-------- NUCLEAR (by country)
CIA report finds increased Chinese arms sales to Pak.
The Hindu
Thursday, August 10, 2000
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2000/08/10/stories/03100003.htm
WASHINGTON, AUG. 9. China has increased its missile related sales to Pakistan and is continuing to supply nuclear, chemical and biological weapons to Iran, Libya and North Korea, according to the Central Intelligence Agency.
In its semi-annual report to Congress, a summary of which was published in The Washington Times, the CIA said, ``we cannot preclude'' that China has ongoing contacts with Pakistani officials and in the process violating a 1996 pledge to stop assistance to Islamabad's nuclear programmes not under international controls.
``Chinese missile related technical assistance to Pakistan increased during this reporting period,'' the CIA noted and pointed out that Beijing's involvement with Pakistan would continue to be monitored closely. Under a 1977 law, the CIA is required to report to Congress every six months on intelligence findings of weapons sales.
It is being said that the latest finding of the nodal intelligence agency would contradict the assertion of the Clinton administration that China's proliferation record was improving.
Recently, the President's National Security Adviser reportedly assured Senators to this effect while lobbying against a legislation that sought to punish China for arms transfers to ``so called'' rogue nations.
The Thompson amendment, tagged to China's Permanent Normal Trade Relations Bill, is seen as getting a major boost as a result of the CIA report.
It is not for the first time that intelligence agencies in the United States have pinpointed China's proliferation track record and its continued peddling of nuclear and missile wares and technology.
And routinely, Beijing issues denials that are neither startling nor out of the ordinary.
In fact, critics have said that China insists on more details in an effort to find out about intelligence gathering of the U.S. to avoid future detection.
The CIA report said Chinese companies increased their assistance to Pakistan's missile programme. ``Such assistance is critical for Islamabad's efforts to produce ballistic missiles,'' it added. Pakistan purchased advanced fighters and anti-ship missiles from China; and acquired nuclear weapons related goods from Western Europe.
India's nuclear weapons programme benefited from Russian and Western European assistance and the country was working to develop more sophisticated nuclear arms; Russia and India were discussing the leasing of several long-range bombers that would provide the Indian military a ``significantly'' longer range strike capability, the CIA noted.
China's transfers to Pakistan on the missile front will come as no major shock for, in the last five years, there has been consistent reports on the subject, especially in The Washington Times. At the same time, the Clinton administration - quite wary of lost businesses in a mega market - has been found to be extremely reluctant to take Beijing to task for either violating treaties or its so-called commitments. Several senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill are determined to find a way out of this persisting problem.
Even without the CIA's latest findings, the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, during his visit to the U.S. is expected to go much beyond Pakistan-related subjects and take up the China- Pakistan nexus seriously, particularly as it relates to the nuclear and missile fronts.
The Clinton administration, keen on roping in China as a part of the solution to the proliferation problem in South Asia, appears to ignore that China is the problem in the region.
-------- britain
Britain says stranded Gibraltar nuclear sub safe
Aug 10, 2000
Reuters
From: Ndunlks@aol.com
LONDON - Britain on Thursday repeated its assurances that a crippled nuclear submarine stranded in Gibraltar is safe.
HMS Tireless was towed into Gibraltar, on Spain's southern tip, on May 19 after a leak developed in the cooling system of its nuclear reactor. The reactor has been shut down.
But last month hundreds of protesters demanded the removal of the submarine from the British colony and on Tuesday the environmental group Greenpeace called on Britain's government to abandon what it says are potentially dangerous repairs.
``We have been in discussions with the government of Gibraltar, and indeed we have been keeping informed the Spanish authorities as well, that is absolutely right and appropriate,'' Britain's armed forces minister John Spellar told BBC radio.
``But there isn't any evidence this is a safety risk. There's always a concern in the public mind, initially, when one talks about nuclear matters, but the reality is that this is a safe vessel and there isn't a problem with the repairs.''
The BBC said a Gibraltar legal firm has been consulted by a group of concerned residents and businesses about the possibility of mounting a legal action to force Britain to remove the submarine.
``You have got a local campaign, maybe, going but that doesn't necessarily reflect all of the opinions, and certainly not those of the considerable number of Gibraltarians who actually work in the dockyard and depend on it for their living,'' Spellar said.
``It's about 1,000 miles, by sea, to tow it back, so that would not necessarily be the most sensible option.''
Last month protests against the presence of the Trafalgar class submarine took place in Gibraltar and a neighbouring Spanish town.
Gibraltar was once considered a strategic military base but its value has diminished since the end of the Cold War. Its deep-water port at the base of the famous ``Rock of Gibraltar'' is a convenient stop for British submarines.
-------- china
China to Counter Missile Defense? Faster Arms Buildup Forecast
International Herald Tribune
Paris, Thursday, August 10, 2000
The Associated Press
http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/THU/IN/missile.2.html
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/223/nation/China_reaction_to_missile_defense_weighed+.shtml
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/miss10.html
http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/081000d.htm
http://web.philly.com/content/inquirer/2000/08/10/national/MISSILE10.htm
http://www.space.com/news/china_missiles_000810_wg.html
WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials have informed President Bill Clinton that China is likely to accelerate its nuclear arms buildup if the United States erects a national defense against long-range missiles, officials said Wednesday.
The prediction, in a classified report known as a National Intelligence Estimate, is part of a broader assessment of how foreign countries might respond to a U.S. decision to go ahead with a national missile defense.
It will be for Mr. Clinton to judge whether a faster Chinese nuclear arms buildup is an acceptable price to pay for a national missile defense that critics say is unnecessary in the short term and unworkable.
The president has said he will decide soon whether to authorize the initial steps toward deploying a network of missile interceptors, missile-tracking radars and battle management computers to defend all 50 states against a small-scale nuclear attack. China is among the few countries capable of a nuclear strike on the United States.
U.S. officials who are familiar with the classified intelligence report, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it states that China plans to increase its nuclear arsenal regardless of U.S. national missile defense plans. But it adds that the increase likely would be sped up if a missile defense were built.
''Would they probably accelerate it? Yes,'' one official said.
The report also affirms an intelligence estimate of September 1999 that the United States most likely will face a missile threat by 2015 from North Korea, probably from Iran and possibly from Iraq, the officials said.
Additions to China's nuclear arsenal probably would be modest, the report said, to give China a numerical edge over the U.S. missile defense system, which in its initial configuration is designed to defeat a couple of dozen incoming missiles.
Mr. Clinton has said he will take into account four main factors in making his decision: the urgency of the missile threat against the United States, the cost of a missile defense, the feasibility of building a reliable defense and the implications for U.S. foreign policy, including responses from China and other countries.
---
CIA report finds increased Chinese arms sales to Pak.
The Hindu
Thursday, August 10, 2000
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2000/08/10/stories/03100003.htm
WASHINGTON, AUG. 9. China has increased its missile related sales to Pakistan and is continuing to supply nuclear, chemical and biological weapons to Iran, Libya and North Korea, according to the Central Intelligence Agency.
In its semi-annual report to Congress, a summary of which was published in The Washington Times, the CIA said, ``we cannot preclude'' that China has ongoing contacts with Pakistani officials and in the process violating a 1996 pledge to stop assistance to Islamabad's nuclear programmes not under international controls.
``Chinese missile related technical assistance to Pakistan increased during this reporting period,'' the CIA noted and pointed out that Beijing's involvement with Pakistan would continue to be monitored closely. Under a 1977 law, the CIA is required to report to Congress every six months on intelligence findings of weapons sales.
It is being said that the latest finding of the nodal intelligence agency would contradict the assertion of the Clinton administration that China's proliferation record was improving.
Recently, the President's National Security Adviser reportedly assured Senators to this effect while lobbying against a legislation that sought to punish China for arms transfers to ``so called'' rogue nations.
The Thompson amendment, tagged to China's Permanent Normal Trade Relations Bill, is seen as getting a major boost as a result of the CIA report.
It is not for the first time that intelligence agencies in the United States have pinpointed China's proliferation track record and its continued peddling of nuclear and missile wares and technology.
And routinely, Beijing issues denials that are neither startling nor out of the ordinary.
In fact, critics have said that China insists on more details in an effort to find out about intelligence gathering of the U.S. to avoid future detection.
The CIA report said Chinese companies increased their assistance to Pakistan's missile programme. ``Such assistance is critical for Islamabad's efforts to produce ballistic missiles,'' it added. Pakistan purchased advanced fighters and anti-ship missiles from China; and acquired nuclear weapons related goods from Western Europe.
India's nuclear weapons programme benefited from Russian and Western European assistance and the country was working to develop more sophisticated nuclear arms; Russia and India were discussing the leasing of several long-range bombers that would provide the Indian military a ``significantly'' longer range strike capability, the CIA noted.
China's transfers to Pakistan on the missile front will come as no major shock for, in the last five years, there has been consistent reports on the subject, especially in The Washington Times. At the same time, the Clinton administration - quite wary of lost businesses in a mega market - has been found to be extremely reluctant to take Beijing to task for either violating treaties or its so-called commitments. Several senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill are determined to find a way out of this persisting problem.
Even without the CIA's latest findings, the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, during his visit to the U.S. is expected to go much beyond Pakistan-related subjects and take up the China- Pakistan nexus seriously, particularly as it relates to the nuclear and missile fronts.
The Clinton administration, keen on roping in China as a part of the solution to the proliferation problem in South Asia, appears to ignore that China is the problem in the region.
---
U.S. Missile Plan Could Reportedly Provoke China
New York Times
August 10, 2000
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/081000missile-defense.html
http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/world/docs/missiles10.htm
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 -- A highly classified intelligence report warns that deploying an American national missile defense could prompt China to expand its nuclear arsenal tenfold and lead Russia to place multiple warheads on ballistic missiles that now carry only one, according to officials who have reviewed it.
Although the report reaffirms what China and Russia have publicly said in opposition to the system, it offers a detailed analysis of how those two nations are likely to respond and suggests that the effects of an American decision to build a nuclear defense would ripple around the globe from Europe to South Asia, the officials said.
It warns that China would expand its relatively small arsenal of roughly 20 long-range nuclear missiles to a quantity large enough to overwhelm the limited defensive system that the Clinton administration is considering. One person who has seen the report said it estimated that China could deploy up to 200 warheads by 2015, prompting India and Pakistan to respond with their own buildups.
Although Russia's economy is unlikely to support a large buildup of its missile forces, officials said the report found that it could again deploy shorter-range missiles along its borders and resume adding multiple warheads to its ballistic missiles. That is something Russia agreed to stop as part of the second strategic arms control treaty, or Start 2, which it ratified this year.
The report, "Foreign Responses to U.S. National Missile Defense Deployment," underscores warnings by opponents here and abroad that the administration's proposal to build a limited defensive system could lead to a new arms race with Russia and, to a lesser extent, in Asia.
The report does not recommend for or against a national missile defense, but simply spells out potential consequences. Although it makes clear that some of those consequences could be dire, the study also underscores the emerging threat to the United States from the proliferation of ballistic missiles, which advocates have long cited as the rationale for building a system.
President Clinton, who received a copy in the last few days, has said he would make a decision on whether to go ahead with the system this year based on four criteria, including two covered by the report, the threat to and the effects on overall national security, including arms control. The other criteria are the cost and the technological feasibility.
This week, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said he would delay until at least next month making a recommendation to the president on the system. He cited "a number of difficult issues" that have to be resolved. The secretary, who has been briefed on the intelligence findings, is supposed to base his recommendation in part on the effects addressed in the report.
The report, which is expected to be sent to members of Congress on Thursday, is sure to fuel the debate over whether Mr. Clinton should approve the first steps toward a defensive shield or postpone the decision until the next administration. An official who has seen the report said it included assessments that critics and supporters of a missile defense would use "and make no one happy." And it could affect the presidential campaign. Vice President Al Gore has largely embraced the adminstration stand of building a limited land-based system. The Republican candidate, George W. Bush, favors a broader system that could include sea- and space-based arms.
The report includes an annex that repeats the intelligence assessment last year that Iraq, Iran and North Korea could develop ballistic missiles capable of hitting the United States by 2015, the officials said. In fact, the threat from North Korea may be more imminent, despite a flurry of diplomatic activity by North Korea, the officials said.
Although North Korea has abided by a pledge that it made last year not to test its long-range missiles, it has continued building a three-stage missile that could hit the United States and could deploy it "in reasonably short order," one official said.
The report, a National Intelligence Estimate, represents the collective assessment of the nation's intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
One senior official said the report did not intend to predict with certainty how China, Russia and other countries would respond, but rather simply laid out a range of responses.
Another official, arguing that the report did not necessarily undercut the case for a missile defense, said some of the findings represented worst-case scenarios. The report says, for example, that the Russians could withdraw from "an array of arms control treaties," especially if the United States went ahead without negotiating changes in the Antiballistic Missile Treaty of 1972, which prohibits national missile defenses.
The official noted that although Russia had so far strongly resisted Washington's efforts to change the treaty, they have an interest in negotiating reductions in both countries' nuclear arsenals, because Russia can scarcely afford to maintain the 5,000 or so warheads that it has.
The report suggests that the Russians could accept a trade-off that would strictly limit the American defensive system to 100 interceptor missiles based in Alaska, as the administration has proposed building by 2007. But without an agreement, Russia could respond by increasing the warheads on each missile.
---
Study Sees Possible China Nuclear Buildup
Washington Post
Thursday, August 10, 2000; Page A02
By Roberto Suro Washington Post Staff Writer
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-08/10/277l-081000-idx.html
A new intelligence study warns President Clinton that North Korea could threaten the United States with a ballistic missile attack within a few years but cautions that building a missile defense system could have undesirable consequences, including a nuclear arms buildup by China, government officials said yesterday.
The still-classified study, known as a National Intelligence Estimate, was delivered to the White House this week to assist Clinton in deciding whether to begin erecting a limited antimissile system to defend the U.S. homeland.
In a separate, public report on proliferation issues, the Central Intelligence Agency concluded that in 1999 China increased its technical assistance to Pakistan for the development of ballistic missiles and that it continued to provide raw materials and missile technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. The semiannual report to Congress also said Russia had provided "substantial" assistance to Iran's missile development effort.
Commenting on the CIA proliferation report, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States has "raised with senior Chinese officials on numerous occasions our concerns about reports that Chinese entities have provided assistance to missile programs in Pakistan."
But despite the resumption in July of talks with China on cooperative nonproliferation efforts, "the missile issues remain unresolved," Boucher told a news briefing.
The National Intelligence Estimate on missile defense had been repeatedly delayed by disagreements among the various intelligence agencies that contributed to the report. But the debate ultimately was settled in favor of analysts who believe that construction of a U.S. missile defense system would cause China to significantly accelerate its production of nuclear weapons beyond current plans, according to officials familiar with the document.
China, the study concludes, already is working to modernize and modestly expand its strategic force of some 20 fixed-silo, single-warhead intercontinental missiles. But, in response to the creation of a U.S. missile shield, China probably would try to develop both mobile and multiple-warhead weapons, expanding its force to as many as 200 warheads to be able to overwhelm the American defenses, the officials said.
The administration's current missile defense plan envisions 100 interceptor missiles in Alaska, backed by a network of early warning satellites, ground-based radars and battle management computers. The United States has tried to reassure Beijing that the system could handle a maximum of only about 25 incoming warheads and would be aimed at blocking attacks by such unpredictable states as North Korea, Iran and Iraq. Nonetheless, top Chinese officials have complained publicly that the system could defeat China's current missile force, nullifying its deterrent power.
Drawing on assessments from several quarters, Clinton is due to decide by late November whether to take initial steps toward building the missile defense system. The president has said he will consider the system's technical feasibility, cost, and two issues specifically covered by the National Intelligence Estimate: the gravity of the threat and the national security implications of deploying the missile shield.
In addition to the likely Chinese response, the study cites Russian opposition to the antimissile shield as a complicating factor in future nonproliferation and arms control efforts, and it says European concerns could strain the Atlantic alliance, officials said.
On the nature of the threat, the study echoes previous public intelligence assessments that North Korea is the nation most likely to pose a new threat of ballistic missile attack on the United States during the next 15 years. Both Iran and Iraq could test intercontinental missiles by 2010, particularly if they receive assistance from Russia, China or North Korea, officials said.
The assessment does not attempt to predict when threats will emerge, but instead projects trends based on existing conditions, an assessment of technical capabilities and perceived intentions, officials said. Once capabilities are established, the assessment warns, real threats to U.S. national security can emerge quickly, the officials said.
The political debate over missile defense and the administration's timetable for deploying the system are not being driven by official intelligence assessments such as the one delivered to the White House this week. Rather, the threat has been defined by the 1998 report of a congressionally appointed panel headed by former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which predicted that North Korea would have missiles capable of striking the United States by 2005.
Both the official and independent assessments agree that the surreptitious export of missile and weapons technology constitutes a wild card that makes it difficult if not impossible to say for certain how soon a missile threat would emerge.
The CIA's public report on proliferation, for example, found that in 1999 North Korea procured raw materials and components for its ballistic missile program "from various foreign sources, especially through firms in China." While the CIA said it found no evidence of procurement activities directly linked to North Korea's nuclear weapons program, it did report that North Korean agents were searching worldwide for technology that could have applications for building such weapons.
---
CIA: China expanded missile role
Florida Today
August 10, 2000
By Robert Burns Associated Press Military Writer
http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/081000g.htm
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/national/natn1015.shtml
WASHINGTON (AP) - China expanded its role in helping Pakistan develop missiles last year and had a hand in missile development in North Korea, Iran and Libya, according to a CIA report released Wednesday.
Limiting the spread of technology for building ballistic missiles -- especially to countries deemed hostile to the United States -- is a major foreign policy goal of the Cto acquire missile know-how, and that major suppliers like China take a different view of what constitutes prudent technology exports.
China has pledged not to export whole missile systems and denies selling them to Pakistan. But it has declined to sign the international Missile Technology Control Regime or abide by its ban on sales of missile components.
"The Chinese have taken a very narrow interpretation of their nonproliferation commitment," the CIA report said.
In talks last month in Beijing, John Holum, the State Department's top arms control official, failed to resolve differences over Chinese aid to Pakistan's missile program. The talks marked a resumption of an arms control dialogue that China cut off after the United States bombed its embassy in Yugoslavia in May 1999 during the Kosovo air war. China did not accept the U.S. explanation that the attack was a mistake.
Richard Boucher, a State Department spokesman, said Wednesday that senior U.S. and Chinese arms control officials resumed the discussions this week in Honolulu. "Some additional progress has been made in these discussions, but I would say the missile issues remain unresolved," Boucher told reporters.
Pressure is growing in Congress for President Clinton to crack down on China's missile technology sales. Proposed legislation in the Senate calls for monitoring China's weapons proliferation and for possible sanctions.
The CIA report, first disclosed in Wednesday's editions of the Washington Times, is the latest in a series required by Congress to monitor the spread of technology useful for the development or production of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The unclassified report covered the period from July 1 through Dec. 31, 1999. It was submitted to Congress last week.
"Chinese missile-related technical assistance to Pakistan increased during this reporting period," the report said. "In addition, firms in China provided missile-related items, raw materials and/or assistance to several countries of proliferation concern -- such as Iran, North Korea and Libya."
At the Chinese Embassy in Washington, spokesman Zhang Yuanyuan said "China does not have a policy of exporting technology for weapons of mass destruction." He questioned the reliability of the CIA's intelligence. "The CIA makes a lot of mistakes," he said, noting the spy agency's role in the embassy bombing in Belgrade.
The report provided no specifics on Chinese assistance to Pakistan. It noted that Beijing pledged in May 1996 to halt assistance to Pakistani nuclear programs that are not under international control, but added, "We cannot preclude ongoing contacts."
In October 1997, China pledged not to engage in any new nuclear cooperation with Iran, beyond two ongoing nuclear projects -- a small research reactor and a zirconium production facility at Esfahan that the CIA said Iran intends to use to produce cladding for reactor fuel.
"The pledge appears to be holding," the CIA report said.
The CIA said it found evidence that Iran last year continued to seek Chinese assistance for its chemical weapons program. "It is unclear to what extent these efforts have succeeded," the report said.
The CIA report described Iran as one of the most active countries seeking foreign technology for weapons of mass destruction. Iran is trying to develop a home-grown capability to produce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and missiles to deliver them, it said. Its chief suppliers during the second half of 1999 were Russia, China, North Korea and Western Europe.
The Iranian government says its nuclear program is for civilian energy development, not military use. The CIA report called this a "guise" under which it is seeking to obtain facilities that "in fact could be used in any number of ways in support of efforts to produce fissile material needed for a nuclear weapon."
