo
possesses over 40 tons of plutonium. 

According to the report made open to the public by Rep. Hong
Jun-pyo of the Grand National Party, Japan holds 5,475 kg of
plutonium within its borders and 35,168 kg outside. North Korea
is currently known to have about 24 kilograms of plutonium. 
Rep. Hong pointed out the Korean government's failure to offer a
diplomatic reaction, saying, "With that much plutonium, Japan
can make 540 nuclear warheads. 

"It is nonsense that Japan, in possession of so much plutonium,
is showing so much concern over South Korea's plutonium
extraction experiments, which are far different from making
nuclear weapons." 

The embassy explained that the plutonium was under the control
of the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency,
adding that "Japan's plutonium is for atomic power generation
purposes. 

(bluelle@heraldm.com) 

By Choi Soung-ah 

2004.10.12
*****************************************************************
 14 Tri-Valley Herald: America's nuclear fears: rhetoric or real concern?

 
  10/11/2004   
                  
With recent mentions of nuclear proliferation, scare tactics of 
the past are making a return 


By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER

 A fearsome weapon of American politics -- the rhetorical 
mushroom cloud -- is back. 

Every two decades, the men who would be president and leader of 
the free world have dropped the prospect of nuclear horror on a 
peaceful electorate. 

In 1964, Republican challenger Barry Goldwater called H-bombs 
"merely another weapon" useful for "lobbing" into "the men's room 
of the Kremlin." President Lyndon Johnson created a nuclear icon 
in American political advertising. 

She was a little girl in a field plucking petals off a daisy, 
"One, two, three, four." She looked up startled as the camera 
drew viewers into darkness of her pupil, then an thermonuclear 
detonation swallowed the screen. "Vote for President Johnson on 
Nov. 3," an announcer said. "The stakes are too high for you to 
stay home." 

The Daisy Girl ad aired only once. Goldwater was annihilated. 

Democrat Walter Mondale went back to the well of Cold War anxiety 
in 1984 and assailed Ronald Reagan for not pursuing arms control 
with the Soviets. Mondale lost. 

As if on a circadian clock, 20 years later, President Bush calls 
nuclear terrorism "the great nexus, the great threat to our 
country" and mocks Sen. John Kerry as putting the war against it 
to a "global test." Kerry is accusing the president of neglecting 
pursuit of al-Qaida and real nuclear dangers in Russia, North 
Korea and Iran for an incompetent war against an unarmed Iraq. 

Both men appear to take nonproliferation seriously. And on this 
much, they agree: The greatest threat to America today is having 
terrorists acquire a nuclear weapon and deliver it in a U.S. 
city. 

But does fighting nuclear terrorism by stemming the spread of 
weapons have political currency? Will Americans warm to it as a 
chief object of U.S. security policy? 

"It's a bumper-sticker sentiment that's not likely to move a lot 
of voters," said one Bush administration official. 

It did move a nation to war. It was Bush's leading rationale for 
invading Iraq. 

Now fighting nuclear terror is a banner for both campaigns. 

Here's a quick look at the expanding nuclear problem, what the 
candidates would do about it and some expert opinions. 

In brief, the president and the senator share some goals and 
strategies, vary on questions of money and priority but most of 
all perceive the problem across an ideological chasm: Bush sees 
bad or rogue nations as the problem and favors quicker resort to 
military force over arms control and inspections. 

Kerry sees nations arming with dangerous weapons for their own 
perceived security; he would wield inspections and diplomatic 
clout to stop them before using a military assault. 

Bush's argument could come from the NRA playbook. Kerry's deals 
and coalitions offer a broader tool kit, but they can take longer 
and time is not an ally. 

Each says the other puts Americans in danger. It's clear that 
nuclear proliferation is a large, multi-layered problem that the 
United States under any leader can't solve alone.

 Enforcing nonproliferation

The three countries are a nuclear nightmare in the making. 

Pakistan -- A U.S. ally never mentioned in a presidential debate. 
Pakistan nuclear father A.Q. Khan headed a network that funneled 
uranium enrichment methods to Iran, North Korea and Libya, and 
nuclear bomb blueprints to at least Libya. 

Bush stretched in saying the Khan network was shut down. Most of 
the network remains unjailed, and U.S. investigators still are 
identifying middlemen. There is fear they may still have 
enrichment and bomb plans. 

But Pakistan's own weapons and materials are at risk in a country 
where President Musharraf has barely escaped assassination 
attempts by al-Qaida-like cells and where elements of the nuclear 
establishment have extreme Islamist sympathies. U.S. officials 
quietly are working on securing those weapons. 

Harvard nonproliferation expert Matthew Bunn rates Pakistan as a 
"huge" risk for nuclear terrorism. 

"If you can have 41 heavily armed terrorists showing up without 
warning in a Moscow theater, imagine how many might show up at a 
remote Pakistan weapons facility. And would the guards fight or 
help?" he said. 

"It's a big problem but these guys don't even talk about it 
because they don't have a program where they can say I'm going to 
spend twice as much as my opponent," said Henry Sokolski, a 
Reagan administration nonproliferation official who worked in the 
Pentagon under Paul Wolfowitz. 

North Korea and Iran -- Both launched nuclear programs years 
before Bush listed them in the "axis of evil" and the Pentagon 
ordered nuclear attack plans for "contingencies" there. 

North Korea had frozen its pursuit of plutonium in ex change for 
Clinton administration guarantees of fuel oil and reactors that 
produce less plutonium. Nuclear inspectors sealed its reactor 
fuel rods and installed cameras to watch over them. The Bush 
administration accused North Korea and then Iran of secretly 
building uranium enrichment facilities. 

With the U.S. preparing for war in Iraq, North Korea kicked 
inspectors out, withdrew from the nonproliferation treaty and 
processed its fuel rods into plutonium for bombs. 

Iran supports Hezbollah and has links to al-Qaida. Unchecked, it 
could be two years or less from its first nuclear weapon. 

Nonproliferation experts credit Bush for seeking international 
backing to deal with them. Kerry also favors the president's 
Proliferation Security Initiative, now a 14-nation coalition 
aimed at forcibly stopping illicit weapons shipments by sea and 
air. 

Sokolski further endorses the Bush administration's willingness 
to invade Iraq in the name of disarmament. "That's what's been 
missing for 30 years is someone to enforce these rules (against 
pursuing nuclear weapons.)" 

But several fault the administration for communicating threats to 
North Korea and Iran while failing to offer any incentive to 
abandon their weapons pursuits. 

When the Los Angeles Times asked what lesson Iran should draw 
from the invasion of Iraq, a senior administration official said 
its mullahs should "take a number." 

Threats like that strengthen Tehran's desire for a nuclear 
deterrent, said Stanford political science and arms-control 
expert Scott Sagan. 

Same in North Korea, said Matthew Bunn at Harvard, "They have 
done pretty much everything wrong. They basically have fiddled 
while the North Koreans built." 

In the first presidential debate, voters were treated to seeming 
diplomatic esoterica: Bush favors six-party talks including 
China. Kerry wants direct U.S.-North Korea talks. 

Sig Hecker, a former director of Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab 
who toured North Korean nuclear facilities this year, said both 
are needed. 

"What's clear at this point is the trust that has to sustain any 
kind of agreement doesn't exist between North Korea and the 
United States of America," he said. 

Securing bombs, fissile material 



The greatest threat of nuclear terrorism, according to most 
nonproliferation experts, rests in hundreds of tons of poorly 
secured nuclear materials in Russia and research reactors 
scattered in 40 countries. 

Starting in the 1950s, the United States and Soviet Union planted 
these nuclear seeds around the globe, as gifts to allies. More 
than 100 of these reactors are powered by highly enriched uranium 
-- the easiest material to fashion into an atom bomb -- yet often 
secured by a fence and a night watchman. 

Also part of the threat: undisclosed thousands of tactical 
nuclear weapons in Russia that, unlike strategic weapons of 
typically higher explosive yield, have never been the subject of 
an arms-control treaty. 

In the Sept. 30 debate, Sen. Kerry said Bush "cut the money" for 
securing foreign bombs and materials. Bush countered that he 
actually had increased nonproliferation funding by 35 percent. 

In his first budget request, the president proposed a 20 percent 
cut in money for securing foreign nuclear weapons, materials and 
know-how. It was Congress that reinstated the money, adding $200 
million. 

After Sept. 11, the president sought increases for the Energy 
Department's nonproliferation programs, for a net gain of 35 
percent over spending in the last Clinton budget. But 
three-fourths of this increase was for U.S. nonproliferation 
research and disposing of surplus U.S. weapons plutonium, not per 
se for securing materials abroad. 

Discounting for inflation, administration spending solely on 
foreign nuclear security has declined slightly from pre-Bush 
years. The programs, however, have grown under the Bush 
administration to securing bombs for the Russian Navy and 
Strategic Rocket Forces, keeper of Russia's missiles. 

At the administration's current pace, Kerry says securing Russian 
nuclear materials will take 13 years, a figure drawn from 
analyses by Bunn at Harvard's Managing the Atom project. 

Kerry says he will get it done in four years, with more money and 
appointment of a White House nonproliferation czar to drive the 
issue. 

"The biggest difference between the two campaigns is that Kerry 
is trying to put more money into a wider set of nuclear security 
measures than the Bush administration has been willing to do," 
said Stanford's Sagan. 

But Kerry's four-year timetable is Bush's. Soon after the Sept. 
11 attacks. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham flew to Moscow and 
urged his Russian counterpart to accelerate the programs. Abraham 
cut two years off the Clinton administration deadline and set a 
new completion date of 2008. 

But there's no guarantee that Abraham's deadline or Kerry's is 
achievable. Nuclear security in Russia lies in the hands of 
large, slow and secretive bureaucracies. More money won't 
necessarily result in faster progress. 

Ultimately, Russians, not American presidents, control the pace. 

"The major problem isn't 13 years or four years. We're not going 
to do it at all," said Hecker at Los Alamos, pioneer of the 
original U.S.-Russian scientific contacts that evolved into the 
nonproliferation programs. "Only the Russians can secure their 
nuclear materials, and we're at a point now where money is no 
longer a limiting factor." 

"Russia is a place that still produces plutonium, and it's a 
place that doesn't like to tell you what it's got or what it's 
doing," Sokolski said. "It's not something that can be solved in 
a short period of time by force feeding of money and priorities." 

The pace of securing Russian nuclear materials is partly a 
function of strategy and differences in philosophy. American 
security experts went after the smallest, typically least secure 
Russian nuclear facilities first, where negotiating access was 
easiest. They started with instant-security kits -- bricked over 
windows and radiation detectors at exits to stop smuggling -- 
then moved in with multiple fences, watched over by cameras and 
intrusion-detection sensors, plus software to keep inventory. 

The Russians prefer guards. 

"We don't think that's a good approach because guards get tired, 
guards go to sleep and guards can be tempted by Russian organized 
crime," said Longworth. 

Negotiating access to larger, more sensitive Russian nuclear 
installations has been tougher, especially at two weapons 
assembly and disassembly plants where most remaining bomb 
materials are stored. 

Two programs have been stalled, and one was killed, in thorny 
negotiations over access and liability protections for U.S. 
corporations working in Russia. Several want blanket 
indemnification, since destroying weapons facilities is dangerous 
and Russian courts are unpredictable. Russian officials agreed to 
standard protections but have balked at what they see as the Bush 
administration's insistence that American contractors be free of 
lawsuits for knowingly placing Russians at risk of death or 
serious injury. 

