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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 RIA Novosti: Russia's arms exporter denies reported missile supplies
2 Reuters: FEATURE-China weighs Iran and Iraq risks for oil prize     
3 Antiwar.com: Gordon Prather: Bonkers Diplomacy - 
4 AFP: Larijani says Israel cannot attack Iran with US support - repor
5 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Says It's Set to Help U.S. on Iraq 
6 Brunei Times: Beijing’s balancing act in South Asia
7 YONHAP NEWS: S. Korea mulls sending chief nuclear envoy to Beijing f
8 IJD: North Koreans prepare themselves for effects of new nuclear san
9 IHT: North Korean capital decked with banners extolling nuclear stat
10 AFP: Japan's envoy on NKorea nuclear row heads to China - 
11 US: washingtonpost.com: Energy Firms Come to Terms With Climate Chan
12 [NYTr] Japan May Admit US Nuke Ship, Despite Law 
13 [v911t] Dead Russian Spy was israeli Double Agent
14 Hindustan Times.com: Pakistan signs accord with IAEA - South Asia
15 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear fissions over Trident 
16 Telugu Portal: Pakistan gets IAEA nod to legitimise n-cooperation wi
17 Independent: Hans Blix: The mild-mannered diplomat who took on Bush 
18 AFP: China, Pakistan vow to take partnership to new level 
19 Guardian Unlimited: Brown's nuclear warning 
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
20 IRNA: Pakistan gets approval for new N-plant 
21 Sydney Morning Herald: Howard must reveal nuclear sites -  Labor - 
22 Sydney Morning Herald: Brough fears backlash over energy - 
23 Sydney Morning Herald: Nuclear power in Australia within 10 years - 
24 AU ABC: Green group opposes nuclear power push
25 Korea Herald: Korea to expand nuclear power use   
26 Green Left: No to Howard's nuclear madness
27 US: Idaho Statesman: Idaho Power seeks acceptance of plan
28 IHT: China endorses India-U.S. nuclear trade deal - Indian external 
29 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Comments sought on nuclear plant
30 Independent: British Energy sell-off frozen for two years 
31 US: NEPA News: Pa. nuclear power plant shutdown under investigation
32 AU ABC: Nuclear power not an option
33 The Australian: Nuke network would take decades
34 Australian: Nuclear reactors could open in 10 years - Breaking 
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
35 [NYTr] Putin and the Poisoned Spy: Don't Rush to Judgment
36 Guardian Unlimited: Customers face radioactivity tests | UK Latest |
37 Guardian Unlimited: Brits Probe Ex-Spy's Radioactive Death 
38 Guardian Unlimited: Dying Spy Said to Accuse Russian Agent | 
39 Guardian Unlimited: Hundreds face polonium test after ex-spy's death
40 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear poison: the deadly trade 
41 Guardian Unlimited: Spy death linked to nuclear thefts
42 Guardian Unlimited: Unanswered questions over the polonium poisoning
43 AFP: Italian contact says Kremlin ordered Russian ex-spy's death -
44 BBC NEWS: Radiation found after spy's death
45 washingtonpost.com: Poisoned Russian Ex-Spy Said He Was Ordered to H
46 IHT: Doctors: Former Pakistani nuclear scientist in 'excellent healt
47 AFP: People who visited spy sushi bar urged to contact British autho
48 AFP: Spotlight on 'secret agent' in Russian spy saga 
49 Independent: Nuclear fallout: Alexander Litvinenko died in agony. Wh
50 AFP: Hundreds call health hotline over Russian ex-spy's radioactive 
51 Korea Times: 2 Exposed to Radiation at Taejon Reactor 
52 US: Los Angeles Times: Poisoned Navajo lands - 
53 UPI: Japan would allow U.S. nukes on vessels
54 UPI: British leaders discuss ex-spy's death
55 UPI: Britain to offer urine tests in spy death
56 UPI: Britain probing Russia on ex-spy's death
57 US: Santa Maria Times: `Atomic Cinematographer' reveals experiences
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
58 US: Bradenton Herald: Tallevast appeal deadline extended
59 US: Green Left - MALAWI: Concern about Australian uranium miner in M
60 Green Left: Organising against NT waste dump plans
61 GBPG: Country can't afford delay in spent nuclear fuel repository
62 US: Salt Lake Tribune - Political greed
63 US: San Bernardino County Sun: Controversy surrounds safe perchlorat
64 US: The Australian: A breath of fresh Eyre for uranium
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
65 KnoxNews: UT, ORNL will examine economic development and its impact 
66 Contra Costa Times: Labs need the tools to protect us
67 KnoxNews: Enacting terrorism plan tricky
68 SF New Mexican: LANL: Midterm shake-up yields budget concerns 
69 Las Vegas SUN: Feds plan redo of weapon sites 
70 Tri-City Herald: DOE mulls burial grounds cleanup 
71 Inside Bay Area: Newer, safer warhead re-enters U.S. arsenal
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 RIA Novosti: Russia's arms exporter denies reported missile supplies to Iran
 
25/ 11/ 2006

JAKARTA, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state-run arms
exporter Rosoboronexport on Saturday again dismissed as false
the media reports that it had begun delivering Tor M1
anti-aircraft missiles to Iran. 

Russia undertook to supply 29 Tor M1 missiles to Iran under a
$700 million contract signed at the end of last year. The United
States protested the deal, which it feared could bolster the
military capabilities of the Islamic Republic, classified by
Washington as a "rogue state" and part of "the axis of evil." 

Russia has been maintaining that the contract for the supply of
Tor M1 missiles to Iran was concluded in line with international
law and that the system was intended for defense only. 

Nikolai Dimidyuk, who leads Rosoboronexport's delegation to the
current IndoDefense international arms show in the Indonesian
capital, said: "I can affirm with 100% certainty that nothing of
the kind has happened." 

"While hunting for news, [reporters] should not forget about
reality and the truth," he said, adding that the Tor M1 is a
"purely defensive, low-range weapon." 

On Friday, a Rosoboronexport Tehran-based official also denied
Tor M1 deliveries were underway. 

"We cannot confirm reports on the start of Tor M1 air defense
missile deliveries to Iran," he told RIA Novosti. 

In July, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Rosoboronexport and
Russian warplane maker Sukhoi for exporting arms and hardware to
Iran, saying such exports violate the U.S. Nonproliferation Act
of 2000. The sanctions on Sukhoi were formally lifted earlier
this week as U.S. negotiators wrapped up talks on Russia's
accession to the World Trade Organization. 

The UN Security Council is considering international sanctions
against Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, an
activity that may potentially lead to the development of a
nuclear bomb. Sanctions proposed by the EU involve a ban on the
supply of nuclear material and technology, as well as missiles. 

Moscow, which, along with defense contracts, cooperates with
Tehran on a nuclear power plant project, has repeatedly spoken
against any punitive measures against Iran, insisting that the
country has the right to self-defense and to a civilian nuclear
program. 

The Tor M1, developed by Russian company Almaz Antei, is a
high-precision weapon for hitting aircraft, manned or unmanned,
and cruise missiles flying at an altitude of up to 10 kilometers
(6 miles). It was introduced at last year's Russian aerospace
show MAKS. 

© 2005 RIA Novosti   
*****************************************************************
 2 Reuters: FEATURE-China weighs Iran and Iraq risks for oil prize                           

Sun 26 Nov 2006 6:03 PM ET
    
(This story is part of a special report on China in the Middle
East issued on Nov. 27)

 By Jon Hemming

 TEHRAN, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Hungry for oil and gas, China may
take on political risks in Iran and security risks in Iraq to
get a foothold where Western firms fear to tread.

 Iran and Iraq together have 19 percent of global oil reserves
and some of the world's biggest undeveloped fields. 

China already gets almost half its oil imports from the Middle
East, giving it a strong strategic incentive to secure big oil
field deals in the two regional neighbours.

 In Iran, Chinese firms are "operating in an environment where
there aren't a full range of competitors. They have the
opportunity to get involved in super giant oil fields," said Ian
Brown, head of the Middle East research team at Wood Mackenzie.

 "In Iraq, whenever the time is ripe, it will be everyone and
his dog competing and the chances of having a major share will
be far less," Brown said.

 Iran is heavily reliant on oil, which represents about 80 to 90
percent of its export earnings. But its aged and declining oil
fields mean it needs increased investment just to keep output at
the present level of around 4 million barrels a day.

 So Iran needs access to foreign money and technology, but U.S.
laws prohibit American firms from investing in the Islamic
Republic. Washington can impose penalties on firms from other
countries investing more than $20 million a year in oil and gas.

 Contract disputes, delays, bureaucratic and political meddling,
infrastructure problems and concessions oil firms say are
unattractive have reduced foreign investment to a trickle.

 The problem in Iraq is perhaps more intractable -- the daily
toll of bombings, sectarian clashes and spiralling violence.

 But Iraq has the third largest reserves in the world and only
10 percent of the country has been explored for oil.

 Dozens of foreign oil companies have signed memoranda of
understanding with Iraq, seen as a way of initiating relations
with the new Baghdad government that could develop into real
deals if and when stability is achieved. 

But between April 2003 and June 2006, there were an estimated
315 attacks on Iraq's energy infrastructure and few foreign oil
firms have started work on the ground.

OPPORTUNITIES

 To escape its bind, Iran has dangled the prospect of huge
energy deals with China, which may be willing to accept less
lucrative deals to attain energy security and which
traditionally does not link investment with politics.

 This strategy, if successful, "would allow Iran to attract the
investment, expertise and technology it desperately requires
without undercutting its current domestic and political
positions," said a report by consultancy PFC Energy.

 For Iran, such deals might also help dissuade China from
backing sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.

 While U.N. Security Council negotiations over Iran sanctions
drag on, so do Tehran's talks with China's Sinopec <0386.HK>
over its Yadavaran oil field, a rich prize which could be worth
as much as $100 billion.

 What is given may also be taken away.

 "If China agrees with sanctions on Iran, not only the
government of the Islamic Republic, but also the people of Iran,
would consider China an enemy of Iran and this may affect its
political and economic cooperation," wrote Hossein
Shariatmadari, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader. 

China has yet to nail its colours to the mast as the United
States pushes for a tougher sanctions draft against Iran and
Russia argues for the European text to be watered down.

 "Russia is the key player for Iran in terms of thwarting U.N.
sanctions," said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute
of Strategic Studies in London.

 China, he said "will come in behind Russia. If Russia accepts
stronger sanctions, China will not object. China's relations
with the U.S. are more important. Iran has to sell oil to
someone and is not going to freeze China out of the market."

 Before the 2003 Iraq war, China had agreed a $700-million deal
with Saddam Hussein's government to develop the Ahdab oil field.
Now that contract is being renegotiated and the new Iraqi
government is keen to secure a deal with the Chinese.

 "Their contacts with Iraq never stopped," said a senior Iraqi
Oil Ministry official. "They are the most active firms of all.
They are on the ground with us and ready to offer all kinds of
help to develop the oil sector."

 Chinese firms are ready to take a more relaxed view of the
security risk to get in ahead of other international players.

 "They are really competing with other companies to secure
energy sources for themselves and so they are really assuming a
higher risk and also even prepared to give better conditions,"
said Muhammad-Ali Zainy, senior energy economist and analyst at
the British-based Centre for Global Energy Studies.

 While Iraq is in such dire need of investment to repair the
damage to its oil infrastructure from sanctions, war and
looting, it is unlikely to fuss about the source.

 "It is not wise to sideline anybody. The era of signing
contracts based on our mood and relations is gone. The contracts
will be given to those who are capable of doing the work," the
Iraqi official said.

 (Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Baghdad)

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

*****************************************************************
 3 Antiwar.com: Gordon Prather: Bonkers Diplomacy - 

  November 25, 2006   

  by Gordon Prather   

Well, if nothing else, be thankful that Bonkers Bolton doesn’t
stand any chance of remaining our ambassador to the United
Nations, come January 2007. 

It’s also beginning to look like President Hu Jintao has
outsmarted Bonkers Bolton (and his nominal boss, Condi Rice, and
his real boss, Dick Cheney) at every turn. 

Oh, it’s true those Dirty Commies appear to have sat back while
Bush-Cheney-Rice-Bolton undermined the authority of the Security
Council of the United Nations, the Board of Governors [.pdf] of
the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Treaty 
  on
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons[.pdf], the IAEA 
 
Statuteand even the UN Charter, itself. 

In particular, China did not prevent Bolton from strong-arming 
the IAEA  Board into "reporting" the Iranian IAEA "dossier" to 
the Security Council. 

Nor did China veto the Bolton strong-armed Security Council 
Presidential Statementof 29 March, 2006, which "called" upon Iran 
"to take the steps required by the IAEA Board of Governors." 

Nor did China veto the subsequent Bolton strong-armed UNSC 
 
Resolution 1696, which "demanded" that Iran suspend all uranium
enrichment activities by August 31, 2006, or "face possible
economic, diplomatic sanctions." 

(Note that in issuing Bolton’s UNSCR 1696 – demanding that Iran
suspend IAEA safeguarded activities to which Iran has an
"inalienable right" under the NPT – the Security Council has not
only contravened the NPT and IAEA Statute, but violated the
spirit and the letter of the UN Charter, itself.) 

Nor did China veto the Bolton strong-armed UNSC 
  Resolution
1718, which, inter allia - "Demands that the DPRK immediately
retract its announcement of withdrawal from the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; 

Demands further that the DPRK return to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards," 

(Note that in issuing Bolton’s UNSCR 1718 – demanding that North
Korea become a no-nuke NPT signatory – the Security Council is
once again exceeding its authority, violating the letter and
spirit of the UN Charter.) 

Nor has China vetoed the Bush-Cheney-Rice-Bolton request that
the Nuclear Suppliers Group grant waivers of NSG guidelines to
India, thereby enabling the US-India nuclear deal – which does
not require India to become a no-nuke NPT signatory – thereby
further undermining the entire IAEA-NPT-NSG nuke
proliferation-prevention regime. 

So, why have those Dirty Commies allowed Bonkers Bolton to run
amok, undermining the authority of the Security Council, the
IAEA Board of Governors, the NPT, the IAEA Statute and even the
UN Charter, itself? 

Perhaps because the Chinese have decided it is in their
self-interest to sit back and watch the American imperialists
destroy themselves and their creatures – the UN (Truman), IAEA
(Eisenhower), NPT (LBJ) and NSG (Ford). 

Have you ever wondered how President Truman got the Security
Council to pass UNSCR 82, calling upon all Member States to
render South Korea "every assistance" in effecting the
"withdrawal of North Korean forces to the 38th parallel"? 

After all, at that time China was a permanent member of the
Security Council, with veto authority. And when Truman didn’t
end the war once the North Koreans had been forced to withdraw
back across the 38th parallel, but kept going, right up to the
Chinese border, "hordes" of Chinese Commie "volunteers" came
pouring across the Yalu river, forcing the American imperialists
to withdraw back across the 38th parallel. 

If the Chinese Commies felt that strongly about what turned into
a misuse by Truman of UNSCR 82, why didn’t they just veto it in
the first place? 

Well, because back in 1950 the UN did our bidding and we didn’t
"recognize" – and didn’t allow the UN to recognize – the
People’s Republic of China, established by those dirty Commies. 

So, who sat in the "China" seat on the UN Security Council in
1950? Some stooge of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, who had
(with American assistance) fled to – and established a
"government-in-exile" on – some island off the coast of China
called Formosa. 

Now it is 2006, the Dirty Commies have hundreds of nukes and the
ballistic missiles to deliver them, are members of the UN, IAEA,
NPT, NSG and have the "China" seat – with veto authority – on
the Security Council. 

The Dirty Commies in North Korea now have – thanks to
Bush-Cheney-Rice-Bolton – perhaps a half dozen nukes and are
suppliers of ballistic missiles capable of delivering warheads
from Iran to Israel. 

And it is obvious that whatever UNSCR 1718 does or threatens to
do to the Dirty Commies in North Korea will not be done unless
the Dirty Chinese Commies decide it is in their self-interest. 

Furthermore, it is obvious that whatever UNSCR 1696 does or
threatens to do to the Crazy Iranian Mullahs will not be done
unless the Dirty Chinese Commies decide it is in their
self-interest. 

And it now appears that the principal result of
Bush-Cheney-Rice-Bolton ramming the US-India nuclear dealthrough
Congress and the NSG will be the establishment of a
Russian-Chinese-Indian co-prosperity sphere, encompassing the
Caspian Sea nuclear-oil-gas energy resources of Kazakhstan and
Iran, as well as the Persian Gulf oil-gas energy resources of
Iran and perhaps even Iraq. 

Recall that the rationale for the US-India nuclear deal – which
effectively would allow India to enjoy all the benefits of being
a Nuclear-Weapons State under the NPT, without being required to
subject all nuclear materials (including nuclear weapons) and
programs to a comprehensive IAEA Safeguards agreement as
required by the NPT – was to get India to [a] support the
imposition of sanctions on Iran under UNSCR 1696, [b] cancel the
Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline project, and [c] join
the Bush-Cheney-Rice-Bolton vigilante posse (aka Proliferation
Security Initiative), enforcing sanctions on North Korea and
Iran under UNSCRs 1718 and 1696. 

Now, as a result of Hu’s visit to India last week (with a party
of 117 Chinese "businessmen") there may well result a
China-India nuclear agreement, very similar in terms to the
US-India civilian nuclear agreement. 

Worse, Hu and his party went on to Pakistan where he appears
have begun negotiations on a similar China-Pakistan civilian
nuclear agreement. 

As you may recall, President Bush made a point of going directly
to Pakistan after announcing the US-India agreement, to publicly
announce that arch-enemy Pakistan did not deserve – because of
past proliferating activities involving Iran and North Korea –
and would not get the same kind of deal he had just brokered
with India. 

That’s what passes for "diplomacy" under
Bush-Cheney-Rice-Bolton. 
  
Antiwar.com 
  
  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         
*****************************************************************
 4 AFP: Larijani says Israel cannot attack Iran with US support - report

 Sat Nov 25, 5:22 PM ET 		 	 

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Iran" /> Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali 
Larijani said Israel" /> Israelwas not in a position to attack 
Iran with the support of the United States, in an interview. 

 Larijani told journalists in Tehran the United States had weak
points in the Middle East and would not dare embark on another
military engagement there, according to the the Pakistani
website www.paktribune.com. 

"We are aware that, having learnt its lesson from recent Lebanon
adventure despite possessing over 200 nuclear warheads, Israel
is not in a position to attack us," the site quoted him as
saying. "What they are saying is sheer slogan-chanting." 

"The recent Lebanese war has exposed the myth of Zionist
military might and the result of the conflict there has left
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert as a dead body," Larijani added. 

He vowed that Iran would continue to pursue its peaceful nuclear
program and would never compromise on principles. 

"We could neither be harassed nor forced to abandon our national
interests. My country is a signatory to the Nuclear
Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and our programme is under full
safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency" />
International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA)," he said. 

"How could IAEA and the West blame Iran for any illegal activity
while the Agency's cameras are covering every activity and its
inspectors have been inspecting each of Iran's nuclear
installations?" Larijani asked. 

He said that while Iranian leadership was against developing
nuclear weapons, it believed that no one could stop other states
to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. 

"Actually America and the West are not willing to allow any
Islamic country to be self-sufficient in the fields of economy
and nuclear technology," Larijani said. 

He also accused the US of "misusing" a confession by Pakistan's
pioneering nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan that he had
transferred nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea" /> North
Koreaand Libya. 

"I think the US intended to pressure Pakistan and misuse this
issue. Our nuclear technology is indigenous and such assistance
have been at the academic level," he said. 

Larijani said Iran would retaliate against any sanctions imposed
on it. 

"If they impose sanctions they will face our reaction," he said. 

Diplomats said Iran, under the threat of UN sanctions over its
nuclear program, was trying to parry charges that it has failed
to cooperate fully with the IAEA inquest. 

Iran says its program is a peaceful effort to generate
electricity. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 5 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Says It's Set to Help U.S. on Iraq 

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Sunday November 26, 2006 11:01 PM

AP Photo VAH113 

By NASSER KARIMI 

Associated Press Writer 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran said Sunday it is willing to help
Washington calm Iraq's escalating sectarian violence if the U.S.
drops its ``bullying'' policy toward Tehran, but denied
organizing a summit with the leaders of Iraq and Syria to
discuss the troubles in its neighbor. 

Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is ``ready to
help'' the United States, saying the Americans are ``trapped in
a quagmire'' in Iraq. 

``The Iranian nation is ready to help you to get out of the
quagmire - on condition that you resume behaving in a just
manner and avoid bullying and invading,'' he said while
addressing members of the Basij paramilitary group, which is
affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard. 

The White House, which is under pressure at home and abroad to
approach Iran and Syria for help with Iraq, played down
Ahmadinejad's offer. 

``The Iranians have made comments similar to this in the past.
There's nothing new there,'' State Department spokeswoman Julie
Reside said in Washington. 

Engaging with Iraq's neighbors is believed to be one of the
recommendations by a panel on Iraq led by former Secretary of
State James A. Baker III. 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini,
meanwhile, denied reports of a summit involving Iraq and Syria,
saying it was never on Iran's agenda. 

``Such a summit needs certain preliminaries,'' he said, but did
not give details. 

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was scheduled to visit Tehran on
Saturday, but had to postpone his trip because Baghdad's airport
was closed in a security clampdown after an upsurge in violence.
Syria never said whether President Bashar Assad had intended to
go. 

Hosseini confirmed Iran had invited Assad for an official visit
and said Talabani would visit at some point. 

Iran is believed to back Iraqi Shiite militias blamed for
sectarian attacks that have killed thousands this year. Iran has
repeatedly denied the charges. 

Had the summit been held, it would have preceded President
Bush's scheduled meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki in Jordan on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Vice President Dick Cheney was in Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally and
another one of Iraq's neighbors, over the weekend. 

The unusual succession of trips appeared to reflect U.S.
determination to rally allies at a time when Washington is
considering changing its Iraq policy. 

But one of the major sources of tension between Tehran and
Washington - Iran's nuclear program - appears at a standstill.
The U.S. alleges Iran is secretly developing atomic weapons,
while Tehran claims its program is for peaceful purposes
including generating electricity. 

Iran has repeatedly refused to suspend uranium enrichment,
defying an Aug. 31 deadline set by the U.N. Security Council,
and has said it will not halt the process as a precondition to
negotiations over its nuclear program. 

Hosseini on Sunday promised improved cooperation with the
International Atomic Energy Agency if the U.N. nuclear watchdog,
rather than the Security Council, takes charge of Iran's nuclear
dossier. Iran has made similar promises in the past. 

``If the case is returned to the agency itself, it would be
possible to review current ambiguities better than before,''
Hosseini said. ``The agency is the best and the most qualified
body for the case.'' 

The IAEA officially turned over Iran's dossier to the Security
Council last February after Iran failed to answer key questions
about its nuclear activities. 

Last week, the IAEA rejected Iran's request for assistance
building a heavy-water nuclear reactor because of the dispute. 

``It is part of the agency's duties to help member countries.
None of our activities have been illegal. Inspectors can inspect
them,'' Hosseini said. 

The Security Council, meanwhile, is deadlocked over how to
sanction Iran for ignoring demands to stop uranium enrichment.
Russia and China, both trade partners with Iran, have called for
a diplomatic resolution rather than punitive measures, which
Washington is urging. 	 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 6 Brunei Times: Beijing’s balancing act in South Asia
              
 Clarissa Oon

 SINGAPORE

 26-Nov-06

 THE different ways in which rivals India and Pakistan rolled
out the welcomemat for Chinese President Hu Jintao this week
said it all.

 While the highest Indianofficial to greet Hu upon his arrival
in New Delhi was the Foreign Minister, the Chinese leader was
greeted by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his entire
Cabinet upon landing in Islamabad last Thursday.

 The tone of the opening credits set the stage for the varying
outcomes of Hu’s backto- back visits to the South Asian
neighbours – the first by a Chinese president to both countries
in a decade.

 While analysts noted that his visit to India broke no new
ground on long-running trade and border disagreements, one could
almost hear the sound of musicin Islamabad last Fridaya s
HuandGeneralMusharraf inked deals on trade and strategic
cooperation. New Delhi had been rankled by a bold restatement of
China’s claims to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh
ahead of Hu’s visit last Monday.

 Observers say India’s irritation was reflected in the decision
to defer the red-carpet treatment to the second day of Hu’s
visit, when he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the
presidential palace.

 But Islamabad, a traditional ally of Beijing, had no such
reservations and pulled out all the stops for Hu.

 He arrived at the airport to a 21-gun salute, a brass band
playing China’s national an them and scores of school children
waving Chinese and Pakistani flags.

 A free-trade agreement (FTA) and the promise of continued
nuclear energy cooperation were among the goodies Beijing handed
its ‘‘all-weather’’ friend last Friday.

 Pakistani officials have said the FTA will help triple
bilateral trade to US$15 billion in five years.

 In comparison, New Delhi remains resistant to the FTA mooted by
Beijing for fear of being swamped by cheap Chinese manufactured
goods.

 On their boundary dispute, China and India could only agree
earlier in the week to speed up talks to resolve the issue.

 ‘‘China has a long-standing friendship with Pakistan involving
many areas of cooperation,’’ said security analyst Wang Xiangsui
of the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

 ‘‘With India, Beijing is slowly building up trust and mutual
respect, but the problems in the relationship are complex and
will not disappear overnight.’’ Today, Hu will meet political
and business leaders in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. He
returns to Beijing today. Chinese analysts stress that Hu’s
South Asian trip was calibrated to show that Beijing is not
leaning towards one country at the expense of the other.
Observers say a stable South Asian region ensures the security
of China’s potentially volatile westernregions at a time when
Beijing’s priority is domestic stability and economic growth.

 Hu told Indian business leaders, diplomats and politicians last
Wednesday that China ‘‘is ready to play a constructiverole in
promoting peace and development in the subcontinent’’. China has
taken an increasingly pragmatic and cordial viewof relations
with India. But Professor Wang Zhongwei, anIndia expert at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China ‘‘cannot
compromise unconditionally on historical issues like the border
dispute’’.

 Even as it courts New Delhi, observers say Beijing’s commitment
to helping Islamabad build nuclear reactors will reassure
Pakistan of its military and economic support.

 However, China stopped short last Friday of offering Pakistan a
civilian nuclear deal that is widely speculated to be in the
pipeline. Such a deal is seen by analysts as an attempt to
counterbalance the nuclear energy pact between the US and India
sealed earlier this month.

 The StraitsTimes/ AsiaNewsNetwork 										 									
									 									 								   							 							
Copyright © 2006. Powered by Atex Make this my homepage                                                                                                                                    
*****************************************************************
 7 YONHAP NEWS: S. Korea mulls sending chief nuclear envoy to Beijing for talks

2006/11/26 14:09 KST   
             
 SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is considering sending 
its chief nuclear negotiator to Beijing early this week amid a 
flurry of diplomacy aimed at resuming the six-party talks on 
North Korea's nuclear program, government sources said Sunday.

 "Chun Yung-woo is planning to meet with Wu Dawei, China's chief 
negotiator to the six-party talks, and he is considering going to 
Beijing on Monday," a government official said, asking to remain 
anonymous.

 It comes as the United States and North Korea are reportedly 
pushing to hold talks in Beijing this week.

 U.S. envoy Christopher Hill and North Korean Vice Foreign 
Minister Kim Kye-gwan, the North's chief delegate to the talks, 
will meet as early as Tuesday, Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported, 
quoting U.S and North Korean sources. Wu, China's vice foreign 
minister, is also likely to attend the meeting.

