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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 Guardian Unlimited: Justifying the unjustifiable
2 UK Independent: Revealed: the meeting that could have changed the hi
3 BBC: Iran to shun Europe nuclear deal
4 BBC: Russia urges Iran nuclear action
5 AFP: Iran sticks by "right" to posses nuclear fuel cycle
6 AFP: US, China make no headway in bid to restart six-party talks
7 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Korea Seeks Support on N.K. Nuke Issue at
8 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: North Korean Envoy Arrives in China   
9 Daily Times: ‘Korean nukes made with Pakistani help’ 
10 AFP: Japanese official says North Korea holds nuclear weapons - repo
11 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Bennett finds success without the spotlight 
12 US: The Mercury: George Bush on the environment                  
13 AFP: Brazil OKs nuclear inspections
14 Times of India: Of India's French link 'n' N-power - 
15 Guardian Unlimited: IAEA Inspectors Expected in Brazil
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
16 Russia Finishes Building Iran Nuclear Plant
17 US: Brattleboro Reformer: NRC delays uprate decision
18 US: APP.COM: Neighbors calm near nuclear plant 
19 The Australian: Leak exposed reactor staff to radiation 
20 eTaiwanNews.com: U.S. still shows concern over local nuclear activit
21 US: Times Argus: NRC extends review of Yankee uprate request
22 Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Wind energy- What does it mean to y
23 AFP: Anti-nuclear protesters block Austrian-Czech border
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
24 [DU-WATCH] Another  DU article
25 US: [RADFOOD] National School Lunch Week Action Alert
26 BBC: Gulf War syndrome 'does exist'
27 US: Sunday Herald: Public at risk from woeful MoD radiation blunders
28 AFP: Marshalls atoll files for nuclear damages, but payout pot near 
29 US: AU ABC: Marshall Is atoll sues US for nuclear damages. 
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
30 Guardian Unlimited: Sellafield's £600m nuclear fuel factory faces cl
31 Las Vegas SUN: Elizabeth Edwards campaigns for Kerry in Nevada
32 Las Vegas RJ: LETTERS: Yucca Mountain important election issue 
33 US: Sunday Herald: Plan to make baby buggies from nuclear waste - 
34 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Proposed N-waste landfill gets a preliminary
35 AFP: France calls for complete halt to Iran uranium enrichment
36 UK Independent:  Green lobby vindicated as nuclear fuel group admits
37 UK Independent: Ex-ministers slate failed Sellafield plant
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
38 AFP: Moscow urges Tehran to sign NPT protocol, halt enrichment
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
39  
40 TheNewMexicoChannel Report: LANL Pollution Doesn't Threaten Animals
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 Guardian Unlimited: Justifying the unjustifiable
 
The big issue: Blair and WMD           
 		
Sunday October 17, 2004 The Observer            
 		
Your editorial (Comment, last week) refers dismissively to the 
simplistic politics of hindsight in respect of the invasion of 
Iraq. Yet it was known at the time that the invasion was not 
supported by the United Nations and that no evidence of a link 
between Saddam Hussein's regime and terrorist groups had been 
presented. 

Hindsight may have confirmed that Saddam nursed malevolent 
ambitions to possess nuclear weapons and that these were 
increasingly realistic. However, what has always been clear, 
without benefit of hindsight, is that a pre-emptive strike 
against a presumed intention to make war is illegal under 
international law. 

For The Observer of all newspapers to support such aggression is 
deeply saddening. Russell Woodrow London SE21 

Tony Blair persistently argues that, even in the absence of 
weapons of mass destruction, the attack on Saddam Hussein was 
fully justified because the world is better off with the Iraqi 
leader in prison rather than in power. But before the 2003 
invasion, the Prime Minister was singing a very different tune. 
'I detest his regime. But even now he can save it by complying 
with the UN's demand. Even now we are prepared to go the extra 
step to achieve disarmament peacefully.' (House of Commons, 26 
February, 2003.) 

Where is the overwhelming concern for establishing democracy in 
Iraq in that statement? Harvey Cole Winchester 

Having made the same mistake as Tony Blair in supporting the 
Iraqi war, your leader last week tries to justify your decision 
by saying that Saddam had 'intentions' to develop WMDs. 

As Hans Blix, the UN chief weapons inspector, has already stated, 
this is to clutch at straws. 

I would have had more respect for The Observer, if it had simply 
stated that it made the wrong decision in supporting the Iraqi 
war. Valerie Crews Beckenham, Kent 

The mystery of The Observer 's support for Tony Blair on Iraq 
deepens. You say that from what was known at the time there were 
strong grounds for invasion. All some of us were calling for was 
for Hans Blix to be allowed to finish his report - a matter of 
months - which would have confirmed the absence of WMD. 

George W. Bush could not allow that. He relies on Blair for 
justification, who in turn is comforted by The Observer. It is 
time to say you got it wrong. Bill Dixon Peterborough 

I am deeply angered by your sycophantic stance on WMD, in which 
you repeat, as if they were established facts, a number of claims 
made by Blair that many people now believe to be half-truths at 
best. 

If this sort of bias continues I will be cancelling my order in 
the hope of finding more balanced editorial comment elsewhere. 
Jennifer Jenkins London SE26
 
[UP] 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 2 UK Independent: Revealed: the meeting that could have changed the history of Iraq
 
When six of the country's leading experts on Iraq went to Downing 
Street in November 2002 , they sought to warn Tony Blair about 
the dangerous consequences of his actions. In this extraordinary 
account of that meeting, they reveal for the first time their 
shock at his response, offering a unique insight into the mind of 
a Prime Minister determined upon war
 
By Alan George, Raymond Whitaker and Andy McSmith
 
17 October 2004

They felt it was their duty. Six of Britain's leading experts on 
Iraq trooped into No 10 Downing Street on a Tuesday afternoon in 
November 2002, determined to warn Tony Blair that occupying the 
country would be difficult at best and catastrophic at worst. By 
the time they left, most were convinced that war was inevitable - 
and, in the view of one at least, that there was nothing the 
Prime Minister could do about it. 

Nearly two years later, the Prime Minister is caught in a similar 
bind. He would like to stop talking about the Iraq war, to focus 
public attention on domestic policy. But he and his advisers have 
had to admit to one another that the issue just will not go away. 

It dogged Mr Blair last week, at home and overseas. And this week 
it will be in the headlines again. Apart from the growing 
likelihood that British troops will be deployed in Baghdad, Lord 
Butler, the former mandarin who conducted the official inquiry 
into intelligence failures in the run-up to the war, will give 
evidence before a Commons committee on Thursday. 

One of Mr Blair's more uncomfortable moments last week was when 
he was reminded by the Labour MP Bob Wareing of his own words, 
uttered before the war. When the Iraq experts went to Downing 
Street on 19 November 2002, the Prime Minister and George Bush 
were insisting that Saddam Hussein could remain in power if he 
complied fully with Security Council resolution 1441, passed 
early that month and accepted by Baghdad just a few days before 
the meeting at No 10. 

UN weapons inspectors were preparing to return to Iraq after a 
gap of four years, but they would do so against the background of 
a government intelligence dossier, published a few weeks earlier, 
which painted a blood-curdling picture of a dictator ready not 
only to use his weapons of mass destruction, but to share them 
with terrorists. 

In the Middle East, the US was fast building up its forces. 
Britain, despite the threat of a firefighters' strike which might 
require troops to operate "Green Goddess" fire engines, was 
making its own deployments. And British and American aircraft 
supposedly patrolling the "no-fly" zones over northern and 
southern Iraq were in fact staging daily bombing raids, aimed at 
the systematic destruction of the regime's air defences. 

The experts were not there to talk Tony Blair out of invading 
Iraq. "It was made clear to me beforehand that we could not talk 
about the advisability of war, only about what the aftermath 
might be," said Professor George Joffe, of King's College London 
and Cambridge University's Centre of International Studies. The 
Downing Street meeting "was not a lobbying exercise against an 
invasion", said Sir Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies 
at King's College, at whose initiative it was held. 

Dr Toby Dodge of London University's Queen Mary College, had just 
returned from a visit to Baghdad. "Our basic message was that if 
you choose to invade, it will be much, much more difficult than 
you may have been led to believe," he said. "I thought an 
invasion was a really bad idea." 

According to Dr Dodge, most of the group - whose other three 
members were Professor Michael Clarke, director of the 
International Policy Institute at King's College, Dr Charles 
Tripp of London University's School of Oriental and African 
Studies, and Steven Simon, then deputy director of the 
London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) 
- shared his pessimism. 

The six men represented a formidable body of knowledge about 
Iraq's politics, history and economy. To hear what they had to 
say, the Prime Minister was joined by Jack Straw, the Foreign 
Secretary, Sir David Manning, then Mr Blair's foreign policy 
adviser and now British ambassador in Washington, Jonathan 
Powell, No 10's chief of staff, Edward Chaplin, then director of 
the Foreign Office's Middle East and North Africa department, 
appointed as Britain's ambassador to Iraq in June, and Mr Blair's 
then private secretary, Matthew Rycroft. 

Over the next hour and a half the experts sought to take Mr Blair 
and his senior colleagues through a number of possible 
post-invasion scenarios, ranging from simply replacing Saddam 
with another dictator, though one sympathetic to the West, to a 
messy slide into civil war and fragmentation of the country along 
ethnic, religious and tribal lines. 

"Much of the rhetoric from Washington appeared to depict Saddam's 
regime as something separate from Iraqi society," said Dr Dodge. 
"All you had to do was remove him and the 60 bad men around him. 
What we wanted to get across was that over 35 years the regime 
had embedded itself into Iraqi society, broken it down and 
totally transformed it. We would be going into a vacuum, where 
there were no allies to be found, except possibly for the Kurds. 
We were saying: 'Be prepared to spend a great deal of time and 
money. This could take a generation.'" 

Although the outside participants were reluctant to quote the 
words of the Government side - Downing Street said: "It's not our 
policy to comment on private meetings" - what struck several of 
the experts was the lack of response. "There was no real 
argument," said one. "You sensed they were heading into a war 
they couldn't avoid. Although we were sitting at the cabinet 
table, the decisions were being taken on the other side of the 
Atlantic." 

According to Dr Dodge, who was first to speak at the meeting, the 
Prime Minister said little, leaving most of the questions to Mr 
Straw. There was "a lot of glum silence and note-taking on the 
other side of the table". Professor Clarke's recollection was 
that Mr Blair and his officials were attentive, and "did not 
dissent" from the experts' opinions. 

But others felt the Prime Minister was not really listening. "He 
was dismissive of our arguments," said one, speaking on condition 
of anonymity. "It seemed as if he was just going through the 
motions. I think he'd made up his mind already." 

Another said: "I was staggered at Blair's apparent naivety, at 
his inability to engage with the complexities. For him, it seemed 
to be highly personal: an evil Saddam versus Blair-Bush. He 
didn't seem to have a perception of Iraq as a complex country." 
He recalled that the Prime Minister had interjected only 
occasionally and cryptically. At one point he had exclaimed: "But 
he [Saddam] is evil, isn't he?" Later Mr Blair said of Saddam: 
"But he's got choices [over being good or evil], hasn't he?" 

When it was asserted that little could be achieved in Iraq 
without a resolution of the Palestine crisis, because that was 
the major source of Arab and Islamic anger towards the West, Mr 
Blair responded: "Yes, we must do something for the 
Palestinians." 

The Prime Minister is credited with getting this point across to 
George Bush, who set out the "roadmap" for Middle East peace a 
few months later. The President has since been accused of 
neglecting the process, however, and Mr Blair has told friends he 
has won from Mr Bush a "firm promise" to restart negotiations if 
re-elected next month. 

The academics differ as to the Government's intentions in 
November 2002. "It seemed to me that the Government was still 
hoping that a way out might be found, either via the UN or 
through a coup in Baghdad," said Sir Lawrence. Professor Joffe 
recalled, however: "Three of us discussed the meeting afterwards 
and the first thing anyone said was, 'We're going to war'." 

In the chaos that has followed the war, it has emerged that the 
academic experts were simply reinforcing warnings Mr Blair had 
been receiving from his own aides for months. Leaks show that as 
early as March 2002, a letter from the Foreign Secretary, marked 
"secret and personal", said no one had a clear idea of the likely 
aftermath of an invasion. "There seems to be a larger hole in 
this than anything," said Mr Straw, noting that assuring 
stability in Iraq would require large numbers of troops for "many 
years". 

A secret options paper bluntly warned: "The only certain means to 
remove Saddam and his élite is to invade and impose a new 
government, but this would involve nation-building over many 
years." The paper said, however, that Iraq might "revert to 
type", with successive military coups until "an autocratic Sunni 
dictator emerged who ... with time ... could acquire weapons of 
mass destruction". 

After returning from talks in Washington in March 2002, Sir David 
Manning said President Bush "still has to find answers to the big 
questions", including: "What happens on the morning after?" He 
went on: "I think there is a real risk that the [US] 
administration underestimates the difficulties. They may agree 
that failure isn't an option, but this does not mean that they 
will necessarily avoid it." Nearly 18 months after President Bush 
declared major combat operations over, Iraq can scarcely be said 
to be under control, and even some of Mr Blair's strongest allies 
are admitting mistakes. The latest is Sir Jeremy Greenstock, 
Britain's ambassador to the UN before the war and special envoy 
in Baghdad after it, who now says the UN inspectors should have 
been allowed to complete their work. 

