Subject: NucNews 99/11/12 Briefs (by et) Story-Date: 12:18 a.m. PST Monday , November 15, 1999 Sender: owner-nukenet@envirolink.org X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.2.07 -- ListProc(tm) by CREN Please address replies to articles to the original publisher. Please send NucNews copies? Refuting false information appreciated! ------------- 1] For the Record: Madeleine K. Albright Washington Post Friday November 12 1999; Page A34 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/12/034l-111299-idx.html >From the text of remarks by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations in Chicago.... Even though the Cold War has ended the dangers posed to us by nuclear weapons have not. We must carry out a comprehensive strategy to limit those dangers both by keeping such weapons out of the wrong hands and by deterring and defending against their possible use. These goals received a setback last month when the U.S. Senate voted not to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty or CTBT. America's allies and friends responded to this vote with universal shock and disappointment. I have personally been besieged by calls from counterparts around the globe. All express concern. Some even fear that America is on the verge of deciding simply to go it alone; to abandon efforts at nuclear nonproliferation; and to rely solely on military might in what could become a new wider and even more dangerous nuclear arms race. My reply to those who harbor such fears is not to overreact. The United States has not gone crazy. A clear majority in the Senate wanted to delay voting to allow more time to deliberate on the treaty. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have reaffirmed America's commitment to nonproliferation. And as Winston Churchill once reportedly declared Americans can always be counted upon to do the right thing in the end, after all other possibilities have been exhausted. 2] Lawmaker: DOE misled Congress USA Today 11/12/99- Updated 02:24 PM ET http://usatoday.com/news/washdc/nc1.htm WASHINGTON - A former Energy Department intelligence officer and his former boss disagree over who said and did what in their handling of alleged Chinese spying at a Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory. Former intelligence chief Notra Trulock said at a House hearing Wednesday that he was repeatedly ordered to keep quiet about the Los Alamos probe and that a 1997 suggestion to reassign the top spy suspect was rebuffed. Trulock's former boss, former Deputy Energy Secretary Elizabeth Moler, denied giving Trulock the gag order and said he never suggested canceling the security clearance of the suspect, Wen Ho Lee. 3] South Carolina USA Today Friday, November 12, 1999 http://www.usatoday.com/news/states/scmain.htm Aiken - Economic development groups want to court a $750 million plant that would make radioactive isotopes used in medicine and create up to 5,000 jobs. The isotope plant would be built with federal help, but privately run, officials said at a meeting of the Savannah River Site Redevelopment Authority. 4] Test of tree at Hanford finds little radiation Seattle Post-Intelligencer Friday, November 12, 1999 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.seattlep-i.com/local/hanf12.shtml RICHLAND -- A state-ordered test prompted by a maverick scientist's findings detected no dangerous levels of a nuclear fuel byproduct in a mulberry tree near a defunct Hanford reactor. The lab test ordered by the state Department of Health found barely detectable levels of strontium 90 in the tree near the H reactor -- 0.032 to 0.04 picocuries per gram of mulberry fruit. A picocurie is a measure of radioactivity. 5] Forcing a rethink of global security An unrelenting US push for a missile-defense system raises concerns of friends and foes about a new arms race. Justin Brown, Christian Science Monitor FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1999 http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/11/12/fp1s1-csm.shtml WASHINGTON - The US desire to push forward with a national missile-defense system in the coming years is having a ripple effect across the globe, drawing criticism from allies and adversaries and threatening to spawn a new arms race.... We've already compromised the system so much that it's not effective says Dan Goure, who heads a missile-defense project for the Center for Strategic and International Studies here. Mr. Goure argues that a proper system cannot be built even loosely within the confines of the ABM Treaty and that if the treaty were scrapped, it would take 10 to 12 years to redesign a more thorough system.... 6] Divide over defense issues continues to grow between US and Europe By JOHN R. BOLTON Earth Times 11/12/99 http://www.earthtimes.org/nov/capitalthoughtsdivideovernov12_99.htm ... Post-Cold War, long-range security strategy, after ten years of uncertainty since the opening of the Wall, is obviously evolving more quickly in Washington than in Europe. Most Americans instinctively include the Atlantic Alliance at the center of their new thinking" on defense matters while in contrast key European leaders continually assert the need for European separateness from the United States on those very issues. One can only hope that these Europeans do not get their wish for their own sake as well as America's. 7] The Case for 'the General' By FRANK ANDERSON and MILT BEARDEN New York Times November 12 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/12bear.html George W. Bush has rightly been given a pass for failing a pop quiz on the names of world leaders a piece of journalistic gaming that would have stumped most full-time pundits. Instead Vice President Al Gore and others have said Mr. Bush's real error was his suggestion that "the general" now leading Pakistan Pervez Musharraf might be better for stability in the Indian subcontinent and its neighboring region than was the corrupt and incompetent civilian government that the military ran off. The fact is few people who have been seriously involved with Pakistan in recent years have been outraged by Governor Bush's assertion. 