 Washington already said that Hill, U.S. assistant secretary for 
East Asian and Pacific affairs and Washington's chief negotiator, 
is traveling to Beijing on Sunday.

 "As of now, no arrangements are being made for multilateral 
talks in Beijing this week, be it three-way, four-way, five-way 
or six-way. Chun is planning to meet only with Wu there," the 
source said.

 Kenichiro Sasae, Japan's top negotiator to the six-party talks, 
will arrive in Beijing later Sunday, and Kim, the North's chief 
delegate, is likely to fly there on Tuesday.

 Earlier this month, North Korea announced it would rejoin the 
talks after a year-long boycott. No date has been fixed yet for 
the next round, but officials said it is likely to be sometime 
next month before the Christmas season.

 Hill said the talks would likely take place by the middle of 
December, but China said there was no firm date for a resumption.

 The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, 
Russia and Japan, have been stalled since November last year 
because of North Korea's boycott.

 Pyongyang had said it will not return to the talks until the 
U.S. lifts sanctions imposed over North Korea's alleged illicit 
activities, such as counterfeiting American dollars and 
trafficking in contraband.

 But three weeks after it conducted its first-ever nuclear test 
on Oct. 9, which provoked global condemnation, North Korea agreed 
to return to the six-nation negotiations after closed talks with 
the U.S., brokered by China.

 ssj@yna.co.kr (END)
*****************************************************************
 8 IJD: North Koreans prepare themselves for effects of new nuclear sanctions

INSIDE JoongAng Daily

November 27, 2006 KST 14:07 (GMT+9)

  November 25, 2006 ¤Ñ PYONGYANG - With more sanctions and
international pressure looming, Pyongyang is preparing its
subjects for another economic downturn. The general public
appears to be getting ready for what the regime has called in
earlier, similar circumstances "the march of hardship."

 During a visit with a South Korean humanitarian organization,
South and North Korean Children Hand in Hand, a reporter saw
clear signs that Pyongyang viewed itself as in the midst of
another ideological struggle with the outside world. 

Slogans boasting of the North¡®s nuclear capability and calling
on its citizens to resist the imperialist tidal wave dotted
public areas, and conversations with North Korean officials and
ordinary people took on a strident tone. 

Asked whether circumstances could lead to another "march of
hardship," one North Korean official said, "We are confident.

Even if the pressure continues, that's not the end. There is no
other way but war then." 

A teenage student who said she was in the second year of middle
school, the equivalent of a sixth-grader in South Korea, was
sweeping the area in front of a statue of Kim Il Sung, North
Korea's founder, at Mansudae, insisting she was doing it
voluntarily. But her small, frail-appearing body spoke of
problems North Korea has had in feeding its people.

 At the opening ceremony of the People's Hospital in Pyongyang,
sponsored by the South Korean humanitarian group, medical
equipment could not be tested because there was no electricity.

Some basic medical equipment, such as tuberculosis detection
gear, was also absent, apparently because it could not be
imported from South Korea, which maintains a list of "dual-use"
goods, useful for military as well as civilian purposes and
banned in trade.

 Although the capital of the communist country, decades of
economic hardship and isolation have taken a toll on Pyongyang.
The Yang Kang Do Hotel, a facility where foreign visitors are
housed, had electricity only on some floors. The city center was
relatively well-lit, but the outskirts were swallowed up by
blackness after the sun set.

 In the aftermath of the North's nuclear test last month, the
United Nations Security Council approved new sanctions on North
Korea; some UN members including Japan have added additional
sanctions of their own in addition to those in the measure.	
 
by Chae Byung-gun africanu@joongang.co.kr>   
	  
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use 
*****************************************************************
 9 IHT: North Korean capital decked with banners extolling nuclear status - 

 International Herald Tribune

 The Associated Press Published: November 25, 2006

SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea's capital was decorated on
Saturday with propaganda banners lauding the country's status as
a nuclear power, as other Asian nations fine-tuned strategies to
coax the communist state to end its atomic weapons program. 

"Let us shine forever (for) becoming a nuclear power, the
historic event in the 5,000-year-long history of the nation,"
read a banner near the railway station in Pyongyang, according
to APTN footage. 

North Korea stunned the world on Oct. 9 by detonating its first
nuclear device in an underground test, drawing international
condemnation and harsh U.N. Security Council sanctions. 

Similar red banners with white Korean script, extolling the
North as a nuclear state, were hung in other public areas of the
city, including on a bridge and at an intersection. 	 

For many Indians, higher education does more harm than good 

Once neglected, the Great Wall of China may now be overloved 

Bomber kills 15 in Afghan restaurant

"Let us resolutely foil all challenges of the imperialists with
full pride and self-respect of being a nuclear state," read one. 

It wasn't clear exactly when the banners were put up. Earlier
this month, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported that
Pyongyang was full of new banners applauding the nuclear test,
with all credit given to leader Kim Jong Il. 

The North has insisted it was compelled to develop nuclear
weapons to protect its sovereignty from what it calls the
increasing danger of nuclear war posed by the United States. 

Washington says it has no intention of attacking the North. 

Since the test, North Korea has held government-led nationwide
celebrations including large rallies, the North's official
Korean Central News Agency has reported in recent weeks. 

North Korea recently agreed to return to six-country talks on
its nuclear program, ending a yearlong boycott triggered by U.S.
financial restrictions aimed at the North's alleged money
laundering and counterfeiting. 

The talks, involving the U.S., the two Koreas, China, Russia and
Japan, are expected to resume next month in Beijing. 

The chief nuclear envoys to the talks from Washington and Tokyo
were to visit China on Sunday for discussions with Chinese
officials about North Korea. 

The U.S. envoy, Christopher Hill, visited Beijing several days
ago.

Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune All rights 
reserved   [IHT]
*****************************************************************
 10 AFP: Japan's envoy on NKorea nuclear row heads to China - 

 Sat Nov 25, 12:19 AM ET 		 	 

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's top negotiator in the stalled North Korea" 
/> North Koreanuclear talks is heading to Beijing, the government 
has said, where he will discuss reviving the negotiations with 
his Chinese and US counterparts. 

 Kenichiro Sasae will visit from Sunday through Tuesday to meet
with Chinese officials for talks over North Korea and Sino-Japan
ties, the foreign ministry said in a brief statement. 

US envoy Christopher Hill is also travelling to Beijing on
Sunday for consulations, Washington announced earlier. 

According to Kyodo News, China has also requested that North
Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, the North's chief
delegate in the talks, visit Beijing on Tuesday, making it
possible that all four delegates will meet. 

Japan, China and the United States will meet initially to
coordinate their opinions, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper
said. 

The six-nation forum groups the two Koreas, China, the United
States, Japan and Russia and is designed to persuade North Korea
to give up its nuclear weapons. 

Hill expressed optimism this week that talks aimed at halting
Pyongyang's nuclear drive could resume in mid-December. 

But Kang Sok Ju, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of North
Korea, separately told journalists in Beijing that Pyongyang had
no intention of giving up nuclear arms. 

The six-nation talks, launched in 2003, broke down a year ago
when Pyongyang walked out in protest at US financial sanctions
against it. 

North Korea prompted international condemnation after conducting
its first atomic test on October 9 but then agreed on October 31
to return to the six-nation talks. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 11 washingtonpost.com: Energy Firms Come to Terms With Climate Change -
                    

By Steven Mufson  and Juliet EilperinWashington Post Staff
Writers

 Saturday, November 25, 2006; Page A01

While the political debate over global warming continues, top 
executives at many of the nation's largest energy companies have 
accepted the scientific consensus about climate change and see 
federal regulation to cut greenhouse gas emissions as inevitable.

The Democratic takeover of Congress makes it more likely that the 
federal government will attempt to regulate emissions. The 
companies have been hiring new lobbyists who they hope can help 
fashion a national approach that would avert a patchwork of state 
plans now in the works. They are also working to change some 
company practices in anticipation of the regulation.

"We have to deal with greenhouse gases," John Hofmeister, 
president of Shell Oil Co., said in a recent speech at the 
National Press Club. "From Shell's point of view, the debate is 
over. When 98 percent of scientists agree, who is Shell to say, 
'Let's debate the science'?"

Hofmeister and other top energy company leaders, such as Duke
Energy Corp.'s chief executive, James E. Rogers, back a proposal
that would cap greenhouse gas emissions and allow firms to trade
their quotas.

Paul M. Anderson, Duke Energy's chairman and a member of the
president's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, favors 
a tax on emissions of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent 
greenhouse gas. His firm is the nation's third-largest burner of 
coal.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the highest-profile corporate skeptic about 
global warming, said in September that it was considering ending 
its funding of a think tank that has sought to cast doubts on 
climate change. And on Nov. 2, the company announced that it will 
contribute more than $1.25 million to a European Union study on 
how to store carbon dioxide in natural gas fields in the 
Norwegian North Sea, Algeria and Germany.

These changes come as Democratic leaders prepare to take over key 
committees on Capitol Hill. Sen. Barbara Boxer(Calif.), who calls 
global warming "the greatest challenge of our generation," will 
take the place of Sen. James M. Inhofe(R-Okla.) as chairman of 
the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Inhofe refers 
to global warming as a "hoax."

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), the incoming Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee chairman, said he hopes to "do something on 
global warming." Even though the Bush administration's expected 
opposition might make the enactment of legislation unlikely in 
the next two years, many companies cannot put off decisions about 
what sort of power plants to build.

Duke Energy, for example, has not added significant power 
generation in two decades, and customer demand is rising 1 to 2 
percent a year. The company has included a price for the carbon 
emitted in its cost estimates for a new coal-fired generating 
plant proposed for Indiana.

"If we had our druthers, we'd already have carbon legislation 
passed," said John L. Stowell, Duke Energy's vice president for 
environmental policy. "Our viewpoint is that it's going to 
happen. There's scientific evidence of climate change. We'd like 
to know what legislation will be put together so that, when we 
figure out how to increase our load, we know exactly what to 
expect."

One reason companies are turning to Congress is to avert the 
multiplicity of regulations being drafted by various state 
governments. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a group of 
seven Northeastern states, is moving ahead with a proposed system 
that would set a ceiling on greenhouse gas emissions, issue 
allowances to companies, and allow firms to trade those 
allowances to comply with regulations.

California is drawing up its program. Other states are also 
contemplating limits. Even the city of Boulder, Colo., has 
adopted its own plan -- a carbon tax based on electricity use.
 
"We cannot deal with 50 different policies," said Shell's 
Hofmeister. "We need a national approach to greenhouse gases."

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the 
federal government is obligated to regulate carbon dioxide as a 
pollutant; its decision could force the government to come up 
with guidelines.
        
Though many energy firms had already voiced support in recent 
months for federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions, 
the coming changeover in Congress has intensified the 
discussions.

"There have been many more folks wanting to engage on the 
detailed architecture of climate-change legislation," said Jason 
S. Grumet, executive director of the bipartisan National 
Commission on Energy Policy. "The tenor, tone and the detail of 
discussions has changed in the last couple of months. Nobody's 
going to want to be the last company to come before the Congress 
and say, 'I've been opposing you for five years, but now can I 
have my piece?' "

Some businesses are making new hires based on the assumption that 
legislative activity on global warming will increase in the 
coming months. Truman Semans, director of markets and business 
strategy for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said at 
least half a dozen of the companies that belong to the center's 
Business Environmental Leadership Council have recently hired 
staff members focused on global warming.

Not every energy company is planning to curb greenhouse gas 
emissions in the near future. TXU Corp. is planning to spend $10 
billion to build 11 new coal-fired power plants, which would more 
than double the company's carbon dioxide emissions, from 55 
million tons to 133 million tons a year. That increase in 
emissions is more than the total carbon dioxide pollution emitted 
in all of Maryland or by 10 million Cadillac Escalade 
sport-utility vehicles.

In an e-mail to The Washington Post, TXU spokeswoman Kimberly 
Morgan said that the company supports "a comprehensive, 
voluntary, technology-based approach to global climate change 
based on carbon intensity" that is both "flexible and cost 
effective."

"We are at a point in time where other states and businesses are 
starting to take global warming seriously," said Colin Rowan, 
spokesman for the advocacy group Environmental Defense. 
"California is heading toward the future, and TXU and Texas are 
sprinting full speed back to the 1950s."

The company's approach may pay off in the short term, but it may 
not last. "Over the next two years I don't think environmental 
policy is going to change radically," said Carl Pope, executive 
director of the advocacy group Sierra Club. But he added, "I 
think the environmental agenda and conversation will change 
radically."

Corporate America wants to be part of that conversation. Duke 
Energy's Stowell said: "Industry is coming together and saying, 
'Okay, if we're going to do this, let's do this in a way that 
won't wreck the economy.' "

*****************************************************************
 12 [NYTr] Japan May Admit US Nuke Ship, Despite Law 
 
Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2006 12:21:39 -0600 (CST)

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Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

US Nuclear-Armed Ship to Break Japanese Law

Tokyo, Nov 24 (Prensa Latina) Japan might allow entry to a US ship loaded
with nuclear weapons, despite Japanese national law, sources from the
Japanese Defense Ministry said here Friday.

During a parliamentary session Japanese Defense Agency representative Fumio
Kyuma said authorization for the ship might be possible, and stated it
would be unavoidable in case of emergency.

According to the regulations against non-conventional weapons proliferation
and security agreements between US and Japan, such a request should be
denied.

The issue of nuclear weapons has provoked tension in Japan since Democratic
Liberal Party Investigation Council president Syoichi Nakagawa and Japanese
Foreign Minister Taro Aso called for national debate on the acquisition of
non-conventional weapons.

This proposal got the support of 17.6 percent of people questioned in a
recent poll; 80 percent were opposed to a change in Japan's
non-nuclear-weapons policy.

Opponents based their objection on the nuclear test made by the People's
Democratic Republic of Korea on October 9, which they regarded as
threatening.

Japanese current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe does not support nuclear
proliferation, but he proposed to revise the pacifist principle of the
Japanese Constitution dating from after World War II.

Abe stated he would try to eliminate constitutional prohibition to the
Japanese Army to take part in armed conflicts.

Japan is a member of the Non-Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. The US
nuclear bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still in the
memory of the Japanese people.

ef tac nda

PL-48
       
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 13 [v911t] Dead Russian Spy was israeli Double Agent
 
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 01:07:04 -0600 (CST)

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http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/153

Murdered Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko passed documents to
former Yukos CEO in Israel months before his death . . .   November
25, 2006, 9:10 AM (GMT+02:00) Leonid Nevzlin, former CEO of the oil
giant and current chairman of the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv, says
the former Russian spy came to Israel with classified documents on
Yukos which may be damaging to Russian leaders. Nevzliln estimates
that Litvinenkos death was connected with this information, which
he has handed to London police investigators of the murder.

DEBKAfiles intelligence sources add that the Russian ex-spy is
believed to have been a double agent, who sold trade secrets to
different parties in and outside Russia, among them some of the
Russian oligarchs living in exile in the West. Livinenko served as
a colonel in a Russian Federal Security Services unit which
investigated and carried out special operations against businessmen.

British police found traces of the radioactive Polonium 210 in
Litvinenkos urine.

The London media accuse Vladimir Putin of being behind the murder
which they claim was politically-motivated.

Sure as heck puts israeli relations with Russia in a whole new
different light.

Posted in espionage | Israel | mafia | murder | organized crime |
Russia | zionism Submitted by qrswave on Sat, 2006-11-25 10:06.

qrswave's blog | add new comment

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Bingo!

Good work, qrswave.

Best, Marc CCNWON P.S. I lifted your story.

mparent7777 | Sat, 2006-11-25 18:23 Litvinenko - By Way Of Deception
Yes, it seems that a number of people are asking the same questions:

{{Thinking logically about it, or rather, thinking 'conspiratorially'
about it (since this is, after all, a very clear case of conspiracy)
it is far more plausible that Litvinenko's murder was carried out
by an enemy of Putin. As with all cloak and dagger cases, in the
absence of any empirical evidence, the closest approximation to the
truth is generally achieved by asking "who benefits?"

Consider how utterly masochistic the Putin government would have
to be to murder a man who had been publicly attacking Putin himself.
Consider further how amazingly crass it is for Putin, having
supposedly decided that Litvinenko had to be "taken care of" to opt
for a method of assassination that was absolutely certain of being
identified as poisoning. Has the Russian SVR (Foreign Intelligence
Service) never heard of "accidental death"? What about a "heart
attack"? For god's sake, even pushing the man under a number 9 bus
would have been less obvious than poisoning him with an "extremely
rare radioactive isotope".

Consider the Israeli Mossad. According to ex-Mossad officer Victor
Ostrovsky, the fine upstanding members of Israel's 'cut-throat
incorporated' have made covert assassination into a fine, if very
unsavory, art form. For example, there was the case where the
'assassinee', who was laid up in a Belgian hotel room, was given a
sedative in his drink to first render him unconscious at which point
a group of Mossad operatives entered his room, stripped him naked,
inserted a tube into his anus, inserted several tablets into the
tube which raised his body temperature to dangerous levels, before
dumping him in a bath full of cold war. The result? The man was
found the next morning in his bath having suffered an "obvious" and
verifiable "heart attack".

Do you think the SVR would not capable of something similar if the
need arose? }} Full article here:

http://signs-of-the-times.org/signs/editorials/signs20061124_LitvinenkoByWayOfDeception.php

Anonymous (not verified) | Sat, 2006-11-25 19:08 assassination
Putin, or some other interested patriots is/are purging Russia of
the Yeltsin oligarchs. Unfortunately most of them are Jewish but
that is not the reason for their demise, the reasons are more in
the realm of economics than biology. Anyone knowing Russia would
have known this days ago.

Anonymous (not verified) | Sat, 2006-11-25 19:19 Good riddance!

This is what should be done to ALL spies, no matter who they claim
to work for. Spies are professional liars. What hubris makes one
believe that a professional liar will tell the truth to only him?

The British in NYC had a perfect punishment that, with a small
addition, would be appropriate for spies. First the traitor is
hanged. While he is hanging, you gut him with a sharp blade. You
then pull him down from the gallows and draw and quarter him. Then
you behead the torso. The additional punishment needed is to burn
the corpse/body parts and dump the ashes into the bottom of a cess
pit. Burned ashes at the bottom of a cesspit is the fate that ALL
spies deserve.

Doug@usa.com (not verified) | Sat, 2006-11-25 20:32

--------------------------------- Everyone is raving about the
all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.

*****************************************************************
 14 Hindustan Times.com: Pakistan signs accord with IAEA - South Asia

Islamabad, November 25, 2006|18:01 IST
       
Pakistan has signed an agreement with the International Atomic
Energy Agency for safeguards at a new nuclear power plant
currently being built.

The 35-member IAEA Board of Governors approved measures for
Pakistan's Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2, or CHASNUPP-2,
the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Pakistan began building the 350-megawatt CHASNUPP-2 power plant
in April 2005 with assistance from China.

The power station, about 200 kilometres southwest of the capital
Islamabad, is set for completion in 2011.

The unit under construction is located near another nuclear
power plant that was also built with Chinese help and began
generating power in 2000.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, currently on a visit to Pakistan,
said on Friday that China would continue civilian nuclear
cooperation with Pakistan in the future.

The Foreign Ministry said that Pakistan has already placed two
research reactors and two other nuclear power plants under
IAEA's safeguards.

"Pakistan has been fulfilling its obligations in respect of
these agreements and looks forward to continued cooperation with
the agency within the framework of the applicable safeguards
agreements in future as well," the statement said.       
    
Tension persists with India over Kashmir and a nuclear arms race 
began after 'Pokhran nuclear explosions', though CBMs are in full 
swing.      
     
*****************************************************************
 15 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear fissions over Trident 

Letters 

Monday November 27, 2006

The Guardian             

Jack Straw states "only a simpleton could think replacing
Trident would breach the nuclear non-proliferation treaty",
(Report, November 24). We would remind Mr Straw of the United
Kingdom's obligations under article VI of the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty (NPT), which states: "Each of the
parties to the treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good
faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear
arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament and on a
treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and
effective control."

Those obligations were set out by Rabinder Singh QC and Professor 
Christine Chinkin in an opinion for Peacerights last December. We 
"simpletons" concur with their opinion that the replacement of 
Trident would constitute a material breach of article VI.

In the Nuclear Weapons Case (1996), the international court of
justice emphasised that article VI imposes an obligation to
achieve a precise result - nuclear disarmament in all its
aspects - by adopting a particular course of conduct, the
pursuit of negotiations on the matter in good faith. The court
unanimously held: "There exists an obligation to pursue in good
faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear
disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective
international control".

It is difficult to see how unilateral action that pre-empts any
possibility of an outcome of nuclear disarmament can be
consistent with the article VI obligation to pursue disarmament
negotiations in good faith and bring them to a successful
conclusion.

The future of Trident must be determined in accordance with the
United Kingdom's obligations under international law. Because of
their blast, heat and especially their radiation effects, the
use of nuclear weapons in any realistic military scenario would
violate the requirements of the international law applicable in
armed conflict, particularly the principles and rules of
international humanitarian law. It is an intransgressible
principle of international humanitarian law that states must
never use weapons that are incapable of distinguishing between
combatants and non-combatants. 
Professor Nick Grief 
Bournemouth University 
Bill Bowring 
Birkbeck College, University of London 
Professor Ken Booth
 University of Wales, Aberystwyth 
Professor Iain Scobbie 
Soas 
Solange Mouthaan
 Warwick Law School
 Professor Stephen Chan 
Soas 
Professor Wade Mansell
 University of Kent

Your leading article on Trident renewal (November 24) fails to
give the two primary reasons why the decision to replace Trident
was taken long ago. In the first place, under no circumstances
would any Labour or Conservative government agree to leave
France as the only nuclear power in the European Union.

Second, our politicians love the feeling of importance that
being a nuclear power gives them when they are dealing with
other countries who are not nuclear powers. The fact that they
cannot tell us, the electorate, against whom they would use
these weapons or who precisely we are supposed to be deterring
is irrelevant. As far as they are concerned, we should just shut
up and accept what they tell us. The idea of a debate inside or
outside parliament is farcical.
 IH O'Neill 
Sanderstead, Surrey

The cabinet may be "united behind the decision to seek a Trident
replacement", but the country certainly isn't. Take the
churches: one after another denominations have spoken out
Trident's replacement. This includes the Church of Scotland,
whose principles one cabinet member, Gordon Brown, claims to
respect.

The current moderator, the right Reverend Alan McDonald, said
this year: "How can it be right to spend £25bn on a weapon of
unimaginable destruction and horror when so many of the 6
billion inhabitants of the earth still exist on less than a
dollar a day. In this new 'war on terrorism' world, exactly who
would we target with our new, improved nuclear weapons? That
brings the sheer insanity of nuclear weapons into sharp relief." 
Rae Street

 Littleborough, Lancashire
 
   Useful links  

British Energy
Department of Trade and Industry
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Greenpeace
Come Clean WMD awareness programme
UK atomic energy authority
National Radiological Protection Board
Friends of the Earth
World Nuclear Association
World Nuclear Transport Institute

[UP] 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 16 Telugu Portal: Pakistan gets IAEA nod to legitimise n-cooperation with China 

Posted by on 2006/11/26 4:02:47
 			  
Islamabad, Nov 26 (IANS) In an effort to increase its nuclear
power generation and gain legitimacy for its nuclear cooperation
with China, Pakistan has agreed to safeguards under the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the Chinese-aided
Chashma power plant currently under construction.

For Islamabad, the agreement with IAEA has been timely, analysts
said, giving it an option of playing the "China card" in the
near future and making a point to the US that has not allowed
what Pakistan considers "a level playing field", ostensibly vis
a vis India.

The foreign office announced Saturday that the 35-member Board
of Governors of the IAEA, the global atomic watchdog, had on
Thursday unanimously approved the safeguards agreement for
Pakistan's Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2.

Although the approval by the IAEA arrived on Thursday, a formal
announcement by the foreign office was reserved for Saturday
during the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Hu promised continuing cooperation with Pakistan in the nuclear
field, but stopped short of making the much-speculated
announcement about helping to build six nuclear power reactors,
each with 300 MW capacities.

This was credited to the "Chinese compulsions", being itself a
member of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) that has long
suspected Pakistan of nuclear proliferation.

President Pervez Musharraf had lobbied heavily with the Chinese
for the reactors after it became evident that India could get
such reactors after the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.

The Bush administration has repeatedly rejected the Pakistani
plea for being treated "on par" with India and concluding a
similar nuclear deal with Islamabad.

The News quoted the foreign office as saying that "The approval
of the agreement is a success for Pakistan and recognition of
its non-proliferation commitments".

It said that a similar safeguards agreement was also in place
for Chashma-1 in Punjab province.

Chashma-2 is part of Pakistan's "Energy Security Plan" that
envisages an increase in nuclear power generation from the
current 425 MW to 8,800 MW by 2030 to meet its growing energy
demands.

Pakistan is one of the only three non-Nuclear Proliferation
Treaty member states that enjoy the right of concluding such a
safeguards agreement, the foreign office said.

Pakistan has already placed its two research reactors and two
nuclear power plants under the agency's safeguards.

"Pakistan has been fulfilling its obligations in respect of
these agreements and looks forward to continued cooperation with
the agency within the framework of the applicable safeguards
agreements in future as well," the foreign office said.   		 		

Â© 2006 TeluguPortal.Net | | | | | 
*****************************************************************
 17 Independent: Hans Blix: The mild-mannered diplomat who took on Bush and Blair 

By Thair Shaikh 

Published: 27 November 2006 

Mild-mannered and cautious, Hans Blix is a former diplomat who
ended his distinguished career clashing with George W Bush and
Tony Blair over the decision to invade Iraq. 

Born in Uppsala, Sweden, his career spanned 40 years, over which
time he gained a reputation for his calmness. 

He studied at the University of Uppsala, at Columbia University,
and then at Cambridge, where he received his PhD. In 1959 he
became a doctor of law at Stockholm University and was appointed
Associate Professor in international law. From 1963 to 1976, he
served in the Swedish foreign ministry, and in 1978 became
Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs He was on the Swedish
delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva for 20
years before becoming head of the International Atomic Energy
Agency in 1981. 

It was in this position that Dr Blix, 78, started a long and
often turbulent relationship with Iraq as he tried to determine
the extent of the regime's nuclear aspirations and capabilities,
however, the Iraqis managed to hide an advanced nuclear weapons
development programme from the IAEA - it was only discovered
after the Gulf War in 1991. Dr Blix recently said of the errors:
"It's correct to say that the IAEA was fooled." 

The author of several books on international and constitutional
law, Dr Blix stepped down as head of the IAEA in 1997 and
retired. 

Despite his retirement, in 2000 he was asked by Kofi Annan, the
Security General of the UN, to lead the UN Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission monitoring weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq. 

The chief UN weapons inspector, he presented a report to the UN
Security Council in February 2003, knowing his work was being
undermined by pro-war politicians in the US and UK. 

He criticised the September 2002 dossier, in which the
Government tried to prove Saddam Hussein was a risk to Britain,
as "hyped and spun" and expressed doubts that Iraq could employ
chemical and biological weapons in 45 minutes. 

Just last month he told a Danish newspaper, that Iraq was a
"pure failure". 

© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited 
*****************************************************************
 18 AFP: China, Pakistan vow to take partnership to new level 

 Sat Nov 25, 8:27 AM ET 		 	 

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - China and Pakistan have pledged to take their 
strategic partnership to a new level as Chinese President Hu 
Jintao" /> Hu Jintaobecame the first Chinese leader in a decade 
to visit Beijing's close ally. 