The report said that although North Korea last year tried to buy foreign technology that could have uses in its nuclear program, "we do not know of any procurement directly linked to the nuclear weapons program."
On the Net - CIA report: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/bian/bian--aug2000.htm
---
CIA Says China Helped Pakistan Missile Program
Inside China Today
August 10, 2000
http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=187601§ion=default
WASHINGTON, Aug 10, 2000 -- (Reuters) CIA Says China Helped Pakistan Missile Program
WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - China increased assistance to Pakistan's ballistic missile program, while Russia provided "substantial" missile-related technology to Iran in the second half of 1999, an unclassified CIA report to Congress said on Wednesday.
"Chinese entities provided increased assistance to Pakistan's ballistic missile program during the second half of 1999," the semiannual report on proliferation activities said.
North Korea also helped Pakistan in the missile area, and the South Asian country acquired nuclear-related equipment and materials from sources in Western Europe, the report said.
Chinese firms provided missile-related items and help to Iran, North Korea and Libya, the report said.
"We have had discussions many times with the government of China about our concerns of missiles and weapons of mass destruction and export activities of Chinese entities," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
"We have raised with senior Chinese officials on numerous occasions our concerns about reports that Chinese entities have provided assistance to missile programs in Pakistan," he said.
The United States resumed nonproliferation talks with China in July and while there was progress, "the missile issues remain unresolved," Boucher told a regular media briefing.
House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, a Florida Republican, accused the Clinton administration of playing down the proliferation problem because it wants to improve relations with China and North Korea.
"What the bad news is for the administration is they've rose-color glassed this as usual and I think they've been caught out at it by this report," Goss said. The administration says China is improving its proliferation record and "I don't think there is any evidence to support that," he said.
Reports of Chinese missile aid to Pakistan have been a factor behind growing support in the U.S. Senate for legislation that would impose sanctions on China and companies involved in alleged proliferation.
Tennessee Republican Sen. Fred Thompson, the bill's sponsor, said the CIA report showed the need for that legislation. "This report shows that Chinese proliferation activities are increasing, not decreasing," he said.
RUSSIA HELPED IRAN
Russia, meanwhile, helped Iran with its missile program and supplied missile-related goods and technical expertise to Iran India, and Libya, the report said.
A deterioration of economic conditions put more pressure on Russian entities to circumvent export controls, and Russia continued to provide Iran with nuclear technology that could be applied to its weapons program, the report said.
"Russian entities during the second six months of 1999 have provided substantial missile-related technology, training and expertise to Iran that almost certainly will continue to accelerate Iranian efforts to develop new ballistic missile systems," the report said.
Iran was "one of the most active" countries seeking weapons technology, the report said. Russia, North Korea and China supplied the largest amount of ballistic missile-related goods, technology and expertise to Iran, it said.
Comments by Iranian officials and Iran's cooperation with Russia, North Korea and China "strongly suggest that Tehran intends to develop a longer-range ballistic missile capability in the near future," the report said.
The United States has cited concern about long-range missile development by Iran, North Korea and Iraq as a reason for its proposed national missile defense system.
The CIA report said there were increased signs that North Korea was procuring raw materials and components for its ballistic missile program from various sources, especially Chinese firms.
North Korea tried to obtain technology for its nuclear program, "but we do not know of any procurement directly linked to the nuclear weapons program," the report said. North Korea has enough plutonium for at least one, and possibly two, nuclear weapons, it said.
North Korea in turn exported "significant" missile-related equipment, components and technical expertise to countries in the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa, the report said.
Those exports provided North Korea with a major source of hard currency which fuels its missile development and production, the report said.
Since U.N. inspectors stopped going into Iraq and an automated video monitoring system installed by the United Nations at suspected weapons facilities was dismantled, it was difficult to accurately assess the state of Iraq's weapons programs, the report said.
-------- france
Two French N-plants found unable to resist quakes
Aug 10, 2000
Reuters
From: Ndunlks@aol.com
France's Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said on Thursday it asked Electricite de France (EdF) to make in-depth checks on two of its nuclear plants after design faults showed they could not resist a major earthquake.
The discovery of faults in the safety system led to the shutdown of the two 900-megawatt reactors at the Fessenheim plant in eastern France and the declaration on Wednesday of a ``significant incident'' there, the ASN said in a statement.
The ASN said it had ordered checks on Fessenheim in March after a design fault was discovered in the safety system of four similar 900 MW reactors in the eastern Bugey region.
``When EdF did its (10-year routine) checks it realised the two types of reactor in question were not able to withstand earthquakes... That wasn't picked up at the design phase and it wasn't noticed in earlier checks,'' senior ASN official Thomas Maurin told Reuters.
``We've detected it now... and have asked the operator to check all equipment at the plants for seismic resistance,'' he said.
Maurin said checks at Bugey revealed there were not enough bolts fixing PTR cooling reservoirs to reactors. They were now undergoing repairs.
At Fessenheim, checks showed weaknesses in bolts fixing PTR and ASG reservoirs, which feed the steam turbines, to reactors. EdF was repairing the ASG reservoirs but had not yet submitted proposals for fixing the PTR reservoirs to the NSA for approval, the ASN said.
This follows an announcement by state-run nuclear fuels group Cogema on August 2 that it planned to shut down a nuclear plant producing plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in the earthquake-prone region of Cadarache, southeastern France.
EdF operates 58 nuclear reactors in France, providing 80 percent of the country's electricity. Maurin said there were no plans for seismic controls on its other reactors, which were of a different design to those at Fessenheim and Bugey.
-------- india / pakistan
India: Calcutta / Violent Attack on Anti-Nuclear Rally!
Police Beat Up, Arrest Activists, Damage Material!
by Kunal Chattopadhyay
From: Harsh Kapoor <aiindex@mnet.fr>
Thu, 10 Aug 2000 21:50:15 +0200
On 9th August 2000, a demonstration had been called by 77 organisations to commemorate Nagasaki Day, and to protest against Nuclear weapons as well as nuclear power plants. This year, this second issue was a live one, because the government of west Bengal proposes to set up a nuclear power plant in the sunderbans. Around a thousand persons came to the demonstration, making it a relatively small one, compared to the 20,000 strong who had responded to the call of roughly the same combination in 1998. Of course, at that time, after Pokharan and Chagai, there had been a greater awareness, which seems to have slipped since then. In addition, this year there was a delay in taking up the initiative so that ultimately, there was barely a fortnight's preparation time.
Nonetheless, it was a significant turn out, for two reasons. First, after some initial hesitations on the part of some of the organisations, it was agreed that this would be a non-sectarian demonstration, in which all organisations would have the right to be present with their banners. The range of organisations signing the call for the demonstration, and of those actually participating, was truly impressive, since they included political formations, science associations, women's organisations, trade unions, cultural associations, human rights organisations, etc. Quite a number of school children were present, while impressive tableaux on trucks were an added attraction.
The demonstration was flagged off from Sealdah Station, and made its way through Mahatma Gandhi Road, College Street, and on to the vicinity of Metro Cinema, where it had been planned to hold a meeting. From the beginning, there was police provocation. Twice, the police interrupted the demonstration in the name of allowing traffic to pass. This is never done, and clearly, it was meant as bait, expecting that the demonstrators would protest, get into scuffles and thereby provide formal justification for police action. Since this was not done, the police next denied permission to halt opposite the Metro cinema. When this too was complied with, and a halt made quite a distance ahead, close to the crossing of J.L.Nehru Road and Lindsay Street, the police again intervened, announcing that since the demonstrators did not have permission to use a microphone. The response to this was a short announcement that the police seemed bent on violating the democratic rights of citizens, but in view of the previous decisions, there would be no resistance, so the meeting would be ended. This refusal to confront the police in a violent manner enraged the police, who had by now swelled to close to 100 baton wielding, shield carrying men and a dozen or so women. They suddenly set upon the leading truck, smashed the microphone, tore up banners, and started arresting people. Sujato Bhadra, former General Secretary of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights, was brutally beaten up and only then taken into custody. The police also chased people who had retreated close to 200-300 metres, encircled some of them and arrested them. One of them, Ms. Anuradha Talwar of Sramajeevi Mahila Samity, was pushed and prodded with sticks by seven male police personnel, and then dragged to the police car, though she was insisting that she should be arrested by a policewoman, and further, that she would in that case not resist arrest, so that dragging her was not necessary.
This was no spur of the moment action by local police. An Assistant Commissioner and a Deputy Commissioner of police led the attacking forces. Participants in the rally could also hear them talking to higher officers on their walkie-talkies. And subsequently, senior police officers at the Lal Bazar office (Calcutta Police Head Quarters) admitted that they were acting under instructions.
To understand why this happened, it is necessary to reflect on a few developments. In 1998, the ruling CPI(M) had initially been silent about taking out any major anti-nuclear weapons march. When a large combination got together, and it became evident that even many supporters of the Left Front would be joining the 6th August 1998 demonstration, the CPI(M) decided to take over the movement. They tried to dictate terms concerning the slogans, the kind of (extremely bureaucratic) discipline they wanted imposed, and this led to a split. Many well-meaning liberals endorsed the CPI(M) call in the hope that at least it would bring together a bigger force. The traditional anti-nuclear forces, by and large, insisted that pluralism was the life-blood of the anti-nuclear movement. This led to the smaller demonstration of 20,000 mentioned earlier (smaller, though, is a relative term. No other city had a turn out of 20,000 -- in Delhi the combined anti-nuclear ant left forces mobilising a little more than 5000). The apprehension of the anti-nuclear forces was not unwarranted. The CPI(M) leadership at no stage called for an outright rejection of the nuclear weapons. For them, whose hand controlled the trigger was the important question, as well as who was getting political mileage out of the Pokharan tests. As a result, the rally of 200,000 organised by the CPI(M) left no political memory of significance behind it. It turned into one more of the rallies the CPI(M) organises to keep together its support base. Worse, the political stance it adopted then opened the door for gradual acceptance of nuclearisation later. The proposal for a nuclear power plant in the Sunderbans is totally unacceptable. According to even the official stand of the India government, the abundant supply of coal in West Bengal means that no nuclear power plant is necessary in that province. But a nuclear power plant means big money, and the n-plant lobby is willing to keep powerful people happy to get its way. Further, the CPI(M) ambiguous stand on nuclear weapons now allows it to turn a blind eye to the fact that a power plant is at the same time an instrument to make bomb-grade fissile material. Finally, because it clings on to outmoded ideas of progress and development, it even rejects the views of people like Sankar Kumar Sen, former Power Minister and electrical engineering specialist, who argue against nuclear power plants anywhere in the world. Instead, it is now the CPI(M)'s wish to set up the power plant at any cost. It therefore wishes to pretend that only political opponents, notably Maoists, are opposed to setting up of a nuclear power plant. Consequently, the police informed the media that a handful of "Naxalites" had been causing disruption and had been removed by the police. The pro-nuclear sections of the media also lapped this up. And over the last two decades, the Left Front has developed this particular justification greatly (though it is now wearing thin in the face of massive brutality by police and CPI(M) cadres alike), that all its political opponents use violence, and can only be met with counter-violence.
Thus, the attempt is to brand the anti-nuclear movement as Maoist, though out of the 77 initial signatories to the appeal, hardly 10% of the organisations fall in that category. Indeed, many of the non-party organisations initially had a hesitation about calling in political organisations. The real situation is, as the press handout of the organisers of the rally pointed out after the police attacks, that the right to protest, to argue about the dangers of nuclear power and even to point out how dangerous nuclear weapons are, seem to have been removed from the constitutional right to freedom of thought and expression by a government which is bent on promoting its agenda if necessary by throttling democracy.
The organisers have called for a day of Condemnation on 11th August, when every supporter of the movement will be asked to put on black badges. On the 12th, there is to be a protest meeting at College Square.
For outstation supporters, we request that protest messages should be sent to Jyoti Basu, CM, West Bengal (fax no. 033 -- 221-- 5480) and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Home Minister (fax no. 033-221--5495). In both cases, international fax numbers will be 91--33-- rather than 033. Solidasrity merssages to the organisers can be sent at soma1kunal@caltiger.com
----
Pakistan denies China missile link
Islamabad rejects CIA report on technology transfers
MSNBC
08/10/00
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
http://www.msnbc.com/news/444091.asp?cp1=1
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug 10 - Pakistan rejected on Thursday allegations made by the CIA that it had received technology from China and North Korea to help develop ballistic missiles.
"PAKISTAN AND China do not have cooperation in building long-range missiles... The same situation applies with North Korea as far as we are concerned," Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Mohammed Khan told Reuters.
An unclassified CIA report presented on Wednesday to the U.S. Congress said China had increased assistance to Pakistan's missile program, while North Korea also helped the country in the missile area.
"Pakistan has not received anything from China that is inconsistent with China's international commitments or obligations, including the guidelines that they voluntarily follow relating to the MTCR, Missile Technology Control Regime," Khan said.
He said similar allegations were also made last month just before several senior U.S. officials visited Beijing.
"At that time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi had dismissed reports that there was cooperation between China and Pakistan for developing long range missiles.
"He described those reports as totally groundless and stemming from ulterior motives," Khan said.
A U.S. official in early July said Washington had been concerned about Chinese aid to Pakistan's missile program since the 1998 tit-for-tat nuclear tests by arch-rivals New Delhi and Islamabad.
NBC's Robert Windrem previously reported that U.S. officials have revised their take on Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, once believed to be inferior to India's arsenal. U.S. officials told NBC News that Pakistan not only has more warheads than its longtime adversary, but has far more capability to actually use them.
Robert Windrem: Pakistan nukes outstrip India's
Reports of Chinese missile aid to Pakistan have been a factor behind growing support in the U.S. Senate for legislation to impose sanctions on China and companies involved in alleged missile proliferation.
"The Americans have not raised this matter with us in our dialogue with them but as far as the Chinese position is concerned, whenever the Americans have raised this matter with them the Chinese have made their position clear," he said.
In July, Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said Islamabad had a "sufficiently advanced" missile program to conduct the necessary research itself.
Sattar said China, one of Islamabad's closest diplomatic and longtime strategic allies, had supplied Pakistan with a limited number of short-range tactical missiles without contravening its obligations under the MTCR.
---
Car bomb explodes in Kashmir, killing at least 10
CNN
August 10, 2000 Web posted at: 7:18 p.m. HKT (1118 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/south/08/10/india.kashmir/index.html
SRINAGAR, India -- At least 10 people died on Thursday after a car bomb exploded in Srinagar, in the first major attack in Kashmir since a militant group ended a cease-fire and peace talks with the Indian government.
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/south/08/10/india.kashmir/map.india.srinagar.gif
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/south/08/10/india.kashmir/map.kashmir.srinagar.gif
The blast occurred outside the State Bank of India, where Indian troops collect their salaries, in Srinagar, which is in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Witnesses said they heard two blasts, a smaller one believed to have been an exploding grenade and the second, larger one when the car bomb went off.
CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra said eye witnesses said most of the dead were Indian police officials. It was believed seven security officers were killed.
The blast, at Residency Road near a police station, could be heard throughout Srinagar, the Press Trust of India reported.
Fearing renewed violence following the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen's decision to end the cease-fire, India announced on Wednesday it had resumed military operations against the group.
Indian security forces were on high alert in the region early Thursday, and military officials said the militant group had gone underground to resume hostilities against India.
"Yes, we have launched our operations against the (Hezb-ul Mujahedeen) following their announcement of calling off the cease-fire," said Inspector General of Police Ashok Bhan.
"They will be treated like any other outfit now," he said. However, Bhan did not specify what kind of action India planned to take against the group.
On Tuesday, Hezb-ul Mujahedeen's leaders said they had called off a cease-fire announced unilaterally on July 24, and ordered its fighters to act against Indian troops, because India had not agreed to tripartite talks including Pakistan.
The group had demanded the peace talks include Indian officials, Pakistan and militant groups. Indian leaders, however, said they would not meet with Pakistan because they blamed Pakistani officials for backing violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Renewed violence
Last week, more than 100 people -- including a group of Hindu pilgrims visiting a holy cave -- died in a series of massacres in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Indian officials said Muslim militants committed the violence, and that Pakistan either backed or orchestrated the killings. Pakistan, meanwhile, said it has only given the militants moral support, and said rogue Indian troops might have carried out the massacres.
While the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen had called a cease-fire, several other militant groups had said the move was a sellout and threatened to continue their bloody actions against India.
There has been renewed violence in the region -- two women were killed and three others injured in a bomb blast on Wednesday -- since the end of the cease-fire.
Some militants also ambushed an Indian army convoy. Indian military officials said they had killed six militants and arrested two others since Tuesday.
In Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, Hezb-ul Mujahedeen's leaders said that they had killed 12 Indian soldiers in an attack on an army headquarters in Baramulla, near Srinagar.
Indian officials confirmed the attack had occurred, but denied there were any casualties.
Accusations exchanged
Earlier this week, India and Pakistan accused each other of destroying hopes for peace in Kashmir. The region was divided between the countries more than 50 years ago, and they have fought two wars over the region.
India controls two-thirds of Kashmir, while Pakistan administers the other one-third. However, both nations claim the region.
Indian officials had said Pakistani agencies had put intense pressure on the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen to end the truce to continue, and intensify, their acts of violence.
"The sabotage of the peace process by Pakistan clearly shows its callous disregard for the welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," India's government said in a statement.
However, Pakistan fought back in the war of words, accusing India of scuttling peace efforts by what it called negative responses to the cease-fire, and attempts to divide the Kashmiri "freedom movement."
"Negative and transparently insincere responses by the Indian Prime Minister (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) and other Indian officials have destroyed the possibility for a peace process," a Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement said.
U.S. blames militants
Meanwhile, a Pakistan-based alliance of 15 other militant groups, which had opposed the cease-fire, welcomed the end of the truce.
In Washington, U.S. officials on Wednesday blamed Hezb-ul Mujahedeen's leaders for the collapse of peace talks, and they urged India and the militant group to resume dialogue.
"It's not helpful for the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen to insist on a new condition after the cease-fire and offer of dialogue was announced and accepted by India," U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said.
He said the militants' ultimatum that Pakistan be included in the discussions was not part of the original offer, and that the cease-fire had been seen as an opportunity to begin a peace process.
He said direct talks between India and Pakistan, the world's two newest nuclear powers, were crucial for peace in the region.
"In order for such discussions to take place, however, a climate of trust must be created through sincere efforts to end the violence and, of course, taking the wishes of the Kashmiri people into account," Boucher said.
CNN Correspondent Suhasini Haidar, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
-------- japan
Greenpeace says N-shipment to Japan dangerous
August 10, 2000
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7749
PARIS - Greenpeace said yesterday a shipment of nuclear fuel containing plutonium was due to leave France for Japan next month and warned countries along the route they would be at risk.
The environmental group said in a statement the shipment of 28 containers of recycled MOX - plutonium-uranium mixed oxide - would contain some 230 kilos (500 lb) of weapons-grade plutonium.
"The shipment poses a totally unnecessary risk for people living in countries along the route and for those living in the countries where this fuel is made," Greenpeace said.
Environmentalists fear the ship could sink in a storm or be attacked by terrorists trying to seize the plutonium.
The shipment will be the second of dozens expected to take recycled Japanese plutonium back to its utility owners in the form of MOX.
A first shipment of 40 MOX containers was made from the French port of Cherbourg a year ago. Greenpeace protesters briefly delayed the departure of the ship which sailed to Japan via the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania.
Japanese power companies have contracts overseas for reprocessing and recycling nuclear fuel with France's Cogema and British Nuclear Fuels Plc (BNFL).
No comment was immediately available from Cogema.
Greenpeace and Japanese environmental groups asked a Japanese court yesterday to halt the use of MOX at a reactor in the north of the country.
----
Civic groups ask Japan court to halt MOX fuel use
August 10, 2000 Reuters
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7744
TOKYO - Environmental and other civic groups yesterday filed for an injunction against the use of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at a reactor in northern Japan.
The request, filed by 864 people from across the country at Fukushima local district court, asked the court to halt the use of MOX fuel in Tokyo Electric Power Co Ltd's reactor in Fukushima, about 250km (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo.
The groups, which include Greenpeace, say the controversial fuel is potentially dangerous.
"They want to use MOX fuel in these ageing reactors," a statement by the groups said. "We are extremely worried about an accident occuring and want TEPCO to refrain from using MOX fuel in the reactors."
The MOX fuel used in the reactor is manufactured by Belgian firm Belgonucleaire, it said.
