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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 [NYTr] War on Iran: Unleashing Armageddon in the Middle East
2 CIA Analysis Finds Iran Not Developing Nuclear Weapons
3 [NYTr] Hersh: CIA Finds Iran Not Developing Nuclear Weapons
4 AFP: Iran's neighbours voice nuclear fears: Howells
5 Guardian Unlimited: Nations Meet on Denying Iran Nuclear Aid
6 AFP: Iran urges nuclear-free Korean peninsula
7 AFP: CIA analysis finds no Iranian nuclear weapons drive - report -
8 [NYTr] Little Consensus on Int'l Approach to N.Korea
9 [NYTr] George's Fool's Errand: Keeping "Pressure" on N.Korea
10 AFP: APEC statement to press trade, no mention of NKorea
11 Daily Yomiuri: Kyuma: N-equipped warships barred from Japan's waters
12 AFP: US expects APEC statement on North Korea
13 Guardian Unlimited: Iran's Leader Seeks Ties With N. Korea
14 Guardian Unlimited: Russia Issues Warning on Iran, N. Korea
15 Korea Times: UN Panel Passes Resolution on NK Human Rights Abuses
16 Korea Times: Roh, Bush Agree Not to Tolerate NK Nuke Program
17 Korea Times: US Pledges to Declare End of Korean War
18 Korea Times: Two Lame Ducks at APEC
19 UPI: U.S., APEC to urge N. Korea on weapons
20 US: Antiwar.com: Is the Next Congress For Sale? -
21 [NYTr] India Tests Mid-Range Nuke Missile
22 CITIZEN-TIMES.com: China's challenges
23 Daily Times: Pakistan to expand peaceful nuclear programme - PM
24 AFP: India tests nuclear-capable surface missile
NUCLEAR REACTORS
25 Sydney Morning Herald: Scientists to review PM's nuclear report -
26 Sydney Morning Herald: Greenpeace releases nuclear energy brief -
27 Sydney Morning Herald: Don't tax carbon fuels, urges Minchin -
28 Sydney Morning Herald: Experts to counter Switkowski's report -
29 Sydney Morning Herald: World is banking on a nuclear future -
30 US: Herald News: Reactor shutdown
31 US: newsobserver.com: Duke may rethink plant
32 The Herald: British Energy hit by loss of top expert
33 ENS: Senate Backs Civilian Nuclear Trade With India
34 US: Rutland Herald: Report could sway Vermont Yankee emissions monit
35 US: Eureka Reporter: Humboldt Bay nuclear power plant talk
36 SF Chron: U.S. action pays tribute to India's rising clout /
37 US: Times-Standard Online: Nuclear talk at CR Monday
38 US: Times Argus: State may change monitoring at Vt. Yankee
39 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Feds deem Indian Point drill a success
40 WA Business News: Don't tax carbon to support nuclear industry - Min
41 AFP: Iran presses on with plans for Arak nuclear reactor
42 AFP: IAEA may turn down Iranian request for help with nuclear reacto
43 US: Joplin Globe: In our view: Nuclear options
44 Telegraph: British Energy nuclear chief steps down
45 US: Mail Tribune: Energy-corridor plan included in 2005's Energy Pol
46 AU ABC: Power costs impact on nuclear debate
47 London Times: Nuclear power stations up for heritage status -
48 US: Arizona Republic: How dumb can it get?
NUCLEAR SECURITY
49 London Times: Energy plants may get armed terror guards -
NUCLEAR SAFETY
50 US: AP Wire: Workers contend contractors defrauded government in cle
51 washingtonpost.com: Bombs That Won't Go Off -
52 US: Spectrum: Divine Strake back in Nevada
53 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Dugway was test candidate
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
54 US: Deseret News: Panel on Hill OKs Goshute, PFS legal-fees settleme
55 US: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Schools look for ways to dispose of rad
56 US: Carlsbad Current-Argus: Potential RH delay unfortunate
57 US: DailyBulletin.com: Wyle cleanup pleases, frustrates Norco reside
58 US: New Haven Register: Rell rejects plan to store nuke waste
59 US: The Day: Losing The Nuclear-waste Lottery
60 News & Star: Positive nuclear reaction to PM’s Sellafield visit
61 News & Star: Sellafield blacklist probe
PEACE
62 Morocco joins global anti-nuclear initiative
63 US: [NYTr] Anti-Nuke Nuns' Canned-Food Restitution
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
64 KnoxNews: An ORNL pioneer, director honored
65 KnoxNews: Uranium process still used at Y-12
66 Tri-City Herald: Fines proposed for Hanford incidents
67 Tri-City Herald: New prime contracts in works at Hanford
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 [NYTr] War on Iran: Unleashing Armageddon in the Middle East
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 03:45:48 -0500 (EST)
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Tim Murphy (activ-l)
Countercurrents - Nov 9, 2006
http://www.countercurrents.org/iran-akleh091106.htm
War on Iran: Unleashing Armageddon in the Middle East
By Dr. Elias Akleh
In mid 1970s the American Power Elite drew a "Grand Plan" to control and to
monopolize global oil and nuclear energy resources, for he who controls
energy resources determines the fate of nations. The base of this "Grand
Plan" is the invasion of energy rich countries to directly control their
resources, and to create subservient governments that would exploit their
own people as cheap labor to harvest energy for the United States.
The collapse of the Soviet Union had created a window of opportunity for the
United States to ensure and to affirm its global superiority through
expansion and controlling energy resources without any real opposition. The
attacks of 911 were necessary requirements for the Bush administration to
wage a "global war against terror" that would serve as a cover up for
American hegemony. President Bush borrowed Mussolini's fascist motto of "If
you are not with me, you are against me" and turned it into "You are either
with us or with the terrorist" to terrorize weaker nations into accepting
American expansions.
Part of the "Grand Plan", which deals with the Arab World (Middle East) and
South East Asia, was handed down to the Bush/Cheney administration for
execution. The invasions and destructions of Afghanistan and Iraq are just
the beginning. Iran, Syria, and Lebanon are next. Controlling Iran is very
important to the American administration. Iran sits on a lake of oil and has
large deposits of uranium that, when mined and refined, could make Iran a
super global power. Controlling Iran leads to the containment of China
(America's greatest competitor), who depends heavily on Iranian oil to
satisfy its growing hunger for energy. Geographically Iran makes the
shortest and the most economical route for Kazakhstan's oil pipeline from
the Caspian Sea ,north, to the Persian Gulf south with all the oil-tankers
traffic. Iran also fits perfectly within the line of American hegemony in
South East Asia. Listening to Bush's speeches - especially his speech to the
United Nation last September 2006- one can detect his "enthusiasm" for
"spreading democracy and freedom" into the "despotic Middle East" with Iraq
as an example.
The Bush/Cheney administration started its overt aggression against Iran
immediately after 911 attacks. Bush described Iran as one of the "axis of
evil" sponsoring "terrorist" groups such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and the
Palestinian Hamas, who are in reality defending themselves against Israeli
aggression. After the American invasion of Iraq the American administration
accused Iran of instigating a civil war in Iraq by supporting Shiites
against Sunnis, and of opening its borders wide for terrorists to enter
Iraq. The administration is accusing Iran of building a nuclear bomb, and is
continuously threatening its government to abandon its nuclear "ambitions"
or else face dire consequences including nuclear strikes (a paradox of using
nuclear weapon to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons). Condoleezza
Rice, the Secretary of State described Iran as a "central bank for world
terrorism" that is threatening the stability of the Middle East.
American media had joined the administration into demonizing Iran and its
government. Iran is described as a fundamentalist theocracy, who seeks to
revive the glory of ancient Persian Empire by establishing an Islamic
"Caliphate" in the Middle East. Iran's leaders are portrayed as extremists,
who hate Americans for their freedom, and want to build nuclear bomb to
attack the US. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is described as an
irrational, violent, mad Hitler-like anti-Semite, who hates Jews, denies the
Holocaust, and wants to wipe Israel off the map. Ahmadinejad's visit to the
US last September (2006) to give a speech at the UN was received with a cold
shoulder by the US. American officials in the UN and the American media
boycotted his speech, while NBC's Brian Williams and Newsweek's Lally
Weymouth interviewed him only to corner him about the Holocaust and wiping
Israel off the map.
Bush/Cheney administration had rebuffed all Iranian attempts to negotiate,
and refused to give Iran any guarantees that the US will not attack Iran if
it stops its uranium enrichment. President Bush totally ignored President
Ahmadinejad's personal letter, and his call for a debate. The Washington
Post, in June 18th 2006, reported Richard Hass, head of policy planning at
the State Department at the time, as saying that at the wake of the US
invasion of Iraq Iranian leaders offered the administration a proposal for a
broad dialogue that included full cooperation on its nuclear programs,
acceptance of the state of Israel, and halting support to Palestinian
militants. The administration rejected this proposal since they already have
plans for a regime change in Iran.
The administration's attack plan started immediately after the invasion of
Iraq. Spy stations were erected at the Iraqi/Iranian borders. The Congress
had authorized the expenditure of $75 million to support Iranian opposition
and to finance an anti-Iranian political campaign. Scott Ritter, former UN
weapons inspector, reported in June 2005 and in his book "Target Iran" that
the US has been using terrorist organizations (Mujahedeen el-Khalq, MEK),
under the supervision of the CIA, to conduct covert terrorist operations in
Iran. MEK has been officially designated as a terrorist organization by the
US. Yet in 2004 Bush/Cheney administration pardoned the MEK making it the
first terrorist organization to receive a "protected" status. The MEK
terrorists were trained by the CIA in an American compound northeast of
Baghdad, and then moved to Basra and established their base in Camp Habib,
from which they launch their terrorists raids against the southern region of
Iran.
Israel, on the other hand, criticized Iran's nuclear program refusing to
"live under the threat" of nuclear Iran. Israeli officials point to
Ahmadinejad's alleged threat to wipe Israel off the map as threat to their
own existence, and a possible justification for a pre-emptive strike as a
measure of self-defense. They continually threaten to strike Iran's nuclear
facilities the same way Israel did to Iraq's nuclear reactor. Israel warned
that Iran's uranium enrichment is the red line that Israel will react to.
Israel had sent its military operatives into the Kurdish region north of
Iraq to establish training camps for the Kurds. The Kurds want to establish
their free Kurdistan that extends from north Iran to east Turkey.
Considering it their patriotic duty, and encouraged, financed and armed by
the Israelis, the Kurds send their militants to conduct military operations
into northern Iran.
Bush/Cheney administration is adamant on invading Iran. Invasion was
originally planned to take place sometime during the end of April 2006
immediately after the end of the grace period UN gave to Iran to stop its
nuclear program. The plan consisted of 5 days continuous aerial bombardment
by joint air planes of Israel, UK, and US that might include tactical
nuclear bunker buster bombs. Land invasion would follow from west (Iraq),
from east (Afghanistan) and from sea (Persian Gulf from west and Gulf of
Oman from south). The plan was to heavily bombard the Iranians into
overthrowing their government.
In an attempt to stop this attack Iran flexed its military muscles in war
games conducted in April 2006. Iran effectively demonstrated its capability
of waging war on land, sea, and air with sophisticated weapons. Iran also
conducted other war games in August 2006 in coordination with China and
Russia on all of Iran's geo-strategic borders giving a warning signal that
any possible invasion of its territory would be very costly. The American
administration discovered that it had underestimated Iran's military power,
and that Iran is a larger and a stronger country than the embargo-weakened
Iraq. Therefore the administration decided to adjust its war plans and to
bring in more allies such as EU and some Arab states.
Contrary to the misleading American propaganda about the threat of
irrational extremist Iranian government Iranian leaders have been very
pragmatic politicians, who seek peace, stability, and nuclear-free Middle
East. There is no doubt that Iran has supported Palestinian families
(victims of Israeli terror), Shiite Lebanese south of Lebanon, and Shiite
Iraqis in an attempt to protect its own interests and to counter balance
warring Israel, UK, and US. Israel had invaded all its neighboring countries
while the UK and US had sent their troops across the globe to invade
Afghanistan and Iraq to protect its own interests in the region. For many
generations Iran was never involved in a colonial war and had never
threatened other countries. Iran was defending itself during the eight years
Iraq/Iran war of attrition that had been instigated by the US. Unlike the
Israeli and American military threatening rhetoric Iranian leaders had
always declared that they do not pose any threat to any other country, and
that Iran is only seeking peace and prosperity for its own citizens. Iranian
officials recognized that war is knocking on their doors when American
troops invaded Iraq. They attempted to approach Bush/Cheney administration
with dialogue and cooperation, but they were rebuffed violently.
The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not conform "..to the picture
of a madman" the American administration and media portray him to be, wrote
Fareed Zakaria in his Newsweek (10/2/2006) article "What Iranians Least
Expect". "He was smug, even arrogant, sometimes offensive, but always calm
and intelligent" continued Zakaria. Ahmadinejad is not the Jew-hater,
Holocaust denier, intent on wiping Israel off the map as Bush keeps
describing him. Ahmadinejad pointed to the Iranian Jewish community, who are
living peacefully within Iran as any other Iranian citizens. Iran is the
home for the largest Jewish community (25 thousands) in the Middle East
outside Israel, who lived there for the last 3 thousand years since the rule
of Cyrus the Great. Iranian government recognizes the Jews as a religious
minority to be protected and represented by a PM, Maurice Mohtamed, in
Iranian parliament. Iranians make a distinction between Jews and Zionists.
When Newsweek's Lally Weymouth (October 2nd 2006) asked Ahmadinejad about
the Holocaust he acknowledged it as a historical event by stating "We know
this was a historical event that happened. But why is it that people who
question it are persecuted and attacked?" He also questions the reasons why
the Palestinians have to pay their country and their lives for what the
Europeans had done. He questions the exploitation of the Holocaust to
justify the usurpation of Palestinian land, their evacuation from their
homeland and the destruction of their civilian homes, the targeted
assassination of their freedom fighters, and the abduction and jailing of
their democratically elected officials. "The Palestinian people, their lives
are being destroyed today under the pretext of the Holocaust. Their lands
have been occupied, usurped. What is their fault? What are they to be blamed
for? Are they not human beings? Do they have no rights? What role did they
play in the Holocaust?" Ahmadinejad answered NBC's Brian Williams, who asked
him about the Holocaust during an interview in September 20th, 2006. His
acceptance of the Holocaust as a reality could not be any clearer than in
his statement reported by the Washington Post December 9th 2005 "Is the
killing of innocent Jewish people by Hitler, the reason for their (the
Europeans') support to the occupiers of Jerusalem?"
Ahmadinejad's plans to build a nuclear bomb and use it to incinerate and "to
wipe Israel off the map" as Tzipi Linvi - the Israeli Foreign Affairs
Minister and Vice Prime Minister- likes to keep reminding the world of, is
totally baseless. It is an intentional misinterpretation and distortion of
Ahmadinejad's speech. In the New York Times of June 11th, 2006 Juan Cole, a
Middle East specialist at the University of Michigan, stated that
"Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map, because no
such idiom exists in Persian. He did say he hoped its regime i.e. a
Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse." Ahmadinejad was
not threatening Israel; rather he was calling for the end of Zionist
occupation of the city of Jerusalem. He - and the Iranian government- are
intelligent politicians, who understand that striking Israel with one atomic
bomb would lead Israel to shower Iran with its 200, or more, nuclear bombs,
some of which are ready to be launched from submarines.
To avoid the seemingly inevitable war Iran had followed the diplomatic path
with no avail. It opened all its nuclear facilities to the strictest and
most detailed inspections by the IAEA, who stated that there was no evidence
that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran proposed to halt its nuclear
program if the US halts its threatening postures and gives guarantees that
it would not attack Iran. The Bush/Cheney administration refused to give
Iran any guarantees insisting that all options, including nuclear, are on
the table. Ahmadinejad also called for peaceful negotiations and a
nuclear-free Middle East in his speech to the UN in his September visit. Yet
his speech was boycotted by the American officials and ignored by the
American media. Lately Iran proposed to have an international consortium to
supervise uranium enrichment in Iran to guarantee that its nuclear program
is really for peaceful purposes only. This proposal was rejected by the EU
for they all are aware of the American plans to invade Iran.
Iran had also turned to the international community - mainly anti-American
countries- for political support through economical trade and common
political interests. In 2004 Iran struck an oil deal with China
Petrochemical Corp. (SINOPEC Group) to sell it 51% stake in Iran's Yadavaran
oil field near the border of Iraq. Iran also became Russia's most important
weapons customer. Iran had also gained the political support of at least 118
countries during the summit of the Nonaligned Movement (NAM) in Cuba in mid
September 2006.
Iranian government, like any other prudent government in its place, has no
alternative but to seriously consider the Israeli and American continuous
military threats to its security and to prepare for the inevitable coming
war. In a deterrent attempt Iran had conducted war games in April and August
2006 hoping that the American administration would reconsider its plans. It
also positioned its weapons strategically on its borders and sea. Iranian
arsenals include Iranian and Russian made submarines carrying their own mini
submarines and submarine-to-ship missiles. Iranian naval forces had been
updated with the latest military equipment and weaponry with its naval
airborne forces including helicopters, minesweepers and the sophisticated
fast Chinese "Silkworm" and "Sunburn" anti-ship missiles with the speed of
225 miles per hour. Iranian Patrol Torpedo Boats (PT) - such as the "Jashan
PT"- are small boats designed to attack larger warships and are equipped
with latest electronic systems and missiles with a range of 100km. Iran's
navy also has the largest hovercraft fleet in the world. On the land Iran
has long range missiles (Shehab) and land-to-sea missiles (Kowsar) that can
evade electronic jamming systems. Some of Iranian missiles are reported to
be invisible to radar and can have multiple warheads with multiple payloads
to hit multiple targets simultaneously.
Iran has also recently modified its air defense shield in order to shoot
down incoming missiles and invading warplanes. Iran has about 20 Russian
"Tor" and "S300" antiaircraft systems. Besides Russian warplanes Iran has
manufactured its own warplanes with laser-guided missiles and whose
capabilities are still unknown and could surprise any invading enemy. Iran
also has its own fleet of unmanned militarized drones.
The eight-year Iraq/Iran desert war had given Iranian army the longest
experience in ground and desert warfare far exceeding any other army. The
Iranians learned to manufacture their own weapons such as tanks, missiles,
torpedoes, helicopters, submarines and warplanes. This gave them
independence and strength.
Attacking Iran will disrupt oil traffic in the Persian Gulf. In an obvious
and expected move Iran will close the Straits of Hermuz blocking all
military and supply in-traffic and all oil out-traffic. American military
bases in the Gulf States will be targeted, and there is the possibility of
also targeting oil wells. To exacerbate the ensuing oil crises Syria and
Iran may also target the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline carrying oil from
the Caspian Sea to Europe through Turkey. Venezuela, an Iranian ally, would
stop the flow of its oil to the US. The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez,
has warned that Venezuela would not sit idle if Iran and Syria were
attacked. An energy crisis might devastate Western countries. China might
also enter the conflict to protect its own oil assets in Khuzestan province
that the Iranian had armed heavily to protect its oil resources and to
assure the supply of crude oil to its own allies.
Recognizing that Iran, unlike Afghanistan and Iraq, is a big country with a
military power including strong aerial defense that is well ready for the
anticipated heavy Western aerial strike, and that it has a military outreach
towards the whole region that might disrupt the flow of oil, the American
administration decided to postpone its attacks until it creates a "war oil
reserve", forms a large alliance of "willing countries", and sends a
military armada to the region to guarantee victory.
The American administration influence on the UN and NATO can be seen clearly
by the types of resolutions the UN adopts, and by the NATO troops becoming
an American proxy occupier of Afghanistan. To avoid internal political
crisis the administration needs to spare the lives of the American troops as
much as possible by convincing more countries that it is in their own
economic interest to send their own troops to the Middle East to "keep" the
oil flow to their countries. UN resolution 1701 was the best cover to send
military personnel and equipment to the region. 15 thousand armed UNIFEL
troops are stationed on the Lebanese southern borders to protect Israel from
any Hezbollah's attacks. An armada of NATO battleships is crowding the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean allegedly to stop arm shipments to
Hezbollah. The real purpose of this armada is to protect the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Terminal during the war against Iran and Syrian, and
to guarantee the flow of oil to Europe.
The cooperation of Gulf Arabian States was also needed. Condoleezza Rice
traveled to Egypt early October and met with foreign ministers from the
six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Rice followed the usual
American tactics of dandling the resolution of the Palestinian/Israeli issue
in order to gain cooperation from these Arab leaders. To put more pressure
on these leaders President Bush divided them into "moderate vs extremists".
Israel had also courted these "moderate" Arab leaders during September
United Nations meeting in New York, where Israeli officials held some
private meetings with officials from Persian Gulf Countries (The Wall Street
Journal, October 3rd). There was also a rumor about an Israeli/Saudi secret
private meeting in Jordan's King Abdullah's palace at the end of September.
The talks aimed to form some kind of secret intelligence and military
alliance between Israel and the US on one side and the "moderate" Arabic
regimes on the other hand against the Iranian nuclear threat and the so
called "Shiite Crescent" -Iran, Syria and Lebanon- in the north. After all,
these Sunni Gulf rulers had supported and financed Iraqi Saddam Hussein
during his eight years war against Iran. They had sent Moslem fighters as an
American proxy army to fight the Russians in Afghanistan. They had, for
fifty eight years, stood silent about the Israeli terror against
Palestinians, and finally had criticized Hamas and Hezbollah resistance as
foolish and uncalculated useless adventures. Some of these Gulf States had
joined actively into the American war games off the Iranian coastline in
October 31st while others joined as observers only.
The US and NATO countries had amassed the largest military armada in the
Middle East. The US armada consists of Carrier Strike Group 12 led by
nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, Eisenhower Strike Group -
another nuclear powered aircraft carrier with accompanied military vessels
and submarines, Expeditionary Strike Group 5 with multiple attack vessels
led by aircraft carrier USS Boxer, the Iowa Jima Expeditionary Strike Group,
and the US Coast Guard. Canada has sent its anti-submarine HMCS Ottawa
frigate to join the American Armada in the Persian Gulf. On October 1st the
USS Enterprise Striking Group had crossed the Suez Canal to Join NATO armada
at the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
The NATO force is composed of troops and naval vessels from several
countries and is lead by Germany. It includes Garman command naval forces,
Italian navy, 2 Spanish warships, 3 Danish warships, 10 Greek Warships, 2
Netherlands warships, and French, Belgium, Turkish and Bulgarian troops in
South Lebanon.
This is the largest amass ever of military power in the region, and it is
gathering for a reason.
The US had started its military provocation on October 30th with its
"Leading Edge" war game across the Iranian shores. Iran responded with a 10
days military maneuvers "Great Prophet" taking place in Gulf, Sea of Oman,
and several provinces of the country test-firing dozens of its long-range
missiles capable of reaching Israel and American military bases in Gulf
States. The powder keg is ready and all it needs is a match to ignite it.