 The two countries signed a wide-ranging statement which hailed
Hu's visit to Pakistan and the two countries' close ties in the
fields of defence, energy, trade, agriculture, information
technology, combatting terrorism, culture and tourism. 

"China will continue to view its relations with Pakistan from a
strategic and long-term perspective and work together with
Pakistan to elevate the China-Pakistan strategic partnership to
a new high," the statement said Saturday. 

It added that China thanked Pakistan for its "valuable support
on such issues as Taiwan, Tibet and human rights". 

The two sides also hailed the Free Trade Agreement signed on
Friday, saying it would serve as an "engine for balanced growth
of volume of trade" between the two countries. 

The statement said the two sides had decided to fast-track the
trade in services, to "make FTA on goods and services more
comprehensive" and to increase bilateral trade to more than 15
billion dollars in the next five years. 

China also offered Pakistan help in the energy and mining
sectors. 

"The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in the
energy sector, including fossil fuels, coal, hydro-power,
nuclear power, renewable sources of energy as well as in the
mining and resources sector in accordance with the
above-mentioned framework agreement," the statement said. 

Pakistan and China also decided to jointly establish a software
industrial park in Pakistan and conduct a feasibility study on
laying fiber optic cables between China and Pakistan, it said. 

The two countries also vowed to jointly combat terrorism,
separatism and extremism, saying those "three forces" posed
great threats to regional peace, stability and security. 

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf accepted an invitation
from Hu to visit Beijing, the statement said. 

Hu said on Friday after talks with Musharraf that Beijing would
carry on cooperating with the nuclear power industry in
Pakistan, where China has already built one reactor and is
helping to construct another. But he did not announce any new
deals. 

Beijing remains Islamabad's largest arms supplier, and the two
are jointly developing the JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft. China
has also invested millions of dollars in a deep sea port in
southwest Pakistan to access the Arabian Sea. 

On Saturday Hu travelled to the historic city of Lahore, where
he visited the tomb of Allama Iqbal, Pakistan's revered
Urdu-language poet, and attended a civic reception in the scenic
Mughal-era Shalimar gardens. 

Hu's visit to Pakistan followed a trip to its bitter rival,
South Asian powerhouse India. 

He is scheduled to return to Beijing midway through Sunday after
inaugurating an economic zone. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 19 Guardian Unlimited: Brown's nuclear warning 

[UP] 

Press Association 

Saturday November 25, 2006 3:48 PM

Chancellor Gordon Brown warned against unilateral disarmament in
a world where rogue states may acquire nuclear weapons. 

His remarks came as the debate over replacing Britain's Trident
nuclear weapons system intensified, with a White Paper expected
to be published in December on the Government's preferred
option. 

Mr Brown was speaking during a rare question-and-answer session
at the Scottish Labour Party conference in Oban, Argyll, where
for more than an hour he fielded a range of questions from
delegates. 

During the session he also called on power companies to take
more responsibility for the way they set prices for poorer
customers, in light of recent rise. "Some companies have quite
good schemes to help low income users and some companies don't,"
he said. 

"I think the companies should come together and have a general
scheme that is readily understood, particularly by low-income
users and by pensioners. 

"We will try to do something about that by working with the
Scottish Parliament in the next few weeks." 

On Trident, he told his audience of Scottish party activists
that there would be a full debate in the next few months. 

"But I think people should bear in mind over the next few months
on this issue that if North Korea has nuclear weapons, if there
are other states threatening to have nuclear weapons, then it
doesn't make sense to take unilateral action. 

"What we need is multilateral action. We have taken multilateral
action since 1997. We've reduced the number of warheads, we've
reduced the firepower of these warheads. 

"We've taken action in the international community to promote
multilateral disarmament and we will continue to do so." 

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved. 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 20 IRNA: Pakistan gets approval for new N-plant 

, Nov 26, IRNA
- 
The international atomic watchdog has approved an agreement with
Pakistan for a second nuclear power plant to be built in the
country with Chinese assistance, the Foreign Office said on
Sunday.

 The 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday unanimously approved the
safeguards agreement for Pakistan's Chashma Nuclear Power Plant
Unit-2, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

 The approval of the agreement is a success for Pakistan and a
recognition of its non-proliferation commitments, it said, and
added that a similar safeguards agreement was also in place for
Chashma-1 in central Punjab province.

 Chashma-2 is part of Pakistan's Energy Security Plan, which
envisages an increase in its nuclear power generation from the
current 425 megawatts to 8,800 megawatts by 2030 to meet its
growing energy demands, it said.

 Pakistan is one of only three Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
member states that enjoy the right of concluding such a
safeguards agreement, it said.

 Pakistan has already placed two research reactors and two
nuclear power plants under the agency's safeguards.

 Pakistan has been fulfilling its obligations in respect of
these agreements and looks forward to continued cooperation with
the agency within the framework of applicable safeguards
agreements in the future as well, it said.

 Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is in Pakistan on a four-day
official, on Friday said Beijing would continue to help Pakistan
with its nuclear power industry, but did not announce any new
deal with long-term ally Islamabad.

*****************************************************************
 21 Sydney Morning Herald: Howard must reveal nuclear sites -  Labor - 

www.smh.com.au

November 26, 2006 - 11:19AM
 	 	
If Prime Minister John Howard wants to establish nuclear power
stations in Australia, he must reveal his plans to voters before
the next election, says Labor.

Former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski last week released his
report on a possible nuclear energy industry in Australia,
concluding 25 nuclear reactors could produce a third of
Australia's electricity needs by 2050.

On Sunday he said one could be operational within 10 years.

The controversial report found nuclear reactors would need to be
built close to population centres, mainly on the east coast.

Labor's resources spokesman Martin Ferguson says if the
government is planning on opening nuclear power stations, Mr
Howard must ensure Australians know the details.

"He should tell the electorate in the lead-up to the next
election close to which cities, which coastlines and which grids
he is going to locate nuclear power in Australia so the
electorate knows where he stands," Mr Ferguson told Sky News.

He warned nuclear power could risk jobs in Australia.

"Nuclear power doesn't stack up. I am not going to economically
disadvantage Australia," Mr Ferguson said.

"The opposition is about trying to keep Australia competitive.

"It's about keeping jobs in Australia - the last thing we need
to do is embrace an energy mix which basically puts Australia at
a disadvantage which sees jobs go overseas."

Mr Ferguson said Australia's energy future should be based on a
mix between clean coal technology, gas and renewables.

"We can not only in terms of coal secure our future, but we can
also put in place some of the technological changes such as
clean coal technology which assists Australia but also represent
a tremendous export opportunity to places such as China and
India." 	

© 2006  AAP

Brought to you by [aap]          
*****************************************************************
 22 Sydney Morning Herald: Brough fears backlash over energy - 

www.smh.com.au

November 26, 2006 - 10:24AM
 	 	
The government must make tough decisions on Australia's energy
industry and that could mean an election backlash on nuclear
issues, Liberal frontbencher Mal Brough says. 

Former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski this week released his
report on a possible nuclear energy industry in Australia,
concluding 25 nuclear reactors could produce a third of
Australia's electricity needs by 2050. 

Today he said one could be operational within 10 years. 

The controversial report found nuclear reactors would need to be
built close to population centres, mainly on the east coast. 

But they would not be competitive with coal unless a price was
placed on carbon emissions. 

Mal Brough, the minister for Families, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs, said today a nuclear policy could bring
about an election backlash. 

"There could be, but I mean the reality is if you're in
government you're there to make tough decisions, you're there to
govern in the interests of the nation today and into the
future," Mr Brough told Network Ten. 

"So if in doing so you make some unpopular decisions by putting
on the table important issues which must be discussed, then
that's what leadership is all about." 

Mr Brough said there must be an informed debate about the issue. 

"Let's have a look at it. Let's have a debate with real facts
around them rather than rhetoric and scare campaigns. 

"I would ask all political leaders not to make a judgment call
as to what's right and what's wrong, but to have an informed
debate in the interests of our nation's energy needs (and) also
greenhouse gas emissions for the world," he said. 	
© 2006 	AAP


Brought to you by [aap]          
*****************************************************************
 23 Sydney Morning Herald: Nuclear power in Australia within 10 years - Switkowski -

www.smh.com.au

November 26, 2006
 	 	
Australia could have nuclear reactors up and running in 10
years, the head of the government's nuclear task force says. 

The suggestion comes as Labor Leader Kim Beazley predicted the
next federal election would effectively be a referendum on
nuclear power. 

"(We) could see the first nuclear reactor in Australia as
quickly as 10 years out," former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski
told Network Ten today. 

Dr Switkowski last week released his report on a possible
nuclear energy industry in Australia, concluding 25 nuclear
reactors could produce a third of Australia's electricity by
2050. 

The controversial report found nuclear reactors would need to be
built close to population centres, mainly on the east coast, but
that nuclear power would not be competitive with coal unless a
price was placed on carbon emissions. 

Today he said if Australia moved quickly, it could have a new
nuclear power plant in action in 10 years, but a more likely
time frame would be 15 years. 

Dr Switkowski said it would then take several decades to build
up Australia's nuclear power infrastructure to have systems
running at maximum efficiency around the country. 

"Realistically, I think the figure would be 15 and then you've
got a future of several decades of building up a national
network of reactors." 

But for the moment nuclear power remained uncompetitive as a
baseload power source when compared to products such as coal, he
reiterated. 

He said most major power suppliers would shy away from investing
in nuclear without the government forcing change through the
introduction of policies that legislated greenhouse gas
reductions. 

Dr Switkowski said he did not think renewable power sources such
as wind could contribute much to Australia's baseload power
needs. 

He said his report at least had Australians looking at the
nuclear option with an open mind. 

Mr Beazley said the majority of Australians remained unconvinced
about Prime Minister John Howard's push to go nuclear. 

"There is no question, at the next election there will be a
referendum on nuclear power," Mr Beazley told ABC TV. 

"If John Howard is elected you can guarantee there will be 25
nuclear power plants, and waste dumps, (around Australia). 

"We are not a nation that needs nuclear power, we are not a
nation that needs to go down that road." 

Mr Beazley said Australia could meet its future energy needs
through the use of renewable energy and clean coal technology. 

Asked if he was committed to introducing both mandatory
renewable energy targets and an emissions trading system if
Labor won power, Mr Beazley said both could be done at the same
time. 

Labor's resources spokesman Martin Ferguson said if the
government was planning on opening nuclear power stations, Mr
Howard must tell Australians where they will be built. 

AAP 
*****************************************************************
 24 AU ABC: Green group opposes nuclear power push
 
ABC Southern Queensland | Local News | Story 

 Monday, 27 November 2006. 10:05 (AEDT)Monday, 27 November 2006.

 A southern Queensland environment group says any suggestion of
a nuclear power station in the area does not make sense. 

The Federal Opposition says Industry Minister and local Member
Ian Macfarlane has highlighted Toowoomba as one of 50 sites
where a nuclear power plant could be built. 

Toowoomba Regional Environment Council president Stephen Goltz
says the region cannot support a nuclear power station. 

"Apart from the fact that we don't support nuclear energy
because of the various problems of disposal of waste ... and the
fact that they are dangerous things, it's impossible for Ian
Macfarlane to build one in the Toowoomba region because there's
not enough water," he said. 




*****************************************************************
 25 Korea Herald: Korea to expand nuclear power use   
        
Korea is likely to increase its share of nuclear power
generation, which accounts for 40 percent of the nation's
electricity output, amid high prices for oil and liquefied
natural gas, a government official said yesterday.

 The relatively inexpensive power generation method is gaining
in popularity as it takes only 39.41 won ($0.04) for nuclear
power plants to generate 1 kilowatt of electricity, much less
than LNG (86.29 won) or coal (43.68 won). 

"It is necessary to raise the share of nuclear power generation
to 70 percent, the level of France," a high-ranking official of
the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said, mentioning
how nuclear reactor technology has advanced lately. 

Technological developments led other nations to expand nuclear
power generation, according to the Korea Hydro &Nuclear Power
Co. 

Japan plans to build nine new nuclear plants to increase the
share to 43 percent by 2015, up from 29.3 percent last year.

 The United States, which depends less on nuclear power (19.3
percent), is pushing ahead with the construction of 15 nuclear
power units. 

France also plans to build more although some 78.5 percent of
its electricity comes from nuclear reactors already. 

The Swedish had voted in 1980 to stop nuclear power generation
until 2010 but its new center-right administration is hinting at
using the existing facilities until they wear out.

 Korea currently operates 20 nuclear power reactors and is
building eight more. Once seven of them are completed by 2015,
the nation's total nuclear power generation capacity will surge
to 25,916 megawatts from the current 17,716 megawatts. Nuclear
energy is projected to account for 48 percent of the nation's
total electricity output then.

 Expansion of nuclear power generation is expected to become the
main topic for a presidential committee slated for launch on
Tuesday. The committee will outline the government's energy
policy for the next 20 years. 

Analysts estimate the dependence on nuclear reactors to grow
over 50 percent in 20 years, but enormous construction costs and
disputable site selection could interfere. Fluctuating oil and
LNG prices are also important variables.

 "Expanding nuclear power facilities is necessary in terms of
economy but the decisions require political and social
perspectives as well," said a government official. "The
presidential energy committee will deal with all the relevant
issues."

 (sophie@heraldm.com)

By Kim So-hyun

2006.11.27
*****************************************************************
 26 Green Left: No to Howard's nuclear madness

Dr Jim Green 24 November 2006

Below, Dr Jim Green, Friends of the Earth anti-nuclear
campaigner, summarises the EnergyScience Coalitionâ€™s critique
of Ziggy Switkowskiâ€™s Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear
Energy Review released on November 21. 

The Switkowski report supports uranium mining and nuclear power
but, for at least the medium term, rejects uranium conversion,
uranium enrichment, nuclear fuel fabrication and spent nuclear
fuel reprocessing. It also all but ignores the original
requirement to investigate the â€œbusiness caseâ€ for
establishing a repository to accept high-level nuclear waste
from overseas.
 
The Switkowski report fails to properly account for the
increasing environmental cost of uranium mining. This includes
the magnitude of mine wastes, the long-term impacts on surface
water and groundwater resources, the energy costs of extraction
â€” which will invariably increase in the future for proposed
mines â€” and the true life cycle of greenhouse emissions.
 
It falsely asserts that there are â€œwell established plansâ€
for rehabilitation at the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern
Territory. In fact, the current bond held by the Australian
government is only one-fifth of the estimated cost of full
rehabilitation for Ranger. For the Olympic Dam (Roxby Downs)
mine in South Australia, the bond held by the SA government is
only one-tenth of the estimated cost of rehabilitation. The
Beverley and Honeymoon projects are not required to rehabilitate
contaminated groundwater following mining.
 
The Switkowski report evades the issue of the large increases in
greenhouse gas emissions from mining and milling uranium ore as
the ore grade decreases from the current high-grade to low-grade
over the next few decades.
 
Switkowskiâ€™s recommendation to expand Australian uranium
exports is irresponsible in todayâ€™s political climate: the
international non-proliferation regime is deeply flawed,
pressures exist for nuclear weaponsâ€™ proliferation, and
Australian nuclear materials are increasingly likely to end up
in weaponsâ€™ programs.
 
By far the most significant and surprising aspect of the
Switkowski report is that it pours cold water on the Howard
governmentâ€™s enthusiasm for establishing a uranium enrichment
industry in Australia. The report states that â€œthere may be
little real opportunity for Australian companies to extend
profitablyâ€ into enrichment and that, â€œgiven the new
investment and expansion plans under way around the world, the
market looks to be reasonably well balanced in the medium
termâ€.
 
While the Prime Minister likes to compare uranium enrichment to
value-adding in the wool industry, enrichment plants can be used
to produce highly enriched uranium for weapons. The Switkowski
report states: â€œThe greatest proliferation risk arises from
undeclared centrifuge enrichment plants capable of producing
highly enriched uranium for use in weaponsâ€.
 
The major problem with the report is that it misses the point.
The narrow terms of reference set by the federal government have
restricted the Switkowski panel to a study of nuclear power, not
a serious study of energy options for Australia.
 
A body of existing research indicates that the objectives of
meeting energy demand and reducing greenhouse emissions can be
met with a combination of renewable energy and gas to displace
coal, combined with energy efficiency measures, without recourse
to nuclear power.
 
But the Switkowski report asserts that: â€œNuclear power is the
least-cost low-emission technologyâ€. How can the Switkowski
panel assert that nuclear is least-cost, when it has neither
performed any analysis nor commissioned any on this topic? To
the contrary, wind power is a lower cost, lower emission
technology in both Britain and the US, and would also be lower
cost in Australia.
 
The Switkowski report makes questionable assumptions that are
highly favourable to nuclear power. In reality, nuclear power is
likely to cost more than double coal power, and hence even more
than wind power. Hot dry rock geothermal power should be
commercially available within a decade and is likely to be less
expensive than nuclear power as are some power stations burning
biomass from existing crops and plantation forests.
 
There is no mention in the Switkowski report of the numerous
studies that find that energy efficiency is two to seven times
more cost-effective than nuclear power in reducing greenhouse
emissions.
 
The report also fails to seriously address the vulnerability of
nuclear reactors to sabotage resulting in catastrophic radiation
emergencies. It is silent on known and quantified increased
risks to workers in the nuclear industry, and on multiple
reported and controversial clusters of childhood cancers and
congenital malformations in the vicinity of nuclear reactors.
 
It notes that 25 power reactors would produce up to 45,000
tonnes of spent nuclear fuel, but is silent on the proliferation
and security implications of the 450 tonnes of plutonium
contained in that amount of spent fuel.
 
The report stresses the need for public acceptance of waste
management proposals, but is silent on the federal
governmentâ€™s draconian imposition of a nuclear dump in the
Northern Territory. An expanded nuclear industry in Australia
would very likely result in the further imposition of nuclear
facilities on unwilling communities.
 
The Switkowski report floats the possibility of exporting spent
nuclear fuel to the United States. In fact, the US has not the
slightest intention of importing nuclear waste.
 
Switkowski was asked to investigate the â€œbusiness caseâ€ for
importing nuclear waste for disposal in Australia. The report
dismisses waste import schemes with the following comment:
â€œThere are advocates of a significant international waste
facility in Australia, citing commercial and geopolitical
benefits. The Review found such proposals still need to resolve
a number of questions.â€
 
Why does the Switkowski report fail to even pose the questions
let alone answer them? During the inquiry, the PM announced that
Australia would not accept overseas waste for disposal in
Australia. Switkowskiâ€™s secretariat was located in the
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Was political pressure
exerted on Switkowski to ignore the terms of reference relating
to importing high-level nuclear waste?
 
[The EnergyScience Coalition comprises academics and other
nuclear and energy policy experts. Visit .]
 
From: Comment &Analysis, Green Left Weekly issue #692 29
November 2006. 	 	   	   	 		 	 

Authorised by K. Miller, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW.
Site by Kiwa Systems           
*****************************************************************
 27 Idaho Statesman: Idaho Power seeks acceptance of plan

11-25-2006                                                                                      
 				
Idaho Power Co. has written a plan that calls for new 
power-generating capacity, possibly including a new clean-coal 
plant in southeastern Idaho and nuclear power from the Idaho 
National Laboratory.

Idaho Power seeks state regulators' approval of the company's
latest 20-year growth plan. The plan calls for 1,300 megawatts
of power-generating additions and conservation savings to meet
the demands of the company's growing customer base. That base
has increased from 300,000 customers in 1990 to more than
460,000 customers today in southwestern Idaho and eastern
Oregon, the company said.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission said the base could reach
680,000 customers by 2025  an increase of 11,000 to 12,000
customers each year.

The PUC said Idaho Power's plan includes:

 Adding 100 megawatts of wind power in 2007.

 Adding 170 megawatts in 2008 by expanding the Danskin natural
gas plant near Mountain Home.

 Adding a 250-megawatt coal plant in 2013, possibly at the
existing Jim Bridger Plant in Wyoming, of which Idaho Power owns
one-third.

 Possibly acquiring, in about 2017, some 250 megawatts from a
plant using an advanced clean-coal technology called Integrated
Gasification Combined Cycle. Developers have expressed interest
in Pocatello and Soda Springs as possible sites for the advanced
coal technology.

 Possibly acquiring, in about 2023, some 250 megawatts from an
anticipated nuclear plant at the Idaho National Laboratory near
Idaho Falls.

 Transmission upgrades, particularly to the transmission line
from the McNary Dam near Umatilla, Ore., to Boise, to add 285
megawatts of capacity.

 Conservation programs to reduce power requirements by 187
megawatts and average load by 88 megawatts.

A typical large coal-fired power plant produces about 1,000
megawatts of electricity. A megawatt is one million watts.
Idaho Power said its Integrated Resource Plan is for planning
purposes only, and could change depending on the response it
gets from its requests for proposals and its changing power
needs. The company held four public meetings to seek comments. 

The plan is prepared every two years. 

The PUC is taking comment through Jan. 22 on the 160-page
document. Copies are available at www.puc.idaho.gov and
www.idahopower.com/2006irp.

Comments are accepted via e-mail by accessing the commission's
home page and clicking on "Comments & Questions." Fill in the
case number (IPC-E-06-24) and enter your comments. Comments can
also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed
to (208) 334-3762. 					 			 		 		 	 	 	 		 		 		 	 		 				 	

*****************************************************************
 28 IHT: China endorses India-U.S. nuclear trade deal - Indian external affairs minister - 

International Herald Tribune
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
NEW DELHI: China has endorsed the India-U.S. civilian nuclear 
trade deal, India's external affairs minister was quoted as 
saying Sunday. 

China and India agreed during last week's visit by Chinese 
President Hu Jintao that international civilian nuclear 
cooperation should be advanced through "innovative and 
forward-looking approaches," said External Affairs Minister 
Pranab Mukherjee. 

The U.S. Senate endorsed a plan on Nov. 16 to allow the United 
States to ship civilian nuclear fuel and technology to India. 

Asked how Beijing viewed the agreement, Mukherjee said, "China 
has endorsed it," according to the text of an interview by 
CNN-IBN television news channel, to be broadcast later Sunday. 

The India-U.S. deal reverses decades of U.S. anti-proliferation
policy by allowing civilian nuclear trade with India in exchange
for Indian safeguards and inspections at its 14 civilian nuclear
plants. Eight Indian military plants would be off-limits to
inspectors. 

The nuclear deal still faces legislative hurdles as two versions
passed by the U.S. Senate and House need to be reconciled and
sent to President George W. Bush for his signature. 

India must also get an exception from the Nuclear Suppliers
Group, of which China is a member, and negotiate a safeguard
agreement with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International
Atomic Energy Agency. 				 			 	 	 <img

Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune All rights 
reserved   [IHT]    
*****************************************************************
 29 Salt Lake Tribune: Comments sought on nuclear plant

The Associated Press

Article Last Updated:11/26/2006 01:22:06 AM MST

BOISE, Idaho - The Idaho Public Utilities Commission is taking
public comment on a 20-year plan from Idaho Power Co., the
state's largest utility, which envisions a nuclear power plant
by 2023. 

    The company estimates its customer base will grow from its
current 455,000 customers to about 680,000 customers by the end
of 2025. The plan calls for an additional 1,300 megawatts of
power to meet demands. One megawatt can power about 650 houses
for one year. 

    The commission is taking comments through Jan. 22. 
 
  

Â© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
All material found on Utah Online is copyrighted The Salt Lake
Tribune and associated news services. No material may be
reproduced or reused without explicit permission from The Salt
  
*****************************************************************
 30 Independent: British Energy sell-off frozen for two years 
Reactor faults lead to U-turn over shares sale 

By Tim Webb 

Published: 26 November 2006 

The Government is set to delay the planned multi-billion-pound
sale of its stake in British Energy until 2008 at the earliest. 

The recent slump in British Energy's share price, caused mainly
by problems with its ageing nuclear reactors, has led to the
Government's decision to postpone the sale of part of its 65 per
cent stake. 

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling,
announced in July that the sale of up to one-third of the stake,
which in total is valued at £7.2bn, would be going ahead. 

But since then, cracks have been found in some reactor boiler
tubes, causing a quarter of the company's electricity generating
capacity to be shut down. Shares have plummeted by 30 per cent.
The Government's stake, taken after the generator was saved from
administration four years ago, is now worth £5bn. 

The Government wants to wait until British Energy shares rise
before making a sale. The Shareholder Executive, which
administers the shareholding, is also understood to be reluctant
to sell any shares before the faulty reactors are properly
fixed. If the shares are sold and technical problems resurface,
the Government would risk antagonising the City and could face
accusations of exploiting inside knowledge for its own gain. 

Lakis Athanasiou, an analyst from Collins Stewart, wrote in a
report last week: "It is difficult to see any share sales being
made before 2008." He said that British Energy's share price
would start to regain its losses only if the company could
demonstrate over a period of a year that it had resolved the
technical problems. 

"The market has had a huge shock and needs time to rebuild its
confidence in British Energy," he explained. He added that a
sale next year was not impossible but would depend on British
Energy getting its reactors back to full power earlier than
expected and avoiding any other technical problems. 

Nine days ago, the company, which generates about one-fifth of
the UK's electricity, announced the departure of its chief
nuclear officer, Roy Anderson. Chief executive Bill Coley said
the four units at Hunterston B and Hinkley Point B that were
shut down recently because of cracks in boiler tubes should
start operating at 70 per cent capacity by the end of January. 

The company stated: "It is prudent to assume this will continue
for the period up to the end of March 2008 whilst we develop a
long-term boiler management programme." 

A spokesman from the DTI said: "We will clearly need to take
into account the position of Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B
when considering any potential share sale." 
Also in this section 

© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited 
*****************************************************************
 31 NEPA News: Pa. nuclear power plant shutdown under investigation
           
Monday 27 November, 2006

The Unit 1 reactor shut down at 8:42 p.m., and the Unit 2
reactor continued to operate at full power, the company said. 

"All plant systems operated as designed," plant spokesman Joe 
Scopelliti said in a statement. "The cause of the shutdown is 
under investigation." 

The Susquehanna plant is located about 7 miles north of Berwick. 
The plant is jointly owned by PPL Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny 
Electric Cooperative Inc., and is operated by PPL Susquehanna. 



  Copyright © 1995 - 2006 Townnews.comAll Rights Reserved.  

  
  



*****************************************************************
 32 AU ABC: Nuclear power not an option

26/11/2006: 

James Dunlevie, a Darwin nightclub stage manager, community radio 
worker, and illustrator and graphic designer, does not believe in 
the nuclear industry as an option for power generation in 
Australia. 

JAMES DUNLEVY : G'day, I'm James Dunlevy. I live and work in 
Darwin as a stage manager in a nightclub. I work in community 
radio and I'm also an illustrator and graphic designer, and I 
paint murals. 

I don't believe in the nuclear industry as an option for power
generation in this country. The fact that John Howard is now
using climate change as a vehicle to get it through; I'd rather
him throw money at the solar and wind options as alternate
energy sources. As far as I'm concerned nuclear energy shouldn't
be in anyone's backyard. 

The history of the nuclear industry is one of disaster after
disaster, and if there was a problem, a catastrophe, in this
country, then you can't fix that stuff up. It's an nightmare
waiting to happen. 

I agree that to have the benefits of nuclear medicine you've got
to take the responsibility of getting rid of the waste. I think
that we have to look at, perhaps, some low level waste facility
somewhere. But as for a high level radio active waste dump
somewhere in the Territory, I wouldn't like to see that at all. 

If it was so safe to have a nuclear reactor next to you, why
don't they have it next to their home? I doubt that's going to
happen. 

