Subject: headlines NUKE-NET HEADLINE ALERT '95 (April 21) Reuter is reporting that Slovak police seized 37.4 pounds of uranium on April 13 and arrested nine people from the Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia. The uranium will be tested to determine if it is weapons-grade. (April 21) Reuter is reporting that Iran has reversed its position on the Non-Proliferation Treaty and does not favor any extension of the treaty until shortcomings are corrected. Iran says certain signatory countries have assisted Israel's nuclear program and then turned a blind eye to Israel's nuclear stockpile. (April 21) Reuter is reporting that France's Prime Minister says his country will use a high-powered laser to simulate nuclear tests designed to end the need for further bomb tests. [could somebody shed some light on how a laser could end the so-called need for nuclear testing, portzlines88] (April 21) Reuter is reporting that thousands of German police are expected to protect the 360 mile nuclear waste shipping route starting from a reactor in Phillipsburg and ending at the Gorleben dump. Anti-nuclear activists are preparing to block the railway exiting from the reactor premises, and say they will conduct further actions nationwide. About 100 protestors were detained by police on Thursday. (April 21) Reuter is reporting that Bulgaria is creating a fund to decommission its four Soviet style reactors in the future. Two reactors are nearly 20 years old and will require $60 million for repairs if they are restarted. Decommissioning will cost $70 million. An international consortium of experts from Germany, France, Britain and Belgium will visit the Kozloduy plant next week to assess the reactors. The two other reactors were closed in 1991 due to international safety concerns but were restarted after extensive repairs. (April 21) Reuter is reporting that the Group of Seven industrial countries are due to discuss the Chernobyl closure at a June summit in Halifax, Canada, and the European Union is expected to do the same in Cannes, France. Ukraine wants assistance with the $4 billion costs. (April 21) Reuter is reporting that Singapore will contribute money to a consortium aimed at replacing North Korea's Soviet style reactors. (April 21) Reuter is reporting that attempts to reach nuclear agreements with North Korea degenerated into threats. North Korea is threatening to restart its reactors if an agreement is not reached by today. The US is threatening further sanctions if the reactors are restarted. (April 21) UPI is reporting that Iran is heavily criticizing Israel for possessing nuclear weapons and refusing to abide by international safeguards. (April 21) UPI is reporting that the Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. is building a $12.8 billion system similar to the Patriot Missile system. The Theater High Altitude Area Defense Missile will combat ballistic missiles which are capable of delivering nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Theater missiles are being called "the terrorist's weapon of the '90s" by US defense strategists. (April 22) Reuter is reporting that German police used batons against 800 protesters who blocked the route of the controversial nuclear waste shipment composed of spent fuel rods. (April 22) Reuter is reporting that British police boarded the Greenpeace vessel Moby Dick which tried to prevent a Trident nuclear submarine from leaving its base in Scotland. (April 22) Reuter is reporting that a Moscow official accused Germany of staging a nuclear smuggling seizure to make Russia look bad. Last year's seizure caused alarm around the world, prompting fears a "nuclear Mafia" was trading fissionable material from the former Soviet bloc and putting nuclear bombs within reach of criminals and non-nuclear states. (April 22) Reuter is reporting that Greenpeace is not planning to confront the Pacific Pintail as it unloads in Japan because the nuclear wastes are highly dangerous. About 35 nations from around the world protested the shipment. (April 22) UPI is reporting that 78 percent of India's population opposes the Non-Proliferation Treaty. (April 22) UPI is reporting that North Korea has left open the possibility for more talks with the US on its nuclear program. (April 22) UPI is reporting that South Korea is urging North Korea to continue nuclear negotiations instead of trying to rekindle its nuclear program, and possibly trigger an arms race. (April 26) Reuter is reporting that Chernobyl has caused a substantial increase childhood cancers. Economic collapse has placed parents of cancer patients in a near-impossible situation. (April 27) Reuter is reporting that foreign ministers of the 112 nations belonging to the non-aligned movement ended discussions by agreeing that nuclear weapons states are not adhering fully to their obligations under the treaty. (April 28) Reuter is reporting that rumors of another nuclear disaster spread through southern Poland as a result of several coincidences. A theater advertised the new movie "Outbreak," by employing a vehicle carrying loudspeakers which warned residents to go home and shut all windows. Around the same time, a Slovak nuclear plant experienced an emergency shutdown which sounded an alarm siren. This occurred just two days after the media was reporting the ninth anniversary of Chernobyl. Sales of iodine were brisk at pharmacies. (April 30) Reuter is reporting that the German Federal Office of Criminal investigations told a German newspaper of 707 illegal dealings in nuclear contraband since 1991. The materials are coming from the Ukraine and Russia. (May 2) Reuter is reporting that Pakistan is willing to sign an agreement to eliminate nuclear weapons if other states in the region do the same. (May 2) Reuter is reporting that South Korea welcomes North Korea's decision to restart talks with the US on the nuclear reactor deal. (May 4) Reuter is reporting that Iran says it will return spent nuclear fuel to Russia as part of their planned reactor deal. (May 4) Reuter is reporting that British environmentalists and opposition parties will fight proposals to privatize the nuclear power industry. (May 4) Reuter is reporting that Russia will help finish constructing Cuba's nuclear power plant which is 80% complete. (May 4) Reuter is reporting that India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives are calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is the world's largest geo-economic bloc, representing 1.2 billion people. (May 4) Reuter is reporting that China, which is rapidly expanding its nuclear program, has produced its first six vessels to transport spent nuclear fuel. (May 5) Reuter is reporting that 104 nations formally sponsored a proposal to extend indefinitely the Non-Proliferation Treaty. A decisive vote is expected on Wednesday. (May 5) Reuter is reporting that unless a new treaty is made between the US and the European Union, a legal void could complicate cross-border trade in reprocessed fuel and other nuclear materials. Talks have repeatedly bogged down by questions of what the US would retain over the use of US-origin nuclear materials. (May 5) AP is reporting that declassified documents from 1949 show researchers intended to use workers at Oak Ridge, Tennessee as guinea pigs for long term exposures to uranium. One investigator said the records indicate radiation protection was purposely lax from what it could have been. (May 5) Reuter is reporting that North Korea and the US will restart nuclear talks on May 15. (May 5) Reuter is reporting that China will construct its third nuclear power plant with loans from Russia. Russian reactors will be used. (May 6) Reuter is reporting that North Korea is again signaling a tough stance on its negotiations with the US and says it might return to total isolation if the impasse is not solved. (May 6) Reuter is reporting that more than 100 nations are openly supporting the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Non-nuclear states accuse nuclear weapons states of not doing enough to achieve the treaty's goal of nuclear disarmament and view these negotiations are the last chance apply pressure. The five nations (US, Russia, Britain, China and France) have about 23,000 operational warheads, with the US and Russia, having about 10,000 each. (May 6) UPI is reporting Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry denies that there have been negotiations to sell Iran a centrifuge for enriching Uranium. But, the head of Russia's nuclear safety agency says that they have agreed in principle to supply the equipment. end