***************************************************************** 12/24/06 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 14.303 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 [NYTr] Iran Thumbs Its Nose at UN Sanctions 2 [NYTr] Talking Points: Is Iran right to defy UN sanctions? 3 [NYTr] Ahmadinejad Dismisses UN anti-Iran Resolution 4 [NYTr] UN Votes for Trade Sanctions on Iran 5 Security UN Imposes Sanctions On Iran Over Uranium Enrichment 6 The Observer: UN sanctions hit Iran after call by Bush 7 Guardian Unlimited: Blair was dangerously off target in his condemna 8 BBC NEWS: Ahmadinejad rejects UN sanctions 9 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Talks end with next round uncertain 10 washingtonpost.com: 'Nyet' on Iran - 11 washingtonpost.com: Sanctions On Iran Approved By U.N. - 12 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: UNSC decision is unsubstantiated 13 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: 5+1 missed chance of friendship 14 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI gives douments of Natanz to IAEA 15 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: US power in ME declining - DM 16 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: UNSC delay, another defeat for US 17 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI ready for unconditional talks 18 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Israel nuke threats global security 19 AFP: Iran's show-down with UN atomic agency over nuclear inspections 20 AFP: Nuclear Iran must comply with UN resolution - nations 21 AFP: Nations urge Iran to comply with UN resolution; in response, 22 AFP: Security Council to vote on Iran sanctions 23 AFP: US wants more sanctions on Iran 24 AFP: US hails Iran UN sanctions, urges financial, weapons limits - 25 IAEA: Director General Response to Security Council Resolution on Ir 26 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Vows to Continue Uranium Enrichment 27 AFP: Putin, Bush stress importance of 'unified position' on Iran - 28 UPI: U.N. Security Council sanctions Iran 29 UPI: Iran says nuclear program is permanent 30 UPI: Iran condemns U.N. resolution as illegal 31 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Hails U.N. Resolution Against Iran 32 Guardian Unlimited: Security Council Slaps Sanctions on Iran 33 Guardian Unlimited: Iran: U.N. Ignoring Israeli Nuke Program 34 [NYTr] Another Diplo Debacle: N.Korea Talks End w/No Progress 35 Guardian Unlimited: North Korea Vows Fight U.S. Sanctions 36 Korea Times: Recess or Cessation? 37 AFP: Chances for NKorean nuclear talks breakthrough remote 38 AFP: US-NKorea sanctions talks due end of January - 39 AFP: US: Make UN Iran sanctions 'immediate' 40 US: New London Day: EB Delivers Sub With Time To Spare 41 [NYTr] Scottish govt minister resigns over nuke submarine 42 Scottish government minister resigns over nuclear submarine 43 IRNA: Israel tries to cover up scandal of Olmert's nuke arms admissi 44 Xinhua: France to build 6 Barracuda subs 45 Antiwar.com: Condi's Diplomatic Triumph - NUCLEAR REACTORS 46 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Senator Urges India on Nuke Pact 47 Indiadaily.com: India decides to get tough with Americans on nuclear 48 CNN-IBN: Signing of N-deal fails to end debate 49 US: Detroit News: Keep the Christmas lights burning - 50 US: Chicago Tribune: Nuclear energy nearing revival 51 china daily: Guangdong plans nuclear power plants 52 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI, Belarus to boost energy coop. 53 US: New London Day: NRC Probes Potentially Dangerous Millstone Overs 54 US: UPI: U.S. eyeing return to nuclear energy NUCLEAR SECURITY 55 Times of India: Search on for uranium stolen from Ranchi lab 56 US: washingtonpost.com: 3 Crises Face U.S., With Risky Options - 57 AFP: Police hunt launched after uranium stolen in India NUCLEAR SAFETY 58 US: reviewjournal.com: Plans for blast at test site defended 59 US: newsobserver.com: No radiation in I-95 wreck 60 Idaho Statesman: WGI gets contract to train nuclear workers in China 61 US: Deseret News: New report clears test blast 62 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Report concedes toxic dust may be dispersed 63 Guardian Unlimited: Italian Who Met Poisoned Spy Is Arrested 64 US: injurywatch: Pension for nuclear testing widow NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 65 Nevada Appeal: Nevada moves to block surface storage of waste at Yuc 66 US: Carlsbad Current-Argus: WIPP employee exposed to radioactive mat 67 US: Rocky Mountain News: Editorial: Pointless waste of time 68 kutv.com: Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Plan Challenged 69 Times Union: Trading nuclear waste for global warming PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 [NYTr] Iran Thumbs Its Nose at UN Sanctions Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2006 19:08:12 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Al Jazeera English - Dec 24, 2006 http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9A22FB7A-2966-45B3-A4F7-E683B3525F51.htm Iran Thumbs its Nose at Sanctions Iran has said it will start installing 3,000 centrifuges from Sunday at its Natanz uranium enrichment plant as an immediate reaction to the UN Security Council resolution. Ali Larijani, Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, told the Kayhan newspaper: "We will start our installation activities at the Natanz facility." Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, also mocked the UN sanctions imposed on Saturday over the country's nuclear programme. "It is a piece of torn paper ... by which they aim to scare Iranians... It is in the Westerners' interest to live with a nuclear Iran," Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the former American embassy in Tehran on Friday. Ahmadinejad also told countries that backed the UN resolution to abandon attempts to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear programme. "Give up this muppet game. You cannot send secret friendly messages to us and at the same time show your teeth and claws. End this dual game," Ahmadinejad said, according to Iran's IRNA news agency. Peaceful nuclear activities Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, appeared this month to abandon Israel's long-standing policy of ambiguity on nuclear weapons when he listed Israel among countries that possess them. His office said his comments were misinterpreted. Reacting to the Security Council vote, the Iranian foreign ministry said that the government will defy the resolution and continue enriching uranium. "Iran considers the new UN Security Council resolution ... an extra-legal act outside the frame of its responsibilities and against the UN Charter," the statement said. "The Iranian nation, relying on its national capabilities and within the framework of its rights stipulated in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, will continue its peaceful nuclear activities." Grievances Javad Zarif, Iran's representative at the UN, made a speech in response to the sanctions which was filled with lists of grievances: allegations of war crimes and nuclear irresponsibility by Israel, Iranian proposals he says were ignored by the Europeans and Americans, and crimes against Iran he said were ignored by the Security Council. Zarif also questioned the sincerity of the Security Council's claim that it wanted Iran to suspend enrichment in order to build confidence and trust between Iran and the international community. The United States' "stated objective has always been to use the council as an instrument of pressure and intimidation to compel Iran to abandon its rights", he said. "Knowing their bright recent history, we can all assume what the unstated objective is." Diplomatic settlement Iran has said it intends to expand its enrichment programme to 54,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material to produce nuclear fuel. Iranian nuclear officials say 54,000 centrifuges would produce enough enriched uranium to fuel a 1,000-megawatt reactor, such as the one Iran has built with Russian assistance at Bushehr, in southern Iran. The reactor is due to begin operating next year. Members of the Security Council said the resolution's intent is to persuade Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and submit to inspections. If the IAEA is satisfied with Iran's compliance, the resolution says, the sanctions will be suspended to allow for a negotiated, diplomatic settlement. Source: Agencies * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 2 [NYTr] Talking Points: Is Iran right to defy UN sanctions? Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2006 19:32:00 -0500 (EST) X-Sender-Host-Name: olm.blythe-systems.com X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by map @ economicdemocracy.org (activ-l) - Dec 24, 2006 Blog entries from BBC's "Have Your Say" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5055496.stm with additional comments by EconomicDemocracy.org http://EconomicDemocracy.org/ (general) Talking Points: Is Iran right to defy UN sanctions? Is Iran right to defy UN sanctions? * Can someone explain to me why a country that is situated on what is * essentially a lake of oil, would possibly need nuclear energy for? * * Chris, Los Angeles Gladly -- 1) stop brushing under the rug that Egypt and 2) even Saudi Arabia want nuclear power. 3) Read about peaking of oil production, too. Iran's natural gas is also not going to be sustainably increasable for very long, a lot of NG injections are just to keep the pressure up on the oil wells so as to avoid an outright decrease in production, just like in other parts of the world where NG injection is used. -ED * "Iran's leader [says crazy things so Iran can't have nuclear weapons * or even nuclear power]" What happened first, did Ahmadinejad get elected first, and then the invasion-mad Bush called Iran part of the "Axis of Evil" for whom "regime change" is planned? Nope, it's 180 degress the other way around: first came the "we will regime change your ass" ugly rhetoric by Bush, THEN the Iranian people were moved (or just enough of them were moved) to get Ahmadinejad elected. Try getting Washington to stop acting like a rogue state, first. By your standards, Washington has no right to nuclear weapons or even nucear power -- it's record has been the slaughter of hundreds of thousands, no, make that millions of innocent civilian women, men, children, and babies, yes babies, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Japan, and on and on. Holly hypocrisy batman! Except an Iran with Nuclear weapons is safer than a Washignton because Iran knows that it will be wiped off the map if it ever first-strike launched nuclear weapons. Washington does NOT have such a worry, thus Washington is much much more dangerous since it doesn't have to worry about being wiped off the map if it used a first-launch nuclear attack. -ED ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Furthermore, given Bush's and Washington's ugly record of invasions based on lies, one should be very very skeptical that "worries about nuclear weapons" is the only, or even main reason for Bush's rhetoric. Think about the "Iraq WMDs". Sure partly the Neocons convince themselves that Iran will get nuclear weapons tomorrow and throw them at someone the day after tomorrow (forgetting that unlike Washington, Iran has a huge 'we'll be wiped off the map it we do that' deterrent) but it's mostly an offensive move to attack Iran so it can be invaded, attacked, it's oil controlled, or at the very least, hope the Neocons, at least to take Iran's oil wealth away from India, China and other "competitors" who would gain power instead of the U.S. If you're a murderous dictator and deeply involved in 9/11, like Saudi Arabia but profits go to Washignton in large quantities, and petro-dollars too (thus proping up the USD) then Washington takes a different view...It's not "Iran might get nukes" nearly as much as it's about "how can be move the neocon agenda of HEGEMONY forward, using the excuse that we're worried about Iran getting nuclear weapons" ###################################################################### While Ahmadinejad should not right out dismiss the SC's resolution as just a piece of paper, the resolution is in itself injust as it does not recognize Iran's right to develop facilities to generate nuclear power. By not condemning and sanctioning Pakistan, India and Israel on the same basis, this resolution shows how international law is abused and the SC is again used as a handy tool by the US administration to forward their politics: reward India with contracts on nuclear fuel, punish Iran for wanting the same. Wolfgang Wendler, Yarmouth, Maine ###################################################################### Iran has already signed the Nuclear Proliferation agreement, and the investigators report that they do not have a weapon and will not have one for at least five years. Why can't they produce nuclear energy for energy purposes? India and Pakistan both have nuclear weapons and not one is questioning them.... Teresa Lenoir, Georgetown, Texas ###################################################################### It is slightly unfair that the debate regarding Iran's uraniam enrichment immediately skipped over the peaceful declaration Tehran has vehementlly insisted upon. We debate a hypothetical situation that Tehran has categorically denied. The other thing is, everyone assumes that should Iran develop weapons, they would want to use them. I see it more as a means of gaining international muscle and negotiating credibility. Further, every nation that possesses Nukes claims that they are a defensive deterrant, and is aware that should they ever use them, it would mean mutually assured destruction. Why do we assume Iran is any different? barzin pakandam, Germany ###################################################################### till Britain and America stop supporting Israel and stop threatening other nations and being word police,its a shame that America is the only nation to have used chemical weapons in Japan and Britain are involved in the mass killing of innocent people of Iraq.please remember what they said about Saddam and up to now we are still waiting for those WMD to be found.Tony and Bush how do you sleep everyday with so much lifes being lost in Iraq,hope u choke on turkey. b tsikai, london ###################################################################### It's long overdue that the United Nations imposed sanctions on the US, which has more weapons of mass destruction than any other country. Paul, England ###################################################################### What a pity the UN doesn't focus its attention on the Israeli non-observance of its sanctions. How's about the UN applying the same standards to the Israeli neuclear sites, supplied by the British, French and American Zionists? Petr, Valletta ###################################################################### Same old mistake by the UN and the policeman of the world. We go no where by slapping sanctions. countries have to lead by example against non proliferation. when the arab countries r going to get nuclear technology would u also slap sanctions on them...we hav to b fair with muslims and all muslim countries and solve there objections nad then ask for concessions.traffic cannot b one way!! Mubashar, karachi ###################################################################### The loophole lies in the NPT itself (my knowledge of it is of course limited to what I have read on various news sources). Technically, it seems, Iran is right to reserve their right to peaceful nuclear technology as allowed by the NPT. As far as their intentions are concerned, that probably is a different story altogether. Instead of demanding Iran to stop doing what they can rightfully do under the NPT, probably UN should focus on correcting this loophole in the treaty. Otherwise, it definitely looks like another case of the West demanding another country to bow to [double-standards] ###################################################################### f the USA were non nuclear and Canada and Mexico were invaded by China and like minded supporters, who just happen to be nuclear powers, of course the USA would seek nuclear technology, don't you agree? ###################################################################### Rather than speculate about what might happen even if Iran did develop nukes from the technology lets look at whats actually happened over the past 20 yrs in the region and who's telling who what they can and can't do. Looks like some of us can't help but try to meddle in everyone elses affairs before getting our own houses in order. ###################################################################### People who think it is only "fair" that Iran has a nuclear weapon seem to have forgotten what nuclear weapons do and what they are for. The world needs fewer, not more, nuclear countries. I will be happy when America can destroy its own atomic weapons, which came about to end WWII. It has been crazy ever since and making the world crazier isn't "fair". Dave ###################################################################### Despite all the hype, Iran has never threated to use nuclear weapons against Israel...and his tough talk is likely just an angry reaction to Israel's treatment of the Palestinans. Frankly I'm more worried about the casual way in which US neocons discuss integrating 'low yield' nukes into their conventional arsenal. My bet is that the next country to attack another with nukes won't be Iran... Derek, London ###################################################################### Another straw man: "what if Iran lets nukes into the hands of terrorists?" Reality check: a much much bigger threat is Washington, who, despite the warnings of even conservatives and militarists, took a HUGE step in getting weapons into "private hands" in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq. Had Iraq had the WMDs that it were claimed but did not exist, such WMDs would have ended in "private hands" as the oil ministry but not military facilities were guarded. Want another example: Bush under-funding anti-proliferation programs which were designed to give technical assistance to Russia to avoid nuclera proliferation. ###################################################################### Bottom line: Iran has every right under NPT to have nuclear power. Bottom line: Iran was asked to sing an ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL that was not required by law and Iran DID SIGN IT. (additional inspections) But then even that wasn't enough. Iran even FROZE ACTIVITIES FOR OVER A YEAR. And that wasn't good enough. Finally Iran said we are not going to freeze FOREVER without ANY upper bound or reasonable compromise. How many Americans know this history? [Google news.bbc.co.uk or for economicdemocracy post on usenet (groups.google.com) with iran and freeze or froze keywords] ###################################################################### When BBC's own articles show you need more than ten times the number of centrifuges? Why does US corporate media forget that Iran is 1) in compliance with NPT 2) it VOLUNTARILY agreed to something it did not have to agree to, an "extra' level beyond NPT including snap inspections 3) it did something else it did NOT have to do, namely freeze enrichment for more than a year 4) other countries were not even ASKED to do 2. or 3., Iran did, but it's not going to do 100% freezing of all enrichment while the rest of the world is allowed to enrich (and some like Israel, India, Pakistan, allowed nuclear weapons...and some like extremely violent rogue states like Washington are allowed not only nucler weapons but to expand and increase their nuclear powers] -ED * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 3 [NYTr] Ahmadinejad Dismisses UN anti-Iran Resolution Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2006 19:07:52 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Ahmadinejad Dismisses UN anti-Iran Resolution Teheran, Dec 24 (Prensa Latina) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Sunday that the Iranian nation is in no way concerned with the anti-Iran resolution issued by the UN Security Council Saturday. Ahmadinejad made the remarks just one day after the UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities. The president made the remark while addressing a biannual national festival of top entrepreneurs of the martyrs families held at the former US embassy in Tehran, IRNA News Agecncy reported. The ratification of anti-Iran resolution not only will not do any harm to the Iranian nation, but also the signatories to this resolution will soon regret their trivial and superficial approach. He urged the enemies of the Iranian nation to put an end to their dual approach towards the Islamic Republic of Iran. "Give up this puppet show. You (the countries supporting the resolution) cannot send friendly messages to us in secret and and at the same time show us your teeth and claws. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has said Iran will begin installing 3,000 centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant as of Sunday in response to the UN Security Council resolution,the Kayhan newspaper reported. "As of today, we will start the activities at the site of the 3,000 centrifuge machines in Natanz and we will drive it with fullspeed," Larijani was quoted as saying. "This is our immediate response to the U.N. Security Council resolution," he added. The resolution demanded that Iran "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development," and "work on all heavy water-related projects." It also called on all countries to impose a ban on trade with Iran in goods related to its nuclear programs and ballistic missile delivery systems. The United States has long accused Iran of trying to produce nuclear weapons under a civilian cover, a charge denied by Tehran. Iran has said that it needs to use nuclear power as a peaceful,alternative energy source and has the right to do so under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. ln PL-8 * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 4 [NYTr] UN Votes for Trade Sanctions on Iran Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2006 16:35:03 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [Here are a bunch of stories on today's UN Security Council vote to impose sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear research program. The Iranians seem to be well aware that nothing they do or don't do will have any impact on the US juggernaut and it drive to war. We've seen this show before. -NY Transfer] Reuters - Dec 23, 2006 http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-12-23T173708Z_01_L23866683_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAN-NUCLEAR-COL.XML U.N. imposes nuclear trade sanctions on Iran By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and ballistic missiles, a move aimed at getting Tehran to halt uranium enrichment work. "Today we are placing Iran in the small category of states under Security Council sanctions," acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff told the council before the 15-0 vote. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who was successful in watering down parts of the resolution, emphasized that the resolution did not permit any use of force. Moscow's earlier hesitation over supporting the resolution prompted a phone call on Saturday from President George W. Bush to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had reviewed the resolution until the last minute following two months of tough negotiations. Russia is building an $800 million light-water reactor for Tehran that is exempted in the resolution. The resolution demands Tehran end all research on uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants as well as for bombs, and halt research and development that can make or deliver atomic weapons. The thrust of the sanctions is a ban on imports and exports of dangerous materials and technology relating to uranium enrichment, reprocessing and heavy-water reactors, as well as ballistic missile delivery systems. Iran has vowed to continue its nuclear program, which it says is for peaceful uses only. On Saturday, its parliamentary speaker, Gholami Haddaddel, told state television Tehran would reconsider its relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, if the resolution passed. He did not elaborate. Russia's Churkin said, "Russia views this resolution as a serious message being sent to Iran regarding the need to more openly and accurately cooperate with the IAEA to lift or resolve the remaining concerns and questions relating to the nuclear program." The resolution is under Chapter 7 of under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes enforcement mandatory but restricts action to nonmilitary measures. (Additional reporting by Irwin Arieff) (c) Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved. *** Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Security Council Approves Sanctions on Iran Washington, Dec 23 (Prensa Latina) The UN Security Council approved unanimously on Saturday to implement sanctions on Iran, faced with its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. The UN executive authority ordered technological and financial sanctions against Tehran that will be implemented if it does not suspend its uranium-enrichment plans. Tehran has now a 60-day period to respond to the UN demand, which was clearly influenced by the US anti-Iranian policy. The text, sponsored by the United Kingdom, France, and Germany includes a ban on trade of sensitive-nuclear-material and Iranian ballistic missiles. hr iom lb PL-19 *** Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Iran defends its right to develop peaceful atomic energy Iran Willing to Cooperate if No Sanctions Tehran, Dec 23 (Prensa Latina) Iran said on Saturday its cooperation with the UN on the atomic issue depends on whether or not there are sanctions by the Security Council, which is debating a text in this respect. As the first reaction to a review in New York of a project of punitive sanctions on Tehran, Deputy Alaeddin Borujerdi said cooperation with the UN Atomic Agency "should be revised." Iran has adhered to the Non Proliferation Treaty, the also president of the Parliamentary Security Committee told the Mehr news agency. The Islamic Republic is conflicting with the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, who have threatened its right to development of atomic energy with peaceful objectives. Washington, London, and Berlin have proposed adoption of worse sanctions, but Russia and China, which have the right to veto at the Security Council, opposed those sanctions. hr iom msl mf PL-14 *** Granma Daily - Dec 23, 2006 http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/english/news/art31.html Non-Aligned Nations Demanded Dialogue over Iran Nuclear Issue UNITED NATIONS, December 22.