Last September, Japan suffered its worst nuclear accident in which two workers were killed at a uranium processing plant, sparking widespread criticism of its nuclear programme.
Anxiety over nuclear power was raised again earlier this year when British power company British Nuclear Fuels admitted it had falsified data on a MOX fuel shipment to Japan.
----
P.M. hints at need to redraw A-bombing area designated for free medical aid
JPS 08-046
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 16:34:05 +0900
Japan Press Service <jpspress@twics.com>
TOKYO AUG 10, 2000 JPS -- Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has hinted that Nagasaki City's request for extending the A-bombed area designated for free medical aid for illness related to the A-bombing might be considered.
This was during his visit to Nagasaki City on August 9. He attended the ceremony to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the city's A-bombing.
The city's research concerning the effects of the radiation on residents outside the designated areas is invaluable and worth studying closely at the Health and Welfare Ministry, said Mori to the press.
Commenting on the prime minister's statement, Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Ito said, "This is a result of the concerted movement by the prefectural and municipal governments and citizens to convey the strong demand of the residents to the national government." (end item)
--
JPS 08-047
Okinawa Pref. Govt calls for review of Status of U.S. Forces in Japan Agreement (SOFA)
TOKYO AUG 10 JPS -- The Okinawa Prefectural Government on August 9 submitted a draft petition paper calling for a review of the Status of U.S. Forces in Japan Agreement (SOFA) to the prefectural assembly special commission on U.S. bases.
The Okinawa government plans to finish committee discussions and send it to the Japanese and U.S. governments late in August. The petition drive follows the one made in 1995.
In the committee meeting, various arguments were raised on the draft which insists that domestic laws must be applied to U.S. Forces' activities in Okinawa.
A member of the Liberal Democratic Party said, "It is true that I approve of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. But, compared with the Bonn Agreement and similar agreements between the U.S. and NATO member countries, the Japan-U.S. SOFA grants too many extraterritorial rights to the U.S." Many members commonly supported the claim.
A member from the Okinawa Social Mass Party-Yui Association said, "The latest petition dropped a claim to penalize U.S. units causing accidents or incidents during exercises. Forest fires frequently occur in U.S. Camp Hansen. I think such a draft will be helpless to prevent them from occurring."
A Japanese Communist Party member said, "The draft's preamble states that 'the U.S. bases in Okinawa are playing a vital role for maintaining the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty system.' This contradicts with the assembly's position to call for the review of the SACO based on unanimous agreement, irrespective of differences of opinions. Therefore, this part must be deleted."
The prefectural government, however, refused to omit the phrase saying that the SACO is based on the Security Treaty. (end item)
--
JPS 8-048
Nagasaki mayor calls for negotiations for nuclear weapons prohibition treaty
TOKYO AUG 10 JPS -- Commemorating the 55th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki City, some 28,000 citizens paid silent tribute to the victims of the bombing at a peace memorial ceremony held by the city on August 9 at the Peace Park.
Iccho Ito, mayor of Nagasaki City, in the "Nagasaki Peace Declaration" called on the nuclear weapons states to immediately start multilateral negotiations for the early conclusion of a comprehensive nuclear weapons prohibition treaty, as an implementation of the commitment they made at the NPT Review Conference: an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
Mayor Ito then called on Japan's government to take a lead in the effort to abolish nuclear weapons, to make the Three Non-nuclear Principle a law, and to establish a Northeast Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone.
The reported number of the citizens who died resulting from the atomic bombing was 124,191, with last year's 2,603 deaths added.
----
More Plutonium on Its Way to Japan, Says Greenpeace
August 10, 2000 (ENS)
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug2000/2000L-08-10-11.html
PARIS, France, The environmental group Greenpeace said Wednesday that a shipment of plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel will leave France for Japan as early as September.
Greenpeace protesters outside Belgonucleaire's plant in Dessel last year. (Photo courtesy Greenpeace/Cutrupi)
Together with Japanese environmental groups and citizens, Greenpeace took court action yesterday against a Tokyo nuclear power company, Tokyo Electric (TEPCO), to stop loading plutonium MOX fuel because of safety concerns.
Greenpeace claims the new shipment will comprise 28 fuel assemblies containing some 230 kilograms of weapons grade plutonium. It will carry fuel manufactured by Belgian company, Belgonucleaire, says the group.
It would be the first shipment since safety data for a similar MOX fuel shipment was falsified and had to be taken back from Japan last month by its producer, the government owned British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL).
BNFL has agreed to pay the Japanese government $US60 million in compensation for last year's MOX shipment. More than 25 en-route nations lodged formal protests against the shipment, which was transported via South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope into the Southern Ocean and up through the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean to Japan.
Greenpeace believes the next shipment will be transported from Belgonucleaire's nuclear plant in Dessel to the French port of Cherbourg before leaving for Japan. The group claims it is only the latest in a series of up to 80 plutonium fuel shipments between Europe and Japan that could take place over the next 10 to 15 years.
The group says the weapons-usable material poses not only a risk of an environmental disaster in Japan and along the entire 20,000 mile route from Europe, but also threatens to spark a major proliferation crisis in the Asia Pacific region.
"The last MOX shipment proved conclusively that the plutonium industry cannot be trusted and yet, backed by the British, French, Belgian and Japanese governments, they continue to threaten the safety of millions when they ship plutonium fuel around the planet" said a Greenpeace spokesman.
"The shipment poses a totally unnecessary risk for the people living in countries along the route and for those living in the countries where this fuel is made."
Japanese military boats escort the British Nuclear Fuels ship carrying the MOX fuel into Fukushima harbor last year. (Photo by Jorge Punzi, courtesy Greenpeace)
Greenpeace hopes that yesterday's court action against TEPCO will halt future shipments. TEPCO is using MOX fuel manufactured by Belgonucleaire that was part of the same shipment made last year, which included the falsified MOX fuel from BNFL.
The group believes that if safety data problems emerge from the Japanese court case, they would apply to any new new shipment of Belgian plutonium MOX fuel and would force the Japanese government to reject it.
Japan is engaged in a long term program to develop its nuclear energy industry and to produce secure supplies of electricity. The strategy includes a complete closed fuel cycle ensuring the proper management of the spent fuel and nuclear waste, by reprocessing the spent fuel, conditioning and disposing of the waste, and recycling the valuable fissile materials - uranium and plutonium.
-------- russia
Russia to cut nuclear rockets, merge forces-source
8-10-00
Ndunlks@aol.com
MOSCOW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Russia's Security Council is likely to advise President Vladimir Putin to cut some land-based nuclear missiles and merge the Strategic Rocket Forces with the air force, a Defence Ministry source said on Thursday.
The source told Reuters the move was part of a restructuring of Russia's armed forces that would start in 2001 and result in three branches of the military -- land, sea and air -- rather than four, including the Strategic Rocket Forces.
Putin's advisory but influential Security Council meets on Friday to discuss military reforms including the nuclear missile cuts and merger. The move, if Putin agrees with it, would represent a major change in Russian strategic policy.
``The Strategic Rocket Forces will be merged with the air force and silo-based missiles which become obsolete in 2003 will be scrapped,'' the source said. The aim is to put greater emphasis on the navy's submarine-based missile deterrent.
There will also be structural changes in the Strategic Rocket Forces -- which are responsible only for land-based missiles -- and savings will be used to fund conventional ground forces which have been found wanting in the Chechnya war.
The source said there would be no reshuffles in the upper echelons of the armed forces. There has been speculation Putin might use the meeting to sack Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev and chief of General Staff, who have been at daggers drawn over the plans for the nuclear forces.
The chief of General Staff, General Anatoly Kvashnin, has favoured deep cuts in the Strategic Rocket Forces and a merger with or even absorption into the air force. Sergeyev has argued against major reductions but not against some kind of merger.
The changes outlined by the source have the whiff of compromise. Further changes to the Security Council plans outlined by the source cannot be excluded altogether.
-------- u.s. nuc facilities
-------- new mexico
300 March on LANL
Albuquerque Journal
Thursday, August 10, 2000
By Ian Hoffman Journal Staff Report
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/98303news08-10-00.htm
As U.S. weapons executives speculate on creating a new generation of low-yield nuclear arms, 300 activists chanting "Shut it down!" marched on Los Alamos National Laboratory Wednesday in the second largest protest at the lab since the birth of the nuclear bomb.
They cast a mix of insults and exhortations to lab employees to abandon weapons research in favor of more peaceable pursuits.
"We want to be proud that you have found new, more useful work," said Cliff Bain, a New Mexico Green Party stalwart.
Actor Martin Sheen did not make a promised cameo to lead the protest. Sixty people crossed an arbitrary line and were temporarily detained by armed lab guards. Among the first taken into custody was actor and director Wes Studi, a star of "Last of the Mohicans" and "Geronimo."
Studi denounced the manufacture of nuclear weapons as "serving no good at all. It's a Pandora's box."
"I think the use of nuclear weapons is an absolute wuss way to wage war," he said. "How does one live with oneself after having caused such a horrific devastation of innocent lives and the environment?"
Lab workers looked on more or less respectfully, some snickering at garish tie-dyes, oversized puppetry and banners: "Hell no, we won't glow" and "Los Alamos, who's going to protect us against you?"
"I'm not ready to be liberated from my paycheck," said one lab worker.
On Wednesday, Los Alamosans voiced a cautious pride in indirectly guaranteeing the constitutional rights to free assembly and speech.
"I want to be able to protest something, so I support them being here," said Gina Koehler, a lab subcontract employee.
On the same day in 1945, Los Alamos' "Fat Man" bomb flattened a third of Nagasaki and killed a fifth of its population outright, the death toll reaching 149,000 by year's end. Veterans and lab retirees defended the bombing as crucial to persuading a reluctant Japanese military to surrender.
"It's our contention we saved not only Allied lives but also a lot of Japanese lives," said Steve Stoddard, a World War II veteran and founder of the Los Alamos Education Group, a pro-nuclear group that offered a counterpoint to demonstrators gathered across the street at Ashley Pond.
"I'd just hate the fact that they could come up here and call us killers in our little town and us not be able to dispute it," Stoddard said.
Last year, as Los Alamos geared up to make the nation's first plutonium cores for nuclear weapons since 1989, a larger, more international crowd of 400 marched on the lab.
This year's protesters were mostly New Mexicans, in part reminded of Los Alamos' legacy by the Cerro Grande Fire that burned a third of the lab's 43 square miles in May. The fire and the likelihood of related flooding joined with security scandals to make 2000 the worst year in lab history.
"I think they have missed an opportunity to close the place down," said Metta Ravenheart, who lives just east of Albuquerque.
"There's clearly a spiritual thing going on with the fire and security problems," said her companion, Jaye Swoboda. He marched Wednesday after "a 20-year nap from social awareness."
"I kind of missed the protest movement," Swoboda said. "I'm looking at this as a beginning for me."
The protest christened Sue Foley in civil disobedience. The 28-year-old landscaper barked chants through a megaphone en route to the lab. She had never risked arrest before and was "freaked out" stepping over the line. Lab security officials had signaled the "arrests" were likely to be of the temporary, "catch-and-release" sort. Foley wasn't sure; she didn't have bail money.
"There's something scary about endangering your personal safety for a cause," she said. "I felt like I needed to do this to demonstrate a commitment to social change."
She nervously told a female guard in body armor and camouflage who took her arm, "I'm a nice girl."
"I know you are, honey, I know," the guard replied and escorted her away.
A few minutes later, one protester hung a garland of colored paper cranes, symbolic of peace, around the neck of lab deputy security director John E. "Gene" Tucker as he directed guards to take activists into custody.
"I think we sent a message to the lab and we'll keep sending the message," Foley said after being released.
The protest comes as Los Alamos fears losing its most veteran weapons designers to sagging morale, Silicon Valley and plush retirement plans. Meanwhile, Senate lawmakers are calling for research into a new generation of earth-penetrating nuclear weapons. Los Alamos' chief weaponeer mused in June on starting design of simple, low-yield nuclear warheads, based on a uranium "gun assembly" designs like the Hiroshima bomb, Little Boy. Associate lab director Steve Younger suggested these weapons might bridge a gap between today's largely high-yield nuclear arsenal and precision conventional arms, while being easier to develop and maintain without nuclear testing.
"If you give billions of dollars to nuclear-weapons laboratories for decades, they are going to design new weapons," said disarmament advocate Andrew Lichterman, program director for the Western States Legal Foundation. "That's where arms races get started."
-------- new york
Con Ed to Replace All Generators at Indian Point 2 Plant
New York Times
August 10, 2000
By DAVID W. CHEN
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/regional/ny-nuke.html
BUCHANAN, N.Y., Aug. 9 -- After enduring months of withering criticism of its safety and financial practices, Consolidated Edison announced today that it would replace the steam generators before reopening the troubled Indian Point 2 nuclear plant.
Indian Point 2 has been closed since February, when a cracked tube in one of the steam generators caused a radioactive leak, the worst accident in the plant's 26-year history. Now, as a result of Con Ed's decision to replace all four generators, the plant will be out of service until the end of the year. The decision all but guarantees a continued scramble for electricity from other sources in a year in which rates have escalated because of power shortages throughout the Northeast.
The decision, which comes a day after Gov. George E. Pataki signed a bill that orders the company to repay customers more than $100 million in costs associated with the accident, represents an abrupt about-face for Con Edison. Until now, the company had resisted requests from residents, government officials and environmental groups to replace the generators. Critics had argued that structural weaknesses in the plant's aging equipment should have been detected as early as 1997.
As recently as late last week, Con Edison seemed determined to restart the power plant with its existing four generators, and had asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to conduct additional heat and pressure tests, said Neil Sheehan, an N.R.C. spokesman.
But on Monday, Governor Pataki signed the bill requiring Con Edison to repay customers more than $100 million and prohibiting the utility from collecting tens of millions more until the plant reopens. And while Con Edison officials vowed today to fight that legislation in court, they also decided to abandon the idea of relying on existing equipment to restart the plant, which is situated in this Westchester County town 35 miles north of Midtown Manhattan.
In a telephone interview, Stephen Quinn, a Con Ed vice president who once managed the plant, said that there was "no connection" between the legislation and today's decision, and that the utility had acted at the earliest possible juncture to go ahead with replacement.
"We are proceeding with replacement as fast as we could have," Mr. Quinn said. "We are talking about bringing in 700 craftsmen, approximately, to effect this repair. These people are not just sitting at home waiting for you to give them a call. And then we have to get machines, and we have to get tools, and we have to do testing."
But public officials and critics of the company expressed doubts that the legislation and today's decision were entirely unrelated.
Governor Pataki, through a spokesman, said that the legislation "provided the push that Con Ed needed to move forward." Andrew J. Spano, the Westchester County executive, issued a statement saying that "we appreciate the fact that Con Edison has heeded our call."
Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, the Westchester Democrat who has relentlessly criticized Con Ed, was particularly outspoken."Once we found a way to successfully threaten their pocketbook, they responded to issues of public safety," Mr. Brodsky said."
Indian Point has been under intense scrutiny since the Feb. 15 accident, when a corroded tube in one steam generator cracked, allowing radioactive water to mix with clean water. There were no injuries, and Con Ed said the amount of radiation released was too small to be measured, but the plant has been closed since then for analysis and repairs.
In March, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accused both its own staff and Con Edison of mishandling a 1997 inspection of the plant, saying that a "a more thorough operational assessment would have predicted an increased probability of tube leakage or rupture." Then, in July, the agency rejected Con Edison's request to reopen Indian Point 2 with the existing generators.
The rejection was particularly noteworthy because Con Edison had hoped to restart the generators to increase the company's power reserves during the steamy summer months, when energy use spikes.
Work will begin shortly to empty the fuel from the reactor and move the four generators, each of which is 63 feet high and around 305 tons, out of the containment building. Work crews will then slide the new generators into the containment building.
Con Ed and several other utilities had long ago sued the generators' manufacturer, Westinghouse, and won, forcing Westinghouse to provide replacement generators. The other plaintiffs installed them, but Con Ed decided that it would be cheaper to make do with the original, defective ones.
The task should be completed by year's end, Mr. Quinn said. The cost was estimated at $135 million.
It is hard to gauge how these developments will affect the pending sale of Indian Point 2. The market for electric power plants at a time of limited supply is a robust one, as evidenced by the $1.3 billion paid on Monday for the two reactors at Millstone Point near New London, Conn.
Regardless, the replacement work should have no impact on the legislation Governor Pataki signed on Tuesday, or on Con Edison's plans to file papers next week to block that legislation, Mr. Quinn said. Nor will the work be affected by a separate complaint filed with the Public Service Commission by Mr. Brodsky and Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat of the Bronx, who seek to disallow fuel charges Con Edison incurred over the last decade or so related to the cost of servicing the old generators.
If the complaint is approved by the commission, then Con Edison could be liable for another $100 million in rebates, Mr. Brodsky said. But even if the commission does not approve the complaint, environmentalists contend that Con Edison's reputation has been bruised.
---
Con Ed's Rising Bills
New York Times
August 10, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/letters/l10con.html
To the Editor:
As the group that collectively produces two-thirds of New York State's electrical power, we take exception to accusations made by Consolidated Edison's chairman, Eugene R. McGrath, that independent power producers are to blame for Con Ed's rising electricity bills to customers (news article, Aug. 3).
The real reason for higher electricity prices this summer is twofold: Fuel costs have increased by as much as 80 percent since last year, and there is a shortage of downstate generating capacity. Independent power producers have virtually no control over rising fuel costs.
If New York City residents want lower electricity prices in the short term, they should push to have Con Ed return some of the $1.8 billion it has made from the sale of its plants. For the long term, they must support the siting of new generating plants to serve the growing electricity demand.
CAROL E. MURPHY Executive Director, Independent Power Producers of New York Albany, Aug. 7, 2000
-------- washington
RIVERSIDE CLEANUP LAUNCHED AT HANFORD
August 10, 2000
ENS AmeriScan
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug2000/2000L-08-10-09.html
RICHLAND, Washington, The DOE and Bechtel Hanford, Inc. (BHI) have started another major cleanup project along the Columbia River at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. The cleanup project, expected to last 26 months, involves removing almost 150 thousand tons of contaminated soil and debris from trenches that held radioactive water discharged from the coolant system and fuel basin at Hanford's N Reactor on the Columbia River. The soil and debris will be disposed of in the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) - a massive disposal site for low level solid waste generated by Hanford cleanup.
"This is another important activity to clean up the river corridor by moving radioactive materials away from the river to Hanford's Central Plateau for disposal," said Beth Bilson, DOE - Richland's assistant manager for waste management and environmental restoration. "While cleaning up soil and materials along the river corridor isn't new for the department or Bechtel, the project at N Reactor does pose some new challenges." Rick Donahoe, project lead for BHI, said the challenges stem from the short period since the reactor last operated. "It has only been 13 years since the N Reactor was permanently shut down," explained Donahoe. "This short period of inactivity resulted in radioactivity levels up to 50 times higher than at other soil cleanup sites." DOE, BHI and its subcontractors are taking extra precautions to minimize personnel radiation exposures and any impacts to the surrounding environment. "We have reviewed potential exposure issues at length with our crews and every person has received project-specific training," said Donahoe. "In addition, supplemental dosimeters will help us to monitor exposure and take whatever steps are necessary to keep people safe."
----
Higher contamination found after fire
Spokane Spokesman Review
08/10/00
Associated Press
http://www.spokane.net/news-story-body.asp?Date=081000&ID=s836939&cat=
RICHLAND -- Plutonium contamination above the usual level was detected in an air sample taken near the central part of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation 10 days after wildfire swept the site.
The U.S. Department of Energy said contamination does not pose a public health risk, but managers were unable to say Wednesday what was the source of contamination.
Plutonium has been detected before in air samples taken during the huge wildfire that burned nearly half of the 560-square-mile reservation at the end of June.
The data released Wednesday were the first from samples taken several days after the blaze.
The level of contamination in the sample was .0016 picocuries per cubic meter of air. If a person were to breathe that amount of plutonium every day for a year, his or her radiation exposure would be between 5 millirem and 10 millirem. A typical dental X-ray delivers 10 millirem to 15 millirem of radiation.
The sample came from the 200 West Area, where some of Hanford's most dangerous radioactive waste is stored underground. The average reading at the site is .00001 picocuries of plutonium per cubic meter.
"That area has a history of being elevated," said Ed Parsons, a senior technical adviser from the Energy Department's Office of Engineering and Safety.
He could not immediately say if it had been determined what triggered the elevated reading this time or at other times since the 1960s.
Hanford was established during World War II to make plutonium for the atomic bomb and continued to do so for nuclear weapons until the 1980s.
