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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 March to War: Iran Preparing for US Air Attacks
2 RIA Novosti: Iranian nuclear solution should involve IAEA - Russia's
3 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: MP: Iran-Europe talks will continue
4 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Iran absolutely rejects suspension
5 AFP: Iran warns of retaliation if sanctions imposed
6 UPI: Russian official calls for Iran diplomacy
7 IPS-English EAST ASIA: North Korean Bomb - Bargaining Chip for
8 IPS-English POLITICS:N. Korean Nuke Tests Say World Must
9 Ron Jacobs: The Boom Heard Around the World
10 North Korea Nuclear Test
11 Guardian Unlimited: A Look at North Korean Nuke Capabilities
12 Guardian Unlimited: Russia: NKorea Test Greater Than Reported
13 Guardian Unlimited: Big powers huff and puff over North Korea
14 Guardian Unlimited: Bush urges UN action on North Korea
15 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: At Kaesong it's business as usual after nuke
16 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [FOUNTAIN] The loss is North Korea's
17 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [VIEWPOINT] Hopes for success of summit
18 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [EDITORIALS] A changed peninsula
19 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [OUTLOOK] All paradigms destroyed by test
20 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Atomic test jars world
21 BBC: Pakistan condemns Korea nuke test
22 BBC: Outcry at N Korea 'nuclear test'
23 washingtonpost.com: North Korea's Political, Economic Gamble -
24 TIME.com: North Korea Calls the U.S.'s Bluff
25 AFP: NKorea may be preparing second test - SKorea's Yonhap
26 AFP: Japan's new leader vows 'stern response' to N.Korea
27 ITAR-TASS: Moscow strongly condemns Pyongyang’s nuclear test
28 AFP: North Korea has enough plutonium for up to seven bombs - intell
29 AFP: US may push China, neighbours to reign in North Korea - experts
30 AFP: Security Council expected to meet on N.Korea's nuclear test -
31 AFP: US, Japan to take "decisive action" against NKorea
32 AFP: Nuclear test was low power and conducted in mountain tunnel -
33 Guardian Unlimited: North Korea Says It Conducts Nuke Test
34 AFP: UN, US and host of others condemn North Korean nuclear test -
35 AFP: Bush warns NKorea against spreading nuclear know-how -
36 AFP: N.Korea nuclear test a grave global threat - IAEA
37 AFP: NKorea test more worrying than India-Pakistan blasts - analysts
38 AFP: EU says will not suspend humanitarian aid to North Korea -
39 AFP: China condemns North Korean nuclear test
40 Guardian: Comment is free: China must restrain Pyongyang
41 UPI: N. Korea says it conducted nuclear test
42 UPI: Analysis: NK nuke test rocks U.S. policy
43 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Detects Seismic Event in N. Korea
44 UPI: Analysis: U.N. reacts to N. Korea
45 UPI: Australia blasts North Korean nuclear test
46 UPI: Cautious WH reaction to NorKor nuke test
47 Guardian Unlimited: A Look at Sanctions Against North Korea
48 Guardian Unlimited: N. Korean Leader Often Alarms His Allies
49 IPS-English POLITICS-US/KOREA: No War, No Talks, More Pressure
50 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Waveforms clearly show nuclear test
51 UPI: China tipped U.S. on NorKor test
52 UPI: Bolton presents sanctions plan to U.N.
53 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Proposes Sanctions Against N. Korea
54 [NukeNet] Experts Warn Of Accidental Nuclear War
55 [NukeNet] Scotland: Risk played down after spin doctors step in
56 ICH: Nuclear Blackmail
57 Guardian Unlimited: EU and Nato condemn nuclear test
58 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear trial a test for UN
59 UPI: Russia summons North Korean ambassador
60 UPI: Sanctions to be sought, Japan says
61 UPI: Analysis: North Korea's nuclear gamble
NUCLEAR REACTORS
62 US: [NukeNet] Exelon Studies 8 Texas Sites for Nuclear Reactor
63 SPIEGEL ONLINE: The World From Berlin: A Waste of Energy -
64 US: KETV.com: Nuclear Plant Undergoes Massive Renovation
65 US: Daily Press: Surry plant shut down
66 BNN: BULGARIA Radioactive liquid leaks in nuclear unit repairs
67 Guardian Unlimited: Leak Occurs at Bulgaria Nuclear Plant
68 US: UPI: Leaked contaminated water pools grow
69 SNA: Bulgaria: Radioactive Leak in Deactivated Kozloduy Unit
NUCLEAR SECURITY
70 US: Morris Daily Herald: Weapons arrests made at nuke plant
NUCLEAR SAFETY
71 The Herald: Clean-up planned of nuclear crash village
72 US: Spectrum: Downwinders denounce North Korea nuke test
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
73 US: Courier Post: Firm wants to cap slag in Newfield
74 US: LA Daily News: Santa Susana cover-up
75 US: Platts: Defense bill backs MOX program, with conditions on DOE s
PEACE
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
76 KnoxNews: DOE hopes to save tainted pond
77 Tri-City Herald: DOE won't appeal fine for waste handling
78 Salt Lake Tribune: Birthplace of bomb restored
79 lamonitor.com: Symposium discusses impact of Manhattan Project scien
80 WATE: DOE wants to try unprecedented pond cleanup at K-25 site
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 March to War: Iran Preparing for US Air Attacks
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 20:44:46 -0500 (CDT)
X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
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The March to War: Iran Preparing for US Air Attacks
By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
September 21, 2006
Iran is bracing itself for an expected American-led air campaign.
The latter is in the advanced stages of military planning.
If there were to be war between the United States and Iran, the
aerial campaign would unleash fierce combat. It would be fully
interactive on multiple fronts. It would be a difficult battle
involving active movement in the air from both sides.
If war were to occur, the estimates of casualties envisaged by
American and British war planners would be high.
The expected wave of aerial attacks would resemble the tactics of
the Israeli air-war against Lebanon and would follow the same
template, but on a larger scale of execution.
The U.S. government and the Pentagon had an active role in graphing,
both militarily and politically, the template of confrontation in
Lebanon. The Israeli siege against Lebanon is in many regards a
dress rehearsal for a planned attack on Iran.1
A war against Iran is one that could also include military operations
against Syria. Multiple theatres would engulf many of the neighbors
of Iran and Syria, including Iraq and Israel/Palestine.
It must also be noted that an attack on Iran would be of a scale
which would dwarf the events in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Levant.
A full blown war on Iran would not only swallow up and incorporate
these other conflicts. It would engulf the entire Middle East and
Central Asian region into an extensive confrontation.
An American-led air campaign against Iran, if it were to be
implemented, would be both similar and contrasting in its outline
and intensity when compared to earlier Anglo-American sponsored
confrontations.
The war would start with intense bombardment and attacks on Iran's
infrastructure, but would be different in its scope of operations
and intensity.
The characteristics of such a conflict would also be unpredictable
because of Iran's capabilities to respond. And in all likelihood,
Iran would launch its own potent attacks and extend the theatre of
war by attacking U.S. and American-led troops in Iraq, Afghanistan,
and the Persian Gulf.
The United States must also take into account the fact that Iran
unlike Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon would be an opponent with the
capability to resist the US sponsored attacks on the ground, but
also on the sea and in the air.
Unlike the former opponents faced by the United States and its
partners, Iran would be able to target the military launch pads
used by the United States. Iran would also be able to attack the
U.S. supply and logistical hubs in the Persian Gulf. American ships
carrying supplies, troops, and warplanes would be vulnerable to
Iranian counter-attacks by way of Iranian missiles, warplanes, and
naval forces. It is no mere coincidence that Iran has been demonstrating
its military capabilities during the Blow of Zolfaqar war games
conducted in late August .2
Iranian Preparations for an American-led Air Campaign
The United States has continually threatened to attack Iran. These
threats are made under the pretext of halting the development of
nuclear weapons in Iran. The development of nuclear weapons by Iran
is something the IAEA and its inspectors have refuted as untrue3,
but the United States insists on continuing the charade as grounds
for a military endgame with Iran.
The threat of an American-led attack against Iran with the heavy
involvement of Israel and Britain, amongst others, has primed Iran
to prepare itself for the anticipated moment. Over the years, this
has led Iran to stride for self-sufficiency in producing its own
advanced military hardware and the development of asymmetrical
tactics to combat the United States.
Iranian defense planners have stated publicly that they have learned
from the cases of neighbouring Afghanistan and Iraq. They are acutely
aware of the U.S. militarys heavy reliance on aerial strikes.
August 2006 saw the start of the virtually unprecedented events of
the Blow of Zolfaqar war games throughout Iran and its border
provinces.4 These were similar to those conducted in April 2006.
The latter were also held during a period of tense confrontation
between Iran and the United States. April 2006 was a period that
could have resulted in military conflict between both the United
States and Iran. In April 2006, Iran had not only dismissed the
deadline set on its nuclear program, but it announced in defiance
to the United States that it had successfully enriched uranium for
the first time.
Iran has taken the opportunity of the launching of both the April
2006 and Blow of Zolfaqar war games to display its preparedness and
capability to engage in combat. Additionally, Iran has taken the
occasion to fine tune its defenses and mobilize its military
apparatus. This exhibition of Iranian military might is intended
to deter America's intent to trigger another Middle Eastern war.
During the war games, the Iranian military has adjusted and modified
its air defense shield for maximum dexterity and efficiency in
preparation, to stop incoming missiles and invading aircraft..5
The war games have been an opportunity for testing of Iranian
capacity to wage war in the air
The Iranian military has also reported the testing of laser-guided
weaponry, advanced torpedoes, ballistic missiles, anti-ship missiles,
bullets that pierce through bullet-proof vests, and electronic
military hardware during the Blow of Zolfaqar war games.6
Surface-to-surface and ocean-to-surface missiles (submarine-to-surface
missiles) in the Persian Gulf were also tested in late-August 2006.
These included missiles that are invisible to radar and can use
multiple warheads or carry multiple payloads to hit numerous targets
simultaneously. Iran has also tested a 2,000 pound guided-bomb
with long-range capabilities. This 2,000 pound bomb is said to be
a special weapon developed for penetrating military, economic and
strategic targets located deep underground or on the soil of the
[impending] enemy.7 In the case of war, this weapon could be directed
against Anglo-American military infrastructure in Iraq, Afghanistan,
and the Persian Gulf. This guided bomb is an unmanned aircraft
carrying an explosive warhead. Following the execution of the Blow
of Zolfaqar war games, the Iranian Defense Minister stated that
Iran now joins the few countries that possess guided missile
technology,8
Iran has also been manufacturing its own warplanes,9 submarines,
attack helicopters, tanks, torpedoes, and missiles. This includes
remote-controlled modified Maverick Missiles.10 Brigadier-General
Amini, the Deputy Commander of the Air Branch (Air Force) of the
Regular Forces, has highlighted that Iran has starting the development
and manufacturing of new types of warplanes besides the Lighting
fighter jets that have been showcased in Northern Iran.11
To discourage the United States in its plans to attack Iran, the
Iranian military has additionally been showcasing its abilities to
dog fight in the air with its fighter jets.12 Iranian fighter and
bomber jets have been progressively equipped with advanced software
and hardware, developed in Iran or by way of technology transfers
from China, the Russian Federation, and the republics of the former
Soviet Union.
Iranian Commanders have also stated that Iran can track and hit
warplanes without using conventional radar. Iran has also been
showcasing its signal jamming devices and electronic military
hardware, which it compares to NATO standards13.
Warnings to the United States To Stop Its War Plans
In Iran military commanders and state officials have also directly
warned the United States to halt its march towards war in the Middle
East. An account of a statement by Major-General Salehi, commander
of the Iranian Army, sums up the generic view of Iranian military
officials and planners in the advent of another Middle Eastern war
initiated by the United States;
Pointing to the joint maneuvers to be carried out by the U.S.
army [meaning military] and some other countries in the regional
waters in the coming days, the General said that the U.S.
presence in the region [Middle East] is considered as a threat
to the security of the regional countries, and further warned
Washington that in case the U.S. dares to practice threats [by
actually attacking], it will then have to face a defeat as bad
as the one that the Zionists [Israel] had to sustain in Lebanon.14
The Iranian Defence Minister has said that his ministry is now
equipping the border units of the army with modern military tools
and weapons in a bid to increase their military capabilities,15 and
that any possible enemy invasion of Iran will receive a severe blow,
adding that failures of alien troops [meaning U.S., British,
Coalition, and NATO forces] in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught
trans-regional powers extreme caution.16
Other examples of public warnings by Iranian military commanders
directed at the United States and its partners include;
Acting Deputy Commander [Brigadier-General Ahmadi] of the Iranian
Mobilized Forces (Basij), noting the intensification of the
psychological operations and pressures against Iran, stressed
that his troops are fully prepared to encounter any stupid act
by the enemies.17 (September 9, 2006)
[Brigadier-General Mohammad Hejazi] advised the U.S. to relinquish
the idea of invading Iran, stressing that as soon as the U.S.
dares to make such a big mistake, it will lose its forged
reputation due to its [the U.S. militarys] frequent and shocking
defeats from the Iranian troops.18 (September 10, 2006)
[Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major-General
Safavi has warned that Revolutionary Guard] ground troops form
a defensive force, but meantime warned that in case any foreign
threats are posed to Iran, [assured that the] IRGC adopts an
aggressive strategy and hits enemy targets in strategic depth.
He also described the southwestern province of Khuzestan as the
most strategic region of the country, saying, Considering that
Khuzestan is a border province located at our sensitive borders
with Iraq where British and American occupying troops aim at
devising cultural and security plots for Khuzestani people
through their intelligence organizations and bodies, IRGC and
Basij troops should maintain their preparedness at [the] highest
levels possible in order to confront and defuse any such measures
by the enemies.19 (September 13, 2006: Also See British Troops
Mobilizing on the Iranian Border)
During the August war games, Iranian military commanders claimed,
in a gesture directed towards the United States, Britain, and Israel,
that no air force of any power stationed in the Middle East is
capable of confronting the Iranian militarys ground forces.20
This might seem like a psychological tactic to influence morale on
both sides and deter any possible aerial assaults against Iran.
This statement cannot be easily overruled if a comprehensive analysis
is made and studied. In this regard, one must look at Lebanon, where
Hezbollah and the Lebanese Resistance were able to withstand Israeli
air raids and overcome the Israeli military on the ground. The
Lebanese Resistance is reported as being armed and trained by the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard. What would an Iranian defensive of a
larger magnitude, with state resources and air capabilities, be
like?
The anticipation of a conflict are also coming from Iraq. Iraqi
leaders have been charging that the United States and Britain plan
on attacking Iran from Iraqi territory. Government representatives
of Anglo-American occupied Iraq have asked that Iraq not be turned
into a theatre of war between the United States and Iran. We do
not want Iraq to become an arena where other states [i.e., the
United States, Britain, and Iran] settle their accounts,21 said the
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih while visiting the Iranian
capital, Tehran. This message looked as if it was mainly directed
at the United States, as well as Iran.
Iran Always a Military Objective for the United States Washington:
Anyone can go to Baghdad! Real Men go to Tehran!
According to Michel Chossudovsky (The Next Phase of the Middle East
War, September, 2006), the war on Iran is another phase of a military
roadmap which includes the invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq
(2003) and the Anglo-American sponsored Israeli siege of Lebanon
(2006) as earlier stages. In May, 2003 after the Anglo-American
invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the motto in Washington D.C. was
Anyone can go to Baghdad! Real men go to Tehran!
One should ask why "real" men would continue towards Tehran after
the invasion of Iraq. This slogan demonstrates that Iran was an
objective or a phase in a broader military operation. With that
said, Washington would prefer some form of internal "non-violent"
regime change in Iran leading to American control of the Iranian
economy and oil resources rather than a high-risk and high cost
military confrontation. The shape and nature of this conflict,
however, is uncertain.
The possibility of conflict with Iran and a major aerial assault
are widely known.
The United States has been planning to attack Iran for years. Colonel
Sam Gardiner (Retired, U.S. Air Force) has stated that the campaign
against Iran is one where the issue is not whether the military
option would be used, but who approved the start of operations
already.
The March to War with Iran and Syria
With time fleeting, the Iranian military is positioning itself in
battle formations under the pretext of nationwide war games and
other pretexts. Iran has been steadily strengthening its air defenses
and air units in preparation for the possibility of strikes. Iranian
and Syrian coordination is also intensifying with the passing of
time.
An attack on Iran and Syria would be a combination of heavy air
bombardment by the U.S. Air Force, including the U.S. Armys air
units. It would also include a ground offensive led by the U.S.
Marines and Army from the American bases surrounding both Iran and
Syria. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard would predominately manage the
theatre of war in the Persian Gulf, with a view to guaranteeing the
unimpeded flow of oil through the strategic Straits of Hormuz.
The Israeli military would deal with military operations in the
Levant. Both Israeli troops and Israeli public opinion are being
prepared for the possibility of another Middle Eastern conflict.
In this context, Israel would face the possibility of aerial
assaults from Iran. Iran has threatened to retaliate if it is
attacked, using its ballistic missiles.
British and Australian forces in southern Iraq would deploy with
the strategic aim of occupying the Iranian province of Khuzestan
and securing its oil. Khuzestan is where most of Irans oil fields
are located. Meanwhile a naval build-up is developing in the Persian
Gulf which also includes the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Navy.
The United States and its partners meanwhile are continuing to
marshal and siphon their forces into the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Both the United States and Britain have promised troop reductions
in Iraq, but are actually increasing their troop levels. It also
seems that a muzzle is being placed on Lebanon to stop any attacks
on Israel by the presence of troops from member states of NATO.
Syria also seems to be expecting a possible aerial campaign. A
vessel sailing to Syria under the flag of Panama, the Grigorio I,
has been reported to have been stopped off the coast of Cyprus
transporting 18 truck-mounted mobile radar systems and three command
vehicles for delivery to Syria. This equipment appears to be part
of an air defence system.22
In Iran, the Intelligence Minister has warned that enemies are
seeking to create instability in Iran through different measures,
including assassinations, explosions and extensive insecurities and
that his forces, in cooperation and coordination with other
governmental bodies, have defused enemies plots in different Iranian
provinces, including Tehran.23
Venezuela has also threatened to halt oil exports in the event of
an Anglo-American aggression against Iran and Syria. Venezuela has
gone on to caution that it will defend Iran under threat of invasion
from the United States. This was a warning given to the United
States by Venezuela during the Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement
in Cuba.24
The United States has already started to target both Iran and
Syrias financial bodies and institutions in an act of economic
warfare. Syria has in step with Iran taken preventative steps in
early 2006 by switching from using the U.S. dollar to using the
Euro for all its transactions. The head of the state-owned Syria
Commercial Bank has said that such measures have been taken to
protect Syria from American sanctions (economic warfare).25
Actions have been taken against the large, state-owned Bank Saderat
of Iran by the United States.26 The Bank Saderat has been cut off
from the U.S. financial system and its network(s). This is part of
a deliberate objective to financially cut off Iran from the rest
of the world. Three large Japanese banks, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
UFJ, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
have followed in step and will terminate business with Bank Saderat.27
Notes
1 Seymour H. Hersh, Washing Lebanon: Washingtons Interest in Israels
War, The New Yorker, August 14 & 21, 2006
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060821fa_fact
2 Iranian War Games: Exercises, Tests, and Drills or Preparation
and Mobilization for War?, Global Research (CRG), August 21, 2006
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DAR20060821&articleId=3027
3 IAEA: US report on Iran Outrageous, Aljazeera, September 15, 2006
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/84145EE0-6DF6-467D-AB67-670A83EF307A.htm
4 Iranian War Games: Exercises, Tests, and Drills or Preparation
and Mobilization for War?, Global Research (CRG), August 21, 2006
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DAR20060821&articleId=3027
5 Iran 'successfully' tests new air defence system, Peoples Daily,
September 5, 2006
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/05/eng20060905_299651.html
Iranian Missile Test; Xinhua News Agency, September 5, 2006
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/05/content_5050931.htm
6 Iran tests laser-guided bomb during war games, The Hindu, September
5, 2006
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200609051820.htm
7 Iran completes military exercise by testing 2,000-pound bomb,
Pravada; September 7, 2006
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/07-09-2006/84317-weapons-0
8 Iran tests first-ever 2,000-pound guided bomb: Minister; IRNA,
September 6, 2006
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0609065169142007.htm
9 Karimi, Nasser; Iran deploys locally-manufactured warplane,
Hindustan Times, September 6, 2006
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1787643,00050004.htm,
Originally published by the Associated Press
10 Enemy Targets Destroyed by Maverick Missiles, Fars News Agency,
September 6, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506140347,
Maverick missiles are American made or developed air-to-surface
missiles which are conventionally used to attack armoured units,
warships, air defences, military transport and logistics units, and
military depots.
11 Iran to Manufacture a New Jet Fighter, Fars News Agency, September
12, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506210548 12 Complicated
Dogfight Tactics Exercised during 'Blow of Zolfaqar' War Games,
Fars News Agency, September 4, 2006
http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506130203
Iranian F14s Carry Hawk Missiles Successfully, Fars News Agency,
September 4, 2006
http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506130205
13 Iran says ready to combat electronic warfare, Iranmania, Sunday,
March 05, 2006
14 Army Prepared to Force Back Trans-Regional Threats, Fars News
Agency, September 6, 2006
http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8506140520
Trans-regional powers mean non-Middle Eastern nations with substantial
force in the Middle East (the region being talked about).
15 Defense Minister: Any Foreign Aggression Responded by Force;
Fars News Agency; September 2, 2006
http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8506110568
16 Defence Minister: Any Military Aggression against Iran Struck
Back Heavily, Fars News Agency, September 4, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506130415
17 Mobilize Forces Prepare to Encounter Enemies, Fars New Agency,
September 9, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506180167
18 Basij Comander: Enemies Awe Shattered Once they Err, Fars News
Agency, September 10, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506190583
19 Commander Warns o IRGCs Aggressive Strategy in Case of Foreign
Threats, Fars News Agency, September 13, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506220539
20 No Air Force Capable of Confronting Iranian Army, Fars News
Agency; August 19, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8505280544
21 Iraq Not a Place for Others to Settle Accounts, Fars News Agency,
September 6, 2006
http://www.farsnews.com/English/newstext.php?nn=8506140551
22 Cyprus finds air-defence systems on Syria-bond ship, Reuters,
September , 2006
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=13449090&src=rss/worldNews
23 Intelligence Minister: Enemies Plots Defused in Tehran, Border
Provinces, Fars News Agency, September 13, 2006
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8506220518
24 Chavez pledge support for Iran, British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC), September 15, 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5347978.stm
25 Syria switches to euro amid sanctions threat, Xinhua News Agency,
February 13-14, 2006
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/14/content_4177423.htm
26 Lawder, David; US Treasury say Iran pressure can be unilateral,
Reuters, September 12, 2006
27 Three big Japan banks decide not to deal with Iran's Bank Saderat,
Forbes, September 16, 2006
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/09/16/afx3021822.html
Related articles, Centre for Research on Globalization:
The Next Phase of the Middle East War 2006-09-04
Baluchistan and the Coming Iran War 2006-09-01
British Troops Mobilizing on the Iranian Border 2006-08-30
Russia and Central Asian Allies Conduct War Games in Response to
US Threats 2006-08-24
Beating the Drums of War: US Troop Build-up: Army & Marines authorize
"Involuntary Conscription" 2006-08-23
Iranian War Games: Exercises, Tests, and Drills or Preparation and
Mobilization for War? 2006-08-21
Triple Alliance": The US, Turkey, Israel and the War on Lebanon
2006-08-06
The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil 2006-07-26
Is the Bush Administration Planning a Nuclear Holocaust? 2006-02-22
The Dangers of a Middle East Nuclear War 2006-02-17
Nuclear War against Iran 2006-01-03
Israeli Bombings could lead to Escalation of Middle East War
2006-07-15
Iran: Next Target of US Military Aggression 2005-05-01
Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran 2005-05-01
See also
Rogers, Paul; Iran: Consequences of a War, Oxford Research Group;
February, 2006
http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefings/IranConsequences.htm
http://www.iranbodycount.org/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole
responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those
of the Centre for Research on Globalization.
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Copyright Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Global Research, 2006
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2 RIA Novosti: Iranian nuclear solution should involve IAEA - Russia's FM Lavrov
09/ 10/ 2006
MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's nuclear issue should be
settled through diplomacy and with the involvement of the UN
nuclear watchdog, the Russian foreign minister said Monday.
In an article for the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung, Sergei Lavrov said: "Our principled stance is that it
[the Iranian issue] should be resolved using diplomatic and
political means only."
"All issues related to the Iranian nuclear program should be
solved with the help of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy
Agency]," he said.
Lavrov said Russia's position is shared by other nations
involved in efforts to overcome the international standoff over
Iran's nuclear program.
"Importantly, other participants in the talks [over Iran] speak
out for a diplomatic solution, as well," he said.
Russia, along with the other four permanent members of the UN
Security Council and Germany, has been trying to have Iran
suspend its uranium enrichment activities to prevent it from
developing a nuclear weapon. Earlier this year, the six
countries offered Tehran a package of incentives to encourage
suspension, but no deal on the proposal has been reached so far.
Lavrov reemphasized the importance of sustaining the nuclear
non-proliferation regime, but said Iran is entitled to pursue a
civilian nuclear program to satisfy its needs for energy.
"Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes in accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
and IAEA regulations."
Speaking about Russia's cooperation with Iran on a project to
build a nuclear power plant in the port of Bushehr, Lavrov
reiterated its "transparent character" and said "it is being
carried out in strict compliance with the NPT and IAEA
resolutions."
Last week, the United States and Britain renewed their calls for
international sanctions against Iran after negotiations between
the country's key nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana failed to produce any
breakthrough. Russia, China and France, however, maintain their
opposition to any punitive measures against Iran.
The Iranian foreign ministry responded Sunday by saying Tehran
would not halt uranium enrichment, but expressed its willingness
to continue talks with the international community.
"Negotiation is the best way," ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali
Hosseini said.
© 2005 RIA Novosti
*****************************************************************
3 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: MP: Iran-Europe talks will continue
2006/10/09
Head of Majlis Foreign Policy and National Security Commission
Alaeddin Boroujerdi Sunday said that Iran-Europe talks will
continue.
He made the remarks, while talking to reporters on the sidelines
of Majlis open session.
"Given Iran's policy which is based on settling the nuclear case
through talks and the agreement reached between the Supreme
National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Larijani and the
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, I believe
that negotiations on the issue can continue in future," he
added.
Turning to the last meeting of the so called 5+1 group, he said,
"The Chinese Foreign Minister did not attend the event, Russian
Foreign Minister left the session and the American Secretary of
State arrived quite late. Thus the meeting did not seem to be
serious."
The MP added that given that no decision was taken during the
session, another meeting may be held during the current week.
He referred to negotiations as the best way to settle Iran's
nuclear issue and said that any hasty decision about Iran, in
particular imposing sanctions against it will not be beneficial
to the West, but that it will incite Majlis and SNSC to react.
"According to the bill approved by the National Security
Council, if the United Nations Security Council issues a
resolution on imposition of sanction on Iran, government is
bound to stop inspection of the country's nuclear facilities by
the UN nuclear watchdog."
"But western states, similar to our country, are reluctant to
witness such a move. However, this is the reaction to be
expected in case sanctions are imposed against Iran," he added.
Concerning formation of a nuclear consortium with the European
states involved in the issue, particularly France, he noted that
the idea is a practical way enabling the West to proceed with
confidence building," he added.
"However, under the current conditions, we cannot even trust the
West."
Given that formation of such a consortium mainly aims to build
confidence, during talks with the West, a way should be sought
for attraction of Iran's confidence by the West," said
Boroujerdi.
SM
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center.
E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir
*****************************************************************
4 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Iran absolutely rejects suspension
2006/10/09
Foreign Ministry spokesman Sayed Mohammad Ali Hosseini on Sunday
absolutely rejected the prospect of suspension of enrichment by
Iran.
He made the remark, while speaking to domestic and foreign
reporters, in this week's briefing session.
The official dismissed the idea of the short-term or 90-day
suspension, which was brought up by the media, and said that
based on Iran's nuclear policy, this is out of question.
"As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has underlined, Iran will not
ven accept a day long suspension," noted the Foreign Ministry
Spokesman.
In response to a question about the possibility of imposing
sanctions against Iran in London conference, he said that
Iranian officials and people always consider sanctions as an
obsolete tool and that the nation is used to such sanctions and
threats.
The Spokesman said that sanctions would leave their impact on
both sides, adding that both sides would be subject to loss.
"However, the gravest sanction is one raised by a government to
deprive the nation of its natural right to access nuclear energy
for peaceful purposes.
"We do not seek a solution that will result in sanctions, but
are willing to continue our activities," he added.
Turning to four rounds of talks between Iran's top nuclear
negotiator Ali Larijani and the European Union Foreign Policy
Chief Javier Solana, he assessed them as advancing.
"The good will displayed by Iran during nuclear negotiations
shows that we are seeking to solve the issue peacefully," added
the Spokesman.
Stating that Iran does not welcome sanctions, Hosseini declared
the country's readiness to hold talks on the issue without any
preconditions within the framework of international laws.
mk
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center.
E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir
*****************************************************************
5 AFP: Iran warns of retaliation if sanctions imposed
by Farhad Pouladi Mon Oct 9, 9:07 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to impose
retaliatory sanctions on world powers if the UN Security Council
carries out threats to penalise Iran Iranover its nuclear
programme.
The warning came amid an intensifying global uproar Monday over
North Korea North Korea's announcement of its first test of
a nuclear weapon, a move which prompted Iran to declare it wanted
a world free of atomic arms.
Ahmadinejad did not specify what kind of tit-for-tat measures
might be imposed and Iran -- OPEC OPEC's second largest
producer -- has always insisted it will not use oil as a weapon
in the standoff.
"We will also impose sanctions on them," Ahmadinejad told
reporters late Sunday in response to a question about a decision
by the five Security Council permanent members plus Germany to
discuss the prospect of sanctions.
"In the past 27 years they have always threatened us with
sanctions and during this time they did everything they could,"
he said according to the student ISNA and semi-official ILNA
news agencies.
"They do their thing and in return we will do ours."
Oil prices again spiked above 60 dollars a barrel in London
trade as market players expressed fears the nuclear weapon test
by North Korea might stiffen Iran's resolve in its standoff with
the West.
Tehran, which is refusing to heed Western demands it suspend
uranium enrichment, insists its nuclear programme is solely for
peaceful energy needs, vehemently rejecting US allegations that
it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman called for negotiations after
the North Korean nuclear test but stopped short of issuing an
explicit condemnation of Pyongyang's actions.
"Iran's position is clear and Iran on principle believes in a
world free of nuclear weapons," Mohammad Ali Hosseini was quoted
as saying by a state television anchor.
"Iran is hopeful that negotiations on North Korea's nuclear
activities can go ahead in the interest of both North Korea and
the international community," he added.
In a meeting late on Friday, representatives from Britain,
China, Germany France, Russia and the United States agreed to
discuss sanctions against Iran after it refused to heed a new
deadline to halt uranium enrichment.
Considerable momentum towards drafting a sanctions resolution as
early as this week appeared to have been generated by the
meeting between top diplomats in London after weeks of talks
with Iran failed to win a breakthrough.
But it remains to be seen whether this can be maintained amid
the growing uproar over the announcement by North Korea early
Monday it had conducted its first test of a nuclear weapon.
The UN Security Council was expected to hold an emergency
meeting later Monday to weigh how to respond to North Korea's
test, which came in brazen defiance of a previous UN resolution.
Such moves could take up precious time that was to be devoted to
the Iranian nuclear issue and further stave off the threat of UN
action.
It also remains unclear whether Russia and China will support
sanctions measures proposed by the United States and its chief
ally Britain. Moscow and Beijing have always insisted on a
diplomatic solution to the crisis.
The question of Iran's right to enrich uranium lies at the heart
of the crisis. The process can be used to make nuclear fuel and,
in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice, who attended the London meeting, has said
the United States wants a graduated series of sanctions, to be
implemented through multiple UN resolutions that would ramp up
pressure on Iran.
The first set of measures is expected to focus on preventing the
supply of material and funding for Iran's nuclear or ballistic
missile programmes.
