***************************************************************** 12/30/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.338 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Energy-starved Japan faces massive blackout - 2 Tensions Grow on Korean Peninsula 3 Russia Warns N. Korea to Stay in Treaty 4 Pakistan Says It Was Close to Nuclear War 5 Pakistan Backs Off Nuclear Use Claim 6 S. Koreans Take North Nuke Plan in Stride 7 Powell: We are not on the brink of war with N. Korea 8 Kim, Roh Call for Patience on NK 9 Powell: US Looking for Ways to Talk to Pyongyang 10 11 Seoul to Use Diplomatic Means to Halt Nuclear Program 12 Roh Expresses Concern on USFK Reduction 13 Russia Denounces Pyongyang's Nuclear Brinkmanship* 14 Pakistan denies nuclear threat 15 Still No Deal for Return of Bushehr SNF 16 News Update on North Korea, 30 December 2002 17 IAEA Inspectors Starting to Interview Iraqi Scientists 18 Twin nuclear threats of Iraq, North Korea testing UN watchdog 19 Japan eyes more nuclear sanctions* 20 [NK EDITORIALS] Dialogue the only solution * 21 North edges away from nuclear pact* 22 Pakistan rejects 'ridiculous' report of nuclear transfer to N Korea 23 Let's not forget about Iran NUCLEAR REACTORS 24 US: Fermi 2 plant shut down to fix voltage regulator 25 US: Experts to review Davis-Besse cracks - NUCLEAR SAFETY 26 US: Protective hoods given to Congress 27 US: DOD: patent for directional radiation decector NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 28 New uranium process promoted 29 US: Concern at nuclear convoys* 30 US: Waste Meant for Colorado Being Sent to Envirocare NUCLEAR WEAPONS 31 Commentary: The curse of interesting times* 32 N. Korea May Pull Out of Nuke Arms Treaty 33 Pyongyang issues fresh nuclear threat 34 Pasko appeals to European Court 35 Musharraf did not mean nuclear or biological attack against India: US DEPT. OF ENERGY 36 Oak Ridge safety Advisory committee 37 DOE: Moab tailing flood plan EIS OTHER NUCLEAR 38 PACE locals co-sponsor Jan. 7 screening of 'Silkwood' ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Energy-starved Japan faces massive blackout - DEC 30, 2002 TOKYO - Japan could face an unprecedented blackout if nuclear plants, which suspended operations following an atomic cover-up scandal, remain closed next year, experts said. Fears of a power shortage have triggered a rare campaign to save energy. In a bid to weather a winter peak in electricity use, the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) launched a historic emergency campaign earlier this month, unseen since the country's 1973 oil crisis. The world's largest private electric power company will ask 10,000 corporate clients to save electricity by lowering temperatures in heating systems and switching power off in unused rooms. 'Our biggest concern is a serious cold spell, which would make demand for electricity shoot up,' said Mr Toru Ueno, a Tepco spokesman. 'But we are still confident we can avoid a large blackout and overcome the winter peak in electricity demand, which usually lasts until March.' Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration has ordered all ministry and government agencies to conserve electricity, while the Energy Agency will mount banners on its buildings asking for public cooperation in energy-saving. Tepco said earlier this month it would consecutively suspend power generation at its 17 nuclear reactors for emergency inspections after admitting to falsifying safety records at nuclear plants since the late 1980s. Former president Nobuya Minami resigned in September over the scandal and Tepco carried out an in-house investigation in efforts to regain trust from residents living near nuclear power facilities. The firm, which has already stopped operating nine reactors, aims to use other types of power generators to make up for the drop in nuclear output, which accounts for 44 per cent of its total supply. Despite its efforts, Tepco's electricity surplus has trickled away and is expected by March to taper off completely if the suspension of operations at nuclear reactors continues. 'We forecast Tepco will barely manage to survive this winter if there is no accident,' said Mr Hiroyuki Sakaida, utilities sector analyst at Lehman Brothers. 'But a real problem may come in the summer. 'If full suspension of nuclear reactors continues until summer, Tokyo will experience an unprecedented blackout for sure. Electricity in Tokyo is fully dependent upon how swiftly the firm can finish inspections.' Irrespective of the continued troubles with Tepco's nuclear reactors, the government is still heavily dependent on them because of what they say is Japan's lack of natural resources. The nation's last nuclear disaster was in 1999 when two people were killed and 400 others exposed to radiation in a uranium processing accident in Tokaimura, north-east of Tokyo. It was the world's worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl crisis in 1986. --AFP The Straits Times ***************************************************************** 2 Tensions Grow on Korean Peninsula Cato Daily Dispatch for December 30, 2002 In light of North Korea's decision to restart its nuclear weapons development program, South Korea is now assessing "whether communist North Korea was preparing to withdraw from the international treaty that seeks to halt the spread of nuclear weapons," . "A statement released by North Korea suggested it would pull out of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons - a move that would escalate the crisis over the isolated nation's decision to restart its nuclear facilities and expel International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. "In 1993, the North said it would withdraw from the treaty during a crisis over its suspected development of nuclear weapons. The crisis was resolved a year later with the Pyongyang regime agreeing to halt its nuclear weapons development in exchange for aid from the United States and other nations. "North Korea said in a statement yesterday that the United States violated the 1994 deal by halting promised energy supplies." In an op-ed in today's , Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for foreign policy and defense studies, argues that economic sanctions and threats of military strikes will do little to persuade North Korea to renounce its nuclear ambitions. "U.S. policymakers need to face the possibility that North Korea is determined to become a nuclear power, regardless of U.S. bribes or threats," writes Carpenter. "If that is the case, Washington must radically change its entire security policy in northeast Asia. Above all, the USA should not continue to station troops in the region, where they would be nuclear hostages to a volatile foe. Washington should not want North Korea to have a nuclear monopoly in northeast Asia. U.S. leaders should warn North Korea that, if it insists on building nuclear weapons, the USA will end its opposition to Japan and South Korea having such weapons." 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington D.C. 20001-5403 Phone (202) 842-0200 Fax (202) 842-3490 All Rights Reserved © 2002 Cato Institute ***************************************************************** 3 Russia Warns N. Korea to Stay in Treaty Las Vegas SUN: December 30, 2002 By PAUL SHIN ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea expressed alarm Monday at signs communist North Korea was preparing to withdraw from an international agreement to halt the spread of nuclear weapons, and the North's close ally, Russia, warned it not to back out of the treaty. "We're closely watching what North Korea's next step would be," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The diplomatic flurry followed a statement Sunday from Pyongyang suggesting it would abandon the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons - a move that would escalate the crisis over the isolated North's decision to restart its nuclear facilities and expel U.N. nuclear agency inspectors. In recent weeks, the North cut U.N. seals and impeded surveillance equipment at a nuclear reactor in Yongbyon and its spent fuel pond, a fuel rod fabrication plant and a reprocessing facility. North Korea had agreed to freeze the facilities, which experts believe were used to make one or two weapons in the 1990s, under a 1994 deal with the United States that brought the North economic benefits. Pyongyang said earlier this month it planned to reactivate the nuclear facilities to produce electricity because Washington had halted promised energy sources. After Washington warned it away from reviving the Yongbyon plant, North Korea said U.S. policy was leading the region to the "brink of nuclear war." In its statement Sunday, North Korea said the United States was "gripped by the Cold War way of thinking" and should agree to "face to face" dialogue to settle their nuclear dispute peacefully. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday the United States was "looking for ways to communicate with the North Koreans" to ease the nuclear crisis, but will do nothing to help Pyongyang unless it changes its behavior. Other U.S. officials said Washington would enlist its Asian allies and the United Nations to intensify economic pressure on Pyongyang unless it abandons nuclear development. Japanese lawmakers were reportedly weighing new sanctions against the impoverished North to pressure the regime. Tokyo is already withholding rice shipments. Outgoing South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who leaves office in February, said Monday he would continue his "sunshine" policy of engaging North Korea to try to resolve the dispute peacefully. But President-elect Roh Moo-hyun told the military to set up a contingency plan in case the United States reduces the strength of its 37,000 troops here, stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against the North. There are no confirmed U.S. plans for a withdrawal. But the South is worried that if the United States reduces its forces - reacting to rising anti-U.S. sentiment among South Koreans - it would be more vulnerable to an attack from the North. Adopted in 1968 and ratified by 187 countries, the nuclear treaty seeks to confine nuclear weapons to the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China. At least three countries known to possess nuclear weapons - India, Pakistan and Israel - are not members pact. North Korea signed the treaty in 1985, but U.S. authorities believe the communist nation has at least one or two bombs made from 1980s-vintage plutonium. The North tried to withdraw in 1993 over suspicions it was producing weapons, but that crisis was averted by the 1994 energy deal with the United States. The latest tensions escalated Friday when North Korea ordered the expulsion of two U.N. monitors, depriving the Vienna-based U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency of its last means of monitoring the North's plutonium-based nuclear weapons program. Withdrawing from the treaty means the North would not have to accept inspections. Many fear North Korea would begin actively producing nuclear weapons within months, posing a direct threat to its neighbors. "Pyongyang's recent decisions to send away IAEA inspectors and prepare for renewal of the uncontrolled work of its nuclear energy complex cannot but elicit regret," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said, according to the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies. Also in Moscow, Mikhail Lysenko, the director of the Foreign Ministry's security and disarmament department, warned Pyongyang against withdrawing from the treaty. He said Russia supports the 1994 agreement and insists on a "constructive dialogue" between all involved, and that Moscow was consulting with both Koreas, the United States, Japan and China. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 4 Pakistan Says It Was Close to Nuclear War Las Vegas SUN: December 30, 2002 By ZARAR KHAN ASSOCIATED PRESS KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Monday he had been ready to use atomic weapons if Indian forces entered Pakistani territory earlier this year during a peak in tensions - an admission of how close the neighbors came to nuclear war. "I personally conveyed messages to (Indian) Prime Minister Vajpayee through every international leader who came to Pakistan, that if Indian troops moved a single step across the international border or Line of Control, they should not expect a conventional war from Pakistan," he told Pakistani Air Force veterans. Pakistan refers to the use of its nuclear arsenal as non-conventional war. India's army chief, however, said Pakistan's nuclear capability did not deter it from war. "We were absolutely ready to go to war. Our forces were well located," Gen. Sunderajan Padmanabhan told reporters Monday. "Such a decision (on whether to go to war) is ultimately a political decision," Press Trust of India quoted him as saying. On whether Islamabad's claimed possession of tactical nuclear weapons could have deterred New Delhi from war, Padmanabhan said, "When we assess our adversaries, we assess all its capabilities. We had evaluated it and were ready to cope with it." Tensions between India and Pakistan peaked earlier this year when both sides sent troops to their shared border after a deadly attack on the Indian Parliament last December. New Delhi blamed Islamabad, accusing Pakistan's spy agency of masterminding the assault that killed 14 people. Pakistan denied the charge. International diplomacy brought the nuclear neighbors back from the brink of war. And in recent months it appeared that tensions had eased, with both sides saying they have withdrawn troops from the border and stepped back from their previous war footing. The United States was particularly anxious to avoid an Indian-Pakistani war at a time when it depended heavily on Pakistani support in its global fight against terrorism and as it waged its on war in Afghanistan, Pakistan's neighbor to the west. Both India and Pakistan say they possess a minimum nuclear deterrent, although it is not known how many nuclear devices or type of weapons each country possesses. "We have defeated our enemy without going into war," Musharraf, referring to India, told the gathering of veterans and active members of Pakistan's Air Force. Both Pakistan and India also possess ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads and can hit deep within each other's territory. The South Asian neighbors exploded tit-for-tat underground nuclear tests in 1998. The world condemned the tests and put sanctions on both countries. But the economic penalties were lifted after Pakistan became a key ally of the anti-terrorist coalition following the Sept. 11 attacks. Pakistan said Monday it met nuclear safety standards. "All countries accept the fact that Pakistan's command and control structure and Pakistan's nuclear program is in completely safe hands," said Aziz Ahmed Khan, spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry. Pakistan and India share a 1,800-mile border, a section of which is the Line of Control that divides Kashmir. Both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars over their dispute. The simmering Kashmir dispute dates back to the partition of the subcontinent when Pakistan was created in 1947 as a homeland for Muslims of the region. Pakistan wants Kashmiris on both sides of the disputed border to vote whether a united Kashmir should belong to India or Pakistan. India rejects the vote proposal and accuses Pakistan of backing militants who have been waging a bloody secessionist uprising in Indian Kashmir since 1989 that has killed more than 61,000 people. Militants want either outright independence or union with Islamic Pakistan. Indian Kashmir is India's only Muslim majority state in the predominantly Hindu country. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 5 Pakistan Backs Off Nuclear Use Claim Las Vegas SUN: December 30, 2002 By ZARAR KHAN ASSOCIATED PRESS KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's president suggested Monday that he had been ready to use atomic weapons if Indian forces entered his country during a flare-up in tensions this year. But his government later backed off the assertion, saying he was not referring to the use of such weapons. The comments by President Pervez Musharraf appreared to be an admission of how close the rival neighbors came to nuclear war. "I personally conveyed messages to (Indian) Prime Minister Vajpayee through every international leader who came to Pakistan that if Indian troops moved a single step across the international border or Line of Control, they should not expect a conventional war from Pakistan," Musharraf told a gathering of Pakistani Air Force veterans. While he did not mention nuclear weapons specifically, his reference to a war other than a conventional one indicated the use of nuclear arsenals, which both Pakistan and India have. "We have defeated our enemy without going into war," Musharraf told the gathering, without elaborating. However, army spokesman Gen. Rashid Quereshi later said the president was not referring to the use of nuclear weapons. Quereshi said that in fact Musharraf meant that the people of Pakistan together with the conventional army would "neutralize the enemy's offensive. Nowhere did he say that Pakistan would use nuclear weapons at all." India's army chief said Pakistan's nuclear capability did not deter it from war during the crisis last spring. "We were absolutely ready to go to war. Our forces were well located," Gen. Sunderajan Padmanabhan told reporters Monday. "Such a decision (on whether to go to war) is ultimately a political decision," Press Trust of India quoted him as saying. On whether Islamabad's claimed possession of tactical nuclear weapons could have deterred New Delhi from war, Padmanabhan said, "When we assess our adversaries, we assess all its capabilities. We had evaluated it and were ready to cope with it." Tensions between India and Pakistan peaked earlier this year when both sides sent troops to their shared border after a deadly attack on the Indian Parliament last December. New Delhi blamed Islamabad, accusing Pakistan's spy agency of masterminding the assault that killed 14 people. Pakistan denied the charge. International diplomacy brought the nuclear neighbors back from the brink of war. And in recent months it appeared that tensions had eased, with both sides saying they have withdrawn troops from the border and stepped back from their previous war footing. The United States was particularly anxious to avoid an Indian-Pakistani war at a time when it depended heavily on Pakistani support in its global fight against terrorism and as it waged its on war in Afghanistan, Pakistan's neighbor to the west. Both India and Pakistan say they possess a minimum nuclear deterrent, although it is not known how many nuclear devices or type of weapons each country possesses. Both countries also possess ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads and can hit deep within each other's territory. The South Asian neighbors exploded tit-for-tat underground nuclear tests in 1998. The world condemned the tests and put sanctions on both countries. But the economic penalties were lifted after Pakistan became a key ally of the anti-terrorist coalition following the Sept. 11 attacks. Pakistan said Monday it met nuclear safety standards. "All countries accept the fact that Pakistan's command and control structure and Pakistan's nuclear program is in completely safe hands," said Aziz Ahmed Khan, spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry. Pakistan and India share a 1,800-mile border, a section of which is the Line of Control that divides Kashmir. Both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars over their dispute. The simmering Kashmir dispute dates back to the partition of the subcontinent when Pakistan was created in 1947 as a homeland for Muslims of the region. Pakistan wants Kashmiris on both sides of the disputed border to vote whether a united Kashmir should belong to India or Pakistan. India rejects the vote proposal and accuses Pakistan of backing militants who have been waging a bloody secessionist uprising in Indian Kashmir since 1989 that has killed more than 61,000 people. Militants want either outright independence or union with Islamic Pakistan. Indian Kashmir is India's only Muslim majority state in the predominantly Hindu country. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 S. Koreans Take North Nuke Plan in Stride Las Vegas SUN: December 30, 2002 By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Far from fearing war, some South Koreans believe they can benefit from North Korea's nuclear weapons development if and when the two countries reunify their peninsula. While many in the South view the North's moves to restart its nuclear facilities as a threat to their safety, a number of mostly young people admire their communist neighbor's technical know-how and defiance toward the United States. "I don't oppose North Korea having nuclear weapons because ultimately the weapons will protect the whole Korean Peninsula," said Joon Kim, a worker at a telecommunications company in Seoul. The Koreas were divided at the end of World War II by U.S. and Soviet troops. "Having nuclear weapons gives a lot of leverage in negotiations with other countries," Kim said. The view stems from Koreans' long history of subjugation by regional powers, including China and Japan, and has found a voice in a new confidence that is due partly to South Korea's growing economic might. Although the United States is South Korea's main ally, many South Koreans say Washington's reluctance to talk to North Korea unless it abandons its nuclear ambitions is fueling the crisis. There is also widespread resentment toward the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in the South. "North Korea is not threatening us with its nuclear weapons program, and I can understand why North Korea is acting the way they are now because they have nothing to rely on," said Kim Eun-suk, a teacher. "They are being driven into a corner by the United States, so what else can they do?" she said. Thousands of South Koreans have joined recent candlelit protests against the U.S. military following the deaths of two South Korean girls struck by a U.S. military vehicle on a training mission. However, protests against North Korea's nuclear development have drawn fewer than 100 people, most of them elderly. A 1994 crisis over the same nuclear facilities in North Korea unnerved some South Koreans, who stocked up on instant noodles and other supplies in case war broke out. This time, there is a more lackadaisical attitude. "It's true that there is some tension now, but I don't think the U.S.-North Korean tension is going to lead to a major crisis," said Sean Youn, 33, who works in the film industry. During the Cold War, South Korean propaganda posters depicted North Korean spies as wolves in trench coats, and violent confrontations between the two sides were common. Now South Koreans perceive their neighbors as less of a threat, and more as their poor, wayward brethren. That perception was reinforced in 2000 when a historic summit between leaders of the two Koreas launched a reconciliation process, and exchanges of separated family members, artists and athletes put a human face on North Korea's harsh image. A recent cartoon in Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest newspaper, shows three figures representing Washington, U.N. nuclear inspectors and Japan scurrying outside a house in panic, shouting: "Emergency!" On the second floor of the house, a caricature of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is fiddling with test tubes and bubbling vials in his nuclear lab. On the first floor, South Korea is fast asleep in bed, snoring. Youn, the film worker, said he was skeptical that North Korea had nuclear weapons, even though U.S. officials say it already has one or two and could make several more in the months ahead if it continues working at Yongbyon. "I don't think such a weak and vulnerable country as North Korea should have such weapons that could have an impact on the whole world," Youn said. Older South Koreans, who recall the hardship of the 1950-53 Korean War, tend to favor the Bush administration's tough line on North Korea. "You should deal with a mad dog with a bat. Nothing else will work," said a man in his 70s, who did not give his name. He sat in a cafe, reading an English-language magazine with a dictionary. Still, South Korean antagonism is more likely to be directed at Japan, which ruled harshly over the peninsula in the early part of the 20th century. "The Rose of Sharon has Blossomed," a 1994 best-selling novel in South Korea that was later made into a movie, tells how South Korea tried to develop nuclear weapons but failed because of U.S. interference. South Korea then gets help from North Korea in secretly developing a weapon, and fires it at Japan to ward off an invasion. Japan surrenders, and South Korea redirects the missile, which explodes harmlessly on an uninhabited island. AP reporter Soo-jeong Lee contributed to this report. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 7 Powell: We are not on the brink of war with N. Korea USATODAY.com - By Jack Kelley, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The Bush administration sought Sunday to discourage talk of a conflict with North Korea and said it is ready to wait months to see if diplomacy can persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program. Powell said the United States has no plans to attack North Korea. By Alex Wong, Reuters "I don't want to create a sense of crisis or that we're on the brink of war, because I don't believe we are," Secretary of State Colin Powell told the ABC's This Week. Powell's comments were the latest in a chain of events that began when North Korea admitted in October that it was carrying on a secret program to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs. That set off a series of moves escalating tensions. U.S. officials say the uranium program violated a 1994 agreement, and they ordered the cutoff of fuel oil shipments to the reclusive communist nation. North Korea responded by moving to reopen its mothballed Yongbyon reactor, which can make plutonium for nuclear weapons, and by expelling international nuclear inspectors, the last of whom will leave Tuesday. Coming as the United States prepares for a possible invasion of Iraq, the sudden crisis over North Korea, which is believed to have two nuclear bombs already, has stirred talk of a second war. But in an unusual move, Powell appeared on five TV networks Sunday in a clear attempt to cool off such talk. Though he continued to rule out direct U.S.-North Korea talks on the grounds they would reward Pyongyang for violating the nuclear deal, he suggested the two countries could still communicate through third parties such as South Korea. In Pyongyang, North Korea's foreign ministry accused the United States of being "gripped by the Cold War way of thinking" and urged "face to face" dialogue to settle the dispute peacefully. "What they want is not a discussion," Powell said on ABC. "They want us to give them something for them to stop the bad behavior. What we can't do is enter into a negotiation right away where we are appeasing them." Under the 1994 agreement with the United States, North Korea agreed to shut down its Yongbyon reactor complex, which the Clinton administration concluded was part of a nuclear weapons program. In return, the United States promised to help build two new reactors less capable of making weapons material. It also promised deliveries of fuel oil to help North Korea meet its power needs until the reactors were completed. Contributing: Judy Keen © Copyright 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. ***************************************************************** 8 Kim, Roh Call for Patience on NK Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English Updated Dec.30,2002 19:41 KST by Kim Min-bae (baibai@chosun.com) President Kim Dae-jung said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that although the "sunshine policy is in trouble" at the moment because of North Korea's nuclear development, it should be practiced more when North Korean relations are strained. He also said that when dealing with countries that do not have normal relations with the international community, such as North Korea, more patience is needed and problems should be solved with peaceful negotiations. In related news President-elect Roh Moo-hyun also said on Tuesday that he will use negotiations and diplomatic means to solve the current North Korean nuclear problem while meeting the three chiefs of staff of the ROK Army, Navy, and Air Force in Daejeon. The North Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday that a foreign ministry spokesperson said Pyongyang's "special status" in accordance with the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was in jeopardy because the United States had started to breach basic agreements, such as stopping oil shipments. It also said the spokesperson commented that in order to survive North Korea has to develop means to protect itself. The "special status" is the "withdrawal deterrence," which was agreed in 1993 with the US. This is the first time Pyongyang has brought up the possibility of its withdrawal from the NPT since it announced nuclear reactivation intentions. ***************************************************************** 9 Powell: US Looking for Ways to Talk to Pyongyang Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English Updated Dec.30,2002 16:22 KST United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday the Bush administration was "looking for ways to communicate with the North Koreans." Amid growing tension on the Korean peninsula, his statement has analysts saying it reflects a subtle change in Washington's stance on Pyongyang's nuclear threat. Appearing on talk shows at major television networks, Powell explained the US had communication channels open, and was willing to talk, but not unless the communist state changes it behavior first. "There are ways for the North Koreans to talk to the international community. We are keeping channels open. But we will not negotiate in a way that requires us to pay for their misbehavior or to appease their misbehavior." Powell stressed Washington was not looking for conflict with Pyongyang and was hoping to use