This could come in the form of an "arranged" terrorist act in Lebanon - e.g.
another political assassination or toppling of government- to be blamed
against Syria and Iran. American warnings of such an act are already in the
media.
The present American administration is an extremist theocratic apocalyptic
neoconservative Christian-Zionist war mongering law-breaking power hungry
administration with a bragging "war president" adopting the doctrines of
"pre-emptive" strikes and perpetual war against "global terror". This war
will take place far away from the American home-land, and will generate
large profits for the American military corporations. The war against Iran
will engulf the whole Middle East and may overflow to its neighboring
countries. Controlling Iran is a very important strategic move to assure
American global hegemony. This war is scheduled to start between February
and April of 2007, and it seems that there is nothing to stop it.
Dr. Elias Akleh Email: eakleh@ca.rr.com
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2 CIA Analysis Finds Iran Not Developing Nuclear Weapons
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 12:29:41 -0600 (CST)
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Hersh: CIA Analysis Finds Iran Not Developing Nuclear Weapons
Agence France-Presse
Sunday 19 November 2006
Washington - A classifed draft CIA assessment has found no firm evidence of
a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White
House, a top US investigative reporter has said.
Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the November 27 issue of the
magazine The New Yorker released in advance, reported on whether the
administration of Republican President George W. Bush was more, or less,
inclined to attack Iran after Democrats won control of Congress last week.
A month before the November 7 legislative elections, Hersh wrote, Vice
President Dick Cheney attended a national-security discussion that touched on
the impact of Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran policy.
"If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that
victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military option with
Iran," Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the discussion.
Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative restrictions
"and thus stop Congress from getting in its way," he said.
The Democratic victory unleashed a surge of calls for the Bush
administration to begin direct talks with Iran.
But the administration's planning of a military option was made "far more
complicated" in recent months by a highly classified draft assessment by the
Central Intelligence Agency "challenging the White House's assumptions about
how close Iran might be to building a nuclear bomb," he wrote.
"The CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian
nuclear-weapons program running paallel to the civilian operations that Iran
has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency," Hersh wrote, adding
the CIA had declined to comment on that story.
A current senior intelligence official confirmed the existence of the CIA
analysis and said the White House had been hostile to it, he wrote.
Cheney and his aides had discounted the assessment, the official said.
"They're not looking for a smoking gun," the official was quoted as saying,
referring to specific intelligence about Iranian nuclear planning.
"They're looking for the degree of comfort level they think they need to
accomplish the mission."
The United States and other major powers believe Iran's uranium enrichment
program is ultimately aimed at producing fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Iran insists it will use the enriched uranium only to fuel nuclear power
stations, something it is permitted to do as a signatory to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The major powers have been debating a draft United Nations resolution drawn
up by Britain, France and Germany that would impose limited sanctions on Iran's
nuclear and ballistic missile sectors for Tehran's failure to comply with an
earlier UN resolution on halting enrichment.
On Wednesday, Israel's outgoing US ambassador Danny Ayalon said in an
interview that Bush would not hesitate to use force against Iran to halt its
nuclear program if other options failed.
"US President George W. Bush will not hesitate to use force against Iran in
order to halt its nuclear program," Ayalon told the Maariv daily.
Israel, widely considered the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear
power, views Iran as its arch-foe, pointing to repeated calls by President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe the Jewish state off the map.
*****************************************************************
3 [NYTr] Hersh: CIA Finds Iran Not Developing Nuclear Weapons
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 13:57:46 -0600 (CST)
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
AFP via Truthout - Nov 19, 2006
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111906Z.shtml
Hersh: CIA Analysis Finds Iran Not Developing Nuclear Weapons
Agence France-Presse
Washington - A classifed draft CIA assessment has found no firm
evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as
alleged by the White House, a top US investigative reporter has said.
Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the November 27 issue of
the magazine The New Yorker released in advance, reported on whether the
administration of Republican President George W. Bush was more, or less,
inclined to attack Iran after Democrats won control of Congress last
week.
A month before the November 7 legislative elections, Hersh wrote,
Vice President Dick Cheney attended a national-security discussion that
touched on the impact of Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran
policy.
"If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that
victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military
option with Iran," Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the
discussion.
Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative
restrictions "and thus stop Congress from getting in its way," he said.
The Democratic victory unleashed a surge of calls for the Bush
administration to begin direct talks with Iran.
But the administration's planning of a military option was made "far
more complicated" in recent months by a highly classified draft
assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency "challenging the White
House's assumptions about how close Iran might be to building a nuclear
bomb," he wrote.
"The CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian
nuclear-weapons program running paallel to the civilian operations that
Iran has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency," Hersh
wrote, adding the CIA had declined to comment on that story.
A current senior intelligence official confirmed the existence of
the CIA analysis and said the White House had been hostile to it, he
wrote.
Cheney and his aides had discounted the assessment, the official
said.
"They're not looking for a smoking gun," the official was quoted as
saying, referring to specific intelligence about Iranian nuclear
planning.
"They're looking for the degree of comfort level they think they
need to accomplish the mission."
The United States and other major powers believe Iran's uranium
enrichment program is ultimately aimed at producing fissile material for
nuclear weapons.
Iran insists it will use the enriched uranium only to fuel nuclear
power stations, something it is permitted to do as a signatory to the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The major powers have been debating a draft United Nations
resolution drawn up by Britain, France and Germany that would impose
limited sanctions on Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile sectors for
Tehran's failure to comply with an earlier UN resolution on halting
enrichment.
On Wednesday, Israel's outgoing US ambassador Danny Ayalon said in
an interview that Bush would not hesitate to use force against Iran to
halt its nuclear program if other options failed.
"US President George W. Bush will not hesitate to use force against
Iran in order to halt its nuclear program," Ayalon told the Maariv
daily.
Israel, widely considered the Middle East's sole if undeclared
nuclear power, views Iran as its arch-foe, pointing to repeated calls by
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe the Jewish state off the map.
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4 AFP: Iran's neighbours voice nuclear fears: Howells
Sun Nov 19, 10:13 AM ET
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Iran" /> 's Gulf neighbours are worried and
nervous about its nuclear programme, British State Minister for
Foreign Affairs Kim Howells has said in Kuwait, accusing Tehran
of wanting to develop nuclear weapons.
"I know for a fact that Iran's neighbours are very, very
worried about the developments that are going on there,"
regarding its nuclear programme, Howells told reporters Sunday.
"There is a great deal of nervousness about their (Iran's)
nuclear ambitions and I hope the Iranians understand that,"
Howells said after talks with Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh
Mohammad al-Sabah.
He said however that his talks with Sheikh Mohammad did not
include Iran.
Howells charged that the Islamic Republic had rejected an
international offer to supply it with enriched uranium for a
civilian nuclear programme because it intends to "weaponise
uranium".
The United States and some Western powers are seeking to impose
tough UN Security Council sanctions on Iran after it refused to
halt enrichment in return for a package of incentives.
Iran insists it will use the enriched uranium only to fuel
nuclear power stations, something it is permitted to do as a
signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
5 Guardian Unlimited: Nations Meet on Denying Iran Nuclear Aid
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Sunday November 19, 2006 9:31 PM
AP Photo XHS111
By GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - A Western push to deny Iran technical
help in building a plutonium-producing reactor has gathered
enough support to be approved by the 35-nation board of the U.N.
nuclear watchdog agency, diplomats said Sunday.
Still, differences both within the Western camp and more broadly
among different factions on the International Atomic Energy
Agency on how harshly to punish Iran for its nuclear defiance
persisted on the eve of the opening meeting Monday, said the
diplomats.
Normally, the United States takes the lead in demanding tough
action against Tehran for defying U.N. Security Council demands
that it freeze uranium enrichment, a possible pathway to nuclear
arms.
But with council agreement on sanctions mired down because of
Russian and Chinese efforts to block tough punishment, diplomats
said the Americans have taken a back seat to the France at the
upcoming Vienna meeting in calling for harsher penalties.
Like their European allies, the Americans were calling for
Iran's request for help in building the Arak research reactor to
be denied when the IAEA board meets in committee starting Monday
- and later in the week in full conference to formally approve
committee decisions.
But France was demanding even more, said the diplomats - all
accredited to the IAEA, who demanded anonymity in exchange for
discussing strategies ahead of the meeting. They told The
Associated Press that Paris was asking the IAEA to probe the
seven other projects Iran had submitted individually - and
possibly reject any or all of them, if they were found to be
risks to nuclear proliferation.
Even countries traditionally supportive of Iran were likely to
want to deny some help to Iran - probably through a compromise
that defers a decision on the issue. Both the Security Council
and the IAEA board have issued resolutions urging Tehran to stop
construction of the facility.
Arak produces plutonium waste, which, like enriched uranium, can
be used for warheads, but the other seven projects that Iran has
asked help with are less problematic.
One asks for help in developing nuclear capabilities for medical
use. Another seeks legal help for the Russian-built Bushehr
reactor which even the Americans have agreed does not pose a
threat to nuclear proliferation. The five others ask for
assistance in administrative or safety aspects of nuclear power,
according to a list made available to the AP.
With most nations backing approval of all other projects except
Arak, France would likely be forced to modify its position once
the meeting opened, the diplomats said.
A diplomat familiar with the U.S. stance said the Americans were
not backing the French because of recognition that the board
would agree to nothing more than denying Iran help with Arak.
Others pointed to recent changes in the top echelons of the
French government agencies dealing with Iran and proliferation
threats, saying new, more hardline leadership could explain why
Paris was out front in seeking tougher action.
Denying Iran help with Arak - where it is seeking agency
assistance to make sure the reactor is environmentally safe -
would do little to slow construction of that facility, which is
expected to be completed within the next decade. And it would
not affect Tehran's other potential avenue to weapons production
- uranium enrichment.
Still, it would send a signal at a time that the Security
Council is mired down in how harshly to penalize Tehran and
allow the West to continue exerting some pressure during the
council deadlock.
Once in full session Wednesday, the board also will hear a
report from IAEA chief Mohamed Elbaradei that faults Tehran for
continuing to deny full cooperation with agency inspectors
probing suspect aspects of its nuclear program and outlines new
finds of potentially worrying traces of plutonium at a waste
facility.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
6 AFP: Iran urges nuclear-free Korean peninsula
Sun Nov 19, 6:46 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called
for the Korean peninsula to be free of nuclear weapons, the
state news agency has reported. ![]()
Iranwants nuclear weapons
disarmament all over the world, including the Korean peninsula,"
he was quoted by IRNA as saying in a meeting Saturday with
visiting North Korean parliamentary speaker Choe Thae-Bok.
Ahmadinejad, whose own country is at loggerheads with the
international community over its nuclear program, said that he
believed talks could resolve the crisis triggered by Pyongyang's
atomic bomb test in October.
"Different issues in the world including the problems of both
Koreas can be solved through talks," he said.
North Korea" /> North Korea's nuclear program took center stage
at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam,
where member states expressed "strong concern" Sunday at the
nuclear test and urged Pyongyang to resume disarmament talks.
According to IRNA, Choe Thae-Bok called for an expansion of ties
and cooperation with the Islamic republic, which was lumped in
"the axis of evil" along with North Korea and Iraq" /> Iraqby US
President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bushafter the
September 11 attacks on the United states.
The United States and others Western nations believe Iran's
uranium enrichment program is ultimately aimed at producing
fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Washington is seeking to impose tough UN Security Council
sanctions on Iran after it refused to halt enrichment in return
for an international offer of incentives.
However Russia, a staunch supporter of both Iran and North
Korea, warned the world community against pushing them "into a
corner."
"I think the world community must go very carefully -- firmly
but carefully -- on resolving the problem of the Korean
peninsula and resolving the Iranian nuclear problem," Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Vietnam.
Iran insists it will use the enriched uranium only to fuel
nuclear power stations, something it is permitted to do as a
signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
7 AFP: CIA analysis finds no Iranian nuclear weapons drive - report -
Sat Nov 18, 11:18 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A classifed draft CIA" /> CIAassessment has
found no firm evidence of a secret drive by Iran" /> Iranto
develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White House, a top US
investigative reporter has said.
Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the November 27 issue
of the magazine The New Yorker released in advance, reported on
whether the administration of Republican President George W.
Bush" /> President George W. Bushwas more, or less, inclined to
attack Iran after Democrats won control of Congress last week.
A month before the November 7 legislative elections, Hersh
wrote, Vice President Dick Cheney" /> Dick Cheneyattended a
national-security discussion that touched on the impact of
Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran policy.
"If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said,
that victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a
military option with Iran," Hersh wrote, citing a source
familiar with the discussion.
Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative
restrictions "and thus stop Congress from getting in its way,"
he said.
The Democratic victory unleashed a surge of calls for the Bush
administration to begin direct talks with Iran.
But the administration's planning of a military option was made
"far more complicated" in recent months by a highly classified
draft assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency" /> Central
Intelligence Agency"challenging the White House's assumptions
about how close Iran might be to building a nuclear bomb," he
wrote.
"The CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret
Iranian nuclear-weapons program running paallel to the civilian
operations that Iran has declared to the International Atomic
Energy Agency" /> International Atomic Energy Agency," Hersh
wrote, adding the CIA had declined to comment on that story.
A current senior intelligence official confirmed the existence
of the CIA analysis and said the White House had been hostile to
it, he wrote.
Cheney and his aides had discounted the assessment, the official
said.
"They're not looking for a smoking gun," the official was quoted
as saying, referring to specific intelligence about Iranian
nuclear planning.
"They're looking for the degree of comfort level they think they
need to accomplish the mission."
The United States and other major powers believe Iran's uranium
enrichment program is ultimately aimed at producing fissile
material for nuclear weapons.
Iran insists it will use the enriched uranium only to fuel
nuclear power stations, something it is permitted to do as a
signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The major powers have been debating a draft United Nations" />
United Nationsresolution drawn up by Britain, France and Germany
that would impose limited sanctions on Iran's nuclear and
ballistic missile sectors for Tehran's failure to comply with an
earlier UN resolution on halting enrichment.
On Wednesday, Israel" /> Israel's outgoing US ambassador Danny
Ayalon said in an interview that Bush would not hesitate to use
force against Iran to halt its nuclear program if other options
failed.
"US President George W. Bush will not hesitate to use force
against Iran in order to halt its nuclear program," Ayalon told
the Maariv daily.
Israel, widely considered the Middle East's sole if undeclared
nuclear power, views Iran as its arch-foe, pointing to repeated
calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe the Jewish state
off the map.
Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
8 [NYTr] Little Consensus on Int'l Approach to N.Korea
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 13:56:53 -0600 (CST)
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Houston Chronicle - Nov 19, 2006
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4345981.html
Little consensus on N. Korea plan
World leaders join the U.S. in opposing nation's nuclear ambitions,
but the South balks at ship checks
By RON HUTCHESON
HANOI, VIETNAM More than 20 nations from both sides of the Pacific Ocean
agreed Saturday to denounce North Korea's nuclear weapons program, but the
show of solidarity masked differences over how to shut it down.
President Bush and 20 other world leaders planned to wrap up their
three-day summit today with a joint statement condemning North Korea's
nuclear ambitions. Regional concerns about North Korea's intentions
increased last month when the reclusive regime tested a nuclear device.
But Bush's attempt to rally other countries behind his get-tough approach
suffered a setback Saturday when South Korea declined to fully participate
in an international effort to intercept North Korean ships suspected of
transporting nuclear materials.
South Korea has balked at the idea of attempting to board North Korean
vessels, although it will not object if other countries do so. Leaders from
the U.S. and South Korea downplayed the split over tactics.
"We are allies in peace," Bush said after meeting with South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun on the sidelines of the annual Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum in Hanoi.
U.S. officials reiterated their willingness to improve relations with North
Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons program. The conditional U.S.
overture includes an offer to formally declare an end to the Korean War, a
conflict that technically remains unresolved.
The war, which began in 1950, ended in a truce three years later. Both
North and South Korea would like to see a formal end to a standoff that has
left each country on a war footing.
"If you get to a point where the North Koreans not only renounce but
dismantle nuclear capabilities, we've indicated a willingness to talk about
a lot of things," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
Concerns about North Korea have dominated discussions at the Hanoi summit,
but Bush and the other leaders also have pledged cooperation on free trade,
anti-terrorism tactics and efforts to deal with AIDS and avian flu.
Bush held a get-acquainted session Saturday with Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, who replaced Junichiro Koizumi last month. Koizumi was one of
Bush's closest allies.
White House aides said Bush was touched when Abe opened their meeting by
giving him a photograph of their two grandfathers playing golf with
President Eisenhower. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a senator from
Connecticut. Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, was prime minister of Japan
in the late 1950s.
Bush will leave Hanoi for Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, today after
separate meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
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9 [NYTr] George's Fool's Errand: Keeping "Pressure" on N.Korea
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 15:10:34 -0600 (CST)
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AP via Yahoo - Nov 18, 206
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061118/ap_on_re_as/bush
Bush works to keep pressure on N. Korea
By TERENCE HUNT,
AP White House Correspondent
HANOI, Vietnam - Lobbying world leaders, President Bush lined up support
Saturday for pressuring long-defiant North Korea to prove it is serious
about dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
Bush used a summit of Pacific Rim countries to consult individually with
leaders of the four other nations engaged with North Korea in nuclear
disarmament talks, stalled for more than a year but now on the verge of
resumption. Those talks were expected to win endorsement Sunday from all 21
participants in the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum.
Nearly two weeks after election losses weakened his presidency, Bush faced
questions from summit partners about the Democratic takeover of Congress and
the message of disapproval about the Iraq war.
"He, of course, reassured them that, in terms of the foreign policy of the
country, he was firm in his views and would be continuing that foreign
policy along current lines," said National Security Adviser Steve Hadley.
Bush on Saturday explored North Korea strategy with Japan's new prime
minister, Shinzo Abe, a hard-liner toward Pyongyang, and with South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun, who has reservations about the U.S. approach.
He was seeking advice Sunday from the leaders of China and Russia.
In this communist country, Bush also was making a pointed effort to
encourage religious tolerance. He and his wife, Laura, were to attend
services Sunday at Cua Bac Church, a concrete basilica built by the French
more than a century ago. They were to join about 500 worshippers, split
between Catholics and Protestants.
Afterward, Bush was plunging back into nuclear diplomacy. He was to meet
with President Hu Jintao of China, whose country exerts more influence on
North Korea than any other. The two leaders also were expected to discuss
rising trade tensions between their countries and U.S. concerns about
China's big military budget.
He also was to discuss the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin
. While the two have sharp differences, they are celebrating an agreement
that would pave the way for Russia to join the World Trade Organization.
To Bush's delight, China and Russia support U.N. sanctions against North
Korea for conducting a nuclear test Oct. 9 in defiance of world appeals. But
Washington is worried that support for carrying out the sanctions might be
weakened by North Korea's declaration that it is willing to return to the
stalled disarmament talks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who stressed that the world must act
firmly but "extremely cautiously" in its approach to the North Korean
nuclear program, said the summit statement to be issued Sunday would not go
beyond -- and would in fact repeat -- the recent U.N. Security Council
resolution on North Korea.
Aside from church, Bush has had virtually no public appearances in Vietnam
or contact with locals. Hadley suggested the president was getting a feel
for the country by watching people from the windows of his armored limousine
as it shuttled him around town. "We're in the midst of the Vietnamese people
all the time," Hadley said.
Focused on economic problems, APEC leaders pledged major steps to resurrect
WTO talks, which collapsed in July in a dispute over agricultural subsidies
between the United States and Europe. They promised to make deeper
reductions in farm subsidies, widen market access for agricultural goods and
cut tariffs.
In his one-on-one diplomacy, Bush explored how to proceed in the
negotiations with North Korea.
Hadley said the North Koreans "cannot come back just to talk," but must show
they are prepared to implement a year-old agreement to abandon its nuclear
program in exchange for security guarantees and aid.
"There needs to be concrete steps toward the implementation of that
agreement," he said. "Now, what those steps will be is obviously something
that will be discussed among the five of the six-party talks."
Officials suggested that one way for North Korea to show good faith would be
to invite the return of inspectors from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency.
"We want the North Korean leaders to hear that if it gives up its weapons
-- nuclear weapons ambitions -- that we would be willing to enter into
security arrangements with the North Koreans, as well as move forward new
economic incentives for the North Korean people," Bush said after an
hourlong meeting with Roh.
Bush felt that he and Abe "saw eye-to-eye" on North Korea, Hadley said. He
also tried to play down differences with South Korea.
Roh said he would not join completely in the U.S.-led Proliferation Security
Initiative, a voluntary program of about 80 countries that calls for
stopping ships suspected of trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. Roh,
however, said Seoul supports the principles and goals of the system.
Hadley said there were special circumstances for South Korea remaining out
of the program.
"But short of that, they have made clear to us ... that they fully support"
the U.N. Security Council sanctions and "that they will cooperate to ensure
that equipment related to weapons of mass destruction does not get into
North Korea and does not get out of North Korea," Hadley said.
Copyright ) 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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10 AFP: APEC statement to press trade, no mention of NKorea
November 19, 07:25 AM
HANOI (AFP) - Key Asia Pacific leaders will call Sunday for
urgent efforts to restart stalled global trade talks in a final
statement that makes no direct reference to North Korea,
according to a draft seen by AFP.
The text stresses commitment to achieve a breakthrough in the
World Trade Organisation negotiations to tear down tariffs and
other barriers to commerce and the free movement of goods.
But North Korea's nuclear weapons program -- one of the major
themes of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in
Vietnam -- does not figure in the draft.
That absence may mean the leaders are preparing to issue a
separate joint statement on the crisis triggered by Pyongyang's
shock October 9 atomic bomb test.
US President George W. Bush, during a flurry of closed-door
meetings here, notably with the leaders of Japan and South
Korea, has struggled to maintain a united front on tough action
against the North.
China and Russia have urged caution, warning that pushing the
isolated and impoverished regime too far could jeopardize
efforts to restart disarmament negotiations after Pyongyang said
it would return to the table.
In the statement, the leaders warn that the consequences of the
failure of the WTO's so-called Doha round of trade negotiations
"would be too grave for our economies and for the global
multilateral trading system."
"We should, therefore, spare no efforts to break the current
deadlocks and achieve an ambitious and overall balanced outcome
of the round."
The statement says that while a US-led proposal for a huge free
trade area stretching across the Pacific presented "practical
difficulties" to negotiate, "it would nonetheless be timely for
APEC to seriously consider" more effective ways of liberalizing
trade and investment in the region.
Leaders "instructed officials to undertake further studies,"
including the long-term prospect of a Free Trade Area of the
Asia Pacific, and report back for next year's summit in
Australia.
On security, the statement condemns terrorism but only notes the
progress made in trying to eliminate the dangers posed by the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and "to confront
other direct threats to the security of our region."
"We acknowledged the need to take appropriate individual and
joint actions consistent with each economy's circumstances to
further those commitments," it goes on, including cracking down
on so-called terror financing.
