***************************************************************** 01/16/06 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 14.13 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 [progchat_action] Israel could launch air strikes if talks fail 2 CNN banned in Iran for translation gaffe 3 Iran: Point of No Return 4 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Wants Quick Vote on Iran Referral 5 RIA Novosti: Iran to earn $44 bln from oil exports over last fiscal 6 BBC: Europe urges emergency Iran talks 7 BBC: Oil warning over Iran nuclear row 8 Independent: Europeans move towards UN action against Iran 9 Xinhua: Six countries meet over Iran nuclear issue 10 Reuters: Rice says world must act fast against Iran 11 AFP: Up to Iran to prove its nuclear intentions - Straw - 12 ITAR-TASS: France foreign minister to discuss Iran nuclear issue in 13 AFP: Israel will not agree to Iran nuclear capability: president 14 Guardian Unlimited: U.S., Other Nations Meet to Discuss Iran 15 Guardian Unlimited: Big Security Council Members Agree on Iran 16 Xinhua: DPRK demands compensation after U.S. scraps AF 17 UPI: Kim Jong Il heads to Beijing 18 US: MiamiHerald.com: Quest for alternate fuels now a top priority 19 US: Australian: Coal blows gas away as a fuel for power stations NUCLEAR REACTORS 20 ForUm: EBRD discussed the Chernobyl Shelter project 21 iafrica.com: sa news Koeberg repairs may cause blackouts 22 BBC: Nuclear clean-up team plans bid 23 Independent: Opposition to nuclear energy on the wane 24 US: New University Paper: UCI Nuclear Reactor Stirs Up Controversy A 25 US: Rutland Herald: Big switch: Vt. has some of region's lowest powe 26 AFP: Promote nuclear power, major union tells Blair 27 US: Rutland Herald: Brattleboro rejects ballot question 28 SABCnews.com: Experts to repair nuclear station in Western Cape 29 UPI: U.K. union boss warns of energy crisis 30 US: Vermont Guardian: Eleven arrested in anti-VY protest 31 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Sets Aside $215M for Nuclear Plants 32 London Times: British swing back to nuclear power - NUCLEAR SECURITY 33 US: UPI: Uranium unguarded in shuttered reactors NUCLEAR SAFETY NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 34 US: AU ABC: Mine holds China uranium talks 35 Sunday Herald: Fiasco of secret nuclear waste tips - 36 Guardian Unlimited Business: Amec alliance bids for UK nuclear clean 37 The Herald: Missing inventories at nuclear waste dump 38 Independent: Amec alliance eyes up £56bn nuclear clean-up contracts 39 Guardian Unlimited: Putin: Iran Considering Enrichment Offer PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 [progchat_action] Israel could launch air strikes if talks fail Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 11:57:58 -0600 (CST) Israel has drawn up plans for strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities with bunker busting bombs supplied by the US, but analysts say it has no intention of carrying them through while diplomatic pressure is growing on Tehran. Israel regards Tehran as the single greatest threat, a view sharpened by the Iranian president's call for the destruction of the Jewish state and his denial of the Holocaust. Last month Binyamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister and leader of the Likud party, said that if he wins the general election in March he would follow the example of former prime minister Menachem Begin who ordered the Israeli air force bombing of Iraq's nuclear plant in 1981. "The Iranian threat is an existential one. In this regard I will continue the legacy of Menachem Begin, who thwarted Iran's neighbour, Iraq, from acquiring nuclear weapons by adopting bold and daring measures. I believe that is what Israel needs to do," he told Israel radio. But the government does recognise important political and military differences from the situation with Iraq 25 years ago. "I don't think there's a desire on any side to deal with this militarily," said Emily Landau, director of the Jaffee Centre's arms control project in Tel Aviv. "I think that ... everybody's looking to referring the case of Iran to the UN security council and that is what Israel is hoping for as well." The Israeli government has been sceptical of European efforts to pressure Tehran over the past two years, saying a more robust approach led by the US would be required. "Israel was trying to sharpen the idea that if nothing happens by March we're really going to be a point of no return," said Ms Landau. "Its message was more to the international community than Iran that now the international community really has to get its act together." There are restraining factors on Israel, including an American desire to ensure the Iranians are not able to garner support by portraying pressure over the nuclear issue as a Zionist plot. The US also controls air space that Israel would probably have to fly over to reach Iran. "It's something that would have to be carried out at least with the knowledge of the Americans if not some kind of coordination with the United States," said Ms Landau. Some Israeli analysts have questioned Israel's ability to carry out such an assault. ***************************************************************** 2 CNN banned in Iran for translation gaffe Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 17:02:38 -0600 (CST) CNN banned in Iran for translation gaffe Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:29 AM ET TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Monday banned CNN journalists from working there after the broadcaster misquoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Iran wanted nuclear weapons, the ISNA students news agency said. CNN's simultaneous translation of Ahmadinejad's lengthy news conference on Saturday included the phrase "the use of nuclear weapons is Iran's right". In fact, what the Iranian president said was that "Iran has the right to nuclear energy," the official IRNA news agency reported. CNN later clarified in an apology on Sunday night. Iran denies any intention of seeking nuclear weapons, saying it wants atomic technology merely for the generation of electricity. ISNA said Iran's Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry deemed the error a "violation of professional ethics" and suspended CNN journalists from working in Iran until further notice. CNN does not have a permanent bureau in Iran but a local journalist is a contributor to the network and visiting correspondents are occasionally given permission to enter the country on short assignments. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyid =2006-01-16T152841Z_01_L16779250_RTRUKOC_0_US-MEDIA-IRAN-CNN.xml&rpc=22 [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of 1d3c13.jpg] ***************************************************************** 3 Iran: Point of No Return Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 21:00:25 -0600 (CST) Also see below: Serge Truffaut | Iran Thumbs Its Nose at the World b" Israelis Plan Pre-emptive Strike on Iran b" Go to Original Point of No Return By Jean-Marcel Bouguereau Le Nouvel Observateur Wednesday 11 January 2006 Iran is just about to cross the "red line" with the probable beginnings of uranium enrichment tests in one of its nuclear power plants. In fact, the Iranians decided yesterday, as they had announced Saturday, to break the seals placed on one of their nuclear research centers in Natanz devoted to uranium enrichment. Uranium enrichment is a crucial step in nuclear production. It allows, depending upon the degree of concentration, production of fuel for a nuclear reactor as well as for a bomb's payload. There are 164 centrifuges to enrich uranium at Natanz, next to a large nuclear factory under construction. Even if they are not a sufficient number to produce enough uranium for a bomb, by mastering this technology, the Iranians will have passed a point of no return and could reproduce the results in any clandestine installation. Hence the anxiety of the United States and the European Union. The latter's troika (Germany, France, Great Britain) has been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program unceasingly since 2003. Negotiations broken off in August 2005, but resumed last December. Those anxieties have been stoked by recent statements of the new Iranian Savonarola, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be "erased" from the map. Statements that not even the Palestinian Hamas would endorse anymore. Now, if one believes the - necessarily pessimistic - predictions of Israeli Chief of General Staff General Dan Haloutz, Iran could acquire the know-how necessary to make a nuclear bomb within the next three months. The Israeli Chief of General Staff has also expressed his pessimism with regard to the diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and evoked the fact that while a military option was not contemplated by Israel, that type of option does exist.... Even if the production of nuclear fuel remains suspended, this new escalation, which is supposed to continue through the lifting of seals at other sites, is enough to raise tension, the threat of a referral to the Security Council and related sanctions having been brandished by the United States. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jean-Marcel Bouguereau is Editor-in-Chief of the Nouvel Observateur. He is also an editorialist at the RC)publique des PyrC)nC)es, for which this article was written. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Go to Original Iran Thumbs Its Nose at the World By Serge Truffaut Le Devoir Wednesday 11 January 2006 Iran has broken the seals at its nuclear research centers. The desired objective? To provoke, or rather, to force, the international community to live with the issue. The Teheran government having crossed the point of no return, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should refer the case to the Security Council. If the legal framework that covers nuclear matters is respected by the relevant authorities, they will have no choice but to submit the Iranian case to the Security Council to impose economic sanctions. But there, as the sum of divergent political interests far outstrips the related legal conclusions, it is rather unlikely that that will happen. Let's start from the beginning. Among the five permanent members of the Security Council, three would normally be inclined to apply sanctions that, at first, would have a purely economic character. You will have guessed: they are France, Great Britain, and the United States. In the case of the first two, you will remember that along with Germany, they formed a troika charged the last two years with negotiating Iran's abandonment of its military nuclear ambitions in exchange for commercial opportunities and a certain support in international politics. Given the results, it's time for the players involved to agree that the work accomplished has proven to be a failure and to use the recourse available to them, i.e., the UN. Within that institution, Great Britain, France, and the United States will face a significant obstacle: the vetoes that China and especially Russia will brandish, the first because Iran is gorging it with oil, the second because Iran is a very important commercial partner. Russia supplies it with nuclear assistance, to the point of building a power plant, and has, moreover, endowed Iran with long-range missiles. As recently as December, Moscow agreed to sell almost thirty of these, capable of covering a distance that worries Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. Moscow's leniency with regard to Teheran has one and only one explanation. For the masters of the Kremlin, Iran, as part of its sphere of influence, can be an ally in the geopolitical games that agitate the region. In that regard, certain facts must be emphasized. On account of the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq, the American Army has based itself not only in those countries, but also in certain republics of central Asia once directed by Moscow. Since this American intrusion in a region long dominated by the Russians, the latter are more than a little irritated. Hence, to return to the subject that occupies us today, the proposition President Putin formulated last year consisted of disconnecting the stages of nuclear production. More specifically, he proposed to help Iranian scientists with a certain number of functions in Iranian territory, while leaving responsibility to the Russians on Russian territory for more critical activities. Teheran said no to Putin, but left the door open to an eventual change of the "no" into a "yes, but." If I have understood the meanders of Russo-Iranian relations correctly, this change took place in only the last few days. At the same moment the seals were being broken, a meeting between Russian and Iranian representatives was scheduled for next month. Now, we can contemplate the following: the members of the troika will find themselves back in the closet of fiascos, the United States will grumble, the Russians will rub their hands, and - above all - Iran will buy the so-precious time in which to pursue its ultimate objective: the bomb. The bomb in the hands of fascists and, moreover, of unstable fascists, at that ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Translation: t r u t h o u t French language correspondent Leslie Thatcher. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Go to Original Israelis Plan Pre-emptive Strike on Iran By Ian Bruce The Herald UK Tuesday 10 January 2006 Israel is updating plans for a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities which could be launched as soon as the end of March, according to military and intelligence sources. The news comes as Germany yesterday warned Tehran's regime that it would face "consequences" if it removes UN seals from portions of its atomic program and resumes enrichment of fuel which could be diverted for military use in breach of international agreements. The Israeli raids would be carried out by long-range F-15E bombers and cruise missiles against a dozen key sites and are designed to set Tehran's weapons program back by up to two years. Pilots at the Israeli air force's elite 69 squadron have been briefed on the plan and have conducted rehearsals for their missions. The prime targets would be the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, 150 miles south of Tehran, a heavy-water production site at Arak, 120 miles south-west of the capital, and a site near Isfahan in central Iran which makes the uranium hexafluoride gas vital to the arms manufacturing process. Sources say one, possibly two airfields in Kurdish northern Iraq have been earmarked as launch-points to reduce flying time over Iran. The Iranians have meanwhile dispersed production facilities across hundreds of miles of remote countryside to make a single, knockout blow more difficult. They have also ringed the sites, some of them deep underground, with missile batteries and radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns. Part of the reason for an acceleration of Israel's contingency strike plans is that Russia agreed last month to sell Tehran B#700m-worth of advanced SA-15 Gauntlet mobile missile systems. Some are believed to be destined for defense of Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant on the Gulf coast, which Russian engineers are helping to build. Although Western military strategists think an attack on Tehran's scattered sites would be fraught with difficulties and could not be carried out without loss to the attacking forces, few doubt Israel's commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear firepower. An Israeli source said: "We believe Iran will have useable nuclear weapons by 2007 unless something is done to prevent it. If Tehran is allowed to start enrichment of uranium, it will be too late. "Underground facilities have to be supplied with air, water and fuel from the surface. They also have entrances which are vulnerable to conventional attack. Close down the infrastructure and you close down the facility." ***************************************************************** 4 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Wants Quick Vote on Iran Referral From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 16, 2006 10:02 AM AP Photo WX108 By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press Writer MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wants a vote as soon as possible on whether to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program and is working to line up support. ``We've got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community,'' Rice said Sunday while traveling to Africa for the inauguration of Liberia's president-elect, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. In phone calls over the weekend, Rice discussed Iran's recent nuclear program movements with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and several foreign ministers whose countries are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. The agency has found Iran in violation of an international treaty intended to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology. But it has not yet voted on whether to refer Iran to the Security Council, where it could face possible sanctions. British, French and German foreign ministers last week called for the agency to hold a special session to vote on the referral. ``I think it ought to be as soon as possible,'' Rice said. Waiting for the agency's planned meeting in March, she said, would allow Iran a window that it could exploit. ``The Iranians will try to take advantage of it to start to throw chaff and to obfuscate,'' Rice said. Rice won't say whether the United States has enough votes for the matter to reach the Security Council or whether she is confident that tough sanctions against Iran can be secured thereafter. Two of Rice's lieutenants were meeting in Vienna and London on Monday with ambassadors for the agency's board of governors and with European allies in hopes building support for the U.S. position. The backing of two major countries who hold veto powers, Russia and China, is uncertain. China's foreign minister was to attend the Liberian inauguration but Rice was not expected to formally discuss Iran with him. ``Whatever the numbers of the vote, I don't think there's any doubt that people are quite clear that Iran has crossed a threshold,'' Rice said. The standoff with Iran over its nuclear efforts has intensified in recent weeks with the country's new hardline president growing increasingly defiant despite mounting international pressure. Iran has removed U.N. seals at its main uranium enrichment plant, resumed research on nuclear fuel after a two-year hiatus and, most recently, threatened to block short-notice U.N. inspections of its facilities if the country is hauled before the Security Council. Rice said she doesn't believe that Iran - a country used to a lot of trade - can withstand the kind of isolation that other countries have faced when referred to the Security Council. ``They're putting a lot at risk here,'' she said. The international community, Rice said, has tried to negotiate with Iran to reach an agreement that would have lessened the nuclear proliferation risk while allowing Iran to develop nuclear energy. ``The Iranians have done nothing but throw all of this aside,'' Rice said. ``They're isolated. They are completely isolated.'' The United States contends Iran wants to build nuclear weapons. But Iran claims its nuclear program is intended solely for energy production and that its ambitions are purely peaceful. However, Iran also has argued that it has a right to enrich uranium, which can produce fuel for nuclear bombs. Rice also reiterated her desire to address the Iran situation diplomatically, rather than militarily. ``We've said all along the president keeps all of his options, always keeps all of his options open,'' she said. ``The course that we're on is a diplomatic course.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 5 RIA Novosti: Iran to earn $44 bln from oil exports over last fiscal year 16/ 01/ 2006 MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Iran is expected to raise $44 billion from oil exports by the end of the current fiscal year, a senior official of the National Iranian Oil Company said Monday. "We are planning to export 2.4 million barrels daily, which will allow the country to earn $44 billion, with an average price of $50 per barrel," Hojjatollah Ghanimi Fard said. Iran, whose recent resumption of nuclear research caused serious concerns among the international community, daily produces 4 million barrels, but domestic consumption is only 1.6 million. The country, one of the world's biggest crude producer, supported Sunday reducing quotas in OPEC in the first quarter of 2006 to prevent prices from rising further. The Iranian minister of economic affairs said possible sanctions against Iran, which could be imposed if the country's "nuclear file" is referred to the UN Security Council, would lead to higher crude prices and would have a negative impact on the West. © 2005 "RIA Novosti" ***************************************************************** 6 BBC: Europe urges emergency Iran talks Last Updated: Monday, 16 January 2006 [Iranian helicopter flies over an anti-aircraft gun at the Natanz facility] Iran broke international seals at three nuclear sites The UK, France and Germany plan to call for an emergency meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog to discuss Iran, a possible first step towards sanctions. After talks in London on Monday, the European powers said they would ask the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to meet on 2-3 February. Key UN members have agreed Iran must stop nuclear research, the UK says. Western countries fear Iran aims to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies it, saying it wants civilian nuclear power. It sparked a crisis last week by breaking international seals on three of its nuclear research facilities. Closed-door meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted compromise is still possible. He said Tehran had not rejected an offer for Iran's uranium enrichment to take place in Russia - which would make it harder for Iran to make nuclear weapons. Iran's ambassador to Moscow, Gholamreza Ansari, praised the Russian offer as a constructive way out of the crisis, Russia's Channel One TV reported. It is a double standard insist that Iran does not develop its own nuclear programme The US, UK, France and Germany have been trying to persuade Russia and China to support a hard line on Iran. The six countries held a closed-door meeting in London on Monday. After the meeting, the UK Foreign Office said the six had agreed Iran must stop nuclear research immediately. Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had said it was up to Iran to reassure the international community about its intentions. "The onus is on Iran to act to give the international community confidence that its nuclear programme has exclusively peaceful purposes," he said. Mr Straw said Western trust had been "sorely undermined by its history of concealment and deception". After the talks, he said military action against Iran was not on the agenda, despite Washington's refusal to rule it out. The BBC's world affairs correspondent, Nick Childs, says this is a high-stakes diplomatic stand-off and there will be a lot more talking, diplomatic visits and bargaining to be done in the run-up to the IAEA meeting. The proposed meeting would be more than a month earlier than scheduled. Western pressure The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, has said he cannot confirm that Iran's programme has a peaceful objective. IRAN'S NUCLEAR STANDOFF Sept 2002: Work begin on Iran's first reactor at Bushehr Dec 2002: Satellites reveal Arak and Natanz sites, triggering IAEA inspections Nov 2003: Iran suspends uranium enrichment and allows tougher inspections June 2004: IAEA rebukes Iran for not fully co-operating Nov 2004: Iran suspends enrichment under deal with EU Aug 2005: Iran rejects EU plan and re-opens Isfahan plant Jan 2006: Iran re-opens Natanz facility In depth: Nuclear fuel cycle Iran's key nuclear sites Western diplomats are thought to believe Russia can be persuaded to back a tough stance against Tehran, despite Russia's large investment in Iran's nuclear industry. But China seems much more reluctant to threaten sanctions. "All relevant sides should remain restrained and stick to resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations," a Chinese foreign ministry statement said on Monday. There are other high-level discussions taking place in parallel with the talks in London. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is meeting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York, while Mr ElBaradei is hosting US Under-Secretary of State Robert Joseph in Vienna. 'West's fault' Iran says it will not be intimidated by international pressure and warns the threat of sanctions could result in higher oil prices. [Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal Saudi FM accuses West Iran 'years from bomb' Iran is the fourth largest exporter of crude oil. Prices rose in London to nearly $63 a barrel on Monday, with violence in oil-exporting Nigeria also seen as a factor. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said in a BBC interview that the West was partly to blame for the crisis for allowing Israel to develop a nuclear arsenal. He said nuclear weapons benefited no-one, and called for a nuclear-free zone in the Gulf. The matter escalated last week when Iran broke the seals on three nuclear facilities, ending a two-year moratorium on atomic experimentation. Mr ElBaradei has told Newsweek magazine that after three years of intensive work, he is still not able to conclude that Iran's nuclear programme is aimed purely at energy creation rather than the manufacture of nuclear weapons. "If they have the nuclear material and they have a parallel weaponisation programme along the way, they are really not very far - a few months - from a weapon," he said. ***************************************************************** 7 BBC: Oil warning over Iran nuclear row Last Updated: Monday, 16 January 2006 [Iranian technicians] Iran is under growing pressure to stop its nuclear research Iran's Economy Minister has warned that any international efforts to punish his country for resuming nuclear fuel research may lead to higher oil prices. Sanctions could upset "Iran's political and economic situation" leading to oil prices "beyond levels the West expects", Davoud Danesh-Jafari said. Iran denies it plans to develop nuclear weapons but has said it will not be intimidated by international pressure. The country is the world's fourth largest exporter of crude oil. Concerns over Iran and continuing unrest in Nigeria pushed up crude oil prices on Monday. Brent crude for March delivery rose 65 cents to $63.25 a barrel in London although the impact was limited by the closure of US markets for a public holiday. Military force IRAN'S NUCLEAR STAND-OFF Sept 2002: Wor begins on Iran's first reactor at Bushehr Dec 2002: Satellites reveal Arak and Natanz sites, triggering IAEA inspections Nov 2003: Iran suspends uranium enrichment and allows tougher inspections June 2004: IAEA rebukes Iran for not fully co-operating Nov 2004: Iran suspends enrichment under deal with EU Aug 2005: Iran rejects EU plan and re-opens Isfahan plant Jan 2006: Iran re-opens Natanz facility In depth: Nuclear fuel cycle Mr Danesh-Jafari's comments on Iranian state radio came as the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany met in London to discuss Iran's move to resume its nuclear fuel research. The US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany intend to discuss their strategy - including the possibility of sanctions - following the resumption of Iranian nuclear research. President George Bush has also refused to rule out military force - a view backed by politicians from both main parties in the US. World oil prices rose above $64 a barrel last week as hopes of a diplomatic solution to the growing international stand-off with Iran began to fade. ***************************************************************** 8 Independent: Europeans move towards UN action against Iran By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor Published: 17 January 2006 The UN Security Council's major powers and Germany have told Iran to suspend all nuclear activities that could lead to the production of a bomb. But after protracted talks in London involving senior officials from the US, Britain, China, France and Russia, there appeared to be no agreement on tactics. The Europeans said they intended to call for an emergency session of the UN's nuclear watchdog on 2-3 February that would have the power to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible action. But China said it opposed such a tough approach against oil-rich Iran, which is a major trading partner. "China believes all relevant sides should remain restrained and stick to solving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations," the Foreign Ministry said. As the talks ended, a German diplomat said: "We have begun drafting a resolution. It calls for Mohamed ElBaradei (the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency) to report Iran to the UN Security Council." British diplomats have played down suggestions that Iran would be referred by the 35-nation IAEA board to the UN for sanctions, after it became clear that there is no international appetite to punish the Iranians for ending a voluntary freeze on uranium enrichment activities last week. Iran warned at the weekend that oil prices could rise even higher if sanctions were imposed. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, held out the possibility of a compromise by suggesting that Iran's uranium enrichment took place in Russia. Meanwhile, Iran said it was barring CNN from working in the country "until further notice" due to its mistranslation of comments made by its president. © 2006 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 9 Xinhua: Six countries meet over Iran nuclear issue www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-16 19:22:37 LONDON, Jan. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia gather in London on Monday for closed-door talks on Iran's resumption of nuclear activities. Senior diplomats from the U.S., Russia and China will join representatives from Britain, France and Germany for the meeting. They will meet behind closed doors at the Foreign Office in Whitehall. A British Foreign Office spokesman told Xinhua this is a "confidential diplomatic meeting" on Iran. He refused to give further details. Tensions mounted last week after Iran resumed nuclear fuel research. But Tehran defended that it would not go as far as making weapons. Britain, France and Germany have already started the moves to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council for possible sanctions over Tehran's decision. They said that two-and-a-half years of efforts to resolve the issue had come to a "dead end." European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana has insisted that the use of military action against Iran is currently"not in the mind of anyone." On Sunday, Iran warned of soaring oil prices if sanctions were introduced. For more than two years, Britain, France and Germany, with support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have been engaged in lengthy negotiations with Iran aimed at obtaining guarantees that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons using the nuclear energy program as a cover. The U.S. accuses Iran of running a covert nuclear arms program.Iran, however, has repeatedly said that its nuclear work is purely designed to meet its energy needs and insisted on the right to develop a full nuclear fuel cycle. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 Reuters: Rice says world must act fast against Iran Mon 16 Jan 2006 4:24 AM ET By Sue Pleming MONROVIA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday Iran "crossed the threshold" with its recent nuclear actions and the world must act fast to send Tehran to the U.N. Security Council. The Security Council's five permanent members and Germany are holding talks in London on Monday in search of a common strategy to tackle Iran's resumption of atomic fuel research and development after a two-year moratorium. Rice said the United States wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to hold an emergency meeting as soon as possible, fearing if IAEA members waited until a scheduled meeting in March this would give Iran a chance to further "obfuscate" over its nuclear weapons plans. "We just can't let them do that," she told reporters traveling with her to Liberia for the inauguration of Africa's first woman president. Tehran denies Western accusations it is trying to build nuclear weapons under cover of an atomic power programme and says it only wants to generate electricity. Rice said she had "very good" conversations with many IAEA foreign ministers over the weekend and she was optimistic of their support in referring Iran to the Security Council where it could ultimately face sanctions. "We have got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community," Rice told reporters, without specifying which ministers she had spoken to or which countries backed an immediate referral. "There is some work to do because you would like there to be a strong consensus for a vote. But whatever the numbers of the vote, I don't think there is any doubt that people are quite clear that Iran has crossed the threshold," she added. The United States and European powers taking the lead against Iran -- France, Germany and Britain -- need the support of Russia and China to get Iran referred to the Security Council. Rice would not be drawn on whether she thought the U.S. had the support of Russia or China, but she said Moscow voiced strong disappointment after Iran removed U.N. seals at its uranium-enrichment plant and resumed nuclear fuel research last week. In addition, Iran had spurned Russia's offer to help Tehran meet its civilian nuclear needs without increasing proliferation risks, she added. While countries might have "various tactics" in dealing with Iran, she said no nation had spoken out in favour of Iran. "They are getting nothing but condemnation." On Sunday, Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona said the United States might ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran. Asked about military options and whether force should be used now or at least threatened against Iran, Rice reiterated that the current focus was on diplomacy. "I don't think it helps really to speculate. We have said all along that the president always keeps all of his options but the course that we are on is the diplomatic course." She said it was unlikely that Iran could stand the kind of isolation that would result from Security Council action. "They are putting a lot at risk here and I am hopeful and hoping with others that when this regime recognizes or faces the fact that it is about to be really pretty fundamentally isolated that they will reconsider their options," said Rice. © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 AFP: Up to Iran to prove its nuclear intentions - Straw - Mon Jan 16, 6:39 AM ET LONDON (AFP) - Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it is up to Iran" /> to reassure the international community that it really is not pursuing the development of nuclear weapons. Speaking at a security conference in London, where senior diplomats were holding a closed-door meeting on Iran, Straw underlined the danger of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists. "This is why the international community's stand against Iran's continued non-compliance with its Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations and successive resolutions of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency" /> is so important," he said. "The onus is on Iran to act to give the international community confidence that its nuclear programme has exclusive peaceful purposes -- confidence, I'm afraid, that has been sorely undermined by its history of concealement and deception." Britain, France and Germany called last Thursday for the IAEA to refer Iran to the UN Security Council -- a step that could lead to sanctions -- after Iran moved to end its voluntary moratorium on uranimum enrichment research. Tehran insists its nuclear intentions are strictly peaceful, but the IAEA declared last September that it had failed to live up to its non-proliferation obligations, amid fears that it secretly intends to build atomic weapons. Senior diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the United States were meeting in London on Monday with Chinese and Russian counterparts, hoping to get Beijing and Moscow to back Iran's referral to the Security Council despite the two nations' closer trade and energy links with the Islamic republic. Straw, speaking at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said: "It is because of Iran's failure up to now to bring itself into compliance that we are now considering with our partners in Europe and the permanent five of the Security Council a referral of Iran to the Security Council through an emergency meeting of the IAEA board." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 12 ITAR-TASS: France foreign minister to discuss Iran nuclear issue in Moscow. 16.01.2006, 16.01 MOSCOW, January 16 (Itar-Tass) - French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy will discuss Iran’s nuclear programme and possibilities of joint work to prevent an escalation of tension over Iran during his visit to Russia. He will make a working visit to Moscow on January 18-19. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with members of the government on Monday that his talks with Douste-Blazy would address “international problems, all the more so that there are a lot of issues in the Middle East at present in connection with the forthcoming elections in Palestine and Israel”. “Special attention will be given to the Iranian nuclear problem,” Lavrov said. He cited as one of matters of Russian-French cooperation the “fulfilment of top-level accords between the governments and ministries; we shall review what it is necessary to give a push to and discuss a schedule of foreign political contacts”. A Russian Foreign Ministry official said that Lavrov and Douste-Blazy “will continue a frank and trustful bilateral dialogue on the most acute international problems”. “Its basis is a multilateral approach shared by Russia and France to world affairs with the rule of the international law and to a central role of the UN and its Security Council,” he said. Other matters for discussion are “ensuring European security within the framework of the partner interaction of Russia and the EU, Russia and NATO, problems of the OSCE, a reform of the UN, the struggle against international terrorism and the illicit drug turnover”. The foreign ministers will also discuss “non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and cooperation of Russia and France within the framework of Global Partnership”, and regional problems, in particular the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 13 AFP: Israel will not agree to Iran nuclear capability: president Mon Jan 16, 5:34 AM ET MADRID (AFP) - Israel" /> Israelwill not allow "a totalitarian" Iran" /> Iranwhich exports international terrorism to have a nuclear capability, Israeli President Moshe Katsav said in a newspaper interview. "It would be the first step for atomic bombs to fall into the hands of terrorists of the (Shiite fundamentalist movement) Hezbollah, the (Islamist) Hamas or Al-Qaeda for example," said Katsav who was born in Iran in 1945. "We don't have a conflict of interest with Iran, we don't have a common border but we cannot allow a totalitarian country which exports international terrorism to have a nuclear capability," he told the conservative ABC newspaper on Monday. Iran is a threat for Israel and for the rest of the world, he added. The interview was published as Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, a former EU envoy to the Middle East, began a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, 20 years after the two countries established diplomatic relations. Moratinos last year criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for the destruction of Israel, saying such rhetoric had "no place" in a civilised world. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 14 Guardian Unlimited: U.S., Other Nations Meet to Discuss Iran From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 16, 2006 1:32 PM AP Photo XHS102 By BETH GARDINER Associated Press Writer LONDON (AP) - The United States, EU, Russia and China met Monday to discuss Iran's nuclear program, with Washington and the European Union pushing to bring the Islamic state before the U.N. Security Council. Iran's decision to restart its nuclear program alarmed the West, which fears the regime intends to build an atomic bomb. Iran, which insists it only wants to produce electricity, has threatened to end cooperation the U.N. nuclear watchdog if it is brought before the Security Council. On Monday, Iran's state-run radio reported that the country has allocated the equivalent of $215 million for the construction of what would be its second and third nuclear power plants. Iran's first reactor has been built at Bushehr with Russian assistance. Iran plans to build 20 more nuclear plants, and Russia has offered to build some of them. Speaking before Monday's talks in London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the ``onus is on Iran'' to prove its program is peaceful. He said the international community's confidence had been ``sorely undermined by a history of concealment and deception'' by Iran. Britain, France and Germany said last week they want Iran referred to the Security Council, declaring more than two years of tense negotiations at a ``dead end.'' But they need the support of Russia and China, which have close commercial ties with Iran and have resisted such a measure in the past. Straw said talks with the two countries- which have veto power on the Security Council - was of ``crucial importance.'' Monday's talks aim to build consensus on what action to take ahead of an emergency board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, expected in February. The agency has found Iran in violation of an international treaty intended to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology. But it has not yet voted on whether to refer Iran to the Security Council, where it could face possible sanctions. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the vote ``ought to be as soon as possible.'' ``We've got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community,'' Rice said Sunday during a trip to Africa. With the backing of Russia and China uncertain, European diplomats have been unwilling to talk publicly about what sanctions could be imposed on Iran. China, which is highly dependent on Iran for oil, has warned that referral to the Security Council would escalate the confrontation. But European diplomats say there are signs that Russia, which is deeply involved in building Iranian reactors for power generation, is leaning toward backing the move. Economic sanctions targeting oil and gas exports are thought unlikely. Iran is OPEC's second-largest producer and preventing it from doing business could disrupt the world's energy markets. China's Foreign Ministry struck a cautious tone Monday, saying ``all relevant sides should remained restrained and stick to resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations.'' Straw again ruled out military action against Iran. ``I have ruled it out enough times in the past. Military action is not on the agenda and it is certainly not on the agenda at this meeting,'' he said. Monday's talks aim to build consensus on what action to take ahead of an emergency board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, expected in early February. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak will also attend, joined by senior British, French and German diplomats. The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian opposition group, called a rally outside Britain's Foreign Office to demand Tehran's referral to the council. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak were attending the talks, joined by senior British, French and German diplomats. The director of China's Arms Control Department will represent Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry said. Straw will not attend. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 15 Guardian Unlimited: Big Security Council Members Agree on Iran From the Associated Press [UP] Tuesday January 17, 2006 12:02 AM AP Photo LMN105 By BETH GARDINER Associated Press Writer LONDON (AP) - Moscow and Beijing joined the U.S. and its European allies in demanding Monday that Iran fully suspend its nuclear program, while Vladimir Putin held out hope for a compromise, saying Tehran might agree to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia. China, Russia, France, the United States, Germany, and Britain expressed ``serious concerns'' about Iran's resumption of small-scale uranium enrichment, Britain's Foreign Office said. The powers stopped short of referring the issue to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions, instead calling for an emergency board meeting of the International Atomic Energy on Feb. 2-3 to discuss the issue. The 35-nation IAEA board could itself refer the issue to the Security Council. The stepped up diplomatic activity came nearly a week after Iran removed U.N. seals at its main uranium enrichment plant and resumed research on nuclear fuel after a two-year hiatus. The move alarmed the West, which fears Iran intends to build an atomic bomb. Iran claims its program is peaceful, intended only to produce electricity and it has threatened to end all cooperation the U.N. nuclear watchdog if it is brought before the Security Council. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that she wants a vote as soon as possible on whether to refer Iran to the council and is working to line up support. ``We've got to finally demonstrate to Iran that it can't with impunity just cast aside the just demands of the international community,'' Rice said while traveling in Africa. The Russian president suggested there might still be hope of avoiding that path, saying Iran has not ruled out conducting its uranium enrichment in Russia, which would allow for close oversight. In Moscow, Putin said the Iranians had indicated ``they did not exclude the implementation of our proposal.'' ``In any case, it's necessary to work carefully and avoid any erroneous moves,'' he added. Iran's ambassador to Moscow praised the idea. ``This is a good initiative to resolve the situation. We believe that Iran and Russia should find a way out of this jointly,'' Gholamreza Ansari said in comments translated into Russian and shown on state Channel One television. The U.S. and the Europeans need support from Russia and China for referral because they have veto power in the Security Council. Russia and China, which have close commercial ties with Iran, have resisted referral but also have shown increasing impatience with Tehran's defiance. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said he believed the two would eventually agree to refer Iran to the Security Council. ``I am confident. Otherwise, I will not be working as I am working,'' Solana said after meeting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. A spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with government policy, said representatives of the six nations who met for seven hours in London agreed ``on the importance of Iran returning to the full suspension and negotiating process.'' Putin said his proposal did not mean Russia's strategy differed from the one the Western powers are pursuing. ``Russia, Germany, our European partners and the United States have very close positions on the Iranian problem,'' he said after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. China made no comment after the talks in London, but took a cautious tone earlier Monday. ``All relevant sides should remain restrained and stick to solving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations,'' the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said in a statement. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who was not at the meeting, said after it ended that London also wanted Iran to return to talks. ``What we hope is that as a result of this and other diplomatic pressure is that the Iranians will come back to the negotiating table ... and will recognize the good intent of the European three,'' he told Channel 4 news, referring to Britain, France and Germany, which negotiated with Tehran on behalf of the European Union for 2 tense years. Straw said the ``onus is on Iran'' to prove its program is peaceful. He said the international community's confidence had been ``sorely undermined by a history of concealment and deception'' by the clerical regime. In a related development, Iranian state radio reported Monday that the country had allocated the equivalent of $215 million for the construction of what would be its second and third nuclear power plants. Economic sanctions targeting Iran's oil and gas exports are thought unlikely. Iran is OPEC's second-largest producer and preventing it from doing business could disrupt the world's energy markets. Russian experts also are helping build a nuclear reactor at Bushehr in Iran. But Moscow has shown growing impatience with Tehran for not accepting its proposal to supply nuclear fuel for Iranian power stations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that the Kremlin has not ruled out backing Iran's referral to the Security Council, although it said previously it saw no need for such action. --- Associated Press writers Henry Meyer in Moscow and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 16 Xinhua: DPRK demands compensation after U.S. scraps AF www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-16 19:52:12 PYONGYANG, Jan. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday demanded compensation from the United States after it pulled out of the DPRK-U.S. Agreed Framework (AF),putting an end to construction of light water reactors (LWR) for the country. "It is quite nonsensical for some politicians to urge the DPRK to compensate for the unsuccessful end of the LWR construction instead of holding the U.S. chiefly accountable for the abrogation of the AF," the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary. "It is the DPRK that has to claim compensation for the loss caused by the suspension of the LWR project," it said. According to the Rodong Sinmun, some officials were claiming that the DPRK was to blame for the LWR program's failure and demanded that it should pay the compensation. "Under the AF, the U.S. was committed to providing two LWRs to the DPRK by the year 2003 in return for the latter's freeze of nuclear facilities and supplying 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil to it every year till their construction is completed," the commentary said. The U.S. also gave the DPRK assurances that it would not threaten the latter with nuclear weapons, it said. "The U.S., however, has not fulfilled any commitment under the AF," the commentary said. "The Bush administration categorically refused to implement the AF and has systematically perpetrated premeditated acts of totally scrapping official documents signed between the DPRK and the U.S.," it added. The U.S. and the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization decided on Nov. 22, 2005, to completely stop the construction of the LWRs, which they had promised to provide to the DPRK for its nuclear freeze, according to the AF signed in 1994. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 17 UPI: Kim Jong Il heads to Beijing United Press International - NewsTrack - 1/16/2006 6:44:00 AM -0500 Newstrack: An early poll finds that Republican HONG KONG, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appeared to be headed to Beijing Monday after visiting China's booming southern cities, local news reports said. The purpose of Kim's trips to Guangzhou and Shenzhen seemed to be to study China's economic reforms and its high-tech industry. He left Shenzhen late Sunday aboard his armored train, headed for Beijing, the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po reported. The fastest route by train takes about 24 hours. Kim was to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao Tuesday, the South Korea-based Chosun Ilbo reported, citing sources in Beijing. The talks are likely to focus on dealing with U.S. sanctions against Pyongyang for alleged currency counterfeiting and weapons trafficking, and also on resuming the stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs. Since he entered China Tuesday Kim's itinerary has been the subject of intense foreign media speculation. A Japanese television station caught him on camera outside a hotel in Guangzhou, and unusual security arrangements there and in Shenzhen hinted at his activities. Chinese authorities have not confirmed the visit, and a blackout has been imposed on Chinese media. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders blasted Chinese authorities for their lack of transparency, describing it as "an orchestrated state lie to protect the planet's worst dictator." © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 18 MiamiHerald.com: Quest for alternate fuels now a top priority Posted on Mon, Jan. 16, 2006 ENERGY With the price of gas and oil fluctuating wildly and growing fears about supplies, state officials are seriously looking at alternative fuel sources. BY DAVID ROYSE Associated Press Writer TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush has been talking about burning sugar cane waste. In a few Florida counties, they're using the methane produced by rotting garbage in landfills. And Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light are both planning to increase production of nuclear power. Most of Florida's electricity is generated from natural gas. But the shock of last year's huge run-up in prices, and the interruption of gas supplies after Hurricane Katrina has Bush and other state officials urgently trying to find different ways to make electricity. ''I would expect you won't see very many new natural gas-fired plants in Florida in the foreseeable future,'' said Brian Youngberg, a senior utilities analyst who covers the two biggest Florida electric companies for Edward Jones. ``The state focus on natural gas may have made sense when it was a lot cheaper. . . . But the problem is when you put all your eggs in one basket.'' BUSH AGREES The governor thinks so too. Bush said the price increases, which were spurred by worldwide demand but exacerbated by hurricanes that disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico, made it clear the state needs to rely on it less. ''We need diversity of supply,'' Bush said last month addressing an energy summit on the future of Florida's electric supply. Bush said conservation is a key part of the solution too, and is doing what he can. Last year he ordered state buildings to dim the lights and turn down the air conditioning to help save electricity. He's also proposing incentives for alternative fuel production. The power companies don't need the government to tell them to consider other fuels. They hear from their customers, who are getting stuck with higher bills for gas generation. FPL customers for example, will see their bills go up nearly 20 percent on average -- about $17 a month -- this year because of higher fuel costs. Progress Energy cited the cost of natural gas in saying it may build a new nuclear plant in Central Florida, and FPL president Armando Olivera recently said his company would be better off with more nuclear and coal plants. If a new nuclear plant is built, it would be the first in Florida since 1983. Currently, 38 percent of FPL's power is created from natural gas, compared to 21 percent from nuclear plants, 18 percent from oil and just 6 percent from coal. Jeff Lyash, vice president of energy development at Progress, said nuclear fuel is the cheapest of all. But nuclear plants take much longer and are much more expensive to build. NUCLEAR FEARS But many Americans still fear nuclear energy, although no deaths have been directly linked to any nuclear plant accidents in this country. The environmental group Greenpeace calls the idea of ''safe'' nuclear power a myth. ''One of the biggest problems facing the nuclear industry is what to do with the radioactive waste generated in a nuclear reactor,'' Greenpeace said in a recent policy statement. And coal has a reputation as an old dirty fuel. A plan by the city of Tallahassee to join in a plan to build a new coal plant in a neighboring county recently ran into heavy opposition, although the city's participation in the plan was eventually approved. Both coal and nuclear power are getting new looks, especially since coal now burns cleaner. ***************************************************************** 19 Australian: Coal blows gas away as a fuel for power stations [January 17, 2006] Peter Marsh, London THE world is on the brink of a big switch from gas to coal as the preferred fuel for power stations, according to projections from Alstom, Siemens and General Electric, the world's three biggest power equipment makers. Independent forecasts from France's Alstom and Germany's Siemens, made available to the Financial Times, show that about 40 per cent of the orders for electricity turbines in the next decade will be for coal-powered units, with the share of gas-fired plants falling to between 25 and 30 per cent. Philippe Joubert, president of Alstom's power division, said: "The structure of the power market is seeing a radical shift away from gas and towards coal." Siemens' figures point to a similar conclusion, while GE said it expected to see a "more balanced picture" in terms of equipment orders, with gas being far less dominant than recently. The shift to coal has been evident in the past year. Of the 120GW of new power orders, 20-30 per cent were for gas-powered plants while 30-40 per cent were for coal-fuelled generators. The shift is being triggered by technological changes that reduce the amount of pollution created by coal-fired stations and by rising disenchantment with gas as a fuel. There are concerns over rising prices for the fuel and worries about security of supply, underlined by the recent row between Russia and the Ukraine over gas pricing. Many countries in Asia, which is expected to provide half of all new power station orders in the next 10 years, lack ready access to gas reserves. Coal's re-emergence as a primary fuel for power generation is a reversal of recent trends. The dash for gas in power equipment was most evident between 1997 and 2001, when gas was the preferred fuel for 60-70 per cent of new power stations and coal for 20-30 per cent. Alstom and Siemens expect power station orders in the next decade to average 120GW a year. Spending on new power stations is expected to be $US50 billion ($66 billion) annually for the next decade. The switch from gas is likely to benefit Alstom more than its two rivals. It gains a bigger proportion of its revenues from steam turbines and boilers based on coal than the German and US groups. GE, in particular, could be hit. Though it is a large maker of steam turbines and has a strong presence in nuclear and wind power, its energy division is focused on gas turbines. All three believe the switch is likely to be particularly marked in Britain, where coal is expected to be the most popular fuel source for the 20GW of power equipment due to be installed over the coming decade. © The Australian ***************************************************************** 20 ForUm: EBRD discussed the Chernobyl Shelter project News / 16 January 2006 | 12:30 The Ukraine/EBRD Joint Committee overseeing Chernobyl Shelter Fund (CSF) and EBRD-administered Nuclear Safety Account projects held a meeting today co-chaired by Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov and EBRD Vice President Fabrizio Saccomanni. Hans Blix, the Chairman of the CSF Donor Assembly, participated as a guest, press release reads. The committee discussed issues such as VAT reimbursement procedures, Ukraine’s contribution to the CSF and necessary provisions in Ukraine’s state budget to support the project. Constructive approaches for all issues were agreed. Both sides had agreed to reestablish the Joint Committee as a top level coordination group at a moment where the Shelter Implementation Plan reaches a crucial point. The awarding of the contract for the construction of a New Safe Confinement, the single most important project, is expected within the next few months. The Joint Committee as well as a working group for the day-to-day cooperation between the EBRD and Ukrainian authorities reporting to the JC (co-chaired by Minister Viktor Baloga and EBRD’s Nuclear Safety Account Director Vince Novak) will serve as a platform to identify and resolve all issues with the potential to delay the project and cause cost increases. EBRD Vice President Saccomanni underlined: “The international community, which has provided more than ˆ650 million to date and pledged another ˆ150 million last May, is committed to the project and needs the assurance that the project is managed in the most efficient and effective way possible so that cost risks can be minimized.” Ukraine Prime Minister Yekhanurov stated that the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident would provide an opportunity to demonstrate the progress which has been made thanks to the close cooperation of the donor countries, Ukraine and the EBRD. He invited the Bank to the next meeting of the Joint Committee to be held in early April. Also today CSF Chairman Blix, accompanied by an EBRD delegation led by Vice President Saccomanni, met with Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko. Mr Blix stressed that donors were committed to support Ukraine in the mitigation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident and that they relied on Ukraine and its President to provide leadership and an efficient management to complete the project successfully. President Yushchenko assured Mr Blix that Ukraine was fully committed to work with donors and the EBRD to complete the project in an effective way. All rights are reserved by © LTD. Inter-Media, ForUm 2001-2006 ***************************************************************** 21 iafrica.com: sa news Koeberg repairs may cause blackouts CAPE TOWN Mon, 16 Jan 2006 Foreign and local experts will meet later on Monday to help find the best course of action for repairs to Koeberg nuclear power station, which has been responsible for numerous recent power outages in the Western Cape. Discussions about repairs to one of two faulty generators would be on the agenda, said Carin de Villiers, spokesperson for the nuclear plant. "What scenario are we looking at and what are we likely to move with; what the implications of that will be from a capacity point of view and so (on)." National grid could be affected As the maintenance work could affect the national power grid, and she could not rule out power outages and blackouts in other parts of the country, said De Villiers. "It really depends on the route we take." De Villiers said the decision-making process was intricate and more information would be released later this week. At the moment, one unit is down indefinitely and the other is to be shut down for maintenance in just over a month. Eskom 'must play open cards' Meanwhile, the African Christian Democratic Party had said Eskom needs to play open cards with the public. "We have the right to know why this is happening. We want to know how staff changes have impacted on the entire situation. Why was maintenance not performed early and thoroughly? Is it poor management?" asked provincial ACDP leader Hansie Louw. Sapa 2002-2005 iafrica.com, a division of Metropolis* - a Primedia company Reproduction without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 BBC: Nuclear clean-up team plans bid Last Updated: Monday, 16 January 2006 [Dounreay Nuclear Power Plant] Dounreay is one of several nuclear plants on the clean-up list A US firm has teamed up with the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to bid for contracts to clean up nuclear power stations in Britain. The UKAEA has formed an alliance with Colorado-based CH2M Hill and UK engineering firm Amec to bid for the contracts, valued at £56bn ($99bn). The three will also try to win deals abroad, including in eastern Europe and in former Soviet Union countries. Twenty nuclear sites are due to be decommissioned in the UK. These include Sellafield in Cumbria, Dounreay and Chapelcross in Scotland, as well as Sizewell A in Suffolk and Trawsfynydd in north Wales. "The decommissioning market is now opening up to competition and it is our aim to maintain our leading role," said Dipesh Shah, chief executive of UKAEA. ***************************************************************** 23 Independent: Opposition to nuclear energy on the wane By Steve Connor, Science Editor Published: 17 January 2006 The public is deeply divided on nuclear power but for the first time there are signs that a majority would accept it for the sake of tackling climate change. A survey has found that 54 per cent of people would be willing to support the building of new nuclear power stations if it would help solve global warming. The study found a weakening of opposition towards nuclear power which five years ago saw about 60 per cent of people totally against it as a source of energy. The latest survey found that, even without taking climate change into account, only 40 per cent of people now say they are totally opposed, said Professor Nick Pidgeon of the University of East Anglia. "There's been a softening of opposition to nuclear power," said Professor Pidgeon. "[The public is] prepared to suspend their concern because they see a bigger risk from climate change." The Government will begin its major review of future energy sources next week and is expected later this year to decide whether to build a new generation of nuclear power stations to replace those due for decommissioning over the next decade. Nearly 1,500 people were interviewed in the Mori poll. © 2006 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 24 New University Paper: UCI Nuclear Reactor Stirs Up Controversy Again Volume 38 Issue January 16, 2006 Circulation: 10,000 by: Reut R. Cohen According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Information Digest 2004-2005 Edition, there are 26 nuclear reactors on university campuses around the United States which are aimed toward increasing research. Here on the West Coast are four campuses with nuclear reactors: UC Davis, Oregon State, Reed College and UC Irvine. UCI’s nuclear reactor is located at the basement of Rowland Hall, the chemistry department building. The reactor, which first started operating in 1969, is fueled by low-enriched uranium and is at a 250 kilowatt power level. The reactor is operated by the Department of Chemistry for use in radiochemistry and hot-atom chemistry applications. The majority of students at UCI are probably unaware our campus is home to a nuclear reactor. It may come as an even bigger shock to learn that UCI’s nuclear reactor is vulnerable to terrorist attack. For many of our parents who might have watched the ABC special about UCI’s recent “loose nuke,” it is a bit disconcerting to learn their son’s or daughter’s safety could be in jeopardy. In 2003, UCI officials took extra precautions with the 250-kilowatt nuclear reactor due to a heightened security alert. An “orange alert” was issued throughout the nation, requiring high-risk sites to increase security. Access to the reactor was restricted to those individuals who had gone through a comprehensive background check. However, an ABC investigation concluded that there are gaping security holes which leave the UCI nuclear reactor vulnerable. ABC found that their team of students easily entered the building on two separate occasions and had little trouble locating the reactor room. Despite security cameras, the students videotaped the reactor at length through a window with no interference from security personnel. If the building is under “constant surveillance,” one cannot help but speculate as to how students easily gained access to the reactor, unchallenged, during the middle of the day. On a separate occasion, the team even reported that the doors to the building were found propped open with a book at 1:30 a.m. UCI’s reactor supervisor Dr. George Miller commented that the door should not have been propped open, but “students will be students.” Miller is confident that security has been tightened since Sept. 11. However, there was no comment about how the security has been improved on the ground. Although it is