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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 GLW: Helen Caldicott: Taking on the uranium maniacs
2 [NYTr] It's About Time the US Started Talking to Iran
3 [NYTr] The March to War: Iran Preparing for US Air Attacks
4 IRNA: 50th IAEA meeting ends with resolution expressing concern over
5 Reuters: INTERVIEW - U.S. steps up questions on Iran nuclear program
6 Reuters: France's Chirac says upbeat over Iran nuclear deal
7 AFP: French, Russian, German leaders discuss Iran
8 AFP: US sanctions push to shadow new round of Iran nuclear talks -
9 Guardian Unlimited: Sanction Talks Underway if Iran Balks
10 UPI: Analysis: Israel concerned by Iran's nukes
11 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Expert: N.Korea to Remove Fuel Rods
12 Guardian Unlimited: Expert: N.Korea to Unload Fuel Rods Soon
13 Hankyoreh: S. Korea, China to meet next week to discuss resuming six
14 Hankyoreh: N. Korea will unload fuel rods in three months - U.S. sch
15 Korea Herald: Hill: U.S. can be 'flexible'
16 Reuters: INTERVIEW - S.Korea, U.S. working to spur nuclear talks
17 BBC NEWS: North Korea 'makes weapon pledge'
18 Guardian Unlimited: Top Chinese Nuke Envoy to Visit S.Korea
19 Japan Times: Stepping up pressure on Pyongyang
20 Korea Times: Seoul, Beijing to Seek Nuclear Breakthrough
21 Korea Times: Time to Resume 6-Party Talks
22 UPI: Analysis: N. Korea squeezed by sanctions
23 UPI: Washington again warns N. Korea on nukes
24 [NYTr] US Intel on Russian, Chinese Nuke Tests 1990-2000
25 US: SF Chronicle: State red tape trips up green energy efforts
26 Guardian Unlimited: Analysis: U.S. Expected Little at U.N.
27 Guardian Unlimited: Ministers urge leadership to open up Trident deb
28 RIA Novosti: Putin says Energy Charter Treaty needs amending
29 IAEA: New Members Elected to the IAEA Board of Governors
30 Russia-InfoCentre: Nuclear Explosions As A Guarantee Of Environmenta
31 IAEA: Chairman´s Report on Assurances of Nuclear Supply & Non-Prolif
32 Guardian Unlimited: Argument over Trident debate
NUCLEAR REACTORS
33 US: Philadelphia Inquirer: Editorial | Nuclear Power Plant Safety
34 US: San Luis Obispo Tribune: Die-off of cormorants investigated
35 US: Beacon Journal: Nuclear reactor back in service
36 US: newsobserver.com: Progress seeks rate raise in Fla.
37 GLW: Nuclear power no solution
38 GLW: Beyond Nuclear symposium held
39 REGNUM: Georgia to build its own nuclear power plant?
40 The Hindu: Koodankulam to have 8 nuclear reactors
41 US: Rutland Herald: Yankee relicensing generates concerns
42 US: APP.COM: Advisory panel will make Oyster Creek assessment
43 US: APP.COM: Reactor's license may hinge on ruling |
44 US: The Ledger Online: Utility: Nuclear Power Cheaper |
45 CNW Telbec: Ontario Power Generation begins federal approvals proces
46 CNW Telbec: Durham continues energy leadership with a step toward ne
47 CNW Telbec: Team CANDU applauds OPG's Decision to Begin Approval Pro
48 CNW Telbec: Azimut stakes a Large Uranium Target in the Ungava Bay R
49 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Panel agrees to extra VY license review
50 MP: Moldovan legislature intensifies collaboration with European
51 IHT: Czech nuclear power plant taken off the grid to fix oil leak -
52 US: JS Online: Is it time to lift the nuclear ban?
53 US: EagleTribune.com: Point: Nuclear power is cheap and reliable
54 US: EagleTribune.com: Counterpoint:Future doesn't favor new nuclear
55 US: St. Petersburg Times: Progress seeks nuclear addition
56 canada.com: Energy conference goes nuclear on energy woes
NUCLEAR SECURITY
57 US: UPI: Analysis: Nuke security B+ hard to qualify
NUCLEAR SAFETY
58 WorldNetDaily: Persian Gulf War III
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
59 Sunday Times: US team to clean beach at Dounreay -
60 US: Sydney Morning Herald: India presses Australia on uranium deal -
61 US: Philadelphia Inquirer: Hard to ignore radioactive slag
62 US: Deseret News: Uranium mill is in hot seat
63 US: Deseret News: Some Goshutes back lease denial
64 US: Deseret News: A new day in Utah's Indian Country
65 US: Austin American Statesman: Uranium mills await resurrection
66 US: Reuters: Tribe gambles on nuclear waste
67 US: Victoria Advocate: Uranium mining is not risk free
68 reviewjournal.com: Freedom of information
69 US: DailyBulletin.com: Group urges toxins action
70 US: DailyBulletin.com: Rialto needs county's help with perchlorate
71 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Inspectors OK radioactive rail cars
72 US: CCDR: Cotter Corp. official remains optimistic over uranium pric
PEACE
73 Central Asia's Nuclear-arms-free Zone Can Spur Stability Elsewhere,
74 Guardian Unlimited: Thousands in nuclear protest rally
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
75 AP Wire: Idaho National Lab replaces nuclear chief with few explanat
76 KnoxNews: Fisk president 'reconnects' with DOE
77 SF New Mexican: 'Super lab'' gets its start at LANL
78 KnoxNews: Y-12 center plans sent to overseers
79 Tri-City Herald: Life-saver in a shell?
80 UCLA Daily Bruin: UC to bid for management of Livermore laboratory
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 GLW: Helen Caldicott: Taking on the uranium maniacs
Green Left Weekly
Nuclear Power is Not the Answer. To Global Warming or Anything Else
By Helen Caldicott
Melbourne University Press, 2006
248 pages, $24.95
REVIEW BY TIM STEWART
Helen Caldicott, veteran campaigner and ferocious critic of
everything nuclear, has published a thoroughgoing attack on the
dirtiest, most expensive industry in the world. The new book is
a welcome addition to the very one-sided “nuclear debate” that
the Howard government launched earlier this year. It answers
most of the arguments that the spin doctors and industry
associations have been parading as a “nuclear renaissance” and
applies some scientific logic to counter the green-washing and
the mystification of nuclear energy.
The book has chapters dedicated to answering many contemporary
questions: the energy cost of the nuclear fuel cycle (the
“cradle to grave” carbon footprint), the full economic costs of
nuclear power, the threat of radiation and disease, accidental
or terrorist-induced nuclear meltdowns, the insurmountable
problems of nuclear waste, and the undeniable link between
nuclear power and nuclear weapons proliferation - whether or not
nations are signatories to the global nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty. Caldicott also spends time discussing renewable energy
and energy conservation programs, presenting them as a clear
path out of the mess that capitalism has created.
While the book can be a bit technical in places (necessary to
answer some of the scientific arguments about the possibility of
building new-generation radioactive-waste-eating reactors, for
instance), it is dotted with some very simple logic for
newcomers to understand and arm themselves against any
pro-uranium maniac.
Caldicott explains early in her book that “nuclear power is just
a very sophisticated way to boil water”. And insanely dangerous
too.
Like using a chainsaw to cut butter, simply trying to control
and contain the stratospheric explosion of energy produced
during a nuclear reaction has, for decades, led to a dark
history of accidents and incidents in nuclear power plants - a
sober reminder that we’re best served by shelving this
technology.
The feedstock for atomic bombs - around 50 kilograms of
plutonium fuel - is produced at the rate of 228kg a year by a
single 1000 megawatt nuclear reactor. Caldicott reminds us that
the “collateral consequences [of nuclear power] will include the
proliferation of nuclear weapons, a situation that will further
destabilise an already unstable world”.
Aside from revisiting debates that were won by opponents of the
nuclear industry through the mass campaigns of the ‘70s and
‘80s, the most useful argument presented by Caldicott is a clear
refutation of the lie that nuclear energy is “emission free” and
a significant step in taking urgent action to reduce greenhouse
gases.
“Nuclear power is not 'clean and green’, as the industry claims,
because large amounts of traditional fossil fuels are required
to mine and refine the uranium needed to run nuclear power
reactors, to construct massive concrete reactor buildings, and
to transport and store the toxic radioactive waste created by
the nuclear process,” she writes.
The total carbon footprint of the nuclear fuel cycle is massive.
It begins at the mining process using heavy industrial
equipment. It continues with the stabilising of the mill
tailings, the conversion of material into uranium hexaflouride;
uranium enrichment; fuel element fabrication and the
construction of the reactor itself - with kilometres of carbon
and stainless steel vessels entombed in concrete towers.
At the end of a reactor’s life, there is decommissioning and
dismantling; cleanup of the industry termed Chalk River
Unidentified Deposits (CRUD) - a collection of radioactive
elements that come from the reactor itself; stabilising used
cooling water containing Tritium and Carbon 14; the
transportation and disposal of high-level and intermediate
waste; and the long-term storage for 240,000 years.
Each of these steps is entirely fossil fuel dependent and energy
hungry in itself. At any of these steps, the nuclear maths does
not add up - for instance, the construction and dismantling of a
gas-fired plant together uses about 24 petajoules of energy
compared to the dismantling of its nuclear equivalent, which
consumes up to 240 petajoules. A petajoule is a million billion
joules of energy.
Peak uranium (the point at which the growth in demand outstrips
the potential for the growth in supply) is also inevitable and
as the concentration of available uranium ore declines, more
fossil fuels will be required to extract the ore from
less-concentrated ore veins.
Using industry figures, Caldicott points out that if nuclear
power is to have a substantial impact on reducing greenhouse
emissions, 2000-3000 reactors of 1000 megawatt size would have
to be built over the next 50 years!
The nuclear industry in the United States is given US$13 billion
in subsidies and tax breaks annually. “This is an industry that
has never actually been exposed to the chill winds of the market
economy,” she says.
A 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study on the future
of nuclear power demonstrated that each 10 cents spent to buy a
single kilowatt hour of nuclear electricity could instead be
spent generating 1.2 to 1.7 kWh of gas-fired electricity.
The energy and climate change debate that has been
opportunistically seized on by the corporate backers of nuclear
power has opened renewed awareness of solar, wind, tidal,
micro-hydro and biomass technologies as flexible and less
environmentally costly options for the planet.
While Caldicott’s book dwells on two of these solutions in
detail - wind and solar - it tends to leave the problem of
resolving the crisis of clean energy in the hands of the free
market and the politicians, firmly attached to the corporate end
of town. She also places a lot of emphasis on measures we can
all take to reduce individual energy use - such as not using
dishwashers and wearing jumpers instead of using heaters in
winter.
The strength of Nuclear Power is Not the Answer is that its
environmental and economic logic that can be used to counter the
Howard and Beazley brigade, who are currently pushing the export
and/or enrichment of uranium.
Caldicott calls for Australians to face up to their “true moral
responsibility, as they did in the 1970s ... when a massive
grass roots movement arose to prevent the mining and export of
uranium. Such intense activism is once again necessary today.”
To combat the “nuclear renaissance” we need an anti-nuclear
revival and Caldicott’s book should be seen as a resource. If
nuclear power is like cutting butter with a chainsaw, then
clearly we need to stop the chainsaw-wielding maniacs who
threaten the existence of many millions of species on this earth
- including ourselves.
From Green Left Weekly, September 27, 2006.
Authorised by K. Miller, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW
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2 [NYTr] It's About Time the US Started Talking to Iran
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2006 02:19:04 -0500 (CDT)
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
International Herald Tribune - Sep 22, 2006
http://iht.nytimes.com/protected/articles/2006/09/22/news/globalist.php
Globalist:
Iranian rhetoric aside, it may be time to talk
By Roger Cohen
International Herald Tribune
NEW YORK--At some point these past few years, diplomacy went out of fashion.
I'm not sure precisely when, but all the signs are that it's time for a
rethink. The world needs a bout of bridge-building.
A little incident this week illustrated the current confrontational
climate. Richard Haass, who ran policy planning at the State Department
during President George W. Bush's first term, got himself into a tight spot
by inviting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to the Council on Foreign
Relations.
Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, disapproved. An outrage, said
Jewish groups that boycotted the meeting. Glib the-next-Hitler rhetoric did
the rounds. Ahmadinejad rambled on for almost two hours, giving vent to
some odious blather and leaving open the fundamental question: is he all
talk or is his menace for real?
Haass, the president of the council, is unrepentant. "I don't see diplomacy
or talking as a favor or an endorsement or a gift," he said. "To me, it's a
tool, and I'm confident that if used right, it can advance our interests."
He continued: "The United States gets itself in trouble when it limits its
options and approaches diplomacy as a value judgment. It's not obvious to
me, looking at the last 50 or 60 years, that we paid a price for talking to
the Soviets. At the end of all the talking, we won the Cold War."
At a time when the Bush administration uses every opportunity to cast the
current war against Islamic fanaticism as comparable in scope and possible
duration with the fight against communism, that's an important point. If we
are really in a Cold War rerun of some sort - a disputed idea - let's at
least deploy some of the lessons we learned.
The first is that non-communication is dangerous. The long-term upshot of
the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, which almost brought nuclear Armageddon,
was the notion that engagement can be useful.
In their various ways, cycles of U.S.- Soviet arms control talks, the
Helsinki Accords of 1975 and the concept of peaceful coexistence enshrined
in the policies of ditente all brought the world back from the brink.
Sure, Helsinki comforted a totalitarian regime by declaring the
inviolability of borders, but it also provided an avenue for the Western
monitoring of human and civil rights issues, and so chipped away at the
communist empire. Sometimes little things produce big results over time.
The second lesson is that the enemy may be large but that doesn't mean it's
monolithic. Richard Nixon understood in 1972 that the United States could
divide its enemy by reaching out to part of it, and so he headed for China.
Just like communism, Islamic fascism, to use the Bush administration's
current favored term for a motley band of anti-Western jihadists, is by no
means one bloc or movement. It's several.
"Until we accept that we're not facing one enemy, we'll just be banging our
head against the problem," Philip Gordon of the Brookings Institution said.
"Bush likes moral clarity, and of course it's easier to talk of good guys
and bad guys. But sometimes you have to deal with the bad guys to get at
the worse guys, and Bush doesn't want to admit that, or the fact that some
of his enemies are killing each other."
They certainly are. Insurgent Sunnis and radical Shiites are heavily into
the mutual slaughter business in Iraq. Along the same Sunni-Shiite divide,
Al Qaeda eyes Hezbollah with suspicion. All the shared slogans - eternal
Palestine, ephemeral Israel, evil America - elide but do not erase these
fault lines.
It is the role of diplomacy to probe at fault lines in order to weaken the
enemy and, over time, incline it to compromise. The braggadocio of
with-us-or-against-us rhetoric has a ring to it and may win elections, but
it ends up creating a mass of people who make the choice: They're against
us. That's costly and potentially dangerous. The world's drift since 2001
is anything but comforting.
Neoconservatives have a foreign policy hero: Ronald Reagan. He's the man
who won the Cold War by standing up to the enemy. He called a spade a
spade: the communist empire was "evil." He deployed Pershing II
medium-range missiles in Europe, starting in 1983, to focus the Soviet
mind. And he embarked on a far-fetched program to shoot down Soviet
missiles in space.
But Reagan also went to Reykjavik and embraced Mikhail Gorbachev and
accepted the so-called "double- zero option" that involved removing those
Pershing missiles. In short, he engaged. He talked.
Perhaps the Bush administration, chastened by Iraq, feels it is following a
similar arc. A softening of Bush's tone was discernible at the United
Nations this week. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said talks with
Iran had gone into "extra innings." He added, "We are seeking a diplomatic
solution."
For that, the West may have to drop its insistence that Iran end all
nuclear enrichment activities before negotiations begin. "I would simply
suggest that we not worry so much about preconditions," Haass said. "Who
cares about the entry costs? It's the exit results that matter."
Burns knows about effective carrot- and-stick diplomacy. He was a central
member of the team led by Richard Holbrooke that a decade ago cudgeled the
warring parties in Bosnia into a compromise that has held. That exercise
involved sitting down with mass murderers. Up to now, Ahmadinejad has only
talked the talk.
Let's think about this. Any chance of controlling the mayhem in Iraq
without Iranian cooperation? Nope. Any chance of a peace between Israel and
Palestine without Iran putting a brake on its surrogates? Nope. Any more
promising potential partner on the other side of the widening abyss between
the West and radical Islam? Nope.
In the Bush-led quest to transform the Middle East, a stick has been
applied in Iraq. Its corollary almost certainly has to be a carrot deployed
in Iran. It's time to swallow hard and start talking.
*
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3 [NYTr] The March to War: Iran Preparing for US Air Attacks
Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 15:00:36 -0400 (EDT)
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) - Sep 21, 2006
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=N20060921&articleId=3299
The March to War: Iran Preparing for US Air Attacks
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
Iran is bracing itself for an expected American-led air campaign. The latter
is in the advanced stages of military planning.
If there were to be war between the United States and Iran, the aerial
campaign would unleash fierce combat. It would be fully interactive on
multiple fronts. It would be a difficult battle involving active movement in
the air from both sides.
If war were to occur, the estimates of casualties envisaged by American and
British war planners would be high.
The expected wave of aerial attacks would resemble the tactics of the
Israeli air-war against Lebanon and would follow the same template, but on a
larger scale of execution.
The U.S. government and the Pentagon had an active role in graphing, both
militarily and politically, the template of confrontation in Lebanon. The
Israeli siege against Lebanon is in many regards a dress rehearsal for a
planned attack on Iran.1
A war against Iran is one that could also include military operations
against Syria. Multiple theatres would engulf many of the neighbors of Iran
and Syria, including Iraq and Israel/Palestine.
It must also be noted that an attack on Iran would be of a scale which would
dwarf the events in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Levant. A full blown war on
Iran would not only swallow up and incorporate these other conflicts. It
would engulf the entire Middle East and Central Asian region into an
extensive confrontation.
An American-led air campaign against Iran, if it were to be implemented,
would be both similar and contrasting in its outline and intensity when
compared to earlier Anglo-American sponsored confrontations.
The war would start with intense bombardment and attacks on Iran's
infrastructure, but would be different in its scope of operations and
intensity.
The characteristics of such a conflict would also be unpredictable because
of Iran's capabilities to respond. And in all likelihood, Iran would launch
its own potent attacks and extend the theatre of war by attacking U.S. and
American-led troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf.
The United States must also take into account the fact that Iran unlike
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon would be an opponent with the capability to
resist the US sponsored attacks on the ground, but also on the sea and in
the air.
Unlike the former opponents faced by the United States and its partners,
Iran would be able to target the military launch pads used by the United
States. Iran would also be able to attack the U.S. supply and logistical
hubs in the Persian Gulf. American ships carrying supplies, troops, and
warplanes would be vulnerable to Iranian counter-attacks by way of Iranian
missiles, warplanes, and naval forces. It is no mere coincidence that Iran
has been demonstrating its military capabilities during the "Blow of
Zolfaqar" war games conducted in late August .2
Iranian Preparations for an American-led Air Campaign
The United States has continually threatened to attack Iran. These threats
are made under the pretext of halting the development of nuclear weapons in
Iran. The development of nuclear weapons by Iran is something the IAEA and
its inspectors have refuted as untrue3, but the United States insists on
continuing the charade as grounds for a military endgame with Iran.
The threat of an American-led attack against Iran with the heavy
involvement of Israel and Britain, amongst others, has primed Iran to
prepare itself for the anticipated moment. Over the years, this has led Iran
to stride for self-sufficiency in producing its own advanced military
hardware and the development of asymmetrical tactics to combat the United
States.
