***************************************************************** 12/17/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.297 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Hungarian nuclear plant's lifetime could be extended - 2 US experts arrive at Russian nuclear facility 3 Plans for nuclear power station in Archangel Region 4 Kazakh national nuclear company increases uranium production 5 Nuclear site security to be boosted 6 Putin Vows Aid to Kiev's Nuclear Plants 7 The big Yucca Mountain leak 8 Ex-Oregon governor to pitch Plant No. 1 9 Russia: Nuclear [waste] Warning 10 Russia to Build Nuclear Reactors 11 China: Nuke Power: More plants on the way 12 Greenpeace activists storm Australian nuclear reactor 13 Government renews opposition to Sellafield 14 Ireland and Norway discuss Sellafield "monster" 15 N. Korea Techs Study S. Korea Reactors 16 Nuclear Sites Ill-Prepared for Attacks, Group Says 17 Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor (extensive web resouces) 18 Reactor engineer says safety inadequate - 19 Greenpeace claims its proved Lucas Heights reactor is unsafe 20 46 arrests after Greenpeace occupies nuclear reactor in Sydney 21 Minister defends Lucas Heights security. 22 Nuke plant neighbors plan ahead 23 'Close Sellafield' call as reactors shut down after malfunction 24 UK and France scupper plans for tighter EU nuclear curbs 25 Calls to decommission nuclear reactor NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 USA to provide aid to Russia to protect nuclear materials at 2 Kazakh president hails nuclear-free status in independence day 3 Hanford Advisory Board important asset to keep 4 Times: Mossad chief says Iran developing nuclear, 5 BLAST FROM THE PAST / Researchers worry that radiation from 6 US to India: Beware, nukes ahead ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Hungarian nuclear plant's lifetime could be extended - minister BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 16, 2001 Text of report by Hungarian Duna TV on 15 December [Presenter] There is a real chance of extending the lifetime of the Paks nuclear power station, and for this reason the Environmental Protection Ministry is striving to minimize the security and environmental risks associated with the planned investment. This was said by [Environmental Protection Minister] Bela Turi-Kovacs at a briefing held at the power station. The environmental protection minister pointed out: The nuclear power station is due to stop operating in 2012, but as far as he knows there are no economic, technical or security policy restrictions to a further extension of its lifetime by 10 to 20 years. [Reporter] At the Paks nuclear power station, Environmental Protection Minister Bela Turi-Kovacs devoted special attention to the storage of spent fuel rods and waste of small and medium radioactivity. [Turi-Kovacs] We receive our information from the directorate which conducts regular checks. I believe that this directorate acts firmly, rigorously and always satisfactorily. These reports prove that storage is adequate. [Reporter] Apart from speaking about economical energy consumption, the minister, at his press briefing, said that the path of future was the use of alternative energy. However, the solution involving the smallest environmental risk must be chosen. The lifetime of the Paks nuclear power station, which meets European requirements, could be considerably extended beyond the planned closure in 2012. Source: Duna TV satellite service, Budapest, in Hungarian 1700 gmt 15 Dec 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material ***************************************************************** 2 US experts arrive at Russian nuclear facility BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 17, 2001 Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Krasnoyarsk, 17 December, correspondent Yuriy Khots: American and Russian experts are discussing the security of nuclear materials at the [Krasnoyarsk] chemical plant [Krasnoyarsk-26 nuclear facility in Zheleznogorsk], the plant's chief engineer Yuriy Revenko told ITAR-TASS. The current visit is just another step in bilateral cooperation on the security of the nuclear facility, where a nuclear reactor is used for producing weapons-grade plutonium, Revenko said. Several years ago the USA supplied the combine with special security equipment. After the events of 11 September [terrorist attacks in New York and Washington] both sides felt the need to enhance the security of the nuclear plant itself and the plutonium storage facilities. The US delegation came to Krasnoyarsk to discuss the funding of additional protection measures, Revenko said. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0612 gmt 17 Dec 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 3 Plans for nuclear power station in Archangel Region BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 16, 2001 Aleksandr Rumyantsev, the head of the Russian Federation Ministry of Atomic Energy, and Archangel Region head of administration Anatoliy Yefremov have signed a declaration of intent to design, build, and put in operation a nuclear heat and electric power station. The next steps - the research and a feasibility study - should be taken in 2002-2005. Large-scale consultations with the public will be held simultaneously... Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow, in Russian 11 Dec 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 4 Kazakh national nuclear company increases uranium production BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 16, 2001 The Kazakh national nuclear company Kazatomprom is on course to increasing annual extraction of uranium by 15 per cent in 2001, its president Askar Kasabekov said in an interview with the Kazakh newspaper Panorama. The company's share in the world uranium production now stands at 5 per cent, and is due to reach 7 per cent in 2005. Three new uranium mines, Karamurun South, Moinkum South and Akdala, were opened this year. Kazatomprom has developed new uranium fuel pellets with erbium oxide absorber, thus securing additional orders from Russia, and is now looking for customers in the West. Increased production, combined with ever lower costs, meant that the company was making profit even when uranium prices slumped in December 2000, Kasabekov said. In 2000, Kazatomprom's exports totalled nearly 17.5bn tenge, of which the CIS states accounted for 3,754m and the rest of the world, for 13,711m tenge. The company paid 2.4bn tenge to the treasury in tax and other payments, 60 per cent more than in 1999. By 2005, the figure will have reached 3.7bn. Kazatomprom's subsidiary, the UMZ public company, is now increasing beryllium production after signing contracts with the US company Brush Wellman and Japan's Marubeni. The company now has orders up to year 2010, and is building a new production line to increase its capacity. "By the end of 2003, Kazakhstan will be producing more beryllium than the USSR was in the best of times, with all production geared to the consumer market and destined for export," Kasabekov said. UMZ is also trying to increase tantalum production, for which is has many potential orders. To this aim it is developing the Verkhne-Irgizskoye deposit in Kazakhstan and also exploring the possibility of setting up joint ventures in Russia and Africa. At the moment Kazatomprom exports all its output, but it may turn to the domestic markets, both with some of its products and with its know-how. Kasabekov said in the interview Kazatomprom was conscious of environmental issues. It is currently involved in a major project to prevent pollution of the waters of the Irtysh basin with toxic and radioactive metals. Starting from next year, the company will need to raise 15-20m dollars in "soft ecological loans" for this purpose. It also intends to invite "a respected international organization" to carry out an ecological audit of its operations, Kasabekov said. Source: Panorama, Almaty, in Russian 14 Dec 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 5 Nuclear site security to be boosted news.com.au - 17 December 2001 From AAP NSW Police Commissioner Peter Ryan said extra police resources would be put in place to prevent any future security breaches at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor site. Almost 50 environmental protesters stormed the southern Sydney facility to protest about safety issues, particularly the choice of the site for a proposed new reactor. One protester chained himself to the top of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor. Mr Ryan said he was concerned about the protest and would be allocating extra staff to police the site. "These are the problems that we'll face ... I think it will be a continuing problem until they sort out the replacement of the present reactor," Mr Ryan told reporters. "We'll be applying more resources down there to prevent this happening again if we can." Earlier today Detective Inspector Laurie Pettiford, from Sutherland police, said 46 people were arrested and would be charged with trespass. They will face Sutherland Local Court later today, he said. He confirmed another protester had attached himself to a structure on the site. Two truckloads of demonstrators, some dressed as nuclear waste barrels, overran the southern Sydney facility, scaling fences and a 50-metre high radio tower this morning. Greenpeace said they were protesting against the safety of a proposed replacement nuclear reactor for Lucas Heights. "Obviously this sort of incident raises concerns," Det Insp Pettiford said. "There will be reviews of security arrangements." But he played down the seriousness of the breach. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) also defended security measures in a brief statement, saying deeper internal security measures were not compromised. "Relevant buildings have defence, in-depth, and these systems were not breached," the statement said. "The NSW police attended as part of standard operating procedures." One group of demonstrators burst through the front gates of the facility while three other groups scaled fences in the invasion today. Some climbed onto a waste-storage facility and unfurled banners saying: "Nuclear never safe". Greenpeace campaigner Stephen Campbell said: "A new reactor is unnecessary. "There's no solution to the problem of radioactive waste." Dozens of Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) workers were locked out while Australian Protective Services (APS) officers attempted to control the situation. Police and medical emergency response teams were also on the scene, but protesters began leaving the facility voluntarily shortly before 9am (AEDT). Today's protest came on the second day of a forum, being held in central Sydney, about the safety of the proposed replacement reactor. Matthew Davies, who works as a groundskeeper at the Lucas Heights reactor, said he initially thought the protesters may have been part of a terrorist attack. "My first thought was 'bin Laden, terrorist attacks in Australia'," he said. "And then I saw the Greenpeace (sign) and I thought 'oh that makes sense'." Martin Wood, also a groundskeeper, said the incident raised security concerns. "It seems a bit of a concern how easy they got in," he said. "We look after the grounds here and we want to have good security and if any protesters or any terrorism is going to happen here, we don't want to be stuck in the middle." However Mr Wood said he supported the activists' right to protest. Australian IT ***************************************************************** 6 Putin Vows Aid to Kiev's Nuclear Plants [http://www.moscowtimes.ru Monday, Dec. 17, 2001. Page 9 By Pavel Polityuk Reuters Gleb Garanich / Reuters Presidents Vladimir Putin and Leonid Kuchma said