Other steps could include asset freezes and travel bans on
officials linked to possible Iranian weapons programmes.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
6 UPI: Russian official calls for Iran diplomacy
United Press International - NewsTrack -
10/9/2006 4:27:00 PM -0400
MOSCOW, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
says the issue of Iran's nuclear program should be settled
through diplomacy.
Lavrov wrote in an article for Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung newspaper that the International Atomic Energy Agency
should be involved in negotiations, the Russian news agency
Novosti reported Monday.
"Our principled stance is that it (the Iranian issue) should be
resolved using diplomatic and political means only," Lavrov
wrote. "All issues related to the Iranian nuclear program should
be solved with the help of the IAEA."
The foreign minister said Iran should be prevented from
attaining nuclear weapons, but the country should be allowed to
utilize a civilian nuclear program for its energy needs.
"Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes in accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
and IAEA regulations," he wrote.
Russia, the U.N. Security Council and Germany have thus far been
unable to reach an agreement with Iran to suspend its nuclear
ambitions. The countries offered an incentive program to Iran
earlier this year, but no deal has yet been reached on the
proposal.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
7 IPS-English EAST ASIA: North Korean Bomb - Bargaining Chip for
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:09:48 -0700
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ROMAIPS AP WD DV HD IP NU=20
EAST ASIA: North Korean Bomb - Bargaining Chip for China
Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING, Oct 9 (IPS) - While it reproved North Korea's readiness to condu=
ct nuclear tests China has been laying the ground for what it considered =
unavoidable.
The emergence of North Korea as a nuclear power -- the only other in East=
Asia apart from China itself -- is perceived here as an evil that can be=
contained and even rendered useful as a counterweight to the United Stat=
es military presence in the region.
Well before North Korea fired its explosive salvo last week, declaring th=
at it was preparing to carry out a nuclear test, China's senior officials=
and experts had begun expounding on the limitations of Beijing's leverag=
e with Pyongyang.
As North Korea's old ideological ally and main economic partner, China is=
regarded by the international community as a chief mediator in the nucle=
ar crisis on the Korean peninsula. China has hosted a series of six-party=
nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
The last round of six-nation talks, that included South Korea, Russia, Ja=
pan and the U.S. , ended last November without producing an agreement. Th=
e North refused to further participate, protesting U.S. restrictions on a=
Macao bank accused of laundering money for the regime.
Washington has urged Beijing to exert its full influence on Pyongyang, in=
cluding cutting off its oil supply and economic aid, to pressure it to su=
spend nuclear activities and return to the disarmament talks.
But Beijing says its perceived leverage with Pyongyang is exaggerated. On=
a visit to the U.S. in July, Gen. Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of the Cent=
ral Military Commission told his hosts that North Korea was a sovereign s=
tate and China could not dictate its decisions.
In a similar vein, a senior Chinese academic wrote recently that Pyongyan=
g considers its national interests to be greater than its relations with =
China.
=94It (Pyongyang) will not give up the independent guarantee of national =
security gained though nuclear tests just because of China's concerns and=
the possibility of China applying pressure on it,=94 Shen Dingli, a scho=
lar at Shanghai's Fudan University Institute of International Affairs wro=
te in an article published on the website of the Nautilus Institute, a Ca=
lifornia-based think-tank.
Shen went further to speculate that a nuclear-armed North Korea could pro=
ve useful to China's long-term goal for reunification with Taiwan because=
it would divide the attention of the U.S. military presence in East Asia=
=2E
Other Chinese experts have blamed the U.S. for provoking North
Korea by refusing to hold bilateral talks and imposing financial
restrictions.
While China joined in an Untied Nations Security Council warning adopted =
last week that a nuclear weapon test would attract a =94universal condem=
nation=94, experts here believe Beijing is unlikely to back up any milita=
ry sanctions against the regime of Kim Jong-il. China, and Russia's reser=
vations in this regard, is one of the reasons why the Security Council pr=
esidential statement did not specify any possible sanctions, they say.
=94The possibility of military action against North Korea is minimal,=94 =
reckons Li Dunqiu, an expert on the Korean peninsula with the State Counc=
il Development Research Centre. =94There would be economic sanctions and =
Pyongyang would be forced into a protracted state of isolation=94.
There is already a precedent of disarray within the international communi=
ty in response to Pyongyang's provocative behaviour. After North Korea te=
st-fired seven ballistic missiles in July, the U.N. Security Council unan=
imously adopted a resolution condemning the launches but failed to agree =
on a set of sanctions.
China's main worry remains that if Pyongyang tests a nuclear weapon, it w=
ould provoke an arms race in the region that would see Japan acquiring it=
s own atomic arsenal. That would ultimately destroy the balance of power =
in East Asia where China is the only confirmed nuclear power.
North Korea has now insisted for several years that it has nuclear weapon=
s. But nuclear test would provide the first confirmation that Pyongyang h=
as joined the club of nuclear powers.
Though a severe test for regional stability, the threat of North Korean n=
uclear test has proved conducive to getting the leaders of China and Japa=
n to hold their first summit in five years.
Riled by repeated visits made by Junichiro Koizumi, the former Japanese p=
rime minister, to the controversial Yasukuni shrine, where war criminals =
and Japan's war past are glorified, China has refused to have bilateral s=
ummit meetings with Japan.
But Beijing chose to put matters of history aside and discuss the
possibilities of united policy towards North Korea with Koizumi's success=
or, Shinzo Abe. The threat of a nuclear test dominated talks with Chinese=
President Hu Jintao during Abe's first visit to Beijing on Sunday.
=94Both sides expressed deep concern about recent situations over the Kor=
ean peninsula, including the issue of nuclear tests,=94 said a joint stat=
ement after Abe's meetings with Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.
It also said both nations would =94work hard=94 to push for the resumptio=
n of the stalled six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.
Beijing and Tokyo however differ in their views on how to persuade North =
Korea to hold back from the nuclear brink. Japan has aligned itself with =
the U.S. in demanding tough sanctions against Pyongyang while Beijing pre=
fers to talk negotiations and concessions.
Abe, a nationalist who favours a more assertive Japanese foreign policy, =
is widely known for his hawkish stance on North Korea. =94We have to stop=
North Korea from conducting a nuclear test,=94 he said before departing =
=66rom Tokyo on his first foreign trip since becoming a prime minister tw=
o weeks ago.
He is due to travel to Seoul on Monday for talks with South Korean Presid=
ent Roh Moo-Hyun.=20
(END/IPS/AP/WD/IP/NU/HD/DV/AB/RDR/06)
=20
=3D 10090648 ORP003
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8 IPS-English POLITICS:N. Korean Nuke Tests Say World Must
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:09:50 -0700
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POLITICS:N. Korean Nuke Tests Say World Must Return to Peace Agenda
Commentary by Praful Bidwai*
NEW DELHI, Oct 9 (IPS) - North Korea has shocked the world by detonating =
a nuclear explosion and making good the threat it had held out six days e=
arlier. Pyongyang's action is one more blow to the existing global non-pr=
oliferation order and will trigger greater instability in Northeast Asia =
and in the Asian continent and world as a whole.
Yet, the world would be profoundly mistaken to a make a knee-jerk respons=
e to the test by imposing sanctions on North Korea and reiterating the im=
portance of nuclear non-proliferation, while ignoring the critical agenda=
of nuclear disarmament.
In particular, the Big Powers would commit a blunder if they encourage or=
allow Japan and South Korea to re-arm by citing a new threat from North =
Korea and stoking Cold War-style rivalry and an arms race.=20
The United States must take the lion's share of the blame for the failure=
of recent efforts to restrain Pyongyang from crossing the nuclear thresh=
old. Complicit in it are two close U.S. allies and North Korea's neighbou=
rs, Japan and South Korea.=20
President George W. Bush has over the past six years torpedoed the reconc=
iliation process between the two Koreas, aggravating their insecurities. =
In January 2002, he named North Korea as an =94Axis of Evil=94 state and =
pledged to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.=20
This led North Korea to terminate the 1994 Agreed Framework accord with t=
he United States, under which it had suspended its nuclear activities. Ea=
rlier, Washington reneged on its commitment to annually supply North Kore=
a 500,000 tonnes of fuel oil for power generation. It also did not delive=
r on its promise to build, with Japanese and South Korea's collaboration,=
light-water nuclear power reactors in North Korea.=20
In 2003, Pyongyang walked out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NP=
T), citing security reasons.
After this, the U.S. joined Russia, China, Japan and South Korea in six-p=
arty talks with Pyongyang to negotiate nuclear restraint on its part. Whe=
n these faltered, largely because of Washington's inept diplomacy, the U.=
S. put North Korea under quarantine.=20
As North Korea's isolation increased, it flexed its military muscle. It c=
onducted a series of missile test-flights, including seven past July. One=
of these, of the Taepodong-2 missile, capable of reaching Alaska, report=
edly failed. North Korea became more frustrated and restless.=20
The North Korean regime observed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, premised upon=
the trumped-up charge that President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass =
destruction. Its rulers probably drew the conclusion, attributed original=
ly to India's former Chief of Army Staff General K. Sundarji, that: =94on=
e principal lesson of the [first] Gulf War is that, if a state intends to=
fight the U.S., it should avoid doing so until and unless it possesses n=
uclear weapons.=94=20
Three recent developments seems to have clinched Pyongyang's decision to =
conduct the nuclear test, and its timing. These include the appointment o=
f Right-wing militarist Shinzo Abe as Japan's Prime Minister, the lead ta=
ken by South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon in the race for the elec=
tion of the United Nations Secretary General, and a contentious remark by=
China's ambassador to the UN ahead of a Security Council meeting which w=
as expected to issue a strong warning to North Korea against testing.=20
U.S. envoy John Bolton said last week that while Washington's Western all=
ies were agreed on a stiff warning, he was not sure =94what North Korea's=
protectors on the (Security) Council are going to do.=94 In reply, Chine=
se ambassador Wang Guangya said: =94I'm not sure which country he is refe=
rring to, but I think that for bad behaviour in this world no one is goin=
g to protect them.=94=20
By testing a nuclear weapon, North Korea has posed a serious challenge to=
the global nuclear order. A cornerstone of this is the NPT, under which =
the non-nuclear weapons-states (non-NWSs) agree not to make or acquire nu=
clear weapons and subject themselves to inspections or safeguards under t=
he International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). =20
In return, the NWSs must undertake serious negotiations to eliminate nucl=
ear weapons worldwide and also offer civilian nuclear technology and mate=
rials to the non-NWSs.
However, the NWSs have refused to undertake nuclear restraint and arms re=
duction, leave alone disarmament. The International Court of Justice rule=
d in 1996 that they are obliged under international law to completely eli=
minate nuclear weapons.=20
North Korea was an NPT signatory, but walked out of the Treaty under Arti=
cle XI, which permits this with three months' notice.=20
Earlier, three NPT non-signatory states, Israel, India and Pakistan went =
nuclear.
The North Korean test will be seen the world over as successful defiance =
of the U.S. It will be viewed as an object lesson by Iran, which too has =
said it would consider walking out of the NPT if it is cornered by the We=
stern powers over its nuclear activities. It is certain to encourage, not=
deter, future breakouts.=20
There is a strong likelihood that Pyongyang's crossing of the nuclear Rub=
icon will strengthen forces in Japan which want to rewrite its post-War c=
onstitution by allowing the country to build a full-fledged military capa=
bility with offensive forces. Under Abe's leadership, Japan will probably=
consider a radical revision of a principle, which commits it not to =94b=
ring in=94, make or acquire nuclear weapons.=20
Japan has a stockpile of 40.6 tonnes of plutonium, allegedly for civilian=
use. This is enough to make 5,000 nuclear weapons. It plans to annually =
stockpile another 8 tonnes.
Similarly, South Korea might be tempted to develop nuclear weapons in =94=
self-defence=94. Technically, the two Koreas are still at war although a =
ceasefire has held between them since 1953. (However, there are occasiona=
l skirmishes. On the weekend, South Korean troops fired warning shots aft=
er North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border.)
Taiwan too may feel that the North Korean test has strengthened the case =
for nuclearisation. Any move in that direction is certain to bring about =
a hostile response from China.=20
Ironically, tit-for-tat responses by North Korea's neighbours will only s=
pur an arms race. Northeast Asia will get trapped in a =94security-insecu=
rity syndrome=94 in which a state arms itself in the perceived interests =
of security, but ends up losing it because its adversaries develop superi=
or capabilities.=20
Such rivalry spells insecurity and instability for all concerned. This cl=
imate will encourage other countries too to acquire more lethal weaponry.=
=20
Pakistan has had major armaments transactions with North Korea. Its missi=
le programme is based on North Korean designs. These were reportedly trad=
ed in exchange for uranium enrichment technology developed by the A. Q. K=
han network.=20
Yet another destabilising factor is the U.S.'s ballistic missile defence =
(BMD or =94Star Wars=94) programme. One component of it aims to provide a=
=94theatre BMD=94 shield to Japan and South Korea against possible threa=
ts from North Korea and China. Washington's likely response to North Kore=
a's test would be to accelerate work on this.
This is bound to elicit a hostile response from China. Beijing has long r=
egarded the U.S. BMD programme as directed specifically against itself.=20
A nuclear and missile arms race centred in Northeast Asia, but not confin=
ed to it, will make the world a far more dangerous place.=20
However, such an outcome is not inevitable. It can be averted if the NWSs=
address one of the root-causes that drive nations to acquire nuclear wea=
pons. This lies in double standards. The NWSs want to prevent the spread =
of nuclear weapons, but stiffly oppose fulfilling their part of the globa=
l bargain by moving towards their global elimination.=20
So long as the NWSs treat these terrible mass-destruction weapons as a cu=
rrency of power, other states too will want to acquire them.=20
North Korea proves that even a desperately poor, industrially backward an=
d politically isolated country, which has recently suffered from famines,=
can acquire nuclear weapons if it is determined to do so. The technology=
is not hard to master.=20
At least 40 other countries of the world can develop a nuclear capability=
. Their resolve not to do so will be weakened unless the spread of nuclea=
r weapons and the NWSs' addiction to them are ended.=20
North Korea's test should shake the NWSs out of their complacency and dou=
ble standards.
(*Praful Bidwai is an independent nuclear analyst, co-author of a prize-w=
inning book on South Asian nuclear weapons and global disarmament, and a =
founder-member of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, India.=
)
*****
+EAST ASIA: North Korean Bomb - Bargaining Chip for China (http://www.ips=
news.net/news.asp?idnews=3D35036)
+ASIA-9/11: GWOT Leaves Region in Turmoil (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.as=
p?idnews=3D34622)
(END/IPS/AP/WD/IP/NU/DV/SC/PB/RDR/06)
=20
=3D 10091655 ORP008
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9 Ron Jacobs: The Boom Heard Around the World
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:04:48 -0700
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October 9, 2006
North Korea's Big Bang
The Boom Heard Around the World
By RON JACOBS
August 29, 1949-Soviet Union. October 16, 1964-Peoples Republic of China.
October 7, 2004, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Three dates. Three
first time nuclear tests by three enemies (at their respective times) of
Washington. All three tests were preceded by threats from that same
Washington that warned of dire consequences for the governments that dare
to ignore those threats. In their wake, the tests were condemned by
Washington and whomever its allies at the time might have been. Then, the
world continued on. In retrospect, this was probably because the Soviet
Union presented a counterweight to Washington's swaggering desires.
Meanwhile, four other countries officially--Britain, France, India and
Pakistan--officially joined the nuclear club, with another, being Israel,
unofficially a member. There was no alarm registered in Washington at
Britain's application for membership and very little at France's. India and
Pakistan provoked a bit of a shock, but nothing truly substantial changed
in their relationship with the US. The outcry from other nations not
considered friends of Washington was less positive. At the same time, they
couldn't help but notice that a nuclear enemy of Washington was much less
likely to be attacked than a non-nuclear one.
Which brings us back to Pyongyang. Unlike the the time of the Chinese test
in 1964, there is no other superpower to prevent Washington from doing
something provocative and stupid. Back then, President Johnson released a
statement that essentially minimized the importance of China's test and
called for continuing work towards disarmament. Of course, he also said
that the US would always have a larger nuclear arsenal. In reaction to
northern Korea's tests, unofficial statements in the media from various
unnamed officials are hinting that the US plans include stopping every
northern Korean ship and boarding it for inspection--essentially a blockade
of Pyongyang's harbors. In addition, Washington will probably press for
further sanctions against the country. Whether or not such sanctions will
get the full agreement of the UN Security Council is unknown. Of course,
the treat of military action always looms in the background. If such a
threat is discussed, one can be pretty certain that it would meet with
little opposition from any politician in Washington. After all, it was Bill
Clinton who almost went to war with Pyongyang back in 1993 when Pyongyang's
leadership threatened to reprocess its reactors' plutonium rods, thereby
making weapons grade fuel.
In fact, it was the failure of Washington to follow through on its end of
the deal brokered by Clinton's administration--a deal that would have
provided northern Korea with light-water reactors capable of making energy
but not weapons--that some say led to the impasse between the two capitals.
However, it should be noted that Pyongyang had frozen the reactor where
yesterday's test fuel came from after 1994 under the terms agreed to by
Washington and Pyongyang. Indeed, it was only after George Bush included
Pyongyang in his so-called axis of evil that the reactor was started up
again and the process that led to the nuclear test restarted.
One can be certain that there are those in Washington's circles of power
that welcome Pyongyang's test. In their minds. the very fact of its
occurrence means that they no longer have to pretend that there is a
diplomatic route to resolving the Korean situation. Not that this
administration really understands the meaning of diplomacy anyhow, but this
test means they don't even have to pretend. Add to this the fact that the
Japanese government has been moving towards a stance that is considerably
more militaristic than at any time since the end of World War Two and the
potential for some kind of military ugliness looms ominously in the
background.
Besides the very real threat of some kind of military action that could
escalate into a full-scale war, the other distressing aspect of this entire
scenario is that it could most likely have been prevented. If Washington
had agreed to sit down with Pyongyang and hold head-to-head talks that
included the signing of a peace treaty between the two nations, the world
would not find itself in today's situation. Yet, for some reason known only
to a relative few, Washington has refused to sign such a treaty (or even
hold head-to-head talks), even though military hostilities ended over fifty
years ago. Consequently, we find ourselves in another contrived situation
that could lead to another pointless war. Although one can hope that saner
heads prevail, the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan are reminders that the
trend is in the opposite direction.
Ron Jacobs is author of
The Way
the Wind Blew: a history of the Weather Underground, which is just
republished by Verso. Jacobs' essay on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in
CounterPunch's new collection on music, art and sex,
Serpents in the
Garden. He can be reached at:
rjacobs3625@charter.net
*****************************************************************
10 North Korea Nuclear Test
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 13:24:50 -0500 (CDT)
X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
X-Spam-Class: HAM
Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________
PM Monday, October 9, 2006
North Korea Nuclear Test
BRUCE CUMINGS, rufus88@uchicago.edu,
http://history.uchicago.edu/faculty/cumings.html
A specialist in Korea, Cumings is a professor at the University of
Chicago. His latest book is "North Korea: Another Country." Cumings said
today: "There is no military solution to the North Korean problem.
Sanctions also do not work -- the North has been under American
sanctions since 1950. The only solution is direct bilateral negotiations
between Washington and Pyongyang."
JOHN FEFFER, johnfeffer@gmail.com, http://www.irc-online.org
Editor of the just-released book "The Future of U.S.-Korean
Relations: The Imbalance of Power," Feffer said today: "The stated
policy of the Bush administration has been to prevent North Korea from
going nuclear. If that's the actual policy, then the nuclear test marks
a serious failure for the Bush administration's North Korean policy.
It's also a setback for nonproliferation generally and for efforts to
denuclearize the Korean peninsula. If, on the other hand, a nuclear
North Korea serves the administration as a rationale for policies it
wants, like anti-missile systems and higher military spending, then the
recent nuclear test will cheer some individuals around the White House,
such as Vice President Dick Cheney. ...
"North Korea knows that a preemptive nuclear attack on the U.S. or
its allies in the region would be suicidal. Pyongyang wants the bomb for
two different, but in some ways mutually exclusive, reasons: to deter
any attacks by the United States and to trade for a package of economic
incentives that can help rehabilitate its crumbling industrial and
agricultural sectors."
Feffer is co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus and director of
Global Affairs at the International Relations Center.
NORMAN SOLOMON, norman@accuracy.org,
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1009-36.htm
Executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, Solomon is
the author of "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning
Us to Death" and has written extensively on nuclear issues since the 1970s.
In a piece titled "Welcome to the Nuclear Club," he wrote today:
"For more than 50 years, Washington has preached the global virtues of
'peaceful' nuclear power reactors -- while denying their huge inherent
dangers and their crucial role in proliferating nuclear weaponry. ...
"Running parallel to the mendacious career of the 'peaceful atom,'
U.S. foreign policy has hit new lows during the last several years. The
invasion of Iraq, on the pretext of non-existent WMDs, sent a powerful
message. If the U.S. government was inclined to launch an attack before
a country had the capability to generate a mushroom cloud, then the
country would be protected from such attack by developing nuclear
weapons as soon as possible."
PAUL CARROLL, pcarroll@ploughshares.org, http://www.ploughshares.org
Carroll is a program officer at the Plowshares Fund, which works on
disarmament issues. In July, he was in North Korea, where he had rare,
detailed conversations with North Korean officials, including Vice
Foreign Minister for U.S. Relations Kim Gae Gwan and his deputy, Li Gun,
North Korea's former UN ambassador.
Carroll said today: "This is particularly tragic because it marks
the first time that a country has left the nuclear non-proliferation
treaty and conducted a nuclear test."
ALICE SLATER, aslater@rcn.com, http://www.wagingpeace.org
Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Slater said today:
"The U.S. has refused North Korea's demands to enter into direct
negotiations and normalize relations resolving issues which have never
been addressed since the 1953 ceasefire in Korea. The world is a much
more dangerous place, with other countries likely to revisit their
latent nuclear weapons capability, such as Japan and South Korea. This
is a time for new U.S. leadership for nuclear disarmament. A recent
report from the Blix Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction noted the
complicity of the nuclear weapons states in causing nuclear
proliferation because of their lack of good faith in negotiating an end
to their own arsenals, as promised in the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"There are no sane military options for dealing with nuclear
proliferation. Only a firm commitment to the abolition of nuclear
weapons with meaningful negotiations to that end can make the world
secure. There is an offer on the table from Putin to cut the respective
arsenals of the U.S. and Russia to 1,500 nuclear weapons or less. China
has repeatedly committed to negotiating a treaty to eliminate nuclear
weapons. What is the U.S. waiting for?"
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
_________________________________________________________________
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11 Guardian Unlimited: A Look at North Korean Nuke Capabilities
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 9, 2006 11:46 AM
By The Associated Press
North Korea announced Monday that it had tested an atomic
weapon, a claim that if true would make it the latest member of
the elite club of nuclear powers.
HOW MANY BOMBS: Estimates of the amount of radioactive material
the North possesses vary widely, enough for possibly between
four and 13 weapons, and are unverifiable.
The count compares with a U.S. arsenal of more than 5,000
strategic warheads, more than 1,000 operational tactical weapons
- meant for the battlefield and less powerful than the strategic
arms - and approximately 3,000 reserve strategic and tactical
warheads.
---
DELIVERY: A top concern is the possibility of North Korea
mounting bombs atop missiles aimed at Seoul, Tokyo or even parts
of the United States.
The communist nation shocked the world in 1998 by firing a
long-range ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.
But the country isn't believed to have a nuclear weapons design
that would be small and light enough to be mounted atop a
missile.
In July, North Korea test-launched seven missiles, but a
long-range rocket believed capable of reaching American shores
exploded shortly after liftoff.
---
HOW STRONG: There were conflicting reports on the strength of
the blast. A state-run South Korean geological institute said
the force of the test was equivalent to 550 tons of TNT. That is
relatively small compared to the bomb the United States dropped
on Hiroshima, which was equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT.
But Russia's defense minister said it was far more powerful,
equivalent to 5,000 to 15,000 tons of TNT.
In 1996, France detonated a bomb beneath Fangataufa Atoll about
750 miles southeast of Tahiti that had a yield of about 120,000
tons of TNT.
---
HISTORY: North Korea is believed to have been accumulating
plutonium for a bomb since the mid-1980s. It froze the program
in 1994 as part of an agreement with the United States. Since
the breakdown of that agreement in late 2002, North Korea is
believed to have ramped up production.
Some experts estimate that at least 80 percent of the country's
stockpile of 44 to 116 pounds of refined plutonium was processed
since the end of the freeze in 2002.
Without another agreement, North Korea is forecast to boost its
stockpile to 160 pounds by 2008 - enough to build between eight
and 17 bombs.
---
Source: Washington-based Institute for Science and International
Security.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
12 Guardian Unlimited: Russia: NKorea Test Greater Than Reported
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 9, 2006 12:01 PM
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's defense minister said Monday that North
Korea's nuclear test was equivalent to 5,000 tons to 15,000 tons
of TNT.
That would be far greater than the force given by South Korea's
geological institute, which estimated it at just 550 tons of
TNT.
By comparison the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima
during World War II was equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT.
In 1996, France detonated a bomb beneath Fangataufa Atoll about
750 miles southeast of Tahiti that had a yield of about 120,000
tons of TNT.
The U.S. Geological Survey said it recorded a magnitude-4.2
seismic event in northeastern North Korea. Asian neighbors also
said they registered a seismic event, but only Russia said its
monitoring services had detected a nuclear explosion.
No one has reported detecting any radiation.
``We know the exact site of the test. The ecological situation
is normal, including on Russian territory in Primorye,'' Defense
Minister Sergei Ivanov said, referring to the Russian Far East
province that shares a short border with North Korea.
Interfax, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in Moscow, said
that the North Korean Foreign Ministry had informed the Russian
ambassador in Pyongyang about the test two hours before it was
conducted. The report could not immediately be confirmed.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
13 Guardian Unlimited: Big powers huff and puff over North Korea
Simon Tisdall
Monday October 9, 2006
The Guardian
A storm of predictable condemnation rained down on the heads of
North Korea's isolated regime in the wake of its first atomic
weapons test today. The US, Japan, South Korea and others all
described the move as a "provocation" that would be met with
stern measures.
China, which may feel particularly affronted given its
protective attitude towards Pyongyang over the years, called it
a "brazen act".
But the strong words did not disguise the weakness of the
international community's position now that North Korea has
finally crossed the line and indisputably become what it has
long claimed to be - a nuclear weapons state. In short, the big
powers can huff and puff, but there is not a lot new in
practical terms that they can do. This development was expected.
They simply couldn't stop it.
Article continues
The six-party talks process involving North Korea's
neighbours and the US that went off the rails last year now
appears to have slammed into the buffers. A strong statement
issued at the weekend by the UN security council, under Japan's
presidency, urging North Korea to step back or face unspecified
consequences has been flagrantly ignored. Future UN action may
be, too. And behind-the-scenes coaxing via South Korean and
Chinese officials has come to nothing.
Sanctions are the obvious tool to which the US, Japan and other
concerned spectators such as Britain will now resort. But such
measures have been tried before and have failed to modify
Pyongyang's behaviour. In fact, they may have made it worse.
It is only a little more than a year since North Korea agreed in
principle to abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for US
technology, aid and security guarantees. But US financial
sanctions imposed on North Korean banks and businesses operating
via Macau last winter appear to have caused serious pain in
Pyongyang. Intentionally or not, they scuppered any chance of
resurrecting the six-party process once it hit renewed
difficulties.
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, may now be calculating that
the weapons test, which by US and Russian standards was
relatively small in scale, will strengthen his hand in any new
negotiations. Similar thinking may have been behind his decision
in July to fire ballistic missiles over the Sea of Japan, in
what now looks like a prologue to today's main event. And once
the fuss over today's test dies down, Mr Kim may prove to be
right.
Japan's new neo-nationalist prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who met
his South Korean counterpart in Seoul today, is now facing an
international crisis only days after coming to office. He has
described the weapons test as "unpardonable" and "intolerable" -
but his options are limited. Japan could enforce tougher
bilateral financial, trade and aid sanctions on North Korea. Yet
that may only serve to tip North Korea's already mostly
impoverished population into crisis and dangerously provoke an
already highly unstable regime.
Mr Abe, like other regional leaders, also faces some difficult
decisions regarding self-defence. Japan, with US help, has
already started building anti-missile defences. And Mr Abe
favours a stronger military. Japan has always forsworn nuclear
weapons and the ballistic missiles that go with them. Pressure
for a rethink is certain to increase domestically. But the US
and countries such as Britain and France will work hard to try
to keep the lid on further nuclear proliferation. In the end,
Japan is unlikely to do anything rash and will more than likely
be persuaded to back revived diplomatic efforts.
A similar, slightly false debate about whether to seek the
protection supposedly offered by nuclear arms can now be
expected in South Korea and even Taiwan, where die-hard
nationalists oppose voluntary or involuntary reunification with
China at any price. For its part, Beijing will also be alarmed
to have such a volatile, nuclear-armed regime on its doorstep.
But like Japan, it also has to accept that a nuclear arsenal of
its own provides no real defence against such an eccentric
potential foe. That points ineluctably to renewed dialogue
rather than more and bigger bombs.
The government in Seoul is meanwhile surveying the ruins of its
"sunshine policy" of engagement with the North. Like China,
South Korea has consistently refused to cut off assistance and
food aid to the North on the basis that engagement rather than
confrontation is most likely to bring a step-change in
relations. That position was maintained even amid intense
international pressure for punitive measures after the July
missile tests. And once the shock wears off, it is likely to be
re-fortified. Seoul will always want a peaceful solution -
because, on a crowded and heavily armed peninsula, any other
route spells potential disaster.
The prospect that, like it or not, the international community
will ultimately have to deal with North Korea on its own terms
has significant implications elsewhere. Iran, whose suspect
nuclear activities will soon be brought before the UN security
council, may be encouraged in its defiance if no effective
punitive action is taken against North Korea. Conversely, those
in Washington who argue against direct talks with Iran, and
against offering the sort of incentives proffered North Korea
last year, may be persuaded by today's events that dialogue is
the only viable future option. Arguably, it was the Bush
administration's refusal to persist with former president Bill
Clinton's "framework agreement" with North Korea that has led to
the present impasse.
Other countries with nascent nuclear ambitions will also be
watching closely to see what happens next. The fate of Saddam
Hussein's Iraqi regime, which failed to develop a nuclear
deterrent and was invaded and overthrown by bigger powers,
unfortunately provides a cautionary tale for insecure
leaderships.
The residual idea that the US could one day impose regime change
on North Korea by military force died a death when Pyongyang's
bomb went off today. That underscores the importance of
dialogue. But it is also a spur to further global nuclear
weapons proliferation.
Useful sites
North Korea virtual library
CIA factbook: North Korea
UN security council
UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty
NK news - database of North Korean propaganda
North Korea Database
North Korea Zone
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
14 Guardian Unlimited: Bush urges UN action on North Korea
Jonathan Watts in Beijing and agencies
Monday October 9, 2006
[South Korean protesters stand on an effigy of the North Korean
leader, Kim Jong Il, during a rally in Seoul against the nuclear
test by North Korea]
South Korean protesters stand on an effigy of the North Korean
leader, Kim Jong-Il, during a rally in Seoul against the nuclear
test by North Korea. Photograph: Cha Young-Jin/EPA
The UN security council is set to discuss ways to punish North
Korea later today after the reclusive communist state conducted
a nuclear test.
The development came as the US president, George Bush, pressed
his fellow leaders to take a tough line over the situation.
Prior to the meeting in New York, Mr Bush held a series of
telephone discussions with regional leaders to discuss a unified
response to what he described as a "provocative act" by
Pyongyang.
Article continues
Earlier today, North Korea announced that it had successfully
carried out a controlled explosion, escalating tensions in
north-east Asia and sparking international condemnation from old
enemies and traditional allies alike.
While not independently verified, the blast - at Hwaderi, near
the north-eastern city of Kilju - caused a 4.2 magnitude seismic
event on the Korean peninsula at 10:37am (0237 am BST), the US
Geological Survey reported.
Soon afterwards, the North Korean Central News Agency declared
the test a triumph and said there had been no radioactive
leakage from the underground site, which is believed to be 2km
down the shaft of an abandoned coalmine.