I'm hoping that it does become an issue at the next election
because I notice in Ziggy Switkowski's report that he said that
the new reactors could be sited next to the current generation
facilities. I don't think any politician is going to want to
sell that to their electorate. Not a chance in hell. Home  

*****************************************************************
 33 The Australian: Nuke network would take decades

 Jane Schulze November 27, 2006 

AUSTRALIA could have nuclear reactors up and running in 10 years
according to Ziggy Switkowski, the author of a report on
Australia's nuclear future.

 But it would then take several decades to build Australia's
nuclear power infrastructure around the country, Dr Switkowski
told the Ten Network yesterday. 

We "could see the first nuclear reactor in Australia as quickly
as 10 years out", he said. 

"Realistically the figure would be 15 years, and then you've got
a future of several decades of building up a national network of
reactors." 

Also yesterday, Dr Switkowski told Sky News Sunday Business that
carbon trading was a "crucial" element in the development of a
nuclear industry, as it was needed to make high-cost nuclear
power more cost-efficient. 

Dr Switkowski said Australia's infrastructure funds and
utilities could find new opportunities if the country went down
the nuclear route. 

Dr Switkowski delivered a report on Australia's nuclear future
to the federal Government, concluding that 25 nuclear reactors
could produce a third of Australia's electricity needs by 2050. 

Dr Zwitkowski said the taskforce found no "compelling case" for
a local uranium enrichment industry, but one may develop
regardless. 

"We don't see any reason for there to be obstacles for
businesses to make these decisions and form partnerships with
overseas enrichment companies that might see Australia as a
location for an enrichment plant, particularly if the growth in
Asia is as strong as predicted," he said. 

The federal Government will soon announce a carbon trading
taskforce, which could lead to carbon trading in Australia, and
aid the development of a nuclear industry. 

Dr Switkowski said the creation of a carbon trading taskforce
would be part of the process of deciding on the country's
approach to global warming "and how it wants to intervene, if at
all, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions". 

"The federal Government is about to announce the formation of a
taskforce to look at emissions trading and the role of current
forms of emissions trading, and the outcome of that could lead
the Government to introduce a trading framework quite quickly --
by that I mean a couple of years down the line," he said. 

"For Australia the most important thing is to decide a strategy
for our future electricity provision. Once that's decided,
different schemes will be brought to bear and Australian
industry will adjust accordingly." 

Dr Switkowski said our electricity generators must make massive
investment decisions in the next five years, and needed to know
if nuclear was an option. 

"Assuming there is a role for nuclear energy, we know energy
generators in Australia need to meet surging demand for
electricity and are going to have to make significant investment
decisions in the next five years or so," he said. 

"With those multi-billion-dollar decisions they have to select
the right technology, whether it's for renewable energy or
nuclear. 

"If nuclear is on the table, it will provide opportunities for a
wide variety of utilities and infrastructure funds to consider
that as a serious investment," he said. 

The taskforce did not believe governments that should own
nuclear plants, and their involvement should be limited to
creating the regulatory regime and forming national policy on
greenhouse gas emissions. 

"Outside that, the commercial decisions have to be left to
business," he said. 

"It's business that has to decide if it wants to invest in
nuclear power versus the alternatives which include coal and
gas." 

Dr Switkowski said he did not think renewable power sources such
as wind could contribute much to Australia's baseload power
needs. 

Additional reporting: AAP 

Privacy Terms © The Australian
*****************************************************************
 34 Australian: Nuclear reactors could open in 10 years - Breaking 

November 26, 2006
AUSTRALIA could have nuclear reactors up and running in 10 years, 
the head of the government's nuclear task force has said.

"(We) could see the first nuclear reactor in Australia as quickly 
as 10 years out," former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski said on 
Channel 10 today.

Dr Switkowski this week released his report on a possible nuclear 
energy industry in Australia, concluding 25 nuclear reactors 
could produce a third of Australia's electricity by 2050.

The controversial report found nuclear reactors would need to be 
built close to population centres, mainly on the east coast, but 
that nuclear power would not be competitive with coal unless a 
price was placed on carbon emissions.

Dr Switkowski said if Australia moved quickly it could have a new 
nuclear power plant in action in 10 years, but a more likely time 
frame would be 15 years.

He said it would then take several decades to build up 
Australia's nuclear power infrastructure to have systems running 
at maximum efficiency around the country.

"Realistically, I think the figure would be 15 and then you've 
got a future of several decades of building up a national network 
of reactors."

But for the moment nuclear power remained uncompetitive as a 
baseload power source when compared to products such as coal, he 
reiterated.

He said most major power suppliers would shy away from investing 
in nuclear without the government forcing change through the 
introduction of policies that legislated greenhouse gas 
reductions.

"I think there's no doubt that nuclear power today is financially 
not competitive.

"And given the long lead times and other risks associated with 
investments most utilities would shy away from committing to 
nuclear power in the absence of a national strategy to reduce 
greenhouse gases," he said.

Dr Switkowski said he did not think renewable power sources such 
as wind could contribute much to Australia's baseload power 
needs.

"Electricity needs to have a very high level of consistent, 
efficient, uninterruptible baseload power and that can only be 
provided by fossil fuels and nuclear and it can then be 
supplemented by renewables in the main at the moment," he said.

Dr Switkowski said his report at least had Australians looking at 
the nuclear option with an open mind.

"I sense the community, while not supporting the introduction of 
nuclear power in Australia yet, at least is more prepared to 
consider the facts," he said. 

*****************************************************************
 35 [NYTr] Putin and the Poisoned Spy: Don't Rush to Judgment
 
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:36:37 -0600 (CST)

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Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
The Guardian - Nov 27, 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1957704,00.html

Don't Rush to Judgment

In our desire to fulfil a James Bond fantasy, we have 
too hastily pointed the finger at the Kremlin

by Tom Parfitt in Moscow

Imagine a simple reporting assignment, the brilliant investigative
journalist Nick Davies said at a seminar a few years ago. You go into an
office in London and you want to know what the weather is like outside. You
ask one person and he says: "It's pouring down." Then you ask another, who
replies: "It's beautiful and sunny."

Now you have two options. The first is to rush back to the office and file
a story: "Controversy raged over the state of the weather in London last
night as ... " And the second is to look out of the window.

In our desperate desire to fulfil a James Bond fantasy over the death of
the former spy Alexander Litvinenko, we seem to have forgotten to look out
of the window, however smudged and scratched it may be.

Litvinenko, a former lieutenant colonel with Russia's federal security
service (FSB) who had lived in Britain for six years, was apparently
poisoned with the rare radioactive isotope polonium 210. This is tragic,
shocking and mysterious. Yet, looking on from Moscow, the response in parts
of the British press seems little short of hysterical.

Most worrying is the assumption that the Kremlin is bang to rights. In an
editorial on Saturday, the Times argued that Vladimir Putin "must prove by
deeds he is not linked to Litvinenko's murder".

Why must he? There is not a scrap of evidence to show that the Russian
president was involved. Police are hardly out of the blocks and we're
already up for some kangaroo justice.

Russia has killed people abroad, it is true, and recently. In 2004 two
military-intelligence agents blew up the Chechen separatist leader
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in Qatar (the Americans helped). That was wrong, but
Yandarbiyev was a real threat, channelling funding to militants on Russian
soil. Litvinenko, however, was a spent force as a critic of Putin. Even in
purely pragmatic terms, the notion that the president would order his
murder in Britain on the eve of an EU-Russia summit seems unlikely.

Naturally, I'll be the first to eat my shapka if Putin turns out to be to
blame. The siloviki - the security-service veterans around the president -
may have killed Litvinenko as a shot across the bows of competing clans.

There is a possibility that rogue elements are at work in the security
services, or that Litvinenko was murdered for acquiring damaging evidence
about the assassination in Moscow last month of the investigative reporter
Anna Politkovskaya (although her colleagues at Novaya Gazeta doubt that).
Of course, not being in control of the FSB is a potentially more damaging
indictment of Putin than having sent a note to its boss, Nikolai Patrushev,
saying "get Litvinenko". But we need to recognise that there are other
actors in this drama besides our latest favourite tyrant.

The idea that Litvinenko was a crusading dissident in the mould of
Alexander Solzhenitsyn is risible. People who had never heard of him two
weeks ago are now trumpeting his "courageous, high-profile stand against
the Kremlin". The fact is that Litvinenko was a paid employee of Boris
Berezovsky, the oligarch and archenemy of Putin.

Berezovsky and Litvinenko, who both fled Moscow for Britain in 2000, first
met in 1994. Litvinenko, as a serving FSB officer, was investigating a car
bombing that decapitated Berezovsky's driver and narrowly missed killing
the businessman. At the time there were many vicious fights between
criminal clans in Moscow. By his own admission, Litvinenko worked in an FSB
unit that planned extrajudicial killings.

Berezovsky and Litvinenko's relationship was forged in this atmosphere. By
then, Berezovsky, a car dealer and multimillionaire, had penetrated the
Kremlin and was pulling the strings. But his power began to slip and his
business dealings fell under suspicion. In this context, the appearance of
Litvinenko at a press conference in 1998 claiming his FSB bosses had
ordered him to kill Berezovsky looked more like a clever political ruse
than heroic whistleblowing.

Similar suspicions arise today. A familiar band of Russian malcontents have
been feeding us with apocalyptic quotes for more than a week.

Unfortunately, radioactive isotopes like the polonium 210 that killed
Litvinenko are available on the international black market, not only to
special services. It is entirely plausible that a powerful foe whose path
Litvinenko crossed in the dark, internecine fights of the late 1990s has
crawled back and exacted revenge. That would be a sad reflection of today's
Russia, but it would not be "state-sponsored terrorism".

) Guardian News and Media Limited 2006.
       
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*****************************************************************
 36 Guardian Unlimited: Customers face radioactivity tests | UK Latest | 

[UP] 

Press Association 

Saturday November 25, 2006 8:03 PM

Customers at a restaurant and an hotel visited by a poisoned
ex-KGB officer will be tested for the radioactive substance that
killed him, said health chiefs. 

The Health Protection Agency called for people who had been to
the Itsu sushi restaurant or Millennium Hotel in central London
on November 1 to come forward. 

Its appeal came as the Conservatives indicated that they would
ask the Government to make a Commons statement over the affair. 

The HPA is taking "extremely seriously" concerns that other
people may have been contaminated by the Polonium-210 that led
to the death of Alexander Litvinenko in hospital although it
made clear the risk was low. 

Doctors discovered that he had somehow ingested a large dose of
the radioactive substance and samples of it were later found in
the hotel and restaurant. 

Mr Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Russian security
services, visited both places on November 1, the day he was
taken ill. 

A vocal opponent of Vladimir Putin, Mr Litvinenko, 43, claimed
in a statement made public after his death that the Russian
president had him poisoned. 

Customers who visited Itsu or the Pine Bar or restaurant at the
hotel on November 1 were asked to contact NHS Direct. 

Scotland Yard's counter terrorism unit is investigating but has
not described it as murder. Foreign Office officials have passed
on a request via the Russian Ambassador, Yuri Fedotov, asking
authorities in Moscow to make available any information which
might assist police with their enquiries. 

A post-mortem examination of Mr Litvinenko's body has been
delayed while a risk assessment is carried out to see if it is
safe to perform the procedure and what precautions may be
necessary. 

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved. 
		 	 	   
    Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 37 Guardian Unlimited: Brits Probe Ex-Spy's Radioactive Death 

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Saturday November 25, 2006 5:16 PM

AP Photo LMD117 

By DAVID STRINGER 

Associated Press Writer 

LONDON (AP) - Scotland Yard detectives on Saturday traced the
final steps of a former KGB spy turned Kremlin critic after
officials determined he was poisoned by a rare radioactive
substance. 

A cabinet council that deals with sensitive diplomatic incidents
met for a third day to discuss Alexander Litvinenko's death. A
meeting Friday was chaired by Britain's top law enforcement
official, Home Secretary John Reid. 

Litvinenko died late Thursday at a London hospital after days in
intensive care as doctors puzzled over what was destroying his
immune system and causing his organs to fail. 

Police said they were not yet treating the case as a murder,
rather as an ``unexplained death.'' 

Britain's Health Protection Agency said Friday that the
radioactive element polonium-210 had been found in his urine,
and the police said traces of radiation were found at
Litvinenko's home and a ritzy hotel bar and sushi restaurant he
visited on Nov. 1, the day he became ill. 

Detectives were interviewing the hotel and restaurant staff, a
Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said Saturday. 

The Health Protection Agency also asked anyone who had visited
the sushi bar or hotel lounge to contact Britain's health
service, although the agency stressed that the risk to the
public from the radioactive material found at the bar and hotel
is low. 

In a statement written before he died, Litvinenko called Russian
President Vladimir Putin ``barbaric and ruthless'' and blamed
him personally for the poisoning. 

Putin responded by accusing his opponents of ``political
provocation,'' while calling Litvinenko's death a tragedy. 

Russian Ambassador Yury Fedotov was summoned to London's Foreign
Office Friday as British diplomats asked Moscow for its
assistance investigating the case, government officials said.
Putin has pledged to cooperate. 

Litvinenko, 43, had told police he believed he had been poisoned
on Nov. 1 while investigating the October slaying of Russian
journalist Anna Politkovskaya, another of Putin's critic. 

Litvinenko worked for the KGB and its successor, the FSB. In
1998, he publicly accused his superiors of ordering him to kill
tycoon Boris Berezovsky and spent nine months in jail from 1999
on charges of abuse of office. He was later acquitted and in
2000 sought asylum in Britain. 

In Moscow, pro-Kremlin lawmakers pointed the finger at exiled
Russian dissidents, claiming the death was part of a plot to
discredit the Kremlin. 

Russian lawmaker Valery Dyatlenko claimed Friday that
Berezovsky, an exile whose asylum in Britain has enraged the
Kremlin, may have been involved in the killing, seeking to
discredit Putin. 

``I think this is another game of some kind by Berezovsky,''
Dyatlenko said Friday on Russia's state-run Channel One
television. 

When reached by The Associated Press on Saturday, Berezovsky
declined to comment on the accusations leveled by Dyatlenko. 

In Israel, Russian exile Leonid Nevzlin said Litvinenko's death
could be linked to investigations into charges laid against
ex-shareholders and former owners of the Yukos oil company. 

Nevzlin - a former shareholder in the Yukos oil company - told
Israel's daily Haaretz newspaper on Friday that Litvinenko had
visited him for a meeting. 

He said he had passed on documents related to the campaign of
criminal charges and tax claims against Yukos shareholders and
officials, including now-jailed founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Nevzlin told the newspaper he feared the ex-agent's death could
be connected to the probe. 

Nevzlin was charged by Russian prosecutors with organizing
murders, fraud and tax evasion, and lives in self-imposed exile
in Israel to evade prosecution. 

Polonium-210 occurs naturally and is present in the environment
at very low concentrations, but can represent a radiation hazard
if ingested. 

Pat Troop, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, said
the high level of polonium-210 indicated Litvinenko ``would
either have to have eaten it, inhaled it or taken it in through
a wound.'' 

Troop said the agency was evaluating whether it was safe to
perform an autopsy. 

Scientists claimed small amounts of polonium-210 - but not
enough to kill someone - were used legitimately in Britain for
industrial purposes and easily available. 

To be used to kill, however, ``much larger amounts are required
and this would have to be manmade ... from a particle
accelerator or a nuclear reactor,'' said Medical Research
Council expert Dudley Goodhead. 

--- 

Associated Press writers Maria Cheng, Jennifer Quinn and Jill
Lawless in London, Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Amy Teibel in
Jerusalem contributed to this report. 	 
		 	 	   
    Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

*****************************************************************
 38 Guardian Unlimited: Dying Spy Said to Accuse Russian Agent | 

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Sunday November 26, 2006 4:01 AM

AP Photo NY126 

By DAVID STRINGER 

Associated Press Writer 

LONDON (AP) - As he lay dying, an ex-Soviet spy poisoned in
London named an alleged Russian agent he feared had been
targeting him and who he had previously told police was
harassing him, a British newspaper said in a report published
Sunday. 

Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and fierce critic of
Russian President Vladimir Putin, died Thursday night of heart
failure after suddenly falling gravely ill from what doctors
said was poisoning by a radioactive substance. 

Litvinenko, who spoke to friends and dictated a vitriolic
statement about Putin's government while in the hospital,
alleged before he died that a Russian Foreign Intelligence
Service chief previously stationed in London had been assigned
by Moscow to watch him, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper
reported. 

Litvinenko claimed the Russian agent was not directly involved
in his poisoning, but had been sent to monitor his activities,
the newspaper said. 

London's Metropolitan police said it could not immediately
confirm whether officers would seek to find and interview the
alleged Russian agent named by Litvinenko. 

Police said anti-terrorist officers investigating the former
agent's death had not found records of earlier harassment
complaints during their inquiry. An audio recording of
Litvinenko making the allegation was being handed over to
officers, the Sunday Times reported. Police said no tape had yet
been received. 

Russia's Embassy in London said it could not immediately comment
on the claims. Britain's Foreign Office could not immediately
confirm if a diplomat of the name used by Litvinenko had been
based in London. 

``Whilst in hospital Alexander named the man he alleged was
watching him and said he had been the SVR (Russian Foreign
Intelligence Service) station chief in London until 2003, posing
as a diplomat at the Russian embassy,'' Litvinenko's friend Alex
Goldfarb told The Associated Press. 

Litvinenko, 43, told police he believed he had been poisoned on
Nov. 1 while investigating the October slaying of Russian
journalist Anna Politkovskaya, another critic of Putin's
government. 

In a dramatic deathbed statement, Litvinenko accused Putin - who
he called ``barbaric and ruthless'' - of ordering his poisoning.
Putin has called the death a tragedy and denied involvement. 

Litvinenko's contaminated body was released to a coroner by
police Saturday and government pathologists were expected to
begin an autopsy - though nuclear experts claimed investigators
may never pinpoint the exact source of the rare radioactive
polonium-210 element found in the ex-spy's urine. 

Britain's Health Protection Agency said the poisoning was ``an
unprecedented event.'' Traces of radiation were found at
Litvinenko's north London house, a sushi bar where he met a
contact on Nov. 1 and a hotel he had visited earlier that day,
police said. 

British detectives investigating his death launched an
international hunt for witnesses Saturday and spooled through
hours of security video for clues. They were examining
closed-circuit television footage and interviewing hotel and
restaurant staff, a police spokeswoman said. 

In other interviews before his death, excerpts and footage of
which were released Saturday, Litvinenko claimed he had been
ordered to hire assassins to kill rivals of Kremlin-favored
business leaders and execute whistle-blowers who threatened to
expose corruption. 

Litvinenko spoke to academics James Heartfield and Julia
Svetlichnaja from the University of Westminster in three
interviews that lasted a total of about six hours in April and
May. The Daily Telegraph published a syndicated version of the
interviews Saturday. 

Litvinenko was recruited into the Soviet-era KGB and also worked
for its successor, the Federal Security Service, or FSB. He was
later promoted to a specialist counterterrorism and organized
crime unit. After the fall of communism, he said his directive
was to recruit powerful businessmen who could stimulate an
economic boom, and to hire assassins. 

``Our department worked on the so-called problem principle - the
government had a problem and we had simply to deal with it,''
Litvinenko said in interviews. 

By 1997, the department carried out ``extralegal executions of
unsuitable businessmen, politicians and other public figures,''
he said. 

In an interview recorded in late 2005 with British television
journalist John Coates, excerpts of which were broadcast on
Britain's Sky television Saturday, Litvinenko said he raised
concerns in 1997 with Putin - then head of the FSB. 

Litvinenko publicly accused his superiors in 1998 of ordering
him to kill Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who was living in
exile in London. He spent nine months in jail from 1999 on
charges of abuse of office. Litvinenko was later acquitted and
moved to Britain which granted him asylum in 2000. He recently
became a British citizen. 

The Kremlin had no immediate comment Saturday on the interviews. 

Moscow's government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta pointed
suspicion Saturday at London's community of Russian exiles.
Litvinenko ``made his choice and drank his poison ... when he
betrayed those he worked for,'' the newspaper said. 

The newspaper speculated that Berezovsky was involved, aiming
either to use the death to discredit Putin's government or
settle a business dispute. A presenter on Russia's state-run
Channel One television channel said there was ``a theory (that)
Litvinenko poisoned himself.'' 

Litvinenko was hospitalized last week after his hair fell out,
his throat became swollen and his immune and nervous systems
were severely damaged. 

Polonium-210 can be found in Russia, which has several nuclear
research facilities and a major space program, but Kremlin
intelligence agents would be unlikely to use it since the origin
could be traced, said Alexander Pikayev, a senior analyst with
the Moscow-based Institute for Global Economy and International
Relations. 

Vladimir Slivyak, a nuclear expert and co-chairman of the
Russian environmental group Ecodefense, said the material could
have been acquired on the black market. 

Russian exile Leonid Nevzlin - a former shareholder in the Yukos
oil company and charged by Russian prosecutors with organizing
murders, fraud and tax evasion - said in a statement in Israel
on Saturday that he had met Litvinenko, who passed on documents
related to the charges. Nevzlin suggested those inquiries may
have provided a motive for the ex-spy's murder. 

--- 

Associated Press writers Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Amy
Tiebel in Jerusalem contributed to this report. 	 
		 	 	   
    Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

*****************************************************************
 39 Guardian Unlimited: Hundreds face polonium test after ex-spy's death 

Robin McKie, science editor

Sunday November 26, 2006
The Observer 		 

Hundreds of people face being tested for traces of deadly 
polonium as the impact of the poisoning of former spy Alexander 
Litvinenko widened dramatically yesterday.

The Health Protection Agency last night said it wanted to contact 
anyone who had been in the bars or restaurants that had been 
visited by the ex-Russian agent on 1 November. Anyone found would 
be given a urine test to detect any polonium in their bodies. 
Staff at the two hospitals where Litvinenko was treated should 
also come forward, the agency added.

'This situation is utterly unprecedented,' said Bernie Wilkins, 
an environmental assessment officer for the HPA. 'The last 
radioactivity incident of this magnitude occurred when the 
radiation plume from Chernobyl swept over Britain in 1986.

'However, that kind of contamination was relatively easy to
detect. The radioactivity involved had been sprayed out over the
environment. This time we are trying to find out if a person has
ingested a very small amount of an alpha-emitting isotope. That
will take a lot more effort.'

The three main locations of HPA interest are the Itsu restaurant
in Piccadilly, as well as the Pine bar and the main restaurant
of the Millennium Hotel, Grosvenor Square, in central London.
Those thought to be at risk of contamination will then be asked
to supply their entire urine output for a 24-hour period.

'We will then take litre samples and subject them to
spectrographic test to find out if alpha particles, of the type
emitted by polonium 210, are being given off and which show if a
person is contaminated,' added Wilkins.

Doctors yesterday stressed that they did not expect that anyone
who had come into contact with Litvinenko or who had sat at
tables used by him would be at any serious risk. 'There may be a
few individuals where higher exposures might have been
experienced and this sampling and analysis procedure should
allow us to identify the extent of the problem, but I think as
importantly [will] provide some reassurance to those that are
currently worried about their circumstances,' said Professor
Roger Cox, of the HPA. The agency said it did not expect to
obtain first results from tests for several days.

At the same time as worries increased over the health
implications of the case, questions were also being raised
yesterday about the source of the deadly polonium 210 that was
used to kill Litvinenko. In the United States it has been found
that several companies offer polonium for sale over the internet
for as little as $69.

However, this idea was dismissed yesterday be polonium expert
Chris Lloyd, an accredited radiation protection adviser.
'Polonium 210 has industrial uses in areas like static control
but its manufacture is carefully audited. It requires a nuclear
reactor or a particle accelerator to make significant amounts of
the stuff. It is not available over the internet in meaningful
quantities. I think it is very unlikely this stuff was made in
the UK or anywhere else in the West. The amount and form of
polonium that would have been needed to kill this man would have
required sophisticated national facilities.'
 
			 		 		 
[UP] 

    Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 40 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear poison: the deadly trade 

The killing of Alexander Litvinenko with polonium 210 created
headlines around the world. It also raised disturbing questions
about Russian secret agents and a lethal and growing black
market in radioactive waste 

Sunday November 26, 2006
 		 
It was hardly the stuff of international espionage. On the day
Alexander Litvinenko's was fatally poisoned, the former Russian
spy's last public meeting rarely deviated from football, Irish
wolfhounds and, befitting his adopted country, the weather.

Around mid-afternoon, Litvinenko met Russian businessmen Dmitry
Kovtun and Alexandrei Lugovei - who says that Litvinenko did not
drink anything while they were with him. Later Kovtun left the
lobby of the Millennium Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square and
headed north to watch CSKA Moscow take on Arsenal. Litvinenko
went home in the drizzle to Muswell Hill, his trip caught by
grainy CCTV, which is still being studied by Scotland Yard last
night.

 			 		 			 			Article continues
They would never meet again. Even before the full-time whistle, 
Litvinenko felt odd. The former Russian spy called Kovtun the 
following day to cancel their meeting. He felt worse. The 
dissident had no idea he was dying. Neither could the 43-year-old 
have deduced he was the victim of what could be one of the most 
elaborate assassinations in political history, a killing never 
before seen on British soil, orchestrated with such audacity that 
his death has bewildered Scotland Yard's most experienced 
detectives.

It promises to be one of the most bewildering and diplomatically
challenging investigations in the force's history. Little more
than two days since Litvinenko died after becoming the first
human to have been killed with the rare, powerfully toxic
radioactive material polonium 210, inquiries have shifted
thousands of miles east to the vast interior of the Russian
steppes, in particular the rusting relics of the Soviet nuclear
trade and its burgeoning black market in radioactive materials.

The sheer difficulty of acquiring polonium 210 has though, for
now, shifted the spotlight on to state-sponsored scientists
working in Russian research laboratories and the country's
massive nuclear reprocessing plants. According to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), obtaining the
material would require a level of access unthinkable only the
most well-connected of individuals - just possibly with state
backing.

A United Nations expert in the trade of nuclear materials said
the sophistication required to harness polonium's poison as a
murder weapon meant it could not have been executed by a 'lone
assassin', a madman with a grudge to take out. Such is the
difficulty of obtaining radioactive material, it would have to
be someone with skill and powerful connections.

And, whoever they are, they collected enough extremely rare
radioactive material to ensure doctors discovered a 'major dose'
in the frail, sallow body of Litvinenko. Such material, it is
believed by experts, could only have come from the massive
nuclear structures of the old Soviet Union where, during the
collapse of the empire, security was often sacrificed. Polonium
can only be gained from such reprocessing plants or equally
complex nuclear research plants. You cannot buy this stuff from
local criminals.

The UN is expected to begin investigating which of the nuclear
reprocessing plants the polonium 210 that destroyed the internal
organs of the Russian exile may have come from.

First up, will be the principal plant in Krasnoyarsk, 600km east
of Tomsk, a massive, remote structure notorious for the
radioactive contamination of Siberia's major rivers. Although UN
officials remain sceptical the material may have been procured
on the black market, British police are though to be liaising
with the IAEA on whether the rare isotope may have originated on
Russia's flourishing underground trade in nuclear and
radioactive sources.

After all, on several occasions in the past 15 years, Russian
police have intercepted smugglers trying to carry the
alpha-radiation emitting substance out of the former Soviet
Union. In 1999 an army officer was caught trying to cross from
Kazakhstan into Uzbekistan clutching a glass capsule marked 'RA
23-54' and a metal canister covered with lead foil. Under
interrogation, he admitted it contained a radioactive mixture of
polonium and beryllium, used in Russia to trigger nuclear chain
reactions. He had stolen the material from the Baikonur
cosmodrome, where he worked, and intended to sell it in
Uzbekistan. Other cases involve the theft of several canisters
of polonium 210 from a secretive research centre in the city of
Sarov called the All Russian Research Institute of Experimental
Physics, a sprawling complex known as Russia's Los Alamos.