Iranian defense planners have stated publicly that they have learned from
the cases of neighbouring Afghanistan and Iraq. They are acutely aware of
the U.S. military's heavy reliance on aerial strikes.
August 2006 saw the start of the virtually unprecedented events of the Blow
of Zolfaqar war games throughout Iran and its border provinces.4 These were
similar to those conducted in April 2006. The latter were also held during a
period of tense confrontation between Iran and the United States.
April 2006 was a period that could have resulted in military conflict
between both the United States and Iran. In April 2006, Iran had not only
dismissed the deadline set on its nuclear program, but it announced in
defiance to the United States that it had successfully enriched uranium for
the first time.
Iran has taken the opportunity of the launching of both the April 2006 and
Blow of Zolfaqar war games to display its preparedness and capability to
engage in combat. Additionally, Iran has taken the occasion to fine tune its
defenses and mobilize its military apparatus. This exhibition of Iranian
military might is intended to deter America's intent to trigger another
Middle Eastern war.
During the war games, the Iranian military has adjusted and modified its air
defense shield for maximum dexterity and efficiency in preparation, to stop
incoming missiles and invading aircraft..5 The war games have been an
opportunity for testing of Iranian capacity to wage war in the air
The Iranian military has also reported the testing of laser-guided weaponry,
advanced torpedoes, ballistic missiles, anti-ship missiles, bullets that
pierce through bullet-proof vests, and electronic military hardware during
the Blow of Zolfaqar war games.6 Surface-to-surface and ocean-to-surface
missiles (submarine-to-surface missiles) in the Persian Gulf were also
tested in late-August 2006. These included missiles that are invisible to
radar and can use multiple warheads or carry multiple payloads to hit
numerous targets simultaneously.
Iran has also tested a "2,000 pound guided-bomb with long-range
capabilities." This "2,000 pound bomb" is said to be a "special weapon
developed for penetrating military, economic and strategic targets located
deep underground or on the soil of the [impending] enemy."7 In the case of
war, this weapon could be directed against Anglo-American military
infrastructure in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf. This guided bomb
is an unmanned aircraft carrying an explosive warhead. Following the
execution of the Blow of Zolfaqar war games, the Iranian Defense Minister
stated that "Iran now joins the few countries that possess guided missile
technology,"8
Iran has also been manufacturing its own warplanes,9 submarines, attack
helicopters, tanks, torpedoes, and missiles. This includes remote-controlled
modified Maverick Missiles.10 Brigadier-General Amini, the Deputy Commander
of the Air Branch (Air Force) of the Regular Forces, has highlighted that
Iran has starting the development and manufacturing of new types of
warplanes besides the "Lighting fighter jets" that have been showcased in
Northern Iran.11
To discourage the United States in its plans to attack Iran, the Iranian
military has additionally been showcasing its abilities to dog fight in the
air with its fighter jets.12 Iranian fighter and bomber jets have been
progressively equipped with advanced software and hardware, developed in
Iran or by way of technology transfers from China, the Russian Federation,
and the republics of the former Soviet Union.
Iranian Commanders have also stated that Iran can track and hit warplanes
without using conventional radar. Iran has also been showcasing its signal
jamming devices and electronic military hardware, which it compares to NATO
standards13.
Warnings to the United States To Stop Its War Plans
In Iran military commanders and state officials have also directly warned
the United States to halt its march towards war in the Middle East. An
account of a statement by Major-General Salehi, commander of the Iranian
Army, sums up the generic view of Iranian military officials and planners in
the advent of another Middle Eastern war initiated by the United States;
"Pointing to the joint maneuvers to be carried out by the U.S. army [meaning
military] and some other countries in the regional waters in the coming
days, the General said that the U.S. presence in the region [Middle East] is
considered as a threat to the security of the regional countries, and
further warned Washington that in case the U.S. dares to practice threats
[by actually attacking], it will then have to face a defeat as bad as the
one that the Zionists [Israel] had to sustain in Lebanon."14
The Iranian Defence Minister has said "that his ministry is now equipping
the border units of the army with modern military tools and weapons in a bid
to increase their military capabilities,"15 and "that any possible enemy
invasion of Iran will receive a severe blow, adding that failures of alien
troops [meaning U.S., British, Coalition, and NATO forces] in Iraq and
Afghanistan have taught trans-regional powers extreme caution."16
Other examples of public warnings by Iranian military commanders directed at
the United States and its partners include; Acting Deputy Commander
[Brigadier-General Ahmadi] of the Iranian Mobilized Forces (Basij), noting
the intensification of the psychological operations and pressures against
Iran, stressed that his troops are fully prepared to encounter "any stupid
act by the enemies."17 (September 9, 2006) [Brigadier-General Mohammad
Hejazi] advised the U.S. to relinquish the idea of invading Iran, stressing
that as soon as the U.S. dares to make such a big mistake, it will lose its
forged reputation due to its [the U.S. military's] frequent and shocking
defeats from the Iranian troops.18 (September 10, 2006)
[Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major-General Safavi has
warned that Revolutionary Guard] ground troops form a defensive force, but
meantime warned that in case any foreign threats are posed to Iran, [assured
that the] IRGC adopts an aggressive strategy and hits enemy targets in
strategic depth. He also described the southwestern province of Khuzestan as
the most strategic region of the country, saying, "Considering that
Khuzestan is a border province located at our sensitive borders with Iraq
where British and American occupying troops aim at devising cultural and
security plots for Khuzestani people through their intelligence
organizations and bodies, IRGC and Basij troops should maintain their
preparedness at [the] highest levels possible in order to confront and
defuse any such measures by the enemies."19 (September 13, 2006: Also See
British Troops Mobilizing on the Iranian Border)
During the August war games, Iranian military commanders claimed, in a
gesture directed towards the United States, Britain, and Israel, "that no
air force of any power stationed in the Middle East is capable of
confronting the Iranian military's ground forces."20
This might seem like a psychological tactic to influence morale on both
sides and deter any possible aerial assaults against Iran. This statement
cannot be easily overruled if a comprehensive analysis is made and studied.
In this regard, one must look at Lebanon, where Hezbollah and the Lebanese
Resistance were able to withstand Israeli air raids and overcome the Israeli
military on the ground. The Lebanese Resistance is reported as being armed
and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. What would an Iranian
defensive of a larger magnitude, with state resources and air capabilities,
be like?
The anticipation of a conflict are also coming from Iraq. Iraqi leaders have
been charging that the United States and Britain plan on attacking Iran from
Iraqi territory. Government representatives of Anglo-American occupied Iraq
have asked that Iraq not be turned into a theatre of war between the United
States and Iran. "We do not want Iraq to become an arena where other states
[i.e., the United States, Britain, and Iran] settle their accounts,"21 said
the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih while visiting the Iranian
capital, Tehran. This message looked as if it was mainly directed at the
United States, as well as Iran.
Iran Always a Military Objective for the United States Washington: "Anyone
can go to Baghdad! Real Men go to Tehran!"
According to Michel Chossudovsky (The Next Phase of the Middle East War,
September, 2006), the war on Iran is another phase of a "military roadmap"
which includes the invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) and the
Anglo-American sponsored Israeli siege of Lebanon (2006) as earlier stages.
In May, 2003 after the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the
motto in Washington D.C. was "Anyone can go to Baghdad! Real men go to
Tehran!" One should ask why "real" men would continue towards Tehran after
the invasion of Iraq. This slogan demonstrates that Iran was an objective or
a phase in a broader military operation. With that said, Washington would
prefer some form of internal "non-violent" regime change in Iran leading to
American control of the Iranian economy and oil resources rather than a
high-risk and high cost military confrontation. The shape and nature of this
conflict, however, is uncertain.
The possibility of conflict with Iran and a major aerial assault are widely
known.
The United States has been planning to attack Iran for years. Colonel Sam
Gardiner (Retired, U.S. Air Force) has stated that the campaign against Iran
is one where "the issue is not whether the military option would be used,
but who approved the start of operations already."
The March to War with Iran and Syria
With time fleeting, the Iranian military is positioning itself in battle
formations under the pretext of nationwide war games and other pretexts.
Iran has been steadily strengthening its air defenses and air units in
preparation for the possibility of strikes. Iranian and Syrian coordination
is also intensifying with the passing of time.
An attack on Iran and Syria would be a combination of heavy air bombardment
by the U.S. Air Force, including the U.S. Army's air units. It would also
include a ground offensive led by the U.S. Marines and Army from the
American bases surrounding both Iran and Syria. The U.S. Navy and Coast
Guard would predominately manage the theatre of war in the Persian Gulf,
with a view to guaranteeing the unimpeded flow of oil through the strategic
Straits of Hormuz.
The Israeli military would deal with military operations in the Levant. Both
Israeli troops and Israeli public opinion are being prepared for the
possibility of another Middle Eastern conflict. In this context, Israel
would face the possibility of aerial assaults from Iran. Iran has
threatened to retaliate if it is attacked, using its ballistic missiles.
British and Australian forces in southern Iraq would deploy with the
strategic aim of occupying the Iranian province of Khuzestan and securing
its oil. Khuzestan is where most of Iran's oil fields are located. Meanwhile
a naval build-up is developing in the Persian Gulf which also includes the
U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Navy.
The United States and its partners meanwhile are continuing to marshal and
siphon their forces into the Middle East and Afghanistan. Both the United
States and Britain have promised troop reductions in Iraq, but are actually
increasing their troop levels. It also seems that a muzzle is being placed
on Lebanon to stop any attacks on Israel by the presence of troops from
member states of NATO.
Syria also seems to be expecting a possible aerial campaign. A vessel
sailing to Syria under the flag of Panama, the "Grigorio I," has been
reported to have been stopped off the coast of Cyprus transporting 18
truck-mounted mobile radar systems and three command vehicles for delivery
to Syria. This equipment appears to be part of an air defence system.22
In Iran, the Intelligence Minister has warned that "enemies are seeking to
create instability in Iran through different measures, including
assassinations, explosions and extensive insecurities" and that "his forces,
in cooperation and coordination with other governmental bodies, have defused
enemies' plots in different Iranian provinces, including Tehran."23
Venezuela has also threatened to halt oil exports in the event of an
Anglo-American aggression against Iran and Syria. Venezuela has gone on to
caution that it will defend Iran "under threat of invasion from the United
States." This was a warning given to the United States by Venezuela during
the Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Cuba.24
The United States has already started to target both Iran and Syria's
financial bodies and institutions in an act of economic warfare. Syria has
in step with Iran taken "preventative steps" in early 2006 by switching from
using the U.S. dollar to using the Euro for all its transactions. The head
of the state-owned Syria Commercial Bank has said that such measures have
been taken to protect Syria from American sanctions (economic warfare).25
Actions have been taken against the large, state-owned Bank Saderat of Iran
by the United States.26 The Bank Saderat has been cut off from the U.S.
financial system and its network(s). This is part of a deliberate objective
to financially cut off Iran from the rest of the world. Three large Japanese
banks, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Sumitomo
Mitsui Banking Corporation have followed in step and will terminate business
with Bank Saderat.27
Notes
1 Seymour H. Hersh, Washing Lebanon: Washington's Interest in Israel's War,
The New Yorker, August 14 & 21, 2006
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060821fa_fact
2 Iranian War Games: Exercises, Tests, and Drills or Preparation and
Mobilization for War?, Global Research (CRG), August 21, 2006
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DAR20060821&articleId=3027
3 IAEA: US report on Iran "Outrageous," Aljazeera, September 15, 2006
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/84145EE0-6DF6-467D-AB67-670A83EF307A.htm
4 Iranian War Games: Exercises, Tests, and Drills or Preparation and
Mobilization for War?, Global Research (CRG), August 21, 2006
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DAR20060821&articleId=3027
5 Iran 'successfully' tests new air defence system, People's Daily,
September 5, 2006
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/05/eng20060905_299651.html
Iranian Missile Test; Xinhua News Agency, September 5, 2006
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/05/content_5050931.htm
6 Iran tests laser-guided bomb during war games, The Hindu, September 5,
2006 http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200609051820.htm
7 Iran completes military exercise by testing 2,000-pound bomb, Pravada;
September 7, 2006
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/07-09-2006/84317-weapons-0
8 Iran tests first-ever 2,000-pound guided bomb: Minister; IRNA, September
6, 2006
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0609065169142007.htm
9 Karimi, Nasser; Iran deploys locally-manufactured warplane, Hindustan
Times, September 6, 2006
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1787643,00050004.htm, Originally
published by the Associated Press
10 Enemy Targets Destroyed by Maverick Missiles, Fars News Agency, September
6, 2006 http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506140347,
Maverick missiles are American made or developed air-to-surface missiles
which are conventionally used to attack armoured units, warships, air
defences, military transport and logistics units, and military depots.
11 Iran to Manufacture a New Jet Fighter, Fars News Agency, September 12,
2006 http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506210548
12 Complicated Dogfight Tactics Exercised during 'Blow of Zolfaqar' War
Games, Fars News Agency, September 4, 2006
http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506130203
Iranian F14s Carry Hawk Missiles Successfully, Fars News Agency, September
4, 2006 http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506130205
13 Iran says ready to combat electronic warfare, Iranmania, Sunday, March
05, 2006
14 Army Prepared to Force Back Trans-Regional Threats, Fars News Agency,
September 6, 2006 http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8506140520
Trans-regional powers mean non-Middle Eastern nations with substantial force
in the Middle East (the region being talked about).
15 Defense Minister: Any Foreign Aggression Responded by Force; Fars News
Agency; September 2, 2006
http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506110568
16 Defence Minister: Any Military Aggression against Iran Struck Back
Heavily, Fars News Agency, September 4, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506130415
17 Mobilize Forces Prepare to Encounter Enemies, Fars New Agency, September
9, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506180167
18 Basij Comander: Enemies Awe Shattered Once they Err, Fars News Agency,
September 10, 2006 http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506190583
19 Commander Warns o IRGC's Aggressive Strategy in Case of Foreign Threats,
Fars News Agency, September 13, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506220539
20 No Air Force Capable of Confronting Iranian Army, Fars News Agency;
August 19, 2006 http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8505280544
21 Iraq Not a Place for Others to Settle Accounts, Fars News Agency,
September 6, 2006 http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8506140551
22 Cyprus finds air-defence systems on Syria-bond ship, Reuters, September,
2006
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=13449090&srcrss/worldNews
23 Intelligence Minister: Enemies Plots Defused in Tehran, Border Provinces,
Fars News Agency, September 13, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506220518
24 Chavez pledge support for Iran, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),
September 15, 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5347978.stm
25 Syria switches to euro amid sanctions threat, Xinhua News Agency,
February 13-14, 2006
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/14/content_4177423.htm
26 Lawder, David; US Treasury say Iran pressure can be unilateral, Reuters,
September 12, 2006
27 Three big Japan banks decide not to deal with Iran's Bank Saderat,
Forbes, September 16, 2006
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/09/16/afx3021822.html
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4 IRNA: 50th IAEA meeting ends with resolution expressing concern over Israel's N-arsenal
Vienna, Sept 23, IRNA
IAEA-Israel-Nukes
Nuclear experts and representatives of 140 world countries
approved a resolution Friday evening sending a serious message
to the Zionist regime regarding the world community's concerns
over its nuclear arsenal which constitutes a stumbling block to
global aspirations to establish a Middle East free of nuclear
weapons.
The resolution was passed by a vote of 89 in favor, two against
and three abstentions at the end of the 50th seasonal meeting of
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.
The dissenting votes were cast by US and Israel.
By passing the resolution, IAEA members have expressed their
serious concern over Israel's notorious nuclear arsenal which is
the threat to regional and international security.
A motion was also filed calling on the Zionist regime to
dismantle its nuclear arsenal but did not pass due to opposition
from certain Western states.
"The (Western) move to block passage of the motion is quite
surprising especially since innocent blood has not yet dried up
in Lebanon," said Syrian delegate Ibrahim Othman obviously
referring to Tel Aviv's month-long offensive in Lebanon which
ended last August through a UN-brokered truce.
Othman said Israel's covert nuclear activities in the region is
a destabilizing factor in efforts to preserve the balance of
power.
Iran was represented in the meeting by Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh,
who said that Iran backs global calls for nuclear disarmament
and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as a
country that is "a main victim" of such weapons.
Recalling the Zionist regime's unprovoked attack on Iraq's
Orisak nuclear facility near Baghdad in 1981, Soltaniyeh said
that Israel's nuclear capability was indeed the serious threat
to regional and international security.
The diplomat regretted the UN nuclear watchdog's inability to
pass a resolution declaring Israel as being the nuclear threat
to the region and the world as proven by its aggressive history
and only managed to issue an official statement by the
watchdog's president.
Declaring such a resolution against the Zionist regime to be a
"a must at this critical juncture," Soltaniyeh called on the
world community to take a firm step to eliminate the Israeli
threat.
Non-aligned members of the IAEA, including Venezuela, Cuba and
some developing nations like South Africa, strongly supported
the idea of an IAEA resolution condemning the Israeli nuclear
threat.
Anti-Israel members of the IAEA also expressed anger at the
"double standards" in enforcement of international law, rules
and regulations as shown in the Western pressure on Iran to
shelve its fledgling nuclear energy programs, while Israel
continues to defy UN resolutions calling on it to scrap its
atomic warheads.
*****************************************************************
5 Reuters: INTERVIEW - U.S. steps up questions on Iran nuclear programme
Saturday September 23, 9:43 AM
OXFORD, England (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence chief John
Negroponte said it was a "major question" whether Iran was
running a secret military programme but stopped short of
accusing Tehran outright.
His comments came late on Friday as major powers at the United
Nations sought to narrow their differences over sanctions
against Iran, which Washington believes wants to develop nuclear
weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy programme.
"We believe that Iran practises denial and deception. So they
devote a lot of effort, we believe, to keeping us in the dark
about what their real intentions are," Negroponte told Reuters
and the International Herald Tribune in an interview.
"So there's always more work and effort that is needed to try
and understand what they are doing in the nuclear area, like for
example, a major question: do they have a secret military
programme, or is the only activity that they've got the activity
that has been declared to the United Nations?
"That's a very, very important question," the director of
national intelligence added in the interview on the sidelines of
a conference run by think-tank Oxford Analytica.
Iran runs a civilian nuclear programme including enrichment of
uranium. But it would require a parallel military programme if
it were to develop a nuclear warhead -- an ambition which it
strongly denies.
Asked if Washington believed Iran was indeed running a secret
military programme, Negroponte paused before replying: "They
certainly have had one in the past, and they certainly in the
past practised denial and deception about what they were doing."
Iran is under threat of U.N. sanctions after ignoring an Aug. 31
deadline to halt enrichment, a process of purifying uranium for
use in nuclear reactors. Uranium enriched to a sufficient degree
can also be used in a nuclear bomb.
Earlier, senior officials of the United States, France, Russia,
China, Britain, Germany and the European Union met at the United
Nations in a bid to narrow their differences over sanctions.
Asked if sanctions against oil-producing Iran would backfire by
sending the price of crude rocketing, Negroponte said: "I
suppose that would depend on what kind of sanctions we agreed
on."
Energy analysts say the price of oil would skyrocket if Iranian
oil were removed from the market, particularly if sympathetic
countries such as Venezuela also withheld production.
Negroponte did not specify the type of sanctions the United
States would seek, but said Washington saw a wide international
consensus for action against Iran.
"I would hope and expect that we'd be able to keep that kind of
consensus going forward," he said.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
6 Reuters: France's Chirac says upbeat over Iran nuclear deal
Saturday September 23, 7:56 PM
Photo: Reuters
COMPIEGNE, France, Sept 23 (Reuters) - French President Jacques
Chirac said on Saturday he was relatively optimistic that a
negotiated solution could be found to the stand off with Iran
over Tehran's nuclear programme.