"It's been a painful issue for this department," said Bush 
nuclear nonproliferation chief Paul Longworth of the National 
Nuclear Security Administration. 

But what the administration wants is a political hard sell in 
Russia. 

Harvard's Bunn said the stalemate has "delayed by at least a 
couple of years now the destruction of a couple of thousand 
bombs' worth of plutonium." 

"If you can't resolve that issue, you've tied up billions of 
dollars of work," said William Hoehn, an analyst at the Russian 
American Nuclear Security Council, a nonprofit that monitors the 
programs. "I think if you can get both (U.S. and Russian) 
presidents to buy into this agenda and whip their bureaucracies 
into getting this done, it can be done in four years." 

NNSA's Longworth said the president would name a nonproliferation 
chief if he thought it would help. 

"Some of this stuff just takes time. It's hard," he said. "When 
you ask people how they would do it faster or better, the only 
thing they've come up with is a czar."

Tri-Valley Herald All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 15 Guardian Unlimited: Missing Nuclear Equipment Worries Watchdog
 
the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Monday October 11, 2004 11:01 PM

By EDITH M. LEDERER 

Associated Press Writer 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog expressed concern 
Monday at the disappearance from Iraq's nuclear facilities of 
high-precision equipment that could be used to make nuclear 
weapons. 

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, the head of the 
International Atomic Energy Agency said some industrial material 
that Iraq sent overseas has been located in other countries but 
not high-precision items including milling machines and electron 
beam welders that have both commercial and military uses. 

``As the disappearance of such equipment and materials may be of 
proliferation significance, any state that has information about 
the location of such items should provide IAEA with that 
information,'' said the agency's director-general, Mohamed 
ElBaradei. 

IAEA inspectors left Iraq just before the March 2003 U.S.-led 
war. The Bush administration then barred U.N. weapons inspectors 
from returning, deploying U.S. teams instead in what turned out 
to be an unsuccessful search for Iraqi weapons of mass 
destruction. 

Nonetheless, IAEA teams were allowed into Iraq in June 2003 to 
investigate reports of widespread looting of storage rooms at the 
main nuclear complex at Tuwaitha, and in August to take an 
inventory of ``several tons'' of natural uranium in storage near 
Tuwaitha. 

ElBaradei told the council that Iraq is still obligated, under 
IAEA agreements, ``to declare semi-annually changes that have 
occurred or are foreseen at sites deemed relevant by the 
agency.'' But since March 2003 ``the agency has received no such 
notifications or declarations from any state,'' he said. 

As a result of the IAEA's ongoing review of satellite photos and 
follow-up investigations, ElBaradei said, ``the IAEA continues to 
be concerned about the widespread and apparently systematic 
dismantlement that has taken place at sites previously relevant 
to Iraq's nuclear program and sites previously subject to ongoing 
monitoring and verification by the agency.'' 

``The imagery shows in many instances the dismantlement of entire 
buildings that housed high precision equipment ... formerly 
monitored and tagged with IAEA seals, as well as the removal of 
equipment and materials (such as high-strength aluminum) from 
open storage areas,'' he said. 

Because of the holiday, U.S. officials were not immediately 
available to comment on ElBaradei's letter. 

In a report to the Security Council in early September, the U.N. 
Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, which is 
charged with overseeing the elimination of any banned Iraqi 
missile, chemical and biological weapons programs, also expressed 
concern about the disappearance of tagged equipment. 

Demetri Perricos, head of the commission, known as UNMOVIC, said 
Iraqi authorities for over a year have been shipping thousands of 
tons of scrap metal out of the country, including at least 42 
engines from banned missiles and other equipment that could be 
used to produce banned weapons. 

The UNMOVIC report said the export was handled by the Iraqi 
Ministry of Trade, which was under the direct supervision of U.S. 
occupation authorities until June 28, when the Americans handed 
power to Iraq's interim government. 

ElBaradei told the council that Iraq's Minister of Science and 
Technology Rashad Omar visited IAEA headquarters in Vienna in 
July to discuss the implementation of various Security Council 
resolutions. This was followed by a number of letters and another 
visit in September by a ministry delegation, which submitted 
requests for assistance. 

He told the council that Iraq asked for IAEA assistance in 
selling the remaining nuclear material at Tuwaitha ``with the 
exception of a small quantity to be retained for research 
purposes'' and in dismantling and decontaminating former nuclear 
facilities. The interim Iraqi government also asked for the 
resumption of IAEA technical cooperation in a number of areas 
previously approved by the Security Council, he said. 

``The agency is assessing the possibility of providing such 
assistance,'' ElBaradei said. 
  
      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 16 Xinhuanet: Swiss man arrested in Germany in Libya nuclear case   
 
  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-10-12 03:58:24   

    BERLIN, Oct. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- A Swiss engineer has been 
arrested in Germany on suspicion of helping Libya obtain nuclear 
weapons technology, authorities said Monday. 

    The 39-year-old, identified as Urs T., is believed to have 
beenpart of the international illegal supply network that<img 
src="http://imgs.xinhuanet.com/ad/albb/alibaba_360_300_041011.gif 
" align="left"> [http://www.alibaba.com/]  helped Libyato build 
nuclear centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium. 

    The German authorities said Urs T. was arrested in the German 
state of Hesse on Thursday and he would face charges of 
complicityin treason. 

    Investigators believe he advised a Malaysia-based company and 
oversaw the production of more than 2,000 pre-assembled 
centrifugecomponents between 2001 and 2003. 

    The components were shipped to Dubai, reloaded onto a German 
freighter under a false declaration for shipping to Libya, 
prosecutors said in a statement. 

    However the ship was stopped in October last year in the 
southern Italian port of Taranto and the suspect components were 
seized, prosecutors said. 

    Libya claimed late last year that it abandoned its gas 
ultra-centrifuge program. In March it signed an additional 
protocol of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Enditem 

  Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 17 Daily Times: ‘Nuclear CBMs necessary for peace’ 
 
Tuesday, October 12, 2004    

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Experts from across the world on Monday called upon 
Pakistan and India to continue working on nuclear confidence 
building measures (CBM) and give maximum thrust to this issue.

Speaking at a two-day seminar organised by FRIENDS in 
collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (of Germany), 
these experts emphasised the need for progress on nuclear CBMs 
because of the changed realities in South Asia after the May 1998 
nuclear detonations by both countries. 

They also urged both sides to remain engaged despite limited 
progress on a particular issue. They said both sides should asses 
how to encourage success in other areas.

Former Indian Foreign Secretary, Salman Haider, while speaking on 
Indo-Pak Peace Process-Future Prospects, said that nuclear CBMs 
should have thrust in the Pak-India composite dialogue process. 
“If the process of the on-going composite dialogue fails on other 
issues, the process on nuclear CBMs should remain persistent,” he 
said.

Mr Haider is the co-author of the Pak-India Joint Statement 
issued in June 1997 on an eight-point agenda of items for 
dialogue between the two countries.

He said that the various solutions for Kashmir that have been 
developed so far should be examined. “Some of the solutions 
command acceptability in India while others command acceptability 
in Pakistan. Their acceptability among all those involved should 
be explored,” he added.

He identified three areas where progress was possible: 
Muzaffarabad-Sri Nagar bus service, gas pipeline from Iran to 
India through Pakistan and Siachin.

Dr Riffat Hussain from Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad 
echoed the idea about progress on nuclear CBMs and observed that 
there should be a mechanism for the effective handling of the 
incidental or un-authorised use of nuclear weapons. 

“Pakistan and India need to overcome the reality of mutual 
suspicion. They are gradually realising that there is a need to 
cooperate with each other because both are nuclear states,” he 
said.

Dr Hussain elaborated that there are certain incentives for India 
to agree to a solution of the Kashmir issue. “India can extract 
concessions from Pakistan. India desires projecting its stability 
for greater economic growth and seeking foreign investment. Its 
coercive diplomacy failed in 2002 and it had to withdraw its 
forces from Pakistan’s borders. Incentives can persuade India for 
a Kashmir solution,” he added.

He said Pakistan could not put the Kashmir issue on the back 
burner because “Kashmir has been in the international spotlight 
since the Kargil aftermath and Pakistan should benefit from the 
existing situation.”

FRIENDS Chairman General (r) Mirza Aslam Beg also observed that 
Pakistan could not put the Kashmir issue in cold storage. “This 
issue is humanitarian, contrary to the dispute between China and 
India which is territorial. Secondly, the war for liberation has 
been going on in Kashmir since the 1830s,” he added. Former 
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Inamul Haq said asymmetry 
among South Asian nations was hampering peaceful coexistence in 
the region. He said small states fear India. 

However, Salman Haider observed that India believes its 
neighbours gang up to embarrass India. Renowned Indian writer 
Kuldip Nayar called for a separation of politics and religion. 
“In the Indo-Pak disputes, do not involve religion,” he said. 

Daily Times - All Rights Reserved [http://www.wcis.com.pk] 
*****************************************************************
 18 Daily Times: Pakistan has 55 to 90 nuclear weapons 
 
Tuesday, October 12, 2004    

By Khalid Hasan 

Washington: Stockpiles of fissile materials in India, Pakistan 
and Israel are continuing to grow, according to an article in the 
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Pakistan’s fissile material stockpile has always been difficult 
to assess, it says, but now appears to be large enough to rival 
that of India.

According to David Albright and Kimberly Kramer, authors of the 
analysis, Pakistan’s stockpile of plutonium is between 20 and 60 
kilogram, while its stock of highly enriched uranium (HEU) is 
between 1,200 and 1,250 kilograms, and the number of nuclear 
weapons it has manufactured is estimated at between 55 and 90. 
Compared to Pakistan, India has 300-470 kilograms of plutonium 
and it has the possibility of producing HEU, while its arsenal 
contains between 55 and 115 nuclear weapons. Israel is credited 
with possessing between 510 and 650 kilograms of plutonium, while 
its stock of HEU is not known. The number of nuclear weapons it 
stocks is between 110 and 290.

At the end of 2003 there were more than 3,700 metric tons of 
plutonium and highly enriched uranium (uranium enriched to 20 
percent or more uranium 235), enough for hundreds of thousands of 
nuclear weapons, in about 60 countries. “Although some fissile 
material is disposed of, more material is produced, causing the 
total to grow each year. This is worrisome not only because the 
world has yet to come up with an accepted method of plutonium 
disposition, but also from a security standpoint,”, wrote. “That 
military stocks in India, Pakistan, and Israel are continuing to 
grow is an important indicator of the need for an international 
ban on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons,” 
they warned. Home | National           

Daily Times - All Rights Reserved [http://www.wcis.com.pk] 
*****************************************************************
 19 Daily Times: ‘India, Pakistan, must work on N-restraint’ 
 
Tuesday, October 12, 2004    

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday underlined the 
need for Pakistan and India to continue to develop 
confidence-building measures and work towards mutual nuclear 
restraint and a conventional arms balance.

Speaking at a banquet in honour of Mauritian Prime Minister Paul 
Berenger and his delegation, Mr Aziz said Pakistan was committed 
to the sustainability and success of the ongoing Indian and 
Pakistan talks.

