Subject: HEADLINES 29 February 1996
 
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 08:06:59 -0500
 
      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - The United States believes Iran
is trying to steal its way into the club of nations that have
nuclear weapons, U.S. Undersecretary of State Lynn Davis said. 
Davis, whose job includes disarmament and internal security
issues, said Iran remains "many years away" from being able to
make nuclear arms but said they were "every day, in various
activities, trying to find means to develop their own
capabilities.

      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - Four of the five declared nuclear
powers welcomed Australia's compromise draft of an
international treaty which would ban all nuclear explosions,
saying it deserved careful study. But China, the fifth, joined
by India, a key nuclear "threshold" state, each said they
considered the "rolling text" already on the table as the only
basis for the 38-state negotiations on a comprehensive test
ban treaty.

      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - Russia, China, Iran and India
have set up a research foundation to try to harness
thermonuclear power for commercial ends. The Asiatic Fund for
Thermonuclear Research aimed to build an experimental nuclear
reactor by 1998, Itar-Tass news agency said, quoting a
scientist from a Russian scientific centre.

      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - South Africa and France signed
agreements opening the way for French investment in a South
African laser-based uranium enrichment programme, Mineral and
Energy Affairs Minister Pik Botha said. In terms of the
agreements, France would invest some 83 million rand ($21.5
million) in developing South Africa's Molecular Laser Isotope
Separation (MLIS) enrichment technology.

      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - A Ukrainian nuclear reactor was
shut down for a second time in a week by a hydrogen leak,
straining the country's power network ahead of talks at
Chernobyl on overhauling the national energy system. A
spokeswoman at the Southern Ukraine plant, 350 km (200 miles)
south of Kiev, said the reactor was shut down on Wednesday
after the leak was detected in the cooling system of a
turbine. No radioactivity escaped.

      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - Chinese officials, confident that
their nuclear power stations meet world safety standards, have
recommended parliament ratify an international safety
convention, the Xinhua news agency said.

      29 Feb 1996 (Reuter) - Asians will push hard for a
strong European Union commitment at this week's Bangkok summit
to a Southeast Asian region free of nuclear weapons,
Thailand's prime minister said in an interview. Prime Minister
Banharn Silpa-archa, host and chairman of the Asian-European
Union summit on Friday and Saturday, said reform and
democratisation of the United Nations and plans to boost
sagging investment between the two regions would be among
other key issues to be discussed at the meeting.

      29 Feb 1996 (UPI) - China is set to implement its first
national emergency plan to deal with accidents at nuclear
power plants, Chinese officials announced. "The government has
established a management system to handle nuclear accidents
and is capable of handling emergencies," Chen Zengqing, an
official with the State Planning Commission, told the China
Daily. The plan defining emergency situations and stipulating
actions to be taken to minimize damage is due to be approved
by the Cabinet-level State Council, said Ye Qing, SPC
vice-minister and head of the National Nuclear Association
Emergency Coordination Committee.