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Digest 109, originally sent Fri Jun 11 04:38:19 1999
There are 7 messages in this issue.
Topics in today's digest:
1. NucNews-0 Brief 6/10/99
2. NucNews-4 6/10/99 - Espionage- China/US etc. (6+)
3. NucNews-5 6/10/99 - US- Missile Test; Hobbs/USEC Nuc Fuel; Missile Warning System; USEC dumps AVLIS uranium enrichment (2); Pentagon/Senate; Lead Poisoning
4. NucNews-6 6/10/99 - Kosovo - Costs-v-US Taxpayers (2); NATO War Crimes (2); US Marines/Greece; Kosovo Plan (3); Jamie Shea-NATO Propaganda
5. NucNews-2 6/10/99 - Canada (2); Russia (2); Chernobyl; Lithuania (2)
6. NucNews-3 6/10/99 - India (2)-Kissinger, Peace March; Pakistan ()-US, Senate, China (3), Rebels; Israel/Lebanon; Croatia/Lockheed; Japan; France
7. NucNews-1 6/10/99 - Greenpeace-MOX; DU (2) Japan, US; Korea (5)
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Message: 1 Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 21:21:24 -0400
Subject: NucNews-0 Brief 6/10/99
[Please address replies to articles to the original publisher (with a copy to prop1@prop1.org and NucNews@onelist.com (Archives)). Your help in refuting false information appreciated!]
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NucNews-1 6/10/99 - Greenpeace-MOX; DU (2) Japan, US; Korea (5) NucNews-2 6/10/99 - Canada (2); Russia (2); Chernobyl; Lithuania (2) NucNews-3 6/10/99 - India (2)-Kissinger, Peace March; Pakistan ()-US, Senate, China (3), Rebels; Israel/Lebanon; Croatia/Lockheed; Japan; France NucNews-4 6/10/99 - Espionage- China/US etc. (6+) NucNews-5 6/10/99 - US- Missile Test; Hobbs/USEC Nuc Fuel; Missile Warning System; USEC dumps AVLIS uranium enrichment (2); Pentagon/Senate; Lead Poisoning NucNews-6 6/10/99 - Kosovo - Costs-v-US Taxpayers (2); NATO War Crimes (2); US Marines/Greece; Kosovo Plan (3); Jamie Shea-NATO Propaganda
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[Does anyone care to refute this? I'd like a copy if you do - put "NucNews-letter" in the subject line please. Here's how you write to Canadian Press News: (Mike Simpson - Exec Producer - Canoe News) msimpson@canoe.ca]
1. Plutonium not dangerous to transport: Greenpeace By DENNIS BUECKERT -- Canadian Press, June 8, 1999 http://www.canoe.com/TopStories/plut_jun8.html OTTAWA -- There is little risk associated with the transportation of plutonium-containing fuel to be used in an experiment this summer, a spokesman for Greenpeace conceded Tuesday.... Advocates of the MOX plan say Canada could play a significant role in world disarmament by helping the superpowers dispose of surplus plutonium. Critics say the plan has nothing to do with disarmament but is merely a pretext to prop up Canada's faltering nuclear industry. Larry Shewchuk, a spokesman for Atomic Energy of Canada, said it would be very difficult for terrorists to extract plutonium from MOX fuel to build nuclear weapons. Terrorists are looking for pure plutonium, he said. MOX fuel contains three per cent plutonium mixed with other material.
[More U.S. military exercises poisoning another country.]
2. U.S. apologizes for firing radioactive ammunition Japan Times, February 11, 1997 http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/news2-97/news2-11.html WASHINGTON -- High-ranking U.S. Defense Department officials apologized Feb. 10 to Japan and the Okinawa Prefectural Government over an incident in which the U.S. Marine Corps mistakenly fired bullets containing depleted uranium in the prefecture in late 1995 and early 1996. Marine policy prohibits use of the depleted-uranium ammunition, which carries traces of radioactivity, at training ranges in Japan. They reportedly fired 1,520 rounds of the ammunition on an uninhabited island during drills....
3. International Forum Calls Attention to the Use and Dangers of Depleted Uranium Weaponry November 17, 1997 http://www.rama-usa.org/dumtp.htm Washington, DC--Today, at a press conference at the National Press Club, the Military Toxics Project (MTP), a national grassroots organization working on Department of Defense environmental issues, in partnership with other local, national, and international organizations, released Army training videos which have been withheld from military personnel regarding the health and environmental dangers associated with depleted uranium (DU)weaponry.... For additional reading see: "Depleted Uranium Environmental Assessment United State Air Force, Nellis AFB." - http://www.rama-usa.org/du.htm --- DOE/EIS-0269, Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Alternative Strategies for the Long-Term Management and Use of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/finalpeis.cfm
4. [Korea] Purpose of suspect tunnel depends on US - N.Korea 10:10 p.m. Jun 09, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation") SEOUL, June 10 (Reuters) - North Korea has said the future use of a vast tunnel complex it is building near a mothballed Soviet-era nuclear plant depends on whether Washington lives up to its side of a five-year-old nuclear accord.... -- US Team Visits Suspected Nuke Site Thursday, June 10, 1999; 1:36 a.m. EDT http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990610/V000670-061099-idx.html SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea says its ultimate use of a huge tunnel once suspected of being a nuclear facility depends on U.S. attitudes toward the secretive communist state. -- Rep. Urges Consultation on N. Korea By George Gedda, Associated Press, June 9, 1999; 6:36 p.m. EDT http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990609/V000453-060999-idx.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- House International Relations Committee chairman Benjamin Gilman said Wednesday he is concerned that the Clinton administration is forging a new policy toward North Korea without adequate consultation with Congress. -- North and South Korea Boats Confront Each Other in a Standoff By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, June 10, 1999 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/061099korea-standoff.html TOKYO -- For the second day in a row, North Korean and South Korean military vessels confronted each other in a tense standoff on Wednesday, with each side accusing the other of intruding into its own waters.... -- ANALYSIS--NKorea seen using tensions for leverage 05:46 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern, By Bill Tarrant http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation") SEOUL, June 10 (Reuters) - North Korea's naval standoff with the South this week looks like an almost too familiar attempt to use tension to gain leverage in its diplomatic game with Washington and Seoul.
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5. Parliament Hill site of nuclear protest WebPosted Tue Jun 8 18:45:28 1999 http://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/1999/06/08/grepea 990608 OTTAWA - Environmental groups are upset over a government plan to transport nuclear fuel to Canada. The fuel would come from dismantled Russian and U.S. nuclear weapons, and end up at the Atomic Energy of Canada test site at Chalk River, Ontario.... -- Chalk River Plant http://www.aecl.ca/english/company/org_1_b3a.html -- Greenpeace http://www.greenpeace.org -- Campaign for nuclear phaseout http://www.cnp.ca/
6. Intl Uranium suspends mining Canadian Corporate News, JUNE 8, 1999, 10:54 am Eastern Time http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990608/sq.html IUC Elects to Suspend Mining Operations from the Sunday and GMG Mines VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--International Uranium Corporation (the ``Company'') announced today that it was suspending mining operations from its two producing mines, the Sunday and GMG mines, both of which are located in the Colorado Plateau mining district....
7. World's first nuclear power plant plans closure 07:43 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation") MOSCOW, June 10 (Reuters) - The world's first nuclear power plant, put into service in 1954 at Obninsk in Russia is being prepared for closure in 2004, a senior official said on Thursday. Viktor Kuzmin, first deputy director of the Obninsk physics and energy research center which operates the plant, said in a telephone interview that the station would be decommissioned in 2004 and become a museum....
8. Negotiations may help Russia rebuild prestige Weakened nation may be more of a threat, experts say June 9, 1999, By Deb Price / Detroit News http://detnews.com/1999/nation/9906/09/06090195.htm (AP Photo) http://detnews.com/pix/1999/9906/09/nati.gif WASHINGTON -- Russia's key peacemaking role that helped lead to the apparent end of the two-month conflict over Kosovo gives a much-needed boost to the ailing former superpower's prestige.... Will it seize this moment to resuscitate U.S.-Russian arms-control measures and reinvent itself as a global leader intent on protecting the world from a future nuclear arms disaster? ...
9. Chernobyl To Use Fuel From Mothballed Reactor Russia Today, Jun 9, 1999 (Reuters) http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=72789 KIEV -- The managers of Ukraine's troubled Chernobyl nuclear power plant said on Tuesday fuel was being transferred from one of its idle reactors to the last remaining one in operation to save scarce funds....
10. Lithuanian N-plant seen back on-line June 14 12:38 p.m. Jun 09, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation") VILNIUS, June 9 (Reuters) - Lithuania's Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, off-line for almost three weeks due to a licensing delay, should return to operation on June 14 after repair work finishes early, the plant's director said on Wednesday.... -- POLL-Lithuanian EU support dims on N-plant worries Wed 9 Jun 14:20 Reuters News Service http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation") VILNIUS, June 9 (Reuters) - Lithuanian support for European Union (EU) entry has waned in the last six months due to pressure from the bloc to close the Baltic state's Soviet-built Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, a poll released on Wednesday said....
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11. Kissinger against spread of n-arms The Hindu, June 9, 1999 http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/1999/06/09/stories/0209000c.htm MUMBAI, JUNE 8. Now that nuclear India and the United States have common interests in pursuing non-proliferation goals they should work together actively to prevent the spread of weapons.The advice comes from the former U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger, who wants his country to exercise restraint on the Kashmir issue. ``My life would not have been fulfilled had India not developed nuclear weapons,'' the noted guru of international affairs told the packed audience of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan here today who hardly saw any moral issue in India going nuclear. Dr. Kissinger said that he fully understood why India went nuclear and appreciated respective stands of the Indian Prime Minister and the U.S. President on the issue. He said that he would have done exactly the same if he were in their position...
12. Call to end arms race in sub-continent The Hindu, June 9, 1999 http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/1999/06/09/stories/0209000d.htm JAIPUR, JUNE 8. Far from providing ``masculinity'' to the nation, as promised by the BJP-led Government, the nuclear tests conducted in Pokhran last year have turned out to be an utter failure on all fronts, namely defence, diplomatic, political and economic, because they were planned with a deceptive perception of the security needs....
13. Senate Votes To Halt India, Pakistan Sanctions 04:27 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern (Infoseek) NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate has passed an amendment to suspend for five years all economic sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan over their nuclear tests last year, the U.S. embassy in New Delhi confirmed Thursday.... -- US concerned by Kashmir, even without nuclear weapons 03:20 p.m Jun 09, 1999 Eastern By Deborah Zabarenko (Infoseek) WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - The struggle over Kashmir is sparking concern in Washington, even with the realisation that both India and Pakistan have been careful not to mention nuclear weapons....
14. ANALYSIS-China diplomacy shifts to its doorstep 06:39 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern By Paul Eckert (Infoseek) BEIJING, June 10 (Reuters) - China waded into the waters of international diplomacy with a minor role in U.N. efforts to settle the crisis in faraway Kosovo, but now may plunge in deeper in the Indo-Pakistani dispute over neighbouring Kashmir.... -- Pakistan says not playing 'China card' in Kashmir 04:00 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern By Scott McDonald (Infoseek) ISLAMABAD, June 10 (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Thursday it was not using its close relationship with China as leverage in its dispute with India over the divided region of Kashmir. --- FOCUS-Pakistan FM to go to China before India Wed 9 Jun 16:09 Reuters News Service (Infoseek) By Scott McDonald ISLAMABAD, June 9 - Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz will visit China for a day before going to New Delhi for talks on easing the crisis in the divided region of Kashmir.... --
Kashmir militants say will not accept peace deal Wed 9 Jun 16:09 Reuters News Service (Infoseek) By Ovais Subhani KARACHI, June 9 - Moslem militants on Wednesday called the scheduled talks between Pakistan and India a ``conspiracy'' and vowed not to retreat from the high ground they hold....
15. Israel bombards Lebanon USA Today (World), June 10, 1999 http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nwswed02.htm MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AP) - Lebanese guerrillas ambushed an Israeli army patrol in southern Lebanon on Wednesday night, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding four others, Lebanese security sources said....
16. Croatia Buys $92M U.S. Radar System By The Associated Press, June 9, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Croatia-Weapons.html ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) -- Croatia has signed a $92 million deal for new air radar systems with Lockheed Martin Corp., media reported Wednesday.... Related Information From Hoover's Inc. Lockheed Martin Corp http://www.nytimes.com/partners/quote/hoovers.cgi?ticker=LMT -- [These guys keep showing up. Did you notice that the First Lady visited Lockheed in New York yesterday?] -- Lockheed Likely to Warn of Lower Profit By Tim Smart, Washington Post, June 9, 1999; Page E01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/09/074l-060999-idx.html Faced with problems in its rocket and satellite business, as well as cost overruns on two high-profile Pentagon aircraft programs, Lockheed Martin Corp. may soon warn Wall Street that second-quarter earnings will be below estimates....
17. Japan Urged To Mull More Spending By The Associated Press, June 9, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Japan-Economy.html TOKYO (AP) -- ... Japan's government aims to create 600,000 jobs in temporary public service projects and by partially subsidizing hiring by private firms. The proposal is part of a plan the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to unveil Friday to replace jobs lost in a recent wave of corporate cost-cutting....
[Will any of those new jobs be in weapons production or military? What obligations has Japan accepted under the US-Japan Defense Agreement?]
18. France signs Dassault Rafale contract 05:28 a.m. Jun 09, 1999 Eastern (Infoseek) PARIS, June 9 (Reuters) - French Defence Minister Alain Richard said the government on Wednesday signed contracts with suppliers for 48 Rafale combat jets built by prime contractor Dassault Aviation....
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19. Dept.'s Espionage Review Delayed By H. Josef Hebert Associated Press Writer Wednesday, June 9, 1999; 7:23 p.m. EDT http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990609/V000488-060999-idx.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said Wednesday he has turned over an internal investigation into mishandling of the China espionage case to the department's inspector general, delaying its release for at least 30 days.... -- China official says U.S. investment secure Wed 9 Jun 14:17Reuters News Service Results of search on http://www.dogpile.com - Newswires - Infoseek By Carrie Lee HONG KONG, June 9 - A senior Chinese trade official said on Wednesday the current tensions between Washington and Beijing were unlikely to affect U.S. investment in China....
20. Officials cite cases of industrial spying By Edward T. Pound, USA TODAY, 6/09/99- Updated 12:52 AM ET http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncstue11.htm WASHINGTON - Industrial spies from dozens of foreign nations sought last year to gather intelligence at U.S. defense plants on technologies used in many sophisticated weapons systems, according to counterintelligence officials. ...
21. Tighter Nuclear Lab Security Sought By The Associated Press, June 10, 1999, Filed at 3:56 a.m. EDT http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-China-Espionage.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress is moving with unusual speed to tighten security at nuclear weapons labs, but lawmakers surprisingly have shown little interest in using the Chinese espionage uproar to break up the Energy Department -- an agency that not long ago was a target for extinction.... -- Weapons Lab Reforms Backed Unanimous House Vote Addresses Findings on Chinese Spying By Juliet Eilperin and Vernon Loeb Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, June 10, 1999; Page A04 http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/10/183l-061099-idx.html The House unanimously adopted several measures yesterday aimed at protecting the Energy Department's nuclear weapons programs. The 428 to 0 vote was the first official congressional response to a yearlong probe into Chinese espionage at weapons laboratories....