Other sections of the statement promise increased cooperation in
tackling HIV/AIDS and pandemics such as avian flu and
counter-terrorism, and in drafting contingency plans for
economies to recover after natural disaster.
Corruption is identified as "one of the greatest obstacles to
economic and social development" and the leaders will vow to
step up work on extradition of suspects, asset tracing and
recovery, and mutual legal assistance.
Copyright 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
*****************************************************************
11 Daily Yomiuri: Kyuma: N-equipped warships barred from Japan's waters
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Defense Agency Director General Fumio Kyuma said Sunday that
Japan would not allow foreign warships equipped with nuclear
weapons to cruise in Japan's waters.
Kyuma made the remark on a Fuji TV program, saying foreign
warships would not be allowed to bring in nuclear weapons into
Japan's waters--the 12-nautical mile area around the nation.
Kyuma backpedaled on his recent remark that a ship that skirted
Japanese waters would not be considered as bringing in nuclear
weapons, a comment some construed as permission for U.S.
nuclear-equipped submarines and warships to pass through
national waters.
Kyuma said his recent remark was meant to be vague, because such
vagueness could serve as deterrent if other countries did not
know the whereabouts of U.S. submarines and the type of weapons
they carried, indicating he believed giving more freedom to U.S.
submarines and warships to cruise around Japan might serve to
deter would-be agressors.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently said the government would
decide whether it should intercept long-distance missiles
possibly targeting the United States as a case study for the
exercise of collective self-defense.
However, Kyuma said shooting down missiles clearly targeting the
United States would be difficult without amending the
Constitution. He added that the nation's planned missile defense
system might not be capable of intercepting such missiles. (Nov.
20, 2006)
The Yomiuri Shimbun.
*****************************************************************
12 AFP: US expects APEC statement on North Korea
Sat Nov 18, 5:06 AM ET
HANOI (AFP) - The White House has said that it expected leaders
of 21 Asia-Pacific countries meeting here to issue a statement
calling on North Korea" /> North Koreato renounce nuclear weapons
and return to disarmament talks.
"There is a statement, I think it's pretty well agreed. There
are a couple, sort of, issues remaining, dealing mostly with the
form, not the substance of that statement," said US national
security adviser Stephen Hadley" /> Stephen HadleySaturday.
"I think we're pleased with that statement, and I think it will
be a good contribution to the diplomacy," Hadley told reporters
at a briefing on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation ( APEC" /> APEC) summit.
Another White House official, who requested anonymity, said it
would be a written statement but that it was unclear whether the
statement would be separate from the summit's final communique.
But the official said the statement would condemn North Korea's
October 9 nuclear test, urge it to comply with international
demands to abandon its atomic weapons programs and come back to
six-party disarmament talks.
"It will reiterate APEC leaders' concern over the missile
launches and then the nuclear test and urge the North Koreans to
comply with (UN Security Council Resolution) 1718 and to get
back to the six-party talks," the official said.
Those negotiations -- grouping China, Japan, the two Koreas,
Russia and the United States -- have been in limbo for a year
after Pyongyang walked out in protest at US financial sanctions
against its overseas bank accounts.
Pyongyang stunned the world with its test of a nuclear weapon
last month, prompting the UN Security Council to issue
Resolution 1718 imposing a raft of financial and trade
sanctions.
The North agreed late last month in Beijing to return to the
negotiating table, but a date has not yet been set. Leaders and
diplomats from the five nations involved have held a flurry of
meetings here to try to schedule talks.
The anonymous US official said the statement was expected to be
similar to an October 30 statement from Southeast Asian leaders
and China, urging North Korea to abide by its pledge last year
to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
Thai foreign ministry spokesman Kitti Vasinonh said the
statement would be separate from the leaders' wide-ranging
end-of-summit communique but that differences remained on the
format.
"The reasons for having a separate statement is for members of
APEC to give their common concerns on the Korean peninsula," he
said.
"There are still different views on how to proceed even though
there is consensus on common concerns from all APEC economies on
the situation in the Korean peninsula," the spokesman said.
"The question is, how to move on the so-called joint statement,
whether it is a written statement or a verbal statement, and the
language," he said.
Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
13 Guardian Unlimited: Iran's Leader Seeks Ties With N. Korea
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Sunday November 19, 2006 8:46 AM
AP Photo XHS109
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has demanded
more ties with North Korea and urged for nuclear disarmament in
Korean peninsula, the official Islamic Republic News Agency
reported on Sunday.
``Regarding capabilities and interests of both countries,
economic relations between Tehran and Pyongyang should be
expanded,'' the agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a
meeting with North Korean parliament Speaker Choe Thae Bok. The
two met on Saturday.
Ahmadinejad also said Iran desires nuclear disarmament in the
world, including on the Korean peninsula, IRNA said.
The North Korean official was in Tehran for a gathering of the
Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace.
``Some powers are pursuing their arrogant interests though
creating conflict and tension among nations,'' Ahmadinejad said.
``Progress in the world needs peace, brotherhood, dialogue and
tranquility.''
In the meeting, Choe said that his country would strongly try to
promote mutual ties and cooperation between the two countries,
IRNA reported.
Both countries are locked in diplomatic standoffs with the West
over their nuclear programs. The United Nations imposed
sanctions on North Korea after it tested a nuclear device last
month.
The U.S. and Europe are pressing for tough sanctions on Iran for
its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment. The U.S. believes
the enrichment is part of a secret drive to develop weapons, but
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
Iran has shrugged off threats of sanctions, insisting that the
West eventually will have to agree to negotiate with it over its
contentious nuclear program. Russia, which has close trade
relations with Iran, has opposed tough sanctions and has called
for negotiations instead of punishment.
President Bush declared Iran and North Korea - along with Saddam
Hussein's Iraq - as members of an ``axis of evil'' in his 2002
State of the Union address.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
14 Guardian Unlimited: Russia Issues Warning on Iran, N. Korea
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Sunday November 19, 2006 11:31 AM
AP Photo VNMD128
By ALEX NICHOLSON
Associated Press Writer
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - The world must be firm but also very
cautious when dealing with the North Korean and Iranian nuclear
programs, Russia's foreign minister said Saturday during an
Asian-Pacific summit in Vietnam.
It was Russia's latest warning that harsh actions against Iran
or North Korea could undermine efforts to resolve the disputes
over their nuclear programs.
``The international community is obligated to approach the
resolution of the Korean peninsula issue and the issue of the
Iranian nuclear program extremely cautiously - firmly but
cautiously,'' Sergey Lavrov said on the sidelines of the summit.
``If we force this situation into a corner then the threats of
(nuclear) proliferation will significantly increase.''
Russia has opposed a European-drafted U.N. Security Council
resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran for its refusal
to rein in its nuclear program. While China and Russia recently
agreed in principle on sanctions, both have pushed for dialogue
instead of U.N. punishment. Both countries have major commercial
ties with Iran.
Lavrov also said Russia and China agreed to work together to
promote a swift resumption of six-nation talks on North Korea's
nuclear program. The talks involve the two Koreas, Russia,
China, Japan and the U.S.
``We agreed to act firmly in respect of North Korea ... and at
same time in a way that would allow the six-party talks to be
continued,'' Lavrov said.
A draft statement by the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum expresses ``strong concern'' about the North's
Oct. 9 nuclear test and its missile launches in July, saying
they pose ``a clear threat'' to the goal of a nuclear-free
Korean peninsula.
It urges ``concrete steps'' by North Korea in living up to
commitments to end its nuclear program in exchange for aid and
security guarantees. It also calls for the quick resumption of
the six-party talks, which the North last month agreed to rejoin
after a yearlong boycott.
But how the leaders would express those concerns underscored the
sensitivities of interfering in another nation's affairs. It was
likely the statement would be issued orally, and not as part of
the declaration released at the end of the summit or even as a
separate written document.
Lavrov said the statement would not go beyond - and would in
fact repeat - the recent U.N. Security Council resolution on
North Korea.
Pyongyang, meanwhile, condemned South Korea for backing a
separate U.N. draft resolution criticizing the communist
regime's human rights abuses.
``South Korean authorities will be held accountable for all
consequences to be caused by the crime of creating another
obstacle in inter-Korean relations,'' a spokesman for the
North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland said in a statement carried by the official Korean
Central News Agency.
A key U.N. committee approved the resolution Friday, criticizing
North Korea's public executions, use of torture, and other human
rights violations.
The resolution now goes to a plenary meeting of the 192-nation
U.N. General Assembly for final approval. Last year, the full
assembly approved a similar resolution.
South Korea, which previously abstained on similar votes at
various U.N. bodies, voted in favor of Friday's resolution,
saying there was an even greater need for cooperation on human
rights between North Korea and the international community
following Pyongyang's nuclear test.
North Korea denies violating human rights, but it has long been
accused of imposing the death penalty for political reasons,
holding thousands in prison camps, torturing people who try to
cross the border, and severely restricting freedom of expression
and religion.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
15 Korea Times: UN Panel Passes Resolution on NK Human Rights Abuses
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation
A panel of the United Nations General Assembly passed a
resolution Friday criticizing North Korea's human rights abuses,
with South Korea voting in favor for the first time.
The non-binding resolution passed the assembly's third
committee 91 to 21 with 60 abstentions.
Seoul voted to support the resolution as did the United States,
Japan and the European Union. However, China and Russia voted
against the resolution.
This is the first time that South Korea cast a yes vote on a
document that deals with human rights issues in North Korea.
Seoul had abstained in four previous U.N. votes on the rights
issue. But it has come under mounting pressure to take a tougher
stance since Pyongyang conducted missile tests in July and its
first-ever nuclear bomb test last month.
The decision came against the backdrop of former South Korean
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon's election as the next U.N.
secretary-general and Seoul's efforts to assume an international
role matching its economic status.
In a statement before the vote, Amb. Kim Chang-guk, North
Korea's deputy envoy to the U.N., called the resolution
"arrogant" and a "political plot" that cannot be justified.
"The delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
resolutely opposes and rejects the anti-DPRK resolution," he
said, referring to his government by its official name.
"Who can say it is fair?" Kim said, accusing the United States
of fabricating documents "for sinister political purposes."
"Human rights means sovereignty of states," he said.
South Korea's ambassador to the U.N., Choi Young-jin, said his
government voted in favor to promote human rights dialogue
between the international community and North Korea, "for which
there is even greater need following Pyongyang's nuclear test
recently."
"The Republic of Korea (South Korea) shares the concerns of the
international community regarding the human rights situation in
DPRK," he said.
"At the same time, we place priority on taking active and
practical steps to achieve real improvement in human rights
there."
China, a staunch North Korean ally, said it regrets the passage
of the document and urged the U.N. committee not to become a
"place to exchange accusations" but a venue to promote dialogue.
The resolution heads next month to a full vote at the U.N.
General Assembly, but the passage there is virtually guaranteed
since all U.N. member states are also represented on the
committee, which addresses social, cultural and humanitarian
issues.
Sponsored by Finland on behalf of the European Union, the
resolution decries the "precarious humanitarian situation" in
North Korea, marked by torture and inhumane and degrading
treatment of citizens. It also holds the North Korean
authorities accountable for mismanagement leading to
malnutrition in its people, especially infants.
The resolution says the United Nations will continue to examine
the situation in the North and asks the U.N. secretary-general
to submit a comprehensive report on the situation and the
special rapporteur to compile findings and recommendations.
It says that abuses include "torture, public executions,
extrajudicial and arbitrary detention, the absence of due
process and the rule of law, the imposition of the death penalty
for political reasons, the existence of a large number of prison
camps and the extensive use of forced labor."
It highlights "all-pervasive and severe restrictions on
freedoms of thought, conscience, religion and expression" and
"continuing violation of the human rights and fundamental
freedoms of women."
11-18-2006 11:50
*****************************************************************
16 Korea Times: Roh, Bush Agree Not to Tolerate NK Nuke Program
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W.
Bush have reaffirmed their previous stance not to tolerate North
Korea's nuclear weapons program, a presidential spokesman said.
The reaffirmation came during a summit held Saturday in Hanoi,
Vietnam, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit.
"Roh and Bush held their seventh summit and agreed that a North
Korean status as a nuclear state is intolerable," Roh
spokesman Yoon Tae-young said.
"They stressed peaceful and diplomatic means in the settlement
of the North Korean nuclear problem and shared the understanding
that it is important to produce a practical outcome from the
upcoming round of the six-party talks."
Roh and Bush were to hold a tripartite summit with Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later in the day to discuss how to
compel North Korea to follow the Sept. 19, 2005,
denuclearization agreement, according to Roh's aides.
"At the three-way talks, Roh, Bush and Abe will intensively
discuss ways to lead North Korea to abide by its obligations
stated in the Sept. 19 agreement," Song Min-soon, South Korea's
foreign minister nominee and Roh's current chief security policy
secretary, told reporters.
"The resumption of the six-way denuclearization talks is
important. But more important is the implementation of the Sept.
19 agreement. That's the focus of the talks."
On Sept. 19, last year, North Korea signed a widely heralded
denuclearization agreement and pledged to "abandon all nuclear
weapons and existing nuclear programs." In return, the other
members of the six-party talks agreed to respect the North's
sovereignty and offer security guarantees and economic benefits.
North Korea, which successfully tested a nuclear device on Oct.
9, has recently agreed to return to the six-party talks, which
will likely restart in early December.
On arriving in this Vietnamese capital Friday, Bush urged full
implementation of the United Nations sanctions imposed on North
Korea on Oct. 14 to bar its trade of nuclear materials and
weapons of mass destruction.
"We have a chance to solve the North Korean issue peacefully
and diplomatically. It is important for the world to see that
the U.N. Security Council resolutions are implemented," Bush
told reporters. "It (the APEC summit) is also a chance to set
the conditions right so that the six-party talks will succeed."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also said the United
States is not willing to live with a nuclear North Korea. "No
one is prepared to recognize North Korea as a nuclear power.
Everybody is going to work both diplomatically and through
sanctions to reverse the North Korean program," she told
reporters here.
11-18-2006 12:20
*****************************************************************
17 Korea Times: US Pledges to Declare End of Korean War
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
Washington plans to declare an end to the Korean War, if
Pyongyang fully dismantles its nuclear programs, the U.S.
presidential secretary Tony Snow said in Hanoi, Vietnam, on
Saturday.
``If the North Koreans dismantle their nuclear program and
renounce any further nuclear ambitions, we are willing to do a
whole series of things, including issuing a declaration of the
end of the Korean War,'' he said.
The three-year war ended with an armistice. The six-party
agreement reached in September last year promised to negotiate a
permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula at an appropriate
separate forum.
im@koreatimes.co.kr11-19-2006 20:23
*****************************************************************
18 Korea Times: Two Lame Ducks at APEC
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Opinion
By Tong Kim
George W. Bush and Roh Moo-hyun had another bilateral meeting
on the side line of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
summit over the weekend in Hanoi, during which Roh told Bush
that South Korea would not fully back the Proliferation Security
Initiative, whose primary target is North Korea. The leaders
tried to put the best face on their disagreement, as they always
do for understandable reasons.
The two presidents have had something in common, a persistent
personality factor that seems to explain at least partly the
recalcitrance of their respective policies on North Korea,
though in opposite directions. Now they have one more thing in
common, their weakened presidencies.
In November 2004, President Bush went to the APEC leaders
meeting in Santiago with enhanced confidence in his leadership
role on the world stage. Only a couple of weeks earlier Bush had
been reelected for four more years with a reassuring margin over
his Democratic opponent John Kerry, with increased Republican
majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Last week Bush went to the 2006 APEC after suffering the biggest
political defeat in his life, losing his control over both the
Senate and the House of Representatives from the midterm
elections. His defeat is widely seen by foreign leaders as a
repudiation of his foreign policy on Iraq and North Korea. He
had to dismiss his defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, one of
his most hawkish and most influential advisers.
In 2004, President Roh went to the APEC meeting with restored
confidence in his international role after the triumphant
reinstatement of his presidency from an impeachment attempt,
which was followed by a sweeping victory in the general
elections that handed his party a clear majority in the national
legislature.
Last week Roh went to Hanoi, after muddling through the charges
of policy failures and suffering from a series of electoral
defeats _ including the local and special national elections.
Now he is a president who does not even have the support of his
own party on several domestic and foreign policy issues. Leaders
of his party are asking him to stay out of a possible political
realignment that is being sought as a desperate attempt to
retain power after next years presidential election.
APEC is a unique non-binding voluntary organization that has no
treaty obligations required of its participating members. Now it
has 21 ``member economies including Taiwan. Its goal is to
promote economic cooperation _ including open trade, investment
and economic reform. Commitments are carried out on a voluntary
basis.
While the APEC organizations achievements have not been very
visible since its inception in 1989, it has become an annual
pageantry for the heads of state from Asia Pacific countries
including the United States and Russia to talk and dine
together. A theatrical part of the ritual has been a big photo
op for the leaders who all dress in the traditional local
costumes of the host country.
The idea of a regional free trade zone is a long-term vision in
view of the complexity and diversity of the ``member
economies. Despite the questionable efficacy of the
organization, the leaders seem to enjoy meeting so many leaders
from other countries all in one place. North Korea is the only
country in the region that is not invited.
The leaders of the participating countries normally issue a
joint declaratory statement for cooperation on such security
issues as the North Korean nuclear program and terrorism, in
addition to economic and environmental issues.
For the participating U.S. and South Korean presidents, their
bilateral meetings on the side lines are important. They have
also always met with their counterparts from China, Japan,
Russia and one or two more countries. North Korea has been an
important agenda item in recent years.
When a president, Korean or American, does not have the support
of his own people, he is bound to lose the respect of foreign
leaders and he might even be taken less seriously by his
adversaries in the international arena.
Nevertheless, President Bush and President Roh can still carry
out a successful North Korean policy while in office if they
work together to transform their thinking into a more pragmatic
approach, and if they exercise their political leadership by
working with their legislatures at home..
In Seoul, Roh is under pressure from both sides of the aisle at
the National Assembly that he should not do business as usual
with North Korea in the wake of the nuclear test. Roh now has a
new line-up of cabinet ministers in charge of security,
diplomacy and North Korean policy, as the ideological mood of
the public is tilting more to the right.
Against this backdrop, the Korean government has decided to
support a new U.N. resolution on human rights in North Korea.
The Seoul government is still wrestling with the issue of
balancing its interest in maintaining engagement and fulfilling
its obligations of carrying out international sanctions on the
North.
In Washington, Bush faces a Democratic Congress that will be
more assertive on voicing its views on his foreign policy. The
thrust of congressional pressure will of course be focused on
Iraq. The next priority may well be North Korea rather than Iran
given the urgency of the matter.
While Congress has no authority to dictate the
administrations policy, it can be more vigilant in its
oversight role on what the administration is doing about the
North Korean nuclear weapons and programs. It is likely that the
Democrats in Congress will push for more substantive contacts
with North Korea, as they called for them even before the
midterm elections.
However, no major shift in policy is expected of the Bush
administration inasmuch as it is skeptical of North Koreas
intentions. Secretary of State Rice is already warning that the
North should be ready to deal with steps to abandon its weapons
and programs when it returns to the six-party talks: No more
talks just for talks.
In my view, we are back in the same box. Sanctions alone will
not resolve the nuclear issues, unless they are designed and
implemented to bring down the North Korean regime. By the same
token, talks will not resolve the issue unless the parties are
seriously committed to a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. A lack
of mutual trust between the United States and North Korea is
still the dominant source of the problem.
Perhaps, the ``dear leader of the North, instead of making
more trouble, can come forward with a demonstrable move beyond
words to prove his seriousness towards the talks. When his team
returns to the six-party talks, he can perhaps suspend the
construction of a 50-megawat graphite reactor now under way with
suspected technical trouble. Whats your take?
Tong Kim is former senior interpreter at the U.S. State
Department and now a research professor at Korea University and
a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies (SAIS).
*****************************************************************
19 UPI: U.S., APEC to urge N. Korea on weapons
United Press International - NewsTrack -
11/18/2006 7:40:00 AM -0500
HANOI, Vietnam, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President Bush and
Asia-Pacific leaders will urge North Korea to renounce nuclear
weapons, a White House official said in Vietnam Saturday.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members, meeting with Bush
in Hanoi, will also call for North Korea to return to the
six-party disarmament talks, National Security Adviser Stephen
Hadley told a news conference.
A statement to be issued Sunday will reiterate the group's
concern about Pyongyang's missile launches this summer and its
nuclear test in October, Hadley said.
It will urge North Korea to comply with a U.N. Security Council
resolution imposing sanctions in the wake of the nuclear test.
And it will urge North Korea to return to long-stalled six-party
nuclear disarmament talks.
North Korea has said it would return to the table, but has not
said when.
On the sidelines, Bush discussed the nuclear issue with Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe said Tokyo and Washington agreed
a "coordinated approach" is needed on the issue.
Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
20 Antiwar.com: Is the Next Congress For Sale? -
by Gordon Prather
November 18, 2006
You may recall that shortly after taking office as Prime
Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert came to our nations capital to
pay tribute to his presumptive protector, President George Bush,
and to addressa joint session of what some cynics have labeled
"The Best Congress Money Can Buy."
On that occasion, Olmert told Congress how grateful Israel is
that America "believes in us."
Why, only the day before, that BCMCB had hurriedly passed the
Palestinian
Anti-terrorism Act, declaring "it shall be U.S.
policy that no U.S. government officer or employee shall
negotiate or have substantive contacts with members or official
representatives of Hamas" the political party that had just
won 76of the 132 seats in the Palestinian "parliament" until
it:
+
recognizes Israel's right to exist;
+
renounces the use of terrorism;
+
dismantles the infrastructure necessary to carry out terrorist
acts, including disarming militias and elimination of all terror
instruments; and
+
recognizes and accepts all previous Israel-PLO agreements and
understandings.
But Hamas wouldnt comply with the so-called Palestinian
Anti-Terrorism Act even if it could. And certainly not while
undergoing the weekly almost daily acts of terrorism visited
upon the Palestinians in Gaza by the Israelis before, during and
after its most recent war of aggression against Lebanon.
Of course, Israel claimed it was waging a "defensive" war,
against Hezbollah, which Israel claims is a terrorist
organization, supplied and supported by Iran. As Olmert told
that BCMCB last May,
"Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terror, and a notorious
violator of fundamental human rights, stands on the verge of
acquiring nuclear weapons. With these weapons, the security of
the entire world is put in jeopardy.
We deeply appreciate America's leadership on this issue and the
strong bipartisan conviction that a nuclear-armed Iran is an
intolerable threat to the peace and security of the world. It
cannot be permitted to materialize.
This Congress has proven its conviction by initiating the Iran
Freedom Support Act."
The stated purpose of the Iran
Freedom Support Actis "to
hold the current regime in Iran accountable for its threatening
behavior."
Threatening to whom?
Well, according to that BCMCB, to the United States and Israel.