that once-sour relations between Russia and Ukraine are a thing of the past. KHARKIV, Ukraine -- Presidents Leonid Kuchma and Vladimir Putin hailed on Friday a new era of bilateral cooperation and agreed to work together to develop Ukraine's ailing nuclear power sector. Putin's visit to Ukraine, his sixth in two years, is being seen as a show of Moscow's renewed support for Kiev, its largest trading partner, after years of bitter political rows over gas debts ended with a deal in October. "We are speaking about changes in the quality of our relations. We have become closer as partners. We now talk more thoroughly about our joint economic and foreign policy," Putin told reporters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Kuchma said Ukrainian-Russian ties were at their strongest point in a long time. The statements mark a dramatic turnaround in relations, which soured after the collapse of the Soviet Union as Moscow and Kiev squabbled over the fate of the Black Sea Fleet and gas debts. Ukraine's initial drive to the West and Europe ruffled feathers in Moscow, but its latest overtures to the European Union and NATO appear to have Putin's tacit approval. In a measure of the thaw, Putin showed remarkable restraint this year when Ukrainian forces accidentally shot down a Russian airliner and denied involvement for a week. Russian officials went out of their way to say it should not mar relations. On Friday, Moscow promised more funds for Ukraine to complete work on two new nuclear reactors intended to replace the closed Chernobyl plant, site of the world's worst civil nuclear disaster in 1986. The governments plan to sign a financing deal by April, but it was not immediately clear how much money Russia was planning to lend. Russian experts estimate $400 million to $500 million is needed. Ukraine is in a dispute with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development over funding for the reactors. The EBRD has approved in principle a $215 million loan, but Kuchma last month dismissed the terms offered and accused Ukraine's previous government of betraying national interests by agreeing the deal. On Friday, Kuchma, standing side by side with Putin, said Ukraine would nonetheless continue its talks with the EBRD. "Ukraine is not throwing away the possibility of working with the EBRD," he told reporters. "But we are just saying: Do not push Ukraine into debt-slavery." Analysts say the loan from Russia would further increase Ukraine's heavy dependence on Moscow for energy. Ukraine relies on Russia for more than 60 percent of its energy needs. Putin also said the countries should coordinate their efforts to integrate into the global economy, including membership of the World Trade Organization. "We have many joint tasks, and one of them is to achieve the conditions to enter the WTO, which will correspond to the national interests of Russia and Ukraine," Putin told several hundred business leaders at a forum in Kharkiv. Ukraine and Russia are negotiating admission to the WTO, but the countries have to go a long way to reach a final agreement. In Kharkiv, a traditional center of support in Ukraine for closer cooperation with its eastern neighbour, hundreds of townspeople braved freezing temperatures to line the streets and cheer Putin and Kuchma during their trip to an aircraft factory. ***************************************************************** 7 The big Yucca Mountain leak FROM CARSON CITY: Las Vegas Business Press Archives December 07, 2001 By Dennis Myers On Nov. 27 and 28 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) advisory committee on nuclear waste was holding all-day hearings at Rockville Pike in Maryland on the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The members committee were going about their business in blissful ignorance of the ax that was about to fall. While they met, draft copies of a report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) were being dropped on newsroom desks all around Washington. It represented the biggest blow to the Yucca Mountain project in its 20-year history and comes on the heels of a dozen setbacks for the project all during 2001. Little known to the public, the GAO is the investigating arm of Congress. Known for its independence and probity, the agency has more than 3,000 employees (with an emphasis on accountancy and old fashioned gumshoe investigators) and issues about a thousand reports a year. The draft that was leaked while the committee met in Maryland was ruinous to the U.S. Department of Energy, the nuclear power lobby and members of Congress who have tried for years to force the opening of the dump. The Washington Post reported the report was particularly awkward because "it reflects the views of Bechtel SAIC Co." - the contractor hand-picked by DOE to run the Yucca project. The scathing document suggested DOE is being deceitful in its publicly announced plans, which "may not describe the facilities that DOE would actually develop" at the Yucca site. It further described energy officials as flailing about in policy darkness "unlikely to achieve its goal of opening a repository at Yucca Mountain by 2010" unable to reliably calculate "when and at what cost such a repository could be opened." It said that as the needs of safe storage have failed to prove out scientifically, parameters of the project have been adjusted and tailored to keep going anyway. And it recommended that George Bush indefinitely postpone designation Yucca as a suitable site. Whew. It's a good thing DOE chose Bechtel - what might a less beholden firm have found? Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham immediately fired a letter back to the GAO's comptroller general, saying the report is "fatally flawed" because (1) it has been contaminated by the influence of U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and other Nevada leaders and (2) it was leaked. The leak, he said, "taints the work product of any inquiry by GAO..." Abraham failed to produce any substantiation or evidence that Reid or anyone else has had any special impact on the review process, and his claim that the methods of the report's release cancels out any merit in it is little more than an attempt to deflect attention from its findings. But it is apparent that Abraham is certain to advise Bush not to abide by the GAO recommendations. Remarkably, the report got more attention in national publications than in Nevada, but state policymakers did not miss its importance. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman told a community panel, "I believe we've won this war." Reid called it "the beginning of the end of Yucca Mountain." Abraham's effort to undermine GAO's credibility is unlikely to carry much weight. Aside from its sterling history and prestige, the agency has a long history on the Yucca issue. Its present view of the project did not just arise overnight. It evolved. Back when Bob Miller was acting governor of Nevada, its favorable reports on the project drew attacks from Miller and praise form supporters of the project. Those supporters, having basked in the glow of the agency;s favorable reports, are now in a poor position to diss GAO's less favorable assessments. Since those early assessments, GAO has increasingly identified problems and warned administrations of both parties of the growing difficulties. In a December 1992 report during the transition from George Bush the Elder to Bill Clinton, GAO was already forewarning that the target launch for the dump of 2010 "appears unlikely" and that "siting a nuclear waste repository seems as distant as it did 10 years ago". (Even a 2010 dump opening would be 12 years after the original target date." On Jan. 11, during the transition from Clinton to Bush the Younger, the GAO issued a statement calling attention to conflicts between the NRC and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on radiation risks and faulted the NRC's staff skills for the Yucca project. Moreover, GAO this year sued Dick Cheney who, as vice president, withheld documents and information the agency needed on waste issues, but dropped the suit after Sept. 11 in the interest of 'enhancing homeland security... and combating terrorism". This is not an agency that is easy to discredit. The Nevada Democratic Party last week, issued a statement accusing Bush and Abraham of ignoring the report in order to "force feed the proposed nuclear waste dump to Nevada" but lumping the two men together may well be premature. Reid has previously noted that Bush has been helpful to Nevada, particularly by requiring EPA instead of NRC standards governing the suitability process. In addition, with the Senate so closely divided, a good way to torpedo Nevada Sen. John Ensign would be for Bush to side with Abraham. When Abraham was appointed energy secretary and his campaign contributions from the nuclear power industry were in the news, Ensign nervously pointed out that Bush had made Nevada some promises in the 2000 campaign: "This was very rare across the country for a local issue to be played in a presidential race and so we're going to hold the administration to those promises..." ***************************************************************** 8 Ex-Oregon governor to pitch Plant No. 1 This story was published Sat, Dec 15, 2001 By Chris Mulick Herald staff writer Energy Northwest has hired a team headed by former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt to find buyers for electricity that could be produced by a mothballed Hanford nuclear power. The 16-member public power consortium has been studying the viability of finishing its Plant No. 1 north of Richland but has been stymied by a lack of interest among Northwest public utilities. This week, the utility approved a deal with the consulting team of Goldschmidt, his wife Diana Snowden and Tom Imeson to review recent feasibility studies conducted for the project and pitch the plant to potential partners. Goldschmidt also was U.S. Transportation secretary under President Jimmy Carter and is a former Portland mayor. Snowden and Imeson are former executives at PacifiCorp. "It's a pretty impressive team," said John Cockburn, chairman of Energy Northwest's executive board. The contract takes effect today and runs through April 1, said Energy Northwest spokeswoman Laura Dovey. A final report is due April 15, and compensation is not to exceed $200,000. That would push the total price tag of studying the plant's revival to almost $1 million more than last year. The plant was one of five nuclear projects the consortium began building in the 1970s. Only the Columbia Generating Station was ever completed, and Energy Northwest must find alternative uses for the other plants or demolish them. At 60 percent finished, Plant No. 1 was closest to completion. Goldschmidt and company are being hired instead of naming an independent review team as planned earlier. As originally envisioned, that team would have consisted of recognizable figures who would have been responsible for reviewing recent studies. It was hoped its independent nature also would give credibility to the effort and allow the consortium to make a better pitch to a region that may not support more nuclear power. But it became a moot point when no interest materialized from potential buyers. Prices on wholesale markets were soaring when Energy Northwest commissioned a series of studies on finishing the project but have since receded. Staff now believes the plant would produce power at a rate between 3.9 cents per kilowatt- hour and 5.1 cents per kilowatt- hour, figures that are far above today's market but might fall in line with future market prices. Those figures assume the plant would be finished using tax-exempt bonds. To attain such status, at least 90 percent of the 1,300 megawatts the plant would produce would have to be sold to public utilities. Otherwise, financing costs would surge higher and make the price of the plant's power even less competitive. So far, no one's called. "There's no entity or collection of entities in the region that are showing interest in completing the plant," Cockburn said. "But there might be something out there on the national scene. We don't know for sure." He figures Snowden and Imeson have the insight into the industry and Goldschmidt has the political and corporate contacts to find out. And if they find interest in using the plant for something other than power generation, that works, too. "Maybe something else will come up," Cockburn said. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 9 Russia: Nuclear [waste] Warning Monday, Dec. 17, 2001. Page 4 MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia is facing a crisis in the storage and disposal of nuclear waste, the Audit Chamber said Friday. Over the past 50 years, Russia has accumulated waste with a combined radioactivity of more than 6 billion curies that it does not have the capacity to store and dispose of, the parliamentary watchdog said in a press release. That amount is about 120 times the radiation released in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, it said. The Audit Chamber said the country's system of nuclear storage facilities was on the verge of collapse due to a lack of government attention, funding and legislation. It said a 1996-2000 government program for nuclear waste disposal received only 10.7 percent of the necessary funding. The Audit Chamber will send a report of its investigation to the State Duma, the Federation Council, the Cabinet, the Nuclear Power Ministry and the Finance Ministry, it said. [http://www.moscowtimes.ru/ ***************************************************************** 10 Russia to Build Nuclear Reactors Las Vegas SUN December 17, 2001 MOSCOW (AP) - Russia will build at least four nuclear reactors at home and others in China, Iran, India and ex-Soviet republics as part of an ambitious plan to revive the atomic industry after the Chernobyl disaster, the nation's top nuclear power official said Monday. "Russia's nuclear power industry is now coming through what can be called the post-Chernobyl renaissance," Nuclear Power Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said at a news conference. A reactor at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, at that time a part of the Soviet Union, exploded in 1986, contaminating a huge area and sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe. The world's worst nuclear accident is believed to have killed some 8,000 people in the explosion and aftermath. The catastrophe long stalled plans to build new nuclear reactors. But nuclear fears have gradually faded, and blackouts and electricity shortages in the post-Soviet turmoil have raised interest in building new power plants. In March, Russia launched its first nuclear reactor since the Chernobyl catastrophe, at the southern Rostov plant. Rostov's 1,000-megawatt reactor is of the VVER-1000 type using pressurized water to cool its fuel rods instead of the less-stable graphite used in RBMK reactors such as the one that exploded at Chernobyl. International industry trade groups and environmental watchdogs acknowledge the VVER-1000 model is the safest of Russia's reactors, but they say it is less reliable than modern Western counterparts. Next year, Russia will launch another nuclear reactor near the western city of Kursk, this one of the modernized RBMK type, Rumyantsev said. In 2003, Russia will put into service another VVER-type reactor at the Kalinin plant, and will launch a second reactor of that type in Rostov in 2005. In 2009 a new fast-neutron reactor will be launched at the northern Beloyarsk plant, Rumyantsev said. The nuclear ministry is considering plans to complete another two nuclear reactors in Ukraine, unfinished since Soviet times, and another one in the ex-Soviet republic of Kazakstan, Rumyantsev said. The ministry has also signed contracts to build nuclear power plants in China, India and Iran. The United States has long pushed Moscow to abandon its $800 million deal with Tehran, voicing concern that Iran could use the technology to develop nuclear weapons. Moscow has dismissed the U.S. warnings, saying that the reactor at Bushehr can be used only for civilian purposes and will be under international control. Rumyantsev said the Bushehr reactor would be finished by 2005 and reaffirmed that the project posed no risks for nuclear weapons proliferation. "It fully corresponds to all requirements of the international law and Russia's international obligations," he said. On other issues, Rumyantsev said: - Russia remains unable to reach an agreement with the European Union nations willing to provide aid for dismantling Russia's decommissioned nuclear submarines. Russia can't accept the EU's demand that Russia accept full legal responsibility for all nuclear risks, offer more breaks and give Western officials unlimited access to all dismantling sites; - Despite much-publicized plans to accept spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing and storage, Russia has so far failed to wedge itself into the market dominated by Britain and France. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 11 China: Nuke Power: More plants on the way (12/17/2001) (China Daily) China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), the sole State-owned nuclear energy conglomerate, wants to build a new nuclear power plant in East China's Zhejiang Province. CNNC President Li Dingfan said the company is asking the central government to allow it to build a 2 million kilowatts nuclear power plant in Sanmen, Zhejiang, near the Qinshan nuclear power plant, China's first self-designed nuclear plant. Li, who attended the 10-year anniversary of the Qinshan plant's operations last weekend, said the US$3 billion plan hinges on the government's approval. "Nuclear power is clean, safe and efficient. It is especially useful in areas like Sanmen, which is in need of electricity but lacks extensive power grids, Li said. Yu Peigen, general manager of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Company, said the success of the Qinshan plant in the last decade proves that nuclear power is of great economic and social benefit. By the end of last month, the Qinshan plant had generated 16.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, posting a turnover of 4.9 billion yuan (US$591.7 million). No pollution or leaked radiation has been found over the last 10 years, local environment supervision institutions claimed. Qinshan plant, with a total installed capacity of 300,000 kilowatts, is now one of two nuclear power plants in operation in the country. The other, with a capacity of 900,000 kilowadtts, is in Daya Bay in South China's Guangdong Province. Besides another four 6.6-million-kilowatt plants under construction now, the central government has indicated it will build more nuclear power plants in the next five years, though the exact number has not yet been decided. Coastal provinces including Zhejiang, Shandong and Guangdong are vying for a plant. Sun Guangdi, a senior CNNC official, said the proposed reform of the power industry could weigh down the profitability of nuclear power plants because of the high expense. Yu called on the government to grant favourable policies to nuclear power plants to support the fledgling industry. "A child needs a hand to walk before he can run," Yu said. Nuclear power represents 1 per cent of the country's total power output, much lower than the 17 per cent average for nuclear power as opposed to conventional power in advanced countries. Four nuclear power projects, with a total installed capacity of 6.6 million kilowatts, are now under construction in China, including the second-phase construction of the Qinshan nuclear plant. CNNC officials said the US$1.8-billion second phase of Qinshan, with a capacity of 600,000 kilowatts, could begin commercial operation in June. The third phase, with a combined capacity of 1.4 million kilowatts, is expected to generate electricity by 2003. Copyright 2001 By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights ***************************************************************** 12 Greenpeace activists storm Australian nuclear reactor (12/17/2001) (Agencies) Greenpeace activists stormed a nuclear reactor in an early morning raid here Monday, occupying high-security locations at the facility, the environmental group said. A four-wheel-drive vehicle was used to block gates while two trucks carrying about 30 protesters dressed as nuclear waste barrels, ran into the grounds of the Lucas Heights plant, Australia's only nuclear reactor, which produces isotopes for medical products. One team of protesters scaled a radio tower and another group of six climbed to the top of the reactor facility. Others climbed onto a waste-storage facility and unfurled banners. Greenpeace campaigner Stephen Campbell said activists were protesting against the safety of a proposed replacement nuclear reactor for Lucas Heights. "A new reactor is unnecessary," Campbell said. "There's no solution to the problem of radioactive waste." Dozens of Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation workers have been locked out of the facility while government security officers attempt to regain control of the plant. Police and medical emergency response teams were brought in. The protest comes on the second day of a forum, being held in central Sydney, about the safety of the proposed replacement reactor. Copyright 2001 By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 Government renews opposition to Sellafield Last updated: 17-12-01, 16:05 The Government today issued an renewed plea to Britain to halt the scheduled commissioning of the mixed-oxide (MOX) plant at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing complex. The Minister with responsibility for Nuclear Safety, Mr Joe Jacob, made the appeal after demanding full clarification from the British authorities about the shutdown of a number of reactors at Sellafield in recent days. The Government also received support from Norway today in its efforts to force the total closure of Sellafield. In talks with Mr Jacob, Norwegian Environment Minister Mr Borge Brenda said his government believed the discharges from the Cumbrian plant were responsible for an increase in radioactivity off the coast of Norway. He said: "We are giving Ireland full support on this." After his discussions with Mr Jacob, Mr Brenda departed for a visit to Britain which includes a trip to Sellafield. Mr Jacob said: "I am again calling on Britain not to proceed and commission MOX, pending legal actions that are under way." Speaking on weekend reports of precautionary reactor closedowns at the controversial complex, the Irish minister claimed: "We were not advised of that in line with stated agreements. "We are protesting about that, and this clearly justifies our Government's determination to have Sellafield closed. "It also serves to underpin the importance of the legal actions and avenues being currently pursued by us." An Irish bid to stop the MOX commissioning was rejected earlier this month by the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. In its ruling, the UN court allowed the British government to go-ahead with the production of MOX at the plant under condition that it provides detailed plans on how it intends to monitor the risks and effects of the operation on the environment. Part of Ireland's case against Sellafield at the tribunal was based on the possibility of terrorist strikes on the plant in the wake of the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. From