* Gulf War syndrome tied to brain damage
* Plutonium hot potato to Canada
US may ship fuel rods beginning Dec. 2.
Activists oppose Ottawa's hope to burn weapons-grade fuel.
* Chernobyl plant to reach 100% of output
* Key Lesson of Chernobyl Has Been Lost Worldwide, aging nuclear plants and nuclear weapons bode ill for the new millennium.
* Russia's Pacific Fleet Sees No Y2K Computer Chaos
* U.S. Diplomat Detained in Moscow
* Russia claims U.S. diplomat is spy
* Russia arrests U.S. diplomat on charges of nuclear spying
* Russia Discloses Details of Former Chemical Arms Program
* Russians say Mir space station is Y2K compliant.
* Nuclear Rookies India, Pakistan Under Y2K Cloud
* FOCUS-Sydkraft to get state power for nuclear closure sweden
* Greenpeace Wins Court Case on Nuclear Waste
* U.S. Missile Defense No Threat to NATO-Cohen
* Scientists Attend 'Radiation and Risk' Town Hall Meeting
* CH2M HILL Agrees to Acquire Lockheed Martin Hanford
Company To Take Over Hanford Tank Farm Operations (3 stories)
* Leak Shuts Down Nuclear Plant (Louisiana)
* Entergy's Don Hintz Keynotes PowerGen Conference, Talks of New Ways to Satisfy Customers and Shareholders
* Texas Firm Applies For Waste Permit - (ODESSA, Texas)
* South Carolina accepts waste from 38 states
* Robot Helps Clean Up - (ROCKY FLATS)
* U.S. suspends nuclear waste shipments to N.M. site
* Plant operator must decide whether to continue Russian deal
* U.S. launches probe in Piketon Inquiry to determine if plant workers should be compensated for illnesses
* CBS, CNN Report On Louisville Stories - (LOUISVILLE KY)
* International Isotopes Inc Obtains State Approval for Increased Production Of Medical Radioisotopes
* THQ Ships Nuclear Strike 64 For Nintendo
* Bill Bradley calls for talks with Russia on missile cuts (7 stories)
* Teaching Dubya
* Poll questions
* After the Storm, an Ecological Bomb
* Navy Petty Officer Is Accused of Spying (2 stories)
* Officer charged with passing secrets
* Whistleblower Act Jeopardized After Court Widens an Issue
* Trade Talks Start in Seattle Despite a Few Disruptions

-----------

Gulf War syndrome tied to brain damage

By Dan Vergano, USA Today 11/30/99- Updated 04:51 PM ET Nov. 30, 1999
http://www.usatoday.com/life/health/general/lhgen187.htm

Researchers claim to have proof of brain-cell death among victims of Gulf War syndrome.

"We have objective evidence that this is not a syndrome but a disease that damages the brain," says study leader James Fleckenstein of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

In the study, presented Tuesday at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago, Fleckenstein and colleagues offered the results of brain analyses of 40 veterans of similar ages and backgrounds. Gulf War syndrome afflicted 22 of the study participants.

Researchers examined two regions of the veterans' brains, both areas associated with neurological ailments similar to Gulf War syndrome. Instead of a conventional brain scan, the researchers employed a device called a magnetic resonance spectroscope, which displays the chemical composition of body tissues.

Radiologists reading the results were kept uninformed about which veterans provided which readings. According to Fleckenstein, they detected a 10% to 25% loss of brain cells in the men with Gulf War syndrome.

"I wouldn't go to court with this, but it tends to say there may be something real going on in these veterans," says medical physicist William Perman of St. Louis University.

Fleckenstein's results follow findings by one of his colleagues, Robert Haley, that victims of Gulf War syndrome may suffer from separate ailments caused by overexposure to toxic substances.

People with the so-called syndrome 2 suffer brain-cell deficiencies in the brain stem and in a region of the brain called the basal ganglia, Fleckenstein says. These regions play a role in movement, respiration and reasoning.

Study participants with thinking disorders suffered damage solely in the basal ganglia, Fleckenstein says. Those suffering joint pain had brain damage only in the brain stem, he adds.

The researchers say as many as 100,000 Gulf War veterans suffer from fatigue, difficulty thinking and other ailments that can prevent them from working.

"I think there's growing acceptance that the syndrome definitely is real," says Michael Weiner of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco .

If the findings can be reproduced in other medical centers, Fleckenstein predicts, the syndrome diagnosis and treatment will rely on brain scans.

Recently, researchers have focused on the possibility that exposure to toxins such as potassium bromide or components of chemical weapons triggered Gulf War syndrome. Fleckenstein speculates that victims may suffer a physiological inability to fend off toxins.

"At this time, any speculation about excessive neuronal (brain cell) damage in Gulf veterans is premature," says a statement that Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman Terry Jemison faxed to USA TODAY in response to a request for comment on the study. He called for other researchers to reproduce the results.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has supported 145 research projects involving Gulf War syndrome, at a cost of $133.5 million. Fleckenstein received funding from the Defense Department and the Dallas-based Perot Foundation to conduct his study.

----------- canada

Plutonium hot potato to Canada
US may ship fuel rods beginning Dec. 2.
Activists oppose Ottawa's hope to burn weapons-grade fuel.

NOVEMBER 30, 1999 Ruth Walker, Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/11/30/fp6s1-csm.shtml

TORONTO

To its defenders, the Parallex project - an experiment to dispose of plutonium from Russian and American warheads - is a "swords into plowshares" initiative in the noblest peacemaking traditions of Canadian foreign policy.

As early as Thursday, the first small sample of weapons-grade plutonium is allowed to leave Michigan for the Chalk River research reactor in Ontario for a three-year "test burn."

This test could open the door for Canadian commercial nuclear power plants to be running, within about 10 years, off excess military plutonium.

But to critics, the attempt risks bringing Canada into the dangerous plutonium trade and turning the country into a dumping ground for the world's nuclear waste. And the prospect of even the test shipments has caused alarm.

"What I find most perplexing is that our government is promoting this as a nonproliferation measure," says Kristin Ostling, national director for the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout in Ottawa. She calls the project "about the worst thing Canada can do to promote nonproliferation."

Environmentalists, citizens' groups, the police and firefighters' associations, and others have protested the shipment. The Mohawk Indians have threatened to block the route.

Disposal problem

At the heart of the controversy is disagreement over how best to deal with excess weapons-grade plutonium. The US can easily dispose of its own inventory in commercial reactors, but will ship its sample to Chalk River to help keep the Canadian option open for Russia. Russia, meanwhile, with its limited reactor capacity, could take 25 years to dispose of its excess on its own.

No date has been made public for the shipment of the US sample, but it could occur as early as Dec. 2. The Russian shipment is seen as likely to occur in the spring.

The Canadian scenario involves mixing the plutonium with natural uranium into so-called mixed-oxide fuel pellets, or MOX. These pellets are a sort of higher-octane nuclear fuel than natural uranium, which Candu reactors, designed and marketed by the Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), of Mississauga, Ont., normally run on. Hence the need for the Chalk River test.

But opponents of the MOX project argue that a better solution is vitrification, encasing the plutonium in a sort of glass log, or keeping it buried under military guard.

Critics of that option counter that vitrified plutonium can be made back into nuclear weapons, unlike plutonium put into MOX pellets. "Vitrification does not destroy plutonium," AECL spokesman Larry Shewchuk says.

He adds, "There is no risk to the public in the transport of this material," which will travel in 45-gallon drums, by truck and by freight container. It will be so solidly packaged that "no accident scenario" is credible.

"The worst thing you can do with plutonium is make it part of international commerce," says Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. Any time nuclear materials travel from one point to another, particularly internationally, there is opportunity for what is delicately known as "diversion."

Why is Ottawa persisting with a project so unpopular with at least a very vocal part of the public?

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is widely seen as a prime cheerleader for the Canadian nuclear industry. Even on tour in earthquake-ravaged Turkey recently, he continued to talk up the AECL's bid to build a reactor there, insisting it would be "perfectly safe."

Moreover, critics say AECL sees the Parallex project as an opportunity to demonstrate the capacity of CANDU reactors to run on other fuels, a marketing plus.

Who would profit

Mr. Shewchuk, of the AECL, dismisses this argument. "What makes them attractive is that they run on natural uranium, which is a cheap source of fuel - in line with coal." Nor is there much money in all this for AECL, he adds. "It would be the utilities" that would benefit from any large-scale MOX imports.

The US is expected to chip in a few billion dollars up front to help with the cost of handling Russian plutonium. "But in the long haul, the Russians and the G-7 [the group of seven major industrialized nations] will have to work it out," says Franklyn Griffiths, a political scientist at the University of Toronto. "The US won't pay for everything." But the Russians are insisting on a full market price for this "national treasure."

"If you really want to contain nuclear proliferation, you should do something to strengthen Russia's materials-controlling capacity," Professor Griffiths says. This means such basics as "better perimeter fences" at nuclear sites, "locks on doors, things like that."

Meanwhile, Canada's own security standards have been called into question. Tom Clements of the Nuclear Control Institute in Washington has released a statement criticizing lax security procedures he observed while touring the Chalk River site. "It would be easy ... to carry a weapon or explosive device onto the ... site."

"I don't know anyone in their right mind who would be against destroying nuclear weapons," says Shewchuk. He says that after holding open houses along the transport routes to inform the public about the Parallex project, "9 out of 10 of the people who walked up to us afterward said, 'I think this is important research.... Keep going.... We support you.' "

He adds that the scientist preparing the Russian test sample in Moscow is one who earlier in his career helped develop the nuclear arsenal of what was then the USSR. "His entire research life has come full circle."

For further information:

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
http://www.aecl.ca/

Canada prepares for plutonium imports Bellona Foundation
http://www.bellona.no/cgi-bin/bellona/imaker?sub=1&id=8606

"Do Not Approve Plutonium Imports" ~ CCNR to Transport Canada,
http://www.ccnr.org/mox_transport_ccnr.html

Hot Leftovers from a Cold War Plutonium Imports to Canada Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
http://www.ccnr.org/briarpatch_mox.html

----------- ukraine

Chernobyl plant to reach 100% of output

USA Today 11/30/99
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm#yeltsin

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant was set to reach its full operating output Monday, three days after authorities restarted it. Chernobyl operators launched the second turbo-alternator of the plant's only working reactor Monday, and it was expected to reach 100% of its electrical capacity by afternoon, officials said. The No. 3 reactor was shut down July 1 for planned repairs. Chernobyl officials insist the reactor is safe. But Western governments and environmental groups have urged the former Soviet republic to shut down the plant completely since reactor No. 4 exploded in 1986, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe. That reactor is now covered by a steel-and-concrete sarcophagus, which itself is undergoing repairs.

---

Key Lesson of Chernobyl Has Been Lost Worldwide, aging nuclear plants and nuclear weapons bode ill for the new millennium.

Los Angeles Times Tuesday, November 30, 1999 By ROBERT SCHEER
http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/19991130/t000109088.html

The two-hour van ride from the Kiev train station to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant took us through numerous checkpoints in a desolate countryside where 136,000 people had been evacuated. Eerie is the only word that can properly embrace the loneliness of deserted hamlets and farms where humans were afraid to live. Clothing still hung on the lines uncollected almost a year after the disaster.

Finally, at the nuclear power plant gate, after being outfitted with outer garments to ward off radiation and Geiger counters to measure it, I experienced the dubious distinction of being the first U.S. newspaper reporter permitted to visit the control room and turbines of the plant adjacent to the one that had suffered a meltdown on April 26, 1986. That's the same plant that reopened last week despite Western objections that it is not Y2K ready, a charge that does give one pause.

What made that occasion of my visit 11 months after the disaster so terrifying was the prevalence of confusion and fear about the enduring consequences of the worst nuclear accident the world has witnessed. The toll from the radiation that spewed over neighboring countries is not yet complete. But cancer rates are up, babies are routinely born deformed, and half a million heavily irradiated acres in neighboring Belarus remain off limits to humans.

The 1986 disaster occurred in one of four Chernobyl reactors, and the smoldering, forever-deadly ruin was hurriedly encased in a sarcophagus of concrete and steel. Now that sarcophagus is old, cracking and possibly leaking. Repairs are planned, but Ukraine, which is now an independent but poor country, has been slow to make them because it's short of cash. For money reasons, the country justifies reopening the one surviving reactor, after five months of repairs, until $1.1 billion is supplied by the West for a new nuclear plant.

The U.S. State Department warns that Ukraine "appears to be unprepared" to deal with the Y2K bug for its computer-run nuclear plants. The department said there is "a risk of potential disruption in all key sectors, especially the energy and electric services." That's ominous because the meltdown at Chernobyl was caused by disruption when engineers shut down the operation abruptly to conduct safety experiments. Any sudden interruption of power to the remaining nuclear plant in Chernobyl--or elsewhere--because of a Y2K computer glitch might produce horrible results.

Ukraine is a bitterly cold place in winter, and it is no small matter that 40% of its electricity comes from aging nuclear power plants. A deal needs to be cut between the rich West and the Ukrainian government to make the Chernobyl plant safe by Jan. 1.

But the inherent risks of nuclear power pales in comparison to the much more serious threat of nuclear weapons, which are designed to wreak maximum havoc. And remember, the 3,000 missile warheads in Russia that are cocked for imminent firing are aimed at us. They, too, might experience a Y2K problem.

As potentially dangerous as nuclear power plants are, they, at least, are designed for peaceful use. Perhaps it's helpful that arrangements have been made for Russian military experts to be sitting in a room at the air defenses command in Colorado as the New Year's ball falls to reassure their colleagues back home that blips that might appear on their radar screens do not represent U.S. missile launches. But that we and the Russians have made so little progress in getting rid of nuclear weapons in the 10 years since the end of the Cold War is a scandal.

At the time, Chernobyl was a stunning reminder of the nuclear threat. In the old Soviet Union, it put a stop to the dangerous belief of some in civil defense and civilization's ability to survive a nuclear war. "It didn't change my thinking about civil defense because I never believed in it," said Yevgeny Velikhov, the nuclear physicist who oversaw containment of the Chernobyl meltdown, "but it opened the eyes of all people that civil defense is nonsense."

Within hours after the meltdown, Velikhov flew in a helicopter over the plant as it belched its radiation, risking his own life to survey the damage. "With Chernobyl, we were able to mobilize the resources of the entire country," he told me, "but a nuclear war involves many more frightening incidents, including the more devastating effects of blast and heat. So what could you do? Nothing."

That key lesson of Chernobyl has been lost. Hopefully a Y2K disaster will not bring it to the fore.

-------- russia

Russia's Pacific Fleet Sees No Y2K Computer Chaos

Reuters Tuesday November 30 6:28 PM ET Infoseek

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - Russia's Pacific Fleet, which includes atomic submarines, said Tuesday it had taken measures to prevent the Y2K computer bug from accidentally launching its nuclear weapons.

