Subject: NucNews 99/11/19 Briefs Story-Date: 03:30 a.m. PST Monday , August 9, 1999 Reply-To: prop1@prop1.org Sender: owner-nukenet@envirolink.org X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.2.07 -- ListProc(tm) by CREN X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by envirolink.org id JAA15539 Please address replies to articles to the original publisher. Please send NucNews copies? Refuting false information appreciated! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Nuclear Experts Fault Bush Beliefs on Test Ban Treaty * Peace Action Urges: 'Ask Bush the Tough Questions' * Successful test launch of two Trident II D5 Missiles * USEC May Quit Processing Russian Uranium * Physicians Concerned About Fate of Missile Treaty * Senate Panel Chief Blasts Europe Y2K Vote * Where's the 2000 Buzz? * Company wants government help to buy uranium * Heavyweight 'Vulcans' Help Bush Forge a Foreign Policy * Gore Hits Foreign Policy Highlights * Ill workers may be paid $100 000 * Bush says he would share missile-defense technology with Russia * Hanford contractor Bechtel is accused of 'breach of trust' * Acid Canyon To Undergo Tests * Aquifer Test Shows No Lab Waste * New Leads Found in Spy Probe * Chinese Report's Errors Point Beyond Lab Lee * FBI Widens Chinese Espionage Probe - Report * Legislators upset by exclusion of Piketon workers from bill Uranium-enrichment plant employees would not be offered compensation. * Decoding a Radiation-Resistant Bug * Plan to Import New Viruses Draws Concern * Yeltsin courting summit conflict * THE TRADE-OFF Russia Offers to Bargain on Chechnya Using Iraq as Its Bait * FBI widens China spying investigation * China Said to Be Building Anti-Missile System * Bush Outlines Foreign Policy Views * •Q. I know uranium spontaneously disintegrates. What finally happens to it? * China connection Inside the Ring - Notes from the Pentagon * China U.S. Eye First Military Talks Since Bombing * S. Korea Eyes Missile Development * S.Korea US haggle over missiles * U.S. N.Korea Talks Resume in Berlin * N.Korea expels U.S. citizen on spy charge * China's military upgrade may raise stakes in Taiwan * China Said to Be Building Anti-Missile System * Schroder ready to close all nuclear plant -------- Nuclear Experts Fault Bush Beliefs on Test Ban Treaty US Newswire 19 Nov 15:53 http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1119-127.htm WASHINGTON Nov. 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The umbrella organization for an alliance of 17 national nuclear non-proliferation organizations issued a statement today in response to presidential candidate George W. Bush's foreign policy speech in which he explained why he opposes the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The CTBT would limit the ability of nuclear weapons states to build new nuclear weapons by prohibiting "any nuclear weapon test explosions and all other nuclear explosions." It will similarly impede the development of new sophisticated nuclear weapons by the existing nuclear powers. Peace Action Urges: 'Ask Bush the Tough Questions' US Newswire 18 Nov 19:53 http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1118-147.htm In light of widespread concerns over Governor Bush's lack of comprehension regarding key foreign and military issues, said Peace Action Executive Director Gordon Clark we hope he'll be forced to explain where he stands. We are very concerned about the risks of having an admitted C-student with his finger on the button. Successful test launch of two Trident II D5 Missiles Defence Systems Daily 17 November 1999 http://defence-data.com/current/page5830.htm Photo: http://defence-data.com/storypic/trid2.jpg Two U.S. Navy Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBM) built by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space Sunnyvale Calif. were successfully launched in a test conducted last week from the USS Kentucky (SSBN 737) at the Eastern Test Range off the Florida coast. This test was one in a continuing series of operational evaluation tests conducted by the Navy to monitor the safety reliability readiness and performance of the Trident II D5 Strategic Weapon System. USEC May Quit Processing Russian Uranium By Martha M. Hamilton Washington Post November 19 1999; Page E01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/19/073l-111999-idx.html USEC Inc. a formerly government-operated uranium-processing company that was sold to investors last year has told the Clinton administration and members of Congress that it may quit its role as the government's executive agent in a nuclear nonproliferation deal with Russia unless it gets assurances of federal financial aid. Physicians Concerned About Fate of Missile Treaty US Newswire 18 Nov 17 1999 :06 http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1118-137.htm WASHINGTON Nov. 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) today expressed concern over Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush's announced intention to terminate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and Russia and pursue the construction of a ballistic missile defense program if he becomes president. Senate Panel Chief Blasts Europe Y2K Vote New York Times November 19 1999 Filed at 1:42 a.