"What has happened in Iraq was predictable and was predicted, and 
the worst may yet be to come," said Professor Joffe. "Iraq was a 
strategic blunder," said Professor Clarke. "The entire policy has 
become incoherent." Dr Dodge said: "I remain very much against 
the war. I feel I've had no influence whatsoever on the 
Government in the last two years." Downing Street later made a 
further comment, saying: "No decision about military action was 
taken until March 2003. Iraq has been a foreign policy priority 
for a number of years and you would expect the Government to be 
discussing different contingencies on such an important foreign 
policy issue." 

This weekend the Blair entourage thought it had done well in the 
past few days towards closing down its Iraq problem. On Monday, 
the Prime Minister faced a meeting of Labour MPs and peers at 
which three backbench MPs tackled him about Iraq, but when the 
meeting was over the Prime Minister's own opinion was that it had 
gone better than the next day's newspapers suggested. 

People in the corridor outside the closed meeting could hear the 
cheering of the Prime Minister's supporters. But some of those on 
the inside have complained that the atmosphere was less pleasant 
than it appeared. Much of the applause that accompanied the Prime 
Minister's speech was provided by two dozen recently created 
Labour peers. 

When Alice Mahon, a longstanding opponent of the war, called for 
a Commons debate on the Iraq Survey Group findings, she was 
barracked by the Prime Minister's own supporters. At one point, 
she snapped at one of her tormentors, Phyllis Starkey, that she 
had a right to talk about Iraq because a member of her family was 
serving out there. 

Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday was also expected to be 
difficult for Mr Blair. As expected, it opened with the Tory 
leader, Michael Howard, calling on him to apologise, but he 
easily warded off this foreseeable attack, by throwing back in 
the Tory leader's face the fact that he himself supported the 
war. 

The next day, the Prime Minister flew to Budapest for an 
international conference of political leaders who share his ideas 
on seeking out the "third way" between raw capitalism and 
excessive state interference. The point of this gathering was 
that it demonstrated that leaders who had been on opposite sides 
of the argument over Iraq could meet and discuss economics and 
domestic policy, and find their differences were not so important 
as what they had in common. 

One of Mr Blair's fellow guests was Chile's President Ricardo 
Lagos, whose government held one of those vital votes on the 
Security Council. It was the unwillingness of countries like 
Chile to endorse the war that compelled the US and Britain to go 
in without a second UN resolution. 

But when other participants held a final press conference on 
Friday morning, Mr Blair had already left. The Chilean President 
attributed his absence to "events in Iraq". Even in the pleasant 
setting of a Hungarian lakeside, Mr Blair could not altogether 
escape the long shadow of the Iraq war.                    


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 3 BBC: Iran to shun Europe nuclear deal
 
  Last Updated: Saturday, 16 October, 2004
 
[A general view of Iran's first nuclear reactor, being built in 
Bushehr]                                 

Iran says its nuclear programmes are peaceful                                                            

Iran has said it will reject any proposal for a complete halt to 
its uranium enrichment activities. 

National security official Hossein Mousavian said Tehran would 
not be deprived of its legitimate right to a nuclear fuel cycle. 

Britain, France and Germany are due next week to present an 
incentives package aimed at convincing Tehran to give up its 
nuclear ambitions. 

Iran says its nuclear programmes are peaceful and only to 
generate power. 

Iran is not prepared f cessation - any package including a 
cessation of fuel cycle work would be rejected Hossein Mousavian 
Iranian national security official Iranian press on new 
initiative                 

Correspondents say the US still favours UN sanctions against 
Iran, but that it is prepared to give the Europeans a final 
opportunity to negotiate a settlement before next month's 
deadline for compliance set by the International Atomic Energy 
Agency. 

Window of opportunity 

Efforts to get Iran to abandon its enrichment activities have 
been a failure so far, yet prospects of imposing effective 
sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council are uncertain 
to say the least, says BBC News Online's world affairs 
correspondent Paul Reynolds. 

Mr Mousavian's words appeared to confirm the lack of optimism 
that an offer to Iran would work. 

"We would be willing to consider any package that recognises the 
full right of Iran to enjoy peaceful nuclear technology within 
the framework of the [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]," he told 
AFP news agency. 

"But Iran is not prepared for cessation. Any package including a 
cessation of fuel cycle work would be rejected by Iran." 

However, Mr Mousavian said Iran was ready to consider continuing 
its suspension of uranium enrichment and discuss new initiatives 
to provide guarantees that the process would never be diverted to 
military purposes. 

Our correspondent says Britain, France and Germany feel there is 
a window of opportunity ahead of a meeting of the UN nuclear 
agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on 25 November. 

The European offer is said to include a pledge to resume EU-Iran 
trade talks. 

It is also thought to include guarantees that Iran will have 
access to nuclear fuel from Russia. 





*****************************************************************
 4 BBC: Russia urges Iran nuclear action
 
  Last Updated: Sunday, 17 October, 2004
 
[A general view of Iran's first nuclear reactor, being built in 
Bushehr]                                 

Sanctions against Iran would threaten the Bushehr project                                                            

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Iran must take 
more steps to dispel concern about its nuclear programme, Russian 
media have reported. 

He said Iran should ratify a protocol signed last year with the 
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and end its uranium 
enrichment programme. 

Iran says it will reject any proposal for a complete halt to such 
activities. 

The UK, France and Germany are to present a package aimed at 
convincing Tehran to give up nuclear ambitions. 

The IAEA would like to s more steps promoting greater trust in 
the Iranian nuclear programme and Iran must take such steps 
Sergei Lavrov Russian foreign minister Iranian press on new 
initiative                 

The Iranian government is expected to receive the proposal next 
week. 

The IAEA has set a deadline of the end of November for Iran to 
suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities. 

The US accuses Iran of aiming to develop nuclear weapons, but 
Iran says its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes. 

Correspondents say Washington still favours UN sanctions against 
Iran but is prepared to give the Europeans a final opportunity to 
negotiate a settlement before next month's deadline. 

Russia is opposed to sanctions, which could threaten its $800m 
deal to build Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station. 

Moratorium 

Mr Lavrov said there were specific steps Tehran could take to 
calm IAEA fears about its nuclear programme. 

"The IAEA would like to see more steps promoting greater trust in 
the Iranian nuclear programme and Iran must take such steps," the 
Russian Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. 

He specified that Iran should ratify a protocol it signed last 
year allowing for additional IAEA inspections, and impose a 
moratorium on its enrichment programme. 

But the Russian minister said Russia would continue to co-operate 
with Iran on construction at Bushehr. 

Efforts to get Iran to abandon enrichment have been a failure so 
far, yet prospects of imposing effective sanctions on Iran 
through the UN Security Council are uncertain to say the least, 
says BBC News Online's world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds. 

National security official Hossein Mousavian said on Saturday 
that Tehran would not be deprived of its legitimate right to a 
nuclear fuel cycle. 

Mr Mousavian's words appeared to confirm the lack of optimism 
that an offer to Iran would work. 

However, he said Iran was ready to consider continuing its 
suspension of uranium enrichment and discuss new initiatives to 
provide guarantees that the process would never be diverted to 
military purposes. 

Our correspondent says Britain, France and Germany feel there is 
a window of opportunity ahead of a meeting of the IAEA on 25 
November. 

The European offer is said to include a pledge to resume EU-Iran 
trade talks. 

It is also thought to include guarantees that Iran will have 
access to nuclear fuel from Russia. 





*****************************************************************
 5 AFP: Iran sticks by "right" to posses nuclear fuel cycle

WAR.WIRE

TEHRAN (AFP) Oct 17, 2004

 Iran repeated Sunday it had a "right" to master the sensitive 
nuclear fuel cycle, ahead of an expected proposal from Europe 
calling for Tehran to abandon such work in exchange for 
diplomatic and trade incentives.

"So far we have not yet received the European proposals. But they 
will be acceptable if they respect our national interests and 
recognise our legitimate right to the civil nuclear technology, 
especially the nuclear fuel cycle," Iranian foreign ministry 
spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

"Our right is not negotiable, but we will obtain our right 
through negotiation and dialogue," he added, saying that "good 
discussions" have been held with the Europeans and would 
continue.

Britain, France and Germany -- which have been spearheading 
negotiations with Iran -- are expected to offer Iran incentives 
in the coming days to persuade it to halt its controversial fuel 
cycle work surrounding the enrichment of uranium.

Such work is permitted under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 
(NPT) -- of which the Islamic republic is a signatory -- if for 
peaceful purposes. Iran insists it only wants to generate nuclear 
power.

But there is a fear that by mastering the fuel cycle, Iran could 
gain the "option" of developing nuclear arms. Enriched uranium, 
depending on its level of purity, could be used for both power 
plants and the core of a warhead.

Diplomats say the package from the so-called "EU Three" would 
give Iran access to imported nuclear fuel and other advantages in 
return for a total suspension of its fuel cycle work. Iran has so 
far refused.

The EU Three will offer the package as a November 25 deadline 
looms for Iran to comply with IAEA demands to suspend 
enrichment-related activities and come clean about its nuclear 
ambitions or be referred to the UN Security Council for possible 
sanctions.

 All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of 
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, 
*****************************************************************
 6 AFP: US, China make no headway in bid to restart six-party talks

www.spacewar.com/

WASHINGTON (AFP) Oct 15, 2004

 The United States and China failed to make headway Friday to get 
multilateral talks on the Korean nuclear crisis back on track 
following North Korea's refusal to return to the negotiating 
table.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said 
"unfortunately, as far as we know, the situation remains stalled, 
with North Korea not prepared to live up to its commitments to 
come back to talks."

He spoke after meetings between China's special envoy for North 
Korean affairs, Ning Fukui, and US Deputy Secretary of State 
Richard Armitage, Assistant Secretary for East Asian Affairs 
James Kelly and special envoy for North Korea Joseph DeTrani.

Boucher said they discussed ways to move forward on the six-party 
talks, which comprises the United States, Japan, China, the two 
Koreas and Russia.

North Korea had refused to attend the fourth round of the 
six-party talks last month, citing Washington's "hostile" policy 
towards it and South Korea's nuclear experiments.

The talks were intended to end North Korea's nuclear weapons 
programs and help denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

Boucher said the United States earlier informed China, the host 
of the six-party talks, that it remain prepared to attend the 
meeting at an early date.

Ning is on a three-nation tour including South Korea and Japan as 
part of Chinese efforts to salvage the six-nation talks.

 All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of 
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, 
*****************************************************************
 7 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Korea Seeks Support on N.K. Nuke Issue at Summit   
 
      Updated Oct.17,2004 14:24 KST   
 

  South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Hai-Chan won international
support to resolve North Korea's nuclear standoff at a summit on
progressive governance in Hungary. 

The sixth annual summit which wrapped up on Friday brought
together 11 leaders including British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Swedish Prime Minister
Goran Persson. 

The leaders agreed the North Korean nuclear issue should be
resolved within the multilateral framework, namely the six-way
talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and
Russia. 

Although three rounds of talks have been held, no significant
progress has been made and the North boycotted the fourth round
of meeting which was scheduled last month. 

But Mr. Lee expressed optimism, saying the North is expected to
return to the multi-national dialogue table after the U.S.
presidential election. 

Arirang TV 

*****************************************************************
 8 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: North Korean Envoy Arrives in China   
 
      Updated Oct.17,2004 20:26 KST   
 

  A North Korean diplomatic envoy, including the North's
number-two leader Kim Yong-nam, is to arrive in China on Monday
for a three-day visit. 

Kim¡¯s visit to China is to commemorate the 55th anniversary of
China¡¯s cooperation with the North. The two sides will likely
discuss the North's nuclear program, economic reform and
support. 

Kim plans to meet with high-ranking officials, like Chinese
President Hu Jintao and observers are watching closely whether
Kim will extend an invitation by Kim Jong-il for Hu Jintao to
visit the North. 

Prior to Kim¡¯s visit to China, Chinese representative Ning
Fukui visited Korea, the U.S., and Japan to resume stalled
six-way talks. 

(Cho Joong-shik, jscho@chosun.com ) 

*****************************************************************
 9 Daily Times: ‘Korean nukes made with Pakistani help’ 
 
| Monday, October 18, 2004     
  
* Pyongyang has plutonium bomb: Japan

TOKYO: North Korea has already completed the development of 
plutonium-based nuclear weapons with the help of Pakistan, a 
senior Japanese official is reported to have said in comments 
published on Sunday.

The remarks by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda are the 
first time a Japanese official has confirmed North Korea’s claim 
to have manufactured nuclear weapons, the Sankei Shimbun said.

“North Korea is near finalising development of nuclear weapons,” 
Hosoda told a ruling party meeting in the western town of Shimane 
on Saturday, the Sankei said.

Pyongyang has not finished developing uranium-based nuclear 
weapons, but has completed the development of a plutonium bomb 
similar to the one dropped by the United States on Nagasaki at 
the end of World War II, Hosoda said.

“It is urgent to make North Korea abandon them,” Hosoda said, 
without giving any evidence to back up his claims. Hosoda said 
North Korea and Pakistan had cooperated in the manufacture of 
nuclear weapons. “It is disgraceful,” he said.

Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan publicly confessed 
in February to leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North 
Korea.A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said last month 
the Stalinist state would never dismantle its nuclear weapons 
unless the United States drops its “hostile policy” towards the 
country. afp 

Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 10 AFP: Japanese official says North Korea holds nuclear weapons - report

WAR.WIRE

TOKYO (AFP) Oct 17, 2004

 North Korea has already completed the development of 
plutonium-based nuclear weapons with the help of Pakistan, a 
senior Japanese official said in comments published Sunday.