"The nuclear test is a historic event that brought happiness to
our military and people," the agency said. "The nuclear test
will contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the Korean
peninsula and surrounding region."
Washington was unable to immediately confirm or deny that the
explosion had been caused by a nuclear device.
Early indications were that it was less than half as powerful as
the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end
of the second world war.
Mr Bush said he had held talks with presidents Hu Jintao, of
China, Roh Moo-hyun, of South Korea, and Vladimir Putin, of
Russia, along with the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
"We reaffirmed our commitment to a nuclear-free Korean
peninsula, and all of us agreed that the proclaimed actions
taken by North Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate
response by the United Nations security council," the US
president said in a statement.
"Once again North Korea has defied the will of the international
community, and the international community will respond."
According to Japan's foreign ministry, Mr Bush and Mr Abe - who
was in Seoul for talks - agreed to call for "decisive action" at
the security council meeting.
The meeting had originally been scheduled to confirm the South
Korean foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, as the successor to the UN
secretary general, Kofi Annan.
Among the possible punitive options against North Korea are
economic sanctions, a ban on the import or export of military
equipment or even a naval blockade. Pyongyang has previously
warned that it would regard sanctions as an act of war.
The scale of the military threat posed by North Korea is
unclear, but reprocessed fuel from the Yongbyon nuclear reactor
is thought to have produced enough plutonium for at least six
bombs.
This summer, Pyongyang test-fired a missile that would put
Alaska and Hawaii within range. However, defence experts doubt
the North possesses the miniaturising technology to mount and
deliver a warhead on a rocket.
By proving his country is the eighth member of the nuclear club,
the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, has sacrificed its
diplomatic and economic wellbeing for military security.
The international backlash against the test was immediate and
furious. The prime minister, Tony Blair, said it was
irresponsible, while the Foreign Office warned of international
repercussions.
China - a traditional ally of Pyongyang and its main source of
energy and food - called the test a "flagrant and brazen"
violation of international opinion.
Although Beijing has so far opposed US and Japanese pressure for
UN sanctions, it said it would "resolutely oppose" its
neighbour's conduct.
"China is angry. This action severely challenges the security of
stability of East Asia as well as China's national interests,"
Shi Yinhong, a foreign affairs expert at Renmin University in
Beijing, said.
"China must now deal with the call for sanction[s]. If it
endorses a UN resolution then it will have a legal obligation to
call off or reduce economic assistance."
South Korea - which has previously pursued a softly softly
policy with its bellicose neighbour - warned that the test could
mark the end of engagement efforts, which culminated with a
landmark summit between Kim Jong-il and South Korea's
then-president, Kim Dae-jung, in 2000.
"This is a warning as well as my prediction," Mr Roh said.
"Under this situation, it's difficult for South Korea to
maintain an engagement policy."
The impact is likely to be felt most by North Korea's already
impoverished population of 22m. "The question now is what will
happen inside North Korea, Edward Reed, of the Asia Foundation,
said.
"Sanctions will mean a further reduction in standards of living
and fewer resources for the people. It raises the question
whether internal domestic pressures will become a factor in
future developments."
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
15 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: At Kaesong it's business as usual after nuke test
Octorber 10, 2006 KST 12:15 (GMT+9)
October 10, 2006 ¤Ñ After an announced North Korean nuclear
test yesterday, the business community responded with equal
parts panic and calm.
It was business as usual at the Kaesong Industrial Complex
north of the border yesterday. "We have received news about the
nuclear bomb testing, but the situation at the Kaesong
Industrial Complex is no different than any other day," said
Yeon Yeong-hwan, who heads the Woori Bank branch at the site.
"Since the industrial complex by nature is different from the
Mount Kumgang tour, there is no concern that business will
stop," Mr. Yeon added.
ShinWon Corp., which manufactures clothing at the complex, said
the company's workers in Kaesong didn't know the test had
happened until a call arrived from company headquarters in
Seoul. "We're still keeping information up-to-date through our
calls to Kaesong, but there has been no unusual movement from
North Korea yet," an employee at ShinWon said.
Kaesong is one of two major economic cooperation plans underway
between North and South. The other is the Mount Kumgang tour
managed by Hyundai Asan Corp., a North Korean business arm of
Hyundai Group.
After an emergency meeting the South Korean company said it has
decided to continue the tours as usual, since there is no
indication of danger to tourists from South Korea and the
government in the South has not yet issued any orders. Six
tourists who feared for their personal safety cancelled their
trips yesterday, but about 1,000 went ahead with the tour.
But other businesses are gravely concerned over the test, which
could change the course of cross-border economic cooperation.
Already 60 tourists from the Judicial Research and Training
Institute have cancelled their Mount Kumgang trips, scheduled
for Oct. 25 to 27. The institute had traveled to Mount Kumgang
annually since 2004.
The foundations of the tour could also be in danger. "The
public belief that the money [the North] made from the Mount
Kumgang tour was likely used to finance the nuclear bomb test is
most burdensome for our company," said a Hyundai Asan
representative.
Companies within the Kaesong Industrial Complex may scale back
their investments for similar reasons.
Korean trade negotiators are also concerned that they will no
longer be able to push for products manufactured at the Kaesong
Industrial Complex to be included in a free trade pact with the
United States. The United States has refused that proposal since
the first day of negotiations earlier this year. Hong Ki-hwa,
president of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, held
an emergency meeting focused on the possible departure of
foreign investors. Mr. Hong ordered 100 branches of the
state-run agency to monitor the response of investors, and
project managers will tell foreign investors and buyers that
Korea's economic state will not change.
by Special Reporting Team ojlee82@joongang.co.kr>
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc.
*****************************************************************
16 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [FOUNTAIN] The loss is North Korea's
Octorber 10, 2006 KST 12:15 (GMT+9)
Giving a present is a happy thing, but it is more joyous when
you receive a present. For those who have received a present
during the Chuseok holiday, the feeling is even more special.
And it is not just about the holiday season. The touching
memories of a present that one receives from their family,
relatives or lover on their birthday or anniversary remains for
a long time.
This may sound coldhearted, but except for the emotional aspect,
presents are a waste economically.
The price that a buyer pays for the present is different from
the value of the person who receives the present. In most cases,
people like presents because they are free. However, people tend
to evaluate the price of the present they receive lower than the
amount of money paid by the person who gives it. That gap is the
social loss. Giving presents in cash is a way to reduce this
social loss. In cases when people don't know what the other
person wants to receive as a present, the gap widens, and if it
is an unwanted present, the social loss increases.
American economist, Joel Waldfogel ,researched right after
Christmas on how much value students give to the presents they
received during Christmas. The result was that students value
the presents at 67 to 90 percent of the purchase price.
That means the students discount the value 10 to 33 percent
compared to the people who bought the present. Of the $50
billion spent on Christmas presents in America in 1992, at least
5 billion to 16.5 billion dollar disappeared into thin air. This
is the deadweight loss of Christmas that reveals the social loss
due to the difference perceived by purchasers and consumers.
With free gifts, this kind of social loss always follows. Freely
provided social services or hand-out government support results
in lower utility for the beneficiaries, compared to the money
spent on the project. The social loss rate for the public
housing program for the homeless people in America in 2003 is
assumed to be 9 to 39 percent.
Policies that people do not want also bring great social loss.
It is the same when the government hands over the present of
"self-independence" or "restoring correct history" or announcing
the "tax bomb" when everyone hopes for a stable real estate
price.
North Korea has sent a Chuseok present for the free support of
the South Korean government.
It is the nuclear test card. It is a present that no one wants
to receive and brings North Korea itself to a standstill. This
present from North Korea will probably be the highest social
loss in history.
by Kim Jong-soo jongskim@joongang.co.kr>
The writer is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.
2006.10.09
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use |
*****************************************************************
17 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [VIEWPOINT] Hopes for success of summit
Octorber 10, 2006 KST 12:15 (GMT+9)
People's attention has been focused on whether the Korea-Japan
summit meeting yesterday would restore relations between South
Korea and Japan to their former degree, after they worsened due
to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's obstinacy in
visiting the Yasukuni shrine.
Both China and South Korea had requested that Japan clarify
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's position on the Yasukuni Shrine as a
precondition for the respective summit meetings, held a day
apart.
Prime Minister Abe's office reportedly explained that he is now
in a situation where he can only formulate a "vague strategy."
It was expected that Japan would give consideration to the issue
of differing understandings of shared history by announcing a
prime minister's statement at the summit meetings with China and
South Korea respectively. The problems related to historical
conflicts between South Korea and Japan cannot be fundamentally
solved in this way.
However, no one wants the Korea-Japan relationship to continue
to deteriorate to a chronic emotional conflict between the two
countries due to discrepancies in the understanding of their
shared history.
Taking the Korea-Japan summit meeting held yesterday as a
turning point, we have to plan strategically how to establish a
new Korea-Japan relationship.
In order to find a method, let's adapt the rules for success in
a selfish society formulated by Professor Robert Axelrod of the
University of Michigan to Korean diplomacy.
If we change his rules into rules for Korean diplomacy to
succeed in international relations, they would be, "First, build
an image of a cooperative country (be nice). Second, if a
country betrays you, punish it immediately (be punishing).
Third, take action according to the degree of damage done to
your profits (be forgiving). Fourth, build credibility by making
your position toward others clear (be clear)."
Let's take a fresh look at this Korea-Japan summit meeting
according to those four rules of diplomacy.
Firstly, Korea must make clear that it will cooperate with
Japan, if Mr. Abe does not visit Yasukuni Shrine and has a
proper understanding of history. The current Abe administration
has a strong tendency of misunderstanding that any conflict with
Korea will be resolved if Japan succeeds in its concentrated
efforts to improve relations with China.
However, Mr. Abe himself knows emotionally that Korea is one of
the most important countries for Japan in Asian relations.
Through yesterday's summit meeting, Prime Minister Abe should
have helped our two countries move toward building a
future-oriented cooperative relationship by developing emotional
ties with Korea.
Secondly, we have to make clear, leaving no doubts behind, that
Korea will take strong punitive action against the expression of
distorted historical understanding, including a visit by Mr. Abe
to Yasukuni Shrine. Prime Minister Abe might have tried to make
the summit meeting an important political achievement in an
effort to improve diplomatic relations with his Asian neighbors.
There was speculation that, considering the importance of the
summit diplomacy, Mr. Abe himself moved up the dates of the
meetings with Korea and China to have them precede elections for
the Japanese House of Representatives scheduled for October 22.
In that case, we have to concentrate our diplomatic efforts to
make sure that Mr. Abe does not fail to make political
achievements. In other words, we have to make sure that Prime
Minister Abe can foresee that he will fail in his diplomatic
achievements and suffer a great political loss if he pays a
visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
Thirdly, we should emphasize our principles on issues related
to historical understanding, but the meeting should also have
been a place of cooperation on other problems, such as North
Korea. Cooperation with Japan is important in the current
situation where North Korea has announced a nuclear test.
Both Korea and Japan need to show an attitude of sharing wisdom
to cope with North Korea's nuclear test, instead of claiming to
adopt policies that serve only the interest of each country.
Fourthly, I hope that the Korea-Japan summit meeting was a forum
for the two countries to look for a role they can each play in
the international community by overcoming the conflicts arising
from their differences in historical understanding.
Although there are many international agenda items such as
terrorism and environmental problems, the reality is that Korea
and Japan are unable to play a strong role internationally
because they are bound by the problem of having conflicting
understandings of their shared history. I look forward to seeing
Korea and Japan cooperate toward a higher vision and goal for
the future.
* The writer is the director of the Sejong Institute Japan
Center. Translation by the JoongAng Daily staff.
by Jin Chang-soo
2006.10.09
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18 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [EDITORIALS] A changed peninsula
Octorber 10, 2006 KST 12:15 (GMT+9)
North Korea has conducted a nuclear test despite repeated
warnings from international society. North Korea proceeded with
a nuclear test in a mountain area in North Hamgyong province.
The situation on the Korean Peninsula has been plunged into such
extreme chaos that we cannot predict what might happen next.
Sanctions against North Korea by international society,
including the United Nations, will be agreed to and strictly
implemented.
If North Korea conducts additional physical provocations or if
the United States reacts militarily, the chaos on the Korean
Peninsula will worsen uncontrollably. Korea is in danger once
again, 60 years after the Korean War.
As North Korea now undeniably possesses nuclear weapons,
national security in South Korea is at stake. So far, South and
North Korea have managed to keep a military balance, but now it
has been broken.
Even if South Korea purchases countless conventional weapons
with its economy 30 times larger than that of North Korea, there
will be no way to match the North's nuclear weapons. This is one
of the reasons North Korea has concentrated on developing
nuclear weapons.
If national security is at stake, other sectors in society
cannot be safe either. The North's nuclear test has already had
a negative influence, such as the plummeting stock market. South
Koreans feel increasingly insecure. The administration that has
brought on this chaos cannot avoid responsibility. President Roh
Moo-hyun and his men in charge of diplomacy and national
security have made unbelievable remarks.
President Roh has said, "North Korea's nuclear development is
reasonable, looking at it as a means of self-defense." When
North Korea test-fired its missiles, he said they were not aimed
at South Korea.
While having insufficient information and military competence,
he has indulged in talk of "self-reliance" and emphasized the
identical nationality of North and South, with his eyes closed
to reality. His incompetence and arrogance have resulted in
allowing North Korea to be armed with nuclear weapons.
President Roh must fire his men in charge of diplomacy and
national security and employ new people for the jobs, because no
matter what this crew may say and no matter what measures it may
devise, nobody will believe them.
The president should realize that problems and danger cannot be
overcome by his staff's questionable knowledge and competence.
President Roh should change his own perceptions on North Korea's
intentions and strategies and the dynamics of international
society, unless he wants to be remembered as the president who
delivered pain and hardship to his people.
South Korea will be at even bigger risk if North Korea provokes
an incident in the Yellow Sea or on the truce line. To escape
from this emergency, all South Koreans must work together while
staying calm. We should conserve our energy instead of
criticizing one another.
The ruling party and opposition parties should prepare
supra-partisan measures, instead of being consumed in political
strife. Although both the Kim Dae-jung administration and the
current administration have far more responsibility than the
opposition parties, this is not important for now. People should
feel more sensitive to national security because if national
security breaks down, everything else breaks down too.
Most of all, the administration should be on guard. Keeping the
Korean Peninsula nuclear weapons-free has now proved to be
impossible to attain. South Korea should make efforts in
diplomacy to get the United States to announce explicitly that
it will provide South Korea with a nuclear umbrella. We hope
that the United States will soon announce this intention.
The North's possession of nuclear weapons will lead to Japan's
nuclear development, so all our neighboring countries will
certainly be armed with nuclear weapons, leaving South Korea the
only country without them.
In that case, how can we preserve our national security? The
United States is the only answer, throughout our history and in
reality. The government should focus on restoring Korea-United
States relations which have fallen apart. Diplomacy with the
United States, Japan, China and Russia has become truly
important.
However, because the government has shouted for self-reliance,
South Korea has increasingly become isolated. The government
needs to prepare ways to get China to effectively press North
Korea.
The administration must respond sternly to North Korea. It
needs to change its North Korea policy thoroughly. It should
review seriously economic cooperation with the North and
exchanges in many sectors, including halting business at the
Kaesong Industrial Complex and a halt to sending tourists to
Mount Kumgang.
If the administration hesitates again in making a decision, it
will be isolated in international society.
If North Korea has reasoned that becoming a nuclear state is a
sure way to guarantee its national security, that is a
misjudgment. For how long does it think it can endure heavy
sanctions by international society? Scrapping its nuclear
weapons is the only way to avoid the collapse of the regime.
2006.10.09
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19 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [OUTLOOK] All paradigms destroyed by test
Octorber 10, 2006 KST 12:15 (GMT+9)
I visited Pyongyang early in June. After a quick sightseeing
trip to Mangyeongdae, which had an artificial atmosphere, I sat
down in a cafeteria. A smartly-dressed young man came near to
me. Disguised as a guide, he restricted the area where we could
move around freely. He was actually a North Korean secret agent.
When he came near to me I felt it was a good chance to talk to
him. He was a member of the elite and had graduated from the
economics department of Kim Il Sung University. As I had studied
economics myself, I asked him, "Who do you like most between
Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky?" He gave me a simple
answer. "We are not interested in any of them. Our juche
[self-reliant] economy is good enough."
This answer blocked any chance of a debate. I then spotted a
pack of Marlboros from which he lit up. I gave him a catty
response, "Was there nothing about foreign cigarettes in a juche
economy?" He gave me a flat answer this time, also. "Juche
economy has nothing to do with products of our choice."
Between him and me, there was a discrepancy which was further
apart than the 60 years of the Korean truce. The two of us were
as different as the way of living between the two Koreas, which
have struggled to survive in turmoil for more than half a
century.
The night was very dark in Pyongyang. The capital of North
Korea is quite majestic for being a city in a third-world
country, but it totally disappeared into stark darkness as night
fell. A little bit of flame at the Juche Tower remained. Other
than that, people went into buildings with broken windows and
cement that exposed frames and beams.
I recalled another guide who had graduated from Kim Il Sung
University and spoke in a determined voice. I met him in front
of the People's Culture Palace. Cocooned inside the juche
ideology which fabricates and distorts the sense of time,
territory and history, he regarded economic sanctions by the
United States as an ultimatum designed to oppress and crush the
North Korean people. The guide said, "We will never kneel down,
even if the United States keeps on crushing us."
This reminded me of a cloud of praying mantises who prepare to
fight against giant wheels by holding up their claws. I was not
convinced that North Korea would actually carry out a nuclear
test until then. Darkness at night in Pyongyang showed the
country's lack of energy and the South Korean government
confirmed repeatedly that there would be no such dangerous prank.
When Pyongyang test-fired a Taepodong-2 missile in July, the
South Korean government told its people not to make a fuss over
it. It said the North's missile launches were not a physical
provocation but a political incident and the North had no
intention to threaten the South. Back then, North Korea's
leader, Kim Jong-il, made it clear that the North's Rodong and
Taepodong missiles were weapons of revolution to destroy the
United States.
However, South Korea's president tried his best to persuade his
allies to try to understand the reason North Korea wanted to
have nuclear weapons.
On October 5, Juche 95 (2006), North Korea's foreign ministry
announced its plan to carry out a nuclear test. North Korea
issued a statement that said "The United States' extreme threats
of a nuclear war and sanctions to crush us prompted us to carry
out a nuclear test as a defensive measure." However, the South
Korean government said, "We won't let it happen," and that was
that."
A nuclear test took place yesterday. The North said it was a
scientific nuclear test that guaranteed safety but this is hard
to believe. A nuclear bomb was exploded on the Korean Peninsula.
The dream of non-proliferation and peace came to an end
yesterday.
This means the utter destruction of all paradigms. Flexible
approaches toward North Korea by the United States, the United
Nations, Japan, China and Russia have now gone. As a nuclear
bomb exploded on the Korean Peninsula, nobody can predict how
the United States and the UN will change their stances and how
the structure of the four powers will drastically change.
Unpredictability brings in strategic contingencies.
This state of unpredictability, which should have been feared
most, was brought on by the South Korean government, which has
abided by its naive idea to have similar ideology to that of the
North to earn its trust.
The South Korean government has now lost its trust from
international society and its diplomatic status. South Koreans
feel hopeless for this diplomatically-crippled administration.
They feel very insecure knowing that a worst-case scenario is
being conceived somewhere on our peninsula where a nuclear test
has taken place.
* The writer is a professor of sociology at Seoul National
University.
by Song Ho-keun
2006.10.09
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20 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Atomic test jars world
Octorber 10, 2006 KST 12:15 (GMT+9)
China calls Pyongyang's nuclear explosion ¡®a brazen act'
October 10, 2006 ¤Ñ Moving regional ¡ª and global ¡ª tensions
to a higher level, North Korea announced yesterday that it had
successfully tested a nuclear device.
The statement was issued by the Korean Central News Agency.
Seismic reports from South Korea and other measuring stations
confirmed a shock originating in North Hamgyong province, near
North Korea's northeastern tip, at about 10:35 a.m.
Calling it a "historic event," the North's state-run news
agency said, "The field of scientific research in the DPRK
successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure
conditions." It added, "It has been confirmed that there was no
such danger as radioactive emission in the course of the nuclear
test as it was carried out under a scientific consideration and
careful calculation."
Citing an unidentified U.S. official, Reuters reported that
Pyongyang had notified the Chinese government of the test 20
minutes before it was conducted. It has been confirmed that
Beijing alerted Seoul immediately, through the South Korean
Embassy there. President Roh Moo-hyun convened a meeting of his
senior advisors to address the matter; then reports came from
the geoscience institute and the North Korean announcement of
the test.
North Korea announced a week ago that it planned such a test;
although Seoul publicly played down speculation that it was
imminent, officials here began hedging their bets privately on
Sunday. Last week's threat of a test led the United Nations
Security Council to adopt a statement warning the North of the
possible consequences if it went ahead.
As is usual, the initial seismic reports varied in estimates of
the magnitude of the shock. The Korea Institute of Geoscience
&Mineral Resources estimated the tremor at 3.6 on the Richter
scale. Lawmakers who were briefed by the National Intelligence
Service yesterday said they were told that that would correspond
roughly to a yield from the device equivalent 1,000 tons of TNT
or less. The U.S. atomic weapon that destroyed the Japanese city
of Nagasaki to end World War II had a yield of about 20 kilotons.
The Japan Meteorological Agency estimated the magnitude at 4.9,
but an official said the only certain thing was that the tremor
was not a natural earthquake. On the Richter scale, an increase
of one whole number is a tenfold increase in magnitude.
After the North Korean announcement, Seoul ordered some
military leaves cancelled and front-line units and coastal
defense positions on a higher state of alert.
Yoon Tae-young, the Blue House spokesman, reiterated that
Seoul's reaction would be based on the principle that North
Korea could not be allowed to have nuclear weapons. Warning that
the test violated both a July UN resolution and the 1991
inter-Korean agreement to keep the peninsula free of nuclear
weapons, Mr. Yoon said Pyongyang would be responsible for any
reactions, including a souring of relations between North and
South Korea.
He continued, "Based on the South Korea-U.S. alliance, our
military is fully prepared for any provocation from North Korea.
We are warning North Korea to look squarely at this and not to
miscalculate."
President Roh Moo-hyun seemed to move away from his
determination to keep detente with the North alive.
Asked at a news conference that followed his meeting with Shinzo
Abe, Japan's prime minister, to comment on the test, he said,
"We have warned [North Korea] that inter-Korean relations would
be different before a nuclear test and after conducting one."
He concluded, "There is an objective change in the situation in
which South Korea has emphasized talks with the North while
others have leaned towards sanctions or applying pressure."
Mr. Roh said that Seoul could no longer argue for a
comprehensive policy of engagement with North Korea; changes
must be considered, he said. He added that no steps would be
taken until after consultations with other nations.
In a phone call last night, Mr. Roh told U.S. President George
W. Bush that Seoul would cooperate with any UN measures,
accorrding to Mr. Yoon, his spokesman. Mr. Bush stressed working
with "peaceful partners," and said that among those partners,
South Korea's cooperation was most important.
Yang Chang-seok, the Unification Ministry spokesman, said aid
shipments could be ended and the Kaesong industrial project and
Mount Kumgang tourism projects jeopardized. Late in the evening,
Seoul announced it was suspending further shipments of cement
and rethinking its commitment to provide rice after summer
flooding in North Korea.
Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told lawmakers yesterday that
Washington had reaffirmed its commitment to a nuclear umbrella
to Seoul and that an official announcement would come soon.
Indeed, a brief statement from the White House yesterday said
the United States "reaffirms its commitment to protect and
defend our allies in the region."
The Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday that even
if North Korea had not taken proper measures to contain nuclear
fallout, the direction of the wind and distance to the South
would make any damage in the South unlikely.
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon called his counterparts in the
United States and Japan and also met with Washington's
ambassador to Seoul, Alexander Vershbow. In the evening, the
foreign ministers of the five nations facing North Korea in the
six-party nuclear talks consulted in a conference call.
An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was expected to
be held late last night or today in order to address the crisis.
North Korea's traditional ally, China, was unusually harsh in
its condemnation of the test. In a statement posted on an
official Web site, the Chinese government said, "The DPRK has
ignored the widespread opposition of the international community
and brazenly conducted a nuclear test on Oct. 9." Beijing also
warned Pyongyang "to stop any action that would worsen the
situation."
Pyongyang depends heavily on Beijing for energy and food
supplies, but has defied its neighbor's warnings first not to
test missiles and then not to test atomic weapons.
Estimates of the North's nuclear arsenal vary, but lawmakers
attending a briefing by the National Intelligence Service's head
Kim Seung-kyu yesterday said that the head of the service had
told them that the North may have up to 40 kilograms (88 pounds)
of plutonium, enough to manufacture several primitive nuclear
devices. Analysts here and abroad generally agree that Pyongyang
cannot yet make weapons small enough to mount on missiles.
Gong Sung-jin, a Grand National Party legislator, also quoted
Mr. Kim as saying the intelligence agency had detected unusual
signs at Punggye-ri, a suspected nuclear test site in North
Korea, since 3 p.m. yesterday. Mr. Kim reportedly added that
analysts were trying to determine if yesterday's test was only
the first planned.
by Brian Lee africanu@joongang.co.kr>
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21 BBC: Pakistan condemns Korea nuke test
Last Updated: Monday, 9 October 2006
[South Koreans watch television in the wake of North Korea's
reported nuclear test]
There was concern among South Koreans at the news
Pakistan has criticised North Korea's nuclear test, saying it was
a "destabilising" development for the entire region.
Pakistan's disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan admitted in 2004
that he had passed on nuclear secrets to North Korea, Libya and
Iran.
India has also expressed deep concern about the test and said it
"jeopardises" peace and stability.
India and Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in 1998.
'Chain reaction'
"We had urged [North Korea] to desist from introducing nuclear
weapons in the Korean peninsula," Pakistani foreign office
spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
Pakistan did not initia nuclear tests in the region. We were
acting purely in self-defence Tasnim Aslam Pakistan foreign
office spokeswoman Reaction to nuclear test
Full text: N Korea statement
"It is regrettable that [North Korea] chose to ignore the advice
by the international community not to conduct the test."
Ms Aslam has also defended Pakistan's own nuclear record.
"Pakistan did not initiate nuclear tests in the region. We were
acting purely in self-defence," she said.
She said that unlike South Asia in 1998, "the Korean peninsula
was a nuclear-free zone," she said.
"It is going to have a chain reaction that nobody wants. We are
talking about it because of its ramifications on international
peace and security."
India said the "test also highlights the dangers of clandestine
proliferation".
North Korea says the underground test was a success and had not
resulted in any leak of radiation.
The White House said South Korean and US intelligence had
detected a seismic event at a suspected test site.
'Provocative act'
The White House said, if confirmed, the test would be a
"provocative act", while China denounced it as "brazen".
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the test was
"unpardonable".
South Korea said it would "sternly respond".
Seoul also suspended a scheduled aid shipment to North Korea, the
state news agency reported.
The US Geological Survey said it had detected a 4.2 magnitude
quake in North Korea, while a South Korean official said a 3.5
magnitude seismic tremor had been detected in north Hamgyong
province, in the north-east.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency is reporting that the test took
place in Gilju in Hamgyong province at 1036 (0136 GMT).
A top Russian military officer said it was "100%" certain that
an underground nuclear explosion had taken place.
When it announced the test, KCNA described it as an "historic
event that brought happiness to our military and people".
"The nuclear test will contribute to maintaining peace and
stability in the Korean peninsula and surrounding region," KCNA
said.
The region has been on high alert since North Korea announced
last week that it would conduct a nuclear test.
*****************************************************************
22 BBC: Outcry at N Korea 'nuclear test'
Last Updated: Monday, 9 October 2006
[South Koreans watch television in the wake of North Korea's
reported nuclear test]
South Korea said it had the capability to cope
North Korea's claim to have successfully carried out a nuclear
weapon test underground has sparked international condemnation.
President George W Bush said the US was working to confirm the
claim, which he branded a "provocative" act.
He said he and regional leaders agreed North Korea's actions were
unacceptable and deserved an immediate response from the United
Nations Security Council.
Security Council members are meeting in New York to discuss their
reaction.
South Korean media said the test took place in Gilju in Hamgyong
province at 1036 (0136 GMT).
But both the US and Japan said they had detected seismic waves.
Russia said it was "100% certain" a nuclear test had occurred.
The size of the bomb is uncertain. South Korean reports put it as
low as 550 tons of destructive power but Russia said it was
between five and 15 kilotons. The 1945 Hiroshima bomb was 12.5-15
kilotons.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says North Korea's
claimed test does not necessarily mean it has a fully-fledged
nuclear bomb or warhead that it can deliver to a target.
'Unpardonable'
In his first public statement, the US president said the North
Korean claim "constitutes a threat to international peace and
security."
He said he had telephoned Chinese, Japanese, Russian and South
Korean leaders, who had all reaffirmed their commitment to a
nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
"Once again, North Korea has defied the will of the international
community, and the international community will respond," he
said.
[Map]
We expect the Security Council to take immediate actions to
respond to this unprovoked act Tony Snow White House spokesman
Reaction to nuclear test
Full text: N Korea statement
"The North Korea regime remains one of the world's leading
proliferators of missile technology including transfers to Iran
and Syria."
Mr Bush added that the development would not help North Korea's
"oppressed and impoverished" people, who deserved a better
future.
Japan's foreign ministry said Mr Bush and Japan's Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe had agreed there should be "decisive UN action".
Mr Abe, currently visiting Seoul, earlier called the claimed test
"unpardonable".
The region was "entering a new, dangerous nuclear age", Mr Abe
said.
He said Japan and the US would step up co-operation on the
missile defence system they began after a North Korean missile
test in 1998.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said it would be "difficult"
to maintain his country's policy of engagement with the North. He
feared the move could "spark a nuclear arms build-up in other
countries".
The head of the South's intelligence service told lawmakers it
had detected more movement at a North Korean test site and he
could not rule out further nuclear tests.
In Seoul, about 500 protesters rallied against the claimed test,
burning a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
South Korea has also suspended a scheduled aid shipment of
concrete to North Korea.
In an unusually strong statement against its ally, China said the
claimed test "defied the universal opposition of international
society".
The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Beijing says China's
statement is an indication of how strongly it is angered by North
Korea's action, although Beijing will still be loath to support
tougher sanctions against Pyongyang.
'Historic event'
When it announced the test, the North's KCNA media agency
described it as an "historic event that brought happiness to our
military and people".
It said the test would maintain "peace and stability" in the
region and was "a great leap forward in the building of a great
prosperous, powerful socialist nation". There was no radiation
leak, it said.
The development comes three days after the UN Security Council
agreed on a formal statement urging North Korea to cancel any
planned nuclear test and return to disarmament talks.
Pyongyang pulled out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in
2003 and has refused for a year to attend talks aimed at ending
its nuclear ambitions.
North Korea's official media has long warned that the US was
preparing to attack and developing a nuclear capability was the
only way to prevent this.
If confirmed, the test would make North Korea the ninth country
known to have nuclear weapons.
*****************************************************************
23 washingtonpost.com: North Korea's Political, Economic Gamble -
Tues., Oct. 9, All Times ET
Analysts Say Risks Include Loss of Aid, Arms Race
By Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, October 10, 2006; Page A12
TOKYO, Oct. 9 -- may have gained bragging rights on Monday as the
world's newest nuclear power, but the pivotal question now is
whether the secretive communist government can survive the
political fallout.
While the United States and have long pushed for a hard line
against North Korea, there were early indications Monday that and
, the North's chief benefactors, may be reconsidering their
support for the government of Kim Jong Il. There were also
concerns that Pyongyang's claims of a nuclear test could touch
off an arms race in Northeast Asia.
[A staff member at Japan's Meteorological Agency points to the
measurement of a seismic wave. Officials there say a
magnitude-4.9 tremor occurred in the area where Pyongyang
officials claim to have conducted the nuclear test.] A staff
member at Japan's Meteorological Agency points to the
measurement of a seismic wave. Officials there say a
magnitude-4.9 tremor occurred in the area where Pyongyang
officials claim to have conducted the nuclear test. (By Katsumi
Kasahara -- Associated Press)
Tuesday, Oct. 10, at noon ET
Washington Post staff writer Column Lynch discusses the U.N.'s
response to North Korea's claim that it has tested a nuclear
weapon.