"I can say, and I think it is a feeling that is shared, that in
this affair, we should do everything to find a solution via
dialogue. Which is always the best way to resolve problems," he
told a news conference with the leaders of Germany and Russia.
"I would say I am relatively optimistic, because it's in my
nature, on the result of the discussions that are taking place
between the six and Iran," he added.
The six powers that made the offer to Iran -- the United States,
France, Russia, China, Britain and Germany -- said the package
was negotiable but conditioned any negotiations on a suspension
of enrichment, a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel in
nuclear power plants or atomic weapons.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
7 AFP: French, Russian, German leaders discuss Iran
by Emmanuel Serot Sat Sep 23, 7:08 AM ET
COMPIEGNE, France (AFP) - Iran" /> 's nuclear ambitions and the
need to secure Russian energy supplies to the EU were expected to
dominate a summit in an elegant chateau north of Paris between
the leaders of France, Russia and Germany.
French President Jacques Chirac" /> hosted his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin" /> and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel Saturday in the 18th century property for another of what
has become a frequent troika gathering.
Conscious that the three-way summit may be his last, Chirac --
who at 73 is not expected to stand for a third mandate in
elections next April -- was keen to set a comfortable and
informal tone with the other two.
Before heading to the chateau, he laid on a dinner in Paris late
Friday for Putin and pinned France's highest award -- the Grand
Cross of the Legion of Honour -- on the Russian president in
recognition of his contribution to their countries' friendship.
Merkel, who arrived in Compiegne in a white jacket, was warmly
greeted by Chirac before all three retired to the halls of the
chateau, which is decorated in Napoleon's imperial style.
Chirac aides said the aim of the meeting was not to make
decisions but to exchange views on subjects of mutual concern.
Among those, Iran's nuclear programme was to loom large.
France and Germany have, along with Britain, been leading
negotiations with Iran to have it curtail its nuclear
development in return for a package of cooperation and trade
deals.
Those talks have hit a rocky stage, with Iran stubbornly
refusing to give ground, leading to increased attention on the
subject from the UN Security Council.
Chirac, hoping to give the talks new impetus, has put France in
the same camp as fellow Security Council permanent members
Russia and China by calling for a threat of UN sanctions to be
suspended while further negotiations take place.
That has forced the United States, which regards Iran as an
arch-foe in search of nuclear weapons, to reluctantly back away
from its push to sanctions.
The European Union" /> 's energy needs, which are in significant
part supplied by Russia's gas reserves, were also to be on the
table.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, on a visit to
Berlin Friday, proposed an energy summit next year and the
creation of an office for a new EU special representative for
energy issues.
As well as Russia, the suggested forum would include oil
producing nations Algeria and Norway as well as Caspian Sea
states Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
The EU, the world's second-largest energy market, is highly
dependent on Moscow, importing around 30 percent of its natural
gas needs from Russia.
It is especially keen to avoid a repeat of January's gas crisis,
when Russia's Gazprom switched off its gas taps to Ukraine amid
a price war, hitting some supplies in western Europe.
More broadly, the talks come amid an apparent drive by Moscow to
assert control over the country's vast energy reserves and
muscle out foreign energy majors in favour of state-backed
Russian ones.
Russia is notably threatening to revoke a licence for French
group Total to develop the Kharyaga oil field, accusing it of
excessive delays -- one of a string of major international
licences that face being cancelled.
But Putin late Friday claimed those reports were "strongly
exaggerated".
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
8 AFP: US sanctions push to shadow new round of Iran nuclear talks -
by David Millikin Sun Sep 24, 1:01 PM ET
NEW YORK (AFP) - Reinvigorated negotiations in Europe this week
about Iran" /> 's suspected nuclear weapons program will be
shadowed in parallel by a determined US drive to ready a list of
sanctions to impose on Tehran if diplomacy fails.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will have a strengthened
mandate from the major powers when he meets with Iranian nuclear
negotiator Ali Larijani for the latest in a series of
negotiating sessions.
The talks are aimed at getting Iran to accept a package of
economic and diplomatic incentives -- including the first direct
diplomatic contacts with the US in 27 years -- in exchange for
suspending a uranium enrichment program that the West fears is
aimed at producing nuclear arms.
The negotiations were given a last chance to succeed after the
US, under pressure from Europe and China, backed down on its
demand for immediate sanctions against Iran for failing to meet
an August 31 UN deadline for freezing the enrichment activities.
At a meeting on the sidelines of last week's UN General Assembly
session in New York, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" />
did however convince her counterparts from Britain, China,
France, Germany and Russia to set a new deadline for imposing
sanctions if the Solana-Larijani talks fail.
Although the date was not revealed publicly, European officials
in private put it in the first week of October.
European leaders have expressed renewed optimism the talks will
succeed after Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
voiced a willingness to suspend enrichment "under fair and just
conditions" during appearances at the General Assembly.
US officials though remain deeply skeptical of the Iranian
regime, suspicious that the Islamic republic is using the talks
to buy time and advance its nuclear program.
"There is no doubt that Iran for the last three years has used
the cover of negotiations to continue to perfect the technical
aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle," John Bolton, the feisty US
ambassador to the United Nations" /> , said last week.
Washington, meanwhile, is pursuing its campaign to find
agreement among the six for a list of graduated sanctions to
build pressure on Iran in the event diplomacy falters.
The topic dominated a string of high-level meetings between Rice
and her counterparts here in New York, to the point that one
senior US official quipped that she had been seeing the Russians
and Chinese for "breakfast, lunch and dinner" over the issue.
A meeting of senior diplomats from the six nations on Friday
focussed on a first phase of sanctions that would target Iran's
nuclear and ballistic missile sectors, according to a diplomat
involved in the talks.
"The core of the sanctions would affect goods, services and
people linked to the ballistic and nuclear sectors," the
diplomat said.
In addition to equipment supplies, the sanctions might also
target travel by scientists or financing or research programs,
the source said.
But a senior US official said after the meeting that there was
still no agreement on even the initial stage of sanctions and
that US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns would continue
virtually daily discussions with his five counterparts on the
issue in coming days.
7Solana and Larijani had been due to resume negotiations last
week in New York, but Larijani failed to show up.
A senior US official suggested the postponement of the
negotiations could be a sign of differences among factions in
Tehran about how to respond to the incentives package by the six
powers -- Germany plus the five premanent members of the UN
Security Council.
"We may be seeing a great debate in Iran about how to react to
the proposal made three months ago by the permanent five
countries plus Germany," the official said.
"We understand that Iran is not a monolithic entity -- there are
lots of voices, there are lots of views being expressed
publicly," he said.
Complicating the diplomacy is the threat of US military action
against Iran if all other attempts to halt its nuclear program
fail.
Washington has refused to take the military option off "the
table" and, since the 2003 invasion of Iraq" /> that followed a
similarly tortuous effort to negotiate with Baghdad over its
suspected weapons of mass destruction, such threats are not
taken lightly.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
9 Guardian Unlimited: Sanction Talks Underway if Iran Balks
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Saturday September 23, 2006 3:46 AM
AP Photo PAR111
By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Key nations trying to curb Iran's nuclear
ambitions are hoping Tehran will agree quickly to suspend
uranium enrichment and return to negotiations, but they are
planning for sanctions if it does not, diplomats said Friday.
Russia, the United States, Britain, France, Germany and China
are pressing for a meeting next week of top negotiators from
both sides and hoping for an answer from Iran. Senior diplomats
from the six nations met Friday to discuss what sanctions should
be imposed on Tehran if it refuses to suspend its enrichment
program, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said.
Oil-rich Iran says it needs uranium enrichment to produce fuel
for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity and insists
its program is peaceful. Enrichment can also create material for
atomic bombs, however, and the United States and other nations
suspect that is Tehran's real goal.
The U.N. Security Council set an Aug. 31 deadline for Iran to
suspend enrichment or face mild initial sanctions. It urged the
Iranian government to respond positively to a package of
incentives put forward in June by the six parties. Iran
responded in a lengthy document that raised many questions.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters in New
York that she was confident that ``everybody is committed'' to
the provisions of the resolution.
``If Iran is not willing to suspend ... its enrichment and
reprocessing activities and enter negotiations, then we will
have Security Council action under Article 41 Chapter 7,'' she
said, referring to the article for sanctions. ``I am absolutely
certain of that and we will do so. We want to give diplomacy its
best chance but I can assure you the time is not endless.''
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the six
parties let the deadline slip after the European Union's foreign
policy chief Javier Solana described his initial meeting with
Iran's top negotiator Ali Larijani as ``constructive.''
The parties had expected Solana and Larijani to meet this week
on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial
meeting, but the Iranian negotiator never made it to New York.
Douste-Blazy said no specific date was set for a Solana-Larijani
meeting, but ``we do hope for next week, and I hope the
beginning of next week.''
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Solana ``is looking to find out
where Larijani is, and then see if they can agree on a mutually
convenient great city of Europe where they can meet.''
Douste-Blazy opened his meeting with reporters, noting that
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said for the first time at
a press conference Thursday that Iran is prepared to negotiate
the suspension of its enrichment activities - if there are fair
conditions.
Ahmadinejad told reporters ``our position on suspension is very
clear.''
``In the package given to the Europeans, we've discussed that.
We have said that under fair conditions and just conditions, we
will negotiate about it - under fair and just conditions, I
repeat,'' the Iranian president said.
French President Jacques Chirac has proposed that at the start
of negotiations, Iran could suspend uranium enrichment and the
Security Council could suspend its push for sanctions.
``I believe that it is important to see rather fast whether the
Iranians do wish or not to suspend enrichment,'' Douste-Blazy
said.
If the Iranians are not open to the package of incentives, he
said, then the Security Council should move ahead with
sanctions.
Burns said he did not expect the foreign ministry political
directors to make a decision Friday on what sanctions should be
included in the first round, should that be necessary.
``We're very much hoping Iran will do the right thing,'' he
said. ``Rather than rely on words, we're going to look at deeds.
That would be full suspension.''
---
Associated Press writer Anne Gearan in New York contributed to
this story.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
10 UPI: Analysis: Israel concerned by Iran's nukes
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence -
9/22/2006 4:35:00 PM -0400
By JOSHUA BRILLIANT UPI Israel Correspondent
TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- In a weekly sermon during
Friday's prayers in Tehran, former President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani indirectly vindicated one of Israel's concerns over
his country's nuclear program.
"Israelis, due to their failure in war on Lebanon and the
problems they are facing inside, are still issuing threats,"
Rafsanjani declared. Then came the warning: Do not ignite fire
and escalate tension, he said according to the Iranian news
agency, IRNA.
Seen from Israel the danger is Iran's increasing power, its
outspoken desire to destroy Israel, and its support of terror.
Once it has a nuclear bomb it would become a much more dangerous
enemy partly because of a protective umbrella it might give
terror organizations. Then threats such as the one Rafsanjani
issued Friday would be much more ominous.
A nuclear capability, "Would give Iran tremendous strategic
leverage. Who in the area would say "no" to a Tehran so armed?"
asked Barry Rubin, Editor of The Middle East Review of
International Affairs and Director of the Global Research in
International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, in Herzliya.
"Such a development would be an inspiration to radical movements
and terrorists to become even more reckless, believing that
Tehran would back them up or at least that their enemies would
be demoralized and the West too afraid to help their intended
victims," he added.
Rubin maintained Iran has become "the sole regional great power"
in the Middle East, partly because of "A high level of Arab
weakness and disorganization."
"Not a single Arab state has any real influence on the others
today. Egypt has turned inward, Syria is isolated, and Iraq no
longer even defines itself as Arab. Only Iran has something to
offer ideologically and is able and eager to promote its
influence across borders," he wrote.
Iran has expanded influence to Iraq, Lebanon, among the
Palestinians, and to parts of Afghanistan.
It sponsors not only the Lebanese Hezbollah but also Hamas and
Islamic Jihad and "In many ways it is the patron of Syria," he
noted.
"At the same time, it has an extremist, adventurous regime that
makes it dangerous but also gives it appeal in the Arab world,"
Rubin continued.
It can portray itself as the real hero in fighting the Israelis
in contrast to Arab governments that are largely inactive.
"With Saddam Hussein in jail and bin Laden apparently
ineffective, the Arab world is looking for some new hero who
postures at standing up to the West. Clearly, (Iranian President
Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad, and thus Iran, are winning more respect
among the Arab masses than the country has hitherto enjoyed,"
Rubin noted.
Iran's extensive support for Hezbollah, providing it with arms
and advisors, increased its own prestige "and potentially its
influence in the Arab world." Iran provided most of the weapons
and equipment that Hezbollah used in this summer's war with
Israel, he noted.
Obtaining a nuclear bomb does not mean it would immediately
attack Israel.
Iran might not be a "crazy state" and the ruling establishment
"certainly shows signs of caution at times and an ability to
read the balance of power."
However, "the mainstream Iranian establishment is the group that
has already proven to be the world's leading sponsor of
terrorism, a determined wrecker of Arab-Israeli peace, a prime
source for anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism, and a
determined enemy of the status quo in the Arab and Muslim
worlds," wrote Rubin.
He ridiculed Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is not
aimed at obtaining a nuclear bomb.
Iran has not spent a fortune developing long-range missiles
capable of carrying nuclear weapons to distant targets "in order
to build an overnight international mail delivery service to
compete with Federal Express," he wrote.
But while it would not necessarily immediately use its weapons
against Israel, "The principal concern ... is that Tehran would
be able to do so whenever it wanted; and thinking about the kind
of people -- both in terms of their responsibility and ideology
-- who would control that decision makes it a frightening
prospect indeed," Rubin stressed.
He predicted Middle Eastern states would ask the West for,
"Serious guarantees to intervene, even to the point of using
nuclear weapons if Iran were to threaten them."
Failure to provide such guarantees "Would mean a collapse of
Western credibility in the region," he wrote. On the other hand
extending them "Would mean that some day that promise might have
to be fulfilled," he added.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
11 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Expert: N.Korea to Remove Fuel Rods
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Saturday September 23, 2006 7:16 PM
By ALEXA OLESEN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING, (AP) - North Korea is planning to remove fuel rods at a
nuclear reactor within the next three months in what would be a
significant boost to its nuclear weapons capability, an American
expert said Saturday.
Selig Harrison, director of the Asia program at the
Washington-based Center for International Policy, said North
Korea's vice foreign minister told him in Pyongyang this week
the secretive communist regime would unload the rods at the
Yongbyon reactor ``beginning this fall, and no later than the
end of the year.''
The North Korean official would neither confirm nor deny the
country was planning to conduct its first known nuclear test,
Harrison said. Last month, foreign intelligence reports said
unusual activity at a possible testing site had been detected,
sparking fears of an imminent test.
The Yongbyon reactor has been at the center of U.S. concerns
about North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The reactor's spent
fuel rods can be mined for plutonium, which can then be used to
construct nuclear bombs.
Removing the fuel rods is ``a significant new development
because it underlines that North Korea is enhancing its weapons
capability,'' Harrison said.
``Every time they unload it, they are getting a new increment of
plutonium to be reprocessed and they are adding to the number of
weapons that they could make,'' he said.
North Korea last removed fuel rods at the facility in June 2005
and was not due to do so again until June 2007, Harrison told
reporters in Beijing shortly after arriving from a four-day stay
in North Korea.
``They are speeding it up because they want to use Yongbyon as
leverage to get bilateral negotiations with the United States,''
he said.
North Korea has long sought direct talks with Washington over
its nuclear program, but the U.S. has insisted on six-nation
negotiations that also include China, Russia, Japan and South
Korea.
Those talks have been stalled since November 2005 because the
North refuses to return until the U.S. lifts financial
restrictions against it for alleged counterfeiting and money
laundering. Washington has refused to end them and said the
issue is unrelated to the nuclear standoff.
Earlier this week, Japan and Australia slapped fresh economic
sanctions on North Korea for test-firing seven long-range
missiles in July. The move was meant to pressure Pyongyang to
return to the six-nation negotiations to abandon its nuclear
program.
Harrison has been an occasional visitor to North Korea and the
North's secretive government has often used him to convey
messages to the outside world. During this trip, Harrison said
he met with Kim Yong Dae, vice president of the Supreme People's
Assembly; Lt. Gen. Ri Chan Bok, a senior military figure; as
well as Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
12 Guardian Unlimited: Expert: N.Korea to Unload Fuel Rods Soon
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Saturday September 23, 2006 10:16 AM
By ALEXA OLESEN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) - North Korea is planning to unload fuel rods at
its Yongbyon reactor within the next three months in what would
be a significant boost to its nuclear weapons capability, an
American scholar said Saturday.
During a meeting this past week in Pyongyang, Selig Harrison
said that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan told
him that the communist nation would unload the rods ``beginning
this fall, and no later than the end of the year.''
Removing the fuel rods is ``a significant new development
because it underlines that North Korea is enhancing its weapons
capability,'' Harrison, director of the Asia program at the
Washington-based Center for International Policy, told reporters
shortly after arriving from a four-day stay in North Korea.
The Yongbyon reactor has been at the center of U.S. concerns
about North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The reactor's spent
fuel rods can be mined for plutonium, which then can be used to
construct nuclear bombs.
North Korea has stayed away from six-nation nuclear talks -
which include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. -
since last year in anger over U.S. financial restrictions
against the North for its alleged complicity in counterfeiting
and money laundering.
North Korea has insisted it won't return to the talks unless the
U.S. drops its sanctions. Pyongyang claims to have nuclear
weapons and further stoked regional tension in July by
test-firing a series of missiles over international objections,
drawing condemnation from the U.N. Security Council.
During this trip, Harrison said he met with a vice president of
the Supreme People's Assembly, Kim Yong Dae, a senior military
figure, Lt. Gen. Ri Chan Bok as well as with the foreign
minister.
The North Korean officials would neither confirm nor deny the
country was planning to conduct a nuclear test, Harrison said.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
13 Hankyoreh: S. Korea, China to meet next week to discuss resuming six-party talks
The chief nuclear negotiators of South Korea and China are
scheduled to meet in Seoul on Sept. 29 to discuss ways of
resuming the stalled six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear
weapons program, Seoul's Foreign Ministry officials said
Saturday.
China's Wu Dawei will visit South Korea on Thursday for talks
with South Korea's Chun Yung-woo in Seoul the following day, the
officials said.
The discussions between Chun and Wu will be focused on the
result of South Korea-U.S. consultations now under way in New
York to map out the so-called "common and broad approach" to
solving North Korean problems, said the officials.
The new approach to the North Korean problems was agreed upon at
a summit between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S.
President George W. Bush in Washington on Sept. 14.
Seoul, Sept. 23 (Yonhap News)
Posted at : Sep.24,2006 19:36 KST
© 2006 The Hankyoreh Media Company. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
14 Hankyoreh: N. Korea will unload fuel rods in three months - U.S. scholar
North Korea plans to unload fuel rods from its plutonium-based
nuclear reactor in Yongbyon within three months, the Associated
Press reported Saturday citing a U.S. scholar.
Selig Harrison told a press conference in Beijing shortly after
returning from his five-day visit to the North that Vice Foreign
Minister Kim Kye-gwan said the country will unload the rods
''beginning this fall, and no later than the end of the year,''
the report said.
Kim made it clear to the scholar that the purpose of the fuel
removal was to obtain more plutonium for nuclear weapons, the
report said.
Selig Harrison said, "They are speeding it up because they want
to use Yongbyon as leverage to get bilateral negotiations with
the United States,'' according to the report.
Kim also sought evidence that the U.S. does not plan to change
the North Korean regime, the report said.