Officials have played down any worries over Russia's nuclear arsenal, the world's second largest, saying it is protected from the Y2K bug, which experts worry could scramble systems that cannot read the two final zeros when the date changes to 2000.

``Security systems, systems which control armaments, including nuclear weapons, use sophisticated technology which will not be affected by computer malfunctions,'' Yuri Bogun, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet, told Reuters.

``The year 2000 problem will not affect the fleet. ... We have taken some measures, which although not typical, are very good,'' he said from the fleet's headquarters in Russia's far east.

Bogun said all the fleet's departments would work overnight on New Year's Eve to ensure the Y2K bug does not scramble its computer systems when the clock strikes midnight on December 31.

Russian officials have said the vast nation would not suffer computer chaos in the New Year, shrugging off some foreign forecasts that it could suffer power and energy cuts.

Russian and U.S. military personnel have also agreed to spend New Year's Eve sitting side by side in a missile command center in Colorado to prevent either side thinking the other has launched any of the missiles in their massive nuclear arsenals.

Moscow has been criticized for its slow response in waking up to the risks of the millennium bug and a recent State Department report said Russians across 11 time zones could face a dark, cold new year.

Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, charged with handling the problem, said earlier this month that Russians would notice nothing more than the results of the odd ``non-critical'' system malfunctioning.

---

U.S. Diplomat Detained in Moscow

New York Times Filed at 6:54 a.m. EDT November 30, 1999 By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Russia-US-Espionage.html
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,145007529,00.html?

MOSCOW (AP) -- A U.S. diplomat was briefly detained by Russia's security services, which said she was caught while trying to obtain secret information from a Russian citizen, a Russian official said today.

The diplomat, who serves as the second secretary in the U.S. Embassy's political section, was detained in Moscow on Monday evening and released shortly afterward, said Alexander Zdanovich, chief spokesman for the Federal Security Service, or FSB.

Speaking on Russian television, Zdanovich claimed the diplomat worked for the CIA and was caught ``red-handed while conducting an espionage operation.''

Zdanovich didn't identify the diplomat, but the Interfax news agency said her name was Cheri Leberknight.

U.S. Embassy officials refused to comment on the report. A duty officer at the FSB headquarters confirmed the arrest but refused to give any additional details.

Zdanovich said the U.S. diplomat ``tried to obtain documentary materials of a military-strategic character which were secrets of the state.''

After she was detained, the diplomat was taken to the FSB offices, where a Russian Foreign Ministry representative and U.S. diplomats were immediately summoned. Shortly afterward, the U.S. diplomat was released.

``The Russian side made a resolute protest to the latter in connection with the diplomat's actions, which were incompatible with her status,'' Zdanovich said.

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said today he hoped the arrest would not damage relations between Russia and the United States, which have been strained over several issues recently.

``We're counting on this incident not to damage bilateral relations,'' Ivanov said after a meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is on a three-day visit to Moscow.

But, he added, ``the episode doesn't promote the improvement of the climate in relations.''

Russian and the United States disagree on issues that include Moscow's military campaign in Chechnya, Washington's desire to modify a missile defense treaty and the Russian parliament's refusal to ratify a treaty on cutting down nuclear arms. Russia was also strongly opposed to NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia earlier this year.

---

Russia claims U.S. diplomat is spy

UPI Updated 1:35 PM ET November 30, 1999
http://webcrawler-news.excite.com/news/u/991130/13/international-us-spy

MOSCOW, Nov. 30 (UPI) Russian-U.S. relations, already strained to a dangerous level not seen since the end of the Cold War over Russia's military crackdown in Chechnya, received another jolt on Tuesday with the announcement by Moscow that Russian secret services had detained a U.S. diplomat for spying.

Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, said Cheri Leberknight, a second secretary with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, was allegedly caught red-handed on Monday night as she was attempting to collect a secret package containing classified military information from a Russian citizen.

FSB spokesman Alexander Zdanovich said the 33-year-old diplomat, allegedly working for the Central Intelligence Agency, had been detained while "trying to obtain documents on military and strategic information classified as state secret."

Zdanovich said the U.S. diplomat had been equipped with special surveillance equipment and James Bond-style gizmos such as invisible ink.

The FSB official said detention of a diplomat was a serious matter, but his organization "had to act because of the danger that serious secrets could be smuggled abroad."

The detained diplomat was taken to FSB headquarters for questioning and the U.S. consul was summoned, whereupon she was released into U.S. custody.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said he hoped the incident would not damage Russian-U.S. relations, but noted that "this will not help improve the climate between the two countries."

Ivanov said the detained diplomat would "leave Moscow in the nearest future," and foreign ministry officials said a formal protest would be filed with the U.S. Embassy.

It was unclear if Leberknight would be declared persona non grata, or would be allowed to leave Moscow quietly.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed that Leberknight works for the political section of the U.S. mission, but declined to confirm or even comment on the incident or the Russian charges. The State Department also declined to comment at its regular briefing in Washington.

The detention comes on the heels of the early-November arrest of a U. S. Navy code-breaker on charges of spying for Russia.

U.S. officials have charged Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel King with espionage and disclosing classified information five years ago. King, 40, is reportedly being held in Quantico, Va., pending a hearing to decide whether charges should be formally brought. If convicted, King could face the death penalty.

The Navy said Monday that King admitted to passing classified information to Russia, but added that his story was inconsistent.

The FSB's Zdanovich denied there was any link between the two cases, claiming the timing of the detention of the U.S. diplomat was "a coincidence" and that the operation to detain Leberknight had been planned for some time.

Last July, Russia quietly asked the U.S. to transfer one of its diplomats, an assistant military attache, out of Moscow because of Russia's suspicions of his involvement in espionage.

The last major tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats came in 1994, when U.S. Counselor James Morris was expelled by Moscow in retaliation for Washington's expulsion of a Russian intelligence officer.

---

Russia arrests U.S. diplomat on charges of nuclear spying
Navy officer charged with selling secrets to Russia

Anchorage Daily News November 30, 1999 9:10 p.m. EST By ANGELA CHARLTON
http://www.nando.net/24hour/adn/global/story/0,1970,500063368-500104778-500465661-0,00.html
http://www2.nando.net/noframes/story/0,2107,500063368-500104778-500465661-0,00.html

MOSCOW ( http://www.nandotimes.com) - Threatening to further strain already thorny relations with the United States, Russia announced Tuesday that its security services caught a U.S. diplomat trying to collect secret military information from a Russian citizen.

Russian security officials said Cheri Leberknight, a political attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, worked for the CIA and was caught red-handed while conducting an espionage operation. Officials also said they seized an array of spying devices.

The brief detention dominated Russian newscasts Tuesday, with beaming Russian intelligence officials boasting that they had not lost their touch when it came to grabbing Western spies.

"The recent operations of Russian agents clearly testify to the fact that we not only haven't lost our mastery, but we're ready to actively counteract intelligence agents of the richest countries of the world," said Alexander Zdanovich of the Federal Security Service, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

U.S. Embassy officials refused to comment on the incident.

When asked in Washington about the Leberknight case, President Clinton said: "What we should do is investigate this like we do all others, but I don't think we should stop our efforts to try to drastically cut nuclear weapons or end corruption in Russia or do all the other things we're supporting."

A U.S. Navy petty officer was arrested in the United States earlier this month on charges of spying for Russia - raising the possibility of a tit-for-tat arrest, as often happened during the Cold War. Russian officials insisted the cases were not linked.

Relations between the United States and Russia are already strained by Moscow's military campaign in Chechnya, major arms-control agreements, corruption scandals and NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia this spring.

Leberknight, a second secretary in the embassy's political section, was detained in Moscow on Monday evening and released shortly afterward, said Zdanovich.

"Detention of a diplomat is a very serious action, and we weighed everything before doing it," he said. "We had to do it because of the danger that very serious secrets could be smuggled abroad."

The Interfax news agency quoted unidentified security officials as saying Leberknight was collecting information on Russian nuclear weapons.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said he hoped the Leberknight incident would not damage U.S.-Russian ties, but added that "such episodes don't help improve the climate in relations."

U.S.-Russian relations have steadily deteriorated since U.S. and British strikes on Iraq a year ago. Russia then harshly criticized NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia and U.S. plans to modify the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

U.S. criticism of Moscow's military action in Chechnya has irritated Russia and added to tensions.

In recent years, Russian officials have frequently accused Western nations of spying on Russia and arrested several suspected agents.

The last time the Russians publicly accused an American diplomat of spying was in February 1994, when Moscow expelled U.S. Embassy counselor James L. Morris. The move came in response to Washington's expulsion of an alleged Russian intelligence officer.

---

Russia Discloses Details of Former Chemical Arms Program

New York Times November 30, 1999 By JUDITH MILLER
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/world/russia-chemicals.html

Not long after Congress cut American assistance to Russian programs aimed at destroying chemical weapons stockpiles, Russia has disclosed new details about its former chemical weapons program.

In an article published on Monday in a magazine of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the Hague-based international agency that oversees the 1993 treaty banning chemical weapons, three Russian officials said Russia had 24 former poison gas factories, 6 of which it plans to destroy, and 18 of which it has either converted to peaceful use or intends to convert, rather than destroy.

The Russians also appealed in their article in the magazine Synthesis for financial aid for their chemical weapons destruction and conversion program, as well as international blessing for their desire to convert 10 of the 18 factories.

Government and private chemical weapons experts called the article the first detailed public description of Russia's former chemical weapons factories, its plans for them and the cost of such plans.

The disclosures come on the eve of a meeting of the 41-member executive council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which was founded to monitor the carrying out of the treaty ratified by more than 125 nations, including the United States and Russia. Council approval is needed for Russia's request to convert, rather than destroy, the former chemical weapons factories, and it will then need approval by the organization's full assembly, set to meet next May.

The article asserts that because Russia can afford only 10 percent of the $110 million required to demilitarize its former poison gas factories, "financial assistance from other countries is crucial."

"The rate of submission of the relevant documentation to the O.P.C.W., and consequently, of the destruction and conversion of the facilities, will depend on the financial resources available," say the authors. They are Svetlana Utkina, the division head of the National Scientific Center of the State Institute on Organic Chemistry and Technology; Aleksandr Gorbovsky, a department head of the Russian Agency on Munitions, and Aleksandr Zhuchkov, a department chief at the Russian Ministry of Economy.

The officials also say destroying rather than converting the factories, some of which are already engaged in peaceful production, would cost Russia up to a $1 billion in lost revenue, which it can ill afford.

Russia has privately shared this kind of information about its former chemical arms program with the prohibition organization, as the treaty and agreements with the United States require. Washington has spent roughly $150 million helping Russia to destroy and convert such factories. But Moscow has been reluctant to discuss details of the poison gas factories or plans for them.

In addition, the Russian government has repeatedly denied assertions by Soviet defectors and American officials that it developed and tested a new class of highly lethal chemical weapons. These so-called binary weapons, in which two chemical agents become lethal when joined in a munition, are called novichuk, which in Russian means "new guy."

Russia has grown more willing to discuss certain aspects of its conversion and destruction programs as its concerns about financing them have mounted. Last week, Congress eliminated all funds to help Russia build a pilot plan to destroy its nerve agent-filled munitions at Shchuchye, where 13.6 percent of the Russian stockpile is stored.

"These weapons aren't going to destroy themselves," said Amy E. Smithson, senior associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, in Washington. "If the Pentagon want to ensure that U.S. troops never encounter this stuff on a battlefield, it will have to persuade Congress to resume funding chemical weapons destruction assistance for Russia."

In their article, the Russian officials said equipment that could make chemical weapons had already been removed from 8 of the 18 factories scheduled for conversion. But considerable foreign aid would be required to demilitarize the remaining 10, which had been used to produce sarin, soman and their precursors, the authors said.

---

Russians say Mir space station is Y2K compliant.

Florida Today Nov. 30, 1999 The Associated Press
http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/1999b/113099k.htm
http://www.foxnews.com/js_index.sml?content=/scitech/113099/mir.sml
http://www2.nando.net/noframes/story/0,2107,500063048-500104259-500459420-0,00.html
http://www.canoe.com/TechNews9911/30_y2k_3.html

MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian space official said that the 13-year-old Mir orbital station would not suffer any computer failures from the Y2K bug, ITAR-Tass news agency reported Monday.

The station - currently unmanned - has been slated to be discarded and pitched into the Pacific Ocean sometime next year.

Even in normal years, the station has suffered serious accidents, including a fire, a collision and a malfunction that sent it spinning.

But the year 2000 computer glitch will not bring it down early, Russian Space Agency spokesman Sergei Gorbunov said.

He said mission control engineers, known for their ability to keep the ship aloft through catastrophes, were not expecting any millennial malfunctions, which have been anticipated in computers that mistake the year 2000 for 1900.

The computer systems used to guide the Mir station as it zips around the world every 90 minutes have undergone several upgrades since the core module was launched in 1986.

Meanwhile, the chief of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, which controls the country's ballistic missile fleet, said his agency was ''nearing completion'' on Y2K compliance. Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev said the work would be done by December.

Russia has been far behind other countries in preparing for possible Y2K problems. But the U.S. military has been working with Russian officials to ensure that the computer bug does not threaten Russia's nuclear missile systems, and has said it does not expect serious malfunctions on Dec. 31.

-------- india/pakistan

Nuclear Rookies India, Pakistan Under Y2K Cloud

Reuters Tuesday November 30 6:27 PM ET By Narayanan Madhavan
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991130/tc/yk_missiles_1.html

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The clock is ticking but the world's newest nuclear powers have not yet totally dispelled fears that the Y2K bug may accidentally set their war machines in motion.

Barely a month before the turn of the year, it is still unclear whether old enemies India and Pakistan, which came close to their fourth war this year, have unambiguously eliminated the possibility.

The two South Asian nations have in the past taken limited confidence-building measures such as installing a telephone hotline between their army headquarters aimed at preventing accidental wars or triggers. But there is no official confirmation they have taken extra steps to ensure the Y2K computer bug does not pose such problems in their nuclear age, which dawned in 1998 after tit-for-tat underground tests.

Security analysts are worried. Unlike the United States and Russia, India and Pakistan have not publicized or confirmed -- and probably have not made -- coordinated efforts to ensure that a Y2K fault does not trigger isunderstandings.

Tim McDonald of the British American Security Information Council notes that the United States and Russia agreed to swap personnel to avoid misunderstandings over the Y2K period.

``I'm worried about people who haven't committed so much close assessment and analysis, like India and Pakistan,'' he told Reuters in London. ``Their systems are much more fragile.''

The Y2K, or Year 2000, problem can occur in computers that denote years only by their last two digits. Unless rectified, this could cause malfunctions when the new year dawns.

McDonald said he was receiving mixed messages about Russia but thought it was not as vulnerable to Y2K as Western systems. He said he was not sure about China or Israel.