22. OPINION - Perspective on spying The secrets the Chinese stole give them no new power advantage Stansfield Turner, JUNE 9, 1999 Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/06/09/fp11s1-csm.shtml Although the cold war is over, spying continues, as we see so clearly from the revelations about China's theft of US nuclear secrets. The intensity of American reaction is surprising, though. During the cold war the US caught Chinese and Russian spies red-handed. But there was little public outcry or official condemnation. Now, though, because the US is on friendly terms with China and Russia, it appears to expect better of them. Yet just a few years ago, the French caught Americans red-handed spying against them.... Stansfield Turner, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has just published 'Caging the Genies: A Workable Solution for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons' (Westview Press). -- Cox Report http://www.apbonline.com/majorcases/china/documents/cox/coxvol1.html -- APB Major Cases: China's Growing Threat http://www.apbonline.com/majorcases/china/index.html -- Online NewsHour: Cox Report http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/jan-june99/cox_report_index.html -- Spies and lies Salon http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/05/27/cox/index.html -- Learning the right lessons from the Cox Report Intellectual Capital http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue238/item5165.asp -- Cox Report Details Chinese Espionage Efforts Policy.com http://www.policy.com/news/dbrief/dbriefarc248.asp
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23. Antimissile Missile Hits Target By The Associated Press, June 10, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Missile-Test.html WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (AP) -- An expensive experimental antimissile missile did today what it had been unable to do on six previous attempts -- hit a flying target....
24. Lea Nuke Fuel Site Reassessed Proposed Technology Not Showing Promise By John Fleck, Albuquerque Journal June 9, 1999 http://www.abqjournal.com/news/1news06-09.htm Tests of the technology that would be used in a proposed nuclear fuel factory near Hobbs have been temporarily halted amid reports the project is in trouble....
25. GenCorp Aerojet Earns 99 Percent Award Fee for Missile Warning System 03:40 p.m Jun 09, 1999 Eastern (Infoseek) AZUSA, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded GenCorp Aerojet a 99 percent award fee for "excellent" performance on the ground-based Central Theater Processing Program (CTPP), which provides warfighters with missile warning data from satellites and enhances missile defense.
26. USEC board votes to dump vaunted technology June 9, 1999, Ohio Business Journal / Associated Press http://www.ohio.com/bj/news/ohio/docs/000233.htm WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Enrichment Corp. decided Wednesday to halt pursuit of a new kind of technology that had been viewed as the future of the uranium enrichment industry.... -- Advanced Uranium Enrichment Project Ends 07:16 p.m Jun 09, 1999 Eastern (Infoseek) LIVERMORE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 1999--Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the Department of Energy's (DOE) premier research and development facilities, today announced the closure of the advanced uranium enrichment project, AVLIS, which was being developed by the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) at the Livermore facilities....
27. Senate, 93 to 4, Passes Spending Bill for Pentagon By TIM WEINER, New York Times, June 9, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/060999defense-spending.html WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a $265 billion ppropriations bill for the Pentagon by a 93-4 vote on Tuesday night.... By voice vote, the Senate added an amendment that would bar the United States from spending any money to help reconstruct Serbia so long as Slobodan Milosevic remains president of Yugoslavia. A second amendment, also approved by a voice vote, would bar the use of emergency funds approved in May for military operations against Yugoslavia for any reconstruction projects, whether in Serbia or Kosovo.... It does not include money for military construction or the Energy Department's nuclear weapons programs, which together will boost the costs of military spending for the coming year to close to $290 billion....
[Lead causes learning disabilities. U.S. Dept. of Defense says depleted uranium is "no more dangerous than lead." ... Has anyone attempted a lawsuit against the manufacturers of D.U.?]
28. Lead Paint Could Be Next Big Legal Target By Saundra Torry, Washington Post, June 10, 1999; Page A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/10/287l-061099-idx.html Armed with new legal theories, trial lawyers and politicians locally and across the nation are gearing up to mount a major assault on the former makers of lead paint, which was banned in residences in 1978 but still poisons children in older buildings....
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29. U.S. taxpayers faced with mounting Kosovo war costs By Lisa Hoffman, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE, June 10, 1999 Washington Times http://www.washtimes.com/news/news3.html#link Not only does Operation Allied Force rank as the longest sustained U.S. combat operation since the Vietnam War, it also is shaping up to be the most costly to American taxpayers in a quarter century. While neither NATO nor the Pentagon has provided an accounting of the cost of the nearly 11 weeks of air strikes against Yugoslav Serbian forces, outside analysts peg the U.S. government's price tag as approaching $3 billion.... -- House Mulls Cutoff for Kosovo Funds June 9, 1999 By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Defense-Spending.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton adminstration's Kosovo policy came under new fire today in Congress, even as administration allies cautioned against meddling during fragile peace talks....
30. War Crimes Group Ponders Airstrikes By The Associated Press, June 9, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Kosovo-War-Crimes.html THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal met privately today with a group of independent lawyers who accused NATO of atrocities in its airstrikes against Yugoslavia.... -- Suit challenging NATO campaign dismissed 6/08/99- Updated 04:30 PM ET http://usatoday.com/news/index/kosovo/koso822.htm WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of House members who wanted the bombing of Yugoslavia by U.S. forces to be declared illegal....
31. U.S. Marines Face Anti-NATO Protest In Greece Updated 7:05 AM ET June 10, 1999 http://webcrawler-news.excite.com/news/r/990610/07/news-yugoslavia-leadall http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Greece-Kosovo-Marines.html By Karolos Grohmann EVZONI, Greece (Reuters) - A huge banner saying "U.S. killers go home" greeted U.S. marines heading for Kosovo when they landed in Greece Thursday, but there were no other anti-American incidents as they traveled across the country....
32. Ministers OK Draft U.N. Kosovo Plan By Jeffrey Ulbrich, Associated Press, June 9, 1999; 5:34 a.m. EDT http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990609/V000004-060999-idx.html COLOGNE, Germany (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says she got what she wanted at the foreign ministers meeting here. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says he's not unhappy, but insisted all is not settled yet.... Also on the agenda over the next two days will be discussions on how to protect civilians in times of armed conflict; the fight against the proliferation of small arms; the agreement on land mines and nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. -- Highlights of Kosovo Agreement 2:54 a.m. EDT June 10, 1999, Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Kosovo-Agreement-Highlights.html Highlights of the military agreement between the International Security Force and the governments of Yugoslavia and Serbia.... -- What's Next for Kosovo By The Associated Press June 10, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Kosovo-Whats-Next.html The signing of the Kosovo peace plan sets in motion a number of steps to be taken to end the Kosovo conflict....
33. NATO's Persuasive Force Spokesman Jamie Shea, Surviving the Flak By Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post, June 10, 1999; Page C01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/10/221l-061099-idx.html BRUSSELS--In contrast to the other weapons used in NATO's high-tech war against Yugoslavia, Jamie Shea is an anachronism, a rhetorical Gatling gun in an era of precision-guided munitions and poll-tested political manipulation....
34. China Pushes Its Campaign to Modify Peace Plan By JUDITH MILLER, June 10, 1999 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/061099kosovo-un.html UNITED NATIONS -- China tried Wednesday into the late evening to secure the Security Council's agreement on changes in the Kosovo peace plan. The Chinese representative, Shen Guofang, told reporters that China would "find it difficult to support" the resolution without the amendments.... Kosovo looks set to become a virtual United Nations protectorate for a while, just as Namibia was when the United Nations was preparing it for independence from South Africa. _____________________________
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Message: 2 Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 21:22:20 -0400
Subject: NucNews-4 6/10/99 - Espionage- China/US etc. (6+)
19. Dept.'s Espionage Review Delayed
By H. Josef Hebert Associated Press Writer Wednesday, June 9, 1999; 7:23 p.m. EDT http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990609/V000488-060999-idx.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said Wednesday he has turned over an internal investigation into mishandling of the China espionage case to the department's inspector general, delaying its release for at least 30 days.
The long-awaited review of the Energy Department's response to the alleged theft of nuclear secrets from the Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory in New Mexico had been expected to be released this week.
``More questions need to be asked. ... I want to do this right. Careers are at stake,'' Richardson said.
Richardson has said the mishandling of the case involving a three-year espionage investigation of a Los Alamos scientist would result in firings and demotions.
``There will be disciplining. There will be terminations,'' Richardson reiterated Wednesday, speaking to reporters after a three-hour appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
But Richardson said a draft of the internal report given to him on Monday ``did not effectively or adequately deal'' with the actions of personnel at the agency's headquarters in Washington. He said he had accepted findings involving Los Alamos employees, but would not elaborate.
``I've now asked the inspector general's office to do a comprehensive report that will be due in 30 days,'' he told reporters. Richardson refused to discuss whose job might be in jeopardy or whether any senior officials, still at the department, might be disciplined.
The internal investigation has focused on why a Los Alamos scientist, Wen Ho Lee, was allowed to keep his top-secret job and access to the country's most sensitive nuclear secrets while under investigation by the FBI since 1996.
Lee was fired last March for security violations. He has not been charged with a crime and has denied giving secrets to China or anyone else.
In 1997, the FBI informed senior Energy Department officials on several occasions that Lee's transfer to a less sensitive job would not jeopardize the espionage investigation. But that information was not relayed clearly to Los Alamos managers.
The internal investigation has sought to determine the reason for what Richardson has called a ``communications breakdown'' involving the Lee case.
At the same time, the report is examining charges by a DOE intelligence officer, Notra Trulock, that he had been blocked by former Deputy Energy Secretary Elizabeth Moler from making concerns of lax security and the Lee espionage case known to then-Energy Secretary Frederico Pena and to members of Congress.
Moler, who has since left the department, has denied any such interference.
Trulock in late May was given a $10,000 Energy Department award for his persistence in exposing the security problems. Richardson said Wednesday, ``He's a member of my team.''
Meanwhile, in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richardson argued Wednesday against a Senate proposal for a largely autonomous agency within the Energy Department to oversee the government's nuclear weapons programs.
The proposal would create a Nuclear Security Administration that would have authority over its own budget within the department.
Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., said the measure would ``ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal'' by providing clear lines of authority and accountability without interference from other offices of the department.
Richardson called the proposal ``a step toward military control of nuclear weapons development'' that said it would undermine his attempt to gain more control over the nuclear labs including security and counterintelligence activities.
``We don't need any more fiefdoms at the Department of Energy,'' Richardson said.
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China official says U.S. investment secure Wed 9 Jun 14:17Reuters News Service Results of search on http://www.dogpile.com - Newswires - Infoseek
By Carrie Lee HONG KONG, June 9 - A senior Chinese trade official said on Wednesday the current tensions between Washington and Beijing were unlikely to affect U.S. investment in China....
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20. Officials cite cases of industrial spying
By Edward T. Pound, USA TODAY, 6/09/99- Updated 12:52 AM ET http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncstue11.htm
WASHINGTON - Industrial spies from dozens of foreign nations sought last year to gather intelligence at U.S. defense plants on technologies used in many sophisticated weapons systems, according to counterintelligence officials.
Some spies were part of state-sponsored efforts to collect the information, the officials said. In other cases, operatives sought access on behalf of aggressive foreign competitors.
Targets included aeronautics systems, sensors, lasers, electronic systems and other technologies described in the Defense Department's Militarily Critical Technologies List.
The information on industrial spying is being compiled from reports submitted by defense contractors to the Defense Security Service (DSS), a Pentagon agency that clears contractors for classified work.
The security service compiles a report, "Technology Collection Trends in the U.S. Defense Industry," each year to assist contractors in developing effective countermeasures.
Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said technology theft is growing. "We are probably the biggest target in the world for obvious technology reasons," he said. "We've got the goods, and the other people want them."
Counterintelligence officials in the DSS declined to identify any of the nations involved, although they said most had limited military capabilities.
But other officials said the countries include Israel, France, Russia and China.
In assessing defense contractors' reports, the security service concluded that in 1998 foreign nations and companies had engaged in at least 124 "suspicious activities," or serious attempts to collect intelligence. The incidents were referred to the FBI and other agencies for investigation.
The activities often appear innocent, including requests for data from contractors through the Internet or visits to plants. Other operatives seek information at conventions or target former contractor employees.
In 1998, officials said, operatives in 47 nations sought to gather intelligence at defense plants. But the officials said that did not mean the United States was targeted by that many nations. In some cases, an operative from one country would set up a shell company in another nation to seek information.
Each year, the DSS's findings are incorporated into a broader report on economic espionage given to Congress by the National Security Council's National Counterintelligence Center. In its 1998 report, it said that most "foreign intelligence collection is initially conducted through legal and open means and may be a precursor to economic espionage."
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21. Tighter Nuclear Lab Security Sought
By The Associated Press, June 10, 1999, Filed at 3:56 a.m. EDT http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-China-Espionage.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress is moving with unusual speed to tighten security at nuclear weapons labs, but lawmakers surprisingly have shown little interest in using the Chinese espionage uproar to break up the Energy Department -- an agency that not long ago was a target for extinction.
While the House on Wednesday passed a string of proposals to improve counterintelligence programs, including wider use of polygraphs at research labs, a proposal to begin planning the transfer of nuclear weapons programs to the Defense Department was withdrawn.
And in the Senate, another proposal to create a Nuclear Security Administration that would be given wide autonomy and power within the department has run into strong opposition. It was blocked from floor action just before Memorial Day, although its sponsors hope to revive it this year.
The proposal was the subject of three hours of debate Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where it got a cool reception from Democrats.
But Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., argued that such an administration ``with clear lines of authority, accountability and responsibility'' and control of its own budget would ``ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.''
But Energy Secretary Bill Richardson denounced the idea, calling it ``a first step toward military takeover of nuclear weapons development.''
Still, the proposal offered by Kyl and Sens. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Pete Domenici, R-N.M., pales in comparison to efforts only a few years ago to dismember the Energy Department altogether and give the nuclear programs to the Pentagon.
Despite the controversy over lax security at weapons labs and loss of nuclear secrets to China, there is little talk of breaking up the $18 billion department, where activities range from promoting more efficient light bulbs to assuring America's nuclear warheads will work properly if they are ever needed.
One reason may be Richardson, the former congressman and U.N. ambassador, who took over at the department in September and has been given high marks from both Republicans and Democrats for his handling of the security mess.
By contrast, when talk of breaking apart the department was at its peak in 1995, at the helm was Hazel O'Leary, a frequent target of Republican conservatives who dogged her on everything from her worldwide travel itinerary to her push for an end to nuclear testing.
Richardson by contrast has worked Congress incessantly and with finesse ever since the China espionage brouhaha erupted in early March. His strategy has been to acknowledge past failures and agree to a broad range of security changes and greater oversight from Congress in hopes of heading off more onerous measures.
``I think the worst is over,'' Richardson said in an interview late Wednesday after the House by a 428-0 vote had approved a package of proposals that beefs up counterintelligence programs, requires polygraph tests of lab scientists, restricts lab visits by foreigners and requires a barrage of new reports to Congress on technology exports.
It's a package ``that we can live with,'' he continued. But more important, he said, was that the House on a 266-159 vote rejected a much more restrictive proposal by Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan., that would have imposed a two-year moratorium on scientific exchanges at the weapons labs.
And Rep. Floyd Spence, R-S.C., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, withdrew his proposal that would have begun a process of shifting DOE's defense programs to the Defense Department as early as 2002. Instead, the House acted on a string of more modest proposals offered by Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., that quickly won Clinton administration support.
``It was a good day,'' Richardson said.
Meanwhile, Richardson disclosed that an internal department investigation into the mishandling of the alleged theft of nuclear secrets at the Los Alamos lab in New Mexico won't be released for at least another 30 days.
The report, which Richardson said will lead to some firings, had been expected this week. But he said the investigation now has been turned over to the department's inspector general for further review. ``More questions need to be asked,'' he said.
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Weapons Lab Reforms Backed Unanimous House Vote Addresses Findings on Chinese Spying
By Juliet Eilperin and Vernon Loeb Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, June 10, 1999; Page A04 http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/10/183l-061099-idx.html
The House unanimously adopted several measures yesterday aimed at protecting the Energy Department's nuclear weapons programs. The 428 to 0 vote was the first official congressional response to a yearlong probe into Chinese espionage at weapons laboratories.
The package addresses 26 of 38 recommendations issued by a select panel headed by Reps. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) and Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash.). The provisions, which were attached to a broader Defense Department authorization bill, tighten security and counterintelligence at U.S. weapons labs, bolster export controls and call on the administration to consider transferring the nation's nuclear weapons programs outside the Energy Department.