“Meaningful progress towards the settlement of the Jammu and 
Kashmir issue, in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris, is 
essential to the sustainability and success of the talks,” he 
said. 

The prime minister said the dividends of peace between India and 
Pakistan would be enormous and would open vast opportunities for 
progress and prosperity for the people of India and Pakistan. 

Mr Aziz said the world had made a great investment in peace, 
stability and reconstruction of Afghanistan. “Pakistan is 
committed to assisting Afghanistan in these spheres,” he said. He 
said Pakistan was a frontline state in the fight against 
terrorism, even before the tragic events of 9/11. 

He said the crisis in Darfur should not be allowed to worsen. “We 
face complex situation in Darfur which requires prudence as well 
as enhance cooperation between the United Nations, African Union 
and the government of Sudan,” he said. 

The prime minister said national, regional and international 
cooperation in Sudan was more necessary than threats of 
sanctions.

He said Pakistan’s contribution to UN peacekeeping missions in 
Africa had won international praise and 90 percent of its 8,000 
peacekeepers were deployed in various wartorn countries of 
Africa. 

He said Pakistan’s economy had made a remarkable recovery and its 
reforms had succeeded with positive growth in almost all 
macro-economic indicators.

“We support the cause of developing countries in multilateral 
trade negotiations, particularly Small Island Developing States, 
for a fair deal,” he said. 

He said the goals and aspirations of Pakistan and Mauritius were 
the same. He however said that the full potential of their 
relationship was yet to be reached. 

Pakistan and Mauritius on Monday announced forming a joint 
ministerial working group to bolster their economic and 
commercial ties besides signing a memorandum of understanding to 
enhance cooperation between the private sectors of the two 
countries. 

In another MoU, they agreed to have regular bilateral 
consultations between the two foreign ministers to strengthen 
their political ties. Both sides called the talks “positive” and 
“very comprehensive” covering a wide range of issues, dealing 
with strengthening of bilateral and economic relations between 
the two countries. 

Talking to reporters, the prime minister of Mauritius said the 
understanding on greater economic cooperation during the talks 
would prove to be a “turning point” between their ties. Mr Aziz 
said many subjects were discussed. He said Mauritius was the 
gateway to southern and eastern Africa and would open up new 
markets for Pakistani goods. app Home | National           

            
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved [http://www.wcis.com.pk] 
*****************************************************************
 20 Foldvary: Energy Problem - Solved! 

 [http://www.progress.org] 

by Fred E. Foldvary, Senior Editor

The industrial revolution, which began in the late 1700s, was 
fueled by abundant carbon-based energy sources: wood, peat, coal, 
oil, and natural gas. Oil is now the most important energy 
source, since it powers most vehicles and is used for much of the 
world's heating and electricity. But as is well known, the supply 
of oil is vulnerable to disruptions. Oil-producing areas are 
plagued with conflict: political problems in Venezuela, rebellion 
in Nigeria, governmental intervention in Russia, and of course 
the continuing bombing of pipelines and facilities in Iraq. The 
supply of oil from Saudi Arabia is vulnerable to terrorist 
attacks. 

Besides these disruption problems, the long-run supply of oil 
will be shrinking. Better technology has enabled more extraction 
from the older fields, but the fact remains that the total amount 
of oil as a natural resource is fixed. Oil can be produced from 
natural gas, but that is expensive. The consumption of oil has 
been increasing faster than the increase in supplies as much of 
the world is rapidly becoming highly industrialized. China and 
India, each with over a billion persons, will be demanding ever 
greater amounts of energy. Rapidly increasing demand, combined 
with threatened supply, has led to the price of oil rising to 
over $50 per barrel. 

The large and rapid recent increase in the price of oil has acted 
like foreign tax, draining the U.S. and other oil importers of 
funds that would have been used for other goods. Oil imports 
contribute to the huge U.S. trade deficit. And oil has incited 
the U.S. chiefs of state to intervene in the Middle East to 
safeguard the oil supplies. This intervention in turn has incited 
fanatical terrorists to attack the U.S. and its foreign assets. 
Oil and coal also create pollution, and the rising contamination 
of the atmosphere is the likely cause of a global warming that 
could be catastrophic. We violate the prime rule: don't upset 
mother nature. 

Environmentalists have pushed for the development of alternative 
energy sources, such as windmills, solar panels, and ocean waves. 
These have been installed because of tax credits and other 
subsidies. These sources are inadequate for most energy demands. 
Solar energy and wind will not power your car. 

The only economical alternative to oil and coal is nuclear 
energy. Nuclear power does not create global warming, and it is 
not vulnerable to conflict and war in the Middle East. The main 
problem with nuclear reactors has been the radioactive waste. The 
U.S. federal government seeks to bury this waste in Nevada, but 
the radioactivity will last for many thousands of years, making 
the burial vulnerable to leaks and earthquakes. 

Technology has come to the rescue! The Sovereignty Journal and 
Sunday Telegraph reported on 26 September 2004, in the article 
'British Firm Finds The Nuclear Industry's 'Holy Grail'' by David 
Harrison, environment correspondent, that a British company, 
Amec, has announced that the nuclear waste problem has been 
solved. 

Amec is a substantial firm; it was a major player in cleaning up 
Ground Zero in New York City (where the World Trade Center had 
been) and rebuilding the Pentagon after the 9/11 attack. This 
company uses a vitrification (conversion to glass) technique 
devised by the Battelle research institute in Ohio. The process, 
called 'geomelting,' mixes one part nuclear waste with four parts 
soil, and heats it at a high temperature. The GeoMelt mixture 
turns into glass which when cooled is harder than concrete. 
According to Amec, the glass-enclosed nuclear waste can be stored 
safely for 200,000 years, longer than the radioactivity. The 
radioactive atoms will decay into harmless elements before the 
glass corrodes. 

Amec bought the technology from Battelle and holds an 
international license for the process. Vitrification has already 
been used for storing nuclear waste, but the process has not been 
long-lasting and required reprocessing, in contrast to the new 
GeoMelt method. 

Geomelting has been successfully tested by the U.S. government, 
which is now building a pilot plant in Washington state to use 
this method to treat nuclear waste from atomic bomb tests. Amec 
has also been negotiating with government-owned British Nuclear 
Fuels. An official of U.K.'s Department of Trade and Industry 
stated that a large expansion of nuclear power is needed to avoid 
an increase of greenhouse global-warming gasses. 
Environmentalists are now more favorably inclined towards nuclear 
energy than previously, and when vitrification becomes recognized 
as the safe way to dispose of nuclear waste, environmentalists 
who are not ideologically locked into solar and wind will become 
advocates of energy from nuclear fission. 

Besides being a source of electricity, nuclear power can replace 
gasoline for cars. Fuel cells require hydrogen, and the problem 
has been that separating hydrogen from oxygen in water requires 
much energy. Nuclear power can provide that energy. Geomelting 
can therefore eliminate the use of gasoline in vehicles, and that 
will terminate dependence on oil while eliminating pollution. Our 
cities will have clean air, and global warming will be averted. 

The energy problem is now solved. The main problem with nuclear 
energy will be the threat of a terrorist attack on the plants. 
But the large-scale replacement of oil with nuclear power will 
induce the U.S. and Europe to disengage from the Middle East, 
while oil revenues dry up and deplete the oil producers of 
political might. Until that time, the nuclear plants will have to 
be tightly guarded. Meanwhile, the best way to protect against 
terrorist attacks is to prevent them, not just by military means, 
but mainly by ending the attempt to dominate the Middle East. 
Encourage local democracy, and then remove foreign troops and 
stop supporting non-democratic regimes. Solve the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict by making Israel pay rent for 
West-Bank settlements and by promoting a confederation of Israeli 
and Palestinian states. 

Geomelting should be good news welcomed by environmentalists, 
residents of Nevada, peace seekers, and economic reformers. 
Energy has been at the heart of our economic and political 
conflicts, and now this problem is evidently solved. We now need 
to move rapidly to eliminate any governmental restrictions on 
nuclear power so long as this safe method of disposal is used. 
The era of petroleum is about to end, and the new era is dawning, 
where nuclear energy with geomelting disposal will bring humanity 
safe and abundant energy. -- Fred Foldvary [foldvary@pobox.com]       
                                
Copyright 2004 by Fred E. Foldvary. All rights reserved. No part 

[http://www.progress.org
*****************************************************************
 21 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Safety Concerns Rise at Nuclear Reactors   
 
      Updated Oct.11,2004 20:42 KST   

  A parliamentary inspection into the Korea Institute of Nuclear
Safety (KINS), held at the Daeduk Korea Atomic Energy Research
Institute on Monday, revealed safety problems on a national
level. 

Uri party lawmaker Kang Sung-jong said that 50 to 75 percent of
accidents at the institute took place one to two months after
special inspections and added that the methodology, period and
intensity of inspections should be improved. According to Kang,
the Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant had three accidents in June and
July, after special inspections on June 17 and 18. 

Grand National Party (GNP) lawmaker Kim Hee-jung pointed out
that the rate of accidents caused by operator error rose from 3
out of 16 total accidents in 2002 (19 percent) to 7 out of 15
total accidents in 2004 (46.7 percent). GNP lawmaker Suh Sang-ki
said that there are on average 12.7 safety officials at each
nuclear reactor in Korea, less than half the number of safety
officials in other advanced nations like the U.S. (27.9) and
France (30.5). He added that the institute should increase its
number of nuclear safety officials. 

In a nationwide awareness survey conducted between January and
February, 2004 of 800 people living near a nuclear reactor, 80
percent of respondents answered that they were not aware of
contingency plans in the event of a nuclear leak. Kim called for
a more active security campaign at these sites. 

In response, KINS explained that the accidents occurring after
the June inspections were because of the Typhoon Maemi and that
the institute was trying to keep a minimum of 15 safety
personnel at each nuclear reactor. 

(Hwang Sung-hye, coby0729@chosun.com ) 

*****************************************************************
 22 New University: Concerns Raised Over UCI’s Nuclear Reactor

[http://www.newuniversity.org] 

  October 11, 2004   

 Despite concerns about radiation in the event of a terrorist
attack, officials say that the nuclear reactor does not pose a
risk. 

by: Jocelyn Kim  

John Graham, a professor in the Graduate School of Management and 
the Democratic congressional candidate for the 48th district, has 
voiced his concerns about the nuclear reactor at UCI saying that 
it should be shut down because of its susceptibility to terrorist 
attacks. However, university administrators believe the nuclear 
reactor is safe and that Graham’s claims are unsubstantiated. 

The reactor has been housed beneath Rowland Hall for 35 years 
without controversy. It is immersed within a concrete-walled pool 
filled with water 25 feet deep and is still used for research 
today. 

Professor of chemistry George Miller has been the reactor’s 
supervisor for many years and says that there is little to worry 
about regarding the safety of the reactor. 

“The nuclear reactor’s vulnerability for a terrorist attack has 
been assessed and found not to be at a high risk,” Miller said. 

Miller also claims that measures have been taken to guarantee 
this safety.

“If terrorists try to reach the reactor, we have systems that 
will tell us very quickly of an invasion and alert law 
enforcement who will be here,” Miller said. “Secondly, we think 
it is difficult to do enough damage to this reactor that would 
actually harm the public.” 

Sensors have been installed in the room to detect intruders and 
constant video surveillance records movement in and around the 
reactor. 