The remarks by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda represent 
the first time a Japanese official has confirmed North Korea's 
claim to have manufactured nuclear weapons, the Sankei Shimbun 
said.

"North Korea is near finalising development of nuclear weapons," 
Hosoda told a ruling party meeting in the western town of Shimane 
on Saturday, the Sankei said.

Pyongyang has not finished developing uranium-based nuclear 
weapons, but has completed the development of a plutonium bomb 
similar to the one dropped by the United States on Nagasaki at 
the end of World War II, Hosoda said.

"It is urgent to make (North Korea) abandon them," Hosoda said, 
without giving any evidence to back up his claims.

Hosoda said North Korea and Pakistan had cooperated in the 
manufacture of nuclear weapons. "It is disgraceful," he said.

Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan publicly confessed 
in February to leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North 
Korea.

Pakistan has refused to allow he International Atomic Energy 
Agency (IAEA), the UN's atomic watchdog, to interview Khan to 
discuss the international nuclear black market he used to run.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokemsan said last month the 
Stalinist state would never dismantle its nuclear weapons unless 
the United States drops its "hostile policy" towards the country.

Six-nation talks aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its 
nuclear weapons programs have failed to make concrete progress so 
far.

 All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of 
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, 
*****************************************************************
 11 Salt Lake Tribune: Bennett finds success without the spotlight 

Last Updated: 10/17/2004 11:42:56 AM 

By Christopher Smith The Salt Lake Tribune 

Bob Bennett 

WASHINGTON - Bob Bennett is one of the tallest members of the 
U.S. Senate, but he's built his political career around keeping 
a low profile. The better to get things done, says the Utah 
Republican. 

"I know there are some of my colleagues who are much higher 
profile, who get on the Sunday talk shows and take positions 
that get a lot of attention," says Bennett, seeking re-election 
to a third term Nov. 2 against Democratic challenger Paul Van 
Dam and two third-party candidates. "But I've tried not to burn 
any bridges with anybody, so that when the time comes that a 
problem has to be solved, there isn't anybody who says, 'I won't 
work with Bennett.' " 

There is an unwritten axiom in Congress that every state 
delegation has a "local" senator and a "national" senator. And 
while fellow Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch doesn't like the label 
of the latter, he's the one from Utah the national media run to 
when it's time to get a pithy quote on the pressing crisis du 
jour on Capitol Hill. 

Bennett, in contrast, purposefully seeks out issues that are 
not splashy. Take, for instance, the Mexican Peso Crisis. 

It's not exactly a burning topic for most Americans. But in 
President Clinton's new autobiography, My Life, Bennett is 
credited with helping push through U.S. loans that staved off 
the collapse of the Mexican economy in the mid-1990s. The 
Democratic party's figurehead describes Bennett as "a highly 
intelligent, old-fashioned conservative who quickly grasped the 
consequences of inaction and would stick with us throughout the 
crisis." 

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who worked with Bennett on the 
Senate's Y2K preparedness panel, says he has a willingness to 
put political dogma aside and tackle problems the way he sees 
best. 

"I like Bob a great deal," says Dodd, who visits Utah 
periodically since his wife, Jackie Clegg, is a native of the 
state. "I often tell him those 10 Democrats in Utah deserve 
representation." 

Oddly, Bennett's worst clash with a Senate colleague came 
from a member of his own party, Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 
epitome of a high-profile, sound-bite senator. During a 1999 
debate over campaign finance reform, McCain complained unchecked 
contributions had corrupted the political process. 

Bennett took the floor and charged McCain had accused him of 
being corrupt. 

"I take personal offense," Bennett said. 

McCain shot back: "I did not accuse him of being corrupt. So 
no apology or withdrawal is warranted. " 

Relationships between the two were icy until recently, when 
both were invited to the dedication of former Sen. Bob Dole's 
Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. Arriving at 
the airport, the two feuding senators were put together in the 
same car for the 30-minute trip to the ceremony. 

"John and I talked through some of our past difficulties and 
I think we are in a pretty good place personally now," says 
Bennett. 

Some of Bennett's animus toward McCain was rooted in the 
Arizona lawmaker's tirades against unchecked pork-barrel 
spending. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee 
that holds the purse strings to the federal treasury, Bennett 
has steered millions of dollars to Utah projects, ranging from 
the Interstate 15 rebuild and TRAX light rail to a new 
Shakespearean theater in Cedar City and dinosaur museum in 
Vernal. 

"The state is full of people who are mad at me because I 
have not gotten them money," Bennett says. "You have to make 
judgments on what's worthy and just because you ask." 

As an appropriator for the Department of Energy, Bennett is 
increasingly called on by nuclear nonproliferation and 
downwinder groups to square his votes in favor of funding 
studies into new "bunker buster" versions of nuclear weapons 
with his steadfast opposition to resuming bomb tests in Nevada. 

"The weapons to do it already exist and all the research is 
being done to determine how you use them, what their 
capabilities are for this type of deterrent," says Bennett. "I 
have never changed my position and I do not see this as a 
precursor to testing." 

A former Washington lobbyist, political strategist and 
congressional staffer to his father, the late Sen. Wallace 
Bennett, Bennett was elected to the Senate in 1992 after first 
running a company that made mechanisms for talking toys and then 
directing the former Franklin day planner time-management 
product line into prosperity. 

At 6-foot-6, he stands head and shoulders above all other 
senators, save West Virginia Democrat Jay Rockefeller who is 
about a half-inch taller. 

Bennett also stands out in Congress as an early adopter of 
new technology. He was one of the first lawmakers to own a 
hybrid gas-electric car, somehow folding his gangly frame into 
the two-seat, 60-mpg Honda Insight he uses for the commute from 
his condominium in nearby Virginia. 

As chief deputy whip of the GOP leadership, Bennett must 
marshal reluctant Republicans and woo moderate Democrats to get 
the 60 yeas needed to get anything past the filibuster-prone 
Democratic leadership. 

"Bob has the respect of his colleagues and brings people 
together regardless of party affiliation to find solutions," 
says Republican Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee. 
"Notably, this is often done behind-the-scenes, which truly 
shows his desire to make a difference in Congress." 

While crafting bipartisan alliances in the back room, 
Bennett is a staunch party loyalist when he takes the floor 
periodically to deliver unscripted remarks during morning 
business, the Senate's version of open mike night. 

A favorite target is news media coverage of the Iraq war, 
which he says has focused too much on the negative. In the march 
to war, he was privy to the classified intelligence briefings 
that the White House said necessitated a pre-emptive strike 
against Saddam Hussein. 

"The threats we know of are in the order of biological, 
delivery systems, chemical and nuclear," Bennett told The Salt 
Lake Tribune after one such closed-door briefing in October 
2002. Those reports of weapons of mass destruction were 
subsequently revealed to be based on faulty assumptions and bad 
intelligence. But Bennett maintains taking America to war was 
still the right decision. 

"We did it, and we must accept the fact that we are there, 
and complaining about maybe we made a mistake doesn't change the 
reality that we are there," he said in a June floor speech 
defending President Bush's decision. 

© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 12 The Mercury: George Bush on the environment                  
 	 			 							 							
Mercury Staff Report                        

10/17/2004  

Following is a brief look at George W. Bush’s past environmental 
initiatives and future proposals:                                                         

• Supports oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge; has expanded options for natural gas drilling in the West 
and supports $4 billion in tax incentives for new energy 
technologies and conservation.

• Reversed 2000 campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide, a 
primay greenhouse gas, as part of the Clean Air Act.

• Favors plan called "Healthy Forests," which calls for increased 
logging on federal lands to create jobs and prevent forest fires.

• Withdrew the United States from the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at 
limiting greenhouse gas emissions tied to global warming, arguing 
compliance would hurt the economy.

• Favors storing used nuclear fuel rods from nuclear power plants 
beneath Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.

• Has proposed a "Clear Skies" initiative aimed at reducing power 
plant emissions of greenhouse and acid rain gases such as sulfur 
dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury.

• New rule to reduce by 90 percent emissions from heavy duty 
diesel engines used in construction, agriculture and industrial 
equipment.

• Plans for spending $45 million to clean up contaminated 
sediments in the Great Lakes and opposes diverting any water from 
the Great Lakes.

• Says he will commit to reducing America’s greenhouse gas 
emissions by 18 percent by 2012.

• Has proposed additional funding to support research into 
hydrogen cell technology for autos.

• Implementing a $7.8 billion comprehensive Everglades 
restoration plan aimed at restoring "millions of acres in the 
Everglades." 

©The Mercury 2004                                         

Copyright © 1995 - 2004 PowerOne Media, Inc.All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 13 AFP: Brazil OKs nuclear inspections

WAR.WIRE

BRASILIA (AFP) Oct 15, 2004

 Brazil will allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
into a nuclear facility ouside Rio de Janeiro, but will not allow 
inspections of certain areas, science and technology minister 
Eduardo Campos said Friday.

Brazil will allow the inspection next week, Campos said. Until 
then, Brazil and the UN nuclear watchdog are looking for a way to 
inspect that will "protect the country's technological and trade 
secrets," Campos said.

Brazil opposes a visual IAEA inspection, claiming that it has a 
novel method of enriching uranium to protect.

Brazil, which has one of the world's largest uranium reserves, 
denied IAEA inspectors access in February and March to the 
uranium-enriching facility in Resende, in the state of Rio de 
Janeiro.

IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei has said Brazil should 
not be an exception to the organization's norms.

Ten days ago, US Secretary of State Colin Powell, on a two-day 
official visit here, discussed with President Luiz Inacio Lula da 
Silva Brasilia's disputes with the IAEA inspectors, saying 
Washington had no worries about the nuclear program here.

 All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of 
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, 
*****************************************************************
 14 Times of India: Of India's French link 'n' N-power - 

  MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2004
  
indiatimes.com

INDRANI BAGCHI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2004 05:35:14 AM 		]
   
  NEW DELHI: When India looks eastwards towards China, the vision 
of four nuclear reactors supplied by Paris-based Framatome ANP 
Inc, a venture between Siemens and Areva, to China is inviting. 

But India is not a member of the present international nuclear 
architecture, spanning NPT and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). 
Yet India is a leading aspirant for a new international order 
that rewards India's "responsible" nuclear power status without 
aiding its weapons program. And India is one of the world's 
largest consumers of energy. 

The case for nuclear energy in India is strong. And it is this 
issue that will top the agenda when the French foreign minister 
Michel Barnier comes visiting here next week. France has been 
among the most agreeable of the P-5 countries to sell civilian 
nuclear technology to India. The quest currently is for a 
suitable entry-point in the multilateral nuclear obligations for 
a way to accommodate India's energy demands without France 
breaking faith. 

Therefore, the first outreach program between the NSG and India 
to discuss nuclear energy and proliferation issues went largely 
unreported but was a signal event. A delegation of NSG troika 
comprising the Czech Republic, Sweden and current chair South 
Korea held meetings with Indian officials on April 7. 

 Copyright © 2004 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. |
*****************************************************************
 15 Guardian Unlimited: IAEA Inspectors Expected in Brazil
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Monday October 18, 2004 2:31 AM

By STAN LEHMAN 

Associated Press Writer 

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Inspectors from the International Atomic 
Energy Agency were expected in Brazil this week to view parts of 
its equipment to enrich uranium, the country's leading weekly 
newsmagazine reported Sunday, citing government officials. 

The announcement of the visit comes after diplomats said Brazil 
tentatively agreed to the inspection on Oct. 6 in a deal aimed at 
ending months of squabbling over technology that can be used in a 
nuclear weapons program. 

Brazil had earlier refused to give IAEA inspectors full visual 
access to its centrifuges at its plant in Resende, about 60 miles 
northwest of Rio de Janeiro, asserting that the advanced 
technology could be stolen by other countries if outsiders get a 
glimpse of it. 

The magazine Veja, citing two unidentified Brazilian government 
officials, reaffirmed that Brazil had approved the inspection and 
said the inspectors were scheduled to visit the plant on Tuesday. 

According to Veja, screens hiding the centrifuges will be 
shortened to give the IAEA inspectors a better, but not full, 
view of the equipment. 

Telephone calls to Brazil's Science and Technology Ministry went 
unanswered. 

The deal aims at allowing inspectors to verify that the uranium 
is neither being enriched to weapons-grade levels, nor diverted 
to other sites. 

The restricted viewing of the technology is unlikely to 
decisively settle the dispute between the IAEA and Brazil. 
Diplomats have said the IAEA has little concern that Brazil is 
trying to make nuclear weapons. But there are questions over how 
Brazil, which ran a secret nuclear military program before giving 
it up in the 1980s, acquired the technology. Much of that program 
was based on secret procurement. 

News reports also have claimed the country's reluctance to give 
inspectors full access to its centrifuge technology could be 
because Brazil is trying to cover up past illicit purchases. 

Earlier this year, Science and Technology Minister Eduardo Campos 
told The Associated Press that Brazil had invested close to $1 
billion and years of research to develop the uranium-enrichment 
technology. He said the centrifuge developed by Brazil was 30 
percent more efficient than those found in other countries thanks 
to an electromagnetic device invented by Brazilian scientists 
that reduces friction. 

``This is a technology we must protect,'' he said. 