possible that other campuses may be easy targets, UCI is extremely susceptible to terrorist truck bombs and other attacks. UCI’s nuclear reactor could be considered a prime target on the West Coast for even amateur terrorists. Considering that terrorists prefer to communicate messages to the widest possible audience, a wealthy city is a much better target in order to acquire a large audience and media coverage. An individual could easily have the ability to create a “dirty bomb” that would not only be fatal, but have long-lasting, detrimental contamination effects. The easy access to the reactor clearly indicates poor training on behalf of security personnel at UCI. The recent events have prompted further investigation which shouldn’t come as a shock, because with no metal detectors, no guards and finding a side door to the building propped open with a book, we can conclude that the university needs to boost security or shut down the reactor permanently. Reut R. Cohen is a second-year English major. ©2004 New University Newspaper ***************************************************************** 25 Rutland Herald: Big switch: Vt. has some of region's lowest power costs Rutland Vermont News & Information January 16, 2006 By DAVID GRAM The Associated Press MONTPELIER, Vt. — What a difference a decade makes. In 1996, Vermont's long-term power purchase contract with Hydro-Quebec looked too expensive and like a bad idea. Bringing retail competition to the electric industry looked like a great idea. And the state's two major power companies were worried about the risks of owning an aging nuclear plant. Fast-forward to now. Today, Hydro-Quebec is a bargain compared what most New England utilities are paying for wholesale power, and the Douglas administration is trying to patch up a cross-border relationship some see as damaged by Vermont's earlier complaints. Retail competition in the five other New England states hasn't panned out as hoped, as utility requests for double-digit rate increases — some as high has 60 or 80 percent — have become the norm. And the deal Vermont's two biggest power companies made to buy back Vermont Yankee power when they sold the plant in 2002 is keeping some of the region's cheapest electricity flowing into the state. "Five years ago we were being vilified for Hydro-Quebec," said Steve Costello, spokesman for Central Vermont Public Service Corp., the state's largest power company. "Today we're being praised up and down. Things can change very quickly in this industry." Just as how good a deal a home buyer got depends on what the neighbors paid, Vermont's current electric rates look good mainly in comparison to those elsewhere in New England. For utilities in other states, much of their power comes from plants elsewhere in the region powered by natural gas and subject to that fuel's great price volatility. In contrast, "Our long-term Vermont Yankee and Hydro-Quebec contracts are providing tremendous value relative to the market," said Chris Dutton, president and CEO of Green Mountain Power Corp. The bottom line for Vermont customers has been relatively stable electric rates. GMP spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure said her company had raised rates a total of 3 percent in the last six years. Costello said a CVPS customer who paid $89.95 in a monthly bill for 700 kilowatt-hours in 1999, now pays $90.84 for the same amount of power. "I'd rather be in our position than that of our neighbors," David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, said in an interview this past week. Key to Vermont's current position, said several people in and around the power industry, is a decision by the Legislature in 1998 not to follow the rest of the region to what was then called electric restructuring. Utilities that had been "vertically integrated," owning power plants, transmission and distribution systems, as well as exclusive rights to sell to customers in a given territory, were being dismantled. They also had been fully regulated, with state commissions conducting periodic studies of what the companies' costs were and then allowing them to recover those costs, plus some profit, in the rates they charged consumers. Taking their place were national companies building or buying up generating plants, separate transmission firms and what were hoped to be a wide variety of new retail electric companies. Predictions were widespread that fuel dealers, telephone companies and others would get into retail marketing of electricity. In Maine, an interfaith church group even did so. But for the most part, the retail electric industry has been a dud, said Richard Sedano, O'Brien's predecessor, who now works with the Regulatory Assistance Project Consulting group. Most consumers had little interest in shopping around for power and ended up staying with their "default" utility. Meanwhile, the wholesale generation market was left to try to create itself in a void. There was an initial burst of enthusiasm in which most New England states — but not Vermont — saw the construction of new gas-fired power plants. Existing power plants — including a series of power dams on the Connecticut River — were snapped up by newly created generation companies. But no longer would state regulators guarantee that the costs of new generating stations would be recovered from ratepayers. Some of the high prices paid for generating stations could not be recovered by selling power at wholesale. Companies went bankrupt. Investors got the jitters. New power plant construction ground to a halt. It has all been a cautionary tale from O'Brien's perspective. He said he wonders about the rush to embrace market forces. Commissioner of the Department of Public Service under the Republican administration of Gov. James Douglas, O'Brien said, "I'm pretty much a free-market kind of guy. But there is such a thing as a natural monopoly. You really have to wonder whether this thing (the electric industry) lends itself well to market solutions." Former state Sen. Cheryl Rivers, D-Windsor, was chair of the Senate Finance Committee in 1997 when utility officials brought to her and other lawmakers their proposal to restructure Vermont's electric industry. She and her fellow Democrats who controlled the Senate let the bill pass but not before loading it up with consumer protections. Utility lobbyists vowed to fix the bill in the House by removing what they saw as some of the more onerous Senate provisions. But after a special summer study committee grappled with the issue, then-House Speaker Michael Obuchowski pulled the plug on power industry reform. Rivers said Obuchowski was not known as a speaker to throw his power around, but that he did spend some political capital seeing that the restructuring bill died. "The citizen Legislature deserves some credit," Rivers said. "We weren't experts but we did our best to look out for the people, and at the head of the class was Obie." O'Brien said there's another lesson as well: When it comes to utility planning, it's wise to hedge your bets. A diversified portfolio of power sources will keep consumers from enjoying the maximum benefit from favorable market conditions for one type of generation. But it will also protect them from price shocks when a source too heavily relied upon becomes a bad deal. Most of New England got too excited about natural-gas-fired generation in the late 90s, he said. "Folks were really kind of heading down one path, and when that path didn't pan out because of higher natural gas prices, they were hit with very big increases." ***************************************************************** 26 AFP: Promote nuclear power, major union tells Blair Sun Jan 15, 7:27 PM ET LONDON (AFP) - Britain's largest manufacturing union backed reviving the country's mothballed nuclear power programme, saying the technology should be promoted to stave off a "mounting energy crisis". Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said urgent action was needed about Britain's future energy supplies because successive governments of all colours had "shied away" from addressing the problem. Prime Minister Tony Blair" /> Tony Blairlast year announced a wide-ranging review of the country's energy needs, which is expected to recommend building new nuclear plants plus an expansion of renewable energy like wind power. Simpson said: "The debate on the energy crisis is in limbo and we need urgent action or Britain will face the prospect of blackouts and soaring utility bills over the next five years. "The nation's energy needs will be hostage to politically unstable states unless the government's energy policy promotes clean coal technology and new nuclear power build." Amicus echoed long-standing calls from captains of British industry that companies faced a growing threat to productivity from gas shortages and spiralling energy costs. Oil and gas imports in general are increasingly important for Britain to compensate for a decline in output from its domestic North Sea platforms. For consumers, gas prices have been rising in Britain along with other forms of energy, with a number of suppliers introducing above-inflation price hikes on January 1 this year. "As a nation, we are hostage to the supply of gas from politically unstable countries to heat our homes and power our factories," Simpson added. Britain has about a dozen nuclear power stations, most of them built in the 1960s and 1970s, providing about 25 percent of the country's electricity, compared with natural gas which provides about 40 percent. Amicus officials will meet later Monday to plan a campaign seeking public support for nuclear power and clean coal technology. An ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper published on December 26 last year suggested the public was split virtually 50-50 over whether to expand existing nuclear power facilities. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 27 Rutland Herald: Brattleboro rejects ballot question Rutland Vermont News & Information January 16, 2006 Select Board flexes political muscles By DANIEL BARLOW Southern Vermont Bureau BRATTLEBORO — Town officials declined to accept a town meeting ballot question posed by an antinuclear group last week based on a 2005 ruling on its town charter that has been appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court. On Jan. 10, the Brattleboro Select Board denied Nuclear Free Vermont's request for a ballot question asking for better evacuation planning by state officials, based on advice from the town attorney that the town charter does not give them the right to accept. That interpretation disagrees with suggestions from the Vermont Secretary of State's Office that state statute allows the board to OK such nonbinding referendums on the March 7 ballot. Robert Fisher, the town attorney, said last week that the disagreement is similar to a civil case on appeal before the state's highest court, asking if Brattleboro residents have the right to call for a special election to fill a midterm select board vacancy. At issue is the balance between rights spelled out in Brattleboro's charter and rights granted to residents under state statute. Fisher said that although state law allows select boards to place such questions on the ballot, the town's charter does not. "Under our charter, the only town meeting that the question can be posed to is representative town meeting," Fisher said, referring to a voting system unique to the Windham County town that features a 140-member elected body voting on local school and town budgets. Nuclear Free Vermont member Ed Anthes said there were no problems placing the same question on the town meeting ballots for the nearby towns of Halifax, Dummerston, Guilford and Marlboro. None of those towns have charters. The group — as it has done in years past — will instead collect the necessary signatures from 5 percent of Brattleboro's voters to get the question on the ballot. The measure asks local select boards to petition the Vermont Legislature to strengthen evacuation tests in the southern part of the state, where the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is located. The group is asking that state first response officials plan for an evacuation of all of the area's population, as opposed to only 20 percent as it does now, Anthes said. It also asks for more emergency sirens in the towns and simultaneous evacuation drills for local schools, hospitals and elder and child care facilities. "Right now there is no sense of urgency and no accountability," Anthes said. "When we tell people that they are planning for the evacuation of only 20 percent of the people, they sign the petition right away." Members of the Brattleboro Select Board did not vote Tuesday on the request to place the question on the town meeting Australian ballot; the board did note 4-1 its rejection of the proposal placing it before the representative town meeting. The balance between the town charter and state statute was raised in March 2005 after Selectman Joerg Mayer resigned for health reasons. More than 500 people signed a petition calling for a special election to fill the midterm vacancy, but Fisher and other town officials claimed that was not allowed under the charter. The town later filed a civil suit to seek clarification from the courts on the issue — just days after another Brattleboro resident filed a similar suit — and Windham Superior Court Judge Karen Carroll upheld the town's actions in a July 2005 ruling. ***************************************************************** 28 SABCnews.com: Experts to repair nuclear station in Western Cape south_africa/general South African Broadcasting Corporation Copyright © 2000 - 2005 SABC Jan. 16, 2006, 10:45 Foreign and local experts are meeting to help find the best course of action for repairs to the Koeberg nuclear power station in the Western Cape. The nuclear power plant has been responsible for numerous recent power outages. Carin de Villiers, Eskom’s spokesperson, says maintenance work could affect the national power grid, and power outages and blackouts in other parts of the country cannot be ruled out. She says one unit is down indefinitely and the other is to be shut down for maintenance in just over a month. ***************************************************************** 29 UPI: U.K. union boss warns of energy crisis United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 1/16/2006 9:22:00 AM -0500 LONDON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Britain faces an energy crisis that may lead to higher blackouts and job losses unless technology such as nuclear power is promoted, a union leader said Monday. "The debate on the energy crisis is in limbo and we need urgent action or Britain will face the prospect of blackouts and soaring utility bills over the next five years," said Derek Simpson, general secretary of the union Amicus. "The nation's energy needs will be hostage to politically unstable states unless the Government's energy policy promotes clean coal technology and new nuclear power." He said British governments had "shied away" from the issue of future supplies, adding officials from his union would meet to launch a campaign to promote nuclear power and clean coal technology. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 30 Vermont Guardian: Eleven arrested in anti-VY protest By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian Posted January 16, 2006 BRATTLEBORO Police arrested 11 anti-nuclear protesters, including a veteran and a nurse, on charges of trespassing Monday at Vermont Yankee headquarters. The 11 were part of a larger group of more than 100 people from three states who turned out for what organizers promise will be monthly demonstrations against a proposed 20 percent power increase at the aging Vernon reactor. Organizer Deb Katz of the Massachusetts chapter of the Citizens Awareness Network said the number of protesters has increased with each event, from 45 in November, to more than 70 last month. Theyre coming out here because no government is listening to them, said Katz, a resident of Shelburne Falls, MA. The NRC staff has recommended approval of the uprate, and earlier this month a key advisory panel also gave the plan a thumbs up. Police have arrested activists at each of the three events. States Attorney Dan Davis dropped trespass charges against the first group following their arraignments, and activists said Brattleboro Policed had failed to file charges in Windham District Court last week when the second group of protesters showed up for their arraignments. Uranium is a natural disaster at every stage: from mining, creating cancer epidemics on native lands; to refining, creating a military weapon known as depleted uranium to power production, where waste products are permanently hazardous, Persian Gulf veteran Eric Wasileski, of Ervine, MA, told the protesters Monday, shortly before he was hauled away in handcuffs by Brattleboro police. Jackie Dauphinais, 23, a registered nurse from Florence, MA., said she was risking arrest to highlight radiation and health concerns. I am concerned about the health of our environment and the people in their community and surrounding communities, she said. Dauphinais was the first protester arrested as she and 10 others crowded into the doorway of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) headquarters on Old Ferry Road. The second set of double doors was locked, keeping the protesters out of the lobby, where a stony-faced security guard appeared to ignore them. Across the street, demonstrators sang We Shall Overcome, substituting the words We shall shut it down, invoking the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the holiday commemorating the slain civil rights leaders birthday. The holiday meant families with children, who had the day off from work and school, were able to attend the demonstration. Most the protesters at earlier demonstrations were elderly and retired people. As children frolicked in the snow Monday, adults held signs opposing the uprate and supporting renewable energy sources. One sign urged people to call the Vermont Public Service Board, which has yet to decide whether the NRC inspection of Vermont Yankee has met the boards requirement of an independent engineering assessment. The board has issued conditional approval of the uprate, pending that decision. Others criticized the NRC for defaulting on its mandate to protect the public. Neither the NRC nor Vermont Yankee spokesmen returned phone calls for this story. It was not clear whether either were in their offices, due to the holiday. Vermont Guardian PO Box 335 Winooski, VT 05404 | | Northern Vermont: PO Box 335, Winooski, VT 05404 Southern Vermont: 139 Main Street, Suite 702, Brattleboro, VT 05301 Contact: 802.861.4880 (ph) | 802.861.6388 (fax) | 877.231.5382 ©2005 Vermont Guardian | Visit us: www.vermontguardian.com ***************************************************************** 31 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Sets Aside $215M for Nuclear Plants From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 16, 2006 1:17 PM AP Photo XHS113 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has allocated the equivalent of $215 million for the construction of what would be its second and third nuclear power plants, state radio reported Monday. The report did not give the location of the new reactors, but last month Iran said it planned to build new plants in the southern Iranian provinces of Khuzestan and Bushehr. Iran's first reactor has been built at Bushehr with Russian assistance and is due to come on stream this year. ``Some 1,940 billion rials have been allocated for the building of two nuclear power plants in the draft budget bill for the next Iranian year,'' the head of Iran's Management and Planning Organization, Farhad Rahbar, told Tehran radio. The U.S. dollar trades at about 9,000 rials on the open market, and the Iranian new year begins March 21. Iran plans to build 20 more nuclear plants, and Russia has offered to build some of them. Iran is under increasing international pressure over its nuclear program as it insists on controlling the whole fuel cycle - from mining uranium to enriching it to the point where it can be used in reactors. The West objects to Iran's enriching uranium as the process can be used to produce material for nuclear bombs. The United States accuses Iran of trying secretly to build nuclear weapons - a charge Iran denies. Britain, France and Germany, with U.S. backing, have been trying to persuade Iran to import nuclear fuel, but Iran has rejected this. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 32 London Times: British swing back to nuclear power - By Lewis Smith A MAJORITY of the British public would support the building of nuclear power stations provided that it helped to tackle climate change, according to a study published today. It is the first time since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 that most Britons have indicated a willingness to have more nuclear power stations built, the study suggests. However, the 54 per cent approval rating is contingent on nuclear power being used to reduce or slow global warming. Only 3 per cent of the 1,491 people polled said that they did not believe that action should be taken to reduce carbon emissions. If climate change is not taken into account, nuclear power remains unpopular, with 59 per cent of respondents adamant that it should be scrapped. Increasing renewable energy sources remains the most popular means of reducing carbon emissions, with 78 per cent in favour, followed by 76 per cent calling for a reduction in energy use. The findings of the poll, carried out by Mori for the University of East Anglia, will be presented today to a group of academics and energy policy experts at a conference at the Royal Society in London. Next week the government is to announce the terms of reference of a review of Britain's energy needs. Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd. ***************************************************************** 33 UPI: Uranium unguarded in shuttered reactors United Press International - Security &Terrorism - 1/16/2006 9:01:00 AM -0500 Newstrack: WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- While the United States and Europe debate what to do about Iran's plan to enrich uranium, arms control experts warn about a more present danger. "The greatest opportunity for would-be nuclear terrorists or countries seeking a quick bomb or two are poorly secured sites that contain significant quantities of highly enriched uranium," states a paper in the January issue of Arms Control Today. Unlike plutonium, HEU can be worked without special protections and can be made into a relatively simple bomb. According to the authors, Alexander Glaser and Frank N. von Hippel, there are 258 shuttered nuclear reactors worldwide that have not been properly decommissioned. They contain between 50 and 100 metric tons of HEU, enough for 1,000 bombs -- and most are not under proper guard. "Many of these facilities are in urban locations with only modest security, presenting potential targets to would-be nuclear terrorists. A large fraction are in Russia, which has yet to give adequate priority to cleaning out facilities containing HEU that is no longer needed. At several sites, there is enough HEU to make more than 10 gun-type weapons," the paper states. Russia, which accounts for about one-third of the world's HEU-fueled reactors and more than half of the world's civilian HEU, has yet to make a commitment to convert or decommission any of its own HEU-fueled research reactors. President George W. Bush took pressure off of Russia to do so at a February 2005 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders agreed to limit to "third countries" U.S.-Russian cooperative efforts to deal with the danger from HEU-fueled reactors. China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States account for more than 90 percent of the global civilian HEU inventories and demand. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 34 AU ABC: Mine holds China uranium talks Monday, 16 January 2006. 15:03 (AEDT)Monday, 16 January 2006. The Honeymoon uranium mine, in north-east South Australia 75 kilometres north-east of the far western New South Wales city of Broken Hill, is in talks with China to sell its product. Neal Freneman, the president and chief executive officer of SXR Uranium One, says it will have no problem selling its uranium because of a worldwide shortage. Mr Freneman says Honeymoon will wait for their best offer before it makes any final decisions. "As long as China complies with all the necessary uranium requirements, we would have no problem supplying China but, as you know, it is a competitive market so where we can get the best contracts is where we will focus," he said. ***************************************************************** 35 Sunday Herald: Fiasco of secret nuclear waste tips - By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor INVESTIGATIONS have been launched into the risks to public health and safety posed by secret radioactive waste dumps on the North Ayrshire coast, the Sunday Herald can reveal. Thousands of cubic metres of contaminated rubbish from Hunterston nuclear power station have been dumped in five shoreline pits accessible to the public. Yet official records of what the pits contain have been destroyed. Recent monitoring of the Ayrshire foreshore has uncovered unexpectedly high levels of radioactivity, and there are mounting concerns that the pits could be eroded or flooded by the rising sea levels caused by global warming. The emerging story of the hitherto unknown waste pits has been described as a scandal and a fiasco by critics, who are calling for urgent action to clean up the mess. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and North Ayrshire Council have both stressed the importance of ensuring public safety. The five pits are on reclaimed land outside the perimeter fence of the Hunterston A nuclear site, near West Kilbride. The two ageing reactors on the site were closed down 16 years ago, though more modern reactors at the adjoining Hunterston B site are still generating electricity. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the government agency which is now overseeing the clean-up of Hunterston A, says the pits contain about 6500 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste. This is thought to include contaminated soil, rubble and concrete dumped between 1977 and 1982. But according to the British Nuclear Group, the state-owned company that runs Hunterston A, documents detailing the dumped material have been thrown away. They had been damaged by water leaking into the room where they were stored. Now surveys for the company have detected elevated contamination readings at the pits. A patch of soil on the surface of one of the pits was found to contain traces of the radioactive isotope caesium-137. The British Nuclear Group, which used to be known as British Nuclear Fuels Limited, has commissioned a series of studies from consultants. Experts have been probing the pits in an attempt to find out what they actually contain and what needs to be done about them. Another study is examining the condition of the foreshore and its vulnerability to the long-term effects of climate change, which is predicted to result in rougher and higher seas. As the Sunday Herald revealed in November, this is a problem facing many coastal nuclear sites. Information about the waste pits has emerged only because of persistent questioning by Rita Holmes, who represents Fairlie Community Council on the Hunterston Site Stakeholder Group. These revelations show just how badly the industry has behaved, she said. It dumped contaminated waste on public land for years and then managed to lose the records of what it had dumped. As a result, we now have no clear idea of the threat that the pits pose to public health, she added. This is a scandal, and it will shock people locally and across Scotland. I fear that the pits are just the tip of the iceberg of the mess we face cleaning up Hunterston A. Holmes thought that the new investigations might help but would not reveal all the dangers. The only way to be sure is for all 6500 cubic metres to be examined, she argued. Then, if there is a real risk of erosion, flooding and leakage, waste will need to be dug out and taken elsewhere. Goodness knows what problems remain to be discovered. Chris Ballance MSP, the Greens speaker on nuclear issues, said: All of this shows how completely irresponsible and reprehensible the behaviour of the nuclear industry has been. This new and disturbing fiasco at Hunterston is yet another example of the problems of dealing with a dirty and dangerous technology of the past. The sooner we move on to sustainable energy for Scotland, the better. The discovery of higher levels of radiation than expected in an area to which the public has been allowed access for years was worrying. In the circumstances, it is important that the investigations under way are urgent and thorough, Ballance maintained. Sepa said it was aware of the waste pits, but records on them had not been transferred from the previous regulator, the Scottish Development Department. Sepa expects the British Nuclear Group to develop and implement a plan to deal with any risks to the environment and public health, said a spokeswoman for the agency. The British Nuclear Group accepted that public access to the waste pits had been possible, but insisted that the levels of radioactive contamination were too low to pose any risk. The area of elevated contamination had been fenced off during investigations. A characterisation study has been commissioned to assess the contents of the pits, said a company spokes man. Early indications are that the vast majority of the pit contents are at levels that would not be classified as radioactive waste. The company also confirmed that a contractor had been engaged to assess the potential long-term imp act of rising sea levels. It is too early to speculate on options, but these will be considered in conjunction with the outcome of the studies to characterise the very low level waste pits, the spokesman said. Brian Hough, from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, added: We are satisfied that the British Nuclear Group is working closely with industry regulators such as Sepa, and other stakeholders, to ensure that issues such as the safe disposal of radioactive waste are being properly addressed. North Ayrshire Council, however, sounded a less reassuring note. The council said it had only recently been made aware of the waste pits, and was concerned about whether they had ever been granted proper permission. We are currently checking to see whether planning permission would have been required and whether an application was received by the then planning authority, a spokeswoman told the Sunday Herald. North Ayrshire Council takes the safety of its residents very seriously and will work in whatever way required with its partner organisations to ensure this. 15 January 2006 © newsquest (sunday herald) limited. all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 36 Guardian Unlimited Business: Amec alliance bids for UK nuclear clean-up work Mark Tran Monday January 16, 2006 The engineering giant Amec today announced that it had teamed up with a US company and a British public sector group to bid for nuclear clean-up projects. In alliance with the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the US construction firm CH2M, it will bid for work on sites among Britain's 20 civil nuclear facilities, which are being decommissioned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Bidding will start in April, and the work is expected to be worth £2bn a year. The market for decommissioning nuclear plants is worth an estimated £56bn. The UKAEA said the new alliance would also try to win contracts abroad, including in eastern Europe and former Soviet Union countries. "UKAEA has led the way in decommissioning in this country, including the complete dismantling of 15 of our 26 research reactors and accelerated programmes for our sites, resulting in very substantial savings on costs," Dipesh Shah, the chief executive of UKAEA, said. UKAEA has been involved in running and cleaning up a number of nuclear research sites for more than 50 years. It said the new alliance marked the start of competition to decommission nuclear power stations and it aimed to "maintain our leading role". Mr Shah said the two private companies had been chosen from more than 70 wanting to work with the UKAEA. Sellafield and Windscale, in Cumbria, Dounreay and Chapelcross, in Scotland, Sizewell A, in Suffolk, and Trawsfynydd, in north Wales, are among the sites to be decommissioned. Ralph Peterson, the president of CH2M Hill, said his company had a track record of making huge savings in decommissioning nuclear sites in the US. "This team has the right blend of nuclear and commercial skills to win a sizeable slice of [the UK's nuclear decommissioning market worth] £2bn a year," Peter Mason, the Amec chief executive, said. Meanwhile, the leader of one of the country's biggest unions, Amicus, today backed the use of nuclear power in the face of a "mounting energy crisis". "The nation's energy needs will be hostage to politically unstable states unless the government's energy policy promotes clean coal technology and new nuclear power build," Derek Simpson, the Amicus general secretary, said. Useful link Amec [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 37 The Herald: Missing inventories at nuclear waste dump Web Issue 2443 January 16 2006 ALAN MacDERMID A nuclear waste dump on the Ayrshire coast is being examined by experts to find out what is in it, after an inventory of its contents was accidentally destroyed. There is known to be about 6500 cubic metres of low-level waste, mostly rubble, from the now defunct Hunterston A power station. It is buried in five pits on the foreshore next to the Hunterston site, in an area which was until recently open to the public. Environmentalists have raised fears about the possible encroachment of sea water into the area as a result of global warming. Water has already caused the problem about what is in the pits. The inventory documents were stored in a building and then damaged when water leaked in, and had to be destroyed. A spare set, supposed to have been transferred to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency by the Pollution Inspectorate, has gone missing. A spokesman for the British Nuclear Group (formerly British Nuclear Fuels) said: "We are doing two lots of investigations: one is to find out exactly what is in the pits, and the other to determine what we should do with it. However we know it is in a separate category known as very low-level waste." He said that the public had access to the area, but "it has now been fenced off because of the drilling equipment we have working there to take samples". Copyright © Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 38 Independent: Amec alliance eyes up £56bn nuclear clean-up contracts By Michael Harrison, Business Editor Published: 17 January 2006 The UK Atomic Energy Authority is to team up with the engineering group Amec and a US partner to bid for £56bn worth of clean-up work at Britain's civil nuclear sites. The decommissioning of the 20 electricity generation, fuel reprocessing and nuclear research sites is valued at £2bn a year and about half of the contracts are due to be let by the end of 2008. Dipesh Shah, the chief executive of the state-owned UKAEA, said the new partnership hoped to win the clean-up work at eight of the locations - four of which are UKAEA sites. The contracts will be awarded by the Government's new Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which has said the £56bn cost estimate is a conservative one which could easily rise to more than £60bn. In the longer term, the UKAEA's clean-up division could be privatised, although Mr Shah stressed this would ultimately be a decision for the Government as its sole shareholder. The other partner in the UKAEA consortium is the American engineering company CH2M Hill, which is involved in the US nuclear decommissioning programme. The UKAEA partnership will face strong competition from British Nuclear Group, which operates British Nuclear Fuels' four sites including Sellafield and the country's fleet of Magnox nuclear stations. The Government is selling off BNG in a move which is expected to raise about £200m. Competition is also likely to come from Bechtel and Fluor of the US and the French nuclear reprocessing and clean-up company Cogema, who are also likely to form partnerships, possibly with groups in the UK, to bid for the work. Mr Shah said that as the clean-up programme developed, it was likely to account for two-thirds of the UKAEA's turnover of £400m a year. He also said the partnership with Amec and CH2M Hill would be well placed to win decommissioning contracts from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The market there is also estimated at £2bn a year. Amec, which counts UKAEA, BNFL, British Energy and the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston among its clients, is disposing of its traditional construction activities to concentrate on nuclear and oil. CH2M Hill is an employee-owned, Denver-based company with 15,000 workers and turnover of $3bn (£1.7bn). It is involved in a range of activities from nuclear services and transportation to water and energy. © 2006 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 39 Guardian Unlimited: Putin: Iran Considering Enrichment Offer From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 16, 2006 4:17 PM AP Photo MOSB109 By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Iran has not excluded the possibility of conducting its uranium enrichment in Russia, raising hope for a proposal that could be a way out of escalating tensions over Iran's nuclear program. The Russian proposal, backed by the Europeans and the United States, is aimed at getting Iran to move uranium enrichment completely out of its territory to ensure that its nuclear program cannot produce weapons. Enrichment can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material needed for a warhead. ``One of the main problems is the enrichment of uranium,'' Putin said after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. ``We have heard various opinions from our Iranian partners on that issue. One of them has come from the foreign ministry - our partners told us they did not exclude the implementation of our proposal.'' ``In any case, it's necessary to work carefully and avoid any sharp, erroneous moves,'' he said. Iran last week removed U.N. seals on its uranium enrichment facilities, defying international pressure not to resume some nuclear activities, which can be used to develop fuel for reactors or material for atomic weapons. Amid growing international concern that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, Moscow last year proposed that uranium for Iran be enriched in Russia. That would ensure oversight so that the uranium would be enriched only to the level needed for use in reactors at Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant rather than to the higher level needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries have threatened to take Iran before the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions, over the dispute but would need support from veto-wielding members Russia and China. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that the Kremlin did not exclude supporting such a move, although it had previously said it saw no need to do so. Merkel, making her first visit to Russia as Germany's leader, said she talked to Putin about the ``irritation'' caused by legislation passed by Russia's parliament last month that would severely limit nongovernmental organizations. She also was to meet with human rights groups. ``I emphasized that we will very closely follow that the law is implemented in such a way that NGOs would be able to continue their work,'' Merkel said. Putin, who has not signed the bill into law, said Monday that the Russian parliament had modified the legislation in line with the Council of Europe's advice but stressed it was necessary to exclude ``nontransparent funding of domestic political activities.'' He added that ``we will see to it that after the law on non-governmental organizations comes into force ... no harm will be done to NGOs functioning in accordance with their stated goals.'' Merkel said she and Putin failed to immediately find common ground on some issues, such as the conflict in Chechnya, but emphasized her desire to develop stronger ties with Russia. ``I'm confident that we can expand our cooperation and partnership, broaden its foundation and make it more intensive,'' she said. During her campaign, Merkel vowed to maintain Germany's strategic partnership with Moscow, but many think she will take a more sober view of Russia, in part as a result of her upbringing behind the Iron Curtain in communist East Germany. That would contrast with the camaraderie between former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Putin, which resulted in the Baltic pipeline intended to feed Germany's growing appetite for natural gas. Russia supplies roughly a third of Germany's natural gas, and Schroeder took a job with the pipeline consortium after leaving office. His critics at home said he failed to push for more democratic change in Russia. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************