Miller stated that if terrorists were to bomb the reactor, the 
water would absorb the harmful radioactivity that would be 
emitted. Furthermore, a bombing would collapse the top of the 
building, which would collapse on top of the reactor and protect 
it. 

UCI and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an independent agency 
that regulates the civilian use of nuclear material, share 
Miller’s stance on the reactor’s safety. 

Scott Burnell, spokesperson for the NRC, reports that they 
communicate with UCI on a regular basis and have yearly visits to 
ensure its safety. 

“Since Sept. 11, 2001, the NRC required additional steps for 
reactors around the country,” Burnell said. 

However, it was the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 that prompted 
Graham to question the safety of the university’s nuclear 
reactor. At the press conference on Sept. 27, Graham mentioned 
that UCI is on the attorney general’s terrorist target list.

Graham admitted that he may have had other reasons for bringing 
up the reactor as a terrorist threat.

“I can’t deny that part of my motivation is political,” Graham 
said.

However, he said that it was not the only driving force behind 
making his concerns public. 

“The other part of my motivation is that I live on the campus and 
my house is not insured for nuclear contamination ... I also care 
about the people on campus and the people around the country,” 
Graham said. 

He says that as a challenger, it is his responsibility to ensure 
that incumbent representative Christopher Cox is performing his 
duties and making sure the district is safe. 

Graham said that he detonated bombs while serving in the Navy and 
that his knowledge of bomb tactics allows him to think up of 
methods that terrorists might use to bomb the reactor. 

According to Graham, the security of the reactor is very weak and 
there is ample possibility for terrorists to attack before law 
enforcement can arrive. During test runs, the police were able to 
arrive at the reactor within two minutes, but Graham says that 
police cannot apprehend terrorists without gas masks.

“The terrorists would mace the hallways and law enforcement would 
not be able to enter,” Graham said.

Dan Hersh from Bridge the Gap, a nuclear power industry watchdog 
organization, is Graham’s scientific advisor on the nature of 
nuclear reactors. Contrary to Miller’s claims, Hersh explains 
that an explosion would blow the water out of the pool and spread 
radioactive materials. 

“Because the reactor is in an open pool, [an explosion would 
make] the water shoot out the top,” Hersh said.

In a letter responding to Graham’s concerns, Cox said, “I am 
instructing the staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security 
... to work with [Graham] and UCI officials to conduct a more 
thorough review of the security procedures.” 

Cox has worked on the security of other nuclear reactors in 
California and said in the letter that he looks forward to 
working with Graham on the safety of UCI’s nuclear reactor.

“The reactor has operated safely and without incident for 35 
years,” said Chancellor Ralph Cicerone in an e-mail to the 
university in response to Graham’s claims about safety issues at 
the reactor.

However, Graham suggested that Cicerone should hold a public 
forum to begin a discussion of issues surrounding the nuclear 
reactor. 
                            

©2004New University Newspaper Reproduction in any way is strictly 
prohibited without the express written consent of the New 
University   
*****************************************************************
 23 EU Business: Slovakia wants to postpone closure of nuclear reactor by two years

www.eubusiness.com

  11 October 2004   

Slovak Economy Minister Pavol Rusko insisted Monday that the 
closure of a nuclear reactor deemed unsafe by the European Union 
should be delayed by two years, despite a pledge in the country's 
EU accession treaty to close it in 2006. 

Slovakia agreed as a condition for joining the EU to close the 
two oldest reactors at its Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear power plant 
-- the first was due to close by the end of 2006 and the second 
by the end of 2008. 

But speaking on Monday Rusko said closing both simultaneously in 
2008 was a better solution, repeating his belief that a two-stage 
closure would double the risks for safety during the two-year 
transition period. 

"If the priority of the European Union is really safety and not 
economically weakening Slovakia, it has to clearly respect our 
solution, which will increase the safety of the nuclear power 
station's operation until 2008," he told a press conference. 

Rusko argued that both reactors were built as a unit and that 
changing the nuclear fuel in the second for two years after the 
first has been put out of service "would increase the risk to a 
level which is not acceptable in Europe". 

But in order to follow Rusko's recommendation Slovakia will need 
to negotiate with its 24 European Union partners. 

"We respect the international accession treaty but if the safety 
criteria are the main reason for the signature of such a treaty I 
don't see any reason to reject a solution which is better for 
safety," he said. 

Rusko first mooted the idea of prolonging the blocks' lifespan in 
March, immediately provoking outrage in neighbouring nuclear-free 
Austria. 

The two oldest blocks at Bohunice date back to 1978 and 1980 and 
are equipped with Soviet-origin reactors. They account for 22.6 
percent of Slovakia's total electricity production. 

The nuclear power station also has two newer blocks which went 
into service in 1984 and 1985 and are due to continue beyond 
2010. Text and Picture Copyright © 2004 AFP. All other copyright 

© 2004 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is 
*****************************************************************
 24 Korea Times: NK Reactor Project to Be Kept Afloat 

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation   

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter

 With the multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear standoff 
still in a stalemate, an international consortium's project to 
build light-water nuclear reactors in the communist nation is 
likely to be suspended for another year. 

``The nuclear reactor project will likely be kept afloat for one 
more year as Seoul and Tokyo are quite determined to extend the 
suspension period,'' a South Korean Unification Ministry official 
said Monday. 

South Korea, the United States, Japan and the European Union will 
hold a meeting this week to decide whether to extend the ongoing 
freeze of the U.S.-led international consortium's project for 
another year, according to the consortium's secretariat last 
Friday. 

The $4.6 billion (5.2 trillion won) project backed by the 
U.S.-led Korean Peninsula Energy Organization (KEDO) began in 
1994 as part of a deal aimed at preventing Pyongyang from 
developing nuclear weapons. The group, however, decided to stop 
the work for one year starting Dec. 1 last year after the North 
launched an illegal program to enrich uranium for weapons 
production in 2002. 

The U.S. government, which has invested $406 million, has argued 
strongly against the construction of the light-water reactors, 
accusing North Korea of reneging on its part of the pact and 
saying the conditions necessary for continuing the projects have 
not been met by North Korea. 

The South Korean government, on the other hand, has been seeking 
to extend the suspension period by another year, considering 
inter-Korean relations as well as the huge financial loss if the 
project is terminated. South Korea, which is expected to bear 
about 70 percent of the total cost, has already poured around 
$1.23 billion into the project to build the two power plants in 
the North. 

``We'll do our best to keep the project alive, extending the 
suspension term, rather than terminating it,'' Unification 
Minister Chung Dong-young said during a parliamentary hearing 
last week. 

Japan also reportedly wants to continue the project as it has put 
some $446 million so far in the KEDO project. Japan had sided 
with Washington's move to scrap the project but has taken prudent 
position on it since Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi 
visited Pyongyang last May. 

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr 10-11-2004 17:25         
*****************************************************************
 25 Scotsman.com: Nuclear Clean-Up Cost and Timescale Slashed
 
Tuesday, 12th October 2004    	 

By Andrew Woodcock, PA News 

The predicted cost and timescale for decommissioning Britainâ€™s 
nuclear power stations were today dramatically slashed, in a move 
which may point to a brighter future for atomic energy.
 
The UK Atomic Energy Authority announced that it had reduced the 
estimated cost of its clean-up programme by Â£1.5 billion and 
brought forward the expected end-date by up to 35 years.
 
The prospect of cheaper and quicker decommissioning would make it 
more attractive to develop future nuclear power stations.
 
UKAEA chief executive Dipesh Shah said that the reduced costs 
were largely down to an accelerated programme of decommissioning 
of its 26 reactors, 14 of which have already been shut down.
 
â€œWe have taken a hard look at the balance of the reactors and 
we are advancing them by up to 20 years,â€ Mr Shah told the BBC 
Radio 4 Today programme.
 
Experience from the decommissioning projects which have already 
taken place has allowed the UKAEA to develop its own tailor-made 
techniques, rather than buying in technology from other 
industries, he said.
 
But he insisted that safety was not being compromised.
 
â€œConcern for the safety of the facilities and our staff remains 
paramount, as does the environmental performance,â€ he said.
 
â€œClearly this will instil further confidence in the community 
that we can clean up the legacy of the past.â€
 
Asked if todayâ€™s announcement would make the Government more 
likely to approve future nuclear power stations, Mr Shah said: 
â€œI think the Government is right to keep the options open.
 
â€œThe kind of work the UKAEA is doing in clearing up the legacy 
of the past will be an essential precondition.â€                 

&copy;2004 Scotsman.com [http://www.scotsman.com/]  |
*****************************************************************
 26 ITAR-TASS: No threat to environment after nuclear reactor shut down

11.10.2004, 13.40

St. PETERSBURG, October 11 (Itar-Tass) -- A first nuclear
reactor of the Leningrad nuclear power plant activated after an
overhaul has been shut down once again because its emergency
defence system was activated. 

The incident poses no threat to the environment because the
nuclear reactor was shut down in connection with tests of a new
defense system created for purposes of modernization. The
radiation level on the premises of the nuclear power plant and
in the nearby town of Sosnoby Bor remains normal, Itar-Tass was
told at the nuclear power plant’s information center. 

The nuclear reactor was re-connected to the mains on Friday and
was to have developed a capacity of 700 mega Watt by Friday, but
after the reactor began to quickly lose power it was shut down.
Experts said the reactor’s defence systems is very sensitive and
it reacts to the other equipment established at different

periods. 
The situation has been brought under control, experts of the
nuclear power plant confirmed. 

Scientists who studied the defence system of the modernized
nuclear reactor have assured that a chance of damaging the
reactor's active zone was narrowed to one in a period of 100,000
years. 

© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,
*****************************************************************
 27 Breathing Uranium Oxides: A Global Medical Crisis
 
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 14:47:58 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
A new book:

"Uranium in the Wind"  compiled in 2004 by Ross Wilcock
- 350 pages including TOC and Index.
- $25.00 (Canadian)
- from Pandora Press 
<mailto:bookshop@pandorapress.com>bookshop@pandorapress.com
- www.pandorapress.com

Pandora Press, 33 Kent St, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 3R2
Open from Tuesday Oct 12th.