Photos
[North Korea declared Monday, Oct. 9, that it had conducted its
first nuclear test, asserting a claim to be the world's newest
nuclear power and drawing strong international condemnation.]
North Korea Nuclear Test Condemned
North Korea declared Monday, Oct. 9, that it had conducted its
first nuclear test, asserting a claim to be the world's newest
nuclear power and drawing strong international condemnation.
Monday, Oct. 9, at 2 p.m. ET
Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at The Brookings Institution and
co-author of "Hard Power: The New Politics of National
Security," discusses world reaction to North Korea's
announcement that it has successfully tested a nuclear weapon.
VIDEO | The latest on North Korea's threat to conduct a nuclear
test.
In Depth
DIPLOMACY &DETERRENCE
Diplomacy and Deterrence
POSTGLOBAL: Commentary
Former U.S. National Security Advisor Donald Gregg writes,
"Don't panic. Kim Jong Il's objective is survival and eventual
change in North Korea, not suicide."
Analysts said any major development would threaten stability in
the strategically vital region, in which the United States has
long maneuvered diplomatically among friend and foe.
China and South Korea have poured billions of dollars in aid and
investment into the North, effectively propping up Kim's
government under the assumption that any collapse there would
send millions of desperate refugees pouring across the country's
borders. The risk of such an economic calamity, they have
gambled, has outweighed the risk of a nuclear-armed North Korea.
But the announcement of a test, analysts said, may have
represented a tipping point. In a telephone call with U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, China's foreign minister
condemned North Korea for having "ignored universal opposition
of the international community," the Chinese Foreign Ministry
said in a statement. The minister, Li Zhaoxing, also stressed
that the Chinese government was "resolutely opposed" to the
nuclear test.
South Korea, meanwhile, immediately halted delivery of an
emergency assistance package to help the North deal with recent
floods. President Roh Moo Hyun suggested that his country's
"sunshine policy" of engagement -- of which he was a vocal
supporter -- had failed.
"The South Korean government at this point cannot continue to
say that this engagement policy is effective," Roh said in a
nationally televised speech. "Ultimately, it is not something we
should give up on, but objectively speaking, the situation has
changed. Being patient and accepting whatever North Korea does
is no longer acceptable."
Any shift in policy by China or South Korea would be at least
partly based on the anticipated reaction of Japan, the nation
that today feels most threatened by North Korea's ballistic
missiles. Analysts have assumed that a nuclear-armed North Korea
would lead Tokyo to accelerate plans to redraft its pacifist
constitution and rearm itself with a more aggressive military.
Last week, a U.S. congressional report went as far as to suggest
that a test by the North could set in motion a domino effect in
which Japan, South Korea and perhaps Taiwan pursue their own
nuclear weapons, touching off an arms race that would
dramatically escalate the consequences of any regional disputes.
Although some observers were quick to caution that China's
criticism of North Korea might not necessarily translate into
action, there was little question that the reported test had
deeply embarrassed China. The Chinese government has taken the
lead in the diplomatic effort to denuclearize North Korea at
long-stalled six-party talks in Beijing, bringing the United
States, Japan, , and South Korea and North Korea to the table.
"It's a big slap to China," Zhu Feng, a professor of
international studies at Peking University, said of the North's
test. "It's time for a new approach, because we just got
humiliated. For four years, we have been so good to North Korea,
trying to make the right conditions for Kim Jong Il to abandon
nuclear weapons in exchange for normalization with the U.S. and
Japan and a lot of economic aid. China's goodwill has been
relentlessly wasted."
Analysts said China will now be faced with heightened
international pressure to accept tougher economic sanctions and
reduce or even cut its aid -- including oil shipments -- to
coerce Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. China's options
are limited now, and although analysts say it will probably
harden its stance against North Korea, it has in the past drawn
the line at any action that would endanger Kim's government.
In effect, Beijing will have to make a difficult decision.
"If China votes for sanctions at the U.N., the China and North
Korea relationship will break up," said Shi Yinhong, a professor
of international relations at People's University in Beijing.
"And if the United Nations really passes financial sanctions
toward North Korea, the risk of a society collapse of North Korea
is high."
For its part, Japan is likely to take an even harder line than
before. The country's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, on Monday
vowed a tough response, saying he would "immediately consider
taking stern measures."
Those are likely to include a ban on millions of dollars' worth
of annual remittances sent home by North Korean nationals living
in Japan.
But even coupled with sharper sanctions from the United States,
analysts say, the pressure brought to bear on North Korea is
unlikely to be enough without the full support of Beijing and
Seoul.
Analysts say Kim has already succeeded in at least one way. With
its declaration of a nuclear test, North Korea has made the price
of a military solution to the standoff -- something Bush
administration officials had largely dismissed given North
Korea's arsenal of ballistic missiles and its million-man army --
even higher. Some suggested Monday that it may already be too
late to turn back the clock.
"North Korea's message is that no matter how hard South Korea,
Japan, the United States gang up on them, they won't budge," said
Seung Joo Baek of the Seoul-based Korea Institute for Defense
Analyses. "They want to be recognized as a nuclear power. They
are assuming that it is the only thing that will keep them safe.
We will have to wait and see if they are right."
Fan reported from Beijing. Special correspondent Joohee Cho in
Seoul contributed to this report.
1996- The Washington Post Company | |
*****************************************************************
24 TIME.com: North Korea Calls the U.S.'s Bluff
TIME Magazine
Washington has said it won't tolerate a North Korean nuclear
weapon. Now, the question is whether that intolerance can be
enforced
By TONY KARON
Posted Monday, Oct. 09, 2006
Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Mon Oct 09 20:32:47 2006
So, now what?
North Korea's announcement of the successful underground
detonation of a nuclear weapon has called Washington's bluff.
President Bush had long warned that the U.S. will not "tolerate"
a nuclear-armed North Korea, and just last week his chief
negotiator with the hermit regime, Christopher Hill, warned that
Pyongyang would have to choose between having nuclear weapons
and having a future. Monday morning's announced test suggests
that Kim Jong-il has decided to test Washington's "or else."
The consternation at failing to deter North Korea from becoming
the world's eighth declared nuclear weapons state (joining the
U.S., Russia, France, Britain, China, India and Pakistan —
Israel is generally believed to have nuclear weapons, although
it has never publicly disclosed such capability) will hardly be
confined to Washington. South Korea has called its national
security council into emergency session, and will face pressure
from the U.S. and Japan to terminate its "Sunshine" policy of
trade and engagement aimed at moderating North Korean behavior.
Japan, well within range of North Korea's missiles and a
longtime object of its ire, will press for a tough response, and
may see its own debate over whether to build nuclear weapons
rejoined with new vigor. China will face the uncomfortable
reality that its patronage of and friendship with North Korea
gave it no leverage, at the decisive moment, over a troublesome
neighbor whose actions threaten to destabilize the entire region
and provoke a more assertive U.S. presence on turf that Beijing
regards as its own back yard.
As much as the international community was unanimous in warning
the North Koreans against proceeding — the U.N. Security Council
on Friday warned that a nuclear test would be treated as a
threat to global peace, language that could open the way for
binding sanctions or even tougher action — the next steps remain
unclear, and potentially divisive. The U.S. and Japan will
likely push for harsh sanctions, to back a demand that North
Korea submit to denuclearization under international
supervision. China and South Korea will likely back the
principle that North Korea must be punished for crossing a red
line, but their aversion to sanctions is based on fears of
potentially cataclysmic chaos accompanying the collapse of the
regime in Pyongyang, and those fears won't have been eased by
the regime's demonstration of a capacity to lash out with
nuclear weapons if it is being choked to death. Given North
Korea's huge standing army and the vulnerability of South Korea
to its conventional artillery and missile capability — as well
as the extent of U.S. commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan — any
military response remains unlikely.
North Korea's test will alter the tenses and grammar of the
international community's demands, from insisting that North
Korea refrain from developing and testing nuclear weapons to
insisting that it reverse course and agree to denuclearize under
international supervision. Those demands will likely now be
backed by tougher sanctions, although the extent of likely
sanctions is uncertain because the factors restraining neighbors
from choking North Korea's food and energy lifeblood remain in
place. And North Korea clearly sees its nuclear test not as
ending the discussion, but rather as a way of strengthening its
negotiating position: Its statement last week announcing the
forthcoming test stressed that North Korea refused to disarm
unilaterally, but remained committed to a dialogue "aimed at
settling the hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S. and
removing the very source of all nuclear threats from the Korean
Peninsula and its vicinity." It added that North Korea remained
committed to achieve "the denuclearization of the peninsula
through dialogue and negotiation."
Shortly before the nuclear test, CNN had reported that North
Korea had indicated to China that it might be prepared to hold
off on testing a weapon if the U.S. agreed to direct talks.
Presumably, Pyongyang will continue to pursue that diplomatic
goal, hoping that the crisis it has created by testing a nuclear
weapon will bring pressure on the U.S. to abandon its own
refusal to deal directly with North Korea. Until now, China and
South Korea, in particular, have urged the United States to
engage in such a dialogue. It remains to be seen whether the
nuke test changes their stance.
North Korea may be hoping that, as in the case of India and
Pakistan, an initial flurry of diplomatic scolding will
eventually be followed by the international community resignedly
engaging with a new member of the nuclear club for want of any
other alternative. U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill has tried to
disabuse them of that expectation, telling the New York Times
last week, "This ain't Pakistan." Whether the U.S. can make it
so, however, will depend, in large part, on the positions taken
by South Korea and China in the weeks ahead.
Copyright © Time Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is
*****************************************************************
25 AFP: NKorea may be preparing second test - SKorea's Yonhap
Monday October 9, 01:12 PM
SEOUL (XFN-ASIA) - Unusual activities were detected in a rugged
area in North Korea, causing South Korean authorities to suspect
that the communist state might be preparing a second nuclear
test, Yonhap news agency reported.
Kim Seung-Gyu, head of South Korea's spy agency, told
parliament that activity involving vehicles and some 30 to 40
people was under way at Punggyeri in the northeastern county of
Kilju, Yonhap said.
'From three pm (06:00 GMT) today, there have been some unusual
movements under way at Punggyeri where we had thought the first
nuclear test would be carried out,' Kim was quoted as saying.
'We have been closely following developments there to find out
whether North Korea is moving to conduct a series of tests as
India and Pakistan did,' he said.
An unidentified lawmaker who serves on parliament's
intelligence committee quoted Kim as telling the committee that
there is a 'sufficient possibility' of the North carrying out
further nuclear tests.
Punggyeri is where vehicle movements and the unloading of large
reels of cable were spotted by satellite images last month,
prompting speculation that a nuclear test was being prepared.
Punggyeri is some 30 kilometers northeast of Hwadaeri, where
South Korean officials said today's test appeared to have been
carried out.
Kim was also quoted as saying that North Korea is believed to
have stored up to 40 kilograms of plutonium, enough to make as
many as seven nuclear bombs.
'North Korea is believed to have stored some 30 to 40 kilograms
of plutonium,' he was quoted as telling the intelligence
committee.
Chung Hyung-Keun, an opposition Grand National Party lawmaker
who serves on the committee, quoted the intelligence chief as
making the plutonium comments.
'As one bomb needs five to six kilograms of plutonium, North
Korea would be able to make up to seven atomic bombs,' Chung
told journalists.
'We cannot rule out the possibility of the North carrying out
further nuclear tests as Pakistan, for example, carried out six
nuclear tests,' he said.
Copyright © 2006 AFP AFX. All rights reserved. Republication or
*****************************************************************
26 AFP: Japan's new leader vows 'stern response' to N.Korea
by Shingo Ito Mon Oct 9, 9:11 AM ET
SEOUL (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for a
"stern" international response to North Korea " /> and said its
nuclear test would lead Tokyo and Washington to step up work on
missile defense.
North Korea announced it had detonated an atom bomb just as Abe
was flying to the Korean peninsula from Beijing on a visit meant
to improve on Japan's low standing in the region.
Abe, who took office two weeks ago after a career built on
campaigning against North Korea, said he found support in both
South Korea " /> and China for a tough line on Pyongyang.
"We need to make a stern response and North Korea will be
responsible for all the consequences," Abe told reporters after
talks with South Korean President Roo Moo-Hyun.
"Japan for its part will immediately start studying a response
with stern measures," Abe said without elaborating.
Japan has already slapped most of the sanctions at its disposal
against North Korea, which conducts the bulk of its limited trade
with South Korea and China.
Japan is particularly sensitive as North Korea fired a missile
over its main island in 1998. The two countries have tense
relations and have never established diplomatic relations.
Abe said Japan and the United States would expand work started in
1998 on a missile shield. Washington has deployed Patriot
surface-to-air missiles in Japan after North Korea test-fired
seven missiles in July.
"To maintain the safety of the Japanese country and people and to
increase the relationship of trust based on the Japan-US
alliance, Japan will step up cooperation with the United States,
such as on Japan-US missile defense," Abe said.
Abe in July had infuriated countries once invaded by Japan by
openly mulling the possibility of a pre-emptive strike against
North Korea. But he made clear in Seoul and Beijing that he
wanted common ground.
"We are walking fully in step with each other. We intend to
continue sharing our views and pressing North Korea to abandon
nuclear arms," Abe said of his talks in South Korea.
Roh, who warned that the South may end its "sunshine" policy
with the North, played down any differences in approach with
Japan.
"There were no differences between me and the Japanese prime
minister on this issue. We agreed that we have to deal with this
issue in a cool-headed manner. Coordinated responses within the
UN and other countries are also required," Roh said.
Abe's meeting with Roh was the first formal summit between the
two nations since June 2005.
Roh shunned formal summits with Abe's predecessor Junichiro
Koizumi in protest at his annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni
Shrine, which honors war dead including top war criminals and is
seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
Japan's perceived refusal to atone for its brutal 20th century
occupation of neighboring nations has long soured ties with
South Korea and China, but in Beijing on Sunday, President Hu
Jintao
" /> described Abe's trip as a "turning point" in relations.
Abe is known for his nationalist views about history and again
refused to say if he would go to the Yasukuni shrine. But he
said he acknowledged to Roh that Japan committed atrocities in
Korea.
"Japan once caused tremendous damage and pain to people in Asian
nations and left great scars. Japan has gone on for 60 years
after the war by seriously reflecting upon this fact," Abe said.
"I made this visit with the wish of building a future-oriented
relationship of mutual trust while taking the South Korean
people's sentiment seriously," he said.
Roh agreed to pay a return visit to Japan "at an appropriate
time," a Japanese official said.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
27 ITAR-TASS: Moscow strongly condemns Pyongyang’s nuclear test
09.10.2006, 12.52
MOSCOW, October 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Moscow strongly condemns
Pyongyang’s nuclear test for “ignoring the unanimous will of the
international community,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail
Kamynin said on Monday.
“Pyongyang has ignored the unanimous will of the international
community, interested in the nuclear-free status of the Korean
peninsula, to declare it has held a successful underground
nuclear test,” the diplomat said.
© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,
store in any medium (including in any other websites),
distribute, transmit, re-transmit, broadcast, modify or show in
public any part of the ITAR-TASS website without the prior
written permission of ITAR-TASS.
Contacts
*****************************************************************
28 AFP: North Korea has enough plutonium for up to seven bombs - intelligence -
Mon Oct 9, 9:41 AM ET
SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea is believed to have stored up to 40
kilograms (88 pounds) of plutonium, enough to make as many as
seven nuclear bombs, South Korea 's intelligence chief has been
quoted as saying.
Kim Seung-Gyu, head of the National Intelligence Service, also
reportedly told parliament that the North might carry out
further nuclear tests following Monday's one.
"North Korea is believed to have stored some 30 to 40 kilograms
of plutonium," he was quoted as telling parliament's
intelligence committee on Monday.
Chung Hyung-Keun, an opposition Grand National Party lawmaker
who serves on the committee, quoted the intelligence chief.
The 40 kilograms includes 10-12 kilograms that it had secured
before it opened its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, 90
kilometers (56 miles) north of Pyongyang, to International
Atomic Energy Agency
inspectors, Kim said.
"As one bomb needs five to six kilograms of plutonium, North
Korea would be able to make up to seven atomic bombs," Chung
told journalists.
"We cannot rule out the possibility of the North carrying out
further nuclear tests as Pakistan, for example, carried out six
nuclear tests," he said.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
29 AFP: US may push China, neighbours to reign in North Korea - experts -
by P. Parameswaran Mon Oct 9, 9:16 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - North Korea 's announced nuclear test is
likely to prompt the United States to pressure China and other
regional states to rein in Pyongyang and possibly even seek a new
regime, some experts said.
With multilateral talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear
program having collapsed and facing an uphill battle to impose UN
sanctions, the United States has made it clear that it cannot
live with a nuclear North Korea.
"There are clearly two options for the United States -- accept
North Korea as a nuclear state or remove the current regime,"
Ralph Cossa, an East Asian expert at the US Center of Strategic
and International Studies, told AFP.
"We could pursue a regime change and expect North Korea's
neighbours, including China, to join that push," he said.
Regime change need not necessarily involve military action, he
said.
"A lot of people incorrectly link regime change to Iraq . It
can occur in different ways through political and economic
actions," Cossa, who chairs the center's Hawaii-based Pacific
Forum, said.
China, he said, was expected to come under intense pressure from
the United States to join such actions, including a tightening
of sanctions on Pyongyang.
Beijing is North Korea's traditional ally and main benefactor of
aid, and the top broker in stalled talks among the United
States, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan aimed at ending
Pyongyang's nuclear weapons drive.
Assistant US Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the lead
negotiator to the six party talks, raised eyebrows last week
with unusually tough language vowing Washington would "act
resolutely" if North Korea exploded a nuclear test.
"If what they have in mind is the notion that somehow by
exploding this thing they've created fait accompli and we're
just going to have to come to terms with a nuclear North Korea,
they've got to think again," Hill said.
"We're not coming to terms with a nuclear North Korea ... not
going to live with a nuclear North Korea," said the top US
diplomat for East Asia.
He did not elaborate on what actions the United States would
take but one Asian diplomat said, "Hill would not have made that
statement if he had not done his calculations."
"He may have been comfortable that China and Russia would not
protect North Korea if it did such a thing (nuclear test)," said
the diplomat, who did not rule out regime change as part of a
new US diplomatic offensive.
The United States has no specific programs to promote democratic
change in North Korea, unlike the efforts financed in Iran
and Cuba.
But the New York Times reported in 2003 that hawks in the Bush
administration were pressing the United States to team up with
China in pushing for the collapse of Kim's bankrupt but
belligerent regime.
The United States last year imposed financial sanctions against
North Korea for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering
activities, a move that angered Pyongyang and led to its boycott
of the six-party talks.
New US sanctions could include forcibly intercepting ships or
aircraft suspected of carrying so-called weapons of mass
destruction into North Korea, officials had hinted recently.
But sanctions is not the solution to the nuclear crisis, some
experts said.
"Sanctions alone are not going to be enough to force North
Korea," said Joseph Cirincione, a former top US government
weapons expert.
"You can't force them to give this (nuclear weapons) up.
History's bears that out. No country has ever been coerced into
giving up a nuclear program or nuclear weapons but many
countries have been convinced to do so," he said.
Cirincione called for a negotiated deal to end the standoff,
which began when the United States accused the communist state
in 2002 of secretly enriching uranium.
The North responded by throwing out UN International Atomic
Energy Agency
weapons inspectors and abandoning the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
30 AFP: Security Council expected to meet on N.Korea's nuclear test -
by Gerard Aziakou Mon Oct 9, 8:48 AM ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council is expected to
hold an emergency meeting to weigh how to respond to North Korea
North Korea's first-ever nuclear weapons test in brazen
defiance of a UN resolution.
Hours after the communist state's official Korean Central News
Agency (KCNA) announced a successful underground nuclear test,
the White House Monday said that if confirmed the move would be a
"provocative act" and called for immediate action by the UN
Security Council.
Only Friday, the 15-member Council unanimously adopted a
non-binding statement calling on Pyongyang not to go ahead with
the test and warning of unspecified consequences if it did so.
The United States and China led global condemnation of North
Korea, slamming the move as a provocation and demanding a tough
UN response.
The council has scheduled a formal vote for early Monday to
nominate South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon as its choice
to succeed Kofi Annan Kofi Annanwhen the Ghanaian UN chief steps
down at the end of December.
But the vote was bound to be overshadowed by North Korea's
defiant act. Diplomats had been expecting the test this weekend
and indicated that an emergency council meeting would be held in
response.
A UN spokesmen said no meeting had been immediately scheduled but
White House spokesman Tony Snow signaled a session was in the
works. "We would expect the Security Council to meet (Monday),"
he told reporters in Washington.
During negotiations over the council statement adopted Friday,
Japan, which chairs the council for October, and the United
States had pushed for inclusion of a threat to resort to
mandatory sanctions, including an arms embargo and other trade
and financial measures under Chapter Seven of the UN charter.
But in the face of opposition from China and Russia, the
explicit mention of sanctions was removed although the text said
a test "would represent a clear threat to international peace
and security," which in UN parlance is often a trigger for
mandatory sanctions under Chapter Seven.
Chapter Seven authorizes wide-ranging sanctions or, as a last
resort, military action to ensure compliance with council
resolutions.
Friday's statement also urged North Korea to return immediately
to six-nation talks on its nuclear program and keep to a
September 2005 pledge to abandon it in exchange for energy and
security benefits.
The North has since November boycotted the talks with China,
Japan, South Korea
South Korea, Russia and the United States in response to US
financial sanctions.
Last week, US Ambassador John Bolton urged the council to
respond to a test with punitive action going beyond the
sanctions imposed on the North in July.
That resolution was passed after the North launched seven
missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 believed to be
capable of striking US soil.
The North Korean test was announced just as Japanese Premier
Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun
Roh Moo-Hyunwere meeting in Seoul for talks that had been
expected to focus on finding a way to dissuade North Korea from
going ahead.
KCNA said the test "will contribute to defending the peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it."
Last week, in announcing plans to test a nuclear device,
Pyongyang cited the threat of sanctions and nuclear war from the
United States, which considers the North part of an "axis of
evil" along with Iran
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
31 AFP: US, Japan to take "decisive action" against NKorea
Mon Oct 9, 9:29 AM ET
SEOUL (AFP) - The United States and Japan agreed to take
"decisive action" against North Korea North Koreaat the
United Nations United NationsSecurity Council after the
communist state announced it had conducted a nuclear test.
US President George W. Bush President George W. Bushand
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reached the agreement in a
15-minute telephone conversation, the Japanese embassy in Seoul
said in a press release.
Abe, who took office last month, arrived here from Beijing on
the last leg of a two-day tour aimed at mending strained
relations with his two Asian neighbours.
Bush and Abe viewed Pyongyang's announcement as "categorically
unacceptable", a "grave threat to peace and stability in the
international community", and a "serious challenge to the
(nuclear) non-proliferation regime," the statement said.
They also concurred their countries should "take decisive action
against North Korea at the UN Security Council while cooperating
closely with such countries as members of the six-nation talks
including China and South Korea
South Korea."
The six-nation talks, aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear
arms program and involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia
and the United States, have been stalled since September last
year after Pyongyang walked out in protest at US financial
sanctions against it.
Bush and Abe also agreed that the "US deterrence based on the
Japan-US alliance is unshakeable," the statement said.
The telephone conversation was proposed by the US side, it added.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
32 AFP: Nuclear test was low power and conducted in mountain tunnel -
Mon Oct 9, 8:56 AM ET
SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea North Korea's nuclear test was
low-powered and is believed to have been conducted in a
horizontal tunnel dug deep inside a mountain on its northeast
coast.
The first scientists knew of it was when they detected seismic
waves caused by an artificial explosion, but there was no
immediate report of radioactivity.
The activity measured 3.6 on the Richter scale, which could be
caused by the explosion of the equivalent of 800 tonnes of
dynamite, said Chi Heon-Cheol, head of the Korea Earthquake
Research Centre.
Another unidentified expert quoted by Yonhap news agency said the
blast was equivalent to about 550 tonnes of TNT judging by the
seismic tremor.
The US atomic bomb which destroyed Hiroshima during World War II
was comparable to 12,500 tons of TNT.
Intelligence officials told South Korea South Korea's parliament
the test appeared to have been carried out in a 360-meter-high
(1,200 feet) mountain northwest of the Musudan missile base in
the Hwadaeri region, according to lawmaker Chung Hyong-Keun.
He quoted an intelligence official as saying: "In consideration
of the height of the mountain, the test appeared to have been
done in a horizontal tunnel."
The North's official media said it had successfully conducted an
underground nuclear test under secure conditions, with no
radiation leak.
"It has been confirmed that there was no such danger from
radioactive emission in the course of the nuclear test, as it was
carried out under scientific consideration and careful
calculation," the Korean Central News Agency said.
"The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and
technology, 100 percent," it added.
Seoul officials said the test was detected through seismic waves
coming from the Hwadaeri region near the town of Kilju in North
Hamgyong Province at 10:36 am (0136 GMT).
Chi Heon-Cheol, head of the Korea Earthquake Research Centre,
said the seismic activity took place 15.4 kilometers (10 miles)
northwest of Hwadaeri.
"The peculiarity of the seismic waves indicated there was an
artificial explosion, not a natural earthquake," Chi told
journalists.
No excessive radioactivity was immediately detected in South
Korea, experts said.
"No radioactivity has not yet been detected from the alleged
nuclear test," said Han Seung-Jae, director of the state-run
Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Department (NEPD), before
confirmation of the blast.
"It might not be detected at all if the alleged nuclear testing
was conducted in a tightly sealed atmosphere such as a deep
tunnel, and all radioactive rays and fallout are contained," he
said.
The NEPD operates 37 observation posts to detect radioactivity,
including one on the southeastern island of Ullung. Prevailing
winds might have carried any radioactivity in that direction.
In an October 3 statement announcing the planned test, the North
pledged never to use nuclear weapons first and strictly to ban
the transfer of nuclear weapons and technology.
"The ... nuclear weapons will serve as reliable war deterrent
for protecting the supreme interests of the state and the
security of the Korean nation from the US threat of aggression
and averting a new war..." it said at the time.
North Korea is believed to have produced enough weapons-grade
plutonium to make several crude nuclear bombs, according to US
and South Korean experts.
It also has an advanced missile programme, although it is not
known whether it has the technological skill to arm one with a
nuclear warhead.
On July 5 North Korea test-fired seven missiles into the sea --
including a Taepodong-2 believed to be technically capable of
hitting the United States.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
33 Guardian Unlimited: North Korea Says It Conducts Nuke Test
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 9, 2006 1:46 PM
AP Photo SEL111
By BURT HERMAN Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea faced a barrage of global
condemnation and calls for harsh sanctions Monday after it
announced that it had set off an atomic weapon underground, a
test that thrusts the secretive communist state into the elite
club of nuclear-armed nations.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled a meeting for today, a U.S.
official said. And Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and
President Bush agreed during a telephone call today that the
U.N. Security Council must take ``decisive action'' against
North Korea.
The council had scheduled a meeting to vote on a successor to
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, with South Korean Foreign
Minister Ban Ki-Moon virtually certain to be the council's
candidate.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the
meeting had not been officially announced, said North Korea had
been added to the agenda of the meeting.
The United States, Japan, China and Britain led a chorus of
criticism and urged action by the United Nations Security
Council in response to the reported test, which fell one day
after the anniversary of reclusive North Korean leader Kim
Jong-Il's accession to power nine years ago.
South Korea's spy chief said there were possible indications the
North was moving to conduct more tests.
The Security Council had warned North Korea just two days
earlier not to go through with any test, and the Pyongyang
government's defiance was likely to lead to calls for stronger
sanctions against the impoverished and already isolated country.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the U.S. government had not
confirmed whether the North's claims of an underground nuclear
test are true. But he said ``a test would constitute a
provocative act in defiance of the will of the international
community and of our call to refrain from actions that would
aggravate tensions in Northeast Asia.''
A U.S. government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the political sensitivity of the situation, said the
seismic event could have been a nuclear explosion, but its small
size was making it difficult for authorities to pin down.
There were conflicting reports about the size of the explosion.
South Korea's geological institute estimated the force of the
explosion to be equivalent to 550 tons of TNT, far smaller than
the two nuclear bombs the U.S. dropped on Japan in World War II.
But Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said it was far more
powerful, equivalent to 5,000 to 15,000 tons of TNT.
The head of South Korea's spy agency said the blast was equal to
less than 1,000 tons of TNT, South Korea's Yonhap news agency
reported. National Intelligence Service chief Kim Seung-kyu also
told lawmakers there were signs of suspicious movement at
another suspected test site, Yonhap said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said it recorded a magnitude-4.2
seismic event in northeastern North Korea. Asian neighbors also
said they registered a seismic event, and an official of South
Korea's monitoring center said the 3.6 magnitude tremor wasn't a
natural occurrence.
Nuclear blasts give off clear seismic signatures that
differentiate them from other explosions, said Friedrich
Steinhaeusler, a professor of physics at Salzburg University.
Even if the bomb the North Koreans detonated was small, sensors
in South Korea would likely be close enough to categorize the
explosion as nuclear, he said.
``I think we have to take them at their word. They're not the
type of regime to bluff,'' said Peter Beck, Seoul-based analyst
for conflict resolution think tank International Crisis Group.
Only Russia said the blast was a nuclear explosion but the
reaction of world governments reflected little doubt that they
were treating the announcement as fact.
``It is 100 percent (certain) that it was an underground nuclear
explosion,'' said Lt. Gen. Vladimir Verkhovtsev, head of a
Defense Ministry department, according to the ITAR-Tass news
agency.
Although North Korea has long claimed it had the capability to
produce a bomb, the test was the first manifest proof of its
membership in a small club of nuclear-armed nations. A nuclear
armed North Korea would dramatically alter the strategic balance
of power in the Pacific region and would tend to undermine
already fraying global anti-proliferation efforts.
``The development and possession of Nuclear weapons by North
Korea will in a major way transform the security environment in
North Asia and we will be entering a new, dangerous nuclear
age,'' Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a news
conference in Seoul after a summit with the South Korean leader.
Abe, facing his first major foreign policy test since his recent
election, called for a ``calm yet stern response. Japanese
Foreign Minister Taro Aso warned such a test would ``severely
endanger not only Northeast Asia but also the world stability.''
South Korea said it had put its military on high alert, but said
it noticed no unusual activity among North Korea's troops.
China, the North's closest ally and the impoverished nation's
main source of food, expressed its ``resolute opposition'' to
the reported test and urged the North to return to six-party
nuclear disarmament talks. It said the North ``defied the
universal opposition of international society and flagrantly
conducted the nuclear test.''
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Cabinet that Moscow
``certainly condemns the test conducted by North Korea.''
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the test was a
``completely irresponsible act,'' and its Foreign Ministry
warned of international repercussions.
The North has refused for a year to attend six-party
international talks aimed at persuading it to disarm. It pulled
out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003 after U.S.
officials accused it of a secret nuclear program, allegedly
violating an earlier nuclear pact between Washington and
Pyongyang.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the test
was successful, with no leak of radiation.
North Korean scientists ``successfully conducted an underground
nuclear test under secure conditions,'' the
government-controlled agency said, adding this was ``a stirring
time when all the people of the country are making a great leap
forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist
nation.''
``It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased
the ... people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant
defense capability,'' KCNA said. ``It will contribute to
defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in
the area around it.''
South Korea said the test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. (9:36 p.m.
EDT Sunday) in Hwaderi near Kilju city on the northeast coast.
South Korean intelligence officials said the seismic wave had
been detected in North Hamkyung province, the agency said.
No increase in radiation levels was detected in Russia's
Primorye territory, which borders North Korea, the Russian news
agency Interfax quoted regional meteorological service spokesman
Sergei Slobodchikov as saying. Vladivostok, a large port city on
Russia's Pacific Coast, is about 60 miles from the border with
North Korea.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun convened a meeting of
security advisers over the test, Yonhap reported. The Japanese
government set up a task force in response, Kyodo news agency
said.
A U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in July after a
series of North Korean missile launches imposed limited
sanctions on North Korea and demanded that the reclusive
communist nation suspend its ballistic missile program - a
demand the North immediately rejected.
