Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1996 09:13:50 -0400
 
     14 April 1996 (Reuter) - Hundreds of people who live in a
prohibited radioactive zone around Chernobyl marked Orthodox
Easter on Sunday by praying that the nuclear accident that
devastated the area 10 years ago would never be repeated.
The congregation was composed mostly of elderly women and some
of the so-called 'liquidators' who worked to clean up the mess
spent the night at the church in the 30-km danger zone.


     12 April 1996 (Reuter) - The UN Security Council
expressed deep satisfaction on Friday at Thursday's signing in
Cairo of a treaty declaring Africa a nuclear weapons-free zone
and the issuing of an accompanying declaration. A statement
read at a brief council meeting said this "historic event"
marks the successful formalisation of a commitment undertaken
in July 1964 when leaders attending a summit meeting in Cairo
of the Organisation of African Unity declared Africa a
denuclearized zone.


     12 April 1996 (Reuter) - Environmentalists hailed on
Friday a decision by French health authorities to distribute
iodine pills to people living near nuclear power plants to
help to prevent thyroid cancers in event of a nuclear
accident. Health authorities have announced plans to hand out
iodine pills to anyone living within 5 km (three miles) of a
nuclear power plant.


     12 April 1996 (Reuter) - Safety risks at nuclear power
plants have to be minimised if atomic energy has a future,
German Environment Minister Angela Merkel president of the
IAEA/WHO/EC on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster said on Friday.
Some experts and the media were accused of being
"irresponsible" for publishing Chernobyl death figures into
the thousands. An Ukrainian doctor argued that tens of
thousands of the liquidators had now died and many of those
still living suffered from cancer, impotence, and other
diseases. 


     12 April 1996 (Reuter) - China on Friday rejected
allegations that it had re-exported sensitive nuclear
materials, calling the charges "utterly  groundless slander."  
 "Technologies and equipment imported by China are subject to
the strict control and supervision of the Chinese government.
No Chinese company has ever violated its commitment," Xinhua
news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying. On
Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said Secretary of State
Warren Christopher may delay a decision on imposing penalties
on China for allegedly selling nuclear-related technology to
Pakistan.   
  
     12 April 1996 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council on
Friday gave its support to the African nuclear-weapon-free
zone treaty and it asked  governments that have signed it to
ratify it promptly to ensure enforcement.  
  A total of 40 African countries signed the treaty Thursday
in Cairo and issued a declaration urging more countries to
join the pact. Israel so far has opposed joining the NPT
because it would deprive it of nuclear capabilities.