Breathing Uranium Oxides: A Global Medical Crisis

Dear friend, please copy and circulate the below words at will.  We
invite correction, comment, and contact from people who want to work to
stop the use of uranium munitions, and deal with breathable uranium
oxides and their consequences.  John 
<<mailto:lewallen@mcn.org>lewallen@mcn.org> and Barbara
Stephens <<mailto:babs@mcn.org>babs@mcn.org>

--by John Lewallen

  As I write this in October, 2004, ton after ton of uranium--depleted
uranium, reactor waste, and possibly just uranium--is being burned at
high temperature in bullets, missiles and bombs used by the United
States military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This is generating a
global medical crisis the like of which the human race has never seen
before.  The breathable uranium oxide created by this massive, ongoing
incineration of uranium has radioactive and chemical toxicity for the
lifetime of Earth.
  Breathed, tiny particles of uranium oxide may lodge anywhere in the
human body and remain fixed there for years, destroying the dna in
adjoining cells with high-energy radiation.  Breathable uranium oxide
contaminates people most acutely at battles where it is used.  Much of
it has gotten into the stratosphere, to be distributed all over Earth.
  The outlines of the global medical crisis of breathable uranium oxide
are best described by Dr. Asaf Durakovic in his seminal article in the
Croatian Medical Journal titled "Undiagnosed Illnesses and Radioactive
Warfare."  Dr. Durakovic's article makes clear that the human race is
confronting a global medical crisis of contamination by breathing
uranium oxide.  Millions of victims have diseases with a host of
symptoms caused by breathing uranium oxides.
  The United States armed forces probably will remain fully committed to
using uranium munitions until there is a U.S. Presidential directive
saying that breathable uranium oxide from using uranium munitions really
has creathed a medical and environmental crisis.  That's because there
is a big U.S. government lie that uranium munitions pose no major health
or environmental problem, backed by phony scientific studies and an
elaborate system to keep troops who are contaminated by breathing
uranium oxide from finding out the true cause of their symptoms.
  Today, as U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan shoot uranium rounds and
drop uranium bombs, they are working with a top-secret munition,
uranium.  The locations where the uranium was vaporized, or even that it
happened, is not announced.  The public does not know how much uranium
was vaporized by using uranium munitions, or where it was used, or
when.  We demand to know!
  Most people relate to the nightmare of ongoing use of uranium munitions
by not thinking about it.  We all live in a surfeit of terrorization.  I
predict that the demands of troops coming home with symptoms of uranium
oxide poisoning, and of troops who must face the tragedy of having
children with birth defects, will bring closer the great day when the
U.S. President orders a halt to using uranium munitions, and begins to
lead an international effort to deal with the medical and environmental
crisis of uranium oxide poisoning.
  Meanwhile, please warn your friends and relatives that they face
extreme hazard of breathing uranium oxide anywhere in or near where U.S.
forces are operating today.  At least until the dust of battle settles
and people can send field teams around Iraq and Afghanistan to mark and
try to clean up, there is extreme hazard of breathing uranium oxide
anywhere in those criminally contaminated nations.

How Can We Deal With The Medical Crisis of Uranium Munitions?

Stop Using Uranium Munitions!
Face the Global Medical Crisis of Breathing Uranium Oxide!
Public Officials:  Truth About Uranium Munitions, or Resign!

  The United States Government is fully committed to taking tons of
deadly radioactive waste and doing the most humanly destructive thing
possible with it: vaporizing it at high temperature in heavily populated
areas.  How are we, ordinary people, going to deal with this?
  As an old writer and peace activist who was involved in the expose of
Agent Orange ("Ecology of Devastation: Indochina," Penguin Books, 1972),
I humbly offer some strategic suggestions to the movement to deal with
uranium munitions and their consequences.
  We urgently need more American scientific truth-tellers in the
movement! Activists focused on "depleted uranium" urgently need the help
of established and respected groups.  American medical scientists, you
live in a world where medical scientific orthodoxy is based on a big
government lie: the lie that no scientific evidence backs the claims of
Dr. Asaf Durakovic and others that breathable uranium oxide is a global
medical crisis.
  For my colleagues now trying to crack the big, suicidal Pentagon lie
about uranium munitions, long  life to you, and so many thank yous from
my heart!   I offer these humble strategic suggestions:

1. Warn everyone about the extreme danger of breathing uranium oxides in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

2.Define the reason for the warning as a global medical crisis caused by
breathable uranium oxide, generated by using uranium munitions.

3.Study and describe the big U.S. government lie, shared by many other
governments, that uranium munitions pose no major environmental or
health hazard.

4.DEMAND THAT ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS SPEAK THE TRUTH ABOUT URANIUM
MUNITIONS AND BREATHABLE URANIUM OXIDE, OR RESIGN!
  As a Mendocino County, California resident, I am specifically
addressing Representative Mike Thompson, and Senators Barbara Boxer and
Dianne Feinstein: it is time to do something honorable, brave and true.
Speak the truth about uranium munitions and breathable uranium oxide!
Speak the truth or resign!  Too many millions are being contaminated
with uranium munitions now, and now our children are seduced by military
recruiters into contamination zones.  Enough!  Truth or resign!

  This is a grand, high-stakes contest between a suicidal government lie
that is polluting the Earth with deadly, mutagenic, breathable uranium
oxides, and truth-tellers who are discovering and telling the truth.  It
is vital now that truth-tellers stick to the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. People have very limited attention-span on the
topic of uranium munitions.  That's why I recommend focus on breathable
uranium oxide contamination, and warning people to avoid
heavily-contaminated zones.

5.The global medical crisis caused by breathable uranium oxides from
uranium munitions needs to be recognized as a working issue by major
national groups of all kinds.  Note that uranium oxide poisoning is
specifically targeting troops who use it and the genetic integrity of
their progeny.

  Last spring I circulated a longer, footnoted study titled "Stop Using
Uranium Munitions Now!"  This study is posted at
<<http://www.NuclearPress.com>www.NuclearPress.com>.  It has withstood peer 
review.  Now, in loving
concert with my fiance, Barbara Stephens, we are part of the Uranium
Munitions Action Group, Veterans for Peace.  Check the web: the global
movement to stop using uranium munitions is growing everywhere!  We'll
stick with it, always ready to be corrected in the direction of the
truth, until some troop drops the last round back in the can and says:
the hell with this!
  With the help of our loving colleagues Patrick Tate, Fredy and Sherry
Champagne, and others, the national U.S. Veterans for Peace at its 2004
convention endorsed the "Uranium Munitions Pledge of Resistance," a
signable oath which reads, "I will not use, nor order the use of,
uranium munitions."  This puts Veterans for Peace squarely in support of
officers and troops who refuse to use uranium munitions.  At this point
in time, I believe our only near-term effective approach is massive,
individual civil disobedience.  Refuse to use uranium munitions, and
back any officer or troop who refuses to use uranium munitions.

Best Information Sites on Uranium Munitions and Global Uranium Oxide
Medical Crisis:

<<http://www.umrc.net>www.umrc.net> Site of the Uranium Medical Research 
Center, Dr. Asaf
Durakovic's group which is doing field investigation now in Iraq on
depleted uranium contamination.

<<http://www.traprockpeace.org>The>www.traprockpeace.org>The best activist 
information site.

<<http://www.NuclearPress.com>My>www.NuclearPress.com>My site; I strive to 
present clear truth and
effective strategy, and provide a network of activism for the Uranium
Munitions Action Group, Veterans for Peace.  John Lewallen


</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 28 [du-list] [Fwd: [CPEO-MEF] Aid to former nuclear workers]
 
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 14:49:31 -0700

 
<x-flowed>

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] Aid to former nuclear workers
From:    "Lenny Siegel" <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date:    Sun, October 10, 2004 4:41 am
To:      "Military Environmental Forum" <military@list.cpeo.org>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

House widens N-compensation

Ex-workers at 5 more area plants to get payments

By JERRY ZREMSKI
Buffalo News (NY)
October 9, 2004

WASHINGTON - Congressional negotiators Friday struck a deal to
dramatically broaden the number of former nuclear workers eligible for
compensation for illnesses resulting from radioactive contamination.

Under a bill that passed the House on Friday and is expected to pass the
Senate shortly, former workers at five additional Western New York plants
will be eligible for payments of up to $150,000 and medical coverage for
some cancers.

Those plants include Bliss and Laughlin Steel of Buffalo, Linde Ceramics
and Ashland Oil, both of the Town of Tonawanda, Simonds Saw and Steel of
Lockport and the West Valley Demonstration Project. Congressional
staffers estimate that hundreds of additional Western New Yorkers will now
be eligible for aid.

...

for the entire article, see
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20041009/1045557.asp

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/military




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*****************************************************************
 29 Interfax: Norway may assign millions for radiation safety in Russia
 
[http://www2.interfax.ru/eng/main.html]     Site map   

Oct 11 2004 1:35PM
 
ST. PETERSBURG/OSLO. Oct 11 (Interfax-Northwest) - Norway's
draft budget for 2005 assigns 109 million kroner for nuclear and
radiation safety programs in Russia, Igor Kudrik, from the
Bellona environmental organization, told Interfax from Oslo on
Monday. 

Last year, Norway assigned 107 million kroner for such programs,
he said. 

"Though it is planned to assign 2 million kroner more in 2005,
inflation will keep the real financing at the same level,"
Kudrik said. The reason is that the Russian Atomic Energy Agency
is not ready to receive international funds, Kudrin said.     

© 1991-2004 Interfax
 All rights reserved
 
News and other data on this web site are provided for
information purposes only, and are not intended for
*****************************************************************
 30 Dartmouth Online: Albright warns of nuclear threats
 
  « Monday, October 11, 2004     Hanover Weather

Front Page [http://www.thedartmouth.com]   

 By Alix Cody, The Dartmouth Staff

  Chip Rountree/The Dartmouth Senior Staff  

  Students spill over the balconies when Former Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright spoke at Rocky this Sunday.  

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright fired up a
Dartmouth crowd while campaigning for Sen. John Kerry at the
Rockefeller Center Sunday evening.

Wearing a pin touting Kerry's run for president, Albright spoke
primarily about her chosen field -- foreign relations -- rather
than about the presidential election.

Albright likened the current state of international affairs to
the movie "The Perfect Storm" due to the precarious nature of
many global interactions. Calling North Korea the most dangerous
country in the world, Albright identified other points of
conflict, including Afghanistan, Iraq and the lack of a Middle
East peace process between Israel and the Palestinians as
contributing to the ideal conditions for disaster. 

"I have studied or been involved in foreign affairs for my whole
life, and I have never seen the world in such a mess," Albright
said.

Albright, speaking about her travels to North Korea and her
meeting with leader Kim Jong Il, said such serious talks need to
be resumed in order to maintain stability. North Korea now has
the capability to have six to eight nuclear weapons, an ability
it did not have when Bush came into office, Albright said.

Albright said the United States needs to focus its security
concerns on countries with nuclear weapons. 

"We do invade countries without nuclear weapons, not those with
them, and that makes those without them want to build them,"
Albright said.

Albright later opened up the floor for questions. In response to
a query about the effectiveness of current Secretary of State
Colin Powell, Albright replied that he has had a difficult time
in a job that is "much more difficult than it looks." 

She added that is essential for a secretary of state to travel
often in order to force agendas in both the United States and
the country in question. However, she noted that security
concerns have limited Powell's ability to travel in a way that
she herself was able to do.

In commenting on Iraq, Albright said that even in retrospect,
she would not have changed much about the way the Clinton
administration handled the situation. 

The United States enacted what she called "smart sanctions"
against the country, financially targeting the leadership group
members by blocking their bank accounts and monetary
transactions, which restricted their ability to travel.

"We had Saddam in a box," Albright said.

Albright said the United States' future interactions with Iraq
depend on whether its projected January elections occur. If fair
and free elections encompassing a majority of citizens take
place, she said, then the United States should be supportive of
the newly elected government. 

However, if the elections do not happen, U.S. force with
multilateral support might be required might be needed to
rectify the situation, Albright said. To garner such support
Albright suggested it might be necessary to use incentives such
as reconstruction contracts to entice other nations to join.

Hinman Forum was packed with students for Albright's speech, and
supportive cheers erupted from the audience at key points.

Emily Hess '05 enjoyed the speech and appreciated its concise
nature.

"It was exactly what I wanted to hear," she said.

Albright became the first woman secretary of state in 1997 under
the Clinton administration, making her the highest-ranking woman
ever in the federal government. She is now a professor at
Georgetown University and head of the Albright Group LLC, a
global strategy group in Washington, D.C.

