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Digest 48, originally sent Fri Mar 12 02:31:12 1999 :
There are 5 messages in this issue.
Topics in today's digest:
1. NucNews-0 Brief 3/10/99 (Headlines/Links Only)
2. NucNews-1- 3/11/99 - Nuc Power / Weapons "Safety" - US, Russia
3. NucNews-3- 3/11/99 - China/Russia - US Missiles; Korea/Japan; Livermore; DeAlerting From: News <prop1@xxxxx.xxxx 4. NucNews-2 3/11/99 - China Spy (3); Australia Safety; S. Africa; China/Russia From: News <prop1@xxxxx.xxxx 5. NucNews-0 3/11/99 - Brief From: News <prop1@xxxxx.xxxx
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Message: 1 Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 14:58:23 -0500
Subject: NucNews-0 Brief 3/10/99 (Headlines/Links Only)
[The next __ messages contain the following articles. et]
NucNews-1- 3/10/99 - Y2K (3); McNamara / NATO; Pentagon NucNews-2- 3/10/99 - UK Plutonium Norway; Korea/US; Canada Waste; Ohio Fernald NucNews-3 3/10/99 - China - Gore, Inside China; Los Alamos Scientist; Smugglers; Arms Revelations NucNews-4 3/10/99 - China - Arms; Senator Lugar; Etc.
[Here's the Reuters version of the Y2K Conference on the Hill on Monday 3/8/99. NIRS informed us on March 10 that Congressman Knollenberg (R-MI) is holding a hearing on Y2K and nuclear issues on Monday, March 18, 1999. Check with NIRS for update: http://www.nirs.org/y2k/y2kandnuclearpowerwebpage.htm]
1. Y2K bug could cause problems at U.S. nuclear power plants http://detnews.com/1999/technology/9903/09/03090127.htm
2. Poll says Y2K fears declining http://www.usatoday.com/news/ndstue07.htm
3. US Considers Y2K Evacuation Plan http://www.wired.com:80/news/news/politics/story/18303.html
4. Nuclear power can't compete, study finds http://cnn.com/NATURE/9903/09/nuclear.enn/
5. Pentagon warns of cyber attacks http://usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cte599.htm
6. Norway says finds British plutonium off coasts http://cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9903/09/BC-NUCLEAR-BRITAIN-NORWA.reut/index.html
7. N. Korea: U.S. Used Banned Weapons http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-UN-NKorea-US.html
8. Ottawa lacks clout on nuclear cleanup Officials admit tough law may make government liable for costs http://www.thestar.com/back_issues/ED19990309/news/990309NEW06_NA-NUKE9.html
9. Former U.S. defence secretary preaches anti-nuke message http://www.canoe.com/TopStories/antinuke_mar9.html
10. Government awards a contract for Fernald radioactive cleanup http://www.ohio.com/bj/news/ohio/docs/010404.htm
11. Gore Blames Prior Administration For China Spying http://www.webcrawler.com/news/r/990309/14/news-nuclear Retuers, March 9, 1999
12. China, A Small-Time Player In The Nuclear World http://www.insidechina.com/china/news/1999030910.html BEIJING, Mar. 09, 1999 Inside China Today -- (Agence France Presse)
13. The Scientist Who Is the Talk of Los Alamos http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/031099china-nuke-scientist.html By JAMES BROOKE, New York Times, March 10, 1999
14. U.S. Charges Two In Alleged Tech Smuggling Plot http://www.webcrawler.com/news/r/990310/01/news-gyroscopes BOSTON (Reuters-March 10, 1999) - A U.S. grand jury indicted a Chinese citizen and a naturalized Canadian Tuesday on charges the pair tried to smuggle U.S. missile technology to China.
15. Political Battle: What to Reveal on China Arms http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/031099china-nuke.html March 10, 1999 New York Times, By JEFF GERTH and ERIC SCHMITT
16. Threats From China (OpEd by Senator Richard Lugar) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-03/10/099l-031099-idx.html March 10, 1999 Washington Post
ALSO:
China Exploits U.S. Computer Advances American Export Trade Raises National Security Concerns http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-03/09/070l-030999-idx.html Washington Post Foreign Service, Tuesday, March 9, 1999; Page A01
GOP wants answers on China spy probe http://usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncstue02.htm 3/10/99- USA Today _____________________________
A fast way to keep up to date: Subscribe to NucNews !! Nearly daily e-mail updates on nuclear, plutonium, uranium, and radioactivity news gleaned from a variety of newspapers online.
To subscribe: prop1@prop1.org Say "Subscribe NucNews" (plus whatever other information you want to give us about your work ) NucNews Archive: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm
_______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________
Message: 2 Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 15:20:59 -0500
Subject: NucNews-1- 3/11/99 - Nuc Power / Weapons "Safety" - US, Russia
[A USA Today poll of 4581 this morning. showed that only 19.9% are MORE worried about Y2K catastrophe (I'm one of 'em after last Monday); 46.3% LESS worried; 33.6% no change (whatever that means). These first two articles show the official position. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us educating people. Letters to editors in order.... et]
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1. Midweek Perspectives: The quiet competence of nuclear power
Twenty years since the Three Mile Island accident, nuclear energy is safe and ever-improving
http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/19990310edbaratta6.asp
By Anthony Baratta, Wednesday, March 10, 1999 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
What a difference 20 years make. On March 28, 1979, an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant became national news. Then the question being asked was whether the same thing could occur at other nuclear plants in the United States.