Brazil wants to use the uranium enriched at Resende to fuel its 
Angra I and II nuclear power plants, which produce 4.3 percent of 
the nation's electricity. 

Brazil has the world's sixth-largest uranium reserves but 
currently must ship the ore out of the country to be processed 
for use in its nuclear plants. 

Uranium enriched to low levels is used for fuel to generate 
in nuclear warheads. Brazil vehemently denies it is interested in 
power. More highly enriched, weapons grade uranium is a component 
building such arms. 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 16 Russia Finishes Building Iran Nuclear Plant
 
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 22:49:28 -0500 (CDT)

 
Imagine that everyone had energy independence.  Wouldn't the energy
conglomerates, the ones that infect our representative system of
governance, have great issue with that?

~

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6502972

Russia Finishes Building Iran Nuclear Plant Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:59
AM ET By Maria Golovnina

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and Iran said Thursday they had finished
construction of an atomic power plant in the Islamic Republic -- a
project the United States fears Tehran could use to make nuclear
arms.

Diplomats in Moscow said the announcement, made after Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Iran, reflected Russia's readiness
to press ahead with the project in return for Tehran's increased
cooperation with the U.N.

nuclear watchdog.

"We're done," said a spokesman for Russia's Atomic Energy Agency
(RosAtom).

"All we need to do now is work out an agreement on sending spent
fuel back to Russia."

Such an agreement with Iran is designed to allay U.S. concerns.
Iran would guarantee it would return to Russia all spent nuclear
fuel, which can be used to make weapons. But the signing, due last
year, has been repeatedly delayed.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian Parliament's Foreign Affairs
and National Security Commission, confirmed the construction phase
at Bushehr.

"The (nuclear fuel) agreement is practically ready. If experts agree
on a few remaining commercial matters, it could be signed in
November," Boroujerdi told reporters in Moscow after talks with
Russian officials.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

RosAtom head Alexander Rumyantsev is due to visit Iran in late
November. But industry sources say the signing depends on the outcome
of a Nov. 25 International Atomic Energy Agency meeting, which would
decide whether to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for
possible sanctions.

Russia is under severe U.S. pressure to ditch the $800 million
Bushehr project but -- as a permanent Security Council member --
would have a veto on any sanctions vote.

G8 MEETING

Diplomats in Moscow said the announcement may also be intended to
send a message ahead of a Group of Eight meeting of industrialized
countries in Washington later this week that Russia would firmly
stand by its ally in the Middle East.

"It's no coincidence that the announcement comes right after Lavrov's
visit to Tehran," one Western diplomat said.

"It would have been logical for Russians to promise to stick to the
Bushehr project in exchange for making Iran cooperate with the IAEA
better."

Russia's stance on Iran toughened last month after Tehran threatened
to defy an IAEA call for it to stop work on enriching uranium -- a
process that can be used to develop nuclear arms.

The 1,000-megawatt Bushehr plant is due to be launched in the next
year or so and reach full capacity in 2006. The RosAtom spokesman
said work still remained to be done on assembling some security and
control equipment.

Russia has been building the plant since the early 1990s.

*****************************************************************
 17 Brattleboro Reformer: NRC delays uprate decision
 
October 18, 2004 Brattleboro, VT                                                                                 
 			 								 					
By CAROLYN LORI 
Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not make a 
decision on Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee's uprate request by 
Jan. 31, 2005, as originally planned.

 On Friday, the federal regulator announced that it was extending 
its deadline by "several months" due to concerns about the 
plant's steam dryer, as well as technical issues raised during 
the recent engineering inspection.

 "The NRC, with its commitment to public health and safety, will 
not allow an increase in Vermont Yankee's operating power level 
unless we are certain the change could be done safely," said Jim 
Dyer, director of the agency's Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, in a press release.

 Entergy officials were asked to provide additional information 
on their steam dryer analysis and on issues connected to the 
inspection.

 An exact date for the NRC's decision was not given. 

"We can't definitively say at this point, because we are going to 
have to see how the information flows," said Neil Sheehan, NRC 
spokesman for Region I.

 Other plants that have undergone an extended power uprate, which 
is a 7 to 20 percent increase in power production, have been 
plagued by steam dryer problems.

 Vermont Yankee officials applied to boost power by 20 percent, 
the maximum allowed.

 In order to increase power production, the reaction rate of the 
uranium will be raised, which in turn will produce more steam. It 
is steam that turns the turbine, which generates electricity.

 The role of the steam dryers is to remove some of the moisture, 
making the steam more efficient before going on to the turbine. 
Under uprated conditions, there would be more steam flowing 
through the dryers, increasing the amount of pressure and 
vibration.

 At other plants, such as the Exelon-owned Quad Cities I in 
Illinois, increased flow damaged the steam dryer, causing 
numerous shutdowns. Quad Cities I boosted power production by 
17.8 percent in 2001.

 According to a letter sent from the NRC to Michael Kansler, 
president of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., steam dryer 
integrity "was an area receiving a very high level of attention 
by the NRC due to industry operating experience with the steam 
dryer failures following EPU [extended power uprate] 
implementation."

 While the steam dryer does not have a safety-related function, 
damage to it could interfere with the running of other 
safety-related parts.

 NRC staff, according to the letter, was not satisfied with the 
documentation provided by Entergy engineers showing that the 
component could operate reliably under increased power generation 
and have requested more information.

 Entergy officials said they are prepared to cooperate with the 
NRC's requests.

 "We completely agree with the NRC's position that safety is the 
most important concern in any uprate decision and we're committed 
to working with both the NRC and Vermont regulators to insure 
that all safety issues are fully addressed before the uprate is 
approved," said Entergy spokesman Laurence Smith. "Entergy is 
confident that the uprate will be approved."

 The plant has already undergone costly modifications in 
anticipation of the uprate.

 David O'Brien, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public 
Service, said he was "comfortable" with the NRC's deadline 
extension.

 "These are good signs of them doing the work," he said.

 Members of the nuclear power watchdog group, the New England 
Coalition, disagreed.

 Raymond Shadis, technical advisor for the coalition, said he was 
distrustful of the NRC's motives for delaying the decision. In a 
press release, Shadis put fourth several possible reasons for the 
delay, including:

 * new safety issues discovered during the engineering inspection 
completed in early September, and the desire to stall releasing 
the results until the report can be edited;

 * a plan by the NRC to change its regulatory guides, 
specifically the guide governing taking credit for containment 
overpressure -- a central issue in the uprate case. Delaying the 
decision, the group alleges, would buy the regulator time to make 
the changes before granting its approval;

 * by postponing a decision, the NRC may be able to delay 
releasing information regarding safety concerns until hearings 
sought by the coalition and the state are completed.

 "The NRC has been very evasive and manipulative throughout this 
whole process," said Shadis, in a telephone interview.

 Shadis was also critical of the fact that the full report from 
the engineering assessment will not be available until after the 
NRC holds its public meeting on the inspection.

 According to Sheehan, the meeting is tentatively scheduled for 
Nov. 9 and the public will be given preliminary findings at that 
time. A full report will be made available within 45 days of the 
meeting.

 Sheehan said that the coalition's accusations were without merit 
and maintained that the delay was prompted by safety concerns.

 "Conspiracies really don't have any place in the discussion," 
said Sheehan. "It will take as long as it needs."

 Carolyn Lorié can be reached at clorie@reformer.com.                           
 		   			 		   	 	
       Copyright ©1999-2004 New England Newspapers, Inc., a 
*****************************************************************
 18 APP.COM: Neighbors calm near nuclear plant 
         
  ASBURY PARK PRESS

Published in the Asbury Park Press 10/16/04THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 SALEM -- Federal regulators and the out-of-town activists who 
monitor the activity of the three nuclear power plants a few 
miles from here reacted swiftly this week when one of the plants 
had to be shut down because of a small leak of radioactive steam.

 But in the towns nearby, where being the neighbor of a nuclear 
plant has been part of life for more than a quarter century, 
Sunday's mishap isn't exactly the talk of the town.

 Ronald Coleman, 51, a Salem resident who works at the local 
hospital, said he's concerned about what's happening at the 
plants owned by Public Service Energy Group. But it's not 
something that his neighbors ever discuss, he said -- even this 
week, when the mishap was front-page news in the local newspaper.

 On the street and in shops in downtown Salem, about eight miles 
from the Salem I, Salem II and Hope Creek plants that make up one 
of the nation's largest nuclear generating stations, several 
people said they weren't aware of any recent problems there.

 But to the activists who follow the plants, the company doesn't 
communicate or address safety problems as well as it should.

 "What we can tell from the outside, this is one more example of 
the safety culture at PSEG," said Norm Cohen, a Linwood resident 
and the director of Unplug Salem, which advocates shutting down 
the plants.

 &copy; copyright 2004 The Associated Press Go Back | Subscribe 
 Asbury Park Press             

*****************************************************************
 19 The Australian: Leak exposed reactor staff to radiation 

[October 18, 2004]
 	 	
By Martin Wallace and Kelvin Bissett

FIVE workers were exposed to radiation - one extensively - during 
a leak which forced the shutdown of the Lucas Heights nuclear 
reactor.

The incident, caused by human error, occurred during routine 
maintenance at the plant which is run by the Australian Nuclear 
Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO). 

An internal report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act 
reveals that so-called "heavy water" - contaminated with 
radioactive isotope tritium - leaked through the protective 
overalls of one of the workers and on to his arm and torso. 

Since then the contaminated worker has had to provide regular 
samples to assess the extent of his exposure. 

The report adds: "The consequences were an increase in 
radiological exposure to a small number of staff. 

"The increased exposure was restricted to levels that mean health 
effects will be negligible." 

The 44-year-old High Flux Australian Reactor at Lucas Heights is 
less than 1km from houses in Engadine, southern Sydney, but there 
was no risk to the public. 

The men were working in a plant room where heavy water is 
produced on March 12 when the incident occurred. 

Heavy water has deuterium atoms instead of the two hydrogen atoms 
featured in regular water and is used to control fission within 
the nuclear reactor. 

The men - who were all wearing cloth overalls, breathing masks 
and plastic gloves - were servicing a valve in the pipeline in 
the heavy water plant room when a litre of irradiated water 
leaked out. 

All non-essential staff were evacuated and maintenance staff 
immediately mopped up the spilled water on the walls and floor 
and resealed the valve, but the high temperature in the room 
caused some of it to evaporate. 

Their infected colleague helped in the clean-up but his 
supervisor should have ordered him to go straight to the 
decontamination room for a shower and change of clothes to remove 
the heavy water traces. 

The report reveals that by not being treated earlier, the 
worker's skin was in direct contact with the irradiated water for 
longer and was absorbed through his skin. 

The report adds: "This highlighted that there may be some gaps in 
some staff members' knowledge and awareness of the hazards 
associated with some tasks. The level of protection was not 
sufficient to provide a sufficient level of protection in 
abnormal conditions such as this one." 

Staff complacency, "under appreciation of the hazard", 
contradictory instructions and a lapse in safety supervision were 
identified as causes of the problem which was reported to the 
regulator Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety 
Agency. 

As a result staff have been given extra training in working with 
heavy water. Protective clothing now used at the plant is now 
waterproof. 

The plant's chief of operations Dr Ron Cameron said the incident 
would have exceeded "operational limits" if it had been "more 
severe". 
		 			 			
© The Australian   
*****************************************************************
 20 eTaiwanNews.com: U.S. still shows concern over local nuclear activity
 
Taiwan   
  
  2004-10-17 / Agence France-Presse /   
  
There is growing concern about possible nuclear weapons' activity 
in Taiwan, a respected U.S. analyst said Friday, after a 
Taiwanese lawmaker asked in the Legislative Yuan if the 
government was conducting secret arms planning.

 David Albright, president of the Washington think tank Institute 
for Science and International Security, said that in U.S. circles 
"there is presently concern that Taiwan may be doing nuclear 
weapons planning now or thinking about it, particularly after the 
comment in the Taiwanese parliament."

 People First Party Legislator Nelson Ku asked on Tuesday: "Is 
there a five-person team, including active and past members from 
the current (Taiwanese) administration, planning the development 
of nuclear weapons."

 While Premier Yu Shyi-kun (ÓÎåaˆÒ) denied that Taiwan was 
developing nuclear weapons, Albright said: "There is a buzz about 
Taiwan, about what they might be up to."

 Albright said there is a commitment in the U.S. government "to 
stop something in terms of even feasibility studies of secret 
nuclear weapons development before it develops."

 He said that if Taiwan did something like that "its relationship 
with the United States would be threatened and then Taiwan would 
have no defense against China."

 Albright has reported since 1997 on Taiwan after in that year 
revealing new information about Taiwan's efforts to acquire 
nuclear weapons through the 1980s.

 He said then that the United States and the Vienna-based 
International Atomic Energy Agency had created a powerful set of 
constraints on Taiwan's pursuit of the bomb, a program Taipei 
claims to have abandoned.

 Taiwan's defense authorities said Thursday it was the country's 
standing policy not to develop or use nuclear weapons.

 "We have made it clear that we will never develop, use or store 
nuclear weapons or related items," military spokesman Huang 
Suey-sheng (üSËëÉú) told AFP.

 Yang Chao-yie, deputy chairman of the cabinet-level Atomic 
Energy Council, denied this week that Taiwan had conducted 
plutonium separation programs in the mid-1980s.

 Such experiments would indicate Taiwan might have explored 
developing nuclear weapons. Taiwan has a civilian nuclear program 
and allows short-notice IAEA inspections.   
    
