Subject: HEADLINES 16 - 20 September 1995 (16 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - Australian police arrested 11 anti-nuclear protesters after they boarded a French ship in the state of Tasmania and vowed not to leave until two Greenpeace vessels seized in the South Pacific were released. (17 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - The key issue on the annual meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this week will be its need for wider inspections to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation. The five-day top-level meeting will bring together ministers and officials from 100 of the 122 member states. (17 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - The United States announced on Sunday it would decide soon whether to sign the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (SPNFZ) treaty after years of indecision. (17 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - France has no intention of backing down from a series of nuclear tests despite fierce opposition, France's Minister for Cooperation (Development) Jacques Godfrain said at a South Pacific Forum meeting. He is meeting individually with most forum members to put forward France's explanations for the tests. Environmental lobby group Greenpeace has criticised the South Pacific Forum's stand as too weak, strong on rhetoric but lacking action. (17 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - Japan joined forces with the 16 nations of the South Pacific Forum to draft a resolution for the United Nation General Assembly calling for a ban on all nuclear testing. (18 Sept. 1995) Reuter: At the annual meeting of the IAEA 11 nations, mostly from the Pacific, launched a petition to halt nuclear testing, without naming France or China. The resolution is not expected to get far because key countries such as the United States and Britain would not openly criticise France's nuclear policies, officials said. (18 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - The United States said it was committed to irreversible nuclear disarmament and offered up a sizeable chunk of its bomb-building material for the scrutiny of the IAEA at the annual IAEA meeting. The US urged nations to adhere to the principles outlined in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. (18 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - Many Russian submarines taken out of service are environmental catastrophes waiting to happen. Alexei Yablokov, chairman of the ecological safety commission which advises Yeltsin, said some 10 submarines had a defect in their reactors which could lead to a reactor expolosion. The defects can not be rectified by current Russian technology. The nuclear reactors, fuel cells and atomic waste of another 50 more out-of-service submarines have not been removed yet due to a lack of suitable storage. (18 Sept 1995) Reuter: - French President Jacques Chirac called off a planned meeting with Austrian counterpart Thomas Klestil in irritation over a Vienna protest against French nuclear tests. Officials of the socialist-run city of Vienna allowed protesters to put up anti-nuclear messages on a blank wall near the French Embassy. (18 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - New Zealanders aboard yachts protested against French nuclear testing by sailing into the port of Brest near the main base of France's nuclear missile-armed submarine fleet. (18 Sept. 1995) UPI: - Yemen's president Ali Abdallah Salah said he believes the french nuclear tests are necessary to help prevent wars. (19 Sept. 1995) Reuter: UK's Nuclear Electric has closed down a Magnox reactor at Dungeness in southern England on September 5. NE says it was a precautionary measure after refuelling machinery was damaged at the 1960s plant. (19 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - Chinese Premier Li Peng named Tokyo's decision to cut aid in retaliation for Chinese nuclear tests unfriendly and undesirable. Japan has decided to reduce grant aid, but not to cut its more important yen loans. Li underlined that China is ready to halt testing immediately if a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty takes effect in 1996. (19 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - Two Greenpeace activists tried to reach a drilling rig inside the Fangataufa atoll's lagoon, but were detained after their inflatable dinghy entered the 12-mile (20-km) military exclusion zone around the atoll and are now questioned by French gendarmes on Fangataufa Atoll. Fangataufa was chosen as a target because Greenpeace believed it might be used by France for its second, nuclear test, expected at any time. (19 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - A group of Nobel prize winners and top scientists on Tuesday joined the chorus of criticism over France's decision to resume nuclear testing and demanded a independent scientific study on the tests' environmental impact to be carried out before France proceeds any further. (19 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky defended Austrian protests against France's nuclear testing and criticised French President Jacques Chirac for a series of diplomatic snubs against Austria. Irritated by the blunt Austrian protests, Chirac called off a meeting with Austrian president Klestil. Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel said that "refusing to talk" is not the way to solve differences of opinion. (19 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - Socialist members of the European parliament attacked the French government's nuclear tests programme accusing Paris of arrogance and colonialism. (20 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - Britain's minority Liberal Democrat party, traditionally the country's most pro-European, urged members to avoid French products in protest against France's nuclear test programme and attacked Prime Minister John Major for his refusal to condemn testing on Mururoa Atoll. (20 Sept. 1995) Reuter: - French Polynesian President Gaston Flosse has blamed Greenpeace for riots that swept the Tahitian capital Papeete after France's first nuclear test. -- ==================================================== World Information Service on Energy (WISE) Amsterdam PO Box 18185 Visitors: Ketelhuisplein 43 1001 ZB Amsterdam 1054 RD Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31-20-616 8294 Fax: +31-20-689 2179 wiseamster@antenna.nl http://antenna.nl/~wise ====================================================