Bad Blood

``The real problem with Y2K is the uncertainty it creates, which could lead to increased chances of accidental launch,'' he said. ``India and Pakistan have very unsophisticated radar systems and they are such close neighbors they have much less time to respond to potential attacks.''

It is not easy for Pakistan and India to talk. They stood on the verge of war between May and July, when Indian troops fought off intruders from Pakistan's side of disputed Kashmir. Relations have soured even further after a military coup in Islamabad in October.

More significant, they have no publicized stock of nuclear warheads.

A key Indian official involved in Y2K compliance said there was no doubt Indian missiles, which can carry all types of warheads, are Y2K compliant. But he said he could not comment on nuclear warheads.

``There are three aspects of Y2K compliance: preparedness, when a missile does not fire because of the problem; defense response, when somebody else is not prepared; and accidental missile mishaps,'' said the official, asking for anonymity. ``In all three sectors they (defense authorities) have confirmed there is compliance,'' he said.

Other Indian officials were unavailable for comment on Y2K-related measures and nuclear warheads.

Pakistani officials could not be reached.

Kanti Bajpai, professor of international relations at New Delhi's Jawharlal Nehru University, said nuclear weapons in India were not in a ready state to create possible Y2K problems.

``I don't think nuclear warheads have been mated with delivery systems. There are a number of Prithvis (medium-range missiles) with the military, but these at best may have been loaded with conventional ordnance,'' he said.

He said the absence of a nuclear risk regime involving scientific contacts to prevent unauthorized launches was a matter of concern and confidence-building measures were necessary. ``But given the current no-business approach to Pakistan, all this seems way off.''

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FOCUS-Sydkraft to get state power for nuclear closure sweden

Reuters 08:08 a.m. Nov 30, 1999 Eastern By Inger Sethov
http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a0864LBY518reulb-19991130&qt=%2Bnuclear&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

STOCKHOLM, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Sweden's power group Sydkraft , the Swedish state and its utility Vattenfall unveiled a deal on Tuesday to compensate Sydkraft for its Barseback 1 nuclear power reactor.

The agreement, under negotiations on and off since the government ordered the shutdown in 1997, would give Sydkraft part ownership in Vattenfall's nuclear power plant Ringhals.

``Sydkraft will shut down Barseback 1 today, November 30, and will simultaneously receive equivalent power supplied by Vattenfall,'' said a joint statement from Sydkraft, Vattenfall and the Industry Ministry.

The Barseback 1 closure will be the first step in a government programme to end nuclear power production by 2010. Sweden's Supreme Court on Monday rejected Sydkraft's last attempt to suspend the shutdown after years of protests and legal appeals.

Under the deal, Sydkraft's nuclear subisidiary Barseback Kraft AB and Vattenfall's Ringhals AB would merge into one unit, owned 74.2 percent by Vattenfall and 25.8 pecent by Sydkraft, the statement said.

``We are receiving compensation in the form of equivalent electricity production at the same cost and with the same environmental impact. That gives us full compensation,'' said Sydkraft Chief Executive Lars Frithiof.

The new unit, to operate Ringhals' four reactors and Barseback's unit two, would have an annual production capacity of around 30 terawatt hours (TWh) out of Sweden's 70 TWh total annual nuclear power output.

Vattenfall, whose settlement would be worth 5.7 billion crowns, will sell production capacity at Ringhals to the state at market levels, receive 2.65 billion crowns in cash during a four-year period in addition to 74.2 percent of the output at Barseback 2.

``In commercial terms, this agreement meets the conditions that Vattenfall has stipulated, both in terms of the level of compensation and the form the agreement takes,'' said Vattenfall chief negotiator Staffan Nordin.

DEAL COULD BE EXPANDED

Sydkraft would pay 113 million crowns a year to Vattenfall to compensate for differing production costs. Barseback production costs are 1.4 oere per kilowatt hour higher than at Ringhals.

If the phase-out plan continues, the terms of agreement could be expanded. Barseback's second reactor is due to shut in 2001 as part of the government phase-out programme.

``If Barseback 2 is then closed through a political decision, Sydkraft will get a larger share that corresponds to the electricity production from Barseback 2,'' the statement said.

The state would also pay a total of 3.3 billion crowns in compensation for the extra costs of single operation of Barseback 2, compared with the relatively cheaper costs of running two units.

Sydkraft would take on the costs of closing down any reactors at Barseback as Vattenfall would be responsible for possible future closures at Ringhals.

According to the government plan, there is no set schedule for shutting down any of Sweden's other 10 nuclear power reactors.

SHAREHOLDER MEETING DEC 22

The closure deal, already approved by Vattefall's board, would be put to Sydkraft shareholders at a meeting on December 22. It also required approval by parliament, expected to vote on the issue during its spring session.

Sydkraft is owned around 26 percent by Norwegian state power producer Statkraft SF and 21 percent by German utility Preussen Elektra.

Sydkraft shares were trading one crown softer at 151 crowns in early afternoon trade in Stockholm along with a 1.2 percent drop in the OMX stock index. The closure deal was broadly in line with market expectations.

-------- netherlands

Greenpeace Wins Court Case on Nuclear Waste

Reuters Tuesday November 30 12:46 AM ET / Infoseek Search

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) - Environmental group Greenpeace won a long-running court battle with the Dutch government on Monday when the country's highest court upheld its request for a ban on transportation of nuclear waste.

The Council of State ruled there was insufficient justification for transporting radioactive waste from the nuclear plant in Dodewaard in southeastern Netherlands to the Sellafield reprocessing facility in Britain.

The government had not given a sufficiently detailed description of the route from Dodewaard to the port of Vlissingen, the court ruling added. Greenpeace had argued that residents along the route should be informed of transport plans in case they objected.

The environmental lobby, which was awarded costs in the case, also said that radioactivity was released into the environment during waste reprocessing.

The court also ruled that spent nuclear rods from a reactor at the Energy Test Center in the northern Dutch city of Petten could not be transported to a storage facility in the southwest.

Greenpeace had argued the site was suited only to mildly radioactive waste.

-------- nato

U.S. Missile Defense No Threat to NATO-Cohen

Reuters 12:32 a.m. Nov 30, 1999 Eastern By Charles Aldinger
http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a3348roptz-19991129&qt=%2Bnuclear&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

MUNICH (Reuters) - Defense Secretary William Cohen assured NATO allies Monday that American plans to develop a revolutionary national defense against nuclear missiles would not harm Washington's commitment to European security.

``This will not in any way affect the NATO security relationship. The United States is still bound and will respond to any attack upon any of the NATO countries from external sources,'' Cohen told reporters traveling with him at the start of a five-day European visit.

He said he would brief alliance defense chiefs at a two-day meeting in Brussels beginning Thursday to address fears in European capitals that any lone U.S. ability to shoot down ballistic missiles might isolate Washington from the allies and trash U.S.-Russian arms accords.

In fact, Cohen said on his aircraft en route to Munich from Washington that allies should join the Pentagon in the costly and so-far incomplete development of a limited defense against emerging missile threats from what Washington regards as rogue nations such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

``We will have a briefing during the course of the meeting in Brussels to outline the nature of the emerging and growing threat and to lay out the architecture of how the United States proposes to deal with that threat,'' he told reporters.

Cohen stressed again that if President Clinton decided as early as next July to begin building a technically-challenging but very limited national defense against missile attack that such a step would not neutralize Russia's strategic arsenal of thousands of warheads.

He also denied a report that the United States and its allies might be planning to withdraw all of the small number of U.S. nuclear bombs still stationed at some bases in Europe after the Cold War.

``That report is not only unfounded, but it is false,'' he said in response to a question, repeating earlier denials by NATO and U.S. officials.

``There is no such proposal under way and there is no consideration being given to it. It is a totally fabricated story,'' Cohen said. He refused to comment further, citing security reasons.

The press report emerged following a widely publicized and controversial article this year by private nuclear arms experts in the United States that the allies still had a small number -- fewer than 100 -- of nuclear bombs stationed at bases in Western Europe, including Italy, Britain and Germany.

Cohen, who will travel to Romania and make speeches in Germany before going to Brussels, said he planned in Brussels to ``rebut the arguments being raised by a number (of critics), including the Russians, that this (the U.S. anti-missile program) is going to somehow undercut the Russian strategic deterrent.''

The Europeans worry about Russian refusal so far to amend the 1972 anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty at Washington's request in order to allow for possible U.S. deployment of a limited national missile defense based in Alaska or North Dakota in the coming five years.

Moscow has warned that if the United States breaks out of the ABM treaty, the move could threaten other major agreements between the two powers to reduce nuclear arms and spark a new arms race.

``The project that we have in mind, should the president decide to go forward with it, is of a very limited nature to protect the United States against a limited type of attack,'' Cohen said.

``And to the extent that the Europeans find themselves in a comparable situation -- namely that an emerging missile threat puts their people at risk as I believe it will -- they should consider whether or not they want to participate in such a program,'' he added.

-------- us nuc weapons facilities

Scientists Attend 'Radiation and Risk' Town Hall Meeting

US Newswire 30 Nov 9:53 U.S. Newswire
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1130-107.htm

To: Assignment Desk, Science, Environment and Health reporters Contact: Erik Johnson, 415-389-1672, for Livermore's Tri-Valley CAREs; Web site: www.igc.org/tvc

News Advisory:

Local citizens concerned with hazardous plutonium and other contamination in the Livermore community have invited international radiation experts to Livermore. Dr. Owen Hoffman, president and director of SENES of Oak Ridge, Center for Risk Analysis; and Carolyn Raffensperger, executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network will be featured panelists at two public events Dec. 1 and 2. Other panelists addressing the Town Hall Meeting will be Andrew Lichterman, an attorney with Western States Legal Foundation, and Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley CAREs.

The "Radiation and Risk" public education series, supported by a grant from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, will explore the health risks of radiation at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and in the surrounding community. Lawrence Livermore is one of three national laboratories where U.S. nuclear weapons are designed. These events are sponsored by Livermore's Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), the Oakland-based Western States Legal Foundation and The Greater San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Note: Panelist will be available for interviews in advance.

--

The "Radiation and Risk" Town Hall Meeting will be held at the Livermore City Council Chambers in Livermore, Wednesday evening Dec. 1, from 7-9 pm. The following day, Thursday, Dec. 2, a brown bag lunch, featuring Dr. Owen Hoffman and Carolyn Raffensperger, will be held at the Livermore Lab Visitors Center from noon to 1 p.m.

-0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 11/30 09:53

--

CH2M HILL Agrees to Acquire Lockheed Martin Hanford
Company To Take Over Hanford Tank Farm Operations

Company Press Release Tuesday November 30, 4:47 pm Eastern Time
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/991130/co_ch2m_hi_1.html

RICHLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 1999--CH2M HILL has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lockheed Martin Hanford Company (LMHC), and will take over the operation, waste characterization and retrieval of high-level nuclear wastes from the aging tank farm on the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site in southeastern Washington.

``Our mission at Hanford will be to continue to safely manage the tank waste while working in partnership with the Office of River Protection to safely and efficiently retrieve the waste for treatment,'' said Ralph R. Peterson, CH2M HILL President and CEO. ``The sooner we deliver on that mission, the greater value we'll return to DOE, the Hanford community and taxpayers across the country.''

CH2M HILL has served DOE and the Hanford Site specifically for more than 30 years. The firm is presently supporting the Hanford environmental restoration program.

CH2M HILL also currently serves as the management and integration contractor for the DOE's Rocky Flats Closure Project in a joint venture with ICF Kaiser. Since taking over the clean up of Rocky Flats in 1995 the joint venture company Kaiser-Hill has expedited the Rocky Flats site closure schedule by more than 20 years.

CH2M HILL plans to work closely with the DOE Office of River Protection and build on the momentum already established by LMHC. In addition, CH2M HILL plans to forge strong working relationships with local communities, unions, regulators and the Washington congressional delegation.

``We are delighted to have this opportunity to work in partnership with the DOE's Office of River Protection Program on such an important project,'' said Dr. Jim Ferris, Group President for CH2M HILL's Energy, Environment and Systems business. ``It gratifies us even more to have such a talented group of employees from Lockheed Martin Hanford joining CH2M HILL. We know they will continue their exemplary efforts to achieve program goals in a safe and expedited manner.''

CH2M HILL will officially take ownership of LMHC once the Anti-Trust Division of the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission completes a Hart Scott Rodino Act review of the competitive impacts of the acquisition. In the meantime, CH2M HILL will immediately dispatch a transition team to ensure that the project continues without interruption and that workers and members of the community are informed about the ownership change.

An employee-owned company, CH2M HILL was founded in Corvallis, Oregon in 1946. Today, the firm serves clients on six continents with engineering, construction and operations services for environmental, energy, water, transportation and industrial infrastructure.

Statements in this press release are considered forward-looking statements under the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Contact: CH2M HILL Andre Armstrong, 303/713-2425 E-Mail: aarmstro@ch2m.com

---

Lockheed Martin says sells Hanford to CH2M Hill

Tuesday November 30, 5:36 pm Eastern Time

BETHESDA, Md., Nov 30 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT - news) said Tuesday it would sell its Hanford Corp subsidiary, a U.S. Department of Energy environmental management contractor, to CH2M HILL Cos Ltd.

Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Lockheed said today's sale is the first in a series of possible divestitures aimed at sharpening Lockheed Martin's focus on its core businesses.

The transaction, which has the approval of the DOE, is expected to be complete at, or near, the end of the year following expiration of the applicable Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period.

Hanford is responsible for the management, retrieval and disposal of 54 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks at the DOE Hanford Site in Richland, Wash.

For fiscal year 2000, funding to Hanford's contract with the DOE is expected to exceed $325 million.

Lockheed Martin is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services.

---

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Announces Sale of Hanford Corporation; Transaction Marks First Divestiture Since Announcing Major Realignment

Company Press Release Tuesday November 30, 4:30 pm Eastern Time
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/991130/md_lmt_han_1.html

BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT - news) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Lockheed Martin Hanford Corporation subsidiary (Hanford Corporation), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) environmental management prime contractor, to CH2M HILL Companies, Ltd. The transaction is the first in a series of possible divestitures aimed at sharpening Lockheed Martin's focus on its core businesses. The transaction, which has the approval of the DOE, is expected to be complete at, or near, the end of the year following expiration of the applicable Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Hanford Corporation is responsible for the management, retrieval and eventual disposal of 54 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks at the DOE Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. For fiscal year 2000, funding to Hanford Corporation's contract with the U.S. Department of Energy is expected to exceed $325 million.

Quarterdeck Investment Partners, Inc. served as financial advisor to Lockheed Martin in the divestiture of Hanford Corporation.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space, aeronautics, and technology services. Employing more than 142,000 people worldwide, Lockheed Martin had 1998 sales surpassing $26 billion.