Although President Clinton had indicated he did not want the committee's recommendations codified into law, passage of the bill will have that effect. The president is not expected to veto the defense bill if the Senate incorporates the provisions.
"The question is will these reforms be institutionalized," Cox said at a news conference after the vote. "By putting these things into legislation, they can be institutionalized."
The vote came two weeks after a House select committee released a 700-page report concluding that China has stolen design secrets on the most advanced U.S. thermonuclear weapons and used them to develop miniaturized warheads and a new mobile intercontinental ballistic missile that could be tested this year.
The committee's findings on Chinese espionage at the weapons labs, leaked earlier this year, triggered rancorous debate over the past three months and almost surely will have important repercussions on U.S.-China relations. Beyond the amendments adopted yesterday, renewal of China's "normal trade relations" status is expected to come before Congress this summer, and congressional opposition could help delay or forestall China's admission into the World Trade Organization.
But yesterday's House debate was relatively calm. Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) said administration and congressional officials had condoned allowing foreigners to work in U.S. nuclear laboratories for years. "Shame on us," Foley said. "Shame of us for having lax security."
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson praised the House for not attaching controversial provisions that could have scuttled the bill.
"We won every battle today in the House," Richardson said after the vote, noting that the Clinton administration had marshaled substantial Democratic support for the Cox-Dicks amendments and had helped defeat a measure offered by Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.) that would have imposed a two-year moratorium on visits to U.S. weapons laboratories by scientists from China and other "sensitive" nations.
Richardson said administration opposition also helped block consideration of what officials regarded as an even more onerous amendment offered by Rep. Floyd Spence (R-S.C.) that would have transferred all nuclear weapons programs from the Department of Energy to the Department of Defense.
"We think that would be a horrendous amendment," Richardson said.
Ryun proposed that the House take "decisive action" to end the practice of allowing foreign visitors access to national labs, but his amendment failed by a vote of 159 to 266.
Instead, the broader Cox-Dicks package calls for a two-month moratorium while the Energy Department certifies that it has safeguards in place to prevent leaks of classified information. The package also exempts visitors who are here under the auspices of international agreements.
Richardson, who noted that the Cox-Dicks amendments would codify many of the security and counterintelligence reforms his department has worked to implement since Clinton ordered the changes in February 1998, said he hopes the administration can modify the two-month moratorium on foreign visitors.
"There's fear that the two-month moratorium would disrupt the international scientific program," Richardson said. "Once foreign scientists leave, they may not come back."
The Cox-Dicks measures also call for the establishment of a comprehensive polygraph program at the Energy Department, require the round-the-clock presence of Pentagon monitors at all overseas satellite launches and establish an interagency procedure for reviewing the export of high-priority, controlled technology.
Cox and Dicks said they hope to push for a reauthorization of the Export Administration Act, whose criminal penalties have lapsed, as well as for an expanded domestic launch capacity so that the United States would not be as dependent on countries such as China for launching its commercial satellites.
Congress is slated to continue voting on the $289 billion defense authorization bill today, with lawmakers preparing to debate the more contentious question of whether Congress should cut off all funding for the U.S. mission in Kosovo after Sept. 30.
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22. OPINION - Perspective on spying The secrets the Chinese stole give them no new power advantage
Stansfield Turner, JUNE 9, 1999 Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/06/09/fp11s1-csm.shtml
Although the cold war is over, spying continues, as we see so clearly from the revelations about China's theft of US nuclear secrets. The intensity of American reaction is surprising, though. During the cold war the US caught Chinese and Russian spies red-handed. But there was little public outcry or official condemnation.
Now, though, because the US is on friendly terms with China and Russia, it appears to expect better of them. Yet just a few years ago, the French caught Americans red-handed spying against them.
So, it's clear that while spying is likely to continue, getting caught is taken more seriously in a world of friends than one of enemies. This risk is especially high with the use of human agents who are almost always quickly identified with the country employing them. Electronic and photographic intelligence collection techniques often go unnoticed or, at the least, ignored because they are less egregious.
This Chinese incident, then, tells us that the US, and others, will use human spying only when there are gaps in what we know from open sources and from electronic and photographic spying; and when filling those gaps is deemed very important to the country.
Still, because human spying will go on, the US must improve its ability to counter it. Human agents planted inside the government by a foreign power work through some American who gives them access to US secrets. Finding that American usually involves spying on him/her - that is, tapping telephones or using other means of surveillance. Such intrusions into the liberties of citizens risk damaging the society we are protecting.
There are laws that govern these intrusions. One, currently receiving scrutiny, is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 governing the tapping of telephones. The attorney general must certify to a special court that there is probable cause to believe the person whose phone is to be tapped is acting as an agent of a foreign power. That is a high standard, but it was made high back in 1978 because there had been excessive intrusions into the lives of citizens. Before lowering that standard, we should be careful not to overreact to these Chinese actions. Tightening the procedures for safeguarding secret materials right at the nuclear weapons laboratories is a more urgent need.
Although the US lost an enormous amount of secret data, the information will not give the Chinese some new advantage. The US nuclear arsenal outdistances every other by a large factor. In addition, we need to understand that the numbers and the characteristics of nuclear weapons are much less important than with conventional weapons. Nuclear weapons are so destructive that no country requires, or could utilize, more than a very modest number. What is needed is enough to deter any would-be nuclear aggressor from attacking. With 6,000 nuclear warheads of intercontinental range in US hands, compared with about 20 in China's, the Chinese are deterred. Similarly, the US is deterred from initiating nuclear war with China by its 20. There is no conceivable objective of the US use of nuclear weapons if it would result in retaliation by even one nuclear warhead.
So, if the Chinese use American secrets to place more warheads on their missiles or to build more and better missiles, they will not acquire any new advantage. The fact that they have limited themselves to 20 intercontinental warheads for many years indicates they understand this. Nor will improvements in Chinese nuclear weapons meaningfully increase the Chinese nuclear threat to our allies in their region: South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The existing Chinese arsenal is all the threat they need against these nonnuclear powers. Nuclear stability for these allies depends on the US.
There could be a serious impact from the loss of US secrets if US data get out to nations aspiring to nuclear capability. The proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the greatest dangers we face. Thus, while we need not be too alarmed at the Chinese actions, we must close the door to further spying.
Stansfield Turner, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has just published 'Caging the Genies: A Workable Solution for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons' (Westview Press).
For further information:
Cox Report http://www.apbonline.com/majorcases/china/documents/cox/coxvol1.html
APB Major Cases: China's Growing Threat http://www.apbonline.com/majorcases/china/index.html
Online NewsHour: Cox Report http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/jan-june99/cox_report_index.html
Spies and lies Salon http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/05/27/cox/index.html
Learning the right lessons from the Cox Report Intellectual Capital http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue238/item5165.asp
Cox Report Details Chinese Espionage Efforts Policy.com http://www.policy.com/news/dbrief/dbriefarc248.asp
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Message: 3 Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 21:22:38 -0400
Subject: NucNews-5 6/10/99 - US- Missile Test; Hobbs/USEC Nuc Fuel; Missile Warning System; USEC dumps AVLIS uranium enrichment (2); Pentagon/Senate; Lead Poisoning
23. Antimissile Missile Hits Target
By The Associated Press, June 10, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Missile-Test.html
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (AP) -- An expensive experimental antimissile missile did today what it had been unable to do on six previous attempts -- hit a flying target.
A white puff of smoke in the southern New Mexico sky marked where the Army's Theater High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile struck a target missile, which left a squiggly white trail of vapor just to the west.
Before today, the $3.9 billion system had missed its target on six consecutive attempts.
``I think I can put it in four letters -- B-A-N-G,'' said Bob Hunt, spokesman for the Army's program executive office for air and missile defense in Huntsville, Ala., where the THAAD program is managed.
``I got a voice mail message from White Sands, and there was a lot of ecstatic noise in the background,'' he said.
The test was to have taken place Tuesday, but a power failure the previous night at the Army's restricted missile range in southern New Mexico caused a postponement until today.
Today's test was originally scheduled for May 25, but was canceled after officials discovered a problem with the flying target it was supposed to hit. The Army then rescheduled the test for Tuesday morning, but that test was postponed because of a power outage at the White Sands Missile Range.
THAAD is supposed to shield American troops in the field by intercepting and destroying enemy missiles from ranges of 800 miles away or more. Supporters say its technology is working fine and blame the problems on the weapon's prime contractor, Lockheed Martin. Critics say it's too expensive and unreliable.
Lockheed was fined $15 million after THAAD's sixth failure to hit its target on March 29. If THAAD cannot make a second successful intercept by July 16, in addition today's test, Lockheed will owe an extra $20 million in penalties. The previous deadline, the end of June, was extended because of the May 25 problem with the target missile.
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24. Lea Nuke Fuel Site Reassessed Proposed Technology Not Showing Promise
By John Fleck, Albuquerque Journal June 9, 1999 http://www.abqjournal.com/news/1news06-09.htm
Tests of the technology that would be used in a proposed nuclear fuel factory near Hobbs have been temporarily halted amid reports the project is in trouble.
The site near Hobbs is one of at least four being considered by USEC Inc. for a new plant to make uranium for nuclear power plant fuel.
But the latest tests of the new technology needed for the plant failed to meet their goals, and the company's board of directors is meeting today in Maryland to reconsider its long-range plans.
In the meantime, further tests of the fuel-making technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have been "deferred," company spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said this week.
Backers of the New Mexico plant site believe that even if the laser fuel-making technology developed at Livermore doesn't work, a new factory using a different approach will need to be built, said Mark Turnbough, a consultant who has been helping to put together the Hobbs deal.
But USEC, in a financial statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in January, acknowledged that if the Livermore technology fails, one option would be to abandon plans for a new factory entirely.
USEC, formerly known as the United States Enrichment Corp., was formed by the U.S. government with government assets and privatized last year through a public sale of stock by the U.S. Treasury.
It makes uranium for nuclear power plant fuel at two aging government-owned factories in Kentucky and Ohio.
When the government sold the company, one of its chief assets was a technology developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with government funding to use lasers to turn raw uranium into fuel-grade material.
USEC hoped to build a new factory using Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation, or "AVLIS," to replace the expensive processes used in the Kentucky and Ohio plants. Community leaders in southeastern New Mexico have jumped behind an effort to lure the plant to a site near Hobbs on the Texas-New Mexico border.
But problems have dogged the Livermore technology research since it began in the 1970s. The most recent experiment at Livermore, funded now by USEC instead of taxpayers, failed to meet its goals for continuous long-term operation.
"It did not reach the hours specified," Stuckle said of the March test.
Stuckle would not comment on whether USEC plans to pull the plug on the laser technology.
No one outside of the company and Lawrence Livermore expects AVLIS to be commercially viable, said Richard Miller of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union, which represents many USEC workers.
"Nobody ever thought this was going to work," Miller said. USEC's stock dropped from a high of $16 per share last summer to $10.25 per share in early May after the company released a disappointing first quarter earnings report.
In a statement released at that time, company chief William H. Timbers Jr. said the company was reviewing how to best spend its research and development money.
Company officials won't say how much they've been spending on research on the Livermore technology, but last year's SEC filing put the amount at more than $10 million a month.
The problem facing USEC now is how to extricate itself from AVLIS and find an alternative way to upgrade its fuel-making capability to compete on the world market, Miller said.
One option involves a competing Australian technology called Silex, in which USEC has also invested modestly. But Miller noted the development of Silex lags behind that of the AVLIS technique.
Another option would be to build a new plant using a centrifuge technology used in modern European plants, Miller noted.
In the statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year, USEC was explicit in saying it planned to commercialize the Livermore-developed AVLIS technology.
But the company acknowledged that "additional equipment demonstration and testing activities" were needed before a decision could be made to use the laser process in a new factory.
If the company decides not to go ahead with AVLIS, it said in its federal filing, it might either pursue an alternative technology for a new plant or simply upgrade its existing plants.
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25. GenCorp Aerojet Earns 99 Percent Award Fee for Missile Warning System
03:40 p.m Jun 09, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
AZUSA, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded GenCorp Aerojet a 99 percent award fee for "excellent" performance on the ground-based Central Theater Processing Program (CTPP), which provides warfighters with missile warning data from satellites and enhances missile defense.
"CTPP provides our nation with a valuable tool that allows us to capitalize on space assets in the Defense Support Program. I am proud of this team and of our partnership with the Air Force," said Ron Simpson, Aerojet's DSP program manager. CTPP processes information sent by DSP satellites that detect and report real-time missile launches, space launches and nuclear detonations.
In a letter, Air Force Col. Daniel L. Burkett II cited numerous reasons for the high award fee, including:
* Building a system that provides excellent performance under a
stressed environment
* Successfully implementing new key operational capabilities
* Ensuring all cost performance issues were addressed
* Effectively managing numerous tasks
Since 1970, Aerojet's Azusa, Calif., plant has also built the missile- detecting infrared sensors for the DSP satellites, which are run by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.
In August 1998, Aerojet delivered the last DSP sensor and is now focusing its DSP work on a post-production support contract, worth $264.7 million through 2001, as well as a sensor retrofitting contract that expires in 1999. In addition, Aerojet is continuing its advanced sensor, systems engineering and ground processing expertise on DSP's eventual replacement, Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) High, and is a member of a team bidding for the SBIRS Low contract.
Aerojet, a leader in propulsion, electronics and weapon systems, and fine chemicals, is a segment of GenCorp, a technology-driven company with strong positions in polymer products, automotive, and aerospace and defense industries. SOURCE Aerojet
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26. USEC board votes to dump vaunted technology
June 9, 1999, Ohio Business Journal / Associated Press http://www.ohio.com/bj/news/ohio/docs/000233.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Enrichment Corp. decided Wednesday to halt pursuit of a new kind of technology that had been viewed as the future of the uranium enrichment industry.
USEC said that after spending $100 million on the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation process, or AVLIS, it was abandoning the project because additional work would take too long, cost too much and provide too little profit.
``We now have enough data to conclude that the returns are not sufficient to outweigh the risks and ongoing capital expenditures necessary to develop and construct an AVLIS plant,'' USEC President William H. Timbers Jr. said.
``Based on the results of a recent series of test runs, we have identified continuing issues that we believe would take at least another year to address satisfactorily and, once addressed, would increase new plant construction costs beyond the previous $2.5 billion estimate,'' he said.
Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, who represents a plant that had been competing to become the home of AVLIS, said ``I think it has some significant implications for the industry.
``Overall, I see it as a positive for my constituents.''
USEC owns enrichment plants in Piketon, Ohio, and Paducah, Ky. Both make fuel for nuclear energy plants, and both recently have faced a joint work force reduction of 500 positions.
AVLIS had been considered a prize by both Kentucky and Ohio because it was expected to generate 1,900 construction jobs and to ensure the long-term survival of whatever plant became its home. The process was supposed to convert uranium more efficiently than the gaseous diffusion process already in use at the two plants.
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Advanced Uranium Enrichment Project Ends
07:16 p.m Jun 09, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
LIVERMORE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 1999--Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the Department of Energy's (DOE) premier research and development facilities, today announced the closure of the advanced uranium enrichment project, AVLIS, which was being developed by the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) at the Livermore facilities.
The operational uranium-enrichment process called AVLIS (Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation), which began at Livermore Lab 26 years ago, uses lasers to enrich uranium to produce fuel for nuclear reactors. The AVLIS project was in the process of final economic demonstrations at the Livermore facilities. While the project has encountered technical challenges, which are typical in the development of advanced technology, it was on a path to complete its technical objectives this year.
Approximately 500 people were moving the technology towards commercialization at the Livermore site. Several industrial contractors employ 300 workers; Livermore Lab employs 200 of the AVLIS workers. Efforts will be made to assign LLNL AVLIS employees to other positions within the 8,000-employee facility. However, the lab could not rule out the possibility of layoffs. That decision will be made by the end of the summer.