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-nuclear-usa.html WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of a special Senate panel on the Year 2000 blasted as ill-informed a European Parliament call Thursday to shut down nuclear weapon alert systems over the New Year to avoid accidental launches. ``This vote is particularly troubling in that it demonstrates an overall lack of awareness with regard to Y2K's potential effects on a country's infrastructure '' Sen. Robert Bennett Republican of Utah said in a statement. Where's the 2000 Buzz? Washington Post Friday November 19 1999; Page A45 By Charles Krauthammer http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/19/054l-111999-idx.html Where is the panic? Where is the hysteria? Where are the men in robes and placards warning of the imminent end of the world? There are just six weeks left before the turn of the millennium and things are so quiet and sober that one hardly senses a fin-de-siecle atmosphere let alone millennial trepidation. Company wants government help to buy uranium >From Time to Time: Nando's in-depth look at the 20th century By KATHERINE RIZZO Nando Media November 19 1999 9:03 p.m. EST http://www2.nando.net/noframes/story/0 2107 500059438-500098020-500395950-0 00.html WASHINGTON ( http://www.nandotimes.com) - This year's Congressional session ended Friday without giving financial help to the American company that takes Russia's weapons-grade uranium out of circulation. But negotiations continued between the company and the Clinton administration and some kind of aid early next year remained possible. Heavyweight 'Vulcans' Help Bush Forge a Foreign Policy By John Lancaster and Terry M. Neal Washington Post November 19 1999; Page A02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/19/159l-111999-idx.html Today in Simi Valley Calif. at the Ronald Reagan Library Texas Gov. George W. Bush is scheduled to give his first major address on foreign policy. The Vulcans will be watching. Inspired by the Roman god of fire and metalworking Vulcans is the campaign's nickname for Bush's foreign policy team whose eight core members include leading lights of his father's presidency and the Reagan administration led by former National Security Council aide Condoleezza Rice and former undersecretary of defense Paul D. Wolfowitz. Gore Hits Foreign Policy Highlights New York Times November 19 1999 Filed at 5:08 a.m. EST By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/p/AP-Gore.html NEW YORK (AP) -- Vice President Al Gore told some of the Democratic Party's biggest donors that next year will bring them one of the most important opportunities ever to shape the nation's future. Speaking at two separate fund-raisers where tickets sold for $25 000-per-couple Gore told supporters of the Democratic National Committee that Republicans are ``afraid'' to say no to the GOP's right wing and that it was up to voters to do it for them.... Ill workers may be paid $100 000 Evansville Courier & Press November 18 1999 http://www.courierpress.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?199911/18+illworkers111899_news .html+19991118 The Clinton administration Wednesday sent Congress legislation that would give $100 000 to each person who became ill after working at nuclear weapons facilities in Paducah Ky. and elsewhere. Under the bill each Paducah worker who developed cancer after being unwittingly exposed to plutonium and other highly radioactive materials would be eligible for a lump-sum payment of $100 000. Family members could collect for dead workers. Bush says he would share missile-defense technology with Russia Seattle Post-Intelligencer November 17 1999 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.seattlep-i.com/national/camp171.shtml WASHINGTON -- GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush outlining his vision for American foreign policy said yesterday he would be willing to share technology to help Russia develop an anti-ballistic-missile system if Moscow pledged to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Hanford contractor Bechtel is accused of 'breach of trust' Seattle Post-Intelligencer November 19 1999 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.seattlep-i.com/local/hanf191.shtml RICHLAND -- State and federal regulators have accused a Hanford Nuclear Reservation contractor of a "serious breach of trust" in the handling of a hazardous waste case. The complaint could bring fines of almost $150 000. A Bechtel Hanford executive said such an accusation "hurts." Acid Canyon To Undergo Tests By Ian Hoffman Albuqueque Journal Wednesday November 17 1999 http://www.abqjournal.com/news/18news11-17-99.htm SANTA FE -- Two years ago state scientists began to suspect Los Alamos National Laboratory was leaving a major radioactive waste cleanup unfinished. They dug into a piece of Atomic City's past and found hints their hunches were on target. Aquifer Test Shows No Lab Waste By Ian Hoffman Albuquerque Journal Tuesday November 16 1999 http://www.abqjournal.com/news/17news11-16-99.htm SANTA FE -- For 35 years the federal nuclear-weapons laboratory in Los Alamos has flushed its liquid radioactive waste into Mortandad Canyon but no one has been sure where it all ends up. Lab scientists drilled deep in the canyon floor recently for clues. And so far they've found no evidence of lab waste 1 100 feet down in the deep ground-water reservoir that supplies Los Alamos' drinking water. New Leads Found in Spy Probe Chinese Report's Errors Point Beyond Lab Lee By Vernon Loeb and Walter Pincus Washington Post November 19 1999; Page A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/19/219l-111999-idx.html The FBI has found new evidence suggesting that China may have stolen information about the most advanced U.S. nuclear warhead from one of the weapon's assemblers widening an investigation once focused almost exclusively on Los Alamos National Laboratory and one of its staff scientists Wen Ho Lee. FBI Widens Chinese Espionage Probe - Report ABC News WIRE:11/19/1999 00:41:00 ET