The Energy Department has said it expected some dispersal of radioactive material when wind, the fire and firefighters and equipment stirred up surface contamination at Hanford, the nation's most-contaminated nuclear site.
But Gerald Pollet, director of Heart of America Northwest, a Hanford watchdog group in Seattle, contends the Energy Department is using sampling methods that dilute its findings of post-wildfire contamination and that it failed to properly warn firefighters and others of the radiation risks inherent in fighting the fire.
Heart of America Northwest has written to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking that the Justice Department investigate the matter.
Also Wednesday, Debra McBaugh of the state Department of Health said a sagebrush sample taken near the Ringold hatchery, just off the reservation, showed a low level of strontium-90 contamination that may be in the range of average readings.
Strontium-90 is a radioactive isotope and a byproduct of the production of nuclear fuel.
McBaugh said it's still unclear whether the strontium was dispersed in the fire or if it's fallout from weapons testing at Hanford in the 1960s and 1970s, which still shows up in some regular monitoring samples.
Air and vegetation samples taken so far indicate there were no radioactive releases that would have triggered an emergency response during the fire, she said.
"It means it was correct not to evacuate people (from Hanford) ... and it was correct to let those firefighters fight that fire," she said.
The Department of Energy has offered free testing to 700 firefighters who worked in areas where they might have been exposed to strontium-90. No results are available yet.
-------- us nuc politics
THE CONNECTICUT SENATOR
Lieberman's Political Life an Open Book
New York Times
August 10, 2000
By ALISON MITCHELL
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/081000wh-lieberman-author.html
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 -- If politics is the art of seeing your opportunities and taking them, Joseph I. Lieberman seized his first opportunity by writing a book.
When Mr. Lieberman, the son of a liquor store owner, was a senior at Yale University with a desire to run for office, he wrote his college thesis on the quintessential political boss John Bailey of Connecticut.
"I could see that there was no better way to learn about the history and intricacies of Connecticut's government than to study John Bailey," Mr. Lieberman wrote more than three decades later in his memoir, "In Praise of Public Life." "The hours I spent interviewing him that winter were priceless, my own private course in political science."
The admiring thesis turned into two books, "The Power Broker," published in 1966 and a reworked version, "The Legacy," updated and published in 1981.
But, as importantly, the thesis led Mr. Lieberman to a ringside seat in politics, a summer job at the Democratic National Committee, which Mr. Bailey headed during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Across his career in politics, Senator Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, has written five books that give insight into his range of interests, his ways of thinking and the forces that have shaped his life.
His second book, "The Scorpion and the Tarantula," was an account of what he called a "disastrous failure of statecraft" in the dawn of the nuclear age.
As Connecticut's attorney general, he wrote "Child Support in America," a handbook on how to bring in delinquent child support payments.
This year, having received national attention with his condemnation of President Clinton for his affair with a White House intern, Mr. Lieberman published his memoir in defense of government service in an age of cynicism. Some reviewers saw the book as a bid for the attention of Al Gore.
In most of his books, Mr. Lieberman details history.
But he went beyond history in "The Scorpion and the Tarantula" to argue that if the United States had openly recognized a Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, it might have helped reduce Soviet suspicions enough to achieve international control of atomic energy after World War II.
Such a step, he wrote, "would have amounted to the acknowledgment of reality," a reality "which was a fact of American foreign policy in the years that follow even if it was never articulated as such. The passivity of the United States in both the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and the Czechoslovakian tremors of 1968 makes it clear that American diplomats have accepted the fact that Eastern Europe is a Soviet sphere of influence."
But Mr. Lieberman can also delve into the personal.
In his last book -- the only one written with a co-author, Michael D'Orso -- he tells of the collapse of his first marriage to Betty Haas, whom he met when they were both interns in the office of Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff, Democrat of Connecticut.
"There was no single reason our marriage failed," he wrote. "Some of it had to do with the different directions in which our personalities and careers developed. Some of it was related to the fact that I had become much more religiously observant than I was when we met and married. And there is no doubt that some of it was caused by the demands my political career put on our private life. That is surely one of the great costs and risks of public life."
From the start of his career, Mr. Lieberman was fascinated with politics. It shows in the way he wrote of Mr. Bailey. Suspicious of machine bosses, he called Mr. Bailey "a mysterious figure of merciless, manipulative genius. He was not totally evil, but then again he was not a philosopher king either."
But Mr. Lieberman came to admire Mr. Bailey for his choice of candidates, his love of politics and the unity he brought to the state Democratic Party. "Bailey's organization evidently did not feed on the corruption which seemed to be necessary fuel for the traditional American political machine," he wrote in "The Power Broker."
But it is his memoir, "In Praise of Public Life," that is the most revealing -- coincidentally because of the way that it allows Mr. Lieberman to be compared to another son of Yale, Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, the Republican presidential nominee.
At times the two men can sound uncannily alike. Like Mr. Bush, Mr. Lieberman says his service in state government taught him bipartisan consensus. And, like Mr. Bush, Mr. Lieberman condemns attack politics, "the kind of negative campaigning and mudslinging that leaves both winners and losers dirtied and degraded in the public eye."
But take a closer look at "In Praise of Public Life," and it is as if Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Bush have actually lived in parallel universes.
Mr. Lieberman writes of being inspired by the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, the Yale chaplain and renowned antiwar protester, to lead a group of classmates to Mississippi to help register black voters for a mock election in the state in 1963.
Mr. Bush, by contrast, has recalled Mr. Coffin telling him that the better man had won when Mr. Bush's father lost a Senate race in Texas. To Mr. Bush, Mr. Coffin became another kind of symbol, of an Eastern intellectual elite opposed to traditional values. The Texas governor's suspicion of figures like Mr. Coffin led Mr. Bush to a political philosophy that considered the 1960's a time of irresponsible ideas and rebellions.
Mr. Bush last week largely attributed the practice of attack politics to Mr. Clinton, but Mr. Lieberman dated it back 30 years and gave both parties a share in the blame.
"These three decades have seen an unprecedented parade of betrayals of the public's trust," Mr. Lieberman wrote in his memoir.
He described a political landscape that stretched "from the deception that lay behind the Vietnam War, to the shock of the Watergate scandal" and through the Iran-contra hearings, a chain of poisonous hearings like the Senate confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas to a seat on the Supreme Court, and "the earth- shaking impeachment experience of 1998 and 1999."
Writing books can be risky in politics. Republicans have used Mr. Gore's book, "Earth in the Balance," as fodder for criticism of the Democratic nominee.
So far, however, Republicans say they have focused on only one particular passage of Mr. Lieberman's books, a condemnation of the kind of opposition research which pries into candidates' personal lives. It is likely to be thrown back at him if the campaign turns nasty.
"As far as I am concerned this kind of digging does nothing but demean our politics and defame the people who are its targets," Mr. Lieberman wrote. "There is nothing wrong with going after your opponent's voting record or any other evidence of negligence in his public life, but digging into his bank account, his phone records, his medical history, his sexual life and literally his garbage when these things have nothing to do with the performance of his public duties -- past, present or future -- is wrong."
---
Excerpts From 2 of Lieberman's Books
New York Times
August 10, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/081000wh-lieberman-text.html
Following are excerpts from two books by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman. The second, "In Praise of Public Life," was written with Michael D'Orso.
From "The Scorpion and the Tarantula"
This is primarily a study of the futile effort to control atomic energy and prohibit nuclear weapons, but if one is to understand this failure, it is necessary to consider the histories of the two principal participants in the effort, Russia and America, and to reflect on the state of their relations as the Second World War came to a close.
The first and, in many ways, most critical dimension is space. America was blessed with natural barriers.
To its east and its west, two great oceans have provided security from attack.
Russia, on the other hand, is exposed.
Sitting on a vast plain, there is nothing of military consequence separating Russia from Asia to the east and Europe to the west.
Russian history from its beginnings to our own time is characterized by continuous foreign military assaults, particularly from the west. . . .
This is not a history likely to breed a nation of internationalists, a people who greeted foreigners with openness and were free of suspicion. This is a history that created a people haunted by fear, who lived without confidence and viewed the world outside with a sense of mistrust and inferiority. From "In Praise of Public Life"
Public confidence did not plummet overnight.
It did not begin with Bill Clinton. Politicians and government have endured suspicion and a certain degree of scorn since the birth of this nation. This skepticism on the part of the American public is a grand tradition, as deeply rooted in our society as the spirit of freedom and independence and limited government.
What is new, however, is the degree to which that suspicion and scorn have grown in the past 30 years.
These three decades have seen an unprecedented parade of betrayals of the public's trust, from the deception that lay behind the Vietnam War, to the shock of the Watergate scandal, to Iran-contra and the partisan political and cultural warfare that erupted in the 1980's, to the personal attacks on public figures like Judge Robert Bork, Speaker Jim Wright and Justice Clarence Thomas, to the unseemly revelations of campaign finance wrongdoing in 1996, and on through the earth-shaking impeachment experience of 1998 and 1999.
-------- u.s. nuc weapons
Boeing removes missile defense director Missed deadlines, problems with rocket boosters have plagued program
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Thursday, August 10, 2000
BLOOMBERG NEWS
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/business/misl10.shtml
WASHINGTON -- The Boeing Co. has removed the manager of its troubled program to develop a U.S. missile defense system, the company said yesterday.
John Peller has taken a new position within the company and no replacement has been named, Boeing said in a statement.
The shift comes one day after the Defense Department said it's delaying its recommendation on whether President Clinton should authorize construction of the program's key radar in Alaska, a crucial step that would allow deployment of an initial system by 2005. One factor in the delay is Boeing's problems in developing the three-stage booster rockets that will power Raytheon Co. anti-missile warheads into space.
The Pentagon is assessing the cumulative effect of these delays. Each of the first three tests of the booster rocket have been delayed by as much as one year, according to July 25 Pentagon briefing charts obtained by Bloomberg News. All three were to have been completed by Sept. 30. The first test is now scheduled for November at the earliest and the third won't be conducted before Sept. 30, 2001.
Boeing also has been docked $2 million in bonus fees for being as much as four months late delivering software used to perform ground simulations of the system.
Defense Secretary William Cohen was to have made his recommendation to Clinton on whether the United States should proceed with the system by July 31. That date has been pushed back several weeks. Cohen is scheduled to go on vacation until Aug. 24.
Clinton is scheduled to decide this autumn whether to start building the radar site in Alaska early next year so it could be ready by 2005. That's when it's believed North Korea may have developed long-range missiles.
The U.S. National Missile Defense system ultimately envisions a network of ground-based radar, low-orbiting satellites, communications equipment and at least 100 interceptor missiles based in Alaska or North Dakota. The system's cost is currently pegged at $36.2 billion.
It is designed to protect all 50 states from a limited number of missiles carrying nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, presumably fired by "rogue" nations.
Boeing has a $2.2 billion three-year contract to develop and integrate the complex components of what's to be a $36.2 billion system of 100 interceptors, warheads, radar and communications links.
Boeing is responsible for making sure the radar and warheads built by Raytheon Co. work with its boosters and command-and-control systems assembled by TRW Inc. The program on Oct. 2 had a first successful intercept and two successive failures, including one July 7 for which the Pentagon has not yet determined the cause.
Peller has been with Boeing for 41 years. He's been manager of the National Missile Defense system for more than two years. Boeing said his new position will be the company's vice president of Strategic Missile Defense.
---
Circuitry Problem Blamed for Missile Defense Test Failure
Space.com
10 August 2000
By Paul Hoversten Washington Bureau Chief
mailto:phoversten@hq.space.com
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/nmd_test_report_000810.html
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/missile_launch_fails_000708.html
WASHINGTON -- A faulty circuit board on the upper stage of an interceptor rocket is emerging as the primary cause of last month's failed test of new missile defense technology.
"The investigation is not yet complete but [the cause] is somewhere in the data bus" of the rocket, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said Thursday. "It could be a circuit board. They're still looking into that."
The July 8 test was to demonstrate technologies needed for the proposed National Missile Defense (NMD) system -- a $60 billion program to defend the United States from missile attack by a "rogue" nation.
http://www.space.com/news/missile_defense_000523.html
A modified Minuteman 2 lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on July 8.
The $100 million test involved a modified Minuteman 2 missile launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California with a dummy warhead. It was to be destroyed by a "kill vehicle" atop an interceptor rocket that was launched minutes later from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, 4,000 miles (6,435 kilometers) away.
But the "kill vehicle" never separated from the interceptor rocket and both splashed into the Pacific.
Watch video of the January 18, 2000 National Missile Defense (NMD) test launch.
javascript:launch_mmplayer_video('e1_000620_missiledefensetest_000118')
Pentagon investigators say an "avionics processor controller" that was on top of the booster malfunctioned during the test. The controller never sent commands for the kill vehicle to separate from the rest of the rocket and chase the dummy warhead.
"We don't know exactly why that happened...but more importantly we haven't figured out how to respond to it," Bacon said.
There is no backup controller system on the interceptors used in the tests and program officials are trying to decide how best to increase their odds of success for the next NMD test. That test has been delayed from October to December.
"They're trying to figure out a work-around," Bacon said.
Pentagon officials were hoping a successful test would clear the way for President Clinton to decide by this fall whether to the deploy the NMD before 2005, a year when some speculate that nations such as North Korea or Iraq might possess missiles capable of threatening the United States. A fully deployed NMD would feature 100 interceptor missiles designed to knock out a "limited" attack of no more than 20 or so missiles.
Critics say the NMD, if deployed, would raise tensions worldwide by violating the terms of the 1972 Antiballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty signed by the United States and the former Soviet Union. Russia and China have made no secret to their opposition to the NMD.
A new U.S. intelligence report estimates that China might increase its arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles from the current 20 to as many as 200 by 2015, the New York Times reported Thursday. That in turn could prompt India and Pakistan to build up their own nuclear arsenals.
"China has been in the process of modernizing its strategic forces for some time, long before the National Missile Defense became a front-burner issue," Bacon said. "Whether or not the U.S. decides to deploy it, I suspect China will continue its modernization."
The United States will continue its discussions with Russia, China and North Korea in an attempt to allay their fears over the NMD.
"This is a system that isn't a threat to anyone," Bacon said.
---
$25,000 offered for lost computer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
News from around the nation
Thursday, August 10, 2000
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/national/natn1015.shtml
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The State Department yesterday announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of a laptop computer that contains classified information.
Spokesman Richard Boucher said the department hopes the award offer will generate leads. The computer disappeared in late January from a sixth-floor conference room in the department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. The FBI and the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security have been investigating.
Boucher said the laptop's disappearance is a "potentially serious breach of security." Other officials have said the computer contained information on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and on technologies for launching such weapons.
---
Missile defense reaction studied
Pioneer Planet
08/10/00
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/seven-days/3/news/docs/022187.htm
WASHINGTON, U.S. intelligence officials have told President Clinton that China is likely to accelerate its nuclear arms buildup if the United States builds a national defense against long-range missiles, officials said Wednesday. The prediction, in a classified report known as a National Intelligence Estimate, is part of a broader assessment of how foreign countries might respond to a U.S. decision to go ahead with a national missile defense. Clinton has said he would decide soon whether to authorize the initial steps toward deploying a network of missile interceptors, missile-tracking radars and battle management computers to defend against a small-scale nuclear attack.
---
Missile Shield Arms Race?
Report: U.S. Missile Defense Plan Would Prompt China to Build More
ABC News
08/10/00
By Barbara Starr
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/missile000810.html
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 - A new classified CIA intelligence assessment warns that if the United States deploys a national missile defense system, China may retaliate by significantly increasing and modernizing its nuclear arsenal.
The CIA report - known as a "National Intelligence Estimate" - is part of a broad assessment of how key nations, including Russia and China, might react to the proposed $30 billion U.S. deployment of high-tech radar and missile interceptors in Alaska. Both of those countries have been adamantly opposed to the proposed U.S. system.
"We have made it clear this system, if it were deployed, would not be aimed at them," said Ken Bacon, Pentagon spokesman.
China currently has 20 long-range nuclear missiles. It has been conducting some slow modernization and expansion of that system. But the intelligence report suggests China would react to a U.S. missile-shield deployment by building enough missiles - perhaps several dozen - to overwhelm the initial defensive system of 20 interceptors.
Global Imbalance
The report also projects that Russia - already too strapped for cash to engage in a massive nuclear modernization program - could react by putting multiple warheads onto existing long-range ballistic missiles or deploying short-range missiles around its borders.
The NIE also notes that any Chinese or Russian reaction would also affect the deployment strategies of other nations. India and Pakistan, for example, would likely react by stepping up their nuclear programs, rather than cutting back as the United States has urged.
In addition to projecting how the world would react to an American national missile defense deployment, the CIA report also points out that the United States still faces the threat North Korea could deploy a long-range missile capable of hitting the United States by the 2005.
President Clinton is expected to make a decision later this year on whether to proceed with deployment of the missile defense system, which is supposed to defend all 50 states against a limited ballistic missile attack - but not against a large salvo of missiles. The decision will be based on four factors: the threat; the cost of the system; the technical feasibility and the reaction worldwide.
China and Russia Protes
Clinton's decision is awaiting a technical recommendation from Defense Secretary Bill Cohen. That recommendation was supposed to be on its way to Clinton by the end of August but has been delayed about a month. Cohen is still struggling to determine a system could be put in place by 2005.
There are several complicating factors. Last month, the fifth test flight of the interceptor failed due to a technical problem with rocket separation. Significant delays now have cropped up with the new booster rocket being developed by Boeing.
All of this comes as the CIA has issued its twice-a-year declassified report on the status of missile proliferation. The report notes that China has increased its missile exports to Pakistan and provided missile assistance to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
---
U.S. missile defense system could spark Chinese nuke buildup
CNN
August 10, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/08/10/missile.defense.ap/index.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new U.S. intelligence report predicts China would accelerate its nuclear arms buildup if the United States erected a national defense against long-range missiles.
The prediction, in a classified report known as a National Intelligence Estimate, was disclosed Wednesday by U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity. They said it is part of a broader assessment of how foreign countries might respond to a U.S. decision to go ahead with a national missile defense.
President Clinton has said he would decide soon whether to authorize the initial steps toward deploying a network of missile interceptors, missile-tracking radars and battle management computers to defend all 50 states against a small-scale nuclear attack. China is among the few nations capable of a nuclear strike on the United States.
In making his decision, Clinton has said he would take into account four main factors: the urgency of the missile threat, the cost of a missile defense, the feasibility of building a reliable defense and the implications for U.S. foreign policy, including responses from China and other nations.
China and Russia are strongly opposed to the U.S. plan, arguing it would undercut the deterrent value of their nuclear arsenals, violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and undermine global stability. As well, many U.S. allies in Europe are leery.
Clinton and his national security aides have tried, with little apparent success, to convince China's leaders that a U.S. national missile defense would not be directed against China's nuclear missile capability. A defensive system, they contend, would be for "rogue" nations like North Korea and Iran that are pursuing intercontinental ballistic missile technologies and might not be deterred by U.S. nuclear threats.
Separately, an unclassified CIA report released Wednesday said China increased its missile technology assistance to Pakistan last year and also had a hand in missile development in North Korea, Iran and Libya. The report said, "The Chinese have taken a very narrow interpretation of their nonproliferation commitment."
The spread of missile technology is at the heart of the Clinton administration's justification for developing a missile defense.
The fear is not only of an attack but also of the possibility that a country like Iraq -- if armed with a missile capable of striking a U.S. city -- might try to use the threat of an attack to persuade the United States to stay out of a regional crisis such as a conflict in the Persian Gulf.
U.S. officials who are familiar with the classified intelligence report said it states that China plans to increase its nuclear arsenal regardless of U.S. national missile defense plans. However, it adds that the increase likely would be sped up if a missile defense were built.
"Would they probably accelerate it? Yes," said one official.
Additions to China's nuclear arsenal probably would be modest, the report said, and designed to give China a numerical edge over the U.S. missile defense system, which in its initial configuration might overcome a couple dozen incoming missiles.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the intelligence report estimates that China might increase its arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles from the current 20 to as many as 200 by 2015, and that this might prompt India and Pakistan to respond with their own nuclear arms buildups.
The Times also said the report predicts that deployment of a U.S. national missile defense could prompt Russia to resume placing multiple warheads on missiles that now carry only one -- a practice Russia agreed to stop as part of the START II nuclear arms reduction pact that it ratified this year.
The CIA said last year that China has about 20 long-range nuclear missiles capable of reaching any part of U.S. territory. It said then that China was likely to test within the next several years a longer range missile capable of being fired from a mobile platform, and that it would be targeted mainly at the United States.