"[E]fforts to bring a halt to the nuclear weapons program of
Iran, including steps to end the supply of nuclear components or
fuel to Iran, should be intensified, with particular attention
focused on the cooperation regarding such program
(A) between the Government of Iran and the Government of the
Russian Federation; and
(B) between the Government of Iran and individuals from China,
Malaysia, and Pakistan, including the network of Dr. Abdul
Qadeer Khan."
Now it ought to be easy to bring a halt to the Iranian nuclear
weapons program, since it doesnt now exist and never has.
Thats a no-brainer.
But bringing to a halt cooperative activities sanctioned by
the Treaty
of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weaponsand the
Statuteof the International Atomic Energy Agency between Iran
and Russia and China would be a violation by the United States
of the NPT and of the IAEA Statute.
Consequently, Olmert must have congratulated himself on "Mission
Accomplished" a few months later when Bush had his stooge
Bonkers Bolton veto the Security Council resolution offered by
Qatar calling for an immediate cease-fire in Israel's war of
aggression against Lebanon, all the while strong-arming
Resolution
1696though the Council condemning Iran for its
IAEA safeguarded nuclear programs, with only Qatar voting
against it.
Bolton falsely claimed that UNSCR 1696 had passed because
"Iran has consistently and brazenly defied the international
community by continuing its pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the
continued intransigence and defiance of the Iranian leadership
demands a strong response from this Council."
And that UNSCR 1696
"also calls upon member states to do what they can to prevent
the transfer of resources to Iran's nuclear and missile
programs, and Iran should understand that the United States and
others will ensure that the financial transactions associated
with its proliferant activities will be impeded as well."
In other words, Bush, Bolton, Olmert and perhaps that BCMCB
expected everyone to immediately impose illegal economic
sanctions on Iran and to join Bushs posse of international
pirates (aka Proliferation
Security Initiative).
Well, almost no one did.
As Iran's U.N. representative, Javad Zarif, told the Security
Council,
"Iran's peaceful nuclear program poses no threat to
international peace and security, and therefore dealing with
this issue in the Security Council is unwarranted and void of
any legal basis or practical utility."
Then comes North Korea no longer a NPT-signatory, thanks
to Bush to detonate a plutonium-based nuclear explosive device.
Then becomes the situation in Iraq so bad that everyone is
afraid to go see how bad it really is.
Then comes the electoral Tsunami of November 7th.
Before all the votes had been counted, Olmert rushed
to
Washingtonto meet with the lame-duck Commander-in-Chief of the
Global War on Terror and with lame-duck leaders of that BCMCB
about "the Iran nuclear threat" and "to review several pressing
issues following Israel's defensive war this past summer against
Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorism, as well as the need to
stabilize the situation with Palestine."
Well, Bonkers Bolton our lame-duck Ambassador to the UN did
subsequently veto a Security Council resolution urging an
immediate withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from Gaza and
condemning an Israeli attack that killed 19 Palestinian
civilians.
But, Olmert is probably not congratulating himself, just yet.
At a joint press conference with Bush, Olmert said Israel and
other countries in the area "should be thankful" to the United
States and Bush. He said the Iraq war "had a dramatic, positive
effect on security and stability in the Middle East", as well as
having strategic importance "from Israel's perspective" and that
of moderate Arab states.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretzreported that Olmerts
remarks had created a "furor" among Democrat members of the next
Congress. Maybe they wont be so easily bought.
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.
Copyright 2006 Antiwar.com
*****************************************************************
21 [NYTr] India Tests Mid-Range Nuke Missile
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 13:56:22 -0600 (CST)
X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
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X-Spam-Class: HAM
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
[And where is the outcry about THIS missile test... by a nation that is
not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? No outcry.
Instead the US Senate is going to approve further nuclear cooperation
by the US with India. And Pakistan, Bush's ally in his "war on terror,"
can just like it or lump it, or test their own missiles, which they have
just done. -NY Transfer]
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com
India Tested Mid-Range N-Missile
New Delhi, Nov 19 (Prensa Latina) India Defense Ministry confirmed the test
of a Prithvi medium-range earth-to-earth nuclear missile with a range of up
to 186 miles.
The test was held at a station at Chandipur district, at the seafront
eastern state of Orissa, heading to the Bengal Bay, one day after some
2,750 locals were evacuated over security concerns.
The Prithvi missiles are the most sophisticated missiles India produces and
may be used by mobile or naval units both on Earth or at sea.
India's arsenal includes missiles able to carry nuclear heads, among them
short-range earth-air Akash; medium-range earth-to-earth Agni; antitank Nag
missile and supersonic Brahmos naval missile.
The Prithvi missile test trails similar Pakistani action three days ago
with a Ghauri missile that is also able to carry nuclear heads.
hr emw dor
PL-14
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22 CITIZEN-TIMES.com: China's challenges
published November 19, 2006 12:15
As China continues to emerge as a dominant power in the world
economy and in world politics, greater understanding of Chinese
people and culture is important for Americans. Following is an
edited interview with China specialist G. Eugene Martin, a
retired Foreign Service officer and former deputy chief of
mission in Beijing. Martin talked with the Citizen-Times about
the challenges facing China, about Chinese/American relations
and a number of other issues related to China in October when he
was in Asheville to speak at a forum on China co-sponsored by
the World Affairs Council and the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Martin is currently Executive Director, Philippines Facilitation
Project, Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, United
State Institute for Peace. Web Extras: Multimedia & Related
Content[audio] Interview with Gene Martin, executive director
of Philippines Facilitation Project, United States Institute for
Peace, conducted by Editorial Page Editor Joy Franklin on Oct.
10, 2006 (40,437 KB)
AC-T: If you were asked what forms the foundation of the
American value system, you would probably answer the
Christian-Judaic ethic, the countrys founding documents, the
Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the capitalist economic
system. What forms the foundation of the value system of most
Chinese people?
Martin: I think the Chinese value system is based upon
traditional Confucian values which, even though since the
Communists took over in 1949 Confucianism has been on the
outs, the value system remains the bedrock of Chinese
civilization and culture. It still has an influence on Chinese
behavior. Confucianism is not a religion. It's really a social
roadmap, or guideline, for how to organize society. Confucius is
quoted as saying, How can one know about the afterlife, if you
don't know how to organize the present life? Confucianism is
not otherworldly, it is not spiritual in a sense. It focuses
primarily on how to order society.
Now, this has all been changed since the Communist Party took
over in 1949. But it's very illuminating when you go back, you
see a revival of the traditional beliefs and traditional system.
I think a lot of the social structuring of Confucius still
organizes society. The relationships between various levels of
society have been changed, because now everybody is technically
more or less egalitarian. Since 1978, when China initiated the
economic reforms, the people have been able to move toward
capitalism and entrepreneurship. While I think society is in a
state of transition, the bedrock cultural foundation still
depends on the traditional values of China, which are based on
Confucius philosophy.
AC-T: In our own changing culture the values get confused and
the values sometimes arent getting passed on in some cases in
the way they once were in the past. Is that happening in China?
When you look at young people and theyre caught up in the all
the stuff that comes with our more Western way of life and
youve got the traditionalists. Is there a disconnect there?
Martin: There is. There is a disconnect and it's not unusual of
any developing country or any county going through significant
change. We see it in this country; we see it in Europe,
certainly. In China, there is a lot of concern, particularly by
older generations who are more traditional, who find that the
economic reforms have changed the character of society. China is
now going through a difficult period because there is tremendous
inequality. The wealth distribution is a serious problem. And
the government really doesn't know how to handle this. China
reportedly became the most unequally distributed wealth country
in the world, replacing Zimbabwe of all places. The problem is
that people who have money are becoming wealthier, and becoming
much more modern, or western. The majority of the people in
China still live in rural areas, are poor, and they do not have
the wealth of the urban, eastern areas, which most westerners
who visit China see. So you end up with a great inequality of
wealth.
People feel there is not the same traditional respect for
elders. There isnt the same identification with the community
as before, people tend to be much more individualistic. Many
Chinese feel that this is a loss to their culture and society.
Previously, people told me nobody locked their doors. Many
didnt even close their doors because they knew everybody in
their neighborhood and community. Now, with two, three or six
locks and chains on your door, people are afraid of thieves. Of
course theres a downside on both sides. Previously nobody had
anything to steal, so there was no need to lock the door; now
that they have material goods, they lock the door because there
is social inequality and people steal things from people who
have more then they do. So it's hard to evaluate which is
better. In many ways, I think it's perhaps better now, despite
the crime rates, despite the fear of being robbed because people
feel that their life is getting better. And even those who dont
have much confidence that life is getting better for themselves,
they believe the future will be better for their children. I
think this is very important.
AC-T: In the education system, in the more affluent areas vs.
the more rural areas, is there some sort of equality of
education or is the education for some children much better than
for other children?
Martin: There is a tremendous inequality here as well. Again,
money talks. Previously it was all pretty much one standard, not
very good I might say. Traditional education is essentially rote
learning. You memorize it. Those who learn to read and write
have to memorize the Chinese characters. It's the same system
they use for information as well. That has changed tremendously
in the sense that those in urban areas who have money now can
send their kids to private school. They can start English
lessons at kindergarten. Parenthetically, a friend of mine is
saying that China' is about to become the largest
English-speaking nation in the world because everybody,
particularly in the urban areas, seems to be studying English.
In fact, they expect to have over 300 million people who have
some familiarity with English. I wouldn't say they are fluent
speakers, but they have some familiarity. The problem in rural
areas is that the central government no longer funds elementary
education; the local governments have to fund them. In the rural
areas, most of the governments are quite poor, and many are
corrupt. So they end up with a very hardscrabble education in
the poor areas. Even though education is technically free (and
mandatory) through the ninth grade, many people in rural areas
cannot afford the ancillary costs books and uniforms,
transportation, school fees. So many children drop out of
school. Education in the rest of the country is also uneven.
Industrial cities, particularly in the Northeast where many
firms are inefficient and often bankrupt state owned enterprises
(SOEs), the quality of education is poor. The growing middle
class has better schools but many others are being left behind.
AC-T: India is apparently putting a huge focus on education in
some areas and pushing for technology, high technology
engineers, that kind of thing. Is China doing the same sort of
thing? Is there an effort to push forward some number of
students who become their engineers and do they send them to
foreign universities or are they keeping them in the country?
Martin: All of the above. Let me step back a step and say that
Chinese culture is an education culture. Again, going back to
our earlier conversation, under Confucianism, one got ahead
through education. The Chinese developed the first civil service
exam over 2000 years ago. It was the foundation upon which the
political system was founded. One became an official through the
national examination system. The last person to pass the
examination, last held in 1910, died in the mid-1970s. That
2,500-year tradition shows the respect given to education. The
system remains very much of an education-oriented society. There
are two education-oriented societies the Chinese and the Jewish
tradition. When you look at children from Confucian-based
societies Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, when they
come to the United States, they often perform very well in our
schools. They become the valedictorians; they become the ones
who do very well academically and professionally, mainly because
of the emphasis on education. This is something that we can
learn from the Asian societies to improve our own educational
system. But to answer your question, yes, China is trying to
increase the number of universities it has. There are still far
too few for all those who want to go to university, because
university education is now seen as a means for advancement and
social mobility.
AC-T: China is the most populous nation in the world and has
been trying for decades to control its population by limiting
the number of children per household. Can you reflect on how
that has affected the Chinese culture and whether it has been
good or bad overall for the country. And was it essential?
Martin: I think it was essential. It was not a matter of choice.
The problem is the way they went about it. They used draconian
methods of forcing the people to have abortions, to have
sterilization. It was really very messy, a tragedy in terms of
human rights. I think, however, that controls were needed
because the population was growing so fast there was no way the
government could have continued to provide food, housing,
education or employment for an unlimited number of people. They
now have 1.3 billion people. No previous system of government in
the history of the world has tried to manage or govern that
number of people at one time. Indias population is catching up
quickly. They will probably surpass China's population within 20
or 30 years. But the Chinese now are finding themselves with a
worrisome dilemma an aging population with a diminishing number
of young people working to support them. When you have one-child
families, one child for two parents, four grandparents, that's a
big burden on the child to support. And the social security
system in China has not been developed to the point where people
have alternate means of providing for themselves. So the
tradition of falling back on your children for support is still
the primary way of supporting people in their old age.
I think the problem is to find a way to balance the population.
You asked whether the one-child family plan is a good or a bad
system. I think one of the most deleterious sides of the policy,
is that it has increased the number of infanticides,
particularly of female fetuses, because of a traditional view
that male children are preferable. As a result, when they have a
female baby, parents often either abandon her to an orphanage or
leave her at the side of the road because they want to have a
male heir. Some say if families had been able to have two
children, there would have been less of a problem. Now, when two
people from single-child families marry, they are allowed to
have two children.
The government is finding, however, that as in Korea and Japan,
the urbanized educated, middle class dont want to have two
children. Many of them don't want any children. So the
government faces a long-term dilemma,
AC-T: And has there been a dilemma of too many boys for the
number of girls when it comes to marriage?
Martin: The gender imbalance is becoming a serious issue. One
figure I saw was 120 to 100 one hundred and twenty males for a
hundred females. That is going to be a real problem when these
children grow up to marrying age. Most of the children that are
adopted from China I'd say 99.9 percent are female.
Occasionally, one can adopt a male, but they would have to be
physically handicapped. The imbalance can lead to internal
criminal organizations kidnapping women to force them into
marriage in rural areas where men cannot find women. When I was
in Guangzhou in southern China, our consulate issued all of the
visas for people immigrating to the United States. We had what I
call "baby central." All the adoptive parents brought their new
children, their new daughters, to our consulate in Guangzhou to
get the visa to the States. And it was exciting to see these
parents, most of whom had no children, come in with a new bundle
of joy. The new father didnt know what to do but was loaded
down with two or three diaper bags, a stroller, etc. When I was
in Beijing, I talked to an official in the Civil Affairs
Ministry in charge of the adoption process. The Chinese stopped
all adoptions for six months at one point to regularize the
procedures, to make sure that was no fraud and corruption
involved in the system. I think they did a pretty good job.
Concerns periodically still pop up about stealing, or buying and
selling children, and problems with the orphanages, but
generally, the government has regularized it pretty well. When I
met with the official, he laughed and said I am sending 4,000
spies to the U.S. every year. I said, "No, Mr. Minister, you're
sending 4,000 ambassadors, because I see the young children
becoming a cultural bridge between the U.S. and China." Many of
them will want to go back to China and find their roots. I think
these girls will be a big factor in building future
understanding between the U.S. and China. I think that will be
essential in this century. But I dont think they will help
rectify the gender imbalance, which will have to be met in other
ways.
AC-T: I want to change the subject to the economy. As an
emerging economic power China is sort of the elephant in the
room that nobody can ignore. Id like to ask several questions
related to that. First, for years, Chinas currency was pegged
to the dollar, which meant the dollar couldnt weaken in
relationship to the renminbi and that drives up our trade
deficit. Its now pegged to a basket of currencies. Can you
reflect on the economic relations between the U.S. and China in
this regard and how thats affecting our relationship with China?
Martin: Currency is one aspect of our economic relationship that
has received a lot of attention recently. I think it's an issue
but not as bad an issue as some people make it out to be. The
Chinese are particularly concerned about floating their currency
because they saw what happened in Southeast Asia in 1997 when
countries that floated their currencies had a crash and a
financial crisis. That had a big impact on Chinese financial
planners. What they do need to do is to relax the exchange rate,
to broaden the spread in which renminbi can move. I think they
are hoping to do that in the future. They are concerned about
speculation, about runs on their currency. Gradually they need
to move ahead. Secretary of the Treasury Paulson has done a good
job encouraging this. He has good contacts and good experience
in China and I think he will work hard during the remainder of
the administrations term to bring about some change in this
regard.
AC-T: This is a comment from a guy named Dick Foster. He was
quoted in Tom Friedmans The World is Flat. He said China and
India and other Asian countries will not be successful in
innovation until they have successful capital markets and they
will not have successful capital markets until they have rule of
law which protects minority interests under conditions of risk.
We in the U.S. are the lucky beneficiaries of centuries of
economic experimentation and we are the experiment that worked.
I think his point is, given that they dont have those centuries
of experimentation, can they move into an innovative,
capitalistic, entrepreneurial economy? I wonder if you can
reflect on that?
Martin: I think they have moved into a capitalistic economy but
have not developed their own products. Youve touched on the
reasons the lack of a rule of law and the lack of security for
intellectual property. This is probably the most serious concern
that we have in our economic relationship with China, the lack
of protection for intellectual property rights. The problem is,
from 1950 until the end of the 1970s, China was isolated by most
of the world. It had restrictions on trade, on buying products
and technologies from abroad. As a result, during that period,
the research and development departments (R) of Chinas state
owned companies resorted to begging, borrowing and stealing
whatever they could from abroad because they had no other ways
of modernizing. One would have thought that they would have
tried to do some innovation and experimentation of their own,
but at that point, they didn't have resources or the
capabilities to do so, so they tried to borrow whatever they
could from abroad or steal it. Subsequently, since economic
reforms were launched in 1978, China has become much more open
to foreign companies investing in China. What they have tried to
do is to get what they call "transfer technology" so that if you
invest in China you have to share some of your trade secrets
with your partner. This is a serious problem because many
American companies find their trade secrets are going out the
back door and are being developed by local companies, which they
dont control. So we have is a situation where without the rule
of law, without protection of intellectual property, Chinese
entrepreneurs are not going to become as innovative as they
could. I think that's coming; more people are saying, "We need
to protect our own IPR and by extension, IPR from abroad. Its a
slow process, but I think theyre beginning to do that.
The other thing I would say is that the communist ideology
during the first 28-29 years of the Peoples Republic, when
Marxist theory was the dominant economic factor in China, the
idea of private property was not accepted. Everything belonged
to the state. So there is no such thing as intellectual
property, you couldnt control your own intellectual property
because it all belonged to the state. So when they opened up to
the outside, they had to adjust. They are still adjusting to the
fact that IPR is not public property and is important to
innovators.
AC-T: And maybe not really a very nice thing to do to try to
make money off of something that
Martin: should be community property. I went to a Chinese soft
drink manufacturer factory once when I was in southern China. In
their boardroom, they had two big display cabinets filled with
all the products, that they made. It's like going to a Coca-Cola
factory and seeing all the brands they produce Coke, Sprite,
Fanta, etc. Pointing to one cabinet, they said, "These are all
of our products." I said, Why do you duplicate your products
over there?" They said, "No, those in the other cabinet are all
counterfeit. Counterfeiters were copying every product they
made. And this was a state-owned company, a Chinese company.
They said it was very difficult to operate because somebody
copied every product they made.
AC-T: And then they sell it for less.
Martin: They sell it for less and often ruin the market. One
Western company heavily invested in China made shampoo. They
found people were taking empty bottles of their shampoo, filling
them with their own concoction, maybe putting about a quarter of
an inch of the real product on top and selling it as the genuine
product. The first time you used it on your hair its fine. The
second time you use it, your hair falls out because who knows
what they put in it. And that became not only a problem for the
person who bought the counterfeit product, but also for the
shampoo company itself because people said, "I don't know if
this is a counterfeit product or not, so I am not going to buy
this brand because one never knows.
AC-T: In Russia, it seems that its hard for new businesses to
develop, for small business, entrepreneurial efforts to happen
because theres not availability of capital, theres such a
heavy regulatory, permitting process that is often corrupt and
you have to pay high fees and thats really been a
discouragement for business there. Is there the same kind of
corruption, the same kind of heavy regulatory arm in China?
Martin: To a degree. Basically permits are given by local
governments rather than the central government. People often
think of China as a communist country, which is centralized,
authoritarian, everything controlled by Beijing. This is not the
case. Economically, particularly and even politically, local
governments, the provinces and municipalities, have a great deal
of latitude, particularly on economic issues. Within certain
limits, they are able to have their own regulations. It varies
considerably from one part of China to another. Many companies,
particularly the south, where economic reform began, have become
quite streamlined in terms of investment opportunities. There is
bureaucracy of course since China is one of the inventors of
bureaucracy. There is corruption, certainly. This can be a
difficult situation. Many American companies who have been there
for some time have been able to operate quite profitably, others
run into difficulty. Again, when I was in Guangzhou, an American
soft drink manufacturer, which I wont name, told me, We're
going to open a joint venture here in Guangzhou and were going
to produce X soft drink. I said, Thats great, whos your
joint venture partner? He said, The Chinese Air Force." I
said, Why would you want a joint venture with them? He
replied, "Because they have a great distribution system. They
can fly products all around the country. Distribution
nationwide was a problem because provinces protected their own
products against similar products from other provinces. I said,
This is crazy, because the Air Force has no authority to do
business with you. And as it turned out, they didn't. It was an
off-the-record, backroom deal, which did not work out in the
end. One had to pick a partner very carefully.
AC-T: I dont have a really good concept of how the Chinese
political system works now. Is there very much empowerment of
the people or is it still pretty top-down, centralized system?
It sounds like theres some distribution of power to the
provinces, but does that go on down to the people? Do they get
to vote?
Martin: No, there are no free elections per se. They have
township level elections, at the lowest level of governmental
structure. I would say there is some progress there in terms of
giving people an actual choice, but for the most part, things
are fairly well controlled. In China, you have what I would call
a parallel structure, government and the Communist Party. It
goes from the top all the way to the bottom. Many if not most
government officials are party members, but when they hold a
government position, they have a partner, or a co-official who
is a party member. That parallel Communist Party structure, and
the security services, are very good at maintaining control. One
example: The U.S. government and businesses have complained
about IPR violations. And the Chinese usual answer is, "Oh, we
have a hard time doing this, with a lot of local governments and
local officials are have invested into the local companies that
make DVDs or CDs and we really can't control it and they don't
enforce the IPR laws and so forth because they have financial
interests. In 2008, Beijing is hosting the Olympics. They have
an Olympic symbol, as all Olympics have, a little mascot or
caricature that symbolizes the 08 games. Nobody counterfeits
that symbol. If they do, they are instantly caught and punished.
Now, how come they can do that for the Olympic symbol, but they
can't do it for other intellectual property issues, whether it's
movies or DVDs, or Microsoft software? It goes to show where
their priorities are.
It's very telling, because it shows they have the means of
control if they want. The security services are quite pervasive.
Less so than before, in the sense that, in terms of economic
issues, people have what I would call more personal space. I
don't say personal freedoms, I don't say personal rights, as
in constitutional rights, but space. During the Cultural
Revolution, during the Mao era, you had no personal life,
because the party, the neighborhood association, your neighbors
knew everything about you. You couldn't talk to your family
because you never quite knew whether your children were going to
report you, or whether your parents were going to report you.
People were really stressed because they were self-contained and
had no one they could talk to. Just think about that - if you
couldn't talk to your spouse, or you couldn't talk to your
children, or parents, it becomes very isolating and you're much
more controllable by the government, by the authority.
Since then, the space has opened up considerably. People now can
say pretty much whatever they want about certain things. You
can't delve into politics and you can't organize. That's the one
thing the government is most attentive to any kind of
organization that might threaten their monopoly on power. The
Falun Gong, the spiritual movement, which they have banned in
China, was banned mainly because it was organized and a threat.