http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters19991119_100.html WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has found new evidence suggesting China may have stolen information about the most advanced U.S. nuclear warhead from one of the weapon's assemblers the Washington Post reported on Friday. Legislators upset by exclusion of Piketon workers from bill Uranium-enrichment plant employees would not be offered compensation. Columbus Dispatch November 18 1999 By Jonathan Riskind http://www.dispatch.com/pan/localarchive/pbuxnws.html WASHINGTON -- Ohio legislators were angered yesterday when they learned that a bill to compensate workers exposed to radiation at a Kentucky power plant does not include employees who worked with uranium at a southern Ohio plant. U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson assured the lawmakers we're not going to forget'' Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant workers and said it should be determined by March whether they are eligible for payments because of illnesses linked to radiation exposure. Decoding a Radiation-Resistant Bug USA Today November 19, 1999 By NICHOLAS WADE http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/111999hth-radioactive -gene.html It thrives in deserts, medical autoclaves and food irradiation chambers. It can withstand more radiation than the Incredible Hulk. The Energy Department has used it to help clean up perpetually boiling vats of radioactive wastes. Its place of origin is a mystery, but some scientists wonder how it acquired all the hardy properties required of a space traveler. Plan to Import New Viruses Draws Concern New York Times November 19, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/regional/ny-animal-virus.html RIVERHEAD, N.Y. -- Stressing safety and trying to debunk a cloak-and-dagger image they said was undeserved, officials of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center turned to the public Wednesday night to seek support for an expansion that would allow top-security research on viruses that are deadly to animals and humans. Yeltsin courting summit conflict The Guardian Date: 19/11/99 By IAN BLACK in Istanbul http://www.smh.com.au/news/9911/19/text/world11.html Russia and the West were heading for confrontation yesterday at a European security summit which was overshadowed by charges of Moscow's indiscriminate violence in Chechnya and its test-firing of nuclear-capable missiles. With Moscow rattling sabres because of arms control disagreements with Washington, tension over the war in the Caucasus cast a chill over a summit that had been billed as an opportunity to repair relations following the Kosovo confrontation. THE TRADE-OFF Russia Offers to Bargain on Chechnya, Using Iraq as Its Bait By JUDITH MILLER New York Times November 19, 1999 Russia has suggested for the first time that it might support a weapons inspection system for Iraq that would be acceptable to Western nations if Washington gave Moscow a free hand in Chechnya, administration officials said Thursday. The proposed link was contained in an informal document that Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov gave Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during a meeting Wednesday of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in Istanbul. Administration officials seemed eager Thursday to reject even the possibility of such a deal. FBI Widens China Spy Investigation New York Times November 19, 1999 Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-China-Nuclear-Secrets.html http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/nc1.htm#armo WASHINGTON (AP) -- New evidence widens the FBI's investigation into spying allegations and suggests China may have stolen information about America's most advanced nuclear warhead from one of the weapon's contractors or from the Navy, The Washington Post reported today. The probe had focused almost entirely on the Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico and Wen Ho Lee, a staff scientist fired from the lab in March. China Said to Be Building Anti-Missile System New York Times November 19, 1999 Filed at 5:53 a.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-arms-ch.html BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese tabloid has said China is developing an anti-missile defense system, but Beijing-based diplomats dismissed the report as propaganda. The Press Digest, published by the Shanghai-based Liberation Daily, said in a front-page story in its Thursday edition a new surface-to-air missile China test-fired recently was capable of ``simultaneously meeting several enemy missiles head-on.'' Bush Outlines Foreign Policy Views New York Times November 19, 1999 Filed at 1:22 p.m. EST By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/p/AP-Bush.html SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- George W. Bush today cautioned against retreating to a U.S. foreign policy based on isolationism and protectionism, calling it a ``shortcut to disaster'' that would invite challenges to America's power as a world leader. The result, he said, ``would be a stagnant America and a savage world.'' ... He also said: --The United States and Russia must ``confront the legacy of a dead ideological rivalry -- thousands of nuclear weapons, which, in the case of Russia, may not be secure.'' He called for an inventory of all nuclear material, and said Congress should substantially increase assistance to help Russia dismantle as many of its weapons. --He supports China's admission into the World Trade Organization. --U.S. troops should never be placed under United Nations command. [Is this true? How long does it take?] Spokane