© 2001-2004 Taiwan News. All Rights Reserved.   
*****************************************************************
 21 Times Argus: NRC extends review of Yankee uprate request
 
October 16, 2004 

Associated Press   

MONTPELIER — Enertgy Nuclear has yet to prove that it would be 
safe for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to increase power 
by 20 percent, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday.

The NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has notified 
Entergy that it has determined "that the information submitted by 
the licensee to date does not yet provide sufficient assurance 
that the (Vermont Yankee) steam dryer will remain capable of 
maintaining its structural integrity" if the reactor increases 
its power.

The Friday ruling was not a rejection of the request to increase 
power. The NRC said, though, that it is clear approval will not 
come by the original Jan. 31 completion date.

The NRC said it is seeking further information from Vermont 
Yankee to address the concerns about the steam dryer.

The NRC said once the information is provided, the staff will 
review it and provide an evaluation to the Advisory Committee on 
Reactor Safeguards.

When that happens, the NRC said it will set a more definitive 
schedule for completing the review.

The reliability of the steam dryer has been raised as an issue by 
critics of the power boost, including the nuclear watchdog group 
New England Coalition. Steam dryer cracking has been a problem at 
other plants' of similar design to Vermont Yankee after they have 
increased their power output.

In April, cracks were discovered in the Vernon plant's steam 
dryer.
   
© 2004 Times Argus
*****************************************************************
 22 Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Wind energy- What does it mean to you?
 	 
  Posted Oct. 17, 2004 

By Michelle Kubitz Herald Times Reporter 

TOWN OF TWO CREEKS — Teresa Brendemuehl can tell her kids that 
the wind turbines to be built in her neighborhood will stand 
around 475 feet. But how tall is that really?

 “We’re telling our kids that these are massive structures, it 
will be way bigger than our silo,” she laughed.

 Last spring, Navitas Energy Inc. of Minneapolis approached 
landowners and local government leaders about the possibility of 
constructing wind turbines on about 5,000 acres in the towns of 
Mishicot and Two Creeks. 

The Twin Creeks Wind Farm would contain 49 turbines and have the 
capacity to generate about 100 megawatts of energy — enough to 
provide power to about 30,000 homes.

 Manitowoc County has passed an ordinance to regulate the wind 
towers, and Navitas is waiting for adoption of the ordinance in 
the affected townships.

 The purpose of the ordinance was to have Navitas apply for a 
conditional use permit that would regulate the entire project.

 If the towns decide to adopt their own ordinances, “we go back 
to where we used to be and have hearings on each individual 
(turbine),” said Mike Demske, director of the county’s parks and 
planning department.

 Navitas plans to submit an application for a conditional use 
permit this month. Construction could begin as early as next year 
and will depend on environmental permitting, said Jerrid 
Anderson, senior project developer for the company. 

Proponents tout the financial advantages to landowners, townships 
and the county. In addition, they are excited about the prospect 
of a project that will provide “green” energy for the state.

 Opponents worry about the environmental impact of the turbines 
and whether the project will have any impact on property values.

 Landowners

 Kent and Teresa Brendemuehl view the proposed turbines as a 
“blessing in disguise,” Teresa said, citing the financial 
benefits to landowners.

 Kent Brendemuehl has returned to school after being laid off 
from his job last year. The family is pursuing an independent 
business of selling puppies, Teresa Brendemuehl said.

 With 80 acres on their farm in the town of Two Creeks, “we could 
hope for two turbines,” she said.

 This isn’t the first time the Brendemuehls have considered wind 
energy.

 “We looked into wind power for some time, just on our own … for 
our own needs, so we’re kind of familiar with wind power,” Teresa 
Brendemuehl said.

 Having the Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant near their township 
has also shaped their views on alternative energy.

 “Our township is very friendly to energy with the nuclear plant 
here. We’ve felt they have been very good neighbors and like 
having them here,” she said.

 A visit to another Navitas site with turbines eased any of the 
Brendemuehls worries about noise or environmental impact.

 “They won’t be loud and obnoxious, they’re relatively quiet,” 
she said. 

Financial benefits

 The towns of Two Creeks and Mishicot, as well as Manitowoc 
County and the landowners involved in the project will benefit 
financially from the project.

 The Twin Creeks Wind Farm will pay annual gross receipt tax to 
the state. The state’s shared revenue program will pay about 
$163,000 to the combined townships and $229,000 to the county on 
an annual basis, according to Navitas.

 Landowners will also receive annual operating payments from 
Navitas that are based on the number of machines installed, 
Anderson said.

 For privacy reasons, Navitas does not disclose the amounts paid 
to landowners. However, Kenneth Duveneck, chairman for the town 
of Two Creeks, estimates farmers may receive $4,500 for each 
tower.

 Navitas has optioned the landowners for potential sites to place 
turbines. However, landowners are waiting to find out if they are 
going to get a turbine and how many will be placed on their land, 
Duveneck said.

 Although Duveneck hasn’t done a lot of research on the turbines, 
he has contacted landowners who have turbines on their property.

 “The ones I’ve talked to were positive,” he said. “… It’s 
positive for the community and the county. It’s positive for 
everybody.”

  Details

 How tall?

 “The tip height of the turbines could be as high as 475 feet 
above grade. The height of the support tower could be 330 feet 
above grade,” said Jerrid Anderson, senior project developer at 
Navitas Energy Inc., a Minneapolis-based company specializing in 
wind energy.

 Noisy?

 Between 40 and 50 decibels, the turbines that would go in 
northern Manitowoc County are comparable to the level of normal 
conversation.

 Energy? 

“The wind farm will have a capacity to produce up to about 100 
MW. In comparison, the Point Beach nuclear plant is rated for 
1,034 MW. Equivalent energy generated from the wind farm would be 
enough to provide power to about 30,000 homes,” Anderson said.

 Timeline?

 Anderson said Navitas would submit an application for a 
conditional use permit this month. Construction could begin as 
early as next year and will depend on environmental permitting.

 More information?

 energytaskforce.wi.gov/ — Website for the state’s task force on 
energy efficiency and renewables.

 www.windpower.com/index.cfm — Website for Navitas Energy Inc.
   
*****************************************************************
 23 AFP: Anti-nuclear protesters block Austrian-Czech border

WAR.WIRE

PRAGUE (AFP) Oct 16, 2004

 Around 100 protesters blocked an Austrian-Czech border crossing 
with tractors for several hours Saturday to protest a decision by 
Czech nuclear authorities to run the trouble-plagued Temelin 
plant on full power.

The Czech State Authority for Nuclear Safety's (SUJB) decided 
Monday to allow Temelin, 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the 
Austrian border, to switch to regular output.

The environment minister of the Austrian province of Upper 
Austria, Rudi Anschober, described the decision as "unacceptable" 
given "the high number of defects" at the plant.

His concerns were echoed by Mathilde Halla of the Upper Austria 
Platform Against Atomic Danger who called on Austrian and Czech 
politicians to meet to discuss the problem.

She also attacked Austrian Environment Minister Josef Proell.

"It is irresponsible of Proell to not see the SUJB decision as a 
violation of the Melk agreement," she said.

Under the 2001 Melk agreement the Czech Republic pledged to raise 
the safety of Temelin and to exchange information with experts, 
and Austria promised not to block the Czech Republic's EU entry 
over the issue.

The border crossing between Dolni Dvoriste and Wulowitz was 
blocked to all traffic Saturday and police rerouted cars well 
ahead of the blockade by around 20 tractors.

Czech environmental groups have distanced themselves from the 
blockade, as has the Austrian environment ministry.

The Temelin nuclear plant, opened in 2000, has been sharply 
criticised by activists in Austria, southern Germany as well as 
the Czech Republic itself who say it is not safe because it 
combines Soviet design with Western fuel and safety technology.

The doubts have been repeatedly dismissed by Prague.

In June, the European Union dispatched a team of experts to 
Temelin after a leak of radioactive water.

 All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of 
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, 
*****************************************************************
 24 [DU-WATCH] Another  DU article
 
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 13:11:17 -0500 (CDT)

 
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/stand/du.htmlDepleted Uranium

During the war, US and British forces shot ammo made from Depleted 
Uranium (DU), a radioactive and toxic waste that is suspected as a 
cause of some illnesses affecting veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.

  
Scientists believe respiratory irritation caused by sand storms, oil 
fires, and concentrated vehicle fumes during Operation Desert Storm 
weakened the blood/brain barrier and allowed DU to enter the central 
nervous system of soldiers in the field resulting in slowly 
developing neurotoxic responses. Their brains, in effect, were slowly 
poisoned. 

The brain is a 'target organ' for dissolved uranium. Tests on some 
Desert Storm vets show lowered ability to think and solve problems, 
as well as lowered motor skills in subjects with above average 
uranium levels.

During the latest operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq, American 
and British tanks fired thousands of depleted uranium armor 
penetrators. American A-10 and AV-8B aircraft shot hundreds of 
thousands of small caliber depleted uranium rounds. 

Many troops in Iraq are being exposed to some level of DU, and the 
exposure this time may be far more long-term. The longer troops stay 
in theater if they are in a contaminated area, the more exposure they 
will have. DU is also toxic to the kidneys, and is known to cause 
cancer from inhalation. It is reasonable to assume that neither skin 
exposure nor swallowing particles of DU is wise. 

The exposure to DU combined with the exposure to extensive combustion 
products from oil fires and blowing sand from the desert environment, 
however, is unique and the extent of exposure to respiratory 
irritants during this war was probably greater than in previous wars. 
These exposures for some soldiers may be more intense and more 
sustained now than they were in 1991.

What Are the Symptoms of D.U. Exposure?

Depleted uranium has two different effects on the body, chemical 
poisoning and radiation poisoning. Symptoms are similar to those 
described as Gulf War Syndrome. DU may also cause respiratory 
problems and is known to elevate the risk of lung cancer and leukemia.

 Chronic Fatigue 

 Neurological signs or symptoms 

 Signs or symptoms involving upper or lower respiratory system 

 Menstrual disorders

 Kidney problems

What Should One Do If These 
Symptoms Appear?

 Report them to a physician and get them on record. If they
persist, 
do not be discouraged by military doctors who seem to brush them off. 
Return again and again if necessary as long as the symptoms persist.

 Those who are still on active duty should immediately register
with 
DOD by calling 1-800-796-9699. Those who have left active military 
service should call the Veterans Administration at 1-800-PGW-VETS.

 Increase the frequency of screening for lung cancer and
leukemia.

What Can One Do to Limit Exposure to 
D.U. and Other Causative Agents? 

Get out of Iraq or Afghanistan. If that is not an option . . . Cover 
the face to prevent inhalation of dust, and keep dust out of food and 
water. Avoid exhaust fumes and other respiratory irritants. Inform 
the chain of command when there is a way to reduce exposure to dust 
and respiratory irritants, and explain to them why.

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 25 [RADFOOD] National School Lunch Week Action Alert
 
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 13:07:20 -0500 (CDT)

 
National School Lunch Week Action Alert!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you know that National School
Lunch Week is October 10th through October 16th.  This week provides us
a great opportunity to recognize how important school nutrition is to
children, and to take action to keep irradiated food out of schools.

In 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved irradiated foods
in school lunch programs, which not only allows questionable technology
to be used on children's food, but also does not require it to be
labeled. Three states (Minnesota, Texas, and Nebraska) initially
requested irradiated meat for schools this year, but later canceled
their order, citing high prices and inadequate information. However,
proponents of irradiation (including the USDA) have been disappointed
that irradiated ground beef has been so slow to catch on in school
lunches - and they will continue to promote it to schools across the
country.

School nutrition is an important part of children's development and
learning. At a time when there is a growing school nutrition movement,
with an emphasis on healthy, fresh, and local food for students,
irradiated food has no place in our schools. Make sure the children in
your school district are receiving healthy and nutritious food by
advocating against irradiated food in your school district. During the
week of October 11th, take a few minutes of your day to take action on
healthy school lunches!

Here are several action ideas, with different types and levels of
involvement:

1.  Call your school district's food service director, find out their
position on irradiated food, and talk to them about your concerns with
irradiated food in schools. Ask them to sign a pledge agreeing not to
serve it. Send us a copy of the signed pledge. Sample pledge at
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/food_irrad/schoollunch/articles.cfm?ID=12411.
 (To contact the school district's food service director, look on your
school district's website or call your local school.)

2.  Find out if your school district has a food nutrition policy or a
working group on nutrition. (To do so, look on your school board website
or ask your PTA president for this information.)

a.  If they do, see what policies exist or are in development. Talk to
the  people who work on school food nutrition, sharing your concerns
about irradiated food. New policies could incorporate a provision
banning irradiated food, or they could pass a resolution against
irradiated food.
b.  If they do not or existing policies & leadership are poor, try to
get greater awareness and new people involved in school nutrition. Write
an email to a parent's group about irradiated food and school nutrition,
or book yourself on the agenda of the next PTA meeting.

3.  Prefer the hands-off approach? Send a letter to your local paper
about National School Lunch Week, which includes a critique of
irradiated food. We have talking points at
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/food_irrad/schoollunch/articles.cfm?ID=12409.

Do you need more information about this issue or these actions? Check
out www.safelunch.org or call Audrey at 202-454-5185 for suggestions. We
are happy to provide copies of any of our materials, or to provide other
assistance the best we can!