Today, across the country, nuclear plants are performing at exceptional levels of safety and reliability. Over the past decade, there has been a steady reduction in the number of significant events at nuclear plants, a plunging workplace accident rate and far fewer unplanned automatic plant shutdowns.
What's more, the median capacity factor - a measure of reliability at nuclear plants - has shown a steady, marked improvement and reached an impressive 84 percent in 1997, compared with 70 percent in 1989. Nationally, each percentage point increase in capacity factor is roughly equivalent to bringing another large nuclear plant on line. In other words, the electricity produced as a result of nuclear plant operating improvements over the last decade has provided the equivalent of 12,000 megawatts of new generating capacity in the United States or 10 to 12 new nuclear power plants.
Many U.S. nuclear plants are among the most efficient plants in the world. At the head of the list is the undamaged Unit One at Three Mile Island, with an average capacity factor over the last five years of 96 percent. In 1998 Unit One operated non-stop, virtually at full power, for the entire year.
These numbers should bring home a clear message: The nuclear industry has made the overall level of safety its top priority without sacrificing anything in terms of plant efficiency. Moreover, from an environmental standpoint, the improved performance of nuclear plants is especially noteworthy, considering that these plants do not pollute the air and are our best means to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
Now, nuclear plants are among America's least-cost electricity producers. A critical question is: Will the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission renew the operating licenses of nuclear plants reaching the end of their licensing period? So far two nuclear plants - Calvert Cliffs in Maryland and Oconee in South Carolina - have applied for license renewal. In coming years, at least a half dozen other nuclear plants are expected to seek license renewal, a trend demonstrating that well-managed nuclear plants are fully competitive with even the most efficient new natural gas plants.
In large part, this change was made possible by an institution that led the way in cultivating a safety culture throughout the nuclear industry.
That enterprise is the nuclear Navy. Its tradition of excellence in operation, instilled and rigidly enforced by Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, continues to have a direct bearing on our nation's commercial nuclear power program.
Over the years, thousands of Navy veterans - including many senior officers whom Rickover personally recruited - have played key roles in civilian nuclear power. They include a secretary of the Department of Energy, two chairmen of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, chief executives of electric utilities and the heads of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, an organization that the nuclear industry established in 1979 to improve safety.
As someone who personally worked for the admiral, I can testify that Rickover was a persistent, single-minded perfectionist. He drove himself and those who worked with him mercilessly in pursuit of his goals. To ensure safe operation, he insisted upon highly trained crews, technical excellence and attention to detail.
Just consider that in the 44 years since the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, started her sea trials, the Navy has accumulated roughly 4,000 reactor years of operation without a single reactor accident.
In looking at the future of nuclear power, it's worth noting this legacy, for many nuclear power plant operators today were recruited from the ranks of men who operated nuclear submarines. Since Three Mile Island, nuclear plant personnel have increased their training both in quality and quantity. Today, using state-of-the-art simulators to handle routine as well as unexpected events, operators train to run our nation's nuclear power plants safely and efficiently.
It's clear in hindsight that the U.S. nuclear industry learned many important lessons from the Three Mile Island experience - how to improve safety and how to improve plant performance. Together they are providing an impetus for greater use of nuclear power both in the United States and globally.
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2. (DOE Secretary) Richardson defends weapons labs
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncswed02.htm
3/10/99- USA Today
WASHINGTON (AP) - Trying to blunt criticism from Congress, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson says there's ''no evidence'' of additional espionage activity in the federal weapons laboratories.
''With the measures in place and the counterintelligence presence that we have at the labs now, the polygraphs, the increased scrutiny ... we believe the problem is addressed,'' Richardson said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Richardson said counterintelligence programs have been increased at the labs and ''there's no evidence of any more (espionage) cases.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday were questioning security at U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories and whether Clinton administration efforts to boost ties with China delayed a long-standing espionage investigation at one of the research facilities.
The growing national security controversy erupted after the Energy Department fired a Chinese-American computer scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he had been under FBI investigation since 1996.
The scientist, Wen Ho Lee, quickly went into hiding. He has not been charged with a crime, although federal officials said the FBI investigation was continuing.
Leading the counterattack, Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday defended the administration's policies toward China and its investigation of a nuclear weapons espionage case that he said the administration inherited from the 1980s.
''Keep in mind that happened in the previous administration,'' Gore said in an interview on CNN's ''Late Edition'' program. He said ''law enforcement agencies pressed it and pursued it aggressively with our full support'' once the concerns were raised in 1995.
However, Gore and other administration officials left unanswered why the FBI investigating action was taken this week.
The political sensitivity of the issue was highlighted Wednesday when Republican presidential candidates Lamar Alexander and Steve Forbes called for President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, to resign over the issue, and candidate Patrick Buchanan said Berger should explain what happened or quit.
National security adviser Sandy Berger, traveling with President Clinton in Central America, said Tuesday night, ''I reject the notion there was any dragging of feet.''
Berger said he received a narrow briefing in 1996 on an alleged espionage case at Los Alamos. Then in July 1997 he got a briefing from Energy officials about China and the labs.
''I heard enough in the July '97 briefing to believe we had a serious problem,'' Berger said.