The classified report also affirms an intelligence estimate of September 1999 that the United States most likely will face a missile threat by 2015 from North Korea, probably from Iran and possibly from Iraq, the officials said.
The report also predicts Russia would continue reducing the number of missiles in its nuclear force, which has been eroded in recent years by a lack of money. Russian officials have warned that they would feel compelled to respond to a U.S. missile defense, possibly by withdrawing from major arms control agreements.
<a name="military"></a>
-------- MILITARY (by country)
-------- u.s.
Fleet Ballistic Missile Team conducts third successful test firing of innovative, low-cost rocket motor
NewsEdge
August 10, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=b0809115.000&level3=139501&date=20000810
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2000 via NewsEdge Corporation - A Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) Integrated Product Team (IPT) composed of the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs, Lockheed Martin Space Systems - Missiles & Space Operations, Alliant TechSystems and the Thiokol Corp., recently conducted its third consecutive successful static-fire test of a demonstration solid rocket motor that used low-cost commercial technology and manufacturing methods.
The test firing, conducted at the Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, CA, represents a growing trend in the defense industry to use commercial components and processes to drive down the cost of defense products and equipment. Program officials estimate the low-cost motor chamber, propellant and nozzle components used in this test represent a 50-percent reduction in the direct cost relative to those of the comparable Trident II D5 third stage rocket motor.
"This motor demonstration was another follow-on to several technology evaluation projects conducted since 1994 where lower cost designs, materials, components and fabrication methods were identified and demonstrated for potential application to submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) solid rocket motors," said Andy Baldi, Space Systems director of FBM propulsion. "The primary objective of these low-cost projects is to make economical alternatives available for future FBM boost motors."
The half-cost, Trident II D5 third stage-size demonstration motor utilized a commercial space-launch vehicle propellant grain; a co-cured machine-wound elastomeric insulator and composite prepreg for the insulated chamber. Nozzle components utilized Rayon-free, low-cost materials and labor saving, net-molding processing.
The motor burned for its full duration and its ballistic performance met pre-test performance predictions. The FBM propulsion IPT will continue its initiatives to investigate solid rocket motor changes that will simplify the design, reduce fabrication complexity and leverage technology advances from the commercial space launch industry to make SLBM solid rocket motors more affordable.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems -- Missiles & Space Operations, Sunnyvale, CA, is an operating company within Lockheed Martin Space Systems, headquartered in Denver, CO. It is a world leader in the design, production and integration of systems for space-based telecommunications, defensive and strategic missiles, remote sensing and space science. Its diversified business base ranges from the U.S. government to global commercial customers through its operating unit, Commercial Space Systems.
For more information about Lockheed Martin Space Systems-Sunnyvale, see our website at http://lmms.external.lmco.com
CONTACT: Lockheed Martin Space Systems -- Missiles & Space Operations | Jeffery Adams, 408/742-7606 or 888/916-1796 (Pager) | jeffery.adams@lmco.com
---
Andrews Space & Technology Wins NASA Contract to Conduct Future Space Transportation Study
NewsEdge
August 10, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=b0809083.300&level3=788&date=20000810
EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2000 via NewsEdge Corporation - Andrews Space & Technology has been awarded a contract by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to conduct a Future Space Transportation Study that will analyze emerging space markets and their transportation needs.
The initial four-month study by Andrews Space & Technology supports NASA's work to define how the agency can get into space more safely and for less money using a second-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) than is possible today traveling on the Space Shuttle, a first-generation vehicle.
The study is being funded by NASA's Research Announcement effort known as the Second Generation RLV Risk Reduction Definition Program.
Under this same program, Andrews Space & Technology, with headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., won another six-month contract from Kelly Space & Technology of San Bernardino, Calif., to perform systems engineering and detailed design activities in support of Kelly Space's Second Generation RLV Risk Reduction contract.
Andrews Space & Technology was awarded both contracts, worth nearly half-a-million dollars, last month.
"We are very excited and honored to be working on NASA's Second-Generation RLV Program," said company president Jason Andrews. "We believe that the study of emerging space markets is critical to designing a RLV that is going to operate commercially in the 2010 to 2030 time frame."
Future Space Transportation Study Overview:
Andrews Space & Technology's tasks for the Future Space Transportation Study, a multiphase effort, include: identifying non-aerospace companies that could profit from doing business in space; interviewing select companies to better understand how they could do business in orbit; developing commercial business models for their respective industry niches; and characterizing market size and elasticity.
The study also will include deriving market-driven, second-generation RLV system design requirements to address potential emerging space markets. The markets to be researched in this initial study phase are on-orbit microchip fabrication, materials development and processing, pharmaceutical manufacturing development and other biomedical and clinical applications.
Future study phases will address space tourism, orbit logistics, space traffic management and orbital infrastructure.
Leading the Future Space Transportation Study is Dr. Dana Andrews, the company's Chief Technology Officer, who joined Andrews Space & Technology last march. Dr. Andrews was formerly with the Boeing Company for 34 years, where he lead major space design projects including the Boeing TSTO RLV, Future-X, Military Space Plane and Solar-Thermal Orbital Transfer Vehicle (SOTV) programs.
Along with performing technical market analysis in the study, Andrews Space & Technology will produce a video "trailer" characterizing future commercial space activities and conducting business in orbit.
The video trailer will be used in conjunction with focused, industry-specific multimedia presentations to inform the respective industries and the general public about how NASA's goals of significantly improving safety and reducing the cost to orbit could facilitate a space commerce, referred to by the company as "s-commerce," revolution and benefit terrestrial business opportunities.
Andrews Space & Technology will be assisted with its Future Space Transportation Study by these subcontractors: ECON Inc. of Huntington Beach, Calif., which will perform economic analysis and cost estimating; and Digital Empire Inc. of Riverside, Calif., which will provide animation, visualization and communications integration for the video trailer, multimedia presentations and other project deliverables.
NASA's Second Generation RLV Program:
Both contracts awarded to Andrews Space & Technology in July fall under NASA's Second-Generation RLV Risk Reduction Definition Program, which is part of the agency's Space Launch Initiative. The Initiative is designed to increase commercial development and civil exploration of space by making access to space less expensive and safer.
According to NASA program manager Dan Dumbacher, the agency will use the research gained from its Second-Generation RLV Risk Reduction Definition Program to support a NASA-sponsored second-generation RLV competition in 2005.
Along with Andrews Space & Technology and Kelly Space & Technology, other companies chosen to share the $15 million as participants in NASA's Second Generation RLV Risk Reduction Definition Program are Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va.; the Boeing Co., Seal Beach, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Denver, Colo.; the Boeing Co.'s Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power, Canoga Park, Calif.; Pratt & Whitney, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Futron Corp., Bethesda, Md.; and Space Access, Palmdale, Calif.
Overseeing the program is Marshall Space Flight Center of Huntsville, Ala., NASA's lead center for Space Transportation Systems Development.
The program is a result of NASA's industry-led Space Transportation Architecture Studies (STAS), which started in August 1998 and ended last May, and NASA's Integrated Space Transportation Plan (ISTP) developed last fall.
Last year and earlier this year, Andrews Space & Technology performed systems engineering and vehicle design engineering services on behalf of Kelly Space & Technology in support of NASA's STAS to develop space transportation systems that will serve through the year 2030.
NASA incorporated the Team's findings into its ISTP, which identifies and defines the agency's five-year investment strategy that will enable a low-risk, highly competitive selection of a new space architecture by 2005.
About the Company:
In its first year of operation, Andrews Space & Technology has been awarded six contracts valued at nearly $1 million. In addition to performing services for NASA and Kelly Space & Technology, the company also successfully completed a contract for Starcraft Boosters Inc. of Houston, Texas.
Andrews Space & Technology was founded in July 1999 by Jason Andrews, company president, and Marian Joh, board chairman and CEO, whose respective experience includes hands-on involvement in developing and financing the Kistler K-1 two-stage-to-orbit and Lockheed Martin VentureStar single-stage-to-orbit RLVs.
Andrews Space & Technology offers enterprise and product development engineering services; conducts research and development activities to identify and develop new products for near-term and future space and technology applications; as well as owns and maintains SPACEandTECH.com, a leading provider of on-line space industry news information. Andrews Space & Technology is located in El Segundo, Calif. Earlier this week, the company opened a branch office in Seattle, Wash.
CONTACT: Andrews Space & Technology | Jason Andrews, 310/725-9640 (President) | Chris Hoeft, 206/342-9934 (Public Relations) |
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F-16 Crashes in Nevada Desert
NewsEdge
August 10, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0809021.901&level3=139498&date=20000810
LAS VEGAS (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - An F-16 jet crashed in the Nevada desert Tuesday after apparently clipping another jet during a training exercise, military officials said. The lone pilot ejected safely and the other plane landed without incident.
The plane crashed about 5 p.m. some 70 miles north of Nellis Air Force Base, base spokesman Lt. Allan Herritage said. Another F-16 landed a short time later with minor damage, leading investigators to speculate the planes struck each other in midair, he said.
The extent of damage to the second plane was not released, but Herritage said the pilot was not hurt. A helicopter crew was dispatched to rescue the downed pilot, who suffered scrapes and bruises.
It was the second jet crash in a week for the base. An F-15 crashed north of Rachel, Nev., on Thursday while the pilot was leading seven other planes in a training exercise.
The pilot ejected and was not injured. His plane crashed into a dry lake bed 125 miles north of Las Vegas.
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The U.S. Military: Still the Best
Washington Post
Thursday, August 10, 2000; Page A29
by Far By William J. Perry and John M. Shalikashvili
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-08/10/188l-081000-idx.html
During this political season, it has become popular to lament the "decline of America's military forces." This theme has been sounded so often that the public may be misled into believing that it is true, and so to believe that Americans' security is endangered.
In fact, the U.S. military is the most powerful military force in the world today. What is true is that there has been a sizable reduction in U.S. military forces. Earlier reductions after World War II and the Vietnam War were done so precipitously that, in Army parlance, they "broke the force." So it is fair to ask whether this last reduction, executed during the Bush administration and the first term of the Clinton administration, was of an appropriate size and whether it was done effectively.
We believe that the answer to both of these questions is yes. Underlying the reduction in military forces was a reduction in military needs brought about by the ending of the Cold War. America no longer needed the huge body of troops massed along the East-West German border. After the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact dissolved, and the Soviet Union reverted to 15 separate republics. Most of these former foes have friendly relations with the United States; none of them has either the capability or intent of attacking Western Europe.
This dramatic reduction in the threat allowed for a reduction in American troops based in Western Europe by more than 200,000, with comparable reductions in stateside troops. Strategic nuclear forces were also cut by a third, and the major programs underway to develop, test and produce additional nuclear weapons were terminated. These actions allowed for a significant reduction in the size of our military forces.
President Bush authorized a reduction of 500,000, President Clinton an additional 250,000, leaving a force of 1,450,000. In both administrations, this reduction was executed gradually (about 3 percent a year) and with great care not to break the force. During this same period, a related drawdown was being made in the Defense Department's civil service, amounting to a reduction of 400,000 civilian personnel. And, under the Base Realignment and Closure Act, more than 100 bases were closed, beginning in 1988.
The most obvious benefit of these reductions in force and support structure was a reduction in the defense budget. If these reductions had not been made, the current defense budget would be almost $400 billion instead of almost $300 billion. This "peace dividend," amounting to about $100 billion a year, has been a major contributor to the balanced budget that our country now enjoys. The question, of course, is did the nation pay too high a price for this benefit? In particular, was the capability of the military forces reduced to the extent that they cannot adequately protect American national interests?
Our answer to that question is an emphatic no. The reductions made in both the Bush administration and Clinton administration were done carefully, gradually and with great attention to maintaining America's superb military capability. In particular, we offer the following judgments: The United States has the most capable conventional military force of any nation in the world (an opinion shared by most of the world's military leaders--friend and foe); the United States has the largest, most effective strategic nuclear force in the world today; the United States has a military force today that, person for person, unit for unit, is more capable than the comparable force during the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War; and the United States has a military force that is capable of dealing decisively with any likely regional conflict (and the convincing demonstration of this capability in Desert Storm, Bosnia and Kosovo decreases the likelihood of such a confrontation).
That is the good news, but it is not cause for complacency. The nature of the military threat could change; in particular, regional powers, realizing that they cannot match American troops on the field, may turn to asymmetric warfare, developing weapons of mass destruction or cyber warfare.
Also, during the force reductions of the '90s, we reduced the procurement budget disproportionately in order to preserve force readiness. This was an appropriate decision at that time, but its legacy today is a due bill as our military equipment ages. Substantial increases must be made in the procurement account to modernize equipment at an accelerated rate, since the aging equipment is itself becoming a readiness problem. This has been recognized both by the Department of Defense and Congress, and procurement authorizations have increased from $40 billion to $60 billion during the past two years. In our judgment, these authorization levels will have to be sustained for a number of years at this level or somewhat higher to effectively recapitalize the force.
Finally, the key to our force effectiveness is the quality and training of our military personnel. These have been under stress the past few years with the boom in the economy creating much more formidable competition for military personnel. As a result, both recruitments and reenlistments have fallen below desirable levels. The recent increase in military benefits, while costly, was the right thing to do and undoubtedly was one of the critical factors involved in correcting this problem.
In sum, we believe that the United States has the military force needed to protect the national interest and to sustain the U.S. position as the world's superpower. We also believe that this force superiority can be sustained at current budget levels (but to do so will take careful management by the Defense Department and uncommon discipline by Congress). While American defense spending is (in current dollars) about $100 billion a year less than Cold War levels, it is still greater than the combined defense budgets of Russia, China, Germany and France. As a result of this investment, combined with the U.S. military's advantage in technology and training, the United States today has the dominant military force in the world, and whichever nation is second is far behind.
William J. Perry was secretary of defense from 1994 to 1997. John M. Shalikashvili, a retired Army general, was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997.
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U.S. Navy Helicopter Crashes in Gulf of Mexico
New York Times
August 10, 2000
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/late/10cnd-navy-crash.html
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- A U.S. Navy helicopter with six people on board crashed in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday morning. Two crew members were rescued from a raft and four were missing.
Several Coast Guard and Navy craft, including three helicopters, a jet and a patrol boat and the USS Gladiator minesweeper, searched for the missing crew members Thursday afternoon.
The two injured were taken to Spohn Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi. Their precise condition was not immediately known, but Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jan Johnson said the injuries were "critical enough to warrant being transported directly to a hospital."
The crew was aboard an H-53 helicopter that crashed about 11 a.m. some 15 nautical miles (roughly 17 miles) offshore, Johnson said. They were from the HM-15 squadron, which is based at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, and typically takes part in mine-sweeping operations.
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Abroad at Home The State Department;
Anxiety Over an Unwelcome 'October Surprise'
Washiongton Post
Thursday, August 10, 2000; Page A27
By Steven Mufson Washington Post Staff Writer
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-08/10/268l-081000-idx.html
With three months left before the presidential election, top foreign policymakers in the Clinton administration are worrying less about long-term plans and more about the specter of an October surprise.
They are worrying--and not hoping--because apart from a possible Middle East peace deal, the most likely October surprises are unpleasant and potentially damaging to the election prospects of Vice President Gore.
"The old adage is foreign policy never wins elections, it only loses them," said an aide to one of the State Department's most senior officials.
The phrase "October surprise" dates from the 1980 election, when Republicans were worried that President Jimmy Carter would boost his reelection prospects by obtaining the release of American hostages being held in Iran. Many Democrats charged, and a few still believe, that representatives of Ronald Reagan's campaign contacted Iran and made an arms deal to prevent the early release of the hostages. A congressional report, however, said there was not evidence to support such a charge.
Tops on this year's list of potential October surprises is the prospect that Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic might try to oust Montenegro's pro-Western president, Milo Djukanovic, and take over the more independent-minded of the two republics left in the Yugoslav federation. Milosevic has already changed the constitution to permit himself to run again in Yugoslavia's Sept. 24 presidential election and to dilute Montenegro's power within the Yugoslav federation. He also has 10,000 to 12,000 Yugoslav army troops stationed in Montenegro who, U.S. analysts fear, would thrash the more poorly trained and equipped 15,000 Montenegrin Interior Ministry troops loyal to Djukanovic.
That would pose a challenge to the United States, which has trumpeted its support for Djukanovic and warned Milosevic against interference there.
"Berger and that crowd are all terrified" about a late September or early October crisis, a Pentagon official said, referring to national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger. "The nightmare scenario is that first he [Milosevic] wins his election, then he takes over Montenegro, and so, because there's nothing we can do, he exposes our Balkans policy as a sham."
The Pentagon official said the administration has asked both Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, supreme allied commander in Europe, and Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for plans for a possible military response.
"You could throw around some cruise missiles, fly some jets, make some buildings shake--but there isn't really much you can do," the Pentagon official said.
A State Department official conceded "the options in Montenegro are reasonably limited." He said that if Milosevic "wanted to overthrow the government he could probably do it in fairly quick fashion, leaving the international community to figure out how to respond. . . . The question is: do you go to war over Montenegro? That's not easy in the best of times and the fall of an election year makes it even more so."
Close behind on the list of ugly October surprises is the possibility of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein attempting to break the U.S. containment strategy, shooting down an American fighter or launching a surprise missile attack.
"Saddam could climb out of the box, but he's not likely to," a State Department official said.
Russia ranks third on the list. Possible crises include a harder authoritarian turn by Russian President Vladimir Putin, intensified fighting in Chechnya or the spillover of conflict into neighboring republics.
The Middle East has the potential for being the one bright spot--or another disaster. Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said in an interview last week that the next three months are crucial to the peace talks and expressed optimism that a deal would be reached "because the alternatives are horrible."
So October could bring either a Camp David triumph or new fighting between Israelis and Palestinians. If conflict resumes, it could come as early as Sept. 13, when Yasser Arafat has vowed to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state.
Looking toward the U.S. elections, the State Department official said, "Everyone just hopes that there's no blowup between now and then."
Staff writer Thomas E. Ricks contributed to this report.
-------- OTHER
-------- alternative energy
SOLAR ROOF TILES TO POWER ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER
August 10, 2000
ENS AmeriScan
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug2000/2000L-08-10-09.html
ANAHEIM, California, PowerLight Corporation has announced shipment of a 100 kilowatt solar electric system for installation on the Anaheim Convention Center. Owned by the City of Anaheim, the system is the largest solar power system on a convention center in North America. The system incorporates 924 PowerGuard roof tiles. In addition to generating clean energy from the sun, the patented, lightweight modules insulate the building, reducing heating and air conditioning costs, and extend the life of the roof by protecting it from the damaging effects of the weather. "The Anaheim project is another example of how solar electric systems can solve the power crisis currently being experienced in California and other sectors," said Dan Shugar, PowerLight's executive vice president. "Solar electric systems produce the greatest energy during the same long, hot summer days that cause the high summer peak demand.
High summer electricity costs enable solar to be a viable option for reducing a building's most expensive energy consumption, said Mark Bronez, PowerLight director of major accounts. PowerLight recently completed a study showing over 16,000 MW of solar electric systems could be sited on the roofs of commercial and industrial facilities in California, covering over a third of the state's total electric demand. While it would take years to complete most of this development, solar electric systems are available in just a few months for individual commercial customers. Onsite construction is completed in approximately one week. About eight percent of the Anaheim project's costs were funded by the Department of Energy's Utility Photovoltaic Group's TEAM-UP program and President Bill Clinton's Million Solar Roof initiative.
ENERGY DEPARTMENT AIMS FOR POLLUTION FREE POWER PLANTS
WASHINGTON, DC, August 10, 2000 (ENS) - The DOE has selected seven new projects for the Vision 21 program, a departmental effort to develop an almost pollution free energy plant by 2015. The initiative envisions a suite of advanced technology modules that can be customized to meet different energy markets. "We are building the foundation for a new generation of energy facilities capable of efficiently using our most abundant traditional fuels while virtually eliminating environmental concerns," said Secretary Richardson. "Vision 21 represents the future of clean energy, and these projects will help us get there faster."