Thank you for your time,
Audrey

***
Audrey Hill
Organizer
Public Citizen
215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 454-5185
www.safelunch.org

********************
If you would like to be removed from the radfood list, send an email to listserv@listserver.citizen.org with the words "unsubscribe radfood" in the message.

If you would like to be added to the radfood list, send an email to listserv@listserver.citizen.org with the words "subscribe radfood" in the message.

To learn more about food irradiation, visit our website at http://www.citizen.org/cmep/

Questions about the radfood list can be directed to RADFOOD-request@LISTSERVER.CITIZEN.ORG
-Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program
*****************************************************************
 26 BBC: Gulf War syndrome 'does exist'
 
  Last Updated: Saturday, 16 October, 2004
 
[A British tank and crew in the desert]                                 
The veterans' illnesses had until now been unexplained                                                              

Scientists in the US say they have demonstrated the existence of 
the illness known as "Gulf war syndrome". 

The findings are in a report by the influential Research Advisory 
Committee on Gulf war veterans' illness, leaked to the New York 
Times. 

Committee chief scientist Professor Beatrice Golombe said that 
exposure to certain substances in the Gulf may have altered some 
troops' body chemistry. 

The study was welcomed by British veterans of the Gulf war. 

The secretary of the National Gulf Veterans and Families 
Benevolent Association, Noel Baker, said the US research was 
"very explosive". 

He added that the Ministry of Defence, which has always denied 
the existence of a syndrome, would "have to take notice" of it. 

"This is very, very senior research. It's not by any private 
venture or by someone with an axe to grind." 

He described the attitude in the US as one of "genuinely wanting 
to find out if there is a problem. 

"In the UK, the MoD doesn't want to find the truth". 

The Ministry of Defence declined to comment on the leaked report. 

A spokesman said the ministry's position on the syndrome was 
well-documented, and that there were on-going studies into it. 

The ministry argues that there was no single cause of the 
illnesses reported by veterans from the conflict. 

Thousands of veterans of the 1991 war suffer from unexplained 
poor health. 

Servicemen and women from the US, UK, Canada and France who took 
part in the operation to drive Saddam Hussein's forces from 
Kuwait have reported one or more symptoms, including memory loss, 
chronic fatigue and dizziness. 

'Really ill' 

Many continue to suffer from chronic and debilitating illnesses 
more than a decade since the war. 

However, scientists had until now been unable to establish their 
causes. 

The US report said the troops' problems were definitely caused by 
exposure to toxic chemicals rather than stress or psychiatric 
illness. 

Potential sources include Iraqi nerve gas and drugs given to the 
troops to protect them from chemical weapons. 

"Gulf war veterans really are ill at an elevated degree and 
several studies bring consistent findings that about 25%-30% of 
those who were deployed are ill," Professor Golombe told BBC 
Radio 4's Today programme. 



In July, a study funded by the Ministry of Defence and carried 
out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 
involved more than 40,000 former soldiers. 

It found veterans of the 1991 Gulf War were more likely to report 
symptoms of ill-health, but similar symptoms were reported by 
both those who did not serve in the Gulf. 

*****************************************************************
 27 Sunday Herald: Public at risk from woeful MoD radiation blunders - 

  Exclusive: By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor 
 
 The Ministry of Defence is endangering public health by 
routinely breaking the laws meant to ensure the safety of 
radioactive materials, according to a damning internal report 
passed to the Sunday Herald.

The way the MoD handles thousands of radioactive devices on 
warships, aircraft and armoured vehicles has been condemned as 
woefully inadequate and an embarrassment by its own scientists. 
The armed forces have been unnecessarily exposed to radiation, 
and the general public put at risk by unlabelled radioactive 
waste, they say. If stolen, large radiation sources could also be 
easily made into devastating dirty bombs by terrorists.

The report was compiled by the MoDs Defence Science and 
Technology Laboratory (DSTL), based at Porton Down, Salisbury, in 
Wiltshire. Entitled Skating On Thin Ice, it exposes the MoDs 
frequent failure to comply with radiation safety rules.

Radioactive devices are widely used by the army, navy and air 
force in alarms, valves, X-rays, lights, dials and detectors. One 
close-range gun known as Goalkeeper, for example, contains 24 
radioactive valves, and the radioactive gas, tritium, illuminates 
indicators on Type 42 Destroyers.

There are strict statutory regulations governing the storage, 
handling, transport and use of these materials to protect workers 
and members of the public from exposure to radiation, which can 
cause cancer.

But the rules have been repeatedly flouted by the MoD. There is a 
real risk that radioactive material will be disposed of 
incorrectly or reach the public domain, as it is not identified 
correctly, the report warns.

The Dstl has numerous examples where these MoD radioactive items 
have been detected by scrap metal dealers or sold to the general 
public. These incidents have resulted in a considerable amount of 
embarrassment to MoD.

The report says that the legal requirement to take radiation 
protection advice has been routinely ignored by the MoDs Defence 
Procurement Agency . And it concludes: MoD is currently at 
significant risk of regulatory action and will be for several 
years to come. MoD compliance with relevant radiation legislation 
is woefully inadequate.

The report was compiled by Andy French, a radiation protection 
adviser with Dstl. It was presented at an MoD meeting in Bristol 
on equipment safety assurance in October 2003.

Crews on Type 42 destroyers have been exposed to radiation from 
tritium light devices, which are easily broken, he says. 

French argues that the MoDs failure to comply with radiation 
legislation has been very costly. Because there was no clean-up 
procedure available, a contaminated £1 million helicopter weapon 
system was quarantined for five years.

 The MoD accepted that it has problems with the handling of 
radioactivity, but stressed that it was working to overcome them. 
We have recognised that improvements could be made to the 
management and control of equipment containing radioactive 
materials, said a ministry spokesman.

We are working closely with the environment agencies to review 
our arrangements and put together a plan to implement 
improvements. 17 October 2004 

  © newsquest (sunday herald) limited. all rights reserved   
*****************************************************************
 28 AFP: Marshalls atoll files for nuclear damages, but payout pot near empty

WAR.WIRE
 
MAJURO (AFP) Oct 16, 2004

 The remote Marshall Islands atoll of Likiep, which was dusted 
with fallout from nuclear tests in the 1950s, has filed a late 
suit for compensation, officials said, but chances of a big 
payout appear remote.

The Likiep suit claims the prosperous economic, employment and 
educational status enjoyed by the mid-Pacific island's residents 
"fell precipitously" following the US testing between 1946 and 
1958.

It was filed this week after the Nuclear Claims Tribunal -- 
established in 1986 with 80 million dollars from the US 
government -- set a November 30 deadline for additional class 
action suits.

The tribunal has already granted awards to both Bikini and 
Enewetak and is currently reviewing three other claims, however 
its funding is limited as only five million dollars are left.

Bikini and Enewetak, which were more heavily affected than 
Likiep, were both awarded 500 million dollars but received only a 
fraction of the amount.

"The inability of the tribunal to pay off existing awards and the 
continuing flow of new claims and awards continues to evidence 
the manifest inadequacy of the existing funding to fully 
compensate the people of the Marshall Islands for injuries 
suffered as a result of the nuclear testing program," tribunal 
chairman James Plasman said in a statement this week.

The Likiep suit, which does not seek a specific amount, cites a 
1948 US Navy report describing the economic status of the atoll, 
part of a string of 1,200 islands just north of the equator, as 
"outstanding".

But following the 1954 Bravo hydrogen bomb test, and dozens of 
other large bombs that deposited hazardous radioactive fallout in 
the area, the "level of wealth and economic activity on Likiep 
materially diminished," the suit said.

"As people became sick and incapacitated, or died, or moved away 
to seek medical help, the economic life of Likiep fell 
precipitously. The population dropped from 630 people in 1956 to 
430 in 1967."

The suit decried the fact that US officials never evacuated 
Likiep residents for Bravo, the largest US nuclear test, which 
exploded across Bikini atoll with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima 
bombs.

"It was more convenient for the US to avoid the costs and burdens 
of evacuation and to conceal the fact and extent of the 
radiological contamination covering the northern Marshall 
Islands," it said.

"The US did not provide warnings, information or instructions to 
Likiep people as to the dangers of fallout and ways to reduce 
exposure to radiation" and they consequently continued to eat and 
drink local food and water "significantly increasing their total 
radiation exposure".

The suit refers to birth defects, miscarriages and stillbirths 
following the 67 tests carried out in the Marshalls, saying the 
US Navy gave no explanation for taking blood samples from 
children on the atoll a few days after Bravo, and later shooting 
dogs on the island and taking away the carcasses.

"No reasonable person, had he or she been fully knowledgeable 
about the levels of radioactive fallout to which Likiep Atoll had 
been exposed, would have chosen to live or conduct ordinary 
gainful economic activity on Likiep during or for years after the 
end of the nuclear testing program," the claim said.

The tribunal is expected to wait until its November 30 deadline 
to see how many other islands file suits before setting hearing 
dates.

 All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of 
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, 
*****************************************************************
 29 AU ABC: Marshall Is atoll sues US for nuclear damages. 

16/10/2004. ABC News Online
 	
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">   

http://www.abc.net.au/

The remote Marshall Islands atoll of Likiep, which was dusted
with fallout from nuclear tests in the 1950s, has filed a late
suit for compensation, officials said, but chances of a big
payout appear remote. 

The Likiep suit claims the prosperous economic, employment and
educational status enjoyed by the mid-Pacific island's residents
"fell precipitously" following the US testing between 1946 and
1958. 

It was filed this week after the Nuclear Claims Tribunal -
established in 1986 with $US80 million from the US government -
set a November 30 deadline for additional class action suits. 

The tribunal has already granted awards to both Bikini and
Enewetak and is currently reviewing three other claims, however
its funding is limited as only $US5 million is left. 

Bikini and Enewetak, which were more heavily affected than
Likiep, were both awarded $US500 million but received only a
fraction of the amount. 

"The inability of the tribunal to pay off existing awards and
the continuing flow of new claims and awards continues to
evidence the manifest inadequacy of the existing funding to
fully compensate the people of the Marshall Islands for injuries
suffered as a result of the nuclear testing program," tribunal
chairman James Plasman said in a statement this week. 

The Likiep suit, which does not seek a specific amount, cites a
1948 US Navy report describing the economic status of the atoll,
part of a string of 1,200 islands just north of the equator, as
"outstanding". 

Following the 1954 Bravo hydrogen bomb test, and dozens of other
large bombs that deposited hazardous radioactive fallout in the
area, the "level of wealth and economic activity on Likiep
materially diminished," the suit said. 

"As people became sick and incapacitated, or died, or moved away
to seek medical help, the economic life of Likiep fell
precipitously. The population dropped from 630 people in 1956 to
430 in 1967." 

The tribunal is expected to wait until its November 30 deadline
to see how many other islands file suits before setting hearing
dates.

 --AFP 

© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse
*****************************************************************
 30 Guardian Unlimited: Sellafield's £600m nuclear fuel factory faces closure 
before opening
 
Paul Brown and Rob Evans Monday October 18, 2004
 		
A nuclear fuel plant that has so far cost the taxpayer more than 
£600m without generating any income may be shut down. 

An inquiry by Sir John Bourn, the head of parliament's watchdog, 
the National Audit Office, following a Guardian investigation, 
has revealed that the option of closure is being discussed within 
the government. It could mean that the factory at Sellafield in 
Cumbria, known as the mox plant because it makes new nuclear fuel 
from mixed oxides of plutonium and uranium, is shut down before 
it completes its first contract. But Sir John also found that 
closure would cost a significant extra amount of public money. 

In July the Guardian revealed that Tony Blair had overruled 
warnings from ministers that the factory would be a financial 
disaster when he ordered the plant to start production. Serious 
technical problems have meant that the plant, now eight years 
behind schedule, has not yet produced a single saleable item. 

Sir John reveals that costs have shot up by £225m, piling up the 
debts of the already technically bankrupt, state-owned British 
Nuclear Fuels. 

The inquiry was launched at the instigation of Michael Meacher, 
the former environment minister. While in the government, Mr 
Meacher had advised against opening the plant, but was overruled 
by Mr Blair. 

Mr Meacher said yesterday: "It is astonishing that the government 
is in the position of considering closing the plant before it has 
produced anything. The situation is far worse than I thought." 

In a report, Sir John says that "any decision on the future of 
the [plant] will involve a choice between continuing to operate 
and closure". He adds that "a decision to close immediately would 
incur large costs, including contractual penalty payments to 
customers". 

BNFL has claimed that it could win enough orders to make the 
plant financially viable, but has only been able to land two 
contracts. 

Sir John reports that BNFL continues to claim that it will be 
able to secure enough contracts to keep the plant going: 
"Furthermore, their assessment indicates that it would be much 
more expensive to close the plant immediately than to continue 
operating." 

The plant is intended to reuse plutonium and uranium from spent 
nuclear fuel rods from overseas power stations, to produce new 
fuel for these stations. The DTI said it was assessing the 
improvement programme for the mox plant and deciding whether the 
technical problems could be overcome. 

Sir John's report says it is "likely" that the government will 
review the future of the plant when it takes over direct 
responsibility for it in April. 

At that point, BNFL's rising debts could embarrass the Treasury, 
which has anticipated a large income from the mox plant to fund 
Britain's nuclear clean-up. The Nuclear Decommissioning 
Authority, which will come into existence in April to take charge 
of the clean-up of Britain's nuclear waste mountain, has been 
told by the Treasury that half its annual £2bn costs should come 
from income from Sellafield's mox plant and associated 
reprocessing works.
 	