The Irish Times ***************************************************************** 14 Ireland and Norway discuss Sellafield "monster" Reuters | Ananova | Sky News | Photos Monday December 17, 02:55 PM By Alex Richardson DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish nuclear safety minister Joe Jacob has held talks with Norwegian environment minister Borge Brende to discuss their countries' opposition to the Sellafield nuclear power plant. In a statement on Monday Jacob said the meeting, in Dublin, had focused on Ireland's legal moves against the plant, which it considers a major health threat. Brende said Norway was considering its own legal options against the plant. "As marine nations we share a common sense of responsibility towards our seas. Consumers are increasingly and justifiably demanding uncontaminated food from uncontaminated sources," said Jacob. "Radioactive pollution in the seas caused by complexes such as the monster that is Sellafield -- which in our view have no economic justification whatsoever -- is the last thing fishing nations such as Ireland and Norway can tolerate." Brende was leaving the Irish capital for talks in London with British ministers Margaret Beckett and Micheal Meacher later on Monday, and was due to visit the Sellafield plant on Tuesday. "The Nordic countries have always been most supportive of Ireland's stance and opposition to Sellafield," said Jacob. "I am particularly gratified that at this early stage in the Norwegian government's time in office that they are in the process of examining their own legal options in relation to Sellafield." Two weeks ago a United Nations court refused Ireland's request for an injunction to block the start up of a 472 million pound nuclear fuel manufacturing plant on the Sellafield site, scheduled to begin operations on Thursday. The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered the British and Irish governments to co-operate and submit written reports to the tribunal by Monday. Ireland is considering a complaint to the OSPAR tribunal which rules on the OSPAR convention on maritime issues in the northeastern Atlantic, and a possible challenge in the European Court of Justice. Ireland has long complained of nuclear pollution from Sellafield, just across the Irish Sea in Cumbria, on England's northwest coast. Since September 11 Ireland has also raised fears the plant could be the target of an attack. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 15 N. Korea Techs Study S. Korea Reactors World - Associated Press Monday December 17 7:11 AM ET By PAUL SHIN, Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea ( (AP) - Twenty North Korean nuclear experts began a two-week tour of South Korean nuclear power plants on Monday - a visit that comes while Pyongyang has stepped up its anti-U.S., anti-South Korean rhetoric. The visit is part of a U.S. agreement to build nuclear power plants and train workers in the North. But it coincides with North Korean statements attacking the United States for demanding inspections of its suspected nuclear program, among other issues. Officials said the North Koreans, led by Kim Hui-moon, a Cabinet-level official, flew to Seoul from Beijing on Sunday and were taken by car on Monday to the east coast village of Ulchin, where four French-built nuclear reactors are operating. They were the first North Koreans to visit South Korea since official dialogue between the two Koreas was halted in mid-November amid a breakdown in Cabinet-level talks. ``They are here for education and training,'' said Lim Ui-do, a South Korean official assigned to the U.S.-led international consortium that is building two modern nuclear power plants in North Korea ( The two Western-designed reactors are a reward for the communist regime's freeze of its suspected nuclear weapons program under a 1994 accord with the United States. As part of the accord, the American-led Korean Peninsula Energy Development Program is required to train hundreds of North Koreans who will operate the two reactors. Consortium officials say that the completion of the two reactors in North Korea, originally set for 2003, will have to be delayed for several years because of funding and other problems. The 20 North Koreans were the first to be sent to South Korea for training. By the end of next year, 290 more North Koreans are scheduled to be trained at South Korean facilities, officials said. When finished, the U.S.-designed light-water reactors will replace the North's Soviet-designed, graphite-moderated reactors, which experts say produce greater amounts of weapons-grade plutonium. The Korean Peninsula was divided in 1945. Today, they share the world's most heavily armed border. About 37,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. The war ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, and the North and South are still technically at war. On Sunday, North Korea said it was not afraid to go to war with the United States, accusing Washington of trying to make it the next target after Afghanistan in the U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign. Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 Nuclear Sites Ill-Prepared for Attacks, Group Says December 17, 2001 DOMESTIC SECURITY By MATTHEW L. WALD The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The Skeptical Environmentalist Find out more about this online course at Fathom Examine facts and myths about the state of our environment. WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 — The security drills created by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure that reactor security guards can repel terrorists involve mock attacks by only three intruders, assisted by one confederate inside the plant, according to a nuclear safety group. Even against such limited challenges, crews at nearly half the reactors have scored poorly on the drills, according to documents assembled by the group, the Committee to Bridge the Gap, based in California. In an article in the January issue of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (http://www.thebulletin.org), Daniel Hirsch, the president of Bridge the Gap, contends that the drills are unrealistic, especially in light of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, which involved 19 hijackers operating in four well-coordinated teams. "The N.R.C. and the industry seem to be stuck in a time warp of a quarter of a century ago, and are simply hoping that the problem goes away," Mr. Hirsch said. He called for upgrading the level of assumed threat that is the basis for designing protections of nuclear power plants. Federal regulations call for plants to be prepared to deal with "a determined violent external assault, attack by stealth or deceptive actions of several persons." The attackers are to be assumed to have light weapons, a four-wheel-drive vehicle and help from a knowledgeable accomplice in the plant. But the regulations do not call for protections against attackers with aircraft or boats, even though many plants are on lakes, rivers or seashores or are in zones where flying is not tightly restricted. The regulations require a minimum of five guards on duty at plants — enough to outnumber the attackers, by their calculations. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's documents call this a matter of "conservatism," and the agency has said that the threat of a larger attack is "not credible." Commission officials have said that the meaning of "several" attackers in their regulations is secret, but a 1976 policy paper identifies it as three. The number was made public in a 1982 decision about licensing the Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Diablo Canyon reactors. At the regulatory commission, William M. Beecher, the director of public affairs, said he could not confirm that the number was three. "We cannot discuss safeguards information," Mr. Beecher said. "Regardless of what's in the public record, I can't break security." In 1977, the regulatory commission found that "on the basis of intelligence and other relevant information available to the N.R.C., there are no known groups in this country having the combination of motivation, skill and resources to attack either a fuel facility or a nuclear power reactor." At the time, the agency said it would review the issue in the future. Mr. Hirsch said the current regulations were obsolete long before Sept. 11. He cited an attack planned by the radical environmental group Earth First in 1986 against the three- reactor Palo Verde nuclear complex, in Arizona. The group tried to cut power lines leading to the plant. Had it succeeded, instruments controlling the reactors could have lost power. Mr. Hirsch's group has tried repeatedly to get the commission to toughen its security standards. The agency did tighten its rule setting safeguards against truck bombs in 1993. That was a reaction to the terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center's parking garage and an incident in which a former mental patient sped past the guard shack at the Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania and crashed his station wagon into the plant. Mr. Hirsch said the commission had taken its action extremely late, ignoring a previous series of huge truck bomb attacks abroad. But Mr. Beecher said that the commission was conducting a "top to bottom review" of security and that many states had called out state troopers or the National Guard to help secure the reactors. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 17 Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor (extensive web resouces) A Guide to Information Sources about Australia's Research Reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney [http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/pwc/ansto/ncpindex.htm] The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Public Works tabled this report in August 1999. Copies of the full report are available from this site in PDF format. [http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/cnrr000.html] Part of the official [http://www.ansto.gov.au/] (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) web site, this page provides links to questions and answers about the replacement reactor, the EIS website, press releases and images of past, current and proposed activities of ANSTO. [http://www.ppk.com.au/eis_reactor.html] This site is maintained by PPK Environment & Infrastructure whowere commissioned to prepare the EIS. It contains information on the draftEIS, the EIS process, the EIS study team, EIS studies and communicating with the EIS study team. [http://www.ea.gov.au/assessments/epip/notifications/lucas/index.html] Provided by the Australian EIA Network, Environment Australia, this page links to the Environment Assessment Report, the EIS determination,the Final Guidelines for the EIS and other technical reports. [http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/pgrad/phdthesis/JimGreen/reactorreview.html] Sections of a PhD thesis by [http://www.geocities.com/jimgreen3/] , Science and Technology Studies, University of Wollongong, NSW, July 1997. It covers the recent history of debates over the replacement of the one operating research reactor in Australia, HIFAR, focusing on the 1992-93 Research Reactor Review. [http://www.uic.com.au/nip31.htm] Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 31, October 1997, published by the [http://www.uic.com.au/] which is funded by companies involved in uranium exploration, mining and export in Australia. Usage of HIFAR, the workings of HIFAR, cooling, moderation, control, safety, discharges and spent fuel are discussed. [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nfz/nfz/lucas.html] Maintained by the [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nfz/nfz/index.html] , this page provides links to background information on the issues. [http://www.sea-us.org.au/no2reactor/lucasheights.html] [http://www.sea-us.org.au/] , the Sustainable Energy and Anti-Uranium Service provides background information for schools and the community on nuclear issues including Lucas Heights. [http://www.acay.com.au/~ssec/nuclear.htm] The Nuclear Study Group is based at the Sutherland Shire Environment Centre. This page provides links to their Archive which includes information sheets produced by the group. Media Releases The following media releases provide the views of various people andorganisations relating to the nuclear reactor issue - + [http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/cnrr000.html] + [http://www.isr.gov.au/media/archive/september97/284-97.html] - Minister for Science and Technology, Peter McGauran,3 September 1997 + [http://www.science.org.au/academy/media/reactor.htm] - Australian Academy of Science, 4 September 1997 + [http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/fasts/1997/Reactor.html] - Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies, 8 September1997 + [http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/pr1398.html] - ANSTO, 16 November 1998 + [http://www.ea.gov.au/minister/env/99/mr30mar99.html] - Minister for the Environment and Heritage, 30 March 1999 Other Information From the Media + [http://www.slnsw.gov.au/infoquick/] - an index to articles in the Sydney Morning Herald produced by the State Library of NSW. A search on "Lucas Heights" will produce a list of articles covering issues relating to the reactor since 1988. + [http://www.abc.net.au] - a search of the site under "Lucas Heights" produces various references including [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s366.htm] , an Ockham's Razor transcript of 28 December 1997 in which Jim Green discusses the issues, [http://www.abc.net.au/news/97/09/03/970903_44.htm] , an ABC news report from September 3 1997 and [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s10730.htm] , a Background Briefing transcript from 29th March 1998. ***************************************************************** 18 Reactor engineer says safety inadequate - smh.com.au - National Monday, December 17, 2001 A former engineering director at Australia's only nuclear reactor said today that safety measures at the existing facility were inadequate and did not cover public safety. Speaking at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) public forum on the building of a new reactor at Sydney's Lucas Heights, Tony Woods said the facility "didn't have adequate protection for anything". "Our (safety) procedures are so cumbersome, and they'd take so long to implement, they'd be ineffective," he said. Mr Woods, who retired in 1991 after 30 years service at Lucas Heights, said the "safety culture" at the facility had to be greatly improved. He said the current Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) safety plan only considered plant employees and did not include any measures for the public. Mr Woods said the Sutherland Shire Council's contingency plan anticipated many emergencies, including earthquakes, but did not consider a nuclear accident. "If you look at the plan regarding the public, there's no mention of the reactor. It's like it isn't there," he said. He cited the example of a reactor employee who was refused admission to Sutherland Hospital, one of the nearest medical facilities to Lucas Heights, because of a wound that was contaminated. Mr Woods urged planning for a worst-case scenario of complete core meltdown plus major containment failure, including evacuation procedures and prior distribution of medicines. He also said a smaller research reactor like the one planned would be more vulnerable to an act of sabotage or terrorism because it isn't as well fortified. "The main reason a terrorist would attack this (facility) is not to kill a lot of people but to terrify them," he said. "If we've got a good plan we can protect people ... that's more effective than fortifying the reactor." But there was one very significant positive in Mr Woods' presentation - nuclear accidents were not as catastrophic as people imagined. He said research showed that many of the illnesses anticipated after the accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, including leukaemia, did not manifest themselves among the population as expected. Thyroid cancer was the only illness that boomed after Chernobyl, which Mr Woods said could be nipped at the bud by using iodine tablets. He said the biggest health hazard in the event of a reactor accident was the psychological effect of the incident, and better communication was needed. "People don't have the correct perspective as far as radiation is concerned," he said. "You'd go in an get an X-ray and you wouldn't ask what the dosage is. "I think ANSTO has a problem in so much as it likes to sugar-coat its information. "They feel the public can't take information that could cause them concern. "I think (consulting and informing external bodies) is better for the project and better for everyone." AAP ***************************************************************** 19 Greenpeace claims its proved Lucas Heights reactor is unsafe Radio Australia News - Greenpeace claims its proved Lucas Heights reactor is unsafe The environmental group Greenpeace says it has proved Australia's nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney is unsafe, by occupying the facility. Johnn Thompson reports ... guards at the front gate were distracted by one group of activists, while another group raced inside: "The action began without warning just after 7.15 this morning. Two rental trucks drove up to the entrace and stopped. Thirty protestors dressed as nuclear barrels and hidden inside, got out and ran through the front gate. They've climbed the radio tower ... unfurled the anti-nuclear banner ... and they've climbed the nuclear building itself. Now a paraglider is buzzing overhead. Stephen Campbell is Greenpeace's Nuclear Campaign Co-ordinator. "This particular facility is unsafe. It will produce radioactive waste which threatens the environment for thousands of years, and of course, since September the 11th, it's the wrong location, the wrong technology, at the wrong time." The campaign is continuing here. Police have just arrived." 17/12/01 10:01:32 | ABC Radio Australia News ***************************************************************** 20 46 arrests after Greenpeace occupies nuclear reactor in Sydney Radio Australia News - The environmental group Greenpeace has declared its occupation of Australia's only nuclear reactor a success, after a security review was ordered. Police arrested 46 activists after anti-nuclear banners were flown from several buildings and structures at the Lucas Heights facility in Sydney. Greenpeace spokesman Stephen Campbell has criticised the lack of security at the site. "It's quite obvious nuclear facilities are insecure. There should be a move towards stopping building them around the world and closing them down. They're a security risk. Even the international Atomic Energy Agency agrees with that. They say that nuclear facilities are indefensible." 17/12/01 17:06:27 | ABC Radio Australia News ***************************************************************** 21 Minister defends Lucas Heights security. 17/12/01. ABC News Online Minister defends Lucas Heights security Federal Science Minister Peter McGauran says he is confident security measures at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney are adequate, despite a major protest this morning. Dozens of Greenpeace demonstrators walked through the front entrance of the facility this morning, unfurling anti-nuclear banners on a radio tower and the reactor building. More than 40 people were arrested. Mr McGauran says guards and police quickly had the situation under control. "We won't be rushed into any change of security procedures, because we know we have very strong security," he said. "It was really a decision by the guards at the time to make a risk assessment, and they decided these demonstrators, particularly given their large numbers, could not be stopped. "But quickly New South Wales police could be called," he said. © 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 22 Nuke plant neighbors plan ahead mcall.com - From The Morning Call Since terrorist attacks, Perkiomen Valley School District, near Limerick, has re-examined safety procedures. By FRANK DEVLIN Of The Morning Call December 16, 2001 Until Sept. 11, the superintendent of the Perkiomen Valley School District wasn’t worried about the Limerick nuclear power plant less than 10 miles away. “We were taking for granted that everything was safe,” Priscilla L. Feir said. But since the terrorist attacks, the district has been forced to evaluate its plans for an emergency at the Montgomery County plant. After consulting with the county Public Safety Department, Feir realized that the district did not have an ample supply of food and water — the county recommended three days’ worth — in the event students and staff are ordered to stay inside and wait for radiation to pass. Now the district does, she said, and “is better for it.” Feir’s experience is one of the ways the Limerick plant and the people who live and work within 10 miles of it — the area considered at higher risk of fatalities occurring immediately if radiation is released — are examining and clarifying how they would react to a disaster. The Lehigh Valley is not in the 10-mile emergency planning zone. With Allentown about 40 miles from the plant, the Valley is part of what’s known as the 50-mile ingestion planning zone. Food and water from within the larger zone could be declared off limits because of nuclear contamination, said Rosetta Virgilio, a spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Lehigh Valley also has sites, including Emmaus High School, where children within the 10-mile area would be bused to wait for reunions with their families. In Trappe, the contingency plans include busing schoolchildren to North Penn High School in Towamencin Township, where their parents would meet them, and setting up a temporary town hall in Norristown, Trappe Borough Manager Alan Cartacki said. Cartacki, who has been fielding Limerick-related calls from residents since the terrorist attacks, said, “Up until Sept. 11, I don’t think I took one phone call” about the plant. Most people want to know what would happen if terrorists crashed a plane into the plant’s two reactors. Cartacki told them no radiation would be released. But Virgilio said some experts aren’t sure. “The plants were designed to withstand an accidental small-plane crash,” she said. How they would fare in a Sept. 11-type attack is still being studied. The reinforced concrete and steel dome over reactors might repel a jet, she said. And reactors are low to the ground, making them much more difficult targets than the World Trade Center towers, which were “up there and out there.” The plant, run by Exelon Corp., is reminding its neighbors that the three-minute siren that indicates trouble isn’t necessarily a signal to flee. Exelon spokeswoman Lisa A. Washak said the siren is to signal people to turn on their radios and get instructions. What Limerick’s neighbors aren’t doing — at least not in ways that are apparent to government officials or Exelon — is rallying against the plant. The relative calm is in contrast to the feelings in communities surrounding the Vermont Yankee plant, the Indian Point plant in New York state and other nuclear facilities, where hundreds of people have packed school auditoriums to criticize government officials about perceived problems with plant security and