The projects selected this week will add key engineering or computational components to the effort. Examples of the funded research include heat exchangers that will boost fuel to energy conversion efficiencies, examination of gasification-combustion concepts and design of low combustion conversion systems for gas turbine systems. The goal of the program is to create energy plants could process a wide range of fuels - coal, natural gas, biomass, municipal waste or perhaps that mixtures of these fuels - and generate multiple energy products, such as electricity, fuels and chemicals. The multi-fuel, multi-product capability is a significant departure from today's energy plants that use a single fuel and produce a single product. By incorporating the latest technological improvements, the department will work to make the plants almost emission free. Wastes would be either recycled or turned into products, such as fertilizers or commercial chemicals. Developers have until the end of September to submit proposals for additional Vision 21 projects. More information is available at: http://www.fe.doe.gov
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RESEARCH FOCUS OF 21 NEW PARTNERSHIPS
WASHINGTON, DC, August 10, 2000 (ENS) - The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the creation of 21 partnerships with private industries to support the development and use of geothermal energy throughout the western U.S. The projects will expand production and use of energy generated from the earth's heat to bring electricity and geothermal heat to millions of homes and businesses in California, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. DOE and industry will share funding the projects over a three to five year period. "Today's projects move us one step closer toward our goal of providing 10 percent of the electricity needs of the western states with geothermal resources by 2020," said Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. "Clean, reliable and renewable energy sources such as geothermal energy can become a significant contributor to the energy mix in the West, at a time when parts of the region are experiencing power supply shortages."
DOE will provide first year funding of $3.5 million to 21 companies to expand their geothermal activities. Research and development will focus on three areas:
Encouraging the construction and operation of small scale geothermal electric plants, producing between 300 kilowatts and one megawatt of power. Improving the electricity generating potential of geothermal systems at existing sites by increasing production and extending their operating life. Collaborative efforts with industry to support the exploration and development of new or previously undiscovered geothermal resources.
"The West needs access to reliable electricity," said Richardson. "We're working to develop technology to generate power."
-------- terrorism
Moscow Arrests Suspects but Can't Link Any to Fatal Bombing
New York Times
August 10, 2000
By PATRICK E. TYLER
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/081000russia-blast.html
MOSCOW, Aug. 9 -- Russian law enforcement officials said today they had detained a number of suspects in their investigation into the terrorist bombing of an underground pedestrian walkway that killed 7 and wounded 97 on Tuesday evening. But they said that so far none could be directly linked to the bombing in the heart of the Russian capital.
In an unusual rebuke to Mayor Yuri M. Luzhkov of Moscow, who was quick to attribute the bombing to Chechens fighting for independence from Russia, President Vladimir V. Putin said today that "it would be wrong" to "brand a whole people" in the absence of proof of who was behind the bombing. The police and prosecutors also said they had no evidence of Chechen involvement.
Mr. Putin's admonition reflected the political sensitivities of Russian leaders who are trying to build a viable new government in Chechnya, said Aleksei Y. Zudin, a political analyst. The rush to judgment exemplified by Mayor Luzhkov's statements, he said, fed the worst suspicions of Chechen civilians, who have suffered through two rebellions and two devastating invasions by the Russian military since 1994.
Mr. Zudin said that "blame for this affair cannot be generalized to all Chechens," even if evidence gathered eventually points toward the rebellious republic, where rebel leaders have in recent weeks threatened to strike Russian cities.
Still, Mr. Putin said Russia would complete its military campaign in Chechnya and "finish off terrorists in their own den."
Overnight, combined Russian security forces said they had scoured 160 subway stations and underground passageways using bomb-sniffing dogs to ensure that the capital's public transit system was clear of explosives. At the Kazansky railway station here, the police reportedly found nearly nine pounds of TNT as well as seven detonators, which were not hooked up to the explosives.
This morning, Muscovites were back underground as usual, with thousands of them passing through the reopened, though charred, passageways beneath Pushkin Square, where vendors picked through the debris in their shops.
"Of course we will go back to work here," said a woman sorting through the lingerie in her darkened kiosk. "And of course we are scared."
The low granite walls along the exits from the underground passageways had already become memorial altars, where friends, relatives and passers-by laid carnations and lilies to express their sympathy for those who died.
Russian television reported tonight that Mr. Putin, too, had visited the square and laid flowers.
Interior Ministry officials said today that seven people had died, contradicting a news agency report on Tuesday that said eight were killed.
Police officials said they were working with three witnesses who saw two men bargaining at a leather goods shop in the tunnel and who dashed for an exit leaving behind a satchel, which exploded moments after the sales clerk summoned a security officer to inspect the bag. Mr. Putin, speaking at the Kremlin, struck a note of calm resolution, admonishing Russians that terrorism was an "international illness" for which the only cure was "political will," the "vigilance of the people" and effective law enforcement.
Terrorists, he said, "count on bloodshed, sensation, panic and hysteria." And he warned that "disorganization and disorder would make the best possible gift for them."
-------- activists
LA Activists Fear Police Raid, Appeal to Courts
Yahoo News
Thursday August 10 8:30 PM ET
By Jill Serjeant
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000810/pl/campaign_protests_dc_25.html
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Trees were felled outside the site of next week's Democratic National Convention to stop anyone from using branches while weapons and sales of gas masks soared as Los Angeles geared up for massive street protests.
Meanwhile the American Civil Liberties Union sought a court order on Thursday to stop ``unlawful harassment'' by police of activists who fear a police raid on their protest headquarters before the Convention starts.
Activists pledged to nonviolence are using a downtown building to coordinate more than 20 major marches during the Aug. 14-17 convention. But they said they had logged 22 separate incidents of surveillance and harassment, including random police visits without warrants, low helicopter overflights and people being followed and searched merely after being seen leaving the building.
``Los Angeles police (LAPD) harassment and intimidation has been extreme even compared to what went on in Philadelphia,'' (site of last week's Republican Convention), ACLU lawyer Dan Tokaji told a news conference in the building, swarming with people, giant puppets and handmade placards.
``We believe the law is on our side. Time is of the essence however because we have reason to believe that the LAPD may be planning an action here on Saturday,'' he said.
The main protest umbrella groups Direct Action Network and D2KLA have vowed to eschew violence, weapons, drugs and alcohol during marches on issues ranging from corporate globalization to women's rights that are expected to rival those in Seattle, Washington D.C., and at last month's Republican Convention in Philadelphia.
The LAPD says it believes the majority of the tens of thousands of protesters expected in Los Angeles will be peaceful and will be allowed to express their views.
But mindful of the savage 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of four white policemen for beating black motorist Rodney King, the LAPD is wary of inner city gangs and anarchists taking advantage.
Pepper spray, tear-gas and riot gear are among an extra $4 million of supplies requested by security forces for the convention.
Army surplus stores in the city reported a run on gas masks, shin pads and other safety gear as protesters, the media and families prepare for a worst-case scenario.
One store has sold more than 100 Israeli-made gas masks this month compared to about 12 in a usual month, and has another 400 on order.
``All sorts of people are buying them. Men are coming in and buying them for their wives and their children because they are afraid what might happen during the convention,'' said Recon-1 sales clerk Haigaz Rafaelian.
``Some of them are protesters who want to protect themselves in case the police use tear gas and some are journalists,'' he said.
Mail boxes have been closed of removed, newspaper stands taken away and traffic rerouted two blocks away from the spanking new Staples Center in Downtown where the Democrats will meet.
On Thursday, city workers felled trees and bushes near the Staples Center, fearful that they might be used as makeshift weapons should violence break out. A security fence has been thrown up around the perimeter of the site and many small stores nearby have already boarded up or shut down.
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Trees Down, Gas Mask Sales Up Before LA Convention
Yahoo News
Thursday August 10 4:31 PM ET
By Jill Serjeant
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000810/pl/campaign_protests_dc_24.html
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Trees were felled outside the site of next week's Democratic National Convention to stop anyone from using branches as weapons and sales of gas masks soared as Los Angeles geared up for a testing time on the streets.
Meanwhile, an angry American Civil Liberties Union sought a court order on Thursday stopping police surveillance of protest headquarters, saying the rights of protesters were being violated.
Activists are using a downtown building to plan and coordinate more than 20 peaceful major marches during the Aug. 14-17 convention and have complained of random police visits without warrants, selective enforcement of traffic laws, video surveillance and having their license plate numbers recorded.
Discussions with the Los Angeles police (LAPD) proved unsatisfactory, prompting the Southern California ACLU to seek a temporary restraining order to bar ``unlawful harassment'' by police.
The main protest umbrella groups Direct Action Network and D2KLA have vowed to eschew violence, weapons, drugs and alcohol during planned marches on issues ranging from corporate globalization to women's rights, the death penalty and forest conservation.
They accuse the police of creating a climate of hostility and alarmism in the run-up to a week of mass protests expected to rival those over the past year in Seattle and Washington D.C., and at last month's Republican Convention in Philadelphia.
``Harassment, surveillance and 'visits' without any purpose and without a warrant create an environment that is ultimately hostile to free speech,'' said ACLU lawyer Dan Tokaji.
The LAPD says it believes the majority of the tens of thousands of protesters expected in Los Angeles will be peaceful and will be allowed to express their views.
But police, mindful of the savage 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of four white policemen for beating black motorist Rodney King, are wary of inner city gangs and anarchists taking advantage of the convention protests.
Pepper spray, tear-gas and riot gear are among an extra $4 million of supplies requested by security forces for the convention.
Army surplus stores in the city reported a run on gas masks, shin pads and other safety gear as protesters, the media and families prepare for a worst-case scenario.
One store has sold more than 100 Israeli-made gas masks this month compared to about 12 in a usual month, and has another 400 on order.
``All sorts of people are buying them. Men are coming in and buying them for their wives and their children because they are afraid what might happen during the convention,'' said Recon-1 sales clerk Haigaz Rafaelian.
``Some of them are protesters who want to protect themselves in case the police use tear gas and some are journalists,'' he said.
Mail boxes have been closed, newspaper stands taken away and traffic rerouted two blocks away from the spanking new Staples Center in Downtown where the Democrats will meet.
On Thursday, city workers felled trees and bushes near the Staples Center, fearful that they might be used as makeshift weapons should violence break out. A security fence has been thrown up around the perimeter of the site and many small stores nearby have already boarded up or shut down.
---
Invite the Dalai Lama
New York Times
August 10, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/letters/l10dal.html
To the Editor:
Re "Blacklisting the Dalai Lama" (editorial, Aug. 7), about the Tibetan Buddhist leader's exclusion from the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders this month:
Bravo to you, and to Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace laureate, and Representatives Tom Lantos and John Edward Porter of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus for speaking out against the exclusion.
But where are the voices of the 1,000 invited religious figures?
Their silence, astonishing as it is, is nothing, however, in comparison with the general silence and lack of response to China's 50-year occupation of Tibet, which has brutalized that country and savaged its culture.
I hope that the current embarrassment will finally galvanize the United Nations to address the matter of Tibet directly.
DOROTHY M. BERGER San Diego, Aug. 8, 2000
-------
OneList subscribers:
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1. Y-12 finds beryllium in workshops
From: magnu96196@aol.com
2. GOING TOO FAR 'Green' activists may lose support
From: magnu96196@aol.com
3. Illnesses spur contamination tests at plant
From: magnu96196@aol.com
4. Platts Thursday, August 10, 2000
From: "Paul Maser" <pmaser@govmail.state.nv.us>
5. HATCH TO HOST TOWN MEETINGS ON EXPANSION OF RADIATION EXPOS...
From: easlavin@aol.com
6. Nagasaki marks anniversary of 1945 atomic bomb attack
From: magnu96196@aol.com
7. Our Views: Time for city, DOE to reach agreement
From: magnu96196@aol.com
8. BWXT Texas contract challenged
From: magnu96196@aol.com
9. Anti- Nuke Power Action Camp This August
From: smirnowb@ix.netcom.com
10. Beryllium found in Y-12 grinding wheels
From: magnu96196@aol.com
11. The case for our town: at meetings, on the Web and now a brochure
From: magnu96196@aol.com
12. Low level Sarin and liver impact
From: magnu96196@aol.com
13. Clean-up without end
From: magnu96196@aol.com
14. Neighbors want tighter monitoring of beryllium plant near six schools
From: magnu96196@aol.com
15. DOE chief backs Test Site research
From: magnu96196@aol.com
16. Sierra Club chief rips GOP on environment
From: magnu96196@aol.com
17. 300 March on LANL
From: magnu96196@aol.com
-----------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 09:36:56 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Y-12 finds beryllium in workshops
August 10, 2000
By Frank Munger,
News-Sentinel Oak Ridge bureau
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/13017.shtml
OAK RIDGE -- With increased concern about the risk of worker exposures to beryllium, even at low levels, authorities at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant recently removed tainted grinding wheels from several machine shops and are scouring the plant for other equipment that may contain small amounts of the metal. Bill Wilburn, a plant spokesman, said some operations in the Alpha-1 facility were temporarily suspended last month after it was learned some grinding wheels might contain low levels -- less than 2 percent -- of a beryllium alloy. Nine of the suspect wheels were ultimately removed, although Wilburn said it appeared that only two of the wheels had actually been used in grinding operations.
A check of machining equipment elsewhere in the plant is to be completed this week, Wilburn said.
Even though the beryllium content was "very low" in the grinding wheels, Wilburn said Y-12 took precautionary steps "because of the current health concerns."
Thirty-five current or former Y-12 employees have been diagnosed with chronic beryllium disease, an incurable respiratory illness that can be debilitating or even fatal in some instances. Another 60 Y-12 workers have had positive blood tests indicating their bodies are sensitized to the metal, meaning they likely will develop the disease.
Legislation is pending in Congress that would provide financial compensation to beryllium victims at the Department of Energy facilities.
Although DOE has lowered the acceptable limits for beryllium exposure in the workplace, some researchers have suggested there may be no safe level of exposure to beryllium for people genetically predisposed to the disease.
Beryllium, a lightweight metal, is used in the manufacture of nuclear warhead parts at Y-12, and those shops where it is processed are tightly monitored, with special protection afforded workers.
However, finding the metal in grinding wheels was a surprise and a concern, because the equipment was being used in non-beryllium areas where some employees with CBD or beryllium sensitization are assigned.
In response to questions, the Y-12 spokesman said the problem was discovered July 19 by a plant employee who was reviewing "material safety data sheets" in preparation for a training course. The information showed that the grinding wheels used in Alpha 1 contained some beryllium.
Glenn Bell, an Oak Ridge machinist with chronic beryllium disease, said the information should have been red-flagged years ago when the equipment arrived at Y-12 from the manufacturer. Some of the wheels apparently have been at the warhead factory since 1992.
"Why weren't these sheets reviewed then?" Bell asked. "I'm just concerned that it took so long to catch it."
Bell said he thought plant officials did a good job after being alerted to the new issue.
According to Wilburn, analytical laboratory personnel worked "around the clock" to evaluate smear samples taken from surfaces in the machine shops. Only nine of the 430 smears had detectable amounts of beryllium, and those were within regulatory guidelines, he said.
Frank Munger can be reached at 865-482-9213 or twig1@knoxnews.infi.net.
-----------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 09:47:10 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
GOING TOO FAR 'Green' activists may lose support
http://www.paducahsun.com/
It comes as no surprise that two Washington, D.C.-based environmental groups think Kentucky is choking in pollution caused by coal-fired power plants.
As a spokesman for LG&E Energy Corp. pointed out to a reporter for the Courier-Journal of Louisville, the name of one of the groups â€" the National Campaign Against Dirty Power â€" pretty well telegraphs the group's agenda. The other organization, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, bases its activities on the belief that big industries and corporations are inherently evil.
"They're in the business, obviously, of trying to make all coal-fired utilities ... look bad," LG&E's Chip Keeling said. "They're in the business of trying to put us out of business."
It's difficult to argue with Keeling's point. The coal-fired power industry is besieged by environmental groups and federal regulators. There's little doubt that the industry's critics intend to shut it down, just as anti-nuclear activists stopped nuclear power in its tracks.
Consider the "analysis" of federal Environmental Protection Agency data offered by a spokeswoman for the Public Interest group. "This new data confirms what we have suspected for years â€" these old coal-and oil-burning power plants are the biggest source of toxic air pollution in Kentucky," Carmen Lopez said.
One wonders if these activists ever come up with data that doesn't confirm what they've "suspected for years." Their job is to round up the usual suspects.
Once the "suspects" have been demonized by so-called public interest groups, federal environmental officials invariably hit these industries with burdensome and sometimes devastating rules and regulations.
The trouble with this approach is that many of the environmentalists' suspects perform key tasks in the U.S. economy. That certainly is the case with the coal-fired power industry, which is a critical source of electricity in the Midwest and other regions of the country.
If coal-burning plants go the way of nuke plants, consumers will face skyrocketing electric bills and prolonged shortages of electricity. There's simply no way around it â€" this nation cannot continue to strangle its energy sources and not pay a high price for the environmental purity demanded by zealots.
Syndicated columnist Geneva Overholser summed up the dilemma environmental activism is creating for Americans. "The public, clear in its enthusiasm for environmental protection in the abstract, may well be less so when its own lifestyle is at stake," she wrote.
The lifestyles of millions of Americans will have to change if groups like the National Campaign Against Dirty Power have their way. Environmental regulations come with a pricetag. The Tennessee Valley Authority already has spent more than $2.4 billion reducing emissions from its coal-fired plants. New regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency will add at least $1 billion to that bill.
Power customers ultimately pay for air quality mandates. At this point, the consumers of electricity may agree the price is worth it. But what if their lifestyles were altered by regulations that produced only minor improvements in air quality? As Overholser suggested, public opinion on environmental matters could change dramatically.
The activists stopped nuclear power. They intend to regulate coal-fired plants out of existence. They don't like hydro dams because of their impact on "natural" rivers. What's left? Don't hold your breath waiting for windmills to satisfy the voracious demand for power created by our booming high-tech economy.
The nation's urban centers already are facing possible power shortages because demand is outrunning power-generating capacity. Millions of Americans will have to learn to endure long, hot summers if coal-fired power plants are regulated into oblivion.
It's time for the environmental movement to grow up. The activists should be talking about rational rules that balance costs and benefits instead of demanding absolute standards that will diminish the lifestyles of ordinary Americans.
-----------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 09:53:43 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Illnesses spur contamination tests at plant
8/10/2000
By Duncan Mansfield
Associated Press
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/00/08/10/water10.shtml
OAK RIDGE -- Fears by sick nuclear workers that drinking water made them ill prompted a widespread round of water testing Tuesday at the former K-25 uranium enrichment plant.
"We are saying the drinking water is safe," Department of Energy spokesman Steven Wyatt said yesterday. "But we are also taking steps to address the concerns that have been raised."
Last week, three government-paid doctors released a study of 53 ill workers from what is now the East Tennessee Technology Park, the still-gated former uranium complex that is being converted into an industrial park.
The doctors said hazardous materials in the workplace caused or contributed to several of the illnesses. Former workers raised the possibility that workers were exposed through the cross-connection of K-25's 25 to 50 miles of firefighting, cooling water and drinking water pipes.
So Tuesday, a team of health specialists and independent monitors began collecting gallons of water from faucets and fire water systems. They went to the water treatment plant, the central cafeteria and former labs.
"We are trying to identify the sites where the coffee is made. I mean, that's where I would get the most exposure if I was here," said Susan Kaplan, vice chairwoman of a citizens oversight committee that was selecting the 25 sampling sites.
"We have historical questions about cross contamination between processed water and fire water and drinking water," said John Steward, a union representative also involved in picking sampling locations. "But as of today, I think the water is safe."
Not all Oak Ridge workers are satisfied. Twenty-three workers sent Energy Secretary Bill Richardson a letter protesting DOE involvement in the testing program as a conflict of interest.
But Steward said he was assured that both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation would analyze the results.
"I am trying to be open-minded," he said.
The state has regularly monitored drinking water at K-25 since 1979, said Roger Petrie, an official with TDEC's Oak Ridge oversight office. He said a continuing problem was never found.
"Any facility that has chemicals and radiation has the potential for problems," Kaplan said. "The question is whether the systems that they have developed to ensure safety are adequate. That's what we are here to find out."
The water samples will go through a battery of tests in Knoxville and Nashville to measure bacteria, heavy metals, radiation, volatile organic compounds and other substances. Wyatt said some results could be back next week.
Meanwhile, Wyatt said, a second part of the investigation will look into the history of drinking water at the site, potentially going back decades.
"That plan is still being developed," he said. "More than likely we will seek outside help to do this because it is probably beyond our abilities."
=====
Comments:
In the 1980's the Sr-90 levels were very high at the river water intake for the K-25 plants drinking water. ORNL in the late 80's and early 90's did work to slow the Sr-90 releases from the ORNL burial grounds and lowered this level, leaving tritium as the new high release into the river. Don't recall them testing tritium.