Beyond rows of barbed wire and troop patrols, experts have
admitted polonium isotopes are still produced there. Disturbing
reports of thefts from the site continue to surface. In 1993 the
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reported that 10kg of polonium had
gone missing from the plant. Two years ago the IAEA established
that Iran has been conducting experiments with polonium 210 as
part of its nuclear programme, possibly using material obtained
from Russia.

Meanwhile, the National Threat Initiative in Washington warns
that Russia's porous borders present little obstacle to
smugglers carrying radioactive substances out of the country and
that concern over Russia's huge stockpile of nuclear and
radioactive materials slipping on to the international black
market remained undimmed. Yesterday Vladimir Slivyak of the
Eco-Defence organisation in Moscow, warned that radioactive
substances are often poorly guarded and vulnerable to theft.
Even so, IAEA sources say they have never confirmed a single
case of polonium 210 being smuggled on the black market,
indirectly giving weight to allegations that Litvinenko's death
was a state- sponsored assassination.

But Litvinenko's death holds even greater resonance; claims that
a terrorist organisation managed to acquired a rare, powerful
radioactive material which was smuggled into Britain where it
was targeted with deadly effect have caused much concern among
UK security services. Officials are concerned that next time the
target might be greater than the internal organs of a single
human.

Intelligence sources said they had recently confirmed al-Qaeda
is intensifying efforts to obtain a radioactive device amid new
figures revealing that the black market of radioactive material
is prospering. Smugglers have been caught trying to traffic
nuclear material more than 300 times in the past four years, a
doubling of such seizures.

It is little surprise that the man charged with investigating
Litvinenko's death is Peter Clarke, Scotland Yard's deputy
assistant commissioner who has taken the lead in protecting
Britain from Islamic terrorists. He is understood to believe
that tracking down the polonium 210 found in Litvinenko could
unlock the key to his death, the toxic material's very rarity
the factor that guides British police to those responsible.

Officials from the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston
and Porton Down, the government Defence Science and Technology
Laboratory, will today continue studying samples of the
radioactive material extracted from the tablecloth of the sushi
restaurant where Litvinenko ate the day he died.

Experts maintain that the sample will yield its own
'fingerprint' which can be used to track down where the polonium
came from. So far, all they can say with reasonable surety is
that the polonium 210 looks likely to have come from Russia and
must have been smuggled into Britain relatively recently; it has
a half-life (the length of time during which is radioactivity
declines by 50 per cent) of just 138 days. Whoever is
responsible knew what they were doing, appreciating the ease and
safety with which the material could be transported in, say, a
glass jar without detection or risk to its carrier.

'For anybody looking to kill an individual using nuclear
material, polonium- 210 would be the radioactive isotope of
choice,' said a IAEA source. A perpetrator may have entered
Britain shortly before 1 November, the date Litvinenko is
thought to have been poisoned, and one line of inquiry is that
they a may have fled London after administering the deadly dose,
safe in the knowledge that as the first alpha rays entered
Litvineko's body, he was good as finished.

No on disputes that Litvinenko had mustered his fair share of
enemies. Some were dangerous, others less so, yet whether light
can ever pierce the fog of claim, counter-claim and smoke and
mirrors that characterise this case is hard to predict.
Litvineko's dissident friends blame the Kremlin. The Kremlin
blames Litvineko's dissident friends. Rogue Russian agents have
been named, but still no central suspect has emerged.

Scotland Yard is thought to have sought the first tentative help
from the Kremlin via Foreign Office officials. Officers too are
examining four sheets of A4 thrust before Litvinenko by Italian
lawyer Mario Scarmella on the day it is presumed he was
poisoned. They reveal how Russia's security services 'had
decided to use force' against Litvinenko for 'incessant
anti-Russian activities'. But, in keeping with such a case, it
is impossible to determine whether the documents are a hoax or
genuine. The more outlandish theories speculate that
Litvinenko's own allies could have been the culprits. Even by
the Machiavellian standards of Russian politics, such a plot
would mark something of a new nadir.

Moscow's elite has been stunned at the British response to the
scandal amid suspicion that the whole affair was some elaborate
lie designed to discredit a post-soviet Russia. Vladimir
Kuznetsov, former chief of Russia's state atomic control agency,
even came out to describe Litvinenko's death by polonium 210 as
mere 'journalistic invention'.

They also point at the police's response to the death, which
veered from an investigation into a 'suspicious poisoning' to
'how this man became ill'. Officially Scotland Yard has yet to
launch a murder inquiry, claiming they still do not have enough
evidence to rule out Litvinenko's death as an accident or
suicide. But could it be suicide? Was this a desperate final act
of man marginalised by the mainstream for whom his anti-Kremlin
message depended on the oxygen of publicity?

Certainly, Litvinenko's profile has never been greater. Even his
most incendiary allegations against the Kremlin had played to
little effect in Russia. Yet his deathbed description of Putin
as a 'barbaric and ruthless' president played to millions
worldwide. And, regardless of which direction the case twists
next, the inquest and accompanying attacks on Putin from
dissidents promise fresh embarrassment for the president.

The involvement of Russia's intelligence service also remains a
matter of scorn in the Kremlin. Sergei Ivanov, spokesman for the
SVR, one of the organisations that replaced the KGB, said
accusations of an assassination plot organised by his service,
were 'some kind of science fiction'. Sergei Markov, an analyst
and Kremlin consultant, pointed the finger at renegade elements
within the security services, still vengeful over his claims of
corruption and murder among Russia's intelligence agencies. He
added that suggesting the Kremlin arranged the poisoning was
absurd: 'That is just a symptom of Russophobia, one of the main
prejudices now active in Europe.'

Police will also examine the so-called Chechen connection, in
particular alliance with the Chechen separatist envoy, Akhmed
Zakayerebel Akhmed Zakayev, who lives on the same Muswell Hill
street as Litvinenko and is rumoured to be on a hit list after
the Russian parliament passed a law approving use of hit squads
to eliminate terrorists abroad. Yet one nagging issue torments
those looking into the case; Litvinenko was small-fry, an exile
whose anti-Kremlin criticisms were largely ignored in his
homeland. In London, only his closest friends would recognise
him. 'Litvinenko just wasn't worth it. He didn't pose a threat,'
one FSB veteran told The Observer

We may never know how damaged Litvinenko's insides were by the
polonium, his body remaining so contaminated it may be deemed
simply too toxic to touch. As his friend Alex Goldfarb said: 'It
is like being exposed to Chernobyl but not from outside but
within.'

This week police will begin questioning witnesses. Kovtun is
likely to be among those to be notified to ascertain precisely
what, if anything of interest, may have arisen in the Millennium
Hotel. So too his business partner, Andrei Lugovoi who also met
Litvinenko on 1 November. Yesterday Kovtun said the fact traces
of polonium 210 were found at several different locations across
London supported his claim that he was not involved with
Litvinenko's illness.

The former KGB officer, told The Observer that he met Litvinenko
that day principally to discuss a simple business deal. 'It's
quite clear that we had nothing to do with it,' he said. 'Of
course, we will be very happy if all suspicion is removed from
us, but on the other hand there's now this information and the
possibility that we may have received a dose of radiation while
meeting him [Litvinenko].'

No arrests are expected imminently, but Metropolitan Police
sources say that a list of witnesses has been prepared - and
Foreign Office sources are not expecting the Kremlin to
prevaricate or refuse to help with British inquiries for help.

Key figures in a plot straight out of a Cold War thriller

Mario Scaramella

Italian academic and security expert who is part of an Italian
parliamentary inquiry into KGB activity. Says he met Litvinenko
for lunch lasting 35 minutes in the Itsu sushi bar on London's
Piccadilly on 1 November, the day he became ill. Claims they met
because both their names were on a hit list which he had
received an email about. Scotland Yard plan to interview him.

Alex Goldfarb

Friend of Litvinenko. Runs the International Foundation for
Civil Liberties, a human rights group funded by Boris
Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch emigre who lives in London and
is a critic of Vladimir Putin. Berezovsky is the man Litvinenko
claims he was ordered to assassinate by the FSB, the KGB's
successor. Goldfarb has accused the Kremlin of ordering his
friend's murder and implicated Andrei Logovoi.

Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun 

Lugovoi, another ex-KGB officer, and Kovtun, another Russian,
met Litvinenko at the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, just
after his encounter with Scaramella. Lugovoi, now a security
operator in Moscow, insists he had nothing to do with any
poisoning, and that the trio met to discuss a potential business
deal. Claims the dead man drank nothing at their meeting and has
offered to give an interview to the police.

Anna Politkovskaya

A prominent Russian journalist with the liberal newspaper Novaya
Gazeta who was shot dead in her Moscow block of flats on 7
October. Litvinenko is known to have been investigating her
death when he was poisoned. Courageous and outspoken critic of
President Putin and Russia's policy towards Chechnya. Wrote
regularly about human rights abuses. Joint winner in 2004 of the
Olof Palme Prize for human rights work. Politkovskaya had
previously received death threats in response to her work.
 
    Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 41 Guardian Unlimited: Spy death linked to nuclear thefts

Mark Townsend, Antony Barnett and Tom Parfitt

Sunday November 26, 2006
The Observer 		 

Police block traffic outside the Millennium hotel, Grosvenor
Square. Photograph: Odd Andersen/Getty
 
 An investigation was under way last night into Russia's black
market trade in radioactive materials amid concern that
significant quantities of polonium 210, the substance that
killed former spy Alexander Litvinenko, are being stolen from
poorly protected Russian nuclear sites.

As British police drew up a list of witnesses for questioning
over the death, experts warned that thefts from nuclear
facilities in the former Soviet Union were a major problem.

A senior source at the United Nations nuclear inspectorate, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Observer he had no
doubt that the killing of Litvinenko was an 'organised
operation' which bore all the hallmarks of a foreign
intelligence agency. The expert in radioactive materials said
the ability to obtain polonium 210 and the knowledge needed to
use it to kill Litvinenko meant that the attack could not have
been carried out by a 'lone assassin'.

 			 		 			 			Article continues
Suggestions that the death may have involved some form of state 
sponsorship were being investigated by MI5 and MI6 who are 
looking at theories that foreign agents may have been behind the 
death of Litvinenko. Scotland Yard has asked the Kremlin for help 
with its inquiries, though Russia has dismissed any involvement 
in the death as 'absurd'. Litvinenko received British citizenship 
this month.

A senior British security source said they were providing the
police with material in 'hostile intelligence agencies'
operating in the UK, including those from Russia. He said:
'Russia has never really decreased its activity in the UK from
the end of the Cold War.'

Privately, however, there is deep scepticism in Whitehall about
whether the Putin administration would be willing to risk a
crisis in British-Russian relations by directly authorising an
assassination of a British citizen on British soil, particularly
using a method that might involve other Britons being
contaminated. The two countries are currently engaged in
delicate negotiations over energy security.

More than anything, the death of the London-based former KGB spy
has placed Russia's still thriving trade in radioactive material
under scrutiny. 'From the terrorism threat standpoint, these
cases are of little concern but they show security
vulnerabilities at facilities,' said an IAEA spokesman.

One of the few figures available, on a database compiled by
researchers at Stanford University in the US, revealed that
about 40kg of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium were stolen
from poorly protected nuclear facilities in the former Soviet
Union between 1991 and 2002. Although the IAEA has no
confirmation of polonium finding its way into the underground
trade, there have been several unconfirmed reports of thefts.

In 1993 the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reported that 10kg of
polonium had disappeared from the Sarov, which produces the rare
radioactive material and is described as Russia's own version of
Los Alamos, the US government's nuclear research base in New
Mexico.

Globally there have been more than 300 cases during the past
four years where individuals have been caught trying to smuggle
radioactive material. In 2005 there were 103 confirmed incidents
of trafficking and other unauthorised activities involving
nuclear and radioactive materials, many involving Russia.

In one incident, in the remote west of former Soviet Georgia, a
group of woodsmen found two capsules of the material which was
emitting heat in a forest. They used them to keep warm at night
but soon developed acute radiation sickness. The capsules turned
out to be the highly radioactive strontium 90 core of a nuclear
generator from a long abandoned aircraft navigation beacon.

Meanwhile in Britain, Cobra, No 10's crisis committee, met again
yesterday to discuss emerging findings in the police
investigation and in public health.

The Foreign Office held a meeting on Friday with the Russian
ambassador to request full co-operation from the Russian
government in the police investigation, including making
witnesses available. Officials from the Atomic Weapons Research
Establishment in Aldermaston, Berkshire, and Porton Down, the
government's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, near
Salisbury, Wiltshire, were trying last night to track down the
precise source of the polonium 210 that killed Litvinenko.

No date has been set for a post mortem examination on Litvinenko
until a risk assessment is carried out to see if it is safe to
perform the procedure, and if so, what precautions would be
necessary.
 
    Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
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 42 Guardian Unlimited: Unanswered questions over the polonium poisoning 

Sunday November 26, 2006
 		 
Why would someone want to kill him? 

Outspoken, articulate and high-profile, the 43-year-old was a
former colonel in the KGB who had settled into London's Russian
emigre community and emerged as a major critic of the Kremlin
and of President Putin.

Who killed him? 
The official answer, from both police and the British
government, is that no one knows. Thus, the wide-ranging
investigation that has been announced. Putin has publicly called
Litvinenko's death a tragedy and the Russians have indignantly
denied allegations that they were involved in the death.

 			 		 			 			Article continues
Who are the main suspects? The Russians, and more specifically 
the FSB or its foreign intelligence arm, the SVR - successor 
organisations to the Soviet-era KGB.

Why? 

For one thing, the substance that killed Litvinenko - highly
radioactive polonium 210 - is not the kind of material that
ordinary individuals can easily obtain. Its use also suggests a
well-thought-out attempt to make it difficult to detect the
cause of death, a hallmark of intelligence services. Former KGB
colonels-turned-dissidents must, moreover, be very near the top
of the list of 'traitors' as currently defined in Russia - Putin
himself is a KGB veteran.

But at least in principle, hasn't post-Soviet Russia rejected
such actions? 
Certainly, it has stressed that it would never have contemplated
killing Litvinenko. But one of the provisions in an
'anti-terror' law adopted earlier this year gives the Russian
military the right to operate abroad to counter such threats - a
clause interpreted by some of Putin's critics as extending
similar licence to the security services.

Why are so many Russians in London? 
Many of the city's 'new Russians' are people who made large
amounts of money in the free-market heyday of Boris Yeltsin's
Russia and wanted to escape the crackdown instituted under Putin.

If someone can kill Litvinenko with polonium, what's to stop
al-Qaeda from using the same weapon? 
In theory, nothing - except that so far they've not shown an
interest in targeting individuals. They'd also have to get their
hands on the polonium, which would require help from a
supportive state or from rogue members of an intelligence
service.

Could a rogue terrorist buy polonium 210 on the internet? 
It is claimed that if you know where to look, yes, but not in
the quantities you'd need for an attack of this sort.

Why has the British government been relatively restrained so far
in its public statements on the Litvinenko saga? 
One reason is that they're emphasising the need to let the
investigation take its course, and it was only hours before his
death that even its cause - polonium - was evident. But there
are also political reasons. With Russia increasingly assertive
internationally, and increasingly influential due to its huge
gas and oil reserves, both Britain and other European states
have favoured 'quiet diplomacy' over public rows in a bid to
moderate Moscow's policies.
 
	
    Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
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 43 AFP: Italian contact says Kremlin ordered Russian ex-spy's death -
    
November 25, 11:50 PM 

ROME (AFP) - An Italian contact of Russian ex-spy Alexander
Litvinenko, killed by radioactive poisoning in London, alleged
that the Kremlin had ordered his death because he knew too much. 

"Litvinenko didn't die from stomach pain," Mario Scaramella, one
of the last to see Litvinenko alive, told daily newspaper
Corriere della Sera Saturday. "He was killed because of
everything he knew. 

"It can all be found now in the documents of the Mitrokhin
commission," Scaramella said, referring to an Italian
parliamentary inquiry into agents recruited in Italy by the
former Soviet secret service, the KGB. 

Scaramella, a professor at the University of Naples, was a
consultant to the Mitrokhin commission and Litvinenko, who left
Russia six years ago and became a British citizen, had
cooperated with the inquiry. 

Asked by the paper if he wanted police protection, Scaramella
said: "I'm not asking for anything. But there is no doubt it was
the Kremlin. And as I am the only one to have collected all his
information..." He left the statement unfinished. 

According to British media, Scaramella met with Litvinenko in a
London sushi restaurant on November 1 and showed him emails
indicating that the FSB, the successor to the KGB, was
considering using force against critics of President Vladimir
Putin. 

British paper The Guardian published Saturday whatit said were
extracts from the emails. 

"All SVR (Russian foreign intelligence service) officers are
sure that PG (journalist Paolo Guzzanti) and MS (Scaramella)
still live closely with 'enemy No 1 of Russia' -- (self-exiled
oligarch) Boris Berezovsky and his 'companion-in-arms' -- first
of all A. Litvinenko," one read. 

"Russian intelligence officers speak more and more about
necessity to use force again PG and MS, considering their
'incessant anti-Russian activities' -- as well as against
Berezovsky and Litvinenko." 

Putin himself has condemned what he said was the use of
Litvinenko's death for political purposes. 

The Italian commission of inquiry into KGB spy recruitment was
headed by Guzzanti -- named in the printed emails -- and a
senator from the conservative party of former prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi. 

In an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa, Guzzanti said:
"I have no doubt that the current Russian secret services ...
are behind this murder and not only this one." 

Guzzanti alleged that Litvinenko was their third victim. 

"The first was general Anatoly Trofimov, former deputy chief of
the FSB, who was killed in front of his house in 2005 because he
was Litvinenko's superior," Guzzanti said. 

"The second was (journalist) Anna Politkovskaya, who had strong
ties to Alexander (Litvinenko) and who had denounced the
involvement of Putin's secret services in the war in Chechnya,"
he added. 

Politkovskaya, who exposed alleged abuses by Russian forces in
Chechnya, was gunned down in an apparent contract killing at her
apartment building in Moscow last month. 

Guzzanti, whose commission completed its inquiry without
reaching any definite conclusions, said Litvinenko's cooperation
wiht the probe "confirmed that the biggest community of Russian
agents in the world lives and work in Italy". 

"The Cold War has never ended," he added. "Today we are seeing a
conflict between Russia and the West whose consequences are
unpredictable." 

Guzzanti's views are not shared by other former commission
members. 

Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
*****************************************************************
 44 BBC NEWS: Radiation found after spy's death
 
Updated: Friday, 24 November 2006, 20:05 GM
  
[Alexander Litvinenko in hospital]

Mr Litvinenko's condition deteriorated rapidly in hospital 

Radiation briefing

Police probing the death of Russian ex-spy Alexander
Litvinenko have found above-normal levels of radiation at three
locations in London. 

Mr Litvinenko's death has been linked to the presence of a
"major dose" of radioactive polonium-210 in his body. 

Scotland Yard confirmed traces were also found at his home, a
sushi bar and a hotel, but the risk to others was said by health
experts to be very low. 

The Kremlin has denied UK citizen Mr Litvinenko's claims it was
involved. 

The traces were found at the Itsu sushi restaurant in
Piccadilly, the Millennium Hotel, Grosvenor Square, and at Mr
Litvinenko's home in Muswell Hill, north London, Scotland Yard
said. 

Moscow has been asked to help British police in their 
investigations, the Foreign Office has said. 

[Map]

Officials discussed the issue with the Russian Ambassador, Yuri
Fedotov, at a meeting this afternoon, said a spokeswoman. 

Officers are looking at CCTV footage and interviewing witnesses,
trying to find out who he met around the time he fell ill on 1
November, said Peter Clarke, head of the Counter Terrorism
Command which is leading the investigation. 

Tests are also being carried out at the two London hospitals
where Mr Litvinenko had been treated, University College and the
Barnet General, the Health Protection Agency said. 

Professor Pat Troop from the HPA told a news conference that the
tens of hospital staff who had come into contact with him would
be monitored. 

RADIATION TYPES           
[Radiation graphic]             

Alpha particles are stopped by a sheet of paper and cannot pass 
through unbroken skin Beta particles are stopped by an aluminium 
sheet Gamma rays are stopped by thick lead

She said Mr Litvinenko would have had to either eaten, inhaled
or been given the dose of polonium-210 through a wound. 

She said the nature of death as an "unprecedented event in the
UK". 

Roger Cox from the HPA said a large quantity of alpha radiation
emitted from polonium-210 had been detected in Mr Litvinenko's
urine. 

The radiation cannot pass through the skin, and must be ingested
or inhaled into the body to cause damage. 

He said people who came into contact with Mr Litvinenko's
excreta - including sweat - could in theory be affected, but
described the risk as "insignificant". 

POLONIUM-210              

a highly radioactive and toxic element present in foods and 
tobacco in low doses small amounts occurs naturally in the body 
can be manufactured using the bombardment of neutrons has 
industrial uses such as in anti-static devices very dangerous if 
significant dose ingested external exposure not a risk [ src=] 

'No radiation risk' to public What is polonium-210?                           
 	 

As the conference drew to a close, a heckler interrupted saying
he was from Ukraine and had also been the victim of poisoning. 

A post-mortem examination on Mr Litvinenko has not been held
yet. 

The delay is believed to be over concerns about the health
implications for those present at the examination. 

The Home Office said anybody concerned should contact NHS Direct
on 0845 4647, who have been briefed about the issues. 

Meanwhile, the government's civil contingencies committee Cobra
has met to discuss the case. 

'Sheer nonsense' 

Friends have said Mr Litvinenko was poisoned because of his
criticism of Russia. 

In a statement dictated before he died at University College
Hospital on Thursday, the 43-year-old accused Russian President
Vladimir Putin of involvement in his death. 

Mr Litvinenko had recently been investigating the murder of his
friend, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, another critic of
the Putin government. 

LITVINENKO TIMELINE               

1 Nov - Alexander Litvinenko meets two Russian men at a London 
hotel and then meets Italian academic Mario Scaramella at a sushi 
bar in Piccadilly. Hours later he falls ill and is admitted to 
Barnet General Hospital 17 Nov - Mr Litvinenko is transferred to 
UCH 19 Nov - Reports say Mr Litvinenko is poisoned with thallium 
21 Nov - A toxicologist says he may have been poisoned with 
"radioactive thallium" 22 Nov - Mr Litvinenko's condition 
deteriorates overnight. Thallium and radiation ruled out 23 Nov - 
The ex-spy dies in intensive care [ src=] Litvinenko statement in 
full Reaction: Russian's death Timeline of case in full                                

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated the Kremlin's
earlier dismissal of allegations of involvement in the poisoning
as "sheer nonsense". 

Mr Putin himself has said Mr Litvinenko's death was a tragedy,
but he saw no "definitive proof" it was a "violent death". 

Police have been examining two meetings Mr Litvinenko had on 1
November - one at a London hotel with a former KGB agent and
another man, and a rendezvous with Italian security consultant
Mario Scaramella, at the sushi restaurant in the West End. 

Mr Litvinenko, who was granted asylum in the UK in 2000 after
complaining of persecution in Russia, fell ill later that day. 

In an interview with Friday's Telegraph newspaper, former KGB
bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi said he had met Mr Litvinenko at the
Millennium Hotel but vigorously denied any involvement in the
poisoning. 

Mr Scaramella, who is involved in an Italian parliamentary
inquiry into Russian secret service activity, said they met
because he wanted to discuss an e-mail he had received. 
*****************************************************************
 45 washingtonpost.com: Poisoned Russian Ex-Spy Said He Was Ordered to Hire Assassins -
                    
By David StringerAssociated Press

 Sunday, November 26, 2006; Page A18

LONDON, Nov. 25 -- An ex-KGB agent poisoned in London described 
in interviews before his death how he was ordered to hire 
assassins to neutralize potential rivals and whistle-blowers who 
threatened the Kremlin, according to excerpts published and 
broadcast Saturday.

Alexander Litvinenko, a fierce critic of Russian President 
Vladimir Putin, died Thursday of heart failure after falling 
gravely ill from what doctors said was poisoning by polonium 210, 
a rare radioactive substance.

His highly contaminated body was released to a coroner by police
late Saturday and Home Office pathologists were expected to
begin an autopsy, but experts said investigators might never
pinpoint the exact source of the polonium.

In a deathbed statement, 43-year-old Litvinenko accused Putin,
whom he called "barbaric and ruthless," of ordering his
poisoning. Putin has called the death a tragedy and denied
involvement. His government has pledged to cooperate with the
investigation.

Litvinenko also spoke to academics James Heartfield and Julia
Svetlichnaja from the University of Westminster in three
interviews that lasted a total of about six hours in April and
May. The Daily Telegraph published a version of the interviews
Saturday.

Litvinenko was recruited into the Soviet-era KGB and also worked
for its successor, the Federal Security Service. After the fall
of communism, he said, his directive was to recruit businessmen
who could stimulate an economic boom and to hire assassins.

"So if somebody was the victim of a crime, like his daughter was
raped, you would offer to let them take revenge on the
perpetrator," Litvinenko said. "This was how we recruited
killers."

In another deathbed conversation, Litvinenko alleged that a
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief previously stationed
in London had been assigned by Moscow to watch him, Sunday Times
newspaper reported.

British detectives investigating his death launched an
international hunt for witnesses Saturday and spooled through
hours of security video from closed-circuit television footage
for clues, police said.

Litvinenko had told police he believed he had been poisoned Nov.
1 while investigating the October slaying of Russian journalist
Anna Politkovskaya, another Putin critic.

Polonium 210 can be found in , which has several nuclear
research facilities and a major space program, but Kremlin
intelligence agents would be unlikely to use it since the origin
could be traced, said Vladimir Slivyak, a nuclear expert. He
said the material was most likely acquired on the European black
market.

In Moscow, the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta pointed
suspicion at London's Russian exile community. It portrayed
Litvinenko as a pawn who "drank his poison . . . when he
betrayed those he worked for."

The newspaper speculated that Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky
was involved, aiming to use the death to discredit Putin's
government or settle a business dispute. A presenter on Russia's
state-run Channel One television said there was "a theory
Litvinenko poisoned himself."
 	 
The Washington Post Company:            
*****************************************************************
 46 IHT: Doctors: Former Pakistani nuclear scientist in 'excellent health' 
after cancer surgery - 

- International Herald Tribune

 The Associated Press Published: November 25, 2006 [

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Pakistani scientist who confessed to
leaking nuclear weapons technology to North Korea, Iran and
Libya is in "excellent health" following cancer surgery, the
military said Saturday. 

Abdul Qadeer Khan is considered the father of Pakistan's nuclear
weapons program, making the country the known only Muslim nation
to possess atomic bombs. 

Khan, 70, had prostate cancer surgery on Sept. 16 at the Aga
Khan hospital in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi. He has since
returned home to the capital, Islamabad. 

Pakistan's military-run Inter-Services Public Relations
directorate, or ISPR, said in a statement Saturday that a
three-member team of doctors had examined Khan on Nov. 12. 	 
Today in Asia - Pacific

For many Indians, higher education does more harm than good 

Once neglected, the Great Wall of China may now be overloved 
Bomber kills 15 in Afghan restaurant

"The team of doctors found Dr. Khan in high spirits and in 
excellent state of health having satisfactorily recovered from 
prostate cancer surgery," it said. 