8] Russia May Fly Nuclear Bombers to Cuba Updated 12:05 PM ET November 12 1999 By Robert Eksuzyan http://news.excite.com/news/r/991112/12/international-russia-cuba MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia may fly nuclear-capable strategic bombers to Cuba and Vietnam next year a Russian air force spokesman said Friday. The latest edition of the weekly military newspaper Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye quoted the head of long-range aviation forces Mikhail Oparin as saying such missions were planned and would greatly surprise NATO. 9] New U.S.-Russia Cuban Crisis Unlikely - Experts Updated 4:04 PM ET November 12 1999 By Charles Aldinger http://news.excite.com/news/r/991112/16/politics-russia-usa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tentative Russian air force plan to fly long-range bombers to Cuba next year is unlikely to provoke any confrontation like the 1962 Cuban missile crisis U.S. military officials and defense experts agreed on Friday. Russia has not flown big bombers to communist Cuba for nearly a decade but a Russian air force spokesman told Reuters in Moscow on Friday that Tupolev-160 nuclear-capable bombers could visit Cuba and Vietnam next year if funds were available. 10] Cold War nostalgia in a can? USA Today 11/11/99- Updated 06:34 PM ET http://www.usatoday.com/news/nweird.htm LAKE WALES Fla. - Chalet Suzanne Foods Inc. is selling water that was canned in 1962 in response to the Cuban missile crisis. The food company was commissioned to can the water at a time when some feared nuclear war was inevitable. The cans are being sold for $15 apiece to raise money for the Cold War Museum in Virginia. About 300 cases of the 4 000 original cases remain. ''We've kept this in our plant for years '' said Eric Hinshaw a co-owner of the company. ''In the past we let friends take it with them for camping trips.'' The water canned from a well by Hinshaw's parents was part of the official Nuclear Attack Survival Kit. 11] Gore recounts foreign affairs agenda By Andrea Stone USA Today 11/12/99- Updated 09:45 AM ET http://www.usatoday.com/news/e98/e645.htm MARSHALLTOWN Iowa - Vice President Gore told veterans Thursday that it takes constant diplomacy and a strong military to maintain peace around the world. In what aides called a major speech on defense and foreign affairs but which included little that hasn't been longstanding White House policy the Democratic presidential candidate also criticized Republicans for what he sees as efforts to block the administration's foreign policy initiatives. He said ''more and more each year engagement abroad means a political struggle at home.'' 12] Admiral calls for Pacific missile defense system By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES November 12 1999 http://www.washtimes.com/news/news1.html HONOLULU - The United States should deploy regional missile defenses to protect U.S. troops and allies from a growing threat of North Korean and Chinese missiles the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific says. We've already had American men and women killed by Scuds, the almost 40 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard who were killed by a Scud in Saudi Arabia, said Adm. Dennis Blair commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. "So I think we need a theater missile defense to protect the troops that we have deployed within range of North Korean Scuds and No Dongs right now." 13] Lee wants Clinton to back Taiwan over China By Richard Halloran THE WASHINGTON TIMES November 12 1999 http://www.washtimes.com/news/news2.html TAIPEI Taiwan - President Lee Teng-hui writing in a scholarly U.S. journal has renewed the campaign he began last summer to discourage President Clinton from cozying up to China at the expense of Taiwan's interests. 14] Missile terror II Inside the Ring: Notes from the Pentagon By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES November 12 1999 http://www.washtimes.com/nation/ring.html Outrage is growing inside the Pentagon over the refusal of the Clinton administration and private peace groups to condemn ongoing Russian ballistic missile attacks against the Chechen capital of Grozny. We reported earlier in this space how Pentagon satellites tracked two short-range missiles that hit a crowded market and a nearby maternity ward Oct. 21 killing 143 persons.... 15] Russia Rebukes West for Criticism Filed at 2:17 p.m. EST November 12 1999 By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Russia-Blasting-the-West.html MOSCOW (AP) -- In a blast of Cold War invective the Russian military accused the United States on Friday of stirring up the war in Chechnya as part of a plot to weaken Russia.... 16] Taliban not cleared in Pakistan explosions USA Today 11/12/99- Updated 02:58 PM ET http://usatoday.com/news/world/nwsfri02.htm ISLAMABAD Pakistan (AP) - Explosions of six rockets near the U.S. Embassy the American Center and other sites in Pakistan were well-coordinated and no group including the militant Islamist Taliban that controls most of Afghanistan is being ruled out in probing the attacks the Clinton administration said today.... 