Former President Jiang Zemin woke up one morning to find 10,000
Falun Gong people sitting quietly, meditating outside his
personal compound. When he asked his security chief Where did
they come from? the security people said, We don't know, but
they've organized without us knowing it. That was really scary
to the Communist Party. That is one of the reasons that Falun
Gong was banned, not because it was a wicked cult or an evil
cult that was killing people, but it had shown that they could
organize people from all over the country and bring 10,000
people together in the middle of Beijing without the security
services knowing it. When you are the Communist Party that likes
a monopoly on power, that's worrisome.
AC-T: And so all the government leaders from top to bottom are
pretty much chosen by the Communist Party?
Martin: There is a semblance of being chosen by the people. The
people do have meetings in which they select their
representatives, but I would say 99 percent of them are
Communist Party members. And if they are not, they are enticed
to become members. It works both ways. It can be a good thing
for individuals to do; it's sort of like joining Rotary or the
right club to get ahead, or a particular political party, if you
want to advance economically, socially or politically.
AC-T: I want to go back to what is basically an economic problem
and that is to talk about energy. Theres a limited supply of
oil. The Chinese people are driving more cars; theyre going to
become huge consumers. Can you reflect on where you see that
taking the country and how thats going to affect the United
States and other industrialized countries?
Martin: There is a recent publication of the World Watch
Institute (an environmental group in Washington) that focuses on
India and China. It said that it is impossible for this planet
to accommodate another nearly 3 billion people who wish to
develop the same way the West developed. They would need a
planet to themselves. There are not enough resources to allow
India and China to have the same type of living standard, or
same type of life, as we in the West do. So something needs to
be changed, some new way of resolving this, either through
different energy sources or through different styles of living.
It doesn't have to be a lower standard of living; it just has to
be different. We have to somehow find renewable sources of
energy, sustainable development and ways of helping billions and
billions of people to attain a good life without killing the
planet. And that's what's happening. The U.S. is still the worst
polluter in the world, but China is catching up rapidly and
India is right behind them. It is becoming a serious problem in
terms of the environment. At the same time, use of raw materials
and energy resources is causing much of this pollution. We can't
continue to use petroleum as the basis for our energy. Or coal.
Coal is plentiful both in China and the United States, but it
also the most polluting. We have to find a way of either
transforming the use of coal into non-polluting means of making
energy, or find other ways of producing the energy. Recently a
senior Chinese energy official stated that he hoped the U.S.,
the West and China could cooperate on energy issues. This is
very important. It is a major step by an official of high rank,
and a proposal I think we should accept. We should take him up
on it and try to work with China, because we can't compete with
each other. China has been accused of trying to lock up energy
markets and resources, rather than sharing them. I dont think
China or anyone else will be able to monopolize energy resources
because our global society now is too interrelated. Rather than
competing, we need to find ways of cooperating, not only on
finding and using resources, but also finding alternative means
of energy development.
AC-T: Do you see any innovation going on in China that might
produce an alternative source, or anywhere else for that matter,
but particularly in China?
Martin: I don't see any at this particular juncture. They are
working on various things. I've not heard anything specific, but
I think they are looking obviously at other means of renewable
energy. When I was in China, I met an American who was working
on electric automobiles. I don't know what's happened on that,
but he hadn't gotten very far. They were not successful, at
least. The Chinese have higher standards for mileage per gallon
than we do in this country. They are now telling Buick and the
other American companies and foreign companies invested in China
that their cars have to meet certain higher mileage standards. I
think these are all good, and they're going in the right
direction. The problem is that they are well down the road of
the automobile era, and I think this is a big mistake. I told
them, "You're not going to be able to trade in two billion
bicycles for automobiles, because you wouldn't be able to move."
That's what they are finding now in the major cities. The
traffic jams are just horrendous and pollution is too, as a
result. China needs to find other ways of moving people, of
providing transportation for people, both in urban areas and
interurban areas. They are building tremendous numbers of
highways and freeways around the country. If they can find
alternate means of transportation electric cars or hydrogen
cars or fuel-cell cars or whatever that will certainly help the
pollution. But it won't help the traffic jams. In fact, recently
I have read that they've now come up with the idea of the
electric bicycle, which is sort of a nice alternative. Use a
bicycle, but electric power to aid you in pumping or pedaling.
AC-T: Do you see nuclear as a solution for China?
Martin: I think in some ways, nuclear could be a solution. I
don't particularly like nuclear power because you then have the
problem of what do you do with the waste? This is a problem and
what we're doing out in Yucca Mountain in Nevada is maybe the
best solution we can live with at this point. I have always
thought that maybe once we get reliable space rockets, missiles,
we ought to package the nuclear waste and shoot it into the sun
or somewhere. Obviously, if the rocket fails then you end up
with real problems. People have talked for years about the
fusion reactor, which re-uses the nuclear fuel and creates new
nuclear fuel without a waste, but that hasn't been successful
thus far. I frankly think that we need to find other ways of
providing living standards that people all around the world want
in a non-environmentally damaging way.
AC-T: And youre thinking in terms of solar and geothermal?
Martin: Solar, wind, geothermal, individual fuel cells in homes
so people have their own system are all potentially valuable
approaches. I know in the Philippines, the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID), has worked with remote
villages on the islands with solar panels. They initially put
big solar panels for a whole village but found that common
property is not well cared for. So they now put in small, two
feet square solar panels on individual houses. Those are well
cared for, because that's "personal." And that makes a big
difference. It's called "private property," and you find that
people take much better care of things that they depend on for
their own livelihood than if it is communal, which is
unfortunate.
AC-T: Now that North Korea has apparently tested a nuclear
device and China has been a North Korean ally, how do you see
Chinas role in dealing with the international implications of
North Korea being a nuclear power?
Martin: That's a tough question and something that people who
get paid a lot more than I do to worry about every day.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill has been spending
most of his time on this issue for the last several years,
dealing with the six party talks, dealing with each of the
different parties involved. There is no easy answer. I think
China is in an awkward position if I look at it from their
perspective. They have always been concerned about "unfriendly"
or hostile countries on their borders, whether it's Russia,
Japan, India, or minorities in Central Asia. North Korea plays
the role of "buffer state" between what they saw initially as a
U.S. ally in South Korea and their northern border. The problem
they have now is they want to maintain that buffer state. I
don't think they really would be very strongly in support of
unifying Korea. But they don't want a nuclear Korea, either. My
personal view is, if they had to choose between the survival of
a nuclear-armed North Korea versus a non-nuclear, collapsed
North Korean regime, they would take the former. Stability and
control is better than chaos on their borders. Because they
already have several million Koreans in the northeast part of
China, they are very concerned about an imploding North Korean
regime, which would cause all sorts of instability.
AC-T: Is there, do you think, any thought on their part that
economic sanctions or even more drastic action on the part of
the U.S., which might be fearful that North Korea, if it became
a true nuclear power would sell that technology to terrorists,
that the U.S. might take some action that would completely upset
the world economy or possibly upset the balance of power around
the world. Do you think the Chinese might look at that as a
prospect and think that they might want to take some action to
forestall that? Is there any action they could take?
Martin: Every body talks about how much influence China has over
North Korea. They do have influence, and they could cause North
Korea to collapse. They could cut off oil supplies, cut off food
supplies and they could seal off the border and I think the
North Korean regime would either collapse or would go up in a
big bang. I think its going up in a big bang is what the Chinese
(and everyone) worry about. Because one never quite knows what
they are going to do. People talk about Kim Jung Il being crazy.
He is not crazy. He is very crafty, he is very smart, and he is
doing what I would guess I would probably do if I were in his
place. He wanted an insurance policy and that is what his
nuclear weapon is for. He is concerned that the U.S. is going to
invade. He has always felt that way. He was very unhappy with
the Chinese when they normalized relations with South Korea and
I think he feels that he is on his own and he is going to have
to survive however he can. A nuclear weapon is the best
insurance policy he can find.
AC-T: So you think hes not inclined maybe to use it as much as
to have it for insurance?
Martin: Right. I would hope not. One never knows, but I don't
think he's crazy. I don't think that he's a madman. I think that
he is primarily concerned about maintaining his regime and his
power.
AC-T: What do you think the prospects are that he would actually
sell that technology?
Martin: I'm not terribly confident he will not. Doctor Khan, in
Pakistan, had no problem, either selling it to the Koreans, to
the Iranians, to whoever would pay. He passed all sorts of
nuclear technology but Pakistan is an ally of ours. President
Musharraf has pardoned Dr. Khan and he is not in jail, he is not
under investigation or anything. He has probably been the most
dangerous person in terms of nuclear technology in the world in
the last couple of decades. We don't know what the North Koreans
are going to do if they're economically in desperate straits.
They now counterfeit money with great facility and great
accuracy, I might add. I think this would be mainly what China
is concerned about, because who knows? If he gives nuclear
technology and tools to al Qaeda, there are also minority groups
in western China that might get some too.
AC-T: The Uighers?
Martin: Yes, the Uighers. Ninety nine point nine percent of the
Uighers are peaceful; they just want to protect their own
culture and their own religion, but I think that there are a few
that would like to use other means of opposing the Chinese
domination of western China. Same thing with the Tibetans in a
sense. Ninety nine percent go along with the Dalai Llama, who I
think is a moderate, willing to work out a peaceful resolution
with Beijing. Beijing, I think, is making a big mistake by
saying we're going to outlast him. He's getting older, when he
dies, it will solve the problem. I am not so sure. Once the
moderate figurehead is dead, will his successor have the same
authority over all Tibetans, or will there be others who are
more radical stand up and say, Let's find a different way of
fighting against the Chinese domination.
AC-T: The Chinese are connected in a lot of sort of
international dramas, one of them being Taiwan
Martin: They wouldn't consider that an international drama.
AC-T: Maybe the wrong choice of words. Do you think we are
moving toward a new world of nuclear stand off? Are we moving
toward some new version of the Cold War?
Martin: You mean in terms of new nuclear powers, Iran and Korea?
Possibly. But I think Korea is not going to be able to threaten
us like the Soviet Union did for many decades. They may have a
missile or two, but in terms of any kind of total war, I think
that's a long way down the road. I hope they don't have the
capability to do so, either economic or technologically. Iran is
a different matter because they have a tremendous amount of oil
wealth they can use. Even though they are Islamic, they are
Shiias, and the Sunnis are probably almost as concerned as we
are about a Shiia nuclear weapon. These are really the
unanswered questions of this century or for the next half a
century.
AC-T: Just to briefly touch on Taiwan. Do you see a long-term
solution to that situation?
Martin: I do, basically because and this is not an original
thought of mine Taiwan cannot be unhooked and floated out to
sea. It's always going to be 90 miles from the coast of the
mainland. They have to somehow reach an accommodation with the
mainland, one way or the other. I hope it will be possible for
Taiwan to maintain an autonomous status of some sort and a way
to maintain their own style of life. Democracy's the big issue,
because we support democracy and I think it's very important
that they maintain democracy as well as stand as a model. So
often, people have said, "The Chinese have no tradition of
democracy, so they need to have a different system. They don't
want democracy, don't need that." But they do. I think the more
China develops, the more they understand that they need some of
the foundations of democracy that Taiwan is developing on the
mainland the rule of law, free press, representative
government. In Taiwan, the representative government is chaotic,
because often disagreements end up with fistfights on the floor
of the legislature. They are showing that there is no
contradiction between Chinese culture and Chinese way and life
and democracy. I think this is a very important lesson that
Taiwan can show not only to the mainland, but also to other
countries in the region. Vietnam is a Confucian society
traditionally because of the Chinese occupation for over a
thousand years. Korea is another example. So I'm hopeful. I'm
hopeful that growing economic ties will defuse the political
issues, that Beijing will relax. In a sense, time is on their
side. They are by far the dominant power in the area. A little
bit more grace, if I can use that term, accommodation by
Beijing, for Taiwan, would get them far more brownie points, far
more credibility in Taiwan than threats. If they allowed Taiwan
to have some representation unofficially in the World Health
Organization or an international presence on an unofficial
basis, I think tensions would be alleviated. The problem is,
President Chen Shui-Bian of the Democratic Progressive Party in
Taiwan, the DPP, has been the burr under Beijings saddle
because he has made it clear that his goal is independence for
Taiwan. The U.S. government and China have difficulty making
sure he does not exacerbate tensions in the Taiwan Strait. He
has two years left in his term of office and somebody else will
be elected as president in March of '08.
Let me give you a little bit of background on the Institute for
Peace for whom I work now?
AC-T: Yes, please.
Martin: Its a unique organization, which seems to have more
work than it can handle at the moment. Congress founded us in
1984. President Reagan signed the bill. The Institute was
founded to focus on three mission areas: conflict prevention,
conflict resolution and post-conflict rehabilitation and
stabilization. We continue to do so. We started out as an
educational organization in which we gave grants and fellowships
to academics to do research on peace studies, ways of resolving
conflict, preventing conflict. Subsequently, about 12 to 15
years ago, as Yugoslavia was falling apart in the Balkans, the
Institute was asked to become involved in the Balkans to train
and support efforts to resolve the conflict. The Institute has
done a tremendous amount of training of military, diplomats,
government officials on how to resolve conflict, how to prevent
conflict, and so forth. We also have an active rule-of-law
program in which we work with governments around the world on
legal issues. If you have a conflict, how do you put in a
transitional justice system when you have a change in political
relationships? We work to put in new legal systems that address
the problems people have in post-conflict situations. We have a
very active educational program, which has an annual peace essay
contest for secondary students. We select one essay from each
state and 50 students come to Washington. They meet with their
congressional representatives, Executive branch experts and
Institute practitioners. Three of the 50 are chosen as
finalists. The winner gets a college scholarship of $10,000 and
the other two get something less.
The particular project that Ive been working on for almost
three and a half years now is facilitating the peace talks in
the Philippines between the Philippine government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been going on for,
take your pick, either 30 years or 370 years. Its basically the
problem of how do you address a Muslim minority in a country
that is primarily Catholic. They are concerned mainly about
preserving their culture, their way of life and their religion.
Our role is to try to help them find ways around the obstacles
that are in the way of a peace agreement. That means working
with both the MILF and the government to help them think of
alternative ways. They know each other, they know the issues,
they know what needs to be done, but they dont have a way of
addressing the issues. They keep banging their heads against the
same old problem over and over again, so we try to bring in
practitioners from other countries that have addressed similar
issues. Maybe there are some lessons learned from other people
that might apply to what theyre trying to do.
The concern, very frankly, is that if they cant resolve this in
a peaceful, negotiated way, there are elements in the region
that would be willing to step forward and take more extremist
measures, linking up with al-Qaeda or other extremist groups to
try to do it through bombs and terrorism. This is what we are
trying to prevent.
Copyright 2006 Asheville Citizen-Times. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
23 Daily Times: Pakistan to expand peaceful nuclear programme - PM
Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Sunday, November 19, 2006
* Says Pakistan setting up nuclear reactors with help of
friends
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has genuine reasons for expanding its
civilian nuclear programme and will take every possible step to
meet its growing energy needs, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told
reporters here on Saturday.
Pakistan will take measures in its national interest to meet
its nuclear energy needs and it knows how to defend the national
interest, said the premier. On the India-US nuclear deal, he
said every country had the right to make deals with anyone to
fulfil its needs but Pakistan wants a level playing field,
indicating that the country should be treated equally.
Mr Aziz said Pakistan is setting up nuclear reactors to generate
power with the help of its friends and will continue the
process.
He said the passage of the Women Protection Bill (WPB) was the
beginning of a journey to protect women against social
injustices. The government is serious about bringing women
into the national development process on equal footing.
No one should try to gain political benefit from this bill, he
said, and expressed satisfaction that no parliamentarian had
voted against the bill. He urged parliamentarians who were
talking of resigning in protest at the bill to think of the
rights of their voters and adopt a positive approach.
Mr Aziz was speaking following a ceremony in Prime Ministers
House which was attended by girl students and teachers of girls
schools. He told the participants that the government is
committed to giving women their rights so that they can
contribute to the socio-economic uplift of the country.
Islam is our religion and our faith. We are bound to our faith
but at the same time we are also bound to give women their due
rights, which are granted by Islam, so that they can move
forward towards the path of development, he said.
He said the government would continue its efforts to improve the
lot of women and it had tabled a new draft bill in the National
Assembly to resolve the issues of inheritance to women, vani,
forced marriages and marriages with the Quran, and the process
of divorce.
He said the country had to fight off hunger, poverty and
extremism, which he called the biggest threat to Pakistan.
Womens Development Minister Sumaira Malik and State Minister
for Education Anisazeb Tahirkheli said the government was
determined to emancipate women and protect them from injustice.
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
24 AFP: India tests nuclear-capable surface missile
Sun Nov 19, 3:56 AM ET
BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) - India successfully tested a
nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a test range in the
eastern state of Orissa, defence sources said.
The test of the Prithvi-1 missile took place at the
Chandipur-on-sea test site about 200 kilometers (125 miles)
northeast of Orissa's state capital, Bhubaneswar.
The missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher at 9:55 am
(0425 GMT) Sunday, the sources said on Sunday.
The 8.5-meter (28-foot) surface-to-surface missile covers 150
kilometers in 300 seconds and has a range of up to 250
kilometers.
The test was part of an air defence exercise and trials of the
missile are likely to be carried out next week as well, the
sources said.
Nuclear-capable India and Pakistan, which have fought three
wars, two over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir" />
Kashmir, routinely carry out missile tests and normally notify
each other in advance under an agreement.
The missile, which can carry conventional or low-yield nuclear
warheads, was last tested on June 11 this year. The missile is
designed for battlefield use against troops or armoured
formations.
Prior to the test, local authorities temporarily evacuated more
than 2,700 people from nearby areas.
Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
25 Sydney Morning Herald: Scientists to review PM's nuclear report -
www.smh.com.au
Stephanie Peatling
November 18, 2006
THE REPORT on nuclear energy commissioned by the Prime Minister
will be reviewed by a group of scientists to provide an
alternative view to what they say is a politically stacked
taskforce.
The group, which calls itself the EnergyScience Coalition,
yesterday put a series of reports and studies on nuclear power
on its website and said it would continue to provide alternative
views on the energy debate.
Jim Falk, the director of the Australian Centre for Science,
Innovation and Society at Melbourne University, is joined by the
retired diplomat Professor Richard Broinowski, academics from
the University of NSW and Monash University, and members of the
Medical Association for the Prevention of War.
The head of the Federal Government's inquiry into nuclear
energy, Ziggy Switkowski, will release his report next week but
has already given an interview in which he said it was not
economically viable.
Dr Switkowski told the Herald last month that Australia has so
much cheap coal that "any comparisons will be unfavourable for
every alternative source" of energy, including nuclear.
But it could become economically competitive if new taxes were
placed on coal.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, surprised many people this week
when he announced that he would establish another taskforce to
examine carbon trading, a system of taxing greenhouse gas
emissions.
A member of the nuclear taskforce, Warwick McKibbin, a member of
the Reserve Bank board, has already developed a model for carbon
trading.
Dr Switkowski, the former head of Telstra and a nuclear
physicist, will release his report in Canberra on Tuesday. There
has already been much fanfare before its release, with the
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet organising a busy
schedule of media appearances for Dr Switkowski after the
report's release.
Environmentalists believe the report's findings are a foregone
conclusion, pointing to Dr Switkowski's time as a board member
of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
He was serving on the board when Mr Howard asked him to head the
inquiry, and stepped down from it shortly afterwards.
Professor Falk said he believed that Dr Switkowski's report
would support the continued mining of uranium as well as a
domestic uranium enrichment industry.
He said any finding that nuclear power could be economically
effective in the future could be disputed because of the high
level of government subsidies required to overcome side effects
of nuclear power such as waste disposal and storage.
Also yesterday the Opposition frontbencher Martin Ferguson
criticised proposed plans by the European Union to place a
passenger carbon tax on all flights in and out of European
airports.
The move comes after much speculation in Europe that the
plethora of cheap airlines operating were contributing to
greenhouse gas emissions.
"Green protectionism is Europe's latest export, and it's time
for Australia and the Asia Pacific to stand up for ourselves,"
Mr Ferguson said.
When news happens:send photos, videos &tip-offs to 0424 SMS SMH
(+61 424 767 764), or us.
| Copyright 2006. The Sydney Morning Herald. ![]()
Iranhelp in building a
nuclear reactor that could provide plutonium for nuclear weapons.
A Western diplomat told AFP the leadership of the International
Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic Energy
Agency(IAEA) had "no intention of cooperating (on the Arak
reactor) while Iran is out of compliance with United Nations" />
United NationsSecurity Council resolutions" to rein in its
nuclear program.
Iran is requesting, at a meeting opening Monday of the IAEA's
35-nation board of governors, technical help in guaranteeing
safety at the heavy-water reactor under construction in Arak,
200 kilometres (120 miles) south of Tehran.
But given "the widespread mistrust of Iran's nuclear program and
the risk of plutonium being diverted for use in weapons, the
United States and other board members cannot agree to have the
IAEA assist the project at Arak," US ambassador to the agency
Gregory Schulte said last week in a speech in Vienna.
The IAEA had in February asked Iran to "reconsider" building the
Arak reactor.
This was re-stated in a UN Security Council resolution in July,
which also called on Iran to suspend making enriched uranium,
which like plutonium can be fuel in civilian reactors but used
in highly enriched form to make atom bombs.
The Council is now working on a resolution to impose sanctions
on Iran, as Tehran has refused to suspend uranium enrichment.
Schulte said the Arak reactor "could produce enough plutonium
for one or more nuclear weapons a year."
Iran says it is building the 40-megawatt, heavy-water reactor,
which is expected to be ready by 2009, to produce medical
isotopes and to replace a smaller, aging, five-megawatt
light-water reactor in Tehran which came online in 1967.
The United States and five other world powers have offered to
give Iran a light-water reactor, which would use low-enriched
uranium as fuel, as an alternative.
But Iran has vowed to press ahead in Arak, even without IAEA
help.
The expected IAEA postponement of aid to Arak would be a
compromise as Washington would like the agency simply to reject
Iran's request for help in "strengthening safety capabilities"
at the heavy-water reactor, diplomats said.
Non-aligned states such as Malaysia fear an outright rejection
could set a precedent for denying technical aid for peaceful
nuclear programs in developing countries, said the diplomats.
The IAEA has after more than three years of investigation not
yet ruled on whether Iran is hiding work on developing nuclear
weapons, as Washington claims, or carrying out what Tehran says
is a peaceful effort to generate electricity.
Iran's Gulf neighbours are nervous about its nuclear programme,
a British minister said in Kuwait Sunday, accusing Tehran of
seeking the bomb.
A Middle Eastern diplomat said that Iran's request for technical
cooperation at Arak was "not a proliferation risk as far as the
(IAEA) secretariat is concerned."
But the diplomat said "politics is involved so a way must be
found around this."
Iran's IAEA ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told AFP that it "is
in the interests of the international community that all nuclear
reactors be safe."