"We're proud of our accomplishment in demonstrating the technical success of the AVLIS program," said Michael Campbell, Associate Director for Laser Programs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "I deeply appreciate the support of USEC and the dedication to the program from our AVLIS people both at LLNL and our partners, AlliedSignal, Bechtel, BWXT, OnSite Engineering, Parsons - they're among the best scientists, engineers, and support personnel in their disciplines. We'll work with our employees to help them make the transition to other projects at the laboratory," Campbell said.
"USEC has had an excellent team of people and partnering companies working on AVLIS," said William H. Timbers, Jr., President and CEO of USEC. "The LLNL team has displayed outstanding dedication, creativity and responsiveness in its efforts to develop and commercialize AVLIS," he said.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 transferred the United States government's uranium enrichment activities and technology rights to USEC. USEC became a private corporation nine months ago through an initial public offering of stock. The Livermore pilot facility has been used to test the enrichment productivity of the technology as part of the project to deploy an AVLIS production plant in 2006.
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27. Senate, 93 to 4, Passes Spending Bill for Pentagon
By TIM WEINER, New York Times, June 9, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/060999defense-spending.html
WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a $265 billion ppropriations bill for the Pentagon by a 93-4 vote on Tuesday night. The measure includes a pay increase for military personnel and the authority to lease luxurious executive jets for generals.
By voice vote, the Senate added an amendment that would bar the United States from spending any money to help reconstruct Serbia so long as Slobodan Milosevic remains president of Yugoslavia.
A second amendment, also approved by a voice vote, would bar the use of emergency funds approved in May for military operations against Yugoslavia for any reconstruction projects, whether in Serbia or Kosovo.
The appropriations bill finances new weapons, military operations and Pentagon personnel costs for the coming year. It does not include money for military construction or the Energy Department's nuclear weapons programs, which together will boost the costs of military spending for the coming year to close to $290 billion.
The bill passed on Tuesday night includes an across-the-board 4.8 percent pay increase for military personnel. It now goes to the House, which has not brought military spending bills to the floor this year....
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[Lead causes learning disabilities. U.S. Dept. of Defense says depleted uranium is "no more dangerous than lead." ... Has anyone attempted a lawsuit against the manufacturers of D.U.?]
28. Lead Paint Could Be Next Big Legal Target
By Saundra Torry, Washington Post, June 10, 1999; Page A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/10/287l-061099-idx.html
Armed with new legal theories, trial lawyers and politicians locally and across the nation are gearing up to mount a major assault on the former makers of lead paint, which was banned in residences in 1978 but still poisons children in older buildings.
The potential battle borrows much of its inspiration from the recent legal assault on big tobacco -- a confrontation that wrung a $240 billion settlement from cigarette makers after states took on the industry in a series of lawsuits. Just as the tobacco suits sought to recover Medicaid funds used to treat sick smokers, lead paint lawsuits would likely seek recovery of government funds spent on medical care or to remove lead from housing.
Many of the same lawyers who made millions in the tobacco litigation are jumping into the fray, wooing potential clients. Some are enlisting the help of sympathetic attorneys general who may now feel emboldened to target an industry that has never paid a cent in damages....
Paint companies once used lead in their products because it helped hide whatever color was being painted over. The product, though, turned out to be a health threat, particularly for children, whose developing nervous systems are especially vulnerable to poisoning -- even in small amounts.
"The myth is that children need to eat paint chips to be poisoned," said Ryan, of the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. "But the much more dominant scenario," he said, is when lead dust from deteriorating paint "gets on kids' toys and . . . hands and is ingested through normal behavior."
According to recent government surveys, more than 890,000 preschoolers -- about 4.4 percent nationwide -- suffer from high lead levels, which can cause behavior problems, lowered IQs and severe learning difficulties.
States such as Maryland, with older cities and high concentrations of pre-1950s housing, have higher percentages of affected children, according to Barbara Conrad, who heads the Maryland Department of the Environment's lead poisoning prevention effort. About 67,000, or 15 percent, of Maryland preschoolers were tested in 1997. Among those children, more than 11 percent were found to have elevated lead levels, and nearly 2 percent had levels serious enough to trigger screening, home investigations and other state services, Conrad said....
Federal courts in Philadelphia and Boston rejected attempts by plaintiffs to use a "market share" theory, in which blame and damage would be apportioned among all the lead pigment makers based on their share of the market when the damage occurred, Bryant said.
However, in January, a county judge in New York said the companies could be held responsible as a group, with their portion of damages "fairly" computed by market share.
Trial lawyers hailed the ruling, and some believe they may find further success by employing the same strategy they used against tobacco and gun makers. In such lawsuits, states or cities would likely argue that they were injured because the industry continued to market a deadly product, misled the public and government about its dangers and thwarted government efforts to regulate its use....
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Message: 4 Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 21:26:26 -0400
Subject: NucNews-6 6/10/99 - Kosovo - Costs-v-US Taxpayers (2); NATO War Crimes (2); US Marines/Greece; Kosovo Plan (3); Jamie Shea-NATO Propaganda
29. U.S. taxpayers faced with mounting Kosovo war costs
By Lisa Hoffman, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE, June 10, 1999 Washington Times http://www.washtimes.com/news/news3.html#link
Not only does Operation Allied Force rank as the longest sustained U.S. combat operation since the Vietnam War, it also is shaping up to be the most costly to American taxpayers in a quarter century.
While neither NATO nor the Pentagon has provided an accounting of the cost of the nearly 11 weeks of air strikes against Yugoslav Serbian forces, outside analysts peg the U.S. government's price tag as approaching $3 billion.
That amounts to peanuts next to the cost of Operations Desert Shield and Storm against Iraq in 1990 and 1991, which reached more than $14 billion.
But because the Air Force was reimbursed more than $12 billion from grateful Persian Gulf nations, the actual out-of-pocket bill was only a bit more than $2 billion.
Now that NATO is poised to end its air strikes and begin a peacekeeping ground operation in Kosovo, the ledger books will begin to record an entirely new category of costs that could set the United States back an additional $3 billion during the first year.
Also about to come to the fore is the extent of reconstruction in war-ravaged Kosovo, the Yugoslav province so devastated that an estimated 80 percent of its homes and other structures have been destroyed.
Initial estimates by the European Union show that $30 billion will be required for rebuilding and providing food and medicine, with the bulk of that going to Kosovo. A portion would be doled out in Albania and Macedonia -- Kosovo's Balkan neighbors that have borne the burden of fleeing ethnic Albanian refugees.
At least 60 percent of that amount will be paid by the EU, with the rest coming from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other such organizations. America is expected to pitch in as well, but because U.S. forces carried the load during the air strikes, the U.S. tab will be relatively small, the White House says.
The EU has held out the carrot of reconstruction aid to Serbia as well, although European leaders have pledged not to help there so long as Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is still in power. President Clinton and the Senate have endorsed that policy.
Certain to show up on the U.S. tab for the Kosovo intervention are a host of costs for such items as fuel, the deployment of more than 700 warplanes, hazard pay for airmen and women, and big-ticket precision weapons, like the $1 million-a-copy cruise missiles.
So far, during the first 76 days of the air campaign, these are some of the costs incurred, according to NATO; the Pentagon; the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a defense think tank in Washington; and private economists:
$250 million for 24 Army Apache attack helicopters, which the United States deployed in April only to leave them sitting at Task Force Hawk in Albania ever since. Most of that cost was for the hundreds of C-17 transport flights on which Apache equipment and crew were brought in from Germany, as well as for building the camp and conducting training missions. Now, the Army says, it costs about $2.8 million a day to sustain the troops and machines, which could finally see duty accompanying U.S. peacekeepers into Kosovo.
$430 million for Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and $180 million for air-launched cruise missiles, used mostly in the early stages of the air strikes. $340 million for the more than 34,000 sorties by U.S. warplanes.
Once the peacekeeping mission begins, perhaps as early as this weekend, the Army will be picking up most of the tab. The Pentagon has estimated that could reach $3 billion for the first of what are expected to be several years of peacekeeping in Kosovo.
Based on America's ongoing experience in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where 6,000 soldiers remain, about 50 percent of the costs will be for housing, food and equipment maintenance. Ten percent will go toward deploying the 7,000 U.S. troops and their weapons from Germany and the United States. Other costs will include special training, repair or replacement of materiel, and hazardous duty pay.
Last month, Congress voted to provide about $5 billion in "emergency supplemental" funds to pay for America's participation in the NATO air strikes and for at least three months of peacekeeping thereafter.
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House Mulls Cutoff for Kosovo Funds June 9, 1999 By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Defense-Spending.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton adminstration's Kosovo policy came under new fire today in Congress, even as administration allies cautioned against meddling during fragile peace talks.
The House took up Republican-sponsored legislation that would cut off funds for the operation in the Balkans after Sept. 30, despite warnings by Democrats that it could undermine the peace process.
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30. War Crimes Group Ponders Airstrikes
By The Associated Press, June 9, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Kosovo-War-Crimes.html
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal met privately today with a group of independent lawyers who accused NATO of atrocities in its airstrikes against Yugoslavia.
Chief prosecutor Louise Arbour and lawyers from Britain, Canada, Greece and Switzerland discussed evidence they claimed showed that the alliance violated ``international criminal law in causing civilian death, injury and destruction'' in bombing that began March 24.
Arbour and the lawyers discussed the formal launching of an investigation, tribunal spokesman Paul Risley said. He did not elaborate on what kind of evidence, if any, the tribunal might have in hand.
Included in the presentation were charges against President Clinton, Prime Minister Tony Blair and NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana.
The group made the presentation on behalf of unspecified peace groups, the Movement for the Advancement of International Criminal Law in Britain, and the American Association of Jurists.
The U.N. court has made it clear in the past that no player in the Kosovo crisis would be immune from prosecution.
The focus of the panel so far, though, has been largely on the behavior of Yugoslav forces and the country's leaders. Last month, the court indicted Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four senior aides on charges of crimes against humanity in Kosovo.
``We have plenty of compelling evidence of war crimes committed by the bombing of Yugoslavia,'' said one of the lawyers, Alexander Lykourezos of Greece. ``There is enough to issue indictments.''
There was no immediate reaction from NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Despite the allegations, it appeared unlikely that the tribunal would do any more than the World Court, which last week dismissed as unfounded Belgrade's contentions that the NATO bombing raids amounted to a genocidal campaign.
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Suit challenging NATO campaign dismissed
6/08/99- Updated 04:30 PM ET http://usatoday.com/news/index/kosovo/koso822.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of House members who wanted the bombing of Yugoslavia by U.S. forces to be declared illegal.
The lawsuit was filed by 31 lawmakers, including four Democrats. Led by Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif., the group alleged that President Clinton violated the War Powers Act of 1973 by authorizing military airstrikes against Yugoslavia.
The Vietnam War-era legislation, which has been ignored widely by presidents of both parties, requires a president to get congressional approval for the ''introduction into hostilities'' of U.S. forces for more than 60 days. The NATO air campaign began March 24.
The members of Congress based their lawsuit on a 213-213 vote April 28 that fell short of authorizing U.S. participation in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Clinton ignored the vote by continuing with the bombing, the plaintiffs claimed.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, in his ruling granting a White House motion to dismiss the case, said ''congressional reaction to the airstrikes has sent distinctly mixed messages.''
The judge noted that on May 20, Congress passed an emergency spending bill to help pay for U.S. military involvement in the Yugoslav conflict.
''Had the four votes been consistent and against the president's position, and had he nevertheless persisted with airstrikes in the face of such votes, there may well have been a constitutional impasse. But Congress has not sent such a clear, consistent message,'' Friedman said in his ruling.
He goes on to note that some of the ''213 representatives who voted against authorizing the president's actions and against a declaration of war also voted in favor of supporting the troops and appropriating money to fund the conflict in Yugoslavia and against directing the president to remove the Armed Forces from their positions.''
Friedman said that ''absent a clear impasse between the executive and legislative branches, resort to the judicial branch is inappropriate.''
A Campbell spokesman said that lawmakers plan to appeal the ruling but declined to comment further until officials could review the lawsuit.
Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said: ''We're pleased that the court dismissed the case because we believed all along that this was an issue to be resolved by Congress and the executive branch, not the courts.''
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31. U.S. Marines Face Anti-NATO Protest In Greece
Updated 7:05 AM ET June 10, 1999 http://webcrawler-news.excite.com/news/r/990610/07/news-yugoslavia-leadall http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Greece-Kosovo-Marines.html
By Karolos Grohmann EVZONI, Greece (Reuters) - A huge banner saying "U.S. killers go home" greeted U.S. marines heading for Kosovo when they landed in Greece Thursday, but there were no other anti-American incidents as they traveled across the country.
Greece is a member of NATO but it is also a traditional friend of the fellow-Christian Orthodox Serbs and has contributed no troops or aircraft to NATO's Yugoslav campaign, which has been highly unpopular among the Greeks.
"The first thing we saw on the beach was a giant banner which had 'U.S. killers go home' written on it," a marine told Reuters as members of the 2,200-man force entered Macedonia at this frontier post after travelling through Greece.
"We are a peacekeeping force. There is a misunderstanding here," the marine said.
Previous protests blocked the passage of U.S. troops heading through Greece for neighboring Macedonia for a time.
Greece this week blocked the disembarkation of the 2,200 marines for several days, saying they could only cross its territory when it was certain they would enter Kosovo as peacekeepers only.
The government in Athens has been particularly wary of letting the U.S. troops through this week, seeking to win favor with voters before European Parliament elections Sunday.
The marines had been kept waiting since last Sunday aboard three U.S. ships off the port of Thessaloniki.
Before they landed on Litohoro beach near Thessaloniki, the main transit point for NATO troops and supplies into Macedonia, hundreds of Greek riot police pushed about 500 demonstrators back from the beach.
The protesters, mostly from the Greek Communist Party, chanted slogans like "Yankees go home" and "American murderers" as they were pushed back.
The marines traveled some 175 miles across northern Greece to the Macedonian frontier to join the NATO-led force of some 50,000 troops preparing to enter Kosovo. There were no more protesters at the Greek-Macedonian border and the marines' progress through Greece appeared to have gone without a hitch.
Reporters at the border saw two convoys cross with marines in buses and at least 12 of the amphibious assault craft they had earlier used to land at Litohoro beach near the port city of Thessaloniki.
"These marines will be among the first to enter Kosovo," a NATO official told Reuters as the first members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Force waded up the beach at Litohoro.
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32. Ministers OK Draft U.N. Kosovo Plan
By Jeffrey Ulbrich, Associated Press, June 9, 1999; 5:34 a.m. EDT http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990609/V000004-060999-idx.html
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says she got what she wanted at the foreign ministers meeting here. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says he's not unhappy, but insisted all is not settled yet.
Foreign ministers from the world's seven richest democracies and Russia ended two days of grinding negotiations Tuesday with an agreement on the draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution that all hope will settle the crisis in Kosovo.
Today, after a breakfast meeting with Albright, Ivanov said U.S.-Russian relations have suffered in the Kosovo crisis....
Besides pledging governments to Western-style reforms, the pact would set up a permanent forum for settling border and minority rights disputes and to promote economic cooperation.
Also on the agenda over the next two days will be discussions on how to protect civilians in times of armed conflict; the fight against the proliferation of small arms; the agreement on land mines and nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.
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Highlights of Kosovo Agreement
2:54 a.m. EDT June 10, 1999, Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Kosovo-Agreement-Highlights.html
Highlights of the military agreement between the International Security Force and the governments of Yugoslavia and Serbia:
--NATO and Yugoslavia reaffirmed the peace agreement approved by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic June 3. The agreement provides for peacekeepers to deploy in Kosovo and operate without hindrance.
--Serb forces must begin a ceasefire immediately.