CH2M HILL, with headquarters in Colorado and more than 100 offices around the world, helps public and private clients realize a greater return on their investments in environmental technology and sustainable infrastructure. The firm's 7,000 employees provide a full range of services for the finance, development, planning, design, construction, operation, and management of facilities and infrastructure.

SAFE HARBOR: Statements in this press release are considered forward- looking statements under the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the statements relating to projected future financial performance. Sometimes these statements will contain words such as ``believes,'' ``expects,'' ``intends,'' ``plans'' and other similar words. These statements are not guarantees of our future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause our actual performance or achievements to be materially different from those we may project.

In addition to the factors set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov), the following factors could affect the forward-looking statements contained in this press release: the ability to obtain or the timing of obtaining future government awards and approvals, the availability of government funding and customer requirements, economic conditions, competitive environment, timing of awards and contracts; conditions at the Hanford site, litigation and environmental remediation, Year 2000 remediation and program performance. These are only some of the numerous factors which may affect the forward-looking statements in this press release.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin

More Quotes and News: Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT - news) Related News Categories: aerospace/defense, government
http://biz.yahoo.com/n/y/y0001.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/n/y/y0014.html

-------- nuc power

Leak Shuts Down Nuclear Plant (Louisiana)

Yahoo Monday November 29 5:19 AM ET
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/local/state/louisiana/story.html?s=v/rs/19991129/la/index_1.html#2

(TAFT) -- Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials say there was no threat to the public but Entergy officials declared an "alert" after water used to cool the nuclear reactor at the Waterford 3 plant inadvertently diverted to a storage tank. The plant is just up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Entergy officials say someone allegedly left open a valve that was supposed to be closed while shutting down the reactor to repair a steam leak. NRC officials admit if the radioactive water had spilled, there would have been "a serious problem." No one was injured.

---

Entergy's Don Hintz Keynotes PowerGen Conference, Talks of New Ways to Satisfy Customers and Shareholders

PR Newswire Wednesday, December 1, 1999 10:50 a.m. Nov 30, 1999 Eastern
http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=PR1385-19991130&qt=%2Bnuclear&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- "Demand for electricity is running ahead of expectations ... generating capacity is growing slowly ... returns are lower ... risks are higher ... prices of electricity are more volatile than the Russian Ruble."

Providers of electricity must meet their customers' needs, and provide shareholder value, but must do so in new and different ways, Entergy (NYSE: ETR) President Donald C. Hintz told 15,000 attendees at the PowerGen International Conference in New Orleans Tuesday.

"We all must become masters in the art of ZOOMING. It's all about stretching your limits without threatening your foundation. It's doing the same thing as usual, but doing it differently," Hintz said, picking up on a phrase coined by writer Seth Godin.

Hintz cited nuclear generation as an example of doing the same thing ... but doing it differently.

"When I began saying that nuclear had a bright future in a deregulated, competitive environment a few years ago, people thought I had rocks in my head. But today when I talk about nuclear's future, the politicians, the regulators, the financial community, customers, other utilities and even some of the environmentalists, because of air quality concerns, nod their heads in agreement."

Entergy owns and operates six nuclear power plants, including the Pilgrim Nuclear Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the only nuclear plant in the United States that was purchased. Nuclear operations is a growth business for Entergy.

"Who would have thought, even a couple of years ago, that nuclear operations would be not only a core business, but also a growth strategy for a major U.S. utility company? And it is a perfect example of doing the same thing, something we've been doing for 30 years, but doing it differently in order to meet customer needs and add shareholder value. Now that is ZOOMING," Hintz said.

Hintz outlined three fundamental characteristics power generators need to be successful in the business. He said that successful generators first must have a deep and fundamental understanding of the markets in which they choose to focus. "If, for example, you don't have a good internal view of the forward price curve for your product in a given market, then how do you determine what kind of plant to build, or if any project is worth the risk? But it goes beyond forward price curves, fuel supply and transportation and good transmission access. You've got to understand the rules and regulations that govern that particular market. And you better be ready to weigh in as changes are being considered," he said.

Secondly, Hintz explained, successful generators will capture value all along the merchant plant chain from engineering a plant to power marketing the output.

"The margins in each area may be smaller individually than what we've seen in the past, but when packaged together as a whole, all across the value chain, the overall returns are likely to be much greater than the old way of doing our business," he concluded.

And finally, Hintz said, there needs to be a thorough understanding of skills and capabilities needed to execute the new business strategy in a different environment. And senior management must take the time to assemble and maintain the skills identified and needed in the new environment.

"A few short years ago we had little need to understand true risk management. Now, we must manage long-term origination, and we must understand puts, calls, collars, weather-related derivatives and all the other services provided by a sophisticated marketing and trading organization," he said.

"We are bringing to our industry a sophistication that is absolutely essential to deliver additional shareholder value while, at the same time, making certain that customers get what they demand and what they deserve, better service at a good price. In short, we've got to do business as usual, but do it in a way that is more sophisticated, more integrated and more skillful than in the past," Hintz concluded.

Entergy is a major global energy company with power production, distribution operations, and related diversified services. Entergy owns, manages, or invests in power plants generating nearly 30,000 megawatts of electricity domestically and internationally and delivers electricity to about 2.5 million customers in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. It is also a leading provider of wholesale energy marketing and trading services.

Entergy's on-line address is: http://www.entergy.com SOURCE Entergy Corporation

-------- us nuc waste

Texas Firm Applies For Waste Permit - (ODESSA, Texas)

Yahoo Tuesday November 30 3:59 AM ET
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/local/state/maine/story.html?s=v/rs/19991130/me/index_1.html#2

Low-level radioactive waste from Maine and Vermont may wind up in above-ground warehouses in western Texas. Envirocare of Odessa, Texas has applied for a state license allowing it to take in the radioactive waste from the Northeast and seal it behind nine-foot-thick cement walls. The waste would be disposed of under the terms of an agreement signed by President Clinton last year. In exchange, Maine and Vermont have each agreed to pay two-and-a-half-Million-dollars for various community projects in Texas.

---

South Carolina accepts waste from 38 states

USA Today 11/30/99
http://www.usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

Columbia - The Southwestern Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission will start charging fees next year to let the region's waste producers ship nuclear refuse to South Carolina for disposal. South Carolina accepts waste from 38 states at its disposal site in Barnwell. The commission will begin charging $50 per application on Jan. 1 to ship the material, or $1.25 per cubic foot of waste, whichever is greater.

---

Robot Helps Clean Up - (ROCKY FLATS)

Yahoo Tuesday November 30 4:54 PM ET

Robot Helps Clean Up - (ROCKY FLATS) -- A seven-Million-dollar stainless-steel robot, as big as a house, will join the cleanup crew at the old Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. Contractor Kaiser-Hill hopes to have it built and working at the plant by next September. The robot will use a remote-control torch to cut up highly radioactive gear like machine tools and glove boxes that workers used to handle plutonium. The chunks will go straight into barrels for disposal. Kaiser-Hill says the robot will be three times faster than humans, and won't be at risk. Workers have gotten plutonium under their skin by cutting themselves on contaminated tools twice in the past 18 months.

---

U.S. suspends nuclear waste shipments to N.M. site

Tuesday November 30, 7:33 pm Eastern Time Reuters
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/991130/bbn.html

SANTA FE, N.M., Nov 30 (Reuters) - The Department of Energy has temporarily suspended shipments to a new underground nuclear waste site in New Mexico while it sets up more precise methods for sorting the incoming waste, state officials said on Tuesday.

The suspension came after a state permit for the site's operation took effect on Friday, requiring a detailed listing of which waste is radioactive and which consists of hazardous chemicals, Nathan Wade of the state Environmental Department said.

Under the new rules, the federal government's waste-producing sites must now produce audits of what is in the barrels shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad.

The desert facility opened in March after more than a decade of legal sparring by environmentalists and other opponents.

The plant, which opened before the state permit was issued, has taken in 44 barrels of so-called transuranic waste, or tools, clothing and trash contaminated with plutonium and other radioactive elements, from government facilities in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Rocky Flats, Colorado; and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.

``This is important to us because the state permit is the only active environmental regulation of WIPP,'' Wade said.

According to the permit, the federal Energy Department must perform an audit of each of the facilities, write audit reports and present them to the state for approval, Wade said.

The first audit is scheduled for Rocky Flats on Dec. 6-10.

The entire process could take up to two months per site, said Bill Mackie of New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson's task force for the waste site. Until then all shipments will be suspended.

The state permit has been challenged in court by the Energy Department for requiring $100 million in financial assurances for cleanup costs and by an environmental group that says the requirements are not strict enough. Both suits are pending.

The waste repository, which was first authorized by Congress in 1979, buries plutonium-contaminated waste 2,150 feet (655 metres) underground in salt beds in southeastern New Mexico.

-------- us nuc uranium

Plant operator must decide whether to continue Russian deal

Akron Beacon Journal Posted at 7:10 p.m. EST Tuesday, November 30, 1999 BY KATHERINE RIZZO Associated Press Writer
http://www.ohio.com/bj/news/ohio/docs/026304.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The operator of the nation's uranium enrichment plants was set to decide Wednesday whether to stop handling recaptured uranium from Russia's dismantled nuclear warheads.

The decision by U.S. Enrichment Corp. has implications for both international peace and security and the economy of southern Ohio, where the company runs the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon.

USEC wants the government to make up for a drop in worldwide prices that has made it unprofitable to continue to be the agent that buys diluted warhead uranium from Russia. Under the deal, USEC pays Russia to convert highly enriched uranium from Soviet nuclear warheads into low-enriched uranium, the grade that is usable by nuclear power plants.

Goals include keeping Soviet-era warhead uranium away from rogue nations and terrorists and helping maintain political and economic stability in Russia.

The company had asked for about $200 million in relief, but the Clinton administration showed no inclination to offer that much aid and there was considerable congressional opposition.

Wednesday is a contractual deadline for USEC to notify the government if it wants to back out of the deal at the end of next year. Delaying a decision would obligate the company to remain part of the deal through 2001.

More than a year ago, when USEC was being transformed from a government entity into a private corporation, Russia's minister of atomic energy said he was worried about whether USEC would want to continue handling the Soviet uranium after the company's privatization.

Minister E.O. Adamov warned that opposition to nuclear nonproliferation agreements would increase in Russia's legislature if problems emerged with the USEC arrangements.

USEC has maintained that it wants to continue doing business with Russia, but does not want its shareholders to subsidize national security.

Company spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said negotiations with the Clinton administration over USEC's request for help had been continuing but there was no resolution to announce Tuesday.

The Energy Department and members of Congress who have been monitoring the talks also had no word of any breakthrough.

Bob Schaeffer of Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of watchdog groups, said critics who opposed the privatization found their predictions had come true: ``It's hard to survive if someone else is selling product at a lower price than your marginal cost of production.''

``This whole venture was not well thought out,'' he said.

USEC's plants in Piketon and in Paducah, Ky., also are dealing with the issue of whether current and former employees unknowingly handled plutonium-laced uranium during the Cold War and developed cancers and other illnesses as a result.

The Energy Department on Wednesday sent to Piketon the first wave of what will eventually become a 20-person investigative team to examine past operating practices and contamination.

The investigation that could lead to compensating workers for health problems.

---

U.S. launches probe in Piketon Inquiry to determine if plant workers should be compensated for illnesses By Jonathan Riskind Dispatch Washington Bureau

The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday, November 30, 1999
http://www.dispatch.com/pan/news/pikexnws.html

Federal officials will arrive at southern Ohio's uranium-enrichment plant today to begin investigating whether Cold War-era workers were exposed to deadly plutonium and other dangerous materials.

The three-day visit by a team from the U.S. Department of Energy will mark the start of an inquiry to determine whether employees at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, should be compensated for cancers and other illnesses possibly linked to previous radiation exposures.

The investigation is expected to be completed by April.

"I know that current and former workers at Portsmouth and their families have questions about past exposures and practices at the Portsmouth site and how these may have affected their health,'' said David Michaels, the department's assistant secretary for environment, safety and health. "This investigation will help us answer those questions.''

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson already has proposed giving workers at a sister plant in Paducah, Ky., as much as $100,000 each for illnesses caused by plutonium-laced uranium that contaminated the plant when the government tried to recycle the uranium in spent nuclear-reactor fuel.

Michaels, who visited the Piketon plant Oct. 29-30 to hear the concerns of current and former workers, said a number think that their jobs caused their health problems.

"People report both serious illnesses and some very significant exposures, and we need more information on both of those,'' Michaels said. "My impression . . . is people worked very hard in some pretty difficult conditions making material to keep America safe. Obviously, what we have to do is make sure that if we were the cause of any of their illnesses, we take care of them.''

During the Cold War, the plant produced weapons-grade uranium, a key component in the nation's nuclear-defense program.

More plutonium and related elements apparently went to Paducah than to Piketon, but a Dispatch investigation revealed that southern Ohio workers also were exposed to plutonium, which is thousands of times more radioactive than uranium. Exposure in quantities as small as a millionth of an ounce can cause cancers.

Plant employees also were subjected to dangerous working conditions, including exposure to other dangerous radioactive and chemical elements.

During its initial visit, the oversight team will track down documents, tour the facility and try to locate people who worked at the plant between 1954 and 1993, the year the plant operations were turned over to a federal corporation. Investigators will return in mid-January to conduct interviews; they hope to submit a final report to Richardson in April.

The initial team will number five or six but grow to 20 by early next year, department officials said.

In addition, the investigators will scrutinize current cleanup operations at the plant.

The 45-year-old facility, now operated by the privatized corporation known as USEC, enriches uranium for use as commercial nuclear-power fuel. No-longer-used sites on the 3,700-acre grounds, however, are being decontaminated under the auspices of the federal government.

As part of that examination, department officials said, investigators will take soil, water and sediment samples around the plant site the week of Jan. 10.

---

World Wide Minerals Expands China Gold Activities
Libra Gold Unit Raises Interim Financing

Business Wire 05:39 p.m Nov 30, 1999 Eastern
http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=BW0530-19991130&qt=%2Buranium&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 1999--(CANADIAN DEALING NETWORK:WWSS.)

World Wide Minerals Ltd. (CDN:WWSS) announced that its Libra Gold Corporation subsidiary had acquired the rights to a 51% joint venture interest in the Dafang Gold Project in Hunan Province, China, previously being developed by Princess Resources Limited. In addition, Libra Gold has secured non-recourse equity-based interim financing of US$200,000 to further its China gold projects.

The Dafang Gold Project is the focal point in a 95 sq. km. gold concession which has a total drill-indicated and inferred resource estimated at up to 1.0 million oz. of gold (15 million tonnes of ore grading 1.23 g/t gold and 46 g/t silver, or 2.0 g/t gold equivalent) with significant potential for additional ounces.