The Iranian request for safety aid at Arak is "based on the
statutes of the IAEA... and has nothing to do with and is not
contrary to any of the (IAEA) resolutions," Soltanieh said.
He said the Arak reactor would run on natural uranium and not
the highly enriched uranium needed for the Tehran research
reactor and which the West rejects as a proliferation risk.
Soltanieh criticized what he called "the contradictions in the
positions of the Americans and Europeans. They don't understand
the physics... and have politicized" the technical process, he
said.
The IAEA board will from Monday to Wednesday finalize its
proposals for technical cooperation, with 832 projects under
consideration, eight in Iran, and then decide on them in a
session Thursday and Friday.
Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
43 Joplin Globe: In our view: Nuclear options
Joplin, MO -
Published November 18, 2006 12:00 am - While ethanol, biodiesel,
wind, solar, thermal and other renewable sources of energy must
remain high on the nation's "want" list for the future, nuclear
energy is a viable alternative for both power sufficiency and
bringing down levels of "greenhouse gases."
While ethanol, biodiesel, wind, solar, thermal and other
renewable sources of energy must remain high on the nation's
"want" list for the future, nuclear energy is a viable
alternative for both power sufficiency and bringing down levels
of "greenhouse gases."
It is clear that an expanding economy requires - and will
continue to require - ever more energy, much of which will come
from foreign oil and be supplemented by whatever alternative
power sources are found to be cheap, reliable and conducive to
meeting the nation's ever-growing needs.
Then there is the greenhouse question that will revive the
political and scientific debates over global warming and whether
Washington should sign on to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce the
use of fossil fuels.
It may be the latter that actually drives the development of new
nuclear plants the fastest. At least that was the assessment
three years ago by William H. Miller, professor in the Nuclear
Science and Engineering Institute at the University of Missouri
- Columbia. Nuclear power would be an efficient method -
assuming a policy shift in Congress on the Kyoto accord - of
reducing carbon-dioxide emissions that, according to some, are
causing a hole in the Earth's ozone layer and threatening global
warming.
Nuclear energy seems a logical and effective method of meeting
both rising energy demands and reducing the production of carbon
dioxide. It is clean and safe, despite the Three Mile Island
scare in 1979 and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Nuclear energy provides about 20 percent of the nation's
generating capacity with more than 100 nuclear plants, including
Callaway near Fulton in Missouri and Wolf Creek near Emporia in
Kansas. But the United States is a piker compared to France,
which relies on nuclear energy for about 80 percent of its
electricity.
More electricity will be necessary as the economy and our
population grow, or if scientific arguments and political action
turn fossil fuels into an energy dinosaur. Alternative sources
and conservation will make contributions to our power future,
but it would be impractical to think they will meet all
burgeoning energy demands.
Now is the time to begin planning and preparing for new nuclear
plants if the nation expects to continue enjoying a vibrant
economy and an improved quality of life.
The Joplin Globe Publishing Company 117 East Fourth Street,
Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms
and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com (417)623-3480
Advertisewith the Joplin Globe Copyright 2006 The Joplin Globe,
Joplin, MO All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
44 Telegraph: British Energy nuclear chief steps down
[telegraph.co.uk]
By Stephen Seawright
Last Updated: 11:35pm GMT 18/11/2006
British Energy's chief nuclear officer has left the company
after two plants were shut down last month for essential repair
work. The company said Roy Anderson had stepped down from the
post with immediate effect.
Chief executive Bill Coley will "take direct control of nuclear
operations" as part of a reorganisation.
[Nuclear fallout?]
"I have shortened the reporting lines by appointing three highly
qualified chief nuclear officers from within the company who
will report directly to me," Mr Coley said.
Last month, British Energy shut down two plants, Hunterston B in
Scotland and Hinkley Point B in Gloucestershire, after cracks
were discovered in boiler tubes.
The development led to the shares plunging by almost a quarter
of their value in a single day.
Asked if Mr Anderson's departure was connected to the shutdowns,
Mr Coley replied: "No, it is not. I was wanting to effect a
transfer regardless and a change regardless."
As a corporate turnaround specialist in the nuclear industry Mr
Anderson had completed his job, according to Mr Coley.
British Energy has returned to profit after being bailed out by
the Government in 2002 when power prices collapsed. The problems
with the boiler tubes are unique to the design of the Hunterston
and Hinkley plants and British Energy hopes to have the affected
reactors running by the end of December.
Despite the high level of outages high electricity prices
ensured pre-tax profit in the six months to October 1 quadrupled
from 81m to 329 on revenues 34.7pc higher at 1.36bn.
Nuclear power accounts for around 20pc of the UK's electricity
output but British Energy's problems pose fresh questions over
the reliability of the plants at a time when the Government is
planning an expansion of atomic power.
Mr Coley said: "Output has been disappointing in the year to
date [but] we remain focused on our strategy to improve the
long-term reliability and output of our power stations and are
encouraged with certain areas of performance improvement."
British Energy cut 100 jobs over the six months with severance
costs of 17m and the company expects to start paying dividends
after the AGM in July with an annual payment of 13.6p a share.
In 2008 a further dividend will be paid in the third quarter.
The shares rose 8 to 477p yesterday.
Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2006.
*****************************************************************
45 Mail Tribune: Energy-corridor plan included in 2005's Energy Policy Act -
November 19, 2006
http://www.omniture.com -->
The designation of energy corridors on federal land in 11
Western states was mandated by Congress through the
controversial Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the act contains
numerous energy provisions, from extending daylight savings time
to including more than $28 billion in tax breaks for coal,
nuclear, oil, gas and electricity industries.
The bill also provides subsidies to encourage the development of
alternative fuels and tax credits for conservation measures such
as installing insulation at home or driving a hybrid vehicle.
But opponents say it weakens environmental and public safety
protections such as the Clean Water Act and the Public Utility
Holding Company Act, which protects consumers from fraud and
abuse by utility companies.
The energy corridors were needed to meet the increasing demand
for energy in the West, according to the legislation.
The deadline for designating the energy corridors is August
2007.
Section 368 of the bill directs the secretaries of the
departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy and
Interior, in consultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, tribal or local governmental entities, affected
utility industries and other interested persons, to designate
the following:
+ Energy corridors for oil, gas and hydrogen pipelines and
electricity transmission and distribution facilities on federal
land in the 11 contiguous Western states.
+ Incorporate the designated corridors into the relevant
agency land-use and resource-management or equivalent plans.
+ Ensure that additional corridors are promptly identified and
designated.
One goal of the corridors is to improve the electricity
transmission grid by enhancing reliability and capability and
decreasing congestion, according to an Energy Department
spokeswoman.
All officially designated corridors will be in compliance with
applicable laws and regulations, she said.
Following public meetings in October and November 2005 and
ensuing public comments, the agencies developed draft maps for
the proposed energy corridor routes. However, the proposed
routes are subject to change until they are officially adopted
in August of next year.
Additional information and current projected energy corridor
routes are available at
-- Paul Fattig
*****************************************************************
46 AU ABC: Power costs impact on nuclear debate
AM - Monday, 20 November , 2006 08:04:00
Reporter: Chris Uhlmann
PETER CAVE: The Prime Minister's Nuclear Energy Taskforce will
publish its draft report tomorrow and it's expected to find
nuclear power will become commercially viable within 15 years.
The costings will be built, in part, on the expectation that
generating cleaner conventional power will get a lot more
expensive in the future.
The Energy Supply Association of Australia believes the bill for
new power stations could double by 2030, as our Chief Political
Correspondent Chris Uhlmann reports.
CHRIS UHLMANN: If power generators based their sums on doing
business as usual between now and 2030 then building the extra
capacity needed to meet an expected 65 per cent jump in demand
would cost $35 billion.
But the Energy Supply Association of Australia knows fear of
global warming means its business will have to change, and no
matter how it's done reducing carbon emissions is expensive.
So the Association has been modelling potential futures. One
based on capping emissions at year 2000 levels over the next 25
years, and the other of steadily reducing them by 30 per cent.
Brad Page is the Association's Chief Executive.
BRAD PAGE: If we were to stabilise our emissions at 2000 levels
by 2030, then the new investment cost will be somewhere between
$55 billion and $65 billion, depending on the technologies we
can choose from.
And if we're having to make reductions of about 30 per cent on
2000 levels, so we're on our way to deep reductions by
mid-century, then the cost rises still further from $35 billion
up to somewhere between $70 billion and $80 billion.
CHRIS UHLMANN: Ask consumers how they want to see the problem
solved and the opinion polls say most opt for solar and wind
power. That solution ignores some fairly significant technical
hurdles.
BRAD PAGE: There are few known technologies currently for the
very, very large-scale storage and rapid release of electricity
that would be required for backing up intermittent production.
And it is the classic real-time delivery service. Electricity
supply has to follow with the load precisely all the time.
CHRIS UHLMANN: The Energy Association's modelling is based on
nuclear power being part of the solution. If it's ruled out then
the price of meeting demand in its 2030 energy model goes up
another $10 billion.
Of course, looking at power generation alone doesn't give a full
picture of the total cost of reducing greenhouse gases, because
it excludes substantial emissions from agriculture and transport.
Michael Hitchens is a senior member of economic consulting firm
ACIL Tasman. He says there have been several attempts to weigh
the economic cost of capping carbon emissions.
But all produce a net cost. That overlooks the fact that the
change will produce winners and losers.
MICHAEL HITCHENS: So what's being hidden in a lot of the
reporting at the moment is who are the losers and by how much
are they losing and how much of the economy is that, and in what
regions of Australia does that happen?
And this of course is the very difficult part of it in terms of
politics is that there will be a lot of losers.
PETER CAVE: Michael Hitchens, a senior economist with ACIL
Tasman, ending that report from Chris Uhlmann.
*****************************************************************
47 London Times: Nuclear power stations up for heritage status -
The Sunday Times November 19, 2006
Jonathan Leake and Mike Wade
ONCE they were just blots on the landscape but now Scotlands
nuclear power stations could be designated for preservation as
national monuments.
Historic Scotland, the body charged with preserving the nations
heritage, says that it wants to grant listed building status to
Dounreay power station in Caithness, Chapelcross in Dumfriesshire
and Hunterston B in Ayrshire.
South of the border, English Heritage is considering classifying
some of the earliest and most historic nuclear facilities
because many are reaching the end of their lives and face
imminent demolition.
It could lead to buildings that have been at the heart of some
of Britains most controversial planning decisions being
preserved in perpetuity.
Plans to strip out the plant at Dounreay are being prepared by
the owner, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), in
consultation with Historic Scotland, with a view to preserving
its striking dome.
We recognise the special importance of Dounreay and its role in
Scottish history, said a spokesman for Historic Scotland. The
unique circumstances surrounding the building must be taken into
account and we will continue to have constructive talks with
UKAEA and Highland council about the best way forward.
Britain has 14 nuclear power stations on 11 sites, which
generate a fifth of our electricity. The oldest date from the
mid-1960s, the most recent Sizewell B from the mid-1990s.
Six stations have been shut down and are being decommissioned,
including Calder Hall, near the Sellafield site in Cumbria. It
was the worlds first industrial scale nuclear power station
when the Queen opened it in 1956.
Proposals to preserve the power stations were partly inspired by
a French project which saw Chinon A, a decommissioned nuclear
power station in the Loire valley, turned into a museum. The
public can view the radioactive reactor core, which has been
covered in steel and cement for safety.
However, the cost of maintaining the dome at Dounreay has
emerged as a potential stumbling block to its preservation. It
costs 150,000 to paint the dome every two years.
Miles Glendinning, the director for the Scottish centre for
conservation at Edinburgh College of Art, said: One of the
special things about Dounreay was that it was part of an
ambitious development programme for the north of Scotland. It
could be seen to have a retro architectural appeal, but its real
significance is as a monument to social progress. The site
should be seen as a memory landscape.
Environmentalists also welcomed the move. We need to be
reminded of the huge amounts of money they wasted and the
radioactive legacy they left us, said Tony Juniper, director of
Friends of the Earth. We should preserve these buildings as a
monument to all that stupidity.
Times &Sunday Times
*****************************************************************
48 Arizona Republic: How dumb can it get?
Pick your dream home and take your choice: Nuclear cooling
towers next door or no water
Nov. 19, 2006 12:00 AM
Tell me again that Arizona isn't the dumbest state.
Thousands of tract houses are being built within the 10-mile
emergency zone of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the
nation's largest.
As my colleague Mark Shaffer reported, developers have filed
plans for 107,000 houses on 33,000 acres in eight so-called
master-planned communities.
The houses aren't being built there out of necessity. With the
housing slowdown continuing to grind away, central Arizona is
stuck with a huge surplus of developable land. But that hasn't
stopped the land-speculation "players." Land near the nuke plant
now fetches $60,000 an acre.
Needless to say, this complicates the emergency planning for
Arizona Public Service, which says it is powerless to stop the
encroachment. Thank goodness we don't live in an era when
terrorists would love to attack nuclear power plants. And I'm
also glad our visionary leadership has provided multi-modal
infrastructure to get people out of these sprawlburgs in a
hurry. We call it a four-lane interstate highway reached by
country roads.
No wonder you'll "get a lot of house for the money" within view
of the cooling towers.
Tell me again that Arizona isn't the dumbest state.
More giant subdivisions are going up in Mohave County. Here the
sprawl enterprise is to create even-farther-flung suburbs for
Las Vegas.
Unfortunately they don't face even the limited water
restrictions, such as a requirement of a 100-year water supply,
that are in force in parts of the state. And Mohave County is
notoriously lacking in groundwater. Officials say they are
powerless to stop the building.
The usual games are going on, too. According to the Las Vegas
Review-Journal, a Clark County commissioner purchased five acres
at a Mohave project from a developer she has helped with
commission votes. No down payment was required.
The commissioner, Lynette Boggs McDonald, defended the deal and
said she expected to realize a profit of about $20,000 from the
land, after holding it for 17 months.
When reporters asked what she would tell constituents about
being able to flip the land without making a down payment or
receiving a bank loan, she said this: "I would suggest they
contact the developer and get the same deal."
Mohave County is far from an isolated incident. The land rush
is going on all over rural Arizona with only the most tenuous
water resources.
Even in the active management areas, with a 100-year supply
required, there's not enough water to keep growing the same way
over the next 30 years that we have for the past 30. The idea of
350,000 houses in Buckeye is particularly scary.
Nor do we fully realize how global warming will affect our
renewable water supplies. Hint: It won't be good.
The air shed is as problematic as the watershed, as metro
Phoenix suffered through another smog alert on Friday, while
lacking the compact development or transit to give people real
choices in getting around.
Yet nothing is being done to change development patterns or
stop the bad actors. And passage of an initiative sold as
protection for private property could hamstring regulation,
protecting the powerful "players" - just as it was really
intended.
Six years ago, Arizonans had an opportunity to vote for real
limitations on sprawl. While the initiative started with strong
support, it was soundly defeated after a scare campaign. Now any
new "growth" limitation will be unlikely.
What baffles me is why the real estate industry retains such a
united front in the face of the obvious perils Arizona faces.
Civic-minded developers are loath to break ranks with the
bottom-feeders.
Their message is that Arizona can only prosper with one kind of
growth, which unfortunately is unsustainable. This idea quickly
becomes incoherent.
I hear: "People will come here no matter what. You can't stop
them." Then, "Any restrictions will cause a recession!"
Well, which is it? If people will come here no matter what,
then they will come for projects within the existing urban
boundaries and safest watersheds. If any restrictions will cause
the sky to fall, then we need to change course to something less
risky.
Then there is the sophistry that our situation is validated
simply because it is happening. "Hey, people are coming here!"
Yes, and it is a huge cost. This "growth" doesn't include
growing incomes, venture capital, health-care access, Ph.D.
degrees, cultural support or a hundred other measures compared
with competitive cities.
Other things are happening: 3 billion new capitalists, global
warming and higher energy prices. All will cause trouble here.
Yet we motor on in a grand Ponzi scheme, which tends to last as
long as there are new suckers coming. The "players" make a
killing, and who wouldn't with taxpayers paying for water,
freeways, flood control and other assets needed to make the
deals worthwhile.
The public costs keep accumulating, but you ain't seen nothing
yet. The "players" will be long gone with their profits when the
roof falls in. And then this state of strutting individualists
can once again turn to Washington for a bailout. But this
reclamation project will likely be beyond Washington's
capacities or willingness.
Tell me again that Arizona isn't the dumbest state. Tell me
another one.
Copyright 2006, azcentral.com. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
49 London Times: Energy plants may get armed terror guards -
Sunday Times -
November 19, 2006
David Leppard
A SPECIAL armed police force is being proposed to protect
Britains main oil, gas and electricity installations from
terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda.
Whitehall security officials are suggesting that key sites such
as the Milford Haven gas terminal on the Welsh coast and national
grid power stations that supply London and other cities should be
protected by police armed with machineguns.
The move follows intelligence reports in September that at least
two known Al-Qaeda suspects had been spotted reconnoitring a huge
gas pipeline facility at Bacton on the Norfolk coast.
Bacton is made up of five separate terminals and handles about a
quarter of the countrys gas, processing supplies from three big
North Sea fields. It also sends and receives gas to Zeebrugge in
Belgium and the rest of Europe through its interconnector
terminal. Effectively Britains gas supply tap, its huge
underwater pipelines are critical to the countrys economic
wellbeing.
A security source said: Police received intelligence of
reconnaissance of the Bacton terminal by suspected Al-Qaeda
terrorists. The suspects were sufficiently well traced [on
intelligence files] for it to be worrying.
Officials say proposals to create an armed force to protect the
critical national infrastructure have been discussed in the
Cabinet Office and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
They fear that infrastructure sites are relatively poorly
defended, often only by unarmed security staff.
A successful attack could have devastating consequences,
blacking out entire cities and cutting off water supplies.
The new force is likely to be created by extending the existing
Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), a dedicated police force that
protects more than 40 nuclear power plants and other civil
nuclear sites across Britain.That force deploys several hundred
officers, many of them armed, at sensitive nuclear sites such as
Sizewell in Suffolk and Sellafield in Cumbria.
Senior officers from the force are understood to have held
meetings in the past month with Cabinet Office and DTI officials
to sort out details of the plan.
Patrick Mercer, the Tory spokesman on homeland security, said:
We have long argued for the need for our energy sources to be
properly protected. While its taken the government an
inordinately long time to do something about it, at least
something is now being done. I shall be interested to see how
long it takes them to put these very sensible plans into
practice.
Al-Qaeda has focused on using suicide bombers to attack
so-called soft targets such as the London Underground,
shopping centres, nightclubs and stadiums. Now Islamic
terrorists are believed to have added strategic economic sites
to their list.
Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director-general of MI5, hinted at
the change in a speech 10 days ago, in which she highlighted the
growing terror threat. We are aware of numerous plots to kill
people and to damage our economy, she warned.
The Home Office, which is responsible for MI5, declined to
comment on the threat to Bacton or other economic targets.
Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.
*****************************************************************
50 AP Wire: Workers contend contractors defrauded government in cleanup
11/19/2006 |
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A four-year-old lawsuit unsealed last month
contends contractors cleaning up a Cold War uranium-enrichment
plant in southern Ohio were paid millions of dollars for shoddy
work or work that was not done.
The lawsuit, filed by four workers, accuses Bechtel-Jacobs Co.
and Safety and Ecology Corp. of falsifying work records, taking
shortcuts and failing to protect the health of workers and
neighbors of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The
facility, near Piketon, about 60 miles south of Columbus,
produced enriched uranium for 50 years and closed in 2001.
The workers - Philip Borris, Michael Eversole, Rodney Gossett
and Thomas McDermott - filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court
using a Civil War-era law designed to nab suppliers cheating the
government. The case was kept secret while the Department of
Justice investigated. It recently decided not to join in.
"The Department of Justice lawyers have made it clear to us they
have found plenty wrong, but they are having a hard time getting
the support of the Department of Energy to make their case,"
said Charles Fitzpatrick, an attorney for the workers.
The U.S. attorney's office found no criminal intent to deceive
the government, said spokesman Fred Alverson in Columbus. "That
doesn't mean one way or another that contractual obligations
were kept or not kept, whether overpayments were made or not
made."
Borris, a radiation-control worker, said the four sued on behalf
of the government because the Energy Department would not listen
to their complaints.
An Energy Department spokeswoman disagreed. "We take every
employee complaint seriously," said Megan Barnett, a spokeswoman
in Washington.
The contractors have not been served with the lawsuit and would
not comment, their spokesmen said. The companies are no longer
at the plant.
The workers estimate overpayments total tens of millions of
dollars.
The four say contractors labeled large amounts of
non-radioactive fencing shipped offsite as scrap metal
contaminated with radiation to collect a performance payment,
charged for unnecessary work or work not performed, billed the
government for nongovernment work and ignored health and safety
regulations.
Based on the False Claims Act, the lawsuit asks for three times
the amount of actual loss to the government. If the workers win,
they would receive 25 percent to 30 percent of the award. The
suit also seeks a civil penalty of $5,000 to $10,000 per
violation plus damages and attorney fees.
Gossett, a health and safety worker, and others in the business
say problems slip because the Energy Department has fewer people
monitoring contractors than before.
Fitzpatrick said for the Energy Department to recoup money, the
agency would have to admit that it failed to watch the
companies.
Information from: The Columbus Dispatch,
http://www.dispatch.com
*****************************************************************
51 washingtonpost.com: Bombs That Won't Go Off -
By Anthony Wier and Matthew Bunn
Sunday, November 19, 2006; Page B07
With North Korea testing a nuclear bomb and Iran suspected of
heading in that direction, one might be forgiven for thinking
there's nothing but bad news these days about the spread of
nuclear weapons.
But behind the scenes, one piece of good news has been
unfolding: While there's a great deal more to do, much of the
world's potential nuclear bomb material, scattered in hundreds
of buildings in dozens of countries around the world, is notably
more secure than it was before Sept. 11, 2001, which means that
it's harder for terrorists to steal. And the critical effort to
remove such material entirely from the world's most vulnerable
sites is picking up steam.
Remarkably, more than 130 research reactors around the world use
as their fuel highly enriched uranium (HEU) -- the easiest
material in the world for terrorists to use to make a nuclear
bomb. Many of these sites have very little security and pose
serious risks of nuclear theft.
For decades the U.S. Energy Department has had several small
programs working on aspects of the effort to reduce this
civilian HEU danger, but each was plodding along in its own
stovepipe, without the resources or political leadership needed
to get the job done rapidly.
So in 2004 the Bush administration launched the Global Threat
Reduction Initiative, an integrated effort to convert these
reactors to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuels that cannot be used
to make a nuclear bomb; to ship the HEU back to secure sites;
and to beef up security at vulnerable sites in the meantime.
Now these efforts are producing some real payoffs. In August the
Energy Department helped return 40 kilograms of HEU from Poland
to Russia. In July a cooperative project airlifted three
kilograms of it from Libya to Russia (following some 16
kilograms shipped in 2004). Libya's reactors have been converted
and will never again need highly enriched uranium. In April the
Energy Department and Russia finished shipping roughly 62
kilograms of lightly irradiated HEU fuel out of Uzbekistan --
home of an armed militant movement closely linked to al-Qaeda.