--Serb forces must begin a phased withdrawal north into the rest of Serbia. Troops must be moving out of the northernmost of three zones within 24 hours, and must be out of the province altogether within 11 days.
--NATO will temporarily halt bombing once the withdrawal has begun and is verified. NATO will end the air campaign once all Serb troops are out.
--Yugoslavia must ground its airplanes in Kosovo and cease using air defense systems, radar and surface-to-air missiles within 24 hours. Within three days all such systems, including antiaircraft artillery and shoulder-fired missiles, must be withdrawn.
--As they withdraw, Yugoslav forces will mark minefields and other obstacles. Within two days, Yugoslavia must furnish records and maps of mines and other obstacles to peacekeepers. Later, some Serb troops will return to help clear mines.
--Once out of Kosovo, Serb troops must remain behind a 3- to 15-mile buffer zone around the province.
--International peacekeepers will control airspace over Kosovo and the buffer zone immediately.
--The peacekeeping force commander is established as the final authority regarding interpretation of the agreement and other security aspects of the peace settlement.
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What's Next for Kosovo
By The Associated Press June 10, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Kosovo-Whats-Next.html
The signing of the Kosovo peace plan sets in motion a number of steps to be taken to end the Kosovo conflict:
--Belgrade says it will begin pulling out its forces from Kosovo today. Yugoslavia has 11 days to withdraw all police, paramilitary and military forces. As they withdraw, Yugoslav forces must remove land mines and booby traps.
--NATO airstrikes will be suspended once Yugoslavia's compliance with the agreement can be verified. The air campaign will be terminated when the withdrawal is complete.
--The U.N. Security Council and NATO's political body, the North Atlantic Council, must formally approve an order for the peacekeeping mission to start.
--British peacekeepers will be the first to enter Kosovo. The first contingent of U.S. peacekeepers are expected to follow shortly after.
--A 50,000-strong peacekeeping force to ensure the safe return of refugees will be sent into Kosovo, along with its rules of engagement.
--The U.N. War Crimes Tribunal is preparing to send investigators into Kosovo along with a peacekeeping force to gather evidence of war crimes, including widespread murder and rape.
--The complicated process of repatriating ethnic Albanian refugees will begin. Some 860,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, have fled Kosovo since NATO's air attack began March 24.
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33. NATO's Persuasive Force Spokesman Jamie Shea, Surviving the Flak
By Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post, June 10, 1999; Page C01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/10/221l-061099-idx.html
BRUSSELS--In contrast to the other weapons used in NATO's high-tech war against Yugoslavia, Jamie Shea is an anachronism, a rhetorical Gatling gun in an era of precision-guided munitions and poll-tested political manipulation.
But since the bombing campaign began 2 1/2 months ago, it was Shea, the spokesman at NATO headquarters here, who came to personify the alliance and its campaign against Slobodan Milosevic....
"What history shows is that there has never been such a thing as a popular war," says Shea. "Even a just conflict inevitably brings out those who say that it isn't going fast enough or the price in terms of casualties is too high. As time goes on, there is the inevitable impatience to get it over with. That was certainly true in World War I and even the Second World War wasn't totally popular--far from it." ....
In April, after an embarrassing incident in which it took four days to get the story straight about a NATO military attack on a convoy of Albanian refugees, teams of spin doctors were flown in from the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany. They decamped in two rooms down the hall from Secretary General Javier Solana's office and set up the kind of operation that has become standard in American political campaigns: elaborate systems to track and summarize news coverage, prep sessions for Shea before his daily briefings, twice-daily conference calls to hammer out a "message" for each 12-hour news cycle.
Kept in the dark by Clark and his staff about the military mishaps, Shea would initially dissemble as long as he could, then follow up with abject apologies. But under orders from the imported experts, regret was expunged from NATO's briefing vocabulary, replaced with a more combative line that war is hell and civilian casualties are the inevitable cost of standing up to a genocidal bully....
Now, with the war close to ending, Shea has begun to think of a life outside NATO. Tucked in a drawer are the names of headhunters who have telephoned over the past two months with lucrative private-sector opportunities. Don't be surprised, he told a friend recently, if he takes one of them up before the tan begins to fade.
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34. China Pushes Its Campaign to Modify Peace Plan
By JUDITH MILLER, June 10, 1999 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/061099kosovo-un.html
UNITED NATIONS -- China tried Wednesday into the late evening to secure the Security Council's agreement on changes in the Kosovo peace plan.
The Chinese representative, Shen Guofang, told reporters that China would "find it difficult to support" the resolution without the amendments.
But several diplomats predicted that China, which could veto the resolution, would not do so.
The American representative, A. Peter Burleigh, said the changes were being considered.
Council members stood by into the night to give their blessing to the plan negotiated in Cologne.
Council members are eager to act on a resolution as soon as NATO affirms that Serb troops are beginning to withdraw and the allies announce that they are suspending its bombing.
With such assurances, the Council could then rush to debate and decide on the resolution, which stipulates that the NATO forces would go into Kosovo and specifies procedures to restore Kosovo. Russia and China have repeatedly said they would will permit a vote on the plan only after the bombing had stopped.
"Time is of the essence," Burleigh said.
The Russian representative, Sergei Lavrov, told The Associated Press that as soon as the end of the bombing is announced "we will be ready to vote on the resolution."
A Western diplomat said, "We don't want a military void on the ground in Kosovo, and we want this plan approved by the Council and wrapped up as fast as possible."
Diplomats said NATO wanted to move troops into Kosovo promptly to be sure that in the 11 days given to the Serbian forces to withdraw, neither the Serbs nor the Albanians pick fights in revenge.
Two special envoys appointed by Secretary General Kofi Annan to help in the crisis, Karl Bildt and Eduard Kukan, briefed the Security Council late today on preparations for the refugees' return and rebuilding Yugoslavia.
After the meeting, Bildt stressed the vast scale and complexity of the proposed role of the United Nations.
Diplomats huddled throughout the day in rooms and corridors, debating how to satisfy China's demands without substantially weakening the peace plan. The amendments that China has submitted would effectively fix a firm 12-month limit on the life of the Kosovo force, would soften criticism of Yugoslavia and would limit the circumstances under which NATO-led troops could use military force to carry out the resolution.
China has consistently maintained that the crisis is an internal Yugoslav affair. China fears the trend in the United Nations to intervene in what have long been regarded as the internal affairs of sovereign states.
In addition, China remains unhappy that the plan calls for intervention under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which permits the use of armed force against an aggressor.
The Dutch representative, Peter van Walsum, who conducted much of the negotiating with the Chinese Wednesday, declined to discuss Beijing's proposals. The text of the plan had been altered somewhat to accommodate China, van Walsum said, but he added that the changes did not weaken the tortuously negotiated draft.
Wednesday evening, the Gambian representative, Baboucarr-Blaise Ismaila Jagne, the current Council president, emerged briefly from the Council chambers to say that members were still debating China's proposals.
Under the plan, the Council would authorize the deployment of a NATO-led force of up to 50,000 troops, as well as an unspecified number of aid workers and reconstruction experts.
Then, Annan would appoint a civilian administration to take over the day-to-day operation of the province, establish a high degree of autonomy from the rest of Yugoslavia and prepare for eventual elections.
As a result, Kosovo looks set to become a virtual United Nations protectorate for a while, just as Namibia was when the United Nations was preparing it for independence from South Africa.
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- Sixth of six messages - _________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________
Message: 5 Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 21:21:55 -0400
Subject: NucNews-2 6/10/99 - Canada (2); Russia (2); Chernobyl; Lithuania (2)
5. Parliament Hill site of nuclear protest
WebPosted Tue Jun 8 18:45:28 1999 http://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/1999/06/08/grepea 990608
OTTAWA - Environmental groups are upset over a government plan to transport nuclear fuel to Canada. The fuel would come from dismantled Russian and U.S. nuclear weapons, and end up at the Atomic Energy of Canada test site at Chalk River, Ontario.
Environmental groups staged a protest on Parliament Hill Tuesday, to draw attention to the controversial plan.
Once at Chalk River, the fuels would be burned as reactor fuel in order to destroy them.
Groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club are worried that the plutonium in the fuel could be hazardous. The groups voiced concerns about possible accidental spillages and/or theft of the fuel.
Greenpeace and other groups unfurled a flag in which a nuclear logo replaced the Maple Leaf. Members of the groups have spent the past five weeks checking out the routes the nuclear waste would take, to get to the Chalk River Plant, northwest of Ottawa.
Elizabeth May, of the Sierra Club of Canada said: "If Chretien does not move to stop these shipments, the stage will be set for Canada to become a dumping ground for the world's nuclear garbage."
LINKS:
Chalk River Plant http://www.aecl.ca/english/company/org_1_b3a.html
Greenpeace http://www.greenpeace.org
Campaign for nuclear phaseout http://www.cnp.ca/
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6. Intl Uranium suspends mining
Canadian Corporate News, JUNE 8, 1999, 10:54 am Eastern Time http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990608/sq.html
IUC Elects to Suspend Mining Operations from the Sunday and GMG Mines
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--International Uranium Corporation (the ``Company'') announced today that it was suspending mining operations from its two producing mines, the Sunday and GMG mines, both of which are located in the Colorado Plateau mining district. The Company had planned to suspend mining operations at the Sunday and GMG mines in September of this year to coincide with the completion of the conventional ore mill run, presently scheduled to begin later this month. However, due to weak commodity prices, the Company elected to discontinue operations early. Company mining operations at the Sunday Mine will end immediately, and contract mining operations at the GMG will end not later than the end of August. The Company had previously discontinued mining operations at the Rim and Topaz mines. With the suspension of operations at the Sunday and GMG mines, all of the Company's mining projects will be on standby, and will remain so until market conditions justify otherwise. To date, the Company has mined and stockpiled approximately 84,000 tons of ore, containing approximately 400,000 pounds of recoverable uranium and 2,200,000 pounds of recoverable vanadium. As noted, the Company plans to commence processing these uranium/vanadium ores later this month and anticipates the completion of this conventional mill run by the end of October.
With the current suspension of all mine production and development activities, the Company intends to devote its full attention and resources at this time to the continued development of its alternate feed recycling business. The Company has previously completed seven alternate feed processing runs to date, including approximately 45,000 tons of uranium-bearing material from a former U.S. defense site (Ashland 2) undergoing environmental remediation as part of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (``FUSRAP''). In addition, the Company was recently awarded a contract to recycle up to another 100,000 tons of similar material from the Ashland 1 FUSRAP site. The Company generally receives a substantial recycling fee in addition to retaining the uranium recovered from processing these FUSRAP materials. Alternate feed processing is a growing sector of the Company's business and, subject to continued regulatory approvals, is expected to be a major contributor to the Company's earnings in the future.
The Company also announces that Mr. Thad L. Meyer, Chief Financial Officer, will leave his position at the end of the month. Mr. Rick L. Townley, currently the Company's Controller, will assume the position of CFO at that time.
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, IUC is engaged in the business of producing uranium concentrates and selling and trading these concentrates and other nuclear fuel cycle products in the international nuclear fuel market. As a co-product to its uranium production, IUC produces and sells vanadium and other metals. In addition to mining and processing uranium from natural ores, IUC also recovers uranium by recycling uranium-bearing waste streams from other processing facilities.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Earl E. Hoellen, President
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: International Uranium Corporation Sophia Shane Corporate Development (604) 689-7842
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7. World's first nuclear power plant plans closure
07:43 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
MOSCOW, June 10 (Reuters) - The world's first nuclear power plant, put into service in 1954 at Obninsk in Russia is being prepared for closure in 2004, a senior official said on Thursday. Viktor Kuzmin, first deputy director of the Obninsk physics and energy research center which operates the plant, said in a telephone interview that the station would be decommissioned in 2004 and become a museum.
The plant, 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Moscow, will have been in operation for 50 years, far exceeding the 20 years originally planned.
``Now the station is providing the city much reduced electricity and heating supplies, and is mostly used for research, for example, testing energy-producing elements for space reactors,'' he said.
``No other nuclear plant has worked for so long and it is extremely interesting for scientists to examine its graphite reactors, especially for the Leningrad nuclear power station which also has such reactors,'' he said.
He said his first priority was to work out how to eliminate the danger of the reactor's radioactive materials, adding that one plan was to seal it all in molten lead, which could be a safe way of conserving it.
``We are going to close down a BR-10 fast neutron reactor at our centre, with which we supplied Russian and CIS nuclear plants, to examine its condition,'' Kuzmin said.
The official said he would prefer to prolong the lifespan of existing reactors without compromising safety rather than decommissioning plants.
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8. Negotiations may help Russia rebuild prestige Weakened nation may be more of a threat, experts say
June 9, 1999, By Deb Price / Detroit News http://detnews.com/1999/nation/9906/09/06090195.htm (AP Photo) http://detnews.com/pix/1999/9906/09/nati.gif
WASHINGTON -- Russia's key peacemaking role that helped lead to the apparent end of the two-month conflict over Kosovo gives a much-needed boost to the ailing former superpower's prestige.
Yet, as it basks in the glory of being viewed as a major power that can still make things happen, Russia faces a critical test:
Will it seize this moment to resuscitate U.S.-Russian arms-control measures and reinvent itself as a global leader intent on protecting the world from a future nuclear arms disaster?
Or will it revert to its old paranoid self, refusing to move ahead on arms reduction and security efforts out of deep resentment over NATO expansion and the 10-week bombing campaign against Yugoslavia?
"It's a very scary thing," says arms control expert Tom Collina of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "We have to remember that Russia is the only nation with the capability to annihilate the United States with its nuclear forces."
Collina and other arms-control advocates worry that strained U.S.-Russian relations over the Yugoslavian conflict threaten efforts at a time of growing concern about the safety of the former Soviet Union's deteriorating nuclear weapons complex.
"By removing Kosovo, you only have removed the first layer of difficulties in U.S.-Russian relations," Collina says. "Now dialogue can begin again on arms control. But if we are trying to break the logjam on arms reduction, it requires effort on both sides."
44,000 Hiroshimas
Nearly a decade ago, the Cold War's end ushered in a promising new era for the onetime foes whose nuclear deterence strategies were aptly known by the acronym MAD, for mutual assured destruction.
"Our nuclear forces continue to be postured as though we are enemies, as though we are really worried about a sneak nuclear attack from the other side," says John Pike, a defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists. "That bears no resemblance to the real world that everyone is living in."
In a matter of minutes, each side could launch 2,000 long-range ballistic missiles at the other -- the equivalent of about 44,000 Hiroshimas -- which would arrive in less than half an hour.
"The danger we face now is no longer from Russia's strength but from its weakness," says Jesse James, head of the Committee on Nuclear Policy, a prominent group of nuclear weapons experts.
Of great concern are
* Tattered warning systems: Experts believe that up to two-thirds of Russia's early-warning radar and satellite systems don't work, creating "blind spots." That leads to concerns that the Russians could mistakenly believe the United States had launched an attack and reply in kind.
* Economic chaos: Mind-boggling revelations include utility managers shutting off power to nuclear weapons facilities over unpaid bills and guards leaving their posts to hunt for food and warm clothes.
* Terrorists, rogue nations: Russia has dismantled thousands of nuclear weapons, leaving tons of uranium and plutonium in poorly secured situations. Last September, U.S. experts visited an unguarded facility with enough uranium for several bombs. Also, displaced Russian nuclear scientists are feared easy prey for rogue nations offering big bucks for their knowledge.
U.S. dominance grows
Meanwhile, the United States is not only far stronger militarily than Russia but is moving rapidly toward developing a missile defense system.
The proposal alarms Russians because it theoretically would mean the United States could attack without fearing reprisal.
"We already have created a huge problem by attacking (Yugoslav President) Milosevic and Yugoslavia," says Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids. "If we add to it the fact that we are going ahead in building an anti-ballistic missile system, it is even more complicated."