Clinton issued a presidential directive in February 1998 ordering stepped up security at the weapons labs and there hasn't been any allegation of ''leakage of technology'' since those safeguards were imposed, said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
But the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and other lawmakers on Tuesday questioned why the investigation had taken so long before any action was taken.
''That makes no sense, especially where he'd been suspected of espionage and they would keep letting him work there (with) all the security clearances,'' Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the Intelligence panel's chairman, said in an interview.
Shelby said his committee would question Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and FBI Director Louis Freeh at a closed-door hearing next week about the delay and whether the administration downplayed the incident when it first surfaced.
Richardson, in a telephone interview Tuesday night, defended the investigation as ''extremely thorough and vigorous'' and said he had no choice but to wait before taking action against the scientist.
''The moment the FBI gave me the green light to terminate this individual, I did,'' said Richardson. He said he had been advised not to pursue the dismissal until ''a thorough investigation and questioning took place.''
A native of Taiwan, Lee, whom associates describe as being in his 50s, had worked at the prestigious weapons research laboratory in New Mexico for about 20 years. According to U.S. Officials, he became a prime suspect of an espionage investigation as early as 1996.
The investigation was triggered by the concerns of U.S. Intelligence agents that China in the 1980s had obtained top secret information on nuclear warhead technology that allowed the Chinese to develop miniaturized nuclear warheads so that more than one warhead could be delivered on a single missile. Nuclear scientists at Los Alamos had developed the technology.
With the administration under sharp attack from congressional Republicans, Gore sought to contain the damage and also defend the administration's broader efforts to work with China.
''China is the most populous country in the world. Its economy is growing and its role in the world is going to continue to grow whether we want that or not,'' Gore said. ''And so, obviously, having a relationship with them within which we can try to affect their behavior ... (is) in our best interest. We do that without compromising our interests in any way.''
The flap over China's alleged theft of nuclear weapons secrets and questions about the speed of the investigation fueled what already had been long-standing criticism from Republican lawmakers about U.S. technology transfers to China. GOP-led congressional committees in 1997 also investigated but were unable to prove whether China had tried to buy influence in the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign.
Several foreign-born business owners, including some with connections to China, have been charged as part of the Justice Department's investigation into campaign finance abuses.
A senior administration official, traveling with Clinton in Latin America, acknowledged that it was clear before 1998 that the weapons labs ''were enormously porous.'' He said other countries, not just China, ''had access that was troublesome'' because scientists from around the world did nuclear work at the facilities.
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3. Lack of money may delay repairs at Russian nuclear power plants http://cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9903/10/BC-Russia-NuclearShortag.ap/index.html March 10, 1999 CNN
ALSO: Nuclear Expert Issues Warning Over Radioactive Waste http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/1999030408.html Mar. 04, 1999 Russia Today
MOSCOW (AP) -- Repair and modernization work at two Russian nuclear power plants may be delayed because of severe cash shortages, an atomic energy official said Wednesday.
The Sosnovy Bor and Kursk plants don't have enough money for required repairs because customers aren't paying their electricity bills, said Boris Oreshkin, an Atomic Energy Ministry official in charge of nuclear power plants in Russia's northwest, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
The Sosnovy Bor plant is the main energy provider for Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, and the surrounding region.
The plant in Kursk, 450 kilometers (285 miles) south of Moscow, is a source of energy for parts of central Russia.
Both plants contain four RBMK reactors each -- the same type of reactor that exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, in the world's worst nuclear accident. Russia says all RBMK reactors have been modernized and are safe to operate.
Almost all sectors of Russia's economy have been gripped by chronic debt nonpayments, and the problem has only gotten worse since the latest economic crisis hit in August.
Oreshkin didn't say whether the reactors that need repairs will be stopped.
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- First of three messages - __________________________________
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Message: 3 Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 18:20:27 -0500 From: News <prop1@xxxxx.xxxx Subject: NucNews-3- 3/11/99 - China/Russia - US Missiles; Korea/Japan; Livermore; DeAlerting
10. Pyongyang working to make fuel for nukes
http://www.washtimes.com/news/news1.html
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES, March 11, 1999
North Korea is working on uranium enrichment techniques and will be able to produce fuel for nuclear weapons in six years or less, according to a U.S. intelligence report.
The program involves a North Korean trading company that recently sought to buy enrichment technology from a Japanese manufacturer, and connections between North Korea and Pakistan, according to a Department of Energy intelligence report made available to The Washington Times.
According to the report, the technology sought by Pyongyang is a clear sign that North Korea, known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), "is in the early stages of a uranium enrichment capability."
"On the basis of Pakistan's progress with a similar technology, we estimate that the DPRK is at least six years from the production of [highly enriched uranium], even if it has a viable centrifuge design," the report said. "On the other hand, with significant technical support from other countries, such as Pakistan, the time frame would be decreased by several years."
The report is a further sign the communist regime in Pyongyang has abandoned the freeze imposed on its nuclear weapons program by a 1994 agreement with the United States.
Underground construction spotted by U.S. intelligence agencies last year at Kumchangni, North Korea, is believed to be a new facility for nuclear weapons production in violation of the agreement.
The secret intelligence assessment sent recently to senior officials throughout the U.S. government said North Korea's plan to set up a uranium enrichment capability for nuclear weapons is being helped by Pakistan, which has close ties to North Korea's missile program.