[UP] 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 31 Las Vegas SUN: Elizabeth Edwards campaigns for Kerry in Nevada

Today: October 17, 2004 at 17:18:35 PDT 

 By BRENDAN RILEY ASSOCIATED PRESS 

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John Kerry's
running mate, criticized President Bush on Sunday for having an
anti-environment record that includes support for a national
nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. 

Joining in a statewide effort that brought Kerry surrogates to
all 17 Nevada counties, Edwards also backed Kerry's claim Sunday
that Bush, if re-elected, is planning a surprise effort to
privatize Social Security. 

Besides Yucca Mountain, Edwards focused on other Nevada issues
such as a voter fraud controversy allegedly involving a
Republican-funded group and a state ballot question aimed at
raising the minimum wage - an idea that Kerry favors. 

Edwards termed Bush "the worst environmental president in my
memory," and pointed out that Kerry has promised to kill the
high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas. The dump is a key issue in this
battleground state, where five electoral votes are up for grabs. 

"If you want it (the dump) built, President Bush is your man. If
you don't want it built, John Kerry is your man," she said. 

On privatization of Social Security, Edwards said such a move
would result in a "devastating" increase of some $2 trillion to
the nation's budget deficit. She added other Bush proposals for
Medicare and national defense would add to the deficit. 

Edwards also said Bush continues to insist there's a connection
between the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks and Saddam Hussein even
though there's no evidence of that, adding, "This administration
is trying to make us afraid not to re-elect them." 

Discussing the voter fraud flap, where voter registration
applications might have been destroyed, Edwards said, "This is
an assault on our democracy." 

Democrats have accused Voters Outreach of America, a private
canvassing company hired by the Republican National Committee,
of destroying Democratic registration forms collected in the Las
Vegas and Reno areas. 

Distortions and divisive "smear and fear" tactics used by
Republican campaigners shows "the truth means nothing. It means
absolutely nothing" to them, Edwards said during a fast-paced,
hour-long question-and-answer session with about 450 area
residents and follow-up press interviews. 

Edwards also criticized Sinclair Broadcast Group for its plans
to air an anti-Kerry film dealing with his Vietnam combat
service and 1971 U.S. Senate testimony against that war, saying
Kerry "spoke out as a patriot" after returning home. 

The Democratic National Committee has filed a complaint with the
Federal Election Commission contending that airing the film in
the final weeks of the campaign should be considered an illegal
in-kind contribution to the Bush campaign. 

Responding to Edwards' remarks, Bush campaign spokeswoman Tracey
Schmitt said, "A litany of complaints is not an agenda." She
added Edwards "missed an opportunity" to say why her husband and
Kerry voted a year ago Sunday against an $87 billion military
funding bill. Kerry has said he voted against the bill to
protest Bush's policies on Iraq. 

On Yucca Mountain, Schmitt said John Edwards originally backed
Yucca Mountain and switched under pressure from Kerry; and she
called the comments on Social Security "misleading senior scare
tactics." 

RNC spokesman Kevin Sheridan termed Edwards' remarks on voter
fraud issues in Nevada "baseless charges" designed to manipulate
the media and scare voters. 

Edwards also spoke to about 200 people in Elko, a heavily
Republican community in eastern Nevada, as part of the statewide
Kerry campaign effort on Sunday. Others who joined in the effort
around the state included singers Carole King and Toni Tennille,
actress Alyssa Milano and Jack Carter, son of former President
Jimmy Carter. 

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 32 Las Vegas RJ: LETTERS: Yucca Mountain important election issue 
 
Saturday, October 16, 2004
 
To the editor:
 
 What are we to make of the Review-Journal's Monday editorial, 
"Yucca vote," which said the Yucca Mountain Project is not a 
burning issue for most Nevada voters?
 
 Does that mean the fine reporting in the Review-Journal showing 
the folly of both the science and politics surrounding plans to 
transport and store deadly nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain means 
nothing? Keith Rogers' incredible series on transportation and 
Steve Tetreault's outstanding reporting, as well as that of Steve 
Sebelius and many others come to mind.
 
 If Yucca Mountain is not a burning issue for most Nevada voters, 
that does not mean it should not be. Nor does it mean that your 
good coverage hasn't made an impression. Actually, to think 3 
percent of the voters in your poll named Yucca Mountain as the 
most pressing issue when they vote for president is rather 
remarkable, compared to concerns with national security, the Iraq 
war and the economy. Your paper has endorsed President Bush. 
Given his troubling pronouncements on Yucca Mountain, it would 
seem the Review-Journal is now downplaying the issue, trying to 
minimize it. The people of this state deserve better. As your 
paper has pointed out on many occasions -- and must continue to 
do -- transporting nuclear waste across the country and storing 
it in Yucca Mountain are both inherently dangerous and both are 
of concern as threats to national security. If people aren't 
worried, they should be.
 
 A recent poll indicated 36 percent of Nevada residents would 
rather negotiate for benefits than stop the Yucca Mountain 
Project. The fact is, there are no economic benefits that can 
ever mitigate the horrific dangers posed by storing high-level 
nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain.
 
 It turns out the poll began with an assertion that Yucca 
Mountain had been approved as a repository. That is not so. There 
remain so many problems that the Yucca Mountain Mountain Project 
is tied up in litigation. There are more than 200 scientific 
questions yet to be answered.
 
 Yes, people should be worried if they're not. All we know for 
sure is Yucca Mountain is not a done deal. PEGGY MAZE JOHNSON LAS 
VEGAS

The writer is executive director of Citizen Alert.

 
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal

*****************************************************************
 33 Sunday Herald: Plan to make baby buggies from nuclear waste - 

  Industry in bid to recycle contaminated material
By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor, and Peter John Meiklem 
 
 Thousands of tonnes of radioactive scrap metal from nuclear 
plants could be melted down and recycled into cutlery, saucepans 
and baby buggies under a scheme being promoted by the nuclear 
industry and its regulators.

A report compiled for the governments Nuclear Installations 
Inspectorate and leaked to the Sunday Herald concludes that metal 
melting is a good way to deal with nuclear waste because it would 
save money and be environmentally friendly.

The aim is to reduce the levels of radioactivity in metal from 
decommissioned nuclear facilities by mixing it with less 
contaminated scrap. Some of the metal could then be sold on to 
the open market and used to make household items.

As the leaked report points out, there is only one snag  the 
public might not like it. There are significant stakeholder 
issues that must be considered in order to implement an 
integrated metallic waste management strategy, it says.

These include public unease regarding the re-use of previously 
radioactive contaminated metals, and public concern over the 
transport of radioactive waste.

The report was written by researchers from NNC, a company in 
Knutsford, Cheshire, that provides services to the nuclear 
industry. Commissioned by the nuclear inspectorate, it was 
presented at an invitation-only seminar in Warrington earlier 
this month.

It points out that there are 70,000 tonnes of medium-level and 
383,000 tonnes of low-level radioactive scrap in the UK. In 
Scotland, this comes from nuclear plants that are being 
decommissioned at Dounreay in Caithness, at Hunterston in North 
Ayrshire and at Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway.

The establishment of melting plants for radioactive metal would 
be consistent with the governments aim of minimising waste, 
maximising recycling and being environmentally sustainable, the 
report says. It would also reduce disposal costs.

The idea is to prompt people to take a more wide-ranging approach 
to the issue, said NNCs Matt Buckley, the lead author of the 
report. It is hoped that this can be considered as part of a 
strategy by the nuclear industry.

He stressed that recycling contaminated metal into household 
goods was only one option. Metal melting could also help reduce 
the volume and radioactivity of waste, making it easier to handle 
and dispose of.

Glyn Davies, a principal inspector with the Nuclear Installations 
Inspectorate, argued at the seminar that potentially beneficial 
options for management of metallic wastes are not being given 
adequate consideration.

If our European friends see metal melting as a benefit and can 
make it work, then why not the UK? he said. Melting may 
contribute significantly to the management of metallic 
radioactive waste in the UK.

However Jane Hunt, an independent expert on public attitudes to 
nuclear waste, warned that the plan would cause a scare. This is 
likely to cause a lot of public concern because people are very 
sensitive about radioactive contamination, she told the Sunday 
Herald.

The idea that radioactivity could be in cooking imple-ments or 
childrens buggies will frighten people.

Coincidentally, the nuclear-free group of local authorities also 
held a conference on the issue in Hull on Friday. The groups 
chairman, Dundee councillor George Regan, pointed out that some 
scientists thought that even the tiniest amounts of radioactivity 
could increase the risk of cancer.

Do you think an ordinary housewife would buy radioactive pans, 
even if they told her they were safe? I doubt it. I wouldnt take 
the chance. The fact is that people do not want products recycled 
from radioactive material.

The nuclear industry has launched a consultation on a code of 
practice for recycling waste that contains so little 
radioactivity it is exempt from regulation. It would expose 
people to only a tiny amount of radiation above background 
levels, the industry says. David Owen, chairman of the Nuclear 
Industry Clearance and Exemption Working Group, said that 
legislation would allow companies to recycle nuclear waste. It is 
not my place to tell them what they can and cannot do. It is very 
important to do the right thing. We will take good ideas from 
anywhere .

The governments green watchdog, the Scottish Environment 
Protection Agency (Sepa), said the aim was to keep radiation 
doses to members of the public as low as is reasonably achievable 
. Radioactivity should be disposed of by the best practicable 
means.

As long as safety is assured there is a role for the re-use and 
recycling of radioactive contaminated wastes, and this supports 
sustainable development, said a Sepa spokesman. But he accepted 
that there may be uses, like cooking utensils, drinks cans and 
childrens playgrounds, for which recycled radioactive materials 
could be inappropriate. One argument might suggest that we should 
develop controls on products that permit some limited rather than 
general re-use.

Environmental groups were less sanguine. In a desperate attempt 
to cut costs, the nuclear industry has now devised one of the 
most potentially harmful examples of a dilute and disperse 
policy, said Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the 
Earth Scotland.

The idea of contaminated materials entering peoples homes is 
alarming. The notion that the nuclear industry has suddenly 
caught on to the idea of waste reduction is a nonsense. If it 
had, then it would stop calling for the building of more nuclear 
power plants.

www.nirex.co.uk

www.dti.gov.uk

www.sepa.org.uk/

www.nuclearpolicy.info 17 October 2004 

  © newsquest (sunday herald) limited. all rights reserved   
*****************************************************************
 34 Salt Lake Tribune: Proposed N-waste landfill gets a preliminary
approval 			 			 			 			 			 			 
Article Last Updated: 10/17/2004 04:11:42 AM 

By Joe Baird The Salt Lake Tribune 

Cedar Mountain Environmental, the company headed by former 
Envirocare President Charles Judd, has received siting approval 
for a proposed radioactive waste landfill in Tooele County. 

But it is just the first step of a multipronged process. 

The state's Division of Radiation Control last week informed 
Judd that all siting criteria for the landfill, which would be 
located adjacent to Envirocare's radioactive waste dump, have 
been met. 

"This is a huge step forward for our operations in western 
Utah," Judd said Wednesday in a statement. 

"Cedar Mountain has not made a final decision on the types of 
waste that will be accepted at the proposed facility," he added. 
"However, Cedar Mountain understands that, as the other 
facilities that accept waste continue to fill up, there will 
be a greater need for waste disposal operations in the United 
States." 

However, Jason Groenewold, director of the Healthy 
Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL), said Judd still faces many 
hurdles, noting that the company must gain a license from the 
division and the approval of Tooele County, the Legislature and 
the governor before any new waste disposal facility could be 
opened. 

"Utah needs another nuclear waste dump like we need another 
hole in the head," Groenewold said. "This indicates that once 
again, Utah is being targeted as a dumping ground because of our 
history of nuclear waste facilities in the state." 

Judd said he understands that more hurdles must be cleared, 
but intends "to aggressively pursue the required steps for 
proper approval." 

The company, he noted, is currently preparing a license 
application for waste disposal that will be submitted to the 
Division of Radiation Control in the near future. 

jbaird@sltrib.com 

© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 35 AFP: France calls for complete halt to Iran uranium enrichment

WAR.WIRE

PARIS (AFP) Oct 16, 2004

 France and its G8 partners should call for a complete suspension 
by Iran of its advanced uranium enrichment programme, the French 
foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"Time is of the essence. France will continue to work with its 
partners and the Iranian authorities... towards the complete 
suspension by Iran of its enrichment and reprocessing 
activities," the ministry said in a press statement.

A November 25 deadline for Iran to comply with International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demands to suspend uranium enrichment 
work is looming, with the possibility that Iran may be referred 
to the UN Security Council and face sanctions if it misses the 
deadline.

Britain, France and Germany told the United States on Friday at a 
G8 meeting in Washington that they would offer Iran incentives to 
try to persuade it to halt uranium enrichment activities which 
they fear are linked to a plan to build nuclear weapons.

The Europeans are hoping the inducements will satisfy the US, 
which backs a tougher line against Iran.

However Iran has since said it will reject any European proposal 
for a complete cessation of its work on the nuclear fuel cycle. 
It has said, however, that it would be willing to consider 
further "confidence-building" measures and extending a suspension 
of uranium enrichment.

"As well as leading this joint effort, we recognise the right of 
any state to use nuclear energy in accordance with the (nuclear) 
Non Proliferation Treaty," the French statement said.

It added that the Washington G8 meeting had "shown the intensity 
of the efforts made to try to reach a solution by diplomatic 
means." 

