Subject: NucNews 99/11/13 Briefs (by et) Story-Date: 12:18 a.m. PST Monday , November 15, 1999 Please address replies to articles to the original publisher. Please send NucNews copies? Refuting false information appreciated! ---------------- 1] Germany Eyes Nuke Industry Phase Out Filed at 4:57 p.m. EST November 13 1999 By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Germany-Nuclear-Power.html BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's coalition government is working on legislation that would phase out the country's nuclear power industry even if consensus talks with operators of the nation's 19 nuclear power plants fails a newspaper said Saturday. 2] There's no honor found in U.S. or Russian approach to treatiesBy Richard Foster of the Journal Sentinel Last Updated: Nov. 13 1999 http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/nov99/foster14111399.asp During the Cold War and the years that immediately followed it was generally assumed that the United States and Russia would honor the arms control treaties they had spent so much time and energy agreeing on. Although some conservatives thought the Russians would cheat the big danger was thought to emanate from the Third World - countries not part of the arms control regime might get involved in the weapons programs the agreements were designed to prevent. 3] Air Force Tests Minuteman III Rocket By The Associated Press November 13 1999 Filed at 4:52 a.m. EST http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/a/AP-Rocket-Launch.html VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE Calif. (AP) -- The Air Force announced a successful booster test of a Minuteman III missile firing the device far out into the Pacific early Saturday. The missile which used solid rocket fuel lifted off at 12:19 a.m. with three dummy warheads aboard. It reached its target at the Kwajalein Missile Range about 30 minutes later Lt. John J. Murphy said.... 4] Today In History By The Associated Press November 12 1999 Filed at 7:01 p.m. EST http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/a/AP-History.html On Nov. 13 1974 Karen Silkwood a technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent Okla. was killed in a car crash. 5] Forbes Warns China on Confrontation By The Associated Press New York Times November 12 1999 Filed at 4:24 p.m. EST http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/p/AP-Forbes-China.html YORBA LINDA Calif. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes compared China to pre-World War II Germany and Japan and promised Friday to take a hard line on China if it continues ``to head down the path towards confrontation.'' China is ``in the midst of a major military buildup'' and represents a ``potential threat '' Forbes said at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace -- a shrine to the president whose 1972 trip to China is credited with opening it up to the outside world. ``We must not allow China's growing nuclear arsenal to continue to threaten American cities and decouple the United States from our allies '' he told about 400 people in a speech meant to showcase his command of foreign affairs.... In Expanding Platform Forbes Attacks China By JAMES STERNGOLD November 13 1999 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/111399wh-gop-forbes.html 6] NRC Reversed On Nuclear Plant Court Delays Calvert Cliffs Relicensing By Steve Vogel Washington Post Staff Writer November 13 1999; Page B01 http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/13/108l-111399-idx.html A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission unfairly ignored opponents of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant as it rushed to renew the license for the facility which generates enough power to supply 450 000 homes.... The NRC under pressure from the industry and Congress has established a fast-track process for renewing nuclear licenses and Calvert Cliffs is viewed as a test case. "It's going to have a massive impact said Stephen Kohn, attorney for the National Whistleblowers Center, the group that successfully challenged the new NRC process, claiming that the streamlining comes at the expense of public safety. It's party time. . . . The commission is getting the message that they can't just change the rules." 7] Critics Questioning NSA Reading Habits Politicians Ask if Agency Sweeps In Private Data By Vernon Loeb Washington Post Staff Writer November 13 1999; Page A03 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/13/066l-111399-idx.html Members of Congress the European Parliament and civil liberties groups have begun to ask tough questions about the National Security Agency's interception of foreign telephone calls faxes and electronic mail the most intense scrutiny of NSA operations since the so-called Church committee probed the spy agency 24 years ago. 8] Big Expectations For Micromachines Uses Now Include Air Bags Ink Jets By Guy Gugliotta Washington Post Staff Writer November 13 1999; Page A01 http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/13/073l-111399-idx.html ... MARVs strictly speaking are not microdevices--at least not yet--but everything they carry will be a microdevice. Sandia is developing a microscopic device known as a gas chromatograph that will sample and test for chemical and biological agents. And while MARVs might sneak into an Iraqi factory or eavesdrop on terrorists they could also be just as useful mapping a nuclear accident like Chernobyl or searching a collapsed building for earthquake survivors. Supposedly "nobody can develop a robot vacuum cleaner because there's too much stuff on the floor but when I saw we were going to map Chernobyl it's the same thing Eicker said. People like Maytag come and visit us." -------- y2k 9] Senate Panel Seeks Y2K Nuke Plant Contingency Plans By Reuters / New York Times November 13 1999 Filed at 4:40 a.m. EDT http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-nuclear-utilitie.html 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 committee continues to believe that the electrical grid will be stable and that disruptions from Y2K will be minimal We are concerned however about the lack of public confidence in the nuclear industry's efforts and specific post Dec. 31 1999 operating regimes '' said the letter from Bennett to NRC Chairman Greta Joy Dicus.... 10] US Natgas Industry Sees No Major Y2K Disruptions By Reuters/New York TimesNovember 4 1999 Filed at 12:28 p.m. EDT http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-yk-natgas-usa.html NEW YORK (Reuters) - With just under two months to go U.S. natural gas pipeline operators and distributors said they are confident they can keep gas flowing when the clock ticks over to the year 2000. According to a recently released survey by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Natural Gas Council (NGC) more than 90 percent of the oil and gas industry including producers pipelines and distributors said they were Y2K ready. 11] Pakistan Ruler Denounces Terrorism November 12 1999 Filed at 4:50 p.m. EST New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Pakistan-Musharraf.html ISLAMABAD Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's military ruler said Friday he wants to help fight terrorism in the region and promised to keep his country's nuclear deterrent against rival India at a ``minimum.'' Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf whose troops swept out the elected government a month ago made the comments only hours after rocket attacks that targeted U.S. and U.N. missions in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. 12] Russia could fly strategic bombers to Cuba Vietnam in 2000 By Robert Eksuzyan Reuters 11/13/99 Boston Globe 11/13/99 A20 http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/317/nation/Russia_could_fly_strategic_bomb ers_to_Cuba_Vietnam_in_2000+.shtml MOSCOW - Russia may fly nuclear-capable strategic bombers to Cuba and Vietnam next year a Russian air force spokesman said yesterday. 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. 13] Russia Rebukes West for Criticism New York Times November 12 1999 Filed at 2:17 p.m. EST 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.... 14] Report: China Has Laser Defense New York Times November 12 1999 Filed at 4:12 p.m. EST http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Hong-Kong-China-Defense.html Chinese boast anti-missile lasers Deseret News Saturday November 13 1999 http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1 1249 130007382 00.html? HONG KONG (AP) -- China has developed an advanced laser defense technology that can shoot down incoming missiles at low altitudes a Hong Kong newspaper reported Friday. Unlike traditional anti-missile defense systems in which enemy missiles are struck down the airborne laser defense system destroys the missile guidance systems causing the missiles to fall harmlessly to the ground the Hong Kong Standard reported....