Work on converting Uzbekistan's reactors to LEU and getting the
last HEU out of that country continues.
The Energy Department has collaborated with a French company to
remove about 85 kilograms of HEU from several European
facilities, and Canada returned 23 kilograms to the United
States in April. Even in the United States, the Global Threat
Reduction Initiative completed the conversion of reactors at the
University of Florida and Texas A&M University in September.
The pace of these efforts -- both converting reactors and
removing HEU -- has picked up substantially since the Global
Threat Reduction Initiative was created. The people at the
Energy Department and elsewhere who have made these and similar
successes possible deserve credit for real contributions to
world security. But there is much more to do; the scale and the
urgency of the terrorist threat demand an even faster and bolder
response.
The administration must act to ensure that securing nuclear
stockpiles and removing them from vulnerable sites is at the top
of the national security agenda -- an item to be discussed with
every country that has stockpiles to secure or resources to help
and at every level and every opportunity until the job is done.
Congress should come back ready to provide the additional
funding that the Global Threat Reduction Initiative will need to
provide targeted incentives to persuade states and facilities to
convert fuels from HEU to LEU and to permit their HEU stocks to
be removed. Greater funding also will be needed to speed up
efforts to address the substantial quantities of material and
sizable numbers of HEU-fueled reactors not yet covered by the
initiative.
Every building that has all its nuclear bomb material removed
means one less possibility that thieves and terrorists can get
their hands on a bomb's essential ingredients. The successes of
the past two years represent bombs that will never go off. But
these successes, though real, are only the beginning. The world
needs to move as quickly as possible to ensure that security
upgrades and material removals get to all of these nuclear
stockpiles before thieves and terrorists do.
The writers, who have served in government positions dealing
with nuclear security and nonproliferation, are with the
Managing the Atom Project at Harvard's Kennedy School of
Government. They are co-authors of "Securing the Bomb 2006."
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other
inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the
site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain
"signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be
removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate
any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies
or any other policies governing this site. Please review the
governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully
responsible for the content that you post.
2006 The Washington Post Company
*****************************************************************
52 Spectrum: Divine Strake back in Nevada
St. George Ut- www.thespectrum.com -
The fight is on, again. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., a member of
the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, says the Defense
Threat Reduction Agency told him the Divine Strake test explosion
of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil will take place at
the Nevada Test Site.
After public outcry and legal machinations, the test, which was
to have taken place last summer at the NTS, was rerouted first to
a gravel quarry in Indiana, then to White Sands, N.M. and now
it's back in southern Nevada.
Take off the gloves, it's time to go bare knuckles against this
project and flush it once and for all. This test is likely to
kick up settled radioactivity from the desert floor and spew it
into the atmosphere, only to be dumped at the will of the jet
stream who knows where.
This test is also a precursor to the development of a
bunker-buster bomb, which, according to the sparse material
available, is a next-generation mini-nuclear device. Development
of a new nuclear bomb would, of course, result in more testing
at the Nevada Test Site.
Tens of thousands, at least, died or encountered debilitating
illness over the course of the last half-century as a result of
fallout from the previous nuclear tests. They call them
Downwinders and a few of them in Nevada and Utah received money
through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act pushed through
Congress by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in 1990. The clouds of
death covered the contiguous 48 states and stretched into parts
of Canada, killing and poisoning untold others who were not
compensated.
With an ever-growing population in the southeastern corner of
Nevada near Las Vegas and the southwest corner of Utah, which is
one of the most rapidly growing areas in the country, there are
now more bodies to contaminate, more souls to be sacrificed in
the name of nuclear weapon advancement.
Politically and morally, two words that are seldom used
together, it would also be an arrogant move by the United States
to resume nuclear testing while pulling in the reins on other
sovereign nations.
This is an issue the new Congress cannot ignore.
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is a holdover from the last regime.
He's fought the good fight against further nuclear testing and
armament. It's not that he's soft on defense, it's that as a
native of southern Utah, he has witnessed the death count from
nuclear testing, which includes the loss of his own father,
former governor of the state.
It's time to take action.
Start by contacting your local representatives. Then call Irene
Smith, the DTRA spokeswoman, at (703) 767-5870. Finally, contact
the White House at (202) 456-1414 or (202) 456-1111.
Contact City Editor Ed Kociela by e-mail at
ekociela@thespectrum.comor call 435-674-6237.
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 3:14
Copyright 2006 The Spectrum.
*****************************************************************
53 Salt Lake Tribune: Dugway was test candidate
Bunker-buster bombsMilitary picks Nevada for Divine Strake, but
Hatch and Matheson still have reservations about safety of
testing
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:11/18/2006 12:34:10 AM MST
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon looked at Dugway Proving Ground in
western Utah as a possible location for its planned test called
Divine Strake, an enormous explosion designed to help develop
bunker-buster bombs, documents show.
Dugway was one of four alternatives to the Nevada Test Site
considered for the test, but has been ruled out because it would
take at least three years and cost more than $100 million to get
the test off the ground.
That leaves the Nevada Test Site as the preferred choice for
Divine Strake, and Defense Department officials met with the
Utah congressional delegation on Wednesday seeking to convince
the congressmen they can detonate the 700 tons of explosives
safely.
Sen. Orrin Hatch says he is still not satisfied with what he
has been shown.
"They assured us it will be safe by wide margins, but I'm not
satisfied at this point," Hatch said.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) documents show
that, in the worst case, radiation exposure from the test would
be 20 times lower than allowed releases from Energy Department
sites, and 2,000 times lower than a single chest x-ray.
"I made the case that we've gone through it before," Hatch
said, referring to Utahns exposed to radioactive fallout during
Cold War tests in Nevada. "It's important that they conduct this
type of non-nuclear tests in this very very difficult world we
live, but they haven't satisfied my major concerns about these
tests."
And Rep. Jim Matheson said he remains concerned that the
non-nuclear detonation will be used to simulate conventional and
nuclear blasts, noting Congress has already refused to fund
development of nuclear bunker-busters.
Originally scheduled for last June, the DTRA postponed Divine
Strake several times because of concerns from members of
Congress and a lawsuit filed by an Indian tribe and Utah
Downwinders sickened by Cold War tests. New environmental
studies are due early next month. The test won't go ahead before
spring.
The agency agreed to consider other sites for the test and,
according to DTRA documents, looked at White Sands Missile
Range, N.M.; China Lake, Calif.; Mitchell, Ind.; and Dugway
Proving Ground, but all were ruled out because of cost or
uncertainties about the geology.
DTRA did not conduct any formal studies on other sites,
Hatch said. The sites listed were examples used by DTRA to show
how moving the site would be overly expensive.
DTRA says Divine Strake is the final validation of new
targeting tools designed to help destroy bunkers and
underground targets.
It entails blowing up 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel
oil, the same explosive mixture used to destroy the Oklahoma
City federal building, only about 280 times more powerful.
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. There is concern that the soil
may have been irradiated by past nuclear tests and could pose a
health threat to residents in southern Nevada and Utah.
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.
gehrke@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
54 Deseret News: Panel on Hill OKs Goshute, PFS legal-fees settlement
[deseretnews.com]
Saturday, November 18, 2006
By Josh Loftin
Deseret Morning News
Legislative leaders approved
a settlement for attorney fees with Private Fuel Storage and the
Skull Valley Band of the Goshute Indian Tribe.
With the settlement, PFS will receive $775,000 and the
tribe will receive $68,000. All of the money will be used to
cover attorneys' fees incurred during a legal fight over Utah
laws that targeted the storage of high-level nuclear waste.
The Legislative Management Committee, which is made up of
members of the House and Senate leadership teams, unanimously
approved the settlement Tuesday with almost no discussion. The
settlement has been previously approved by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
Under legislative rules, any settlement between $500,000
and $1 million needs to be approved by the committee and the
governor. Anything above $1 million would require the approval
of the entire Legislature and the governor.
"I'm convinced this is a good settlement," Senate
President John Valentine, R-Orem, said. "It represents good work
on the part of the state and the litigants."
The lawsuit stemmed from laws passed by the Legislature
between 1998 and 2001 that established licensing requirements
for storing spent nuclear fuel, required county government to
impose restrictions on the waste and gave the state the ability
to regulate road construction to the site.
Department of Environmental Quality executive director
Dianne Nielson said the laws were intended to "protect the
environment and the public."
The Goshutes and PFS took the issue to the federal court,
where U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ruled that federal laws
took precedence over the state laws. The state appealed the
ruling to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, where
they also lost and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the
issue.
Despite those court victories, the high-level storage
site has not been able to move forward and is now considered
practically dead because of federal decisions on lease and
access issues.
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com
2006 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
55 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Schools look for ways to dispose of radioactive materialsBy
NOVEMBER 19, 2006
Megan ReichgottASSOCIATED PRESS11/18/2006
CHICAGO (AP) -- A physics teacher was taking inventory of
chemicals in a storage room at Tri-City High School when she
noticed a container that looked a little strange.
She peered closer and worried that it was radioactive. It turns
out, it was.
"She was very alert about realizing that it could be a hazard,"
said Randy Dwyer, principal of the central Illinois school.
School labs have used low-level radioactive materials safely for
decades; experts say they're critical in teaching physics and
chemistry. Sealed samples -- often leftovers from past
experiments -- frequently are saved in closets and storerooms.
But as teachers retire and containers get shoved aside to make
way for new samples, it's easy for schools to lose track of what
they've got, or to store them incorrectly, said Dr. Sandra West,
an associate biology professor at Southwest Texas State
University in San Marcos.
"It isn't that schools shouldn't have them (radioactive
materials), but it shouldn't be a surprise that they have these
materials in inventory," West said.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency launched a program this
month to help schools safely dispose of radioactive materials.
IEMA officials collect the materials and send them to a
radioactive waste disposal facility.
Illinois' program is one of several around the country -- such
as Connecticut, Colorado, and Vermont -- that have sprung up
since the federal government, following the 2001 terrorist
attacks, recommended hunting down radioactive materials in
schools, businesses and medical facilities.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Energy has collected
radioactive materials from more than 10,000 sites, mostly in
schools and businesses, since 1999.
At Tri-City in Buffalo, Dwyer turned to IEMA for help with the
strange containers at his school. IEMA officials removed three
containers of radioactive material earlier this month.
"It wasn't something where we had a biological hazard, but any
is beyond the level of safety for our school," Dwyer said. "Why
have something laying around that could become a prank? We don't
want to be the headline of the national news."
Schools' radioactive discoveries aren't limited to science labs.
In what one state official called a "classic example," a
Colorado high school kept a chunk of ore from a field trip in a
display case for years.
The rock turned out to be radioactive, said Ken Niswonger, chief
chemist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment, which has collected materials from schools since
1999.
"The ore was quite hot," Niswonger said. "Everyone who walked by
got quite a high dose (of radiation) over 20 or 30 years."
In one extreme case, Texas officials found three radiological
devices at high schools in San Antonio last year, West said.
The barrel-shaped, lead-shielded machines, called "gammators,"
were used in the 1960s and 1970s to teach students about
radiation exposure to plants and seeds. Inside each 1,850-pound
gammator was a rod of cesium-137, a radioactive isotope widely
used in businesses and medical research.
In the wrong hands, the cesium-137 could be used to make a dirty
bomb, West said.
Still, most people overreact when they hear the word
"radiation," which comes from manmade and natural sources --
like the sun and earth -- and is safe if stored correctly, said
Kevin Roark, spokesman for the Santa Fe, N.M.-based Los Alamos
National Laboratory.
"People have a somewhat irrational fear of all things
radioactive," Roark said. "There's a real educational purpose.
You need that stuff to teach chemistry. And physics. But if
you're not using them correctly, then you shouldn't have them."
The most common problem is that schools don't take annual
inventory of their storage closets or keep material lists handy
for staff, experts said.
"Almost everything can be used safely if you take the time to
understand what you've got, but many districts don't," said
James A. Kaufman, director of The Laboratory Safety Institute in
Natick, Mass., a nonprofit agency that promotes school lab
safety.
Most school administrators also don't include in their budgets
money to get rid of radioactive materials, Kaufman said.
Hiring someone to remove those materials would cost schools more
than $1,000 per job, according to IEMA.
"Year after year ... there's no money to pay for the disposal of
hazardous waste so it accumulates and chemicals accumulate,"
Kaufman said.
Principals were happy to hear about Illinois' program, said IEMA
spokeswoman Patti Thompson. At least 42 schools, including
Tri-City, have requested pickups.
"It's a low hazard but they (principals) want no hazard,"
Thompson said.
On the Net:
The Laboratory Safety Institute:
National Science Education Leadership Association:
Los Alamos National Laboratory:
*****************************************************************
56 Carlsbad Current-Argus: Potential RH delay unfortunate
Potential RH delay unfortunate
The Current-Argus
Article Launched:11/18/2006 09:11:14 PM MST
With only one day left in the 30-day appeal period for the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant's Re-mote-Handled Waste permit, an
environmental group has filed an appeal.
Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping - CARD - has
filed notice of appeal with a plan to bring the matter before
the New Mexico Court of Appeals. Unfortunately, it appears as
little more than a delay tactic.
New Mexico Environment Secretary Ron Curry and his team that
processed WIPP's permit to accept remote handled waste did not
make this decision lightly. Public hearings in Carlsbad and
Santa Fe were held, as well as the lengthy comment period
required by this governmental proc-ess. Scientists outlined the
data, and the public was free to weigh in on the idea of WIPP
accept-ing nuclear waste with higher penetrating radiation
levels than what has been disposed of so far.
During the hearings, CARD argued against the permit as a matter
of environmental justice - meaning that this area was targeted
for nuclear waste and was accepting of it because of the
demographics of the area in relation to heritage, education and
income. That argument was dis-missed by the hearing officer as
lacking any sort of sound scientific basis.
Sound science and an impeccable record of safety for WIPP -
combined with the fact that re-mote handled transuranic waste was
always part of the full plan for WIPP - undoubtedly con-tributed
to Curry and Governor Bill Richardson approving the permit
modification.
In the next 30 days, CARD will have to state its argument
against the permit approval. This appeal may or may not go forth
in the coming months, even as the workers at WIPP ready the site
for RH waste. We are confident that the science used to make the
permit decision will prevail in the courts.
Obviously, CARD has every legal right to appeal. However, in the
absence of new scientifically based data or a compelling fresh
argument, the only real promise to the appeal will be a delay of
this important work - work that will make our nation safer.
Copyright © 2005 Carlsbad Current Argus, a MediaNews Group
Newspaper.
*****************************************************************
57 DailyBulletin.com: Wyle cleanup pleases, frustrates Norco residents
By Andrea Bennett, Staff Writer
Article Launched:11/18/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
NORCO - Residents concerned about contaminants from the former
Wyle Laboratories site are finding both progress and delay in
the ongoing investigation and cleanup of the former munitions
testing facility.
State Department of Toxic Substances Control scientists on
Thursday night presented residents with the latest maps of two
trichloroethylene, or TCE, groundwater plumes, and showed that
they are rapidly zeroing in on the source of one of the plumes
that runs under houses as well as Norco High School.
But residents of 27 houses tested for indoor air contamination
have yet to be notified of results. A first round of testing had
produced inconsistent results.
"The numbers were different between the two canisters, and we
didn't know which numbers were correct," project manager Rafat
Abassi said. "So, we went back and resampled and didn't find any
contaminants. But in order to avoid any problems in the second
round, we've modified our methodologies."
Bob Brunell, who lives on Buckboard Lane above the TCE plume,
said he has heard nothing from state officials in more than six
months. But he isn't too concerned.
"Mainly, it sounds to me like whatever pollution is here, it's
underground," Brunell said.
The new testing approach includes "grab" samples, which utilize
a syringe to get the sample, and should be completed in
December, Abassi said.
In addition, perchlorate and nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA,
plume maps were displayed at the community meeting, but with a
caveat.
Perchlorate levels in shallow groundwater in the northwest
section of the site were inconsistent, department geologist Theo
Johnson said.
At the time of the testing, a more sophisticated method of
detecting perchlorate, known as 331, had not yet been certified
by the Environmental Protection Agency, Abassi said.
Abassi said the old method was prone to false positives and
susceptible to the interference of other chemicals. As a result,
the state ordered Wyle to redo the testing with the new method.
Representatives from neither Wyle nor its environmental
consulting company Environ could be reached Friday afternoon for
comment on the different testing methods.
Charting the perchlorate plume is of the utmost importance for
some residents who claim their thyroid problems are linked to
Wyle, as the chemical is known to cause thyroid illnesses.
The state, however, continues to stress that the real threat is
the TCE.
"You have to drink perchlorate-contaminated water to complete
the pathway," Abassi said. "TCE in shallow groundwater can
potentially impact indoor air quality. ... TCE is the biggest
potential issue here. TCE you can inhale."
While the 27 homeowners wait to find out the safety of the air
they breathe, residents such as Tony Mauro, whose daughter has
suffered from thyroid problems, are also anxious to learn more
about the perchlorate.
"TCE is volatile and it comes in vapor form, but the thing we
don't understand is - perchlorate is soluble in water and when
water evaporates, does it take the perchlorate up with it?"
Mauro asked.
Andrea Bennett can be reached at (909) 483-9347 or by e-mail at
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
*****************************************************************
58 New Haven Register: Rell rejects plan to store nuke waste
-HARTFORD Gov. M. Jodi Rell is one of 18 governors protesting
proposed legislation to use money from utility ratepayers to
create temporary sites around the country where spent nuclear
fuel would be stored until a national repository can be built.
Rell and the 17 other governors sent a letter Thursday to
chairmen and ranking members of the U.S. House and Senate
Appropriations Committees opposing a version of a fiscal 2007
Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act.
The letter comes three months after Rell and other governors
wrote to congressional leaders expressing concern that
legislation being considered by federal lawmakers could force
Connecticut and other states where spent nuclear fuel is stored
to automatically become temporary sites.
"This is something that the governor wants to make sure is kept
on the front burner," said Adam Liegeot, a Rell spokesman. Rell
and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine spearheaded the letter-writing
effort, he said.
The real fear of officials in Connecticut and other states is
that the temporary sites will ultimately become permanent
storage locations, he said.
Spent nuclear fuel is stored on the site of the former
Connecticut Yankee Nuclear plant in Haddam and at Millstone
Nuclear Power plant in Waterford.
"The bottom line is, Governor Rell is not going to sit idly by
and allow these temporary facilities to become de facto final
resting places for nuclear waste," Liegeot said.
The letter from the governors criticizes the appropriations
legislation for "providing the Department of Energy with new,
expansive authority to create numerous nuclear waste storage
sites that represents a retreat from language of the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act and its establishment of a centralized
repository."
"Shifting the federal programs focus away from a repository to
the construction, licensing and operation of many interim
storage sites across the country could harm disposal efforts
irreparably," the letter says.
"Furthermore, Section 313 (of the Appropriations Act) would
direct the department to establish new state and regional waste
storage sites without the consent and over the potential
objections of governors. This is wholly unacceptable to our
constituents and to us," the letter continues.
The Connecticut Yankee plant, which was closed in 1996, has 40
steel and concrete casks, known as dry storage. Millstone has
dry storage and wet storage, the latter being a building in
which super-hot bundles of spent nuclear fuel rods are stored in
water for five to seven years before being moved to dry storage.
The federal government in the early 1980s established a fund to
build a centralized, permanent storage facility at Yucca
Mountain, 90 miles north of Las Vegas.
But the project has seen numerous construction delays and isnt
expected to be completed until 2017.
That resulted in a number of lawsuits by a variety of nuclear
power plant operators including the consortium that operated
Connecticut Yankee claiming federal energy officials broke a
contractual promise to have a centralized storage site in
operation by 1998.
Liegeot said the governor sees the appropriations bill as a
"plan that has been hatched without any state input."
Luther Turmelle can be reached at lturmelle@nhregister.com or
269-1496.
New Haven Register 2006
*****************************************************************
59 The Day: Losing The Nuclear-waste Lottery
theday.com
By Vanessa Pierce
Published on 11/19/2006 in Editorial Perspective
The domes of Indian Point in Buchanan, N.Y., shown in February.
The site includes three nuclear power plants.
I well recall the horror of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, in
which a town periodically selects one unfortunate resident to be
stoned to death. During the event, a town elder patronizingly
brushes off protests from wavering townspeople, and the deed is
done.
The nuclear power industry has created some fairly horrific
situations as well. Unfortunately, their attitude towards
reasonable questions seems to be like that of the town elder: we
know what's best for you even when you have evidence to the
contrary.
Given that some are promoting nuclear power to address our
energy concerns, answers to those questions are critical. The
safety and security concerns of nuclear facilities are the tip
of the iceberg. That the industry refuses to aggressively
address them is far more troubling.
It gets worse, though. Every kilowatt produced by nuclear power
creates material so toxic it will be harmful for thousands if
not millions of years to come. The industry blithely proposes to
reprocess spent nuclear fuel, but what nuclear spokespersons
don't mention is that reprocessing still produces a massive
amount of nuclear waste, increases proliferation risks, and its
incredible expense will be borne by tax-payers.
Enter EnergySolutions, a Salt Lake City company, recently became
the nation's largest full-service nuclear waste company. Utah
generates none of its electricity from nuclear power.
But because 97 percent of the low-level nuclear waste disposed
of at commercial facilities in the U.S. is dumped at
EnergySolutions, growth of the nuclear power industry and
reprocessing in the U.S. would mean a continuous, and increased,
nuclear waste stream for Utah. This is why we identify with the
unlucky victim in the story who wins the lottery.
Our sacrifice is not by stoning, but nuclear power's lasting
legacy: nuclear waste.
Our situation would be comical were it not so serious. In our
efforts to prevent Utah from becoming the nation's low-level
nuclear dumping ground, we prevented EnergySolutions from
doubling its geographic size. But much like a game of nuclear
whack-a-mole, the company is now proposing to double the height
of its disposal cells.
Imagine an eight-story tower of nuclear waste proposed for a
meadow in Farmington, Glastonbury or Wethersfield and you'll
understand our fears.
We find ourselves faced with a problem much like that that of
the residents in The Lottery we are all victims of a system
based upon the premise that somebody must play the role of the
sacrificial victim in order for the rest to survive. But as we
sacrifice one backyard for another we must remember that this
notion is as erroneous and unnecessary in real life as it is in
Ms. Jackson's fictitious town.
Aggressively pushing energy efficiency and conservation would
decrease the amount of nuclear waste produced.
Quantifying the environmental, public health, and disposal
costs, which far surpass the price on our bills, of nuclear
power would expose it as a financially undesirable prospect.
And moving the billions of dollars in subsidies that the nuclear
industry enjoys to support emerging renewable energy sources
would do much to level the playing field. Energy policy makers
need to know this.