-- The Non-Aligned Movement demanded Friday that the UN Security Council practice a policy of peaceful diplomacy and dialogue to find a lasting solution to the issue of Iran's development of nuclear energy, reported Prensa Latina. The position of the 118-member organization comes at a time when the five permanent members of the Security Council are considering a resolution on Iran's nuclear program. The resolution, sponsored by Great Britain and France, as permanent members of the Council, and Germany, would impose financial sanctions against Iran in reprisal for producing enriched uranium for nuclear power plants. Cuba's ambassador to the UN Rodrigo Malmierca presented the Non-Aligned Movement position on the issue. Since September 2006, Cuba holds the presidency of the organization for a three-year period. The statement reaffirms "the fundamental and inalienable right" of all states to conduct research, produce and use atomic energy for peaceful ends, without discrimination and in compliance with their legal obligations. *** Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com NAM to UN: Peaceful Dialogue with Iran United Nations, Dec 22 (Prensa Latina) The Non-Aligned Movement, a important bloc of 118 nations, demanded Friday that the Security Council continue using diplomacy and peaceful negotiations in its quest for a solution to Iran s use of nuclear power. The five permanent members of the Council are considering a resolution, presented by two of their number (France and Great Britain) plus Germany, to impose financial sanctions on Iran in reprisal for its production of enriched uranium for electronuclear plants. Cuban Ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca, presenting the NAM position in his position as president of the NAM Coordination Bureau, said the Non-Aligned Movement places great importance to this topic and is closely following development of events. The Cuban diplomat reiterated NAM s affirmation that all states have a fundamental and inalienable right to research, produce and use atomic energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in accordance with legal obligations. He also pointed out that only the International Atomic Energy Agency has the authority to verify fulfillment of these obligations and should be able to do so without pressure or interference. The Security Council was supposed to decide on the sanction resolution this afternoon, but has postponed it until Saturday. ef ccs tgj PL-31 * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 5 Security UN Imposes Sanctions On Iran Over Uranium Enrichment Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2006 21:01:24 -0500 SECURITY COUNCIL IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON IRAN OVER URANIUM ENRICHMENT New York, Dec 23 2006 9:00PM Capping months of intensive negotiations, the United Nations Security Council today unanimously decided to impose a set of sanctions against Iran in response to its uranium-enrichment activities, which Tehran says are for peaceful purposes but which other countries contend are driven by military ambitions. The adoption of the sanctions resolution -- immediately rejected by Iran -- came after successive reports by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna-based global nuclear watchdog, indicating its inability to certify that the country's motives are entirely peaceful. Agency Director-General Muhamad ElBaradei has said the IAEA is unable to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran. Iran has not suspended all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities or taken a number of other steps required by the Council to build confidence, the resolution noted. Iran's nuclear programme has been a matter of international concern ever since the discovery in 2003 that it had concealed its nuclear activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Today's resolution calls for steps required by the IAEA Board of Governors, including re-establishing full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and ratifying and implementing the Additional Protocol, which grants the IAEA expanded rights of access to information and sites, as well as additional authority to use the most advanced technologies during the verification process. The Security Council decided today that Iran must suspend the "proliferation sensitive nuclear activities," including all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and work on all heavy water-related projects. Both these steps are to be verified by the IAEA. The Council banned trade with Iran of all items, materials, equipment, goods and tech enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy water-related activities, or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems. States are also required to prevent the provision to Iran of any technical assistance or training, financial assistance, investment, brokering or other services, and the transfer of financial resources or services, related to the supply, sale, transfer, manufacture or use of the prohibited items, materials, equipment, goods and technology. The Council called on all States "to exercise vigilance regarding the entry into or transit through their territories of individuals who are engaged in, directly associated with or providing support for Iran's proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems." The resolution contains a list of persons and entities involved with Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes that are subject to a freeze on their financial assets, with some exceptions built in. It also established a new Committee to monitor compliance with its terms, add to the lists and rule on any exemptions. The IAEA Director-General was requested to report within 60 days to the Council on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment activities. If that report shows that Iran has not complied with the resolution, the Council threatens "further appropriate measures." At today's Council session, Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif delivered a lengthy rebuttal of the premise for imposing the sanctions, and argued that this action represented only the latest in a decades-long history of bias against Iran. "Bringing Iran's peaceful nuclear programme to the Council by few of its permanent members, particularly the United States, is not aimed at, nor will it help, seeking a solution or encouraging negotiations. Even their stated objective has always been to use the Council as an instrument of pressure and intimidation to compel Iran to abandon its rights," he said. 2006-12-23 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/ ***************************************************************** 6 The Observer: UN sanctions hit Iran after call by Bush [UP] Tehran must comply over nuclear programme Peter Beaumont and Robert Tait in Tehran Sunday December 24, 2006 The Observer The UN Security Council unanimously approved a tough resolution yesterday evening authorising sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment programme, bringing to an end two months of often fractious negotiations aimed at pressuring Tehran to clarify its nuclear ambitions. The resolution orders all countries to ban the supply of specified materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. It also imposes an asset freeze on key companies and individuals involved in the programmes named on a UN list. The resolution did not include a full travel ban which the US, in particular, had been seeking on individuals involved in Iran's nuclear programme. Instead states have been asked to inform the Security Council of movements across their borders by named individuals on the list. Diplomatic sources told The Observer last night that it should be seen as an interim step towards a full travel ban if Iran fails to comply. 'There has obviously been a lot of horse-trading and conversations between experts up to heads of state. This is an interim measure that would allow us to go back and seek further sanctions in future if Iran fails to comply,' a source said last night. The final breakthrough came after a telephone call yesterday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George Bush to break the deadlock on the Security Council. The unanimous vote took place as the US warned 'it would not hesitate to return to this body to seek further action should Iran fail to comply'. Iran's Foreign ministry immediately condemned the Security Council decision as illegal. Earlier in the day Iran had warned that it would reconsider its relationship with the UN and, in particular, its commitments to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency if sanctions were imposed. Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a Foreign ministry spokesman, told state-run television that the resolution 'cannot affect or limit Iran's peaceful nuclear activities, but will discredit the decisions of the Security Council, whose power is deteriorating'. The resolution was immediately welcomed by Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, who said Iran now faced a critical choice. Beckett said: 'Today's resolution marks an important moment. Iran faces a choice, between a route that allows it to develop a modern civil nuclear power programme and brings many benefits to its people, or further defiance and the costs of isolation. I hope it will choose the positive path.' Until the last moments before the vote, it was not clear whether all 15 Security Council members would support the resolution. Until now Russia had expressed severe reservations over imposing sanctions on Iran and had attempted to persuade the regime in Tehran to help dispel international suspicions over the nature of its nuclear programme that Iran has insisted is peaceful. Iran has made its position more difficult in recent months following comments by hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad apparently threatening Israel. Useful links UN website Wikipedia: Kofi Annan [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: Blair was dangerously off target in his condemnation of Iran Comment Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor Sunday December 24, 2006 Two things occurred last week, apparently unconnected. In the first, Tony Blair, at the end of his tour of the Middle East and the Gulf, issued a thunderous denunciation in Dubai of the 'threat' posed by Iran. He painted a scary picture. (Doesn't he always?) Iran, he said, was 'at war' with the 'moderate' Arab world and Western forces trying to bring peace and stability to the region. If it was not for evil Iran, Blair implied, Iraq and Afghanistan could become holiday hotspots for tourists, following the example set by Dubai, which has had more than a million British visitors this year. Iran at war with the Arab world? The last statesman who framed it in that ugly context was ... Saddam Hussein. The second event was unconnected, but only in the Prime Minister's mind. Iran held local elections and polls for the influential Council of Experts. Elections. That democracy thing that Blair and President George W Bush keep saying they intend to deliver to our poor benighted Arab and Persian brethren. And as the results emerged, it was clear that ultra-conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - he of the Holocaust denials and alleged nuclear ambitions - had been given a trouncing. In cities such as Shiraz and Bandar Abbas, not a single pro-Ahmadinejad candidate won a council seat. In Tehran, too, candidates supporting Mayor Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, a moderate conservative, won seven of 15 council seats, while reformists were set to win four. Which has left Ahmadinejad loyalists with only three seats. Anti-Ahmadinejad sentiment was visible in elections for the Council of Experts - 86 clerics who monitor Iran's supreme leader and choose his successor. There, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani polled the most votes of any Tehran candidate to win re-election to the assembly. Also re-elected was Hasan Rowhani, Iran's former nuclear negotiator whom Ahmadinejad has accused of making too many concessions to the Europeans. So what will Blair's comments have achieved? Certainly they will not have bolstered Iranians like the students who recently heckled Ahmadinejad for his poor record on jobs and confrontational attitude to the West. Instead, Blair's comments fit precisely into Ahmadinejad's narrative of 'them and us'. And what happened to Downing Street's insistence barely two weeks before that we should be talking to Iran about Iraq? It was rejected by George Bush. So apparently it has been forgotten. None of this is to say that there are not problems over Iran. Its tutelage of the increasingly powerful Shia crescent has sometimes seemed disruptive for the hell of it - in Iraq and Lebanon in particular. But is it a war on 'moderate' Arabs, or is it that the Tehran leadership - to which Shias look - has yet to mature into something more politically responsible as Iran becomes a regional power? It may indeed be maturing: Iran appears, over Iraq at least, belatedly to be recognising that the last thing it needs as a neighbour is a failed state and a proxy war with Saudi Arabia. Others have been asking these questions. Not Tony Blair. But then Blair's performance in Dubai was the inept conclusion to a clumsy trip that seemed to break the fundamental rule of prime ministerial diplomacy - only to go on these kinds of tours when there is something to achieve. Instead, Blair blundered round without much purpose. He met a cool welcome in Egypt and later a rebuke from Turkey over Palestine. And if his trip was calculated to prove to Muslims, particularly at home, that Britain does care about the plight of Palestinians, that too spectacularly backfired. Whatever you think about Hamas and its victory in the Palestinian elections in January, it won fairly in elections that the West insisted on. And while the Arab street has equally mixed views about Hamas, it also sees the hypocrisy of insisting on Arab democracy, then undermining the result and offering to support the losing party in something close to civil conflict. All of which leads one to conclude that something pretty terrible has happened to British diplomacy. As Downing Street has further and further encroached on Foreign Office territory, we have been left not so much with a foreign policy that has been thought through, but a policy made by hunches and 'feel-good' ideas on the Number 10 sofas. All of them have been designed, it would appear, to bolster the reputation of a lame-duck Prime Minister in his last months in office. As Blair has travelled to Washington and to the Middle East, his journeys increasingly have been accompanied by the sense that no one - in the White House, Turkey, Tel Aviv or in the Arab world - much listens or cares what he thinks or does these days. [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 8 BBC NEWS: Ahmadinejad rejects UN sanctions Last Updated: Sunday, 24 December 2006, 18:10 GMT [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 24 December 2006] Mr Ahmadinejad said the West had lost its chance to improve relations Iran's president has rejected UN Security Council sanctions against Tehran, insisting his country would press ahead with its nuclear programme. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the resolution passed on Saturday was a "piece of paper" adding that the 15 countries who voted in favour would regret it. Iran said it would immediately begin installing 3,000 centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant at Natanz. The sanctions ban nuclear trade with Iran, but the US wants tougher curbs. Mr Ahmadinejad said the West had lost its chance to improve relations with Iran. Iran is now an established nuclear state and it is in [the West's] interest to live along the Iranian nation [ src=] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iranian president Stand-offs set to continue Nuclear fuel cycle "They seek to mobilise a group of their agents on the pretext of this piece of paper in order to sow seeds of discord among the Iranian nation," the Iranian Fars news agency reported him as saying. "No matter [whether] they accept it or not, Iran is now an established nuclear state and it is in their interest to live alongside the Iranian nation." A foreign ministry spokesman said the "continuation of peaceful nuclear activities" would be Iran's "best response" to the UN sanctions. In the Iranian parliament, an overwhelming majority of deputies approved an emergency bill directing the government to review co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The UN sanctions, passed unanimously, ban the supply of nuclear materials to Iran and freeze some assets overseas. The Security Council resolution demands that Tehran end all uranium enrichment work, which can produce fuel for nuclear plants as well as for bombs. Traces of weapons-grade uranium were found at Natanz, in central Iran, during UN inspections in 2003, although this was later blamed on contaminated imported equipment. Iran's plan to install thousands of centrifuges at Natanz would enable a vital stage of the process of enriching uranium into weapons-grade material. Sanctions 'warning' The Security Council backed sanctions against Iran after intense debate over the terms of the resolution. UN SANCTIONS ON IRAN Ban on import and export of nuclear-related material Assets frozen of 10 companies and 12 individuals Threat of further non-military sanctions The vote by the 15-member council took place exactly two months after Britain, France and Germany first introduced a draft resolution proposing sanctions. The resolution, under Chapter Seven of Article 41 of the UN Charter, makes enforcement obligatory but limits action to non-military measures. Acting US ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff said the resolution sent a "warning" to Iran. "If necessary, we will not hesitate to return to this body if Iran does not take further steps to comply," Mr Wolff said. But a senior official at the US state department, Nicholas Burns, said the UN resolution was not enough. He said the US would try to persuade other countries, especially Russia, to impose stronger penalties individually. "We don't think this resolution is enough in itself. We want to let the Iranians know that there is a big cost to them," he said. The draft resolution was amended several times after objections from both the Russians and Chinese, which have close financial ties with Iran. It was watered down to take account of Russian concerns over such provisions as a freeze on the assets abroad of specific Iranian individuals and organisations. Russia is building a nuclear power station in Iran and China has significant oil interests there. ***************************************************************** 9 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Talks end with next round uncertain December 25, 2006 KST 10:11 (GMT+9) December 23, 2006 ¤Ñ BEIJING - Negotiators had little to show for five days of intense discussions this week. The North Korean nuclear talks concluded yesterday without even setting a date for the next round, raising doubts about their future among some participants. China's Wu Dawei, his nation's negotiator, read a chairman's statement summarizing the talks yesterday. "The parties agreed to recess and report to capitals and to reconvene at the earliest opportunity," he said. It was evident that differences between Washington and Pyongyang, especially over the question of financial pressure by the United States on North Korea's alleged currency counterfeiting and weapons sales programs, were too deep to overcome. The two nations' negotiators had no bilateral meeting yesterday. On his way to the final day of talks yesterday morning, Washington's lead negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters that he knew of no breakthroughs, and suggested again that Washington's patience was running out. "The point is, are they serious?" he asked, questioning the North's willingness to scrap its nuclear ambitions. "At the end of this round we will assess and we will see whether there was progress or not," he continued, and whether the talks are valuable to Washington. He told reporters that he would leave Beijing today. Attempts to forge a last-minute agreement fizzled, and the negotiators contented themselves with working on a statement, which itself was bland. The negotiators said their nations still shared the goal of a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula brought about in a peaceful way. It spoke vaguely about "useful discussions" and the presentation of "initial ideas." Pyongyang's unwillingness to address nothing but the financial restrictions on a Macao bank where North Korean deposits are frozen was the biggest apparent obstacle, but the side talks between North Korean and U.S. financial officials on those sanctions ended without an announcement of progress. Daniel Glaser, a U.S. treasury official leading the U.S. team, said another meeting on the matter might be held next month in New York. Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, reversed himself Thursday after denying earlier in the week that U.S. patience with North Korea was wearing thin. "We think that keeping our focus, sticking to principle in the course of the six-party negotiations will ultimately, we hope, yield a result," he said. "If it does not, then of course we have to reassess that particular diplomatic track." Ever hopeful, South Korean officials said they thought the talks had enough power left to propel another round. Kim Gye-kwan, Pyongyang's delegation head, complained that although Washington had shown signs of changing, it was a change only in attitude and not in its demands. by Brian Lee africanu@joongang.co.kr> Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use | ***************************************************************** 10 washingtonpost.com: 'Nyet' on Iran - Russia has turned a U.N. sanctions resolution on Tehran's nuclear program into a demonstration of Western weakness. Saturday, December 23, 2006; Page A20 THE U.N. Security Council took up the Iranian nuclear program this year to pressure Tehran to suspend its work on enriching uranium. But in the past few months, something entirely different has happened. While Iranian enrichment has continued with impunity, the Security Council's deliberations have been hijacked by the Russian government of Vladimir Putin, which is using them to protect its economic interests and portray itself as a global power capable of countering the United States. The Security Council ordered Iran last summer to stop enrichment work by Aug. 30 and threatened sanctions if it did not. Tehran defied the binding resolution, and its hard-line president boasted that the West would be unable to impose significant penalties. Russia has proved him right: As of yesterday, it was still holding up a vote on a Security Council resolution, even though it had already succeeded in stripping the measure of its teeth. The Bush administration, which has been relying almost entirely on multilateral diplomacy to prevent a nuclear Iran, originally proposed a set of modest sanctions, including a travel ban on senior officials, a block on exports to Iran of nuclear and missile components, and a freeze on the foreign assets of companies involved in nuclear and missile production. The idea was to escalate to tougher measures if Iran did not respond. Instead, the administration has spent nearly four months seeking Russian consent for the initial measure, yielding again and again to Moscow's intransigence. First, a large nuclear reactor being built for Iran by Russia was exempted from a proposed ban on nuclear imports, even though Tehran could someday use the facility to acquire plutonium for weapons. Next, European governments sponsoring the resolution were forced to drop the proposed travel ban -- the only measure left that might have caused the mullahs some pain. Meanwhile, the administration agreed to support membership in the World Trade Organization for Russia, a concession Moscow made clear was necessary to obtain its vote. Having surrendered on almost every point, European ambassadors announced that the Security Council would vote yesterday. But Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he still wasn't ready. Some reports said he was seeking to water down the proposed freeze on foreign assets of companies directly connected to the nuclear program. Or maybe he was just demonstrating -- again -- that Russia can and will hold the Security Council hostage. The result of this cynical policy is that any U.N. resolution against Iran will be a pyrrhic victory for the United States. The message to Tehran is not that it faces isolation or economic ruin if it fails to respect the Security Council's order; it is that it need not fear sanctions. Hard-liners in Tehran who have been saying this all along, such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will be vindicated. Russia will look like a world power; Mr. Putin will have more reason to strut. And the Bush administration, which has not dared even to complain in public about Russia's obstructionism, will look foolish. In fact, Mr. Bush has allowed a vital U.S. interest to be undermined by a government and a leader he should have ceased to coddle long ago. © Copyright 1996- The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 11 washingtonpost.com: Sanctions On Iran Approved By U.N. - Strongest Measures Stripped From Final Resolution By Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, December 24, 2006; Page A01 UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 23 -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to restrict trade in sensitive nuclear materials and to freeze the assets of 22 Iranian officials and institutions linked to the country's most controversial nuclear programs. The council's action culminated more than three years of diplomatic efforts by the United States to have Iran sanctioned for expanding its enrichment of uranium. But , a close commercial partner of Iran, stripped the resolution of some of its toughest measures, including a travel ban on officials linked to the nuclear programs. [The Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergey Lavrov leaves a meeting, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006. The permanent members of the security council and the German ambassador were meeting to discuss Iran; the meeting was suspended with no conclusions reached.] The Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergey Lavrov leaves a meeting, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006. The permanent members of the security council and the German ambassador were meeting to discuss Iran; the meeting was suspended with no conclusions reached. (Seth Wenig - AP) The resolution demands that Iran immediately suspend its enrichment program and its reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel within 60 days or face additional U.N. penalties. It calls on Tehran to begin talks with the Security Council's five permanent powers and to allay international suspicions that it may be pursuing nuclear weapons. Although some critics suggested that the council resolution was too weak to compel Iran to change its behavior, the Bush administration, which favored tougher measures, said it was still pleased with the final version, saying it increases Iran's international isolation. Some U.S. officials said suppliers have already cut off Iran from shipments of sensitive nuclear equipment, partly as a result of U.S. pressure. U.S. Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns called the vote "humiliating" for Iran. He said the vote "would open the way for further action outside the Security Council" and added that the United States would continue to press , European governments and international financial agencies to impose their own penalties on Iran. "We don't want to put all our eggs in the U.N. basket," Burns said. Javad Zarif, Iran's U.N. ambassador, denounced the council's "groundless punitive measures" and denied that his country had any intention of developing nuclear weapons. He said the council's failure to sanction , whose prime minister inadvertently suggested this month that his country is a nuclear power, proves its bias against Iran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told Iran's state-run television that the enrichment program will continue at a facility in Natanz, Reuters reported. The speaker of Iran's parliament, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, warned that Iran would have to reconsider its relations with U.N. inspectors monitoring the country's nuclear activities. Iran has the right under the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to produce nuclear energy as long as it forswears the pursuit of nuclear warheads. But in July, the Security Council, citing Iran's history of violating the pact, adopted a resolution that required Tehran to suspend nuclear enrichment and reprocessing by Aug. 31 or face sanctions. Iran refused to comply with the demand. The United States says Iran has been secretly developing a nuclear weapons program for more than 18 years. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, maintains that a two-decade-long "policy of concealment" by Iran's nuclear scientists has helped fuel such suspicions. But it cannot prove that Iran has ever diverted nuclear fuel to a weapons program. After Iran ignored the council's Aug. 31 deadline, , and Germany proposed a sweeping series of sanctions in October, including a travel ban on certain officials and a trade ban on materials used in most of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. But those measures drew intense resistance from and Russia. Moscow's U.N. envoy, Vitaly Churkin, argued that sanctions should be narrowly targeted at Iran's prohibited activities while allowing development of its nuclear energy industry, including an $800 million Russian nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran. The goal of the resolution, he said, should be focused on getting Iran to the negotiating table. "I hope the reaction of Iran is going to be constructive in order to open the way for negotiations," Churkin said after Saturday's vote. Senior Bush administration officials had expressed concern that Iran would use legal nuclear programs at Bushehr and other facilities as a cover to smuggle goods to an illicit weapons program. But the United States ultimately yielded to Russia after concluding it was better to have a weak resolution than none. Saturday's resolution was designed to prevent Iran from obtaining access to sensitive nuclear equipment. It also sought to prevent Iranian scientists from carrying out foreign studies that could advance their country's ability to develop nuclear weapons. The resolution will freeze the assets of 10 officials -- including the directors of Iran's main nuclear facilities and the commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian Air Force -- linked to the nuclear programs. The asset freeze also applies to 12 institutions, including Iran's Atomic Energy Agency. In response to Russian demands, the council dropped an Iranian state missile manufacturer, Aerospace Industries Organization, from the list. But three of the company's subsidiaries remain on it. The resolution also calls for a ban on trade related to "nuclear missile delivery systems" and demands that Iran halt work on a heavy-water research reactor at Arak, 150 miles south of Tehran. Such facilities can be used in the production of weapons-grade plutonium. Critics said the vote shows that Iran is proving impervious to Security Council pressure, particularly in light of the council's unwillingness to hit the oil-rich country with harsh sanctions, such as an oil embargo. "I've always thought that the course the Bush administration is pursuing in the Security Council is a feckless one," said Flynt Leverett, a former CIA analyst who has advocated direct U.S. negotiations with Iran. "There is no way the permanent members of the council are going to agree to any sort of sanction that might actually have any chance" of changing Iran's behavior. Leverett noted that several Arab governments, including and , recently announced they would launch their own nuclear energy programs. "They are hedging their bets" against Iran becoming the world's next nuclear power, he said. Staff writer Dafna Linzer contributed to this report. The Washington Post Company: ***************************************************************** 12 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: UNSC decision is unsubstantiated 2006/12/24 IRI Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement condemned the adoption of a resolution against Iran's peaceful nuclear activities. The statement said the Islamic Republic of Iran considers the passing of the resolution an extrajudicial action by the Security council and against the Charter of the United Nations. The statement said the resolution shows that certain members of the Security Council, especially the United States of America and England, are using the Security Council as a toolbox and while they refuse to comply with NPT which requires them not to transfer military nuclear technology and equipment to other countries and disarm themselves, they try to develop their nuclear arsenal. The statement went on to say such political and illegal actions cannot limit the inalienable and absolute rights of countries or hinder the implementation of those rights but only make the decisions of the security Council untrustworthy. Iranian nation remembers the unilateral and instrumental use of the Security Council by US and England against its independence and national sovereignty during the nationalization of oil during which those two countries called the will of Iranians as a threat to the world peace. The statement said," Now that the Zionist regime does not accept to join the NPT and put its activities under the supervision of UN nuclear watchdog and the Security Council does not do anything towards the official announcement of the prime minister of the Zionist regime to possess nuclear weapons, the double standard of the Security Council on Iran's nuclear program and Israel's nuclear arsenal is absolutely unacceptable." So, the Iranian nation does not heed the unsubstantiated decisions of the Security Council and will never do so in the future. Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 13 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: 5+1 missed chance of friendship 2006/12/24 "You missed the opportunity of making friendship with the Iranian nation," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday, addressing the enemies and those who sponsored the latest resolution against the Islamic Republic of Iran over its peaceful nuclear program. He made the remarks in a ceremony to honor the best entrepreneurs in the country. "Prior to this we had advised you not to miss the opportunity of making friendship with the Iranian nation," he regretted. "You are well aware that you can't inflict the smallest damage on the Iranian nation," he added. President Ahmadinejad reiterated that "with this action, you will become regretful over you're trivial action." M/D Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 14 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI gives douments of Natanz to IAEA 2006/12/22 Foreign diplomats in Vienna Friday said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has provided IAEA with some documents related to its Natanz nuclear facilities. According to related reports, Iran has provided the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with new documents related to its peaceful nuclear program. The Islamic Republic of Iran has meanwhile issued permits for IAEA inspectors to take samples from the substances on the surface of the facilities formerly used in its nuclear research sites. Foreign diplomats confirm that Iran, just as always, keep on close cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, trying to eliminate all remaining ambiguities related to its peaceful nuclear activities. In last meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors the IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that the Agency's demands from Iran are beyond the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), that Iran is one of its signing members, and all the same, Iran had better meet those demands in order to observe full transparency. M.H.Z Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 15 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: US power in ME declining - DM 2006/12/23 The Islamic Republic of Iran's Defense and Logistic Affairs Minister said in Kermanshah Friday that the year 2006 must be named the year for America's declining power and definite defeat of America's warmongering polices in the Middle East. Brigadier General Mostafa Najjar made the comment at a commemoration service held for Kermanshah Province martyrs, also attended by visiting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cabinet members. He emphasized, "Accepting the resignation of the former American Secretary of Defense and explicit confessions of Bush to American policies defeat in Iraq, too, are to be interpreted in line with America's declining power, and the need for thorough revisions in American military strategies in Iraq and the entire region." Najjar added, "America must as soon as possible end its hazardous military presence in the Middle East region." Referring to the broad participation of the Iranians at last Friday elections, he said, "The strong presence of the people at the election polls dismantled the malicious plots hatched by our enemies." The Defense Minister considered lasting security as a prerequisite for lasting development, and economic and cultural blossoming, announcing the full readiness and valuable moves made by Kermanshah Province military and disciplinary forces in securing lasting security in the region. sam Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 16 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: UNSC delay, another defeat for US 2006/12/23 An Iranian political science professor residing in America said Friday delay in passing a UNSC resolution on the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program is "definitely another defeat" for America. Speaking with the BBC, Mansour Farhang reiterated, "The UN Security Council resolution would finally be passed in a way to represent a minimum agreement, not obligatory for any country." The draft resolutions presented by EU troika (France, Germany, and Britain) plus America, have so far been rejected many times due to Russia and China objections. According to Farhang, bans on trips by some Iranian nuclear experts, or sanctions on sale of nuclear and missile technology are quite symbolic measures, and yet no country is obliged to abide by them, in accordance with the terms of the present draft. He added, "Such a resolution would therefore impose absolutely no economic, or technical pressure against Tehran." Focusing on British Ameican Ambassador's insistence that the UNSC Resolution on Iran has to be passed before the Christmas, the Iranian political science professor said, "That is because they wish to pretend that Iran's case is an international security emergency, in order to prepare the world public opinion for their further moves." Farhang added, "I believe the EU troika and Japan are both seriously opposed to imposing any type of economic sanctions against Iran." Russia requested the UN Security Council on Thursday night to postpone voting on resolution about Iran's nuclear program at least until Saturday. Iran has already rejected the EU troika's proposed resolution, inviting them back to negotiation table. sam Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 17 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI ready for unconditional talks 2006/12/23 Deputy Foreign Minister on Saturday expressed readiness to hold talks to resolve the dispute over its peaceful nuclear issue without pre-conditions or pressure. The deputy for Europe and American Affairs Saeed Jalili, who is currently on a visit to Switzerland, expressed Tehran's readiness at a meeting with the Swiss federal state secretary and department of foreign affairs political director Michael Ambuhl. During the meeting, the two sides discussed latest developments in the IRI's nuclear issue, avenues for bolstering bilateral relations as well as leading regional and international issues. Jalili explained briefly IRI's continuing cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the results of nuclear talks held between Tehran and Europe in recent months. Referring to the three elections held simultaneously on December 15, he said that once again the "Islamic Republic of Iran demonstrated that it is a big and unique democracy in the region." "The realization of IRI's great democratic potentials have led to strengthening of national power," Jalali said. Elections for members of the 4th Leadership Assembly of Experts and Local Councils were held simultaneously in 63,377 polling stations across the country on December 15. The 7th Majlis also held its second by-elections in three constituencies -- Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr (taken as one), Bam and Ahvaz. Twenty-eight million voters came out to vote. Turn-out was placed at over 60 percent. The Iranian official, alluding to the disturbing developments in the region, said that the continued presence of foreign occupiers in regional states has caused instability and jeopardized innocentlives. The Swiss official, for his part, appreciated the similarity in stances of Tehran and Bern on several issues affecting the region, and added that his country attaches special importance to its ties with Tehran. He called for bolstering of relations with IRI in the political and economic fields. He said Switzerland opposes the unilateral policies of certain states that has encouraged extremism, and stressed the need to use peaceful means of settling international issues as well as respect for human rights. The Swiss official called for negotiations to peacefully resolve the IRI nuclear issue. M/D Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 18 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Israel nuke threats global security 2006/12/23 Iranian Ambassador to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency has said adimission by the Zionist regime on its military nuclear capability is a threat to peace and security in region and the world. In a letter to IAEA Chief annexed with documents and evidence, Aliasghar Soltaniyeh on Friday asked the agency to register the disclosure as official documents and publish it on the IAEA website. Soltaniyeh also demanded the Vienna-based agency to include the matter on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement countries within the IAEA. Last week, Prime Minister of the Zionist regime Ehud Olmert inunprecendented confessions by an Israeli official disclosed to a TV channel in Germany that the regime has secretly developed nuclear arms. The Zionist regime which has refrained from signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty and its clandestine nuclear activities are not under the IAEA supervision, is believed to have stockpiled 200 atomic warheads. SM Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 19 AFP: Iran's show-down with UN atomic agency over nuclear inspections by Michael Adler Sun Dec 24, 6:17 AM ET VIENNA (AFP) - Iran" /> Iranhas increased its foot-dragging on United Nations" /> United Nationsatomic inspections in the run-up to getting hit by UN sanctions against its nuclear program, and these problems are now expected to escalate. At stake is the ability of the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic Energy Agencyto determine whether Iran's nuclear program is a peaceful effort to generate electricity, as Tehran claims, or as Washington says a cover for the secret development of nuclear weapons. The IAEA is still unable to make a determination, almost four years into an investigation that began in February 2003 after an Iranian resistance group revealed that Tehran was hiding sensitive atomic work. The United Nations Security Council resolution which was adopted Saturday requests a report from IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei within 60 days on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment, which makes nuclear reactor fuel but also atom bomb material, and cooperated fully with the IAEA's investigation. But the Iranian parliament on Sunday agreed to urgently vote on a bill that would oblige the government to "revise" its cooperation by limiting inspections with the IAEA, in retaliation for sanctions levied Saturday by the Security Council. This cooperation has in any case flagged since 2003. ElBaradei said in November that the IAEA's investigation was still hampered by unanswered questions about work hidden by Tehran for almost two decades. Iran in February stopped allowing special inspections under an additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in retaliation for the IAEA's setting the stage for Tehran to be referred to the Security Council. Iran has since then limited the IAEA to inspections under a "safeguards agreement" that allows UN inspectors only to monitor sites where there is declared nuclear material. The wider inspections had allowed the IAEA to search sites where there was suspicion of nuclear-related activities even if none had been declared. The IAEA considers these "additional protocol" inspections, as well as so-called "transparency" visits at more ambiguous sites, as essential for full verification of a nation's atomic work. But in recent months Iran and the IAEA have been involved in a tug-of-war over even safeguards inspections, with Tehran trying to limit monitoring at Iran's uranium enrichment facility in Natanz to only once a month, diplomats said. Natanz is the heart of Iran's disputed nuclear program, as Tehran has rejected the UN call to stop enrichment. Enrichment work has so far been low-scale, involving only a few hundred of the centrifuge machines that enrich uranium. But Iran was on Sunday to start putting in place 3,000 centrifuges in defiance of the UN sanctions. Meanwhile, Iranian ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh told AFP that an agreement for the IAEA to monitor Natanz only once-a-month had in fact been reached, even if Iran were not applying this strictly. Diplomats close to the IAEA insisted however that they were able to carry out their visits to safeguarded nuclear sites as necessary, and pointed out that Natanz, in central Iran, was visited twice in December and that there are cameras there full-time. Iran has also honored a promise made at a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors in November to provide operating records from Natanz and to allow IAEA inspectors to visit a physics laboratory in Tehran order to take environmental swipe samples to check for uranium particles, the diplomats said. But one diplomat who monitors the IAEA's work in Iran closely insisted that "Iran is taking measures to make it harder for IAEA inspectors to monitor what is happening at Natanz." The diplomat said the data from the cameras had to be retrieved and was not available as streaming video, for instance, and that the once-a-month demand of the Iranians was a matter of strenuous debate in which the threat of restricting access was ever-present. But another diplomat said IAEA inspectors were "all over in Iran" in December. This diplomat said that despite the Iranian threats, "let us see how things develop in the weeks to come." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 AFP: Nuclear Iran must comply with UN resolution - nations Sat Dec 23, 10:54 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - UN sanctions imposed on Iran" /> Irandrew demands from the world's capitals for Tehran to comply with international demands to freeze its nuclear program and, in the United States and Israel" /> Israel, calls for tougher measures. The Islamic Republic remained defiant in the face of a unanimously approved Security Council resolution imposing targeted sanctions, and vowed to boost its disputed uranium enrichment program. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> Condoleezza Ricewelcomed the UN Security Council's unanimous approval of sanctions that target Iran's sensitive nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "We call on all countries to take immediate action to implement their obligations under this resolution," Rice said in a statement. The number-three diplomat at the State Department, Nicholas Burns, mapped out a broader diplomatic offensive that included individual countries setting financial and weapons limits. Vitaly Churkin, the Russian UN ambassador, told reporters: "Russia has taken every chance in its contacts both with the Iranian side and its partners among the six powers and the Security Council so that the Iranian nuclear problem could be solved without resorting to sanctions. Unfortunately, we could not achieve that." He called the sanctions, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter which requires all UN members to honor them, "the most extreme instrument in the international diplomacy's arsenal." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the sanctions were "a significant step and a significant signal, since Iran has not followed through on its obligations and commitments to the international community," according to her spokesman. France urged Iran to "choose dialogue" over "increasing isolation." "With the adoption of this resolution the Security Council has given Iran a clear choice: cooperate with the international community or pursue its enrichment and reprocessing activities at the risk of increasing isolation," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in a statement. "I call on the Iranian authorities to choose dialogue and to come back to the negotiating table," the minister said. Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry, a resolution sponsor, said: "The choice is in Tehran. We set up the choice, we set up the legal requirement, and it's now for Iran to comply." Israel urged "further, swift and determined action" against the Islamic republic, the foreign ministry said. "This is an initial step but besides the importance of imposing initial sanctions, the international community must call for further, swift and determined action in order to stop the process," the ministry said in a statement, adding that Israel assumed "the initial sanctions will not be sufficient." Canada's foreign affairs minister, Peter MacKay, recalled that the package of incentives offered to Iran in June by the European Union" /> European UnionHigh Representative on behalf of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States "remains on the table and would constitute an excellent basis for a peaceful negotiated settlement." Iranian political exiles in France said the sanctions were "the first necessary step toward preventing the ruling religious fascism in Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb," the National Council of Resistance of Iran president-elect Maryam Rajavi said in a statement. She called Tehran's nuclear program "completely against the interests of the Iranian people." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 AFP: Nations urge Iran to comply with UN resolution; in response, Iran to install 3,000 centrifuges from today - Yahoo! News Sun Dec 24, 1:28 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - UN sanctions against Iran" /> Irandrew demands from the world's capitals for Tehran to comply with international demands to freeze its nuclear program and, in the United States and Israel" /> Israel, calls for tougher measures. The Islamic Republic remained defiant in the face of a unanimously approved Security Council resolution imposing targeted sanctions, and vowed to boost its disputed uranium enrichment program. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> Condoleezza Ricewelcomed the UN Security Council's unanimous approval of sanctions that target Iran's sensitive nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "We call on all countries to take immediate action to implement their obligations under this resolution," Rice said in a statement. The number-three diplomat at the State Department, Nicholas Burns, mapped out a broader diplomatic offensive that included individual countries setting financial and weapons limits. Vitaly Churkin, the Russian UN ambassador, told reporters: "Russia has taken every chance in its contacts both with the Iranian side and its partners among the six powers and the Security Council so that the Iranian nuclear problem could be solved without resorting to sanctions. Unfortunately, we could not achieve that." He called the sanctions, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter which requires all UN members to honor them, "the most extreme instrument in the international diplomacy's arsenal." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the sanctions were "a significant step and a significant signal, since Iran has not followed through on its obligations and commitments to the international community," according to her spokesman. France urged Iran to "choose dialogue" over "increasing isolation." "With the adoption of this resolution the Security Council has given Iran a clear choice: cooperate with the international community or pursue its enrichment and reprocessing activities at the risk of increasing isolation," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in a statement. "I call on the Iranian authorities to choose dialogue and to come back to the negotiating table," the minister said. Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry, a resolution sponsor, said: "The choice is in Tehran. We set up the choice, we set up the legal requirement, and it's now for Iran to comply." Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso welcomed the unanimous approval of a UN resolution imposing the sanctions, but added that Japan "strongly hopes for a peaceful resolution of the issue through dialogue." Israel urged "further, swift and determined action" against the Islamic republic, the foreign ministry said. "This is an initial step but besides the importance of imposing initial sanctions, the international community must call for further, swift and determined action in order to stop the process," the ministry said in a statement, adding that Israel assumed "the initial sanctions will not be sufficient." Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter MacKay, recalled that the package of incentives offered to Iran in June by the European Union" /> European UnionHigh Representative on behalf of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States "remains on the table and would constitute an excellent basis for a peaceful negotiated settlement." Iranian political exiles in France said the sanctions were "the first necessary step toward preventing the ruling religious fascism in Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb," the National Council of Resistance of Iran president-elect Maryam Rajavi said in a statement. She called Tehran's nuclear program "completely against the interests of the Iranian people." Iran, however, will start putting in place 3,000 uranium enriching centrifuges at a key nuclear plant in an immediate reponse to a UN sanctions resolution, top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told the hardline Kayhan newspaper. "Our immediate response to the UN Security Council is that, as of today, we will start the activities at the site of the 3,000 centrifuge machines in Natanz and we will go ahead with full speed," Larijani told the paper. Natanz is the plant where Iran carries out uranium enrichment, a process the West fears could be diverted to make a nuclear bomb, a charge vehemently denied by Iran. "We will accelerate our programme to install the 3,000 centrifuges" in response to the resolution, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of parliament's security commission, told state radio Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 AFP: Security Council to vote on Iran sanctions by Gerard Aziakou Sat Dec 23, 6:26 AM ET UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The Security Council is expected to approve a slightly amended European draft resolution mandating nuclear-related UN sanctions against Iran" /> Iran. French Ambassador to the United Nations" /> United NationsJean-Marc de La Sabliere told reporters the 15-nation Security Council had decided to meet at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) Saturday to vote on the draft put forward by European sponsors. "We will take action tomorrow at 11:00 am," confirmed Friday Qatar's UN envoy Nasser Abdelaziz al-Nasser, who chairs the council this month. He added the vote would follow last-minute consultations among council members. A Western diplomat close to the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the latest draft would be endorsed overwhelmingly and possibly unanimously. China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters that he planned to consult with his government before the vote Saturday. The vote will take place exactly two months after Britain, France and Germany first introduced a sanctions draft resolution following Iran's failure to comply with an August 31 council deadline to halt its sensitive nuclear fuel work. The European draft has been amended several times as Russia and China, which have close economic and energy ties with Tehran, deemed it too tough and likely to irk the Iranians while Washington sought a tougher text. Russia pressed for a one-day delay in a previously planned Friday vote on the text sanctioning Iran for pursuing uranium enrichment. The changes agreed late Friday among the six major powers trying to scale down Iran's nuclear ambitions -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- were purely cosmetic, raising questions as to why the Russians wanted to postpone the vote. The Western diplomat said Russian President Vladimir Putin" /> Vladimir Putininsisted on seeing the final text before Saturday's vote. The draft resolution calls for a ban on trade with Iran in goods related to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. An annex to the draft lists persons and entities involved in proliferation-sensitive nuclear and missile programs that will be subjected to financial restrictions. To overcome Russian objections, the sponsors Wednesday watered down a proposal for a travel ban on 12 officials directly linked to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and also listed in the annex. The text warns that if Tehran refuses to comply with demands that it halt sensitive nuclear fuel work, the Security Council "shall adopt further appropriate measures under Article 41 of Chapter Seven" of the UN charter, a reference to non-military sanctions. Western countries want to impose sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment activities which they fear would help Tehran develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is strictly peaceful and aimed at providing electricity for a growing population. Thursday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that nothing would stop Iran from pushing ahead with its nuclear program. "The bullying powers today, in confronting Iran's peaceful nuclear technology, are faced with a sea of courageous people," Ahmadinejad said in a speech. A senior cleric in Iran echoed that defiance Friday. "We should tell foreign enemies that this is the Iranian nation; whether you adopt a resolution or whatever hostile act, ... our people will withstand it," senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati said in a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran carried live on state radio. "If they were only a little bit reasonable, they would come forward for negotiations. This would be in their own interest. They should come and sign economic and cultural contracts with the Iranian people and the Islamic government," added Janati, head of the powerful legislative watchdog the Guardians Council. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 AFP: US wants more sanctions on Iran Sat Dec 23, 7:39 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States wants the international community to take more action against Iran" /> Iran, and impose more sanctions than those adopted by the UN Security Council, the State Department's number three diplomat said. "We don't think this resolution is enough in itself. We want the international community to take further action," US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said after the council slapped the first-ever UN sanctions on Iran, targeting its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in response to its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work. "We would like to see more vigorous national and multilateral action against Iran, stronger sanctions -- and not just UN Security Council sanctions but outside the Council -- and we would like to see countries to stop doing business as usual with Iran," Burns stressed in a conference call. "We are certainly not going to put all of our eggs in the UN basket. We are going to try to convince countries -- especially the European Union" /> European Unioncountries, Japan -- to consider some of the financial measures that we have undertaken," added Burns. Burns mentioned "the campaign we have launched to convince some of the international lending institutions and private banks that they should shut down lending to Iran. "Iran has begun to launder its money through some of these financial institutions without the knowledge of the institutions to arm and finance Hezbollah and Hamas and other terrorist organizations. It is interesting that Credit Suisse, Credit Lyonnais and HSBC have all stopped lending to Iran in the last few months," said Burns. Burns recalled that the United States has had sanctions on Iran for 27 years. "There is not much more we can do on our own because we have full scope sanctions on Iran in every conceivable area," he said. "We would like countries to stop selling arms to Iran. We would like countries to try to limit export credits to Iran," he said, adding that about 10 European countries had substantial export credits to Iran. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 24 AFP: US hails Iran UN sanctions, urges financial, weapons limits - by Veronica Smith Sun Dec 24, 12:44 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States hailed long-sought UN sanctions on Iran" /> for its nuclear program and urged individual countries to further isolate Tehran with financial and weapons limits. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> called for the "immediate" implementation of the sanctions -- the first ever imposed on Iran -- shortly after they were approved unanimously by the Security Council. "Resolution 1737, which is the product of many months of hard work by the United States and other members of the council, places Iran among the small number of countries facing international condemnation through Chapter VII Security Council sanctions," Rice said. The resolution was adopted under Chapter VII of the UN charter, making its enforcement mandatory for all UN members. "We call on all countries to take immediate action to implement their obligations under this resolution," the top US diplomat said in a statement. The sanctions target Iran's sensitive nuclear and ballistic missile programs. They follow Tehran's rejection of international incentives offered in June in exchange for a freeze of its uranium enrichment program, which is suspected of masking a weapons program. Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian power generation. Rice said the 15-0 Security Council vote on the resolution was a response "to the threat presented by Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability." "This resolution is a strong signal to the government of Iran that it should accept its international obligations, suspend its sensitive nuclear activities and accept the negotiations path that the US and its Security Council partners offered six months ago." The number-three diplomat at the State Department, Nicholas Burns, mapped out a wide-ranging diplomatic offensive. "We don't think this resolution is enough in itself. We want the international community to take further action," the US under secretary of state for political affairs said. "We would like countries to stop selling arms to Iran. We would like countries to try to limit export credits to Iran," he said, adding that about 10 European countries had substantial export credits to Iran. "We would like to see more vigorous national and multilateral action against Iran, stronger sanctions -- and not just UN Security Council sanctions but outside the Council -- and we would like to see countries to stop doing 'business as usual' with Iran," Burns stressed in a conference call with reporters. "We are certainly not going to put all of our eggs in the UN basket. We are going to try to convince countries -- especially the European Union" /> countries, Japan -- to consider some of the financial measures that we have undertaken," added Burns. Burns mentioned "the campaign we have launched to convince some of the international lending institutions and private banks that they should shut down lending to Iran. "Iran has begun to launder its money through some of these financial institutions without the knowledge of the institutions to arm and finance Hezbollah and Hamas and other terrorist organizations. It is interesting that Credit Suisse, Credit Lyonnais and HSBC have all stopped lending to Iran in the last few months," he said. Burns recalled that the United States has had sanctions on Iran for 27 years. "There is not much more we can do on our own because we have full-scope sanctions on Iran in every conceivable area," he said. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 25 IAEA: Director General Response to Security Council Resolution on Iran [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] Press Releases 2006/21 23 December 2006 | The Agency will implement the relevant parts of the UNSC resolution that relates to its work. The Director General believes that a long term solution to the Iranian nuclear issue has to be based on negotiation and mutual accomodation. Furthermore, as the resolution provides, the Director General hopes "for a long-term comprehensive agreement which would allow for the development of relations and cooperation with Iran based on mutual respect and the establishment of international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran´s nuclear programme". Related Resources » IAEA & Iran Press Contact Ayhan Evrensel Press and Public Information Officer Media and Outreach Section Division of Public Information [43-1] 2600-21271 [43] 699-165-21271 (mobile) About the IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) serves as the world's foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Established as an autonomous organization under the United Nations (UN) in 1957, the IAEA carries out programmes to maximize the useful contribution of nuclear technology to society while verifying its peaceful use. NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit the Press Section of the IAEA's website (http://www.iaea.org/Resources/Journalists/), or call the IAEA's Division of Public Information at (431) 2600-21270. 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: ***************************************************************** 26 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Vows to Continue Uranium Enrichment From the Associated Press [UP] Sunday December 24, 2006 8:46 PM AP Photo XHS103 By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran vowed Sunday to press ahead with uranium enrichment despite U.N. economic sanctions aimed at forcing a rollback in its nuclear program, and hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that the penalties would hurt the West more than Iran. The measures adopted unanimously Saturday by the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council were the first concrete steps taken against Iran for defying a U.N. demand that it rein in the nuclear program to allay suspicions it is trying to develop atomic weapons. Iranian analysts were more cautious about the impact that the sanctions might have on Iran's troubled economy, saying it could chase away foreign investment needed to create jobs. But Ahmadinejad predicted the United Nations would have to accept Iran's nuclear program ``This will not damage the nation of Iran, but its issuers will soon regret this superficial and nil act,'' he told a group of veterans from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Addressing countries that voted for the sanctions, Ahmadinejad said the only impact of the sanctions would be ``dissolving your reputation,'' the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted him as telling the veterans gathered at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said the resolution made his country more ``decisive in realizing our nuclear aims.'' He said it would step up enrichment activities. ``From Sunday morning, we will begin activities at Natanz - the site of 3,000-centrifuge machines - and we will drive it with full speed. It will be our immediate response to the resolution,'' Iran's Kayhan newspaper quoted Larijani as saying. Oil-rich Iran insists its nuclear program is intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity, but Washington and some allies suspect its ultimate goal is to create atomic weapons in violation of Iran's treaty commitments. The U.N. resolution orders all countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs. It also freezes the assets of 10 key Iranian companies and 12 individuals related to those programs. If Iran refuses to comply, the council warned it would adopt further nonmilitary sanctions, but the resolution emphasized the importance of diplomacy in seeking guarantees ``that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.'' Layla Chamankhah, an independent political analyst, predicted that ``Iran's international reputation will be damaged'' by the dispute, but he played down the potential for economic harm from the sanctions. ``Regardless, Iran's economy will continue in its own way,'' he said. But Hamid Reza Shokouhi, a columnist for the independent newspaper Mardomsalari, said the sanctions will reduce the confidence of foreign investors. ``At a time when the country is trying to attract foreign investors - to create job opprtunities- the sanctions will decrease their appetite for investment in Iran,'' Shokouhi said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini said the Security Council vote would lead Iran to change the way it deals with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Association. ``We are not obliged and it is not expected that cooperation with the IAEA continues'' as it did in the past, Hosseini told reporters. He did not provide details about what would change. Iran's parliament voted Sunday to urge Ahmadinejad's administration to revise its cooperation with the IAEA but did not set a timeline or provide further details. Many legislators chanted ``Death to America'' after the vote. The United States has said it hopes the resolution will clear the way for tougher measures by individual countries, particularly Russia, if Iran doesn't back down. The U.S. administration had pushed for tougher penalties, but compromised to bring on board Russia and China, both of which have strong trade ties with Iran, and Qatar, one of Iran's Persian Gulf neighbors. To get their votes, the resolution dropped a ban on international travel by Iranian officials involved in nuclear and missile development and specified the banned items and technologies. It says the council will review Iran's actions in light of a report from the head of the IAEA, requested within 60 days, on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment and complied with other demands. Sanctions will end when the IAEA confirms Iran has complied with all its obligations, the resolution says. Six countries trying to negotiate a curb in Iran's nuclear program - the United States, Britain, France, Germany Russia and China - offered Tehran a package of economic and political incentives if it agreed to suspend uranium enrichment. But Iran refused and rejected an Aug. 31 Security Council deadline to freeze enrichment. Iran first showed its ability to enrich uranium in February, when it produced a small batch of low-enriched uranium using a first set of 164 centrifuges at its pilot complex in Natanz. Iran said it planned to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006, and then expand the program to 54,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material to produce nuclear fuel. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 27 AFP: Putin, Bush stress importance of 'unified position' on Iran - Sat Dec 23, 12:21 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin" /> Vladimir Putintelephoned US President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bushto discuss Iran" /> Iranand the two underscored the importance of keeping a unified stand on Tehran's nuclear program, the White House said. The two leaders "agreed on the need to move forward with a resolution in the UN Security Council and stressed the importance of maintaining a unified position on Iran's nuclear program," the White House said in a statement. The talks came amid final consultations hours ahead of a UN Security Council vote on a draft sanctions resolution at 1600 GMT Saturday, following Iran's failure to comply with an August 31 deadline to halt its uranium enrichment. Russia had pressed for a one-day delay in a previously planned Friday vote on the text. The vote will take place exactly two months after Britain, France and Germany first introduced a draft resolution imposing sanctions on Tehran. The European draft has been amended several times, as Russia and China, which have close economic and energy ties with Tehran, deemed it too tough and likely to irk the Iranians, while Washington sought a tougher text. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 28 UPI: U.N. Security Council sanctions Iran United Press International - NewsTrack - 12/23/2006 1:29:00 PM - UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council Saturday unanimously voted to impose sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program. The 15-0 vote prohibits Iran from importing materials and technology used in uranium enrichment, which might then be used to build an atomic bomb. Acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff called the resolution an "unambiguous message that there are serious repercussions" for Iran's pursuit of its nuclear ambitions, The New York Times reported. He added the resolution was "only a first step." "If necessary, we will not hesitate to return to this body for further action if Iran fails to take steps to comply," he said. The measure also freezes the financial assets of 12 Iranians and 11 companies that are said to be involved in nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The resolution was drafted by Germany and the Security Council's five permanent members, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. As late as Friday, Russia's ambassador voiced concerns the text continued to threaten legitimate business deals. Several 11th-hour revisions resolved Moscow's concerns, the Times said. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 UPI: Iran says nuclear program is permanent United Press International - NewsTrack - 12/24/2006 8:25:00 AM -0500 TEHRAN, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Tehran Sunday his country has every right to a nuclear program regardless of what Western countries think. His remarks came a day after the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran's nuclear program for defying an Aug. 31 deadline to halt uranium enrichment. "Whether the West likes it or not, Iran is a nuclear country and it is in their interests to live alongside Iran," Ahmadinejad said. "The resolution will not harm Iran and those who backed it will soon regret their superficial act." He also lashed out at the countries that led the call for sanctions, Iran's Alalam TV reported. "There is no reputation left for a U.N. Security Council that is the lackey of the United States, Britain and the Zionist regime," the president said. Meanwhile, nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said in response to the sanctions, uranium enrichment began Sunday. "Our immediate response to the UN Security Council is that, as of today, we will start the activities at the site of the 3,000 centrifuge machines in Natanz and we will go ahead with full speed," he told the Kayhan newspaper. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 30 UPI: Iran condemns U.N. resolution as illegal United Press International - NewsTrack - 12/23/2006 2:33:00 PM -0500 TEHRAN, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Iran Saturday condemned the U.N. Security Council for imposing sanctions on its nuclear program, calling them illegal and beyond the council's jurisdiction. The unanimous 15-0 vote "will discredit the decisions of the Security Council, whose power is deteriorating," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told state-run television. He added the sanctions would not "limit Iran's peaceful nuclear activities." At the Security Council meeting, Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif also accused members of having a double standard in imposing sanctions on Iran while ignoring Israel's nuclear arsenal. Before the vote, an Iranian deputy foreign minister said Iran was ready to hold talks on ending the nuclear dispute "without pre-conditions or pressure," the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. After the vote, Iran's Parliament speaker said Tehran would now reconsider its relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the news agency said. The Security Council resolution said the sanctions would be lifted if Iran complies with their terms and with IAEA directives. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 31 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Hails U.N. Resolution Against Iran From the Associated Press [UP] Saturday December 23, 2006 7:01 PM AP Photo UNFF116 By JENNIFER LOVEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said Saturday it hopes the U.N. resolution penalizing Iran for its nuclear enrichment program will clear the way for tougher measures against Tehran by individual countries, particularly Russia. ``We don't think this resolution is enough in itself,'' Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said. ``We want the international community to take further action. We're certainly not going to put all our eggs in the U.N. basket.'' Approval of the resolution under a part of the U.N. Charter that makes it binding is ``going to be humiliating for Iran,'' Burns told reporters after the unanimous vote. Burns said the resolution takes away a main argument against bilateral penalties by individual countries, which have told U.S. officials that they could not do so until the U.N. acted. The administration wants other nations to join the U.S. and stop selling arms to Iran and to limit export credits to Tehran, he said. ``We want to let the Iranians know that there is a big cost to them,'' Burns said, so they will return to talks. Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, has close economic ties with Iran and has favored diplomacy over punitive p maintaining a unified position on Iran's nuclear program,'' according to Blain Rethmeier, a Bush spokesman. A reference in the original draft of the resolution to Iran's first atomic power plant, being built by Russia and expected to go on line late next year, was removed to ensure Moscow can conduct legitimate nuclear activities in Iran. The United States is convinced that the ultimate goal of Tehran's nuclear activities is the production of nuclear weapons and would have preferred tougher penalties. ``And yet we feel very strongly that having achieved this, this is a powerful message to Iran,'' Burns said. Iran insists it is pursuing the peaceful production of nuclear energy and has said it will not give up the program. The resolution orders all countries to ban the supply of specified materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programs. It orders Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, an important part of the process of building nuclear weapons, and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency's head will report to the Security Council by Feb. 21 on whether that happened. A positive report would suspend the punishment and allow negotiations to resume. The United States and its European allies have proposed offering Iran economic concessions in exchange for halting uranium enrichment. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 32 Guardian Unlimited: Security Council Slaps Sanctions on Iran From the Associated Press [UP] Saturday December 23, 2006 11:16 PM AP Photo UNFF110 By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, increasing international pressure on the government to prove that it is not trying to make nuclear weapons. Iran immediately rejected the resolution. The result of two months of tough negotiation, the resolution orders all countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs. It also freezes Iranian assets of 10 key companies and 12 individuals related to those programs. If Iran refuses to comply, the council warned it would adopt further nonmilitary sanctions, but the resolution emphasized the importance of diplomacy in seeking guarantees ``that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.'' Iran insists its nuclear program is intended to produce energy, but the Americans and Europeans suspect its ultimate goal is the production of weapons. The Iranian government immediately rejected the resolution, vowing in a statement from Tehran to continue enriching uranium, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel for civilian purposes or fuel for a nuclear bomb. The government said it ``has not delegated its destiny to the invalid decisions of the U.N. Security Council.'' The United States said it hopes the resolution will clear the way for tougher measures by individual countries, particularly Russia. ``We don't think this resolution is enough in itself,'' Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in Washington. ``We want to let the Iranians know that there is a big cost to them,'' he added, so they will return to talks. The administration had pushed for tougher penalties. But Russia and China, which both have strong commercial ties to Tehran, and Qatar, across the Persian Gulf from Iran, balked. To get their votes, the resolution dropped a ban on international travel by Iranian officials involved in nuclear and missile development and specified the banned items and technologies. The U.N. vote came just a day after talks with North Korea - already under similar but tougher U.N. sanctions for conducting a nuclear test - failed to make any progress in halting that country's atomic program. Israel, which considers Iran its single greatest threat because President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the Jewish state's destruction, welcomed the resolution. Mark Regev, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the vote was ``an important first step in preventing Iranian nuclear proliferation.'' Iran's U.N. Ambassador Javad Zarif denounced the council for imposing sanctions on Iran, which opposes nuclear weapons and has its facilities under U.N. safeguards, while doing nothing about Israel, whose prime minister recently appeared to confirm long suspicions that it is a nuclear power. ``A nation is being punished for exercising its inalienable rights'' to develop nuclear energy, primarily at the behest of the United States and Israel, ``which is apparently being rewarded today for having clandestinely developed and unlawfully possessed nuclear weapons,'' Zarif said. In a final attempt to win Russian support, the measure dropped one Iranian company from the list of those facing an asset freeze. Ahead of the vote, Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Bush, agreeing on the need for a resolution, said Blain Rethmeier, a White house spokesman. ``We hope the Russian government is going to work with us in a very active way to send this message of unity to Iran and we hope Russia is going to take a very vigorous approach itself,'' Burns said after the vote. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow agreed to sanctions because it focuses on measures Iran must take, spelled out by the International Atomic Energy Agency, ``to lift remaining concerns'' about its nuclear ambitions. He stressed that the goal must be to resume talks. If Iran suspends enrichment and reprocessing, the resolution calls for a suspension of sanctions and further negotiations. China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya called for stepped up diplomatic efforts, saying ``sanctions are not the end but a means to urge Iran to resume negotiations,'' he said. Acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States hopes Iran ``comes to understand that the pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability makes it less, not more secure.'' The resolution authorizes action under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. It allows the Security Council to impose nonmilitary sanctions such as severing diplomatic and economic relations, transportation and communications links. To replace the travel ban, the resolution now calls on all states ``to exercise vigilance'' regarding the entry or transit through their territory of the dozen Iranians on the U.N. list. It asks the 191 other U.N. member states to notify a Security Council committee that will be created to monitor sanctions when those Iranians show up in their country. The resolution also says the council will review Iran's actions in light of a report from the head of the IAEA, requested within 60 days, on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment and complied with other IAEA demands. If the IAEA - the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog - verifies that Iran has suspended enrichment and reprocessing, the resolution says the sanctions will be suspended to allow for negotiations. It says sanctions will end as soon as the IAEA board confirms that Iran has complied with all its obligations. Before the final text was circulated, Churkin pressed for amendments to ensure that Moscow can conduct legitimate nuclear activities in Iran. Russia is building Iran's first atomic power plant at Bushehr, which is expected to go on line in late 2007. A reference to Bushehr in the original draft was removed earlier - as Russia demanded. The six key parties trying to curb Iran's nuclear program - Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the United States - offered Tehran a package of economic incentives and political rewards in June if it agreed to consider a long-term moratorium on enrichment and committed itself to a freeze on uranium enrichment before talks on its nuclear program. That package remains an option, but with Iran refusing to comply with an Aug. 31 council deadline to stop enrichment, Britain and France in late October circulated a draft sanctions resolution, which has since been revised several times. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 33 Guardian Unlimited: Iran: U.N. Ignoring Israeli Nuke Program From the Associated Press [UP] Sunday December 24, 2006 12:01 AM AP Photo UNFF108 By SARAH DiLORENZO Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Iran denounced U.N. sanctions imposed on its nuclear program Saturday, accusing the Security Council of double standards for ignoring Israel's apparent recent admission of its nuclear capabilities. Speaking after the Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution, Iran's U.N. ambassador called the sanctions illegal and accused Europe and the United States of trying to prevent Iran from pursuing peaceful nuclear technology. ``A nation is being punished for exercising its inalienable rights,'' said Javad Zarif, accusing the council of acting at the ``behest of a dangerous regime with aggression and war crimes as its signature brand of behavior,'' referring to Israel. Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared to abandon Israel's long-standing policy of ambiguity on nuclear weapons when he listed Israel among countries that possess them. His office maintains his comments were misinterpreted. The sanctions were intended to pressure Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, a technology can be used to produce nuclear fuel for civilian purposes or for a nuclear bomb. Iran says its program is intended for peaceful purposes, while the United States and its European allies suspect its ultimate goal is to build a bomb. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the government would defy the resolution and continue enriching uranium. ``Iran considers the new U.N. Security Council resolution ... an extralegal act outside the frame of its responsibilities and against the U.N. Charter,'' the ministry said. ``The Iranian nation, relying on its national capabilities and within the framework of its rights stipulated in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, will continue its peaceful nuclear activities.'' Zarif's speech was filled with lists of grievances: allegations of war crimes and nuclear irresponsibility by Israel, Iranian proposals he claims were ignored by the Europeans and Americans, and crimes against Iran he charged were ignored by the Security Council. In an emotional moment, Zarif remembered a colleague, Mahdi Vahidi, who recently died from cancer he said was caused by chemical weapons used by Iraq against Iran during their 1980-88 war. He said the council, because it failed to take action against Iraq at the time, ``shouldered responsibility'' for Vihidi's and others' deaths. Zarif also questioned the sincerity of the Security Council's claim that it wanted Iran to suspend enrichment in order to build confidence and trust between Iran and the international community. The United States' ``stated objective has always been to use the council as an instrument of pressure and intimidation to compel Iran to abandon its rights,'' Zarif said. ``Knowing their bright recent history, we can all assume what the unstated objective is.'' Iran has said it intends to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006, and then expand the program to 54,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material to produce nuclear fuel. Iranian nuclear officials say 54,000 centrifuges would produce enough enriched uranium to fuel a 1,000-megawatt reactor, such as the one Iran has built with Russian assistance at Bushehr, southern Iran. The reactor is due to begin operating next year. --- Associated Press Writer Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran contributed to this report. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 34 [NYTr] Another Diplo Debacle: N.Korea Talks End w/No Progress Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2006 16:34:57 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [Another diplomatic debacle for the Bush Regime. North Korea nuclear talks end in a deadlock with no progress. Reports from AFP, Prensa Latina follow. -NY Transfer] Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com N Korea: US Foiled Negotiations Pyongyang, Dec 23 (Prensa Latina) Democratic Korea blamed the US government for the lack of progress in the nuclear negotiations concluded Friday in Beijing, according to a press note from North Korean agency KCNA. Foreign Vice Minister Kim Kye-gwan, head of the North Korean delegation to the negotiations said his country had clarified its will to nuclear disarm through conversations before, despite sanctions. However, now we want the US government to lift sanctions on Democratic Korea to start discussions, said the KCNA note. The US demands North Korean paralyzing of nuclear activities and verification of this step, but they did not do anything to lift sanctions. Delegates from China, US, Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea took a break indefinitely Friday on the discussions on the nuclear topic after five days of debates. US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill insisted on the idea of establishing an agenda to put the Joint Declaration of September 19, 2005 into practice. In this Joint Declaration Democratic Korea committed itself to stopping nuclear programs in exchange for the end of hostility and threats by the US administration, and normalizing economic relations with US and some other participants in the dialogues. But application of the document was suspended in November 2005, when Pyongyang left the negotiation table in protest of the new sanctions. Since then, North Korean authorities have repeated lifting of the sanctions is an indispensable condition to continue the negotiations. hr tac jhb mf PL-4 *** AFP - Dec 22, 2006 http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/061222142915.0rerpgq0.html N.Korean nuclear talks end in deadlock, finger-pointing BEIJING (AFP) - Six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear arms program has closed in deadlock, with the United States and the North blaming each other for the impasse. The latest round of talks wrapped up after five days of meetings with no progress made and no date set for another round. The negotiations snagged on North Korea's refusal to engage in substantive discussions until the United States lifted financial sanctions imposed last year which have frozen millions of dollars of North Korean funds in a Macau bank. North Korea's chief negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan blamed a "hostile" US policy toward Pyongyang for the failure of the talks. "I feel the United States has not yet decided to lift sanctions and abandon its hostile policy against us," Kim told a press conference after the talks ended Friday. "It is clear who should be responsible for the failure to have substantive discussions." The six nations -- China, the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia -- had resumed the intermittent, three-year-old forum this week hoping to make real progress toward a denuclearized Korean peninsula. But following its first-ever atomic test on October 9, an emboldened North Korea unveiled a long list of demands at the opening of the talks, which it had boycotted for the previous 13 months. The chief US envoy to the talks, Christopher Hill, placed the blame squarely on North Korea, accusing its envoy of not having the authority to negotiate on the nuclear issue. "Certainly we expected him to have the authority to negotiate on the six-party talks. We also had the expectation that BDA (frozen North Korean accounts in Macau's Banco Delta Asia) would be addressed in a separate mechanism that the treasury department on our side was handling. "The DPRK (North Korea) had made a point that they wanted the financial issue to be discussed and resolved, but there was never an agreement or understanding that that had to be done ... in the first round of renewed six-party talks." Hill said he was "disappointed that we did not come out with a clear agreement" but was confident of talks resuming soon. "We are talking weeks, not months," he said. "We'll see where we are and try to regroup and see if we can go in the next few weeks." Earlier Friday, Hill had said North Korea had refused to consider undisclosed US proposals to end the crisis earlier in the week. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Friday for the world to unite to pressure North Korea. "The international community needs to unite and implement the UN resolution in order to lead North Korea to take specific actions," Abe said, referring to UN sanctions triggered by the October test explosion. "The North Koreans need to realize that they won't solve such problems as the serious food issue -- in which many of its people suffer from a shortage of daily food -- unless they solve (the nuclear issue)." However in remarks released on Friday, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun accused the United States of being partly to blame for the standoff. Roh said the United States wrecked a six-party deal struck in September last year in which the North agreed to give up its nuclear program in return for security guarantees and aid. He said the United States' imposition of the financial sanctions just a few days before that deal angered the North, and suggested the timing may not have been a coincidence. "If you look at it in a bad light, you may say (the two US departments) were playing a pre-arranged game," he said, in reference to the US State Department, which is involved in the six-party talks, and Treasury, which imposed the sanctions. In a closing statement at the end of the talks, China's delegate Wu Dawei said only that the six participants had recommitted to previous broad goals. "The parties... reaffirmed their common goal and will to achieve the peaceful goal of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through dialogue," he said. Aside from the US financial sanctions issue, North Korea this week demanded the lifting of the separate UN sanctions and insisted on aid to build a nuclear reactor for power. North Korea's envoy Kim said defiantly on Friday that Pyongyang would not back down from its demand that the financial sanctions be lifted. "The United States is applying both carrots and sticks in parallel. We stand up to the US with dialogue and a shield, the shield being a strengthening of our (military) deterrent," he said. *** Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Korea N-Issue Takes a Break Beijing, Dec 22 (Prensa Latina) Those attending negotiations on the nuclear issue in the Korean peninsula wound up in this capital on Friday five days of discussions with the agreement to continue soon. The meeting concluded with a formal declaration at the end of the fifth round s second session, read by Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who was surrounded by other heads of delegations. Also attended were Christopher Hill (US), Kim Kye-gwan (People's Democratic Republic of Korea, PDRK), Kunichiro Sasae (Japan), Cheng Yung-wu (South Korea) and Serguei Razov (Russia), in addition to China as host since 2003. Although there were no agreements, the final release reflects a positive note, because "it reaffirmed goal and common wish to achieve peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through dialogue." Participants agreed to take coordinated steps to implement the Joint Declaration as soon as possible through stages, according to the "action-to-action" principle. The PDRK carried out a nuclear test on October 9, to dissuade US threats, although reiterated its commitment with denuclearization. North Korean authorities have expressed they won t need atomic weapons if hostility and arrangements of war against that country stop, and if US accept the PDRK existence and normalizes relations with it. hr iff jhb mf PL-15 * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 35 Guardian Unlimited: North Korea Vows Fight U.S. Sanctions From the Associated Press [UP] Sunday December 24, 2006 9:01 AM AP Photo BEJ105 By JAE-SOON CHANG Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean state media praised the country's leader Sunday for standing up to its enemies a day after the army's chief of staff vowed to take action against U.S. sanctions after nuclear disarmament talks ended in deadlock. In a lengthy editorial, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper lauded North Korean leader Kim Jong Il for his ``iron-like pluck and grit'' and for trying to build a powerful military that no enemy would dare confront, the North's Korean Central News Agency said. The newspaper also said the North displayed its determination to ``mercilessly punish aggressors trying to pick a fight with us'' - a possible reference to its Oct. 9 nuclear test that sent jitters across the globe. On Saturday, army chief of staff Kim Yong Chun accused the United States of demanding that North Korea unilaterally end its nuclear program while refusing to lift financial restrictions the U.S. imposed on the communist government for its alleged money laundering and counterfeiting of $100 bills. The nuclear talks - held in Beijing this week after a 13-month break due to a North Korean boycott over the U.S. sanctions - ended Friday without an agreement to move ahead on the North's nuclear disarmament. Last year, the North pledged to disarm in exchange for security guarantees and aid. Negotiators said the North Koreans refused to talk about their nuclear weapons program until the U.S. lifts its financial restrictions. ``Sanctions and pressure will never work on (North Korea). If the hostile forces continue escalating sanctions and pressure against (the North), it will resolutely react to them with stronger countermeasures,'' Kim said in a speech to thousands of top government and military officials in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. Kim did not elaborate on what he meant by stronger countermeasures in the speech, broadcast on North Korean Central TV. The North ended its boycott of the disarmament talks after the U.S. agreed to discuss its campaign to penalize North Korea for its alleged financial crimes. The two sides held separate talks on those sanctions in Beijing on the sidelines of the six-nation arms talks, but failed to bridge their differences. The U.S. and the North are considering holding the next financial talks next month in New York, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unidentified ``diplomatic sources.'' Yonhap also said the six-party nuclear talks are not likely to resume before late January because some negotiators are tied up with other diplomatic schedules. Delegates at the talks - which involve China, the U.S. the two Koreas, Russia and Japan - agreed to meet again ``at the earliest opportunity,'' but did not set a date. The main U.S. envoy, Christopher Hill, said the talks would reconvene in ``weeks, not months.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 36 Korea Times: Recess or Cessation? Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Opinion Another Long Suspension May Sap 6-Way Talks¡¯ Momentum To the disappointment of many Koreans, the ¡°Christmas gift¡± from Beijing ? progress in nuclear talks ? has not come. A closing statement said the six countries decided to have a recess and reconvene the meeting at the earliest ¡°opportunity¡± instead of a ¡°date,¡± reportedly at the behest of the United States. Chief U.S. negotiator, Christopher Hill, however, said they were not talking about ¡°months¡± but ¡°weeks.¡± The somewhat self-conflicting U.S. stance tells much about the talks¡¯ prospects. The U.S. did make a far bolder and detailed offer during the latest session that ended Friday, but came short of giving what Pyongyang most urgently wants: partial ¤Ñ if not full ¤Ñ lifting of financial sanctions. Washington¡¯s basic position was to separate the financial and nuclear discussions, while North Korea wouldn¡¯t budge from its stance of linking the two issues. So the five-day conference was in some ways doomed to a deadlock from the start. Those experts who had expected little more than breaking the 13- month impasse seemed to be right. Pyongyang in this regard is more to blame for the stalemate with its inflexible attitude. In addition, North Korea¡¯s chief delegate hinted at making more nuclear weapons, saying Pyongyang¡¯s strategy is ¡°dialogue and shield (deterrent).¡± Most worrisome in this vein is the rising skepticism in Washington and elsewhere about the efficacy of the six-nation conference as a tool for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Still, this is no time to hastily revert to pessimism ¤Ñ and strong-arm tactics. During last week¡¯s talks, the status of each participant was reconfirmed. The U.S. and its archrival North Korea are more willing to compromise, but are still not ready to give up their base lines. Seoul and Beijing have shown their limits as mediators, while two other players, Japan and Russia, have been further reduced to spectators. So, it is almost entirely up to Washington and Pyongyang to make progress in the talks and defuse regional tension. This is why we are placing some hope in their bilateral financial talks in New York next month. Most diplomatic watchers expect rough going and a tight tug-of-war even if the U.S. lifts part of its financial sanctions, but that is something to think about after January. Most important at this moment is to maintain the momentum and save the multilateral conference from skeptics and hard-liners. North Korea should be the one that feels the most urgent and earnest need to positively proceed with the talks, not least because another winter of famine is approaching, as the World Food Program warns. This is no time for Pyongyang to brag about nuclear arsenal ¤Ñ it cannot feed its people with atomic bombs. 12-24-2006 21:21 ***************************************************************** 37 AFP: Chances for NKorean nuclear talks breakthrough remote by Hiroshi Hiyama and Jun Kwanwoo Sat Dec 23, 7:49 AM ET BEIJING (AFP) - The chance of a breakthrough in talks on North Korea" /> 's nuclear program remain as remote as ever, analysts say, as negotiators left Beijing empty-handed after the discussions ended in deadlock. The six-party negotiations, which resumed Monday after a break of 13 months and Pyongyang's first ever atom bomb test in October, broke up on Friday, with envoys failing to persuade the reclusive state to give up its nuclear weapons. The talks snagged on North Korea's refusal to launch substantive discussions until the United States lifted financial sanctions imposed last year which have left millions of dollars of North Korean funds in limbo in a Macau bank. Analysts say the failure of the talks -- involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States -- was no surprise as the gap between the aims of Washington and Pyongyang was simply too wide to bridge. "North Korea has only been interested in the lifting of sanctions while the US expects to discuss the nuclear issue," said Nam Sung-Wook Saturday, an expert on North Korea affairs at Korea University in Seoul. "They have different dreams on the same bed... it was a destined course so it's no surprise." North Korea's chief negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan blamed the failure of the talks on Washington's "hostile" policy toward Pyongyang, while chief US envoy Christopher Hill said Kim did not have the authority needed to negotiate. A top North Korean military leader warned the United States on Saturday against stepping up sanctions in retaliation for the deadlock in the talks. "Refusing to lift its sanctions at this week's meeting, the US insisted on our unilateral disarmament," South Korea" /> 's Yonhap news agency reported army chief of staff Kim Young-chun as saying. "If the US continues to beef up its sanctions, we will respond to such a move with tougher actions," Kim said on North Korean television. Masao Okonogi, a Korean affairs expert at Keio University in Japan, explained that North Korea, emboldened by its shock nuclear test, now believes it is in a stronger negotiating position. "North Korea is exploring ways to build a playing field on their terms," said Okonogi. Hajime Izumi, professor of International Relations at the University of Shizuoka in Japan, said Pyongyang was also angered by Washington's failure to offer specific rewards in exchange for North Korea's denuclearization. "They are saying, 'What can you give us if we stop the Yongbyon (nuclear) facility?' The US is hesitating to spell out its reward. North Korea does not like that," said Izumi. The North scored one minor victory, securing a promise for another round of talks on financial sanctions in New York next month -- further evidence of its improved bargaining power, according to Okonogi. Analysts agreed that North Korea is in no hurry to surrender its nuclear weapons, while the other states involved in the talks are under pressure to produce results. "North Korea is looking at this as a long-term issue. They can spend one year, two years on this, whereas the United States wants something done now," Okonogi said. John Feffer, the global affairs director at the US-based International Relations Center, agreed. "The Bush administration needs a foreign policy victory," he said. "With Iraq" /> falling apart, the Taliban rising in Afghanistan" /> , and Iran" /> thumbing its nose at Washington, the Bush administration would like to be able to say, before the next elections, that it handled at least one foreign policy crisis adequately." After this week's failure in Beijing, observers were pessimistic about the chances that North Korea will ever strike a deal on its nuclear programs. "North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons will never happen," said Feffer. "Now that North Korea has the nuclear bargaining chip, it is never going to give it up." Okonogi predicted that if any middle ground could indeed be achieved, it would likely be the freezing -- not the complete dismantling -- of North Korea's nuclear programs. "It is impossible to push North Korea to give up (going) nuclear," Okonogi said. Aside from the US financial sanctions issue, North Korea this week demanded the lifting of separate UN sanctions and insisted on aid to build a nuclear power reactor. A defiant Kim said Friday that Pyongyang would not back down from its long list of demands. As he headed to the airport on Saturday, Hill admitted that the negotiations this week had been "a little disappointing" -- hardly surprising, according to the analysts. "North Korea wants a real reward to sign a deal," Izumi said. "But it cannot say, 'I will give up nuclear' without knowing its reward." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 38 AFP: US-NKorea sanctions talks due end of January - Sun Dec 24, 12:51 PM ET SEOUL (AFP) - The United States and North Korea" /> North Koreaare reportedly due to resume talks on financial sanctions in the fourth week of January in New York. South Korea" /> South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, that the two sides were considering holding a second round of talks in the week beginning January 22 to address US sanctions imposed last year on North Korea. South Korean officials refused to comment on the report. At stake are about 24 million dollars in frozen Banco Delta Asia (BDA) accounts belonging to the North Korean leadership. The assets were frozen after the US claimed the Macau-based bank had passed counterfeit currency and engaged in money laundering for its North Korean clients. Financial teams from the two nations met for two days in Beijing on the sidelines of the six-party forum last week, but failed to reach any agreement. When the six-party talks ended in deadlock Friday a date set for the next round of negotiations had also not be agreed. North Koreans refused to hold substantive discussions on nuclear disarmament at the latest six-way talks, citing no progress in the financial sanctions issue. North Korea conducted its first-ever atomic test on October 9. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 39 AFP: US: Make UN Iran sanctions 'immediate' Sat Dec 23, 7:09 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States called for the "immediate" implementation of UN sanctions on Iran" /> for its nuclear program and called on Tehran to accept its international obligations. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> welcomed the UN Security Council's unanimous approval hours earlier of a resolution imposing sanctions that target Iran's sensitive nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "We call on all countries to take immediate action to implement their obligations under this resolution," Rice said in a statement. The top US diplomat said the Security Council resolution was a response "to the threat presented by Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability." "Resolution 1737, which is the product of many months of hard work by the United States and other members of the council, places Iran among the small number of countries facing international condemnation through Chapter VII Security Council sanctions," Rice said. "This resolution is a strong signal to the government of Iran that it should accept its international obligations, suspend its sensitive nuclear activities and accept the negotiations path that the US and its Security Council partners offered six months ago." Iran responded defiantly to the UN action, vowing to boost its uranium enrichment capability in a nuclear program it insists is for power generation. It was the first time the United Nations" /> imposed sanctions on Iran, and follows Tehran's rejection of incentives offered by six major powers six months ago in exchange for a freeze of its uranium enrichment program. "The Iranian government, through its own actions, has further isolated itself and the Iranian people from the international community," Rice said. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 40 New London Day: EB Delivers Sub With Time To Spare theday.com $2.5B Hawaii, Third In Virginia Class, Is Handed Over To Navy By Jennifer Grogan Published on 12/23/2006 in Region » Region Main Photo " Electric Boat President John Casey speaks as the Navy accepts delivery of the submarine Hawaii at the Groton shipyard on Friday. " Crew members gather near the sonar stations in the command and control center on board the nuclear fast-attack submarine Hawaii on Friday after the Navy accepted the third Virginia-class boat from Electric Boat at the Groton shipyard. The $2.5 billion Hawaii was a joint venture between EB and Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia. Groton  Electric Boat delivered the nation's newest nuclear-powered attack submarine, the Hawaii, to the U.S. Navy ahead of schedule. This is a perfect ending to a challenging year for Electric Boat, said John P. Casey, president of General Dynamics Electric Boat, at a ceremony Friday marking the delivery of the Hawaii. The ship, the 100th nuclear submarine built by EB, will be commissioned by the Navy as the USS Hawaii, SSN-776, in May  becoming the first commissioned warship named after the 50th state. The Hawaii is the third Virginia-class submarine. It was built jointly by Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Newport News, which have received Navy contracts for the first 10 Virginia-class submarines and share the construction workload under a teaming agreement. EB is trying to reduce the number of hours required for construction to bring costs down. The Hawaii was a $2.5 billion project. The more efficiently we produce submarines such as Hawaii, the better we can support the Navy's goal of building two ships per year, Casey said. Attaining that objective will benefit our company, our employees and the Navy, and help ensure our nation's undersea superiority. The seven-year construction process was completed in 12.3 million hours of work, which is more than 2 million fewer hours than it took to build the USS Virginia, according to EB spokesman Robert Hamilton. Hamilton said the original contract called for the ship to be finished at the end of the month, but the more recent expected delivery date was March 2007. Ray Frigon, deputy supervisor of shipbuilding for the Navy in Groton, accepted the ship on behalf of the Navy. Frigon said the delivery was a testament to the dedication, talent and skills of the shipbuilding team. Cmdr. David A. Solms, commanding officer of the Hawaii, was given a symbolic key to the ship. This is a great ship, a warship, built to go into harm's way, Solms said. Virginia-class submarines are the Navy's first major combatant ships designed for the post-Cold War security environment. Solms said the ship was far more capable than any other ship he has worked on because of its mission capabilities. He said it is uniquely suited to support the war on terror or any other nontraditional conflict. The ability to gather intelligence, conduct special operations and land attacks are unparalleled, he said. The ship will be used for covert intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, special warfare operations and anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare missions, which could include the destruction of hostile ships and submarines. We can conduct special operations and have Navy SEALs on board, escort carrier strike groups on deployments and wherever there is a conflict and a warship is needed, this submarine can be there, said Lt. Cmdr. Michael Quan, the ship's executive officer. Quan said the ship has the latest technology and a new layout design, so the control room can be located in the middle of the ship where there is more room, instead of at the top level. The Hawaii is one of 30 Virginia-class submarines planned by the Navy. It holds a crew of 134 and carries 40 weapons, including Tomahawk missiles and torpedoes. The ship weighs 7,835 tons, is 377 feet long and 34 feet at its widest point. It can travel in excess of 25 knots and go to depths in excess of 800 feet. There is a great sense of accomplishment now that it's done, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeremiah Sturdevant said. One day I just sat out there and watched the boat, and it was amazing. He said he is looking forward to his time on the Hawaii. It can do some pretty amazing things, he said. And there are really great people here. You won't find a better group than on a submarine. There are tight bonds, good friendships, things that will last a lifetime. I work with the best of the best. I can really say that. The ship will undergo a year of trials and testing, before returning to Groton for the maintenance and modernization process, and then arrive at its homeport in Hawaii in 2008, Hamilton said. EB will continue to work on its next Virginia-class submarine, the PCU (pre-commissioning unit) New Hampshire, which is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2008. j.grogan@theday.com Groton Privacy Policy | Contact Us at 1 (860) 442-2200 | New London, CT | © 1998-2006 The Day Publishing Co. [Beacon Locator] ***************************************************************** 41 [NYTr] Scottish govt minister resigns over nuke submarine Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2006 16:07:22 -0500 (EST) X-Sender-Host-Name: olm.blythe-systems.com X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by marcus (activ-l) - Dec 23, 2006 [source not listed] Minister quits after Trident vote Malcolm Chisholm has spoken out against Trident Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm has resigned from the Scottish government after voting with the SNP over the replacement of Trident. He was one of four Labour members who supported the SNP's motion opposing the replacement of the nuclear submarines. In his resignation letter, Mr Chisholm said he knew his vote had made his position untenable. The Scottish Parliament failed to agree a position on the future of the Clyde-based fleet. Mr Chisholm has already spoken out against the UK Government's plans to replace the nuclear submarines, which are based at Faslane. A second resignation In his resignation letter, he told First Minister Jack McConnell: "It is with deep regret that I find myself unable to accept the official Labour position on the issue of Trident today. "In those circumstances, notwithstanding the fact that it is a reserved issue, I realise that it is not tenable for me to continue as one of your ministers." The MSP for Edinburgh North and Leith said that while they disagreed over the Trident issue, he and the first minister would be "completely united" on the party's other policies. Mr McConnell said: "Malcolm Chisholm has made a substantial contribution to devolved government in Scotland in both the health and communities portfolios, and I am very grateful for that. "But I understand Malcolm's position and have accepted his resignation." SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon congratulated Mr Chisholm for taking "a principled stance" and described his resignation as a "body blow" for the first minister. "Only two weeks ago Mr McConnell told all MSPs to act with their conscience and now it appears that he cannot stand to have anyone with integrity in his own cabinet," she said. "The first minister has failed to stand up for Scotland on the issue of Trident and has time and time again rolled over to his London bosses. "This whole issue demonstrates just how out of touch he is with the Scottish public and even members of his own party." The SNP's motion was defeated by 72 to 45, while three amendments - lodged by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives - were also defeated. The other Labour rebels were Bill Butler, Elaine Smith and Marlyn Glenn. Mr Chisholm's successor is not expected to be announced until next year. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 42 Scottish government minister resigns over nuclear submarine Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2006 04:44:04 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Minister quits after Trident vote Malcolm Chisholm has spoken out against Trident Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm has resigned from the Scottish government after voting with the SNP over the replacement of Trident. He was one of four Labour members who supported the SNP's motion opposing the replacement of the nuclear submarines. In his resignation letter, Mr Chisholm said he knew his vote had made his position untenable. The Scottish Parliament failed to agree a position on the future of the Clyde-based fleet. Mr Chisholm has already spoken out against the UK Government's plans to replace the nuclear submarines, which are based at Faslane. A second resignation In his resignation letter, he told First Minister Jack McConnell: "It is with deep regret that I find myself unable to accept the official Labour position on the issue of Trident today. "In those circumstances, notwithstanding the fact that it is a reserved issue, I realise that it is not tenable for me to continue as one of your ministers." The MSP for Edinburgh North and Leith said that while they disagreed over the Trident issue, he and the first minister would be "completely united" on the party's other policies. Mr McConnell said: "Malcolm Chisholm has made a substantial contribution to devolved government in Scotland in both the health and communities portfolios, and I am very grateful for that. "But I understand Malcolm's position and have accepted his resignation." SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon congratulated Mr Chisholm for taking "a principled stance" and described his resignation as a "body blow" for the first minister. "Only two weeks ago Mr McConnell told all MSPs to act with their conscience and now it appears that he cannot stand to have anyone with integrity in his own cabinet," she said. "The first minister has failed to stand up for Scotland on the issue of Trident and has time and time again rolled over to his London bosses. "This whole issue demonstrates just how out of touch he is with the Scottish public and even members of his own party." The SNP's motion was defeated by 72 to 45, while three amendments - lodged by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives - were also defeated. The other Labour rebels were Bill Butler, Elaine Smith and Marlyn Glenn. Mr Chisholm's successor is not expected to be announced until next year. ***************************************************************** 43 IRNA: Israel tries to cover up scandal of Olmert's nuke arms admission Beirut, Dec 23, IRNA Israel-Nuclear Arms Israel has stepped up activities to cover up the scandal of admitting its stockpiles of nuclear arms by its ringleader Ehud Olmert after two decades. According to Tel Aviv-based daily, Yediot Aharonot, after the disgrace, Israel is lobbying with leaders of other countries to present Iranian nuclear program non-civilian. The Zionist paper said, "Olmert has dispatched delegations inclusive of military officers and Mossad agents to European capitals to brief them about Iranian nuclear program." Yediot Aharonot added, "The dispatched Israeli delegations in their meetings with EU officials provided them with security reports on the program that prove Iran has reached a no return point in its drive wards achieving the nuclear bomb." It added, "A senior Israeli officer a few days ago had a meeting with some German officials in Berlin during which he provided them with classified information on Iran's nuclear program." The daily wrote, "Israel has also dispatched a number of Mossad agents to the headquarters of the EU in Brussels. The Zionist regime that owns 200 hundred nuclear warheads, according to world military experts, has so far refrained from yielding to all international supervisory regulations over its nuclear sites and in spite of repeated IAEA requests has never permitted the UN nuclear agency to check its nuclear sites. ***************************************************************** 44 Xinhua: France to build 6 Barracuda subs www.chinaview.cn 2006-12-23 13:45:22 BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- France will start a 7.9-billion-euro program to build six Barracuda nuclear submarines deliverable in 2016, the defence ministry announced Friday. The new subs are due to replace France's Rubis-type models, some of which have been in service for 20 years. "The Barracuda program constitutes an essential part of (France's) submarine fleet for the next 50 years," said a ministry statement. The Barracuda class had been designed to "master vast maritime areas, accompany aircraft carriers, participate in the safety of the (nuclear) ocean dissuasion force and deliver precision blows against ground targets," according to the ministry. The attack submarines are nuclear-powered but do not carry nuclear weapons. (Agencies) Editor: Wang Yan ***************************************************************** 45 Antiwar.com: Condi's Diplomatic Triumph - December 23, 2006 by Gordon Prather Last year Condi whizzed down to New Delhi to prevent India from finalizing technical and commercial contracts for a $4.5 billion natural gas pipeline – the so-called "Peace Pipeline" – that would transit Pakistan but provide Iranian natural gas mostly to India. Iran proposed making India effectively a "partner" in the gas pipeline, oil refining and other energy related projects to the tune of $40 billion. Well, an Iranian-Pakistani-Indian Islamic law-friendly energy "partnership" would never do. So, Condi proposed, as a mutually exclusive alternative, a U.S.-Indian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. Of course, under the terms of the Atomic Energy Act, such an agreement required Congressional approval. Now, India – although a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency – had never become a signatory to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. So, when India tested a "nuclear explosive device" in 1974, Congress passed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act, requiring any future recipient of US nuclear exports to submit to "full scope" IAEA Safeguards. Nuclear exports to any recipient state which subsequently detonated a "nuclear explosive device" were to be terminated. Furthermore, the US took the lead in establishing the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 40-plus member voluntary organization which includes the U.S., UK, Russia, China and France. NSG "Guidelines for Nuclear Transfer" have long required the acceptance by the recipient state – whether NPT signatory or not – of IAEA Safeguards on certain imported items. But, as a consequence of what the IAEA found in Iraq in the aftermath of the first Gulf War, the NSG soon promulgated "Guidelines for Transfers of Nuclear-Related Dual-Use Equipment, Material and Related Technology." Since then, if any new NSG transfers are required by NSG Guidelines to be made subject to IAEA Safeguards, NSG guidelines now require all existing nuclear equipment at all facilities in the country be made subject. Russia built two IAEA Safeguarded 1000 MWe nuclear power plants at Koodankulam and intended to build four more. But, largely as a result of US pressure, the director of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency announced last year that Russia would be unable to construct them. That is, unless India agreed to subject its entire nuclear program – including its weapons program – to the full-scope IAEA Safeguards regime. Of course, India is unwilling to do that. And to make matters worse, in 1998 India had conducted a series of nuclear weapons tests. So, that meant that the US-India deal Condi was proposing was not only contrary to NSG guidelines, but was prohibited under US law. In its closing hours, the 109th Congress passed the US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act[.pdf], which supplied conditional Congressional exceptions to existing law. Conditional? Yes, if the President can make certain specific "determinations" he may exempt the US-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement from certain prohibitions in the Atomic Energy Act. He must determine, inter alia, that "The NSG has decided by consensus to permit supply to India of nuclear items covered by the guidelines of the NSG" The Act goes on to say it "shall" be US policy to "Act in a manner fully consistent with the Guidelines for Nuclear Transfers and the Guidelines for Transfers of Nuclear-Related Dual-Use Equipment, Materials, Software and Related Technology developed by the NSG, and decisions related to the those guidelines, and the rules and practices regarding NSG decisionmaking." Well, that tears it. Congress has made exemptions to US law effectively conditional on either India accepting full-scope IAEA Safeguards on all its nuclear programs, or the NSG drastically revising – virtually repealing – its existing guidelines. Within hours of signing the US-India PAEC Act, King George issued a "signing statement" in which he declared, inter alia "Section 103 of the Act purports to establish U.S. policy with respect to various international affairs matters. My approval of the Act does not constitute my adoption of the statements of policy as U.S. foreign policy. Given the Constitution's commitment to the presidency of the authority to conduct the Nation's foreign affairs, the executive branch shall construe such policy statements as advisory. "Also, if section 104(d)(2) of the Act were construed to prohibit the executive branch from transferring or approving the transfer of an item to India contrary to Nuclear Suppliers Group transfer guidelines that may be in effect at the time of such future transfer, a serious question would exist as to whether the provision unconstitutionally delegated legislative power to an international body." Well, Congress is likely to be grateful for Bush’s concern about whether the conditional exemption to existing law they have provided is "constitutional" or not. Of course, if the PAEC Act is unconstitutional, then the US-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement is illegal. A non-starter. And even if Bush gets the NSG to essentially repeal its guidelines, the US-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement may still be a non-starter. Why? Well, for one thing, the US doesn’t have much nuclear to offer. Last week Chinese Minister Ma Kai did sign a Memorandum of Understanding with US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, under which certain US technology will be provided to China. China had earlier announced its decision to award Westinghouse Electric a multi-billion dollar contract to build four AP 1000 nuclear power plants in China. China saidit chose Westinghouse partly because of "technology transfer and issues of self-reliance and localization of technology." Westinghouse has already transferred design and manufacturing capabilities to France, Japan, and South Korea. In fact, Westinghouse technology transfers have allowed South Korea to become self-reliant in the design and construction of nuclear power plants, components and fuel. But, until recently, Westinghouse Electric was owned by British Nuclear Fuels, a Brit government-owned company. Toshiba bought Westinghouse from the Brits earlier this year. Toshiba? Japan? Then why did the Chinese find it necessary to sign an MOU with our DOE? Well, much of the technology incorporated in the AP-1000 was developed when Westinghouse was US-owned. In particular, the "canned" reactor cooling pumps were developed for our nuclear Navy. Now, all that technology – and more – will be "transferred" to China. Could Chinese "knock-off" AP-1000 plants – already capable of burning Russian-supplied mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel – be transferred by China to Pakistan? Or to India? Well, only if China consents to the expected Bush-Rice request for virtual repeal of the NSG Guidelines. Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. Reproduction of material from any original Antiwar.com pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. Copyright 2006 Antiwar.com ***************************************************************** 46 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Senator Urges India on Nuke Pact From the Associated Press [UP] Sunday December 24, 2006 2:46 AM AP Photo XMQ101 By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press Writer NEW DELHI (AP) - A prominent U.S. senator met with India's prime minister Saturday in an effort to allay concerns that a new joint nuclear pact could put New Delhi at odds with Iran. Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said he urged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to move ahead with the deal because it would benefit both India and the U.S. New Delhi is concerned about a nonbinding clause, inserted by the U.S. Congress, that directs the White House to determine whether India is cooperating with Washington's efforts to confront Iran about its nuclear program. Under the deal, the United States agreed to supply the Indian power industry with fuel and technology, reversing 30 years of U.S. atomic policy. In exchange, India has agreed to place 14 civilian nuclear plants under international inspections. Eight military plants would remain off-limits. There are fears that the deal could limit India's right to reprocess spent atomic fuel and employ other sensitive nuclear technologies. Specter, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said ``the United States will be flexible in negotiations'' on the agreement. ``For India to get U.S. technology in the nuclear field is a big plus,'' Specter told reporters after meeting with Singh. ``When you consider the sensitivities of the United States about giving advanced nuclear technology to a country which has nuclear weapons, it is a matter of concern,'' he added. ``We gave up something very substantial because we know India is a responsible country.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 47 Indiadaily.com: India decides to get tough with Americans on nuclear deal - India remembers how US cut off fuel supplies after the reactor was built in Tarapur Dec. 24, 2006 India decides to get tough with Americans on nuclear deal - India remembers how US cut off fuel supplies after the reactor was built in Tarapur. History may be the guide of the future. Can American's be trusted? India wonders as negotiations will get very tough in coming months. According to media reports, India's nuclear scientists played a key role in shaping the government's approach to the proposed civil nuclear deal with the US by voicing concerns on issues that could affect the strategic programme, but tougher negotiations on a bilateral agreement are still ahead. The advocacy by the scientific leaders made India's position in negotiations stronger than before in putting forth its views and reservations on the ongoing process of reaching full cooperation on civil nuclear issues with the US. Top scientists like former Atomic Energy Commission chairmen P K Iyengar and Homi Sethna -- with memories fresh in their minds of the Tarapur project, for which the US cut off fuel supplies after the reactor was built -- pressured the government to ensure that deal did not in any way compromise the country's strategic program. The scientists and officials have pointed out that the 123 agreement to be negotiated with the US would be the crucial next stage in the nuclear deal. Web www.indiadaily.com ***************************************************************** 48 CNN-IBN: Signing of N-deal fails to end debate Indo-US nuclear deal, debate, isolation IBNLive.com : December 24, 2006 END OF ISOLATION: Signing of the deal ends 30 years of nuclear isolation for India.] New Delhi: With the US President George W Bush signing the nuclear deal agreement, history was made – ending India's nuclear isolation of the past 30 years. "I do believe, if we have access to international trade and nuclear technologies, equipments that will widen our development options with regard to our energy supplies," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. That view is not shared by all and some scientists fear the opposite. "You must have an indigenous programme. The resources must be indigenous, the technology must be indigenous so that it can grow," said former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission P K Iyengar. In a two-day debate in Parliament, the opposition pounced upon an opportunity. "We are binding ourselves to the humiliating conditions. And there are people applauding here in this house also," said the Leader of Opposition L K Advani. "There is absolutely no way, whatsoever in which the US Act can be made to fonform with the Prime Minister's assurances to this august House," said Rajya Sabha MP from BJP Arun Shourie. And President Bush did precisely that by declaring he will not be bound by clauses India objects to in the Henry Hyde Act. "It addresses perhaps a majority of the concerns. Perhaps 70 to 80 per cent of the concerns," said Strategic Analyst K Subramanyam. In the US, the non-proliferation lobby would have none of it. "President, in his signing statement yesterday, in fact waived all of the provitions that the Congress sought to enact that would protect non-proliferation," Michael Krepon. But others favour the deal even as the debate raged. "Well first of all it brings 65 per cent of India's un-safeguarded fissile materials under safeguard. It brings India's export controls in alignment with nuclear supplier groups and nuclear missile control regime. India in other words, becomes the partner in the containment of global non-proliferation types of challenges," said Non-Proliferation Expert Anupam Srivastava. But the question is – can India conduct a nuclear test again? "The point is whether you have an agreement with US, you have an agreement with any other country in the world, if you test, there will be adverse consequences," said Subramanyam. But is India ready to face such consequences? ***************************************************************** 49 Detroit News: Keep the Christmas lights burning - 12/24/06 - Detnews.com Nolan Finley My neighbor has one of those gigantic, blow-up Christmas things in the front yard, a two-car railroad train with a merry-go-round in the caboose. It covers most of the lawn and is a terrifically tacky expression of the excesses of the season. I consider it one of the marvels of Christmas, but can't drive by without wondering how much power it takes to keep the blower blowing, the lights lit and the happy, little animals spinning about as fast as the disk in the electric meter. But who worries about such things at Christmas? Too soon, perhaps, all of us. There's no danger of this Christmas going dark. But in 25 years, America's consumption of electricity will increase by 50 percent, and yet we keep putting off decisions about how we'll meet that demand. Energy policy today is driven by the myth that conservation and green power sources will be enough to head off the coming crisis. Conservation is a righteous thing, but not something Americans have proven themselves capable of doing, especially as long as energy is cheap. And the utility companies could put solar panels on all of our backs and windmill beanies on our heads and still not have enough power to satisfy our appetite for things like this year's hottest gift -- big screen LCD TVs that suck seven times as much electricity as traditional sets. California buries its head Many of our energy guzzling toys come from California's high-tech labs. Yet California leads the nation in energy denial. It won't allow new electricity plants that produce significant carbon dioxide, meaning no coal, and it won't allow new nuclear plants until a national waste storage site is set. California's only practical option left is natural gas, a commodity that is increasingly scarce and expensive. If California's mimics in the Northeast adopt similar policies, natural gas will become even more costly, creating severe hardships in states like Michigan, where it is relied on to heat homes. Let's be honest. We aren't going to conserve our way to a sound energy policy. We have to produce more electricity, and that means ending our resistance to the most logical and economical sources of electricity. We must invest more in clean coal technology, and tear down barriers to getting coal out of the ground. We have coal reserves to last 300 years, which should be enough time to come up with other energy sources. We also have to end Nevada's stonewalling of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility. Yucca is the safest and most sensible option for housing the waste. But with Nevada's Sen. Harry Reid now running the U.S. Senate, it has about as much chance as a snowball in Death Valley of getting approval. We have to do whatever it takes to keep America an electric nation. Cheap, plentiful electricity has fueled the development of most of the gadgets and gizmos that make our lives rich. Not the least of which is my neighbor's enormous, blow-up Christmas train with the merry-go-round inside. Nolan Finley is editorial page editor of The News. Reach him at or (313)222-2064. Read his daily blog at © Copyright 2006 The Detroit News. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 50 Chicago Tribune: Nuclear energy nearing revival chicagotribune.com >> 30 new reactors are being considered as power demands rise By Robert Manor Tribune staff reporter Published December 24, 2006 After hibernating for decades, the nuclear industry is cautiously gearing up to build a new fleet of reactors to generate electricity, benefiting from political support while hoping to avoid the blunders of the past. "Nuclear power is going to be an essential source, in my judgment, of future electricity for the United States," President Bush said last week at a press conference. "Nuclear power is renewable, and nuclear power does not emit one greenhouse gas." The Bush administration has consistently supported construction of new nuclear plants, offering billions of dollars in subsidies, but the industry says real momentum is only growing now. The attraction of nuclear energy is that it can generate massive amounts of electricity very cheaply, assuming the nuclear plants are run efficiently. "At least 30 reactors are being considered," said Scott Burnell, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. As recently as two years ago, a handful of new nuclear plants were under consideration. The nation currently has 103 operating power reactors. Anti-nuclear activists warn that the nation is about to repeat the mistakes of 30 years ago, when nuclear plants suffering from bungled design and delayed construction led to huge cost overruns, much of it paid for by consumers. But Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein has a positive term for the new interest. He calls it "the nuclear renaissance." He said recently that the NRC expects to receive the first application for a new reactor next year, with as many as 30 to follow. Most of the interest is in the South or Southeast, where the demand for electricity is growing quickly, Burnell said. None are planned for Illinois. No new U.S. nuclear plant has been ordered since the 1970s. The partial meltdown at Three Mile Island, the disaster at Chernobyl and vastly inflated building costs pushed the nuclear industry into limbo for decades. Meanwhile, electricity demand rose more slowly than forecast, reducing the need for new generating capacity. The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen says the energy bill of 2005 offers more than $13 billion in subsidies to induce companies to build a handful of nuclear plants. Michele Boyd, legislative director for Public Citizen's energy program, said no utility would build new reactors without subsidies. "They are uneconomical," Boyd said. "Even the subsidies are insufficient." "The companies are desperate to find more subsidies, and there is going to be an effort to get more money out of Congress," she said. The energy bill, a priority for Bush and the Republican Party for years, offers loan guarantees, tax credits, insurance and other benefits to the nuclear industry. Much of the assistance is aimed at helping utilities build six new reactors. For example, a consortium of 10 utilities including Chicago-based Exelon Corp. will get up to $260 million to compensate them for design and application costs for new reactors in Mississippi and Alabama. The consortium, called NuStart, is under no obligation to build the plants after it gets the money. Nuclear energy is not a major issue now for Democrats, who will control the House of Representatives beginning next month. "The focus on energy is on other things like alternative fuels," said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. In an interview last fall, Pelosi said that nuclear energy was worthy of examination, but otherwise she has said little about the issue. The nuclear industry actually got its first boost in 2002, when the federal government urged utilities to look for new nuclear opportunities. The theory behind the subsidies is that if the country can successfully build a half-dozen reactors, it will demonstrate to utilities and Wall Street investors that nuclear power is viable. Many nuclear backers agree that government help is needed to resume construction of plants, but those plants are inevitable . "If you look at nuclear without any incentives or tax credits, it's very competitive," said Andy White, president and CEO of nuclear energy at General Electric, a global power in nuclear energy. GE is offering new designs for nuclear plants. "We probably would have gone ahead" in backing new nuclear plants, White said. "We would have done it at a slower pace." One financial analyst agreed, saying nuclear power is economically viable but needs government help for now. "Having federal backing is important," said Paul Justice, an analyst with Morningstar. "There is a growing case for nuclear power." While remarkably expensive to build, a properly operated nuclear plant produces electricity more cheaply than practically any other source. The price of coal and natural gas have risen sharply in recent years, making nuclear more attractive because its uranium fuel is relatively cheap. "There are people out there who are ready for the undertaking," Justice said of the new plants. "I think it's part of a long-term solution and eventually they will be built." An argument often made in favor of nuclear energy is that it produces less greenhouse gas than other types of power generators, though the issue of what to do with the remarkably radioactive nuclear waste generated by reactors remains a tremendous problem for the industry. Exelon Chief Executive John Rowe has repeatedly said that Exelon will not build a new nuclear plant until there is a permanent solution to the disposition of spent fuel. The industry had counted on interring its waste at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. But that project is many years overdue, and it is unclear whether it will ever open. Nevada politicians are nearly unanimous in opposing plans to turn part of their state into a nuclear waste dump. Nevada's opposition got a boost in the last election. Sen. Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat and fierce opponent of Yucca Mountain, is the incoming Senate majority leader. Reactor program botched If ever there was a poster child for the past failures of nuclear power, it is the Tennessee Valley Authority. Created in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the TVA provided electricity, flood control and economic development to one of the poorest regions of the country. The federal corporation's power-service area covers 80,000 square miles in the Southeastern United States, including almost all of Tennessee and parts of Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. In the 1960s the TVA embarked on an ambitious nuclear campaign to build 17 reactors. The going was never smooth. For example, the Browns Ferry Unit 1 reactor in Alabama started generating electricity in 1974. A year later, a workman using a candle to search for air leaks near the plant's control room accidentally ignited some insulation. The resulting fire destroyed electric cables essential for safely operating the reactor and filled the control room with smoke. The reactor was out of control for a time, until workers were able to manually shut it down. It was one of the worst incidents ever to occur at a U.S. utility-operated nuclear plant. Unit 1 was off line for a year. In the 1980s, the TVA suffered so many management and construction problems that it shut down its entire fleet of reactors. Instead of 17 reactors, the TVA built just six, with only five operating today. Browns Ferry Unit 1 has generated no electricity for more than 20 years. For example, the TVA canceled its Bellefonte nuclear plant in Alabama midway through construction, eventually taking a financial charge of nearly $4 billion for a project that has never generated a single watt of electricity. David Lochbaum, director of nuclear safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists, is critical of the TVA's first foray into nuclear power. "They were horrible," he said. "That history has not been very good." And now the TVA is thinking about building new nuclear power plants. Industry improvements noted Lochbaum and critics say the TVA, like the nuclear industry overall, is now doing a much better job running its reactors. Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, seriously questions the economics of new nuclear plants. But he acknowledges the TVA is doing a better job of operating its nuclear plants than in the past. "Generally the whole industry has trended up," he said. "TVA has been consistent in that trend." Over the years the TVA methodically restored its reactors to service. The last to come online is Browns Ferry Unit 1. It is due to begin generating electricity again in a few months, the result of several years of rehabilitation accomplished on time and on budget. Now the TVA is considering finishing a partly built reactor adjacent to an operating reactor at its Watts Bar nuclear plant in Tennessee. And the TVA is working with the NuStart consortium to study the feasibility of building two modern reactors at its Bellefonte site. "We are already spending money to bring new nuclear capacity on line and other people are just talking about it," said Jack Bailey, vice president of nuclear generation development for the TVA. Bailey said the Bellefonte reactors probably would cost between $4 billion and $6 billion to complete and could be producing power sometime between 2015 and 2017. The final cost has not been determined, however. Bailey said the industry is well aware that cost overruns will stifle any investment in future nuclear plants. "It is one of the issues that people looking at new plants are very concerned about," he said. Standardization pushed The nuclear industry is counting on standardization among nuclear plants to cut costs. Existing nuclear plants were customized by utilities, making the design and operation of one plant significantly different than another. Future plants are planned to be much more similar to one another. "The designs will be 75 to 80 percent identical," said Marilyn Kray, president of NuStart and vice president of project development for Exelon. Besides working with the TVA, NuStart is looking at a Mississippi plant in conjunction with the utility Entergy. Kray said the lessons learned in building one plant can be applied in construction of the next. In the same way, improvements in operations at one plant can be more easily transferred to another. "Now you can plagiarize," Kray said. "Plagiarism is a good thing in the nuclear industry. It standardizes things." The designers of nuclear plants are also working to simplify construction and operations to restrain costs. Andy White, the GE nuclear executive, said his company's new reactor relies on passive safety systems rather than complex mechanical systems.. For example, water needed to cool the reactor core flows via gravity, rather than being pumped as in older models. It's more reliable and intended to be cheaper to build.Pools to store highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel will be located underground for improved security. Older-design reactors store spent fuel in pools located on their roofs, which critics say makes them vulnerable to terrorist attack.. White said new reactors could safely handle a serious emergency for three days without human intervention. Erich Pica, spokesman for the Friends of the Earth, doesn't buy the nuclear industry's arguments. "We haven't built a nuclear plant in this country in 30 years," Pica said. "It's highly optimistic to think they can standardize" to save money "Cost overruns, mismanagement . . . all play into the right interpretation that this is the wrong way to go," he said. ---------- rmanor@tribune.com Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune ***************************************************************** 51 china daily: Guangdong plans nuclear power plants By Chen Hong (China Daily) Updated: 2006-12-25 06:54 Shenzhen: South China's Guangdong Province is planning to spend nearly 74 billion yuan (US$9.45 billion) building three major nuclear power stations by 2010. The size of the investment will set a precedent for spending on power-generation, surpassing outlays on traditional coal-fired and hydroelectric power plants, Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. During the 11th Five-year Plan (2006-10), Guangdong will focus on developing the second phase of the Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station, the first phase of Yangjiang Nuclear Power Station and the first phase of Taishan Nuclear Power Station, said Chen Shanru, director of the Development and Reform Commission of Guangdong Province. By 2020, the installed capacity of all nuclear power stations in Guangdong is expected to reach 24 million kilowatts, accounting for 60 per cent of the country's total nuclear power output. Of the country's current installed capacity of 8.7 million kilowatts, nearly 4 million kilowatts are generated in Guangdong. The project is part of a larger effort to restructure the province's power-supply. The project's goal is to develop more clean energy to fuel Guangdong's fast-growing economy, Chen was quoted as saying. The province, which is home to the country's largest economy, lacks the energy resources necessary to develop traditional power stations. Guangdong imports most of its coal and petroleum from other parts of the country or from abroad. Construction of the second phase of Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station in Shenzhen started at the end of last year. It was the country's only nuclear power station project between 2001 and 2005. Its two 1-million-kilowatt power generators will start operating in 2010 and 2011. Construction of the first phase of the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Station will start early next year. The time frame for the Taishan Nuclear Power Station has not been decided yet. Both the Yangjiang and Taishan plants are located in West Guangdong. Chen said the province had chosen 10 sites for new nuclear power stations, and the feasibility studies have been going smoothly. Two projects, located in Zhaoqing and Yunfu, are expected to take priority among the 10, according to the Xinhua News Agency report. (China Daily 12/25/2006 page3) ***************************************************************** 52 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI, Belarus to boost energy coop. 2006/12/23 Islamic Republic of Iran and Belarus in Minsk on Saturday discussed avenues for expanding bilateral cooperation in the energy field. According to the Belarussian state-run news agency (Belta), Iran's Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh met with Belarussian First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko. "Iran is keen to cooperate with Belarus in various areas in the field of energy," Vaziri Hamaneh said. He expressed confidence bilateral cooperation between the two states will receive a boost after his visit to various Belarussian energy sites to look into areas where capabilities of the country's oil experts can best be utilized. Semashko, for his part, expressed his country's readiness to begin projects for exploitation of Iranian oil fields. He said that his country has carefully reviewed information presented by Iran with regard to such exploitation. SM Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 53 New London Day: NRC Probes Potentially Dangerous Millstone Oversight theday.com By Patricia Daddona Day Staff Writer\, Millstone\/business trends E-mail: p.daddona@theday.com Phone No.: (860) 701 - 4324 Published on 12/23/2006 in Region » Region News The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating why scaffolding was placed above a ceiling panel that is required to open to release pressure in emergencies at Millstone Power Station. Maintenance workers on Thursday placed part of the scaffolding over a panel that is designed to give way in the event that steam pipes break or a turbine blade flies off in one of three backup pump rooms at the Unit 2 reactor, said Pete Hyde, a spokesman for Millstone owner Dominion. There was no actual emergency, and there's a low probability that such a problem could occur, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan, but if it did, the pressure could take out the wall between those rooms and take out the motor-driven pumps. In a nuclear reactor, atoms are split to create extreme heat that flashes water to steam, which in turn is used to spin turbines and generate electricity. The NRC and the industry rely on multiple or redundant methods to shut down a reactor in an emergency, Sheehan said. There are other ways to release the pressure, but this is the most desirable main backup, and should not be blocked, he said. The NRC has not taken any punitive action yet against the company, but could, and is considering issuing an informational letter to the industry that would warn other companies of the potential for the problem. That's because Millstone recently had scaffolding over some valves, as did owners of other reactors, Sheehan said. So far, they're doing the right things, Sheehan said of Dominion, dismantling the scaffolding and making a thorough effort to understand why the scaffolding was erected in the first place without a good analysis. p.daddona@theday.com Privacy Policy | Contact Us at 1 (860) 442-2200 | New London, CT | © 1998-2006 The Day Publishing Co. [Beacon Locator] ~ 02 ***************************************************************** 54 UPI: U.S. eyeing return to nuclear energy United Press International - NewsTrack - 12/24/2006 6:50:00 PM -0500 WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Thanks mainly to Bush administration policy, the United States could soon find itself re-embracing the use of nuclear power. The Chicago Tribune reported that the administration has recently supported the creation of several new nuclear plants, and just last week President Bush publicly endorsed the energy source at a news conference. "Nuclear power is going to be an essential source, in my judgment, of future electricity for the United States," Bush said at the conference. "Nuclear power is renewable, and nuclear power does not emit one greenhouse gas." The government's proposal to increase the number of operating reactors in the nation beyond its current 103 has brought immediate opposition from anti-nuclear activists. Those activists claim that besides possible cataclysmic events, such as occurred at Chernobyl or Three Mile Island, new reactors could lead to cost overruns for consumers. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 55 Times of India: Search on for uranium stolen from Ranchi lab 24 Dec, 2006| Updated at RANCHI: A container packed with radioactive material has been stolen from a fortified research facility, prompting a major hunt and fears of contamination, officials said Saturday. "It carries uranium and could have an adverse effect in an area of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mile)," Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Khoda warned. Khoda said the uranium was stolen nearly three weeks ago after being moved to a research site at the densely-populated town of Rajrappa from a federal atomic facility near Mumbai. The US and India this month signed a landmark atomic energy deal to give India access to western technology and nuclear fuel, despite warnings from critics that demand tighter security measures to prevent proliferation. Khoda did not say to what degree the uranium was enriched to, although an official from Jharkhand's Central Mine Planning and Development Institute (CMPDI) said the missing material was not highly-enriched. Copyright ©2006Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 56 washingtonpost.com: 3 Crises Face U.S., With Risky Options - Iran, Sudan, N. Korea Tactics Stall, But New Directions Hold Pitfalls By Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 23, 2006; Page A14 On three key flash points -- North Korea, Iran and Sudan -- the Bush administration confronts the possibility that its current diplomatic approaches have reached the end of their effectiveness, forcing it to consider potentially riskier "Plan B" alternatives, administration officials and outside experts said. Six-nation talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs ended in failure yesterday, suggesting the format could be scrapped after more than three years of inconclusive results. Today, after months of negotiations, the U.N. Security Council may finally approve a relatively weak resolution sanctioning Iran for its pursuit of nuclear power, freeing the administration to try a more unilateral approach to punishing Tehran. And Sudan faces a U.S.-imposed deadline of Dec. 31 to comply with demands that it allow more peacekeeping forces in the troubled region of Darfur -- or else U.S. officials might move toward such options as imposing a no-fly zone over Darfur. In all three cases, the administration will probably need to cobble together new alliances of willing partners, sometimes over the opposition of rival powers such as Russia and China. The shadow of the Iraq war hangs over all these issues, distracting the attention of top U.S. officials and limiting the leverage of the United States. "One of the challenges we face is that because Iraq is there, there is not a lot of oxygen in the room to think creatively about any of these problems," said Derek Chollet, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A senior administration official acknowledged yesterday that diplomatic approaches taken by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on these three issues may have hit real roadblocks. "It doesn't mean that you push aside what you have been doing," he said, but that the administration at the same time will look for other ways to tackle the problems. On North Korea, it might be difficult for the administration to completely pull the plug on the six-party talks, in part because China, the host, has invested its diplomatic prestige. But many U.S. officials have concluded that the grindingly slow negotiations have simply let North Korea stall for time, allowing it to build up its nuclear stockpile and ultimately conduct a nuclear test. At this week's talks, the first in 13 months, North Korean negotiators arrived with no instructions except to complain about a Treasury Department action against a Macau bank that resulted in the freezing of about $24 million in North Korean funds. U.S. officials said they had been led to believe that discussions on the Treasury action would take place on a parallel track with the nuclear discussions. With no date set for resuming the six-party process, U.S. officials indicated they would seek to increase pressure on Pyongyang by tightening sanctions that were contained in a U.N. Security Council resolution passed after North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon in October. Japan is an eager partner in such a plan, but it would cause strains with South Korea. U.S. officials also increasingly hope that China, North Korea's main benefactor, will join in punishing Pyongyang because they believe its behavior this week was embarrassing to China. But many analysts are not convinced that China will be willing to squeeze its neighbor that hard, fearing a collapse of the government. Zhang Liangui, one of China's top North Korea experts, wrote in a recent paper that while the nuclear test forever changed the relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang, the United States and China are headed toward a clash over how much pressure to place on North Korea. "Those who understand the North Korean style of doing things know that no economic and political sanctions" will have an effect, he wrote. "On the contrary, it will respond in an even more vehement manner." On Iran, Rice has worked tirelessly this year to forge a coalition of the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany, to confront the Islamic republic over its nuclear program. In May, she offered to end a 27-year ban on public U.S.-Iran talks if Iran would suspend its enrichment activities. Iran did not accept that offer, but Russia has balked at a tough sanctions resolution, suggesting it will be very difficult to bring a series of increasingly strong resolutions. Even in weakened form, the resolution will be passed under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, reserved for "threats to peace." The administration intends to unleash the Treasury Department to make the case to banks and financial concerns that the risk of doing business with Iran has become too high now that it has been sanctioned under Chapter 7. The administration also hopes to enlist other countries in the effort -- a sort of "coalition of the willing" -- but that may be difficult given the broad economic ties many European countries and Japan have with Iran. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, not weapons. If the United States cannot restrain Iran's nuclear program, pressure may grow for Bush to consider launching a preemptive strike on its facilities in the final two years of his term, analysts said. The options on Sudan -- where as many as 450,000 people have died and more than 2 million people have lost their homes in the Darfur region -- are also difficult if Sudan refuses to accept expanded peacekeeping forces. U.S. officials say one form of pressure will be pending indictments of Khartoum's leaders by the International Criminal Court. Another option is imposing a no-fly zone over Darfur, over the objections of Khartoum -- though that would require careful planning and probably the involvement of U.S. forces. China is a major investor in Sudan's petroleum industry and would be expected to block tough action at the Security Council. Ivo H. Daalder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the administration is confronting the limits of "traditional U.N.-reliant diplomacy," though he felt the administration had not invested enough time in devising true Plan B approaches for any of these issues. "Including Iraq, they have four real crises," he said. "But they have less leverage and less capability and less credibility to deal with any in a diplomatic way." The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 57 AFP: Police hunt launched after uranium stolen in India by Ranjana Shukla Sat Dec 23, 6:29 AM ET RANCHI, India (AFP) - A container packed with radioactive material has been stolen from a fortified research facility in eastern India, prompting a major hunt and fears of contamination, officials said. "It carries uranium and radiation and could have an adverse effect in an area of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mile)," Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Khoda warned. Khoda said the uranium was stolen nearly three weeks ago after being moved to a research site at the densely-populated town of Rajrappa from a federal atomic facility near Mumbai. The United States and India this month signed a landmark atomic energy deal to give India access to western technology and nuclear fuel, despite warnings from critics that demand tighter security measures to prevent proliferation. Khoda did not say to what degree the uranium was enriched to, although an official from Jharkhand's Central Mine Planning and Development Institute (CMPDI) said the missing material was not highly-enriched. "It was not highly-enriched but neither was it just yellow cake (uranium ore) and it was meant for a project but we can't talk about that," the official from the Ranchi-based CMPDI said on condition he not be named. "It's useless in the hands of unskilled people," the official said without elaborating. The capsule was stolen from a CMPDI-run facility. Rajrappa police said they were alerted to the theft on December 4. Arjun Munda, an opposition leader in Jharkhand's legislative assembly, demanded speedy action. "The government must initiate immediate steps to find the apparatus as it is extremely hazardous," he said in state capital Ranchi on Saturday. The theft comes a year after police in the northeastern state of Assam arrested two uranium thieves after detectives posing as buyers offering 1.5 million rupees (34,000 dollars) managed to recover stolen radioactive material. In 1993, some 97 kilograms (213 pounds) of semi-processed uranium ore was stolen from another Federal Department of the Atomic Energy facility. Jharkhand is the only Indian state that produces uranium, but New Delhi says it is not economically viable to use the low-yield product to generate nuclear energy on a commercial scale. Some Indian scientists, however, say the country's current uranium reserves estimated at about 70,000 tonnes can generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity for 30 years. Intelligence agencies say Jharkhand's secluded Jadugoda uranium minefields are a target of potential thieves as it transports semi-processed yellow cake to far-off centres for further enrichment to fuel nuclear power plants. The Indian government declined to comment but pilferage from the fortified Jaduguda mines is common knowledge, according to rights activists campaigning against the effects of radioactivity on uranium miners. Nuclear-armed India is also currently looking at plans to launch another uranium mining operation in one of the seven northeastern states, where deposits have been found. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 58 reviewjournal.com: Plans for blast at test site defended Dec. 23, 2006 Officials foresee no harm to downwinders WASHINGTON -- Federal officials again insisted Friday that a proposed non-nuclear explosion at the Nevada Test Site would not harm people living downwind. Officials also said they would discuss the test at public meetings Jan. 9 in Las Vegas, Jan. 10 in Salt Lake City and Jan. 11 in St. George, Utah. The blast, called Divine Strake, would send a mushroom-shaped dust cloud high over the Nevada desert. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency released a new environmental report Friday to respond to fears that radioactive material from decades of previous weapons tests would be released by the blast and scattered across Nevada and southern Utah. Although there is radioactive material in two locations about a mile from the proposed blast site, it is "extremely unlikely" that the material would become "resuspended" and cause harm, the report said. "Because the nearest member of the public resides approximately 12 miles from the (test site) boundary, this individual would receive only a minute fraction of the modeled dose," says the report, which exceeds 250 pages. Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, both of Utah, and others were reading the report to look for information addressing their concerns about possible health and safety risks if the blast takes place. The test of bunker-buster bombs was postponed in June. "We found a number of problems with the first analysis, and we want to make sure that those have been corrected and that there aren't any other concerns that need to be addressed," Hatch said in a prepared statement. Robert Hager, a Reno-based lawyer representing an Indian tribe and people living downwind, said he had not seen the report but was skeptical. He said the government acknowledged the danger in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990. "It issued an apology to downwinder Americans for causing tens of thousands of cancers with the same material that's in the soil at the test site," he said. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006 ***************************************************************** 59 newsobserver.com: No radiation in I-95 wreck Raleigh · Durham · Cary · Chapel Hill Published: Dec 23, 2006 12:30 AM The exit where a truck carrying uranium overturned is reopened Jean P. Fisher and Catherine Clabby, Staff Writers State law enforcement and safety officials reopened the Interstate 40 eastbound exit on Interstate 95 in Benson about 3 a.m. Friday, six hours after a tractor-trailer carrying 6,000 pounds of low-grade uranium powder overturned on the exit ramp. Lee Cox, radioactive materials manager with N.C. Radiation Protection, a branch of the state Division of Environmental Health, said tests confirmed that cargo containers were not breached during the accident and no radioactive material escaped. "There was no material, no contamination, no risk," Cox said. The uranium powder had been en route to Global Nuclear Fuel Americas in Wilmington, which uses it to make fuel for reactors at nuclear power plants. Charges may be filed against the driver of the truck, said Lt. Everett Clendenin of the Highway Patrol. Clendenin said it appears the driver, Ken Brotsche, 63, may have taken the exit too fast. Neither Brotsche nor his wife, Nancee, who was riding in the truck's sleeper compartment, was seriously injured. David Bennett, executive vice president of Tri-State Motor Transport, Brotsche's employer, confirmed that the state Department of Transportation's investigation found no mechanical defects with the wrecked truck. "We suspect it may have been driver error," Bennett said. He said the company will review the details of the accident with the driver and determine whether additional training or discipline is warranted. Tom Rumsey, a spokesman for Global Nuclear, said the overturned truck was one of four on its way to Global Nuclear on Thursday. The facility receives up to 15 shipments a month. Global Nuclear, which is jointly owned by GE Energy, Hitachi and Toshiba, employs about 800 people in Wilmington. Cox, of the state radiation protection branch, said the company has a spotless safety record going back to 1994, the earliest year for which Cox had inspection records. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which issued Global Nuclear's federal license, could not provide details about the company's federal record Friday. Uranium is shipped to Global Nuclear in polycarbonite-lined stainless steel drums, which in turn are placed inside heavy metal shipping containers secured to a flatbed trailer, Cox said. The outermost containers of the overturned truck remained securely bolted to the trailer after the crash, Cox said. Soil testing around the crash site and tests of the cargo containers confirmed that no material escaped. A second truck collected the uranium and carried it to Wilmington. Staff writer Jean P. Fisher can be reached at 829-4753 or jfisher@newsobserver.com. © Copyright 2006, The News & Observer Publishing Company A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company ***************************************************************** 60 Idaho Statesman: WGI gets contract to train nuclear workers in China 12-23-2006 statesman staff Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 12/23/06 Washington Group International was selected to train Sanmen Nuclear Power Co. employees in China and the United States as Sanmen prepares to build its first two nuclear units at a seacoast site in China. The contract calls for WGI to conduct a series of workshops to provide program management training using processes, procedures, and training materials that WGI uses. WGI conducted the first workshop for Sanmen in early December for more than 65 of the company's employees. WGI provides licensing, engineering, design, procurement, construction, startup, maintenance and modification, decommissioning, and waste storage services for nuclear power. ***************************************************************** 61 Deseret News: New report clears test blast [deseretnews.com] Saturday, December 23, 2006 Public meetings set on 'Strake' test in Nevada By Jennifer Talhelm Associated Press WASHINGTON — Federal officials again insisted Friday that a proposed non-nuclear explosion at the Nevada Test Site would not harm people living downwind. Officials also said they would discuss the test at public meetings in Las Vegas on Jan. 9, Salt Lake City on Jan. 10, and St. George, Utah, on Jan. 11. The blast, called "Divine Strake," would send a mushroom-shaped dust cloud high over the Nevada desert. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency released a new environmental report Friday to respond to fears that radioactive material from decades of previous weapons tests would be released by the blast and scattered across Nevada and southern Utah. Although there is radioactive material in two locations about a mile from the proposed blast site, it is "extremely unlikely" that the material would become "resuspended" and cause harm, the report said. "Because the nearest member of the public resides approximately 12 miles from the (test site) boundary, this individual would receive only a minute fraction of the modeled dose," according to the report, which exceeds 250 pages. Two Utah lawmakers — Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican — and others were reading the report to look for information that would address their concerns about possible health and safety risks if the blast takes place. "We're happy to see that they scheduled some public meetings," Matheson spokeswoman Alyson Heyrand said Friday. She said Matheson will be reading the report closely, "looking particularly at the additional environmental information they were supposed to supply about the extent of contamination at the site." She said Matheson was not satisfied with previous reports that failed to address the level of radioactive contamination in the test site's soil from past nuclear tests and the health risks the Divine Strake test would pose by sending that soil into the air. The test of bunker-buster bombs was postponed in June. "We found a number of problems with the first analysis, and we want to make sure that those have been corrected and that there aren't any other concerns that need to be addressed," Hatch said in a statement. Robert Hager, a Reno-based lawyer representing an Indian tribe and people living downwind, had not seen the report but was skeptical. He said the government acknowledged the danger in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990. "It issued an apology to downwinder Americans for causing tens of thousands of cancers with the same material that's in the soil at the test site," he said. "The downwinders I represent are terrified at the prospect of history repeating itself," Hager said. "Yet this government seems committed to this very thing." Public comments on the report will be accepted until Jan. 24. Contributing: Doug Smeath, Deseret Morning News; Ken Ritter, Associated Press © 2006 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 62 Salt Lake Tribune: Report concedes toxic dust may be dispersed but says there is no threat Divine Strake blast risks Study downplays exposure By Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 12/23/2006 01:15:11 AM MST WASHINGTON - A mammoth blast known as Divine Strake planned for as early as this spring at the Nevada Test Site would not pose risks to downwind residents, a new study said Friday. The Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency also announced Friday that it would hold public hearings on the test in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and St. George early next month. The new environmental assessment contains one significant departure from previous conclusions. In May, federal officials determined that the Divine Strake blast "would not result in the suspension or dispersion of radioactive materials or human exposure to radioactive materials." The new environmental study contains more detailed models and reaches a contrary conclusion. It states that older fallout particles "resuspended from the detonation, have potential to be transported outside the [test site] boundary by wind. They may, therefore, contribute radiological doses to the public." However, the report said, models indicate that maximum possible exposure immediately outside the test site is significantly lower than the threshold at which approval by the Environmental Protection Agency would be required, and the nearest populated area, 12 miles away, would not receive any significant exposure. There were no estimates on exposures as far away as Utah. The May findings also said that "radioactive contamination does not exist within the area impacted by the blast." The new report notes that "low but detectable levels of man-made radioactivity were detected primarily in undisturbed surface material." The report is a draft that may be revised and finalized after the public is given 30 days to submit comments. Then the National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the Nevada Test Site, will determine if further study is needed or if the test has "no significant impact" and can proceed. "I'll be going over this very carefully," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "We found a number of problems with the first analysis, and we want to make sure that those have been corrected and that there aren't any other concerns that need to be addressed." The report was delivered to the congressional offices late Thursday. Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson was also in the process of reviewing it. The Divine Strake test would detonate 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil to help develop computer models to simulate blasts and damage to underground targets by bunker-buster bombs. The new environmental study was the result of questions raised about potential fallout from the test by Nevada officials as well as Hatch and Matheson. A lawsuit seeking to stop the test was filed by Utahns suffering illnesses as a result of their exposure to fallout from Cold War nuclear weapons tests in Nevada, and a Nevada Indian tribe. The agency decided last month to proceed with planning at the Nevada site after looking at several other locations, including the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. The Nevada site has structures embedded in limestone, similar to potential hostile targets, and it would take longer and cost more to do the test at other sites. The blast will be about 50 times larger than the most powerful known conventional weapon and throw dust and debris thousands of feet into the air. Pentagon budget documents originally said the test was meant to help pick the smallest nuclear weapon to destroy a hardened target, but the department has since said the inclusion of the word "nuclear" was an oversight. The environmental study notes similar tests conducted at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and the Nevada Test Site - some more than six times larger than Divine Strake - between 1977 and 1993. The Pentagon will have three public hearings on the Divine Strake test: * Jan. 9: Cashman Convention Center, Las Vegas * Jan. 10: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City * Jan. 11: Dixie Center, St. George * The draft environmental report is available at http://www.nv.doe.gov/ A new environmental study acknowledged that the experimental blast planned next year at the Nevada Test Site may disperse some radioactive materials but insists there would be no danger. Then and now * From May 9 environmental study ". . . the proposed action would not result in the suspension or dispersion of radioactive materials or human exposure to radioactive materials." * From new study "Both natural radionuclides suspended, and historic fallout radionuclides resuspended from the detonation, have potential to be transported outside the NTS boundary by wind. They may, therefore, contribute radiological dose to the public." © Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 63 Guardian Unlimited: Italian Who Met Poisoned Spy Is Arrested From the Associated Press [UP] Sunday December 24, 2006 10:31 PM AP Photo MIL119 By MARIA SANMINIATELLI Associated Press Writer ROME (AP) - An Italian who met with an ex-KGB agent the day the Russian fell fatally ill from radiation poisoning was arrested on Sunday, the man's father said. The accusations against Mario Scaramella - international arms trafficking and slander - were not believed to be directly related to the investigation into the poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko. Scaramella, who is the first person connected to the poisoning case to be arrested, met Litvinenko at a London sushi bar on Nov. 1, the day the former KGB agent fell ill. Litvinenko died of poisoning from radioactive polonium-210 on Nov. 23. The Italian's father, Amedeo Scaramella, said his son was arrested in Naples after returning from London. Rome prosecutors have accused him of international arms trafficking and slander, and he was being taken to Rome, according to his father. Scaramella said he showed Litvinenko e-mails at the Nov. 1 meeting from a confidential source identifying the possible killers of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya and listing other potential targets for assassination - including himself and Litvinenko. On his deathbed, Litvinenko blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning - an allegation that the Kremlin denied. Scaramella also was hospitalized for several days in London and he said doctors told him he had received five times the lethal dose of polonium-210, although he showed no symptoms. He left the hospital a few days later. Overall, 10 people in Britain tested positive for radiation since Litvinenko died, including two staff members at the Millennium Hotel in London. The same day that Litvinenko met with Scaramella, the Russian met with Andrei Lugovoi, also an ex-Soviet agent; Dmitry Kovtun, a Russian businessman; and Vyacheslav Sokolenko, head of a private Russian security firm, at the bar at Millennium Hotel. All three men have denied involvement in the ex-spy's death. Scaramella has been gathering information for Italian Sen. Paolo Guzzanti - the former chair of a parliamentary commission that examined cases of past KGB infiltration in Italy. Guzzanti said the Italian accusations against Scaramella appeared unrelated to the poisoning. Guzzanti said Scaramella told him Saturday that he was likely to be arrested upon his return to Italy. ``I told him to stay there for Christmas, but he said to me, 'no, I have no intention of appearing like a fugitive,' `` Guzzanti said. No one answered the phone at Naples police headquarters Sunday, and Scaramella's lawyer did not immediately return a call to his cell phone. British police had no comment on Scaramella's arrest. Guzzanti said police in London had given Scaramella a certificate acknowledging that he had fully cooperated with their investigation. Last month, Milan daily Corriere della Sera published excerpts of an alleged wiretapped, January phone conversation between Scaramella and Guzzanti, during which Scaramella was quoted as telling Guzzanti that he could not get information that showed that Italian Premier Romano Prodi had been a KGB agent. A few days later, Prodi's office announced that the premier would take legal action against unnamed parties who defamed his character. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 64 injurywatch: Pension for nuclear testing widow (http://www.injurywatch.co.uk last modified 23-12-2006 08:06 A widow whose husband campaigned for a military pension has been granted his wish, three months after he died. Roy Prescott of Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, died of lung cancer in September. He said his cancer was caused by nuclear testing. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there was no proof but now a pensions tribunal has ruled Mrs Prescott should get a military war pension. Mr Prescott was on national service during testing on Christmas Island. In 1962, he watched 36 nuclear tests in 11 weeks whilst on the island in the South Pacific. In July, the US government agreed to pay £40,000 under the US Radiation Exposure Compensation Act for his illness following the nuclear tests. But the MoD has always said there was not enough evidence the tests caused the 66-year-old's illness. However the Pensions Appeal Tribunal ruled on Friday that his illness could have been caused by the testing. Involved, or know something we don't? Call us FREE on 0800 066 99 07 to tell us more about this story... Copyright © 2000-2006 Watch Media. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 65 Nevada Appeal: Nevada moves to block surface storage of waste at Yucca Mountain Appeal Capitol Bureau December 23, 2006 Nevada has petitioned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to prevent indefinite surface storage of thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Bob Loux, head of the state Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the Department of Energy wants to store up to 21,000 tons of nuclear waste at the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Loux said the Nuclear Waste Policy Act specifically prohibits a large interim storage site in Nevada as long as the state is the proposed location of the permanent repository. He said the proposed surface storage could last for decades. Loux termed the proposal "nothing more than an unlawful interim storage site in embarrassingly thin disguise." He said it would increase the frequency of rail and highway waste shipments across the nation to Yucca Mountain, increasing the already risky waste transportation. He asked the commission to limit surface storage at the site to no more than one year. And he urged the commission to settle the issue before DOE proceeds further. DOE plans to submit a Yucca Mountain license application for a nuclear waste repository to the commission in June 2008, six years late according to the law. All contents © Copyright 2006 nevadaappeal.com Nevada Appeal - 580 Mallory Way - Carson City, NV 89701 ***************************************************************** 66 Carlsbad Current-Argus: WIPP employee exposed to radioactive material below regulations By Andrea Rich Article Launched: 12/22/2006 08:58:47 PM MST CARLSBAD — An employee at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant was contaminated with radioactive material Thursday during routine testing of controlled sources. The employee is under medical observation and, as of press time, is reported to have been exposed to a dose of radioactive material that is "well, well, well below regulations," Dick Raaz, president and general manager of Washington TRU Solutions, said. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant receives radioactive waste from around the country and buries it in deep salt beds between Carlsbad and Hobbs. WIPP's safety record is perfect in the handling of the nation's radioactive waste. At about lunchtime Thursday, a radiological control technician was conducting leak checks on sealed radioactive sources that have nothing to do with the waste delivered and buried at the WIPP site, Raaz said. These are small capsules of a known amount of radioactive material that are at the site in a controlled environment in order to calibrate the instruments at the site that are used to test for leaks of the actual waste. The technician was swiping down the containers as is routinely done twice a year to check for leaks or breaks in the capsule's container. He took the "swipes" to a different building to test for radioactive material, which is the normal practice of this effort, Raaz said. The capsule remained in its storage area, sealed and locked in its container. When the swipes were checked, one tested positive for radioactive material. Raaz said the proper people were notified and testing was done on the technician. Radioactive material was found on the swipes, the technician's right wrist and the technician's shoe. "The contamination was measurable but at low levels," Raaz said. "The individual was exposed to doses well, well, well below regulations. "This kind of thing is extremely rare at WIPP," Raaz said. Officials there notified the Department of Energy, which overseas the WIPP operation, on Thursday. Official reports were filed Friday and Raaz said he does not know how soon or where the reports will be made public. "The contamination was measurable but at low levels," Raaz said. The kind of radioactive material found in these sealed sources is fairly common, according to WIPP officials, and can be found in some types of businesses, including hospitals, because the radioactive material is a constant source of energy. Raaz also said that the swipes that revealed the radioactive material are secured, and there was no contamination in uncontrolled areas of the WIPP complex. Because this incident is not related to the waste deposited at WIPP, it does not alter the plant's perfect safety record, Raaz confirmed. Copyright © 2005 Carlsbad Current Argus, a MediaNews Group Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 67 Rocky Mountain News: Editorial: Pointless waste of time Home Opinion Editorials Pointless waste of December 23, 2006 A truckload of material from Denver's "radium streets" arrived at Deer Trail on Monday, despite objections from Adams County commissioners who went to court to try to stop such shipments. We don't understand what all the fuss is about. The material is waste from radium processing in Denver that was used as fill for street construction during the 1920s. It is radioactive, but at such a low level that it is not dangerous, and Denver has been managing it "in place" for a number of years. In 2002, however, the city began a five-year program to remove it from 13 street segments. The city hopes to complete the job next year. For three years, Denver shipped the material to a facility in Idaho. It would have preferred to continue doing so, according to Ellen Dumm, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Environmental Health - not only to respect Adams County's objections but also because it would rather have all the waste at a single site. But in December 2005, the state Department of Health and Environment licensed Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc. to accept the waste at its Deer Trail facility. The decision was an appropriate use of the department's authority, following public hearings and a health and safety review. Adams County sued, but lost in district courts. The two cases are on appeal. Once the facility had been licensed, the Rocky Mountain Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Board, which has jurisdiction, ruled that it no longer made sense to ship the waste all the way to Idaho at a cost of roughly $1 million a year and it denied Denver's request for permission to keep doing so. Adams County has argued that taking this waste might mean it would later have to accept more dangerous material. But it would have the opportunity to argue against that outcome in a separate licensing process. It would be better if all parties could turn their efforts to getting the street job done. It's been held up long enough. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 68 kutv.com: Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Plan Challenged [clock] Dec 22, 2006 8:07 pm US/Mountain LAS VEGAS The state of Nevada is challenging the newest Energy Department blueprints for aboveground handling of spent nuclear fuel before burial at Yucca Mountain. In a protest prepared for submittal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the state calls the size of concrete pads on which highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel would be “aged” in reinforced containers far beyond what Congress authorized for the Yucca site. Nevada officials accused the Energy Department of planning speed removal of waste from sites in 39 states by circumventing a federal law forbidding nuclear waste from being placed in aboveground “monitored retrievable storage” at the Yucca site. “Clearly, DOE’s proposed ‘aging facility’ is nothing more than an unlawful MRS in embarrassingly thin disguise,” state officials said in documents obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal for a Friday report. The state said that while some aboveground handling might be necessary before burial, an aboveground facility with a capacity of 21,000 metric tons of nuclear waste would be too big. Energy Department spokeswoman Gayle Fisher told the Review-Journal the aging pads were being designed to cover about 75 acres and hold 2,500 canisters, but could be reduced to 45 acres. She said system engineers determined the capacity of the pads by calculating the rate at which nuclear waste containers would arrive at Yucca Mountain. The state intends to ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to decide that no waste would be allowed at Yucca Mountain without a “reasonable assurance” that it could be moved underground within a year. Above ground, the containers would be vulnerable to earthquakes, plane crashes or terrorist attacks, the state said. Energy Department officials previously described aging pads as part of a “thermal loading” strategy, where the heat of highly radioactive waste would be allowed to dissipate to safe levels before canisters would be entombed. Congress in 2002 approved burial of 70,000 metric tons of the nation’s most radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The plan has since been stalled by lawsuits, budget shortfalls and quality assurance questions. The target date for opening the repository, originally 1998, has been pushed back at least to 2017. (© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material © MMVI, KUTV Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. [ /] [ /] [ /] ***************************************************************** 69 Times Union: Trading nuclear waste for global warming - Albany NY First published: Sunday, December 24, 2006 Thomas Whalen's Dec. 17 letter mentions the half-life of nuclear waste, 240,000 years, as a reason not to consider nuclear power. Even modest scientific models put forth 1 degree per century as the rate of the warming of the earth, because of carbon-based energy usage. If you allow me to do the math, this would put the average temperature of the earth near 2,400 degrees at the half-life of nuclear waste. Yes, I know oil is supposed to run out in this century, but we are still considering carbon combustion (ethanol) as some of the alternatives. So either we use nuclear power and have the humans 240,000 years from now deal with the waste problem, or we go with global warming, in which case there will be no humans around in 240,000 years to worry about it. Just thought I'd point that out. DAVID SPRING Greenville All Times Union materials copyright 1996-2006, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************