  
  Copyright © 1993 - 2004 by The Dartmouth, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 31 Associated Press: Uranium demand, prices see increase
 
[http://www.cincinnati.com]       

  Monday, October 11, 2004 

After a decade, industry begins to rebound 

By Robert W. Black The Associated Press

DOUGLAS, Wyo. - Watching a computer screen, Pat Drummond monitors 
a complex system of pipelines and vats that produce 55-gallon 
drums of uranium, weighing 600 to 1,000 pounds each, ready to be 
shipped to nuclear power plants across the globe. 

Drummond, who began mining at age 16 in his native Scotland, is 
among a dwindling number of workers in an industry that has been 
plagued by low prices for more than a decade, but is finally 
seeing a rebound. 

"Mining's in my blood," Drummond said in a thick brogue during a 
recent afternoon at the Smith Ranch-Highland mine in east-central 
Wyoming. "I enjoy the challenge of uranium, and given the price 
wars of the last 15 years, it's been a challenge staying in the 
industry." 

Prices are nearly triple what they were four years ago, and 
Cameco Corp., a Canadian firm that owns the last two active 
uranium mines in the United States, is stepping up exploration 
and production. The Saskatchewan firm holds a fifth of the world 
uranium market, but may soon be joined by other companies 
reopening or starting operations to meet rising demand. 

Uranium produced at Smith Ranch is typically yellowish powder, or 
yellowcake, which is sent to other plants to be enriched and 
formed into pellets to fuel nuclear reactors. About 20 percent of 
America's electricity comes from steam created by nuclear 
fission. 

Yellowcake prices were $7.10 per pound in December 2000 but have 
risen steadily and recently surpassed $20 for the first time 
since 1984. 

In the 1940s, the U.S. government began buying large amounts of 
uranium in the effort to produce the world's first atomic bomb. 
After World War II, the Atomic Energy Commission began examining 
peaceful uses. The first privately funded nuclear energy plant 
came online in 1959 in Illinois. 

By the 1970s, about 250 nuclear reactors were planned across the 
United States - but then an accident in Pennsylvania changed all 
that. 

"Three Mile Island hit, and starting in the 1980s, utilities 
started canceling plants," said David Miller, a Wyoming state 
lawmaker from Riverton and geologist with more than 25 years 
experience in uranium exploration and consulting. "The investing 
public, the lay public, everyone kind of turned on nuclear power 
at that time. The uranium market collapsed on all those canceled 
plants." 

A second blow came when the Soviet Union fell apart, and enriched 
uranium removed from Russian bombs was blended down to 
reactor-grade fuel and dumped on the market. The third jolt 
occurred when the Clinton administration privatized a 
government-owned uranium-enrichment program, and 70 million 
pounds of yellowcake was unloaded on the market. 

"You basically have had a long period of inventory liquidation, 
which pushed prices down to quite low levels, and during this 
time you also pushed production down," said Jeff Combs, president 
of Ux Consulting Co., of Roswell, Ga. Exploration also tapered 
off. 

CINCINNATI.COM [http://www.cincinnati.com]  |  ENQUIRER
*****************************************************************
 32 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Yucca should concern the state's voters

 LAS VEGAS SUN

 The results of a statewide poll last week showed that a
majority of Nevada residents who are very likely to vote oppose
the federal plan to permanently bury the nation's high-level
waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The
poll, commissioned by the Las Vegas Sun, Channel 8 Eyewitness
News and KNPR Nevada Public Radio, also revealed, however, that
57 percent of those who are very likely to vote say Yucca
Mountain will not be important in affecting who they support for
president.

 We share the opposition to Yucca Mountain that a majority of
voting Nevadans expressed. In hundreds of stories researched by
our reporters over the past decade, we have pointed out its
multiple safety hazards. The geologic features of the mountain
are not sufficient to protect the underlying ground water and
surrounding air and soils from radioactive contamination. And
neither are the man-made casks in which the waste would be
sealed before being entombed. So if Yucca Mountain opens, we'll
have two barriers, the mountain and the casks, both unable to
safely protect against contamination. Adding to the risk of
Yucca Mountain is the need to transport the waste there from all
over the country.

 We do not, though, share the view of so many Nevadans who see
no correlation between the presidential race and Yucca Mountain.
President Bush has done everything in his power to expedite the
mountain's opening, despite promising Nevada during his 2000
campaign that he would support the project only if "sound
science" proved it would be safe. There never has been such
proof and there never will be. In a second term, he would
continue using all of his power to squelch Nevada's opposition.
John Kerry, on the other hand, has a record of voting against
Yucca Mountain and of speaking strongly against it on the
campaign trail. "I'll guarantee you, if I'm elected president,
Yucca Mountain is not going to happen. Nevada can take that to
the bank," Kerry said last week in Reno.

 Compare that to Bush's remark in Las Vegas during an August
campaign stop, and his administration's follow-up. He said he
would "stand by the decision of the courts" regarding Nevada's
legal challenge to the project. This sounded good, because in
July a federal appeals court had ruled that the design of Yucca
Mountain was based on containing radiation for only 10,000
years, when a much longer, and likely unattainable, period was
needed. But in September, Bush's Justice Department filed notice
that it was reserving the right to challenge that ruling in the
U.S. Supreme Court. Then late Friday afternoon, the Justice
Department flip-flopped, announcing it wouldn't challenge the
appeals court decision after all. Was it just coincidence the
announcement came on the eve of another Bush visit to Las Vegas,
and after polls have shown the president's race with Kerr y
tightening?

 In our view, the issue of Yucca Mountain should be extremely
important to Nevadans as they decide on their choice for
president. 

*****************************************************************
 33 Las Vegas SUN: White House won't appeal Yucca ruling

By Benjamin Grove <grove@lasvegassun.com [grove@lasvegassun.com] 
> SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU

 WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration will not ask the Supreme
Court to reverse a lower court ruling on Yucca Mountain after
all.

 Legal documents filed Friday put to rest speculation that White
House officials were still mulling an appeal to a lower court
ruling. The July 9 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia dealt a setback to the nuclear waste dump
project.

 The documents also appeared to settle questions about whether
White House officials were in conflict with their own federal
agencies.

 Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency
officials had said they intended not to appeal to the nation's
highest court.

 But the Department of Justice's Office of Solicitor General on
Sept. 23 filed court documents in the Yucca case asserting its
right to file one.

 "We are now in a position to report" there will be no appeal,
Solicitor General attorneys said in court documents filed Friday.

 Election-year politics may be at play as Bush and challenger
John Kerry vie for Nevada's five electoral votes in Nevada,
where a majority of voters are opposed to the plan to construct
a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.

 Nevada Democrats criticized Bush for indicating that he would
respect the federal appeals court ruling, while at the same time
reserving the right to appeal it. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.,
had said she fully expected Bush to appeal -- after the election.

 The July 9 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals said the EPA
unlawfully deviated from National Academy of Sciences
recommendations when the EPA set a 10,000-year radiation
standard for Yucca. The academy recommended that the nuclear
waste repository should be held to a stricter standard -- that
it be required to contain high doses of radiation for perhaps
hundreds of thousands of years.

 The Energy Department has said all along that the appeals court
decision was "workable," department spokesman Joe Davis said
again Friday. The department position has been that the
department would work with the EPA to develop a "regulatory
response" to the court decision -- not to appeal to the Supreme
Court, Davis said.

 EPA officials have held the same position.

 Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval said the solicitor
general's decision Friday not to appeal demonstrates the
strength of Nevada's legal argument on the radiation issue.

 "The D.C. Circuit left little upon which to base an appeal, and
this proves it," Sandoval said.

 One appeal is planned, however. The Nuclear Energy Institute,
the nuclear power industry's top lobby group, has signalled it
will ask the Supreme Court to review the radiation standard
issue.

 

*****************************************************************
 34 Las Vegas SUN: Less nuke waste may be moved

Nevada officials uncertain of Yucca deal's consequences

 SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

 WASHINGTON -- House and Senate conferees have agreed to let the
Energy Department leave some highly radioactive waste in tanks
in South Carolina and Idaho, instead of pumping it out and
preparing it for deep burial.

 The move effectively reverses a court ruling in a case brought
by environmentalists last year and could mean less waste
destined for the federal nuclear waste storage site planned for
Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

 However, Nevada officials have been critical of the plan
because it signifies another attempt by the Energy Department to
change rules it does not like.

 Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Nuclear Projects
Office, called the idea "a bad policy decision" because it allow
the department to go against what is spelled out in the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act.

 "It's another reason not to trust what DOE (the Energy
Department) says," Loux said.

 Loux said it is hard to say what this means in light of the
department's statement that it will live with another federal
court's opinion throwing out the radiation standards for Yucca
Mountain. The department has said it will work with the
Environmental Protection Agency on a new regulation and will not
proceed with any appeals.

 A U.S. District Court judge in Idaho ruled last year, in a case
brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council, that the
department did not have the authority to reclassify liquid
radioactive waste stored in underground storage tanks in South
Carolina, Idaho and Washington.

 The Energy Department had defined some of the salts and sludges
in the tanks, left over from the production of plutonium for
bombs, as "waste incidental to reprocessing," which under law is
not high-level waste that would be required to go to Yucca.

 The Senate approved an amendment earlier this year that would
overturn the court ruling and grant the department the ability
to redefine the waste in South Carolina. The final bill includes
the amendment and included Idaho.

 Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said the law could mean less nuclear
waste coming to the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain and it
would be up to the other states to decide what to do next in its
dealings with the Energy Department. It will also save the
government $16 billion. He said he made sure the language does
not set a precedent for Nevada and the waste could not come to
the Test Site.

 But Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Nevada officials, are
concerned that the vote paves the way for changes in the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act, the law that governs Yucca Mountain and
wouldn't do anything to limit the amount of waste coming to
Nevada.

 The law limits the site to 77,000 tons spent nuclear fuel, but
the department may go to Congress in 2007 with a plan on what to
do with waste beyond that amount. Opponents of the change say
even without the department waste, the commercial nuclear power
plants produce enough waste to fill the mountain.

 The environmental group said that leaving the waste in place
would arbitrarily create "national sacrifice zones." Geoffrey
Fettus, who brought the suit, said, "Congress is trying to throw
out more than two decades of nuclear waste cleanup law, in
flagrant disregard of public health. Congress did this behind
closed doors, with no debate or public input, attaching it to an
unrelated bill, one designed to support our troops."

 Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in a statement that the
new provision "will allow the Department of Energy to move
forward with safe and sensible environmental cleanup of nuclear
waste storage tanks." The department will be required to work
with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the states to set
appropriate standards, Abraham said.

 The department said no one ever contemplated that it would be
able to get all of the waste out of the tanks, and that the
issue was its ability to set standards. It plans to put grout
over the remaining wastes to stabilize them.

 But at another environmental group, the Institute for Energy
and Environmental Research, Brice Smith, a physicist, said
government agencies have raised questions since 1991 about the
stability of the grout. Among the problems, he said, is that the
waste generates heat, and that the temperature in the
environment around the tanks varies greatly by season. The
resulting temperature differences could create cracks in the
grout, he said. The group had previously calculated that if as
little as one part in 1,000 of the radioactive cesium in the
tanks were allowed to escape in the first 100 years, local
drinking water supplies would be polluted above allowable
standards.