States like Connecticut are making progress towards a
sustainable energy system with the Connecticut Clean Energy
Options program that offers ratepayers the choice of a nuclear
and fossil free electricity option.
Keep us in mind the next time you buy a lottery ticket. You're
playing to win, but we're fighting not to lose.
Vanessa Pierce is the Executive Director of HEAL Utah. She spoke
at the PACE meeting Saturday at the Unitarian Society in
Hartford.
[TheDay.com]
What Do You Think?
Privacy Policy | Contact Us at 1 (860) 442-2200 | New London,
CT | © 1998-2006 The Day Publishing Co. [Beacon Locator]
*****************************************************************
60 News & Star: Positive nuclear reaction to PM’s Sellafield visit
Published on 18/11/2006
New faces: Tony Blair meets apprentices and staff at Sellafield
By Andrea Thompson
SELLAFIELD union leaders are pushing for at least two new
reactors to be built on site following Tony Blair’s
announcement that it has a vital role to play in the rebirth of
the nuclear industry.
The Prime Minister’s visit to Sellafield on Thursday is being
hailed as an important morale-booster for the workforce and he
sent out a clear message that west Cumbria has a bright future.
It has given union leaders confidence to push for a new nuclear
build at Sellafield, which is at risk of losing around 8,000
jobs in the next 10 years through decommissioning.
Peter Kane, the site’s GMB union convener, who initiated the
PM’s visit after inviting him on behalf of the joint shop
stewards’ committee, said: “We’ll ask for three reactors
and settle for two.
“We are quite prepared – and I believe the community is –
to take new reactors at Sellafield to replace Calder Hall.”
The GMB union also told Mr Blair that Sellafield should provide
the skills and facilities to deal with the entire nuclear cycle,
should manufacture Mox and use this in the new reactors, should
reprocess spent fuel, be the core centre of excellence for
decommissioning existing nuclear power stations in Britain and
overseas, should be the site of deep underground storage and
house advanced research and development facilities.
Copeland MP Jamie Reed said: “The visit was a symbol that west
Cumbria has a future and there is real hope of a renaissance.
“There is definite engagement with west Cumbria from the very
top of central government, when the Prime Minister comes to town
and says ‘I know what you are doing, I like what you are doing
and what can I do to help?’. The visit rammed home the point
that west Cumbria is part of the solution in the battle against
climate change. You can’t have a British nuclear industry
without west Cumbria.”
But campaigners from Cumbrians Opposed to A Radioactive
Environment said the visit was “a matter of the blind leading
the blind – everyone ignoring the one reality that nuclear
power can make no contribution whatsoever to carbon reduction or
security of supply in the near future because of its long build
time”.
Mr Blair gave definite assurances that Sellafield has a bright
future ahead of it, bringing tremendous opportunities for the
area.
He told workers: “I come here somewhat optimistic about the
future, but it’s going to be down to you because the skills
that you have are rare, they are valuable and we need to
treasure those skills as well as an important part of the skills
base for the country.
“I can see a situation in which Sellafield doesn’t just look
back on 50 years of history, but looks forward to another half
century of commitment and dedication and service to our country
and this industry. I think this is a tremendous opportunity for
Sellafield.”
Mr Blair said the fact that Britain’s first National Nuclear
Laboratory is to be based a Sellafield demonstrated his faith in
the plant. He also met with the ‘future’ face of the nuclear
industry – Sellafield graduates and apprentices, including
Linda McLean, of Whitehaven.
The 27-year-old graduate said: “The fact that he took time out
from a very busy schedule specifically to meet some of the
graduates and apprentices shows that he understands nuclear is
not an industry that is in decline but is rather an industry
that provides lots of interesting and challenging opportunities
for young people and will do so for many years to come.
“Today’s younger generation is key to the success of the
industry in future years and it's satisfying to know that this
is recognised.”
Copeland leader Elaine Woodburn said the visit emphasised the
important role that Copeland has in the nuclear future for
Britain and was a demonstration that the government knows what
challenges the area faces.
She was particularly pleased that the PM has invited a
delegation to Number 10 in the New Year so he can personally go
through the West Cumbria Master Plan, a blueprint to secure the
area’s economic future.
AThompson@cngroup.co.uk
*****************************************************************
61 News & Star: Sellafield blacklist probe
Published on 18/11/2006
AN INVESTIGATION is to be launched into an alleged blacklist of
Sellafield contractors which caused 220 workers to stage a
walk-out on Tuesday.
Amicus regional officer John Fallows said British Nuclear Group
is going to investigate the list which contains the names of 12
men to be removed from a job.
He said there are no reasons why those men, who are working for
subcontractor Hertel Services, should have been singled out.
The investigation will determine who was behind the list and why
it was formulated.
The Hertel contractors have now all returned to work as normal.
*****************************************************************
62 Morocco joins global anti-nuclear initiative
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 09:54:36 -0600 (CST)
Reuters.com
Morocco joins global anti-nuclear initiative
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=
006-10-30T234425Z_01_L29806162_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-INITIATIVE-MOROCCO
xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C5-worldNews-7
Mon Oct 30, 2006
By Lamine Ghanmi
RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco on Monday became the first Arab state to join
a global initiative led by Russia and the United States to combat
nuclear terrorism, officials said.
The five major nuclear weapons states and seven other countries held
their first meeting in Rabat to begin implementing the anti-nuclear
terror initiative, first launched at the Group of 8 summit in Russia in
July, they said.
"We launched our cooperation against nuclear terrorism and established
a shield of cooperation to stop such terrorism," Omar Hilali, secretary
general of Morocco's Foreign Ministry, told a news conference.
UnderSecretary of State Robert Joseph and Russia's Deputy Foreign
Minister Sergei Kislyak addressed the news conference to praise
Morocco's anti-nuclear proliferation record and commitment to fighting
global terrorism. The two officials are co-chairmen of the
initiative.
Morocco joined the 12 initial members at the end of the first day of
the meeting on Monday in the first expansion of the initiative's
membership. It was initially an observer.
"Meeting in Morocco will send a positive signal in the global fight
against nuclear terrorism," Joseph said.
The meeting in Rabat aims to make progress on a statement of principles
for a "global initiative to combat nuclear terrorism", he said.
Joseph said the countries attending the meeting must work together to
deny terrorists access to nuclear materials, prevent nuclear terrorism,
and respond in case of a nuclear attack by terrorists.
"A terrorism nuclear attack will change the world as we know," said
Hilali.
Participating states included Britain, China and France -- which like
Russia and the United States have nuclear weapons -- plus Australia,
Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Morocco.
Kazakhstan, which gave up nuclear weapons after the Soviet Union fell,
was keen to lead the initiative in Central Asia, which had seen
instability and dissident groups vying for power, the officials said.
Turkey was invited because of its role as an important crossroads
between the Middle East and the West.
The three officials were vague about what the outcome of the meeting in
Rabat.
An U.S. official who spoke from Washington in condition of anonymity
said the initiative aimed to have participating states make "a
commitment and build capacities to prevent the acquisition of sensitive
materials by terrorist groups".
He cited "better protection of radioactive and nuclear materials,
better accounting, better security practices, including improved
protection of civilian nuclear facilities which may be vulnerable to
terrorist attack". "The emphasis is on both detection and interdiction
of the material once detected," he added.
Not on the list were two other nuclear weapons states -- India, which
is developing new ties with the United States, and Pakistan.
Participants said the program was modeled on the Proliferation Security
Initiative (PSI), launched by Washington several years ago as a loosely
organized group.
Adherents, who number more than 60, share intelligence and conduct
exercises aimed at interdicting shipments, including at sea, of items
that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction or their
delivery systems.
(Additional reporting by Carol Giacomo in Washington)
) Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
63 [NYTr] Anti-Nuke Nuns' Canned-Food Restitution
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 03:51:35 -0500 (EST)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Global Network - Nov 18, 2006
The Denver Post - Nov 16, 2006
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_4668314
Nuns' canned-food offer isn't up to prosecutor's palate
By Diane Carman
Denver Post Staff Columnist
As a stand-up comic, Robert Brown makes a great deputy U.S. attorney.
Then again, for everyone but a prosecutor, the threat of federal
prison is usually not very funny.
On Wednesday, Brown met on the sidewalk outside his Denver office with the
three media darlings who have haunted him for four years-- the anti-nuke
nuns.
"You look great," he teased. "Prison was good for you."
The Dominican sisters, Ardeth Platte, 70, Carol Gilbert, 59, and
Jackie Hudson, 72, had come to town in yet another attempt to fulfill
the gnarliest part of the sentences imposed on them by U.S. District
Judge Robert Blackburn when they were convicted of damaging government
property and obstructing the national defense in 2003.
They are trying to pay off $3,082 in restitution to the U.S. Air
Force - in canned goods.
They are collecting food for military families on public assistance.
Now, all this is about as funny as a cluster bomb, but the sisters
have kept their spirits high through trials, prison terms and travel
bans, and they're not about to lose their sense of humor now.
When they arrived at Brown's office, they delivered cans of food,
and, as with every aspect of their lives, their choices were rich
with symbolism.
Hudson brought pork and beans to represent the pork-barrel nature
of the military-industrial complex, and a can of corn "because this
case has been so corny from the beginning."
Platte delivered canned clams - saying the American people have
"clammed up long enough. It's time to speak truth to power" - and
a tin of beef stew.
"With the massive numbers of people who have been killed in this
war, I don't want to stew over this any longer."
Gilbert selected sweet peas - "To give peas a chance" - and cream
of mushroom soup, representing the radiation cloud from a nuclear
bomb, a weapon that has been used by only one country in the world,
she said - the U.S.
The sisters put the word out about the food drive via the Internet,
enlisting help from around the world. The way they calculate it,
they would need about 4,000 cans of food to fulfill the required
restitution.
Boxes of food began arriving Wednesday morning, and the prosecutors
were none too happy when the office decorum was insulted with cans
of beans for indigent soldiers' families. "Take it four blocks down
to the Catholic mission," said an exasperated Brown, who insisted
the only way the restitution will be accepted is in cash.
"We're not rich. You know that," said Gilbert.
Moments later a written statement was delivered to the nuns on the
sidewalk. "The U.S. Attorney's Office cannot accept food in lieu
of restitution in this case," it said. The food drive is "a
tremendously thoughtful act," but the nuns were directed to send
assistance to a military facility or charitable agency.
Not ones to be discouraged - especially when they've got government
officials looking like heartless cheapskates - the nuns held their
ground, rallying antiwar groups to coordinate food collection and
delivery to military bases.
They remain hopeful that Blackburn can be persuaded to accept the
canned-food payment plan even though last month he rejected their
first attempt at making restitution. That one offered hundreds of
hours of community service as well as $600,000 raised in their names
for literacy programs, soup kitchens and victims of disasters.
"This is a grace-filled holy action," said Gilbert. "Our conscience
doesn't allow us to participate in war by providing any money for
bombs or violence."
Brown told the nuns to take it up with the judge. Then he leaned
back, took a long look at the gray-haired women in their long
underwear, wool scarves, heavy socks and thick gloves, and smiled.
"I have more fun with you guys," he said.
As he turned to walk toward his office, Gilbert called to him one
last time. "We'll keep you in our prayers," she said.
It was not a joke.
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011 (207) 729-0517 http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com http://space4peace.blogspot.com (our blog)
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*****************************************************************
64 KnoxNews: An ORNL pioneer, director honored
Weinberg, who died at age 91, called a man of compassion,
conscience
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
November 19, 2006
OAK RIDGE - Alvin Weinberg's memorial service was a bit like the
man himself: thoughtful and thought provoking.
Family and friends, colleagues and admirers turned out Saturday
afternoon to share memories and honor Weinberg's life and career.
The nuclear pioneer and longtime director of Oak Ridge National
Laboratory died a month ago at age 91.
A couple of hundred people attended the service at Pollard
Auditorium.
Weinberg was called a prophet who foresaw the benefits and
pitfalls of nuclear energy. He was called a "worrywart about the
human race," a man of conscience and compassion.
He was remembered for his competitive presence on the tennis
courts and his skills at the piano bench. He was remembered for
his clever phrasing and his knack for naming things - things like
"Big Science" and "technological fix."
His scientific colleagues knew Weinberg as a demanding, caring
boss who always sat on the front row during information meetings
at ORNL and invariably asked that first, probing question that
showed he was listening and always, always learning.
To his family, he was caring, generous and sometimes funny.
His niece, Judith Goleman, recalled a time in the 1940s when
Uncle Alvin "did a great imitation of Groucho Marx."
Aaron Wolf, Weinberg's grandnephew, remembered that he'd always
bring things whenever he visited. "Everybody in the family got a
tennis racquet and a radioactive dime."
Weinberg was an ambassador for nuclear energy following his early
work during the World War II Manhattan Project and continuing
throughout his lengthy career. He predicted a "second nuclear
era,'' a rebirth of nuclear power's population, and some people
believe that could emerge in the 21st century.
"I wish he could have lived to see it happen," Alex Zucker, a
longtime colleague and friend, said Saturday.
Zucker said Weinberg's name was known on six continents during
the prime of his career and also by a clerk at a Washington,
D.C., liquor store, where the brilliant scientist would stock his
briefcase for the return to what at the time was a "dry" Oak
Ridge.
Richard Weinberg, his surviving son who is a neuroscientist,
remembered that as a kid he was awed by his father's ability to
blow smoke rings and read sheet music to play Christmas carols on
the piano. In later years, his father was a rescuer, a friend and
a scientific inspiration.
"Alvin was my hero. He remains my hero. I will miss him," his son
said.
Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.
2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
*****************************************************************
65 KnoxNews: Uranium process still used at Y-12
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
November 18, 2006
OAK RIDGE - Contrary to an earlier report, the Y-12 nuclear
weapons plant is not dumping a new technique for processing
uranium.
In early November, a plant spokesman said Y-12 had abandoned
development of "saltless direct oxide reduction," a process that
exploded during a test operation in 2003. "Programmatic
requirements changed, and we no longer needed to pursue that
technology," Y-12 spokesman Bill Wilburn said in an e-mail
response to questions.
This week, however, Y-12 issued a new statement that said the
process had been successfully tested, was still in development
and would be deployed when the Uranium Processing Facility - a
proposed $1 billion manufacturing center - becomes operational
sometime around 2015.
Wilburn said the earlier statement was the result of a
miscommunication. "I was wrong," he said.
The saltless direct oxide reduction project, which converts
uranium to a metal form, is still the preferred technology for
future use, Wilburn said.
According to the news statement: "Problems encountered early in
the development were solved, and the process was redesigned and
simplified. SDOR was fully proven-in this year at the scale
needed for the new facility when it comes on line. In other
words, the safety, efficiency, throughput, and quality of the
process have been demonstrated."
The reason work was stopped on the project earlier this year was
because the development activities had been completed, "with the
exception of some minor refinement of the system configuration
and putting together the final technical package for the new
processing facility," the statement said.
Wilburn said there are plans to finish the work and "put the
technology on the shelf" until needed.
Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.
2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
*****************************************************************
66 Tri-City Herald: Fines proposed for Hanford incidents
Published Saturday, November 18th, 2006
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
The Department of Energy plans to fine CH2M Hill Hanford Group
$82,500 for safety violations in two incidents in which Hanford
workers were contaminated with radioactive waste.
The proposed fine includes a $27,500 penalty for faulty and
missing equipment that should have been available to
decontaminate workers.
In the first incident in September 2005, workers were moving
equipment from an underground tank recently emptied of
radioactive waste created during production of plutonium at the
Hanford nuclear reservation for the nation's nuclear weapons
program.
Among the equipment was an air transfer hose used as part of a
system to vacuum waste from the tank. It was believed to be free
of contamination and not pressurized.
However, the line was partially pressurized and workers felt a
puff of air from it. They were wearing supplied air respirators
and radiation protection clothing, but some skin on their heads
was unprotected.
Five of the six workers received contamination on their skin,
including contamination on the hair, neck and foreheads of some.
DOE reported an emergency response vehicle for the area had been
out of service for an extended period and no backup vehicle had
been provided.
Nearby tents also were not supplied with response kits or
equipment for decontamination, it said.
Three of the workers were taken to a decontamination trailer in
another tank farm. The sink there would have been the best way
to wash contamination off the workers' faces and necks, but it
did not work, the report said.
The shower in the decontamination trailer was working, but the
drain valves were misaligned and contaminated water overflowed
onto the ground, DOE said.
DOE also criticized CH2M Hill for inadequate planning of the
work to remove equipment from the tank. Rather than taking a
conservative approach, CH2M Hill used the logic of "assume it is
clean unless proven otherwise," the report said.
The potential for waste to have made its way into the air and
water hoses was not considered in the contractor's analysis of
hazards that might be encountered in the work, DOE said. The
work plan also did not call for a check of the radiation level
when the hoses were disconnected.
In the second incident in March 2006, two workers had skin
contaminated with radioactive waste and a third had clothing
contaminated when a camera was being removed from a small tank
that's part of a secondary waste system. The camera had been
inserted into a closed tank to see why the level of waste inside
was decreasing.
After the camera was lifted out, a gust of wind blew waste onto
the workers.
The camera had not been wrapped in plastic to contain
contamination and no checks of radiation levels were done in the
area where the camera was removed, DOE said. Workers believed
there was no loose contamination and very low radiation levels
based on their work to insert the camera.
In both incidents, workers were not exposed to radiation levels
above DOE limits.
The proposed fine would have been twice as large, but DOE agreed
to reduce it because of CH2M Hill's analyses of the causes of
the problems and its prompt action to correct them, said DOE in
a letter to CH2M Hill.
"Our goal is to maintain the highest standards of safety
performance," said Mark Spears, president of CH2M Hill, in a
statement. "The events cited in the enforcement action clearly
fell below the mark."
CH2M Hill has worked with employees to make dramatic
improvements in its safety program and record over the last
year, he said.
As part of the investigation, DOE also identified quality
improvement problems. But it agreed CH2M Hill had been making
progress in implementing safety initiatives and decided to delay
any enforcement action to see if more progress is made.
DOE plans to evaluate CH2M Hill's performance again in six
months.
CH2M Hill has 30 days to respond to DOE's announcement of the
proposed fine.
The Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988 authorizes DOE to fine
contractors for violations of nuclear safety requirements as
part of a program in which DOE indemnifies contractors against
nuclear accidents.
2006 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
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67 Tri-City Herald: New prime contracts in works at Hanford
Published Saturday, November 18th, 2006
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
New employees would not receive traditional Hanford retirement
benefits under three proposed prime contracts at the nuclear
reservation, according to draft requests for proposals released
Friday by the Department of Energy.
All three requests for proposals from potential Hanford
contractors require "market-based" retirement and health care
programs for new employees. Employees already accruing benefits
in the Hanford retirement system could remain on that system
under the new contracts.
One of the proposed new contracts would cover work now being
done by CH2M Hill Hanford Group to manage the tank farms in
central Hanford. The other two would divide the work now being
done by Fluor Hanford into separate contracts for support
services for the entire nuclear reservation and cleanup of
central Hanford other than the tank farms.
Each of the new contracts would be awarded for five years with
options to extend them for another five years. They also include
a 90-day transition period.
They are intended to be in place at least by the time CH2M
Hill's and Fluor's current two-year contract extensions expire
at the end of September 2008.
All three of the new contracts would cover costs of doing work
at Hanford plus offer incentive fees. The support services fee
would be no more than 8 percent of the total contract cost, and
the fee for doing cleanup work at the tank farms or the rest of
central Hanford would be no more than 10 percent of the total
contract cost.
The proposed change to a two-tiered pension plan revives DOE
plans announced this spring to move to the two-tiered retirement
and medical plan across the DOE complex.
"DOE has seen escalating and volatile growth in costs for
reimbursement of contractor em-ployees' defined benefit pension
and other post-retirement benefits," Energy Secretary Samuel
Bodman wrote then in a letter to a key congressional leader.
But the proposal proved unpopular and DOE agreed in June to
delay the changes for a year. That proposal would require new
employees to be offered a 401(k)-style plan in which workers
would invest money. Rather than receive a set payment each month
in retirement, their benefits would depend on how well they
invested and managed their retirement money.
Although the lengthy draft requests for proposals apparently do
not specify the type of plans contractors could offer new
employees, they do require them to be no more than 5 percent
above the average for comparable industries.
The Hanford Advisory Board has recommended that DOE stick with
its traditional benefit package for all workers, with members
saying that good benefits have helped retain experienced workers
at the site.
Although the Washington Closure Hanford contract for cleanup
work along the Columbia River splits workers into a two-tiered
pension system, that contract was awarded for work that is
supposed to be completed in seven years rather than the decades
that may be required for cleanup of central Hanford work. New
employees doing river corridor cleanup likely would not be
vested long enough in the Hanford pension system to build up
significant benefits, according to those who agreed to the
change.
The proposed new contracts would require new contractors to give
first preference in hiring in nonmanagement positions to current
Hanford employees for the first six months of work.
The requests for proposals for doing the work places some
restrictions on bidders if they also will be doing other work at
Hanford, based on concerns over conflicts of interest.
The support services contractor may not hold a contract for
other major projects at Hanford such as the vitrification plant,
cleanup of the Columbia River corridor, operation of the tank
farms or cleanup of central Hanford. That includes both the head
contractors applying for the support services contract, members
of their teams and their parent companies or affiliates.
The tank farm contract request for proposals excludes companies
that hold contracts to do work at the vitrification plant, which
will treat the waste in the underground tanks once it is built.
No conflict of interest restrictions are included in the draft
request for proposals for the central Hanford cleanup.
The support services contract would include services needed to
support contractors performing the work of cleaning up
contamination from the past production of plutonium for the
nation's nuclear weapons program. That includes security, fire
protection, computer services and other information technology,
utilities, training at HAMMER and road and railroad services.
The central Hanford cleanup contract would include monitoring
and cleaning up contaminated ground water, the completion of the
cleanup of the Plutonium Finishing Plant, treatment of K Basin
sludge, activities to shut down the Fast Flux Test Facility and
other work cleanup work not associated with the tank farms.
The tank farm contract would manage operations of 177
underground tanks, most still holding radioactive waste from
plutonium production. The contract would cover retrieving more
waste from old leak-prone tanks, closing some of the tanks and
supporting the vitrification plant.
DOE will take comments on the draft requests for proposals until
Dec. 22. It's interested in hearing comments on topics such as
its approach to avoiding conflicts of interest and how much of
the work should be done by small businesses, according to
letters sent to prospective contractors.
The letters said DOE encourages contractors to provide the
maximum opportunities possible to compete for subcontracts.
Comments on the support services draft request for proposals may
be sent to Alan Hopko at msc@rl.gov. Comments on the central
Hanford cleanup request for proposals may be sent to Jenise
Connerly at prc@rl.gov. Comments on the tank farm request for
proposals may be sent to Bob Williams at toc@rl.gov.
The requests for proposals are posted at
http://e-center.doe.gov/. Click on "Browse Opportunities," then
choose the sort function by date posted before clicking on
"Browse Business Opps."
2006 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
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