Selig Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for
International Policy in Washington, was told by the vice
minister that he was the first U.S. scholar to visit North Korea
this year.
Seoul, Sept. 23 (Yonhap News)
Posted at : Sep.24,2006 19:40 KST
© 2006 The Hankyoreh Media Company. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
15 Korea Herald: Hill: U.S. can be 'flexible'
From news reports
The United States is willing to discuss the financial sanctions
it has imposed on North Korea, if the communist country makes
clear its intent to return to stalled six-party nuclear talks,
Washington's nuclear envoy said Friday.
In an interview with Yonhap News agency in New York, Assistant
Secretary of State Christopher Hill said such discussions can
take place outside the framework of the six-party dialogue and
stressed that Washington is flexible on the matter.
Hill said any decision to lift its financial sanctions against
North Korea will depend on what measures North Korea would take
in the future.
Last year, the U.S. Treasury blacklisted the Macau-based Banco
Delta Asia, accusing it of being a money-laundering window for
North Korea. The move has reportedly hurt the chronically
cash-strapped North.
The BDA issue has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks to
the resumption of six-nation nuclear talks that have been
stalled since November. The talks involve the two Koreas, the
United States, Japan, China and Russia.
Pyongyang claims it cannot return to the six-party unless the
U.S. sanctions are lifted. The United States maintains that its
financial sanctions are not directly linked to the six-party
talks.
Separately, a U.S. State Department official said after meeting
with a group of South Korean lawmakers in Washington that in
addition to Japan and Australia, many other countries are
planning to take action against North Korea in accordance with
United Nations resolution 1695.
The resolution, adopted to penalize North Korea for its defiant
missile launches in July, calls for all U.N. member countries to
stop dealings with North Korea that may help the communist
country's weapons of mass destruction programs.
The U.S. official said Washington is not considering additional
sanctions against North Korea at the moment but stressed that it
will stick to the U.N. resolution.
If North Korea continues to boycott the six-party dialogue, and
attempts additional provocations, the United States can take
further action, he said.
Meanwhile, China's top nuclear envoy plans to visit South Korea
this week to discuss a planned summit and ways to jump-start the
stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Seoul
officials said yesterday.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei is scheduled to visit
Seoul as early as Thursday to "hold related consultations" on
the nuclear issue with South Korean officials and to discuss the
agendas of next month's summit between leaders of South Korea
and China in Beijing, said a South Korean Foreign Ministry
official, asking not to be named, citing policy.
Seoul-Beijing consultations follow similar talks in New York
between South Korean chief nuclear negotiator Chun Yung-woo and
Hill to follow up an accord reached between Seoul and Washington.
In a summit in Washington earlier this month, South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed
to formulate a "joint comprehensive approach" on restarting the
nuclear talks that also involve China, Russia and Japan,
according to South Korean officials.
The United States has not officially commented on the joint
approach and neither side has released details.
North Korea agreed a year ago to give up its nuclear program in
exchange for aid and security guarantees. But negotiations on
implementing the deal have been deadlocked due to Pyongyang's
boycott of the talks in anger over U.S. financial sanctions
blocking its access to outside banks for the regime's alleged
complicity in counterfeiting and money laundering.
2006.09.25
*****************************************************************
16 Reuters: INTERVIEW - S.Korea, U.S. working to spur nuclear talks
Saturday September 23, 9:45 AM
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and South Korea are
working on an initiative to try to restart stalled six-country
talks on the North's nuclear program, South Korean Foreign
Minister Ban Ki-moon said on Friday.
He gave few details but talked about creative ways to entice
Pyongyang back into negotiations, which the communist state has
boycotted since last November.
In an interview with Reuters, Ban said South Korean President
Roh Moo-hyun and President George W. Bush, who met last week in
Washington, "have agreed to develop a common and broad approach
to energize this historic six-party process."
"Because of this long-stalled process, we'd like to think more
about what kind flexible or creative elements we can have to
induce North Korea," he said.
U.S. and South Korean experts are still working on details, but
Ban said the "initiative" would be based on a September 2005
agreement under which North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear
weapons program in return for economic and political benefits.
"On the basis of those elements, we'll try to find more
flexibility or creativity, some more incentives," he said.
"But at the same time North Korea should be prepared to
implement faithfully (its commitments), in accordance with the
joint statement," he added.
U.S. officials were not immediately available to comment on
Ban's remarks.
Roh's government has long been more willing to engage North
Korea and show flexibility on a nuclear deal than the Bush
administration, which critics argue has been too hard-lined to
produce a negotiated solution.
PAPER OVER DIFFERENCES
During last week's Bush-Roh meeting, the two leaders papered
over differences while pledging to work to resume the six-party
talks, but no new ideas were announced.
North Korea has refused to return to the talks with South Korea,
China, Japan, Russia and the United States, demanding that
Washington first end a crackdown on its finances.
Aiming to prove that the talks will not be held hostage by
Pyongyang, the United States invited an expanded group of
countries to discuss North Asian security issues in New York
this week but two key states -- China and Russia -- failed to
attend.
Ban expressed frustration that the six-party process has been
stymied but said Russia and China were concerned that if they
attended the expanded meeting, the North might feel alienated.
The North was invited but also did not show up.
A U.N. Security Council resolution, passed after the North
test-fired seven missiles in July, mandated U.N. member states
prevent the transfer of technology or financial resources
related to Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction programs.
On Tuesday, Japan and Australia took action. Japan effectively
froze remittances and the transfer of funds from Japan by groups
suspected of links to North Korea's weapons of mass destruction
or missile programs, officials said, while Australia slapped
sanctions on foreign exchange transactions involving North
Korean companies in the chemical and machinery sectors, among
others.
South Korea has already acted to strictly curb proliferation and
will faithfully implement the resolution, Ban said without
revealing any specific future steps.
He said there has been no fresh information suggesting the North
might be preparing an underground nuclear test.
(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert) ![]()
The Korea Times > Nation
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
Wu Dawei, China's top envoy to the six-party talks, will visit
Seoul for talks on Friday with his South Korean counterpart Chun
Yung-woo on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs, a Chong Wa
Dae official said on Sunday.
The two officials will discuss the result of South Korea-U.S.
consultations on mapping out the ``common and broad approach''
on the North's nuclear standoff, Song Min-soon, chief
presidential security advisor, told a KBS program.
The new approach, which is not yet clear, was agreed upon at a
summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and President George W.
Bush in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 14.
Song said Seoul and Beijing have already discussed how to design
the approach in principle.
``Pyongyang is also aware of the recent developments,'' he said.
President Roh Moo-hyun also plans to travel to Beijing in
mid-October for a summit with President Hu Jintao in which they
will discuss pending issues, including the North Korean nuclear
problems.
Song underlined the importance of Seoul's role in finding a
breakthrough.
``We are trying to solve this problem by presenting our solution
to the United States and North Korea,'' Song said. ``For this
purpose, our representative is now holding consultations with
his U.S. counterpart.''
Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's top nuclear negotiator who is
staying in the United States for consultations with Christopher
Hill, was originally set to return home on Sunday morning but
extended his stay until Tuesday, ministry officials said.
Meanwhile, Washington on Saturday warned Pyongyang not to
conduct any more ``provocative'' actions and urged it to come
back to the six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programs.
The U.S. State Department's warning came hours after a report
from Beijing that North Korea is planning to get more plutonium
for nuclear weapons.
``Our position remains the same,'' Sean McCormack, spokesman for
the State Department, said. ``They need to return to six-party
talks and refrain from provocative actions which serve only to
isolate them further from the international community.''
In Beijing, Selig Harrison, a U.S. scholar who was fresh from
his four-day visit to Pyongyang, told reporters that North Korea
was planning to unload fuel rods from its reactor in Yongbyon
within three months.
Yongbyon, 100 kilometers north of Pyongyang, is home to the
North's main nuclear installations that include a 5 MWe reactor
and a fuel reprocessing facility that extracts plutonium.
The American scholar heard the North's plan from Kim Gye-gwan,
Pyongyang's top envoy to the six-party talks, who said his
country will remove the fuel rods ``beginning this fall, and no
later than the end of the year,'' the Associated Press reported.
North Korea last removed fuel rods at the reactor in June 2005
and was not due to do so again until June 2007, Harrison said.
``They are speeding it up because they want to use Yongbyon as
leverage to get bilateral negotiations with the United States,''
he said.
Removing the fuel rods is ``a significant new development
because it underlines that North Korea is enhancing its weapons
capability,'' he said.
im@koreatimes.co.kr 09-24-2006 17:23
*****************************************************************
21 Korea Times: Time to Resume 6-Party Talks
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Opinion
Pyongyang Should Accept New US Offer
Christopher Hill, Washington¡¯s chief six-party envoy, said
Friday in New York that the U.S. is ready for face-to-face talks
with Pyongyang if North Korea promises to return to the
six-party talks. His remarks seem to be a retreat from the
earlier U.S. position that the bilateral talks are unthinkable
unless Pyongyang returns to the six-party talks first. U.S.
Ambassador to Seoul Alexander Vershbow also said in an interview
with the Yonhap News last Thursday that Hill can visit Pyongyang
for bilateral talks if the North shows signs of rejoining the
six-way talks.
A series of conciliatory remarks by U.S. officials are seen as
a move by Washington to bring Pyongyang back to the stalled
six-party negotiations. Pyongyang should not miss the
opportunity. The moves may be related to the so-called ¡°common
and comprehensive approach¡± being sought by both nations
according to the agreement reached at the recent Korea-U.S.
summit talks in Washington. Another noteworthy fact is that
those conciliatory remarks came on the heels of the announcement
by Japan and Australia to strengthen sanctions against the North.
Hill also made it clear that the bilateral talks, if realized,
will deal with all pending affairs, including the possible
withdrawal of U.S. economic sanctions as requested by the North.
It is time for the North to change its intransigence and return
to the talks in compliance with the aspirations of the
international community. U.S. willingness to meet the North when
it expresses its readiness to return to the talks is a major
concession from its previous attitude.
That¡¯s not all. The Chinese chief delegate to the six-party
talks will visit Seoul this week to seek ways with Korean
officials of bringing Pyongyang back to the stalled talks. The
North should reciprocate by coming forward to realize the
sixparty talks. It may be the last chance for Pyongyang to
return to the talks unscathed. If it continue to defy such
offers, the next step is clear. Washington has signaled its
intention to strengthen sanctions against Pyongyang. Seoul will
no longer be able to discourage the U.S. from putting additional
pressure on North Korea.
Failure of the North to respond positively to U.S. flexibility
will leave Seoul no other choice but to join the international
community preparing additional sanctions against it. In recent
summit talks with President George Bush, President Roh Moohyun
refused to talk about applying additional punishment to the
North. It is also true that the U.S. and Japan have been
displeased with Seoul for being too lenient with the North. If
Pyongyang defies the current conciliatory move, Seoul will not
be in a position to refuse the request of other allied nations
to join the push to punish Pyongyang by additional sanctions.
A growing number of nations in the international community
think that increasing sanctions against the North is the most
effective way of discouraging Pyongyang from its nuclear
ambitions. This may be the last conciliatory offer from the U.S.
before sanctions are strengthened. Pyongyang should know that it
would benefit most by resuming the six-party talks. We hope the
North will return to the talks immediately without any
conditions.
09-24-2006 20:11
*****************************************************************
22 UPI: Analysis: N. Korea squeezed by sanctions
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence -
9/22/2006 2:12:00 PM -0400
By JONG-HEON LEE UPI Correspondent
SEOUL, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- North Korea's cash flow and supplies of
military parts and equipment are likely to suffer a major blow
as a U.S.-led alliance has imposed tougher financial sanctions
on the defiant communist country, officials and analysts in
Seoul say.
Earlier this week, Japan slapped a new package of financial
sanctions on North Korea, joining the U.S. move to punish the
communist country under a U.N. Security Council resolution
adopted after the North's missile launches in July.
Japan's sanctions target 15 North Korean companies which have
been spotlighted by the United States for having suspected links
to the North's programs for nuclear and chemical weapons and
ballistic missiles.
Those targeted are required to obtain permission from the Tokyo
government to remit or withdraw money from Japanese bank
accounts, practically freezing remittance to the North. Japanese
officials said the measures would effectively freeze assets held
in Japan by those designated companies.
The Japanese move was followed by Australia's ban on foreign
exchange transactions involving 11 North Korean companies on the
Japanese blacklist.
The United States, which has already slapped sanctions on 12
North Korean companies, has called for more countries to follow
suit in line with the U.N. Security Council resolution against
North Korea.
Washington has also moved to freeze North Korean-held accounts
in financial institutions overseas allegedly set up to fund the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or other illicit
activities.
Under U.S. pressure, Macau-based bank Banco Delta Asia has
frozen $24 million of the North's holdings in some 50 accounts.
The blocked money is less than 1 percent of North Korea's $2.8
billion budget this year.
But given that one dollar buys some 3,000 won in the North's
black market, more than 20 times the official rate due to
tremendous inflation, $24 million accounts for over 17 percent
of North Korea's annual budget, estimated at $140 million.
The frozen money at BDA, which is believed to be an extra-budget
slush fund for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, has most likely
delivered a blow to the ruling elite's personal consumption as
well as the North Korean economy, which relies on illicit
activities for at least 40 percent of its gross domestic
product, according to South Korean officials.
In a further blow to the cash-strapped North, banks in Japan,
Vietnam, Singapore and even Pyongyang's closest ally, China,
have frozen their business transactions with the communist
country following the U.S. campaign.
In the wake of sanctions, North Korea's cash flow is likely to
be further choked, analysts say.
The North's recent claim that foreign reinsurance companies are
seeking compensation for major disasters indicates the North's
cash crunch, says Nam Sung-wook, a North Korea professor at
Korea University.
The Pyongyang regime has allowed officials from re-insurers in
Britain and Russia to travel to the secretive country to
investigate the sites of recent disasters, including train
collisions and the sinking of a passenger ship in April which
killed hundreds of people according to Seoul's major newspaper,
JoongAng Ilbo.
The North is seeking "millions of dollars" in compensation for
each case, the newspaper said, citing "multiple sources." "The
North's rare invitation of foreign investigators shows its cash
crunch in the wake of the U.S.-led sanctions," Nam said.
Nam and other analysts say the sanctions are also likely to
affect the North's munitions industry. The North has imported
key components for its military equipment and missile and
nuclear developments from Japan through its overseas
organizations, mostly based in Japan.
The North Korean companies sanctioned by the United States,
Japan and Australia are mostly suspected of handling weapons
parts, according to diplomatic sources.
They include Korea Ryonbong General Corp., which deals in
machinery and equipment; Korea Pugang Trading Corp., which
handles metal, mineral and chemical products; Tanchon Commercial
Bank; Korea Ryongwang Trading Corp; and Tosong Technology
Trading Corp, among others. Pyongyang Informatics Center, a
computer software developer, is on the list because it is
suspected of having imported nuclear weapons parts via China.
Korea Tonghae Shipping Company, the North's biggest shipper, was
sanctioned because it was involved in chemical weapons parts
dealing.
Ponghwa Hospital, a medical center for Kim Jong-Il and other
ruling elite members, is suspected of having researched
biochemical weapons with the help of pro-Pyongyang ethnic
Koreans in Japan.
"The measures are expected to deliver a blow to the North's
imports of military equipment via Japan or China," said Yoon
Duk-min, a researcher at the state-run Institute of Foreign
Affairs and National Security.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
23 UPI: Washington again warns N. Korea on nukes
United Press International - NewsTrack -
9/23/2006 3:40:00 PM -0400
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Washington warned Pyongyang
Saturday against "provocative actions" following a report North
Korea was seeking more plutonium for weapons.
"Our position remains the same: They need to return to six-party
talks and refrain from provocative actions which serve only to
isolate them further from the international community," a State
Department spokesman said.
His comment followed a statement Saturday by an American scholar
in Beijing that Pyongyang planned to unload fuel rods at its
Yongbyon reactor this fall.
Selig Harrison, a director of the Washington-based Center for
International Policy, said he just returned from the North
Korean capital and been told by North Korean Vice Foreign
Minister Kim Kye-Gwan that Pyongyang planned to unload fuel rods
from the reactor to get more plutonium for weapons and to
pressure Washington for direct talks, CNN reported.
Removing the fuel rods means "North Korea is enhancing its
weapons capability," said Harrison, one of the few U.S. scholars
granted access to senior North Korean officials.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
24 [NYTr] US Intel on Russian, Chinese Nuke Tests 1990-2000
Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 15:05:34 -0400 (EDT)
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
National Security Archive Update, September 22, 2006
http://www.nsarchive.org
U.S. Intelligence on Russian and Chinese Nuclear Testing Activities,
1990-2000
Prospects of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Led China to Acceclerate
Testing Schedule
For more information contact:
Jeffrey Richelson 202/994-7000
Washington, DC, September 22, 2006 - The prospects of a Comprehensive
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in the early 1990's led China to accelerate
its testing schedule and discuss differences within the Russian government
over testing, according to documents obtained through the Freedom of
Information Act and archival research and posted on the Web today by the
National Security Archive at George Washington University. The documents
illustrate the efforts of the U.S. Intelligence Community to understand
developments at Russian and Chinese nuclear test sites--Novaya Zemlya and
Lop Nur--from 1990 to 2000.
Today's posting includes 33 documents--many originally classified Top
Secret--produced under the auspices of the Director of Central Intelligence,
the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. The
records were obtained by Archive Senior Fellow Jeffrey T. Richelson while
conducting research for his recently-published book, Spying on the Bomb:
American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea.
(W.W. Norton).
The documents include assessments of the link between nuclear and
sub-critical tests and weapons modernization programs in Russia and
China--both strategic and tactical nuclear weapons programs.
Of particular interest is the report of an outside review panel appointed by
Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet after detection of a
seismic event in the vicinity of Novaya Zemlya on August 16, 1997. That
detection, combined with satellite reconnaissance showing unusual activity
at the test site, led to concerns within the Intelligence Community that
Russia had conducted a nuclear test despite its pledge to abide by the terms
of the CTBT.
http://www.nsarchive.org
THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE is an independent non-governmental research
institute and library located at The George Washington University in
Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents
acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A tax-exempt public
charity, the Archive receives no U.S. government funding; its budget is
supported by publication royalties and donations from foundations and
individuals.
*
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25 SF Chronicle: State red tape trips up green energy efforts
Sunday, September 24, 2006
(09-24) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
prepares this week to sign into law the nation's most ambitious
effort to address global warming, a key component of
California's push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions --
increasing the use of renewable power to create electricity --
has faltered.
Despite overwhelming public and political support for renewable
power, ratepayer contributions of $319 million, and a 2002 law
mandating a dramatic increase in the use of sun and wind to
create megawatts, California has boosted its use of renewable
energy by less than 1 percent of the state's overall electricity
use in the past four years.
In the meantime, Texas has surpassed California as the nation's
leader in wind power. PG, which ran television commercials in
the Bay Area earlier this year promoting its environmentally
friendly practices, has actually reduced the amount of renewable
power in its portfolio during the past two years. And the
world's largest wind-power company -- which is investing $2
billion around the country on wind projects this year and next
-- is not spending any of that money in California, complaining
that overly complicated and time-consuming regulations are
slowing development.
While the state's major utilities argue they are on the way to a
renewable energy building boom, independent analysts predict
California probably will not meet a regulatory deadline -- one
frequently touted by Schwarzenegger -- that calls for 20 percent
of the state's electricity use to be fueled by renewable power
by 2010.
Missing the deadline may threaten the targets set in the new
global warming law Schwarzenegger is expected to sign with much
fanfare this week. Reducing carbon dioxide and other gas
emissions by 25 percent by 2020, as the new law mandates,
probably will not happen without major changes to the way
electricity is produced.