Efforts to reduce risks posed by the Cold War nuclear buildup were set back by events in Yugoslavia. They include ratification by Russia of the Start II long-range weapons treaty, as well as moves by both countries to stop the spread of weapons and cooperate on early warning systems to reduce the risk of an accidental launch.
Bold action urged
The Committee on Nuclear Policy recently urged the United States to bypass the slow treaty process. Instead, its "Jump-Start" report urged the two former foes to work together to cut long-range nuclear weapons to 1,000 each, remove nuclear forces from quick launch status and better secure and greatly reduce weapons-grade ingredients and warhead stockpiles in Russia.
Russia is in "a weakened situation," says Norman Graham, director of Michigan State University's Center for European and Russian Studies. "I am not expecting (an accidental launch), but the danger is there and we need to face it."
Growing concerns
Russia's domestic woes and anger over the Yugoslavian conflict add to U.S. concerns about the former super- power's deteriorating nuclear arms system.
Major fears include:
* Accidental launch due to aged equipment.
* Mistaken report of U.S. attack because of outmoded detection system.
* Theft of weapons-making nuclear materials due to lax security.
* Rogue leaders buying know-how from displaced Russian nuclear scientists.
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9. Chernobyl To Use Fuel From Mothballed Reactor
Russia Today, Jun 9, 1999 (Reuters) http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=72789
KIEV -- The managers of Ukraine's troubled Chernobyl nuclear power plant said on Tuesday fuel was being transferred from one of its idle reactors to the last remaining one in operation to save scarce funds.
"Under the control of international experts, the plant's engineers continue to transfer nuclear fuel from reactor number one" to the working third reactor, a report from the plant said.
Ukraine faces annual bills of $250 million to $300 million to buy fuel from Russia for its five nuclear power plants.
Earlier this year two other Ukrainian nuclear stations cut their electricity output due to a shortage of fuel. Officials have said the nuclear power stations cannot afford fuel because consumers do not pay their electricity bills.
Chernobyl's fourth reactor exploded in April 1986 in the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster, sending radioactive dust to nearby Russia and Belarus as well as much of the rest of Europe.
The first two reactors have been mothballed, leaving only the third reactor functioning.
Ukraine has promised the West it will shut down Chernobyl by 2000, but Kiev says it first needs to funds to complete two new, safer reactors to make up for the electrical capacity it would lose. ((c) 1999 Reuters)
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10. Lithuanian N-plant seen back on-line June 14
12:38 p.m. Jun 09, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
VILNIUS, June 9 (Reuters) - Lithuania's Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, off-line for almost three weeks due to a licensing delay, should return to operation on June 14 after repair work finishes early, the plant's director said on Wednesday.
Ignlina, which operates two Soviet-built RBMK reactors of the same type that caused the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, was forced to shut down its unit one reactor temporarily after failing to obtain a new operating license by a May 17 deadline.
The unit two reactor had been off-line since late March due to regular maintainance and was not planning to restart to operations until July. But due to the shut-down, the second full-scale closure in its 15-year history, repairs were sped up.
``Today we recieved permission...to return unit two to operation after the repair work,'' Ignalina director Viktor Shevaldin told Reuters.
``Now we are actively working on the preparation and hope that by Monday it will run at 750 megawatts.''
He said that one turbine would remain off-line for final works until the first week of July, at which point the reactor would be able to return to its full 1,300 MgW capacity.
Ignalina is some 120 kilometres from the capital Vilnius and usually generates some 77 percent of Lithuania's electric energy needs. During the closure, the country relied on fossil fuels.
Shevaldin also said that the plant had submitted all of the final documents needed for the unit one reactor's first ever Western standard certification on June 4 and expected the nuclear safety inspectorate to grant the license soon.
But he expected unit one to remain off-line for another 45 days to conduct regular maintainance.
(( Vilnius newsroom, +370 2 223 517, fax 223 514, reuters+reuters.lt ))
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POLL-Lithuanian EU support dims on N-plant worries
Wed 9 Jun 14:20 Reuters News Service http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
VILNIUS, June 9 (Reuters) - Lithuanian support for European Union (EU) entry has waned in the last six months due to pressure from the bloc to close the Baltic state's Soviet-built Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, a poll released on Wednesday said.
According to the poll, released by the European Commission Information Centre, only 27 percent of those surveyed favoured EU membership, tying it with Estonia for the lowest level of support among applicant countries. In October, support was at 51 percent, it said. ``Support for European integration decreased dramatically after the start of hot discussions over the closure of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant,'' the centre said in a statement.
The centre said respondents were worried that the closure of the plant, which supplies almost 80 percent of the country's electricity needs, would hit the economy and living standards.
EU sentiment was also hit by Lithuania's decision to scrap capital punishment, taken since the last poll. The survey said most people believed pressure from the EU was behind the move.
Some 40 percent of those polled had no clear opinion on EU entry while 15 percent said they had a lack of information about the bloc. It did not say how many were opposed to membership.
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Message: 6 Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 21:22:09 -0400
Subject: NucNews-3 6/10/99 - India (2)-Kissinger, Peace March; Pakistan ()-US, Senate, China (3), Rebels; Israel/Lebanon; Croatia/Lockheed; Japan; France
11. Kissinger against spread of n-arms
The Hindu, June 9, 1999 http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/1999/06/09/stories/0209000c.htm
MUMBAI, JUNE 8. Now that nuclear India and the United States have common interests in pursuing non-proliferation goals they should work together actively to prevent the spread of weapons.The advice comes from the former U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger, who wants his country to exercise restraint on the Kashmir issue. ``My life would not have been fulfilled had India not developed nuclear weapons,'' the noted guru of international affairs told the packed audience of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan here today who hardly saw any moral issue in India going nuclear.
Dr. Kissinger said that he fully understood why India went nuclear and appreciated respective stands of the Indian Prime Minister and the U.S. President on the issue. He said that he would have done exactly the same if he were in their position.
He was delivering a lecture on `emerging globalisation - political and economic challenges of the 21st century.' Both the countries should hold talks ``not about what you are doing in your country but what you do outside'' and that was, he said, the political task of globalisation.
He said that the proliferation of nuclear weapons was not in the interest of either India or the U.S. A sub-continental country like India would not initiate a nuclear war for the casualties could be in millions but the same could not be said about a small fundamentalist country. India was a great power and the attributes of a great power was bringing about stability in its region and even beyond. He said he believed in close relations between India and the U.S. and the U.S. and China.
Asked why he advised the then U.S. President, Richard Nixon, to send the Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal during the Bangladesh War when he knew that the liberation of that country could not be prevented, Dr. Kissinger replied that the U.S. did not want India to march into West Pakistan within three months of the establishment of Sino- American relations in which the American ability to stand up to the then Soviet Union was a factor and India was having an alliance with the Soviets. He said that the U.S. had sought an assurance from the late Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi that India would not move into West Pakistan but she refused to give such an assurance. Dr. Kissinger observed that the then relations between the two countries were not made in heaven. Both the countries should have talked frankly about their objectives. But Indira Gandhi went ahead with dealing with Pakistan not because she was sure of the Americans being fair but because she knew that she would succeed.
Dr. Kissinger nearly snubbed a former member of Lok Sabha who wanted him to opine on the ongoing Kargil crisis. He said that Kargil was not making any big news in America and most of the Americans did not know about it. ``But if you ask every American about the problem, you will get an American plan for it,'' he said.
Earlier, the gathering that had a good sprinkling of the city elites, was welcomed by Mr. C. Subramaniam, the president of the Bhavan.
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12. Call to end arms race in sub-continent
The Hindu, June 9, 1999 http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/1999/06/09/stories/0209000d.htm
JAIPUR, JUNE 8. Far from providing ``masculinity'' to the nation, as promised by the BJP-led Government, the nuclear tests conducted in Pokhran last year have turned out to be an utter failure on all fronts, namely defence, diplomatic, political and economic, because they were planned with a deceptive perception of the security needs.
This was the opinion of the anti-nuclear activists taking part in a ``global peace march'' which started from Khetolai-the village closest to the site of nuclear tests-on May 11 and will culminate in Sarnath on August 6. The march, winding its way through Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Nagaur districts, entered Jaipur today and appealed for an end to the mindless arms race triggered off in the sub-continent.
The former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral L. Ramdas, addressing a press conference here under the banner of the peace march, said the failure of the ``nuclear deterrent'' was proved beyond doubt when Pakistan could not be deterred from sending its intruders into Kargil. ``To cap it all, the Pakistan Foreign Secretary has threatened that his country can use weapons of any kind against India'', he said.
Admiral Ramdas emphasised that the national security did not mean military power alone. ``The nation has to ensure economic well- being of its citizens by providing the basic necessities of food, shelter and clothing'', he said, pointing out that increasing the destructive power of defence forces would serve no purpose other than providing a false sense of security.
``A Government which sacks a Chief of Naval Staff on its whims cannot boost the morale of defence forces'', Admiral Ramdas, referring to the dismissal of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, said; but he did not comment when asked whether the military had gained confidence after acquiring the nuclear weapon capability.
About the current scuffle between India and Pakistan on the line of control (LoC) in Kashmir, the former Navy Chief felt that while the two sides must respect the LoC agreed upon in the Shimla accord, India should not reject outright any proposal for third party intervention for solving the vexed Kashmir dispute. An offer made by the South Africa President, Mr. Nelson Mandela, to help reconciliation should have been given due consideration, he said.
The leader of the peace march and a former nuclear missile engineer, Dr. Sandeep Pandey, said the excursion had received worldwide support, with even Pakistani citizens joining in to send their messages for peace as well as monetary contribution. A large number of people of Indian and Pakistani origin jointly organised a rally outside the Embassies of the two countries in Washington on May 26 to protest against the dangerous arms race.
The peace march had to encounter violent protests by the BJP and its sister organisations in its initial phase, with the allegations of promoting anti-national feelings, having political motive behind the journey and foreign money being pumped in to sponsor it. On their way to Jodhpur, the activists were detained for over eight hours in Phalodi.
However, following the public meetings organised by the peace march, the people came to know about the cause being promoted and were convinced about the futility of nuclear weapons, Dr. Pandey said. During its two-day stopover in Jaipur, the peace march will organise public meetings and exhibit a film ``Jadugoda'', showing the plight of people in the tribal- inhabited areas in Singhbhum district in Bihar, which is under the shadow of radioactivity in the wake of the uranium mining.
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13. Senate Votes To Halt India, Pakistan Sanctions
04:27 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate has passed an amendment to suspend for five years all economic sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan over their nuclear tests last year, the U.S. embassy in New Delhi confirmed Thursday.
The amendment, which will require approval by the House of Representatives and President Clinton, also permitted the president to issue a national security waiver for the prohibition of military sales and export of certain goods to both countries.
The amendment, proposed by Republican senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, was passed Tuesday.
``Export controls should be applied only to those entities that make direct and material contributions to weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, and only to those items that can contribute (to) such programs,'' the amendment said.
A list of those Indian and Pakistani entities contributing to missile or weapons of mass destruction programs should be submitted sixty days after the enactment of the amendment, it said.
The amendment said, in a clause termed the Sense of the Senate, sales of defense articles and services, and foreign military financing ought to be denied if either of the two countries ``initiates or supports activities that jeopardize peace and security in Jammu and Kashmir.''
India is currently waging an air and ground campaign to drive a large guerrilla force out of its territory in northern Kashmir. India says the guerrilla force is largely made up of Pakistani Army regulars.
Pakistan says the infiltrators are Islamic freedom fighters, whom it gives diplomatic and moral, but not material, support.
Bruce Riedel, special assistant to President Clinton on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, told a news conference in Washington Tuesday that the infiltrators ``should withdraw to where they came from.''
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US concerned by Kashmir, even without nuclear weapons
03:20 p.m Jun 09, 1999 Eastern By Deborah Zabarenko http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - The struggle over Kashmir is sparking concern in Washington, even with the realisation that both India and Pakistan have been careful not to mention nuclear weapons.
``It's a cause for serious concern, for sure; they haven't been fighting at this level since 1971, when they last had an all-out war,'' one U.S. official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The official echoed the U.S. government concern about nuclear proliferation in South Asia, one year after tit-for-tat nuclear tests, but said that in the current conflict, ``They've both been very careful not to make nuclear noises.''
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14. ANALYSIS-China diplomacy shifts to its doorstep
06:39 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern By Paul Eckert http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
BEIJING, June 10 (Reuters) - China waded into the waters of international diplomacy with a minor role in U.N. efforts to settle the crisis in faraway Kosovo, but now may plunge in deeper in the Indo-Pakistani dispute over neighbouring Kashmir.
Beijing will play host to Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz on Friday, followed by his Indian counterpart, Jaswant Singh, early next week -- visits which straddle their key meeting in New Dehli to try to defuse the crisis.
Like Kosovo, Kashmir involves complex self-determination issues of the kind China fears at home in places such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan.
However, whereas China rendered itself a marginal player on Kosovo by throwing its weight behind Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Beijing may have meaningful things to say on the Kashmiri dispute.
``It's not clear how substantial the meetings will be, but China's views on the issue do count and the foreign ministers must obviously see that it is worth their while to come here,'' said a Beijing-based Asian diplomat.
What China has to say, however, remains hard to fathom behind its standard calls for both sides to excercise restraint after weeks of intense fighting along the Kashmir ceasefire line.
Asked by reporters about the conflict, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang reiterated remarks she made earlier this week.
``We hope that both sides will use peaceful means and solve any crisis through negotiations to prevent the escalation of the situation,'' she said.
What is clear is that few see Beijing as an honest broker in Kashmir, where it controls chunks of land claimed by India, including a sliver ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963 and the vast Aksai Chin plateau, which it occupied in the late 1950s.
India and China fought a brief border war in 1962 and the land disputes kept relations between the two Asian giants frosty for more than two decades.
Neither is China a neutral in India-Pakistan relations. Beijing's recent thaw with New Delhi is no match for three decades of political support, missiles and nuclear arms development help for Islamabad.
Pakistan has had several high-profile military and political exchanges with China, a long-time ally, since early last month when tensions with India over Kashmir started increasing.
A Chinese military delegation is now in Pakistan and has held talks with President Rafiq Tarar and with General Pervaiz Musharraf, Pakistan's top military officer.
Musharraf returned from a trip to China at the beginning of the month and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is set to pay a week-long visit to China from June 28.
``China is not seen as being even-handed on the issue, but that doesn't mean its views are not relevant and important,'' said the Asian diplomat.
``Kashmir has immediate strategic ramifications for China and for that reason China's views are important to both India and Pakistan despite the difference in their relations,'' he said.
China does share with India a broad desire not see issues of territory or ethnic self-determination internationalised.
Pakistani calls for a plebiscite on Kashmir's status as envisioned under a 1948 U.N. Security Council resolution following the first of three Indo-Pakistani wars. India opposes it and China would view one as an unwelcome precedent for its own unhappy minorities or Taiwan.
The upshot is that while pro-Pakistan China may in its heart want Islamabad to get its way in Kashmir, Beijing is most likely to come down in favour of a more peaceful version of the status quo, a second diplomat said.
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Pakistan says not playing 'China card' in Kashmir
04:00 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern By Scott McDonald http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
ISLAMABAD, June 10 (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Thursday it was not using its close relationship with China as leverage in its dispute with India over the divided region of Kashmir.
Islamabad said on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz would visit Beijing on a hurriedly arranged trip before going to New Delhi for talks on easing the latest crisis over the Himalayan flashpoint, the worst confrontation between the nuclear-capable South Asian rivals in nearly 30 years.
Pakistan Information Minister Mushahid Hussain said Islamabad was not playing the so-called ``China card'' but was merely going to brief Beijing on the crisis, which began on May 26 when Indian jets started attacking what it says are Pakistani-backed infiltrators on its side of the ceasefire line in the region.
``We've had this relationship with the Chinese for the last 36 years...with Pakistan we don't have cards, we have a consistent relationship and rapport which has been sustained through different processes in both countries and the region,'' he told Reuters.