The resource estimate was prepared by Princess using a gold cut-off of 0.4 g/t gold and inverse distance squared methodology in accordance with the Australian resource code. Approximately US$3.5 million previously was spent on exploration of the Project and related costs in 1997-1998 by Princess, including funding from Arcon International Resources plc of Dublin.

Libra Gold acquired the interest in the Dafang Gold Project by purchasing a US$2.5 million 14% convertible secured debenture of Princess held by Arcon in exchange for paying Arcon a 0.67% NSR royalty on Princess' 51% interest in the Dafang Gold Project. In a related transaction, Libra Gold has also acquired the direct interest of Princess in the Dafang Gold Project in exchange for reducing the amount outstanding on the debenture by US$1.2 million and agreeing to pay to Princess a 0.33% NSR royalty on the 51% interest in the Dafang Gold Project.

In addition, Arcon has been granted the right of first refusal to earn into 50% of the net interest of Libra Gold in, and to develop a base metal mine on the Dafang Gold Project in China. If Arcon exercises the right of first refusal, it would be required to produce a bankable feasibility study and to construct a base metal mine including all requisite financing of construction of the mine and initial working capital.

Libra Gold is the gold exploration subsidiary of World Wide. In addition to the Dafang Gold Project, Libra Gold also has interests in the following gold projects:

* The Dexing Gold Project (60% Libra Gold), a 99 sq. km. concession in Jiangxi Province, China, which surrounds the Tongshang open pit copper-gold mine (6.7 million oz. and 10.0 billion lbs. of copper) and is adjacent to the Jinshan gold mine (2.0 million oz. gold). The project has four known target areas with the potential to host a significant underground or open pit gold mine.

* The Tongshi Gold Project (55% Libra Gold), a 34 sq. km. area in southwestern Shandong Province, China. This property is adjacent to two producing gold mines with reserves of over 1.0 million oz. and with assays as high as 3,100 g/t gold. Three anomalies have been identified to date and the potential exists to host a significant open pit or underground mine.

* The Laizhou Gold Project (Libra Gold can earn a 60% and a 68% interest in the two properties). The Project is adjacent to the Cangshang gold mine, a 70,000 oz./year producer. Surface sampling, trenching and diamond drilling has indicated the potential for a significant open pit or underground mine.

* The Easter Gold Project (Libra Gold 100%) a 1,013 ha. permit area in Nevada with a 93,000 oz. drill-indicated gold resource. Libra Gold in 1998 optioned a 70% interest to Aur Resources (USA) Inc. for option payments of US$150,000 and a US%1.0 million work commitment over five years.

Interim funding of US$200,000 has been agreed for Libra Gold by way of a convertible note which can be exchanged for a 20% common share interest in the existing Libra Gold. The remaining 80% interest in Libra Gold is held by World Wide.

World Wide is an international resource company whose businesses consist of the ownership of uranium mines and the marketing of uranium concentrates from an equity-accounted unit based in Denver, Colorado, and gold exploration and development based out of Toronto and Beijing. World Wide is actively pursuing its US$300 million legal action against the Republic of Kazakhstan and Nukem, Inc. in the US Federal Court. Through a recently established subsidiary, Virtual Resources Inc., World Wide is investigating a potential number of new ventures to recover and maximize shareholder value. World Wide currently has 80.3 million common shares outstanding.

---

CBS, CNN Report On Louisville Stories - (LOUISVILLE KY)

Yahoo Monday November 29 4:28 AM ET
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/local/state/kentucky/story.html?s=v/rs/19991129/ky/index_1.html#6

Louisville is getting some national attention thanks to two separate reports airing on network television. Yesterday, the C-B-S newsmagazine "60 Minutes" focused on the case of a New York National Guard captain stabbed 26 times at Fort Knox. The Army ruled the death a suicide, but the captain's widow says her husband was murdered and the Army is covering it up. In a separate report, "C-N-N Newstand" profiled workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The uranium enrichment facility has been in the headlines for allegedly exposing employees to radiation without their knowledge.

-------- nuc medicine

International Isotopes Inc Obtains State Approval for Increased Production Of Medical Radioisotopes
License Permits Production of Commercial Quantities Of Radioisotopes on LINAC

Company Press Release Tuesday November 30, 3:51 pm Eastern Time
SOURCE: International Isotopes Inc

DENTON, Texas, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- International Isotopes Inc (Nasdaq: INIS, BSE: ITL) (I3), a contract manufacturer of finished radiopharmaceuticals and a commercial producer of radioisotopes, pharmaceutical grade radiochemicals and medical devices, today announced the Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control (BRC) approved amendments to the I3's operational and development licenses, which will permit the Company to utilize its LINAC to produce commercial quantities of radioisotopes for use in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine.

``The approval of this license is a major step forward for the Company as we move toward commercial production of our products. Previously this year, the State granted a license to produce limited quantities of radioisotopes. Our customers have waited expectantly for this expanded authorization, which now permits I3 to receive, manufacture, sell and distribute commercial quantities of radioisotopes, radiochemicals and radiopharmaceuticals,'' stated Dr. Ira Lon Morgan, Chairman and Treasurer.

Dr. Morgan added, ``The wide range of products International Isotopes plans to introduce to the market over the next few years will include: Tl-201 for the diagnosis of heart disease; I-123 for the diagnosis of thyroid cancer, thyroid disorders and the detection of Parkinson's disease; In-111 for the diagnosis of lower organ diseases and treatment of colon and liver cancer; Ga- 67 for diagnosis of urinary infections; I-125 and Pd-103 used in the production of brachytherapy seeds for prostrate cancer; Sr-89 for pain palliation of bone cancer; I-131 for treatment of thyroid cancer; Ho-166 for treatment of multiple myeloma; F-18 for diagnosis of brain tumors and function; Y-90 for use in cancer therapy and Co-57 for calibration of diagnostic imaging systems. These products will be added to the list of radioisotopes currently produced by International Isotopes Idaho Inc.''

International Isotopes Inc, headquartered in Denton, Texas, is initiating production operations to be the premier supplier of finished radiopharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical grade radiochemicals, radioisotopes and brachytherapy devices used in nuclear medicine for the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of cancer and other diseases.

I3 Safe Harbor Statement

Statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including the ability to meet time schedules, the need to raise additional capital, the development of competitive products by others and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any obligation to update statements in this press release.

SOURCE: International Isotopes Inc

-------- nuc games

THQ Ships Nuclear Strike 64 For Nintendo 64 Console Famous Strike Series Makes Its Debut on Nintendo 64

Company Press Release Tuesday November 30, 1:32 pm Eastern Time

CALABASAS HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 1999--THQ Inc. (Nasdaq:THQI - news) today announced the release of Nuclear Strike(tm) 64, developed by Pacific Coast Power and Light Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of THQ.

For the first time, enthusiasts of the popular Strike series can experience all the action and realism of the popular Strike series on Nintendo(r) 64. Licensed by Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS - news), Nuclear Strike 64 is available at major retail outlets nationwide for a suggested retail price of $49.99.

``Nuclear Strike 64 is a faithful interpretation of the `Strike' series,'' said Don Traeger, president of Pacific Coast Power and Light Co.

``Longtime fans of the series will enjoy the all new reticle-targeting system, allowing players to pursue and destroy enemies with greater accuracy. Players will also be able to take the helm of numerous land, sea and air assault vehicles as well as experience the challenge of combat in insanely populated battlefields.''

Players are challenged with defeating a nuclear terrorist plotting the start of World War III. From the tropical islands of the South Seas to the deep, dark jungle valleys of Asia, players take control of any one of more than 10 vehicles including helicopters, jets, tanks and hovercraft over remarkable, photo-realistic terrains. Features include an improved waypoint compass and mini-radar system, real-time lighting effects, larger explosions and artificial intelligence that reacts to the player's behavior.

With incredibly fast-paced action, authentic assault vehicles and realistic backdrops, the Strike series has become an enormously popular and best-selling shooter. For the first time ever the series will be available on the Nintendo 64 and includes Rumble and Memory Expansion Pak(tm) support.

Pacific Coast Power and Light Co. and THQ also recently released Road Rash 64(tm) for Nintendo 64. For more information on Nuclear Strike 64, Road Rash 64 and the rest of THQ's holiday season line-up, visit www.thq.com.

Electronic Arts, with headquarters in Redwood City, Calif., is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of more than $1.2 billion for fiscal 1999. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for personal computers and videogame systems.

Electronic Arts markets its products under eight brand names: Electronic Arts(tm), EA SPORTS(tm), Maxis(tm), ORIGIN(tm), Bullfrog(tm) Productions, Westwood Studios(tm), Jane's(r) Combat Simulations and Gonzo Games(tm). More information about EA's products and full text of news releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.ea.com.

Pacific Coast Power & Light Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of THQ, is a game development studio focused on creating select action and sports game titles for high-end computers and leading consoles. The company is based in San Jose, Calif. and can be reached on the Internet at www.dtproductions.com.

THQ develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software worldwide for a variety of hardware platforms including PC CD-ROM, and those manufactured by Sega, Nintendo and Sony. The THQ Web site is located at www.thq.com.

Nuclear Strike, Road Rash, Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, Maxis, ORIGIN, Bullfrog, Westwood Studios and Gonzo Games are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts in the United States and/or other countries. Jane's is a registered trademark of Jane's Information Group Ltd.

Contact:

THQ/Investor Relations Mary Nelson Garrett, 818/871-5090 or Linn Public Relations Erica Kohnke, 415/552-1183


-------- us nuc weapons politics

Bill Bradley calls for talks with Russia on missile cuts

Cleveland Live Tuesday, November 30, 1999 ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.cleveland.com/news/pdnews/metro/w30brad.ssf

MEDFORD, Mass. - Bill Bradley called yesterday for immediate talks with Russia to cut nuclear warheads to even lower numbers than the Clinton-Gore administration wants. Laying out his philosophy on American policy overseas, Bradley said: "We cannot give an open-ended humanitarian commitment to the world."

In what aides billed as his first big campaign event on foreign policy, Bradley took questions from students at Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy - an anything-can-happen format designed to show he could nimbly address the nuanced issues of world affairs.

He advocated a "very direct pace" in engaging Russia in arms talks even though Communists and other hard-liners dominating the lower house of Russian parliament have balked at approving the 1993 START II treaty, saying it threatens Russia's security.

"I would be in favor of moving beyond START II even in the absence of ratification by Russia to the negotiation on START III, with the aim of reducing to between 1,000 and 2,000 warheads" - enough to give Americans "adequate security," he said.

The Clinton administration has offered to cut arsenals on each side to between 2,000 and 2,500 warheads, but says it won't negotiate a third treaty until Russia ratifies START II, which the U.S. Senate approved in 1996.

Criticism of President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore rang clear - though not explicit - in Bradley's promise, if elected, to seek bipartisan consensus on world affairs and "always be straight with" the American people.

---

Yahoo Tuesday November 30 3:59 AM ET

Bradley Pledges New Foreign Policy - (MEDFORD) -- Democratic presidential contender Bill Bradley says he'll seek a bipartisan foreign policy consensus if he's elected to the White House, instead of the current poll-driven decisions he says are a "political football." Bradley spoke to almost 600 people yesterday at the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford. Bradley, who is in an increasingly tight struggle for the Democratic nomination with Vice-President Al Gore, said he would also seek to resume nuclear arms reduction talks with Russia.

---

U.S. Spread Too Thin, Bradley Says
Candidate Calls for Less Foreign Intervention

By Mike Allen Washington Post Tuesday, November 30, 1999; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/30/132l-113099-idx.html

MEDFORD, Mass., Nov. 29-Bill Bradley called today for the United States to reduce its unilateral overseas interventions and instead work with the United Nations and other international organizations to build security in a world that lacks the Cold War's predictability.

"We cannot give an open-ended humanitarian commitment to the world," Bradley said, charting his foreign policy in a discussion with Tufts University students. "The United States has been spread very thin over a wide territory in the world and has not had the impact that we seek to have in places that we do get involved."

Bradley contended that America has neither the resources nor the wisdom to soothe every hot spot. "The key is to get multilateral efforts to intervene earlier, before things reach the point where only there is a military option," he said. "That requires partners in the world to do this, alliances with international organizations."

In a rebuke to Vice President Gore, his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bradley also said that the United States had "missed a real opportunity" in responding to overtures from Russian leaders in the years since the fall of communism. He said the Clinton administration focused too much on encouraging Russia to adopt domestic economic reforms, instead of pushing for deep reductions in nuclear arms and other weapons.

Though carefully measured, Bradley's comments placed him firmly to the left of Gore and other presidential candidates on foreign policy issues. While Republican frontrunner George W. Bush and other GOP candidates have also criticized the Clinton administration's foreign interventions, Bradley differs from them in calling for greater reliance on the United Nations and other international organizations.

Bradley's call for more extensive and far-reaching negotiations with Russia on arms control and other issues is also distinctive. He said today he would work to negotiate a new missile-reduction treaty with Moscow, even though the START II treaty reducing nuclear warheads has never been ratified by the Russian parliament. "I am in favor of moving beyond START II, even in the absence of ratification by Russia, to negotiations on START III," he said, giving a goal of reducing arms stocks to 1,000 to 2,000 warheads for each side.

Bradley opposes the immediate deployment of a national missile defense, a step that would require renegotiating or breaking the antiballistic missile treaty with Russia. He favors ongoing research but is concerned about the diplomatic consequences of deployment. Gore has said he wants to negotiate with Russia about the deployment of the system while Bush has said he would build it even over Russian objections.

Bradley endorsed an open world trading system, but said the World Trade Organization should give labor organizations and environmentalists a role in shaping the rules of international commerce, allow such groups to file "friend-of-the-court" briefs in trade disputes and let such organizations participate in subcommittees within the WTO.

But the former senator's most striking comments concerned U.S. interventions abroad, an area where the Clinton administration has built a long and controversial record with missions in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo and elsewhere. Robert Kagan, a specialist in foreign policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Bradley "wants to wrap overseas intervention around Al Gore's neck in the same way that Republicans in Congress have wanted to wrap it around President Clinton's neck."

Speaking at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, which was founded in the midst of the Great Depression in an effort to boost internationalism at a time of isolationism, Bradley described "a disturbing paradox, where we're more powerful than ever before, but we're also more vulnerable to a variety of threats."

"The great risk of nuclear holocaust with the Soviet Union has receded," he said. "But there are a multitude of smaller threats--from troublemaking dictatorships like Iraq, to poorly safeguarded nuclear warheads in Russia, to the increasingly dangerous situation on the Korean peninsula to transnational terrorists."

Bradley declared that "in this new world, the next president has an even heavier burden, which is to try to create a comprehensive framework for peace and security and prosperity." He said the United States must work through international institutions to "help mold this international system."

He said that too many United States policies, and even its military strategy, are remnants from those days when enemies were clear and friends were obvious. "The choices are no longer so stark," he said.