The struggle California has faced in tapping into clean
electricity sources is partially rooted in the state's energy
crisis, which still looms over the energy industry here and has
slowed the development of all new power. But it also suggests
the difficulty politicians, regulators and businesses may
encounter as they make the dramatic move away from a
carbon-based fuel economy.
For now, the promise of a future powered by the sun, wind and
Earth remains a reality only on paper, much to the
disappointment of many of the people involved in trying to green
the state's electricity supply.
"After four years, the public rightfully should expect more,"
said John Geesman, a member of the California Energy Commission
who is overseeing the commission's effort to implement parts of
the 2002 law that calls for increased renewable power.
Harnessing the wind
Along the Sacramento River and near the Carquinez Strait in
rural Solano County, 100 new wind turbines, standing 250 feet
tall, tower over herds of sheep and rolling hills as they
quietly spin wind into electricity.
Each turbine creates enough power to light more than 750 homes
for less than what Californians are paying for electricity from
a power plant that produces carbon dioxide and other gases
scientists say cause global warming.
The new turbines are a rarity in California.
Since the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard went into effect
four years ago, requiring utilities to contract for much more
renewable power, only 241 megawatts of new projects have been
built.
One megawatt is enough to light between 750 and 1,000 homes, and
experts say the state needs as much as 8,000 new megawatts to
meet the 2010 deadline.
A small charge that is assessed to every utility ratepayer in
the state in their monthly electric bill to help subsidize
renewable power has generated $319 million so far. None of it
has been spent.
Power developers, regulators and independent observers all
complain that the standard the 2002 legislation set up has
required years to develop and calls for new projects to clear
too many regulatory hurdles.
"We like to say this project was built in spite of the RPS, not
because of it," said Jim Caldwell, director of regulatory
affairs for PPM Energy, which owns the new Solano County wind
project. The company bypassed the state's regulatory process and
simply built the project without a guarantee that any utility
would buy the power.
"If we would have gone through the process, we thought we'd
never get the damn thing built," Caldwell said.
The gamble paid off: The company is selling half of the power
generated in Solano County to PG, and the rest to other
municipally owned utilities.
"It is an extraordinarily complicated process compared to any
other state in the country," said Ryan Wiser, a scientist at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who has studied efforts by
21 states to mandate increases in the use of renewable power.
Wiser wrote a paper on California's process titled "Does it Have
to be this Hard? Implementing the Nation's Most Complex
Renewables Portfolio Standard."
Wiser said that here, unlike anywhere else, two state agencies
-- the California Energy Commission and the Public Utilities
Commission -- have regulatory oversight of renewable projects,
forcing developers and utilities to work with two distinct
bureaucracies.
And each project faces multiple, and sometimes redundant,
monthslong proceedings in front of regulators before getting
approval, while most other states only require one.
There is a clear reason why California lawmakers set up a
process with heavy-handed oversight. The law was signed a year
after the state's calamitous energy crisis, and lawmakers --
many of whom had voted for power deregulation in 1998 -- wanted
to ensure regulators had control over everything from how much
renewable power would cost to how the state's transmission
system would be affected by new projects. Both topics take
months to work through during proceedings at the PUC.
Despite good intentions, the result is that renewable-power
projects take several years to complete in California. Compare
California's 241 new megawatts of renewable power to Texas' more
than 2,200 megawatts of wind energy since it adapted renewable
targets in 1999.
Texas' legislation enacting the renewable requirement was 10
paragraphs long. California's legislation was 13 pages.
The world's largest wind developer, FPL Energy in Florida,
announced earlier this year that it would not propose new wind
projects in California during the next two years, even as it
invests $2 billion around the country. The company won a bid
through the California RPS process in 2004 to add 30 megawatts
of wind power to an existing project, but a company official
pointed to the project's estimated completion date -- April
2008, four years later -- as an example of why investing in
California is difficult.
"We are committed to California, but we look at where we can
actually move forward and build projects," said Diane Fellman,
director of regulatory affairs for FPL Energy.
Doubts persist
There are other factors that also have slowed California's
progress and have many believing the state will not meet the
2010 deadline.
Transmission lines to renewable-rich areas need to be upgraded.
Despite more than a decade of discussions on ways to hook up PG,
Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas and Electric to
the windy Tehachapi region in Kern County and a key solar area,
the Imperial Valley east of San Diego, the process to build new
power lines is still ongoing.
And there are questions about whether some of the projects the
utilities have selected to pursue are viable. Edison and San
Diego Gas and Electric, for example, have signed deals for
hundreds of megawatts with an Arizona company that uses a solar
technology that has never produced power on a large scale.
"There are some real doubts about whether some of the projects
will really happen," said Wiser.
Wiser and analysts at Cambridge Energy Research Associates have
stated in recent reports that it seems unlikely California
utilities will actually be generating 20 percent of their
electricity by 2010. And Sean Gallagher, director of the energy
division for the Public Utilities Commission, acknowledged that
"it is not at all clear that we will make the deadline."
PG, however, insists it will meet its mark.
"We think we're on our way to hitting the target," said
spokeswoman Darlene Chiu.
Recent trends don't bode well for PG, however. While the utility
has increased its use of renewable power in the past six years,
between 2003 and 2005 its use of renewables actually went down,
from 12.4 percent of its portfolio in 2003 to 11.9 percent last
year, according to the company.
Chiu said the utility has signed numerous contracts that will
come to fruition in the next few years.
Others note that there may finally be progress in improving
transmission lines this year, which is a key step in
significantly increasing the use of renewable power.
Clean power is probably a key to Schwarzenegger's
greenhouse-gas-reduction goals -- power plants are second only
to motor vehicles in California as the biggest emitter of carbon
dioxide and other gases that cause global warming.
Administration officials have said this year that to cut carbon
dioxide and other emissions by 25 percent by 2020, the state
will need to generate one-third of its electricity from clean
energy sources by then.
Most involved in the energy industry believe a significant
increase in wind, solar and geothermal power is possible in
California.
Renewable energy is incredibly popular -- a Public Policy
Institute of California poll earlier this year showed that 83
percent of adults interviewed supported more government spending
to boost renewable energy. The state has plenty of sun and wind
-- experts suggest the Tehachapi region could generate enough
wind power to light 3 million homes. And, with the price of
natural gas having tripled in the last few years, wind power is
cheaper to produce than electricity supplied by a
natural-gas-fueled power plant.
"The frustrating thing is this: Of all the places in the
country, California is blessed with all kinds of natural
resources that we need to produce renewable energy," said Jan
Smutny-Jones, executive director of a trade group representing
some renewable-power developers. "We're awash in riches. And
there does not appear to be any significant political resistance
to more renewables. But we're stumbling when it comes to turning
all of this into real, steel-in-the-ground projects."
Renewable power
Here is how California's overall portfolio of electricity
production breaks down by type of generation:
Coal -- 20.1 percent
Natural gas -- 37.7 percent
Nuclear -- 14.5 percent
Large hydro -- 17 percent
Renewable -- 10.7 percent
(Biomass -- 2.1 percent)
(Geothermal -- 5 percent)
(Small hydro -- 1.9 percent)
(Wind -- 1.5 percent)
(Solar generators -- 0.2 percent)
Source: California Energy Commission
E-mail Mark Martin at .
Page A - 1
The San Francisco Chronicle]
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26 Guardian Unlimited: Analysis: U.S. Expected Little at U.N.
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Saturday September 23, 2006 11:46 PM
AP Photo UNSE117
By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. officials had low expectations for the
current U.N. meetings, marked by anti-American insults heaped on
President Bush, and have scant accomplishments to show so far.
The United States made few direct requests of other nations at
the annual opening session and took minimal risks. Bush
administration leaders did tone down the rhetoric that has
played poorly abroad and refrained from criticizing the United
Nations itself.
The approach reflected an attempt at rapprochement with
countries still at odds with the U.S. on many levels, and
acknowledgment that several of the administration's goals and
initiatives for the Middle East, North Korea and elsewhere have
stalled.
Unlike in years past, Bush's address to the General Assembly did
not make waves. It was Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
who attracted the rock star treatment and Venezuela's president,
Hugo Chavez, who drew applause when he called Bush ``the
devil.''
``It does reflect a dissatisfaction with American power and
American dominance in the world, a distaste for the war in Iraq,
and the general foreign policy of the Bush administration,''
said Edward Luck, a professor of international relations at
Columbia University in New York and an expert on the United
Nations.
A June poll by the Pew Research Center for the People &the Press
found that America's image in 15 nations dropped sharply in
2006. Less than one-third of the people in Egypt, Pakistan,
Jordan and Turkey had a favorable view of the U.S. According to
that poll, America's continued involvement in Iraq was seen as a
worse problem than was Iran and its nuclear ambitions.
U.S. officials dismissed the anti-Bush remarks as demagoguery
and pointed to what they say is successful or promising
engagement on issues including Mideast peace and the effort to
end the violence in Sudan.
``I think we had a good week,'' State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack said. ``It was a good week for American diplomacy.''
At best, however, it seemed more like a draw.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice undertook a fresh push on
Sudan, where the government of the African nation is blamed for
endorsing and allowing what the U.S. brands as genocide. Rice
had to steer around international partners reluctant to confront
Sudan's government, and it is not clear that Washington can make
a difference quickly.
Wary of the United Nations' history of harsh criticism of
Israel, the U.S. at first opposed an Arab-led drive for a
Security Council meeting on the Mideast peace process that was
held Thursday. Rice ended up proclaiming the meeting a success;
her aides said it could prove an opening for renewed
negotiations among Israelis and Palestinians.
On a sour note, China skipped a meeting of Asian and other
powers trying to head off North Korea's weapons programs.
China's foreign minister later urged flexibility and a
``cool-headed'' approach.
Li Zhaoxing's remarks Friday highlighted differences over how to
bring the reclusive communist nation back to talks that produced
a disarmament agreement at last year's General Assembly. The
agreement never took effect, and North Korea and the U.S. blame
each another.
Iran probably was the biggest disappointment for Washington
during the week.
The administration once hoped the session would be a turning
point in the long standoff. But U.S. allies prevailed on the
White House to back down, for now.
The U.S. had little choice: Its drive to impose any U.N.
penalties against Iran has hit a wall and Iran so far has
suffered no consequence for missing an August deadline by the
U.N. to shelve its disputed nuclear work.
Over dinner with other Security Council diplomats in her suite
at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, Rice found herself reluctantly
agreeing to give Iran some more time.
Rice said she has ``great confidence'' that the coalition she
helped build against Iran remains committed to the U.N. demands
and would move for penalties if Tehran balks.
``I am absolutely certain of that and we will do so,'' a
slightly exasperated Rice told reporters Friday. ``We want to
give diplomacy its best chance, but I can assure you the time is
not endless.''
---
Associated Press writer Nick Wadhams at the United Nations
contributed to this report.
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Anne Gearan covers foreign affairs and
diplomacy, based in Washington.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
27 Guardian Unlimited: Ministers urge leadership to open up Trident debate
Nuclear deterrent
Tania Branigan and Will Woodward
Monday September 25, 2006
The Guardian
Cabinet ministers yesterday urged the Labour leadership to open
up the debate on renewing Britain's nuclear deterrent as
delegates protested that they were being denied a vote on the
issue.
Hilary Benn, the international development secretary, called for
a debate "both in conference, in the party, in the country and in
parliament". He added: "The threat that we face in the world has
changed but there's a real debate to be had over how we put that
commitment into effect."
His remarks were backed by Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland
secretary, and Harriet Harman, the constitutional affairs
minister, at a fringe meeting organised by the New Statesman. "We
were elected on a manifesto to keep Britain's independent nuclear
deterrent. The issue is what we replace it with," Mr Hain said.
"The debates about that shouldn't be confined to a couple of
cabinet ministers. It should involve the party, it should
involve the movement, it should involve people in civil society
and the wider public who have something to contribute."
Ms Harman said: "There are choices to be made about what that
money is spent on. Of course people need to have a view. And
it's their security too."
Last night, Tony Blair said it would be "a bit risky" to give up
Britain's deterrent. He added that there would be a full debate,
but did not specify in which forum. "To be sure and to be safe
about it, it's probably sensible to renew it," he told a
conference event. "But we will have a full debate about it and
there are opposing views."
On the conference floor, organisers were accused of gagging
debate on Trident and the leadership. Around 20 motions on the
leadership and 17 on Trident have been ignored by the conference
arrangements committee.
Ben Soffa, a delegate from Lancaster and Fleetwood, won applause
when he told conference: "We are being gagged. We are not being
allowed to move the motions many constituency Labour parties
wish to move."
Joy Hurcombe, from East Worthing and Shoreham, said the party
had to be able to debate Trident, which was "such a lifetime
decision - an important decision that will affect the security
of all of us".
Walter Wolfgang, the vice-president of CND, who was elected to
Labour's national executive after being ejected from the party
conference for heckling last year, told the Guardian: "There
should be a debate about Trident. Last year they learned their
lesson not to throw people out of the hall. But they haven't
learned their lesson not to control the conference by spin. It's
worse this year than ever."
Opening the conference, Sir Jeremy Beecham, chair of the
national executive committee, urged members to gag themselves
from discussion of the leadership. Sir Jeremy likened those with
"transitional demands" to Trotskyite agitators.
Useful link
Government's report on the energy review
Email your comments for publication to:
politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
28 RIA Novosti: Putin says Energy Charter Treaty needs amending
23/ 09/ 2006
COMPIEGNE (France), September 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's
president said Saturday the Energy Charter Treaty should be
amended or a new document should be drafted.
The Energy Charter Treaty is an international agreement
originally based on integrating the energy sectors of the former
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe at the end of the Cold War into
the broader European and world markets.
"It will be either a new document or an old one incorporating
new provisions," Vladimir Putin said in response to a
journalist's question.
He said in its present form the treaty harmed Russian interests.
"Our producers, who have long-term contracts for [energy]
supplies, are unhappy because it [the Charter] puts us in an
unfavorable situation in signing long-term transit contracts,"
he said.
He also said Russia was concerned about the liberalization of
nuclear services market in Europe.
"We agreed that the nuclear materials market in Europe would be
liberalized," he said. "We believe that our positions are
subject to discrimination, and the Russian side annually loses
from $200 mln to $300 million."
The original European Energy Charter was signed in the Hague on
December 17, 1991, containing a declaration of principles for
international energy including trade, transit and investment,
together with the intention to negotiate a binding treaty.
© 2005 RIA Novosti
*****************************************************************
29 IAEA: New Members Elected to the IAEA Board of Governors
+ [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace]
Staff Report
22 September 2006 [BOG]
IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria. (Photo
credit: D. Calma/IAEA)
+ Story Resources
+ IAEA Board Rules & Procedures
+ IAEA Board of Governors
Eleven countries have been newly elected to serve on the
35-member IAEA Board of Governors for the period 2006-2007. The
action was taken by Member States meeting at the IAEA General
Conference in Vienna this week.
The newly elected Board members are Austria, Brazil, Bolivia,
Chile, Croatia, Ethiopia, Finland, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan,
and Thailand.
The full 35-member Board for the 2006-2007 period includes
Argentina, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Belarus, Belgium,
Bolivia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia,
Japan, Republic of Korea, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway,
Pakistan, Russian Federation, Slovenia, South Africa, Syria,
Thailand, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
and the United States of America.
The Board will convene briefly next week to elect its officers
for the period 2006–2007.
Note: The Board of Governors is composed of 35 Member States, as
designated and elected by the General Conference. The newly
elected members take the seats of members who have ended their
two-year period of service: Algeria, Ecuador, Ghana, Portugal,
Singapore, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Venzuela and Yemen. See
Story Resources for Board rules and procedures. Copyright ©,
International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box 100, Wagramer
Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail:
*****************************************************************
30 Russia-InfoCentre: Nuclear Explosions As A Guarantee Of Environmental Safety
25.09.2006
Researchers from research & development company "Energomash"
(Moscow region) claim world energetic problems can be solved by
means of building an orbital system of Earth's energy supply.
Said orbital energy supplying system will be build from
extraterrestrial materials, processed in space. Said materials
would be extracted from iron and nickel containing asteroids,
weighing tens of millions of tons, which should be transported
to high Earth's orbits by means of series of nuclear explosions
out of Earth's gravitation field. During the first stage said
explosions would be performed via nuclear-missile weapon
components of the world-leading countries.
Energy would be transferred to our planet by means of a
reflected solar beam, concentrated on particular areas on the
ground. Further stages would possibly involve ultra-high
frequency radio beam.
The authors of the concept are sure that the orbital
system of Earth's energy supply is environmentally safe and
economically effective. However, its development requires
efforts of the whole world.
Source: Science &Life
© Garant-InfoCentre, 2004-2006. All rights
*****************************************************************
31 IAEA: Chairman´s Report on Assurances of Nuclear Supply & Non-Proliferation
[IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace]
Staff Report
22 September 2006 [Charles Curtis]
Mr. Charles Curtis, Chairman of the Special Event. (Photo: D.
Calma/IAEA)
+ Story Resources
+ Chairman´s Report [pdf]
+ [pdf]
+ IAEA Seeks Guarantees of Nuclear Fuel
+ NTI Commits $50 Million to Create IAEA Nuclear Fuel Bank
The IAEA General Conference today received a report that sums up
discussions at the IAEA´s Special Event on Assurances of Nuclear
Supply and Non-Proliferation. The event was held this week and
attracted more than 300 participants from 61 countries and
organizations.
The report outlines possible ways forward to guarantee
countries´ supplies of nuclear fuel, while minimizing
proliferation risks. It addresses policy, legal, and technical
issues that were raised during the course of discussions.
Proposals under discussion include a nuclear "fuel bank" where
the IAEA would administer a nuclear fuel reserve. The report was
presented by Mr. Charles Curtis, who chaired the Special Event.
(See Story Resources for the full text.)
Earlier this week, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) announced
it would contribute $50 million towards the creation of a
nuclear fuel reserve. It would assure a back-up supply of fuel
for power reactors throughout the world on a non-discriminatory,
non-political basis reducing the need for countries to develop
their own uranium enrichment technologies at a time when
concerns about nuclear proliferation are growing.
Mr. Curtis is President of NTI, a non-governmental organization
headquartered in the United States. Keynote speakers during the
event included IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei; Sergei
Kirienko, Director of the Russian Federal Nuclear Agency; Anne
Lauvergeon, Chairman of AREVA´s executive board; Pat Upson, CEO,
Enrichment Technology Company Ltd.; Sam Nunn, former US Senator
and NTI Co-Chairman; George Assie, Senior Vice President of
Cameco; Jose Goldemberg, State Secretarty of the Sao Paolo
(Brazil); Shunsuke Kondo, Chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy
Commission; Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of
India; and Susan Eisenhower, Chair of The Eisenhower Institute.
Copyright ©, International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box 100,
Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail:
*****************************************************************
32 Guardian Unlimited: Argument over Trident debate
From Press Association
[UP]
Press Association Sunday September 24, 2006 9:58 AM
A row has blown up before the start of the Labour Conference
after the party was accused of trying to suppress a debate on
whether Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system should be
replaced.
A number of constituency parties submitted resolutions to the
conference in Manchester voicing strong opposition to a new
generation of nuclear weapons.
But Labour's Conference Arrangement Committee has ruled all the
motions out of order.
CND chairwoman Kate Hudson described the decision as a "travesty
of democracy" and accused Labour of doing anything it could to
avoid an open debate.
An anti-war march in Manchester on Saturday, attended by tens of
thousands of people, gave a strong signal of opposition to
Trident replacement which Ms Hudson said showed a strength of
feeling among the public.