Islamabad denies that it offers anything more than moral and political support for what it says are local militants fighting Indian control in the two-thirds of Kashmir ruled by New Delhi.
China, one of Pakistan's closest allies, has been at odds for decades with India and fought a brief war with Delhi across their disrupted Himalayan border in 1962. The world's two most populous countries still warily eye each other's military ambitions.
India said last year that China's assistance to Pakistan with nuclear and missile technology was cause for concern. India's defence minister described China as New Delhi's ``potential threat number one.''
Disputes over Kashmir have sparked two of the three wars India and Pakistan have fought since independence in 1947.
China shares borders with both India and Pakistan and has a small portion of northern Kashmir that Pakistan ceded to it in 1963. New Delhi says China is occupying the area illegally.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tariq Altaf said Aziz would leave for Beijing on Thursday night and would return on Friday evening before going to New Delhi on Saturday.
Altaf would not elaborate beyond a ministry statement that said Aziz would meet Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Tang Jiaxuan ``and brief him on the current situation arising from the escalation of military action by India along the line of control in Kashmir.''
Hussain also declined to say when the trip was arranged or at whose request.
``China and Pakistan have a similar world view on a lot of issues and there is a close proximity of their positions and both see each other as a reliable friend,'' Hussain said.
China blamed a series of tit-for-tat Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests last year on New Delhi but has called on both to put down their weapons and resolve the Kashmir issue through negotiations.
China's Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh would visit Beijing June 14-16 to discuss ``bilateral and international issues of mutual concern.''
Asked about the Kashmir fighting, a ministry spokeswoman repeated remarks made earlier this week. ``We hope that both sides will use peaceful means and solve any crisis through negotiations to prevent the escalation of the situation,'' she said.
Pakistan has had several high-profile military and political exchanges with China since early last month when tensions with India over Kashmir started increasing.
A Chinese military delegation is now in Pakistan and has held talks with army General Pervaiz Musharraf, Pakistan's top military officer.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also is set to pay a week-long visit to China from June 28.
China has been supplying military hardware to Pakistan, including fighter aircraft and tanks, since the 1960s.
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FOCUS-Pakistan FM to go to China before India
Wed 9 Jun 16:09 Reuters News Service http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
By Scott McDonald ISLAMABAD, June 9 - Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz will visit China for a day before going to New Delhi for talks on easing the crisis in the divided region of Kashmir....
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Kashmir militants say will not accept peace deal
Wed 9 Jun 16:09 Reuters News Service http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
By Ovais Subhani KARACHI, June 9 - Moslem militants on Wednesday called the scheduled talks between Pakistan and India a ``conspiracy'' and vowed not to retreat from the high ground they hold....
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15. Israel bombards Lebanon
USA Today (World), June 10, 1999 http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nwswed02.htm
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AP) - Lebanese guerrillas ambushed an Israeli army patrol in southern Lebanon on Wednesday night, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding four others, Lebanese security sources said.
The guerrilla attack on the front line of an Israeli-controlled enclave in southern Lebanon set off some of the fiercest fighting in weeks, including a series of Israeli airstrikes on the area, the sources said.
The Israeli military did not comment immediately on the casualties, although it said a Cobra attack helicopter had made an emergency landing in the enclave.
The helicopter crew was rescued safely. The cause of the emergency landing was under investigation.
The Lebanese officials said the ambush occurred near the outpost of Rihan, which faces the guerrilla stronghold of Iqlim al-Tuffah. They said two of the wounded soldiers were seriously hurt.
A militiaman of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army was wounded at a nearby outpost by guerrilla fire, they added.
Hezbollah, the Islamic guerrilla group leading the war against Israeli forces in the south, claimed responsibility for the ambush, which occurred about 10 miles north of the Israeli border.
The guerrillas opened fire with automatic rifles and hurled grenades, scoring ''confirmed hits,'' a Hezbollah statement issued in Beirut said.
Hezbollah also reported several clashes with Israeli reinforcements sent to the area to help the ambushed unit. The statement added that Israeli aircraft took part in the fighting.
The Lebanese security officials said Israeli jets fired a total of four missiles in two sorties shortly after the ground clash near the town of Jbaa in Iqlim al-Tuffah. The jets later fired two rockets at the nearby hills of Mlita, said the officials, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.
The Israeli army spokesman confirmed early Thursday a raid on ''terrorist targets'' in the area of Jbaa.
Israeli helicopter gunships also shot missiles and machine-gun fire at targets across the zone that Israel occupies, drawing fire from guerrilla anti-aircraft guns, the Lebanese sources said. The guerrillas also unleashed several shoulder-fired missiles at the jets, but missed.
There was no word on guerrilla casualties.
Israel has occupied a strip of southern Lebanon since 1985, saying it is needed to protect its northern villages from cross-border guerrilla raids.
The guerrillas, who receive backing from Iran, have been fighting to oust the estimated 1,500 Israeli soldiers and the 2,500 members of the South Lebanon Army from the zone, which makes up 10% of Lebanon's territory.
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16. Croatia Buys $92M U.S. Radar System
By The Associated Press, June 9, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Croatia-Weapons.html
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) -- Croatia has signed a $92 million deal for new air radar systems with Lockheed Martin Corp., media reported Wednesday.
Minister of Defense Pavao Miljevac said that the five FPS-117 radar systems, which will be paid off at an interest rate of less than 6 percent over 12 years, will be used for civilian as well as military purposes.
The purchase, signed Tuesday in the capital Zagreb, was the first by Croatia of U.S. military equipment since an international arms embargo imposed in 1991 was lifted earlier this year.
Croatia fought a 6-month war against local Serbs, backed by Yugoslav army troops, to secede from the Yugoslav federation. Some 10,000 people died.
Croatia intends to modernize its army in tune with NATO standards in an effort to join the alliance's auxiliary program, Partnership for Peace.
Related Information From Hoover's Inc.
Lockheed Martin Corp http://www.nytimes.com/partners/quote/hoovers.cgi?ticker=LMT
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[These guys keep showing up. Did you notice that the First Lady visited Lockheed in New York yesterday?]
Lockheed Likely to Warn of Lower Profit
By Tim Smart, Washington Post, June 9, 1999; Page E01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/09/074l-060999-idx.html
Faced with problems in its rocket and satellite business, as well as cost overruns on two high-profile Pentagon aircraft programs, Lockheed Martin Corp. may soon warn Wall Street that second-quarter earnings will be below estimates.
A Lockheed spokesman would not confirm what defense industry watchers and the investment community predict is likely: a downward revision of the consensus earnings estimate of leading Wall Street brokerages, now pegged at 72 cents, according to First Call.
Lockheed has said for some time that it would update its quarterly and year-end profit forecasts in advance of the release of second-quarter earnings during the third week of July. Industry sources said the announcement will likely come soon, perhaps before next week's Paris Air Show, where aerospace companies typically meet with analysts.
The consensus estimate already has fallen 10 percent since mid-April, when the Bethesda-based company began experiencing failures with its popular Titan rocket. The estimate fell 2 cents last week after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst Pierre Chao lowered his estimate, which had been on the high end of the group, to 65 cents a share from 85 cents.
"It doesn't surprise me," said Robert Friedman, an analyst with Standard & Poor's Equity Group. "I think I have the only 'avoid' rating on the street."
Friedman said he thinks Lockheed has the wrong mix of businesses to outperform the S&P 500 index, which is a broad measure of the overall stock market. He also expressed concerns about what he termed Lockheed's "uninspired management."
Lockheed stock has lost nearly 30 percent of its value since reaching a 52-week high of $56.75 in late October. Shares of Lockheed closed yesterday at $40.43 3/4, down $1.06 1/4, on the New York Stock Exchange.
For almost a year now, Lockheed has been rocked by a series of mishaps -- some of them self-imposed -- that have bedeviled the country's largest defense contractor. In November, chief executive Vance Coffman surprised investors when he told them the company's 1998 earnings would not match the estimates of analysts. The company's first-quarter earnings were down 30 percent from a year earlier.
Lockheed's troubles began last spring when the government announced its opposition to the company's $12 billion deal to acquire rival Northrop Grumman Corp. The Justice Department later sued Lockheed to block the purchase, which it deemed anti-competitive, and Lockheed abandoned the deal in July.
In August, a Titan rocket blew up along with its $1 billion classified military satellite. The program subsequently was suspended pending a review, but problems recurred in April with two successive launch failures. Lockheed has acknowledged that one of those losses will cost the company $40 million in potential bonuses the Air Force pays for successful launches. That is in addition to $29 million in lost fees from the August failure.
The company has not indicated whether it will suffer penalties from an April 9 launch failure, which is believed to have originated with an upper-stage power unit made by Boeing Co., or from an April 27 launch failure for a private company trying to market satellite images to commercial users.
These problems and the failure of a Lockheed anti-missile weapon to hit its target despite repeated tests led the company last month to establish an independent panel to review its space and missile business. That review is scheduled to be completed by September.
The company has more earthbound problems as well. Last week Lockheed said it would lay off 2,000 workers at its Marietta, Ga., factory, more than 20 percent of the work force there. The plant produces the C130J cargo plane and the F-22 supersonic fighter, both of which are suffering cost overruns.
Also over budget is the new Joint Strike Fighter, on which Lockheed's military aircraft business is pinning its future. The JSF program is reported by industry journals to be $100 million over its $700 million development budget.
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[I wonder if any of those new jobs will be in weapons production or military or police? What obligations has Japan accepted under the US-Japan Defense Agreement?]
17. Japan Urged To Mull More Spending
By The Associated Press, June 9, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Japan-Economy.html
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's economic figures for the first three months of the year are expected to show improvement and may even show growth for the first time in almost two years, a spokesman for the prime minister said today....
Generous outlays for road and bridge construction and other public projects in recent years have pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the Japanese economy and kept it from sinking further into recession.
Politicians and business leaders have proposed opening public coffers even further, arguing that only a massive dose of government spending will ensure a full economic recovery....
In other economic news, Japan's government aims to create 600,000 jobs in temporary public service projects and by partially subsidizing hiring by private firms.
The proposal is part of a plan the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to unveil Friday to replace jobs lost in a recent wave of corporate cost-cutting.
The package would also contain legal reforms to encourage mergers and make it easier for companies to sell off parts of their operations.
Under the proposal, central and local governments would hire 300,000 people and subsidize the costs to companies of hiring about 300,000 more, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper today.
Those hired by the government would be put to work as school guidance counselors, on ecological projects and even excavating and preserving historical artifacts, according to Japanese media reports.
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18. France signs Dassault Rafale contract 05:28 a.m. Jun 09, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
PARIS, June 9 (Reuters) - French Defence Minister Alain Richard said the government on Wednesday signed contracts with suppliers for 48 Rafale combat jets built by prime contractor Dassault Aviation.
``We are signing the Rafale contract today,'' he told a news conference ahead of the 43rd Paris air show opening this weekend.
The contract signing allows the suppliers -- Thomson-CSF for the radar and Snecma for the engines -- to be paid for the order, which totals 17.2 billion francs ($2.74 billion). An inter-ministerial decision on the order was taken on January 14.
Of the total order, 28 planes have firm delivery dates and 20 optional dates, bringing the number of Rafales bought by France to 61. The navy will get 15 jets and the air force will receive 33, of which 21 will be two-seater versions.
The cost of the 48 planes is based on a price of 305 million francs per jet and represents a 10 percent reduction on initial estimates. The price cut was agreed in exchange for the multi-year order, allowing economies of scale.
First deliveries of the 28 multi-mission planes are due in February 2004 and run to January 2006. The navy will get the first jets to equip its $3.5 billion nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
($1-6.269 French Franc)
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Message: 7 Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 21:21:41 -0400
Subject: NucNews-1 6/10/99 - Greenpeace-MOX; DU (2) Japan, US; Korea (5)
1. Plutonium not dangerous to transport: Greenpeace
By DENNIS BUECKERT -- Canadian Press, June 8, 1999 http://www.canoe.com/TopStories/plut_jun8.html
OTTAWA -- There is little risk associated with the transportation of plutonium-containing fuel to be used in an experiment this summer, a spokesman for Greenpeace conceded Tuesday.
Steve Shallhorn said the main concern is that fuel could be stolen or diverted for use in nuclear weapons -- not the risk of a disastrous accident during shipment to Chalk River, Ont., west of Ottawa.
"It's very low risk," Shallhorn said following a news conference. "I'd be more concerned about theft en route than I am about transportation risk."
The statement contradicts those by other environmentalists suggesting that plutonium-containing MOX (mixed oxide uranium) fuel could result in a catastrophic accident.
Ottawa has approved a test at Chalk River to determine whether it is feasible to destroy surplus plutonium from Russian and U.S. nuclear warheads by using it as fuel in Candu nuclear reactors.
Much of the opposition to the test burn has come from communities along possible shipment routes, and Greenpeace has just completed a tour of those communities to rally opposition.
Shallhorn denied the group has fanned fears of a transportation disaster.
"The fact that this stuff is transported day in, day out in the U.S., and maybe week-in, week-out in Canada, is true. To the best of our knowledge there has not been a serious plutonium release.
"We accept that and we acknowledge that. We have been consistently de-emphasizing the transportation risks."
Shallhorn said Greenpeace is mainly concerned that, by helping to establish a legal traffic in plutonium, Canada will contribute to the risk of nuclear proliferation.
Kristen Ostling of Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout insisted the transportation risk is real, referring to a 1997 environmental assessment by the U.S. Energy Department.
However, the U.S. study analyzed two "credible transport accident scenarios" for MOX shipment. It concluded that the probability of an accident involving the release of radioactive material is very low.
"The probability of such a severe accident occurring and adversely affecting the public is extremely unlikely. No fatalities from an accident radiation exposure would be expected from the shipments of MOX fuel by any of the proposed routes."
Advocates of the MOX plan say Canada could play a significant role in world disarmament by helping the superpowers dispose of surplus plutonium.
Critics say the plan has nothing to do with disarmament but is merely a pretext to prop up Canada's faltering nuclear industry.
Larry Shewchuk, a spokesman for Atomic Energy of Canada, said it would be very difficult for terrorists to extract plutonium from MOX fuel to build nuclear weapons.
Terrorists are looking for pure plutonium, he said. MOX fuel contains three per cent plutonium mixed with other material.
[Does anyone care to refute this? I'd like a copy if you do - put "NucNews-letter" in the subject line please. Here's how you write to Canadian Press News: (Mike Simpson - Exec Producer - Canoe News) msimpson@canoe.ca]
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[More U.S. military exercises poisoning another country.]
2. U.S. apologizes for firing radioactive ammunition
Japan Times, February 11, 1997 http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/news2-97/news2-11.html
WASHINGTON -- High-ranking U.S. Defense Department officials apologized Feb. 10 to Japan and the Okinawa Prefectural Government over an incident in which the U.S. Marine Corps mistakenly fired bullets containing depleted uranium in the prefecture in late 1995 and early 1996.
Marine policy prohibits use of the depleted-uranium ammunition, which carries traces of radioactivity, at training ranges in Japan. They reportedly fired 1,520 rounds of the ammunition on an uninhabited island during drills.
Walter Slocombe, a defense policy undersecretary, speaking to Japanese Ambassador Kunihiko Saito over the phone, did not comment on why the U.S. did not inform Japan for nearly a year after the ammunition was fired. And the Japanese government is also under fire for not promptly notifying Okinawa authorities about the case. Tokyo took 26 days to publicly disclose the information after it learned of it Jan. 16.
Slocombe telephoned Saito to express "deep regret," a Japanese Embassy spokesman said. Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and Pacific affairs, raised the incident "voluntarily," promised to prevent its recurrence and apologized at the onset of talks with Okinawa Vice Gov. Mitsuko Tomon, who is now visiting Washington, Tomon said.