The resolution bans all U.N. member states from selling material
or technology for missiles or weapons of mass destruction to
North Korea - and it bans all countries from receiving missiles,
banned weapons or technology from Pyongyang.
The North is believed to have enough radioactive material for
about a half-dozen bombs. It insists its nuclear program is
necessary to deter a U.S. invasion.
The North has active missile programs, but it isn't believed to
have an atomic bomb design small and light enough to be mounted
on a long-range rocket that could strike targets as far as the
U.S.
Speculation over a possible North Korean test arose earlier this
year after U.S. and Japanese reports cited suspicious activity
at a suspected underground test site.
South Korean stocks plunged Monday following North Korea's
announcement of the test. The South Korean won also fell
sharply. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or
Kospi, fell as low as 1,303.62, or 3.6 percent.
Markets in South Korea, the world's 10th-largest economy, have
long been considered vulnerable to potential geopolitical risks
from the North. The two countries, which fought the 1950-53
Korean War, are divided by the world's most heavily armed
border.
The conflict ended in a cease-fire that has yet to be replaced
with peace treaty, are divided by the world's most heavily armed
border. However, they have made unprecedented strides toward
reconciliation since their leaders met at their first-and-only
summit in 2000.
The South had planned to ship 4,000 tons of cement to the North
on Tuesday as emergency relief following massive flooding, but
decided to delay it, Yonhap reported, quoting an unidentified
Unification Ministry official.
South Korea had said the one-time aid shipment was separate from
its regular humanitarian aid to the North, which it halted after
Pyongyang's missile launches in July.
Impoverished and isolated North Korea has relied on foreign aid
to feed its 23 million people since its state-run farming system
collapsed in the 1990s following decades of mismanagement and
the loss of Soviet subsidies.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
34 AFP: UN, US and host of others condemn North Korean nuclear test -
Mon Oct 9, 7:27 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council led the way in
condemning North Korea North Korea's first nuclear weapons
test, which sent a shudder round the world and triggered calls
for a tough response.
US President George W. Bush President George W. Bushbranded
the test a threat to international peace and security.
The Security Council strongly condemned it as in defiance of a
UN resolution and vowed a strong and swift response.
Japan's UN envoy Kenzo Oshima, the current council president,
read out a statement urging North Korea "to refrain from further
testing" and return to six-nation disarmament talks.
A host of countries led by the United States, Japan and Britain
called for stern UN action, South Korea South Koreawarned it may
end its policy of engagement with the secretive regime, and China
-- Pyongyang's closest ally -- condemned the test as "brazen."
However North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations United
Nationssaid the isolated state should be congratulated for its
first nuclear test instead of being condemned by the
international community.
"It is better for the Security Council of the United Nations to
congratulate the DPRK (North Korean) scientists and researchers,"
instead of pursuing a "reckless resolution" against Pyongyang,
ambassador Pak Gil-Yon told CNN television.
In Seoul activists burned North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's
portrait. Stock markets across Asia fell on worries of a
regional nuclear arms race.
"Once again North Korea has defied the will of the international
community, and the international community will respond," Bush
said.
Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putinstressed
the need for a coordinated response to the nuclear test, the
Kremlin said.
The presidents agreed by telephone that North Korea's test had
"caused damage to the non-proliferation regime, and they remarked
on the need for coordination of actions with the aim of resolving
the problem," a Kremlin statement said.
Russia, one of the six nations -- with the two Koreas, China,
Japan and the United States -- involved in stalled talks on
curbing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, urged North Korea to
return to negotiations.
Putin said the test had caused "huge damage" to efforts to
restrict the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Bush said that he had discussed the crisis with the leaders of
China, South Korea, Russia and Japan.
"We reaffirmed our commitment to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
And all of us agreed that the proclaimed actions taken by North
Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the
United Nations Security Council," he said.
China was one of the first nations to condemn the test, urging
North Korea to "stop all actions that can lead to the
deterioration of the situation" but also calling on the
international community to respond calmly.
South Korean politicians denounced the test, with the main
opposition party saying it is tantamount to a declaration of war.
The ruling Uri Party said the North should take "full
responsibility for committing such a foolish act despite
repeated warnings from the international community."
Opposition parties demanded the cabinet quit, saying the
"provocative move" showed Seoul's policy of appeasing the
communist state was misguided.
They also called for a tough response, including an immediate
halt to all types of aid to North Korea, Yonhap news agency
reported.
The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), said even
humanitarian aid to the poverty-stricken communist country
should be cut off.
The next UN Secretary-General, South Korea's Foreign Minister
Ban Ki-Moon, said the test had soured what should have been a
moment of joy for him.
He was speaking shortly after the Security Council nominated him
to succeed Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan.
He described the test as a "grave and direct threat to peace and
stability on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia."
The Seoul government "will be firm and resolute in adhering to
the principle of no tolerance for a nuclear North Korea."
The current UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, expressed deep
concern, saying the test would aggravate tensions on the divided
Korean peninsula.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a stern
international response, saying North Korea's nuclear test would
lead Tokyo and Washington to step up work on missile defense.
Abe, who took office two weeks ago after a career built on
campaigning against North Korea, said he found support in both
South Korea and China for a tough line on Pyongyang.
"We need to make a stern response and North Korea will be
responsible for all the consequences," Abe told reporters after
talks with South Korean President Roo Moo-Hyun.
Japan is particularly sensitive as North Korea fired a missile
over its main island in 1998. The two countries have tense
relations and have never established diplomatic relations.
The test, if confirmed, would represent a grave threat to world
security, UN atomic agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said in
Vienna.
"This reported nuclear test threatens the nuclear
non-proliferation regime and creates serious security challenges
not only for the East Asian region but also for the international
community," said the International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) director general.
Britain is pushing for sanctions to be slapped on North Korea by
the UN Security Council in response to its nuclear test, Foreign
Secretary Margaret Beckett said.
"The United Kingdom will be pushing for a robust response under
chapter seven" of the UN Charter, she said. "We shall be pushing
for sanctions against North Korea".
OSCE
OSCEchairman Karel de Gucht said that the test was "a
serious threat to regional and global stability" and "North
Korea should immediately abandon its nuclear weapons programme
and avoid any actions that would further heighten tension."
The test was condemned throughout Europe with Austrian Foreign
Minister Ursula Plassnik saying "North Korea should stop playing
with fire and immediately return to the negotiating table."
The test also received widespread condemnation from the
ex-communist Eastern Europe with Latvian President Vike
Vaira-Freiberga saying it was alarming.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
35 AFP: Bush warns NKorea against spreading nuclear know-how -
by Olivier Knox Mon Oct 9, 5:50 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush pushed for
new international sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear
test and warned Pyongyang against giving atomic know-how to
nations like Syria or Iran .
The US president declined to confirm the Stalinist regime's
boast overnight that it had successfully fired a nuclear device
underground but branded the announcement itself "a threat to
international peace and security."
In a brief public statement, Bush said he had discussed the way
forward with the leaders of China, South Korea , Russia and Japan
-- Washington's partners in six-party talks with North Korea --
and found broad agreement.
"We reaffirmed our commitment to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
And all of us agreed that the proclaimed actions taken by North
Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the
United Nations Security Council," he said.
z Bush said that he remained "committed to diplomacy" but also
stressed that the United States "will continue to protect
ourselves and our interests" and will follow through on pledges
to protect allies in the region.
He also warned Pyongyang that Washington would view any transfer
of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to other countries
or non-state entities -- like terrorist groups -- as "a grave
threat" to US security.
"We would hold North Korea fully accountable of the consequences
of such action," he said, renewing charges that the Stalinist
regime has transferred missile technology to Syria and Iran.
US officials pushed the Security Council to support possible
sanctions including international inspection of all cargo to and
from North Korea, new financial curbs targeting Pyongyang's
nuclear and missile programs, and restrictions on exports of
goods with military uses and sales of luxury items.
"Once again North Korea has defied the will of the international
community, and the international community will respond," the US
president told reporters at the White House.
But even as Washington pushed for sanctions, White House
spokesman Tony Snow warned that it might take "a couple of days"
-- or as little as a few hours -- to be sure whether or not North
Korea actually tested a nuclear device.
He also suggested that the US approach would not change even if
the claim were debunked, telling reporters: "I'm not aware that
there is a specific menu for real test/fake test."
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said
overnight that Pyongyang had conducted its first nuclear weapon
test Monday, calling it a "historic event."
The agency said the test was carried out safely and successfully.
"We're working to confirm North Korea's claim. Such a claim
itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security.
The United States condemns this provocative act," said Bush.
Snow rejected calls for direct talks between the United States
and North Korea, saying Washington would stick with six-party
negotiations that also group North and South Korea, China, Japan
and Russia.
But North Korea has boycotted those negotiations since November
2005.
As opposition Democrats hammered the Bush administration's North
Korea policy, seeking an edge in November 7 legislative
elections, senior Bush foreign policy aides sought to line up
global support.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with her
counterparts from China, Russia, Japan and South Korea, as well
as the foreign ministers of Australia and New Zealand -- key
partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative launched by
Washington after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
"Threats will not lead to a brighter future for the North Korean
people, nor weaken the resolve of the United States and our
allies to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,"
said Bush.
Pyongyang announced October 3 that it would test nuclear weapons
in response to what it described as US military threats and
sanctions, jangling nerves worldwide just three months after
North Korea test-fired long-range missiles.
As part of an agreement reached in the six-party talks on
September 19, 2005, the United States had made security
guarantees to North Korea in exchange for Pyongyang agreeing to
renounce its nuclear weapons program.
But Pyongyang said the removal of US sanctions imposed for
alleged money laundering and counterfeiting of US currency was
the condition for its return to the negotiating table.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
36 AFP: N.Korea nuclear test a grave global threat - IAEA
Mon Oct 9, 8:42 AM ET
VIENNA (AFP) - A North Korea North Koreanuclear test would
represent a grave threat to world security, UN atomic agency head
Mohamed ElBaradei has warned.
"This reported nuclear test threatens the nuclear
non-proliferation regime and creates serious security challenges
not only for the East Asian region but also for the international
community," the International Atomic Energy Agency International
Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) director general said Monday.
"The breaking of a de-facto global moratorium on nuclear
explosive testing that has been in place for nearly a decade and
the addition of a new state with nuclear weapon capacity is a
clear setback to international commitments to move towards
nuclear disarmament," ElBaradei said in a statement.
He reiterated the urgent need -- more than at any previous point
-- to establish a legally binding universal ban on nuclear
testing through the early entry into force of the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty.
ElBaradei added that he continued to believe in the importance
of finding a negotiated solution to the current situation.
"The Director General believes that resumption of dialogue
between all concerned parties is indispensable and urgent," the
statement added.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
37 AFP: NKorea test more worrying than India-Pakistan blasts - analysts -
by Danny Kemp Mon Oct 9, 7:28 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Eight years ago it was India and Pakistan who
shocked the world with their underground atomic blasts, but North
Korea " /> North Korea's nuclear test is far more alarming,
analysts have said.
In May 1998 a South Asian apocalypse suddenly seemed a
possibility after the two rival nations carried out tit-for-tat
tests -- the last nuclear explosions until now.
News bulletins at the time showed footage of a barren yellow
mountain in remote southwestern Pakistan shuddering with the
sheer force of simultaneous detonations deep below the earth.
Yet the situation now is more serious, analysts said,
particularly as Pyongyang may have learned lessons from Pakistan,
whose disgraced nuclear hero provided North Korea with atomic
secrets.
"I would say that this is much more significant," analyst and
retired Pakistani Army General Talat Masood told AFP.
"In 1998 it was much more India-Pakistan specific, but the North
Korean test means US nuclear hegemony in East Asia has collapsed,
the counter-proliferation policy by the US has collapsed and
their axis of evil policy has collapsed," he said.
Mainly Hindu India carried out its first nuclear test in secret
in 1974. It had already fought three wars with Muslim-majority
Pakistan since independence from Britain and their subsequent
partition in 1947.
In 1998 New Delhi followed up by detonating five warheads
beneath the Rajasthan desert between May 11 and 13.
Pakistan came under huge international pressure not to follow
suit but it exploded five bombs in Baluchistan province on May
28 and another two days later.
The two countries became the world's sixth and seventh declared
nuclear powers respectively, while Pakistan also emerged as the
only nation in the Islamic world with the bomb.
"It's a formidable challenge for a country after they have
detonated," said analyst Masood. "There is fear of the unknown,
as to how the world will react, what the consequences are, what
the sanctions will be."
Major powers did impose strict sanctions but they evaporated
after a time. Pakistan joined the US-led "war on terror" in
2001, while Washington earlier this year offered India a
civilian nuclear power deal.
Naresh Chandra, who was India's ambassdor to Washington when
India conducted the nuclear tests, said North Korea may have
been influenced by Pakistan's escape from US sanctions.
"Pakistan got off lightly even after the A.Q. Khan network was
exposed. The US believed their version of the story and they
were let off easily. They also got economnic aid and financial
support," Chandra said.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's former chief atomic scientist,
admitted in 2004 that he had provided nuclear technology to
North Korea, Libya and Iran
" /> Iran. The government denied its involvement but gave him a
pardon.
President Pervez Musharraf admits that Khan sold Pyongyang
around a dozen centrifuges to enrich uranium, but Pakistan says
that North Korea's test bomb was likely plutonium-based.
The Pakistani foreign office on Monday denied that the North
Korean bomb test was linked to A.Q. Khan's activities and said
it "deplored" the test."
"There was also a bit of a cover up when China helped Pakistan
and North Korea with nuclear and weapons technology and the US
turned a blind eye to this," Chandra added.
"Perhaps North Korea thinks the US will look the other way
again."
C.U. Bhaskar, a defence analyst with the New Delhi-based
Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis -- a government-funded
military think-tank -- said North Korea was counting on getting
more international clout.
"The test allows North Korea to enter the six-party talks as a
nuclear weapon state on par with China, Russia and the United
States," he said.
Pyongyang has boycotted the stalled six-nation talks on its
nuclear programme since last November.
"This changes the contours of things," said Bhaskar.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
38 AFP: EU says will not suspend humanitarian aid to North Korea -
Mon Oct 9, 7:33 AM ET
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - The European Union condemns North Korea
's nuclear test but will not cut off humanitarian aid to the
impoverished country, its External Relations Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner has said.
"We are absolutely and resolutely opposed to this flagrant
nuclear test and it is absolutely against the non-nuclearisation
of the Korean peninsula," Ferrero-Waldner told reporters during a
visit to Malaysia on Monday.
"We do hope that the tests are being suspended. We do hope the
North Koreans are coming back to the six-party talks," she
added, adding it was the isolated state's only chance of
engaging with the international community.
But Ferrero-Walder said the European Union would not suspend
humanitarian aid to North Korea because the aid was "going to
the poorest of the poor."
"For the time being we are not considering that," she said.
European Union aid to North Korea has already been slashed by 50
percent to 10 million euros (12.6 million dollars) in 2006 from
21 million euros last year, said the commissioner, who will
travel to neighbouring Singapore later Monday.
Pyongyang said Monday it had carried out its first test of an
atomic bomb in what the official Korean Central News Agency
described as a "historic event" aimed at bettering peace and
security.
The underground blast -- which was criticised around the world
-- defied international pressure to keep the secretive regime
from becoming one of the world's nuclear powers.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
39 AFP: China condemns North Korean nuclear test
by Robert J. Saiget Mon Oct 9, 8:43 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - China has condemned what it described as North
Korea 's "brazen" nuclear test, although it urged the
international community to react calmly and peacefully.
Using unusually harsh language against its close ally, China
demanded North Korea take no further steps to destabilize the
region following Pyongyang's announcement of a successful test of
a nuclear weapon on Monday morning.
"The DPRK (North Korea), ignoring the general opposition of the
international community, brazenly undertook a nuclear test," a
foreign ministry statement said Monday.
"The Chinese government expresses its resolute opposition.
"China strongly demands the DPRK side undertake its commitments
to the non-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and stop all
actions that can lead to the deterioration of the situation."
However China also called on other nations to react peacefully
to Pyongyang's nuclear test and continue diplomatic efforts to
ease tensions.
"The Chinese government calls on all sides to deal with this
calmly and seek consultations to peacefully resolve the issue.
The Chinese side will continue to make unremitting efforts
towards this end," it said.
China has been Pyongyang's main ally for more than half a
century, a relationship sealed in blood when Chinese troops
fought alongside North Koreans against US and South Korean
troops in the 1950-53 Korean War.
China is believed to be the nation with the most influence on
Pyongyang and a South Korean government official said North
Korea had informed Beijing 20 minutes beforehand that it would
carry out the test.
Beijing in turn immediately alerted South Korea
and other countries, the official in Seoul told AFP on
condition of anonymity. China's foreign ministry did not respond
to requests for confirmation on the report.
Along with South Korea, China has argued against a hard-line
response to North Korea's brinkmanship during the three-year
nuclear standoff.
China has steadfastly refused to entertain the idea of economic
sanctions against North Korea and instead promoted diplomacy.
China has since 2003 been the host of six-nation talks --
involving the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and
Russia -- that are aimed at reining in Pyongyang's nuclear
program.
North Korea pulled out of the talks in November last year,
blaming its decision on financial sanctions imposed against the
country by the United States over money-laundering and
counterfeiting allegations.
China again called on North Korea on Monday to return to the
six-party talks.
However analysts said China's approach to North Korea was now in
tatters.
"No country should be more embarrassed and more concerned than
China," said Ralph Cossa, of the Pacific Forum CSIS, a
think-tank in Hawaii.
He said that China and South Korea's refusal to take a tougher
line against the North had ensured that a unified international
response against North Korea had never been achieved.
"South Korea and China have seen things differently and there
has never been a message sent to North Korea from the rest of
the world speaking with a single voice," he said.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
40 Guardian: Comment is free: China must restrain Pyongyang
[John Williams]
North Korea's nuclear test risks unravelling the global system of
self-restraint that has prevented a worldwide nuclear arms race
over the last 40 years.
October 9, 2006 10:41 AM |
The world is a much more dangerous place this morning than when
we went to bed last night. For the first time, nuclear weapons
are in the hands of a state that is entirely without restraint.
is a challenge to the system of self-restraint that has
prevented a worldwide nuclear arms race. The big danger is that
others now decide there is no incentive to refrain from going
nuclear.
The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that up to 30
countries have the technical ability to become what its director
general, Mohammed El Baradei, has called "virtual nuclear
weapons states". By that he means that they could covert their
civil nuclear programmes to weapons programmes within a matter
of months.
They are restrained by respect for the nuclear bargain that was
struck in the 1960s, when the world was still shocked and
frightened by the Cuban missile crisis that had brought the
United States and the Soviet Union close to war.
The fear must now be that that system of mutual restraint breaks
down if one reckless regime demonstrates that the international
community has no response to a state that coolly defies all
conventions.
Nuclear weapons were dangerous enough in the hands of the cold
war superpowers, which came to a mutual understanding that they
could not afford to use them. That doctrine was known as MAD -
mutually assured destruction - but it was the opposite of mad,
as both superpowers responded rationally to the terrible
responsibility their weaponry placed on them.
Nikita Kruschev - then leader of the Soviet Union - was ousted
within months of the Cuban crisis partly because of unease among
colleagues at his dangerous behaviour.
John Kennedy, Kruschev's opponent, spoke fearfully of a world in
which 20 or more countries acquired nuclear weapons. That was
avoided by the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This
treaty was the result of a rational choice by the international
community. Since nuclear weapons could not be un-invented, it
would be best to reduce the risk of their use by non-nuclear
powers foregoing their right to acquire them.
Only India and Pakistan have openly become nuclear weapons
states in the following decades, with Israel having never
admitted to its capability. India and Pakistan came close to
nuclear war in 2002, but each had a leadership rational enough
to step back.
The only real sanction against proliferation is the universal
fear of the consequences of nuclear weapons eventually getting
into the hands of an irresponsible state. It seems that they now
have.
The regime of Kim Jong-il is the nightmare that has been waiting
to happen since the nuclear age began. It has cut itself off
from the world to an extent that makes it hard to see how any
amount of condemnation, cajoling or coaxing could induce it to
come to agreement.
It has made an aggressive habit of testing its missiles without
regard for the protests of its neighbours. For Japan, the
reality of a nuclear North Korea is terrifying. What if a
nuclear-tipped missile test failed over Japan?
The big challenge though is to China. While the United Nations
can pass resolutions, China can take action. It is the major
supplier of food and oil to North Korea.
The Kim regime has shown itself to be ruthlessly uninterested in
the economic wellbeing of North Korea's people. But the only way
to deal with this provocation is by economic, rather than
military, force. China has the economic weapons.
A China responsibly taking the lead on behalf of the
international community is one good thing that could come out of
this unnerving situation.
It may be imperfect to have the old nuclear powers preventing
others acquiring these weapons. But in an imperfect world it is
the only means of restraint we have. We simply can't allow a
regime as reckless as Kim's to have these weapons.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006.
Registered in England and Wales. No. 908396
Registered office: 164 Deansgate, Manchester M60 2RR
*****************************************************************
41 UPI: N. Korea says it conducted nuclear test
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence -
10/9/2006 7:21:00 AM -0400
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- North Korea said Monday it conducted an
underground nuclear test, dealing a critical blow to global
efforts to resolve the nuclear crisis.
South Korean officials also said a tremor was detected earlier
in the day in North Korea's remote area which can show the
North's underground nuclear test.
"The field of scientific research in the DPRK (North Korea)
successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure
conditions on October 9, 2006, at a stirring time when all the
people of the country are making a great leap forward in the
building of a great, prosperous, powerful socialist nation," the
North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
"The nuclear test was conducted with 100 percent of our wisdom
and technology," it said. The mouthpiece added there was no
danger of radioactive leaks.
South Korea's presidential office said South Korea detected a
tremor with a magnitude of 3.58 in the North's remote area of
North Hamgyeong Province at around 10 a.m. Officials called it
an "artificial earthquake," indicating an underground nuclear
test.
President Roh Moo-hyun immediately called an emergency meeting
of Cabinet ministers to discuss countermeasures.
The presidential National Security Council said in a statement
following the Cabinet meeting that North Korea's "behavior this
time is a serious threat that shakes the safety and peace of not
only the Korean Peninsula but also the Northeast Asian region."
The government called on the U.N. Security Council to convene an
immediate discussion on the issue and urged the North to
"immediately dismantle" all its programs related to nuclear
weapons.
It warned North Korea against making any "misjudgments," saying
the South's military "is fully prepared to deal with any kind of
provocative acts by North Korea" on the basis of the security
alliance with the United States.
North Korea announced last week it would conduct a nuclear test,
saying it is necessary to cope with U.S.-led moves to "isolate
and stifle" the communist regime.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
42 UPI: Analysis: NK nuke test rocks U.S. policy
United Press International - Security &Terrorism -
10/9/2006 4:57:00 PM -0400
By MARTIN SIEFF UPI Senior News Analyst
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- North Korea's announcement of a
successful underground nuclear test comes as an expected shock to
the Bush administration.
It is expected because U.S. intelligence had concluded that
North Korea had already produced enough weapons grade material
for six to a dozen nuclear weapons. And no serious U.S. nuclear
analyst doubted that the weapons could and would work.
However, it remains a shock because U.S. policy on North Korea
remained confrontational in ways that tacitly assumed North
Korea would never develop such a capability.
From the time the Soviet Union successfully tested its first
nuclear weapon in the atmosphere in 1949 and China's first
successful nuclear test in October 1964, the United States also
retained diplomatic relations and clear lines of communication
to Moscow and Beijing at all times. But Washington and Pyongyang
remain completely cut off from any direct contact with each
other. The policy of the U.S. government remains to reject
direct one-on-one talks with North Korea on the nuclear issue.
North Korea, on its side, is not as much of a "Hermit Kingdom"
as it was for most of its history over the past six decades.
Ties with China remain strong and South Korea's "Sunshine"
policy, though overshadowed by the escalating tensions between
Washington and Pyongyang, have opened significant diplomatic
channels.
However, direct lines of communication between the United States
and North Korea simply do not exist. North Korea's reclusive
leaders have no first hand reliable information on U.S.
policymaking and the levels of their suspicion and even paranoia
about U.S. intentions remain extremely high. Therefore the
possibly of some catastrophic misjudgment or miscalculation on
the part of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il or of his top
military commanders, who are believed to be even more paranoid
and hawkish about the United States, cannot be excluded.
The device that the North Koreans exploded is believed to have
been in the range of one kiloton, or the equivalent of a ton of
high explosives, according to initial reports about
seismological analyses of the shock weaves caused by the
explosion. This would make the device far smaller than the 14
kiloton weapon that was dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945. But
it would still be potentially capable of destroying at the very
least scores of thousands of people if detonated in or above an
American city.
Since asserting full, unsupervised control of their own nuclear
facilities, the North Koreans have produced enough weapons grade
plutonium to make six to 12 nuclear weapons with another one or
two being produced every year.
However, it remains debatable whether they have mastered
miniaturization yet. Nuclear technology is challenging even with
theoretical knowledge. Pakistan's master proliferator and
nuclear program mastermind A. Q. Khan is believed to have sold
the North Koreans miniaturization technology for warheads more
than a decade ago. And the overwhelming resources the North
Koreans have diverted from their starvation-plagued economy to
investing in ballistic missile systems suggests that they remain
confident that they either have solved, or will solve, the
miniaturization problem.
The North Koreans successfully tested half a dozen short to
intermediate range missiles on July 4 that would give them the
capability already to hit any city in South Korea or Japan.
However, their attempt to test an ambitious Taepodong-2
intercontinental ballistic missile, also on July 4, was an utter
failure.
Therefore at this pint, Pyongyang appears to have the capability
to deliver a regular nuclear attack on Japan or South Korea, by
either aircraft or missile, depending on whether they have yet
solve their miniaturization problems. But they appear still many
years away from developing their own thermonuclear, or hydrogen
bomb weapon.
The timing of the successful North Korean test should also be
noted. It occurred on the eve of Columbus Day, a major U.S.
national holiday, just as their test of six missiles, and the
unsuccessful attempt to test launch the Taepodong-2, were fired
on July 4.
The nuclear test therefore appears to have been primarily timed
as a deterrent or warning against attack from the United States.
It is also worth noting that the test came only weeks after
Shinzo Abe succeeded Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister of
Japan. Abe has a hawkish reputation on the North Korean issue,
although his first major overseas visit as prime minister this
week has been to China in an attempt to revive relations.
Still, however much the test was expected, the shock aspects of
it will dominate in the reaction of policymakers in Washington,
Tokyo and Seoul. The world changed on Sunday. The repercussions
of that change remain to be seen.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
43 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Detects Seismic Event in N. Korea
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 9, 2006 2:01 PM
AP Photo SEL108
By KATHERINE SHRADER Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Monday condemned North
Korea's reported nuclear test as a provocative act and called on
the U.N. Security Council to take immediate action. President
Bush planned to make a statement at the White House.
``A North Korean nuclear test would constitute a provocative act
in defiance of the will of the international community and of
our call to refrain from actions that would aggravate tensions
in Northeast Asia,'' White House press secretary Tony Snow said
in a conference call with reporters.
While saying he was not confirming that a nuclear test had
occurred, Snow said, ``We expect the U.N. Security Council to
take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act.''
Snow said the North Koreans notified the Chinese that they
intended to conduct the test. The Chinese then notified the U.S.
embassy in Beijing, which passed the word to other U.S.
officials, Snow said.
National Security Adviser Steven Hadley notified President Bush
around 10 p.m. EDT, Snow said. South Korea's Yonhap news agency
reported that the suspected test was conducted at 9:36 p.m. EDT
Sunday.
Snow declined to speculate on a possible U.S. response to a
North Korean nuclear test. ``At this point we're still assessing
the data and trying to figure out what happened,'' he said. ``A
lot of this hinges on what the data tells us.''
Asked whether he knew of any plans for a military response, Snow
said ``no.''
A U.S. government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because of political sensitivity of the situation, said the
seismic event could have been a nuclear explosion, but its small
size was making it difficult for authorities to pin down.
North Korea is believed to have enough plutonium for as few as
four and as many as about a dozen nuclear bombs. But until
Sunday's apparent action, Pyongyang had never tested a device.
U.S. intelligence has been closely watching several sites in
North Korea that could be used for a nuclear test. Movements of
people, automobiles, fencing and other items convinced some
analysts last week that a test could come soon.
Over the last week, U.S. officials have been anticipating news
of a nuclear weapons test in North Korea.
The U.N. Security Council urged North Korea on Friday to cancel
the planned test and return immediately to talks on scrapping
its nuclear weapons program, saying that exploding such a device
would threaten international peace and security. A statement
adopted unanimously by the council expressed ``deep concern''
over North Korea's announcement.
The U.S. and its allies have been trying to lure North Korea
back to stalled international efforts to persuade Pyongyang to
scrap its nuclear weapons program.
Snow said North Korea ``is the nation that in 1999 said it would
forswear all nuclear testing, has been urged by the U.N.
Security Council not to do so and has been given the option by
the United States of a way peacefully to meet its energy
needs.''
Snow said North Korea has been ``offered to be reintegrated into
the international community'' and to get help with its severe
poverty.
``It's important for a lot of reasons to maintain a non-nuclear
Korean peninsula,'' Snow said. ``We hope that will be the
situation when all this is said and done.''
---
AP writer Will Lester contributed to this story.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
44 UPI: Analysis: U.N. reacts to N. Korea
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence -
10/9/2006 5:05:00 PM -0400
By WILLIAM M. REILLY UPI U.N. Correspondent
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council was
unusually busy Monday morning, nominating South Korea Foreign
Minister Ban Ki-Moon for confirmation by the General Assembly as
the world organization's next secretary-general then targeting
Seoul's neighbor, North Korea, for detonating a nuclear device.
The United States at least, saw a link.
"It's really quite an appropriate juxtaposition that today, 61
years after the temporary division of the Korean Peninsula at
the end of World War II, that we are electing the foreign
minister of South Korea as secretary-general of this
organization and meeting as well to consider the testing by the
North Koreans of a nuclear device," said the U.S. ambassador,
John Bolton.
"I can't think of a better way to show the difference in the
progress of those two countries, great progress in the south and
great tragedy in the north," he added.
But Monday, the council was concentrating on North Korea.
The panel of 15 strongly condemned the reported nuclear test by
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, calling it "a grave
challenge" that violates international norms, aggravates
regional tensions and creates serious security issues for the
world community.
After initial consultations, immediately after sending Ban's
nomination to the assembly, Ambassador Kenzo Oshima of Japan,
this month's president of the council, emerged from behind
closed doors to express the will of the panel.
He urged North Korea to refrain from further testing and return
to the six-party talks that have been seeking to resolve the
issue of Pyongyang's its nuclear program.
Members of the council ordered their experts to meet in the
afternoon to hammer out language for the resolution. The
veto-wielding permanent five members of the panel, Britain,
China, France, Russia and the United States met to further
discuss the crisis.
Friday, the council warned the DPRK of unspecified action if it
went ahead with the test, which it said would represent a clear
threat to international peace and security.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply concerned"
and also called in a statement issued by his spokesman, for
urgent resumption of the talks between China, the two Koreas,
Russia and the United States that have been going on
sporadically in Beijing for several years.
Just how urgent Security Council action was sought, was
indicated by U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, who broke from the
panel's meetings after Oshima reported on the members' initial
reaction to the news from Pyongyang.
He recalled council resolution 1695, unanimously approved this
summer "in response to the unprovoked launch of ballistic
missiles by North Korea."
Bolton also noted the North Korean test followed Friday's "very
strongly worded" formal presidential statement read out in the
chamber by Oshima, calling on Pyongyang not to test.
"You'll remember when the Security Council adopted Resolution
1695, the North Korea Ambassador, in the council chamber,
rejected 1695 and got up and walked out," the Washington envoy
told reporters. "Now, in effect, by testing after the council
called on North Korea not to test, they've defied the council
again."
Bolton proceeded to call the consultations "quite remarkable."
"I laid out the number of elements that the United States was
asking for council members to consider in a sanctions resolution
that would be under Chapter VII," he said. "These elements
obviously go beyond 1695 because 1695 was pre-nuclear test. The
entire discussion, in which all 15 council members participated,
took only 30 minutes. That's remarkable in the Security Council,
as some of you may know, to have a unanimous condemnation of the
North Korean test -- no one defended it; no one even came close
to defending it," Bolton said.