Pakistan purchased uranium enrichment technology from China in 1996 when it bought 5,000 special ring magnets used as bearings in gas centrifuges. The sale violated China's international commitment not to sell weapons technology to non-nuclear weapons states. It was dismissed by the Clinton administration after an investigation determined senior Chinese leaders were unaware of the technology transfer.
The intelligence report said the close ties between Pakistan and North Korea on missile development make it likely Pakistan is assisting the North Korean uranium enrichment program, said Pentagon officials familiar with it.
According to the report, North Korea's Daesong Yushin Trading Co. recently ordered two centrifuge-related items called "frequency converters" from a Japanese company. The trading company has been linked by U.S. intelligence to North Korea's covert weapons of mass destruction program, officials said.
One official said U.S. intelligence agencies are convinced the converters will be used in a "gas centrifuge cascade to enrich uranium." A centrifuge cascade is a series of machines linked to increase the amount of highly enriched uranium produced by the high-speed spinning machines. Enriched uranium is a key element of fuel used to fire a first-generation nuclear weapon.
The report said the North Koreans, with only two of the converters, are probably setting up a small-scale uranium enrichment process. A larger program would then be set up. Daesong is trying to buy the equipment in violation of Japanese government export controls. The converters provide special electrical current to the centrifuges.
Pentagon officials said the Japanese company is still considering the sale of the converters and an effort is underway within the U.S. government to block it quietly.
"Daesong is a known entity seeking weapons technology," said a Pentagon official. "This shows the utter failure of this administration's policy [toward North Korea]."
A senior administration official said: "In cases like these, our normal practice is to raise these matters with other governments and try to block shipments of this type. And normally we are successful."
The Clinton administration is close to announcing a new policy toward North Korea that is being drawn up by former Defense Secretary William Perry. Mr. Perry was in Japan yesterday, where tensions remain high after North Korea's Aug. 31 test firing of the new Taepodong missile. The missile passed over Japanese territory.
Pakistan is believed to have purchased missile know-how from North Korea for its medium-range Ghauri missile, which was test fired for the first time last year. The Ghauri has been described as closely resembling the North Korean Nodong missile and may have purchased from Pyongyang.
Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, said North Korea's interest in enrichment technology would mark a shift in past efforts by Pyongyang to develop nuclear weapons. "It shows they are considering the enrichment route, whereas their present capability is based exclusively on plutonium from reactors," Mr. Milhollin said.
A Pakistani link to the North Korean nuclear program also would be very troubling and mark a "sea change" in Pakistan's stance on nuclear weapons proliferation, Mr. Milhollin said. Discovery of the covert nuclear technology acquisition effort is another setback for the Clinton administration's nonproliferation policy.
Under the 1994 Agreed Framework with the United States, North Korea agreed to halt all work on its nuclear weapons program, which was being built around plutonium-producing reactors at Yongbyon. Mr. Clinton has said the diplomatic effort successfully "froze" Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
Discovery last year of the new underground complex being built at Kumchangni was the first sign that North Korea appeared to be breaking out of the nuclear pact. National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger has said the United States is trying to determine if North Korea plans to build nuclear production facilities at the site.
The North Korean weapons technology effort has continued despite the 1994 agreement, according to the Pentagon official.
Defense officials warned senior Clinton administration policy-makers as long as five years ago that North Korea was continuing to obtain foreign weapons technology, and the effort was increasing.
"We saw a sudden rise in purchases of technology for nuclear and missile programs," the official said.
The Pentagon official said North Korean trading companies are designated by the Pyongyang government to find certain elements needed for North Korea's weapons programs.
"You can pretty much tell by the company involved what the North Koreans are trying to do," he said.
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11. Japan pledges to back U.S. in Korean threat
http://www.washtimes.com/news/news2.html
By Willis Witter, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, March 11, 1999
TOKYO Japan will stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the United States against nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, former Defense Secretary William Perry said yesterday.
Mr. Perry said he received the pledge as he completed a tour of northeast Asia, his second since the White House asked him last year to draft policy recommendations for coping with the belligerent communist state.
Mr. Perry met Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi yesterday, following talks Tuesday with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in Seoul. He left last night for Washington, where he will complete his report to President Clinton.
"Any successful policy toward North Korea must be a closely coordinated joint effort" among the United States, Japan and South Korea, Mr. Perry said in a formal statement after his talks.
"I found that they have a similar assessment of the situation and of the need to stand shoulder to shoulder as we devise a comprehensive approach to the threats posed by North Korea."
Mr. Perry's report, to be completed this month, is anxiously awaited not only by Seoul and Tokyo, but also in Congress, where lawmakers who favor a harder line against North Korea had pressed the White House to commission the review.
Mr. Perry was chosen to lead the effort in part because of his rapport with the Republican-led Congress before his 1997 retirement after nearly three years as defense secretary.
"He's the only one who can sell this on Capitol Hill, and he's going to take a harder-line approach because that's the only thing that will sell," said Stephen Noerper, a professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu.
Mr. Perry's effort comes at a time of multiple contacts with North Korea by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.
They include negotiations between U.S. and North Korean officials in New York on access to a suspected underground nuclear site, and talks between the two Koreas on how to prevent the year-2000 computer bug from accidentally starting a war.