Review November 18, 1999, Trivia L. M. Boyd - Crown Syndicate http://www.spokane.net/news-story-body.asp?Date=111899&ID=s708766&cat= •Q. I know uranium spontaneously disintegrates. What finally happens to it? A. Ends up as lead. China connection Inside the Ring - Notes from the Pentagon By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough November 19, 1999 WASHINGTON TIMES http://www.washtimes.com/nation/ring.html Pentagon intelligence officials tell s the Chinese were allowed to join the World Trade Organization this week virtually cost-free. No concessions were made in WTO negotiations on the important issue of China's continuing sales of missile and nuclear technology to rogue states. The sales contradict numerous Chinese government pledges over the years not to sell dangerous weapons and know-how. China, U.S. Eye First Military Talks Since Bombing By Reuters November 19, 1999 Filed at 12:43 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-china-u.html BEIJING (Reuters) - The Defense Department's top China expert was due to fly into Beijing on Friday in the latest sign that ties were warming after the chill that followed the American bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May. Just days after the two countries clinched a landmark deal for China to join the World Trade Organization, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Kurt Campbell was to meet Chinese military officials on Saturday in the first military-to-military talks since the bombing. S. Korea Eyes Missile Development Washington Times November 19, 1999 By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-SKorea-US-Missile.html SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- U.S. and South Korean officials sat down again Friday to discuss Seoul's desire to develop longer-range missiles that can cover all of communist North Korea. S.Korea, US haggle over missiles UPI Updated 8:37 PM ET November 19, 1999 By CHARLES LEE http://webcrawler-news.excite.com/news/u/991119/20/international-us SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 19 (UPI) South Korean negotiators continued to bargain hard with U.S. officials Friday in hopes of extending the range of their country's missiles to cope with the North Korean military threat. U.S., N.Korea Talks Resume in Berlin New York Times November 19, 1999 Filed at 5:32 a.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-korea-u.html BERLIN (Reuters) - Talks between North Korea and the United States aimed at improving relations reconvened on Friday as the North Korean delegation arrived at the U.S. embassy in Berlin. The meeting is the fourth this week in a series of sessions aimed at improving relations between Washington and the isolated communist state. N.Korea expels U.S. citizen on spy charge UPI Updated 5:27 AM ET November 19, 1999 http://webcrawler-news.excite.com/news/u/991119/05/international-us-spy SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 19 (UPI) A U.S. citizen was expelled from North Korea on Friday for allegedly spying on the country's military secrets, the North's state-run press said. The Central News Agency said So Sun-dok, an ethnic Korean, was caught red-handed on Sept. 29 engaging himself in espionage on military secrets of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)." China's military upgrade may raise stakes in Taiwan By Barbara Slavin and Steven Komarow USA Today 11/19/99 Page 16A http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/19991119/1672578s.htm WASHINGTON -- Sometime around Christmas China is expected to take delivery of a Russian destroyer that could raise the stakes for U.S. intervention in any future crisis over Taiwan arms experts say. The 7 300-ton ship is the first of the Sovremenny (Russian for ''contemporary'') class ever exported. It is equipped with powerful cruise missiles that can carry nuclear warheads and are designed to menace other ships. China Said to Be Building Anti-Missile System Reuters November 19 1999 Updated 5:53 AM ET http://webcrawler-news.excite.com/news/r/991119/05/international-arms-china BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese tabloid has said China is developing an anti-missile defense system but Beijing-based diplomats dismissed the report as propaganda. The Press Digest published by the Shanghai-based Liberation Daily said in a front-page story in its Thursday edition a new surface-to-air missile China test-fired recently was capable of simultaneously meeting several enemy missiles head-on. It did not elaborate but its description suggested a missile with multiple warheads. Schroder ready to close all nuclear plants Independent News 17 November 1999 By Imre Karacs in Berlin http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Environment/nuclear171199.shtml Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was close to a deal last night with his Green coalition partners on the timetable to close all of Germany's 19 nuclear power plants. The issue has bedevilled the Red-Green government and an agreement would go a long way towards restoring the parties' fortunes. But Mr Schröder can also expect bitter denunciations from the power lobby who will argue that the Chancellor has performed yet another U-turn selling out his friends in industry for a semblance of government unity. ___________________________________________________ Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefs.htm Subscribe NucNews: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Submit URL/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm Distributed without payment for research and educational purposes only in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.