Subject: nuke headlines 14 dec.


14 Dec. 1995 (UPI) -- In July, 1995, plutonium-laced acid
leaked for eight days at the US Rocky Flats nuclear weapons
plant the Rocky Mountain News reported. Workers failed to
believe a key gauge that correctly showed a rising level of
liquid in the tank, and engineers could not untangle 75 miles
of pipe in the building because blueprints were wrong.




14 Dec. 1995 (Reuter) - Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma
hailed improved relations with the Western powers, but called
for faster action in helping his country shut down the
stricken Chernobyl reactor. Western nations have pledged $2.3
billion in loans and grants to close Chernobyl. But Ukraine
wants the funding to come through immediately and Kuchma said
more will be needed to replace the crumbling "tomb" which
surrounds the ruined fourth reactor.




14 Dec. 1995 (Reuter) - Southeast Asia will officially become
a nuclear weapon-free zone on Friday when leaders of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sign a pact to
ban the possession, manufacture and purchase of nuclear arms.
But Philippine President Ramos said on Thursday the agreement
should be modified to address the worries of the five declared
nuclear powers. Last week the United States said it would not
sign the protocol because it was "too restrictive."  




14 Dec. 1995 (Reuter) - The accident at Japan's Monju
fast-breeder reactor last week may have been the biggest of
its kind, the Science and Technology Agency said on Thursday.
In March 1987, 20 tonnes of sodium leaked from a storage tank
at France's fast-breeder, Super Phenix. But the leakage there
occurred at a storage tank, separate from the nuclear reactor
and unrelated to the operation of a fast-breeder. Since 1960
there have been nine cases of sodium leakages at
fast-breeders. The amount of leaked sodium is known in only
five of them, the Science and Technology Agency said.  



14 Dec. 1995 (Reuter) - Pedro Cubillo, 66, a former Australian
soldier who said his cancer was a result of exposure to
British nuclear tests at the outback site of Maralinga in
South Australia 20 years ago lost his case for compensation.
Cubillo, then a private in the Australian army, was involved
in the construction and dismantling of test sites and
equipment in 1957.



14 Dec. 1995 (UPI) -- Data released by Japanese nuclear
authorities indicate last week's coolant leak at an
experimental reactor was one of the world's largest, the Kyodo
News Service reported. The accident has prompted Japan's
Science and Technology Agency to order a full investigation,
but authorities said the scale of clean-up operations will
delay the probe until February.   



14 Dec. 1995 (UPI) -- The nations of Southeast Asia Thursday
defended their decision to declare the region a nuclear
weapons-free zone, indicating the move could hasten a total
ban on weapons of mass destruction. In a remark apparently
aimed at criticism of the treaty by the nuclear powers,
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir said ASEAN "should not be
listening to outside advise about our security needs."