-------------
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 07:21:54 -0700
From: "Paul Maser" <pmaser@govmail.state.nv.us>
Platts Nuclear News Flashes
Thursday, August 10, 2000
Washington - August 9, 2000 Con Ed to replace IP-2 steam generators now Consolidated Edison has decided to forgo restart and replace steam generators at Indian Point-2, the company announced today. Indian Point-2 has been down since a Feb. 15 steam generator tube rupture. Con Ed has been trying unsuccessfully to win NRC approval to restart the unit and run it through the end of the year. It planned to then shut down the unit and replace the steam generators with new ones stored on site since 1988. However, Con Ed says it has decided to go ahead and replace the generators now and return to service with the new ones in place by year-end.
Washington (Nuclear News Flashes) August 9, 2000 DOE begins soil cleanup project at Hanford DOE has launched another soil cleanup program along the Columbia River at Hanford. DOE's Richland Operations Office and Bechtel Hanford Inc. will remove about 150,000 tons of contaminated soil and debris from the cribs and trenches that held radioactive water discharged from the coolant system and fuel basin at Hanford's N Reactor, the department said yesterday. The $25-million project is expected to take 26 months. DOE said it will be more challenging than other Hanford cleanup efforts since the reactor has been shut down for only 13 years, so radioactivity levels are up to 50 times higher than at other soil cleanup sites. The material will be disposed of in a low-level radwaste site at Hanford. To date, more than 2.4-million tons of contaminated materials and soil along the river and from other Hanford projects has been sent to the site.
Washington (Nuclear News Flashes) Aug. 8 WMC reports increased uranium production Australia's WMC said Aug. 8 that uranium production increased at its Olympic Dam operation to 1,987 metric tons during the first six months of 2000, from 1,111 MT during the same period a year ago. Sales of uranium oxide increased to 1,339 MT in the first six months of 2000, compared to sales of 786.6 MT during the first six months of 1999. WMC said that unit costs of uranium, which is a co-product of copper production, were "substantially lower." WMC also noted that although the average spot price for uranium continues to decline, most of the company's uranium sales are made under term contracts that may have little or no reference to the spot market price at the time of delivery.
-----------
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 10:46:25 EDT
From: easlavin@aol.com
HATCH TO HOST TOWN MEETINGS ON EXPANSION OF RADIATION EXPOS...
Utahans might wish to ask Hatch questions about the CON-pensation system, and whether Hatch would support NWWAVARCHA.
A HREF="http://www.downwinders.org/victims.html"
-----------
Message: 6
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 11:40:10 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Nagasaki marks anniversary of 1945 atomic bomb attack
August 10, 2000
The Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20000810a1.htm
CALL ISSUED FOR NUCLEAR BAN Nagasaki marks anniversary of 1945 atomic bomb attack NAGASAKI (Kyodo) Nagasaki commemorated the 55th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city Wednesday with a call for nuclear powers to immediately begin multilateral talks so a treaty banning nuclear weapons can be concluded as early as possible.
Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito made the plea in a ceremony attended by about 28,000 people at Nagasaki Peace Park, near the point where the bomb exploded Aug. 9, 1945, killing an estimated 73,800 people.
Ito recounted the horrors of the bombing, saying, "Heat rays with an intensity on the ground of several thousand degrees instantly burned people's bodies, charring them black (while) invisible radiation invaded and destroyed people's cells and tissues, swiftly resulting in yet more death." Nagasaki is 300 km southwest of Hiroshima, the first city to experience to an atomic bomb attack. An estimated 140,000 people died as a result of the Hiroshima bombing, which took place three days before the devastation of Nagasaki in the closing stages of World War II.
"Nagasaki has remained the last battlefield where nuclear weapons have been used, with the unspeakably tragic experiences having served as preventative forces," Ito said in his declaration of peace.
Ito welcomed a commitment made in May by the five major nuclear-armed states to eliminate all nuclear weapons, and supported the idea of a general and complete disarmament.
"The voices of concerned people from around the world were successful in eliciting agreement from the nuclear weapons states," he said.
At 11:02 a.m., the time the city observes as the moment of the explosion, the attendees offered a silent prayer as a bell resounded through the park in downtown Nagasaki.
Representatives from seven of Japan's leading political parties, including two party leaders, attended the ceremony, as did House of Representatives Vice Speaker Kozo Watanabe and House of Councilors Vice President Hisamitsu Sugano.
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori noted in his address that nongovernmental organizations will gather for a meeting entitled the Nagasaki Global Citizens Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in autumn.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Ito and two Nagasaki citizens placed on a stage three books listing 2,603 people who died between Aug. 1, 1999, and July 31 and whom the city office recognizes as victims of the bombing.
Akio Nakashima, an atomic bomb survivor who was 18 when the bomb was dropped, read out a "pledge for peace" and a poem.
"Under the perfect blue sky, I speak to the children," the poem read. "Rid all countries of days of war! Shake hands firmly and sing a song to peace, love, friendship and the gleam of life!"
------------
Message: 7
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 14:39:25 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Our Views: Time for city, DOE to reach agreement
August 10, 2000
http://www.oakridger.com/
Local government leaders this week told the Department of Energy that Washington not only fails to pay its fair share in lieu of exempted taxes, but that it is not an especially good tenant or neighbor.
Oak Ridge City Council members on Monday unanimously approved a resolution that starts what could be a long process of gaining just compensation. The facts in evidence seem clear enough: DOE and its subcontractor firms represent Oak Ridge's largest employer, for which this city has been most grateful. But, unlike most cities dominated by a single industry, this one does not pay the taxes that would be forthcoming if, say, the employer was Chrysler Corp., or Motorola, or Compaq computer, or any other number of private industries.
Injury is added to insult when one ponders that the three main contractors are not government entities at all, but rather profitable, private contractors who are nonetheless exempted under government's broad umbrella from paying property taxes. As former Anderson County executive David Bolling notes, "This dilemma is not the fault of Union Carbide or Lockheed Martin. It is due to the failure of the Department of Energy. . .to correct a very unfair situation."
Now, it should be noted that DOE does make payments totaling a few hundred thousand dollars annually to local government in lieu of taxes. But as Mr. Bolling and other officials note, that payment is a fraction of what the actual tax burden would represent if the market were in play and there were no exemptions.
More troubling -- and far more significantly, in our view -- DOE by its past actions, obstinance, and arrogance, has essentially stood in the way of fair and ambitiously progressive claims to return lands to local government for private development. When DOE has released land or provided incentives designed to compensate the community for lost jobs and/or in lieu of tax payments (i.e. ED-1 or Horizon Center) there have been stipulations and red tape that thwart most any attempt on the part of a private developer or industry to invest in the project. And, as reported by The Oak Ridger on Wednesday, more than decade-old plans for the sale of Boeing and DOE lands for residential, commercial and light industrial private development have been put on hold yet again, thanks to multiple DOE-related issues and hoops.
DOE simply can't seem to operate and react effectively to normal market-driven conditions and circumstances. For local public and private economic developers, this is frustrating and, at times, maddening. Until this dilemma is resolved, tension between DOE and both public and private developers, as well as the general public, will likely continue to escalate.
The harsh language of the council's resolution reflects a proper impatience with DOE foot-dragging, not to mention alleged environmental missteps which the resolution says leave Oak Ridge with a "public image. . .tarnished by public disclosures and accusations. . ."
Whether the Constitution's immunities clause prevents the city's resolution from going far in court will be for the lawyers and judges to decide.
But if DOE is wise, this matter will be resolved fairly, amicably, and well before the first legal brief is filed. And, as we have noted previously here, in a manner that avoids simply deepening the city's long-standing dependency on DOE largess. That should mean a settlement that has as its centerpiece the transfer of federally-held properties and decision-making to better facilitate future development and economic diversity.
--------------
Message: 8
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 14:41:38 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
BWXT Texas contract challenged
August 10, 2000
by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff
http://www.oakridger.com/
One of the companies pursuing the management contract for the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant has been challenged for its right to operate another Department of Energy facility.
Last month, BWXT Pantex, comprised of BWX Technologies Inc., Honeywell and Bechtel National, was awarded the 5-year management and operations contract for the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, ending the 40-year plus reign of Mason & Hanger Corp.
Now, the Day & Zimmermann Group, which owns Mason & Hanger Corp., has filed a bid protest with the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress that hears challenges to federal procurement from dissatisfied bidders. GAO has until Nov. 13 to decide what to do about the protest, which could include one of three things: Ruling in favor of the protest, which happened 70 times last year; deny the protest because the federal agency didn't violate any laws or procedures, which happened 300 times last year; or dismiss the protest, the most common outcome. occuring more than 1,000 times last year.
"If it's going to be dismissed, it will be done within the first few weeks," said Daniel Gordon, associate general counsel for the GAO. Gordon added the other two options could take them until the Nov. 13 deadline.
David Fridling, vice president of corporate marketing for Day & Zimmermann, said, "Day & Zimmermann has a continued interest to be a viable contractor with DOE. We have a proven record of achievement Å and they have frequently recognized our excellent performance.
"We believe this action is an appropriate next step to ensure the Department of Energy has the best available contractor to do this work."
Two companies in the Pantex partnership -- BWX Technologies Inc. and Bechtel National -- are also vying for the 5-year Y-12 management and operations contract under the united entity BWXT-Y-12.
"We don't know if there will be a protest or not in Oak Ridge," said DOE spokesman Frank Juan. "There's no connection between the Amarillo contract and [the Y-12] contract. Each individual contract stands on its own."
"The two are dissimilar," added BWXT spokesman Ron Hite, who said he could not speculate on if a bid protest could happen in Oak Ridge.
The winner of the Y-12 contract is scheduled to be announced later this month. The other three competitors for the contract are Oak Ridge Defense Systems (a partnership between Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Duke Engineering and Services and TENERA); Westinghouse Government Services; and Defense Operations of East Tennessee LLC (a partnership between EG&G Technical Services Inc., Brown & Root Services, M.H. Chew and Associates Inc., Informatics Corp. and Arthur D. Little).
-----------
Message: 9
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 14:42:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: smirnowb@ix.netcom.com
Anti- Nuke Power Action Camp This August
NEWS FROM NIRS
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
1424 16th Street NW, #404,
Washington, DC 20036
202.328.0002; f: 202.462.2183;
nirsnet@nirs.org; http://www.nirs.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2000
Contact: Michael Mariotte, 202-328-0002
Debby Katz, CAN, 413-339-5781
Dave Kraft, NEIS, 847-869-7650
AUGUST ACTION CAMPS EXPECTED TO BRING HUNDREDS TO VERMONT, MICHIGAN FOR ANTI-NUCLEAR TRAININGS, ACTIONS
Hundreds of activists and concerned citizens are expected to attend action camps in Michigan and Vermont this August to learn more about nuclear power and sustainable energy issues, train in nonviolent civil disobedience, and participate in demonstrations at area atomic reactors.
Special emphasis will be placed this year on grassroots organizational development, leadership training, and strategizing for the upcoming year.
"A lot has happened in the past year," explained Michael Mariotte, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), co-sponsor of both action camps. "Since last year's camps, we've had the WTO battle in Seattle and large demonstrations against the IMF and World Bank in Washington. Many people at our first camps were leaders and participants in those actions and the rapidly growing progressive movement.
"On the nuclear front, much has changed as well. The wave of utility consolidations, mergers, and foreign ownership of U.S. reactors has accelerated, while utility deregulation is acting primarily to increase electricity prices while decreasing power supply stability. Further, the next administration may well determine radioactive waste policy for decades-if not millennia-to come. We have a lot to talk about, and a lot of work to do."
The Nuclear Free Northeast Action Camp, co-sponsored by Citizens Awareness Network, will be held for the third year in Dummerston, Vermont, near Brattleboro, from August 18-22. There will be a protest at the Vermont Yankee reactor's corporate headquarters in Brattleboro on August 21.
Keynote speakers at the camp include author/activists Harvey Wasserman (The Last Energy War) and Karl Grossman (The Wrong Stuff). Workshop leaders include radiation scientist Steve Wing, Pace Energy Project director Ed Smeloff, Union of Concerned Scientists nuclear engineer David Lochbaum, radioactive waste expert Marvin Resnikoff, Jessica Revere of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project, veteran nuclear freeze activist Randy Kehler, and many more.
"The buy-ups of aging northeast reactors by corporate speculators is a dangerous gamble to keep the failing nuclear industry in America alive," said Debby Katz, executive director of Citizens Awareness Network (CAN). "The mergers of these same corporations into global nuclear monoliths are an exercise in corporate greed. The price for this greed is the continual suffering and death of ordinary people. All nuclear fuel cycle communities are routinely exposed to dangerous radiation--radiation exposure that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission supports. This suffering and the greed that creates it must stop. The Northeast camp will focus on the sales and the radical transformation of power generation and the impact that this transformation will have on poor, rural, and working class people in the Northeast."
The Nuclear Free Great Lakes Action Camp will be held August 20-27 outside Bloomingdale, Michigan, near Kalamazoo. A large number of speakers and workshop leaders include campaign finance activist Doris "Granny D" Haddock, Dr. Judith Johnsrud, Dr. Gordon Edwards of Canada's Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Mike Ewall of the Student Environmental Action Coalition, Native America activists Lorraine Rekmans, Corbin Harney and Joe Campbell, Tennessee whistleblower Ann Harris, Mycle Schneider of WISE-Paris, and dozens of others. Protests involving the nearby Cook and Palisades reactors will take place August 24.
"The 40+ nuclear reactors and numerous radioactively contaminated sites threatening the Great Lakes Basin air and watershed are NOT the kind of legacy we want to leave our kids," asserts Dave Kraft, director of the Evanston-based Nuclear Energy Information Service, one of the groups sponsoring the Camp. "This Camp aims to build a movement dedicated to replacing that polluting, hazardous, pessimistic future based on corporate greed with 'Clean Energy --NOW!'" Kraft says, referring to the Earth Day 2000 energy theme.
Co-sponsoring the camp are the Citizens Action Coalition Education Fund (Indiana), Nuclear Energy Information Service (Illinois), Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes (Michigan), North American Water Office and Prairie Island Coalition (Minnesota), Nukewatch (Wisconsin), and Canada's Nuclear Awareness Project.
Preregistration is encouraged for both camps. The media are welcome at both camps. For more information on the Nuclear Free Northeast Action Camp, call CAN at 413-339-5781, can@shaysnet.com, www.nukebusters.org. For more information on the Nuclear Free Great Lakes Action Camp, contact NEIS at 847-869-7650, neis@forward.net, www.nirs.org/glac/glac.htm.
------------
Message: 10
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 14:44:52 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Beryllium found in Y-12 grinding wheels
August 10, 2000
by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff
http://www.oakridger.com/
The use of grinding wheels containing beryllium alloy has ceased at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant and an internal facility-wide recall of those wheels has been enacted.
In addition, an assessment of every grinding wheel in the plant for any beryllium is currently underway.
"We're obviously concerned and we're making every effort to address those concerns," Y-12 Plant spokesman Bill Wilburn said this morning.
This action follows a Lockheed Martin Energy Systems' employee's discovery last month that grinding wheels utilized in Alpha 1 machine shops may contain zero to 2 percent of a beryllium alloy.
After looking into the matter, officials determined that around nine grinding wheels contained very low levels of beryllium aluminum silicate. Grinding operations ceased temporarily due to current health concerns over beryllium sensitization and the existence of chronic beryllium disease among some Y-12 employees.
Analytical Services laboratory personnel examined 430 smears for beryllium and only nine of those showed any detectable beryllium, which were below regulatory guidelines for surface contamination. Only two of the nine were above the free release limit.
Following an Industrial Hygiene assessment, the area in question is back in operation.
Under current regulations, because of the low level of beryllium content, no special protection such as a respirator would be required.
Beryllium is a silver-gray metallic element that occurs naturally in about 30 minerals and has been produced for various industrial uses since the late 1950s. Beryllium and beryllium alloys are used in windshield frames and other structures in high-speed aircraft and space vehicles, aircraft and space shuttle brakes, satellite mirrors and space telescopes, X-ray windows and nuclear weapons components.
--------------
Message: 11
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 15:44:37 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
The case for our town: at meetings, on the Web and now a brochure
August 10, 2000
Editor's License Dick Smyser
Source: http://www.oakridger.com/
The case for our town: at meetings, on the Web and now a brochure
From my perspective, Alfred A. Brooks is one of the most reasoned voices on questions of environmental and, consequently, health concerns attributable to Oak Ridge's half-century of nuclear production and research.
For the past 10 of the almost 20 years that the controversy over pollution and job-related illness has persisted, Al has been there as both observer and participant at virtually all of the hundreds of committee sessions and public forums held on these issues. Been there most times as a decided minority and often a lone voice in rebuttal of those who would paint Oak Ridge as "Love Canal South." He's also written scores of letters to the editor, most to The Oak Ridger but many to other newspapers too.
The leading journalistic voice detailing gross problems here has been The Tennessean, daily newspaper in Nashville. Therefore, there was special significance to Al's speaking to the Nashville Rotary Club on Monday, July 17, an engagement arranged by Tom Yount, former high executive with EG&G ORTEC here and encouraged also by Byron Trauger, native Oak Ridger, son of Don and Elaine Trauger and now a prominent lawyer in Nashville.
Al's talk (at a luncheon at Nashville's Doubletree Hotel) to about 150 members of the state capital city civic club is significantly summed up in a brochure -- a single 8 1/2 by 11 three-fold headlined "No, We DO NOT Glow in the Dark." Al prepared the piece for the Oak Ridge Environmental Justice Committee, organization of which he was a key organizer and is now chairman and the purpose of which is to assure that all sides are heard and examined in the continuing debate.
"Is Oak Ridge a Safe Place to Live?" the brochure asks on its cover. "Yes, It Is," says a subhead, "And Here is Why."
The brochure, while not disputing that there are legitimate claims of job-related illness -- and some quite serious like that from exposure to beryllium -- nevertheless emphasizes something that is seldom even mentioned in much of the reporting of the problems here: That residential areas of Oak Ridge are separated by distance and topography from the Department of Energy's nuclear facilities. There is need to distinguish between workers and residents, although a significant percentage of nuclear workers are also residents.
And, even more important in view of the most recent charges of contaminated water: "The city water supply comes from the Clinch River well above any minor outflows of the disposal sites and on the upstream side of the Melton Hill Dam from the actual facility outflows. It is of course carefully monitored and well below the requirements."
The brochure says also, "All streams and air emissions from the nuclear facilities are sampled and monitored."
Each of the major facilities -- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the Y-12 weapons facility -- is described, as are also all of the designated or alleged contamination sites within the residential area: a small cesium-137 spill on the CXS railroad tracks, the Atomic City Auto Parts site, the Lower East Fork of Poplar Creek, the Scarboro neighborhood, four spots on the Clinch River and the Poplar Creek Embayment.
Despite these, Brooks writes, "All told Oak Ridge is a clean community. The very few specific spills or outflows have been or are being cleaned up to conservative standards and there is no evidence of any general contamination. In addition it has a lot of open space, recreational areas and greenways with hiking trails."
But "Why," the brochure then asks, "Does the Myth Live On?"
Al's explanation:
"One may ask why does allegation of the serious contamination continue? One contributing factor is the confusion between the exposure in the workplace and the exposure of the public. Some people simply do not trust the government. Another is the definition of contamination. There are also people who believe that any contamination however small is too much. With modern highly sensitive analytical methods, contamination can be found everywhere. The question should be: Is there enough contamination to harm the public?
"The paranoia and fear of radiation is difficult to understand as the permissible levels of radiation for the general public are only about 3 percent of the natural background. Nuclear installations are held to far more restrictive standards than are most other industries including coal-fired power stations.
"There are also agendas for which it is convenient to claim things not true or proven. One is opposition to nuclear weapons. Shutting down Y-12 to prevent pollution will also stop its weapons production. Another is the claim that very small traces of contaminants acting together in synergism, can act to cause great harm. No proof of this exists but the claim is still made."
The brochure's conclusion: "When all is said and done, Oak Ridge and its surroundings are good, safe places to live."
Al, a physicist-chemist and an Oak Ridger since the city's very earliest years, worked during World War II at Y-12. Since then he has also done stints at ORGDP (K-25) and ORNL. Besides involving himself deeply in the pollution and illness controversies, he served on the Oak Ridge Board of Education from 1961 to 1965.
He now also maintains an extensive Internet Web site with the colorful (literally -- yellow, red and green) title "Le Potpourri Pages of Nuclear Waste Disposal at ORR" (user.icx.net/~brooks).
The TSCA Incinerator Controversy -- Feed & Emission Data and Comments.
The Lower Watts Bar Reservoir PCB Fishing Advisory -- Advice and Background.