In South Korea, more than 35,000 U.S. troops help defend the world's most heavily fortified border. An additional 47,000 American forces are deployed at bases in nearby Japan.
Mr. Perry tried with limited success to maintain a low profile throughout a four-nation visit. During earlier stops in Beijing and Taiwan, his presence provided a forum for the two rivals to trade charges over new Chinese missile deployments and Taiwanese efforts to develop a missile defense.
China considers Taiwan a rebel province and has not ruled out the use of force to conquer the island nation.
The final stops in South Korea and Japan highlighted what many analysts view as a growing rift between the two U.S. allies on how to deal with North Korea.
South Korea emphasizes gradual engagement with the North through political, cultural and economic exchanges in what South Korea's president calls a "sunshine policy."
Mr. Noerper said South Korean voters are more worried about their economic crisis than any immediate military threat from the North.
In contrast, the Japanese public is afraid of North Korea and likely to press leaders for a tougher stance against the isolated state, Mr. Noerper said.
In August, North Korea stunned the world with a surprise test launch of a multistage rocket that flew over Japan's main island and splashed down in the Pacific.
The launch prompted Tokyo, after years of indecision, to join the United States in researching a so-called theater missile defense (TMD), a scaled-down version of the "Star Wars" missile shield first proposed in the Reagan administration.
Japan halted humanitarian aid and other exchanges with North Korea following the Aug. 31 rocket test. It also delayed contributions under a 1994 agreement in which North Korea froze a suspected nuclear weapons program in exchange for modern atomic power plants.
In explaining Japan's resumption of payments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sadaaki Numata said the nuclear deal was "the only viable and realistic framework with which to dissuade North Korea from going the path of nuclear development."
Seoul has been much more forgiving toward its hostile neighbor.
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12. Livermore Lab's Plutonium Filters: Another Accident Waiting to Happen?
http://www.igc.org/tvc/cwmar99.htm
by Sally Light, from Tri-Valley CAREs' March 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch
Since December, 1998, Tri-Valley CAREs has received documents from the Department of Energy (DOE) concerning Livermore Lab's High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters in its plutonium facility, called Building 332. These documents came in response to our April, 1998 request for information under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It is worth noting, however, that DOE did not provide any documents until we filed a FOIA lawsuit after waiting 9 long months (see, especially, the November 1998 Citizens' Watch for lawsuit details). It is increasingly clear, now, why DOE was so reluctant to release the documents to us.
These documents reveal a long history of serious problems associated with Bldg. 332's HEPA filters, which are supposed to protect Lab workers and the public by preventing the release of plutonium into the air.....
13. De-Alert Nuclear Weapons in 1999? Here's How You Can Help
http://www.igc.org/tvc/cwmar99.htm
Tri-Valley CAREs' March 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch
Tri-Valley CAREs and the nationwide Alliance for Nuclear Accountability have designated this month as Back from the Brink: Nuclear Weapons De-Alerting Action Month. We ask you to join us in efforts to educate ourselves and the public about the urgent need to de-alert the nuclear arsenal....
Let Reason Prevail
Last September, Tom Daschle (D-SD) posed this question to his colleagues in the U.S. Senate: "Reasonable people can only ask the obvious question: with the Soviet Union dissolved and the Cold War over for nearly seven years, how can the U.S. and Russia continue to be one bad call away from a nuclear disaster?"
The answer, too, is obvious. We can't. It's time to make the next move, and the U.S.-with the most powerful military on earth-can lead the way. All nations must begin de-alerting their nuclear weapons immediately. Every weapon in every arsenal must be subjected to at least one effective de-alerting measure as soon as technically feasible, certainly as far before the Year 2000 as possible.
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- Third of three messages - __________________________________ _____________________________
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Message: 4 Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 18:12:53 -0500 From: News <prop1@xxxxx.xxxx Subject: NucNews-2 3/11/99 - China Spy (3); Australia Safety; S. Africa; China/Russia
4. Lab Firing Questioned, Defended 'Strong Suspicions' of Lee's Role Exist, Richardson Says
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/3news03-10.htm
By Ian Hoffman, March 10, 1999, Albuquerque Journal Northern Bureau
SANTA FE -- Fired Los Alamos engineer Wen Ho Lee struck friends and co-workers as a quiet, nose-to-the-grindstone worker who was proud of his science -- but hardly as a spy for the Chinese government.
Executives of Los Alamos National Laboratory fired the 59-year-old Lee on Monday after the FBI briefed Energy Secretary Bill Richardson on its investigation into alleged Chinese theft of nuclear warhead secrets from Lee's division at LANL in the mid-1980s.
Richardson defended the firing as appropriate in a phone interview with the Journal on Tuesday night. "There are very strong suspicions of his participation," Richardson said. "We can establish that there was theft of sensitive materials," Richardson said. "We can establish it was serious, but the extent of damage has not been established."
Lee, an avid angler, gardener and father of a son and daughter in their 20s, has not been charged with any crime.
Friends describe him as a friendly and soft-spoken man. His command of English was workable but spotty enough that he sometimes asked co-workers and friends to repeat themselves or define words. He had planned to retire in just nine months after some 20 years at the nuclear-weapons design lab, friends and co-workers said.
"I'm still sort of torn with this whole thing," said Pat Soran, former Transport Methods group leader and Lee's supervisor for two years ending in December. "I just don't think it's in his character that this happened."