"Now we'll see how the negotiations go, but I think we're off to
an important start here so that the message to North Korea, and
more important even than the message, the strong steps we feel
the council should take, can be swiftly adopted."
When it was recalled he told reporters last week Pyongyang's
friends on the council were protecting North Korea, Bolton
replied, "I didn't see any protectors of North Korea in that
room this morning."
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
45 UPI: Australia blasts North Korean nuclear test
United Press International - NewsTrack -
10/9/2006 6:53:00 AM -0400
CANBERRA, Australia, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Australia's Prime Minister
John Howard has strongly condemned the nuclear weapons test
carried out by North Korea.
He told Parliament Monday that "the test has destabilized the
region and eroded North Korea's own security."
Howard said, "A strong international response is called for and
Australia will give its full support to that response."
He added that "this issue represents a great challenge to the
United Nations. If the U.N. comes up to scratch on this issue
... it will win great respect and an enhanced reputation ... but
if it fails to act effectively against this outrage from North
Korea it will represent a further diminution of its authority."
Howard declared it was outrageous that North Korea relied on the
international community to feed its starving population while
devoting scarce resources to its nuclear program.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
46 UPI: Cautious WH reaction to NorKor nuke test
United Press International - Security &Terrorism -
10/9/2006 2:49:00 AM -0400
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The White House shied away early
Monday from confirming North Korea's claim of conducting a
nuclear test but said if true it would be a provocation.
It said no new U.S. military assets were being sent to the
region, but it also emphasized continued commitment to "protect
and defend our allies in the region."
"A North Korean nuclear test would constitute a provocative act
in defiance of the will of the international community and of
our call to refrain from actions that would aggravate tensions
in Northeast Asia," spokesman Tony Snow said in a teleconference
with reporters shortly after midnight Monday.
"We expect the (U.N.) Security Council to take immediate actions
to respond to this unprovoked act."
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the Pyongyang had
announced it conducted an underground test Monday. South Korean
officials reported a 3.58 seismic shock mid-morning Monday and
said they believed the test had been held near Kilju in North
Hamgyong province.
Snow said U.S. authorities were assessing data to confirm if the
North Korean claim was true.
Diplomatic measures already in place had been put into effect he
said, but he did not elaborate. Snow did, however, say that
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had already been in touch
with regional allies, including countries comprising the
international negotiating team which had unsuccessfully tried to
get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
Rice, and possibly President Bush, would call allies again later
Monday, Snow said.
Bush gave no statement himself, but Snow said he had been
informed.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
47 Guardian Unlimited: A Look at Sanctions Against North Korea
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 9, 2006 10:46 PM
By The Associated Press
The U.N. Security Council is considering a broad range of new
sanctions to punish North Korea for its nuclear test. Here is a
look at details of the proposals, as well as current sanctions
against the North.
---
THE UNITED STATES: The U.S. has a raft of sanctions against
North Korea over its roles as a sponsor of terrorism and weapons
proliferator. Those sanctions include a ban on export of
military items, restrictions on financial transactions and some
limits on foreign aid and debt relief. Former U.S. President
Bill Clinton lifted even broader diplomatic, travel and trade
restrictions in 1999.
OTHER NATIONS: Bilaterial sanctions from others vary. In 2002,
the U.S., Japan and South Korea halted oil supplies to the North
promised in 1994 deal. In September, Japan's Cabinet approved a
new set of financial sanctions against North Korea, and
Australia imposed similar restrictions. The sanctions ban fund
transfers and overseas remittances by groups and individuals
suspected of links to North Korean weapons programs.
The UNITED NATIONS: The Security Council has barred nations from
trading in material or technology for missiles or weapons of
mass destruction with North Korea. A resolution imposing those
restrictions was passed on July 16, after the North conducted a
series of missile tests.
---
POSSIBLE SANCTIONS: After North Korea's nuclear test, U.S.
Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton circulated a range of
proposals that would include some of the most punishing
restrictions in years. They include:
- Prohibiting trade in materials that could be used to make or
deliver weapons of mass destruction.
- Requiring states ensure that North Korea not use their
territory or entities for proliferation or illicit activities.
Financial transactions that North Korea could use to support
those programs would also be banned.
- States would have to freeze all assets related to North
Korea's weapons and missile programs, as well as any other
illicit activities it conducts.
- Authorize inspection of all cargo to and from North Korea to
limit proliferation.
- Ban trade with North Korea in luxury goods and military
items.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
48 Guardian Unlimited: N. Korean Leader Often Alarms His Allies
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 9, 2006 11:16 AM
AP Photo TOK101
By JAE-SOON CHANG Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's reported nuclear test is
not the first time Kim Jong II has provoked the world and
dismayed even his closest allies.
Since inheriting power in 1994, Kim has solidified his
international reputation as an unpredictable leader whose
intransigence has deepened North Korea's isolation.
Abroad, many consider the pudgy, bouffant-haired Kim a ruthless
dictator who seeks atomic weapons while starving his people. But
at home, the state-run media hails the ``Dear Leader'' as a
prodigious general, an ace film director and the ``Lodestar of
the 21st Century.''
Kim's latest nuclear standoff with the world stretches back to
2002 when Washington accused North Korea of developing a secret
nuclear weapons program in violation of an earlier agreement.
That year, President Bush branded the communist country part of
an ``axis of evil,'' along with Iraq and Iran.
Kim, 64, has since taken North Korea on an increasingly
confrontational path, withdrawing from the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty, and culminating in Monday's claim of
nuclear weapons test.
In July, North Korea launched seven missiles into the Sea of
Japan, ignoring international warnings and drawing condemnation
from the U.N. Security Council.
The regime's report of a nuclear test came despite intense
diplomatic appeals. China, the North's closest ally, quickly
declared it was ``resolutely opposed'' to the move.
The West's demonic image of Kim, however, goes back years before
he took power. It is based in part on suspicions that he
masterminded a 1983 terrorist bombing in Myanmar that killed 17
South Korean officials and the 1987 bombing of a South Korean
airliner that killed all 115 people aboard.
Kim has ruled his impoverished country with a ``military first''
policy since the 1994 death of his father and North Korea's
founder, Kim II Sung. He controls the world's fifth-largest
military, the 1.1 million-strong People's Army.
For Kim, going nuclear is seen as one way for him to solidify
his authoritarian rule with the group that backs him most: the
military.
From North Korea's point of view, nuclear weapons gives the
country an unparalleled deterrent from attack, something Kim has
increasingly feared after watching the United States easily
invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein.
If confirmed, North Korea's nuclear test would add atomic strike
power its formidable but aging arsenal of chemical, biological
and conventional weapons.
Some experts now believe North Korea may have separated
plutonium enough to develop an arsenal of four to 13 nuclear
weapons, compared with estimates of one or two nuclear weapons
in 2000.
Biographical insight on Kim is extremely sketchy. He rarely
appears in public and his voice is seldom broadcast. But
defectors from North Korea describe him as an eloquent and
tireless orator, primarily to military units that form the base
of his support.
He is said to be a movie fan who owns about 20,000 foreign
films. He reportedly has produced several films himself, mostly
historical epics with an ideological tinge.
His image is familiar around the world: short and rotund at
5-foot 3 inches and 187 pounds, he wears platform shoes and a
bouffant hairstyle to appear taller.
Khaki jumpsuits and sunglasses are his trademark attire.de his
father's in North Korean households and buildings, and his
writings and philosophy, mainly praise for his father's
greatness and calls for the defense of socialism, are reported
and broadcast daily.
According to North Korean biographies, Kim once said, ``Where
there is love, there is hate.'' He churns out book-length
communist theses at one sitting, telling ``all the truths of the
world.''
He was Kim Il Sung's eldest son by his late first wife, Kim Jung
Sook. North Korea says he was born Feb. 16, 1942, in a ``secret
camp'' at Mount Paekdu on the North Korea-China border when his
father was supposedly a guerrilla fighter against the Japanese.
Western officials say he was born in the Soviet Union.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
49 IPS-English POLITICS-US/KOREA: No War, No Talks, More Pressure
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:26:35 -0700
X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (borg.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61]
X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61
X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST
ROMAIPS AP NA WD HD IP SC NU=20
POLITICS-US/KOREA: No War, No Talks, More Pressure
Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (IPS) - In its initial reaction to Monday's North Korea=
n nuclear test, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush indic=
ated it will seek the strongest possible sanctions against Pyongyang at t=
he U.N. Security Council but was not considering taking military action o=
n its own, at least for now.
At the same time, independent analysts said the test will almost certainl=
y strengthen administration hawks, led by Vice President Dick Cheney, who=
have strongly opposed bilateral talks with North Korea in favour of a st=
rategy of escalating unilateral and international pressure designed to we=
aken and ultimately bring down the regime.
=94Cheney and his supporters see negotiating with North Korea as the wors=
t idea possible, because any meaningful discussion, let alone any agreeme=
nt, with the regime would extend (its) lifespan,=94 said John Feffer, a K=
orea specialist with Foreign Policy in Focus, a progressive think tank he=
re.
=94With this test, they can now argue that North Korea has gone past the =
point of no return, and the only ethical option is to squeeze it until it=
collapses,=94 he added.
Feffer and a number of other analysts, however, believe that such an appr=
oach remains unrealistic, particularly because China and South Korea, whi=
le willing to impose stronger sanctions than they have considered in the =
past, will oppose measures that would significantly enhance the possibili=
ty of regime collapse.
=94The question is really whether the Bush administration will want to pe=
rsist in what has been a failed approach or will combine inevitable sanct=
ions with the possibility of moving back to the negotiating table,=94 sai=
d Alan Romberg, a Korea specialist at the Henry L. Stimson Centre here.
Given the administration's past rejection of Chinese and South Korean app=
eals to engage Pyongyang, however, Romberg said he was not optimistic. =94=
The likelihood is that there won't be progress (in negotiations) between =
now and the end of the Bush administration,=94 he said, adding that =94th=
e North's decision to test was importantly based on that calculation.=94
Monday's underground test came just six days after Pyongyang publicly ann=
ounced that a test was forthcoming.
The announcement came as little surprise to a number of policy experts he=
re, including former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who had =
warned that such a test was likely if Washington continued to rebuff appe=
als for direct talks after Pyongyang conducted a series of missile tests =
last Jul. 4.
The administration not only failed to heed those appeals; it also began p=
lanning to add to stringent financial sanctions against Pyongyang's alleg=
ed money-laundering and counterfeiting activities that it imposed last No=
vember by implementing a comprehensive new set of sanctions designed to i=
solate North Korea from much of the global banking system.
Pyongyang had demanded that Washington lift the first set of sanctions as=
a condition for returning to the so-called =94Six-Party Talks=94 -- a ne=
gotiation involving North and South Korea, Russia, China, Japan and the U=
.S. -- that in September 2005 reached agreement in principle that North K=
orea would abandon its nuclear programmes in return for a far-reaching ai=
d package and security guarantees.
Despite entreaties by China and South Korea, which both condemned the Nor=
th's missile tests and imposed milder sanctions of their own to underline=
their disapproval of Pyongyang's behaviour, Washington refused to lift t=
he sanctions or to engage in direct talks.
During the past week, China, South Korea, Russia, and Japan all joined wi=
th Washington in warning Pyongyang against conducting a test. The Securit=
y Council added its voice last Friday, expressing =94deep concern=94 abou=
t Pyongyang's stated intent and noting that a test =94would bring univers=
al condemnation=94.
But the North appears to have concluded that it had nothing to lose by go=
ing ahead.
=94North Korea's final goal is survival, and a test is their final option=
,=94 Ahn Yinhay, a Korea University professor in Seoul, told the Washingt=
on Post after last week's announcement. =94Given the current situation --=
the enormous pressure from the U.S.'s hard-line policy -- the North Kore=
ans may think they have no other means to try to get out of this deadlock=
. They may think they have nothing else to lose.=94
Whether or not Pyongyang miscalculated -- as many experts here believe it=
has -- remains to be seen.
The Bush administration, which has received strong backing from Japan, cl=
early hopes that international reaction, particularly from what its U.N. =
ambassador, John Bolton, has referred to as Pyongyang's =94protectors=94 =
on the Security Council -- China and Russia -- will go along with far-rea=
ching financial and related sanctions to punish and weaken the regime.
Its most ambitious hopes include a Security Council resolution that would=
authorise searching ships coming in and out of North Korea for nuclear- =
or missile-related equipment or technology consistent with Washington's P=
roliferation Security Initiative (PSI).
Bush appeared to be setting the foundation for such an approach in his in=
itial reaction to Monday's test. Calling it a =94threat to international =
peace and security=94 -- the phrasing normally reserved for invoking Chap=
ter VII of the U.N. Charter that authorises military force to back up Sec=
urity Council demands -- Bush stressed that he was at least as concerned =
about the dangers posed by Pyongyang's proliferation record as by any dir=
ect threat its now-demonstrated nuclear capability could pose to the U.S.
=94The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states o=
r non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United Sta=
tes,=94 he said in a White House statement in which he noted that North K=
orea was already =94one of the world's leading proliferators=94 of missil=
e technology.
=94And we would hold North Korea fully accountable for the consequences o=
f such action,=94 he added.
Most analysts here believe that Washington will gain support for sanction=
s, but not so far-reaching as it would like, particularly given the oppos=
ition by China, which denounced North Korea's test in unusually harsh ter=
ms, to measures that it thought would cause Pyongyang's downfall.
=94There will be sanctions, but the question is how serious they will be,=
=94 said Scott Bruce, an expert at the California-based Nautilus Institut=
e. =94For Beijing, the only thing scarier than a North Korea with nuclear=
weapons is a nuclear North Korea in a state of collapse,=94 he added, no=
ting that China had followed up its condemnation of Pyongyang Monday with=
an appeal for negotiations.
=94North Korea's situation is indeed threatening, but there's not a lot t=
he U.S. and other countries can do without courting the destruction of th=
e regime, which no one, except the U.S. and maybe Japan, wants,=94 accord=
ing to Don Oberdorfer, chairman of the U.S. Korea Institute at the Johns =
Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
=94China is going to want to express its anger very clearly, but it will =
not want to cut off the diplomatic process, which represents, in most peo=
ple's view, the only way forward, and South Korea will adopt a similar po=
sition,=94 according to Romberg. =94They will take harsher action than th=
ey have to date, but they will also want to preserve the diplomatic optio=
n.=94
=94A key point is whether North Korea will now feel it has demonstrated e=
nough strength to move back to the table even while U.S. financial sancti=
ons remain in place. That shouldn't be ruled out, and, if the North is re=
ally prepared to sit down even in this new situation and negotiate seriou=
sly on denuclearisation of the peninsula... there is some prospect for g=
etting unstuck.=94
*****
+Foreign Policy in Focus (http://www.fpif.org/)
+Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (http://www.sais-=
jhu.edu/)
+Henry L. Stimson Centre (http://www.stimson.org/home.cfm)
+POLITICS: N. Korean Nuke Tests Say World Must Return to Peace Agenda (ht=
tp://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D35041)
+EAST ASIA: North Korean Bomb - Bargaining Chip for China (http://ipsnews=
.net/news.asp?idnews=3D35036)
(END/IPS/NA/AP/WD/IP/HD/SC/NU/JL/KS/06)
=20
=3D 10100130 ORP002
NNNN
*****************************************************************
50 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Waveforms clearly show nuclear test
Octorber 10, 2006 KST 12:15 (GMT+9)
October 10, 2006 ¤Ñ At 10:35 a.m. yesterday, a line appeared
on the electronic situation board at the Earthquake Research
Center. The line was connecting to a region in North Hamgyong
province in North Korea.
All the main researchers at the center, as well as other
earthquake scientists and meteorology agency researchers,
simultaneously received text messages on their cellular phones,
alerting them of the time, place and scale of the earthquake.
The size of the earthquake was between 3.3 and 3.9 on the
Richter scale, according to the center. The system has an
automatic "alarm" system, so that any earthquake in Korea above
2.5 triggers a text message to all related earthquake experts.
The Earthquake Center, a research facility within the Korea
Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, was
operating in an emergency state since news of possible nuclear
tests had been publicized. Researchers were prompt to respond to
the text messages, and gathered at the center.
By looking at the seismic waveforms, they could immediately
tell the movement was not from natural causes. Unless there had
been a massive gunpowder blast, the only likely cause was a
nuclear test. It takes almost 1,000 tons of dynamite to create
an artificial earthquake on the scale of 3.9.
"From the waveforms, we knew it was an artificial explosion
from a nuclear test," said Lee Hee-il, a researcher at the
center. "We immediately began detailed analysis."
Defense Ministry officials who had been dispatched to the
Earthquake Center alerted military intelligence. It took just
minutes for the information to reach top officials.
Examining the waveforms showed whether the tests were nuclear
tests. The distance between the Earthquake Center and the test
site was about 440 kilometers (273 miles), and it took less than
a minute for the waves to reach the center. Unlike natural
earthquakes, waves from nuclear tests are "silent" after an
explosion. The frequency rate was also similar to that of
underground nuclear tests in Pakistan in May of 1998.
by Park Bang-ju wohn@joongang.co.kr>
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use |
*****************************************************************
51 UPI: China tipped U.S. on NorKor test
United Press International - Security &Terrorism -
10/9/2006 3:10:00 AM -0400
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The White House said Monday the
United States received word from China of North Korea's intent
to conduct a nuclear test minutes ahead of the reported event.
According to spokesman Tony Snow, North Korea had called its
ally China to advise them on the imminent explosion at about 9
p.m. EST Sunday. China in turn notified the U.S. Embassy in
Beijing, which relayed the message to Washington.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice received notification about
9:45 p.m. and notified national security adviser Stephen Hadley.
Hadley called President George W. Bush at about 9:52 p.m.
South Korean authorities said they felt the seismic tremor from
an apparent explosion in North Korea in about the same time
frame of Hadley and Bush being notified.
The North Korean test, if confirmed, comes just days after
Pyongyang announced its intention to conduct a test despite
international opposition and amid the prospect of sanctions for
its continued refusal to suspend nuclear enrichment programs and
negotiate ending its nuclear weapons program.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
52 UPI: Bolton presents sanctions plan to U.N.
United Press International - NewsTrack -
10/9/2006 4:02:00 PM -0400
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The United States has drafted a
plan for U.N. financial and trade sanctions on North Korea, U.N.
Ambassador John Bolton said Monday.
Bolton planned to present the proposal to the Security Council,
The Washington Post reported. Earlier, the body issued a strong
condemnation of North Korea's weekend nuclear test.
While both Britain and France endorsed sanctions, they have not
backed the U.S. plan. China pushed for a diplomatic solution to
the crisis without specifically saying it would not endorse
sanctions.
"I think we have to react firmly, but also I believe that, on
the other hand, that the door to solve this issue from
diplomatic point of view is still open," China's U.N. Ambassador
Wang Guangya said.
Sources involved with the Security Council told the Post that
Bolton described the U.S. sanctions plan as one that would
hinder North Korea's importing or exporting nuclear materials
and its financing. The proposed resolution is also designed to
convince North Korea to return to the six-party talks.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
53 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Proposes Sanctions Against N. Korea
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 9, 2006 10:31 PM
AP Photo XAHN105
By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States proposed stringent U.N.
sanctions Monday against North Korea after it said it had
performed a nuclear test, including a trade ban on military and
luxury items, the power to inspect all cargo entering or leaving
the country, and freezing assets connected with its weapons
programs.
Security council members earlier condemned North Korea for its
reported nuclear test, demanding at an emergency meeting that
the communist nation return to six-party talks on its weapons
program, U.N. ambassadors said.
The U.S. proposals were among several ideas for a Security
Council resolution that the United States shared with council
diplomats after North Korea announced that it had set off an
atomic explosion underground. A copy of the document was
obtained by The Associated Press.
The document says that the United States wants the resolution to
fall under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals explicitly
with threats to international peace and security, as well as
acts of aggression. Chapter 7 grants the council the authority
to impose a range of measures that include breaking diplomatic
ties and imposing economic and military sanctions to taking
military action.
Military action, however, is far from anyone's minds.
``We believe that highly provocative act requires a very strong
resolution explicitly under Chapter 7 that provides for
sanctions against the North Korean regime,'' the document said.
Among the proposals were to:
- Prohibit trade in materials that could be used to make or
deliver weapons of mass destruction.
- Require states to make sure that North Korea not use their
territory or entities for proliferation or illicit activities.
Financial transactions that North Korea could use to support
those programs would also be banned.
- Require states to freeze all assets related to North Korea's
weapons and missile programs, as well as any other illicit
activities it conducts.
- Authorize inspection of all cargo to and from North Korea to
limit proliferation.
- Ban trade with North Korea in luxury goods and military items
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told the Security Council that
Washington would view a North Korean attack on South Korea or
Japan as an attack on the United States, U.N. diplomats said,
speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was
closed. The United States has defense agreements with Tokyo and
Seoul, and thousands of U.S. troops are stationed in both
countries.
President Bush said that North Korea's action deserves ``an
immediate response by the United Nations Security Council.''
North Korea's ambassador to the U.N. remained defiant, saying
the Security Council should congratulate North Korea for its
nuclear test instead of passing ``useless'' resolutions or
statements.
Ambassador Pak Gil Yon told reporters he was proud of the North
Koreans who conducted the test and said it will contribute ``to
the maintenance and guarantee of peace and security in the
peninsula and the region.''
``We've already said that were there to be a nuclear test it
would be a threat to international peace and security,''
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said. ``I think it
follows that action under Chapter 7 is what is appropriate.
We'll have to look at what sort of measures can be agreed by the
council but certainly the United Kingdom would support proposals
put down to that effect.''
Security Council experts met later Monday to discuss the U.S.
proposals.
``No one defended it, no one even came close to defending it,''
Bolton said of the reported test. ``I was very impressed by the
unanimity of the council ... on the need for a strong and swift
answer to what everyone agreed amounted to a threat to
international peace and security.''
North Korea was added to the agenda of an already scheduled
council meeting that officially nominated South Korean Foreign
Minister Ban Ki-moon as the next secretary-general, and he said
he would work to resolve the North Korean crisis.
If appointed to the top job, Ban said he would ``contribute as
much as I can to the resolution of all kinds of problems
including the North Korean nuclear issue that may threaten
international peace and security.''
The timing of North Korea's test is certain to increase
speculation that North Korea wanted to express its displeasure
and opposition to Ban's selection as the Security Council's
candidate to succeed Kofi Annan.
Ban has said in the past that one of his first acts would be to
go to North Korea.
Under the U.N. Charter, the 15-member Security Council makes a
recommendation for the next secretary-general to the 192-member
General Assembly, which must give final approval. Ban will be
the only name on the ballot.
Ban, 62, topped four informal polls in the council, and in the
last one he was the only candidate not to get a veto by one of
its five permanent members. After that result, the other five
candidates dropped out of the race.
In Monday's straw poll, Ban won 14 favorable votes and one
expressing no opinion. Most importantly, he won the support of
the council's five veto-wielding nations - Britain, China,
France, Russia and the United States.
Ban has been South Korea's foreign minister for more than 2
years and served as national security adviser to two presidents
- jobs that focused on relations with North Korea. He has served
as a diplomat for nearly 40 years.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
54 [NukeNet] Experts Warn Of Accidental Nuclear War
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:45:23 -0700
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NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Not to mention nuclear winter, "successfully"
covered up by the pwers with vested interests in
maintaining their nuclear arsenals and the lapdog
corporate media:
http://www.mothersalert.org/nuclearwinter.html
http://www.mothersalert.org/nuclearwinter2.html
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/06/MNGF9LJSMM1.DTL
Experts warn of an accidental atomic war
Nuclear missile modified for conventional attack
on Iran could set off alarm in Russia
- Eric Rosenberg, Hearst Newspapers
Friday, October 6, 2006 San Francisco Chronicle
(10-06) 04:00 PDT Washington -- A Pentagon project
to modify its deadliest nuclear missile for use as
a conventional weapon against targets such as
North Korea and Iran could unwittingly spark an
atomic war, two weapons experts warned Thursday.
Russian military officers might misconstrue a
submarine-launched conventional D5
intercontinental ballistic missile and conclude
that Russia is under nuclear attack, said Ted
Postol, a physicist and professor of science,
technology and national security policy at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Pavel
Podvig, a physicist and weapons specialist at
Stanford.
"Any launch of a long-range nonnuclear armed sea
or land ballistic missile will cause an automated
alert of the Russian early warning system," Postol
told reporters.
The triggering of an alert wouldn't necessarily
precipitate a retaliatory hail of Russian nuclear
missiles, Postol said. Nevertheless, he said,
"there can be no doubt that such an alert will
greatly increase the chances of a nuclear accident
involving strategic nuclear forces."
Podvig said launching conventional versions of a
missile from a submarine that normally carries
nuclear ICBMs "expands the possibility for a
misunderstanding so widely that it is hard to
contemplate."
Mixing conventional and nuclear D5s on a U.S.
Trident submarine "would be very dangerous,"
Podvig said, because the Russians have no way of
discriminating between the two types of missiles
once they are launched.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the
project would increase the danger of accidental
nuclear war.
"The media and expert circles are already
discussing plans to use intercontinental ballistic
missiles to carry nonnuclear warheads," he said in
May. "The launch of such a missile could ...
provoke a full-scale counterattack using strategic
nuclear forces."
Accidental nuclear war is not so far-fetched. In
1995, Russia initially interpreted the launch of a
Norwegian scientific rocket as the onset of a U.S.
nuclear attack.
Then-President Boris Yeltsin activated his
"nuclear briefcase" in the first stages of
preparation to launch a retaliatory strike before
the mistake was discovered.
The United States and Russia have acknowledged the
possibility that Russia's equipment might
mistakenly conclude the United States was
attacking with nuclear missiles.
In 1998, the two countries agreed to set up a
joint radar center in Moscow operated by U.S. and
Russian forces to supplement Russia's aging
equipment and reduce the threat of accidental war.
But the center has yet to open.
A major technical problem exacerbates the risk of
using the D5 as a conventional weapon: the
decaying state of Russia's nuclear forces.
Russia's nuclear missiles are tethered to early
warning radars that have been in decline since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. And
Russia, unlike the United States, lacks sufficient
satellites to supplement the radars and confirm
whether missile launches are truly under way or
are false alarms.
The scenario that worries Postol, Podvig and other
weapons experts is what might happen if the United
States and North Korea come to blows and a
conventional D5 is launched against a target there
from a submerged Trident submarine. Depending on
the sub's location, the flying time to Russia
could be under 15 minutes so the Russians would
have little time to confirm the trajectory --
using decaying equipment -- before deciding to
launch a nuclear strike on the United States.
The D5 missile project involves the removal of
nuclear warheads from as many as two dozen D5
ICBMs that are carried aboard the U.S. fleet of 12
Ohio-class Trident submarines.
The Pentagon has the project on an accelerated
schedule, with the goal of fielding the weapons
alongside their nuclear variants in two years.
Each Trident submarine carries 24 D5 missiles, and
the plan calls for using two of those as
conventional weapons in each sub.
The rocket fired by a submerged submarine would
barrel up through the ocean powered by its
three-stage engine and rapidly ascend through the
atmosphere at speeds up to 20,000 feet per second
into outer space.
The warhead compartment of the missile would then
plummet back to earth, guided to its target within
about 50 feet by sophisticated sensors. Defense
officials believe it would gain enough speed and
force to penetrate underground command bunkers.
Page A - 7
©2006 San Francisco Chronicle
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55 [NukeNet] Scotland: Risk played down after spin doctors step in
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:45:40 -0700
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http://www.sundayherald.com/58383
Sunday Herald - 08 October 2006
Risk played down after spin doctors step in
By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor
----------
SCOTLAND’S green watchdog played down the risks of radioactive
contamination at a popular coastal resort in Fife following an 11th-hour
intervention by government spin doctors.
Internal emails reveal the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa)
delayed and then altered a news release after it had been described as “not
entirely helpful” by a senior Scottish Executive public relations official.
The release was to announce the publication of a “hazard assessment” of
radioactive pollution at Dalgety Bay, a sailing centre used by thousands of
families. Sepa’s original version said that the risk of the public coming
into contact with the contamination was as high as “1 in 90 per year”.
But in the final version this was changed to say the likelihood of harm was
“low”. Other wording in the release, issued on May 5, was amended to make
the pollution sound less dangerous.
The Sunday Herald revealed last November that nearly 100 radiation hotspots
had been found around the shore at Dalgety Bay. The area includes
Scotland’s largest sailing club and a beach, and is next to a housing estate.
According to Sepa, the contamination comes from radioactive waste dumped by
the nearby naval air base at Doni bristle after it closed in 1959. The
Ministry of Defence, however, has refused to accept responsibility for
cleaning up the mess.
Sepa emailed a copy of its news release to the Executive on May 4, saying
it would be issued the next day. This prompted the head of the Executive’s
environment press desk, Neil Trotter, to contact Elizabeth Gray, from the
Executive’s radioactive waste team.
He wanted “an urgent word” about Sepa’s release, he said, as it was “not
entirely helpful”. Later the same day, Gray telephoned a senior Sepa
radiation official and persuaded him not to issue the release as planned.
Gray pointed out that the Executive had not yet commented on the hazard
assessment. “We will need to see any further news release in draft,” she
told Trotter in an email.
At 8.48am on May 5, Trotter emailed Sepa’s press office, saying: “Grateful
if you could halt any plans to publish the report or issue a press release
until we have had a chance to discuss further.” As a result the release was
delayed from 9am until after 1pm, by which time its wording had been
significantly altered.
The original version said “the likelihood of coming into contact with a
radioactive item is around 1 in 900 a year for the whole beach, and around
1 in 90 for the area with the greatest concentration.” It added that “the
most likely effects of such an encounter would be a skin burn”.
The published version said: “The likelihood of harm to a member of the
public is considered to be low.” Skin burns “may result” from “prolonged
contact”, it suggested.
The original version reported Sepa’s hazard assessment supported
recommendations “that public notice signs are erected”. But in the
published version there is no mention of public signs .
The hazard assessment itself, published online by Sepa, highlighted the 1
in 900 and 1 in 90 estimates as its main findings. “The continued presence
of radioactive items poses a realistic hazard to public health,” it concluded.
The emails were released by Sepa in response to a request from the Sunday
Herald under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. But the watchdog
denied it was forced to alter its release.
“Sepa strongly refutes any suggestion we were asked to ‘tone down’ the news
statement,” said a Sepa spokeswoman. “The content of Sepa press releases is
decided by Sepa.”
She accepted, however, that the Executive had asked for the release to be
withheld so it could be considered by officials. It was also sent to NHS
Fife, Fife Council, the Health Protection Agency and the MoD, she pointed out.
Sepa had decided to use the line about the likelihood of harm being low
instead of the actual probability estimates because it was “simpler”, the
spokeswoman said. “Communicating risk is always difficult and complex.”
She added: “By their very nature, press releases are designed to draw
attention to issues, not to explain the full details. The full statistical
information about risk was published in the report, available on our website.”
Sepa’s position, however, was fiercely criticised by David Miller, a
professor of sociology at Strathclyde University and an expert on
government spin. “This is not about making things clearer, it’s about
deceiving people, and it calls into question Sepa’s independence,” he said.
“It demonstrates an appalling subservience to the Executive’s diktat. ”
The Executive insisted the content of Sepa’s press releases was entirely a
matter for Sepa. “Executive communications teams work closely with partner
organisations to co-ordinate communications activity, provide a more
effective service to the media and better inform the public of the work
that we do,” said a spokesman.
----------
Copyright © 2006 smg sunday newspapers ltd. no.176088
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56 ICH: Nuclear Blackmail
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 18:20:07 -0500 (CDT)
X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
X-Spam-Class: HAM
"Christopher Columbus is a symbol, not of a man, but of imperialism.
.. Imperialism and colonialism are not something that happened
decades ago or generations ago, but they are still happening now
with the exploitation of people. ... The kind of thing that took
place long ago in which people were dispossessed from their land
and forced out of subsistence economies and into market economies
-- those processes are still happening today." - John Mohawk,
Seneca, 1992
= The Indians, Columbus reported, "are so naive and so free with
their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would
believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say
no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone...."
