Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 12:32:38
 
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Status: R

Apr 9, 1997 (Reuter) - The statement of the five declared
nuclear weapons states about nuclear disarmament, issued on
Tuesday, was said to be vapor by Australian U.N. ambassador
Richard Butler. It would contain no concrete steps for
reducing the nuclear arsenals.

Apr 9, 1997 (Reuter) - Stansfield Turner, director of the CIA
from 1977 to 1981, said both the U.S. and Russia would have
far more nuclear weapons than they could possibly use in case
of a war. He criticised the Helsinki agreement for not going
far enough.

Apr 10, 1997 (AP) - GPU, operator of the Oyster Creek, U.S.,
nuclear station said the plant would be too costly to continue
operation. It will be either closed or sold. This decision, on
the other hand, would not affect the Three Miles Island plant,
which is also operated by the GPU.

Apr 11, 1997 (UPI) - General Atomic, which had won the bidding
for the building of a 10 MW research reactor at Ongkharak,
Thailand, cannot begin the construction because it lacks a
safety approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The deal
is worth $132 million.

Apr 11, 1997 (Reuter) - The French gouvernment remains opposed
to Alcatel's plans of a merge of Framatome and GEC Alsthom
because it would lose its control over Framatome. Alcatel
holds 44 percent stake in Framatome and 50 percent stake in
GEC Alsthom. "The government is favourable to an eventual
alliance between Framatome and Alcatel Alsthom in its energy
activites, with GEC joining up afterwards," French Industry
Minister Borotra told Le Monde. He said cooperation with
Simens would be continued.

Apr 11, 1997 (Reuter) - The U.S. Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor,
built in 1997, was closed due to cuts in the federal budget.
The reactor has produced 10.7 MW for about one second in 1994,
which is still an international record for nuclear fusion.

Apr 12, 1997 (Reuter) - Japanese state-run Power Reactor and
Nuclear Fuel   Development Corporation (PNC) plans to
privatise operations involving uranium enrichment and
reprocessing, uranium mining, plutonium processing, and the
management of high-level radioactive waste, a leading Japanese
newspaper reported. the move is seen as a reaction to the bad
handling of the accident at the Tokaimura reprocessing plant.

Apr 13, 1997 (Reuter) - As no move towards nuclear disarmament
is in sight, India will continue its indigenius missile
program, Indian Defence Ministry said. India is developing
both intermediate and short range missiles.

Apr 13, 1997 (Reuter) - Five officials of the Japanese PNC,
among them a department chief, were demoted for being involved
in falsifying a report about the accident at the Tokaimura
reprocessing plant.