 The tanks with the largest volume of waste are in the
government's Hanford nuclear reservation, in Washington.

 Staff reporter Suzanne Struglinski and the New York Times News
Services contributed to this story.

 

*****************************************************************
 35 AP Wire: Anti-nuclear interests still worried about precedent waste bill sets

| 10/11/2004 | 

[http://www.thestate.com/

BOB FICK

 Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho - Nuclear waste critics believe Idaho dodged, at 
least or now, attempts to weaken cleanup efforts at the Idaho 
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. 

But they worry that the cleanup plan could still be attacked in 
Congress. 

"We're lucky that we got what we got, and that's thanks in part 
to the folks at the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality 
keeping their eye on the ball," Snake River Alliance Director 
Jeremy Maxand said on Monday. "Our concern is the process. It 
shut the public and interest groups out in the cold." 

Legislation won final congressional approval last weekend to 
reverse a July 2003 federal court ruling that the Energy 
Department cannot unilaterally reclassify radioactive sludge from 
nuclear bomb production as low-level waste that does not have to 
removed to the nation's nuclear waste dump, now slated for Yucca 
Mountain in Nevada. 

The entire issue was handled without hearings or public 
involvement and that's what should worry state officials, Maxand 
said. 

"So we got out of this, so the state of Idaho fought for some 
regulatory oversights and got them," Maxand said. "But that 
doesn't mean that the Department of Energy won't pull something 
like this to our state's detriment in the future. 

"This is not how you should make policy," he said. "This is not 
how you build bridges. This isn't how you build relationships 
with communities." 

The department lobbied hard for the legislation following the 
court ruling in Idaho, ignoring warnings that failing to 
completely clean out the tanks would affect water supplies. 
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the new law will accelerate 
waste cleanup projects and save $16 billion. 

The legislation awaiting President Bush's signature applies only 
to sludge in the 51 underground tanks at the Savannah River Site 
in South Carolina. It keeps the 10 remaining tanks at INEEL under 
1990s court-enforced cleanup agreements with the Department of 
Energy while specifically excluding the 177 tanks at the Hanford 
Nuclear Reservation in Washington. 

The government contends its plans for the South Carolina tanks 
protect the environment. The sludge, the final 1,000 gallons of 
material at the bottom of the tanks, will be mixed with grout to 
stabilize it and then concrete will be poured in until the entire 
tank is filled. 

South Carolina leaders supported the plan and won the backing of 
Idaho lawmakers once the bill excluded material at INEEL from the 
reclassification provision. 

"This bill now lays out a process of using the standards of the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - and the regulatory control of the 
state of Idaho - to force DOE into the cleanup that we intended 
to extract from them all along," Republican U.S. Sen. Larry Craig 
said. 

GOP Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and his Democratic and Republican 
predecessors all criticized the attempt to legalize the 
reclassification of the South Carolina sludge, warning that it 
jeopardized Idaho's cleanup plans. But Kempthorne dropped his 
opposition with the addition of the provision protecting Idaho. 

The governor agreed with Maxand and others that slipping the 
issue into a compromise defense bill without going through normal 
legislative processes was not his preferred way to make policy, 
but said the bill "protects our legal agreements, relies on 
publicly vetted radiation standards and provides for independent 
oversight and judicial review." 

ON THE NET 

Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory: 
http://www.inel.gov [http://www.inel.gov]   

*****************************************************************
 36 PR Web: URANIUM Acquisition Complete
 
[http://www.ambosmedios.com] 
[http://www.wunzhang.com] 
  
October 11, 2004     Global News &Press Release

CanAlaska Ventures completes Phase One Uranium Acquisition. 	 			

 Vancouver, BC Canada (PRWEB) October 11, 2004 -- CanAlaska 
Ventures Ltd. "CanAlaska" (TSX Venture: CVV – OTCBB: CVVLF) has 
completed its first phase of property acquisitions and has 
acquired approximately 48,000 hectares (approximately 120,000 
acres) or 480 square kilometers of prospective Uranium claims in 
the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. 

The Athabasca Basin hosts several major Uranium deposits 
including Cigar Lake and McArthur River, two of the highest grade 
Uranium deposits in the world. Production from the Athabasca 
Basin currently accounts for 32% of the worlds' supply of Uranium 
and is expected to increase to 50% by the end of the decade. 
Uranium exploration within the Athabasca Basin has been at a 
relatively low level and it is evident that the potential for the 
discovery of other deposits remains high. Peter Dasler, 
President, noted "before commencing its staking program, 
CanAlaska carried out a comprehensive due diligence program 
taking into account existing geological and geophysical data, and 
as a result, has identified and acquired projects that are well 
located and which it is believed have considerable potential." 

Staking is expected to continue through the Fall and Winter in 
order to position the Company and its shareholders for what 
CanAlaska believes will be the largest expansion in Uranium 
exploration since the 1970's. Harry Barr, Chairman of CanAlaska 
stated, "Our objective is simply to control one of the largest 
Uranium exploration portfolios in the world. It is our belief 
that our activities will create new jobs and have a positive 
impact on the economy.” CanAlaska’s, Canadian technical team is 
stationed in Saskatchewan guiding the acquisition process and 
preparing for Fall and Winter exploration programs. 

CanAlaska is also actively exploring for gold in the Hemlo Gold 
Belt and nickel in the Voisey Bay area of Labrador. In New 
Zealand the Company has assembled a series of grass roots and 
advanced gold exploration projects, which are budgeted for 
detailed exploration and drill testing in early 2005. 

The qualified person for this release is Peter Dasler, P. Geo, 
President of CanAlaska Ventures Ltd. 

About CanAlaska CanAlaska is a mineral exploration company with 
Uranium, gold, base and platinum group metal projects in Alaska, 
British Columbia, Labrador, Ontario, Quebec and New Zealand. 
Management's objective is to create shareholder wealth through 
the exploration and development of diversified mineral project 
portfolio. 

To learn more about the exploration and mining activities for 
Harry Barr publicly traded companies go to: 
www.goldplatinumgroup.com [http://www.goldplatinumgroup.com] .
 
For CanAlaska Uranium Project information go to: 
http://www.canalaska.com/s/Projects.asp?ReportID=88871&_Type=Proj 
ects&_Title=Uranium 
[http://www.canalaska.com/s/Projects.asp?ReportID=88871&_Type=Pro 
jects&_Title=Uranium] -Project. For a comprehensive June 2004 
Briefing Paper entiled "Canada's Uranium Production &Nuclear 
Power issued by the Uranium Information Centre go to: 
http://www.uic.com.au/nip03.htm [http://www.uic.com.au/nip03.htm] 

On behalf of the Board of Directors "Harry Barr" Harry Barr, 
Chairman 

Investor Contact: Peter Dasler President Tel: 604.685.1870 Toll 
Free 1-800-667-1870 Email: e-mail protected from spam bots Web: 
www.canalaska.com [http://www.canalaska.com] 

The TSX Venture has not reviewed and does not accept 
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release: 
CUSIP#137089108. 

This news release contains certain "Forward-Looking Statements" 
within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than 
statements of historical fact, included herein are 
forward-looking statements that involve various risks and 
uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements 
will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events 
could differ materially from those anticipated in such 
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to 
differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed 
in the Company's documents filed from time to time with the 
British Columbia Securities Commission and the United States 
Securities &Exchange Commission.
 
# # # 			 	

© Copyright 1997-2004, PR Web™. All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 37 Sierra Club: Nevada Is Not a Wasteland
 
 Yucca Facts The Truth Not Too Late Latest News

 [Nevada] 

For more information on how to get involved, please see 
[http://www.sierraclubvotes.org] 			 		   		   			 				 	

President Bush plans to store the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca 
Mountain in Nevada. He says he believes it would be perfectly 
safe. We in Nevada – along with overwhelming scientific evidence 
– happen to disagree. Happily, there is a solution . . . 

Send the waste to President Bush's Crawford Ranch! 

With nearly 1600 acres of space, it's surely big enough. And 
since its owner thinks storing nuclear waste is perfectly safe – 
why would he have a problem with it? More importantly, President 
Bush should not ask Nevadans to do something that he's not 
prepared to do himself. 

Please, sign our petition to the President. Ask him to move the 
waste to his ranch. Let him know you'll even help clear the brush 
to make the space. And let him know that Nevada is not a 
wasteland.                       


  Subject: Store Nuclear Waste at Your Ranch in Crawford Dear Mr. 
President:   
  

I am writing to ask you to reverse your decision to store the 
nation's nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain – and instead store it 
at your ranch in Crawford, Texas. 

You have insisted that the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca is 
perfectly safe. The people of Nevada – along with overwhelming 
scientific evidence – happen to disagree. Clearly, we have a 
difference of opinion. But the solution is obvious. 

Don't store the waste at Yucca Mountain – store it at your ranch 
in Crawford! 

With 1600 acres, you surely have the space. And we'd even be 
happy to send a few busloads of Nevadans there to help you clear 
out some brush. And since you seem to think that storing nuclear 
waste is safe – surely you should be just fine with this. 

All we're asking, Mr. President, is that you practice what you 
preach. If you truly think this waste is safe enough to be stored 
in our home – surely you must think it's safe enough to be stored 
in yours. 

Thank you for your time and consideration, Mr. President.   
  
    
  Sincerely,

Your name Your street address City, State Zip
   

Copyright 2004 Sierra Club. All Rights Reserved. Privacy
*****************************************************************
 38 Las Vegas RJ: EDITORIAL: Yucca vote 
 
Monday, October 11, 2004

Listen to some politicos talk, and you'd think Yucca Mountain is
the burning issue for most Nevada voters, that a candidate's
position on the proposed nuclear waste repository is the driving
factor when a Silver State resident decides for whom to cast a
ballot.
 
 Turns out that's simply not the case.
 
 In a Review-Journal poll conducted last month, only 3 percent
of respondents named Yucca Mountain as the most important issue
in deciding their presidential vote. A poll released last week
by a smaller local media outlet registered a similar result --
and also found a whopping 57 percent don't consider Yucca
Mountain important at all. 
In fact, Nevada voters are like those everywhere: Their primary
concerns are homeland security, the war in Iraq and the economy.
Yucca Mountain barely registers.
 
 But you wouldn't know that listening to pandering politicians
and their echoes in the media.
 
 
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
 39 [du-list] USEC oasses license test
 
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 14:49:29 -0700

 
<x-flowed>


       JEFF BARRON can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236.

       Story created Saturday, October 09, 2004.


       USEC passes license test

       PIKETON
       By JEFF BARRON, PDT Staff Writer
       The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will begin a detailed review of 
the United States Enrichment Corp.'s license application to build a gas 
centrifuge enrichment plant, NRC officials said Friday.
       USEC submitted the application on Aug. 23 and the NRC planned a 
30-month schedule for the review.
       USEC wants to use existing buildings at the Portsmouth Gaseous 
Diffusion Plant to begin a new way to enrich uranium. The company wants to 
open the commercial plant by 2010, as mandated by the U.S. Department of 
Energy. The DOE owns the diffusion plant and leases it to USEC. DOE also 
owns the Paducah (Ky.) Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which it also leases to USEC.
       "When an applicant submits a license application, the NRC does a 
general review to see if the application is quality enough to put more time 
into," USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said. "It must pass the muster 
first in order to get a full review."
       The NRC will also conduct a hearing on the application, but has not 
set a date for it. It will prepare a safety evaluation and environmental 
impact statement before the hearing.
       Anyone wanting to attend the hearing must contact the NRC within 60 
days after it announces the hearing date. The request must be sent to the 
NRC, Washington D.C., 20555-00001, to the attention of Rulemaking and 
Adjudications Staff.
       USEC wants to have the license in two years. The company also plans 
to open a plant next year in Piketon to test its new way of enriching uranium.
       Piketon and Paducah were in competition for the commercial plant. 
But USEC in January decided to build it at Piketon.