diplomatic and political means to resolve the issue before it escalates into a crisis or consideration of military force. He also said Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly would be coming to South Korea in January to discuss the nuclear issue, but would not be going to Pyongyang at this time. (Arirang TV) ***************************************************************** 10 Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English Updated Dec.30,2002 16:31 KST NK May Withdraw from NPT A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said Sunday, Pyongyang may pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT. This is not the first time the North has threatened to do so, as in 1993 it cited the International Atomic Energy Agency's pressure to conduct special inspections on its nuclear facilities to express its intention to withdraw from the international treaty. The Stalinist state later reversed its decision in 1994, after the Korean peninsula averted a nuclear crisis with the North agreeing to sign the Geneva Agreed Framework with the United States. However, on the latest nuclear standoff the North Korean spokesman blamed Washington accusing the United States of starting the fire by designating the Stalinist North as part of an axis of evil, and for being the first to break the 1994 agreement by suspending heavy fuel oil supplies to North Korea from December. Despite the tough talk, the spokesman noted Pyongyang is still willing to hold face-to-face dialogue with the US to settle the nuclear dispute peacefully and urged the Bush administration to follow suit. (Arirang TV) ***************************************************************** 11 Seoul to Use Diplomatic Means to Halt Nuclear Program Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English Updated Dec.30,2002 16:37 KST As part of Seoul's plans to use all diplomatic means to halt Pyongyang's reactivation of nuclear facilities, the South Korean government will be sending deputy-minister level envoys to China and Russia in the next few weeks. Officials here are also set to hold a Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group meeting with Japanese and United States officials early next month in Washington, to discuss comprehensive measures in response to North Korea's nuclear development. On the issue of referring the North to the United Nations Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency intends to first ask Pyongyang to reverse its decision. Meanwhile, the three IAEA inspectors currently stationed in North Korea are scheduled to leave the Stalinist state for Beijing on Tuesday. (Arirang TV) ***************************************************************** 12 Roh Expresses Concern on USFK Reduction Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English Updated Dec.30,2002 18:17 KST by Kim Chang-kyun (ck-kim@chosun.com) President-elect Roh Moo-hyun visited the headquarters of the three branches of the military in Gaeryeondae, Nonsan, Monday and asked leaders there how they would deal with a reduction in number of the United States Forces Korea. Roh also said the military needed to have five-, ten-, and twenty-year plans to meet changing circumstances. Roh continued that in the past the US had held unilateral discussions on downsizing the USFK, but always decide not to, however he had been told that this issue was once more on the table in Washington. Choe Byung-yul, head of the Grand National Party North Korea Nuclear Weapons Committee told members that at the December 5 Security Consultation Meeting the US raised the issue of security on the peninsula if American ground forces were withdrawn, for the first time ever. Choe said two US senators, who visited Korea during a candlelit demonstration, told President Kim Dae-jung that the USFK could be withdrawn if the South Korean people wished it. However, a Ministry of National Defense official said at the SCM the two countries signed a TOR on future policy plans of the alliance, and did not raise the issue of withdrawing the USFK. ***************************************************************** 13 Russia Denounces Pyongyang's Nuclear Brinkmanship* / Mon December 30, 2002 08:14 AM ET / MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia Monday denounced North Korea's decision to expel International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and reactivate its nuclear program, calling on Pyongyang to stick to international agreements. "Pyongyang's decisions to expel IAEA inspectors and prepare the resumption of unmonitored work on its nuclear energy complex cannot help but provoke regret," Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in a statement. "North Korea should strictly observe all its corresponding international obligations." Friday, Pyongyang ordered IAEA monitors to leave, the latest escalation of a crisis analysts say is aimed at goading Washington and its allies into giving aid to the starving communist nation of 22 million. The United States has called for economic sanctions in response to the expulsions. Ivanov urged all parties involved to keep up a dialogue and stick to a 1994 deal which promised North Korea deliveries of fuel oil and the construction of proliferation-proof reactors in exchange for Pyongyang freezing its nuclear program. "Aggressive rhetoric and threats and ... attempts to isolate North Korea can only lead to a new escalation in tension," he said. Russia has reactivated ties with former Cold War ally North Korea after a decade of frosty relations. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who rarely travels outside his secretive country, has twice visited Russia. Reuters The Company Products & ***************************************************************** 14 Pakistan denies nuclear threat BBC NEWS | South Asia | Monday, 30 December, 2002, [Pakistan's nuclear-capable Ghauri missile] Both sides could strike deep into each other's territory By Zaffar Abbas BBC correspondent in Islamabad Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf did not threaten India with nuclear attack during the two countries' border stand-off earlier this year, his spokesman has said. [ src=] The text of President Musharraf's speech removes the ambiguity The president had been misinterpreted when he spoke of using non-conventional warfare if Indian forces attacked, Major-General Rashid Qureshi told the BBC. General Qureshi said President Musharraf had neither threatened India with the use of nuclear weapons, nor had he made any such remarks during his address at a military ceremony in Karachi. He said the president was predicting that the people of Pakistan would join the troops in repulsing any Indian invasion. The nuclear-capable neighbours massed a million troops along their border after an attack on India's parliament, which Delhi blamed on Pakistan-backed militants. Islamabad denied any role in the attack, which it condemned. Tensions have lowered since the summer, thanks largely to intense interational diplomatic pressure. Ambiguity General Qureshi said President Musharraf told the gathering that at the time of heightened tension a message was conveyed to the Indian prime minister that in case of an invasion, Pakistan would confront the Indian forces through non-conventional methods. [President Pervez Musharraf at the veterans' ceremony in Karachi] Musharraf: Quoted out of context He said the president then elaborated by stating that Prime Minister Vajpayee was told that if the Indian forces crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir, or the international border, the people of Pakistan would join Pakistani troops in repulsing the Indian invasion. Perhaps the confusion was caused by President Musharraf's remarks that "non-conventional means" would have been adopted during the military conflict with India. It was interpreted as a direct threat to India of the possible use of nuclear weapons. But the text of President Musharraf's speech removes the ambiguity. It clearly talks about the involvement of the people of Pakistan in such a military conflict, with no direct or indirect reference to the use of nuclear weapons. © MMII | News Sources | Privacy ***************************************************************** 15 Still No Deal for Return of Bushehr SNF BOSTON - Russia's Atomic Energy Minister said Friday that Russia will increase it's nuclear support with Iran, even though a long-promised agreement obligating Tehran to return spent nuclear fuel to Russia has yet to be signed. Charles Digges, 2002-12-29 16:58 The announcement, which outlined plans to step up the pace of construction at the Bushehr reactor, and also confirmed the Minstry's interest in building several more reactors in Iran over the next 10 years, including a second block at Bushehr, comes amid increasing tensions that North Korea and Iraq — two countries that, along with Iran, have been dubbed by US President George Bush as "the axis of evil" — are pursuing nuclear weapons programmes. According to Russia's Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, who returned from talks in Iran late last week, the agreement for the return of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) will be signed in January. This contract, however, was widely expected to be closed during Rumyantsev's four day visit to Iran last week, and the delay casts new doubts on Minatom's resolve in securing the accord. Indeed, the new delay is one of many. Rumyantsev has repeatedly made similar announcements over the past six months, ever since a leak of government documents to Greenpeace in July revealed that the 7-year old, $800mln contract for the building of the Bushehr reactor did not include provisions for return of the fuel that will be provided to the plant by Russia. At that time, representatives of the Atomic Energy Ministry, or Minatom, promised that a binding agreement would be signed by August. After that deadline passed, Minatom made several more declarations that the singing of the accord was in the offing, but those announcements, too, went unfulfilled. Western fears surrounding the fate of Busheher's fuel centre on the possibility that Iran might reprocess it for plutonium in order to build nuclear weapons. These fears intensified last week when commercial satellite photos revealed two other nuclear instalments in Iran that officials in Washington allege will be used for the production of nuclear weapons. One site, near Arak, is a heavy water reactor, which would be critical for producing plutonium. The other site, near Nantanz, will produce highly enriched uranium, another alternative for producing nuclear weapons. Russia has denied its involvement with these instalments and Iran has said the sites are exclusively for peaceful purposes. But an official from the US Department of Defence last week contradicted that in a telephone interview with Bellona Web, saying that the Russians were involved "in all aspects of the Iranian nuclear programme," including the two newly disclosed facilities. Iran has also used a web of phoney trading companies to procure equipment and obscure its drive to secretly build large facilities that could produce the materials needed for nuclear weapons, the Washington Post reported last week. A delegation from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, is expected to inspect these two newly revealed facilities in February with an eye toward installing safeguards to prevent the manufacture of weapons. Despite current international turmoil over the apparent bloom of nuclear programmes in rogue states — as well as the new revelations regarding Iran's programme specifically— Rumyantsev told a news conference Friday that the first delivery of nuclear fuel to Iran will made by January. This delivery will be made by Atomstroiexport, with subsequent deliveries to be made by the TVEL company. Russia and Iran will then discuss the construction of the second power block at Bushehr, Rumyantsev said. "Iran is using nuclear energy exclusively for peaceful purposes," he said. "There are no programs to create nuclear weapons or develop sensitive nuclear technologies." A spokesman for the US State Department reiterated America's opposition toward any assistance to Iran's nuclear ambitions in a telephone interview with Bellona Web Friday, but said there was as yet no formal response from Washington regarding the delay in SNF agreement. Rumyantsev met the head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Gholam Reza Agazadeh, in Tehran on Wednesday and sketched out steps to accelerate the construction of the Bushehr reactor, which had reportedly fallen several weeks behind schedule, despite an ongoing infusion of Russian experts at the site that is expected to reach 2,000 workers by year's end. Because of this boost, Rumyantsev and Agazadeh agreed that the first block of the 1,000-megawatt unit would come online in December 2003 as originally scheduled. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 16 News Update on North Korea, 30 December 2002 Media Advisory 2002/73 - [www.iaea.org] 30 December 2002 -- In recent media interviews, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei addressed nuclear-related developments in North Korea. + Washington Post, 29 December:In an interview 28 December, Dr. ElBaradei said that the DPRK situation sets a "dangerous precedent" for the nuclear non-proliferation regime. He said that the IAEA would submit a report to its Board of Governors laying out a case asserting that North Korea has violated its commitments under the 1994 US-DPRK Agreed Framework that obligates it to submit to inspections. The IAEA's Board would then consider how to respond at an emergency meeting scheduled for 6 January in Vienna, he said. He said that he would urge the Board to demand that North Korea immediately allow the inspectors to resume surveillance at the reactor complex. Barring that, he said that the IAEA would "have an obligation to refer the matter to the Security Council". The article reported that the Security Council could then warn North Korea or impose consequences including censure, economic sanctions or military force. + CNN, 28 December:Dr. ElBaradei said that IAEA inspectors are scheduled to leave North Korea by Tuesday, 31 December. He characterized the DPRK as "a country in a defiant mode right now. They are walking away from their international obligations. They are throwing away the inspection system." He described the situation as "a very dangerous precedent" for the nuclear non-proliferation regime and urged an international response to preserve the regime's integrity at a "defining moment" for it. Addressing the IAEA's inspection capability in North Korea, he said "we are completely out" and consequently "have no clue as what is going to happen in the next few weeks and months... We know that they are going to start their power reactor in the next month or two. I was also told yesterday that they are going to start their reprocessing plant again in the next month or two. And that's really the most worrying, because the reprocessing plant is a plant which will produce plutonium that could be directly used for nuclear weapons." He expressed hope that before the DPRK embarks on restarting its nuclear facilities "diplomacy will be set at work and that we will be able to avert what now looks like a serious crisis situation." ***************************************************************** 17 IAEA Inspectors Starting to Interview Iraqi Scientists Media Advisory 2002/72 - 29 December 2002 [www.iaea.org] UNMOVIC IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq. 29 December 2002 -- An UNMOVIC chemical team inspected the Chemical Engineering Design Centre in Baghdad. The Centre is part of the Sa'ad Company, which owns the Ibn Younis Centre, a mechanical design establishment, inspected yesterday. The Chemical Engineering Design Centre is involved in various projects for chemical and petrochemical production facilities. The team examined archives and current projects, and also looked into management and personnel. An UNMOVIC multidisciplinary team inspected the General Commission of Customs in Baghdad. This Commission is the central customs authority in Iraq. The IAEA inspected two sites: the Eyz Company and the Salam Factory in Baghdad. The Eyz Company produces generic electronic equipment, such as radio communications equipment, power distribution equipment, telephone switching boards. The Salam Factory produces mainly communications equipment for both civilian and military applications. 