The Prime Minister has said a decision on replacing Trident, at
an estimated cost of £25 billion will be made before the end of
the year and activists pointed out that this week will be the
only opportunity for the Labour Party to discuss the topic at a
National Conference.
Ms Hudson told PA: "This decision by the Conference Arrangement
Committee is quite extraordinary given that there have been
repeated statements by the Government that a debate will take
place.
"This is the only possible opportunity for the Labour Party to
debate the issue so ruling out the resolutions means that the
Conference will not have any say in the future of Britain's
nuclear weapons system.
"Saturday's demonstration showed massive opposition to replacing
Trident and a strong desire for money to be spent on public
services instead.
"They seem to be doing anything possible to avoid a debate which
is shocking."
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
33 Philadelphia Inquirer: Editorial | Nuclear Power Plant Safety
09/23/2006 |
Aging reactors need better monitoring
Many industries like to measure safety by the time elapsed
between major accidents. Nuclear power plant operators, for
example, often note that it's been a quarter century since the
near meltdown of Three Mile Island. All's well, in their
narrative.
Longtime watchdog David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the
Union of Concerned Scientists, offers a more compelling
threshold for performance: the frequency of near misses.
In the 27 years since TMI, 38 U.S. reactors had to shut down for
at least one year to restore safety to minimally acceptable
levels, Lochbaum wrote in a report released Monday. Seven of the
shutdowns lasted two years or more.
That's alarming, particularly at a time when the nation is
deciding whether to extend the lives of old reactors and talking
about building new ones. Safety demands a higher standard.
The majority of unplanned extended shutdowns weren't caused by a
single piece of broken equipment but by a general degrading of
components to the point the plant required broad, system-wide
maintenance.
Lochbaum's findings echo a 2004 Government Accountability Office
concern that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees
the safety and security of the country's 103 commercial
reactors, was "reactive rather than proactive."
"NRC's oversight can result in NRC making a determination that a
licensee's performance is good one day, yet the next day NRC
discovers the performance to be unacceptably risky to public
health and safety," the GAO found.
About-face oversight won't work. Plants need consistent
monitoring and industry-wide sharing of best practices. That's
just not happening.
Industry representatives dismissed Lochbaum's study as old news
because it tracks shutdowns over nuclear power's 40-year
history. Spokesmen from the NRC and the Nuclear Energy
Institute, an industry group, rightly point out that in the last
six years, only one plant had experienced a prolonged shutdown.
But that one shutdown followed a near disaster - the closest
call since Three Mile Island. Years of neglect allowed acid to
bore through six inches of steel into the reactor head at Ohio's
Davis-Besse plant in 2002. Only a 3/16th-inch inner lining,
which bulged but held under thousands of pounds of pressure,
prevented a major accident.
A federal investigation led to more than $30 million in fines
against FirstEnergy Corp., operator of the Davis-Besse plant,
and prompted changes in NRC oversight. But not enough was done.
Lochbaum's report says the NRC is better at solving problems
involving a major component or single event than detecting
cumulative maintenance problems over time.
That's certainly the case at New Jersey's Salem I and II
reactors, which were shut down in the 1990s because of lax
maintenance and a lack of a "safety conscious work environment."
In 2003, the plant suffered a relapse that should have resulted
in a shutdown. Working conditions deterioriated to the point
employees didn't bother or feel comfortable reporting pervasive
problems.
Now, however, Salem partners PSE&G and Exelon are upgrading
equipment and trying to change the workplace culture.
Congress has finally recognized the NRC's staffing and funding
needs, given its growing mission: safeguarding reactors
post-9/11, ensuring good operation and maintenance, relicensing
existing plants, and considering new plants. The agency will
hire 300 to 400 more employees this year. By January, NRC will
create separate offices to handle new and old reactors.
Specialization makes sense.
Both industry and the agency also face the graying of
professional and technical staffs, who began their careers in
the 1970s. They've embarked on ambitious recruiting and
training, which also should enhance safety.
Lochbaum warns that in the weeks or months before a safety
problem forces a year-plus shutdown, people living near a
reactor face an unnecessarily high - and unpublicized - risk of
accident that could release deadly radiation.
The nuclear industry has multiple layers of protective measures
- mechanical and human. The NRC must do better to ensure that
those measures are working as they should.
*****************************************************************
34 San Luis Obispo Tribune: Die-off of cormorants investigated
09/23/2006 |
About 100 are found dead, but deaths do not appear to be related
to the plant, expert says
By David Sneed dsneed@thetribunenews.com
State wildlife biologists are trying to find out what caused a
die-off of cormorants at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
On Aug. 15, commercial divers found about 100 dead Brandt’s
cormorants on bars that cover the plant’s cooling water intake
structure. The discovery of that many dead birds is unusual,
plant officials said in a report to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
Divers collected four of the dead birds and turned them over to
the state Department of Fish and Game for analysis to determine
the cause of death.
"It seems like a pretty isolated event," said Mike Harris, a
state biologist in Morro Bay. "There is no indication that it
had anything to do with the operation of the plant."
Brandt’s cormorants are sleek black shorebirds common along the
Central Coast. They are most often seen roosting in large
colonies on offshore rocks.
Plant workers noticed five live cormorants struggling in the
water in front of the intake structure the day before the
die-off was discovered, plant spokesman Jeff Lewis said. The
next day, commercial divers found the dead birds during a
regularly scheduled inspection of the intake structure.
State biologists have conducted some tests on the birds and are
beginning to narrow down the cause of death. Final results of
the testing will be available in late October.
"We’ve pretty well ruled out domoic acid or some other algal
bloom, but there’s still concern that it’s possibly some other
type of toxic event," Harris said.
Plant workers report that an unusually large colony of
cormorants nested on a rock near the south end of the intake
structure this year. They estimate that between 2,000 and 3,000
birds nested there, Lewis said.
The cormorants were of a range of ages and were not emaciated,
so Harris does not think they died of starvation, which killed a
large number of juvenile brown pelicans earlier this year.
Divers regularly inspect the intake structure to check its
condition and remove debris. The structure had been inspected
about a week before the die-off was discovered, leading
biologist to believe that the event happened quickly.
*****************************************************************
35 Beacon Journal: Nuclear reactor back in service
09/23/2006 |
Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. returned its Davis-Besse nuclear
reactor in Oak Harbor to full power after fixing a steam leak in
the non-nuclear side of the plant.
The unit was at 100 percent of capacity Friday morning,
according to a report from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. Richard Wilkins, a FirstEnergy spokesman, said the
return to full strength was delayed by a few days as workers
made additional pipe repairs.
The reactor was at 92 percent of capacity, according to a Sept.
15 report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
*****************************************************************
36 newsobserver.com: Progress seeks rate raise in Fla.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Raleigh · Durham · Cary · Chapel Hill
From Staff Reports RALEIGH -
Progress Energy asked Florida regulators for approval to raise
customer rates to pay for modifications that would boost the
power output of the company's Crystal River nuclear plant by 20
percent.
The upgrade, which is not related to the company's possible plans
for a new nuclear plant in the state, would allow Crystal River
to serve an additional 110,700 homes. In the long run, the $382
million upgrade will save customers' money, Progress said.
The Raleigh-based utility plans to modify the plant's turbine
system in 2009 and to modify the reactor in 2011 to accept
higher-grade uranium. Progress Energy is not planning to boost
power output at nuclear reactors in North Carolina, because
additional generating capacity will not be needed here as soon as
in Florida. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may
not be published, broadcast or redistributed in any manner.
© Copyright 2006, The News & Observer Publishing Company
A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company
*****************************************************************
37 GLW: Nuclear power no solution
www.greenleft.org.au
Green Left Weekly
HOBART — “The reason the nuclear industry has collapsed
worldwide is because of the unresolved dangers of weapons and
waste”, Greens Senator Christine Milne told a forum at the
University of Tasmania on September 20.
Explaining that nuclear energy is back on the agenda under the
lie that is a “clean’” alternative to fossil fuels, Milne
pointed out that developing a nuclear industry would be too slow
to deal with the issue of global warming.
Other speakers included UTas physicist John Greenhill and Keith
Presnell, a former director of the Centre for Energy Research in
the Northern Territory. During discussion, participants agreed
to form a group to campaign against uranium use and to organise
a day of action against global warming in early November. To get
involved, phone Mel on 0423 978 518.
Melanie Barnes
From Green Left Weekly, September 27, 2006.
 — featured presentations on the
health and environmental impacts of the nuclear cycle by the
Medical Association for Prevention of War; renewable energy
technologies and climate change by outspoken alternative energy
academic Mark Diesendorf; nuclear weapons proliferation by
former diplomat Richard Broinowski; and winding back the global
nuclear arsenal by MAPW’s Tilman Ruff.
Indigenous perspectives were strongly represented with
contributions by traditional owners from the Northern Territory,
including Margie Lynch, Jillian Marsh and Christopher Poulson.
A film made by the Central Australian Media Association was
shown that featured interviews with residents from two of the
federal government’s proposed NT nuclear waste dump sites.
Howard’s Yellowcake Dreaming, an exhibition of Aboriginal art
opposing radioactive waste dumps and uranium mining, which
premiered in Alice Springs in October, was displayed at the
symposium.
Speakers pointed out that Australia has set itself a mandatory
renewable energy target of 2%, compared to the European Union
target of 20%, by 2010. The claim that Australia needs uranium
“export dollars” was debunked; just two wind farms exported to
China recently by the Roaring Forties company in South Australia
earned $300 million, the same amount as is earned annually from
uranium exports.
Activist workshops discussed building the international day of
action against climate change — the “walk against warming” — on
November 4 and organising contingents in the protests against
the November 18-19 G20 summit of finance ministers in Melbourne,
where “energy security” will be discussed. “Energy security” is
capitalist governments’ code for protecting the huge subsidies
and concessions they give to the fossil fuel and uranium mining
companies.
With the Howard government’s Uranium Mining, Processing and
Nuclear Energy Review due to be released in December, symposium
participants resolved to call a national day of protest to
counter the green light for expanded uranium mining that the
review is expected to give.
From Green Left Weekly, September 27, 2006.
Authorised by K. Miller, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW
*****************************************************************
39 REGNUM: Georgia to build its own nuclear power plant?
06:08:18 ¤ September 25, 2006 Subscribe
Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Nino Burjanadzeand Georgian
presidential aide Mart Laardo not rule out that a nuclear power
plant can be constructed in Georgia soon, Imedi TV-company
reports. According to Imedi, they expressed such opinion while
answering a question about possible construction of a nuclear
power plant in Georgia in context of the country’s energy
security, asked at a forum in Berlin organized by German Society
for Foreign Policy (DGAP).
Commenting on a possibility of constructing an NPP in the
interview to Imedi, Mart Laar announced that “this possibility
should not be ruled out. Neither opportunity should be ruled
out. But we have to decide whether we shall really need it. We
should see where it can be built. And the issue should be put
for discussion to Georgian public, as it is a big issue, and
cannot be made by the president only.”
“There is nothing sensational in it. Using nuclear power for
peaceful reasons is absolutely normal in all democratic
countries. It does not stir concerns in any democratic country.
Questions arise when the international community casts doubts
whether the nuclear power will be used peacefully. It is a very
difficult issue. It is too early to speak on it intensively,
many thing need to be thought over. However, I see nothing
special in the fact that a nuclear power plant can function in
Georgia, of course, if there are opportunities for it and full
guaranteed in terms of fulfilling requirements,” speaker of the
parliament Nino Burjanadze says.
The DGAP forum is being held in Berlin on the threshold of the
International Bertelsmann Forum. Permanent news address:
www.regnum.ru/english/709301.html
12:41 09/24/2006
© 1999-2006 REGNUM News Agency
*****************************************************************
40 The Hindu: Koodankulam to have 8 nuclear reactors
Monday, Sep 25, 2006
P. Sudhakar
The aim is to generate 8,000 MWe power
KOODANKULAM: The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
(NPCIL), which had actually planned to set up 6 X 1,000 MWe
light water reactors at Koodankulam, has now decided to increase
the number to eight.
)
%SEDAR: 00003284EF
For further information: Contact: Jean-Marc Lulin, President and
Chief Executive Officer, Normand Champigny, Executive Vice
President, (450) 646-3015 - Fax: (450) 646-3045, ,
© 2005 Groupe CNW Ltée
*****************************************************************
49 Brattleboro Reformer: Panel agrees to extra VY license review
By ANDY ROSEN, Reformer Staff
Saturday, September 23 BRATTLEBORO -- A federal panel will open
an extra level of review for Vermont Yankee's application to
extend its license by 20 years.
On Friday, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the state
of Vermont and the nuclear watchdog New England Coalition have
raised legitimate objections to an extension.
There were five objections, or "contentions," admitted in total.
One was submitted by the Vermont Department of Public Service,
and the other four came from the coalition.
All but one of the admitted contentions have to do with the
plans that Vermont Yankee outlined to manage the aging of
certain parts of the plant during the course of its proposed
license extension.
Those contentions include concrete that contains radiation at
the plant, metal that may fatigue during the course of an
extension, the plant's steam dryer and its piping.
The other one, submitted by the New England Coalition, took
issue with the environmental effects of the plant's extended
operation.
Specifically, it held that Vermont Yankee has not done enough
review of how the discharge of cooling water would affect the
Connecticut River's ecosystem. It also charged that the plant
hasn't gotten the proper discharge permits for an extension.
Vermont Yankee's license is set to expire in March 2012, and the
plant filed an application for its license extension in January.
The contentions that were submitted to the ASLB took issue with
aspects of that application, and attempted to point out its
deficiencies.
The board, a quasi-judicial arm of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, can revisit, amend or reverse license decisions that
have been made by the NRC staff.
Originally, the ASLB fielded a total of 11 contentions to the
relicensing application. According to the Friday decision, only
five of those stood up to the board's strict criteria for
acceptance.
Still, of the 44 nuclear plants that have applied for a license
extension, there have only been such contentions in seven cases.
Of the seven applications that drew contentions before the ASLB,
only twice have any been admitted for more review.
Vermont Yankee is the third, but the state and the coalition
still have a long way to go if they are to affect the final
decision on relicensing.
Of the other two plants that have seen contentions admitted,
none have gone to a formal hearing.
According to NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan, those objections have
been resolved or dismissed during information gathering.
Both the NRC staff and Entergy, the company that owns Vermont
Yankee, have a chance to appeal the board's Friday decision, he
said.
Still, he called this "an important hurdle" for the state and
coalition.
Ray Shadis, technical advisor to the coalition, said the issues
at hand are very important.
"We're going to pursue these things because they're real,
significant safety issues," he said. "If you don't manage the
aging on these things correctly, you're begging for an
accident."
Shadis also pointed out that the coalition and the state will
have a chance to review the relicensing process, and could file
new contentions as more information becomes available.
The Department of Public Service is still reviewing the
decision, said spokesman Stephen Wark, but the initial
indications are positive.
"It's a very complicated ruling. We'll use the weekend to digest
it and have a better idea of what our next steps are," he said.
"But at first blush, we're happy to have it come down in the
interest of Vermonters."
Rob Williams, spokesman for Vermont Yankee, declined to comment
until he'd had more time to review the decision.
Andy Rosen can be reached at or (802) 254-2311, ext. 275.
New England Newspapers, Inc.
» (802) 254-2311
» 62 Black Mountain Road
» Brattleboro, VT 05301-9242
*****************************************************************
50 MP: Moldovan legislature intensifies collaboration with European
Parliament, Moldovan Speaker says
Sep. 22, 2006 / [7970]
Chisinau, 22 September /MOLDPRES/ - Moldova will be able to
benefit from financial assistance of about 40-45 million euros
from the European Union (EU). The European Commission will
submit proposals to the Committee of Ministers until late 2006,
so as the first tranch could be offered at least in first half
of 2007.
Statements to this effect were made yesterday evening by
Moldovan Speaker Marian Lupu, who returned from a two-day
official visit to Brussels.
Lupu told journalists that during the visit the Moldovan
delegation agreed with the European officials to create a single
office within the Hungarian embassy in Chisinau to issue
Shenghen visas for the Moldovan citizens. Hungary accepted to
play the leading role in the system.
"Now, the Moldovan diplomacy has the most important role. It has
to hold negotiations with all the EU's member countries, so that
the centre to be represented by all the European countries,
which do not avail of embassies in Chisinau, such as Belgium,
Portugal, Austria, Italy and other states," the speaker said.
Lupu underlined that the current visit to the European
Parliament (EP) is significant, as it is the first of the kind,
since until present the parliamentary cooperation committee was
the only communication corridor between the two legislatures.
"We agreed to extend the format of communication and dialogue
with the European Parliament and, besides the parliamentary
cooperation committee's meetings, we will further send teams of
MPs in order to have an intense cooperation with the
representatives of the EP's most important political groups,"
Lupu said.
Referring to the recent "referendum" in Moldova's breakaway
Transnistrian region, Lupu informed that the EP has already
prepared a draft resolution on non-recognition of its legality,
and its outcomes. He voiced hope that the "referendum" will not
be recognized by the international community, including by the
Russian Federation.
Copyright © AIS MOLDPRES
str. Puskin nr.22, Chisinau, Republica Moldova cod 2012
Tel. +373 22 232 372 Fax. +373 22 232 698 E-mail:
inform@moldpres.md, marketing@moldpres.md
*****************************************************************
51 IHT: Czech nuclear power plant taken off the grid to fix oil leak -
iht,europe,Czech Nuclear - Europe -
International Herald Tribune
The Associated Press
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2006
PRAGUE, Czech Republic Workers disconnected the first unit of a
Czech nuclear power plant near the border with Austria from the
country's power grid to fix an oil leak, an official said
Saturday. A spokesman for the Temelin nuclear plant, Milan
Nebesar, said the unit was taken off the grid early Saturday and
the repairs should not exceed a few hours. The oil leak was
detected earlier this week in the non-nuclear part of the plant
and posed no threat to nuclear security, he said. The plant's
second unit is also off the grid due to annual refueling.
Construction of the plant's two 1,000-megawatt units, based on
Russian designs, started in the 1980s. The reactors were later
upgraded with U.S. technology, but they have remained
controversial because of frequent malfunctions. The station, 60
kilometers (35 miles) north of the Austrian border, has been a
source of friction between the two countries. Environmentalists
in Austria demand it be closed, while Czech authorities insist it
is safe.
Copyright © 2006 the International
Herald Tribune All rights reserved [IHT]
*****************************************************************
52 JS Online: Is it time to lift the nuclear ban?
Aging nuclear plants generate one-fifth of the state’s
electricity. But new facilities are outlawed. Coal faces
environmental worries. Natural gas prices are soaring. And demand
keeps growing.
By THOMAS CONTENT
tcontent@journalsentinel.comPosted: Sept. 23, 2006
Worldwide, 28 nuclear power plants are under construction. In the
United States, where the last new reactor was completed in 1996,
16 plants are on the drawing board, mostly in the South.
The Nuclear Picture
82 plants began operation worldwide since 1990
4 of those are in the U.S.
36 plants built since 2000
0 of those are in the U.S.
28 plants under construction around the world, none in the U.S.
16 plants on the drawing board in the U.S., principally in the
South
1 is in the Midwest, in southern Illinois
20% - nuclear power's share of the electricity supplied by
Wisconsin utilities
In Wisconsin...
Photo/Benny Sieu
Of three nuclear plants in Wisconsin, two remain operational.
Here are thumbnail descriptions of the three:
Active
KEWAUNEE
Reactors: One
Location: Town of Carlton
Opened: 1974
Owner/operator: Dominion Resources Inc.
