Subject: HEADLINES 28-29 February 1996
 
Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 04:21:54 -0500
 
      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - Scientists studying wildlife in
contaminated wastes around the Chernobyl nuclear power station
have discovered voles that thrive on radioactive pollution.
Radioactivity and other pollutants usually trigger mutations
in animal genes, which weaken the species by killing its
members off before they can reproduce. But a species of vole
is breeding healthily and producing ever-stronger offspring
beside the Ukraine's Chernobyl plant, which exploded in 1986
spewing out radioactive poison in the world's worst nuclear
disaster.

      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - Radioactivity from dumped Russian
nuclear waste could be carried in icebergs to the Atlantic
where it would poison fish and pose risks to human health, a
Norwegian scientist said. Per Strand from the Norwegian
Radiation Protection Authority said the Soviet Union dumped 17
reactors and other radioactive rubbish into the Kara Sea,
assuming it would affect only nearby waters which have few
fish. But satellite photographs show that while the local
currents flow eastwards, drift ice is blown in the opposite
direction to areas where fish are more plentiful, Strand said.

      28 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - Singapore's former prime minister
Lee Kuan Yew, defying Asian anger at French nuclear tests in
the South Pacific, said he understood why Paris had conducted
them. "If I were a Frenchman, and if I wanted a credible
nuclear force, I would have conducted the tests. I would try
to bring the level of our technology as close as possible to
that of the Russians and the Americans," he told French daily
Le Figaro in an interview published on Wednesday.

      28 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - China's new National Nuclear
Accident Preparedness Commission held its first full meeting
on Wednesday, pledging to be ready even for major nuclear
mishaps no matter how remote the possibility. The commission
comprises representatives from the State Council, China's
cabinet, the People's Liberation Army and nearly 20 ministries
and agencies, Xinhua news agency said.