evacuation plans. Cartacki said the lack of public outcry near the Limerick plant might reflect that people are simply used to the plant and realize the risks, which Cartacki believes are small. But it does not mean Limerick’s neighbors believe the plans they would presumably follow in case of a radiation release are foolproof. For example, Feir said, the Limerick plan calls for schoolchildren to be evacuated before the rest of the public is told to leave the area. It’s a nice idea, she said, but in reality, word that children are being evacuated is likely to spread, prompting others to leave too, and possibly clogging roads. And some people might foil plans to make all lanes one-way away from the plant by driving against traffic to check on family members, said David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists. However, Lochbaum said, planning for the “wild card” of how people might react is a difficult thing to do. Plans to evacuate The federal government requires nuclear plants and local governments to have evacuation plans for everyone within a 10-mile radius of a plant. Depending on the governor, an evacuation in Pennsylvania could be mandatory or recommended, said April Hutcheson, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. Specific evacuation information is available in phone books and through other sources in communities in the 10-mile emergency planning zone. People living more than 10 miles from a plant might have to evacuate eventually, Lochbaum said, but people who live closest to the plant have less time to escape radiation. People are in less danger the farther they are from a nuclear plant because the radiation dissipates as heavy particles fall to the ground, Lochbaum said. People as far away as Allentown “could be harmed, but it’s not the kind of harm that would lead to immediate death,” he said. They would have a greater chance of developing cancer, he said. When to stay put In the dark days immediately following the terrorist attacks, Feir said, she was prepared to buy gas masks and biohazard suits for every district student if that would have protected them. But the county Public Safety Department told her that wasn’t necessary or even possible. “We’d have to get each student fitted for a suit,” she said. Instead, Feir said, in addition to making sure every school has a three-day supply of food and water, district officials have made sure they know how to shut air intakes in the district buildings in case students have to stay put after a radiation release. Lochbaum said people would be advised to stay indoors and close all windows and turn off air conditioning if they were so close to the plant that they couldn’t get out of the way of the cloud. It’s better to be inside in that case than out on the road trying to get away, he said. The three-day food and water supply Feir talked about would probably not be necessary, Lochbaum said, because it’s unlikely people would have to wait more than a few hours for radiation to pass. They would have to stay inside for days only if there was a protracted release of radiation, which would be unlikely. However, he said, Chernobyl burned for 10 days. Iodide tablets Chernobyl is also an example in the use of potassium iodide tablets, which were distributed in Poland but not Ukraine after radiation from the Soviet plant spread through Europe. Taking potassium iodide, or KI, is considered more important for children than adults, experts say. The tablets fill the thyroid gland with potassium iodide, blocking radioactive iodine. The Polish children had a much smaller incidence of cancer than Ukrainian children in the years after the Chernobyl accident, Lochbaum said, which is why the Union of Concerned Scientists favors stockpiling potassium iodide in emergency planning zones. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has offered to supply states with potassium iodide at no charge, but so far only five, not including Pennsylvania, have taken up the NRC’s offer, Lochbaum said. Hutcheson said a state task force composed of representatives from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, the state Department of Environmental Protection and other officials has determined that people would be evacuated before radioactive iodine could take its toll. Pennsylvania does plan to distribute potassium iodide, however, to emergency workers who are exposed to radiation, she said. Lochbaum disagreed with Pennsylvania’s policy. The tablets, he said, should be given as a supplement to speedy evacuation and other measures. “Hopefully,” he said, “we’ll never have a real…accident that reveals our shortcomings.” Reporter Frank Devlin 215-529-2614 frank.devlin@mcall.com Copyright © 2001, The Morning Call ***************************************************************** 23 'Close Sellafield' call as reactors shut down after malfunction Irish Newspapers - Date: Mon December 17th 01 CALLS for Sellafield nuclear plant to be closed came yesterday as it emerged that four of its nuclear reactors had to be shut down after a malfunction in a reactor in Scotland. A spokesman for British Nuclear Fuels confirmed to the Irish Independent that six reactors including the four at Sellafield would be out of action until the new year. Junior Minister Joe Jacob, who has responsibility for nuclear safety, and Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna both said the incident reaffirmed the need for the plant's closure. Problems emerged with a rod, described as a reactor's "primary safety system," at Chapelcross in Scotland. The rod, which shuts down the reactor, appeared to be "sticky" and not moving in and out of the fuel smoothly. When investigated, it was found the metal plate the rod passes through was not aligned properly. "Around half a dozen other metal plates were then found to be off-line," added spokesman Nigel Monckton. "The other reactors were shut down as a precautionary step, being of the same style. "There was no danger at any time that we could not shut down the reactor." All the reactors are now being investigated by BNFL and the UK's watchdog Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. Mr Jacob, who has instructed his officials to get full clarifi cation of the event, said: "This latest incident clearly justifies the Government's determination to have Sellafield shut down. "It underpins the importance of the legal action and ave nues currently being pursued." Today the minister meets Norway's environment minister to brief him and a delegation on Ireland's assessment of the Sellafield case. BNFL said the reactors were shut down in mid-November but details only emerged yesterday. Declared Ms McKenna: "They have a policy of secrecy." Martha Kearns © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 24 UK and France scupper plans for tighter EU nuclear curbs Irish Newspapers - Date: Mon December 17th 01 PLANS to give the EU more control over the nuclear industry were scuppered by Britain and France at the two-day EU summit here in Belgium. They forced last-minute changes to the conclusions thus halting plans to give the Commission new powers over nuclear safety. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had earlier welcomed proposals to extend the role of the EU to the nuclear industry. But the most crucial points were dropped suddenly in the very final version of the agreed text between the leaders. In the draft conclusions, circulated on Saturday afternoon, the 15 EU leaders were due to create new powers for the Commission to monitor nuclear safety more closely. Crucially, the Commission was also mandated to create proposals on harmonised nuclear safety standards for the first time. However, both new powers are completely missing from the final version with a watered-down phrase introduced in their place stating: "The European Council undertakes to maintain a high level of nuclear safety in the Union. "It stresses the need to monitor the security and safety of nuclear power stations. It calls for regular reports from member states' atomic energy experts, who will maintain close contact with the Commission." This reduces the Commission's role significantly, to merely maintaining "close contact" with member states. In the earlier version, the Commission was to be given a central role in monitoring security and safety in co-operation with experts from countries with nuclear power sta tions, both inside the EU and among Eastern European countries hoping to join the 15-member bloc in the next few years. The changes were only introduced at the last moment, a senior diplomat from another EU state confirmed. This official, who was closely involved in pushing for Commission powers in the area, insisted that Britain and France were behind the move. But UK officials in Brussels were adamant their country was not "instrumental" in changing the summit conclusions. The issue of nuclear energy has sharply divided EU member states between those, like Ireland, that vigorously oppose it on the grounds of safety and environment, and those like Britain and France who generate nuclear power. It is believed that these countries are deeply concerned about granting the Commission any new powers over what they consider to be a very sensitive sector of vital national importance. In the case of France, more than 60pc of all power is created by nuclear energy. In Britain, thousands of jobs are dependant on plants like Sellafield, in Cumbria. Its believed overall cost of developing the new Mox plant at Sellafield exceeded £475m. In contrast with the weaker final text, the original paragraph states: "The European Council stresses the need to have the Commission continue, both before and after acces sion, to monitor the security and also the safety of nuclear power stations, in co-operation with experts from the mem ber states. "The Commission will submit regular reports to the Council, together with recommendations, including proposals for common nuclear safety standards." Conor Sweeney and Chris Glennon in Laeken © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 25 Calls to decommission nuclear reactor online.ie : News The Irish Examiner 17 Dec 2001 By Mary Dundon, Political Reporter THE Government must demand the immediate £60 million decommissioning of the Windscale nuclear reactor at Sellafield before there is another major accident. Labour made this demand last night after it emerged that six British nuclear reactors - including four at Sellafield - were shut down last week due to a malfunction in a Scottish reactor. Nuclear Safety Minister Joe Jacobs instructed his officials yesterday to seek full clarification from the British Government about the shutdown of these six nuclear reactors. But Labour nuclear safety spokesman Emmet Stagg believed this response was not good enough, especially since there was a renewed risk of a major nuclear accident similar to what happened at Windscale in 1957. "There is no point just looking for clarifications. Mr Jacobs must go hell for leather after the British Government and demand the immediate decommissioning of Windscale," Mr Stagg said. Mr Jacobs' spokeswoman, however, said he could not make any such demands until he knows exactly what caused the shutdown of these reactors and if Windscale is at risk. Plans by the British Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) to begin a £60 million clean-up of Windscale, which houses the world's most unstable concentration of radioactive waste, have been scrapped. Nuclear expert Dr John Large has warned that if there is any doubt about the safety of these reactors, they must be shut down. Failure to decommission the Windscale plant poses a more serious problem than the MOX reprocessing plant, Dr Large told the Sunday Business Post. A British Nuclear Installations Inspectorate spokesman could not be reached at the time of going to press. Meanwhile, Norway's Minister for the Environment Barge Brenda is to meet with Mr Jacobs this morning to discuss Sellafield. The minister is set to brief Mr Brenda and his delegation on Ireland's assessment of the recent case to halt the MOX reprocessing to see if Norway could mount a similar case against Britain. Claims of cancer increase * Windscale was the plant that went on fire in 1957, causing the world's worst nuclear disaster at the time and leading to claims of a major increase in cancer along the east coast of Ireland. * The latest shutdown of six nuclear reactors was prompted by a problem at the Scottish Chapelcross reactor at Solway First on the west coast. * Problems with rods which control the heat inside the reactor there have lead to an emergency investigation by British Nuclear Fuels, who run Sellafield and British Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. * Four sister plants with the same design in Sellafield have been shut along with another plant at the Scottish site while investigations continue. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 USA to provide aid to Russia to protect nuclear materials at chemical plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 17, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Krasnoyarsk, 17 December: US and Russian experts are currently negotiating measures to protect nuclear materials at the Krasnoyarsk chemical complex, chief engineer of the enterprise Yuriy Revenko told ITAR-TASS today. He said that the current visit of American experts to Krasnoyarsk was one more step in the joint effort to ensure the safety of nuclear materials at the plant, where one of the reactors is used to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The United States has already rendered assistance to the Siberians a few years ago by providing them with special equipment. However, after the 11 September events, it was found necessary to toughen the security measures both in the nuclear production departments of the complex and at plutonium storehouses. The sides are expected to sign a contract on US financing of additional measures to protect the nuclear materials, Revenko noted. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 0824 gmt 17 Dec 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 2 Kazakh president hails nuclear-free status in independence day speech BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 16, 2001 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has addressed the nation to mark the 10th anniversary of independence today. In the 50-minute address broadcast on Kazakh TV, Nazarbayev hailed Kazakhstan's nuclear-free status as a huge contribution to global as well as domestic security. "We were forced to start everything practically from scratch," Nazarbayev said. "But we had to choose the main direction, and, above all, to achieve real sovereignty and recognition of our country by the external world. Kazakhstan was the first country on the planet to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons. This is without exaggeration an unprecedented contribution to setting up a global security system and contribution to peace on Earth. At the same time, this is the main contribution to ensuring our security. In addition, we achieved a situation in which all the officially recognized great nuclear powers in the world have provided Kazakhstan with joint and comprehensive security guarantees." With a continuing emphasis on security, he went on to express satisfaction over border agreements and praise the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: "Over these past years, Kazakhstan has solved border issues in full with the People's Republic of China, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. This is a fact of great historical importance. What had been dragged out for centuries and what our great ancestors could only dream of has been completed. All the border issues will be solved with Russia very soon. Measures taken within the Shanghai Five organization [now the Shanghai Cooperation Organization since Uzbekistan joined] has become the basis for a policy of confidence, partnership and stability on a huge geographical area. This is a fact of great historical importance, too, because the country can develop effectively only under the condition of absolute confidence in its security." Source: Khabar Television, Almaty, in Kazakh 0900 gmt 16 Dec 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 3 Hanford Advisory Board important asset to keep Published Dec. 16, 2001 The specter raised by the dissolution of the Hanford Advisory Board's counterpart in Texas is alarming, especially when coupled with the fact that the federal law creating the Department of Energy's advisory boards expires in May. The Energy Department and Congress must not abandon this vital tool for getting public input and community buy-in. The advisory group at the DOE Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas, split up because of internal disagreement and the Energy Department's decision to limit the group's role. Group members had trouble reaching the near unanimity required of its decisions. To top that off, the Energy Department several months ago told the board to focus on environmental cleanup and stop giving advice on the site's weapons production issues. One would hope the Hanford Advisory Board would be immune from such a fate, since environmental cleanup is all there is to debate at Hanford (other than possible medical isotopes production at the Fast Flux Test Facility, an issue the board largely has steered clear of). What's more, the board's 32 diverse Hanford constituencies have been a model of consensus-building; witness the ability of Hanford's biggest critic, Gerald Pollet of Heart of America Northwest, and Harold Heacock, the Tri-City Industrial Development Council's representative, to find common goals. But with the law that created the board sunseting next year, we can't help but be worried. Hanford Advisory Board members are, too, and plan possibly to join with other DOE advisory boards to write a letter to DOE expressing concern. This community must join the fight to keep the advisory groups. The Hanford Advisory Board has been successful at marshaling regional political muscle behind meaty Hanford issues and providing fodder for lobbying Washington, D.C., for adequate cleanup funding. It is a structured way for this community, state and region to get the ear of the Energy Department. The department also benefits since the advisory board acts as a clearinghouse for Hanford stakeholders. DOE officials often take their plans to the Hanford Advisory Board first because they can easily spread the word quickly that way. The forum also is a key communication device for the state and the Environmental Protection Agency, the other parties to the Tri-Party Agreement that governs Hanford cleanup. And because meetings are open, they also provide a window to the public. Although only advisory in nature, the board does a good job of keeping tabs on the Energy Department's operations at Hanford and criticizing the agency when necessary. Now, with the vitrification plant on the horizon, the agency mulling plans to deal with some Hanford wastes differently than originally planned and an Energy secretary in office who has no experience with nuclear cleanup, the need for the Hanford Advisory Board is as great as ever. The problems are too big and the challenges too many to not have this kind of watchdog at Hanford. What's your opinon? Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 4 Times: Mossad chief says Iran developing nuclear, non-conventional weapons The Nando [http://www.nandotimes.com/] Updated: December 17, 2001 12:00 a.m. EST Text | No Ads | User Copyright © 2001 AP Online By YOAV APPEL, Associated Press JERUSALEM (December 16, 2001 11:59 p.m. EST) - Iran is pursuing development of nuclear and other non-conventional weapons but is sending occasional hints that it could someday reconcile with Israel, the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency said Sunday. "There are Iranians in high-standing positions of influence that are saying that if there is an Israeli-Palestinian agreement ... Iran will not stand in the way of that agreement," Ephraim Halevy said in a rare public speech. "There are even covert messages of the possibility of reconciliation." "These are lone chords at the moment, and they are in no way joining to form a melody," Halevy added at a Tel Aviv conference on security. He didn't provide additional details. However, he also stressed that Iran was attempting to develop nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, as well as expanding its long-range missile program. Iran and Israel have been bitter enemies for years, with Iran providing support for the militant Islamic group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah fought for years against Israeli troops in south Lebanon. Israel pulled its forces out of Lebanon last year, but Hezbollah still wages sporadic attacks over a disputed patch of territory along the border. Halevy also described the U.S.-led campaign against international terrorism as an unprecedented development because of its focus on an organization - Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network - rather than a sovereign state. The campaign eventually could lead some countries, such as Iran and Syria, to end their support of radical groups accused of carrying out terrorism, Halevy said. Halevy said that after the war in Afghanistan, international pressure could mount on Syrian President Bashar Assad to "bite the bullet," and crack down on radical groups. The British-born Halevy is only the second Mossad chief to be identified by name. Until recent years, Israel's military censor prohibited publication of the Mossad chief's name or photograph. Halevy spoke at a security conference last December in what was billed as the first ever public speech by the head of the Israeli intelligence agency. ***************************************************************** 5 BLAST FROM THE PAST / Researchers worry that radiation from nuclear test decades ago may be damaging marine life today [http://www.sfgate.com/news/] David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor [dperlman@sfchronicle.com] Monday, December 17, 2001 A 30-year-old legacy from the Cold War has surfaced on a remote Alaskan island, where scientists and Aleutian natives are concerned that radiation from the largest nuclear weapons blast ever conducted in America could now be leaking into the marine environment. At precisely 11 a.m. on Nov. 6, 1971, weapons specialists from the Atomic Energy Commission exploded a 5-megaton bomb -- a prototype for a ballistic missile warhead -- inside a mile-deep shaft drilled beneath Amchitka Island only 87 miles from Petropavlovsk, Russia's Siberian naval base. The thermonuclear blast was almost 400 times more powerful than the weapon that destroyed Hiroshima. Code-named Cannikin, the weapon shattered the shaft's walls and blasted a huge cavern lined with glasslike molten rock. It triggered a rockfall of jagged boulders from a nearby cliff, created a mile- wide crater atop ground zero that filled with water now known as Cannikin Lake, uplifted a mile of the nearby ground by 20 feet, and vented groundwater through cracks and old seismic faults throughout the site. The blast was felt throughout Alaska, and it registered as a magnitude-7 earthquake recorded by seismographs around the world. At the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco last week, John C. Eichelberger of the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute and his colleagues reported evidence that tectonic forces moving deep beneath