       JEFF BARRON can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236.

       Story created Saturday, October 09, 2004.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






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 40 Salt Lake Tribune: Opinion Bennett plays politics
 			 			 			 			 			 			
 [http://www.sltrib.com]       

Article Last Updated: 10/10/2004 11:15:49 PM                              
                  
  As a chemist having spent 1.5 years at the Oak Ridge Institute 
for Nuclear Studies in the '60s, and as a Kane County resident, I 
am amazed that U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett (“Nuclear weapons research 
necessary to maintain national security,” Tribune, Oct. 3) cannot 
find the courage of his convictions and make an intellectual as 
well   as moral decision to protect the citizens he has been 
elected to protect. To play politics with the lives of others 
without them having the right to choose is morally of the U.S. 
Constitution he has sworn to uphold.
   
   Peter Gillespie
   Kanab
   
          
© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
All material found on Utah Online is copyrighted The Salt Lake
Tribune and associated news services. No material may be
reproduced or reused without explicit permission from The Salt
Lake Tribune.   
*****************************************************************
 41 Daily Camera: Flats' 371 won't be imploded
 		 		
thedailycamera.com/

David R. Jennings

Christopher Gilbreath with Kaiser Hill lifts the barrier sign 
while a radiological control technician waits in the background.

Contaminated vault in building prohibits use of explosives

By Todd Neff, Camera Staff Writer October 11, 2004

The idea of imploding Rocky Flats' sturdiest building has turned 
out to be a dud. 

Officials at Kaiser-Hill Co., the lead contractor in the $7.2 
billion cleanup of the former nuclear weapons plant, say they 
can't get Building 371's above-ground sections clean enough to 
detonate. 

 They'll instead have to manually dismantle the entire 300,000 
square-foot structure, whose three-foot-thick reinforced concrete 
walls were built to withstand earthquakes. 

An agreement with state and federal regulators allows explosives 
as a means of reducing the formidable building. The rubble would 
help fill in the former plutonium-processing plant's 65-foot-deep 
basement. But all that hinged on Kaiser-Hill being able to 
decontaminate the entire above-ground structure to "free-release" 
level, which is clean enough to be used in someone's backyard. 
z The stumbling block is what company spokesman John Corsi called 
"central canyons," a 40-foot-tall storage vault. The vault was 
used for plutonium recovery operations and later for storing tons 
of plutonium before the nuclear materials' shipment out of state. 

"We cannot free-release that," Corsi said. "So we are now looking 
at mechanical operations." 

Kaiser-Hill now plans to dismantle the vault and ship it out as 
low-level waste. The rest of the building will be mechanically 
dismantled and used as basement infill. 

Corsi said Kaiser-Hill plans to take the building down sometime 
next summer. He said he didn't know what impact the change of 
plans would have on the project's budget or schedule. 

Steven Gunderson, Rocky Flats cleanup coordinator for the state 
health department, said manually dismantling will "take an 
engineering marvel to tackle," in addition to several steps of 
regulatory approval. 

David Abelson, executive director of the Rocky Flats Coalition of 
Local Governments, said the coalition wants to learn more about 
the change of plans now that the demolition project will include 
contaminated concrete. 

"How do you know you can do it safely and that you can monitor 
what's happening?" Abelson asked. 

Boulder County Commisioner Paul Danish was against using 
explosives on Building 371 from the beginning. 

"This was a building that you just intrinsically expected to be 
contaminated," he said. "I'm glad they've come to this conclusion 
-- it's the right way to do it." 

Contact Camera Staff Writer Todd Neff at (303) 473-1327 or 
nefft@dailycamera.com.  

[http://www.scripps.com]     Copyright 2004, The Daily Camera
*****************************************************************
 42 amarillo.com: Pit facility choice may be delayed
              
10/11/04
 	 
[Amarillo Globe News] 

Scientists study how plutonium weapons cores age

 By JIM McBRIDE jim.mcbride@amarillo.com 
										
The National Nuclear Security Administration may not make a 
decision on whether to build its proposed Modern Pit Facility for 
the next year or so, a top NNSA official says.

 Martin Schoenbauer, acting assistant deputy administrator for 
military application and stockpile operations, said scientists 
are now in the process of studying how plutonium weapons cores, 
called pits, age over time.

 "One of the things that drives how big that facility needs to be 
and what its capability needs to be is how gracefully plutonium 
and pits are aging. We have a very concerted effort going on at 
the two national laboratories to do a lot of different 
experiments, testing and analysis to validate that," Schoenbauer 
said in an interview last week.

 The NNSA now has data on pits that are 45 years old, but is 
taking a closer look at pit aging. Several other outside agencies 
also are providing input on the process, Schoenbauer said.

 "We have several different experiments going on that will help 
us predict how they will change in an accelerated state to give 
us data on what we expect them to be like in 60 years," he said. 
"We are expecting better confidence in what we will need in our 
requirements within in the next year or so as some of the 
accelerated aging experiments get completed... In terms of an 
actual decision, we're not quite there yet."

 Data from pit studies will help the NNSA determine whether the 
agency should build the Modern Pit Facility and, if so, how large 
the facility should be, Schoenbauer said.

 "We are at a point now where we don't want to make a decision to 
build a big facility that we may not need because we don't have a 
lot of that analysis done," he said. "We are working up against a 
timeline pretty soon that if we don't make a decision in the next 
couple of years we might end up doing it too late to recover 
because they might (pits) age faster. The age might not be as 
long as we expected."

 In January, the NNSA announced it was delaying its final 
environmental impact statement for the proposed pit production 
plant, citing congressional concerns.

 Pantex, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, 
Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Nevada Test Site 
are other NNSA sites vying for the $4 billion project.

 In January, NNSA administrator Linton Brooks said the agency 
would delay picking a preferred site.

[http://www.amarillo.com/]  				 			   		 	
*****************************************************************
 43 WATE: Radioactive scrap headed to Oak Ridge landfill

[http://knoxville.wate.com

October 11, 2004   

OAK RIDGE (AP) -- A major cleanup is taking shape at a storage 
yard west of the K-25 plant in Oak Ridge.At least a dozen dump 
trucks a day carry radioactive scrap metal from the scrap yard to 
a nuclear landfill several miles away. 

Workers in blue protective suits spray water on the piles of 
debris to keep down airborne dust during the operations. 

For years, the government moved the scrap -- about 47,000 tons -- 
from site to site. Now, the waste is presumably headed to its 
final resting place. 

The scrap removal is expected to be completed in February 2006. 

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This

[http://www.worldnow.com]     All content © Copyright 2000 -
2004 WorldNow and WATE. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 44 Augusta Free Press: Curbing the threat of nuclear weapons

[http://www.augustafreepress.com/]   

By Karl Magenhofer and Miriam Dickler

Bob Goodlatte 

<a href="mailto:talk2bob@mail.house.gov">talk2bob@mail.house.gov
[talk2bob@mail.house.gov] 

One of the greatest threats facing our nation's security today is 
nuclear proliferation. 

Not only must we still seek to deny hostile nations' access to 
nuclear weapons, we must focus on an even bigger threat to our 
nation's security: nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists. 
The entire global community faces increasing risk from terrorists 
intent on acquiring nuclear weapons technology and materials. 

The president has called on our international partners to 
criminalize the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, 
enact export controls and secure dangerous materials within their 
borders. The U.S. has spearheaded efforts to facilitate 
collaboration with other nations to encourage nonproliferation of 
nuclear weapons. In 2003, the president launched the 
Proliferation Security Initiative calling on other sovereign 
states to join us in mutually enhancing the capabilities of 
military, intelligence, technical and law-enforcement assets to 
thwart the movement of this technology to hostile states and 
terrorists. Today, more than 60 countries support the initiative 
and many are already participating in the Proliferation Security 
Initiative. 

The collaborative efforts of nonproliferating states have yielded 
two significant successes this year, including the public 
unmasking of a nuclear black market network and Libya's decision 
to relinquish its WMD programs. The nuclear black market provided 
Iran, Libya and North Korea with materials and designs for 
nuclear weapons. Further information led to the interception of a 
ship bound for Libya carrying materials to build nuclear weapons. 
Once confronted, the Libyan government voluntarily agreed to end 
its nuclear and biological weapons programs and cooperate with 
international inspectors. With Libya's promise of 
nonproliferation, the U.S. responded in good faith by lifting 
several sanctions. 

The success in Libya sends a clear message: Abandoning the 
pursuit and development of illegal weapons can lead to better 
trade relations with the U.S. and other nations. The alternative 
is political isolation, economic hardship and other unwelcome 
consequences. We must continue to keep the pressure of these 
consequences on North Korea and Iran. 

North Korea’s continued effort to develop nuclear weapons poses 
the greatest threat to its closest neighbors including China, 
South Korea, Japan and Russia. Working with these countries, we 
stand the greatest chance of influencing North Korea and must 
therefore continue to keep their involvement at the forefront of 
efforts to curtail the development of nuclear weapons in North 
Korea. 

Curbing the spread of nuclear weapons is a significant 
undertaking and will continue to present new challenges in the 
ever-changing global community, but it is not optional. We must 
use every resource available to prevent the spread of nuclear 
weapons to terrorists. 

The success of our nuclear-nonproliferation policy relies heavily 
on the continued coordination between sovereign states around the 
world and a willingness to act when our national interests are 
directly threatened. 

Bob Goodlatte represents Virginia's Sixth Congressional District 
in the United States Congress. 

  

The views expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect
those of management of The Augusta Free Press. 

  

What do you think? Share your thoughts at <a
href="mailto:letters@augustafreepress.com">letters@augustafreepre
ss.com [letters@augustafreepress.com] . 

  

(Published 10-11-04/Columns
[http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$29] ) 

Click here to email a copy of this story to a friend
[http://www.augustafreepress.com/mail/mailStory$27162]   


The Augusta Free Press is an independent publication serving
Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County, Virginia.
 Content Copyright 2002 - 2004 by Augusta Free Press | All
Rights Reserved
Last updated 10/10/2004; 11:41:24 PM
*****************************************************************
 45 NRC: Research-Sponsored Meetings
 
Nuclear Safety Research Conference (NSRC) 

Date: October 25-27, 2004 

Location: Marriott at Metro Center, Washington DC 

Description: Held every year since 1973, the NSRC is an
international conference focused on regulatory issues and
attracts researchers, regulators, and utility representatives
from the United States and more than twenty other countries. The
NSRC continues to be a leading forum in which participants are
provided an opportunity to interact with NRC staff and
colleagues to obtain research results and insights from research
programs performed in support of the mission of the NRC. 

information [http://www.bnl.gov/nsrc] . [exit icon]   

 	Last revised Friday, October 08, 2004 	   





    
*****************************************************************

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: 
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> 
    
*****************************************************************