Bradley said he would work to restore one mindset of the Cold War, when "men and women of goodwill in both parties joined together to do what was in America's best interest."

"There was an old saying that political division stopped at the water's edge," he said. "Sadly, that consensus has vanished. Foreign policy has become more of a political football, or is made to score domestic political points. I deplore that. One of the things that I will try to restore if I become president of the United States is a bipartisan foreign policy consensus."

Drawing an implicit contrast with Bush, Bradley said he was comfortable with international affairs and had needed no crash course. "I've been thinking and speaking and writing about foreign policy for more than 20 years," he said.

In a swipe at the administration, Bradley said, "To lead, a president must have the support of the American people and to get that support, he must always be straight with them."

Bradley had planned to give a formal foreign policy address today, but postponed that to an undetermined time for reasons his staff would not disclose. Instead he simply outlined the framework of his policy in what he called "a whirlwind tour of the horizon." Then he answered questions from the students, joking that he would move to the next questioner if he didn't know the answer or thought the inquiry was stupid. At one point, he said that when he was 9 or 10 years old, he had designed his own bomb shelter, marking spaces for a cot, his favorite books and his basketball.

Walter Mead, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Bradley's approach distinguished him at a time when the other candidates were promoting "an aggressive style of national leadership."

"Bradley is saying that United States influence in the world is greatest, and costs the least, when the United States cooperates with other leading powers," he said.

However, Ted Galen Carpenter, the Cato Institute's vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, said he saw "a fundamental contradiction" in the idea of a more robust United Nations and a more passive United States, given the country's dominance in that organization.

--------

Bradley wants U.S., Russia to further cut nuclear arms

Washington Times November 30, 1999 ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.washtimes.com/politics/toppolitical.html

MEDFORD, Mass. -- Bill Bradley called yesterday for immediate talks with Russia to cut nuclear warheads to even lower numbers than the Clinton-Gore administration wants.

Laying out his philosophy on U.S. policy overseas, he asserted: "We cannot give an open-ended humanitarian commitment to the world."

In what aides billed as his first big campaign event on foreign policy, Mr. Bradley took questions from students at Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy -- an anything-can-happen format designed to show he could nimbly address the nuanced issues of world affairs.

He advocated a "very direct pace" in engaging Russia in arms talks even though communists and other hard-liners dominating the lower house of Russian parliament have balked at approving the 1993 START II treaty, saying it threatens Russia's security.

"I would be in favor of moving beyond START II even in the absence of ratification by Russia to the negotiation on START III, with the aim of reducing to between 1,000 and 2,000 warheads" -- enough to give Americans "adequate security," he said. The administration has offered to cut arsenals on each side to between 2,000 and 2,500 warheads, but says it won't negotiate a third treaty until Russia ratifies START II, which the U.S. Senate approved in 1996.

Criticism of President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore rang clear -- though not explicitly -- in Mr. Bradley's promise, if elected, to seek bipartisan consensus on world affairs and "always be straight with" the American people.

He deplored a foreign policy "made through polling or focus groups to score domestic points."

As if to prove he can work with Republicans, Bradley aides said the former senator's "brain trust" on foreign policy included former Nixon administration officials Henry Kissinger and James Schlesinger.

Asked if the United States had any moral obligation to intervene in humanitarian disasters overseas, Mr. Bradley cited "genocide" in Kosovo and Bosnia as two instances where America's values were threatened. But there, diplomacy was not undertaken early enough or effectively enough to prevent military action, he said.

He held up as one promising example the multilateral threat of an International Monetary Fund aid cutoff if Indonesia did not halt its crackdown in East Timor.

Americans, Mr. Bradley said, "cannot give an open-ended humanitarian commitment to the world. It has to be made on a case-by-case basis" according to America's national interests and values.

Mr. Gore calls the United States "the natural leader of the world" and trumpets U.S.-led NATO interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo as successes.

In Russia, where an influx of IMF loans has failed to stabilize the economy or improve the quality of life, Mr. Bradley argued that the United States has acted as "missionaries for a particular kind of international economics." He suggested the Clinton administration has only faintly pushed America's own interests in deeper arms reductions, safer nuclear plants in the former Soviet Union, and ensuring that Russian scientists don't export their know-how to rogue states.

"We're left with a situation in Russia where, in the best of worlds, we're seen as irrelevant to the average Russian and, in the worst of worlds, we're blamed for their economic circumstances," Mr. Bradley said.

The United States must also broaden its ties to Russian political and civic leaders. "Our relationship with Russia has become our relationship with [Boris] Yeltsin," he said.

---

Bradley hits Gore on Cold War mentality

USA Today 11/30/99- Updated 09:12 AM ET By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/e98/e745.htm

MEDFORD, Mass. - Former senator Bill Bradley held forth on foreign policy for an hour Monday, laying out his plans for an approach marked by foresight and bipartisanship, as opposed to what he described as the polarizing and reactive policies of the Clinton-Gore administration.

In a question-and-answer session after a 20-minute opening, the Democratic presidential candidate told 450 students and faculty at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy that the United States had mishandled its relations with Russia since the end of the Cold War.

And he said he would elevate environmental and labor considerations in trade negotiations and provide a safety net for workers harmed by competition with imports. But he said easing international trade restrictions "will benefit more people than it will hurt."

Bradley, as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was known as a staunch supporter of free trade and an expert on the Soviet Union. His remarks Monday were meant to highlight those credentials and the subtle differences between his views and those of Vice President Gore, his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Bradley's underlying contentions are that Gore and President Clinton have continued in a Cold War mentality on the U.S. military, have focused too much on Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Russian economy at the expense of broader goals, and have failed to anticipate regional problems such as those in Bosnia and Kosovo until they require military action.

Bradley has explicitly criticized administration policies on Russia and other topics in the past, but his critique Monday was not specific. He said foreign policy had become a "political football" dictated by polls but did not mention Clinton or Gore, who has been a major player in U.S.-Russia relations.

A Bradley administration, the former New Jersey senator suggested, would apply strict criteria to U.S. interventions in foreign hot spots and work more closely with the United Nations.

"I don't think the United States can be the policeman for the world. I don't think we have the resources or the wisdom. We cannot give an open-ended humanitarian commitment to the world," Bradley told one student. He said the United States should work with other countries, and "that means more and more authority for the U.N. . . . The United States can get spread very thin over a wide territory in the world and not have the impact that we seek to have."

When the United States takes the lead, Bradley said, "it would have to be in the national interest, and it would have to be consistent with our values as a country." He said the national interest was clear in the 1991 war against Iraq when oil imports were at stake, and the values standard was clear in the cases of genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo. "But the remedies often come too late," he added. "The key is to get multilateral efforts to intervene earlier, before things reach the point where there's only a military option."

Bradley said the United States "missed a real opportunity" to influence Russia's direction when the Cold War ended. U.S. interests lay in pushing for reductions in strategic weapons, replacing Chernobyl-style nuclear reactors and making sure disgruntled Russian scientists did not sell their knowledge to rogue countries, he said. Instead, he said, "we became missionaries for a particular kind of international economics" that hasn't worked for Russia.

Bradley said he favors going ahead with U.S.-Russia negotiations on START III nuclear-arms reduction talks, even though Russia has not yet ratified the START II agreement. The aim would be "reducing the arms supply to 1,000 to 2,000 warheads" for each country, Bradley said. Each now has about 6,000; START II would reduce the number to roughly 3,000. Gore supports similar reductions.

Later, at a televised "town meeting" with undecided voters in Derry, N.H., Bradley again expressed a view in sync with the administration. He said he supported China's entry into the World Trade Organization and normal trade relations with the country.

"We each believe we're the center of the universe, so naturally we're going to bump up against each other," he said, but trade is a way to build a relationship.

On other subjects, Bradley said at Tufts:

He has always supported Jerusalem, claimed by Palestinians and Israelis, as the capital of Israel. He echoed the administration's view, saying Jerusalem's status is "obviously the most contentious" item on the Middle East peace agenda and "ought to be worked out among the negotiating parties themselves." He said all foreign financial aid should carry requirements on human rights and accountability on how the money is used.

Bradley has been tight-lipped about who he consults on foreign policy, but aides revealed some big names Monday, including Henry Kissinger, secretary of State in the Nixon and Ford administrations, and James Schlesinger, who was CIA director under President Nixon, Defense secretary in the Nixon and Ford administrations and Energy secretary in the Carter administration.

---

Excerpts From Text of Bradley Speech

November 30, 1999 New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/113099wh-dem-bradley-text.html

BEDFORD, Mass. -- Following are excerpts from the prepared text of Bill Bradley's speech on foreign policy Monday at Tufts University:

I for many years, as I've illustrated, thought about foreign policy from the standpoint of the United States Senate. Now I'm thinking about it in a different way. A president has a singular role when it comes to foreign policy where only he can lead. The next president must be able to help America and all Americans navigate in this new world that I've described. That in itself won't be easy. A president also has some very basic and fundamental things that he must always manage. You might call it the president's job description. He must first protect our national security, maintain our leadership in the world, and talk honestly with the American people. That is always the president's job.

But in this new world the next president has an even heavier burden, which is to try to create a comprehensive framework for peace, security, and prosperity that's not only in the interests of America, but everyone, everywhere. And it's not simply an American project, nor is it something we can impose on the world like we were able to do after World War II. We can help mold this new international system and it will emerge from international institutions, new and old, from partnerships and alliances whose resources and efforts are going to be essential. It's not anything we can do by ourselves, for its very nature is cooperative. This is one of the big and essential jobs of the next president, and it's one we must do well.

This new world that's taking shape is not always clear. For example, there's a disturbing paradox. We are more powerful than ever before, yet we are also more vulnerable to a variety of threats. The great risk of nuclear holocaust with the Soviet Union has receded but there are a multitude of smaller threats, from a troublemaking dictatorship like Iraq to the poorly safeguarded nuclear warheads in Russia to the increasingly dangerous situation on the Korean peninsula to transnational terrorists who view the U.S. as their No. 1 enemy.

As a result, the next president must have a few principles to guide him to manage these new threats and new opportunities. He must understand how to protect our security in response to our growing interconnectedness. He must have a policy countering small threats so they don't grow into larger ones. He must maintain a strategic stability in the world that prevents the start of a new and deadly arms race around the world. He must gear our policies to the world as it is, not the cold war world that no longer exists. And finally, he must understand our deep American attachment to human rights and that our values and our interests are very often one and the same.

---

Bradley Focusing on Health Care

New York Times November 30, 1999 Filed at 3:43 a.m. EDT By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/p/AP-Bradley.html

... In his exchanges with voters, Bradley filled in these policy ideas:

--The United States should not support Export-Import Bank credits for Russia as long as its raids on the breakaway republic of Chechnya continue. ``We're not going to turn our eyes away from what is happening in (the Chechen capital of) Grozny tonight.''

--He left himself open to the possibility of legalized marijuana for medical use, saying ``I don't support medical marijuana now. I think it's something we have to study more before we decide to do it.''

-- He called for giving China permanent normal trade relations with the United States, a move that would end the contentious battle every two years in Congress between human rights and business advocates.

--The present-day Turkish government should acknowledge the 1915-23 killings and displacement of Turkey's Armenian minorities he said. ``The only way a society moves forward is to have a full accounting of its past, including its bad past, and the Armenian genocide is a fact.''

---

In Policy Talk, Bradley Urges More Trade and Less Force

New York Times November 30, 1999 By JAMES DAO
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/113099wh-dem-bradley.html
Campaigns: White House 2000 -- Bill Bradley (D)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/whouse/dem-bradley.html

BEDFORD, Mass. -- Former Senator Bill Bradley sketched out a vision for foreign policy Monday, declaring that he would try to resolve global conflicts with trade and diplomacy instead of force, reduce the threat of a new arms race and set clearer limits on American military intervention in the world's many ethnic wars.

Speaking to more than 500 students at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University here, Bradley, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said global trade, technology and the end of the cold war had created new opportunities for global prosperity but also new threats from terrorists and rogue nations.

Yet American policy makers have not kept pace with the change, he asserted. "Too often today, our policies, even our military policies, are designed for a world that no longer exists," he said. "The world today is a very different place than it was only 20 years ago."

Bradley, whose strong support for free trade has put him at odds with many core Democratic voters who support more protectionist policies, also used the event to urge the World Trade Organization to make workers' rights and environmental issues a more important part of global trade agreements. The trade organization is meeting in Seattle this week, amid protests by labor and environmental groups.

"I believe the best answer for the long-term health of the world and the United States is a rule-based multilateral trade organization, with clear rules that are applicable to everyone," Bradley said. "But the right of people to be represented by unions is a very important right."

Bradley also told the students that he would favor limiting the role of the American military in fighting the drug trade in Latin America, saying he would rather focus resources on reducing drug use in the United States through expanded education and treatment programs.

And he emphasized his support for making Jerusalem the capital of Israel. But he said it was up to the Israelis and Palestinians to resolve the issue though negotiations.

The event was Bradley's first significant effort in the campaign to outline his views on foreign policy, and he sprinkled it with anecdotes about meetings with foreign leaders during his 18 years in the Senate.

But the 90-minute appearance, which featured a short speech followed by a question-and-answer period, was not intended to be his definitive statement on foreign policy. His staff said he would deliver a major speech in the coming weeks designed to fill in some of the blanks.

Bradley's aides say he consults with a number of foreign policy experts, including Jessica Mathews of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Jack Galvin, the dean of the Fletcher School; and Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state.

Like his Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, Bradley asserts that the free exchange of goods, capital and ideas can spread prosperity to poor countries and help reduce global tensions. But their positions have angered many labor unions and environmental groups, both core Democratic constituencies, who contend that global economic competition has encouraged some countries to block unionization and pollute the environment with impunity.

Bradley sought to address some of those concerns Monday, saying the World Trade Organization should allow environmental groups to participate in resolving trade disputes and try to prohibit the sale of goods produced by forced child labor. Gore has outlined similar positions in recent weeks.

Bradley also said Monday that he would push for programs that would reduce the effect of global trade on American workers, including retraining laid-off workers and providing universal health insurance.

"Trade will benefit more people than it will hurt, but some people will be hurt," he said. "Some people will lose their jobs. And I think we have to have in place a set of security measures, personal security measures, for those people."

Nevertheless, Friends of the Earth, an environmental group that had endorsed Bradley, criticized him for not pushing for stronger labor and environmental protections in trade agreements. The group also attacked him for supporting China's entry into the trade organization.

Long a critic of the Clinton administration's Russia policies, Bradley Monday spread his criticism across three administrations. He asserted that Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton all shared responsibility for policies that had failed to encourage economic reforms in Russia and that had not reduced the threat of Russian nuclear weapons and knowledge spreading to other nations. Gore has played a major role in overseeing administration policy toward Russia, but Bradley did not mention the vice president Monday.

