Oskar Lafontaine told French President Jacques Chirac he

Subject: HEADLINES 28-29 November 1995

opposed France's current nuclear tests and said they agreed to
disagree. Lafontaine called on Chirac at the Elysee palace on
his first trip abroad as new leader of Germany's Social
Democrats (SPD) and later told reporters their "very friendly"
discussions included nuclear tests underway in French
Polynesia.

      29 Nov 1995 (Reuter) - Thousands of spent nuclear fuel
assemblies and tonnes of other radioactive waste from the
Russian northern fleet pose radiation risks far exceeding
those of Chernobyl, researchers said. Thomas Nilsen, co-author
of a report on Russian nuclear dumps, singled out the Andreeva
Bay storage site on the Kola peninsula as among the worst.

      29 Nov 1995 (Reuter) - Ukraine told the world's major
industrial powers it was up to them to make sure the stricken
Chernobyl nuclear power station is shut on time. Interfax
Ukraine news agency quoted Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk as
saying on the eve of fresh talks with the Group of Seven (G7)
industrialised countries that they had until the end of the
year to flesh out details of a plan to pay for Chernobyl's
closure.

      29 Nov 1995 (Reuter) - The EU is joining efforts to
remove North Korea's nuclear threat after a breakthrough trade
agreement with Seoul, European Commission Vice-President Leon
Brittan said. He told the EU had decided to participate in the
Korea Energy Development Organisation, which now groups the
US, Japan and South Korea. The organisation has been
negotiating with Pyongyang to replace its graphite nuclear
reactors, capable of producing material for atomic weapons,
with two light water reactors. Brittan said EU backing for the
project would include financial support.

      28 Nov 1995 (Reuter) - Funds to help victims of the
Chernobyl nuclear accident have nearly dried up even as the
area is turning into an international scientific laboratory
for atomic disasters, a U.N. senior official said. "Some feel
as if they are laboratory rats the rest of the world is coming
to study, not to help," said Peter Hansen,
undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs. The World
Health Organisation (WHO) estimates it would need about $200
million over the next 20 years for its activities alone, but
Hansen said he would happy with a few million. 

      28 Nov 1995 (Reuter) - Ukraine's top negotiator on
Chernobyl said he would insist that the West was precise about