6 UNMOVIC inspectors and 2 IAEA inspectors left Baghdad today. In turn, 6 new UNMOVIC inspectors and 6 new IAEA inspectors joined the respective inspection teams in Baghdad, bringing the total number of inspectors to 110. The breakdown of inspectors is 100 from UNMOVIC and 10 from the IAEA. Hiro Ueki, Spokesman for UNMOVIC and the IAEA in Baghdad ***************************************************************** 18 Twin nuclear threats of Iraq, North Korea testing UN watchdog Boston Globe Online: Print it! LAEA director says inspections viable if world has patience By William J. Kole, Associated Press, 12/30/2002 VIENNA - They're the world's nuclear police, keeping tabs on everything from Saddam Hussein's Iraq to the atomic aspirations of African republics. Now, with North Korea resuming its nuclear program, specialists at the International Atomic Energy Agency are being stretched to their limits amid doubts of whether the UN watchdog group can keep pace with new threats. Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, said his Vienna-based organization has the ability to monitor the use and misuse of nuclear materials worldwide. But ElBaradei conceded: ''We are trying to cope. We're under a lot of pressure dealing with two serious crisis situations at the same time. We need to cover so many fronts all at once.'' Those two crises, in Iraq and North Korea, are among the most serious of any the group has faced since the Cold War. Inspectors are in Iraq searching for evidence of a hidden nuclear weapons program that Washington says is there but Hussein denies he has. Inspectors monitoring a mothballed nuclear complex in North Korea were ordered to leave after Pyongyang said it was bringing the site back online to handle an energy crisis. The United States says the North is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Last week, ElBaradei criticized the Asian nation's regime for engaging in ''nuclear brinkmanship'' by reviving its atomic program and expelling the inspectors. ''I'm calling a spade a spade,'' he said. ''I see a very serious crisis - a country that's completely defying the world. The gravity of the situation is enormous.'' Born of President Eisenhower's landmark ''Atoms for Peace'' speech to the United Nations in 1953, the IAEA was established in 1957, five years before the Cuban missile crisis brought the nuclear threat to America's back door. Its logo, a '60s-style nest of overlapping atomic loops cradled in the twin olive branches of the United Nations, underscores the agency's staid, no-nonsense approach to guarding the world against nuclear proliferation. The mission has gained a new sense of urgency since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks raised fears of nuclear terrorism. With a budget of about $230 million, field offices in Geneva, New York, Tokyo, and Toronto, and laboratories in Austria, Italy, and Monaco, the IAEA promotes the peaceful use of nuclear technology and serves as a forum for global scientific and technical cooperation. Security is tight and news leaks are rare among its 2,200 employees, who work in a warren of cubicles and conference rooms spread over several floors at the IAEA's headquarters. Its inspectors verify whether governments are complying with the Treaty for Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and other international accords. They regularly visit nuclear facilities to check records that countries keep on the whereabouts and inventories of their nuclear materials, looking for signs that uranium and plutonium at reactors or laboratories might be diverted to military uses. Although IAEA inspectors have been checking more than 900 facilities in 70 countries, they are now preoccupied with the hunt for nuclear weaponry in Iraq and the struggle to monitor North Korea's aggressive recent steps to restart its nuclear program. Those twin challenges point up the IAEA's conviction that science alone can determine the truth, and that science - carried out independently, correctly, and without regard for political considerations - takes time. Despite a tough new Security Council resolution that gives it unconditional and unrestricted access to everything in Iraq, the agency contends it will need at least a year to determine whether Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. That timetable doesn't sit well with the Bush administration, which is preparing for a possible military confrontation with Baghdad that could get underway as early as next month. David Kay, a former chief nuclear inspector for the IAEA, sees little patience in Washington for the agency's approach. ''The agency moves slowly,'' said Kay, now a fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies based in Arlington, Va. ''They're very methodical and traditional, very linear in their thinking. In Iraq, they were very slow to begin interviewing [Iraqi] scientists.'' The agency's inspections in Iraq are being carried out alongside a parallel hunt for biological and chemical agents conducted by the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission. Some US officials are critical of the IAEA, and say its work is heavily dependent on intelligence from the United States. ''They're completely reliant on our intelligence,'' a US diplomat in Vienna said on condition of anonymity. ''They couldn't work without us telling them, `You might want to look at that, or you might want to look over here.''' Decision-making within the agency, the official said, is slowed by frequent consultations with a board of governors that includes representatives of 35 countries, and with the Security Council in New York, to whom ElBaradei reports. ''That's the problem with multilateral organizations. There are so many players involved - too many players involved,'' the official said. ElBaradei said that going slow is crucial to the IAEA's work. He offered this simple entreaty: ''Give us time. Bear with us. What we do is the cornerstone of all arms control activities.'' This story ran on page A12 of the Boston Globe on 12/30/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. ***************************************************************** 19 Japan eyes more nuclear sanctions* *by Nahm Yoon-ho * December 31, 2002 TOKYO -- The Japanese government and its ruling party are drawing up unilateral economic sanctions against North Korea in an attempt to stop the communist state's nuclear ambition, Japanese media said yesterday. The Liberal Democratic Party is drafting a bill to ban economic exchanges between Japan and North Korea, the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The step would be taken, the paper said, on national security grounds. At present, Japanese law says that sanctions can only be imposed in cooperation with other countries or when there is an international agreement, such as a United Nations Security Council resolution, to do so. Japan is particularly sensitive to nuclear threats from North Korea because the North test-fired a missile over Japan in 1998. Tokyo has also suspended humanitarian rice shipments to the famine-stricken North. Tokyo and the ruling party is also considering an amendment that will ban a North Korean ferry and other ships from plying sea routes connecting Japan and North Korea. The ferry, Mangyeongbong, makes about 30 trips a year to carry pro-Pyeongyang Japanese-Koreans to their homeland and deliver goods for the North. Although the measures are being considered by the government and lawmakers, media reports said they are unlikely to be imposed quickly. ¨Ď 2002 JoongAng Ilbo , Joins.com . All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 [NK EDITORIALS] Dialogue the only solution * December 30, 2002 The gap between the United States and South Korea over how to handle the North's nuclear threat raises concern. Washington and Seoul agree on the goal of a nuclear-free peninsula, but differ on how to manage the situation. If common ground is not attained the nuclear crisis might develop in unexpected directions. That is the worst scenario, something South Korea and the United States must avoid. The two countries should draw up detailed cooperative measures as soon as possible to enter negotiations with North Korea. Pyeongyang hinted it would withdraw from the nonproliferation treaty; the United States is reportedly considering so-called tailored containment against North Korea. The situation has widened the gap between Seoul and Washington on how to deal with the North. President Kim Dae-jung said yesterday at a cabinet meeting that "repression and isolation were never successful measures of handling communist states." Mr. Kim continued: "All efforts to open up through dialogue have succeeded." His remarks can be interpreted as opposition to the U.S. approach of a policy of economic containment toward the North. Such a stance is also hinted by President-elect Roh Moo-hyun, and that is a serious problem. Mr. Roh, after a military briefing, said it is important not to let events develop into a war even if dialogue with North Korea is suspended and punishment is meted out. The president and the president-elect are both emphasizing a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue. The two leaders are responsible for preventing war on the peninsula, and reassuring the people of their safety. That is why they may have taken an approach that is a bit different from U.S. policy. North Korea may misjudge that difference as a crack in the U.S.-South Korea alliance. If the North continues to heighten the level of its threat to the United States based on such an assumption, a serious crisis will develop on the peninsula. North Korea may believe that Korean blood is thicker than the Washington-Seoul alliance. They might think the United States will withdraw its troops stationed here before they become hostages of inter-Korean strife. Such a course of action has been debated in the United States. The president and the president-elect may bring about a real crisis on the Korean Peninsula by focusing too much on a peaceful resolution. Thus, the government's top priority is confirming the immutability of the strength of the U.S.-South Korea alliance quickly and in the calmest manner. The government must show restraint on actions that might irritate the United States and push the North into misjudgment. That will protect Korean national interest. We firmly believe that war must not take place on the peninsula under any circumstances and that the peninsula must be nuclear-free. These principles square with the United States' national interest and global strategy. Dialogue is the only practical way to prevent war and a nuclear North. ¨Ď 2002 JoongAng Ilbo , Joins.com . All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 North edges away from nuclear pact* *by Kim Young-sae * December 31, 2002 In what Seoul officials called a desperate attempt to stave off U.S. pressure, North Korea's foreign ministry said late Sunday for the second time in a decade that it may withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The statement came hard on the heels of U.S. official leaks about its strategy to address the issue -- stepped-up attempts to isolate North Korea called "targeted containment." Both President Kim Dae-jung and President-elect Roh Moo-hyun cautioned against further isolating the North. North Korea joined the nuclear treaty in 1985, ratified it in 1991 and announced its intention to withdraw in 1993. That June, just a day before the withdrawal was to be effective, the North suspended its withdrawal. Seoul officials yesterday stressed the legal procedures involved, reminding reporters that the same 90-day period lies ahead before the North is officially free of any restrictions by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and then only if Pyeongyang makes an official announcement. Seoul will work with the international community, officials said, to forestall any such announcement. President Kim Dae-jung said yesterday that his "sunshine policy" is especially effective when relationships with the North become difficult. "There has never been a case of winning against a communist country by pressure and isolation," Mr. Kim asserted. President-elect Roh Moo-hyun said people should consider the risk of war before trying to further isolate the North. Other officials were also determinedly optimistic after the North's threat to withdraw from the treaty. They said the latest statement from Pyeongyang ended with a plea directed at the international community, as if to express a wish for the world to turn around Washington's hard line. "U.S. demands are not the intention of any international organization," the statement said. It called on "any country that seeks a peaceful resolution of the Korean nuclear issue" to do its part to "have the United States come to a dialogue with us." The statement also said its "special status" under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is in danger because the United States "has begun breaking the Agreed Framework" the two countries signed in 1994. The "special status" refers to the exemption under the Agreed Framework from inspections by the IAEA until key components for light-water reactors being constructed in the North are delivered. There was slight softening of words in Washington early yesterday, when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said channels of communication with Pyeongyang are open. Seoul officials noted, though, that there was no change in U.S. demands that the North take "positive steps" to get talks started. Officials here said they have not been informed of any U.S. policy decisions about a strategy to contain the North. ¨Ď 2002 JoongAng Ilbo , Joins.com . All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 Pakistan rejects 'ridiculous' report of nuclear transfer to N Korea Sify News *Islamabad, Dec 30* Pakistan on Monday rejected as "ridiculous" recent reports that Pyongyang secretly transported nuclear equipment from Pakistan in 1998 by hiding it in the coffin of a North Korean woman killed here. Japan's Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said Sunday that a sample gas centrifuge used to enrich uranium necessary to produce nuclear weapons was transported by special flight from Islamabad in the coffin of the murdered wife of a North Korean diplomat. "It is as ridiculous as it can get," foreign ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said in a press briefing. "It is a totally baseless report and we reject it outright," he said, adding that transport of a centrifuge would require a "container" rather than a coffin. The accusation came in the wake of a report in the New York Times last month that said Pakistan had provided North Korea with designs for gas centrifuges and machinery it needs for its enriched uranium nuclear arms project. It had said a Pakistani aircraft arrived in Pyongyang as recently as July to pick up North Korean missile parts -- the alleged payoff of the deal. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on November 25 he had made clear to Musharraf that "any sort of contact between Pakistan and North Korea we believe would be improper, inappropriate and would have consequences." North Korea has said it was reactivating a plutonium-based nuclear plant suspended under a 1994 deal after Washington cut regular fuel shipments mandated by the same pact. Khan also rejected reports that other countries have exerted pressure on Islamabad to stop its nuclear programme. "There are no such pressures on Pakistan," he said, adding that the safety record of the country's nuclear reactors was "impeccable." "I think all the countries accept the fact that Pakistan's command and control structure and Pakistan's nuclear programme is in completely safe hands." ©AFP 2000. All rights reserved. This material should not be ***************************************************************** 23 Let's not forget about Iran Israel's daily newsmagazine Gregg J. Rickman is the Director of Congressional Affairs for the Republican Jewish Coalition and is the author of Swiss Banks & Jewish Souls (Transaction Publishers, 1999). By Gregg J. Rickman December 30, 2002 There is much ado these days about a U.S. attack on Iraq. Moreover there is almost universal agreement that as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power in Iraq, there cannot be an atmosphere conducive to peace in the region. Saddam's neighbors in Iran, however, might nevertheless present problems of their own in any future peace process in the region. While a democratic regime in Iraq is a requirement for peace in the short term, a democratic and free Iran is important in the long-term When one thinks of Iran, one thinks of suicide bombings, hostage taking, and arms smuggling to terrorist clients. Yet, if this were not enough, the regime in Iran is not merely content with funding Hamas's suicide bombings, training Hizbullah's fighters in their war with Israel and smuggling weapons to the PLO. This regime is eagerly and forcefully pursuing a program to manufacture and acquire weapons of mass destruction. The "Iran will turn around, you'll see," crowd has been keeping the porch light on every night waiting for the good guys there to come home for twenty-three years now. Believing that constructive engagement with Iran is still possible, they never fail to give up hope. The question though is: Is there even a reason to believe that if left to itself, the regime in Tehran will ever "turn around?" Their actions do not support this, and any real attempt at moderation, despite the efforts of President Mohammad Khatami, seem impossible to imagine coming to true. A fundamental assessment to an understanding of this regime should be that they will not evolve into Jeffersonian democrats. They will not moderate and they will not surrender. Moreover, in the name of Islam they maim and torture solely to propel their rule. They understand violence because it is their only method of rule. We must therefore face the reality that the mullahs in Tehran will use any means they have in order to retain power. According to the Middle East Newsline, the mullahs, fearing they could no longer trust their own security forces to put down the growing number of protests, have been forced to bring in mercenary Arab forces to do the job for them. Moreover, Iranian efforts to obtain additional nuclear reactors like the one at Bushehr, bought and built by Russia, demonstrate their craving for another lifeline for their rule. On January 29, 2002, President Bush correctly declared Iran to be a charter member of the "Axis of Evil." Bravely, President Bush has addressed these nations for what they are: terrorist states and arms proliferators. As such, he has branded them as a threat to the security of the United States. He has redirected U.S. policy, programs, and intelligence toward defining and addressing the nature of the threat the Axis states pose. Now the job must be carried forward. Iran should be addressed not only as an enemy of the United States, but as an enemy of all civilized states. Iran must be cordoned off, cut off from Western funding, investment, diplomacy, and all other forms of contact and support. It must be isolated from the other states in the region that seek peace and prosperity. If a nation acts like a pariah, it must be treated as one. Next, the United States should develop funding for opposition forces there in the hope that with financial support, those opposing the mullahs can feel more emboldened to come out of their foxholes. Support and programs for a "post-mullah regime" will begin to convey the message to Tehran that their days are dwindling. True, such an entity would immediately draw the attention of the regime, making it a target, but no one should be foolish enough to believe that this would be a cakewalk. Holding out the promise of large U.S. contracts after "the fall," could provide even more incentive for support for a "Free Iran" opposition. Funding even serves the added purpose of demonstrating to the Iranian people that the United States is in fact supporting their struggle. Also, a sustained campaign of diplomatic contacts and cajoling to convince our European friends to forego further credits and easy terms for financial loans to economically prop up Tehran is vital for the cause. France, Germany, Norway and others should cease their lifelines to Iran to ease the long-term effects of their horrific economic mismanagement. The regime there has destroyed their economy bringing down the standard of living for its people. Extending its grace period only increases the chance that the regime will leave its European creditors out in the cold when matters fall below a salvageable level. Europe must be convinced that Iran is a losing bet and that they should save themselves and forget about gambling on the false hope of a return on their investments. Europe gambled in the 1980s on Iraq and lost billions of dollars in the process. Will their mistake be repeated? Moreover, European coddling of the regime only gives it credence in the eyes of the world. Admittedly the Europeans have a blind spot for Iranian terror and violence, even when it occurs on their territory like it did in Berlin and Paris during the last twenty years. Yet, a sustained program to wean them away from the Mullahs must be undertaken in the interest of all of who seek peace in the region. The Europeans must be forced to realize that in the end, they too would benefit from a democratic and free Iran. Furthermore, the United States must increase funding for radio and satellite television broadcasting into Iran bringing them the news they are denied. The sole source for news for the Iranian people cannot remain to be the regime there. The Iranian people crave all things American and the thirst for genuine news will be no different. These broadcasts must provide more than the American sports scores and the weather in the United States. The news beamed into Iran must be hard-hitting, relevant, and timely to the situation. It must show the Iranian people that their revolution was betrayed and the regime has betrayed the rich heritage of its patrimony. Just as the U.S. Government's new Radio Sawa relays its music and news bites to the lower Middle East, so too should a bolder and more challenging, surrogate "Radio Free Iran," and a "TV Free Iran" be directed towards that nation. The more the Iranian people hear and see that America does truly care and wants them to be free to rejoin the family of nations, the sooner this hope may become a reality. The stepped-up provision of satellite dishes to receive this programming in the Iranian market could do to enlighten the Iranian people what Al-Jazeera has done to radicalize the people of the lower Middle East. Israel and the West have learned all too well the effects of Al-Jazeera has had on inciting the people of the Middle East. Western satellite news should be extended further to the people of Iran for the purpose of telling them the truth about what is going on in their country. Block these transmissions they will, but not without cost to the mullahs, both materially and in morale. Like the broadcasts to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during the Cold War, captive people sacrificed and even risked life and limb to listen to Western broadcasts. When the Soviets jammed the broadcasts, it created undue hardships on them. They had to counter-broadcast all the time and they had to pay to do so. With a teetering economy, the higher the costs for the regime, the better. In the end, Iraq is unquestionably a threat to peace, not only in the region, but in the world as well. Iran, however, is a different threat altogether. Where Saddam is a fool with a brutish mentality, the leaders in Tehran are a different sort. They are every bit as dangerous or more so. As honed practitioners of terrorism and violence, they pose a deep and abiding threat to the United States and its allies. They will in the long run, pose the greatest threat to peace in our time. Their very advent to power, history will prove, may well turn out to have been as important, or more so, than the Soviet one. Whereas the Soviets knew limits when it came to Mother Russia, the mullahs are not so delicate. Their regime is one that is in search of power, ultimate power. If the mullahs get that power, the result will make Saddam look like a mere schoolyard bully. It would be far better to deal with the problem of Iran now, than in the future when we are staring down the barrel of a nuclear-armed Iran. If they achieve this capability, the Middle East will only be the first line of defense for us. After that comes the United States. /Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of israelinsider./ <#top> © 2001-2002 Koret Communications Ltd. All ***************************************************************** 24 Fermi 2 plant shut down to fix voltage regulator AP Wire | 12/30/2002 | [miamiherald.com - The miamiherald home page] Associated Press FRENCHTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A malfunctioning voltage regulator has prompted Detroit Edison Co. officials to shut down the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant. The Monroe County plant was shut down just after midnight Sunday. An Edison spokesman said the shut down was done to protect plant systems. "This event does not have any safety implications," Edison spokesman John Austerberry told The Monroe Evening News for a Monday story. Operators on the midnight shift Sunday recognized a voltage drop across several instruments. The low voltage could have damaged some instrumentation throughout the plant. "It would be like losing the power that operates the instruments on your dashboard," Austerberry said. The plant was shut down at 12:10 a.m. Sunday so workers could make the required repairs. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was notified as a matter of routine, Austerberry said. The plant is in a hot shutdown mode, which means the reactor power level is at zero, but the core's temperature is being maintained at 250 to 300 degrees. The repairs have been made to the voltage regulator, said spokeswoman Amy Allor, but workers are making other minor repairs. There was no timeline for when the plant will be up and running. In the meantime, Detroit Edison electricity users are being supplied by other Edison plants in the region. Herald.com ***************************************************************** 25 Experts to review Davis-Besse cracks - thenews-messenger.com Monday, December 30, 2002 By JENNIFER FUNK Staff writer In March, experts in the nuclear power field will gather in the Washington, D.C. area to confer for three days on nozzle cracks that have surfaced at some power plants -- including the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Ottawa County. The conference, from March 24 through the 26, will focus on the nickel-based alloy used in the reactor vessel head nozzles that cracked at the Davis-Besse plant and in several others across the United States. "The discovery of cracks and leakage from the control rod drive housings of several U.S. and foreign reactors has raised this issue to a high level or regulatory concern," read a release from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week. Cracks on the nozzles located on reactor heads in pressurized water reactors were found prior to those on the Davis-Besse head, but none experienced corrosion as severe as the Carroll Township plant. The reactor has been off-line there since February, and plant officials say they would like to restart by the end of the first quarter 2003. However, the plant's parent company, FirstEnergy, will have to show an NRC oversight panel that it has fixed all the problems that led to the unprecedented amount of corrosion that ate away a hole in the reactor head. Meanwhile, the NRC sent out a letter asking all of the nation's 68 pressurized water reactors to show what steps they are taking to find and correct nozzle cracking. The March conference announcement showed participants will include reactor operators, regulatory officials and researchers to talk about the issues faced with the nozzles as many of the country's reactors get older. And while FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider said it was too soon to tell if there will be much of a focus on Davis-Besse at the three-day conference, he did say a FirstEnergy representative will likely be there. Also, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said while the scope of the meeting goes far beyond Davis-Besse, "I'm certain Davis-Besse will be among the items discussed for sure." The agenda has not yet been set for the conference, but Dricks said there will likely be domestic experts as well as a few from overseas to discuss similar issues discovered in foreign power plants. Some of the topics of the meetings include analysis of flaw inspection procedures, descriptions of training procedures and use of vessel head mock-ups used for repair purposes and programs that might mitigate cracking, among other things. Details of the conference will be posted on the NRC's Web site at www.nrc.gov Click on Nuclear Reactors, then the Alloy 600 link for more information. Originally published Monday, December 30, 2002 Copyright ©2002 The News-Messenger. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 Protective hoods given to Congress By RICHARD POWELSON, News-Sentinel Washington bureau December 30, 2002 WASHINGTON — Congressional staffers were caught off guard by the anthrax attacks in 2001, but now every House and Senate office has enough special breathing hoods so everyone has a chance to escape safely if there is another similar attack. All staff and members of Congress are being offered training on how to properly put on and hook up the sealed hood using a high-tech filter that protects against various biological and chemical substances. About half the staff and their bosses have attended training classes so far, according to the U.S. Capitol Police. But Knoxville Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., a maverick on certain issues, said he has not been trained and does not plan to receive training. "I don't intend to (get training) unless the situation gets a whole lot worse than it appears to be at this point," Duncan said. "I think there is some threat of isolated terrorist incidents happening, but I think I have a much greater threat of being killed or seriously injured in an auto accident driving around here (in Knoxville) or in Washington. The odds would tell you that. We're losing 37,000 people a year to deaths on the highways." The Bush administration has cautioned for some time that the nation remains at an "elevated" risk of another terrorist act. On a five-point scale, from low to high risk, "elevated" is midpoint at No. 3. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., the Senate's only physician and the author of a book on the need for Americans to better prepare for bioterrorism attacks, welcomed the placement of the tested and proven escape hoods in all Senate and House offices and took training on their use. "The federal government has been a target before," Frist said, "and we must take appropriate measures to ensure we're prepared if it happens again. "These hoods send a message that we're prepared and also give staff and guests a feeling of security by knowing that measures have been taken to protect them. Simply being prepared for a bioterrorist threat is one of the most critical things we can do to protect ourselves." The purpose of buying the escape hoods and offering training, said Capitol Police officer Jessica Gissubel, is "if there were another situation, this is to safely evacuate people from an area." The Quick2000 escape hoods, made by the Bacou-Dalloz Co. plant in Santa Ana, Calif., first were designed for use by State Department employees who work in embassies around the world. The company says they offer protection for at least 15 minutes and perhaps for an hour or more so persons can walk quickly away from a known release of dangerous chemical agents such as sarin and mustard gas or biological agents like anthrax, hantavirus (causing pneumonia or severe fever), tularemia (prompting severe respiratory illness) or cholera. Each hood, which costs about $100, has an adjustable rubber neck opening to seal one's respiratory system from contaminated air. A mouthpiece allows breathing through a high-tech filter that the company says would even protect against low-grade radioactive particulates released from a bomb. The wearer uses a nose clip to force breathing through the mouth and thus the filter. The hood has an extra-large clear opening for those who are slightly claustrophobic. Other agencies that have bought the emergency hoods include all U.S. military branches, the U.S. Supreme Court, the National Institutes of Health, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles police departments. One staffer said it is scary that Congress has had to put emergency escape hoods in every office. There are 100 senators, with each receiving about 35 hoods for staff and any visitors, and 435 House members who received about 15 hoods per office for staff and visitors. That totals more than 10,000 hoods costing more than $1 million and does not include the cost to protect other staff working for dozens of committees and many more subcommittees. Aides accepted the training with little concern as part of the job of working in a government area of interest to terrorists. All staff members have noticed a variety of extra security in and around the U.S. Capitol and its office buildings. The Capitol Police have been spreading news of their preparations to give all staff the chance to be prepared for any future attack. More than a year ago a still-unknown person believed to be a scientist mailed anthrax particles in sealed envelopes to a couple offices in the Hart Senate Office Building and along the way apparently contaminated some mail going to several Longworth House Office Building suites. All the affected areas had to be sealed for a long period of study and decontamination. Hundreds of staffers took medication in case they had inhaled anthrax spores. Two postal workers at a sorting center died after exposure to the anthrax because of delays in detection and treatment. Publicity over the escape hood purchases and staff training could help deter others from trying to use biological or chemical substances to attack members of Congress or their staff members, police said. But Gissubel of the Capitol Police said readiness rather than deterrence is the main intent of the escape hoods. "We want to train everybody who is interested," she said. "It's a difficult task to complete." Richard Powelson may be contacted at 202-408-2727 or PowelsonR@shns.com The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 27 DOD: patent for directional radiation decector FR Doc 02-32817 [Federal Register: December 30, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 250)] [Notices] [Page 79574-79575] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30de02-45] DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Army Intention To Grant Exclusive Patent License on a Federally Owned Invention AGENCY: Department of the Army, DOD. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: In accordance with 37 CFR 404.7, announcement is made of the intention to grant an exclusive patent license for U.S. Patent Number 5,665,970, entitled, ``Directional Radiation Detector and Imager,'' that was issued to Kronenberg et al. on September 9, 1997. The United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Army, has rights in this invention. Accordingly, under the authority of Section 11(a)(2) of the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99- 502) and sections 207 and 209 of Title 35, United States Code, the Department of the Army, as represented by the U.S. Army Communications- Electronics Command, Fort Monmouth, NJ, intends to grant an exclusive patent license for U.S. Patent Number 5,665,970 to Canberra Industries Inc. ADDRESSES: Commander, U.S. Army, Communications-Electronics Command, ATTN: AMSEL-LG-L (Mr. George B. Tereschuk), Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 07703-5010. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. George B. Tereschuk, Patent Attorney, U.S. Army (732) 532-9795. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: U.S. Patent Number 5,665,970, filed on July 3, 1996, entitled, ``Directional Radiation Detector and Imager,'' was issued to Kronenberg et al. on September 9, 1997. This U.S. Patent was assigned to the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Army, and provides a new type of radiation sensor and radiation imager that is formed by sandwiching two materials having different atomic numbers (Z) around a radiation detector, such as scintillator or Geiger-Mueller type radiation counters, or solid state radiation detectors, such as those made of silicon. Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 209(e) any interested party may file written comments or objections to [[Page 79575]] this intended exclusive patent license at the above address. Written comments or objections must be filed within fifteen (15) days from the date of the publication of this notice in the Federal Register. George B. Tereschuk, Patent Attorney, Intellectual Property Law Division. [FR Doc. 02-32817 Filed 12-27-02; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3710-08-M ***************************************************************** 28 New uranium process promoted By RUSS OATES, Associated Press December 30, 2002 NASHVILLE — Local leaders from five counties near Nashville had the same question after their November tour of a Dutch uranium enrichment plant. "How do you go back and explain?" Sumner County Executive Hank Thompson said. The group made the trip to learn more about the gas centrifuge method of uranium enrichment. Louisiana Energy Services wants to use that technology at a proposed $1.1 billion plant on 260 acres of old Tennessee Valley Authority land in Hartsville, about 40 miles northeast of Nashville. Four Lake Regional Industrial Development Authority, an organization comprising Macon, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale and Wilson counties, bought the land from TVA earlier this year, and LES wants to lease it for a plant that will employ 250 workers. Thompson, who also chairs the development authority, said he and his colleagues studied the process of enriching uranium and understand it, but he's concerned because the word nuclear "gets people scared." "It's not Paducah, and it's not Oak Ridge," said Thompson, referring to workers made sick at the uranium enrichment plant in Paducah, Ky., and at the now-shuttered uranium facility in Oak Ridge. Uranium, a naturally occurring radioactive element, contains small amounts of the isotope uranium-235, which fuels nuclear reactors and weapons. But the concentration of the U-235 isotope must be boosted, or enriched. Most nuclear power plants require uranium containing about 5 percent of the U-235 isotope. Nuclear weapons need about 90 percent. "The process is to separate the isotopes based on the difference in their mass," said Colin Heath, an LES consultant. The current method used to do that is called gaseous diffusion and is used at only one place in the United States - a plant operated by USEC Inc. in Paducah. The process isolates the smaller, lighter U-235 isotope by forcing uranium gas through a series of hundreds of filters. The newer gas centrifuge process, used in Russia and Europe, separates U-235 from heavier isotopes by pumping uranium gas through hundreds of cylinders spinning at speeds from 50,000 to 70,000 revolutions per minute. That's the method LES wants to use at Hartsville, since it's cheaper and uses about 10 percent of the energy needed for gaseous diffusion, Heath said. USEC is also trying to secure a gas centrifuge license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and on Dec. 4 it announced plans to build a $150 million operation to test the technology in Ohio. LES set Jan. 30 as its deadline to submit a license application to the NRC, spokeswoman Nan Kilkeary said. Meanwhile, Thompson continues to show a video he prepared on local television on gas centrifuge technology, while Citizens for Smart Choices, a group opposed to the LES plant, hosts public meetings and distributes fliers, group leader DeAnna Fry said. Fry said most people are concerned about how the plant will affect public health and safety, especially what will happen to the uranium left over from the enrichment process. LES says it will store depleted uranium at the Hartsville site for an amount of time yet to be determined by the NRC, Kilkeary said. Kilkeary said a person standing beside a cylinder of depleted uranium for a full year would absorb the same amount of radiation given off by "about half a pack of cigarettes." Halil Avci, a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, said radiation from the uranium enrichment process can be shielded, but depleted uranium can damage the kidneys if taken into the body. The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 Concern at nuclear convoys* www.yourguide.com.au Len Ashworth More than 170 truck loads of radioactive waste could be passing through Lithgow and the Blue Mountains if a Federal Government agency has its way. There has been increasing agitation throughout the region at the prospect of the nuclear garbage coming our way, particularly in such volumes and with the ever present risk of accident. Now Lithgow Council has acted to confirm its status as a Nuclear Free Zone and will lodge an objection to the waste program through Member for Calare Peter Andren. Council's Environmental and Planning Manager Andrew Muir said the green group, Friends of the Earth, had met recently with Council to discuss mutual concerns at the prospect of the nuclear convoys. Mr Muir said the proposal comes from the Federal Department of Education Science and Training (DEST) who have prepared a draft environmental impact statement for the construction of a national repository for 'low level and short lived intermediate level' radioactive waste. The national repository is planned for one of three sites on a short list near Woomera in South Australia. Mr Muir said Council's interest in the project is the proposal in the EIS to transport the waste by road from Sydney to Broken Hill ? passing along the Great Western Highway through the Blue Mountains, Lithgow, Bathurst and Orange Local Government areas. He said that to clear the accumulated radioactive waste would initially take an estimated 171 truck loads. After this initial movement it was calculated that further disposal campaigns would be necessary every two to five years. The department claims transport of the waste would be governed by relevant Australian and international regulations and codes. Mr Muir said that some years ago Council had declared all of its area a 'nuclear free zone' and had erected signs stating this position. Almost three years ago ? in January 2000 ? Lithgow had joined with the neighbouring Blue Mountains Council in opposing any transportation of nuclear waste through their areas. The period for public input on the EIS has now passed and the EIS is currently with the Minister for the Environment, David Kemp, and his department for decision. Council, without comment, adopted a recommendation that it seek the support of Member for Calare, Peter Andren, reiterating opposition to any such waste transportation through the area and opposing the road transport option in the EIS in its entirety. State Member for Bathurst Gerard Martin will be asked to add his weight to the objections. In other developments on the issue: * FEDERAL Science Minister Peter McGauran said claims by green groups on the waste issue were both 'irresponsible and wrong'. He said there were already some 30,000 packages of radioactive material routinely and safely transported between major Australian cities and towns every year. Most of the waste generated, he said, was an unavoidable by product of nuclear medicine. "There is more risk to the public from a petrol or gas tanker than from a container transporting solid fuels,? the Minister said. * FRIENDS OF THE EARTH claimed the Federal Government was prepared to invoke its constitutional powers to over-ride any State objections to the waste transportation or even to the siting of the storage facility in a regional centre. * GREENS MLC Ian Cohen claimed the Federal Government would ignore the wishes of regional communities along the transportation route for the waste and would also ignore the 'nuclear free zone' declaration. He said any accident during the transportation would place unacceptable responsibility on the State's emergency services. ***************************************************************** 30 Waste Meant for Colorado Being Sent to Envirocare The Salt Lake Tribune -- December 30, 2002 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANON CITY, Colo. -- Radioactive soil that was to be buried near Canon City has been going to a nuclear waste dump about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City for the past several months. The Cotter Corp. processes uranium at its Canon City mill and had submitted the lowest bid to accept up to 470,000 tons of radioactive soil from a Superfund site in Maywood, N.J. But the Colorado Department of Health and Environment rejected the proposal in October, and Cotter has yet to resubmit its application. Instead waste has been going to a dump operated by Envirocare Inc. in Clive, Utah, along with proceeds from a $70 million transportation-and-disposal contract with the Army Corps of Engineers. If Cotter cannot persuade Colorado officials to allow disposal in Canon City, the Maywood waste eventually will go to Utah without a rebidding of the contract. A citizens group mobilized when Cotter's plan became public. After a series of public meetings, the Colorado Legislature created a public hearing process for nuclear waste shipments, effectively making it more difficult for Cotter to accept Maywood waste. In January, the opposition continued with activists pressuring the state to conduct more testing for contamination near the Cotter mill. © Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 31 Commentary: The curse of interesting times* United Press International By Richard Tomkins UPI White House Correspondent From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk Published 12/30/2002 3:25 PM WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The United States enters the third year of the Bush presidency with three major foreign policy flashpoints that will keep the White House, the country, and indeed the world on the edge of their seats. It's as if the curse "may you live in interesting times" was hurled in Washington's direction. In the Middle East, war against Iraq and its recidivist leader Saddam Hussein, appears inevitable barring a coup, assassination or sudden -- and highly unlikely -- change of heart that sees him cooperating honestly and fully with international weapons inspectors and disarming Iraq of suspected chemical and biological weapons. Iraq, President George W. Bush has said, poses a grave threat to U.S. and world security given its proclivity for violence against its neighbors, Saddam's regional ambitions and potential as a conduit for weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups. What's more, a nuclear Iraq -- it has been pursuing nuclear weapons since the 1980s -- would alter unpredictably the Middle East military balance of power, in which only pro-West Israel is believed to possess the bomb. The White House says no decision has yet been reached on war with Iraq, where U.N. weapons inspectors have recently returned. But the United States, which considers Iraq in material breach of international mandates, has some 50,000 troops in the region and is surging more to the area, enough to double the amount in a matter of weeks. Two aircraft carrier battle groups (about 12 ships each) have been ordered to the Gulf as well as two amphibious assault groups. "If I was Saddam Hussein and saw these forces were coming after me, it (the option of fleeing the country) would certainly be an option on my table," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday on television. Iraq, which prior to the 1991 Gulf War, had the fifth-largest army in the world, today has armed forces numbering about 350,000-389,000, including reactivated reservists. According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, about half of the Iraqi divisions -- 8,000 men per instead of the authorized 10,000 -- are in a fair state of readiness. Other units are badly undermanned and lacking in spare parts for essential equipment. Yet an Iraq invasion would not necessarily be a cakewalk, especially if Republican Guard troops withdrew to the cities and engaged in street fighting. And then there is what happens after an invasion, if it should take place. The challenge of aid, reconstruction, holding the country together and promoting replacement leaders would open a new Pandora's Box. In Asia, hermetic and xenophobic North Korea -- which the CIA estimates already posses one or two nuclear devices and the means to deliver them regionally -- flouts international agreements and threatens to more fully restart its nuclear program in a game of brinksmanship to parlay bluster into pots of international aid. The country is starving. But President Kim Jong il's million-man standing army is well fed, well armed and massed along the border with South Korea. War, by miscalculation or design, would result in a massive bloodbath -- even without a nuclear exchange -- unseen on the peninsula since the early 1950s, when Kim's father, Kim il Sung, invaded the South, nearly occupying the entire country before being beaten back to the 38th parallel by South Korean, U.S. and U.N. troops. "What he wants is for us to believe we're in a state of panic and therefore we have to give him whatever he is demanding and appease bad behavior," Powell said. "That's what we are not going to do." North Korea is an abject lesion in shrinking options, which Bush has warned about. If Iraq already had a nuclear weapon, U.S. options for confronting the regime would be more restricted and fraught, therefore increasing Iraq's influence in the immediate sense and in the long term. That's what the United States, with Britain, is trying to prevent. North Korea, despite its bluster and outright belligerence, is not a crisis, Washington now coos, just a serious problem that can be solved diplomatically with help from our regional allies, Japan and South Korea, which are within striking distance of Pyongyang's Tae-Po Dong missiles. In 1994, President Bill Clinton, with help from former President Jimmy Carter, hammered out a deal with North Korea on its pursuit of nuclear weapons. In return for hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel oil annually and help in building two modern nuclear reactors, Pyongyang would shutter its Yongbyon facility, where it produced plutonium for its bombs. In October, when confronted with evidence by a senior U.S. diplomat, North Korea not only admitted violating the accord, but also defiantly admitted it began work on producing enriched uranium within months on the earlier deal. It is now demanding a non-aggression pact and other concessions from the United States. International inspectors have been expelled, and Yongbyon is scheduled for reopening. The United States, Powell said, is going to use diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea and "we're going to hope that common sense will ultimately prevail." That will be interesting to see. Pyongyang is not one for subtleties or by doing things by half measure. While it was announcing the expulsion of international nuclear inspectors and Yongbon's reactivation, it was sending military patrols armed with machine guns into the Demilitarized Zone with South Korea, a clear violation of the armistice that ended the Korean War. Meanwhile, Iran's Islamist regime, the third leg is President Bush's "axis of evil," is creeping into the nuclear spotlight as well. Tehran, a supporter of terrorist groups, an enemy of Israel and its "Great Satan" protector, is apparently building two nuclear reactors. Russia, America's new East European friend, is constructing one of them, an $800 million facility at Bushehr. "Iran is using nuclear energy exclusively for peaceful purposes," Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said recently. "There are no programs to create nuclear weapons or develop sensitive nuclear technologies." Iranian President Mohammed Khatami has also tried to dampen U.S. unease, but insists the nuclear project will go ahead. Tehran, however, has not yet signed an agreement to return spent fuel rods, which can be used in weapons production, back to Russia, reports say. It also barred international nuclear inspectors from visiting the facility earlier this month as previously arranged. How the three challenges will play out are undeterminable. But Bush has repeatedly said the United States cannot simply sit back and hope for the best, especially with Iraq. "Interesting times" doesn't stop there. There is still the war on terrorism, there is still Israeli-Palestinian bloodlust. And on the domestic scene, a shaky economy gnaws at confidence in the future. "Interesting times?" Yup. But it's our times, like it or not. Copyright © 2002 United Press International ***************************************************************** 32 N. Korea May Pull Out of Nuke Arms Treaty Las Vegas SUN: December 30, 2002 By PAUL SHIN ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea was assessing on Monday whether communist North Korea was preparing to withdraw from the international treaty that seeks to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. A statement released by North Korea suggested it would pull out of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons - a move that would escalate the crisis over the isolated nation's decision to restart its nuclear facilities and expel International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. "We're closely watching what North Korea's next step would be," said a South Korean Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity at a briefing for reporters. "It could be a withdrawal from the nonproliferation treaty." The treaty, which was adopted in 1968 and ratified by 187 countries, seeks to confine nuclear weapons to the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China. At least three countries known to possess nuclear weapons - India, Pakistan and Israel - are not members of the treaty. North Korea signed the treaty in 1985, but U.S. authorities believe the communist nation has at least one or two bombs made from 1980s-vintage plutonium. In 1993, the North said it would withdraw from the treaty during a crisis over its suspected development of nuclear weapons. The crisis was resolved a year later with the Pyongyang regime agreeing to halt its nuclear weapons development in exchange for aid from the United States and other nations. North Korea said in a statement Sunday that the United States violated the 1994 deal by halting promised energy supplies. In the statement, North Korea said that the United States was "gripped by the Cold War way of thinking" and should agree to "face to face" dialogue to settle their nuclear dispute peacefully. Many fear that if North Korea withdraws from the treaty, it would begin actively producing nuclear weapons and pose a direct threat to its neighbors in the region. North Korea's nuclear moves have produced a flurry of diplomatic activity. On Sunday, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States was "looking for ways to communicate with the North Koreans" to ease the nuclear crisis, but will do nothing to help Pyongyang unless it changes its behavior. Japanese lawmakers, meanwhile, are reportedly weighing new sanctions against impoverished North Korea, hoping to pressure the regime. Japan is already withholding rice shipments. Outgoing South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who leaves office in February, said Monday that he would continue his "sunshine" policy of engaging North Korea to try to resolve the dispute peacefully. The North's isolated communist government has been moving to reactivate operations at its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon that experts say could produce weapons within months. In the past week, Pyongyang had removed U.N. seals and surveillance cameras from its nuclear facilities that were frozen under the 1994 accord. On Friday, North Korea ratcheted up tensions by ordering the expulsion of two U.N. monitors - depriving the Vienna-based U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency of its last means of monitoring the North's plutonium-based nuclear weapons program. U.S. officials said Sunday that Washington would enlist its Asian allies and the United Nations to intensify economic pressure on Pyongyang unless it abandons nuclear development. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 33 Pyongyang issues fresh nuclear threat BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Monday, 30 December, 2002, [An aerial view of Yongbyon] North Korea has reactivated the Yongbyon reactor North Korea has hinted it could pull out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the confrontation over its nuclear programme continues. The North has already expelled inspectors from its nuclear complex at Yongbyon and is threatening to restart the facilities. [Colin Powell, US Secretary of State] Powell: No immediate strikes against North Korea The US says it is not planning to attack North Korea, but does favour a "tailored containment" strategy which could include economic sanctions on Pyongyang. The last time North Korea pulled out of the NPT, nine years ago, there was a dangerous confrontation with Washington. A statement from the North Korean foreign ministry, carried by the North's KCNA news agency on Sunday, implied that Pyongyang could be preparing to ditch the treaty again. 