Status: Dominion, which bought the plant last year, is expected
to file in 2008 to extend the life of the plant.
POINT BEACH
Reactors: Two
Location: Town of Two Creeks
Opened: 1970, 1973
Owner/operator: Wisconsin Energy Corp./Nuclear Management Co.
Status: Wisconsin Energy is expected to announce by early next
year whether it plans to keep or sell the plant.
Former Plant
GENOA
Reactors: One
Location: La Crosse
Never Built
Among plants once considered for Wisconsin, but never built,
were sites in Pleasant Prairie, Koshkonong, Haven, Prairie du
Chien, Wisconsin Rapids and Durand.
Sources: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, International Atomic
Energy Agency, Wisconsin Energy Corp., Dominion Resources Inc.,
Private Fuel Storage LLC
In Wisconsin, which relies on nuclear power for one-fifth of its
electricity, the state's two nuclear plants are aging, both more
than 30 years old.
With concerns growing about the greenhouse gases released by
coal-fired plants and about the tripling of natural gas prices
in recent years, and with electricity demand growing at 2% a
year, is it time for Wisconsin to overturn its ban on new
nuclear plants and consider plans to build a new one here?
"There will come a day, sometime in the next five to eight
years, when I think the state will have to have the debate (on a
new plant)," said Gale Klappa, chairman, president and chief
executive of Wisconsin Energy Corp., the state's largest utility.
The moratorium itself already is being debated. A legislative
committee assessing the role of nuclear power in Wisconsin's
future will tour the Point Beach nuclear plant this week. The
radioactive issue is also entering the political arena as the
Nov. 7 election nears: Gov. Jim Doyle and Republican challenger
Mark Green are divided over whether Wisconsin should explore new
nuclear plants.
All nuclear plants were given an initial license of 40 years,
and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year authorized
another 20 years for the Point Beach plant. Dominion Resources
Inc., which has a license through 2014, expects to file in 2008
to extend the Kewaunee plant's life by two decades.
"Nobody in this country has run a nuclear unit for 50 years
yet," Klappa said.
A bill introduced by Rep. Michael Huebsch (R-West Salem) to
overturn the state's nuclear moratorium has not gotten out of
committee for two straight legislative sessions. But a
co-sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Phil Montgomery
(R-Ashwaubenon), is chairman of the legislative committee
studying nuclear power.
Facing the obstacles
The soonest a new nuclear plant could be built would be about 15
years from now, and there will be plenty of debate before that
happens, industry officials say. The obstacles are significant.
For instance, plans are moving slowly to open a national dumping
ground for spent nuclear fuel now stored at reactors in
Wisconsin and across the country.
The Yucca Mountain site near Las Vegas was supposed to open by
1998, but that date was pushed back to 2017 at the earliest. A
bill pending in Congress would generate still more controversy,
as it would authorize interim storage of spent nuclear fuel on
federal or private land in Wisconsin and the 30 other states
with nuclear plants.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Interior Department scuttled plans
by a La Crosse-based utility consortium to build an interim
nuclear waste disposal site on a Utah Indian reservation.
The federal government needs to demonstrate that it is serious
about the waste disposal issue before communities across the
country accept construction of new nuclear plants in their
towns, said Steven Kraft, senior director of used fuel
management at the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade
group.
In addition, safety problems remain an issue.
In 2002, after boric acid ate a football-sized hole in the cover
of the Davis-Besse reactor near Toledo, Ohio, regulators ordered
the plant shut down for nearly two years. The incident had
ramifications in Wisconsin because the Point Beach and Kewaunee
plants are similar in design to Davis-Besse.
Wisconsin electricity customers subsequently paid for nearly $75
million in repairs in the last two years to replace vessel
covers at the Kewaunee and Point Beach plants.
Another concern is the operating record at Point Beach, which
experienced prolonged shutdowns in the late 1990s and became the
only nuclear plant in the country to be slapped with a pair of
harsh safety findings by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Point Beach managers note that the company's reactors have
achieved strong operating results in recent years, with one of
the reactors running for a record 472 days.
The nuclear industry touts its operating record, noting that
although reactors are aging, the nation's nuclear plants
generate more power more efficiently every year.
Incentives to build
Prospects for nuclear power have been buoyed by federal tax
credits and other incentives contained in the energy bill
Congress passed last year, as well as by the fact that nuclear
plants don't generate any emissions of greenhouse gases, such as
carbon dioxide and methane.
Katie Nekola, energy program director at the environmental group
Clean Wisconsin, said that if the sizable federal tax dollars
Congress has passed to spur construction of new nuclear plants
were spent on energy efficiency and renewable power, carbon
dioxide releases would be curbed much faster.
"There's a lot better ways to address climate change than with
something that's dangerous and expensive," she said.
Opponents also note that Wisconsin was once considered as a
choice for a second repository for used nuclear fuel.
The federal Department of Energy is required to issue a report
on a second nuclear waste repository by 2010. Testifying in
Congress earlier this year, a DOE official said the agency would
first study sites, including one known as the Wolf River
batholith in northern Wisconsin, that were considered in the
1980s before a search for a second site was postponed.
"We're very concerned that Wisconsin will be looked at a as a
potential site for nuclear waste," said Charlie Higley,
executive director of the Citizens' Utility Board, a ratepayer
group that fought against nuclear power in the 1970s and '80s.
The Nuclear Energy Institute is asking Congress to authorize
construction of interim storage sites around the nation, most
likely at sites where testing would begin on new technologies to
reprocess used nuclear fuel, Kraft said. The institute also
wants Congress to remove the cap on how much spent nuclear fuel
can be shipped to the Yucca Mountain site.
Gubernatorial candidates' views
The issue of whether to lift Wisconsin's nuclear moratorium has
divided the two candidates for governor.
"I believe the key to meeting our future energy needs is through
a diverse mix of energy sources, including renewable fuels and
nuclear power," said Green, who wants the ban lifted.
Doyle, who has supported construction of coal-fired power plants
and worked with Republicans in the Legislature to push
construction of wind turbines and other forms of renewable
energy, supports the ban.
"There hasn't been a nuclear plant built anywhere in the country
in the past three decades, and Wisconsin certainly isn't going
to be the first state to break that trend," he said.
Earlier this month, however, the head of the nation's leading
operator of nuclear plants came to Madison. John Rowe of
Chicago-based Exelon Corp. said he expects to see three or four
new plants announced in the next several years.
Rowe said Wisconsin regulators made the right call more than a
generation ago to block construction of nuclear plants at a time
when the cost to build the plants was soaring.
But Rowe, who grew up on a dairy farm not far from Madison,
added, "I would be very pleased if my home state, which was
among the first to question continued nuclear investment in the
'70s and '80s, now became among the first to revisit the issue
in a post 9-11, post-climate-change world."
From the Sept. 24, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
*****************************************************************
53 EagleTribune.com: Point: Nuclear power is cheap and reliable
North Andover, MA -
Sun, Sep 24 2006
Eagle-Tribune
Gilbert J. Brown
In New England and elsewhere, nuclear power is crucial in the
battle to stem global warming, while providing safe, affordable
and reliable electricity. Today, 103 nuclear plants provide 20
percent of the nation's electricity; five reactors provide 30
percent of New England's electricity.
Interest in nuclear power is growing for several reasons, not
only because it's the primary source of clean energy. Nuclear
avoids almost 700 million tons of carbon dioxide per year and is
responsible for 73 percent of all "green" non-emitting sources.
The safety record of U.S. nuclear power plants is excellent. For
comparison, studies show that 15,000 Americans die prematurely
each year from coal-fired power plant emissions. Regrettably,
coal still provides 52 percent of the nation's electricity and
25 percent in Massachusetts.
The good news is that 17 utilities are gearing up to build as
many as 33 new nuclear plants in the United States. Worldwide,
28 plants are under construction in 13 countries. Although no
utilities in New England have announced plans to add more
nuclear-generating capacity, that could change. Clean power
generation is seen as the best choice to meet the growing demand
for electricity.
Nuclear power's increasingly favorable economics is a key factor
in its comeback. The cost of producing nuclear-generated
electricity is 25 percent cheaper than coal and less than
one-quarter of natural gas. Utilities recognize that they no
longer can rely heavily on natural gas for electricity
production because of its high and volatile prices. Nor is solar
or wind power viable. Although politically popular, in most
instances, they are far too costly and cannot provide power
reliably at industrial strength.
The next nuclear power plants will be built to standardized
designs, four of which are certified by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. Now, for the first time, utilities will apply for a
combined construction and operating license, so that a nuclear
plant can begin commercial operation when complete, within four
years of the first pouring of concrete. France, which obtains
nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, has
shown this can be done. Now is a good time to launch a new
generation of nuclear power plants. Our future depends on it.
Gilbert J. Brown, Ph.D., is a professor and coordinator of the
Nuclear Engineering Program at the University of Massachusetts
Lowell.
U.S. electricity production costs
Cost, in cents, to produce a kilowatt-hour of electricity from
the following sources:
Oil - 8.09
Gas - 7.51
Coal - 2.21
Nuclear - 1.72
Source: Nuclear Energy Institute ![]()
www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.
*****************************************************************
68 reviewjournal.com: Freedom of information
Opinion - EDITORIAL:
Sep. 24, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
On Tuesday, we took a swipe at the U.S. Department of Energy's
inspector general for waiting more than four years to fulfill
this newspaper's request for documents under the Freedom of
Information Act.
The agency finally handed over an audit of the Yucca Mountain
Project when the woman who compiled it gave notice she was
quitting her job. The timing of the release made it easy to
wonder whether the inspector general's office ever would have
provided the report had Kristi Hodges not resigned.
A bill passed Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee could
prevent such abuses of the law. Sponsored by Sens. Russell
Feingold, D-Wis., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, the bill would
require federal agencies to declare within 20 days of receiving
a FOIA request whether they will comply. Agencies would have to
provide tracking numbers for requests and a service, accessible
by telephone or the Internet, that documents the status of each
request.
The bill also lays out penalties for agencies that ignore
information requests or fail to comply in a timely fashion.
It's ridiculous that new legislation and, likely, a new
bureaucracy, are needed to uphold a law first passed in 1966.
The bill restates the original 1966 act's "strong presumption in
favor of disclosure" and notes that it hasn't always succeeded
in shining light on the workings of government.
Increasingly, if a federal agency actually fulfills a FOIA
request, whole pages are blacked out. Such practices prevent
meaningful examination of how tax dollars are spent and whether
the resulting programs and policies are efficient or serve the
public interest.
For this bill to spark any change in the way the Freedom of
Information Act is observed, the entire culture of the federal
government must change. Federal employees need to recognize that
they work for the public, not vice versa. And their offices are
not fiefdoms immune from public scrutiny.
The full Senate should make sure this bill's teeth won't rot
from neglect before sending it on to the House.
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006
Stephens Media GroupPrivacy Statement
*****************************************************************
69 DailyBulletin.com: Group urges toxins action
Article Launched: 09/24/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT
By Andrea Bennett, Staff Writer
NORCO - The Community Advisory Group announced last week that
it was time its concerns about contamination in the community be
taken seriously by those in power.
CAG member Jennifer Beaudet said she had done enough sifting
through records, collecting documents and researching historical
reports on activities at the Wyle Laboratories site, a former
military and civilian testing facility, to conclude that it must
be thoroughly tested for depleted uranium and radioactive
materials.
Department of Toxic Substances Control "indicated in April 2006
that they addressed all the radioactive violations issued to
Wyle Laboratories and concluded no action was needed," Beaudet
said. "I believe there is evidence and information compelling
enough for DTSC to investigate radiation and depleted uranium
concerns."
The state DTSC regulates the testing and cleaning efforts on
and off the Wyle site.
Recent findings of vinyl chloride inside buildings at Norco
High School and the TCE (trichloroethylene) groundwater plume
that runs off site and underneath residences in the area have
taken priority in the Wyle investigation and cleanup efforts.
Beaudet said she has records of multiple radiological
violations issued to Wyle, in addition to several repeat
violations, numerous violations from the Riverside County
Hazardous Materials Division, detonation permits and 2001
photographs of witness plates that are used for denotation.
Then there are the illnesses in Norco, mostly leukemia in
children and thyroid problems in adults, Beaudet said.
Medical experts have found, however, that Norco does not have
an abnormal number of thyroid cancer cases.
CAG members say they disagree with the findings.
"We have astronomical numbers of people with thyroid issues and
something is causing it," CAG Chairwoman Celeste Tittle said.
"DTSC is just looking at TCE and saying TCE doesn't cause
thyroid cancer."
Tittle said radiation, perchlorate and NDMA
(nitrosodimethylamine) are contaminants known to cause thyroid
diseases, and she believes all three exist at the Wyle site.
Beaudet said there are areas of the Wyle property that have yet
to be investigated and historical records indicate the most
hazardous testing was conducted in these areas.
DTSC Project Manager Rafat Abassi could not be reached for
comment last week.
In addition to asking the state to expand its investigation,
Tittle said the group needs more involvement from Norco.
"The city's job is to protect the public. There are people
calling the city and they're told there is nothing wrong with
Wyle. That is not helpful. The Web site is not accessible and
not updated," Tittle said. "And Jim Daniels (Norco community
development director) is a CAG member and he hasn't come in over
a year."
Daniels could not be reached for comment last week.
Tittle referred to a 2004 Riverside County Grand Jury report,
which urged the city of Norco to be more proactive in informing
the public about Wyle contamination.
The Corona-Norco Unified School District was also reprimanded
by Tittle, who said Assistant Superintendent Ted Rozzi and Norco
High School Principal John Johnson have not attended CAG
meetings for some time.
Neither Rozzi nor Johnson could be reached for comment last
week.
Andrea Bennett can be reached at (909) 483-9347, or by e-mail
andrea.bennett@dailybulletin.com.
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
*****************************************************************
70 DailyBulletin.com: Rialto needs county's help with perchlorate
Article Launched: 09/24/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT
Joe Sampson and &Ed Scott, Guest Columnist
As the two City Council members of Rialto's perchlorate
subcommittee, we applaud the Daily Bulletin for its Sept. 6
editorial titled "Rialto, county need to tackle real problems."
The editorial emphasized the overwhelmingly serious nature of
the perchlorate contamination problem and the health threat it
poses.
Furthermore, the estimated $200 million cost of cleanup and
water treatment is well beyond the resources available to
Rialto. That is why Rialto sued the suspected polluters of the
water basin, including San Bernardino County and the U.S.
Department of Defense.
The City Council strongly believes that the companies and
agencies that polluted the basin should pay for the cleanup, not
the innocent citizens of Rialto. The council also believes that
it is unlikely that these polluting corporations will
"voluntarily" spend hundreds of millions of dollars to do so.
In a related guest column by Supervisor Josie Gonzales, the
supervisor criticized Rialto for suing 40 corporations, the
Department of Defense and the County of San Bernardino for their
part in containing the water. The supervisor stated Rialto and
the county should work to submit join grant applications for
federal funding for groundwater cleanup.
For example, the supervisor suggested a program similar to the
one used for groundwater cleanup in the Santa Ana River
watershed and the County of Santa Clara.
If Rialto were a beneficiary of a similar $25 million program,
when divided among the cities and water agencies within the
watershed area, the $5 million possibly allocated to Rialto
would provide only a small fraction of the money necessary to
address Rialto's $200 million problem. Federal grants in the $5
million-$10 million range are good because they can provide a
few wellhead water treatment systems but they are not
sufficient to eliminate the cause of the pollution and also
provide needed water treatment.
The supervisor points to a Ground Water Cleanup white paper
which calls for an equal division of funding between several
water agencies. That is like a doctor seeing three patients, and
giving each patient $10,000 to cure their illnesses, but knowing
that one patient has a sore throat, the second a broken leg, and
the third has cancer and needs ongoing care.
Rialto is the patient with cancer. Rialto needs $200 million to
clean up a contaminated site within its city limits. The site is
one of the most serious perchlorate contamination problems in
the nation. If Rialto were to agree to the supervisor's plan to
divide up inadequately funded federal grants among numerous
agencies, the city would condemn its citizens to a future of
having no viable solution to its massive problem.
Instead of relying entirely on federal grants, the Rialto City
Council made the considered judgment that only a lawsuit against
the 40 suspected corporate and government polluters could
provide the funds needed to solve the problem. The lawsuit
shifts the financial burden of cleanup and remediation from the
city to the polluters, where it belongs.
Why sue the county? The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality
Control Board found that the county-owned Mid Valley Sanitary
Landfill was one of the sources of pollution. The Regional Board
issued a cleanup and abatement order to the county to provide
replacement water to Rialto.
The county has complied with these orders, not because the
county is being "proactive" or a "responsible neighbor." It has
complied with the orders because it is legally obligated to do
so.
Why aren't the county and Rialto working to settle the dispute
between Rialto and the county? That's what Rialto wants to do. In
fact, the parties had a tentative agreement to settle their
claims with Supervisors Postmus and Gonzales.
Unfortunately the Board of Supervisors never ratified the
agreement. Supervisor Gonzales' chief of staff, Bob Page, was
quoted in the Daily Bulletin on Aug. 7 as saying, "The county's
insurance company has rejected the deal saying it's impossible
for the county to step out of the suit without a settlement
involving all the parties."
In addition to avoiding a settlement, the county is actively
working against Rialto. The county's attorneys, Mr. Joel S.
Moskowitz and Mr. Robert L. Jocks, have become leaders in the
polluters' defense efforts. They have filed numerous motions in
court and other documents on behalf of the fireworks and
munitions manufactures that operated on the site.
These are the very corporations that have polluted Rialto's
water and are now being aided by San Bernardino County's
attorneys at the taxpayers' expense. The corporate defendants in
the Rialto litigation are worth billions of dollars, and can
ably defend themselves. Why does the county feel called upon to
defend these polluters and attack Rialto in the process?
When Supervisor Gonzales tells us in the newspaper that she
wants to work cooperatively and then unleashes her attorneys in
court to attack Rialto and defend the polluters, we have a hard
time believing her. The Daily Bulletin in its recent editorial
stated, "The city has made scant progress" in its lawsuit. We
believe the county's aggressive defense of the polluters in
court is greatly responsible for that lack of progress.
We believe it is long past time to begin working together. The
first step is for Supervisor Gonzales and the county Board of
Supervisors to ratify the tentative agreement, which was
negotiated in August 2005. The second step is for the county to
join Rialto in its suit against the polluting corporations, and
recognize that the county's current litigation strategy hurts
all citizens of San Bernardino County, especially those in the
5th District. The goal of the lawsuit shouldn't be only for
Rialto to prevail; the county should seek recovery of its costs
as well.
A federal lawsuit seeking to shift the financial burden of a
thorough water treatment program to the responsible parties is
the only way Rialto citizens will continue to be provided with
clean water, now and in the future. If Rialto prevails in court
against the polluters, the monetary judgment will be used to
remediate Rialto's supply once and for all.
The citizens and taxpayers expect and deserve that the elected
officials will work together to solve this monumental problem.
Only through litigation can Rialto obtain the funds needed to
completely rid itself of the contamination.
Smaller water treatment grants are helpful, but they don't
address the fundamental problem of cleaning up the cause of
pollution. Solving the larger problem is where we need the
supervisor's help.
Joe Sampson is Rialto's mayor pro tem and Ed Scott is a Rialto
City Council member. They are on the
Rialto Subcommittee on Perchlorate.
www.dailybulletin.com
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
*****************************************************************
71 Salt Lake Tribune: Inspectors OK radioactive rail cars
Article Last Updated: 09/23/2006 12:59:39 AM MDT
The Salt Lake Tribune
State radiation inspectors say they found no evidence of
danger from rail cars that triggered radiation alarms Thursday
at a garbage transfer station in Salt Lake City. While there
were three cars of low-level radioactive material in a nearby
rail yard, a check of those containers showed levels "compliant
with federal regulations," said Dane Finerfrock, director of the
state Division of Radiation Control. The containers were
reportedly on their way to the EnergySolutions radioactive and
hazardous waste landfill in Tooele County, about 80 miles west of
Salt Lake City. The site was formerly known as Envirocare of
Utah.