"I think the result has been that the economy has sputtered, we have not made as much progress on these issues," Bradley said. "And we are left with a situation in Russia where in the best of worlds we're seen as irrelevant to the average Russian, and in the worst of worlds, we are blamed for their economic circumstances."

Bradley said he would support entering into negotiations with the Russians on a new strategic arms reduction treaty to reduce both countries' nuclear stockpiles, even though the Russian Parliament has yet to ratify Start II.

He also said he would support modifying the anti-ballistic missile treaty, signed with Russia in 1972, to allow the United States to develop a defense system against a ballistic missile attack.

But he did not say whether he would be willing to withdraw from the treaty if the Russians refused to amend it, a position taken by the Clinton administration.

Later at the town hall in Derry, N.H., Bradley said he would oppose extending export-import bank credits to Russia as long as it was bombing Chechnya. "We are not going to turn our eyes away from what is happening in Grozny tonight," he said.

As he has many times on the stump, Bradley said he would try to limit the use of American military force in regional or ethnic conflicts overseas. The criteria for intervention, he said, should be that those conflicts threaten vital American interests -- such as the oil supply -- and that core American values -- such as human rights -- be at stake. But he said he would prefer that the United States work through the United Nations to resolve regional conflicts.

"The thing is to have multilateral partnership to intervene before it is too late," he said.

In a more oblique criticism of Congress and the administration, Bradley complained that partisanship and politics in Washington were clouding foreign policy decisions more than ever. He did not offer any specific examples, although his aides said later that he might have been referring in part to Congress's rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty last month.

"Foreign policy has become more of a political football, or is made through polling or focus groups to score domestic policy points," he said. "I deplore that. One of the things I will try to restore if I become president is a bipartisan foreign policy consensus."

-------- bush

Teaching Dubya

Washington Times November 29 - December 5, 1999
Letters to the Editor
http://www.AmericasNewspaper.com/letters/letters.html

For 36 years, Thomas T. Lyons taught history at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. George W. Bush, class of '64, was one of his students. When Mr. Lyons retired earlier this year, Mr. Bush sent an admiring two-page handwritten tribute and, according to July 31 editions of the New York Times, asserted during a television interview that Mr. Lyons "was probably the most influential teacher on me."

... since Mr. Lyons was a leftist whose heroes, according to the New York Times article, included ultra-liberal former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Addams, co-founder of the Hull House social settlement that became one of the most influential centers of socialist activity in the U.S. (and who, according to former top Communist Party, U.S.A. official Maurice Malkin, joined the party in 1928), Eugene Debs, the radical labor leader who once described himself as "a bolshevist" and was the Socialist Party's nominee for president in 1908, activist Supreme Court justice William Brennan, Jr., and current congressman John Lewis, who in 1964 was chairman of the notorious Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and who once declared that the possibility of violence is justified because "out of this conflict, this division and chaos, will come something positive." ...

Howard F. Stearns Huntsville, Alabama

[John Lewis is a co-sponsor of Eleanor Holmes Norton's HR-2545 -- "Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 1999" -- he signed on on Hiroshima Day, along with Lynn Woolsey. This letter writer likes to throw a bunch of names together in a big pot of scorn.]

-------- poll

Poll questions

USA Today 11/30/99- Updated 05:10 PM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/e98/e758.htm

The Associated Press poll on the 2000 presidential campaign is based on telephone interviews with 1,023 randomly selected adults from all states except Alaska and Hawaii. The interviews were conducted Nov. 19-23 by ICR of Media, Pa. The results were weighted to represent the population by demographic factors such as age, sex, region and education. No more than one time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more than 3 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all Americans were polled. The margin of sampling error is larger for responses of subgroups, such as income categories or those in political parties. There are other sources of potential error in polls, including the wording and order of questions. The poll's questions:

Which one quality is most important to you in a presidential candidate. Is it a candidate who...

Is honest 33 percent
Cares about people like you 16 percent
Has leadership skills 5 percent
Has a vision for the future 33 percent
Stands up for what he or she believes 10 percent
Shares your view of government 8 percent
None of the above 2 percent
Don't know/declined to answer 2 percent

Who would you like to see the Democratic Party nominate as its presidential candidate in 2000? Among those inclined to vote Democratic:

Bill Bradley 32 percent
Al Gore 43 percent
Neither 12 percent
Don't know/declined to answer 13 percent

Who would you like to see the Republican Party nominate as its presidential candidate in 2000? Among those inclined to vote Republican:

George W. Bush 60 percent
John McCain 12 percent
Steve Forbes 5 percent
Alan Keyes 3 percent
Gary Bauer 1 percent
Orrin Hatch 1 percent
None of the above 6 percent
Don't know/declined to answer 12 percent

-------- environment

[This article doesn't mention the flushing out of the Brunswick nuclear power plant in North Carolina during Hurricane Floyd. See NucNews Archives, September 28 1999 (http://prop1.org/nucnews/9909nn/990928nn.htm). I wonder what the ecological impact of that will be on the tobacco, etc. farmers in the region?]

After the Storm, an Ecological Bomb

New York Times November 30, 1999 By WILLIAM K. STEVENS
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/113099sci-environ-flood.html

Related Article
As Carolina Floods Recede, Farmers Are Faced With Devastated Crops (Sep. 24, 1999)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/092499sci-hurricane-floyd.html
Diagram
Trouble Brewing in a Diverse Estuary
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/113099sci-environ-flood.2.GIF.html
Interactive Satellite Photo
Zoom in on Flood Pollution
http://lpis.nytimes.com/fif=sci-flooding.fpx&obj=uv,1.0&wid=400&hei=400&rect=0,0,1,1&page=m4.html
Join a Discussion on The Environment
http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?13@@.f03bc6d

In September, the one-two punch of Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd dropped some three feet of rain on the eastern third of North Carolina, turning the region into a putrescent hell of polluted flood waters, decomposing chickens and hogs, rotting farm fields and ruined neighborhoods.

Never before in the recorded history of the region, experts say, had there been such a big and disastrous flood.

Now scientists fear the flood has also created an ecological time bomb that could bring disaster of a different sort, and they fear for the biologically rich waters that separate the famous Outer Banks from the Carolina mainland.

This complex of sounds, bays and inlets comprises the second largest estuary in the country, after the Chesapeake Bay, and is one of the nation's most important incubators of marine life.

Rarely have ecologists confronted such a striking example of what can happen when a first-order natural disturbance is combined with a first-order disturbance of the natural world by humans. "I guarantee you there have been floods like this in the past," said Dr. Robert S. Young, a geologist at Western Carolina University, "but I can also say with the same amount of assurance that there has never been a flood like this with the potential for this much ecological impact. Never."

The main problem is that the September flood picked up huge amounts of organic matter in the form of decomposing vegetation, topsoil, farm and lawn fertilizer, raw sewage, hog waste from containment ponds maintained by the state's corporate farms, even grass clippings.

This richly fertilized water surged directly into the estuary, turning its water the color of strong tea or weak coffee.

The runoff is still coming, in fact, at considerably more than the ordinary rate.

Once in Pamlico, Albemarle and Currituck sounds, the organic matter is mostly trapped because the barrier islands of the Banks convert the sounds into a single, nearly closed lagoon. The material sinks to the bottom of this shallow water, and that is the root of scientists' fears.

When the water warms up again next spring and summer, they say, two things are likely to happen.

First, the organic waste will provide nutrients for the production of vastly larger amounts of algae called phytoplankton.

When they die, they will fall to the bottom and join the carpet of organic matter washed there by the floods.

Second, multiplying aquatic bacteria will feed on both the dead algae and the matter washed off the land. In the process they will use up tremendous amounts of oxygen from the water.

If weather and water conditions are right -- or wrong -- great expanses of the estuary could rapidly be drained of oxygen, killing multitudes of fish and other creatures and drastically limiting habitat for surviving aquatic life.

That would be no small thing for a region that in large measure draws its living from the water, and which serves as an incubator for marine creatures that range far and wide.

There have already been signs that oxygen-poor "dead zones" may develop. Soon after Hurricane Floyd passed, while the water was still relatively warm, scientists detected dangerously low oxygen levels in the mouth of the Neuse River, which flows into Pamlico Sound.

Such a situation develops when large amounts of fresh water off the land flow over denser, deeper, saltier water where the organic matter lies, preventing the deeper oxygen-poor water from mixing with surface water so that oxygen can be replaced. Since then, the weather has gotten cooler and high winds have sometimes mixed the waters, and the low-oxygen situation has moderated.

So attention is turning to next spring's warm-up, and researchers all along the mid-Atlantic Coast are stepping up their monitoring activities, from satellite observations to aircraft surveys to old-fashioned measurements from boats, in an attempt to track what happens.

No one really knows how long it will take for abnormal flows of organic nutrients into the estuary to subside, or how long after that it will take for bottom deposits of the nutrients to diminish.

No one would invite a disaster like the Carolina flood, of course, but it has nevertheless given scientists a stellar research opportunity.

"This is a sort of an ecological experiment on a very grand scale that no one would ever be given permission to do if they had asked for it," said Dr. Gene Feldman, an oceanographer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who oversees satellite-borne observations of the developing situation.

So far as is known, this is the first time that virtually every river basin feeding the estuary has flooded at the same time, said Dr. Pat Tester, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration based in Beaufort, N.C., whose research team is coordinating the air-sea-satellite monitoring.

While it is likely that floods of this magnitude have occurred before, experts say, they have never done so in conjunction with such widespread ecological disturbances caused by humans.

These include, for instance, increased erosion caused by the cutting of forests and plowing of fields, deposition of pesticides and of nutrients in the form of fertilizer from farms and lawns, livestock waste and sewage systems that overflow in floods.

Inland waterways, estuaries and coastal ecosystems around the world have been subjected to a chronic, long-term increase in organic matter washed off the land.

One major consequence of this, for instance, is an oxygen-starved dead zone off the Louisiana coast that has at times been as large as the state of New Jersey.

More generally, many experts say, over-fertilization from organic runoff has surpassed industrial pollutants as a threat to aquatic ecosystems.

North Carolina's waters, too, have been subjected to this long-term, increasing inflow of nutrients.

"Smaller doses were already having a negative impact on fish habitat," says Dr. Larry Crowder, a marine ecologist at the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, who studies the estuary's marine life.

Now, he said, the lower-level chronic dose of extra organic matter has become a "high-level acute dose."

Dr. Feldman of NASA puts it another way: "It's like flushing the toilet" into the estuary.

The problem has been compounded, Dr. Young said, by people's destruction of coastal wetlands that ordinarily would absorb and sequester many of the nutrients washing into the estuary.

In the short run, Dr. Tester says, the influx of nutrients could be good for some fish species.

Salt-water species like croaker and spot, which are small sport fish, and menhaden, from which oil and fertilizer are produced, spawn offshore.

About this time of year, the young move into the estuary, where they feed on tiny crustaceans called copepods and grow big enough to migrate out to sea again.

The nutrient influx could spur phytoplankton growth this winter, which in turn could increase copepod numbers and create a feast for the fish. Thus, Dr. Tester says, "there's a potential for it to be a banner year" for production of these young fish.

But Dr. Crowder says there is evidence that the physical stress caused by low oxygen and low salinity has already affected some fish by making them more susceptible to diseases that cause things like rotting fins, skin and scales that slough off, body sores and swollen abdomens that might indicate a viral infection. The influx of nutrients could also spur the abundance of disease pathogens, he said.

The sheer amount of fresh water flooding the estuary may already have killed many immobile marine creatures that bigger fish eat, like small worms, crustaceans and crabs. Some bottom-dwelling creatures may also have simply been buried and suffocated by the sediments gushing in.

Besides croaker, spot and menhaden, the estuary is also a nursery for flounder, weakfish, shrimp and crabs, all valuable commercial species.

"The organisms that we fish commercially depend on the estuary's being healthy," Dr. Crowder said.

So far, he said, there are mixed reports from fishermen: some, who are not catching anything, say the estuary is ruined, while others, who are, say it is fine.

These mixed reports might be explained, Dr. Crowder said, by disruptions in fish movements caused by the flood; some fish may have fled some parts of the estuary for others, and some that usually move from the estuary to the ocean in the fall may have moved earlier.

Recreational fishermen offshore, he said, report that there are lots of game fish there, including red drum, spotted sea trout and mackerel.

But they are hard to catch, possibly because they have been gorging on fish fleeing the estuary and are not hungry.

"Next summer," Dr. Crowder said, "is going to tell the tale." With the return of warmer weather, "the algae will go to work and the microbes will go to work; it's going to be a real interesting place." The best case ecologically would see a dry, windy spring and summer that would keep mixing the water and so replenish its oxygen. The worst case would see heavy rains then that would cause more freshwater runoff, which would stratify the shallow estuary so that bottom water could not mix and gain new oxygen. If that happens, Dr. Crowder said, "it could be very grim," with en masse death of marine life and habitat restricted for survivors.

Whatever happens next year might not be the end, because it could take several years for the situation to play out and for nutrient levels to fall back to within some kind of boundary.

But at this stage, said Dr. Feldman of NASA, "we don't really know what's going to happen."

-------- us military

Navy Petty Officer Is Accused of Spying
Washington Post Tuesday, November 30, 1999; Page A09 Reuters

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/30/131l-113099-idx.html

A Navy petty officer entrusted with highly classified data has been charged with passing secrets to a foreign government in 1994, Navy Cmdr. Greg Smith said yesterday.

Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel King, a 40-year-old code expert, was in military custody in Quantico awaiting a military hearing, Smith said. Other U.S. military officials said King had admitted passing some classified information to Russia, but they believed it was "a very narrowly defined specific event."

Smith said King, an 18-year Navy veteran, could face the death penalty if convicted. In previous espionage cases, military prosecutors have opted to push for a life sentence instead.

Officials said he is also charged with disclosing classified information.

At the time of the alleged espionage, King was assigned to the Navy's espionage decoding unit, based at the Fort Meade headquarters of the National Security Agency, which is charged with surveillance of communications around the globe.

Smith said he had no details on King's alleged espionage and the matter is still under investigation.

But military officials said the alleged disclosure was not as serious as the breach of security in previous Navy espionage cases, such as that of Jonathan Jay Pollard, who began serving a life sentence in 1986 for handing sensitive information to Israel.

Nor did it rival the security breach when Navy Warrant Officer John A. Walker Jr. sold Russia critical Navy secrets and codes, officials said.

Military officials said charges were brought after King failed a lie detector test administered during a routine security clearance investigation.

Confronted with the results of the lie detector test, King admitted passing secret information to Russia, but he later retracted some details about how he did it, military officials said.

The officials said they were not aware of payments King might have received for the information and described him as "a very confused individual."

Apparently King, who is in the middle of a divorce, became disgruntled at not being promoted as rapidly as he expected, they said.

King was charged on Nov. 5 and was awaiting a Navy Article 32 hearing, the equivalent of a grand jury hearing.