Khan was treated last month for a blood clot after complaining of 
pain in his left leg. 

Except for the leg problem, Khan has made a "smooth recovery," 
the statement said, quoting the physicians' report. 

The ISPR said it was releasing the statement following 
"speculative" news reports suggesting Khan was not in good 
health. The directorate did not give further details. 

Khan admitted in February 2004 that he had leaked nuclear 
technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya. 

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf later pardoned Khan, citing the 
scientist's role in giving Pakistan its nuclear weapons. 

However, Khan has been living under virtual arrest under tight 
security at his home in an upscale residential neighborhood of 
Islamabad. The government says the measures are for his security. 

Pakistan carried out its first nuclear tests in May 1998. [ 

Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune All rights 
reserved   [IHT]    
*****************************************************************
 47 AFP: People who visited spy sushi bar urged to contact British authorities - 

 by Katherine Haddon Sat Nov 25, 5:04 PM ET 		 	 

LONDON (AFP) - Authorities in Britain are attempting to calm 
public concern after radioactive material was found in central 
London during investigations into the death of Russian ex spy 
Alexander Litvinenko. 

 Litvinenko's death is being linked to the discovery of alpha
radiation from polonium 210 in his urine and police have also
found traces of it in two locations where he met contacts
shortly before being struck down on November 1. 

Members of the public who visited the Itsu sushi bar on
Piccadilly and the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square on that
day are now being asked to contact Britain's National Health
Service (NHS). 

Those suspected of being at risk will be asked to fill in a
questionnaire and submit all the urine they produce over 24
hours for testing. 

"The likelihood of exposure is extremely low unless you were in
the bar with him at the time the individual was present and came
into close contact with him/his meal," NHS Direct, the service's
24-hour phone hotline, said in a statement on its website
Saturday. 

The sushi bar visited by Litvinenko, Itsu, also issued a
statement Saturday saying staff members had shown "no signs of
ill health" and they had not been told of any illness among
customers. 

The Piccadilly branch of the restaurant remains closed while
investigations continue. 

The HPA has described the situation as "unprecedented" but added
that the risk of contamination to members of the public was low. 

Chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, is issuing advice to
medics on the risks and implications of being exposed to
polonium 210 and the authorities are looking at risks to doctors
and nurses who came into contact with Litvinenko at the two
London hospitals where he received treatment. 

Meanwhile, the British government's emergency planning
committee, COBRA, met earlier this morning for the second time
in 24 hours to discuss the situation. 

The committee, which features high-ranking ministers, police and
intelligence chiefs, has previously met to discuss incidents
including the July 7 suicide bombings in London. 

The government has also asked Moscow to provide any information
which might help police with their inquiries into the death of
Litvinenko, who left Russia six years ago and was granted
British citizenship. 

Some observers fear that Litvinenko's death could lead to a
crisis in relations between London and Moscow. 

In a statement apparently written on his deathbed, Litvinenko
wrote: "You have succeeded in silencing one man, but the howl of
protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in
your ears for the rest of your life." 

Putin himself has called the poisoning a "tragedy" and said
accusations of official Russian involvement were "political
provocation". 

Counter-terrorism police investigating Litvinenko's death are
still piecing together evidence, tracing witnesses, examining
Litvinenko's movements, identifying people he may have met and
examining closed circuit television footage. 

But Saturday's British newspapers were sceptical of the
Kremlin's denial of any involvement in events. 

Police and security services believe the killer could have
secretly sprayed a fine mist of polonium 210 on Litvinenko's
food at the sushi bar where he dined with Italian contact Mario
Scaramella, the Sun tabloid reported. 

The Guardian newspaper published extracts from printed emails
given to Litvinenko by Scaramella in the sushi restaurant. 

"All SVR (Russian foreign intelligence service) officers are
sure that PG (journalist Paolo Guzzanti) and MS (Scaramella)
still closely collaborate with 'enemy No. 1 of Russia' --
(self-exiled oligarch) Boris Berezovsky and his
'companion-in-arms' -- first of all A. Litvinenko," one read. 

"Russian intelligence officers speak more and more about
necessity to use force again PG and MS, considering their
'incessant anti-Russian activities' -- as well as against
Berezovsky and Litvinenko." 

Scaramella told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera Saturday
that he believed the Kremlin was behind the death. 	 		 			

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 48 AFP: Spotlight on 'secret agent' in Russian spy saga 

 Sun Nov 26, 4:55 AM ET 		 	 

LONDON (AFP) - Detectives have been piecing together scraps of 
evidence on the mysterious death of a former Russian spy as the 
spotlight fell on the person he named on his deathbed as the man 
tracking him. 

 Alexander Litvinenko's suspicious demise is being linked to the
discovery of alpha radiation from polonium 210 in his urine and
police have also found traces of it in two locations where he
met contacts shortly before his fatal illness started on
November 1. 

Counter-terrorism police are tracing witnesses, tracking
Litvinenko's movements, identifying people he may have met,
examining closed circuit television footage, and an interview
with a newspaper. 

The Sunday Times said Litvinenko, a dissident critic of Russian
President Vladimir Putin" /> Vladimir Putin, named a senior
Kremlin agent as the man he believed responsible for targeting
him, in his last full interview in hospital, just days before
his death Thursday. 

He named the agent in charge of monitoring him as "Viktor
Kirov". An Anatoly V. Kirov was listed as a diplomat at the
Russian embassy in London until late last year, the weekly said. 

Litvinenko did not accuse Kirov of direct involvement in his
poisoning, but his revelation would reinforce suspicions that he
was killed by an assassin with links to state bodies, The Sunday
Times said. 

"I know that Russian intelligence are monitoring me," Litvinenko
told the broadsheet. 

"I know I am an active case. I know that the officer in the
Russian station here who is in charge of monitoring me is Mr
Viktor Kirov. Until he left, (he) was consul in the Russian
embassy. 

"I know that he is part of the spy trade and among other things,
was monitoring my movements." 

Anti-terror police had requested that the newspaper hand over
its tape of the interview. 

Litvinenko dined with Italian contact Mario Scaramella at a
central London sushi bar shortly before falling ill. Radioactive
traces have been found there, as well as at a hotel he later
visited and at his north London home. 

Police completed an examination of the restaurant on Saturday. 

"Arrangements are now being made for the premises to be
decontaminated," Scotland Yard police headquarters said. 

Members of the public who visited the sushi bar and the hotel on
November 1 have been asked to contact Britain's National Health
Service. 

Those suspected of being at risk will be asked to fill in a
questionnaire and submit all the urine they produce over 24
hours for testing, though the risk of public contamination is
thought to be low. 

The Mail on Sunday said Scaramella, who has strongly denied any
involvement in Litvinenko's death, was a self-professed expert
in nuclear materials, heading an organisation which tracked
dumped nuclear waste, including Soviet nuclear missiles left
over from the Cold War. 

"My work involved a lot of Soviet issues -- the dumping of
radiactive waste, which can be detected from space, and the loss
of nuclear devices," he told the weekly. 

He added that he was co-operating with British police enquiries. 

The News of the World said a man cited in a leaked hitlist
Scaramella gave Litvinenko was "a 46-year-old trained assassin
we can legally name only as Igor," the man's middle name. 

Britain's biggest-selling newspaper said he was a veteran of
Russia's Spetsnaz special forces at the centre of operations and
was understood to be hiding in Italy. 

Some observers fear that Litvinenko's death could lead to a
crisis in relations between London and Moscow. 

The government's emergency planning committee, COBRA, met
Saturday for the second time in 24 hours to discuss the
situation. 

The committee, which features high-ranking ministers, police and
intelligence chiefs, has previously met to discuss high-level
incidents including the July 7 suicide bombings in London. 

London has also asked Moscow to provide any information which
might help police with inquiries into the death of Litvinenko,
who left Russia six years ago and was granted British
citizenship. 

The main opposition Conservatives are to ask the government to
make a statement in parliament over the affair. 

Foreign Office minister Kim Howells hinted that the
investigation into the death may have serious diplomatic
repercussions. 

"What everybody seems to forget is that this guy was a British
citizen and they (COBRA) take a very dim view of British
citizens being murdered on British streets by foreign
nationals," The Sunday Times quoted him as saying. 

It added that a government ministry source had told them
Litvinenko's wife had tested negative for polonium radiation. 

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said that British detectives were
to fly to Moscow and Rome this week to pursue their enquiries. 

Meanwhile The Independent on Sunday said police were probing the
possibility that Litvinenko killed himself to discredit Putin. 

Concerns over the dissident's deathbead statement which fingered
Putin's regime prompted police to check Litvinenko's version of
events, the newspaper said. 

Putin has called the poisoning a "tragedy" and said accusations
of official Russian involvement were "political provocation". 

A government spokesman said Litvinenko's body had been moved on
Saturday from University College Hospital where he died to a
London mortuary. 	 		 			

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 49 Independent: Nuclear fallout: Alexander Litvinenko died in agony. Who killed
him, and why?
 
The ex-KGB agent had many enemies, including his former spy
colleagues and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Those are
among the few known facts in an assassination which seems like a
sinister replay of the Cold War. Sophie Goodchild reports 

Published: 26 November 2006 

It was a slow, agonising death. Whatever had poiosoned Alexander
Litvinenko destroyed his bone marrow and liver, and eventually
triggered a massive heart attack. 

Not until shortly before the former Russian counter-intelligence
official died last Thursday in a hospital in Britain, the
country that had given him citizenship, did doctors finally
discover why his life was ebbing away. He had been poisoned with
polonium-210, a radioactive metal unknown to most medical
experts. By the time his condition had been diagnosed, it was
too late. 

Polonium-210 is so dangerous that it may be impossible to carry
out a conventional post-mortem on Mr Litvinenko. It is even
possible that his remains will have to be disposed of in a
manner that prevents any risk. 

Since the death of the 43-year-old defector, radiation has been
discovered at his London home, at a hotel in Grosvenor Square
where he met two Russians, and at a sushi bar in Piccadilly,
where he had lunch with an Italian academic who, it is claimed,
declared that both of them were on a hit list. Those are almost
the only undisputed facts in a sinister affair that has revived
memories of the cold war and raised the spectre of terrorism. 

President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his Federal Security
Service, the FSB - the successor to the KGB in which Mr
Litvinenko was a lieutenant-colonel - have been implicated in
the accusations being flung between London and Moscow. So have
insurgents in the savage war in Chechnya, their sympathisers in
Britain, and the circle of exiles around the fugitive Russian
billionaire, Boris Berezovsky, who, like Mr Litvinenko, was
given political asylum in this country. 

The poisoning on British soil of the former spy has not only set
in motion an investigation on an unprecedented scale, it has
aroused fears that the murky intersection of business and
politics in Russia, which has seen a succession of unsolved
murders, has been imported here. 

Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, along with forensic
experts and nuclear scientists from Aldermaston Weapons
Establishment, are working round the clock to establish exactly
how and when Mr Litvinenko ingested the polonium. His death has
also triggered a health scare. Officials yesterday urged anyone
who came into contact with the defector, who was effectively
radioactive, to call a special helpline number. 

John Reid, the Home Secretary, was so concerned when radiation
was detected that he convened an emergency meeting of cabinet
ministers and senior officials of Friday morning. The official
reaction - in which Pat Troop, head of the Health Protection
Agency, has delivered public reassurances - followed closely
protocols for a failed "dirty bomb", rehearsed by the Civil
Contingencies Secretariat. 

Exactly how one of President Putin's fiercest critics came to
ingest polonium remains unanswered. Scotland Yard is not
officially treating this as a murder inquiry but as an
"unexplained death", and intelligence sources have told The
Independent on Sunday that they have doubts over the former
spy's version of how he first became ill. 

But from the start, supporters of Mr Litvinenko, who came to
this country six years ago and recently received British
citizenship, have pointed the finger at associates of President
Putin. This newspaper has learnt that Mr Litvinenko - known as
"Sasha" to his friends - said he was on the verge of revealing
the name of the assassin who gunned down Anna Politkovskaya, the
Russian journalist murdered in Moscow in October, shortly before
he was poisoned. 

In an interview with the IoS, Lord Rea, the Labour peer and a
friend of Mr Litvinenko, said he told members of London's
Frontline club at a private gathering that he was "pretty sure"
who killed Ms Politkovskaya, who exposed Russian human rights
abuses in Chechnya. 

"[Litvinenko] said he knew the person who did it," said Lord
Rea, a supporter of the Chechen cause. "It's speculation, but
it's possible that someone at that meeting heard that, which
could explain the timing of the poisoning." 

Detectives were told by the defector that he first became ill on
1 November, the day he had tea with another former KGB spy,
Andrei Lugovoy, a one-time bodyguard who now runs a security
firm. Also at the meeting in the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor
Square was another man initially identified by Mr Litvinenko as
"Vladimir". 

Speaking in Moscow, however, a Russian called Dmitry Kovtun told
a national newspaper yesterday that he was the mysterious third
man, and that he was "baffled" and "angry" to be linked to the
poisoning. 

The next appointment in Mr Litvinenko's diary was at Itsu sushi
bar in London's Piccadilly with Mario Scaramella, an Italian
academic who speaks fluent Russian and has good contacts in
Moscow. It was here that the Italian disclosed that both he and
Mr Litvinenko were on a hit list. 

Scotland Yard has already confirmed that traces of polonium have
been discovered at the Millennium hotel, on tables and dishes at
the sushi restaurant and at the former intelligence agent's home
in Muswell Hill. 

All the potential suspects in the case - the three people he met
on the day the Russian believed he was poisoned - have
co-operated with police. All have denied they have had any
involvement. 

Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen dissident and friend of Mr Litvinenko,
said he was confident that the police would get to the bottom of
how his friend was poisoned. Speaking through a translator, he
said: "Whoever did this does not want a witness to their crimes,
the same people who did not want Anna Politkovskaya to be a
witness. This is not about someone being Russian or Chechen. It
is about the safety of British citizens." 

So how did the former intelligence agent come to ingest the
lethal dose of polonium? Could he have drunk it, or was it
sprinkled on his food? And how did the perpetrator of the crime
come to be in possession of such a rare substance? Once it is
absorbed by the body, the metal is said to be several million
times more deadly than cyanide. 

Professor John Henry, the toxicologist hired by Mr Litvinenko's
family, said that polonium was the "perfect assassin's tool".
"It would take a pinch the size of a speck of dust, so it would
need to be either dissolved in a liquid or a spray," he said.
"This must have been a massive amount for traces to have been
left behind after so long." 

Experts agree that this was no crime carried out by amateurs.
Polonium cannot be obtained by surfing the Web, and has to be
used within a limited time, before it loses its impact.
Large-scale production such as in a nuclear reactor would be
needed to produce sufficient amounts to cause death. Another way
of obtaining it is from depleted uranium shells . It is also
used in the photographic industry as a static eliminator. 

Staff at the hospital where Mr Litvinenko was treated are
understood to have used a Geiger counter to determine if he was
the victim of radiation but initial tests showed up negative,
because polonium cannot be easily detected externally once it
has been absorbed. 

Dr Andrea Sella, a lecturer in chemistry at University College
London, said: "You can't make this at home. This is in a
different league. This is not some random killing ... These
people had some serious resources behind them." 

When news first began circulating that a former Russian security
officer had been poisoned in London, the Kremlin was swift to
attempt to discredit the story, with officials questioning why
it had taken Mr Litvinenko so long to admit himself to hospital.
The FSB, Russian legislators and political analysts insisted
that the Russian government did not have a credible motive for
murdering him. 

"Mr Litvinenko was not the kind of person, for whom [it would
make sense] to smear bilateral relations," a spokesman for the
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Ivanov, told Trud
newspaper. It "was absolutely not in our interest to do this." 

Mr Litvinenko's name had faded in Russia since 1998, when as a
young FSB officer with the organised crime unit, he accused his
own agency of asking him to assassinate Mr Berezovsky. He spent
nine months in prison awaiting trial on charges of abusing his
office, but was acquitted and fled to Britain in 2000, where he
claimed political asylum. 

Gennady Gudkov, a former FSB officer, said killing Mr Litvinenko
made no sense for the Russian state. Higher-ranking KGB
defectors, such as Oleg Kalugin, have knowledge of potentially
deadlier secrets, but "are alive and well" abroad, said Mr
Gudkov, who is a member of the State Duma's Security Committee. 

Mr Kalugin, chief of the KGB's foreign counterintelligence
department from 1973 to 1980, has been living in the US since
the mid-1990s. He has openly criticised his former KGB
colleagues and testified against US Army Reserve Colonel George
Trofimoff. Based on Mr Kalugin's testimony, the officer was
convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and sentenced to life
in prison in 2001. 

Mr Gudkov said that the key to Mr Litvinenko's murder lay in "an
inside squabble" in Mr Berezovsky's inner circle. Mr Gudkov
stressed that this was his personal opinion, adding that
business interests or Mr Berezovsky's desire to smear the
Russian state were involved. 

The theories about Mr Litvinenko's murder are potentially
damaging to both President Putin and Mr Berezovsky, said Valery
Khomyakov, general director of the Council on National Strategy,
a Moscow-based think-tank. 

Mr Khomyakov dismissed theories that Mr Litvinenko was poisoned
because he possessed information about the murder of Ms
Politkovskaya. He and several other political analysts in Moscow
believe the most plausible view is that Mr Litvinenko's former
colleagues were avenging his defection. "Many suffered when Mr
Litvinenko went public about the alleged plot against Mr
Berezovsky," he said. 

In a book financed by Mr Berezovsky, Mr Litvinenko accused the
FSB of being behind the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings that
killed more than 300 people. The atrocity was blamed on Chechens
and used to justify Russia's invasion of Chechnya the same year.
"This could have been a way to get back at Litvinenko and
another former colleague, Putin," Mr Khomyakov said. Mr Putin
spent five years spying for the KGB in Germany at the end of the
Cold War. 

Additional reporting by Maria Levitov in Moscow, Francis Elliott
and Raymond Whitaker 

Polonium: Fatal dose must have come from nuclear lab 

Discovered by Marie Curie in 1898, and named after Poland, her
native land, polonium has a silvery appearance and is soluble in
liquids. 

Polonium-210, the most readily available variant, has a
half-life of 138.39 days. Other isotopes of the element can
decay in milliseconds. Although it is extremely toxic and highly
radioactive - just one milligram would emit as much radiation as
five grams of radium - the metal emits short-range alpha rays,
which would not be picked up by conventional radiation scanners.
It was detected only in Alexander Litvinenko's urine. 

Polonium-210 is found naturally in the human body, as well as in
tobacco and uranium ore, but in minuscule quantities. Although a
tiny speck can be fatal, the amount needed to kill would have to
be made in a nuclear laboratory. The metal has to be ingested by
breathing, eating or drinking, or through an open wound; it
cannot be absorbed by skin contact. 

Inside the body, radioactive waves pound cells, destroying them
outright or causing genetic mutations. As it decays,
polonium-210 generates great heat: half a gram creates 140 watts
of energy. The metal was used by the Soviet space programme in
the 1970s as a portable heat generator for Lunokhod lunar
rovers. 

Sonia Elks 

The Theories: One terrible death... but many suspects in the
frame 

The history of Alexander Litvinenko, a former officer in the KGB
and its successor service, the FSB, his accusations against the
Russian government and his friendship with the exiled oligarch,
Boris Berezovsky, have led to competing theories on who was
responsible for his ghastly death. 

MOSCOW DID IT: The defector's associates have accused President
Vladimir Putin of being behind the killing. Russia sought to
treat the allegation with disdain, but as the controversy grew,
Mr Putin was forced to issue a formal denial. The official
position is that the death is a tragedy, and should be left to
the British police. Most believe the theory is implausible: if
the Kremlin wanted to kill Litvinenko, why attract world-wide
publicity? A quiet bullet would have been equally effective. 

ROGUE FSB ELEMENTS: This is in many ways more damaging to Mr
Putin. It has been suggested in Britain and in Russia that the
President does not fully control the security service, and that
he is not aware of everything it does. Litvinenko earned the
enmity of former colleagues, first by saying he had been ordered
to assassinate Mr Berezovsky, later by accusing them of a plot
to justify the invasion of Chechnya. He also claimed that there
was official involvement in the recent killing of the
investigative journalist, Anna Politkovskaya. The FSB might have
chosen to make his death as lurid as possible, to warnother
potential whistle-blowers. 

BEREZOVSKY IS RESPONSIBLE: This is the favourite theory of the
Kremlin's supporters in Moscow, where the fugitive oligarch is
vilified as a criminal plotter against Russian interests from
his exile in Britain. Why the billionaire would want to dispose
of an ally who had lent powerful support to his campaign against
Russian abuses in Chechnya is less clear. There have been
half-hearted claims that he or his circle might have wanted to
create a "martyr" for the cause. 

LITVINENKO POISONED HIMSELF: Another suggestion being heard
mainly in Moscow. Why anyone would choose to kill himself in
such a dreadful fashion is a mystery, and for what reason?
Martyrdom? However, the British authorities have allowed the
theory to gain some momentum by refusing publicly to rule out
the possibility, and by hinting that Litvinenko's own account of
the poisoning is flawed. 

Raymond Whitaker 

© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited 
*****************************************************************
 50 AFP: Hundreds call health hotline over Russian ex-spy's radioactive poisoning 

By Katherine Haddon 

LONDON (AFP) - Police are piecing together evidence on the death
of a Russian ex-spy as authorities revealed that hundreds had
called a hotline for those concerned about traces of radioactive
material in London.

The demise of Alexander Litvinenko, a prominent Kremlin critic,
is being linked to the discovery of alpha radiation from
polonium 210 in his urine.

Traces of the element were found at a sushi bar and hotel where
he met contacts shortly before falling ill on November 1 and
members (Advertisement)
[ src=]  of the public who visited the two locations that day
have been urged to contact the authorities.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said that the number
of people who had called the state-run health service's
telephone hotline, NHS Direct, after an appeal Saturday was in
the "low hundreds".

"What they are not able to give is a figure for how many people
have had cause to be concerned," she told AFP Sunday.

But no one has yet presented doctors with "anything similar" to
Litvinenko's symptoms, sources said.

Those suspected of being at risk will be asked to fill in a
questionnaire and submit to urine testing, though the risk of
public contamination is thought to be low.

Police are now treating the death as suspicious, Home Secretary
John Reid told Radio Clyde in Scotland.

"They're saying to me that they now regard the death as
suspicious. That wasn't the case yesterday, for instance," he
said.

In an interview with BBC television days after Litvinenko's
death, a senior Cabinet minister, Northern Ireland Secretary
Peter Hain, accepted that British relations with Russia were
currently very difficult.

Although the early stages of the Putin regime had shown promise,
this has been "clouded by what's happened since, and including
some extremely murky murders of the senior Russian journalist,"
Hain added, referring to the death last month of Anna
Politkovskaya, a critic of the role of Russian forces in
Chechnya.

There had been "huge attacks on individual liberty", he said,
adding it was important that Putin "retakes the democratic road".

Some observers fear that Litvinenko's death could lead to a
crisis in relations between London and Moscow.

The British government's emergency planning committee, COBRA,
has met several times in the last few days to discuss the
situation.

The committee, which features high-ranking ministers, police and
intelligence chiefs, has previously met to discuss major
incidents including the July 7 suicide bombings on London
transport last year.

London has also asked Moscow to provide any information which
might help police with inquiries into the death of Litvinenko,
who left Russia six years ago and was granted British
citizenship.

Counter-terrorism police are also tracking down witnesses,
retracing Litvinenko's movements, identifying people he may have
met and examining closed circuit television footage.

Scotland Yard declined to comment on a report Sunday that
British detectives were to fly to Moscow and Rome this week to
pursue their enquiries.

One of Britain's most senior police officers, Metropolitan
Police assistant commissioner Andy Hayman, has told ministers
that it is too early to conclude that Litvinenko was murdered,
sources said.

Litvinenko named a senior Kremlin agent, Viktor Kirov, as the
man he believed responsible for targeting him, in his last full
interview in hospital just days before his death on Thursday,
the Sunday Times reported.

An Anatoly V. Kirov was listed as a diplomat at the Russian
embassy in London until late last year, the weekly said.

Litvinenko did not accuse Kirov of direct involvement in his
poisoning, but his revelation would reinforce suspicions that he
was killed by an assassin with links to state bodies, The Sunday
Times said.

Anti-terror police have requested that the newspaper hand over
its tape of the interview, the paper added.

Meanwhile, the News of the World named a 46-year-old trained
assassin known as Igor -- his middle name -- as being linked to
the death.

Putin has called the poisoning a "tragedy" and said accusations
of official Russian involvement were "political provocation".

In Russia, the official Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper has said
that Litvinenko's poisoning could have been orchestrated by his
associate, exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky, to discredit
Russian authorities. 

AFP
*****************************************************************
 51 Korea Times: 2 Exposed to Radiation at Taejon Reactor 

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation   

TAEJEON (Yonhap) _ Two people working for the Korea Atomic
Energy Research Institute (KAERI) have been accidentally exposed
to radiation during an ordinary checkup operation at the
institute's research reactor in Taejeon, KAERI officials said
yesterday.

 They said a KAERI researcher, identified by his family name
Lee, and an employee hired by a KAERI contractor were exposed to
3.5 milli-Siverts (mSv) of radiation for five minutes on
Wednesday.

 The level of exposure was higher than the 1 mSv safety margin
set annually for non-nuclear workers, but much lower than the 50
mSv per year limit that would be considered dangerous for people
working in nuclear facilities.

 The two were rushed to a hospital, where their red blood cell
and white corpuscle counts were found to be normal, with doctors
waiting for results of any irregularities in their chromosomes.

 The state-run institute said the two had mistakenly removed a
highly radioactive device. 

11-26-2006 20:25         
  
*****************************************************************
 52 Los Angeles Times: Poisoned Navajo lands - 

9:25 PM PST, November 26, 2006

Re "Blighted homeland," a four-part series, Nov. 19-22

 Judy Pasternak's Nov. 19 article on radioactive residue in 
Navajo land illuminates the dark side of nuclear power.

Juxtaposed next to one about Iran's nuclear threat, the article 
completes the picture of a technology that is disastrous by any 
definition. Whether intended to light our homes or destroy our 
enemies, nuclear energy kills. It should be abandoned immediately 
and its Native American victims adequately compensated. 

LANNY KAUFER

Ojai

Thank you for a heart-rending expose regarding the Navajo
Indians' plight whereby radioactive materials were left strewn
across their reservation.

Your article first made me feel guilty for being a member of the
citizenry that perpetrated this debacle and then made me angry
at the federal government for not even posting warning signs
that may have at least alerted the Navajos to the dangerous
detritus that our government knew had been left unattended. 

As you indicated, private companies operated the mines that
produced uranium, but the U.S. government was the sole customer.
I see a major liability for the government. The Navajos are owed
their day in court so that they might at least win restitution
for quietly living their lives on their own land. Who issued the
mining rights to those private companies? I hope they have deep
pockets.

MICHAEL J. REARDON

Chino Hills

What is the name of the corporation(s) responsible for these
toxic wastes? Why are these sites not being cleaned up or at
least properly sealed off until they are cleaned? Litigation can
take years to resolve these matters, especially when people want
to evade their responsibility to save a few dollars. 

If our government allowed the corporation(s) to walk away
without properly securing these sites, shouldn't our government
along with the responsible corporation(s) be held accountable to
pay for cleanup and the damages they caused and continue to
inflict on these families? 

