Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 18:26:10 
 
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Status: R

11 t/m 12 augustus 1996

Aug 11, 1996 (Reuter) - A British town said Sunday it would   
finance a survey to discover whether radioactivity was leaked
in   alleged accidents at a former U.S. air base in southern
England. Anti-nuclear campaigners have accused the government
of covering up a series of accidents at the Greenham Common
U.S. Air Force base, including two fires involving nuclear
weapons in 1957 and 1958. Councillors in Newbury, the nearest
town to Greenham Common, said they were not satisfied with the
ministry's statement. CND has linked the alleged radioactive
leaks to a number of leukemia cases among children living near
the former U.S. base.                 

Aug. 12 1996 (UPI) -- The British customs office identified
Monday an Iranian charged with trying to smuggle into Iran
highly specialized steel that can be used in manufacturing
nuclear weapons. London's Sunday Telegraph newspaper said
British customs officers ``dealt a blow to Iran's attempts to
build its own nuclear bomb'' by   seizing the steel, which had
been flown in from the United States. The exceptionally strong
material is used to make conventional weapons and to build
centrifuges that enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

Aug 12, 1996 (Reuter) - Many of the world's nations are
preparing this week to endorse a treaty banning nuclear
testexplosions.  But in India, pressure is building on the
government to block the accord and consider breaking a
self-imposed 22-year   moratorium by detonating a second
experimental nuclear device.  The conflicting attitudes are
among the ironies surrounding    talks to ban nuclear test
blasts. In the 1950s, India lined up in the forefront of the   
movement to ban nuclear test explosions.
                           
Aug 12, 1996 (Reuter) - An Australian-appointed commission
drafting a blueprint to rid the world of nuclear weapons will
present its report to Canberra on Wednesday, a senior
government offical said. ``The report focuses on practical
steps towards nuclear disarmament,'' the official said on
Monday.  The report by the Canberra Commission on the
Elimination of Nuclear Weapons included recommendations on how
to verify the process among rogue nations such as Iraq, the
official said.  

Aug 12, 1996 (Reuter) - Iran threatened Monday to block
adoption of a treaty banning nuclear test blasts, lining up
alongside India in opposing a draft text. ``We have three
concerns and if these are not addressed we cannot allow the
text to go further,'' Hamid Baidi-Nejad, Iran's delegate to
the international Conference on Disarmament, told reporters
after a test ban negotiating session. Asked if Iran would
therefore block adoption of the treaty, which under conference
rules needs consensus among conference members, Baidi replied:
``Yes.'' The pact is due to be opened for signature at the
U.N. General Assembly in New York next month.