1994 after reaching a deal with Washington, known as the Agreed Framework (AF). However the statement went on to say that the US had begun "ditching... the AF, thus putting this special status of ours in peril". Under the accord reached with the US in 1994, North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear programme in exchange for fuel and aid. But in November, Washington halted the fuel shipments because, it said, Pyongyang had admitted it was resuming its nuclear programme. North Korea then unsealed the Yongbyon plant and began moving nuclear fuel rods there. CRISIS CHRONOLOGY [1992 photo of the Yongbyon reactor] 16 Oct: N Korea acknowledges secret nuclear programme, US announces 14 Nov: Fuel shipments to N Korea halted 12 Dec: N Korea threatens to reactivate Yongbyon plant 22 Dec: N Korea removes monitoring devices at Yongbyon reactor 26 Dec: UN says 1,000 fuel rods have been moved to the plant 27 Dec: N Korea says it will expel UN nuclear inspectors Timeline of tensions The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said on Sunday that despite the crisis, his country has no immediate plans to attack North Korea. Washington has instead set out a strategy to handle Pyongyang by isolating it economically - asking North Korea's neighbours and allies to cut economic ties, and urging the UN to impose sanctions. But South Korea's president said on Monday that he did not support sanctions as a diplomatic approach. Kim Dae-jung told a cabinet meeting that pressuring and isolating Communist countries had never been successful, and pledged to continue his policy of engagement with the North. "The more stalled relations are, the more effective this sunshine policy is. We cannot go to war with North Korea and we can't go back to the Cold War system and extreme confrontation," he said. Raised stakes North Korea continues to demand direct talks as a way out of the confrontation. Its stated aim is to sign a non-aggression pact with a country it sees as a direct military threat. But the BBC's Charles Scanlon in Seoul says the US is concerned that formal negotiations would be seen as rewarding bad behaviour. Instead, it may seek working level contacts at the United Nations or through South Korea. Our correspondent says that the danger is that the North will in the meantime continue to raise the stakes, encouraged by Washington's measured approach and by a recent surge of anti-American sentiment in South Korea. © MMII | News Sources | Privacy ***************************************************************** 34 Pasko appeals to European Court Gregory Pasko, an investigative journalist who worked for the Pacific Fleet's newspaper, was arrested on 20 November 1997 by the FSB and charged with high treason for his writing about the nuclear saf On December 24, Grigory Pasko’s application was sent to the European Court of Human Rights. On the same day the Russian Supreme Court Presidium rejected his request for a supervisory review of his conviction. Jon Gauslaa, 2002-12-29 20:23 In the 50-page application to the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, it is submitted that the Russian Government through the treason conviction of Pasko has violated the following of his rights and freedoms under the European Convention on Human Rights: · Article 6 – the right to determination within a reasonable time; · Article 6 – the right to a fair trial; · Article 7 – retroactive use and extensive interpretation of the criminal law; · Article 10 – the right to freedom of expression. Reasonable time When substantiating that Pasko’s right to have the charges against him determined within a reasonable time has been violated, his attorneys point to the fact that the investigation of the facts of his case was finalised on May 20, 1998, and was never again re-opened. Thus, the complexity of the case can by no means justify that the Russian law enforcement bodies used more than four years from finalising the investigation to determine the case. This appears as a clear violation of the time limit set up in Article 6. Fair trial Several basic fair trial principles enshrined by Article 6 have been violated throughout the case. Firstly, the experts on state secrets that were appointed during the court proceedings were not neutral and independent. This is a violation of the principle of equality of arms. Secondly, the experts relied on documents and information that were not presented to the defence and the court. Thus, the principle of adversarial proceedings was violated. Thirdly, the defence was deprived of a real possibility to refute new incriminating claims made by witnesses that were brought into the trial at a late stage. This constitutes not only a violation of the right to equality of arms, but also of the right to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defence. Fourthly, the right to be presumed innocent was violated by incriminating statements made by high-ranking Navy officers during the proceedings. At the first trial against Pasko, rear admiral Nikolai Sotskov, for instance said to a regional newspaper that Pasko “was guilty of espionage” (Vladivostok News, January 29, 1999). Retroactive use of the criminal law The allegation that Pasko collected and kept secret information is based partly on retroactive use of and partly on extensive interpretation of the law on state secrets. This law application was caused by the experts’ and the courts’ use of the secret decree 055 in order to define the presence of state secrets in the materials possessed by Pasko. Besides, the use of the secret decree appears in itself as a violation of the principle of legality. Thus, the basic principles of Article 7, which have been established through the case law of the Strasbourg Court, have been violated. Freedom of expression Finally it is submitted that Pasko’s freedom of expression under Article 10 was violated. He reported on nuclear safety issues of great public interest. The interferences took the form of seizure of documents necessary for his work; overbroad criminal persecution; and a conviction based on grounds that are capable of discouraging journalists from legitimate enjoyment of the freedom of expression. Besides, the grave interferences of Pasko’s freedom of expression cannot be justified on national security grounds. The documents he was charged with having collected and kept with the purpose of a subsequent transfer to Japan did not contain state secrets and comprised to a large extent information that already were available in the public domain. Other cases Mr. Pasko seeks a finding by the Strasbourg Court that his rights have been violated as set out in his application, and just satisfactions for these violations. Russia ratified the European Convention on Human Rights on May 5, 1998. The Court has since then heard two cases involving Russia (Burdov v. Russia, May 7, 2002, application No. 59498/00 and Kalashnikov v. Russia, July 15, 2002, application no. 47095/99). The Russian Government lost both cases. A number of other Russian cases are currently pending before the Strasbourg Court, including the case of Aleksandr Nikitin (application no. 50178/99). Last October the Court invited the Russian Government to submit its observations on the admissibility and merits of Nikitin’s application. In late November the Court agreed to extend the Government’s time limit to submit its observations to January 22, 2003. No supervisory review On the same day as Pasko’s application was forwarded to the Strasbourg Court, it became known that the Presidium of the Russian Supreme Court had rejected his request for a supervisory review, which was handed in on October 21, 2002. Thus, the Russian legal system may have misused its last chance to set things straight in the Pasko case. As the Strasbourg Court is overloaded with cases, it is hard to predict anything regarding the progress of its handling of Pasko’s application. It is, however, clear that the Russian law enforcement bodies will have much to answer for. Grigory Pasko worked as a journalist for the newspaper of the Russian Pacific Fleet. He was arrested on November 20, 1997 and charged with treason through espionage. At the same time his home was searched and a large number of his documents seized. He was acquitted of the treason charges by a ruling of July 20, 1999, but convicted for “abuse of his authority”, a crime he was never charged with. This ruling was quashed upon appeal. Subsequently, the Court of the Pacific Fleet convicted Pasko to four years for treason on December 25, 2001. State secrets experts appointed by the Ministry of Defence assisted the court. The conviction was solely based on one of the ten items that formed the basis for the charges against him. For the remaining items he was acquitted. The Supreme Court’s Military Collegium upheld the conviction with some modifications on June 25, 2002. Pasko is currently serving his sentence in a “hard regime” labour camp in Ussuryisk, in the Russian Far East. His release is scheduled for April 25, 2004. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 35 Musharraf did not mean nuclear or biological attack against India: ***************************************************************** 36 Oak Ridge safety Advisory committee FR Doc 02-32863 [Federal Register: December 30, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 250)] [Notices] [Page 79635] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30de02-97] [[Page 79635]] DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Citizens Advisory Committee on Public Health Service (PHS) Activities and Research at Department of Energy (DOE) Sites: Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects Subcommittee. In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announce the following meeting. Name: Citizens Advisory Committee on PHS Activities and Research at DOE Sites: Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects Subcommittee (ORRHES). Time and Date: 12 p.m.-8 p.m., February 10, 2003. Place: YWCA of Oak Ridge, 1660 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37830. Telephone: (865) 482-9922. Status: Open to the public, limited only by the space available. The meeting room accommodates approximately 100 people. Background: A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in October 1990 and renewed in September 2000 between ATSDR and DOE delineates the responsibilities and procedures for ATSDR's public health activities at DOE sites required under sections 104, 105, 107, and 120 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or ``Superfund''). These activities include health consultations and public health assessments at DOE sites listed on, or proposed for, the Superfund National Priorities List and at sites that are the subject of petitions from the public; and other health-related activities such as epidemiologic studies, health surveillance, exposure and disease registries, health education, substance-specific applied research, emergency response, and preparation of toxicological profiles. In addition, under an MOU signed in December 1990 with DOE and replaced by an MOU signed in 2000, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been given the responsibility and resources for conducting analytic epidemiologic investigations of residents of communities in the vicinity of DOE facilities, workers at DOE facilities, and other persons potentially exposed to radiation or to potential hazards from non-nuclear energy production and use. HHS has delegated program responsibility to CDC. Purpose: This subcommittee is charged with providing advice and recommendations to the Director, CDC, and the Administrator, ATSDR, pertaining to CDC's and ATSDR's public health activities and research at this DOE site. Activities shall focus on providing the public with a vehicle to express concerns and provide advice and recommendations to CDC and ATSDR. The purpose of this meeting is to receive updates from ATSDR and CDC, and to address other issues and topics, as necessary. Matters to be Discussed: The agenda includes a discussion of the public health assessment, updates from the Public Health Assessment, Health Needs Assessment, Guidelines and Procedures, Agenda, and Communications and Outreach Workgroups. Agenda items are subject to change as priorities dictate. Contact Person for More Information: La Freta Dalton, Designated Federal Official, or Marilyn Palmer, Committee Management Specialist, Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, ATSDR, 1600 Clifton Road, NE., M/S E-32, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, telephone 1-888-42-ATSDR(28737), fax 404/498-1744. The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, has been delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining to announcements of meetings and other committee management activities, for both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Dated: December 20, 2002. Alvin Hall, Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [FR Doc. 02-32863 Filed 12-27-02; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4163-18-P ***************************************************************** 37 DOE: Moab tailing flood plan EIS FR Doc 02-32910 [Federal Register: December 30, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 250)] [Notices] [Page 79588] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30de02-54] DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and To Conduct Public Scoping Meetings, and Notice of Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement for Remediation of the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Site in Grand County, UT AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and to conduct public scoping meetings; correction. SUMMARY: The Department of Energy published a document in the Federal Register of December 20, 2002, announcing its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to assess the potential environmental impacts of actions that would remediate contaminated soils, tailings, and ground water at the Moab Uranium Mill, Tailings Site, Grand County, Utah, and contaminated soils in adjacent public and private properties near the Moab Project Site. The document contained an incorrect e-mail address. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Joel Berwick, Moab Project Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction Office, (970) 248- 6020. Correction In the Federal Register of December 20, 2002, in FR Doc. 02-32126, on page 77969, please make the following correction: On page 77969, under the heading ADDRESSES, the second paragraph should read: In addition to providing comments at the public scoping meetings, interested parties are invited to record their comments, ask questions concerning the EIS, or request to be placed on the EIS mailing list or document distribution list by leaving a message on the toll-free EIS Hotline 1-800-637-4575, or e-mail at moabcomments@gjo.doe.gov The hotline will have instructions on how to record comments and requests. Issued in Washington, DC, this 20th day of December, 2002. Beverly A Cook, Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health. [FR Doc. 02-32910 Filed 12-27-02; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-M ***************************************************************** 38 PACE locals co-sponsor Jan. 7 screening of 'Silkwood' Workday Minnesota: MINNEAPOLIS — PACE Locals 7-264 and 7-662 are teaming up with Clean Water Action Alliance to sponsor a screening of the acclaimed film “Silkwood.” The film will be shown at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Oak St. Cinema, 309 Oak St., Minneapolis. Discussion will follow. Admission is $7. The 1985 movie – featuring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher and Craig T. Nelson – uses the story of Karen Silkwood to illustrate the dangerous conditions working people accept in order to make a living. Silkwood was a chemical technician at a Kerr-McGee plutonium fuels plant in Crescent, Okla. She was also an activist in one of PACE’s predecessors – the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers’ Union – and critical of plant safety. Silkwood reportedly was gathering evidence to show that Kerr-McGee was negligent in safety procedures when she died on Nov. 13, 1974, in a suspicious one-car crash. “Silkwood” is the first installment of Clean Water Action’s “Radioactive Reels Atomic Film Festival.” The group’s executive director, Diana McKeown, said the series is intended to prompt discussion on nuclear power and related issues in Minnesota. The subject affects union members in different ways, she said “and there’s a need for the Blue-Green Alliance to deal with these contentious issues.” For more information Visit the Clean Water Action website, http://www.cleanwateraction.org/mn/index.htm ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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