NASTASJA DORANDI

Venice


*****************************************************************
 53 UPI: Japan would allow U.S. nukes on vessels
     
United Press International - NewsTrack - 

11/25/2006 4:59:00 PM -0500

TOKYO, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A nuclear-armed U.S. warship would be
allowed into Japanese territorial waters in an emergency,
Japan's defense chief told lawmakers. 

Such an action violates the country's nuclear restrictions,
which prohibit Japan from possessing, producing or allowing
nuclear weapons on its territory, the Japan Times reported. 

Letting a nuclear-armed U.S. warship "would be unavoidable in an
emergency," Defense Agency Director Gen. Fumio Kyuma told a
lower house Security Committee session. 

Kyuma said Japan would let a U.S. naval vessel pass through its
waters without prior notification if the move was reported
afterward, the Times said. 

The United States has a policy of not stating whether nuclear
weapons are being carried on warships.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 54 UPI: British leaders discuss ex-spy's death
     
United Press International - NewsTrack - 

11/25/2006 5:09:00 PM -0500

LONDON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Britain's crisis team, known as Cobra,
held an emergency meeting to discuss the mysterious death of
former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko. 

One of the topics discussed was whether a Russian assassination
team was responsible for poisoning Litvinenko, The Independent
reported. Investigators say that a radioactive substance,
identified as an isotope of the element polonium, was found in
his body. 

The meeting was chaired by Home Secretary John Reid. 

"It shows that there is a much greater security issue at stake
than just some disaffected individual being attacked," said
Patrick Murphy, the spokesman for the opposition Conservative
Party on home affairs. "They are obviously concerned that it was
a state-sponsored hit." 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that his government
was involved in Litvinenko's death. Litvinenko, a former agent
with the FSB, successor to the KGB, defected to Britain in 2000
and became a fierce critic of Putin.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 55 UPI: Britain to offer urine tests in spy death

 United Press International - NewsTrack - 

11/25/2006 11:56:00 AM -0500

LONDON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Britain Saturday offered tests to
people who had contact with an ex-KGB spy who died of
radioactive poisoning. 

Britain's Health Protection Agency will test people for internal
traces of polonium-210, found at the home of Alexander
Litvinenko and at two London locations he visited the day he
became ill, The Daily Mail reported. 

Litvinenko met another ex-KGB spy visiting from Moscow in a bar
in London's Millennium Hotel Nov. 1. He also met an Italian
academic at London's Itsu sushi restaurant. 

Other people who were there that day will be questioned to
determine if they were in contact with him or the food he ate.
Some people may then have urine tests. 

"We expect that we are going to do tests and we expect that they
are going to be negative and we have no reason to think
customers are at risk," an HPA spokeswoman said.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 56 UPI: Britain probing Russia on ex-spy's death
     
 United Press International - NewsTrack - 

11/25/2006 9:27:00 AM -0500

LONDON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Russian dissident Alexander
Litvinenko's death bore the hallmarks of a "state-sponsored"
assassination, Britain's intelligence agencies say. 

Britain's Foreign Office met with the Russian ambassador in
London and asked the Kremlin to hand over information that could
help a Scotland Yard probe into the death of the 43-year-old
former Russian spy, The Times of London reported Saturday. 

Litvinenko, who had become a British citizen, died Thursday
after a three-week illness. 

A senior British intelligence official told The Times Litvinenko
was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 and said evidence not
yet released pointed to the slaying being carried out by foreign
agents. 

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin called the
suggestion of Russian involvement in the poisoning "sheer
nonsense." 

In a statement released after his death, Litvinenko accused
Putin of what would be the Kremlin's first political
assassination in the West since the Cold War. 

"You may succeed in silencing one man, but the howl of protest
from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears
for the rest of your life," he wrote.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 57 Santa Maria Times: `Atomic Cinematographer' reveals experiences

By John McReynolds/Times Correspondent
         

George Yoshitake, above, in his video editing room with a 
newspaper clipping describing his experiences while working as a 
cameraman recording tests of atomic explosions. Yoshitake remains 
an avid photographer to this day. //Ian Vorster/Staff

         

"The first men on earth to volunteer to be nuked," the Air Force 
called them.

While movie cameras rolled and camera shutters clicked, five USAF 
officers stood without protective gear at Yucca Flats, Nev., 
beside a hand-lettered sign that read, "Ground Zero, Population 
5." A 2.2 kiloton nuclear rocket was about to explode 13,000 feet 
directly overhead.

"Five brave men and one crazy photographer," 77-year-old George 
Yoshitake of Lompoc said with a grin.

The date was July 19, 1957. Photographs and movie shorts were 
soon circulated worldwide. Three photos of the explosion and the 
volunteers were published as a full-page collage in Life 
magazine. And the photographer - Yoshitake.

A short, genial man known in recent years as a wedding and 
football photographer, Yoshitake was one of the "Atomic 
Cinematographers." He worked for eight years, from 1955 to 1963, 
as a cameraman for top secret Lookout Mountain Laboratory, also 
known as the U.S. Air Force's 1352nd Motion Picture Squadron. His 
job was to film nuclear testing at the height of the Cold War.

"I shot about 30 tests, half in the Pacific, half at the Nevada 
Test Site," Yoshitake explained recently. "What we were doing was 
all top secret.

"I had been a motion picture cameraman in Panama and Washington, 
D.C. When I got out of the Air Force in 1955, Lookout Mountain 
was looking for more cameramen so I applied."

Lookout Mountain Lab was hunkered in the hills above Los Angeles. 
Its 40 camera operators were dispatched to Eniwetok and Bikini in 
the Marshall Islands, as well as to Nevada, to record more than 
300 U.S. atomic tests, starting in 1947 and ending with the 
international test ban treaty of 1963. The studio produced 6,500 
films - more than many of the big Hollywood studios - but after 
review by government officials, nearly all of them were 
classified and locked away. Only in 1997 did a process of 
declassification begin.

Free now to talk, Yoshitake remembers the iconic mushroom clouds 
as a photographer would, for their size, color and texture. 
"Underground shots you just see a lot of dirt come up," he 
recalled. The big hydrogen explosions in the Pacific were 
awe-inspiring, however. "Those are spooky," he said. "There is a 
purple glow in the sky for 10-15 minutes."

For ground explosions, Yoshitake would typically be stationed six 
to eight miles away, though for a few he was as close as two 
miles. For the big hydrogen shots in the Pacific, he would be 20 
miles out, on a neighboring island to protect from shock waves 
and intense heat. "At Nevada you could see the shock wave kicking 
up dust across the desert floor, then you'd get it `bang' in your 
face. We braced for it. We hung onto our cameras." He does not 
remember being knocked down from any of the blasts, but livestock 
closer to them did not fare so well.

In Nevada, at Shot Priscilla, in June 1957, the blast's effects 
on animals were calculated. "They had a lot of pigs and monkeys 
and sheep," Yoshitake said. "Some of the monkeys had their eyes 
taped open. I remember going in 30 minutes later. The pigs were 
still squealing. Their skin was blackened. With the smell and 
animals crying it was just horrible." That shot was the only one 
at which Yoshitake wore protective gear.

The Ground Zero shot in July 1957 was part of a public relations 
campaign engineered by the North American Air Defense Command to 
allay public fears of tactical nuclear weaponry. It came in the 
midst of an arms race with the Soviet Union, which consumed the 
U.S. at the time.

All five volunteers were working in nuclear commands and believed 
in the safety of the relatively small two-kiloton warhead. Still, 
if they were wrong, if the blast impact were larger than expected 
or if radioactive fallout should rain down, they could perish or 
face a life not worth living. They were indeed risking their 
lives.

On July 18, Maj. Woody Mark called Yoshitake in Los Angeles with 
a job. Yoshitake speculates that it was his reputation for 
shooting unusual angles that won him the dubious opportunity to 
film the shot known officially as Shot John, the eighth of 24 
blasts in Operation Plumbbob.

Mark told him nothing about the chilling danger of the 
assignment. "I was no volunteer," says Yoshitake now. "I didn't 
know we would be under it until I got out there late that night." 
But even then he took it as "just another job. I thought nothing 
of it."

At 7 a.m., while Yoshitake's only protection was a baseball cap, 
he adjusted his two 35-millimeter movie cameras and one still 
camera as an F-89 Scorpion streaked across the sky. It unleashed 
its rocket at a point in space directly over the volunteers and 
cameraman, then it nearly back flipped in its hurry to escape.

The volunteers avoided looking directly into the blast but gazed 
upward as soon as they sensed a flash and heat. Yoshitake's most 
famous shot shows them, hatless and with no protective gear, not 
even sunglasses, looking up each with one hand raised to shade 
their eyes.

One volunteer spoke into a tape recorder saying, "The colors are 
brilliant, swirling and changing. And now we're getting the shock 
wave." At that his microphone went dead. Yoshitake's cameras 
showed the volunteers crouching against the shock wave but none 
lost their footing. When the audio tape resumed it recorded cries 
of jubilation and shouts of "it worked!"

Yoshitake saw only smoke when he finally looked up from his 
cameras. "It leaves a nice doughnut ring. That's what I shot," he 
said, smiling.

NORAD Public Information Officer Col. Barney Oldfield lionized 
the five officers, comparing them to Walter Reed and others who 
volunteered in yellow fever experiments 50 years before. He 
placed Yoshitake's photographs in dozens of publications and sent 
the volunteers on the road to speaking engagements. Nuclear 
scientist Edward Teller and the Joint Chiefs of Staff joined in 
praise of the five heroes and they were given credit as the 
nation's fears of nuclear arms abated. In later published 
accounts "an intrepid civilian photographer," name unmentioned, 
was added as an unobtrusive postscript.

Twenty years later in 1977, Al Stump of the Los Angeles 
Herald-Examiner reported that all five officers were in excellent 
health, and he also managed to include Yoshitake, by then 
transferred to Vandenberg, by name. "I'm still healthy as heck, 
too," the cameraman told him.

Yoshitake retired from civil service in 1985 but it would be 12 
years before his bravery, other than the one event, would be 
recognized.

In 1997, the Lookout Mountain men were labeled the "Atomic 
Cinematographers" by Hollywood producer Peter Kuran. Kuran's film 
"Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie" featured their 
footage after Kuran induced the Department of Energy to begin to 
declassify it.

"I wondered who were these guys," Kuran told the Long Beach 
Press-Telegram at the time. "The work these people did was so 
secretive that they never got much acclaim and recognition. 
Nobody knew who they were. Without their work an important part 
of history might be lost."

Lookout Mountain's 50th anniversary reunion that year, financed 
by Kuran, was dedicated to Yoshitake and his cohorts. It marked 
their first public recognition by the federal government.

"As the world seeks to end all nuclear weapons testing and enter 
a new era of peace, your work becomes even more important. Your 
films will help us and future generations better remember and 
understand a unique time in history," Secretary of Energy 
Federico Pena told the men. Predicted Charles Demos of the DOE, 
"Nobody on this earth is ever going to take pictures of nuclear 
weapons going off again."

Yoshitake said he held no philosophical differences with nuclear 
testing back when he was photographing it. "At the time, no I 
didn't, but now I do. Now I realize how much damage is done not 
just to our generation but to many generations."

Yoshitake recently retired again from his wedding and football 
photography business but at 77 is still in good health. Long-term 
exposure to radiation can be toxic, but Yoshitake, father of 
three and grandfather of four, insists he has had no ill effects.

"Do I have health issues," he asked rhetorically with his 
customary grin. "Just this white hair."

Correspondent John McReynolds can be reached at 736-6352 or 
johnny544@verizon.net

Nov. 26, 2006


*****************************************************************
 58 Bradenton Herald: Tallevast appeal deadline extended

11/25/2006 | 

herald wahtchdog Residents have until Friday to object to state
toxic waste decision

 DONNA WRIGHT Herald Staff Writer 

TALLEVAST - Tallevast residents have been given another
extension on filing an appeal to the state's decision to accept
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s assessment of the 200-acre plume of
toxic waste underneath the historic neighborhood, said Jeanne
Zokovitch of WildLaw Inc., an environmental rights advocacy
group. 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection moved the
deadline originally set for Monday back to Friday, Zokovitch
said. As an environmental lawyer representing communities
threatened by toxic waste, Zokovitch has been working with
Tallevast residents to make sure their concerns are addressed. 

The new date will allow conversations to continue on questions
Tallevast leaders have raised on Lockheed's plume data,
Zokovitch said. 

"I am hopeful this means that they will follow up on those
issues we raised without making it necessary to go to an
appeal," said Zokovitch. "It means we are still having
conversations." 

Calls to DEP officials for confirmation of the new deadline were
not returned Friday. 

Laura Ward, president of Family Oriented Community United
Strong, or FOCUS, said residents intend to do whatever they need
to do to get answers. 

FOCUS leaders and the community's technical advisors, Tim Varney
and Michael Graves, have questioned whether Lockheed's data
fully define the depth of the plume and the risks it poses to
the community. 

DEP spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez recently told the Bradenton
Herald that acceptance of Lockheed's plume assessment does not
mean the investigation stage is complete as far as the state is
concerned. 

Acceptance of the Lockheed assessment just means the state is
ready to give Lockheed the green light to begin cleaning the
mess up, Vazquez said earlier this month. 

DEP will continue to require Lockheed to do further
investigations as the cleanup proceeds, according to Vazquez. 

Ward said she hopes DEP is willing to address the community's
concerns without having to file an appeal, but she added that in
no way is the community backing off the legal option to get the
answers Tallevast needs. 

"We are just going to see where it goes," said Ward. "We will do
whatever to make sure we get what we need out of this
situation." 

The 200-acre plume of toxic waste has been traced back to an old
beryllium plant Lockheed once owned. 

Although Lockheed never operated the plant, they owned the
facility when the contamination was found in 2000, making the
defense giant liable for the clean-up. 

Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be
reached at 745-7049 or at dwright@HeraldToday.com. 

Bradenton.com 

Go to the Special Coverage area to read more about the Tallevast
investigation and to view important documents. 

*****************************************************************
 59 Green Left - MALAWI: Concern about Australian uranium miner in Malawi
 
Reinford Mwangonde 24 November 2006

The role of mining companies overseas is often shrouded in
secrecy. Residents of my country Malawi, in the “warm heart” of
Africa, are learning first hand about Australian mining
companies as four of them are currently exploring for uranium. 

Paladin Resources, the most advanced, released a draft
environmental impact assessment for the Kayelekera uranium
deposit in northern Malawi on October 6, and is finalising its
feasibility study. (Paladin also wants to mine uranium near Mt
Isa in Queensland.) But concern is growing over the likely
impact of Paladin’s operations and with irregularities in the
community consultation processes and approvals.
 
The Kayelekera mine is located in the catchment area of a river
that flows directly into Lake Malawi, one of the most pristine
freshwater bodies remaining in the world and a vital source of
food for the Malawian people. Other Australian exploration
licenses overlap with the Nyika and Majete National Parks.
 
There is little capacity in Malawi to address the complex
environmental and public health risks associated with uranium
mining, but these need to be addressed before any mine proceeds.
Citizens for Justice, the Centre for Human Rights and
Rehabilitation, the Uraha Foundation, the Karonga Development
Trust, the Foundation for Community Support Services and
communities in Malawi want Australian mining companies to abide
by the same standards in Malawi as they do in Australia.
 
But this is obviously not what Paladin’s directors have in mind.
The Melbourne Herald Sun of April 3 quoted John Borshoff,
Paladin’s managing director, as saying: “There has been an over
compensation in terms of thinking about environmental and social
issues in regard to uranium operations in Australia, forcing
companies like Paladin into Africa”.
 
Paladin needs to consult with communities in a transparent and
accountable manner, yet it is refusing to sign a legal and
binding agreement with them. Even while Paladin is finalising
its feasibility study, construction of the mine is underway,
destroying shrines and angering the locals. We are concerned
about adverse social impacts, which have accompanied mining
elsewhere, such as an increase in alcoholism, domestic violence
and other health problems, including HIV. We also believe that
displacing families breaches UN human rights commitments.
 
Paladin’s waste management plan is also of concern. The mine is
next to a stream that runs into a major river that provides
domestic water and drains into Lake Malawi, Africa’s largest
lake. The gradual leaching of radioactive tailings waste and the
potential impact of floods will destroy our precious water
resources.
 
Paladin Resources talks about corporate social responsibility,
but has refused to provide “scoping documents”, which, under
Malawian environmental law, are supposed to ensure that the
community can identify and address key concerns at an early
stage.
 
Paladin is also undermining local decision making by effectively
putting local village chiefs on the company payroll, and
promising communities new school blocks, roads, internet, an
airport and clean water. Paladin has also committed to a new
hospital, but only to serve mine staff not the local community.
 
Paladin’s use of water and electricity are also contentious. Its
lawyers have drafted a state agreement act that allows it rights
to water and electricity that override Malawian’s existing
rights, and indemnifies the company from compensation for any
losses.
 
We believe this is contrary to the Malawian constitution: water
is a scarce resource. Most people do not have access to clean
water, and the government does not have programs to make water
from the lake available to rural areas. Most Malawians
experience acute shortages of electricity, generated by
hydroelectric schemes, as droughts are already forcing power
rationing to many residential areas. This will worsen when
Paladin starts using these much needed resources.
 
Citizens For Justice (CFJ) would like to collaborate with
Australian activists and organisations to ensure that companies
such as Paladin are forced to meet social and environmental
standards, both in Malawi and in Australia.
 
[Reinford Mwangonde is the executive director of Citizens For
Justice (CFJ), Malawi.]
 

From: Comment &Analysis, Green Left Weekly issue #692 29
November 2006. 	 	   	   	 		 	 

Authorised by K. Miller, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW.
Site by Kiwa Systems           
*****************************************************************
 60 Green Left: Organising against NT waste dump plans
 
Justin Tutty 24 November 2006

Senate estimates hearings in November revealed that the federal
government’s plans for a nuclear dump in the Northern Territory
are not running smoothly. The site evaluation is lagging six
months behind schedule and, as a result, Canberra wants to
conduct environmental assessment and site licensing processes
concurrently. 

Federal science minister Julie Bishop has also proposed a set of
amendments that, if passed, will override legislation passed
last December. The Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act
(CRWMA), 2005 included provisions that stipulated that to
nominate a site for assessment for the Commonwealth radioactive
waste dump, a Land Council must demonstrate evidence: of
consultation with the traditional owners; that the traditional
owners understand the nomination; that they have consented as a
group; and that any community or group that may be affected has
been consulted and had adequate opportunity to express its view.
 
Less than a year later, Bishop wants to further weaken community
input into the debate over radioactive waste management, with
amendments that mean that if the above conditions are not met,
the validity of a nomination is not affected. This paves the way
for traditional owners’ rights to be wiped out.
 
On November 22, the Environment Centre of the NT, Arid Lands
Environment Centre and the Darwin No Waste Alliance put their
strong opposition to the proposed amendment to the senate
inquiry. The bill is due for debate at the end of November.
According to Natalie Wasley, from the Arid Lands Environment
Centre, the bill contravenes the federal government’s statutory
obligations under the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act.
 
Predictably, federal MPs have welcomed the Uranium Industry
Framework report which outlines a massive expansion of uranium
exports based on “product stewardship” — a notion that could
result in Australia accepting responsibility for the waste
generated by any uranium exported from this country. This
document makes clear that a dump in the NT could become a
destination for international nuclear waste. Ziggy Switkowski’s
Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy Review also opens
the door to a domestic nuclear power industry.
 
But opposition to the government’s plans is growing. Traditional
owners and community representatives from the various NT sites
targeted for the nuclear dump will meet with politicians and the
Darwin community on November 29 at 6.30pm at the Museum
Theaterette. All welcome.
 
[Justin Tutty is a member of No Waste Alliance. Visit .]
 
Authorised by K. Miller, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW.
Site by Kiwa Systems 	       
*****************************************************************
 61 GBPG: Country can't afford delay in spent nuclear fuel repository

Green Bay Press-Gazette - Guest column: 

Posted November 25, 2006

As plans take shape for the Yucca Mountain waste repository in 
Nevada, the broader mission is ensuring the expanded use of 
nuclear power. That will take time and resources, but Congress 
can start now by removing one of the last obstacles: establishing 
a few regional facilities for spent-fuel storage until the 
permanent repository is built. 

Proposed legislation that bears on the 55,000 metric tons of 
spent fuel now in temporary storage at nuclear power plant sites 
requires attention. Though the spent fuel has been stored safely 
and securely, it's not the sort of material that can remain 
indefinitely in water pools at power plants across the country 
that were not designed for waste management. 

About 1,000 metric tons of spent fuel is stored at the Kewaunee, 
La Crosse, and Point Beach nuclear plant sites in Wisconsin. 

Interim storage at government facilities is crucial. Many of the 
storage pools that have held spent fuel for decades are running 
out of space, but the Yucca Mountain repository is not scheduled 
to open until 2017. Creating one or more federal storage sites 
would also help resolve utility lawsuits stemming from the 
government's failure to remove spent fuel from nuclear plant 
sites by 1998, as required by law. Utilities estimate damages in 
excess of $50 billion. 

The landmark Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 established a 
Nuclear Trust Fund to finance construction of the Yucca Mountain 
facility, paid for by a one-tenth-of-a-cent per kilowatt-hour fee 
on electricity users. So far, consumers of nuclear power have 
paid more than $27 billion in fees, and continue to pay $750 
million a year. 

However, only $9 billion has been spent on the project, and the 
government still has not met its obligation under the law to take 
the spent fuel. As a result, the same utility customers have had 
to finance costly on-site storage facilities. 

Delays in the licensing and construction of the Yucca Mountain 
repository are cause for concern, since it's a stumbling block to 
the expansion of nuclear power that could contribute 
significantly to staving off global warming. Nuclear power plants 
emit no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. 

According to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources, since 1970, some 16 billion metric tons of carbon 
dioxide have been avoided in the United States from the use of 
nuclear power instead of fossil fuels. But America needs a 
dramatic increase in new reactors to merely maintain its current 
20 percent share of electricity from nuclear power, let alone 
reduce carbon emissions to acceptable levels. 

Further progress in nuclear power — and possibly recycling spent 
fuel for use again in generating electricity — seems likely to 
hinge on legislation that the administration has proposed. It 
would guarantee that the administration's budget requests to 
Congress for nuclear waste management, including the Yucca 
Mountain project, are fully funded according to the fees paid 
into the Nuclear Waste Fund. And it would raise the limit on the 
amount of spent fuel and other waste material that can be stored 
at Yucca Mountain from 70,000 metric tons to 120,000 metric tons. 

By fully utilizing Yucca Mountain's potential capacity, there 
would be no need for multiple repositories to dispose of the 
nuclear waste. 

It is estimated that each year in the delay of Yucca Mountain's 
completion will result in utility expenditures of $500 million. 
Without legislation to provide predictable funding and eliminate 
some of the project's uncertainties, the significant delays in 
the repository's operation will jeopardize the entire program. 

Congress cannot afford to let that happen, for Yucca Mountain's 
completion is critical to our energy security and environmental 
well being. 

z — Michael Corradini is chairman of the Department of 
Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 
  
  Contact us at 920-435-4411.        greenbaypressgazette.com is 
a website. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the , 
updated June 7, 2005.
   
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 62 Salt Lake Tribune - Political greed

Letter Article Last Updated:11/23/2006 11:18:08
AM MST

It is very interesting that the environmental scientists of the 
Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste and the Division of 
Radiation Control, and their respective advisory boards, 
requested the Legislature to beef up the long-term perpetual care 
fund for radioactive and hazardous waste landfills. 

    However, the Interim Natural Resource, Agricultural and 
Environment Committee decided that this burden was unnecessary. 
It is also interesting that EnergySolutions can afford to pay 
about one-half of the $400,000 amount they pay annually to the 
perpetual care fund, to state elections campaigns, with two 
checks for $25,000 each going to the Republican Party ($190,000 
in political contributions, according to The Tribune on Nov. 16, 
"N-dump handed break on funds"). 

    So is the actual reason to not beef up the perpetual care 
fund for radioactive waste due to politicians pocket-lining or 
political greed? 
    
    Cindy King 
    Salt Lake City 
   

Â© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
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 63 San Bernardino County Sun: Controversy surrounds safe perchlorate level
 
Fred Ortega, Staff Writer

Launched:11/26/2006 12:00:00 AM PST

It has been two years since the state set a goal to limit the 
amount of perchlorate in Californians' drinking water, but 
officials have yet to establish a mandatory threshold for the 
potentially dangerous chemical. 

And some environmental groups and scientists claim that the limit 
being considered does not go far enough to protect the state's 
most vulnerable residents. 

The issue is also being closely followed by Inland Empire 
officials and residents, from Rialto to Norco, who are concerned 
about contamination in their groundwater. 

Perchlorate is naturally occurring but is also used as an
additive in rocket fuel. Over the years, the substance has
leached into the groundwater of countless American communities
and is now so prevalent in drinking water that a study by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found at least trace
amounts of the chemical in every person it tested. 

Rialto and Colton have sued suspected perchlorate polluters in
an effort to recoup the cost of investigating and cleaning up
the contamination found in wells. A federal judge threw out
Colton's case earlier this year. A similar suit filed by Rialto
is pending. 

In Norco, the state has detected perchlorate in groundwater both 
on and off the former military - and manufacturing - testing Wyle 
Laboratories site, but the levels of contamination have been 
deemed unreliable, and further testing is under way. 

In other parts of Southern California, one of the biggest
culprits of perchlorate contamination is Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, which is engaged in a multimillion-dollar cleanup of
water wells in Altadena and Pasadena. The former aerospace
plants that dotted the San Gabriel Valley during the Cold War
were also major perchlorate polluters. 

The federal limit for what is considered a safe level of
exposure to perchlorate is 24.5 parts per billion. But local
agencies have been following the state public-health goal of 6
ppb in treating water. 

One part per billion is equivalent to about a half-teaspoon of
the chemical in an Olympic- sized pool. 

The state's 6 ppb goal is not mandatory, and officials are still
navigating the regulatory process required to make the limit
legally binding, said Patti Roberts, a spokeswoman for the
Department of Health Services. 

"The process for establishing a state-mandated (maximum
contaminant level) for perchlorate is a lengthy one," said
Roberts, adding the department hopes to have a perchlorate limit
codified into law sometime next year. The state's Office of
Environmental Health Hazards Assessment first suggested the 6
ppb limit in 2004. 

But even that figure might not be enough to protect hundreds of
thousands of Californians, according to an analysis of a recent
CDC study by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit public
watchdog in Washington, D.C. 

For Norco residents seeking the source of what they say are
unprecedented numbers of thyroid-related illnesses, perchlorate
- a known thyroid inhibitor - has been a prime suspect. 

The group's analysis of the CDC report, released last month,
suggests that even a 6 ppb threshold could negatively affect
pregnant women with abnormally low iodine levels. That
translates to about 36 percent of American women, said Dr. Anila
Jacobs, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group. 

"This subset of women is very vulnerable to the effects of
perchlorate," said Jacobs, who spoke at a public hearing on the
limits being considered by the state last month in Sacramento.
"Those are the women we worry about should they become pregnant,
because they could be pushed into something called subclinical
hypothyroidism, which would require treatment." 

Studies suggest the neural development of the fetus could be
negatively affected if a woman with subclinical hypothyroidism
is not treated with thyroid hormones during pregnancy, Jacobs
said. IQ deficits and developmental delays are among the
possible effects of the disorder on newborns, according to the
Environmental Working Group's analysis. 

The study also states that even under the state's proposed
limits, perchlorate in drinking water could depress thyroid
hormone levels in 272,000 California women to a point where they
would need treatment. The group has recommended an even stricter
standard of 2 ppb, a limit adopted recently in Massachusetts. 