>From his base on Haiti, Columbus sent expedition after expedition
into the interior. They found no gold fields, but had to fill up
the ships returning to Spain with some kind of dividend. In the
year 1495, they went on a great slave raid, rounded up fifteen
hundred Arawak men, women, and children, put them in pens guarded
by Spaniards and dogs, then picked the five hundred best specimens
to load onto ships. Of those five hundred, two hundred died en
route. The rest arrived alive in Spain and were put up for sale by
the archdeacon of the town, who reported that, although the slaves
were "naked as the day they were born," they showed "no more
embarrassment than animals." Columbus later wrote: "Let us in the
name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be
sold."
Excerpted from a People's History of the United States : by Howard
Zinn http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/Columbus_PeoplesHx.html
= "When shall it be said in any country of the world, my poor are
happy, neither ignorance or distress is to be found among them; my
jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are
not in want, the taxes not oppressive; the rational world is my
friend because I am friend of its happiness. When these things can
be said, then may that country boast of its constitution and
government ." - Thomas Paine
=== Read this newsletter online http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
RSS FEED http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/rssfeed.xml
News Syndication
You can include the headlines from this newsletter on your own
website free of charge
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/syndicate.htm
=== Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America's War? As Many
As 250,000 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11674.htm
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged)
In Bush's War 2747
http://icasualties.org/oif/
Cost of America's War in Iraq $332,837,888,118
See the cost in your community
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
===
Welcome to the Nuclear Club!
By Norman Solomon
Rest assured that while President Bush was at a podium in the White
House on Monday denouncing the North Korean nuclear test as a
"provocative act," Karl Rove was hard at work to fine-tune plans
for a rhetorical onslaught linking this crisis to the "war on
terror."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15246.htm
=== Nuclear Blackmail
By Eric S. Margolis
North Korea has repeatedly agreed to junk its nuclear weapons
provided the US does three things: 1. deal directly with Pyongyang,
which Washington refuses to do; 2. provide security guarantees that
the US will not attack North Korea; 3. provide economic aid. The
Bush Administrations hard-line neoconservatives refuse to validate
North Koreas totalitarian regime through direct talks. Neocons are
determined to overthrow Kim Jong-il.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15243.htm
=== Ambling towards Disaster; Bushs North Korea Policy
By Mike Whitney
It took 6 years of relentless threats, sanctions and belligerence,
but Bush finally succeeded in pushing Kim Jong-Il to build North
Koreas first nuclear bomb. Now, Kim can just add a few finishing
touches to his ballistic-missile delivery system, the Taepo-dong
ICBM, and hell be able to wipe out the 9 western states with a flip
of the switch.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15240.htm
=== Bushs Nuclear Apocalypse
By Chris Hedges
The aircraft carrier Eisenhower, accompanied by the guided-missile
cruiser USS Anzio, guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage, guided-missile
destroyer USS Mason and the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News,
is, as I write, making its way to the Straits of Hormuz off Iran.
The ships will be in place to strike Iran by the end of the month.
It may be a bluff. It may be a feint. It may be a simple show of
American power. But I doubt it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15245.htm
=== Wars and propaganda machines
By Rodrigue Tremblay
Propaganda machines are dangerous, even more so in a democracy than
in a totalitarian regime, because their goal is to confuse, disinform,
lie, raise fear and manipulate the opinions of the people.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15241.htm
=== Where are the voices?
The shame of silence in the face of Israeli and US crimes
By Paul J. Balles
Where are the voices of moral righteousness that the world has
always depended upon to rein in the evil forces of conquering
warlords? The teachers and professors - why are they silent? The
virtuous - the clergy and elders of church and mosque and synagogue
- who covered their mouths with duct tape and broke their pens and
keyboards?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15244.htm
=== 40 corpses found in occupied Baghdad in past 24 hours:
Some 40 corpses have been found in scattered places here in the
last 24 hours, an Interior ministry source said on Monday.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=911902
=== Iraq: At least 13 killed, 46 wounded in occupied Baghdad:
At least 13 people were killed and 46 wounded when a car bomb
exploded in a busy market in northeast Baghdad on Monday, police
said.
http://tinyurl.com/mwqb4
=== Another 6 Killed in Ongoing U.S. Occupation:
Gunmen killed Amer al-Hashemi, the brother of Iraq's Sunni Vice
President Tareq al-Hashemi in northern Baghdad late on Sunday,
police and members of the Sunni Islamic Party said.
http://tinyurl.com/leo9r
=== Three Marines killed in western Iraq :
The deaths of the three soldiers brought to at least 32 the number
of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since the start of October.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061009/ts_nm/iraq_marines_dc
=== 11 dead as Australian firm linked to food poisoning of police:
Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick and 11 may have died from
poisoning at a base in southern Iraq after eating food provided by
an Australian contractor.
http://tinyurl.com/r2oll
=== Cindy Sheehan : A Nation Still at War:
Friend---it is going to take us (me and you) to effect any changes
in this country. From the anti-slavery movement to the Civil Rights
movement, to every good movement in between, it has been we the
people demanding these changes and not resting until we got them.
Good comes from the bottom up---crap rolls down hill. I am tired
of getting crapped on by our government.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15242.htm
=== N Korea 'may be preparing second test':
SOUTH Korean authorities suspect that the communist state might be
preparing a second nuclear test after unusual activities were
detected in a rugged area in North Korea today, a news report said.
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20553706-1702,00.html
=== US push for air strikes:
PENTAGON hawks will try to persuade US President George W. Bush he
should order immediate military air strikes to obliterate North
Korean nuclear sites.
http://tinyurl.com/lh5mu
=== In case you missed it:
The Two Faces Of Rumsfeld:
Director of a company which wins $200m contract to sell nuclear
reactors to North Korea. 2002: declares North Korea a terrorist
state, part of the axis of evil and a target for regime change
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3303.htm
=== In case you missed it:
The Cold Test:
What the Administration knew about Pakistan and the North Korean
nuclear program.
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/030127fa_fact
=== In case you missed it:
Khan 'gave N Korea centrifuges' :
Disgraced Pakistani scientist AQ Khan supplied North Korea with
centrifuges and their designs, President Pervez Musharraf has
confirmed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4180286.stm
=== Britain says Pakistan is hiding Taliban chief:
THE British general commanding Nato troops in Afghanistan is to
confront Pakistans president over his countrys support for the
Taliban. Among the evidence amassed is the address of the Talibans
leader in a Pakistani city.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15239.htm
=== More than 75 killed by clashes, bomb in Afghanistan:
A bomb ripped through a government vehicle in eastern Afghanistan
and killed five people while the security forces reported they had
killed more than 70 militants in clashes at the weekend.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=145895
=== Blast in east Afghanistan kills 3 officials :
An explosion occurred on Monday morning in Khogiani district of
Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan kills at least 3 local
officials and injured 2 soldiers, police said.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200610/09/eng20061009_310204.html
=== Afghans 'could switch allegiance' : Nato's commander in Afghanistan
has said the country's citizens may start supporting the Taleban
unless their lives improve in the next six months.
Two Palestinians Killed by Israeli Occupation Forces:
Palestinian medics said a 14-year-old boy was killed in northern
Gaza.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6034099.stm
=== A Palestinian killed and others injured in Israeli bombardment
of occupied Gaza:
A Palestinian man was killed and four others were seriously injured
when the Israeli army bombed a house in Beit Hanoun area northern
Gaza Strip on Monday, local radio stations said.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=911810
=== America trains Abbas' loyalists in secret camp in Jericho:
In an apparent American step to ignite a Palestinian civil war,
high-ranking Palestinian sources have unveiled that the United
States was establishing a secret military camp in the West Bank
city of Jericho to train the PA presidential guards (Force-17).
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_20169.shtml
=== IOF aims to keep out 'escorts' of Palestinian farmers during
harvest :
The Israel Occupation Forces are demanding that Palestinian farmers
not allow Israeli and foreign sympathizers to escort them during
the olive harvest to places where military protection is needed
against abusive settlers, Palestinian sources in the Nablus region
told Haaretz.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/772279.html
=== Sparks Fly Over Israel Criticism:
wo major American Jewish organizations helped block a prominent New
York University historian from speaking at the Polish consulate
here last week, saying the academic was too critical of Israel and
American Jewry.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15238.htm
=== Video Debate : The Israeli Lobby: Does it Have Too Much Influence
on US Foreign Policy?:
John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt published an article in the London
Review of Books. Entitled The Israel Lobby: Does it Have too Much
Influence on US Foreign Policy, it drew swift charges of anti-Semitism
in the editorial pages of American newspapers.
http://tinyurl.com/e9kxk
=== Iran vows retaliation if sanctions imposed: -
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed to impose retaliatory sanctions
on world powers if Iran is penalised by the UN Security Council
over its nuclear programme, state media reported.
http://tinyurl.com/m6box
=== Putin silent as fiercest critic is murdered :
A crowd of protesters gathered in central Moscow on Sunday to express
their anger at the assassination of the crusading journalist Anna
Politkovskaya, who at the weekend became the 13th Russian journalist
to be killed in a contract-style killing since President Vladimir
Putin came to power in 2000.
http://tinyurl.com/qrhru
=== Police 'exaggerated evidence' against British 9/11 suspect:
POLICE and prosecutors are facing allegations that they misled a
judge and grossly exaggerated evidence against the only man to be
detained in Britain over September 11
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2395400,00.html
=== Rising seas could leave millions homeless in Asia:
Millions of people could become homeless in the Asia-Pacific region
by 2070 due to rising sea levels, with Bangladesh, India, Vietnam,
China and Pacific islands most at risk, says Australia's top
scientific body.
http://tinyurl.com/zuz9k
=== 'The FBI has decided to lie...' about Foley emails [VIDEO]:
The emails suggest criminal activity and CREW sent them to the FBI
(3 different departments in fact) several months ago, but the FBI
did nothing.
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/evan/42722
=== Should presidents be allowed to serve more than 2 terms?:
Bills introduced in Congress to repeal 8-year restriction of 22nd
Amendment http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52246
=== This web site represents the effort of one person.
I need your help to offset the costs associated with site hosting
and bandwidth usage. If you find this site informative please help
by clicking here http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm
===
Peace & Joy Tom Feeley ===
Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people."
(August 1765) John Adams
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57 Guardian Unlimited: EU and Nato condemn nuclear test
From Press Association
[UP]
Press Association
Monday October 9, 2006 12:08 PM
The European Union and Nato have condemned North Korea's claim
that it has carried out a nuclear test, saying it endangered
peace around the world.
"This test profoundly jeopardises regional stability and
represents a severe threat to international peace and security,"
said a statement from the EU presidency, which is currently held
by Finland.
Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the 26-nation
alliance also condemned the move.
"It flies in the face of the international community," de Hoop
Scheffer said after talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier
Solana at Nato headquarters in Brussels.
He called the tests "a threat to world peace and security,"
adding that Nato nations would call on North Korea to return to
international talks over its nuclear programme.
Solana said the test reflects the "upside down" priorities of
North Korea's leadership.
"It's very bad news for the people of North Korea," Solana said.
"At the end of the day the government of North Korea is spending
lots of money for something that is not going to be for the
benefit of the people, while the people in North Korea ...
continue to be starving."
North Korea's claim to have tested a nuclear weapon has elicited
widespread condemnation around the world. North Korea's official
Korean Central News Agency said the communist country's
first-ever nuclear test, an underground explosion, was
successfully performed on Monday "with indigenous wisdom and
technology 100 per cent."
"The EU works in close cooperation with the international
community for a decisive international response to this
provocative act," the EU statement said. "The EU Presidency
strongly urges (North Korea) to announce immediately that it
will refrain from any further tests of a nuclear device,
publicly renounce nuclear weapons and return immediately and
without preconditions to the six-party talks."
China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States have
held intermittent talks with North Korea since 2003 in hopes of
getting Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons in exchange for aid
and security guarantees.
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
58 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear trial a test for UN
Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Monday October 9, 2006
The Guardian
[North Korean nuclear facility]
A satellite image of the Yongbyon nuclear facility, 60 miles
north of Pyongyang, North Korea. Photograph: Space Imaging
Asia/Reuters
The United Nations security council will almost certainly go
into emergency session to discuss a resolution imposing severe
sanctions against North Korea, after the country announced today
it had conducted its first-ever nuclear weapons test.
The security council normally moves at glacial speed but can
respond quickly when faced with a crisis that threatens
international stability.
A resolution adopted in July introduced only limited sanctions
against North Korea in response to a series of missile launches.
At the time the council called on the country to rejoin talks
aimed at persuading Pyongyang to drop its nuclear weapons
ambitions; a demand it immediately rejected.
Article continues
The timing of the test could be linked to the security
council's scheduled meeting today to select Ban Ki-moon, the
South Korean foreign minister, as the next UN secretary general.
The North Korean leadership would have been unhappy at the
choice of its southern neighbour for such a high-profile
international post.
Mr Ban, due to take over on January 1, would have the job of
policing sanctions and trying to restart negotiations, a task
that would be made more difficult by his nationality.
The security council is in a dilemma over sanctions. There will
be a reluctance to impose blanket measures against North Korea
after the suffering endured by the Iraqi people during 12 years
of widespread sanctions. Given the parlous state of the North
Korean economy, such a sweeping regime would be even more
damaging, with much of the population already close to the
breadline.
Bruised by the Iraq experience, the west has argued that while
blanket sanctions might not work, targeting them was effective
against Libya. A ban on the export of oil technology and general
international isolation helped persuade Libya to voluntarily
abandon its albeit limited nuclear programme, according to the
British and US governments.
But targeted sanctions would have little impact on North Korea,
whose government is already so isolated - and its leadership not
given to travel - that it is difficult to envisage what punitive
measures would have an effect.
The one country that stands a chance of bringing North Korea
round is China. Pyongyang is dependent on China for much of its
fuel and food. But Beijing would be reluctant to turn that
supply off not only because of the suffering it would cause but
because it could result in an exodus from North Korea, with
starving people streaming across the border into China.
The crisis presents another challenge for the already troubled
UN. Failure to bring North Korea back into talks and abandon its
weapons programme will underline again its overall weakness, and
the pressure is already on.
Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said: "We expect the UN
security council to take immediate actions to respond to this
unprovoked act. The United States is closely monitoring the
situation and reaffirms its commitment to protect and defend our
allies in the region."
John Howard, the Australian prime minister, said bluntly it was
a test for the UN.
The South Korean presidential spokesman, Yoon Tae-young, said:
"Our government will sternly react under the principle that it
cannot tolerate the North's possession of nuclear weapons."
South Korea suspended an aid shipment to the North scheduled for
tomorrow.
Useful sites
North Korea virtual library
CIA factbook: North Korea
UN security council
UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
59 UPI: Russia summons North Korean ambassador
United Press International - NewsTrack -
10/9/2006 7:47:00 AM -0400
MOSCOW, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned
North Korea's ambassador to the Kremlin to discuss North Korea's
nuclear testing.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin also called for North
Korea to "return to the nuclear non-proliferation regime," RAI
Novosti said. Kamynin said Russian officials were discussing the
situation with other countries.
Kamynin said nuclear testing would aggravate problems in the
Korean peninsula and region, RIA Novosti said.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the test, saying it
detected evidence of a nuclear blast, RAI Novosti said.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
60 UPI: Sanctions to be sought, Japan says
United Press International - NewsTrack -
10/9/2006 9:02:00 AM -0400
TOKYO, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- If nuclear testing by North Korea is
confirmed, Japanese leaders in Tokyo said Japan and the United
States likely would seek sanctions against North Korea.
Japan and the United States likely would submit a draft
resolution to the U.N. Security Council, seeking sanctions
against North Korea, the Kyodo news service said. This would
allow the panel to consider international economic sanctions and
military options as well, Kyodo said.
The Security Council is expected to convene an emergency meeting
to discuss the North Korean nuclear matter.
The nuclear test occurred before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe's scheduled meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun
in Seoul. Abe, already in said in Seoul for the meeting, said if
the North Korean nuclear test is if confirmed, would be
"absolutely unacceptable," Kyodo said.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
61 UPI: Analysis: North Korea's nuclear gamble
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence -
10/9/2006 12:52:00 PM -0400
By MICHAEL MARSHALL Editor In Chief
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- In an historic summit meeting in
Beijing on Sunday, Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and
Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed that a nuclear test by North
Korea "cannot be tolerated." China's enigmatic neighbor
responded by apparently conducting such a test within hours of
the announcement.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency announced the
test took place Monday morning local time and seismic activity
consistent with a nuclear explosion was detected by geologists
in both South Korea and Australia. It occurred in the northeast
of the country near the town of Kilju, an area that had been
under U.S. surveillance as a possible test site because of the
excavation of several deep tunnels there.
North Korea warned China that it was about to test and the
Chinese passed the information on to the U.S. Embassy in
Beijing. President Bush was informed Sunday night shortly before
the test took place.
North Korea has kept analysts of East Asian affairs working
overtime during the past few months trying to fathom the motives
first of the test launch of seven missiles on July 4, and now of
a nuclear test. Whatever the intent of North Korea's leader, Kim
Jong Il, behind these displays of destructive capacity, they
represent an extreme gamble by him on the patience of China.
North Korea is an economic basket case underwritten by Chinese
food and energy aid. This is ironic as the country's governing
ideology is still "juche," roughly translated as
"self-reliance," developed by Kim's father Kim Il Sung, North
Korea's founding president known as the Great Leader. North
Korea's economy outperformed that of South Korea, measured by
per capita GDP, until the mid-1970s. Today, however, South
Korean economists estimate that their country's GDP is around 40
times that of its northern neighbor.
If China were ever to pull the plug on its flow of aid to North
Korea it would precipitate a crisis. North Korea is counting
that China will never do that and it is not in China's interests
to do so. China's policy toward the Korean peninsula has two
goals: the peninsula should be nuclear free, and stable.
Stability, for the Chinese, means maintaining the status quo
including sustaining the Kim regime in the north. They see North
Korea as a desirable buffer between them and a South Korea
allied with the U.S. superpower and with U.S. troops on its
territory. A collapse of government in North Korea would create
a potential flashpoint as China and South Korea competed over
cleaning up the mess with different ends in mind. China does not
share South Korea's goal of ultimate Korean reunification.
North Korea's development and now testing of nuclear weapons
challenges China's policy and faces its leaders with some tough
choices that they would rather not have to make. China is not
interested in foreign adventures at the moment. The priority is
to grow the economy while maintaining social stability,
particularly by creating the huge number of jobs needed to
spread the new wealth.
For that China needs stability in its foreign relations,
particularly in the East Asia region. North Korea's activities
jeopardize that policy by forcing China to prioritize its two
goals for the Korean peninsula. Will it continue to maintain the
Kim regime at the cost of accepting it as an openly declared
nuclear weapon state? Or will it pressure Kim to lose the nukes
even at the risk of undermining his regime?
A nuclear North Korea poses a threat to the regional stability
China is also anxious to maintain. Despite denials from aides to
Prime Minister Abe that Japan has any intention of developing
its own nuclear weapon in response to North Korea's test, this
question is bound to become an issue in Japanese politics if
North Korea does not abandon its nuclear program. A Japanese
nuclear weapon would likely lead to a South Korean weapon, and
either development would be very bad news from a Chinese point
of view.
The Chinese are increasingly frustrated that Kim is forcing such
unpleasant choices upon them and it is beginning to show. Kim
ignored China's warnings against the missile tests of July 4 and
the North Koreans refused to receive the diplomat dispatched by
Beijing after the launch. China responded by supporting U.N.
Security Council sanctions against the sale of any missile
technology to North Korea. This was a first for China even
though they modified a much tougher resolution initially
proposed by Japan.
China's response to the nuclear test was unequivocal in its
condemnation. The foreign ministry in Beijing called it
"brazen," strong language for Chinese diplomats to use publicly
about North Korea. China still encourages a diplomatic solution
with a return to the Six Party talks to resolve the North Korean
nuclear issue that North Korea has boycotted since late last
year.
China will not act hastily against North Korea. It still remains
to be seen what sort of Security Council action she will
support. But we can expect Chinese pressure on North Korea to
pay more heed to Beijing now that China's interests are being
adversely affected by North Korean actions.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
62 [NukeNet] Exelon Studies 8 Texas Sites for Nuclear Reactor
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:45:25 -0700
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http://www.mothersalert.org
http://www.mothersalert.org/moreinfo.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-utilities-texas-nuclear.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Exelon Studies 8 Texas Sites for Nuclear
Reactor
a.. E-Mail
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By REUTERS
Published: October 6, 2006
Filed at 8:38 p.m. ET
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HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exelon Corp. (EXC.N), the
largest U.S. nuclear power producer, said it is
``actively'' evaluating eight sites in Texas as
possible locations for a new nuclear reactor, a
spokesman said on Friday.
Chicago-based Exelon, which entered the Texas
generation market in 2002 with the purchase of two
aging natural gas-fired power plants from TXU
Corp. (TXU.N), became the fourth company last week
to say it wants to apply for a license to build a
nuclear plant in Texas to meet growing power
needs.
Of the 19 preliminary proposals for new U.S.
reactors, Texas has attracted the most interest,
with four proposals, according to data from the
Nuclear Energy Institute.
The industry, dormant since the 1979 accident at
the Three Mile Island nuclear station in
Pennsylvania, is undergoing a rebirth amid growing
environmental concern about carbon emissions from
fossil-fuel plants and rising costs of natural
gas.
President George W. Bush supports new nuclear
construction and energy legislation passed in 2005
offers billions of dollars in incentives to owners
of the first new plants to go into service.
Two other Texas generators, NRG Energy Inc.
(NRG.N) and TXU Corp., have proposed new reactors
in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas,
which serves about 85 percent of the state's power
needs. In addition, an Amarillo-based real estate
developer is working to attract a reactor to the
panhandle region, outside ERCOT.
Exelon has not disclosed the size of the nuclear
plant it is considering in Texas, but has narrowed
its choice of reactor design to the General
Electric ES Boiling Water Reactor of the
Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 design,
according to its letter of intent filed with
federal regulators.
Princeton, New Jersy-based NRG owns 44 percent of
the 2,560-megawatt South Texas Project, located
southwest of Houston, while Dallas-based TXU owns
100 percent of 2,300-MW Comanche Peak station
southwest of Fort Worth.
In June, NRG proposed adding two reactors,
totaling 2,700 MW, at the South Texas location.
TXU said it was studying an expansion at Comanche
Peak but did not disclose how much capacity it
might build. TXU also said it was looking at other
sites in Texas and sites outside the state.
Exelon spokesman Craig Nesbit said the company is
pursuing a new Texas reactor on its own, but he
would not dismiss the idea of a partnership with
one of the other companies. ``I would never shut
the door on anything,'' he said.
Both NRG and TXU have said they would like to
reduce the risk of building new reactors by
attracting partners.
Exelon filed its letter with the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission September 29, three days
after TXU Chairman C. John Wilder told analysts in
New York that the companies had dropped plans to
swap assets.
Wilder said TXU was interested in an ``asset
swap'' with Exelon to expand its generation
outside Texas while helping Exelon alleviate
market-power concerns related to its proposed
merger with Public Service Enterprise Group
(PEG.N).
Exelon called off the $17.7 billion merger in
mid-September, citing problems obtaining approval
of the deal in New Jersey.
TXU, already the largest power generator in Texas,
faces market-power limits as it seeks permits to
build 9,000 MW of coal-fired generation to be
completed before any new nuclear plants.
Exelon is also considering adding reactors in
Illinois and as part of NuStart, a 12-member
consortium looking at sites in Tennessee and
Mississippi.
_______________________________________________________________________
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63 SPIEGEL ONLINE: The World From Berlin: A Waste of Energy -
| Feedback October 9, 2006
The only consensus surrounding German Chancellor Angela Merkel's
energy summit on Monday is that there is none on the issue
within her grand coalition government, which cannot seem to
agree upon a comprehensive national energy strategy for Germany.
[Germany plans to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2020.]
[Zoom] DDP
Germany plans to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2020.
As if health care reform weren't enough, Germany's grand
coalition has lurched into another round of talks that could
test the stability of Chancellor Angela Merkel's government of
conservatives (CDU/CSU) and center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
In an effort to set energy targets for Germany's 2007 EU
presidency, Chancellor Merkel wants to hammer out a national
strategy that improves energy efficiency and limits Germany's
dependence on foreign sources of gas and oil, namely Russia. The
results of the summit will certainly be discussed later this
week when Merkel meets with Russia's President Putin in Dresden.
Though it has been purposefully left off the agenda, it is not
clear whether the summit will address the hot button issue of
Germany's nuclear reactors. In 2000, the then center-left
coalition of the SPD and Greens passed into law a plan to phase
out all of Germany's 17 nuclear power facilities by 2020. The
current ruling parties disagree about the plan's efficacy,
despite the fact that it was a foundation of their coalition
agreement. On Monday morning, Edmund Stoiber, leader of the
CDU's Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union (CSU),
did his part to force the issue onto the summit's agenda, saying
it would be irresponsible to close the reactors before renewable
sources are fully developed. Currently, nuclear reactors provide
for a third of German electricity.
On the other side of the aisle, however, the SPD won't budge.
When the grand coalition was formed last year, the center-left
party vowed to keep the plan in place, and any deviation from
the policy could jeopardize the coalition. The tension at the
summit will most likely be between Economy Minister Michael Glos
(CSU), who wants to discuss extending the life of Germany's
nuclear power stations, and Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel
(SPD), who wants to stick to the 2020 deadline.
The leftwing Tageszeitung criticizes Merkel for focusing on
supply rather than demand. "Merkel is unfortunately meeting with
the wrong people," writes the daily. Effective energy
conservation programs can lead to lower prices than constructing
a new power plant. While the paper holds out hope that a viable
plan for increasing energy efficiency could result from the
summit, it warns the government that as long as they orient
their energy strategy toward suppliers, they will never achieve
the conservation policies needed to make energy affordable and
environmentally friendly.
The business daily Handelsblatt is also skeptical of the
summit's success, saying "the coalition lacks a coherent concept
for the summit in Berlin," which will prevent it from moving the
issue forward at the EU level during its presidency next year.
On the nuclear issue, the paper argues that nuclear power should
remain part of Germany's future. "The use of atomic energy is
for most industrialized and developing countries a conditio sine
qua non as a reliable and climate friendly source of energy."
Most importantly, writes the paper, there is no public money
available for researching alternative energies, and all private
investment in research is flowing to nuclear energy. If Germany
gets rid of its nuclear power, energy research investment will
not simply move to renewable sources, it will dry up.
Center-left Süddeutsche Zeintung sets high goals for the summit
and the governing coalition, saying the government must forge
compromises between environmental protection and the complete
phase out of nuclear energy, between large energy producers and
small, between high energy prices and angry consumers.
Unfortunately, writes the paper, the summit is doomed to fail.
"A summit that at its core consists of interest groups with
contrary motives is not capable of achieving a meaningful plan."
The paper says the responsibility here lies squarely with
Chancellor Merkel.
*****************************************************************
64 KETV.com: Nuclear Plant Undergoes Massive Renovation
Fort Calhoun Plant Work Will Extend Life
POSTED: 5:23 pm CDT October 9, 2006UPDATED: 5:39 pm
FORT CALHOUN, Neb. -- The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station is
undergoing major renovations, and members of the media got a rare
glimpse inside on Monday.
The Fort Calhoun plant is one of Nebraska's two nuclear power
plants.
This is not only the largest renovation project in the history of
the plant, it's the largest in the history of the United States
for commercial nuclear plants, officials said.
"Other plants have done pieces of what we're doing over several
different refueling outages," said the plant's Ross Ridenoure.
"No one has done everything we're doing in one outage."
A huge hole in the side of the nuclear containment building was
cut so that four large pieces of equipment could be removed then
replaced. One of them, a steam generator, is sitting outside on
scaffolding. Soon, it will be moved through the hole and set in
to place.
The whole reason for the massive renovation is to extend the
life of the nuclear plant. It was slated to be closed down
permanently in the year 2013, but the upgrades will mean the
plant should operate for another 20 years.
The plant was shut down in early September, and should be back
online by the end of November.
Copyright 2006 by KETV.com. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
2006, Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc.
*****************************************************************
65 Daily Press: Surry plant shut down
Hampton Roads, Virginia - October 9, 2006 11:23 PM
Dominion says no radiation was in the steam that blew off a chunk
of a building into power lines.
SURRY --
Dominion Resources shut down one of its two nuclear reactors
Saturday night at Surry Power Station after steam in a nearby
turbine building blew sheet metal siding off the building into
power lines that supply electricity to the reactors' safety
systems.
The steam that was released was not radioactive and no one was
injured, company officials said. Dominion is trying to figure
out why steam was released about 5:18 p.m. in the turbine
building, which is separate from the two large dome-shaped
nuclear reactors.
Water is heated by nuclear rods inside the reactors and is
transferred through pipes to the turbine building. Once they
enter the building, the pipes with the heated radioactive water
feed into tubes that are filled with water that never touches
the radioactive water.
The nonradioactive water is heated and turns to steam, which
powers a turbine and generator that send electricity to the
power grid.
Somehow this steam broke through the tubes and blew off part of
the side of the turbine building, which is enclosed with just
sheet metal.
"It's not a large section, but the debris from the siding
apparently landed on one of the overhead power lines," said Rick
Zuercher, a Dominion spokesman.
There are three transformers that are backup power systems for
the plant's safety systems. A second power line had also failed
for a still-undetermined reason, leaving only one working
outside transformer and an on-site generator.
"This caused the backup diesel generators to all start up
immediately," said Zuercher.
As part of the plant's design, the reactor shuts down if it
loses its power source.
But Dominion workers shut it off right before it would have
anyway. Dominion declared an alert at 6 p.m. Saturday and ended
the alert at 5:40 a.m. Sunday.
The alert is a formal process determined by the federal Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, which must be updated on details and will
investigate the incident.
When a problem occurs at a plant, there are four levels of
severity, and an alert is the second lowest.
Dominion workers restored power to one of the two failed
electrical systems that serve the plant by 2 a.m.
The company kept the reactor that is connected to the area of
the steam problem that remained shut down while they
investigated.
The reactor that was shut down was built in 1973. Richmond-based
Dominion, the parent company of Virginia Power, is one of the
largest operators of nuclear plants nationwide.
The utility is in the early stages of planning a new reactor
next to its existing two at North Anna outside Richmond.
Daily Press
*****************************************************************
66 BNN: BULGARIA Radioactive liquid leaks in nuclear unit repairs
Bulgarian news network - online news agency \ Áíì,
['www.bgnewsnet.com / Bulgarian News network' ] [bnn
23:58 - 09.10.2006
SOFIA
(bnn)- Radioactive liquid from the deactivation system has fallen
in a pipeline during the yearly repairs of the sixth unit of the
Kozloduy nuclear power plant, news agencies reported citing
officials.
The solution’s appearance was registered on October 7th during an
investigation of the radiation status of a turbine hall, experts
announced on Monday afternoon. The liquid has been returned into
the reactor section just the same day. more...
Copyright © 2002-2004 bnn
*****************************************************************
67 Guardian Unlimited: Leak Occurs at Bulgaria Nuclear Plant
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 9, 2006 9:01 PM
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - A rupture in a heating device at
Bulgaria's only nuclear plant caused a leak of radioactive
solution, but the spill did not result in any contamination,
plant management said Monday.
An early estimate by plant management showed that it was a
zero-level event under the zero-to-seven International Nuclear
Event Scale, which means it was of no safety significance.
The leak was registered Saturday at one of the plant's two
1,000-megawatt units, which had been taken off-line for annual
maintenance, the plant said in a statement.
``No radioactive contamination has been established in the
turbine hall, at the plant's site or outside of it,'' the
statement said. ``There is no contamination of staff.''
The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Sergei Tsochev, said
his experts would to investigate the incident at the plant,
located 125 miles north of Sofia.
Bulgaria agreed with the European Union in 1999 to close the two
oldest reactors in the Kozlodui nuclear power plant by the end
of this year because of safety concerns. Bulgaria is expected to
become an EU member in 2007.
The two newer 1,000-megawatt reactors are to stay running until
the next decade.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
68 UPI: Leaked contaminated water pools grow
United Press International - NewsTrack -
10/9/2006 4:58:00 PM -0400
NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- New York's Indian Point Nuclear Power
Plant is leaking radioactive water into the ground, it was
reported Monday.
Contaminated water under the plant, 24 miles upstream from New
York City on the Hudson River, has grown to approximately the
size of the Central Park Reservoir, the New York Daily News said
Monday.
Don Mayer, special projects director for Entergy, which runs the
plant, said the underground area has contaminated water between
50 feet and 60 feet deep, the Daily News said. Another area is
about 30 feet wide by 350 feet long.
Mayer said the area is leaking primarily strontium-90 and
tritium, both carcinogenic, the Daily News said, but Entergy and
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission both said drinking supplies
tested two miles from the plant were found contaminant free.
Mayer said cleanup of the leaks is scheduled to begin at the end
of the month, the Daily News said.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
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69 SNA: Bulgaria: Radioactive Leak in Deactivated Kozloduy Unit
www.novinite.com Sofia News Agency
Business: 9 October 2006, Monday.
A radioactive leakage from the deactivation system of NPP
Kozloduy was detected during repair works at sixth nuclear unit.
The leakage was registered on Saturday, September 7, during
radiation status checks, Kozloduy's press office announced.
The technical staff on duty has brought the solution back into
the unit's chamber and launched deposition works of the
leak-affected area.
Kozloduy's management said there is radiation detected inside, no
outside the nuclear power plant. It said the rate of the incident
was zero under the international standards.
novinite.com
All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2006 - Copyright
&Disclaimer - Privacy Policy ISO 9001:2000 Certified
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency -
www.sofianewsagency.com)
*****************************************************************
70 Morris Daily Herald: Weapons arrests made at nuke plant
10/9/2006 3:33:00 PM
Truckers possessed gun, ammo, knives
Herald Reporter
MARSEILLES - In what are being considered unusual incidents, two
people now have court dates after attempting to bring weapons
into La Salle Generating Station.
Co-incidentally, both incidents occurred within two hours of
each other, La Salle County Sheriff's deputies said today.
The first incident occurred with Brian A. Hull, 39, of Clifton,
Ill., was attempting to enter the station at 2:26 p.m. Friday to
make a delivery.
Deputies said Hull, a driver for Hull Cartage Trucking of
Clifton, admitted to having a handgun in his truck after he was
escorted to the security station for a routine check.
Hull told deputies the handgun was in a case on top of the
sleeper in the cab of his truck.
"When we got there, also in the case with the handgun were three
loaded magazines," a spokesman for the sheriff's department
noted.
Hull posted $100 bond for his release after being charged with
possession of a loaded weapon in a motor vehicle, the spokesman
said.
He said Hull was an over-the-road, state-to-state truck driver.
In the second incident, a Phoenix, Ariz., trucker was cited
after deputies learned of a collection of knives in his cab.
Stephen W. Taylor, 55, of Phoenix, Ariz., was cited with
unlawful use of weapons, and posted $100 bond on the charge, the
spokesman said.
The spokesman said that upon Taylor's arrival at La Salle
Station, he too, was escorted to the security station, where he
then declared having several knives in his truck.
He said Taylor produced a switchblade-type knife he said he
bought at a truck stop. Deputies also noted Taylor had five
knives in the overhead bin of his truck.
La Salle Station Communi-cations Coordinator Ann Thomas noted
today visitors without badges are routinely escorted to the
security station to declare, from a printed list, items not
allowed on plant property.
"And they declared them at that time," she said today.
Thomas said the two incidents were examples of the station's
security force doing what it is meant to do.
"A good example of the security process working, and the
strength of the security force," she noted.
Neither trucker had a security badge, she said.
Thomas said the incidents were unusual in that the vast majority
of those visitors who enter the La Salle Station site are aware
of the list of items not allowed on the property.
"This definitely was unusual," she said. "Particularly since
9/11, when word has spread very quickly about heightened
awareness at nuclear stations."
Thomas said the probability of the two incidents occurring so
closely together was "just one of those things."
"I'd definitely say one was not correlated with the other," she
said, "and I can't draw any connection between the two."
Morris Daily Herald • 1804 N. Division St. • Morris, Illinois
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71 The Herald: Clean-up planned of nuclear crash village
Web Issue 2645 October 09 2006
October 09 2006
Madrid
Spain and the United States have agreed to clean up
radioactivity in the south-east Spanish farming village of
Palomares, 40 years after two US atomic bombs fell in the area
after a midair collision.
The agreement was reached between the US Department of Energy
and CIEMAT, Spain's national Centre for Energy and Environment
Investigation, El Pais newspaper reported.
On January 17, 1966, a B-52 bomber collided with a flying
tanker while refuelling over Palomeras and released all four of
its hydrogen bombs in the ensuing explosion.
The high-explosive igniters on two bombs detonated on impact,
spreading radioactive material, including plutonium, over the
Spanish countryside. Seven of the 11 crewmen on the two planes
were killed. There were no fatalities on the ground.
The agreement, signed last month, states that the countries
will jointly pay for the costs and that the works could take
years depending on the levels of radioactivity found, El Pais
added.
At the time villagers feared the radiation might have
contaminated not only their bodies but also the waters they
fished and the soil they farmed.
Spain was under the thumb of General Francisco Franco and
little information about the accident was released. In order to
minimise the consequences of the accident, Information and
Tourism Minister Manuel Fraga and US Ambassador Angier Biddle
Duke strode into the Mediterranean near Palomares to demonstrate
the waters were safe.-AP
Copyright © Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
72 Spectrum: Downwinders denounce North Korea nuke test
St. George - www.thespectrum.com -
By ED KOCIELA ekociela@thespectrum.com
ST. GEORGE — Members of Downwinders United, an alliance of
people who were victims of fallout during the nuclear tests that
took place during the Cold War era, joined the international
community Monday in condemning North Korea’s reported nuclear
test.
“It was a way of going into everybody’s face,” said Preston
Truman, one of the group’s organizers. “We’ve been trying to
force bilateral talks for years. They (North Korea) refused to
join the six nations talks. (The test was) a way to say, ‘Hey,
look at this. It also reflects the sanity of their leadership.
Nuclear weapons are the ultimate form of communication. It’s a
pretty good statement on our times when the only way to
communicate is to say, ‘My bomb’s bigger than yours.’”
Truman and other members of DU are concerned that the North
Korean test will lead to resumption, at the very least, of the
United States’ nuclear testing program.
“My biggest fear is now we enter a whole new arms race because
of this,” said Mary Dickson, a DU leader. “What North Korea did
was absolutely reprehensible, but how the nuclear nations
respond will say a lot about our character.”
For more on this story, please see tomorrow’s edition of The
Spectrum &Daily News.
Originally published October 9, 2006
Copyright ©2006 The Spectrum.
*****************************************************************
73 Courier Post: Firm wants to cap slag in Newfield
Monday, October 9, 2006
By EILEEN STILWELL Courier-Post Staff NEWFIELD
Imagine predicting what could happen to a mountain of
radioactive waste material in a tiny residential hamlet 1,000
years from now.
That's what a Newfield metals manufacturer is doing in order to
get permission from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to
cap and walk away from a pile of uranium- and thorium-laced
rocks it generated between 1955 and 1998.
The company, Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corp., stopped
operations in June.
Among the questions officials are tackling:
Will chemicals leach into the water system?
Could toxic vapors waft into the air?
Might the 30-foot-high pile that stretches over six acres
ignite or turn backyard gardens into poisoned fields?
The 1,000-year standard is part of a mathematical formula the
NRC uses to predict long-range outcomes.
Shieldalloy management declined to comment. But the company is
confident it can cap the mound and preserve the community's
health and public safety through 3010, according to statements
issued by a public relations firm.
Residents and elected officials, including Gov. Jon S. Corzine,
disagree.
They want the 57,000 cubic meters of waste shipped to
facilities in Barnwell, S.C., or Clive, Utah, both of which are
licensed for disposal of low-level radioactive material.
If not, Newfield -- a 1.7-square-mile Gloucester County
community of 1,600 residents -- could become New Jersey's first
radioactive dump.
If the NRC issues what is known as a perpetual license to
Shieldalloy to cover 1,000 years, it will be the first in the
nation.
Moving the slag pile, Shieldalloy says, could cost the company
$58 million, as opposed to $5 million for capping.
If the high price triggers bankruptcy, taxpayers ultimately
would be left with the bill. Shieldalloy filed for protection
from creditors under Chapter 11 in 1993 and came out of it a
year later.
Shieldalloy manufactured specialty steel and super-alloy
additives for the aluminum, transportation and aerospace
industry. Its site, about 67 acres, is about one-tenth the size
of the entire community.
At its peak, the company employed more than 200 workers. Unable
to compete with global pricing, it was forced to shut down.
Because it produced radioactive material as a byproduct in the
smelting process, it must get approval from the NRC to clean up
or decommission the site.
The NRC so far has rejected two proposals from the company and
is reviewing a third.
By all accounts, the process is in a preliminary phase that
will be followed by an environmental impact statement and public
hearings. Shieldalloy hopes to complete the process by 2010.
In a letter last month to NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein, Corzine
criticized the NRC for allowing a three-story slag pile to
develop knowing it ultimately would become a disposal nightmare.
Both the company and the NRC say the size and contents of the
slag pile, along with proper controls, are within federal
guidelines.
"I believe this situation is a textbook example of what can
happen from inadequate regulatory oversight," Corzine said.
Corzine threatened possible legal action to force the removal
of the slag pile.
In May, he notified the NRC that he wanted the state to take
charge of its own radioactive materials. Though the paperwork
can take up to three years, New Jersey would join 34 other
states in this separation agreement from the federal agency.
In addition to the slag pile, Shieldalloy has been pumping and
treating groundwater it has contaminated with chromium since
1979.
The work is expected to take another 10 years before the water
complies with state standards, company spokesman Michael Turner
said.
Until then, the property will remain on the federal list of
Superfund cleanup sites for water pollution alone, not the slag
pile.
Newfield, Vineland and Franklin recently passed resolutions
demanding that the slag pile be removed.
"There is something very fishy about this whole thing," said
Newfield Mayor Rick Wester-gaard. "How a pile this large and
toxic could be allowed to develop is beyond me. Where was the
(state Department of Environmental Protection), the (federal
Environmental Protection Agency), the health departments and the
NRC?"
Borough officials want the pile removed and the land reclaimed
for development.
John Matheussen -- executive director of the Delaware River
Port Authority and a former state senator in the 4th Legislative
District, which includes Newfield -- recalled touring the site
over the years with company and environmental officials but does
not recall any controversy.
"My sense is best practices were in place then and there was
cooperation among the parties," said Matheussen, also a former
Newfield solicitor.
"If it can be demonstrated that covering the pile is the best
practice today, then so be it. But my gut tells me it's not
appropriate. Under no circumstances should the public be left
with a bill to treat the company's waste."
Marie Miller, chief of the decommissioning branch for NRC's
Region I, promised transparency in the process.
"We're in a very early stage," she said. "Nothing conclusive
will be decided until we conduct an environmental impact study.
Those results will be shared with the public. There will be no
secrets."
Reach Eileen Stilwell at (856) 486-2464 or
Copyright 2006 CourierPostOnline.com. All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
74 LA Daily News: Santa Susana cover-up
We have a right to know whole truth about reactor meltdown
Article Last Updated:10/08/2006 05:25:37 PM PDT
THE cover-up of what happened at the Santa Susana Field
Laboratory in the Simi Hills above Chatsworth must end.
Evidence is compelling that the legacy of the field lab where
nuclear and rocket research was conducted for decades is
contaminated ground - and the likelihood that hundreds of people
in the San Fernando Valley area were exposed to radiation from
the worst nuclear reactor accident in U.S. history.
The results of a seven-year state-funded study released last
week indicate that the partial meltdown of the nuclear reactor
at the lab in 1959 released more radiation than even the Three
Mile Island incident. It may be responsible for hundreds of
cancer cases in the area since, maybe as many as 1,800.
At the time of the incident half a century ago, the government's
reaction was to cover up the meltdown. It wasn't until 1989 that
the contamination of the lab was exposed at all, and only when
the Daily News got hold of secret government reports.
At the same time, it was exposed that the lab site was also
contaminated by extremely toxic dioxins, mercury and other heavy
metals.
In the face of this new report that the radiation was even more
widespread, the government and Boeing - the company that's taken
ownership of the contaminated site - continue to stonewall.
Officials brushed off this report as based on false presumptions,
even though they withheld key information from researchers.
It's way beyond the point that a cover-up can work. We know that
the site is tainted, and the government and the site's owners
have a responsibility to neighboring communities to offer a full
accounting of all the hazards at the lab site.
If ever there was a time for a complete debriefing of the toxic
history of this hilltop site, this is it.
The truth, the whole truth, must come out.
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
*****************************************************************
75 Platts: Defense bill backs MOX program, with conditions on DOE spending
Congress in September passed an authorization bill expressing
qualified support for the construction of a facility to make
reactor fuel out of US surplus weapons plutonium. The language
on the mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel fabrication facility is part of
the fiscal 2007 National Defense Authorization Act and adds
another element to a House-Senate debate over funding for
construction of the plant.
In its version of the FY-07 Energy and Water Development
Appropriations bill, the House provided no funding for the
plant, which is a centerpiece of DOE's plutonium disposition
program. The full Senate has not approved its version of the
appropriations bill, but the Senate Appropriations Committee has
endorsed a bill that would give the project $325 million, $35
million above the Bush administration's request.
The defense authorization bill passed last month sets the
funding level at $264. million. But the report accompanying the
bill establishes a number of preconditions for any FY-07
spending on the program. The Secretary of Energy must obtain an
"independent cost estimate" for the surplus materials
disposition program, of which the MOX project is a part, and
must develop a "corrective action plan" for the issues raised by
a December 2005 DOE Inspector General report.
That report found that the projected cost of the MOX plant had
tripled in three years, in part because of weak management by
DOE and Duke Cogema Stone & Webster, the consortium the
department hired to build the plant at the department's Savannah
River Site in South Carolina. Since then, there have been
changes in the project, including new personnel at the top
levels of DCS, as the consortium is known, and a renegotiated
DOE-DCS contract.
Under the defense bill language, the secretary also must certify
that DOE intends to use the MOX facility for US plutonium
disposition regardless of the fate of an analogous project in
Russia. A key hurdle to the Russian project was removed last
month when the US and Russia signed a protocol providing
liability indemnification for US government employees and
contractors working in Russia, but officials from both countries
acknowledge that other obstacles remain.
The defense-bill language reverses a long-standing congressional
directive that the US and Russian programs should move in rough
parallel. Linton Brooks, the head of DOE's National Nuclear
Security Administration -- the section of DOE that is
responsible for the disposition program -- and Senator Pete
Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who chairs the Senate
Appropriations subcommittee that controls the funding for the
program, have both publicly supported such a "de-linking" of the
US and Russian programs.
The defense bill, like the House and Senate appropriations
bills, provides no funding for the Russian program. The
administration had requested $35 million for that effort.
Nikolai Spassky, the deputy head of Russia's Federal Atomic
Energy Agency, said that Russia was "not shirking" its
obligations under its disposition program. One complication has
been financing, he said. The Russians have long held the
position that the US and other international donors should
subsidize not only the construction but also the operation of
the Russian MOX plant.
There also have been "unforeseen technical problems," he said
October 3 at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in
Washington. The "practical implementation" of the "proposed MOX
technology" has been "much more complicated than originally
envisaged," he said. The "transfer" of the technology has been
"quite complicated," he said.
Russia was to build a MOX plant that was a "Russianized" version
of the DCS facility, which in turn is based on French technology
for LWR MOX fuel fabrication. But, after years of little or no
progress, the US and Russia are discussing alternatives,
including fast reactors, for Russia's disposition job.
Representative Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican who
strongly supports the MOX project, said through his press office
that he hoped the conditions imposed by the defense bill would
not slow down the project. Wilson "plans to work with the
Georgia and South Carolina delegations in urging the DOE to
provide the information as quickly as possible," spokeswoman
Kimberly Olive said.
An aide to Representative John Spratt said that he still hoped
the appropriators would provide the full administration request
but that the defense-bill provision represents "a very
reasonable compromise" and could serve as a basis for agreement
between the House and Senate appropriators. Like Wilson, Spratt,
a South Carolina Democrat, is a member of the House Armed
Services Committee.
The final defense-bill figure is $90 million higher than the one
in the House-passed bill. The Senate authorizers had provided
full funding. The language establishing conditions is very
similar to a provision in the House bill.
A long-time observer and supporter of the MOX program said there
recently has been a "studied effort" by the administration to
"reverse what appeared to be a seriously deteriorating
situation" in Congress, as well in talks with the Russians.
Created: October 9, 2006
e-mail now receive a monthly spreadsheet giving performance of
PWRs and BWRs by fuel cycle. This data gives NuclearFuel
subscribers a new tool to track how well nuclear units are
performing worldwide. It includes both raw data on the worksheet
labeled Data, and a handy viewer for individual unit data.
Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
[The McGraw-Hill Companies]
*****************************************************************
76 KnoxNews: DOE hopes to save tainted pond
Unusual proposal part of cleanup at former K-25 site
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
October 9, 2006
OAK RIDGE - To save a pond.
The Department of Energy has proposed an unusual and elaborate
strategy, loosely termed "ecological enhancement," to comply with
environmental laws and reduce the risks at a 25-acre pond laden
with polychlorinated biphenyls.
The pond is on the outskirts of the East Tennessee Technology
Park, the former K-25 uranium-enrichment plant, which is being
converted to private uses. Before DOE turns over the deed to the
sprawling plant site, the federal agency is obligated to clean up
the place, and that includes the holding pond known officially as
K-1007-P1.
Instead of using a traditional "muck-and-truck" cleanup approach
- draining, dredging and filling the pond with dirt - DOE wants
to keep the pond and revise the aquatic habitat and inhabitants.
That means removing the fish population, estimated at 100,000,
and either replacing it entirely or segregating the "good" fish
from the "bad" fish, returning the former to their home and
sending the others to a nearby grave.
The good fish, in this case, are sunfish that feed on
terrestrial insects and are largely uncontaminated. The bad fish
include carp, especially the grass carp that devour the pond's
vegetation, and the largemouth bass that feast on smaller fish
with no place to hide.
"The strategy will significantly enhance the quality of the pond
by putting in new vegetation and taking out the nonnative fish,"
said Mark Peterson, an environmental scientist at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory who came up with the idea. Peterson has been
monitoring pond conditions, including the PCB levels in fish,
since 1989.
Over time, once the ecological changes take hold, the
PCB-contaminated sediments will be covered over, said Jim
Kopotic, DOE's team leader for cleanup projects at the federal
site. That should reduce the potential for human health
concerns, even if the pond becomes more accessible in the
future, he said.
Also, a vegetative buffer will be established around the pond to
help keep geese from using the area, Kopotic said.
By the standards of DOE's Cold War nuclear sites, the pond is
relatively benign. Several drums of radioactive
something-or-other were dragged from the mud when the pond was
drawn down in the mid-1990s, but it's not overwhelmingly
polluted. The principal issue is the presence of PCBs, which are
an almost ubiquitous plague on the environment because of their
broad usage years ago in electrical transformers.
The PCBs likely reached the K-1007-P1 pond through the plant's
storm drainage system, some of which empties into the pond on
the way to Poplar Creek and eventually the Clinch River.
Kopotic, who worked at the Environmental Protection Agency for
14 years before coming to Oak Ridge in 1991, said the maximum
concentration of PCBs - about 11 parts per million - probably
wouldn't require a cleanup if found in soil at the property.
Because the PCBs are in the sediments and fish, however, the
potential risk mandates some action. The pond is on government
property and supposedly off-limits for fishing, but it's just a
baseball throw from state Highway 58, and security guards
occasionally have to tell adventurous anglers to skedaddle.
Kopotic emphasized that the pond remediation is only a proposal
at this point, although it is the preferred alternative.
In addition to saving the pond, the preferred alternative is the
cheapest option, with an estimated cost of $4.1 million. It
would cost about $10 million to close out the pond entirely,
according to DOE.
A public meeting on plans for K-1007-P1 and several smaller
ponds is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 19 at the DOE Information
Center, 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The project's engineering
evaluation/cost analysis, a 400-page document, is available for
public review at the center.
DOE is accepting public comments until Oct. 27, and Kopotic said
those would be used to tailor the plans for the pond.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is
supporting the preferred alternative.
"It does the least amount of ecological damage and still be
protective," said John Owsley, who heads the state's
environmental oversight office in Oak Ridge.
Owsley said he thought changing the pond's eco-system would
comply with requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the so-called
Superfund legislation.
Not everyone is so sure.
"We don't think this is a permanent solution," said Susan
Gawarecki, executive director of the Local Oversight Committee,
which studies environmental projects for local governments.
Removing the contaminated sediments once and for all might be
the best answer, Gawarecki said. Then, if so desired, the pond
could be re-established, she said.
"I think the crux of the matter is this pond or these ponds are
going to be in an industrial park where they're going to be
accessible by the public," she said. "If they were going to be
in Melton Valley (a waste-disposal area near ORNL), we wouldn't
really care about which remedy they chose."
Gawarecki said there are lingering questions about the inflow of
PCBs and the presence of grass carp. If someone introduced carp
by tossing fish into the pond years ago, it could happen again,
she said.
Kopotic said the preferred alternative would include work to
raise the level of Burchfield Road, which separates the pond
from Poplar Creek, to prevent runover during flood conditions.
Flooding may have been one of the ways unwanted fish entered the
pond.
"We don't want the wrong fish reintroduced," the DOE official
said.
Some supporters of the proposed plan simply want to keep the
pond because it looks nice.
"I think it's somewhat unique in that often you don't have an
industrial center with something that is both environmentally
pleasing and also being aesthetically pleasing," said Lawrence
Young, the president of the Community Reuse Organization of East
Tennessee.
CROET is the nonprofit organization promoting the conversion of
the federal site into a private industrial park, and Young said
the pond is a plus.
Bechtel Jacobs, DOE's environmental manager, is working with
CROET to restore the natural area around the pond. The plan is
to re-establish native prairie-type grasses.
Young said CROET officials hope future plans will eliminate the
need for fences and warning signs around the K-1007-P1 pond.
If the proposed plan gets final approval, work would begin on
the project next fall.
ORNL's Peterson said the "good" fish would probably be removed
using electro-shocking techniques. Those fish would be
transferred to pens in one of the nearby ponds, he said.
After the keepers have been removed, scientists likely would use
rotenone, a chemical solution, to kill the rest, Peterson said.
"It's a common fish-management strategy," he said.
Some folks are anxious to see what comes out of the pond. The
mammoth carp can be seen from the shores, and Peterson confirmed
that there are some lunker bass that weigh six pounds or more.
One of those largemouth bass might look nice on the wall in a
fisherman's den, but Peterson doesn't recommend it for the
dining table. "You wouldn't want to eat one," he said. "They're
a human health risk."
The Oak Ridge project involves a number of tools and techniques
commonly used in management of fisheries and wildlife and
ecological activities. The overall approach, however, is unusual
and apparently the first of its kind at a Department of Energy
cleanup site, Kopotic said.
Senior Writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.
MICHAEL PATRICK NEWS SENTINEL
A government sign warns about unsafe water in the 25-acre
K-1007-P1 pond beside the former K-25 uranium-enrichment plant in
Oak Ridge.
© 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
*****************************************************************
77 Tri-City Herald: DOE won't appeal fine for waste handling
Published Monday, October 9th, 2006
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
The Department of Energy has dropped its two-year-old appeal of
a $270,000 fine over handling of radioactive waste at the
Hanford nuclear reservation.
"We felt it was time to move on," said Colleen French, DOE
spokeswoman.
DOE and the Washington state Department of Ecology have
disagreed about what regulations apply when Hanford waste is
sent off-site for testing, and when the waste and contaminated
equipment are returned to the site.
The issue was raised in 2004 after 83 drums of laboratory
equipment, protective clothing and other debris contaminated
with Hanford waste were sent to Hanford from the Savannah River
National Laboratory in South Carolina.
The laboratory tested treatment methods, such as vitrification,
on samples of waste taken from Hanford's underground tanks of
hazardous chemical and radioactive waste. The waste was left
from the past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear
weapons program.
DOE said the waste was covered by an exemption from the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA, for waste residue
returned after off-site testing. The exemption was passed by the
Environmental Protection Agency after it concluded such small
samples posed minimal risks if work was done without the full
range of recovery act requirements.
The exemption also was intended to encourage laboratories to
conduct innovative treatability testing.
Getting overall permits to handle the waste under the recovery
act can be expensive and time consuming for laboratories, and
the amount of time they can keep the waste is limited to 90
days, said Richard Fortuna. He was head of the Hazardous Waste
Treatment Council, a trade group that wrote the exemption
adopted by EPA, and was scheduled to testify at the appeal
hearing.
But the state argued that the 83 drums could not be considered
residue and should be characterized as a new waste stream
subject to the same requirements for record-keeping and disposal
as any other lab waste.
The fine was issued because of problems with how the waste was
handled once it was returned to Hanford, rather than how it was
handled out-of-state, said Alexandra Smith, an attorney for the
state.
The Department of Ecology imposed the fine because some workers
were not adequately trained in dangerous or hazardous waste
management and workers failed to maintain required records for
the waste, according to the state.
The Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board agreed
with the state Department of Ecology, finding in a summary
judgment ruling that the 83 drums could not be considered
residues and should be subject to requirements of the recovery
act.
"The board is convinced that the goal of encouraging innovative
technology will not be substantially harmed by failing to exempt
contaminated laboratory equipment and debris," it wrote in a
June ruling.
An appeal hearing to resolve remaining issues was scheduled for
the last two weeks until DOE decided to drop the appeal. DOE has
complied with an administrative order issued in 2004 with three
pages of requirements, including compiling and submitting lists
and records to the state.
The appeal was brought by DOE, contractor Fluor Hanford and
subcontractor Duratek Federal Services, which now is part of
EnergySolutions. The fine was paid by Fluor, but DOE still must
consider whether it is a reimbursable cost under Fluor's
contract.
© 2006 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
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78 Salt Lake Tribune: Birthplace of bomb restored
Manhattan Project
By Deborah Baker
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated:10/09/2006 01:09:50 AM
This undated photo provided by the
Atomic Heritage Foundation shows the "high bay" building at Los
Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. The building was
part of V Site, a collection of wooden, shed-type structures
that were slated for demolition as part of a cleanup at Los
Alamos National Laboratory until preservationists jumped in. In
2000, the Cerro Grande fire swept through, destroying all but
the high bay building. The simple structure _ the first
Manhattan Project work site to be restored _ is a reminder of
the urgency with which scientists gathered in 1944 to design and
assemble the first atomic weapons.
+ »LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - Even as a secret community that gave
birth to the atomic bomb morphed into a bustling government-lab
town, many of its most historic sites remained tucked away from
view.
But preservationists have gone behind the security fences to
preserve for the first time a structure in which the Manhattan
Project scientists did their work at Los Alamos National
Laboratory. They contend the building is as significant as
George Washington's home or a Civil War battlefield.
This past weekend, a series of events marked the restoration
of a wooden, garage-like building where the world's first
plutonium bombs were assembled.
Cynthia Kelly is president of Washington, D.C.-based Atomic
Heritage Foundation, which is leading a drive to preserve key
atomic-age sites at Los Alamos; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and Hanford,
Wash.
''It doesn't look like much,'' she said. ''It's what happened
there. It takes you back in time.''
The simple structure is a reminder of the urgency with which
scientists gathered in New Mexico in 1943 to design and assemble
the first atomic weapons. There was no futuristic laboratory or
sophisticated equipment on the mesa top where the federal
government took over a boys' ranch school.
''It was seat-of-the-pants. They were jury-rigging stuff with
masking tape,'' Kelly said.
The newly restored ''high bay'' building was part of V Site,
a collection of wooden, shed-type structures slated for
demolition in a cleanup of the laboratory until preservationists
jumped in. In 2000, the Cerro Grande fire swept through,
destroying all but the high bay building.
McAllister Hull, then a 21-year-old Army sergeant, recalled
working in a casting building at V Site. He said his job was to
supervise crews casting the explosive lenses that would direct
pressure inward to compress a plutonium core in ''the gadget,''
as the prototype of the ''Fat Man'' bomb was called.
''We actually used a candy kettle . . . to melt the
explosives and then poured them into the mold to make the
lenses,'' said Hull, a former physics professor at
Yale University and the University of New Mexico.
The ''gadget'' was put together - minus the plutonium - at
the ''high bay'' building.
In July 1945, the bomb was fully assembled and detonated at
the Trinity Site, 200 miles to the south. Less than a month
later, a similar bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of
Nagasaki, three days after the uranium-based ''Little Boy'' bomb
was dropped on Hiroshima.
The ''high bay'' building, which Kelly said cost about $1
million to restore, is still behind security fences. Kelly said
although the building is inaccessible to the public, she hopes
that will change.
Weekend events included bus tours, a reception and dinner,
and a symposium featuring writers and artists.
Anti-nuclear activist Greg Mello, who heads the Los Alamos
Study Group, objects to the celebratory aura surrounding the
events. He said the events should have a ''tone of grief and
remorse'' since they commemorate work that led to the bombing of
the Japanese cities.
''The legacy is fear and . . . enormous national efforts
devoted to weapons of mass destruction, and we're still
struggling with that today,'' he said.
Funding for restoration of the ''high bay'' building came
from the federal government, $700,000 of it through the ''Save
America's Treasures'' program. Several other sites at Los Alamos
also are slated for preservation.
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
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79 lamonitor.com: Symposium discusses impact of Manhattan Project science on
current technology
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
Monitor Staff Writer
The past was contrasted with the present on Saturday, as a panel
of key figures in the Manhattan Project more than 60 years ago
offered their individual perspectives on how the nuclear age
shaped the world.
Those perspectives were later melded with words from federal and
national laboratory officials, who commented on how science and
creativity are approached to this day.
George Cowan, who conducted early research as part of the
Manhattan Project, said like other scientists and researchers
who were recruited to Los Alamos, he had been unsure of the
purpose of their work.
"It was obvious though, that we were working on a chain reaction
pile," he said. "There was a real world of science and I was
greatly influenced by working on the project."
Louis Rosen served as a member of the Manhattan Engineering
District's Project Y.
"The Manhattan Project required extraordinary creativity," Rosen
said. "There have been and will be major advances in science, as
it contributes greatly to technology. Creative technology is key
to progress and cannot be moved forward by industry alone.
Industries look at the bottom line."
Nerses Krikorian, joined the project in as a chemist and
described himself as "a child of the Manhattan Project."
"My professor told me of this opportunity that I would be a good
candidate for," Krikorian said. "Los Alamos has been a place
that I have grown up mentally, physiologically and historically.
We have grown up as a community."
Krikorian said that the flow of ideas and the voice of science
will never be muted.
"Washington impacts science whether we like it or not," he said.
"They control the purse strings, but can never stop our
expression of ideas."
Nancy Bartlit, president of the Los Alamos Historical Society,
expressed her enthusiasm for the symposium, as well as for other
events that marked the special weekend, which included a
reception for Manhattan Project veterans, a dedication ceremony
for the recently restored V site, tours of the Oppenheimer House
and bus tours of Manhattan Project sites.
"I can't express in words how I feel," she said. "Having the
dignitaries present is extremely gratifying. This event has a
role to play in that we want people to understand the historical
context of what these men did."
A separate panel consisted of David Crandall, assistant deputy
director of the NNSA; Terry Wallace, principal associate
director of LANL; and Tom Hunter, president of Sandia National
Laboratories.
Richard Rhodes, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "The
Making of the Atomic Bomb," delivered the keynote address.
© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
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80 WATE: DOE wants to try unprecedented pond cleanup at K-25 site
October 9, 2006
OAK RIDGE (AP) -- The Department of Energy is considering an
unusual way to clean up a contaminated pond at the former site of
the K-25 uranium-enrichment plant in Oak Ridge.
The Energy Department is in the middle of a massive cleanup
project at K-25, preparing it for private use.
But before the site can be turned over to new owners, the pond,
which contains polychlorinated biphenyls or PCB, must be cleaned.
The department traditionally uses what it calls the
"muck-and-truck" approach: draining, dredging and filling a pond
with dirt.
The new approach will preserve the pond and rectify the aquatic
habitat and wildlife.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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