Lee's work fed into computer design of U.S. nuclear weapons, but several sources said he probably would not have had access to weapons blueprints, such as those for the W88 warhead that some government analysts suspect China of copying.
"As far as I know, he didn't even know exactly how weapons worked," said former LANL physicist Judith Binstock, who shared an office alone with Lee in the late 1980s, on the third floor of LANL's nerve center, the Administration Building. "He never worked on the W88 ... He never had the need to know the dimensions or even the principles behind the thing."
One acquaintance who insisted on anonymity believes Lee is innocent of espionage and is a scapegoat in partisan political warfare over alleged Chinese espionage at LANL.
"It strikes me as political," he said. Lee, he noted, did not hire an attorney until days ago, despite three months of FBI and Energy Department investigation as a prime espionage suspect.
Lee's response to concerned friends was, the acquaintance said, "I haven't done anything. Why do I need counsel?"
"I believe him," the acquaintance said. "His kids believe him and I believe most of his colleagues at the laboratory believe him. But they're not going to raise a finger when the secretary of energy says, 'Fire him.' ''
Richardson ordered Lee moved in December out of X Division, home to LANL's weapons designers, and he was given a job in the lab's Theoretical Division, a largely non-weapons division. In February, Richardson rescinded Lee's top-security "Q" clearance that had allowed him access to classified information on a "need-to-know" basis.
"Let's just say this individual had access to very sensitive materials. I'm not going to go into details," Richardson said. "We had sufficient grounds to dismiss him, and we feel the action was warranted."
At Richardson's insistence, the FBI gave Lee his second polygraph test in February, which Richardson said Lee "failed." He also said Lee was "uncooperative" with FBI agents. "He failed the polygraph test in February, and he improperly failed to disclose contacts with individuals from sensitive countries," Richardson said. "In addition, he violated classified materials policy and misled the lab on certain security measures."
Lee wrote and maintained supercomputer codes for hydrodynamics, the mathematical science of predicting movement of fluids and gases. He was prolific and was said to be proud of his many publications in both unclassified and classified scientific journals, the coin of academic worth at the laboratory.
The "hydro" codes that were Lee's specialty are commonly used in many sciences and industries. They also are crucial for modeling the detonation of a thermonuclear weapon, in which, for example, metals such as plutonium are crushed inwardly by high explosive into liquid and plasma.
But hydrodynamics is only a piece of the larger weapons design codes. Among other essential pieces are codes for shock physics and the movement of radiation. Put together, they all are used to check the design of a nuclear weapon by simulating its multistaged detonation.
"What he (Lee) was responsible for was a very small part of a particular (weapons-design) code," said Binstock, Lee's former office mate.
Most employees of X Division possess general knowledge of nuclear weapons designs. But design details are reserved strictly for those with a "need to know" and are kept in a vault under tight security, current and former X Division employees said.
"I never saw him in the place where the documents are kept," Binstock said. "In the normal course of his work, I just find it difficult to believe he had access to that kind of material."
Lee emerged almost four years ago as a suspect in what some authorities believe was systematic espionage aimed at U.S. nuclear-weapons design labs by the Chinese government.
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5. Little Known About Fired Scientist
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/a/AP-Scientist-Los-Alamos.html
March 10, 1999, By The Associated Press
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) -- In Los Alamos, a town that was born in secrecy and is home to hundreds of people who still toil quietly on the nation's nuclear arsenal, many have little to say about the scientist suspected of sharing secrets with China.
Residents said they know Wen Ho Lee as an avid gardener who shares the fruits of his labors with neighbors in the middle-class community.
They didn't know much else about the Taiwan-born Lee, who was fired Monday from his job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Lee had been under FBI investigation since 1996. He has not been arrested or charged.
At Lee's home Tuesday, blankets were draped across windows and no one answered the door. His telephone was disconnected.
``They always come down and ask me if I want some apples or cherries,'' Mary Swickard, who didn't work at the lab but knew Lee and his wife, Sylvia, said Tuesday. Mrs. Lee often ``will ring the bell, tell me to help myself and then, whoosh, she's gone.''
She said it isn't unusual for others in the bedroom community of scientists and physicists to be tightlipped. They are ``afraid to say anything because if you work for the lab, you might be saying something you shouldn't,'' Ms. Swickard said.
``We're not close, socializing with anybody in the neighborhood,'' said Bill Partain, a safety analyst who worked with Lee's wife at the lab.
Los Alamos was built in the 1940s by the U.S. government under a veil of secrecy. It is here that scientists scrambled to design the atomic bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, ending World War II. It still is a key installation for nuclear research.
U.S. intelligence agents are investigating how China apparently obtained top-secret design information in the 1980s about warheads.
Lee, who had worked at the lab for more than a dozen years with top security clearance, was fired on the recommendation of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who said Lee failed a lie-detector test in February and improperly failed to disclose foreign contacts.
At Los Alamos, Lee wrote and maintained supercomputer codes for hydrodynamics -- the mathematical science of predicting movement of fluids and gases, the Albuquerque Journal reported Tuesday. Friends and co-workers said Lee planned to retire in nine months.
``I just don't think it's in his character that this happened,'' said Pat Soran, who was Lee's supervisor for two years.