17] Atomic Bomb Physicist Theodore Alvin Hall Dies at 74 By Bart Barnes Washington Post Staff Writer November 11 1999; Page B07 http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/11/264l-111199-idx.html Theodore Alvin Hall 74 who as a 19-year-old prodigy helped develop the atomic bomb and was later said to have passed along the vital secrets of this work to the Soviet Union died of cancer Nov. 1 in Cambridge England.... 18] China Warns of New Arms Race Official Says U.S. Missile Shield Would Shift Balance of Power By John Pomfret Washington Post Foreign Service November 11 1999; Page A01 http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/11/271l-111199-idx.html BEIJING Nov. 10-China's top arms control official assailed the United States today for its campaign to develop a shield against ballistic nuclear missiles warning that such a program could lead to a nuclear arms race and dangerously alter the strategic balance in Asia and the rest of the world.... 19] Security for Taiwan Washington Post Thursday November 11 1999; Page A42 http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/11/113l-111199-idx.html The Taiwan Security Enhancement Act is a long-overdue piece of bipartisan legislation. It is in response to President Clinton's drift toward positions espoused by Beijing and away from the basic principles of democracy and human rights. 20] New Spy Satellites at Risk Because Funding Is Uncertain Pentagon Told By Vernon Loeb and Walter Pincus Washington Post November 12 1999; Page A07 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/12/100l-111299-idx.html Congress has put the Pentagon on notice that a new generation of spy satellites--the most expensive intelligence program in the nation's history--will be scaled back next year unless money can be found for computers and communications equipment needed to process the vast stream of data from space. 21] Funds to Hire Russian Atom Scientists Cut By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer November 12 1999; Page A08 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/12/083l-111299-idx.html A sharp cut in funding will force the Department of Energy to curtail its effort to employ Russian nuclear scientists in civilian jobs and keep them from peddling their bomb-building talents to other countries officials said yesterday.... 22] WORLD In Brief - EUROPE Russia to Dismantle Nuclear Subs Washington Post Wednesday November 10 1999; Page A34 http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/10/233l-111099-idx.html MOSCOW--Russia will dismantle 18 nuclear submarines next year and is working on new technologies to speed up the process the Interfax news agency reported. Russia must scrap 107 nuclear submarines left over from the Cold War according to Valeri Lebedev deputy minister of atomic energy. The United States has pledged millions of dollars to help get rid of the submarines that were built to carry nuclear missiles targeted at the United States. 23] Senate Panel Seeks Y2K Nuke Plant Contingency Plans Updated 5:26 PM ET November 12 1999 By Patrick Connole http://news.excite.com/news/r/991112/17/politics-nuclear-utilities WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A special Senate committee overseeing Year 2000 preparedness released a letter on Friday which asks nuclear regulators to provide better information on reactor safety and contingency plans before the new year. The letter provided to Reuters by staff of Utah Republican Sen. Robert Bennett chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem says the panel was encouraged by statements from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on plant safety but still had unanswered questions. 24] Russians to visit US base to prevent Y2K nuclear problems ABC News 11/12/99 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/weekly/newsnat-12nov1999-39.htm Twenty Russian military officers will spend New Year's at a base in Colorado with US counterparts watching for any possible missile launches sparked by the Y2K computer bug. The officers will monitor events from a brand new building at Peterson Air Force Base which houses the Centre for Year 2000 Strategic Stability (CY2KSS). 25] Nuclear confusion Why do our tax dollars continue to support the sale of CANDU reactors to developing countries? By Paul Kaihla | Nov. 12 1999 http://www.canadianbusiness.com/magazine_items/nov12_99_nuclear.html In mid-October the government of Turkey again postponed its entry into the troubled age of nuclear power-at least until the New Year. That's when the Turks now say they'll award a contract to build a nuclear plant at Akkuyu Bay to one of three bidders. Our very own Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. (AECL) the state-owned peddler of nukes is one of them. Canada's docile taxpayers should pray that the Crown corporation loses. If we were vocal Americans we'd demand that AECL withdraw its bid. But then again if we were Americans we wouldn't have a branch of our government trying to compete with the likes of Westinghouse and Siemens in the doomed hope of making a profit from the manufacture and sale of a bankrupt technology. 26] Abolition 2000 electronic petition. Http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/intlpetition.html Send a message to the list moderator at A2000@silcom.com or visit the Abolition-caucus website at: http://www.egroups.com/list/abolition-caucus/ and submit a membership form.