The Scarboro Connection -- Radiation Levels in the Scarboro Community.
The DOE/ORO EM Budget -- The Short End of the DC Stick or Unfunded Commitments.
Dirt Moved and Where the Dirt is Flying -- Progress Report.
DOE -- Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't.
Rebuttal of The Continuing Assault -- Oak Ridge Under Attack Again.
The Oak Ridge Mortality Rate -- It's Lower Than You Might Believe.
Visit The Oak Ridge Tennessean -- The Other Side of the Story.
Al encourages feedback, listing his name, address, telephone and fax numbers. -- RDS
Richard D. Smyser is founding editor of The Oak Ridger. You can reach him by e-mail at rdsandmps@aol.com
=====
Comments:
Haggard Al Brooks is outspoken, but seldom any reason in his words. Al was one of the original K-25 plant workers, and bent on denying there are any problems in OR. Al Brooks is the point man in the OR method to deny problems, a community redevelpment that is based on hiding real problems.
Cutting to the bone real fast, Brooks denied in public meetings, example End-Use, that there are any UF-6 or HF releases from the K-25 gas diffusion plant. While the first process building called the K-25 building always ran at negative pressures and released only low levels of emissions, the later upgraded systems switched to mass thru puts that raised almost all the systems to positive pressure and the losses increased hugely.
The newer systems even changed their bearing designs on the axial flow compressors to double seals with purged nitrogen to traps in the basements to try and catch some of the more dominate leak mechanisms. However, other leaks of various kinds were never solved. The large process buildings were purged with huge volumes of forced air to keep them cool, as much as to keep the HF vapor concentrations low around the workers. Chemical hazard masks had to be worn in areas with high losses of UF-6 to avoid breathing in HF vapors. But the entire plant and all its workers were always exposed to HF vapors in the air. Even the downwind communties experienced rain out of condensing HF vapors, which are heavier than air.
The radiological emissions from K-25 plant were monitored, however the emissions of the chemicals like HF were not tracked, and even the vegitation sampling for fluorides is avoided. It is required around Aluminum plants that have HF releases, but similar is not done in OR. ORNL did some of this fluoride in biota work in the 80's and this information has not been released to the public, but did play a factor in decisions to shut down the K-25 plant.
Some of the K-25 managers admit that the K-25 plant lost around 10% of its process gas while it was in operation. This translates to lots of uranium dust and HF vapors into the regions air. Some of the uranium dusts appears in worker reports about yellow dusts on lunch tables and so on. The HF effects are intentionally not mentioned. The ORHASP panel tried to do a dose recontruction at K-25 by looking at logs and asking workers questions and come up with a low balled estimate of the UF-6 process losses. The proper way to do this is with mass balance, which is how the management kept track of it. It is known the amounts of UF-6 injected and UF-6 withdrawn and the difference is the amount lost to the environment. This technique is purposely avoided in OR, despite the cylinder mass logs existing.
As the plant was shut down, a different loss mechanism set in, one where the systems were cut open and moist air to seep in and HF was allowed to seep out, but not any uranium. The plant plays the same games in discussions on cylinder hole losses. Here the DOE claims these holes, which tend to get larger over time, self seal and don't let uranium get out. Well they do tend to plug up and the uranium stays in the cylinder, but the moist air creeps in and the UF-6 converts to HF for feet into the cylinder behind the holes and tons of HF are emitted------these holes are hardly sealed.
Brooks myopathy fails to notice all the obvious well known process problems above and he also fails to notice even 50 year old synergisms. >From the 1940's, it was known that exposures to HF caused higher retention of Beryllium in workers. Today, this fluoride synergism effect has been shown to include other OR toxicants like lead and mercury. It is well established today that fluorides emissions cause problems to the human immune cells, which clean out toxicants like metals that damage cells DNA. Fluorides or HF cause real synergism effects in terms of the bodies ability to clean out cells affected with internalized contaminates. In this same 40's work it also shows that fluoride atoms outnumber uranium atoms around a thousand to one for persons exposed to UF-6.
The Y-12 plant also had very high HF emissions, and its green salt facilty that caused all these emissions is shut down and all the HF removed from the Y-12 plant. The new process is being designed with near zero emissions of HF in mind with huge air scrubbers being designed to control the emissions. The entire town of OR was rained up by K-25 HF vapors and a little community of color called Scarboro was rained on by some additional HF from the Y-12 plant. Here one report discusses higher rates of bone breaks and asthma, which are both well known symptoms of HF exposures.
Brooks can talk a blue steak about all things in Oak Ridge, but the beef is usually missing. And most consider discussions with him a waste of time. But he does make a good show piece to toss out for the OR purveyors of the no problems redevelopment methods.
Brooks as his buddies have been worried for years that a few plane loads of lawyers would converge on Oak Ridge or the other gas diffusion plants that emitted HF and turned humans bones into rat poison. As we get more of these lawsuits claiming conspiracies and 5 billion dollars apiece from violations of constitutional rights, their worst nightmares come closer to reality-----------and their time to be held accountable also. Conspiculous in all Brook's ramblings is one thing, and that one thing is connected to a huge thyroid disease problem seen in this area, and fluorides are known to damage this gland.
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Message: 12
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 18:19:33 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Low level Sarin and liver impact
The long-term changes in liver DNA and total protein contents following low level sarin exposure in rats.
Acta Medica (Hradec Kralove) 2000;43(1):19-22
Kassa J, Skopec F, Vachek J
Department of Toxicology, Purkyne Military Medical Academy, Hradec Kralove. kassa@pmfhk.cz
[Medline record in process]
1. The changes in contents of DNA and total protein in the liver of the rats exposed to low level sarin by inhalation at 3, 6 and 12 months following the exposure were studied. The influence of sarin on the DNA and protein metabolism in liver was determinated by the measurements of incorporation of tritiated thymidine into DNA, the concentration of DNA and total protein.
2. Our results show that not only symptomatic level 3 but also asymptomatic levels 1 and 2 of sarin are able to significantly decrease the incorporation of radiolabelled thymidine without changing total concentrations of DNA as well as protein at three months following sarin exposure. On the other hand, the significant decrease in total contents of DNA and protein in liver without the changes in the incorporation of tritiated thymidine was determined in liver six months following sarin exposure. Practically no significant changes in the metabolism of DNA and protein were observed at 12 months following sarin exposure.
3. Thus, not only clinically manifested intoxication but also low-level, asymptomatic exposure to nerve agents such as sarin is able to influence the metabolism of nucleic acids as well as proteins even several months following the exposure.
PMID: 10934781, UI: 20390438
--------
Message: 13
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 18:40:20 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Clean-up without end
EXAMINER EDITORIAL WRITER
Aug. 09, 2000
San Francisco Examiner
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/2000/08/09/ NEWS7937.dtl
WE REMEMBER when experts were complacent about the eventual need to clean up land and buildings used in the production of nuclear weapons, or for peaceful pursuits like nuclear power generation. Sure, they conceded, the task of completely removing radioactive substances and neutralizing long-contaminated sites was not then within the power of 20th century technology, but technology would advance and be able to do the job when called on in the future.
A new report from the National Academy of Sciences is not at all confident on that score. It instead draws a somber picture of perpetually contaminated sites where safeguards inevitably break down or are forgotten, where radioactivity spreads despite efforts to contain it.
With a need for precautions stretching thousands of years into the future, the report found instances of controls already failing to protect the public. A couple of examples from the vicinity of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge, Tenn., plant:
A golf course on former government property is known to have contaminated ground water that is not to be used, but department investigators discovered a well being drilled for irrigation purposes. And at a contaminated creek, the "no fishing" signs have been stolen.
How will such nuclear safety rules be working centuries from now, considering they are flouted almost as soon as they are put in place? We still must hope for miraculous antidotes to the toxic leavings of our nuclear follies, because no conceivable safety regime is fail-safe forever.
San Francisco Examiner
=========
Comments:
Now with these missing signs visible in California---------seems like the state would know to put them back up-------------or be accused of not doing its job.
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Message: 14
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 18:41:54 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Neighbors want tighter monitoring of beryllium plant near six schools
Arizona Daily Star,
10 August 2000
By Maureen O'Connell
http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/000810brush.html
Several South Side residents last night pressed county officials to toughen air quality requirements for a beryllium plant in their neighborhood.
"There are fields around the plant used by children" walking to Los Amigos Elementary School, 2200 E. Drexel Road, said Steve Chernin, who works at a nearby Sunnyside Unified School District campus.
Of Sunnyside High School's track team, he added, "Every day they're running through the beryllium dust."
County officials have pledged to strengthen Brush Wellman's air quality permit by requiring increased documentation of emissions monitoring and maintenance equipment.
Officials from the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality collected comments and questions about the company's permit during a public hearing at Sunnyside High, 1725 E. Bilby Road.
But the Environmental Justice Action Group, a local citizens group that focuses on environmental problems affecting minority neighborhoods, contends that that's not enough protection from beryllium, which can be toxic in the form of a metal powder.
The local group argues that because Brush Wellman, 6100 S. Tucson Blvd., is within a half-mile of six Sunnyside schools, the company should pay for the installation of county air quality monitoring stations at each school. It also wants the county to conduct "frequent and unannounced" inspections and coordinate health screenings.
Pat Birnie, a spokeswoman for the group, said Brush Wellman should be required to cover the costs for treating illnesses such as chronic beryllium disease - a potentially fatal lung ailment that comes from breathing fine particles of the metal.
Kirk Keitherly, general manager of the plant - part of an Ohio-based company that makes electronic parts - said the last "neighborhood" case of chronic beryllium disease near a company plant was recorded about 50 years ago - before federal air quality standards took effect.
Other speakers at the hearing disputed that point. Twenty-five workers at the local plant have developed the disease.
Chernin, who heads the Sunnyside district's association for classified employees - maintenance workers to office personnel - said state and national unions for teachers and other public school employees have passed resolutions calling for a zero-emission standard for beryllium near schools, homes and government buildings.
The Environmental Justice Action Group also urged the county to halt that emission.
The Environmental Protection Agency now limits beryllium emission to 10 grams a day. County regulations may be more stringent than federal regulations in a case of "peculiar" circumstances, Birnie said.
She asserted that the proximity of the schools creates such circumstances. In addition, she said the county should consider that residents of the largely Hispanic South Side have dealt with other environmental hazards, such as TCE, or trichloroethylene. The industrial solvent and suspected carcinogen seeped into ground water as a result of dumping in the airport area for about three decades, beginning in the 1950s.
Keitherly said the health of Brush Wellman employees is a top priority, but he is unaware of technology that could meet a zero-emission mandate.
Since the local plant opened in 1980, it has not been cited for violating federal air quality standards.
Under the terms of the expiring permit, which has been in effect since the early 1990s, the county conducts one unannounced site visit each year and observes an annual emissions test performed by a firm hired by Brush Wellman.
Frances Dominguez, a spokeswoman for the county department, said allowing companies to monitor themselves is a standard practice around the country because local governments cannot afford the costs.
Contact Maureen O'Connell at 434-4076 or at oconnell@azstarnet.com
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Message: 15
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 18:54:16 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
DOE chief backs Test Site research
Richardson seeks $40 million for ground water study
August 10, 2000
By Mary Manning <manning@lasvegassun.com>
LAS VEGAS SUN
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2000/aug/10/510617664.html
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is seeking an extra $40 million for the Department of Energy to track contamination in ground water at the Nevada Test Site.
After speaking to the United Steelworkers of America annual convention Wednesday, Richardson told the Sun he would work with Congress to secure the funds for research requested in December by Gov. Kenny Guinn. "I think it would be a goodwill gesture by the DOE," he said.
The DOE has been trying since 1993 to figure out which way the ground water flows and whether radioactive contamination is moving off the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. A computer model by the DOE to predict the spread of contamination failed in a review by independent scientists, who said the agency needs more information to make the model accurate.
Guinn asked the DOE to spend an extra $40 million next year on research to get the model working so that Nevadans can be warned of dangers to public safety from the Test Site, where 928 above- and below-ground experiments of nuclear weapons were conducted from 1951 until 1992.
Bob Bangerter, the DOE's project manager for the ground water program, said Richardson's support was good news. The DOE Nevada Operations Office had forwarded the governor's request to headquarters, he said.
Richardson also said that he will try to get the money to complete scientific studies at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the only site under study for a high-level nuclear waste repository.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., had frozen Yucca Mountain funding at $351 million in the Senate, but the House passed a $413 million appropriation in June. The DOE asked for $437.5 million. The appropriation must go through a conference committee to work out the differences before it goes to President Clinton.
The DOE will prepare a report card to Congress on the progress at Yucca Mountain by the end of the year, Richardson said. Studies to determine whether a repository at Yucca Mountain would be feasible are not expected to be ready until next year.
The final decision, Richardson said, "will be based on scientific studies, not politics," echoing vows by President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate, and GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush that a final decision on the repository will be based on science.
Earlier Wednesday Richardson announced $3.5 million for 21 companies in a public-private partnership to expand geothermal resources in Nevada, California, New Mexico and Utah next year. It is part of a renewable energy package that will supply electric power or heating to at least 7 million homes through geopower by 2010.
The goal is to supply 10 percent of the electricity needs of the West with 20,000 megawatts of geothermal energy by 2020, Richardson said.
Six of the companies are in Nevada. Daniel Schochet, vice president of one of those companies, Ormat, said that next year's research will be conducted in New Mexico, though his company is based in Sparks.
"The DOE's interest is creating a resurgence in geothermal," he said.
The Nevada companies will receive at least $12 million in private and public funds over the next four years.
Nevada is the crown jewel in the DOE's plan to expand alternative energy resources such as solar, wind and geothermal, Richardson said. "Nevada is the Saudi Arabia of geothermal," he said at the Desert Research Institute.
Tapping hot water deep within the earth, geothermal power will help wean the United States off of foreign fossil fuels, Richardson said. Geothermal is clean and abundant in Nevada, he said.
Nevada already produces 236 megawatts of geothermal power from 14 generating plants in 10 locations, most of them in Northern Nevada, said geologist Alan Coyner of the state Division of Minerals.
-----------
Message: 16
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 18:57:03 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Sierra Club chief rips GOP on environment
August 10, 2000
By Launce Rake <lrake@lasvegassun.com>
LAS VEGAS SUN
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2000/aug/10/510617316.html
The top man at the nation's largest environmental organization said Wednesday that the likely Republican slate for federal office -- from president to Congress -- would be bad news for the state's air, land and water.
Carl Pope, executive director of the 630,000-member Sierra Club, was in Las Vegas to address the United Steelworkers of America annual convention.
He used the visit to urge people to vote with the environment in mind, to support Democratic candidates for Congress and Al Gore for president.
Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's choice for running mate, Dick Cheney, was a "revealing process," Pope said.
Although Bush has said publicly that science, not politics, should guide the establishment of a nuclear waste dump in Nevada's Yucca Mountain, Cheney voted to strip the scientific scoping requirements, Pope said.
Yucca Mountain, he warned, might become a "sacrifice site" as has been recommended for the Nevada Test Site northwest of Las Vegas. The problem with radioactive sacrifice sites, places written off for any direct human use, is that they tend to contaminate the water around them, Pope said.
Yucca Mountain is "a sacrifice site that may migrate," he said.
Pope identified urban growth -- or sprawl -- as another significant environmental threat to Las Vegas. Despite some good trends, such as relatively high housing density, growth of the urban region in the Las Vegas Valley has exploded with negative consequences, Pope said.
He said he keeps satellite photos of Las Vegas in 1975, 1985 and 1995 "as an emblem of what's going wrong" here and nationwide.
"Las Vegas is famous, or infamous," for sprawl, Pope said. "Whenever you're growing this fast, there are going to be problems."
Both developers and the region's primary employers, the casinos, should help pay for the infrastructure needed to handle the growth of the region, he said.
"In a strong economy -- that's the time to get tough" on everybody contributing to urban sprawl, Pope said.
The Sierra Club, which raised $6.5 million to support environmentally friendly politicians in the 1998 elections, is focusing on getting people involved in conservation issues, he said.
People can make a big difference, Pope said.
------------
Message: 17
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 19:00:14 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com
300 March on LANL
August 10, 2000
By Ian Hoffman Journal Staff Report
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/98303news08-10-00.htm
As U.S. weapons executives speculate on creating a new generation of low-yield nuclear arms, 300 activists chanting "Shut it down!" marched on Los Alamos National Laboratory Wednesday in the second largest protest at the lab since the birth of the nuclear bomb.
They cast a mix of insults and exhortations to lab employees to abandon weapons research in favor of more peaceable pursuits.
"We want to be proud that you have found new, more useful work," said Cliff Bain, a New Mexico Green Party stalwart.
Actor Martin Sheen did not make a promised cameo to lead the protest. Sixty people crossed an arbitrary line and were temporarily detained by armed lab guards. Among the first taken into custody was actor and director Wes Studi, a star of "Last of the Mohicans" and "Geronimo."
Studi denounced the manufacture of nuclear weapons as "serving no good at all. It's a Pandora's box."
"I think the use of nuclear weapons is an absolute wuss way to wage war," he said. "How does one live with oneself after having caused such a horrific devastation of innocent lives and the environment?"
Lab workers looked on more or less respectfully, some snickering at garish tie-dyes, oversized puppetry and banners: "Hell no, we won't glow" and "Los Alamos, who's going to protect us against you?"
"I'm not ready to be liberated from my paycheck," said one lab worker.
On Wednesday, Los Alamosans voiced a cautious pride in indirectly guaranteeing the constitutional rights to free assembly and speech.
"I want to be able to protest something, so I support them being here," said Gina Koehler, a lab subcontract employee.
On the same day in 1945, Los Alamos' "Fat Man" bomb flattened a third of Nagasaki and killed a fifth of its population outright, the death toll reaching 149,000 by year's end. Veterans and lab retirees defended the bombing as crucial to persuading a reluctant Japanese military to surrender.
"It's our contention we saved not only Allied lives but also a lot of Japanese lives," said Steve Stoddard, a World War II veteran and founder of the Los Alamos Education Group, a pro-nuclear group that offered a counterpoint to demonstrators gathered across the street at Ashley Pond.
"I'd just hate the fact that they could come up here and call us killers in our little town and us not be able to dispute it," Stoddard said.
Last year, as Los Alamos geared up to make the nation's first plutonium cores for nuclear weapons since 1989, a larger, more international crowd of 400 marched on the lab.
This year's protesters were mostly New Mexicans, in part reminded of Los Alamos' legacy by the Cerro Grande Fire that burned a third of the lab's 43 square miles in May. The fire and the likelihood of related flooding joined with security scandals to make 2000 the worst year in lab history.
"I think they have missed an opportunity to close the place down," said Metta Ravenheart, who lives just east of Albuquerque.
"There's clearly a spiritual thing going on with the fire and security problems," said her companion, Jaye Swoboda. He marched Wednesday after "a 20-year nap from social awareness."
"I kind of missed the protest movement," Swoboda said. "I'm looking at this as a beginning for me."
The protest christened Sue Foley in civil disobedience. The 28-year-old landscaper barked chants through a megaphone en route to the lab. She had never risked arrest before and was "freaked out" stepping over the line. Lab security officials had signaled the "arrests" were likely to be of the temporary, "catch-and-release" sort. Foley wasn't sure; she didn't have bail money.
"There's something scary about endangering your personal safety for a cause," she said. "I felt like I needed to do this to demonstrate a commitment to social change."
She nervously told a female guard in body armor and camouflage who took her arm, "I'm a nice girl."
"I know you are, honey, I know," the guard replied and escorted her away.
A few minutes later, one protester hung a garland of colored paper cranes, symbolic of peace, around the neck of lab deputy security director John E. "Gene" Tucker as he directed guards to take activists into custody.
"I think we sent a message to the lab and we'll keep sending the message," Foley said after being released.
The protest comes as Los Alamos fears losing its most veteran weapons designers to sagging morale, Silicon Valley and plush retirement plans. Meanwhile, Senate lawmakers are calling for research into a new generation of earth-penetrating nuclear weapons. Los Alamos' chief weaponeer mused in June on starting design of simple, low-yield nuclear warheads, based on a uranium "gun assembly" designs like the Hiroshima bomb, Little Boy. Associate lab director Steve Younger suggested these weapons might bridge a gap between today's largely high-yield nuclear arsenal and precision conventional arms, while being easier to develop and maintain without nuclear testing.
"If you give billions of dollars to nuclear-weapons laboratories for decades, they are going to design new weapons," said disarmament advocate Andrew Lichterman, program director for the Western States Legal Foundation. "That's where arms races get started."