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6. Porous' security at U.S. nuclear weapons labs U.S. official: Labs value 'science, not security' Leaks of sensitive information traced back to 1970s
http://cnn.com/US/9903/10/nuclear.secrets/
March 10, 1999 CNN, John King and Jonathan Karl
(CNN) -- A review of U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories prompted by a long-suspected case of Chinese espionage found security at the facilities to be "enormously porous," a senior administration official tells CNN.
Nuclear secrets, the source said, are wrongfully shared with scientists from "a lot of other countries."
The disclosure comes amid a growing national security controversy that erupted after the Energy Department on Monday fired a Chinese-American computer scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory who had been under FBI investigation since 1996.
The scientist, Wen Ho Lee, quickly went into hiding.
According to the senior administration official, the Energy Department first became aware of allegations against Lee in 1995.
Although investigators determined that he may have helped China acquire U.S. nuclear know-how, it is unlikely that Lee, a Taiwan native in his 50s, will be charged with any criminal offense, since there is not enough hard evidence against him, CNN has been told.
The administration says various government investigations have determined that transfers of sensitive nuclear information to China took place from the late 1970s and through the 1980s.
The nuclear warhead technology allowed China to develop miniaturized nuclear warheads so that more than one warhead could be delivered on a single missile.
Republican critics question whether U.S. efforts to improve relations with China delayed action on the espionage findings, a charge rejected by Clinton administration officials who deny foot-dragging and say they inherited spy concerns.
Left unanswered is why the FBI investigation of Lee continued for nearly three years before action was taken this week.
Source: Labs value 'science, not security'
According to the senior administration official, a security review conducted by the CIA and FBI after the Lee allegations surfaced found that U.S. nuclear laboratories "had a scientific mindset, not a national security mindset," under which scientists shared nuclear information with scientists visiting from other countries.
Declining to be specific, the official said the Clinton administration found it "troublesome" that "a lot of other countries," not just China, had obtained sensitive nuclear information through "enormously porous" U.S. weapons labs.
The official, however, did not believe that any of these other lapses reached the magnitude of the data sharing that allowed the Chinese to develop smaller nuclear warheads.
The source, a senior U.S. official currently traveling with President Clinton in Central America, said the administration was confident new precautions put in place since 1997 had greatly enhanced security at the labs.
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7. DECISION ON NUCLEAR BILLS DEFERRED
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/briefing/nw19990310/34.html
CAPE TOWN March 9 1999 Sapa (South African Press)
Two controversial pieces of draft legislation dealing with the regulation of nuclear energy would only be dealt with by the new Parliament, the Mineral and Energy Affairs committee decided on Tuesday.
The Nuclear Energy Bill and the National Nuclear Regulator Bill were referred to the committee by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).
The parties represented in Nedlac failed to reach consensus on the bills, saying they would make comments and raise their concerns before the committee.
However the committee said in a statement it was clear there was a need for further discussion on the legislation, and thus passed a resolution recommending that it be dealt with as soon as Parliament reconvenes after the June 2 elections.
The Nuclear Safety Bill deals with the regulation of radiation in mines, and proposes transferring responsibilty for this task from the Council for Nuclear Safety to the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate.
The National Regulator Bill aims to establish a regulator for the nuclear industry, and make it more transparent and accountable.
source: gopher://gopher.anc.org.za/00/anc/newsbrief/1999/news0310 processed Wed 10 Mar 1999 08:57 SAST.
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8. Nuclear reactor awaits approval for move
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/weekly/newsnat-11mar1999-56.htm
Thursday 11 March, 1999 (10:15am AEDT) Australian Broadcasting
The operators of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney say they are awaiting approval to move a highly radioactive fuel rod which has come out of its protective casing.
The incident was the latest in a series of three accidents which have occurred in the past month.
The revelation of the accidents comes as the Federal Environment Minister considers the environmental impact study on plans to build a new, larger reactor on the site.
All the incidents led to radioactive emissions, but the reactor's operators say the emissions were well below allowable safety levels.
Staff were exposed to a spent fuel rod while carrying out a process designed to prevent a repeat of another incident where contaminated water leaked from a truck.
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) says it is now awaiting approval for a plan to safely move the rod. It says staff received about 2.5 per cent of the allowable dose limit.
Had they been members of the public, the radiation exposure would have been half of what was considered safe in one year.
In two other accidents, nuclear isotope production in buildings outside the reactor were shut down after emissions of radioactive gas and iodine into the atmosohere.
ANSTO says there was no hazard.
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9. China, Russia Discuss Missile Plan
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-China-Russia-US.html
March 11, 1999, Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) -- China and Russia have held talks about a proposed U.S. anti-missile umbrella and are united in their opposition to the system, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.
Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao gave no details on the Chinese and Russian ``consultations'' about the proposed Theater Missile Defense system. He also refused to say what if any action the two countries would take in future.
But the Japanese news agency Kyodo, quoting an unnamed Russian government source, reported Wednesday from Moscow that security experts from the foreign and defense ministries of China and Russia have been meeting every two months to exchange information about the anti-missile system.
The talks began late last year at China's request, and the two sides will likely end up making a decision on a united approach, possibly jointly asking that the United States and Japan terminate development of the program, Kyodo's source said.
Zhu, the Chinese spokesman, said the two sides held talks ``because this issue has bearing on global and regional security and stability and affects the security interests of many countries.''