Slocombe promised to cooperate fully if Japan embarks on an environmental assessment, and surveys already conducted by the U.S. have confirmed there is no human nor environmental danger, the spokesman said. Foreign Ministry officials in Tokyo said Feb. 10 that AV-8B Harrier planes accidentally fired 1,520 uranium rounds at Tori Shima gunnery range, some 100 km west of the main Okinawa island, between December 1995 and January 1996. The ammunition can penetrate armored vehicles.
The rounds were used because they were cataloged improperly, officials explained. Japan was not informed until Jan. 16, the officials said.
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3. International Forum Calls Attention to the Use and Dangers of Depleted Uranium Weaponry
November 17, 1997 http://www.rama-usa.org/dumtp.htm
Washington, DC--Today, at a press conference at the National Press Club, the Military Toxics Project (MTP), a national grassroots organization working on Department of Defense environmental issues, in partnership with other local, national, and international organizations, released Army training videos which have been withheld from military personnel regarding the health and environmental dangers associated with depleted uranium (DU)weaponry.
The training videos, completed in 1995 by the Army's Depleted Uranium Project, were obtained from an Army officer who is concerned that active duty soldiers are still not receiving proper training about the use and dangers of depleted uranium munitions. The training videos highlight the dangers of depleted uranium and the need for strict safety measures when coming into contact with contaminated vehicles and personnel injured by uranium fragments. Armor-piercing rounds and tank armor made of depleted uranium were used for the for the first time in warfare in Operation Desert Storm.
MTP has maintained that the radioactive and toxicological affects of DU are worse than the Pentagon has ever admitted, and may be linked, in part ,to health problems that are affecting Persian Gulf veterans, their spouses and offspring, stated Dolores Lymburner, organizer for MTP's DU work.
During the Gulf War, military commanders withheld basic warnings about the use of depleted uranium munitions and ways to avoid exposure. When a DU round impacts a target, it burns up causing radioactive and toxic dust which can be transported by wind and water, entering the body via inhalation, ingestion, or wound contamination.
MTP held the press conference as the culmination to a three day international forum on DU, bringing together citizens, Indigenous Peoples, scientists, doctors, workers and veterans from several different countries who have been affected in some way by mining, manufacture, testing, or use of DU weaponry.
Attendees at the conference signed the International Statement on Depleted Uranium calling for: an end to production and use of DU munitions world wide health care, cleanup and compensation, the dissemination of information and training to workers and soldiers regarding the hazards of depleted uranium exposure an independent international scientific and medical commission
With the impending possibility that U.S. and allied troops may return to the Persian Gulf, conference attendees also agreed to a call to President Clinton asking that all suspect toxicological and radiological agents, within allied military control, including depleted uranium ordnance, used by the military in the war, be immediately prohibited from use and combat or punitive action. Civilian populations in Kuwait and Iraq are still being exposed to more than 600,000 pounds of DU dust and fragments which lie on Gulf War battlefields. Not only is the U.S. using DU weapons in Bosnia, but at least seventeen countries now have depleted uranium penetrators in their arsenals.
As groups like MTP and Gulf War veterans organizations increase the awareness of the dangers of DU weapons, veterans have begun to request, and have been denied, appropriate testing and treatment of DU-related health problems.
Since 1991, MTP has facilitated networking and information dissemination amongst impacted citizens that live near DU production, mining, testing, and disposal sites, workers from DU manufacturers, Persian Gulf and Atomic veterans, and communities of color.
MTP is a national network of groups working to clean up military pollution, safe-guard the transportation of hazardous materials, and advance pollution prevention and health-related issues at Department of Defense installations. MTPs national office is located in Maine.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Military Toxics Project, (207)783-5091 Dan Fahey, Swords to Plowshares, (415)247-8777 Chris Kornkven, National Gulf War Resource Center, (404)373-5507 Henk Van Der Keur, LAKA, Netherlands 011-31-20-616-8294 Dennis Flaherty, Veterans for Peace, UK 011-44-144-320-4522 Cassandra Garner, Gulf War Veteran Dr. Asaf Durakovic, Washington D.C. Dr. Seigwart Horst Gunther, International Yellow Cross, Austria John Paul Hasko, Former worker Tennessee Nuclear Specialties (TNS) Vina Colley, Worker Portsmouth Enrichment Plant, Ohio
For additional reading see: "Depleted Uranium Environmental Assessment United State Air Force, Nellis AFB." - http://www.rama-usa.org/du.htm
This page contains comments by RAMA , the State of Nevada and others on the Air Force air-to-ground DU fireing range in southern Nevada. The page also contains links to other "DU" information.
Rural Alliance for Military Accountability Links http://www.rama-usa.org/link.htm
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DOE/EIS-0269, Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Alternative Strategies for the Long-Term Management and Use of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/finalpeis.cfm
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4. [Korea] Purpose of suspect tunnel depends on US - N.Korea
10:10 p.m. Jun 09, 1999 Eastern http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
SEOUL, June 10 (Reuters) - North Korea has said the future use of a vast tunnel complex it is building near a mothballed Soviet-era nuclear plant depends on whether Washington lives up to its side of a five-year-old nuclear accord.
A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said a visit by a team of U.S. experts late last month had concluded the construction site in the village of Kumchang-ri ``is an empty tunnel, not related to nuclear development at all.''
``The point is for what the tunnel in Kumchang-ri will be used,'' the spokesman said in a report carried on the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) seen in Seoul on Thursday.
``This depends entirely upon the attitude of the U.S. side concerning the implementation of the DPRK-U.S. agreement reached in New York.''
Under the March 16 agreement, North Korea allowed multiple visits to Kumchang-ri. The United States then promised massive food aid and a potato cultivation project that would be its first bilateral aid project for North Korea.
U.S. State department spokesman James Rubin said last month the U.S. team of experts found an unfinished site, ``the underground portion of which was an extensive, empty tunnel complex.''
``A careful technical analysis of the team's work will now take place before further judgments can be made and reported,'' he added.
The United States is trying to determine if the underground project violates a 1994 accord.
Under that agreement North Korea promised to freeze its nuclear programme in return for a U.S. promise of some $5 billion in new nuclear power technology, alternative energy supplies and increased cooperation.
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US Team Visits Suspected Nuke Site
Thursday, June 10, 1999; 1:36 a.m. EDT http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990610/V000670-061099-idx.html
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea says its ultimate use of a huge tunnel once suspected of being a nuclear facility depends on U.S. attitudes toward the secretive communist state.
A team of U.S. experts visited the mountainside tunnel at Kumchang-ri in late May and found it empty. North Korea said that cleared it of suspicion that it was trying to hide a nuclear plant.
But in a report by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday, North Korea said its ultimate use of the tunnel will depend ``entirely upon the attitude of the U.S. side.''
Any nuclear activity at Kumchang-ri would violate a 1994 agreement with the United States, under which North Korea froze its nuclear program in exchange for two safer nuclear reactors worth $4.6 billion.
The United States is bound by the agreement to improve diplomatic relations and lift decades-old economic sanctions against North Korea. The United States fought on South Korea's side in the 1950-53 Korean War.
The U.S. inspection of the tunnel cleared a major obstacle to efforts by the United States and its allies to engage North Korea's Marxist government politically as well as economically.
William Perry, an envoy for President Clinton, visited Pyongyang in late May to persuade North Korean leaders to abandon their nuclear and missile development programs in exchange for economic and diplomatic benefits.
North Korea has yet to respond to the proposal.
Before it froze its nuclear program under the 1994 accord, North Korea may have extracted enough plutonium to make one or two atomic bombs, U.S. officials say. North Korea has denied the allegation.
U.S. officials also believe that North Korea is the world's largest exporter of missiles, with most sales to Iran and Pakistan.
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Rep. Urges Consultation on N. Korea
By George Gedda, Associated Press, June 9, 1999; 6:36 p.m. EDT http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990609/V000453-060999-idx.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House International Relations Committee chairman Benjamin Gilman said Wednesday he is concerned that the Clinton administration is forging a new policy toward North Korea without adequate consultation with Congress.
Gilman, R-N.Y., outlined his criticism in a statement after former Defense Secretary William Perry gave Gilman and other members of Congress an update on the North Korea policy review he initiated eight months ago at the request of President Clinton.
Gilman said he was concerned that the administration has ``actually completed its review and is moving forward with quiet diplomatic initiatives with North Korea'' without close consultation with the Congress.
He noted that legislation approved last year called for the development of a bipartisan approach to North Korea as a means of easing differences between the administration and the Congress on the issue.
Gilman's statement did not criticize Perry directly and was devoted largely to procedural issues, not substance.
The State Department had no immediate response to Gilman's statement but an administration official disputed the suggestion that the administration is pursuing a new policy. He said Perry has yet to make recommendations on policy changes to President Clinton.
As part of his review, Perry visited North Korea two weeks ago. He said immediately after the visit that he explored with North Korean officials the possibility of a ``major expansion'' in U.S. relations with North Korea if U.S. and allied concerns about North Korea's missile and nuclear programs were addressed.
Of particular concern is North Korea's development of long-range ballistic missiles.
Perry said he traveled to Pyongyang as a presidential envoy and not as a negotiator. ``It will take some time for the DPRK (North Korea) to further reflect on the views I expressed and for us to reflect on our visit,'' he said at the time.
In his statement, Gilman said, ``North Korea continues to be a grave threat to its neighbors, to American troops in the region and to U.S. national security interests.''
He said North Korea policy must be based on a step-by-step program of ``conditional reciprocity'' that is backed by strengthened conventional deterrence as well as a missile defense system in the region.
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North and South Korea Boats Confront Each Other in a Standoff
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, June 10, 1999 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/061099korea-standoff.html
TOKYO -- For the second day in a row, North Korean and South Korean military vessels confronted each other in a tense standoff on Wednesday, with each side accusing the other of intruding into its own waters.
No shots were fired, but in the morning a South Korean boat collided with a North Korean boat that it was trying to keep from going farther south. There were no injuries and no serious damage, but the confrontation seems likely to add to the antagonisms between the Koreas.
American warships were not involved, but American officials said that they were closely monitoring the situation. Some 37,000 American troops are based in South Korea to help deter any attack by North Korea, and the border between the Koreas remains one of the most tense and heavily armed in the world.
According to the South Korean version of events, the episode began Tuesday when six North Korean military vessels headed in single file south of the "northern limit line" that divides the waters to the west of the Koreas. They entered a South Korean "buffer zone" and escorted some fishing boats that were apparently catching crabs that are bountiful on the southern side of the line.
North Korea does not recognize the limit line and sometimes intrudes south of it. Last year, for example, North Korean vessels strayed south of the line 30 times, but in the past they have usually retreated at the first sight of South Korean patrol boats.
This time, the North Korean vessels held their ground, even though 14 South Korean patrol boats were dispatched and ordered them to return to the north. The standoff continued again on Wednesday, and South Korea ordered its own fishing boats to stay out of the area and put some of its warships on alert.
"We don't know North Korea's intentions in detail," said Capt. Shin Han Woo, spokesman for South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, but he said that the goal may simply have been to get food.
"The fact that North Korean fishermen are catching crabs in the buffer zone reflects the severity of the economic situation in the North," Shin said.
North Korea's version of events was rather different. It said that "the South Korean war hawks" had intruded deep into North Korean waters but had fled when approached by North Korean ships.
"These ceaseless military provocations eloquently show that the South Korean rulers are running amok to find an excuse for unleashing a new war, instigated by the U.S. imperialists," North Korea's official news agency declared Wednesday. "They are well advised to stop their rash acts, clearly mindful of the fatal consequences of these provocations."
North Korea's leading newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned in a commentary on Wednesday that North Korea "can never remain a passive onlooker to such provocation."
Still, both sides seemed to be trying to avoid a military clash, and the consequences may be more political than military. President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea has been trying hard to "engage" North Korea and offer it inducements to open up to the world, but each confrontation like this opens him up to criticism for being soft on the North.
The two Koreas had agreed a few days ago to vice-minister level talks on such issues as arranging meetings of divided families, and the naval encounter may make it more difficult to register progress in those talks.
This is also a crucial moment for North Korea because it is considering a U.S. plan, devised by former Defense Secretary William Perry, that could lead to a dramatic improvement in relations between North Korea and the West. North Korea has also been groping toward improved relations with Japan.
North Korea periodically seems to test the South's defenses at land or sea, and although the incidents usually end peacefully they often end up unnerving people in the South.
"Any situation like this is significant, and we take it seriously," said Lee Ferguson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. forces in South Korea. "But it does occur from time to time."
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ANALYSIS--NKorea seen using tensions for leverage
05:46 a.m. Jun 10, 1999 Eastern, By Bill Tarrant http://www.dogpile.com (search newswires "nuclear OR plutonium OR uranium OR radioactiv??? OR radiation")
SEOUL, June 10 (Reuters) - North Korea's naval standoff with the South this week looks like an almost too familiar attempt to use tension to gain leverage in its diplomatic game with Washington and Seoul.
The flare-up in the Yellow Sea happened less than two weeks before the two Koreas are to resume bilateral talks after a 14-month suspension, and just as the United States is preparing a new policy on North Korea.
For four days, both sides have directed a delicate sea ballet, with warships on either side dancing in and out of a South Korean ``buffer zone'' on the sea border, apparently all over a North Korean fleet of crab catchers at the height of the crab season.
It may be all about crabs. But then again, it may not.
``North Korea exports crabs and therefore this is one of their few sources of hard cash,'' said professor Moon Chung-in, director of the Unification Institute at Yonsei University.
But ``it's amazing both sides are restraining their firepower,'' he added. ``It means both North and South have laid the foundations for the terms of engagement for these cases.''
North and South have not been known for restraint since the end of the Korean War in 1953, if they believed they had legal grounds to shoot at a live target on their side of the border.
But does it make economic sense to fund a naval exercise, let alone risk a military confrontation, to sell a few crabs?
Park Young-ho of the Institute for National Unification thinks North Korea is using the crab season as an excuse to make a point about military tensions on the peninsula.
``By utilising the crabs season, the North Korean military authorities are trying to demonstrate instability on the peninsula to get negotiating leverage vis-a-vis the United States and South Korea,'' he said.
That would certainly fit a pattern over the past year, although it is less clear whether Pyongyang thinks that it is achieving real concessions by following such a strategy.
President Bill Clinton's policy coordinator on North Korea, William Perry, said he has offered Pyongyang ``a major expansion in ties'' if it gives up its nuclear and missile programmes and reduces tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Over the past year, North Korea has several times put on a show of military force when diplomatic initiatives to improve ties on the peninsula were announced, or under way.
In June, South Korea captured a spy submarine that contained nine dead crew, who apparently committed suicide to avoid capture.
It was the same day that the honorary chairman of the Hyundai group became the first civilian to walk legally across the militarised border, after holding talks with North Korean officials on billion-dollar business deals.
On August 31, North Korea stunned the world by firing a new long-range missile over Japan and into the Pacific, injecting a new element of strategic tension in the region.
At the time, North Korean representatives were talking with their U.S. counterparts in New York about restraining North Korea's production and export of missiles.
In December, South Korea sank a Northern vessel in its waters, only days after Washington announced that Perry had been appointed to review North Korean policy.
And in late March, Japan's navy chased fast North Korean ships in the guise of fishing boats out of its waters. That was just days after Pyongyang agreed to allow a U.S. team to visit a tunnel complex which Washington suspected could be nuclear-related.
The so-far peaceful standoff may well herald a new approach in the ``terms of engagement'' on the Korean peninsula.
Under President Kim Dae-jung, South Korea has followed a ``sunshine policy'' that puts carrots over sticks in its approach with its northern neighbour.
Communist North Korea, its economy in shambles and with few friends in the post-Cold War, has to rely on international handouts to feed its 22 million people. It can ill afford any military confrontation.
One North-Korean watcher in Seoul, noting it's never easy to figure out what the secretive, Stalinist leadership in Pyongyang is up to, said the standoff in the Yellow Sea may just be about crabs, after all.
``It could be what is on the face of it -- a run-of-the-mill dispute over patches of water.''