the seabed have been splitting Amchitka apart and creating fresh underground fissures in the island's rocky coast. They voiced their growing concern that for 22 years neither the Energy Department nor any other government agency has monitored Amchitka's foggy rockbound coast or its nearby waters to learn whether radioactive elements might be leaking from the island into the marine environment. Thirty years ago, the phenomenon known as plate tectonics was virtually unknown, so scientists did not realize that a vast slab of the Earth's crust called the Pacific plate has been diving ponderously down beneath North America's continental plate for millions upon millions of years, Eichelberger said. DOWNWARD TO WESTWARD Recent geophysical evidence shows that along the Aleutian island chain where Amchitka lies, the downward motion -- called subduction -- has shifted more into a westward-sliding motion of the Pacific Plate that has been tearing the chain apart at a rate of about 2 centimeters -- more than three-quarters of an inch -- a year. As a result, Eichelberger said at the geophysics meeting, the Amchitka site "was -- unknowingly at the time -- like having a nuclear test site right next to the San Andreas fault." Because the island itself may be splitting in the inexorable grip of the tectonic forces, it is quite possible that new seismic faults and new fissures in Amchitka's rocks have opened up around the Cannikin blast site, allowing hazardous radioactive elements to escape into the sea around the island, Eichelberger said. Five years ago, Greenpeace, the environmental activist organization, tested the waters around the island and said its experts had found dangerous plutonium there, as well as americium, a nuclear fission byproduct. But they found no trace of tritium, the radioactive form of hydrogen, which is the telltale sign of a hydrogen bomb blast's residue, and Alaskan environmental watchdogs as well as the Department of Energy determined that the radioactive pollution came from fallout from Chinese nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere. RELYING ON COMPUTER MODELS Energy Department experts have created computer models of the Cannikin blast's aftermath and have concluded that radioactive elements from the explosion are effectively contained within the cavity created by the test. But the Departments of Energy and Defense have never monitored the waters offshore from Amchitka, nor have they tested coastal rocks, kelp beds or marine animals for radiation. "Some computer models suggest that the Cannikin cavity could in fact leak," Eichelberger said in an interview. "So the questions remain: First, is there a significant risk, and second, if there is, what should we do about it?" After his group's presentation of the Amchitka issue, Eichelberger held an informal evening meeting of experts to discuss the possibility of an independent investigation. The session included several specialists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. David Smith, a Livermore nuclear chemist who has followed up on the weapons test effects at the Nevada test site, agreed that the best science possible is essential to ascertain the status of Amchitka today. "Over the best 30 years," Eichelberger said, "the world of geophysics has been literally turned upside down. Our knowledge of plate tectonics has become solid, and our measurement techniques have vastly improved. This is not a call to arms. It is a call to thinking." ON-SITE STUDIES DEMANDED Both the state of Alaska and its native organizations remain strongly concerned about the Defense Department's failure to conduct an on-site investigation of the radiation issue in Amchitka's marine environment, according to Douglas H. Dasher, a specialist on radiation contaminants for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, who attended the geophysics meeting. "The DOE likes to make computer models, but what's really happening out there inside the fissures and faults on the island no one knows," Dasher said in an interview. Native members of the Aleutian/Pribiloff Islands Association rely on the marine life of the islands for their living, and have long called for on-site studies of the radiation issue at Amchitka. According the Dasher, commercial fishermen -- including Americans, Japanese and Russians -- work the waters of the Aleutian island chain. And the native peoples regularly use "subsistance foods" -- the meat of stellar sea lions, harbor seals and ptarmigan, as well as fish -- for a diet much healthier than the fast-food chains that are encroaching on their traditional lifestyle. "The DOE's models and risk assessments of the effects of Cannikin and the other two nuclear tests of 30 years ago say there's essentially no risk of radiation contamination," Dasher said. "But that doesn't provide much confidence for the native populations up there, and like them, we say, 'How do you really know?' We need actual hard facts, not just smoke and mirrors." UNEARTHING A NUCLEAR LEGACY The most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested in the United States -- a 5- megaton warhead code-named Cannikin -- exploded underground on the Alaskan island of Amchitka in 1971. Scientists have raised concern that tectonic forces may have opened fissures that could allow radioactivity to leak into the marine environment. -- Tectonic forces Huge slabs of the earth's crust drift and grind against each other, causing the Pacific plate to dive beneath Alaska and the Aleutian islands. But as the arrows show, the plate's grinding movement is shifting toward the west and may be causing fresh fractures in the former weapons test site on Amchitka. -- Bomb test site This diagram shows the cavity created by the thermonuclear explsion a mile underground with the force of a large earthquake. It melted rocks into glass, filled the shaft with rubble, and the crater that formed above the shaft filled with water to become Cannikin Lake. E-mail David Perlman at dperlman@sfchronicle.com [dperlman@sfchronicle.com] . ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle   Page A - 4 ***************************************************************** 6 US to India: Beware, nukes ahead The Times of India CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA TIMES NEWS NETWORK WASHINGTON: The United States is advising New Delhi to proceed with caution - as against the earlier counsel of restraint - in punishing Pakistan for its relentless patronage of terrorism against India. The subtle but significant change in the lexicon - from restraint to caution - stems from fears that an Indian strike could spiral into a nuclear exchange. Washington's main concern, unstated but implied, is that any Indian action could provoke Pakistan into using nuclear weapons. Although every war-gaming scenario by U.S experts sees Pakistan being decimated in an Indian retaliation, the administration does not want either side to even consider the unthinkable. There are also suggestions that since the U.S itself is keen to "circumscribe" the Pakistani nuclear program given its latent threat to American interests, it would be a poor call on India's part to provoke its use. Washington's preferred route to resolve the tense stand-off is for India to share the evidence it has of the Pakistani role with the Musharraf regime, forcing it to act, and consider any retaliatory strikes only if it does not comply. Secretary of State Colin Powell spelt out the administration line in an NBC interview in which he acknowledged "the Indian government clearly has the legitimate right of self-defence," but added "Washington was encouraging both sides to share information with each other and to come together in this campaign against terrorism." Powell, himself a former general who is now patron-in-chief of Musharraf within the Bush establishment, believes the military ruler is capable of doing U.S and India's bidding i.e defanging the terrorist network that both believe are equally dangerous for Pakistan itself. Washington also believes that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI is infested with rogue elements who might be defying the Musharraf regime to keep up the pressure on India. Powell pointed out in the interview that Musharraf had immediately condemned the attacks. He also revealed that Musharraf had said "he is taking action against the two organizations that have been tentatively identified as terrorist organizations and might have been responsible for this," - something that must be news to New Delhi. Virtually pleading Musharraf's case, Powell said Prime Minister Vajpayee had "made it clear that he was allowing some time to pass in order to get a reaction from the Pakistani government," and "the Pakistani government is taking some steps now." But as far as India is concerned, the initial response from the Musharraf regime has not been propitious. Musharraf has declined to act against the two groups without adequate proof and belligerently threatened a forceful response to an Indian strike against terrorist camps. Pakistan's official spokesman has also naively asserted that Pakistan has never been a base for terrorist activity, a claim that is liable to be met with disbelieving smirks in every corridor of power from Washington to even Beijing. Such disclaimers carry little credibility in the US, fed on a rich diet of unconvincing denials and fanciful conspiracy theories in the Islamic world - from the refusal to believe an Egypt Air pilot crashed his own airliner, to pointing to Jews for the World Trade Center catastrophe, to routinely alleging that Indian forces perpetrate atrocities on their own people to blame terrorists. The question before officials here is what is the threshold of proof required to force Musharraf to act decisively against terrorism. Indian diplomats say besides the rapidly unfolding results of the ongoing investigation into the parliament attack, there is voluminous evidence to show that leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have publicly advocated and initiated terrorism against India, not just in Jammu and Kashmir but even in the Indian heartland. Unfortunately for the Pakistani establishment which failed to act against these fundamentalist leaders, their public rantings of death and destruction were also aimed at the United States, besides, of course, Israel. "I don't see how he cannot act against the outfits. There is too much on public record," one official said. Powell's remarks also indicated that despite brazening it out with India to present a tough domestic phase, Musharraf is being made to do the U.S bidding. At the same time, the official said the US will also publicly increase pressure on Islamabad to act against terrorists and their mentors, including outlawing Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. The ban could come within the next few days, and although it will be largely symbolic in nature, it will send a tough message from Washington and force the Pakistan government to act against the outfits. India has repeatedly cautioned the Bush administration that Pakistan is an unreliable partner and liable to act as a "policeman by day and thief by night." Although the Indian warning has been borne out by incidents like the now-established Pakistani support to the Taliban well after September 11, the U.S, publicly at least, has preferred to recognise Pakistan's cooperation. But there is an increasing awareness here that almost every major terrorist attack on India has turned out to be dress rehearsal for similar attacks on the United States. For all its perceived indifference and apathy to India's trouble with terrorism, Washington is acting against Pakistan out of its self-interest. Copyright © 2001 Times Internet Limited. 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