"These efforts will continue in the weeks ahead with the aim of 
reaching an agreement between now and the meeting" of the IAEA on 
November 25, the statement said.

Under the terms of an accord signed late last year with Germany, 
France and Britain, Iran pledged to suspend uranium enrichment 
activities and accepted unannounced inspections of its nuclear 
facilities.

However, it has since resumed work on centrifuges key to the 
enrichment process and back-tracked on its commitment to allow 
snap inspections, claiming the Europeans have not held up their 
end of the deal.

 All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of 
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, 
*****************************************************************
 36 UK Independent:  Green lobby vindicated as nuclear fuel group admits 
reprocessing may be redundant, write Jason Nissé and Geoffrey Lean
 
17 October 2004

BNFL has had to turn to its biggest competitor, the French group 
Cogema, for help to try to get its controversial £500m MOX plant 
operating properly. 

The plant, which reprocesses spent nuclear fuel into mixed oxide 
pellets that can be used in reactors, is years behind target and 
has lost the company hundreds of millions of pounds. 

In contrast, Cogema, which is part of the French nuclear utility 
Areva, has built two successful MOX plants: Caderache, which is 
now in the process of being decommissioned; and Melox, which is 
running at close to full capacity. 

The failure of BNFL's MOX plant has led it to turn to Cogema 
first to reprocess fuel sent to BNFL by clients and now to help 
it get its plant working properly. 

At the company's Stakeholder Dialogue - a meeting with customers, 
civil servants and interested parties, held last week - BNFL 
director David Bonser admitted that the group had asked outside 
consultants to help it with problems at the MOX plant. "It pains 
me to tell you this, but one of these is Cogema," he said. 

The irony will not be lost on anti-nuclear protesters, who were 
frustrated by BNFL's failure to provide details of its financial 
justification for the MOX plant when it was being proposed and 
built in the 1990s. 

Three years ago, consultancy Arthur D Little was asked by the 
Government to report on whether the MOX plant should be 
abandoned. BNFL was so concerned about secrecy that the 
consultants were forced to study documentation on BNFL's own 
premises. 

BNFL said it did not want to release commercially sensitive 
information that might aid rivals. However, the only real rival 
in the MOX business is Cogema. 

A BNFL spokesman confirmed Cogema had been working with it. "We 
have used them for discrete technical work and they are subject 
to confidentiality agreements," the spokesman said. 

But BNFL and Cogema will still complete for MOX contracts. Cogema 
was chosen by the United States for the so-called "MOX for peace" 
programme, under which 140kg of weapons grade plutonium was 
controversially transported by sea and road to the Caderache 
plant for reprocessing. It arrived just over a week ago. The next 
round of contracts may come from Japan, which is set to step up 
its nuclear power programme. 

BNFL has also revealed that it is has found a safe way to store 
spent fuel from Britain's ageing Magnox power stations, thus 
undermining the last rationale for reprocessing. 

For decades the company has insisted that, once Magnox fuel had 
been placed in storage ponds and become wet, it had to be 
reprocessed because its cladding would corrode. It would 
therefore have been most unsafe to remove it and to store it on 
land. But last week the company admitted that it had found a way 
to store spent fuel on dry land. 

In a report, BNFL said: "Full-scale durability trials of the 
resultant encapsulating package have been encouraging." The 
report added that it had also "examined the potential" of storing 
spent fuel instead of putting it in the ponds in the first place, 
and found no major obstacles to doing so. Environmentalists have 
been arguing for this since before the 1970s Windscale inquiry, 
but have always been rebuffed by BNFL 

BNFL says it still prefers to reprocess the fuel, but that it is 
looking for an "alternative contingency option" if it has not 
managed to deal with all the used fuel from the Magnox reactors 
before the plant reprocessing it closes in 2012. 

But nuclear critics claim that the reports should mark the final 
nail in the coffin of the controversial reprocessing package, 
since all the other arguments for it have crumbled. 

The original rationale was that plutonium and uranium would 
become scarce as nuclear power expanded, and that reprocessing 
was needed so they could be extracted from spent fuel and made 
into new MOX fuel. 

But the expansion of nuclear energy never happened, the price of 
uranium plummeted, and the world became awash with plutonium from 
reprocessing and the destruction of weapons stockpiles. And now 
BNFL cannot even get the MOX fabrication plant to work fully.             


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 37 UK Independent: Ex-ministers slate failed Sellafield plant
 
By Geoffrey Lean and Jason Nissé
 
17 October 2004

Two former environment ministers - Labour and Conservative - are
demanding a parliamentary inquiry into the wasting of hundreds
of millions of pounds by British Nuclear Fuels on a new plant
that it cannot get to work. 

In an extraordinary alliance, Michael Meacher and John Gummer,
who oversaw the building of the plant and gave it permission to
start up, plan to refer the "scandal" to the House of Commons
Public Accounts Committee. 

Their initiative follows the news - reported on page 3 of
Business today - that BNFL has had to call in its chief
competitor, the French company Cogema, to try to get its
controversial £473m Mox plant to operate properly. Last May, The
Independent on Sunday exclusively reported that the plant at the
Sellafield nuclear complex kept breaking down and had yet to
produce a single finished product. 

The plant, for producing nuclear fuel of mixed uranium and
plutonium, is central to the Cumbrian complex's viability.
Environmentalists always opposed it as a waste of money and a
terrorist threat as it could cause plutonium, which could be
made into nuclear bombs, to be shipped around the world. 

But BNFL insisted on building the plant. It refused to disclose
how it could become viable on the grounds, ironically, that this
could give an advantage to Cogema. 

Tony Blair personally pushed through the go-ahead for the plant
in 2001, forcing Mr Meacher to give it permission to start up
despite the then environment minister's protests. The Government
then wrote off the £473m cost to the taxpayer of building the
plant, but it is continuing to lose a fortune. 

Mr Meacher said: "This is a public scandal of enormous
proportions. How many schools and hospitals could we have built
with the hundreds of millions of pounds that has been wasted?" 

Mr Gummer said: "I was told that the Mox plant was safe and that
Britain was the best place in the world to operate it because we
knew most about it. Ministers have to rely on such advice, but
we were clearly misinformed." 	           


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 38 AFP: Moscow urges Tehran to sign NPT protocol, halt enrichment

WAR.WIRE

MOSCOW (AFP) Oct 17, 2004

 Russia called on Iran on Sunday to ease world concerns about its 
nuclear ambitions by ratifying the additional protocol of the 
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and halting all uranium 
enrichment, the Ria-Novosti news agency reported.

"The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) would like to seek 
more steps to strengthen trust in Iran's nuclear programme, and 
Iran must take such steps," Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov was 
quoted as saying in the Tajik capital Dushanbe.

Lavrov urged the Iranian parliament to ratify the additional 
protocol of the NPT, which Tehran signed in December 2003 and 
which steps up international controls on the nuclear activities 
of signatory states.

He also called on Tehran to immediately freeze all uranium 
enrichment activities, another key demand of the international 
community, Ria-Novosti reported.

The uranium enrichment process produces fuel for civilian 
reactors but is also used for production of the explosive core of 
atomic bombs.

Washington alleges Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear 
weapons, a charge Iran denies.

The IAEA has set a November 25 deadline for Iran to suspend 
uranium enrichment activities and answer all questions about its 
nuclear ambitions. It risks being referred to the Security 
Council, something the United States has been pushing for.

Russia's foreign minister last Sunday said his country was 
opposed to seeing Iran referred to the UN Security Council over 
its nuclear programme.

Lavrov also emphasised that Russia's help in building Iran's 
first nuclear power station in the southern city of Bushehr "was 
absolutely not a cause for concern at the IAEA" and vowed that 
Moscow would forge ahead with the project.

The United States has also opposed the project over concerns that 
spent fuel from the plant could be used by Iran to produce 
low-yield nuclear weapons.

Lavrov is accompanying President Vladimir Putin on a visit to 
Tajikistan for the opening of Russia's largest military base 
outside its border in a bid to boost Moscow's defense in former 
Soviet territories that have become overrun by Islamic insurgency 
and a growing drug trade.

 All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of 
*****************************************************************
 39  
  ABQjournal: Official: LANL Managers Wanted Fraud Report Held
 
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Saturday, October 16, 2004 

Official: LANL Managers Wanted Fraud Report Held 

Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin
 Journal Staff Writer
     Top Los Alamos National Laboratory managers tried to quash
the release of a highly critical internal report highlighting
procurement fraud and financial waste, generated in response to
congressional inquiries in 2003, according to testimony from a
lab whistle-blower.
     For years, LANL's Tommy Hook, a former senior adviser for
audits in the lab's Internal Evaluation Office, said he remained
loyal to the weapons research facility where he has worked for
23 years. Then he realized that mechanisms for raising concerns
and for protecting workers against management retaliation for
speaking out are broken.
     "It just got to the point where we weren't going to let
this go," he said after testifying Friday to the Legislature's
Los Alamos National Laboratory Oversight Committee.
     LANL officials contest the claim and say their
whistle-blower procedures in place work well.
     "The bottom line is... retaliation against whistle-blowers
is not tolerated," said LANL spokesman James Rickman.
     Hook said he was assigned by top lab managers to review
procurement procedures after a high-level lab manager in 2003
promised Congress a report on LANL financial problems uncovered
in internal and external reviews.
     UC and LANL were forced to undergo a series of
congressional hearings in 2003 over weaknesses in the
laboratory's financial controls that left it susceptible to
fraud and waste, according to the reviews.
     The 12 reports Hook helped prepare and a final Fiscal Year
2003 Procurement Self-Assessment Report "found many more
problems than they (lab managers) ever expected," he said, and
"we were basically told not to report them."
     Laboratory officials deny the accusation and say the report
was released to federal officials well before the end of 2003.
     "His claim that they didn't want it out is totally wrong
because they did want it out and it is out," Rickman said.
     "(The National Nuclear Security Administration) has a copy
of that report and I guess (Department of Energy) headquarters
also has a copy of that report," Rickman said.
     Chris Harrington, a spokesman for the University of
California, which manages LANL for the Energy Department, said
university officials are aware of the whistle-blower complaints.
     "The University of California is conducting an independent
review of the whistle-blower complaints and I cannot comment
further on that review," he said.
     LANL managers had agreed to report whatever the findings
were to the DOE, which oversees LANL, Hook said. In the end, he
said he wasn't allowed to, so he sought federal whistle-blower
protection.
     "I cannot, in good conscience, stand idly by any longer
while (the University of California) management makes misleading
public representations with no recourse," Hook told the
committee.
     "This is a very sad day for me personally," Hook said,
because he said he tried to resolve his differences internally
with laboratory and UC management for close to a year with no
success.
     Hook was pressed on several occasions by the Journal in
2002 and 2003 to come forward publicly with information he said
at the time showed extensive financial waste and abuse, dating
back years. He repeatedly declined, saying he had faith that he
would be able to resolve any problems with the laboratory
internally.
     Hook and longtime laboratory employee and critic Chuck
Montaño came before the state oversight committee asking the
committee to press for congressional hearings on whistle-blower
retaliation and abuse at the laboratory.
     Montaño, a 26-year lab employee and certified auditor,
testified to the committee on behalf of the Hispanic Round
Table, which has been fighting the laboratory over what it
considers inequity in pay involving the laboratory's minority
workers.
     Montaño said LANL managers retaliated against him for
speaking out by not assigning him any work for nine months. Hook
said he had no work for six months.
     Before their testimony, LANL's Rich Marquez, associate
director for administration, told the committee that the
laboratory and its director, Pete Nanos, remain committed to
solving any inequities in pay, however long it takes.
     He reported that in the last year, LANL has spent $1.75
million to adjust the salaries of 792 employees using a
statistical review of pay that showed some Hispanics and female
workers were paid less than their white male counterparts.
     Marquez, who also handles LANL's whistle-blower complaints,
told the committee that pay adjustments, after two fixes, ranged
from $1 to $10,000.
     Asked by committee member and state Rep. Debbie Rodella,
D-San Juan Pueblo, about whistle-blower complaints, Marquez said
about 80 cases have been reported, 43 of which are still active.
He said employees have a number of options for reporting
anonymous complaints, most of which get resolved, but that there
is "an element of the population who just don't trust the
process."
     The committee co-chairs, Rep. Roberto J. Gonzales, D-Taos,
and Sen. Phil A. Griego, D-San Jose, said they don't have enough
evidence to ask Congress for a public hearing, but they are
willing to take testimony from lab whistle-blowers at its next
meeting, scheduled in mid-December.
     "I am not opposed to it, but I don't think we have enough
to go forward with a formal hearing," Griego said.
     Gonzales agreed that "we are a little premature."
 

  



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 40 TheNewMexicoChannel Report: LANL Pollution Doesn't Threaten Animals

[TheNewMexicoChannel.com]     [News]   

UPDATED: 7:31 pm MDT October 15, 					 					2004

A report from the Los Alamos National Laboratory says pollution 
from the lab poses no threat to health, wildlife or plants.

This week, the lab released its 2003 Environmental Surveillance 
Report on Radioactive Substances and Toxic Chemicals.

Despite the lab's assessment, the state environmental secretary 
and watchdog groups say the lab report isn't comprehensive.

The New Mexico Environment Department has called for the lab to 
do more monitoring and develop a plan to clean up pollution.

An agreement is being worked out. 

Copyright 2004 by . All rights reserved. This material may not be 
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    
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