---

Officer charged with passing secrets

USA Today 11/30/99- Updated 05:17 PM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/nc1.htm#war

WASHINGTON - A Navy officer has been charged with passing highly classified information to the Russian Embassy in Washington, officials said Tuesday. Petty Officer First Class Daniel King, 40, is in military custody at Quantico, Va., and awaits a hearing. A Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity says King admits mailing a computer disk to the embassy. It included information on use of U.S. subs to eavesdrop on Russian undersea communications cables, the official said. The offense occurred in 1994, according to a Navy spokesman. Elyria, Ohio, native King was at the time assigned to a communications decoding unit at Fort Meade, Md.

-------- china

A China Dissident's Ordeal: Back to the Mental Hospital

November 30, 1999 New York Times By ERIK ECKHOLM
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/113099china-rights.html

Related Articles
Issue in Depth: 50 Years of Communism in China http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/index-china.html
Join a Discussion on China's Future
http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?13@@.f06cc25

BEIJING -- A Chinese political dissident who was held for more than seven years in a psychiatric hospital after he unfurled a protest banner in Tiananmen Square in 1992 has been reincarcerated, prompting human rights advocates to call for a United Nations investigation.

The case is an unusual but alarming example of the misuse of psychiatric facilities by Chinese authorities to silence a political opponent, human rights advocates say.

After his arrest in June 1992 for his protest, Wang Wanxing was placed in the Ankang psychiatric hospital near Beijing, which is operated by the Public Security Bureau for those deemed criminally insane or a threat to society.

His wife says she has never been given any official diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. In early 1997, in response to international concern about the case, a government report said Wang had been determined to be "suffering from paranoid delusions" that caused "his attempt to disturb the social order."

Without any open legal process, Wang was held in the hospital continuously from 1992 until last Aug. 19, when he was given a three-month trial release.

But last Tuesday, the police took Wang, who is now 50, back to the Ankang hospital for "further observation."

Wang's wife, and others who have met or spoke with Wang, say he is rational, organized and restrained in his behavior. They believe he was confined again last week because he had declared his intention to hold a news conference to describe his experience as an unwilling psychiatric patient.

"What I feel now is just an indescribable sense of pain and injustice," his wife, Wang Junying, said Monday in an emotional interview. "I feel that the government has totally betrayed its promises.

"I don't feel they had any basis at all for sending him to a psychiatric hospital," said Ms. Wang, 50, who teaches at a local college and is a Communist Party member. "He has no family history of mental illness and he never showed extreme behavior.

"It was because of his call for justice that they sent him to the hospital," she said, referring to a public letter and banner Wang carried in Tiananmen Square on June 3, 1992, calling for redress for the violent crackdown on the student-led demonstrations there in 1989. Wang's short-lived 1992 protest received considerable attention in the foreign press, angering government leaders.

The use of psychiatric pretexts to imprison dissidents is rare in China, especially by comparison with the former Soviet Union, where they were frequently used, corrupting the mental health profession. But a few other cases are known, said Liu Qing, president of the New York-based Human Rights in China, which is starting a new appeal on Wang's behalf.

In Shanghai, a labor activist named Wang Miaogen, 46, has been confined in another psychiatric facility of the Public Security Bureau since 1993, though his wife insists he is mentally stable, Liu said.

Liu, himself an exiled dissident, said it was important to expose such cases so similar methods would not be used against other political and religious dissidents.

"We're calling for the United Nations Human Rights Commission to send doctors to carry out an independent examination of Wang Wanxing's condition," Liu said Monday.

The case throws a spotlight on a secretive system of psychiatric hospitals around the country that are affiliated with local public security bureaus and not answerable to the government's mainstream medical and psychiatric hospitals.

Their main purpose is apparently to care for the criminally insane. But without accountability even to the health ministry, which has worked to improve the country's mental health system, let alone to the public, such facilities can easily be misused by the police.

"In China, there is no evidence of the kind of systematic abuse through psychiatry that was seen in the former Soviet Union," said Arthur Kleinman, a medical professor and specialist in Chinese mental health at Harvard University. In the Soviet Union, he noted, a nonsensical diagnosis of "sluggish schizophrenia" was officially applied to the politically deviant, whereas such phony diagnoses are not an official part of recent Chinese psychiatry.

"But we know nothing about the operations of the Public Security Bureau's psychiatric hospitals," Kleinman said. Many Chinese psychiatrists, he said, believe that the standard of training inside such hospitals is low.

During Wang's three months at home, Liu of the rights group in New York spoke with him three times by telephone. He said he found Wang "sane, rational and entirely in control of himself."

In one lengthy talk, which Liu taped, Wang said of the democracy movement, "I believe it is possible for us to slowly move forward." But he also said, "I see myself as living under a threat."

His schooling disrupted by the turmoil of the 1960s, Wang never finished high school, and he later worked as a laborer. His family and acquaintances say he is definitely sane, but he does have a record of stubbornness when he thinks he is right.

As early as 1976, still living in northeastern China where he had been sent to work during the Cultural Revolution, and where he met his wife, he was jailed for a month for criticizing Mao. The following year he was sent to prison for 17 months for his outspoken support for protests in Beijing in 1976 that took place in Tiananmen Square.

After he and his wife moved to Beijing, Wang was active in the Democracy Wall movement of 1979. A decade later, he aided the student-led democracy demonstrations that culminated in the military crackdown of June 4, 1989. Three years after that, his brief protest in Tiananmen Square on the eve of the anniversary of that crackdown led to his psychiatric confinement.

Ms. Wang said Monday that when she first tried to check on her husband after his detention in June 1992, police officers shouted at her to agree that he was mentally ill, but she refused. What she did eventually sign, she said, was not a release for his commitment to a hospital, but rather a transcript of her interrogation.

She had told the police that her husband was intensely interested in politics and monopolized the family television, always watching news and public affairs programs. She had once, jokingly, told her husband, "Don't watch that stuff all the time, you're sick," she recalls telling the police.

When she signed the record of the interview, she said Monday, she again insisted that her husband was not mentally ill. Officials told her that Wang would be sent to a hospital for half a month, a full month at the most, for evaluation, she said.

"After two months passed, then half a year, I started visiting different government offices to inquire," she said Monday. "I was never able to get an answer out of them."

Wang's release in August was accompanied by a series of rules the couple had to follow, including no contacts with the press. Ms. Wang said they had carefully followed the conditions, although her husband did say he planned later on to hold a news conference.

The hoped-for hospital discharge papers never came and, last Tuesday, Wang was taken back to the Ankang hospital.

Monday, Ms. Wang was still reeling from her husband's renewed incarceration. "I've never wanted to bring any trouble to the government or the party or the country, but now I don't know what to do," she said. "I no longer feel I can believe them. This is something that's very difficult to explain to my relatives and my daughter."

The couple has an 18-year-old daughter who recently graduated from high school.

Sunday was the Ankang hospital's monthly visiting day, but Ms. Wang said she was so distraught that she did not go. "I just didn't know what I would say to my husband, or what I would say to the hospital officials," she said. "They've forced me to make impossible choices."

-------- whistleblower

Whistleblower Act Jeopardized After Court Widens an Issue

New York Times November 30, 1999 By LINDA GREENHOUSE
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/articles/113099whistle-laws.html

Related Articles
Justices to Decide Foreign Policy Question in Massachusetts Boycott of Myanmar (Nov. 30, 1999)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/articles/113099burma-policy.html
Justices to Weigh Constitutionality of Key Element of Whistle-Blower Law (Nov. 20, 1999)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/articles/112099scotus-whistleblower.html
Issue in Depth: Supreme Court Guide
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/index-scotus.html
Join a Discussion on Issues Before the Supreme Court
http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?13@@.efd6ae2

WASHINGTON -- Finding itself with a far-reaching constitutional challenge to the federal whistleblower law suddenly on its hands, the Supreme Court appeared uncertain Monday about how to proceed through a jurisdictional thicket of its own making.

Just 10 days ago, the justices unexpectedly converted a narrower case into a major test of a law that dates in one version or another to the country's earliest days. The False Claims Act, as the law has been known since Congress passed it in 1863 as a tool against widespread fraud against the government by Civil War contractors, authorizes individuals to bring suits on behalf of the government and to receive as their reward a share of any recovery.

The case argued before the court today had raised only the issue of whether states could be made defendants in False Claims Act suits by private plaintiffs. Then on Nov. 19, the justices, without explanation, ordered the parties in the case to address the question of whether private plaintiffs have standing to bring False Claims Act suits -- against states or anyone else. That question goes to the constitutional heart of the law, and if the answer is no, the False Claims Act will be a dead letter.

The State of Vermont, the defendant in the case before the court, was quick to take up the justices' invitation Monday. An employee of the state's Agency of Natural Resources brought a False Claims Act suit alleging mismanagement of federal grants under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. With triple damages under the False Claims Act, the state's potential liability of $25 million is more than the agency's annual budget.

"The claim is that the United States has been damaged," J. Wallace Malley Jr., Vermont's deputy attorney general, argued, while the plaintiff suffered "no greater injury than any other taxpayer." Such a generalized injury, Malley continued, did not meet the "irreducible minimum of standing," which the court has long defined to mean an individual and specific injury.

The prospect of receiving up to 30 percent of the government's recovery provides private plaintiffs with a strong incentive, Malley said, but a litigant's "fervor" alone is "not enough to grant standing."

In its new form, this case, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States, No. 98-1828, presents the justices with a dilemma. Ordinarily, the court strives to decide cases on narrower, statutory grounds if at all possible, avoiding unnecessary constitutional decision-making. But now that the court has put the question of standing in play, it would appear to have no alternative but to decide that most far-reaching question of all, despite indications today a number of justices think that Vermont might well be entitled to immunity on the narrower ground that Congress never meant to include states as possible defendants.

The problem is that the court's doctrine of standing serves as a barrier to entry into federal court in the first place, a hurdle that recent decisions have raised higher and higher. If there is no standing, then as a constitutional matter there is no jurisdiction at all, and the court's own precedents indicate that the justices cannot now simply vault that hurdle to decide the easier question first.

Opposing the state on behalf of the federal government, Edwin S. Kneedler, a deputy solicitor general, said that the plaintiff in this case, Jonathan Stevens, did have standing to bring his lawsuit. While Stevens had no prior injury, Kneedler said, "once he files his suit he has in effect distinguished himself from every other taxpayer and gained the exclusive right to bring the state to judgment."

Theodore B. Olson, the lawyer for the plaintiff, used his argument time to address the original question of whether states are immune from False Claims Act suits. Vermont argued unsuccessfully, in the lower courts, that private False Claims Act suits are barred by the 11th Amendment, which provides states with immunity from suits in federal court not brought by the government or explicitly authorized by Congress.

In a series of recent decisions, the Supreme Court has enlarged the states' 11th Amendment shield and made it much harder for Congress to abrogate state immunity. By agreeing last June to hear Vermont's appeal, the justices had appeared to signal that they were about to extend these immunity decisions to include the False Claims Act.

But because these suits are brought "in the name of the United States to redress an injury to the United States," the 11th Amendment immunity should not apply, Olson said.

In rebuttal, Malley, the Vermont lawyer, summarized the challenge facing his opponents, as well as the conundrum for the court. On the one hand, he said, the government conceded that the plaintiff had no prior injury "and if that's the case, there is no standing."

On the other hand, Malley said, the government's view was that once the suit was filed, the private plaintiff "captures it and makes it his own." In that case, he concluded, the barrier to proceeding was the 11th Amendment.

A search of the downtown convention center, the main site for the talks, was conducted early this morning by the Secret Service and the Seattle police. It was set off by what the police described, without elaboration, as a "possible security breach." The search kept several hundred delegates out of the building and forced the rescheduling or cancellation of briefings planned by several countries. No bombs were found.

Outside a McDonald's five blocks from the convention hall, protesters cheered as José Bové, a French farmer who drew worldwide attention this year when he was arrested for driving a tractor through a McDonald's in France, condemned bioengineered and genetically altered food as "Frankenfoods." "We don't want to eat any more of that kind of food," Bové told the crowd. "You've got to throw it into the sea."

The restaurant was closed as a precaution, and one person was arrested after a window was smashed. Elsewhere downtown, two other people, whose names were not released, were arrested on charges of assault and obstruction after they had tried to break through a police cordon and serve "arrest warrants" on officials of the trade group.

President Clinton is scheduled to arrive here early on Wednesday morning, and he is expected to use his visit to promote the benefits of free trade and to prod delegates to smooth out disagreements and listen to the protesters' concerns.

Several administration officials, including the trade representative, Charlene Barshefsky; Commerce Secretary William M. Daley; and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, spent much of the day in forums where they heard the complaints of nongovernmental groups that have called for reform of the international trading system to incorporate stronger protections for workers and the environment.

"It's important that the views of civil society be heard," Ms. Barshefsky said at a news conference. "But more than heard, they must be integrated into the W.T.O."

Clinton had tried and failed to persuade other world leaders to go to the meeting in an effort to advance trade agreements. The only other national leader who said he might just go was one whom the President presumably did not wish to see in Seattle, President Fidel Castro of Cuba. But Castro announced today in Havana that he would not make the trip.

-------- wto

Trade Talks Start in Seattle Despite a Few Disruptions

November 30, 1999By SAM HOWE VERHOVEK
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/113099trade-summit.html

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http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/112899wto-meeting.html

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SEATTLE -- A week of talks aimed at expanding global trade got off to something well short of a smooth start here Monday. The disruptions included a brief bomb scare, the smashing of a window in protests at a McDonald's restaurant and a takeover of a vacant three-story building by a self-described group of anarchists.

In the main, though, the protests against the meeting of the World Trade Organization were peaceful, with 2,000 demonstrators marching through downtown to proclaim their view that the trade group, in the name of lowering trade barriers, actually undermines health, safety and environmental protections.

Demonstrators continued to stream into town, and a much larger protest, backed by union groups and timed to coincide with the official opening of the trade talks, is expected on Tuesday. Chanting, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the W.T.O. has got to go!" many protesters said they had traveled here to spread a message that globalization and unfettered free trade were simply bad for the planet.

"The boat's off course, and everyone knows it," said Arthur Freyer, 49, an electrician and a member of the Sierra Club, who marched today. "If we can't decide what's going into our own food anymore, then something's very wrong."

The director general of the trade organization, Mike Moore, a former prime minister of New Zealand, at a meeting of some protest groups Monday, said the opposition was misguided. Free trade brings prosperity that, he said, could address some of the very problems the groups were complaining about.

"I am told there could be up to 50,000 demonstrators against us" on Tuesday, Moore said. "But remember, in over 30 countries, 1.5 billion want to join the W.T.O."

He was describing those nations, including China, that have applied to join the organization.

Delegates from 135 nations are meeting here hoping to hammer out an agenda to lower tariffs and remove other trade barriers.