- Judy Fahys
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
72 CCDR: Cotter Corp. official remains optimistic over uranium prices
Cañon City Daily Record
Publish Date: 9/23/2006
Vic Vela
The Daily Record
While the Department of Energy sifts through what may be hundreds
of public comments in response to a recent environmental
assessment, Cotter Corp. remains idle, and its future remains in
doubt.
A recent Associated Press report said the currently “shut down”
uranium mill may need uranium prices to climb even higher than
what they are now for the mill to operate once again.
Cotter Corp. Manager John Hamrick confirmed that report.
“Uranium is up to $53 a pound right now, but probably needs to
reach somewhere close to $60 a pound,” he said.
The Department of Energy is considering action that could lead
to the expansion of uranium mining in Colorado, with Cotter
Corp. — one of only two uranium mills in the country — being a
possible recipient of uranium ore.
The recent environmental assessment — a document that analyzes
long and short-term environmental effects — called for a public
comment period that ended August.
However, things need to fall into place for Cotter Corp. before
this happens. In addition to the need of higher priced uranium,
DOE needs to take certain steps before any expansion of lease
tracts for uranium mining becomes any option.
“We’ve received public comments from 100 different entities, and
we need to look through those first,” said DOE Uranium Leasing
Program manager Tracy Plessinger. “We also look at the degree of
impact at the local level. How much of an impact will it have on
traffic or public health, for example?”
Another potential roadblock for Cotter Corp. is its significant
need for mill improvements, which could reach numbers as high as
tens of millions of dollars.
While Hamrick admits any decision on the future of the mill will
depend on uranium prices, he is optimistic the mill will get the
support it needs.
“We’re not that far away,” said Hamrick, speaking to rising
uranium prices. “There will be a lot of people looking to put
money in the mill” when prices get to the point of attraction.
Hamrick admits an uphill climb but feels confident in recent
trends.
“Most analysts are predicting the $60 a pound mark will hit,
it’s just a matter of when,” he said.
Vic Vela can be reached at vvela@ccdailyrecord.com.
News and Information from Cañon City and the Greater Royal Gorge
Region
All contents Copyright © 2005 The Cañon City Daily Record. All
rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
73 Central Asia's Nuclear-arms-free Zone Can Spur Stability Elsewhere, Official Tells Un
Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:00:22 -0400
CENTRAL ASIA’S NUCLEAR-ARMS-FREE ZONE CAN SPUR STABILITY ELSEWHERE, OFFICIAL TELLS UN
New York, Sep 22 2006 10:00PM
The recently signed Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central
Asia can spur progress on other issues related to those arms,
the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan <"http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/kazakhstan-e.pdf">told
the United Nations General Assembly
today.
“The signing of that milestone instrument could become a catalyst
for the process of enhancing the Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation
(NPT),” Kassymzhomart Tokaev said of the new pact signed by
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
He said Kazakhstan’s strong stance on nuclear weapons stemmed from
its experience. “This position is rooted in the sufferings of our
people, who are still reeling from negative effects of nuclear
explosions at the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground shut down
exactly 15 years ago.”
States should strictly comply with their commitment to a moratorium
on nuclear test explosions and work to ensure the entry into force
of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Mr. Tokaev
said.
2006-09-22 00:00:00.000
___________________
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/
_______________________________
To change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/
*****************************************************************
74 Guardian Unlimited: Thousands in nuclear protest rally
From Press Association
[UP]
Press Association Saturday September 23, 2006 2:23 PM
Thousands of anti-war activists joined a huge rally calling on
the government to bring British troops home from Iraq and
arguing the public does not want a new generation of nuclear
weapons.
Students, trade unionists, politicians, religious groups and
other members of the public from across the country travelled to
Manchester for the biggest event of its kind ever held in the
city.
The protesters marched around the venue of next week's Labour
Party conference and were planning to stage a mass "die-in",
lying down in the road to symbolise the tens of thousands of
people killed in Iraq.
Scores of coaches were hired from cities throughout the UK to
bring protesters to Manchester while hundreds joined a so-called
"peace train" from London.
The protesters stood in bright sunshine in a city centre square
listening to a succession of speakers denounce Tony Blair for
his foreign policies and calling on him to resign immediately.
They held up banners which read "time to go" and "bring troops
home".
Andrew Murray, chairman of the Stop The War Coalition, which
helped organise the event, said: "The tens of thousands of
people marching through Manchester represent the opinion of the
majority of people in this country.
"More than 80% of British people think Tony Blair should stop
supporting George Bush's war-mongering policies which have
brought nothing but chaos, death and devastation."
Organisers of the march will hand a letter to the Labour Party,
loudly endorsed by the protesters, calling for British troops to
be brought back from Iraq and for the government to drop any
plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system.
Human rights campaigner, Bianca Jagger, who travelled on the
special train, said the protest proved that most of the British
people were against the war in Iraq. "You cannot export
democracy through the barrel of a gun," she said.
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
75 AP Wire: Idaho National Lab replaces nuclear chief with few explanations
09/24/2006 |
Associated Press
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - One of the top spots at the Idaho National
Laboratory is changing hands, but officials are not offering any
explanations for the change.
Phillip J. Finck, a nuclear engineer at the Argonne National
Laboratory in Chicago, will soon lead many nuclear operations at
eastern Idaho's national lab.
He replaces Jim Lake, the longtime associate laboratory director
for nuclear programs. The position reports directly to lab
director John Grossenbacher.
The Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle Energy Alliance is the lab's
contractor.
Battelle announced the change, but provided no more information.
Battelle's release did not even mention Lake's name, though he
has held the post since the contractor took over research
operations at the laboratory after winning a $4.8 billion
federal bid in 2004. Lake also lead nuclear operations under the
previous contractor, San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp.
"Jim is considering other leadership options in the Battelle
family," said the final paragraph of an internal laboratory memo
from Grossenbacher that was obtained by the Idaho Falls
Post-Register.
Laboratory officials said in a subsequent written statement,
"This change is a strategic redeployment of Battelle senior
leadership.m.anagement resources."
With 7,000 employees, the Idaho Falls-based Idaho National
Laboratory is eastern Idaho's largest employer.
*****************************************************************
76 KnoxNews: Fisk president 'reconnects' with DOE
By BOB FOWLER, fowlerb@knews.com
September 23, 2006
OAK RIDGE - She's come full circle, former U.S. Department of
Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary said Friday.
While DOE chief, her department started a mentoring program with
black colleges and other minority institutions and women-owned
businesses, she said.
Now, as president of Fisk University in Nashville, O'Leary on
Friday signed a mentoring/protege pact with the contractor that
runs Oak Ridge's nuclear weapons plant.
"To have this opportunity to reconnect nothing could please me
more,'' O'Leary told officials with the Y-12 National Security
Complex.
George Dials, president and general manager of BWXT_Y-12, the
contractor that operates the weapons plant, sought out the pact
with O'Leary, whom he called his "former boss."
"She and Mr. Dials are longtime friends," Y-12 spokesman Bill
Wilburn said. "They've known each other for a number of years."
The agreement will enhance research capabilities for students at
Fisk, Wilburn said.
It's also a way for the university to grow long-term
relationships with DOE contractors, officials said.
The Y-12 contractor has now inked a dozen such agreements.
That's more than any other nuclear weapons complex under the
National Nuclear Security Administration.
O'Leary, a graduate of Fisk University, took the helm of the
120,000-worker Department of Energy in 1994. She returned to the
private sector three years later.
She was named president of 969-student Fisk University two years
ago.
"Fisk has a very rich history, and we are proud to become a part
of it," said Edwina Crowe, Y-12's manager of information and
materials.
O'Leary, who said she twice visited Oak Ridge as DOE's chief,
was given a tour of updates under way at the Y-12 weapons
complex.
Bob Fowler, News Sentinel Anderson County editor, may be reached
at 865-481-3625.
© 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
*****************************************************************
77 SF New Mexican: 'Super lab'' gets its start at LANL
September 23, 2006
When a doctor suspects an outbreak of avian flu or some other
infectious disease waiting a month for laboratory results to
confirm it can be disastrous. Lives can be lost. The public
suffers. The economy suffers. And given 21st century technology,
theres no reason for it.
Getting those results in much less time a couple of days or a
week at most soon will be possible if robots perform the lab
work.
So say Tony Beugelsdijk, a chemist at Los Alamos National
Laboratory, and colleagues at the University of California, Los
Angeles.
Together theyre working on a breakthrough early warning system
that could provide more timely information about deadly human
and animal pathogens, and give emergency workers a better chance
to control the outbreak with antiviral drugs.
A prototype of a high-volume laboratory that would do this is
being designed and built by 15 LANL scientists. After completion
a year from now, it will be moved to California and operated by
UCLA.
Robots working in the lab then will do the tedious work of
technicians faster and better, handling thousands of samples of
liquids that are too small for human hands and working 24 hours
without air in a sterile environment.
Surveillance of animal populations in particular, bird
populations seeking strains of avian flu will show where the
birds are moving, which species are involved and different
flyways throughout the world, Beugelsdijk said.
The $22 million project is called the High Speed, High Volume
Laboratory Network for Infectious Diseases. It has garnered
support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
which eventually will receive the same kind of equipment. Similar
labs will work together in a worldwide network to characterize
large numbers of samples and generate information about the
patterns they show.
Now, figuring out the DNA sequencing of a pathogen to identify a
disease is done by hand. But in the new lab, machines similar to
those used in the human genome project will analyze the DNA.
Computers will compile the findings and post them in public
databases within a day or two.
Its many orders of magnitude of what can be done today
throughout the world, Beugelsdijk said. If, for example, an
influenza virus were being studied instead of the few hundred
DNA sequences per year that labs can do now, the UCLA system
could crunch 10,000 DNA sequences per year, he said.
Sampling containers can be anywhere in the world within 24
hours, with protocols on how to do the sampling. Analysis in the
labs can begin within a few days of an outbreak. Its coming
together for avian surveillance already, Beugelsdijk said. Weve
got the first few hundred samples coming in from Africa now.
Congress appropriated $6 million for the project last year and
another $6 million this week, according to U.S. Sen. Pete
Domenici, R-N.M. And Californias Office of Homeland Security
pitched in $9 million. Meanwhile, UCLA is constructing the
NanoSystems Institute, where the lab will be housed.
A few years ago, Beugelsdijk said, he tried to sell the concept
to the World Health Organization, but it seemed farfetched to
officials there. Its so far beyond current practice that they
had a hard time getting their arms around the whole idea, he
said.
But when the lab is done, Beugelsdijk plans to take a model back
to WHO. I think it will be applied pretty quickly worldwide, he
said.
Contact Diana Heil at 986-3066 or dheil@sfnewmexican.com.
©2006, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved. Opinions
*****************************************************************
78 KnoxNews: Y-12 center plans sent to overseers
Uranium Processing Facility would cost around $1 billion
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
September 23, 2006
OAK RIDGE - Oak Ridge officials have completed the conceptual
design for a new manufacturing center at the Y-12 nuclear weapons
plant and submitted the plans to overseers in Washington, D.C.
The Uranium Processing Facility - the biggest of Y-12's
modernization projects - would cost an estimated $1 billion.
Ted Sherry, the federal manager at the Oak Ridge facility, said
the "mission need" for the UPF has already been approved.
The UPF would be built adjacent to a new $500 million storage
facility for weapons-grade uranium. The Highly Enriched Uranium
Materials Facility is already under construction and about 35
percent complete.
"These are very difficult, complex projects with a lot of
challenges," Sherry said.
Steven Wyatt said the UPF's conceptual design package was
submitted to the National Nuclear Security Administration's
headquarters in Washington.
"This conceptual design included the overall contracting
approach, a preliminary order-of-magnitude schedule and cost
estimate, assessment of various alternatives to the approach,
concept, and options addressing what needs to be included in
this new facility," Wyatt said in an e-mail response.
Wyatt said the Oak Ridge team also developed "draft design
criteria" that address all the necessary codes, standards and
requirements that must be met during the engineering design
phase of the project.
This year's funding for the project is $8.8 million, but that
spending level will grow steeply if Congress approves the
building plans. Wyatt declined comment on the exact funding
amount being requested for next year or beyond.
BWXT, the government's managing contractor, is working on a
sitewide environmental impact statement to address all the
changes taking place at Y-12, including UPF. About half a dozen
major facilities are in the works.
If the various approvals are reached and funding comes as
expected, construction on UPF would begin in 2009 and be
completed in 2015, Wyatt said.
Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.
© 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
*****************************************************************
79 Tri-City Herald: Life-saver in a shell?
Published Sunday, September 24th, 2006
By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer
A material derived from crabs and other shellfish is showing
promise as an inside-the-body vacuum cleaner that can protect
against radioactive particles.
Chitosan, often marketed as a weight loss pill, appears to
reduce the effects of particles that might be released by a
nuclear accident or a "dirty bomb" set off by terrorists.
The natural substance, derived from a polysaccharide called
chitin, is found in the exoskeleton of lobsters, crabs and
shrimp.
It is being investigated at Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory for its ability to pass through cell walls, bind with
radionuclides in the human body and hold them captive until
natural processes remove them from the body.
Tatiana Levitskaia, a radiochemist at the Richland lab, is
trying to determine why and how chitosan helps remove the
particles.
If Levitskaia succeeds, the first thing to do in a nuclear
emergency might be to swallow a few pills of chitosan.
"We don't know exactly how it works, but it prevents deposition
of the (radionuclide) to the bone structure," Levitskaia said.
Chitosan also may keep harmful radionuclides from accumulating
in critical organs like the liver and kidneys.
The problem for Levitskaia is that different radionuclides --
whether cobalt, strontium, radium or actinides -- act
differently in living tissues. She has been working on the
chitosan project for about a year, focusing on removal of cobalt
from tissues of laboratory rats. Chitosan is easily modified
chemically, which makes it possible to customize it for each
kind of radionuclide, Levitskaia said.
Chitosan is best known as a dietary supplement that can be
bought in health food stores. It's alleged health benefits are
in capturing fat, reducing cholesterol and lowering high blood
pressure, although there is disagreement about how effective it
is in achieving those goals.
Henri Braconnot, director of a botanical garden in Nancy,
France, is credited with discovering chitosan in 1811 after
noticing that sulfuric acid did not dissolve a certain substance
found in mushrooms. The substance was chitin.
Levitskaia has found that levels of the radionuclide neodymium
in the liver, spleen and bone of lab rats was reduced from 20
percent to 43 percent in animals fed chitosan compared with rats
that did not ingest chitosan.
An advantage to chitosan is that it is natural and nontoxic,
Levitskaia said.
"Unlike synthetics, they can be safely, conveniently and rapidly
administered to the general public in the event of a nuclear
emergency," she wrote in her report. And unlike the currently
available treatment using a chemical called DPTA, which must be
administered through inhalation or intravenously and is toxic,
chitosan can be swallowed as a pill with no harmful side
effects.
"We know it works. We just want to optimize it," said
Levitskaia, who is completing the first year of a three-year
study. The research is internally funded by PNNL.
© 2006 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
80 UCLA Daily Bruin: UC to bid for management of Livermore laboratory
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Student mental health, research funded by tobacco companies also
discussed at meeting
By Anthony Pesce DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
apesce@media.ucla.edu
SAN FRANCISCO — Talk of student wellness, academic freedom and
nuclear research dominated the discussion at last week's UC
Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco.
On Sept. 20, the regents decided to bid for the management of
the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, which contributes to the
development of nuclear weapons.
The lab's Web site states that Livermore is "responsible for
ensuring that the nation's nuclear weapons remain safe, secure
and reliable. (Livermore) also applies its expertise to prevent
the spread and use of weapons of mass destruction and strengthen
homeland security."
Students and community members spoke out against the University
of California's involvement in nuclear research, fearing it
could increase the country's involvement in nuclear warfare. But
the regents decided to move ahead with the proposal process.
"I believe competing for the Livermore management contract is
appropriate for the university," said Robert Foley, UC vice
president of laboratory administration.
Foley said that as a research university, it is appropriate and
beneficial for the UC to conduct research at Livermore.
Recently, the UC and three corporate partners gained control of
the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was put up for bid
after mismanagement led to several accidents.
Later in the day, the discussion shifted to more student-focused
issues.
In a presentation on a study conducted on systemwide student
mental health and the availability of counseling services, Joel
Dimsdale, co-chair of the University Student Mental Health
Committee, told the regents there are serious inadequacies in
student mental health services.
"Suicide attempts have increased at UC Santa Barbara, and
systemwide there have been increased visits to school
counselors," Dimsdale said. "Funding has not increased with
demand for counseling services."
UC President Robert Dynes also expressed his concern for student
well-being.
"All of us who teach and work at (the) UC are protective of
students. When we lose a student it's like losing a member of
our family," Dynes said.
Michael Young, the other co-chair of the University Student
Mental Health Committee, said that with an increase in diversity
on campuses, the demand for counseling services is growing.
"The student population (systemwide) is becoming more diverse,"
Young said. "International students, LGBT students and racial
minorities have magnified (psychological) problems because of
isolation they experience."
The study states that the average student-to-psychologist ratio
is 2,300 to 1, and the average systemwide wait time for a
student to get an appointment is three to six weeks.
The report stated that in order to curb the problem, an increase
in student fees may be necessary and the university would have
to hire more staff and increase the wages of current staff.
The ideal student-to-psychologist ratio is 1,500 to 1, according
to the report.
"At UCLA there is now a limited number of free counseling
sessions, where just a few years ago when the programs were
adequately funded that was not a problem," said Tina Park,
external vice president of the Undergraduate Students
Association Council and board member of the UC Students
Association.
Also discussed at the meeting was research in the university
system funded by the tobacco industry. There were questions of
whether the UC should intervene in the censure of funding by
certain companies.
Currently there are three grants from Philip Morris funding
research at UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Davis totaling $1.9
million. Some research includes early oral cancer detection.
In a recent court case in which several prominent tobacco
companies were charged with and convicted of racketeering, a
2003 UCLA study funded by the tobacco industry was cited as an
example of what can go wrong when the tobacco industry funds
research.
The UCLA study found that second-hand smoke does not cause lung
cancer, which is contradictory to most independent scientific
studies.
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is an ex-officio regent, asked the
board to discuss disallowing tobacco industry funding of
research, citing moral concerns and worries about monetary
influence on research as his reasons.
"The reputation of the UC is a valuable asset," Bustamante said.
"We should join the 18 universities across the nation that do
not accept tobacco industry funding. ... Our 150-year reputation
should not be jeopardized."
Other regents were concerned about jeopardizing the academic
freedom of researchers, stating this is a "slippery slope" to
future censure of funding.
"I would urge us not to interfere with the Academic Senate, or
with the freedom of a researcher to come to conclusions they
think are correct. This is a slippery slope and opens the door
to question funding in many different ways," Regent Sherry
Lansing said.
Regent George Marcus said the regents may have to question more
sources of funding if they question the tobacco industry.
"We would have enormous problems with 80 percent of our funding
sources if we disagreed with what their industry had to say –
for example, pharmaceuticals," he said.
In May, the Academic Senate passed a resolution stating the
regents have the authority to pass regulations about research
funding. Stated in the resolution was the opinion that
interfering with sources for funding of research is a violation
of academic freedom.
Copyright 2006 ASUCLA Student Media
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