State experts maintain water contaminated with perchlorate must
be consumed to pose a health risk. Norco residents no longer use
the contaminated groundwater wells on their properties. Of the
groundwater wells found to be contaminated in Colton and Rialto,
several now have treatment equipment in place that scrubs the
chemical from the water. 

The CDC study is being weighed by the Office of Environmental
Health Hazards Assessment, said the agency's director, Joan
Denton. 

"We are very closely looking at it, analyzing its results and
trying to duplicate their results," said Denton. "At this point,
our (public-health goal) remains at 6 parts per billion." 

Staff writer Andrea Bennett contributed to this report.Print

  			  
Los Angeles Newspaper Group 
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 64 The Australian: A breath of fresh Eyre for uranium

 Robin Bromby November 27, 2006 

APART from the big iron ore pits developed since 1899 by BHP,
South Australia's Eyre Peninsula has been a neglected
exploration backwater.

 Over the years, there has been some low-profile mining of
minerals such as jade, graphite and gypsum. 

But, apart from the steel manufactured at Whyalla, this region,
based on Port Lincoln, has depended largely on wheat and barley,
commercial fishing and tourism for its livelihood. 

Fast-forward to the present day and the Eyre Peninsula is
buzzing with activity and becoming one of our uranium hotspots. 

Canada's uranium giant Cameco is exploring there, as are local
juniors Gawler Resources, Intermet Resources and Australasia
Gold. 

Adelaide Resources, which has one of the largest land positions
on the Eyre with gold and iron ore prospects, added uranium to
that list last week. 

It will join Quasar Resources, the exploration arm of the
US-owned operator of the Beverley uranium mine in South
Australia, to explore north of the township of Wudinna. 

This is the second time around in this area for Adelaide
Resources. It picked up these tenements in 1996 when it was
virgin territory for exploration. Gold was found, but not enough
to justify a mine. 

Adelaide Resources executive chairman Keith Yates told its
annual meeting last week the deal was part of a big move into
uranium for the company. 

Australasia Gold has picked up the Murninnie project, which
includes an old mine that produced small quantities of
high-grade copper, although there was never much exploration
done away from the mine. The mine, which also contains bismuth
and gold, has been in the hands of one family since 1929. Now
the Adelaide-based junior believes the place has good uranium
potential. 

Recently listed Gawler Resources, associated with Perth mining
figures David and Gary Steinepreis, is targeting uranium 10km
west of the town of Cowell. 

And WCP Diversified Investments (formerly stationer W C Penfold)
has opted to earn a stake in Intermet Resources' Coulta uranium
project, 32km southwest of Cummins. 

Meanwhile, it looks as if iron ore is the other potential pillar
for a new mining era on the Eyre Peninsula. 

The big story there is Centrex Metals, which on Friday released
more encouraging drilling results from its Wilgerup hematite
project. 

Even though exploration is still at a reasonably early stage,
Centrex has already attracted the attention of the Chinese. 

Within two days in July, Centrex announced two deals. Shenyang
Orient Iron & Steel, on the day before Centrex started trading
on the Australian Stock Exchange, announced it was pumping $3
million into the junior to buy a 7.8 per cent stake. They also
signed for the first million tonnes of hematite a year coming
out of Wilgerup. 

The next day, Baotou Iron & Steel invested $4.38 million in
Centrex shares and also put its name down for a million tonnes a
year. 

Centrex's long-term plan is to mine magnetite. Managing director
Gerard Anderson takes comfort from most of the deposits being
near the coast. In addition, he will be able to use an existing
rail line into Port Lincoln, where wharf space is now being
negotiated. 

"We think it's one of the best places in the world to have a
mine," he added. 

Privacy Terms © The Australian
*****************************************************************
 65 KnoxNews: UT, ORNL will examine economic development and its impact on 
environment

ET center of U.S.-China pact

By DUNCAN MANSFIELD, Associated Press 

November 25, 2006                                                               

Suggesting that pollution has no geographic or political 
boundaries, American and Chinese researchers plan to work 
together over the next several years examining the environmental 
impact of China's growing economy. 

"Maybe they can learn from our mistakes or we can help them avoid 
some of the same mistakes that we made," said Gary Sayler, a 
distinguished professor at the University of Tennessee and 
co-chairman of the U.S. contingent. 

As the world's largest emerging economy, China may also have some 
lessons for the United States if it can incorporate environmental 
responsibility into that growth, he said. 

"I think they see us both as examples and as a kind of a
learning partner," Sayler said. 

A scientific pact signed in July will establish the China-U.S.
Joint Research Center for Ecosystem and Environmental Change,
bringing together scientists and resources from the university,
the UT-managed Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Chinese
Academy of Sciences. 

The focus of this effort, scheduled to run at least through
2011, will be on the relationship between economic development
and environmental disruption. 

The Oak Ridge lab's carbon dioxide information analysis center
will play a key role. The numbers-crunching facility is the U.S.
Department of Energy's primary repository on global climate
change. 

The Earth's ability to balance carbon dioxide produced through
respiration and absorbed by growing plants has been thrown off
by the burning of fossil fuels. 

The United States and China now rank first and second in carbon
dioxide emissions, the most prevalent of greenhouse gases linked
to global warming. 

"Existing evidence has shown that ecosystem (changes) and
environmental problems in these systems are closely related to
economic development, energy use, social structure and natural
geographic conditions," Gui-Rui Yu, co-chairman of the Chinese
contingent, said in a statement. 

Comparing those changes "in our two nations will help advance
our understanding of the mechanisms that affect global and
regional environments," said Yu, director of the Key Laboratory
of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, and the Chinese
Ecosystem Research Network. 

Environmental protection has become a prominent issue in China
after a string of industrial accidents that poisoned major
rivers. Chinese cities are among the world's smoggiest following
two decades of strong economic growth. 

Sayler, director of the UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Biological
Sciences, said the American researchers first contacted their
Chinese counterparts about a collaboration on helping China
track the environmental consequences of its burgeoning economy. 

Through discussions, aided by UT professor Jie (Joe) Zhuang, who
received his doctorate from Shenyang (China) Agricultural
University, "it took on a little broader context" to consider
"how a growing, developing economy might be able to manage its
(pollution) impacts." 

The researchers now expect to examine other issues, including
bioenergy production, water quality and technologies to improve
the environment. 

"They are very much developing a position that they are a leader
in the world, and not only in their economy but in terms of
their impact," Sayler said of the Chinese. "They seem to be
taking on responsibility now for areas that, well, we've been
managing to mess up pretty well."

Copyright 2006, Associated Press. All rights
reserved. 								
 							   						 					
© 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
*****************************************************************
 66 Contra Costa Times: Labs need the tools to protect us

.com | 11/25/2006 | 

GUEST COMMENTARY
 
WITHIN THE next several months, Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory plans to open a new building that will assist its
scientists in developing detection technologies to help protect
the United States against bioterrorism. 

The new building, called a Biosafety Level 3 facility, will
permit Livermore researchers to conduct more sophisticated
experiments on a wider range of microorganisms than can
currently be handled. It will also help them learn more about --
and find ways to combat -- many new emerging diseases, such as
West Nile virus and avian flu. 

For more than a decade, long before the 2001 terrorist attacks,
LLNL scientists have worked on biological monitors and detection
tests to help the nation's defense against the threat of the
malicious release of harmful biological agents. 

In the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, a biological detection system
developed by Livermore and Los Alamos scientists and known as
the Biological Aerosol Sentry and Information System (BASIS) was
deployed as a monitor to a major East Coast city. 

Today, BASIS serves as the core technology for the nation's
BioWatch system, which is deployed in 30 American cities,
warning Department of Homeland Security officials if there has
been a bioterrorist attack. With early detection, people receive
faster medical treatment and lives can be saved. 

In addition, researchers from Livermore and other national
laboratories have developed a majority of the tests used in the
BioWatch system to detect different pathogens. 

Dr. Caroline Purdy, of the Science and Technology directorate at
DHS, said she believes the Livermore Biosafety Level 3 facility
is important for continuing to upgrade the BioWatch system. 

"It is my professional opinion that LLNL's BSL-3 facility will
significantly improve our nation's ability to detect and respond
to the threat of terrorism using biological agents, and that
delaying commencement of operations at LLNL's BSL-3 facility
would directly and adversely impact the national security of the
United States," Purdy said. 

With the new BSL-3 facility, Livermore scientists will be able
to help develop detection tests -- based on unique sequences of
DNA -- for many of the pathogens that can't yet be detected
under the BioWatch system, expanding the system's capabilities. 

The Livermore BSL-3 facility also is needed by DHS to serve as a
backup laboratory to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention for determining whether BioWatch samples actually are
a threat. 

Additionally, in the event of a bioterrorism attack, the LLNL
facility also could be used for bioforensic purposes, assisting
law enforcement authorities in the search for perpetrators. 

Activists have appealed a previous U.S. District Court decision
affirming the opening of the facility, citing concerns about
earthquake safety, security and possible releases. The
nationwide safety record of these labs belie those concerns. 

Several hundred BSL-3 labs are operating nationwide, some in
densely populated urban areas and some for as long as three
decades, with strong safety records and an extremely low
incidence of exposure to workers or the public. 

Livermore has safely operated its BSL-1 and BSL-2 laboratories
for more than 20 years without accidental exposures. Its new
BSL-3 facility has been built to meet or exceed all applicable
safety, environmental and security standards. 

For example, Livermore's new biosafety facility has been built
to national seismic standards. It is constructed to the same
standards as hospitals, police stations and fire stations --
buildings that are designed to stand in the event of a major
temblor. 

The CDC requires three barriers to prevent the theft of
biological pathogens; the Lab's BSL-3 provides for four security
barriers, plus on-site security. 

Similarly, the CDC only requires HEPA air filters on biosafety
cabinets, where lab work is performed; the Lab's BSL-3 provides
these air filters, plus two additional levels of HEPA filters
for the building's exhaust air. 

LLNL itself chose to set higher standards for safety and
security. 

Independent safety reviews have been conducted of the Livermore
BSL-3 facility, design and operations to ensure that the
facility will be safely operated. 

The Lab's new BSL-3 laboratory is a critical tool that Livermore
scientists need to do their job. 

It makes sense to give them the tools they need to continue
helping to protect the United States against bioterrorism and
emerging diseases. 

Colston is the leader of LLNL's Chemical and Biological
Countermeasures Division. 

*****************************************************************
 67 KnoxNews: Enacting terrorism plan tricky

By Associated Press

November 25, 2006

WASHINGTON - Democrats poised to take control of Congress say 
they'll work to implement the unfinished business that the 9/11 
Commission recommended to better protect America from terrorists. 
But it won't be easy. 

Much of what the commission proposed has been accomplished, at 
least in some measure. And many other proposals won't get through 
because they're either too expensive or face stiff political 
opposition. 

Intelligence institutions were reorganized, some terrorist 
financing has been disrupted, and planning for air defense of the 
U.S. has been improved. Those were key elements of the program 
the Sept. 11 commission said must be instituted. 

Analysts say there are no still-lingering proposals that can 
easily be enacted into law. The commission in July 2004 made 41 
sweeping recommendations. 

A year and a half after issuing the recommendations, the 
commission reconvened and announced that many of its 
recommendations had not been adequately addressed, such as 
improving airline passenger screening and homeland security 
spending for cities considered most at risk of attack. 

Democrats had been harping on many of the same issues. 

One of the most difficult but important remaining recommendations 
is for stepping up safeguards on loose nuclear materials that 
could be used by terrorists. 

House Democrats pledged to fully fund those efforts but haven't 
said how much that will cost.

© 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
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 68 SF New Mexican: LANL: Midterm shake-up yields budget concerns 

Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:01 pm                                                                                                       

Los Alamos National Laboratory
House Energy and Commerce Committee
   
By ANDY LENDERMAN | The New Mexican             

Workers fear downsizing as new Congress prepares to take the helm

The money flowed freely a year ago -- $4.4 billion straight from 
the U.S. Department of Energy to employ thousands in New Mexico.

 Much of that money went to Los Alamos National Laboratory. But a 
year and one midterm election later, it's unclear how the lab's 
budget will shake out in the new Congress and how many people 
will continue to be employed there.

 The lab's new manager, Los Alamos National Security, LLC, has 
reported some bad news for people who work at the lab or aspire 
to. 

Lab director Michael Anastasio expects future budgets to be 
relatively flat, spokesman Jeff Berger said.

 But Anastasio has taken action in two areas that impact 
employment.

 First, he announced 350 to 550 contract worker layoffs. And he 
told state lawmakers that he might shrink the size of the 
permanent work force through 400 retirements and resignations in 
the coming year. A reduction of 400 jobs represents a loss of 
about 4.8 percent of the permanent work force. The goal is to 
avoid layoffs.

Berger was unable to identify what areas might have fewer jobs or 
how the lab could be reorganized.

 About 8,920 permanent employees work for Los Alamos National
Security, LLC, which manages the lab for the government. Another
2,500 contractors and 1,617 students and researchers also work
there.

 The lab's budget is more than double what it was a few years
after the Cold War. The lab's budget was $1.05 billion in the
1995 fiscal year, New Mexican archives show.

 Neither of New Mexico's senators have offered specifics about
the lab budget, which is about $2.2 billion in the fiscal year
that recently ended.

 New Mexico's senators are expected to make lab funding a major
issue, but they're clearly not making any guarantees right now.

 "New Mexico's two DOE laboratories play key roles in
nonproliferation, homeland security, and energy security --
areas that are, and will continue to be, critical for our
country," said U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. "There is no
question in my mind that adequate funding for LANL and Sandia
will remain a top priority."

 U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has authored an appropriations
bill that would fund the labs and other agencies in the current
Congress. But it's unclear if that bill -- the 2007 Energy and
Water Appropriations Act -- will even pass this year. Instead, a
new spending bill authored by a Democratic-controlled Congress
might pay for future lab operations, and it might not be passed
until next year.

 "Sen. Domenici hopes that's not the case, but it's possible,"
spokesman Matt Letourneau said.

 Domenici lost the chairmanship to his appropriations
subcommittee when voters kicked Republicans out of power earlier
this month.

 "Elections have consequences," Letourneau said. He declined to
elaborate.

 Manny Trujillo, who heads a lab employee association, said
workers are worried about a future with more emphasis on weapons
manufacturing and less on research and development.

 "People are afraid that there's going to be a tremendous amount
of downsizing at the laboratory due to budgets and programs,"
Trujillo said.

 For now, the lab is operating on what's known as a continuing
resolution, which continues funding for a program when a fiscal
year ends without a new funding bill in place.

 Domenici's bill would fund the Department of Energy, the Bureau
of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers at $31.2 billion
for the coming year.

 A House version of the same appropriations bill is pegged at
more than $30 billion. It's unclear where the differences would
be worked out between each spending proposal, even if they are
considered this year.

 Anastasio is trying to avoid layoffs to the permanent work
force. His company faces higher costs from gross-receipts taxes,
pay raises and pensions, and a management fee.

 "All he's saying is that we would expect that that level of
attrition would continue," Berger said of the 400 jobs. "If we
elect not to replace those people, then we have a natural,
relatively minor reduction in the size of the work force."

 Not filling those jobs would give some room to maneuver, Berger
said, "so there's not as much pressure to eliminate people
through layoffs." He was unable to estimate a cost savings
associated with those jobs. However, he noted that Anastasio
thinks future lab budgets will remain flat and might not even
cover the cost of inflation.

 Berger also said that to date, 250 contractor jobs of the 350
announced have been eliminated. The lab has not yet made a
decision to eliminate an additional 200 contractor jobs.

 Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group said more federal
dollars are not necessarily good for the state.

 "Growth in the budget in the lab can't be counted upon for
economic development," Mello said.

 Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or .		 	   	 	 	 		
 		   			 		   	 
/ Terms of Use | ©2006, Santa Fe New Mexican,
*****************************************************************
 69 Las Vegas SUN: Feds plan redo of weapon sites 

Today: November 26, 2006 at 7:41:38 PST 

Nevada Test Site being considered for new consolidated plutonium
center

 By Launce Rake Las Vegas Sun

The federal government will head to Las Vegas this week to
discuss its proposed top-to-bottom makeover of the nation's
nuclear weapons system, an archipelago of research and
production sites across two-thirds of the country. 

One of the proposed changes could result in plutonium being
manufactured at Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las
Vegas. The Test Site is one of the eight sites in the national
research and production system. 

The 1,400-square-mile Test Site has been home to 40 years of
above- and below-ground nuclear explosions and other nuclear
weapons research. The Energy Department's National Nuclear
Security Administration wants to modernize and ensure the
reliability of the nation's stockpile of nuclear weapons,
consolidate operations and reduce the number of warheads in the
national stockpile. 

The proposal, which could cost billions of dollars, is intended
to result in a safer and more reliable system that is cheaper to
run. 

One element of the proposal calls for a new manufacturing site
for plutonium, the explosive metal at the heart of nuclear
weapons. Nevada Test Site is one of five sites considered for
the new consolidated plutonium center. The department closed its
former manufacturing site, the Rocky Flats Plant outside Denver,
in 1989. 

Among the benefits of using the Test Site is its relative
isolation and existing security systems. 

Opposition is coming from former leaders of some of the affected
sites and from public-policy advocacy groups. The Union of
Concerned Scientists is urging people to raise concerns about
the proposed changes to the nuclear weapons infrastructure at a
government meeting on the environmental issues Tuesday at
Cashman Center, 850 Las Vegas Blvd. North. Sessions are planned
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

Robert Nelson, a senior scientist with the group, said the
nuclear weapons in the stockpile of about 10,000 warheads are
already reliable, negating the need for much of the proposed
effort. 

"The core nuclear warhead components the Energy Department wants
to redesign and replace are already determined by the nuclear
weapons labs themselves to be essentially 100 percent reliable,"
Nelson said. "The misplaced obsession with warhead reliability
and the rationale for continuing to maintain thousands of
nuclear weapons on high alert are part of an outdated U.S.
nuclear weapons policy." 

In a statement released Friday, the group, which has opposed
other weapons-related proposals from the Bush administration,
quoted former administrators criticizing the proposed changes. 

"What is the urgency for spending large amounts of money for a
new production complex without evidence of degradation in the
nuclear explosive package?" said Bob Peurifoy, former vice
president and director of weapons development at Sandia National
Laboratories in New Mexico. 

John Duncan, retired Sandia senior manager, echoed the concerns. 

"My knowledge of science and over 40 years of experience tells
me you can't do what the DOE says it is going to do," Duncan
said. "The old DOE realized that quality, speed of manufacturing
and cost were trade-offs. You can do two but the third will be
sacrificed. The new DOE thinks better, faster, cheaper is
possible. The labs know better, but no one has the courage to
speak up." 

Thomas D'Agostino, deputy administrator for defense programs for
the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in April that
the Test Site and its seven sister sites "routinely conduct
operations with substantial quantities of plutonium, or highly
enriched uranium, or both ¦ As such these are some of the most
sensitive facilities in the United States." 

The other candidate sites are outside Amarillo, Texas; Los
Alamos, N.M; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and Aiken, S.C. Launce Rake can
be reached at 259-4127 or at lrake@lasvegassun.com. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
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 70 Tri-City Herald: DOE mulls burial grounds cleanup 

Published Sunday, November 26th, 2006 

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer 

During Hanford's early production years, patrol officers
sometimes would have to block traffic 100 feet or more from
railroad crossings. 

On those days, highly radioactive waste from Hanford processing
plants was being carried by rail through central Hanford to
burial grounds. The train engineer might be separated from the
cargo by many empty cars and vehicle drivers had to stop far
away from crossings to avoid a potentially dangerous dose of
radiation. 

Today the Department of Energy is starting to think about what
to do about the burial grounds in central Hanford where that
waste was dumped before being covered with bulldozed dirt. 

The historic radioactive waste sites include trenches that would
stretch more than 43 miles if lined up end to end, said Frank
Roddy, team lead for solid waste disposal in the Department of
Energy's Richland Operations Office. The trenches hold more than
650,000 cubic yards of waste. 

The waste came from Hanford's processing plants, where chemicals
were used to separate plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons
program from fuel rods that had been irradiated in Hanford
reactors. Also included are wastes from recovering uranium for
re-use and from the Plutonium Finishing Plant. 

"It is a very, very challenging project and I think we will be
struggling with it for years to come," said John Price, manager
for environmental restoration for the Washington State
Department of Ecology, which regulates Hanford. 

Much of the waste in the trenches may be cardboard boxes filled
with trash with generally lower-level contamination. That
includes plastic used to tent contaminated areas to keep
contamination from spreading. 

But some of it, including boxes of waste that were transported
by rail car, is expected to be very hot. 

Historical descriptions said some of the waste measured more
than 500 rems per hour, and that could have been at 100 feet
away, Roddy said. That compares with the about 0.36 rem of
radiation an average person might be exposed to in a year from
natural and manmade sources. 

A rem is a measurement of radiation's effect on human tissue. 

In addition, historical photos show stainless steel tanks were
lowered into the dirt and buried. Typically they were empty, but
they could have a crust of radioactive waste, Roddy said. 

Today the historic solid waste sites in central Hanford are
flat, featureless expanses marked with radioactive warning
signs. 

Over the last year, they've been poked and prodded as the first
step in deciding how they should be cleaned up.
Ground-penetrating radar has been used to look beneath the
surface. 

In addition, differences in magnetic fields and in electrical
conductivity have been measured to determine where waste was
buried. Vapor sampling 6 inches beneath the surface also has
been done. 

That work has helped determine where trenches were, the
concentrations of waste in them and where carbon tetrachloride,
a toxic solvent used to process plutonium, may be present. 

In some cases, undocumented areas where waste was buried were
found, and in other cases trenches shown in drawings were not
found and may not exist, Roddy said. 

The investigation also included researching thousands of
historic documents, log books, drawings, aerial photos, surveys,
unusual occurrence reports and technical reports. More than
147,000 records on specific burials have been collected. 

In the next year DOE plans to develop a plan for sampling the
waste to do more detailed characterization before preparing a
cleanup plan. A formal decision on cleaning up the historic
burial grounds is expected in 2012 with work completed in 2024. 

© 2006 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
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 71 Inside Bay Area: Newer, safer warhead re-enters U.S. arsenal

By Ian Hoffman,STAFF WRITER

Article Last Updated:11/26/2006 02:53:04 AM PST

After three years and a quarter billion dollars in research,
defense scientists and engineers have figured out how to replace
the oldest U.S. nuclear warheads with safer, more modern ones
atop the nation's last silo-based missiles. 

Starting last month, Air Force technicians in the frozen prairie
of Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska began installing the more
modern warhead, known as the W87, one each week on an estimated
300 missiles. 

The change from a late 1960s-vintage warhead to one from the
mid-1980s means a portion of the U.S. land missile force will
have every available safety feature, from mechanical systems to
prevent unintentional arming to shells of exotic metals and
explosives resistant to accidental fires. 

The older warhead, known as the W62, is being scrapped, saving
hundreds of millions of dollars maintaining it, and allowing the
overall U.S. arsenal to shrink significantly, with the number of
warheads deployed on land-based missiles almost halved by 2012. 

Stanford physicist Sidney Drell, who led an influential 1990
study on nuclear warhead safety, said the change from the W62 to
the W87 is "a good idea. It's a very safe warhead." 

Scientists figured out long ago that they could put a single
type of nuclear explosive in a lot of different packages. During
the early Cold War, scientists turned the design for one Air
Force bomb, the Mark 7, into a kind of nuclear Swiss army knife.
It became two different ballistic missile warheads, a U.S. Navy 
bomb, an anti-submarine depth charge and a demolition explosive, 
according to Robert S. Norris, a senior nuclear weapons analyst 
at the Natural Resources Defense Council and co-author of the 
Nuclear Weapons Databook. 

The longest surviving all-arounder is the B61 nuclear bomb. Los
Alamos weapons scientists made it their Volkswagen, turning it
into 10 slightly different bomb designs plus three variants of
cruise missile warheads spanning 30 years. 

"They like to say they're all tailor made, but there are only so
many ways to skin the cat here," Norris said. 

But even as scientists proved they could use some H-bombs in
lots of different ways, for the last years of the Cold War they
designed the most modern nuclear warheads for very specific
missiles. These high-performance bombs were shoehorned into
tight, conical re-entry vehicles smaller than a man and intended
to survive extraordinary conditions. 

If ever launched, the cone-shaped warheads would swing in a few
minutes from sub-zero temperatures in space to blazing hot
re-entry. They would be shaken violently and grow seven times in
weight, escaping the Earth's pull, become weightless in space,
then be battered by nose shocks while screaming toward a target
faster than a rifle bullet. All the while, the warheads would
have to be able to survive radiation lethal to humans and still
function. 

For most of the time, the warhead must talk to fusing and
guidance systems on the missile that carries the H-bomb as far
as 6,000 miles and lobs it within 400 feet of its aim point. 

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore Lab designed the W87 warhead to
fly as many as 10 at a time on the Peacekeeper/MX missile. Along
with the W88 warhead on the Trident II submarine-launched
missiles and the W84 warhead for cruise missiles, they are
considered the most sophisticated weapons in the U.S. nuclear
arsenal. 

If the W87 was going to fly on the Minuteman III instead of the
Peacekeeper, scientists had to be certain that it could
withstand somewhat different conditions and still detonate. 

"There's a lot of basic science and engineering that's done to
provide the technical data to allow ourselves and the
(Department of Defense) to make the decision that there isn't a
problem putting the W87 on the Minuteman III," said Derek
Watman, weapons engineering chief for Livermore. 

"We want to make sure that there's absolutely no doubt that it's
going to perform well, that there is high reliability," Watman
said. 

President George Bush and Russian Federation President Boris
Yeltson agreed in 1993 to get rid of the Peacekeeper and its
Russian counterpart, the 

SS-18, nicknamed Satan by NATO. About 550 W87 warheads went into
storage. The Peacekeeper missiles themselves lately have served
as targets fired out of Vandenberg Air Force Base for missile
defense tests. The SS-18 is being used for space launches. 

Research on swapping the W87s for the older W62s took off after
Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin agreed to new
limits on deployed strategic warheads like those on the
land-based missiles. 

More than a dozen weapons scientists at Livermore and Sandia
National Laboratories-California put the bomb and rocket through
virtual flight tests in supercomputers. Air Force technicians
and defense contractors designed new hardware and software to
fit the new warhead on the missile and make sure that computers
on both talked to one another. 

The teams then put the new re-entry vehicle-missile combination
through three flight tests, ending in the South Pacific. Instead
of a warhead, the re-entry vehicle carried sensors and
transmitted data to ground stations at Kwajalein atoll and in
California. 

Air Force Capt. Jack Felici, manager of the Safety Enhanced
Reentry Vehicle program for U.S. Space Command, said the warhead
change and some upgrades to the missile will keep the Minuteman
III force viable through 2030 for a total of about $550 million. 

"This is an old weapons system. It's been out in the field for
30 years. You have to keep it tuned and running, and this is the
only capability that we have," Felici said. 

"We don't have funding for another system so we have to keep it
running for our defensive posture." 

Disarmament advocates note that with its upgraded guidance
system and a safer, more modern warhead, the Minuteman missile
still is an inflexible weapon, useful primarily for attacking a
nation that no longer is a U.S. adversary. The warheads would
have to fly over Russia to hit most other likely targets,
undermining their value, said Hans Kristensen, head of the
Federation of American Scientists' Nuclear Information Project. 

Contact Ian Hoffman at ihoffman@angnewspapers.comor at (510) 
208-6458.

 © 2000-2006 ANG Newspapers 
    
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