China fears the system, also known as TMD, could spark a costly arms race. It also is determined to ensure that any anti-missile umbrella is not extended to cover Taiwan, the island that China regards as part of its territory.
``China and Russia have both indicated and made clear their opposition to TMD,'' said Zhu. ``Russia is opposed to TMD and we have also expressed our strong opposition to this, so the two sides share a position on this issue.''
The United States has rebuffed Chinese concerns, saying it is still studying the system and has not decided yet whether to use it.
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Message: 5 Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 18:44:19 -0500 From: News <prop1@xxxxx.xxxx Subject: NucNews-0 3/11/99 - Brief
NucNews-1- 3/11/99 - Nuc Power / Weapons "Safety" - US, Russia NucNews-2 3/11/99 - China Spy (3); Australia Safety; S. Africa; China/Russia NucNews-3- 3/11/99 - China/Russia - US Missiles; Korea/Japan; Livermore; DeAlerting
----------------------------- NucNews-1- 3/11/99
[A USA Today poll of 4581 this morning. showed that only 19.9% are MORE worried about Y2K catastrophe (I'm one of 'em after last Monday); 46.3% LESS worried; 33.6% no change (whatever that means). These first two articles show the official position. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us educating people. Letters to editors in order.... et]
1. The quiet competence of nuclear power Twenty years since the Three Mile Island accident, nuclear energy is safe and ever-improving http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/19990310edbaratta6.asp Wednesday, March 10, 1999 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 'Midweek Perspectives'
2. (DOE Secretary) Richardson defends weapons labs http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncswed02.htm 3/10/99- USA Today
3. Lack of money may delay repairs at Russian nuclear power plants http://cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9903/10/BC-Russia-NuclearShortag.ap/index.html March 10, 1999 CNN MOSCOW (AP) -- Repair and modernization work at two Russian nuclear power plants may be delayed because of severe cash shortages, an atomic energy official said Wednesday. The Sosnovy Bor and Kursk plants don't have enough money for required repairs because customers aren't paying their electricity bills.... ALSO: Nuclear Expert Issues Warning Over Radioactive Waste http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/1999030408.html Mar. 04, 1999 Russia Today
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4. Lab Firing Questioned, Defended 'Strong Suspicions' of Lee's Role Exist, Richardson Says http://www.abqjournal.com/news/3news03-10.htm By Ian Hoffman, March 10, 1999, Albuquerque Journal Northern Bureau SANTA FE -- Fired Los Alamos engineer Wen Ho Lee struck friends and co-workers as a quiet, nose-to-the-grindstone worker who was proud of his science -- but hardly as a spy for the Chinese government.
5. Little Known About Fired Scientist http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/a/AP-Scientist-Los-Alamos.html March 10, 1999, By The Associated Press
6. Porous' security at U.S. nuclear weapons labs U.S. official: Labs value 'science, not security' Leaks of sensitive information traced back to 1970s http://cnn.com/US/9903/10/nuclear.secrets/ March 10, 1999 CNN, John King and Jonathan Karl
7. DECISION ON NUCLEAR BILLS DEFERRED http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/briefing/nw19990310/34.html CAPE TOWN March 9 1999 Sapa (South African Press) Two controversial pieces of draft legislation dealing with the regulation of nuclear energy would only be dealt with by the new Parliament, the Mineral and Energy Affairs committee decided on Tuesday. The Nuclear Safety Bill deals with the regulation of radiation in mines, and proposes transferring responsibilty for this task from the Council for Nuclear Safety to the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate. The National Regulator Bill aims to establish a regulator for the nuclear industry, and make it more transparent and accountable.
8. Nuclear reactor awaits approval for move http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/weekly/newsnat-11mar1999-56.htm Thursday 11 March, 1999 (10:15am AEDT) Australian Broadcasting The operators of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney say they are awaiting approval to move a highly radioactive fuel rod which has come out of its protective casing. The incident was the latest in a series of three accidents which have occurred in the past month.
9. China, Russia Discuss Missile Plan
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-China-Russia-US.html March 11, 1999, Associated Press BEIJING (AP) -- China and Russia have held talks about a proposed U.S. anti-missile umbrella and are united in their opposition to the system, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.
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10. Pyongyang working to make fuel for nukes http://www.washtimes.com/news/news1.html By Bill Gertz, Washington Times March 11, 1999 North Korea is working on uranium enrichment techniques and will be able to produce fuel for nuclear weapons in six years or less, according to a U.S. intelligence report. The program involves a North Korean trading company that recently sought to buy enrichment technology from a Japanese manufacturer, and connections between North Korea and Pakistan, according to a Department of Energy intelligence report made available to The Washington Times.
11. Japan pledges to back U.S. in Korean threat http://www.washtimes.com/news/news2.html By Willis Witter, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, March 11, 1999 TOKYO Japan will stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the United States against nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, former Defense Secretary William Perry said yesterday.
12. Livermore Lab's Plutonium Filters: Another Accident Waiting to Happen? http://www.igc.org/tvc/cwmar99.htm by Sally Light, from Tri-Valley CAREs' March 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch
13. De-Alert Nuclear Weapons in 1999? Here's How You Can Help http://www.igc.org/tvc/cwmar99.htm Tri-Valley CAREs' March 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch