-------- NUCLEAR (by country)

Russia and U.S. to Scrap 68 Tons of Plutonium

International Herald Tribune
Monday, September 4, 2000
Reuters
http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/MON/IN/pluto.2.html http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8049

MOSCOW - Russia and the United States have formally signed an agreement to destroy 68 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, the Russian government said.

A government statement said that Vice President Al Gore signed the agreement Friday in Washington and Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov of Russia signed it Tuesday in Moscow.

The deal was reached by President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Bill Clinton during their summit meeting in Moscow in June.

''The agreement stipulates that the activities of Russia and the United states connected with the destruction of weapons-grade plutonium will be open for the international community,'' the Russian government said Saturday, ''and will be under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency.''

According to U.S. officials, the 34 tons to be destroyed by each country represent about one quarter of Russia's military plutonium stockpile and about one third of that of the United States.

The program will cost $5.7 billion to implement and take about 20 years to complete, officials said.

Both countries must build industrial-scale facilities to convert the plutonium into fuel for nuclear power plants. The pact obliges each country to render the plutonium unusable for nuclear weapons.

The United States will convert some plutonium into fuel and dispose of the rest geologically, while Russia will convert all 34 tons into fuel.

The funding for the Russian program will come partly from the United States.

Congress has already appropriated $200 million for the purpose and has pledged to seek more.

---

Justifications for Wartime Bombings

Los Angeles Times
Monday, September 4, 2000
http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/20000904/t000083127.html

Re "Why Agonize Over Hiroshima, Not Dresden?" Aug. 30: To justify our Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings, Ernest Lefever makes the usual claim that the bombings actually saved both Japanese and American lives by avoiding the need for an invasion of mainland Japan. Lefever believes, as do most Americans, that once Japan's leaders saw the bomb's enormous destructive power, they understood that further resistance was futile and quickly accepted our terms for unconditional surrender.

I ask an obvious follow-up question: Why, then, could not a bloodless demonstration of the bomb (say over Tokyo Bay) have achieved the same result? Even if the demonstration had failed, had it been attempted first we would not be agonizing over the morality of that decision--a decision which resulted in the incineration and radiation deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians--over five decades later. CHARLES MILBOURNE Woodland Hills

* I could not agree more with Lefever's article about the relative merits of bombing Hiroshima and Dresden. I am always appalled at the lack of historical knowledge shown by those who criticize the use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima. The bomb ended the war and saved American lives. If the Japanese did not like it, they should have thought twice before instigating a racial war against the U.S. and committing numerous unspeakable atrocities.

Dresden was primarily an RAF operation, with limited support from the American air forces. It is hard to blame the British for wanting to hit back at the Germans after all they had suffered over 5 1/2 years of war. JERRY BOURBON Tijuana

* Lefever argues persuasively that some wartime killing is more justified than other wartime killing. But nobody during the past couple thousand years has tried to deny the truth of Sophocles, that war never kills the evil, "but the good always." WILLARD HANZLIK Seal Beach

---

Japan, Russia Stay Stuck on Islands Row

Yahoo News
Monday September 4
By Gareth Jones
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000904/wl/japan_russia_dc_8.html

TOKYO (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday gave an upbeat assessment of ties with Tokyo, but both he and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori took tough stances on a territorial row blocking the path to a bilateral peace treaty.

Putin, who arrived Sunday for talks with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, effectively ruled out a change in the status of four Russian-held islands that Tokyo wants returned before clinching a peace treaty formally ending World War Two.

Mori also stuck to the entrenched Japanese stance, fueling expectations that the two sides will be unable to meet a year-end deadline for concluding a peace treaty.

Putin told Mori that a 1998 proposal by Tokyo to redraw the border to recognize the islands off its northern coast as Japanese territory, ``cannot be accepted as the basis for a mutually acceptable compromise,'' a Kremlin official said.

The islands, seized by Soviet troops in 1945, have little economic value and their strategic import is debatable.

But Russia fears that giving them up would trigger a nationalist backlash while Japan wants them back as a matter of national pride.

In a sign of the domestic touchiness of the topic, sound-trucks belonging to right-wing groups paraded in front of the Foreign Ministry, blaring, ``Give the islands back!''

Despite the row, Putin -- keen to see Japanese investment to help reform his troubled economy -- took an optimistic view of relations with Japan and the two leaders agreed to hold annual summits from now on, the Russian official said.

``The two leaders agreed that bilateral relations have been improving in the last few years and that progress has been achieved in all areas of our cooperation,'' the Kremlin official said, adding that Putin had invited Mori to make an official visit to Moscow but that no dates have been worked out.

Putin, who along with his wife Lyudmila, lunched with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko after the talks with Mori, and will meet the Japanese leader for two further sets of talks before leaving Tuesday.

Sticking To Their Stances

Mori said Tokyo would make every effort to settle the dispute over the islands and to meet the year-end deadline for a peace pact, but stuck to Japan's position.

``Settlement of the island issue and then signing a peace treaty is important,'' a foreign ministry official quoted him as telling Putin.

Soviet troops seized the islands in 1945 on the eve of Japan's surrender to Allied forces.

Moscow wants to defer resolving the row and first conclude a broader friendship pact with Tokyo that would open the way for large-scale Japanese investment in Russia's sickly economy.

Tokyo, also wary of a right-wing backlash should it abandon its claim to the islands -- known in Japan as the Northern Territories and called the Southern Kuriles by Moscow -- has been cool to the notion of an interim deal.

``Japan is not interested in an interim agreement, although it depends on the content,'' said Hiroshi Kimura, a Russia specialist at the Kyoto International Research Center.

Meager Trade

Despite a thaw in relations since 1997, annual bilateral trade still stands at $5 billion, meager compared with $60 billion between Japan and China.

Putin and Mori were set to sign some 15 documents in Tokyo on subjects ranging from debt relief to the environment and including a blue-print for cooperation on the global stage on such issues as North Korea and nuclear non-proliferation.

A broad agreement on economic and trade cooperation will also be among the deals. Japanese businesses are reluctant to commit large sums of money, citing corruption, political instability and weak property rights. But some analysts dismissed those agreements as mainly for diplomatic show.

``They are just decorative, with the purpose of pretending that Japan is interested in economic cooperation,'' said Hiroshi Kimura, a Russia specialist at the Kyoto International Research Center. ``The main goal is not to cut off dialogue on the territorial question,'' Kimura added.

Some commentators have said Putin and Mori might decide to sign an interim peace pact to save face, agreeing to keep discussing the islands while pushing forward in other areas.

Putin and Mori had met twice before: at the annual summit of the Group of Eight Nations on the Japanese island of Okinawa in July and in Russia's second city, St Petersburg, in April.

---

Putin, Japan PM Start Last-Ditch Peace Pact Talks

Reuters
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-japan-r.html

TOKYO (Reuters) - Russian and Japanese leaders sat down Tuesday for a last-ditch effort to break an impasse in a territorial row blocking the way to a bilateral peace treaty formally ending World War Two hostilities.

But prospects appeared slim that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori would forge a breakthrough in the decades-old dispute over four Russian-held islands that Japan wants back as a condition for a treaty.

Soviet troops seized the islands, located off Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido, in 1945 on the eve of Tokyo's surrender to Allied forces.

Kyodo news agency said Tuesday morning that the two leaders would issue a statement after a working breakfast -- their last formal chat before Putin ends his three-day visit -- confirming that talks on the peace treaty would continue.

Russia's RIA news agency had already quoted a member of the Russian delegation as saying Monday night that Moscow would no longer heed a deadline agreed previously between the two countries to clinch the elusive peace treaty by the end of 2000.

Earlier Monday, Putin had rejected a 1998 Japanese proposal to shift the border north of the disputed islands -- a move which would effectively recognize Japanese sovereignty.

A Kremlin official quoted Putin as telling Mori the proposal ``cannot be accepted as the basis for a mutually acceptable compromise.''

Russia fears a nationalist backlash if it returns the islands. Japan wants them back as a matter of national pride.

PUTIN EYES JAPANESE MONEY

Putin has been trying to shift the debate away from the territorial row toward economic issues. He is keen to boost bilateral trade, currently a feeble $5 billion a year.

After his last round of talks with Mori Tuesday, Putin was due to meet the leaders of Japanese business lobby Keidanren, and was to try to persuade them that Russia under his leadership is a safer and more reliable place to do business than in the past.

Putin and Mori are expected to sign a raft of documents on subjects ranging from debt relief to the environment.

Japan and Russia are also set to sign a document pledging close cooperation in the international arena, where they have similar views on issues such as North Korea, nuclear non-proliferation, terrorism and the key role of the United Nations in global problem-solving.

Both are keenly aware of China's rapid emergence as an economic and military giant in the Asian-Pacific region.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who is accompanying Putin, said Russia would back Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Putin has invited Mori to visit Russia, though a date has yet to be fixed, and the two leaders also agreed to hold at least one official meeting a year.

Putin and Mori have met twice before -- at the annual summit of the Group of Eight Nations on the Japanese island of Okinawa in July and in Russia's second city, St Petersburg, in April.

Putin is also set to meet senior Japanese lawmakers, including ex-prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone. Putin flies to New York Tuesday evening.

---

Japan, Russia Still Far Apart on Islands

Reuters
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-japahn-.html

TOKYO (Reuters) - The leaders of Russia and Japan dug in their heels on Monday over a territorial row blocking the path to a bilateral peace treaty formally ending World War Two.

President Vladimir Putin also had difficulty persuading Japan's Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori that Russia under his leadership had become a safer and more reliable place for Japanese businessmen to invest their money.

But despite the setbacks, Putin and Mori pledged to hold at least one official meeting a year from now on. Putin also invited Mori to visit Russia at a date yet to be decided.

Putin told Mori that a 1998 proposal by Tokyo to redraw their border to recognize four disputed islands as Japanese territory ``cannot be accepted as the basis for a mutually acceptable compromise,'' a Kremlin official said.

Russia fears a nationalist backlash if it returns the islands, seized from Japan by Soviet troops in 1945. Tokyo wants them back as a matter of national pride.

In a sign of the domestic touchiness of the topic, sound trucks belonging to right-wing groups paraded in front of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, blaring, ``Give the islands back!''

Putin has been keen to steer the discussions toward the economy and his hopes of boosting bilateral trade, currently a measly $5 billion a year.

RUSSIAN ECONOMY STILL UNATTRACTIVE

But a Japanese Foreign Ministry official quoted Mori as telling Putin too many Japanese-backed projects in Russia had failed to get off the ground.

Tokyo has often complained in the past of rampant corruption, a shaky legal framework and heavy, often contradictory tax rules.

``With this sort of thing happening, it is hard to improve (economic) relations between our two countries,'' the official quoted Mori as saying.

He said Putin sought Japan's patience but pledged to try to improve conditions for foreign business in Russia. ``We want Japan to understand conditions in Russia and we shall make efforts to deal with the problems,'' Putin was quoted as saying.

Russia, keen to see Japanese money, wants to sign an interim ``peace, friendship and cooperation treaty'' and leave the resolution of the islands issue to a later, separate pact.

But Japanese media said Mori ruled out an interim deal and said a possible compromise involving the return of just two islands -- Habomai and Shikotan -- was equally unacceptable.

He said Tokyo would make every effort to settle the islands' row and to meet the year-end deadline for a peace treaty.

TETE-A-TETE

Negotiations on the islands' issue are expected to resume in Putin's final session with Mori on Tuesday morning.

The two leaders will then give a joint news conference and Putin is expected to meet Japan's business elite and several top lawmakers including former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone before leaving for New York on Tuesday evening.

On Monday, Putin took a short break from the negotiations to go to lunch at the Imperial Palace with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Putin was accompanied by his wife, Lyudmila.

On Tuesday, Putin and Mori were set to sign some 15 documents in Tokyo on subjects ranging from debt relief to the environment and including a blue-print for cooperation on the global stage on such issues as North Korea and nuclear non-proliferation.

But some Japanese political analysts dismissed the agreements as mainly for diplomatic show.

``They are just decorative, with the purpose of pretending that Japan is interested in economic cooperation,'' said Hiroshi Kimura, a Russia specialist at the Kyoto International Research Centre. ``The main goal is not to cut off dialogue on the territorial question,'' Kimura added.

Putin and Mori have met twice before -- at the annual summit of the Group of Eight Nations on the Japanese island of Okinawa in July and in Russia's second city, St Petersburg, in April.

---

Russia, Japan Discuss Treaty

Associated Press
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Japan-Russia.html

TOKYO (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori made little progress in talks Monday on a peace treaty delayed for decades by a territorial dispute.

Tokyo and Moscow established diplomatic relations in 1956, but have never signed a treaty ending World War II. Monday's talks included a discussion of Tokyo's claims on Russian-controlled islands north of Japan. Tokyo has insisted on a deal on the islands as a condition for concluding a peace treaty.

``I hope our talks will develop in a good direction,'' Mori was quoted by Kyodo News agency as telling Putin at the outset of talks Monday at the State Guesthouse in Tokyo.

Japan and Russia are trying to wrap up a peace treaty by the end of this year. The main obstacle has been the dispute over the four Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories, which Soviet troops occupied in the closing days of the war.

The two sides are still far apart on the issue. Tokyo is demanding recognition of its territorial claims, but Putin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as suggesting that he would not bargain the islands away.

In a 90-minute session Monday morning, Mori reiterated Tokyo's 1998 proposal, which called for continued Russian administration of the territory in exchange for recognition of Japanese claims on the islands, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Moscow has not accepted that proposal.

Putin was quoted as saying that while the Tokyo proposal did not match Moscow's thinking on the issue, his government was committed to continued talks.

Outside the guesthouse, right-wing groups blared messages from vans demanding that Moscow return the islands.

In the afternoon, Mori and Putin exchanged views on economic ties and international issues. They left further discussion on the peace treaty to a breakfast meeting on Tuesday.

Mori urged Putin to improve the investment environment in Russia, and Putin replied his government was trying hard to do so, a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Russian and Japanese officials plan to sign a dozen agreements, including a program on developing trade and economic relations and a separate document on joint efforts to aid the economic development of the Kurils.

In addition, Putin and Mori are expected to sign agreements on cooperation in energy, Japanese assistance in dismantling Russian nuclear arsenals and strengthening cooperation between the two nations' border guards.

Putin arrived in Japan on Sunday. Monday's meeting was Putin's third with Mori this year and his second visit to Japan as president. He attended the Group of Eight summit of world leaders in July.

At the end of Monday's talks, Mori presented Putin with a robot dog that barks out Russian tunes.

---

U.S. and Russia Explore Joint Project to Dispose of Nuclear Fuel From Russian Subs

New York Times
September 04, 2000
By MICHAEL WINES
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/090400russia-fuel.html

MOSCOW, Sept. 3 -- After touring a secret nuclear submarine base on Russia's Pacific Coast, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson indicated today that he will support a Kremlin request for help in building a high-security storage site for nuclear fuel from decommissioned Russian subs.

Mr. Richardson and other American experts, including Assistant Secretary of Defense Ted Warner, were given broad access to the naval base at Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, where roughly 20 submarines already are docked and awaiting dismantling.

The Russian Navy has asked the United States to assume half the cost of building a $200 million floating dry-dock that would store radioactive reactor casings and nuclear fuel. United States law allows for such aid, but only when it can be clearly shown to benefit American national security.

In a telephone interview today from Anchorage, a stopover on his return flight to Washington, Mr. Richardson said he believes the site is needed to protect Russian reactor fuels from the dangers of terrorist theft and so-called insider sales by Russians desperate for money.

"It's going to take some hard work" he said, to convince the Congress "that this is a worthy project; that it makes sense to defuel and decommission these nuclear subs on the basis of nonproliferation. But we think it makes sense to make this a priority."

A senior Energy Department official said the Russian Navy has made a convincing case that it lacks the money to dismantle and defuel the subs by itself. Nor do the 20 submarines appear sufficiently seaworthy to be towed to the nearest port, at Vladivostok, where another American-built site could accommodate the fuel and reactor parts.

"The navy says that if you try to tow these subs, they'll break apart and we'll end up with reactors on the bottom," that official said. "And nobody wants that."

Mr. Richardson's Kamchatka stop concluded a weeklong swing through the former Soviet Union that was largely devoted to promoting nuclear nonproliferation and improving good will with his Russian counterparts. Americans on the trip have said they are impressed with the openness of the Russians, who have escorted them through an atomic weapons plant and, today, a nuclear sub base, despite obvious tensions in the American-Russian relationship.

Most recently, some Russian military leaders have stopped barely short of accusing the United States or other NATO powers of sinking the Russian submarine Kursk and killing 118 Russian sailors, in a covered-up collision.

"The signal thing about this trip today was the degree to which the navy was willing to come forward and say, 'We have a huge problem and all our historic concerns about secrecy, we're going to drop,' " the senior Energy Department official said. "In contrast to the back-and-forth with the Kursk, this was like night and day."

In Kamchatka, the vessels marked for dismantling range from older attack submarines armed with torpedoes to more modern boats designed for launching cruise missiles.

American officials said many date from the 1980's and have been lying fallow, rusting at their piers, during much of Russia's decade-long history as an independent state.

Under the proposal outlined today, the American money would help build an interim storage site for reactor parts and fuel, while the Russians would pay for dismantling the remainder of the subs. The reactor fuel, which the Russians say is pure enough to be used in nuclear weapons, would be shipped to a plant in the Ural Mountains for reprocessing into fuel for nuclear power plants.

The reactor casings would remain at the submarine base indefinitely, until Russian can choose and build a permanent waste-disposal site for radioactive materials. The United States, which also lacks a permanent waste-disposal site, keeps its own nuclear waste at interim storage facilities like the one contemplated in Petropavlovsk.

Separately, the Kremlin announced today that the two nations have signed a treaty committing each government to dispose of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, either by converting it to nuclear-reactor fuel or by immobilizing it in a nuclear-waste disposal site.

The treaty, which was signed in Moscow on August 29 and in Washington on Friday, would abolish enough plutonium to manufacture thousands of nuclear weapons. Both sides agreed to remove at least two tons of plutonium from circulation each year, beginning no later than 2007, and to seek help from other nations to double that figure.

The United States will spend about $4 billion to carry out its obligations under the treaty. Russia will spend about $1.7 billion, and the United States has promised to help Moscow secure international loans to help pay that cost.

-------- britain

Nuclear under cost pressure as liberalisation kicks in

UK: September 4, 2000
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8045

LONDON - New nuclear power plants are unlikely to be constructed in the near future because of high capital costs, said Milton Whitfield, partner at U.S. law firm Shaw, Pittman, Potts and Trowbridge on Friday.

"Wall Street looks at short term returns which nuclear plants cannot provide," he told a Uranium Institute conference.

Unless the capital cost of building a nuclear power plant can be drastically reduced nuclear is not a likely option in the long run either.

The long term viability of existing nuclear generation assets will still be determined by comparisons of production costs for nuclear versus costs for fossil fuel plants, he added.

Many industry experts believe the muclear industry will have to substantially reduce costs to become competitive in a newly liberalised market where wholesale electricity prices are decreasing rapidly.

"Nuclear will come under strong cost pressure as competitive markets develop," said British Energy chief executive Peter Hollins.

Whitfield said one of the ways of reducing cost was to outsource non-core business such as information technology, human resources and customer services.

Such views on cost reduction were shared by other industry experts.

"Transforming from an average performance to a best practice company can reduce costs by 60 percent," said Mark Whitwill, senior consultant at NAC International in Switzerland.

"For the electricity business economies of scale can be of huge benefit," he added.

He said that the market place itself will decide whether nuclear power is a viable option.

-------- china

Jiang Zemin Joins Chinese P.R. Offensive in U.S.

NewsMax.com
Monday September 4
By Andrew Browne
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000904/ts/china_jiang_dc_1.html

BEIJING (Reuters) - With Beijing's charm offensive aimed at ordinary Americans in full swing, President Jiang Zemin flew off to the United States Monday to attend the U.N. Millennium Summit.

Jiang, along with Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Vice Premier Qian Qichen, is visiting New York at the invitation of the United Nations.

But he will have an opportunity to meet President Clinton on the fringes of the meeting, and add his personal touch to a campaign in the United States to try to counter negative images of China at a crucial juncture in relations.

Chinese orchestras, art shows and dance troupes are on a whirlwind tour of 10 American cities as part of a $7.0 million cultural extravaganza.

The timing coincides with the opening of a new Senate session, which is expected to debate a bill that would give China permanent normal trading relations.

The legislation passed Congress in May, but only after bitter debate that focused on issues such as China's human rights record and allegations of Chinese military spying.

Although the Senate is likely to approve the bill, there is always a danger it could get caught in the middle of anti-China bashing that usually reaches a crescendo in the run-up to U.S. presidential elections.

Jiang Attacks ``U.S. Values''

Ahead of his trip, Jiang sought to connect personally with the American public by granting an interview to veteran anchorman Mike Wallace for the CBS News ``60 minutes'' program.

The wide-ranging interview covered human rights, press freedom, democracy and Beijing's crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

``Some American congressmen ask me, 'Which is the opposition party?' And I reply 'Why do you think there must be opposition parties'?'' Jiang said.

``You are trying to apply American values to the whole world -- and you always use your own logic in making judgements about the political situation of other countries, thinking that everywhere in the world the American political system may prevail.

``But that is not very wise,'' he said.

Jiang's rare interview with a Western television network was part of an aggressive public relations campaign orchestrated by the Information Office of the State Council, or cabinet.

Chinese leaders complain bitterly that a biased U.S. media and hostile Congress have poisoned American minds against China, a view shared by parts of the U.S. business community, which has helped underwrite this month's coast-to-coast cultural activities.

Leading Chinese state media organizations, including the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Radio International, added broadband access to their mirror Web sites in the United States last month to attract more U.S. web surfers.

Relations ``Good On The Whole''

In an online news conference with Chinese reporters on Sunday, China's second ranking diplomat in Washington said ''most Americans don't understand China.''

``What they have learned about China is mainly from televisions and newspapers, which give them two kinds of misleading impressions, that China is backward and that China poses a great threat to the United States,'' Liu Xiaoming said.

``Since American people's knowledge of China is far from the truth, we will more actively introduce ourselves to the American public, such as through art shows and speeches.''

Jiang was preparing to use a speech to the United Nations to hammer home China's opposition to U.S. plans for a missile shield as a relic of Cold War thinking, a senior Chinese diplomat told reporters last month.

But Clinton appeared to have stolen some of his fire by saying he would hand over to his successor a decision on whether to proceed with the plan, delaying the moment of reckoning.

Saturday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman applauded Clinton for his ``rational'' decision.

Overall relations between China and the United States went into freefall after the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May last year.

But ties are now on the mend, and Jiang told Wallace that the relationship ``has been good on the whole.''

-------- depleted uranium

EX - US army doctor says uranium shells harmed vets

FRANCE: September 4, 2000
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8038

PARIS - A former U.S. army doctor said on Sunday that many Gulf War veterans suffered from renal and other diseases as a result of inhaling particles of depleted uranium used in anti-tank shells.

"According to some estimates, 320 tonnes of depleted uranium were exploded during the (1991) Gulf War," doctor Asaf Durakovic told reporters after speaking before a conference of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine.

"Many of the patients (that I examined) suffered renal disease and failure, the clinical consequences of inhaled uranium," he said.

Durakovic said depleted uranium that coated shells to ease penetration of thick armour exploded into multiple particles, which "became part of atmospheric dust" after hitting targets.

"Because of the omnipresence of small sub-micron radioactive dust in the Persian Gulf, uranium that was liberated by impact (with tanks)...evaporated at temperatures higher than several thousand degrees centigrade," he said.

"Some of those particles were inhaled and stayed in the lungs...where they can cause cancer, and some entered into the bloodstream and affected kidneys and bones."

Durakovic, who held the rank of colonel, is now with the department of Nuclear Medicine at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington.

He told reporters that he had come under "political pressure" from U.S. authorities to halt his research shortly after the Gulf War, when the U.S. military first challenged the notion that a mysterious "Gulf War syndrome" affected many veterans.

Authorities are now conducting their own studies.

"I don't claim uranium contamination is the (main) cause of the Gulf War syndrome but the veterans show high levels of depleted uranium in their bodies and studies about this must be intensified," he said.

The British Sunday Times newspaper said Durakovic would tell the conference that "tens of thousands" of British and American soldiers were dying from radiation from depleted uranium shells. But he gave no such figure.

Some published medical studies have linked the Gulf War syndrome, with symptoms ranging from flu to chronic fatigue and asthma, to the multiple vaccines given soldiers during the war to counter possible Iraqi chemical weapons attacks.

----

Tests Show Gulf War Victims Have Uranium Poisoning

Sunday, September 3, 2000
Sunday Times (UK)
by Jonathon Carr-Brown and Martin Meissonnier
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/090300-05.htm

NEW evidence that Gulf war syndrome exists and was caused by radiation poisoning will be revealed today by a former American army colonel who was at the centre of his government's attempts to diagnose the illness.

Dr Asaf Durakovic will tell a conference of eminent nuclear scientists in Paris that "tens of thousands" of British and American soldiers are dying from radiation from depleted uranium (DU) shells fired during the Gulf war.

The findings will undermine the British and American governments' claims that Gulf war syndrome does not exist and intensify pressure from veterans on both sides of the Atlantic for compensation.

Durakovic, who is professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown University, Washington, and the former head of nuclear medicine at the US Army's veterans' affairs medical facility in Delaware, will tell the conference that he and his team of American and Canadian scientists have discovered life-threateningly high levels of DU in Gulf veterans 10 years after the desert war.

His findings, which have been verified by four independent experts, is embarrassing for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and American Defence Department, which have consistently refused to test Gulf war veterans for DU.

Durakovic will tell the European Association of Nuclear Medicine that tests on 17 veterans have shown DU in the urine and bones of 70% of them.

Depleted uranium does not occur naturally. It is the by-product of the industrial processing of waste from nuclear reactors and is better known as weapons-grade uranium. It is used to strengthen the tips of shells to ensure that they pierce armour.

Durakovic, who left America because he was told his life was in danger if he continued his research, has concluded that troops inhaled the tiny uranium particles after American and British forces fired more than 700,000 DU shells during the conflict.

The finding begins to explain for the first time why medical orderlies and mechanics are the principal victims of Gulf war syndrome.

British Army engineers who removed tanks hit by DU shells from the battlefield and medical personnel who cut off the clothes of Iraqi casualties in field hospitals have been disproportionately affected.

Once inside the body, DU causes a slow death from cancers, irreversible kidney damage or wastage from immune deficiency disorders.

In the UK, where more than 400 veterans are estimated to have died from "Gulf war syndrome", at least 50 of those victims came from Reme (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) units. Others, such as Ray Bristow, 42, of Hull, who was a theatre technician for 32 Field Hospital, are now wheelchair-bound.

Tests carried out by Durakovic on Bristow showed that, nine years after leaving the Gulf, he had more than 100 times the safe limit of DU in his body.

Durakovic said: "I doubt whether the MoD or Pentagon will have the audacity to challenge these results. I can't say this is the solitary cause of Gulf war syndrome, but we now have clear evidence that it is a leading factor in the majority of victims.

"I hope the US and UK governments finally realise that, by continuing to use this ammunition, they are effectively poisoning their own soldiers."

An MoD spokesman said it would study any new evidence: "Our aim is to get the best care for British veterans and our views are based on the best evidence around."

----

Report: Gulf War Victims Have Uranium Poisoning

NewsMax.com
Monday, Sept. 4, 2000
UPI
http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/9/3/92903

LONDON - New findings undermine British and U.S. government claims that Gulf War Syndrome does not exist, the Sunday Times of London reported.

The newspaper report says a former American army colonel, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, will tell a conference of nuclear scientists in Paris today (Sunday) that "tens of thousands" of British and U.S. soldiers are dying of radiation from depleted uranium shells fired during the Gulf War.

Dr. Durakovic will tell the conference that he and his team of American and Canadian scientists have discovered life-threatening levels of depleted uranium in Gulf veterans 10 years after the war.

Durakovic, a professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and the former head of nuclear medicine at the U.S. Army's veterans' affairs medical facility in Delaware, says troops inhaled uranium particles after American and British forces fired more than 700,000 shells during the Gulf War.

His findings have been verified by four independent experts.

Once inside the body, depleted uranium causes a slow death from cancers, irreversible kidney damage or immune deficiency disorders.

In one of Durakovic's tests, results showed that Ray Bristow, 42, had more than 100 times the safe limit of depleted uranium in his body.

"I doubt whether the Ministry of Defense or Pentagon will have the audacity to challenge these results," Durakovic told the Times. "I can't say this is the solitary cause of Gulf War Syndrome, but we now have clear evidence that it is a leading factor in the majority of victims."

A spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defense said officials would study any new evidence.

Gulf War Syndrome is a non-scientific label that has been often used to describe unexplained illnesses often characterized by fatigue, joint pain, skin rash, memory loss and other medical problems suffered by veterans since the end of the Gulf War.

Over the years, many veterans have complained their governments have not given their ailments serious consideration, and have criticized federal investigations that found no link to possible chemical or biological agent use in the Persian Gulf.

--------

MONTENEGRIN PENINSULA CONTAMINATED BY DEPLETED URANIUM
BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

BBC Monitoring Service
United Kingdom, Sep 4, 2000

Experts commissioned by the Montenegrin government have confirmed a Yugoslav naval commander's report that a peninsula near the Croatian border is contaminated by depleted uranium, Montenegrin radio reported on Saturday.

Workers at the centre for eco-toxicological investigations who analysed samples of earth, sea water and fragments of NATO ammunition from last year's air strikes discovered that an inaccessible area 360 m in circumference on the southern side of the Arzo promontory had been contaminated.

A footpath and beach on the western side were not contaminated.

Access to the contaminated area has been blocked by Yugoslav Army soldiers.

Radio Montenegro, Podgorica, in Serbo-Croat 2 Sep 00
BBC Monitoring
-------- europe

Nuclear plant protests block Austria-Czech border

AUSTRIA: September 4, 2000
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8046

VIENNA - Environmentalists blocked three border crossings between northern Austria and the Czech Republic on Saturday in protest against Prague's imminent activation of a nuclear power plant.

The five-hour blockade began at 1000 GMT at the Wullowitz, Guglwald and Weigetschlag crossing points in the province of Upper Austria, some 70 km (40 miles) from the Soviet-designed Temelin plant.

Nuclear-free Austria has threatened to block the Czech Republic's admission to the European Union if it puts the controversial power plant into operation this year.

The Czech government has dismissed both Austrian and German concerns about the safety of the plant and plans to activate the fuel in Temelin by mid-September.

Temelin operator CEZ loaded the first 1,000 megawatt block of the $3 billion nuclear power plant with fuel in July. The plant has been modified and fitted with western control systems supplied by Westinghouse, a unit of British Nuclear Fuel Ltd.

-------- iran

Effort seen to lift sanctions on Iran

Washington Times
September 4, 2000
http://208.246.212.80/world/nobyline-200094213737.htm

TEHRAN (AP) - Iran's parliament speaker said yesterday that attempts are being made in the United States to lift trade sanctions against Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported after American and Iranian lawmakers met for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"It seems that there are efforts under way in the United States for lifting sanctions against Iran," IRNA quoted Mahdi Karrubi as saying after returning from New York, where he and four other Iranian lawmakers attended a meeting of world parliament leaders at the United Nations.

Mr. Karrubi did not provide details, but IRNA said the speaker also met representatives of some American companies who want the sanctions lifted. Mr. Karrubi told state-run Tehran television that he met leaders of American oil companies and discussed the sanctions issue with them.

American companies are barred under the 1996 sanctions law from investing more than $20 million in Iran's oil and gas sector. As a result, U.S. firms have lost billions of dollars in contracts to European competitors.

Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican who favors increased dialogue with Tehran, and two other lawmakers, Eliot L. Engel and Gary L. Ackerman, both Democrats from New York, met Mr. Karrubi and four other Iranian lawmakers at a Metropolitan Museum of Art reception sponsored by the American Iranian Council, which seeks improved relations between the two countries.

The pro-reform Hayat-e-Now daily newspaper quoted Mr. Karrubi as criticizing "hostile policies" pursued by the U.S. government and Congress against Iran and as saying the meeting had "not been planned." He acknowledged that at the museum the lawmakers discussed "closer relations" between Tehran and Washington.

Mr. Specter said Thursday that the meeting was "one step removed" from official government-to-government contacts, which were severed after the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Tehran University professor and political analyst Davoud Hermidas Bavand described the meeting as a step in accordance with the national interests of both countries.

Hayat-e-Now quoted Mr. Karrubi as saying 10 U.S. senators signed a letter to Iran's reformist-dominated parliament seeking meetings in Iran, the United States or a third country. The letter was written after the reformist-dominated parliament, or Majlis, was formed in May.

Washington lifted trade sanctions in March relating to certain Iranian luxury goods, including caviar, carpets and pistachios, after reformists won February legislative elections.

-------- japan

JCO To Pay $121M in Compensation

Associated Press
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Japan-Nuclear-Accident.html

TOKYO (AP) -- JCO Co., a uranium-processing firm, said Monday it has agreed to pay a total of $121 million in compensation to settle 6,875 cases stemming from Japan's worst nuclear accident.

JCO spokesman Katsunori Suzuki said it has yet to settle about 150 other cases involving the Sept. 30, 1999 accident. He declined to disclose the total amount sought in the unsettled claims.

In addition to people exposed to radiation, the compensation covers losses suffered by farms, fisheries and service industries, Suzuki said. He said the settlement came after negotiations with individuals, groups and companies over the past eight months.

``We will continue to negotiate with the people concerned, but it will take quite a long time,'' he said.

The accident at the JCO Co. uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, 70 miles northeast of Tokyo, killed two workers and exposed hundreds of people working and living in the area to radiation. Workers violated safety regulations by mixing nitric acid and enriched uranium in buckets, setting off an uncontrolled atomic reaction that took hours to bring under control.

Suzuki said JCO will use $9.5 million in insurance plus funds from its parent company, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., to pay the compensation.

----

Symposium probes into background of JCO nuclear criticality accident a year ago (etc.)

Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
To: jpspress@twics.com

TOKYO SEP 4 JPS -- The 24th National Symposium on Nuclear Power Generation was held on September 2 and 3 in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture. Discussion on the first day was devoted to the background and the influence of the nuclear criticality accident at JCO's uranium fuel conversion plant in Tokaimura last September.

Speaking on how the criticality accident occurred, Takashi Iwai of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute Workers Union held the central government responsible for the inadequate staffing for securing safety at the nuclear fuel processing plant and the defective guidelines for maintaining safety. He also blamed the governmental Nuclear Fuel Cycle Development Organization (formerly called Donen) for outsourcing the processing to JCO.

A serious question is that the Nuclear Safety Commission of the Prime Minister's Office has still failed to take any concrete steps to improve examination on safety.

Hiroyuki Tomii of the JAERI union said the central government must publish all sets of radiation survey data, not only the summary result.

Villagers who attended the symposium said they are concerned about possible after-effect on children. They thought that the myth that nuclear energy is safe has been broken down and that the people and administrative authorities must never forget the criticality accident.

The symposium was organized by Japan Scientists' Association and the JAERI Workers Union. In the first day session, about 160 people from across the country took part. From the Japanese Communist Party, a House of Representatives member Hidekatsu Yoshii attended. (end item)

--

Japan's govt with 'sympathy budget' to construct 225 houses for U.S. Forces in Japan

TOKYO SEP 4 JPS -- As part of its 257.9 billion yen budget request for FY2001 for the cost of hosting U.S. Force in Japan, called 'sympathy budget,' the Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA) has proposed constructing 225 houses for U.S. soldiers and their family members. Akahata on September 3 said:

These houses will be on four U.S. bases: the U.S. Misawa Air Base in Aomori Pref. (40 units), the U.S. Camp Zama in Kanagawa Pref. (103), the U.S. Sagamihara residential area (76) and the Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Pref. (6).

Twenty more houses are being constructed this year with money from the "sympathy budget."

Also, other facilities of drainage, training, relocation of a runway, oil storage, disaster prevention will be constructed in 21 U.S. bases.

The sum related to the construction of these facilities will be 82.3 billion yen, an increase of 1.4 billion yen over this year's.

Under the Status of U.S. Forces in Japan Agreement (SOFA) under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty states that the U.S. must pay for the cost for their stationing in Japan except for the cost related to the supplying of base sites. Therefore, Japan has no legal obligation to shoulder the cost of U.S. Forces stationing in Japan.

The 257.9 billion yen budget request also includes 148.8 billion yen for labor costs for Japanese workers at U.S. bases, 26.4 billion yen for water, gas and electricity, and 0.4 billion yen for the cost of "relocation exercise sites." (end item)

--

SDF armoured cars running on "Ginza" streets in Tokyo's disaster drill

TOKYO SEP 4 JPS -- The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's major disaster drill "Big Rescue Tokyo 2000" took place on September 3, with about 25,000 people taking part, 7,100 of whom were Self-Defense Force personnel.

The drill started with the arrival of about 200 Ground SDF personnel on three Air SDF C-130 transport aircraft at Haneda Airport. The GSDF personnel in camouflage wear moved on a public subway line in an exercise to go into action.

The drill, designed by Governor Shintaro Ishihara, was based on the assumption that a major earthquake hit Tokyo and the SDF was called in to deal with disasters on a wide area.

In most of the ten drill sites, the major players were SDF personnel, who carried out exercises for giving first-aid to the injured, transporting relief materials, moving on armoured cars, the original task of which was to deal with poison gas and radiation, and rescuing people from a high-rise building.

Fire departments only posted information on large boards, and all that the Metropolitan Government arranged was Governor Ishihara's inspection. After the inspection, the governor said this kind of drills with the SDF at the center should be carried out in all parts of Japan.

In all drill sites, members of the Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom Tokyo Branch, trade unions, democratic organizations, and the Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Members Group kept watch on what was going on.

Setsuo Naruo, a lawyer who monitored the drill in Koto Ward, said, "Fire fighters were only watching GSDF personnel rescuing people from under a collapsed house. Today's drills were only useful for the SDF." (end item)

--

Anti-nuclear movement starting out for U.N. Millennium Summit and General Assembly

TOKYO SEP 4 JPS -- The half-century-old anti-nuclear movement is gaining momentum as the September U.N. Millennium Summit approaches. A signature collecting campaign has started to call on the Japanese government to take part in the joint efforts for an immediate abolition of nuclear weapons.

The campaign has been launched as an implementation of the resolution of the 2000 World Conference against A and H Bombs to call on the United Nations and all governments to fulfill their "unequivocal undertaking" to achieve the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.

In Sapporo City in the northern island prefecture of Hokkaido, local Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) members paid door to door visits in the locality. They are also are organizing street actions.

In Chiba prefecture, a meeting was organized following the 2000 World Conference by the conference participants. A town mayor, who had taken part in the local peace march, one of the domestic pre-events of the world conference, attended the meeting. He told the audience about what he went through during WWII and stressed the importance of peace.

More than half of the delegates to the 2000 World Conference were young people. The Japan Council against A and H bombs says people in their teens to thirties accounted for about 53 percent of all the participants in the 2000 World Conference.

In a comment submitted to the organizers, a 23-year old worker wrote, "It was a thought-provoking conference. I have found we have more to do to carry on the movement after the World Conference."

-------- russia

Russians seek U.S. aid to store subs' nuclear fuel
Energy chief says after touring base that he'll ask Congress for funds

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Monday, September 4, 2000
By MICHAEL WINES THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/national/subs04.shtml
http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/world/docs/russia04.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/090400russia-fuel.html

MOSCOW -- After touring a secret nuclear submarine base on Russia's Pacific Coast, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson indicated yesterday that he will support a Kremlin request for help in building a high-security storage site for nuclear fuel from decommissioned Russian subs.

Richardson and other American experts, including Assistant Secretary of Defense Ted Warner, were given broad access to the naval base at Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka peninsula, where roughly 20 submarines already are docked and awaiting dismantling.

The Russian navy has asked the United States to assume half the cost of building a $200 million floating dry dock that would store radioactive reactor casings and nuclear fuel. U.S. law allows for such aid, but only when it can be clearly shown to benefit American national security.

In a telephone interview yesterday from Anchorage, a stopover on his return flight to Washington, Richardson said he believes the site is needed to protect Russian reactor fuels from the dangers of terrorist theft and so-called insider sales by Russians desperate for money.

"It's going to take some hard work" he said, to convince the Congress "that this is a worthy project; that it makes sense to defuel and decommission these nuclear subs on the basis of non-proliferation. But we think it makes sense to make this a priority."

A senior Energy Department official said the navy has made a convincing case that it lacks the money to dismantle and defuel the subs by itself. Nor do the 20 submarines appear sufficiently seaworthy to be towed to the nearest port, at Vladivostok, where another American-built site could accommodate the fuel and reactor parts.

"The navy says that if you try to tow these subs, they'll break apart, and we'll end up with reactors on the bottom," that official said. "And nobody wants that."

Richardson's Kamchatka stop concluded a weeklong swing through the former Soviet Union that was largely devoted to promoting nuclear non-proliferation and improving good will with his Russian counterparts. Americans on the trip have said they are impressed with the openness of the Russians, who have escorted them through an atomic-weapons plant and, yesterday, a nuclear sub base despite obvious tensions in the American-Russian relationship.

Most recently, some Russian military leaders have stopped barely short of accusing the United States or other NATO powers of sinking the Russian submarine Kursk in a covered-up collision.

"The signal thing about this trip today was the degree to which the navy was willing to come forward and say, 'We have a huge problem and all our historic concerns about secrecy, we're going to drop,'" the senior Energy Department official said.

Under the proposal outlined yesterday, the American money would help build a so-called interim storage site for reactor parts and fuel, while the Russians would pay for dismantling the remainder of the subs. The reactor fuel, which the Russians say is pure enough to be used in nuclear weapons, would be shipped to a Ural Mountains plant for reprocessing into fuel for nuclear power plants.

Separately, the Kremlin announced yesterday that the two nations have signed a treaty committing each government to dispose of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, either by converting it to nuclear-reactor fuel or by immobilizing it in a nuclear-waste disposal site.

The United States will spend about $4 billion to carry out its obligations under the treaty. Russia will spend about $1.7 billion, and the United States has promised to help Moscow secure international loans to help pay that cost.

---

Did Kursk's Own Secret Torpedo Sink It?

NewsMax.com
Monday, Sept. 4, 2000
http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/9/1/170432

Russian experts are suggesting the submarine Kursk was destroyed while testing a secret - and highly dangerous - developmental liquid-propellant torpedo that exploded in its bow.

According to a recent report from the Moscow bureau of the Toronto Globe and Mail:

The theory of a hush-hush new Russian torpedo being the cause of the disaster that took the lives of all 118 aboard the Kursk on Aug. 12 is propounded by a former Russian submarine captain out of favor with the government.

Alexander Nikitin contends that the huge sub, on war-simulation maneuvers under the surface of the Barents Sea off the northern coast of Russia, was testing two new liquid-fuel torpedoes, which are cheaper but far more dangerous than conventional solid-fuel torpedoes.

Nikitin, who had been jailed for his environmental research, said the disaster was caused by the explosion of a pair of the experimental torpedoes in the forward section of the submarine as they were being tested.

His theory of a secret liquid-propelled experimental torpedo is backed up by Alexander Rutskoi, the governor of the Russian region for which the sub was named, and Sergei Zhekov, another former submarine officer, both of whom cited other military sources for corroboration.

Further substantiation comes from a report in the Sunday Times of London that aboard the doomed Kursk were two civilian experts conducting secret tests of a new torpedo system.

The Times states that the fatal on-board explosions were probably triggered by the accidental ignition of liquid propellant from one of the new weapons.

On the morning of Aug. 12, not long before the exact time of the twin explosions, the Times said, the Kursk's commander had signaled for permission to test-fire a weapon.

Reports of a possible secret new liquid-propellant torpedo began to surface last week in several Russian newspapers, including the daily Izvestia and the weekly Moskovskiye Vedemosti, citing their navy sources.

Sticking like glue to the official Russian line that the Kursk must have collided with another ship or a left-over underwater mine from World War II, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov flatly rejected the very idea of any experimental torpedo: "There were no new torpedoes on the submarine."

The New York Times has reported that American spy ships in the Barents Sea picked up no sound of a collision, but did return with recordings of two explosions a few seconds apart.

Western naval experts, including, Erinar Skorgen, the Norwegian admiral who led an unsuccessful rescue mission to the Kursk, contend those explosions are what ripped a gaping, fatal hole in the submarine's bow.

---

Russian Leader Wants Sub Raised

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0903192.900&level3=763&date=20000904

MOSCOW (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - Raising the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk, a complicated and costly operation, is necessary because of radiation concerns, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said Sunday.

If the submarine were left at the bottom of the Barents Sea, where it sank on Aug. 12, ``the public, and not only ecologists, would remain alarmed,'' Klebanov said on RTR television's weekly news magazine program Zerkalo.

The submarine sank following a devastating explosion and the blast's damage raised concerns that there could be a leak of radioactive material from the ship's reactor. No increases in radiation in the area have been reported.

Klebanov, who heads the commission investigating the cause of the disaster, said that raising the submarine would be an ``extremely complicated process'' but that Russia wanted to complete it within a year.

The government has provided no details on how the lifting would take place, or on how the cash-strapped government can bear the burden a project estimated to cost up to $100 million.

Klebanov also reiterated the government's intention to begin an operation to recover the bodies of the Kursk's 118 crewmen in late September. In that operation, holes are to be cut in the submarine's hull, allowing divers to enter to extract the corpses.

The cause of the accident has not been determined. Russian officials have focused on the contention that the Kursk collided with another object, possibly a foreign vessel or a World War II-era mine.

Some observers have said the most likely cause was a torpedo exploding inside the ship.

On Zerkalo, Russian Baltic Fleet commander Vladimir Yegorov said the possibility of a torpedo explosion ``has not been excluded,'' but suggested that the explosion could have been touched off by a collision.

---

Putin again praises U.S. decision to put off missile defense shield

Associated Press
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0903033.200&level3=788&date=20000904

MOSCOW (AP) _ President Vladimir Putin on Sunday again praised U.S. President Bill Clinton for putting off deployment of a national missile-defense system, saying he had ``raised the authority of the United States'' by doing so.

On Friday, Clinton announced he wouldn't give authorization to begin deployment of a missile defense system. Clinton said opposition from Russia, as well as China and other nations, played a large role in the decision.

Putin, speaking on a trip to Russia's Far East before flying to Japan Sunday, said he had no doubt that Clinton's decision was made because of American interests, but that he hoped ``that the position of Rusia was taken into account,'' the Interfax news agency reported.

The decision was ``important for international safety and raises the authority of the United States,'' Putin said.

Russia had vehemently opposed the U.S. plan because it would have involved amending or scrapping the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which Russia considers a cornerstone of world stability. Russian leaders also said a missile defense would spark a new arms race.

------

Richardson Tours Russia Nuke Base

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0903093.900&level3=763&date=20000904

MOSCOW (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson on Sunday toured a nuclear submarine base on Russia's remote Kamchatka Peninsula, getting a first-hand look at decommissioned vessels Russia can't afford to dismantle alone.

Russia doesn't have the equipment or the cash to clean up all the nuclear reactors and waste left over from the Cold War. Of particular concern to many Western countries are its dozens of nuclear submarines.

Experts say they pose environmental dangers and are concerned that the nuclear material inside could be sold illegally.

In Kamchatka, the Russians asked Richardson for U.S. help disposing of the material inside the decaying, rust-covered submarines lined up in the harbor.

Richardson's visit to Kamchatka ended a tour across Russia this week aimed at checking up on a program to make sure nuclear materials are safely disposed of. On Friday, he unveiled two storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel from submarines at the Russian Pacific Fleet's main base.

Although Richardson did not offer immediate help in Kamchatka, he said the tour of the base showed how Cold War barriers had fallen and Russia and the United States are working together to prevent proliferation of nuclear goods.

``Seeing what we saw, which would have been unthinkable 10 years ago, represents clear progress in our continuing, evolving relationship,'' Richardson said. ``Clearly it has not been easy for the Russians to have opened up their most secret of sites for us to see.''

The United States has already provided several hundred million dollars to help Russia build new nuclear waste storage and disposal facilities.

---

TV Tycoon Makes Kremlin Accusation

Associated Press
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Russia-Politics.html

MOSCOW (AP) -- In a direct challenge to President Vladimir Putin, one of Russia's most powerful tycoons accused the government Monday of trying to seize his share in a television network because of its critical coverage of a submarine disaster.

Boris Berezovsky said the Kremlin tried to pressure him into surrendering his holdings in the ORT or Channel One network, threatening him with possible reprisals. The government controls 51 percent of ORT -- Russia's largest network, and the only one that reaches the whole country. The rest reportedly is controlled by Berezovsky.

``If I accept this ultimatum, that will mean an end of television information in Russia,'' Berezovsky said in an open letter to Putin. ``It will be replaced by television propaganda controlled by your advisers.''

Berezovsky helped get Putin elected in March by giving him favorable coverage in his media outlets, but he has failed to gain influence in the new government. Under the previous president, Boris Yeltsin, Berezovsky was a member of the Kremlin inner circle.

Since the election, Berezovsky has switched from being an ardent defender of the Kremlin who had little time for democracy to claiming that Putin is trying to impose authoritarian rule.

Berezovsky epitomizes the Russian tycoons, collectively known as oligarchs, who have parlayed their Kremlin connections into huge personal fortunes in suspicious privatization deals. He has been linked by Russian media reports to allegations of fraud and corruption.

Berezovsky letter to Putin was carried by the Interfax news agency. In the letter, he claimed that an unidentified presidential aide urged him to give up his stake in ORT -- or face the same reprisals as another media tycoon, Vladimir Gusinsky, owner of the NTV network.

Gusinsky, the head of the Media-Most media empire, was jailed for several days in June on charges of defrauding the state. The charges were later dropped, but the case caused international concern about freedom of the media in Russia.

``A senior official of your administration last week put an ultimatum to me: Surrender my share in ORT to the government within two weeks or follow Gusinsky -- apparently to the Butyrskaya Prison,'' Berezovsky said in the letter.

Most observers say Berezovsky's attacks on Putin are an attempt to force the Kremlin to give him back his faded political clout.

``I'm not certain that Berezovsky has been infected with the virus of unselfish public service,'' Vladimir Lukin, a liberal parliament member, said drily at a news conference.

Putin, who was on a trip to Japan on Monday, had no immediate response to Berezovsky's statement. But an unidentified senior presidential aide told Interfax that Berezovsky recently offered his stake to the state because of debts.

Berezovsky has previously acknowledged discussing the prospect of selling his shares to the state. But in Monday's statement, he said the Kremlin was angry over ORT's coverage of last month's nuclear submarine disaster. Like many Russian media outlets, ORT extensively reported on bungled government efforts to reach 118 seamen lost on the Kursk.

Defending himself and his government at an emotional meeting with submariners' relatives Aug. 22, Putin said the oligarchs were the main culprits for Russia's economic and military decay. He was clearly referring to Berezovsky and Gusinsky.

He said the tycoons had their media ``lie'' about the disaster in order to smear the government.

``They want to influence the mass audience in order to show the military and political leadership that we need them (the media), that we are on their hook and must fear and obey them and let them further rob the country, the army and the navy,'' Putin said.

---

Russia Says Kursk Must Be Raised

Washington Post
Monday, September 4, 2000
World In Brief Compiled by Leslie Shepherd
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-09/04/120l-090400-idx.html

MOSCOW--Raising the sunken nuclear-powered submarine Kursk, a complicated and costly operation, is necessary because of radiation concerns, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said.

If the submarine were left at the bottom of the Barents Sea, where it sank on Aug. 12, "the public, and not only ecologists, would remain alarmed," Klebanov said on RTR state television.

The submarine sank following a devastating explosion, and the blast's damage raised concerns that there could be a leak of radioactive material from the ship's reactor. No increases in radiation in the area have been reported.

Klebanov, who heads the commission investigating the cause of the disaster, said that raising the submarine would be an "extremely complicated process" but that Russia wanted to complete it within a year.

---

Deputy premier says sub must be raised

USA Today
09/04/00
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm

MOSCOW - Raising the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk, a complicated and costly operation, is necessary because of radiation concerns, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said Sunday. The submarine sank after an explosion. The blast's damage raised concerns about a leak of radioactive material from the ship's reactor. No increases in radiation in the area have been reported. The government has provided no details on how the lifting would take place, or on how the cash-strapped government can afford a project estimated to cost up to $100 million.

-------- switzerland

Training Robots to Act Like Ants

Washington Post
Monday, September 4, 2000; Page A09
Science Notebook Compiled from reports
by Rick Weiss, Kathy Sawyer and Curt Suplee
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-09/04/089l-090400-idx.html

Even before Aesop, ants were regarded as models of industrious efficiency. Now scientists studying robot behavior are reaching the same conclusion. For some years, researchers have been experimenting with using swarms of small, mobile robots in situations such as battlefields, toxic spills and nuclear accidents. One of the big questions: how to optimize the collective activity of the group.

Now scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have found that teaching swarms of small robots to act more or less exactly like real ants dramatically improves their performance.

The Swiss team examined the relative energy-use efficiency of groups of 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 mobile robots living together. Each two-inch-wide robot was updated by radio signals about the total amount of energy in the "nest." If the robot sensed that energy stores were growing too low, it would leave and forage for "food" items (one-inch-wide plastic cylinders) placed around a 10-by-10-foot space. When a robot found an item, it would return to the nest, recharge itself and add its food to the colony's stock.

They were programmed not to run into each other, and each robot was given a slightly different energy threshold at which it would leave the nest. The scientists then tested various group sizes under three different conditions: one in which the food was uniformly distributed, one in which it was clustered in certain areas, and one in which it was clustered and robots could recruit others when they found food-rich spots. Otherwise, the critters were on their own. Solitary robots and swarms of 12 did worst in all three situations, the researchers report in the Aug. 31 issue of Nature. (Singles consumed too much energy foraging alone. A dozen produced robo-gridlock at the nest door and occasional tugging matches between two robots trying to pick up the same food item.) Overall, groups of three or six maximized the total amount of energy for all members. Performance was best in the recruitment scenario, which resembles the way ants actually do business. "A similar relationship between group size and group efficiency has been documented in social insects," the scientists write.

"Our results show that an ant-inspired system of task allocation . . . provides a simple, robust and efficient way to regulate activity within teams of robots," the authors conclude. "This has important implications," they add, in situations "where risk of system failures must be avoided, for example during missions on Mars or other planets."

-------- u.s. nuc facilities

-------- new mexico

Pushing Limits at Lab? Weapons test plan sparks BNL debate

by Earl Lane Washington Bureau
Newsday, September 4, 2000
From: Ndunlks@aol.com

Washington - As part of an effort to ensure the reliability of the nation's nuclear arsenal, weapons scientists want to use a particle accelerator at Brookhaven National Laboratory to help develop better ways to "photograph" small-scale implosions that mimic the triggering of a nuclear warhead.

Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is expected to submit a proposal to use Brookhaven facilities for the studies, which some senior Brookhaven scientists have questioned as going beyond the lab's traditional mission of open, non-weapons-related research.

John Marburger, Brookhaven's director, stressed yesterday that Brookhaven is not a weapons lab, but said it has no bar against doing work related to national security, including classified research.

"If this lab has a technology that is valuable for another federal mission, then, in general, it is reasonable to expect that we would make that technology available," Marburger said.

Since 1996, Brookhaven has allowed Los Alamos researchers to use a proton beam from the lab's Alternating Gradient Synchrotron to do static tests on a variety of classified and non-classified metallic objects. The proton beam can be used like an X-ray to reveal density, structure and composition of stationary materials.

Such proton radiography, as it is called, also can be used to create a "movie" of how materials change under the impact of a shock wave from an explosive detonation.

The Los Alamos researchers have done more than 50 such dynamic tests, as they are called, with a less powerful proton beam at their home laboratory. The Brookhaven beam-about 30 times more powerful -allows studies of thicker objects at fine resolution. So the scientists are eager to use the Brookhaven beam for the first time in dynamic tests involving small-scale explosions in a chamber.

No nuclear materials would be involved.

The ultimate goal is to develop technology that could be adapted to a next-generation test facility at Los Alamos, perhaps using protons rather than conventional X-rays, to obtain high-resolution pictures of imploding mock warheads in which the nuclear material has been replaced by surrogates.

In a warhead, conventional explosives surrounding a nuclear trigger create a spherical shock wave that compresses the material to such density that a runaway chain reaction creates a nuclear explosion.

Marburger said proton radiography also has applications in non-weapons fields such as metallurgy. But the prospect of more active tests at Brookhaven involving small amounts of explosive for the first time has prompted some internal debate at the lab. On Friday, about 100 people attended a departmental seminar on the proposed tests at which several Brookhaven scientists spoke against them.

"I think there are issues about doing this kind of research at Brookhaven, and I wanted to raise them," said Alan Carroll, an accelerator specialist at Brookhaven who gave a presentation at the seminar. He declined to elaborate.

A senior Brookhaven physicist who asked not to be named said: "Los Alamos would say this is guaranteeing the stockpile. The line between guaranteeing the stockpile and actually developing triggers [for nuclear warheads] is a fuzzy one. From our point of view, this is not appropriate for the lab." "No one is proposing to make Brookhaven a weapons lab," said Alessandro Ruggiero, a Brookhaven accelerator physicist who is not involved with the Los Alamos-sponsored effort. He worked on a competing proposal with a team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The team wanted to build a small proton accelerator at the Department of Energy's Nevada test site to do the same sort of dynamic tests being considered for Brookhaven.

Ruggiero said proton radiography is a promising method for assessing the safety and reliability of warheads in the absence of periodic underground tests. The United States has adhered to a self-imposed moratorium on such tests since 1992.

The decision on whether to proceed with the Brookhaven tests is months away. John McClelland, deputy director of the physics division at Los Alamos, said no formal proposal has been made and no funding set aside. Any proposal would include evaluation of any environmental hazards, he said. The dynamic tests done at Los Alamos typically involve less than two pounds of explosive.

McClelland said the containment vessels for the possible Brookhaven tests are designed to hold up to 40 pounds of high explosives. "We have experience with these vessels," McClelland said. "We know they are safe." Brookhaven has been criticized by local residents for past environmental problems and, more recently, a leak of radioactive tritium. Scott Cullen, an attorney with STAR (Standing for Truth About Radiation), a local environmental group, said, "They should be careful to involve the community and get people's thoughts on [the tests] before they do it."

-------- ohio

Piketon workers say safety a concern in cleanup operation

Columbus Dispatch
Monday, September 4, 2000
Jonathan Riskind Dispatch Washington Bureau
http://www.dispatch.com/news/newsfea00/sep00/409580.html

WASHINGTON -- A congressman says he's worried about worker safety at southern Ohio's uranium-enrichment plant in light of a recent accident there and employee complaints about inadequate safety procedures.

Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland of Lucasville met last week with about 10 current and former employees involved in cleanup operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon. They allege that safety measures are lax and that workers who raise concerns are harassed.

Strickland wants the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate. The Dispatch confirmed last week that a U.S. Justice Department lawyer and a special agent of the Energy Department's inspector general's office interviewed at least one employee about his concerns.

"I hope against hope that not everything I have been told is totally accurate,'' Strickland said. "because if it is, there has been conduct that borders on the illegal if not the illegal.

"Right now, I cannot verify that it has occurred. But I am very concerned that it may have and that there may be developing a culture of intimidation and harassment -- and there may be things happening that send a very strong message to employees that if they see safety violations they should keep quiet about it.''

The cleanup operations are separate from the enrichment plant, which produces commercial-grade material used for nuclear power- plant fuel.

The cleanup is being run by Bechtel Jacobs, a company based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which subcontracts much of the work.

Bechtel employs 106 workers on the grounds of the uranium-enrichment plant, and subcontractors employ about 150 workers.

But the number of cleanup jobs is expected to grow significantly, because the 1,700-employee plant, formerly run by the government and now operated by a privatized federal corporation called USEC, is to close in June. That means the entire 3,700- acre site will need to be decontaminated, which will require hundreds of workers, potentially billions of dollars and years of effort.

Southern Ohio workers and officials are sensitive to complaints about safety being compromised at the Piketon plant.

Federal officials have acknowledged that during the Cold War, when the plant produced weapons- grade material, hundreds of workers may have been exposed to hazardous radiation and chemicals. A compensation proposal is pending in Congress.

Strickland has written a letter to Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, asking whether an Aug. 22 accident was related to the cleanup-related safety concerns he's heard about. He noted in the letter that he began hearing complaints about possible safety problems more than two months ago, which he has relayed to Energy Department officials.

In that accident, an employee suffered severe burns while working on a demonstration of a new cleanup technology.

"If this incident is in any way related to a lack of safety oversight, then immediate intervention is required,'' Strickland wrote.

The Energy Department is concerned about the allegations and the fact that so many employees have complained about problems, said Leah Dever, the department's Tennessee-based site manager in charge of the Piketon cleanup project. The department will send a representative to Portsmouth and hire an outside company to assess Bechtel Jacobs, subcontractors and the Energy Department itself, she said.

Dever said it is premature to comment on the substance of the employees' concerns or on the possible causes of the Aug. 22 accident.

But "it does seem as though there are a number of concerns, some which may or may not be related,'' Dever said. "We really encourage employees to express their concerns and bring them to the forefront. That is the only way to improve.''

Joe Nemec, Bechtel Jacobs president, declined to comment on any specific allegations, saying, "They are actively being looked at not only by us but by the Department of Energy and the Department of Labor.''

But Nemec said, "From day one, safety has been our primary focus. Our primary goal is to make sure we protect workers, the public and the environment.''

He noted that the worker injured Aug. 22 was not employed by Bechtel Jacobs or a Bechtel subcontractor. He was there as subcontractor to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has been working with Bechtel on a new way to attack groundwater contamination.

Nemec disputed claims that workers are discouraged from airing safety concerns. He said Bechtel has put in place "a very active employee- concerns program.''

But several of the workers who met with Strickland said in interviews with The Dispatch last week that Bechtel Jacobs and several subcontractors have failed to take certain safety steps, such as not ensuring that proper radiation and chemical monitoring is carried out on-site.

One of the workers, Phil Borris, said he was demoted from his job as location manager in charge of radiation and chemical control for Safety and Ecology Corp., a Bechtel subcontractor. He said his problems began in June, when he asked Bechtel and his company to buy some monitoring equipment. He said the companies balked for months.

"My contention is the overall atmosphere is a hostile atmosphere that has suppressed employee concerns to the point that overall nuclear safety issues are being compromised,'' Borris said.

However, his employer says that "worker safety is one of the core services provided by SEC,'' wrote President John H. Macrae Jr. last week in response to questions that Safety and Ecology has an " 'open-door policy' in an effort to facilitate meaningful communication free from harassment or intimidation.''

Macrae disputed Borris' claim that the purchase of needed safety equipment was improperly delayed, saying the equipment was bought after satisfying proper procedures and ordered before the company learned that Borris had complained to the government.

Macrae denied that Borris was demoted for raising safety concerns. The company's work is expanding, so it decided to hire a senior site manager, he said.

Borris' new position, "site manager-projects,'' offers the same pay and eventually could require a large staff, Macrae said.

Federal officials apparently are concerned enough about Borris' allegations to have sent a Department of Justice attorney and a special agent from the Energy Department's inspector general's office -- which is independent of the rest of the Energy Department -- to interview him last week.

The Justice Department and the special agent who interviewed Borris declined to comment.

-------- us nuc politics

Gore And Bush Positions on Top Campaign Issues

Yahoo News
Sunday September 3
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000903/pl/campaign_issues_dc_1.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - These are the positions of Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore (news - web sites) and Republican George W. Bush (news - web sites) on some of the leading issues in the campaign for the Nov. 7 presidential election:

Abortion:

Gore supports a woman's right to have an abortion in all circumstances and opposes Republican efforts to outlaw a procedure of late-term abortions that opponents have called ''partial birth abortion.''

Bush opposes abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the pregnant woman. He would sign legislation outlawing ``partial birth'' abortion and cut federal funds for family planning services as well as banning overseas aid for organizations that provide abortion services.

Affirmative action/civil rights:

Gore supports such preference programs intended to help women and minorities gain opportunities in education and employment. Backs federal ``hate crimes'' legislation to punish crimes motivated by racial, religious, ethnic or sexual intolerance.

Bush opposes quotas and racial preferences. Opposes federal hate crimes legislation.

Campaign finance reform:

Gore has backed legislation to ban unregulated ``soft money'' contributions from corporations and individuals and would provide candidates with public funding.

Bush wants to raise campaign contribution limits and improve disclosure regulations but opposes legislation to ban soft money unless union contributions are also banned.

Defense:

Gore would move ahead cautiously to examine limited missile defense program, streamline Pentagon and work for steady increase in military spending. Would end ``Don't ask, don't tell'' policy on homosexuals in military and allow homosexuals to serve openly.

Bush would increase funding on high-tech weapons systems, increase defense spending, give military personnel better pay and conditions. On missile defense, he would pursue ambitious program to protect United States and allies from rogue nations, even if that meant withdrawing from Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. Would retain ``Don't ask, don't tell.''

Education:

Gore would expand the federal role in school construction and invest in infrastructure and new teachers. Would offer tax credits for those pursuing ``lifelong learning'' and increase spending on early childhood education, to reach universal pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds.

Bush would provide $1,500 vouchers for students in failing schools that did not improve over three years. Would expand charter schools and end ``social promotion'' for students who do not reach required standards. Would encourage testing by states and boost spending on reading programs.

Environment:

Gore supports the Kyoto global warming treaty, would encourage new energy technologies and provide tax breaks to companies and individuals switching to environmentally friendly homes, cars and businesses.

Bush opposes the Kyoto treaty, would give tax breaks for ethanol use and supports state efforts to reduce pollution from coal-fired power stations.

Foreign policy/trade:

Gore backs free-trade agreements and international cooperation through the United Nations, supports the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Bush backs free trade but opposed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and would withdraw from Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty if necessary to pursue missile defense. Would reduce U.S. military involvement in international peacekeeping, take a tougher stance toward China, backs close defense ties with Taiwan.

Gun control:

Gore supports strong gun-control measures, including background checks of people buying weapons at gun shows, national licensing of firearms and mandatory child safety locks.

Bush support enforcement of existing gun laws, immediate background checks at gun shows but opposes any federally mandated national registration program. Backs voluntary child safety lock programs.

Health Care:

Gore would provide health insurance for all children and move slowly toward universal coverage, work for a Patients Bill of Rights allowing patients to sue health maintenance organizations, provide a $3,000 tax credit for home caregivers and provide a prescription drugs benefit for older Americans.

Bush would reduce the number of uninsured by subsidizing their ability to buy private coverage, would expand medical savings accounts, make the cost of long-term care tax deductible.

Social Security:

Gore proposes using the budget surplus to reduce the national debt. That would cut interest payments in the budget and Gore would use the savings to extend the life of Social Security. Would offer workers supplemental tax-free retirement account.

Bush proposes allowing younger Americans to set aside part of their payroll taxes for personal savings accounts that they would then invest in financial markets.

Taxes:

Gore backs targeted tax cuts for middle- and lower-income Americans, including a $80 billion cut over 10 years for married couples, an increase in the earned income tax credit by up to $500 a year for families with three or more children and provide tax breaks for help finance college education.

Bush proposes a $483 billion tax cut package over five years, would simplify the income tax system eliminating one bracket, would cut rates for all Americans, increase child credits, phase out the estate tax.

-------- us nuc waste

U.S. court reverses ruling on nuclear waste storage

USA: September 4, 2000
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8036

MINNEAPOLIS - Xcel Energy Inc. on Friday said a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., this week revived a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy involving the disposal of nuclear waste.

Xcel Energy was formed in August by the merger of Minneapolis-based Northern States Power and Denver-based New Century Energies.

Northern States was among the companies that sued the DOE in 1998 for breaching a contract under which the agency was to begin accepting and disposing of spent nuclear fuel from U.S. utilities.

The appeals court ruling reverses the dismissal of Northern States' complaint and sends the case back to federal claims court for determination of damages.

Northern States' lawsuit seeks more than $1 billion in damages from the Energy Department.

-------- u.s. nuc weapons

Missile retreat fires up presidential race

Sydney Morning Herald
Date: 04/09/2000
By GAY ALCORN, Herald Correspondent in Washington
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0009/04/text/world6.html

President Bill Clinton's announcement that he would leave the final decision on a national anti-missile shield to his successor has made defence an unlikely flashpoint in the presidential election campaign.

The decision means that the Pentagon's timetable for the first of 20 interceptor missiles to be deployed in Alaska by 2005 has been pushed back by at least a year.

The missiles, which would build to 100 in strength under the shield plan, would shoot down incoming warheads that the US says it fears might be launched by "rogue" states such as North Korea or Iran.

The $US60 billion ($105billion) scheme has faced embarrassing technological problems, with two of three tests failing.

Mr Clinton's announcement, made on the grounds that Washington should "not move forward until we have absolute confidence the system will work", also delays the crucial decision of whether the US scraps the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty with Russia, or tries to incorporate it into global security in a post-Cold War world.

The treaty, considered the cornerstone of nuclear arms agreements, specifically prohibits a defensive shield on the grounds that peace can be maintained through "mutually assured destruction" - that one power would not risk a nuclear attack for fear of annihilation. So far, the US has failed to persuade Russia to amend it.

Mr Clinton made it clear there would be renewed diplomatic efforts to reassure Russia, and to convince its sceptical allies that a shield to protect all 50 US states would not spark a new arms race.

China opposes the national missile defence system, arguing it would undermine its own nuclear deterrence, and US allies fear deployment would spark a Chinese build-up of weapons. That could lead India and Pakistan to increase their arsenals, creating a new arms race in Asia.

Mr Clinton's decision brings into focus the differences in defence policies of the Republican presidential candidate, Mr George W. Bush, and the Democratic candidate, Vice-President Al Gore, one of whom will face the issue in the first months of his administration.

Defence is traditionally a Republican issue, and Mr Bush considers the ABM treaty a Cold War relic unsuited to an era when the US faces threats not from Russia but from unpredictable nations.

He promises to approve a more ambitious scheme as soon as possible to protect the US and its allies, and has said that if Russia refuses to amend the ABM treaty Washington will withdraw from it unilaterally.

Since the Republican convention early last month Mr Bush and his vice-presidential running mate, the former defence secretary Mr Dick Cheney, have made defence a key issue, saying the next president would find a military in decline. It is considered a curious emphasis on a cause not vital to most Americans at a time of peace and prosperity.

If Mr Gore is elected in November he will follow the Clinton Administration's cautious position on missile defence. After Mr Clinton's announcement he said he would support a defence shield if he became convinced it was technologically feasible, and he emphasised diplomatic efforts to persuade Russia to amend the ABM treaty.

The eventual decision is arguably the most important national security issue for the next president. The campaign for the presidency is beginning to intensify, with Labour Day today considered the beginning of the campaign proper.

---

World leaders hail Clinton's decision

USA Today
09/04/00
By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncsmon04.htm

WASHINGTON - President Clinton's announcement that he will defer a decision on building a national missile defense to his successor will have one immediate effect:

Clinton now won't have to defend the controversial, $60 billion system at this week's Millennium Summit at the United Nations, where most of the world's leaders - virtually all of whom oppose a missile defense - are set to gather.

"We have made progress, but we should not move forward until we have absolute confidence the system will work," Clinton said last Friday in announcing that he would not decide the fate of the missile defense project. He had previously indicated his decision would be based on four criteria: technological feasibility, estimated cost, diplomatic effects and consequences for arms control agreements.

Clinton's announcement, during a speech at his alma mater, Georgetown University, has brought sighs of relief from around the globe. But the reactions of the two men vying for Clinton's job, Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Gore, have made clear that missile defense is an issue that is not going away.

Bush, the GOP presidential nominee, blasted Clinton's decision and vowed to build an even more ambitious and costly system to counter missile attacks from countries such as Iran and North Korea "at the earliest possible date."

"President Clinton and Vice President Gore first denied the need for missile defenses, then delayed," Bush said in a statement on Friday. "Now they are leaving this important unfinished business for the next president."

At a later news conference, Bush said the administration "missed an opportunity to develop a missile defense system that will protect all 50 states (and) protect ourselves and our allies from accidental launch or political blackmail."

Clinton's decision, which he said was prompted by recent Pentagon test failures of the system, as well as the need for further diplomatic efforts to calm international fears, effectively delays a scheduled 2005 deployment date.

Clinton had committed to a land-based system that would only protect the 50 states. Bush advocates a system that would include sea and space-based missile interceptors and which would protect both the United States and its allies.

Gore, the Democratic nominee, continues to say he will wait for further diplomatic negotiations and Pentagon tests on the system before making a final decision.

But Gore is unlikely to abandon a missile defense given recent charges by Bush that the Clinton-Gore administration has let U.S. military readiness slip since 1993. In the days since Clinton's announcement, Gore and running mate Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., have demonstrated that they won't allow the GOP to use missile defense as a way to question their defense credentials.

"I think it can work and it will work," Lieberman said Monday on NBC's Today show.

On the same broadcast, Gore said that Russian opposition to the system on the grounds that it would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty would not keep him from moving ahead with it.

"Provided that this threat from a country like North Korea or Iran does emerge over the next five to seven years...the mere fact that Russia opposed it would not dissuade me from approving it, if it worked, if it met our other goals," Gore said.

Even if the missile defense reprieve proves short-lived, that hasn't diminished the positive response to Clinton's announcement from around the world.

Clinton's action was "important for international safety and raises the authority of the United States," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday in Moscow.

Putin remains vehemently opposed to a missile shield. Russian military leaders believe the shield will change the nuclear balance of power between Moscow and Washington despite U.S. assurances that the system would be overwhelmed easily by Russian nuclear forces.

Russia also contends that any missile defense shield would break the ABM treaty, which outlaws any national missile defense system to preserve the Cold War doctrine of overpowering offensive force known as MAD - "mutually assured destruction."

That philosophy holds that, by barring nuclear defenses, each nation could force the other into peaceful coexistence because if one side launched a first strike, the other would counterattack, and both would be obliterated.

U.S. and Russian officials have discussed possible amendments to the ABM treaty to permit a limited missile shield, but so far those talks have produced little success.

In Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry lauded Clinton's decision as "rational," underscoring China's deep opposition to missile defense.

The Chinese government has warned that it would ratchet up its nuclear arms production if the United States built a missile shield. China now is believed to have about 20 nuclear missiles.

If China were to build up its nuclear forces, it almost certainly would trigger a domino effect in Asia, defense analysts say. India, China's longtime Asian nemesis, would respond in kind, and that would prompt Pakistan, India's archrival, to strengthen its fledgling nuclear program.

Even close U.S. allies were relieved by Clinton's decision, as European leaders have questioned whether a U.S. missile defense shield would make Europe more vulnerable and reignite a competition to stockpile more weapons.

French President Jacques Chirac noted Clinton's decision with "great interest," saying the missile defense project "risks jeopardizing the strategic balance and restarting the arms race."

British Foreign Minister Robin Cook praised Clinton for a decision that "has taken careful account of the views of the United States' allies and international partners."

Administration officials say they will continue to try to reach an agreement with Russia on amending the ABM treaty to allow development of the missile defense system, though any deal is unlikely until a new administration takes place.

Pentagon officials say the next test of the system has been delayed from this fall to January. Sixteen of 19 test flight tests remain.

Clinton's decision means he will not take the initial step of building anti-missile radar sites in Alaska. Bids would have to be awarded by December to allow the radar construction to begin next year, the timetable needed to meet the 2005 deployment date.

Although Clinton asserted that his move will not hinder his successor, he conceded that recent snags, including the failure of a key flight test on July 7, make it unlikely that the system can be deployed before 2006 or 2007 at the earliest.

----

Missile shield likely to rate high in presidential stakes

Australian Financial Review
Monday, September 4, 2000
By Joanne Gray, Washington

The future of the United States' controversial national missile defence system is likely to become a high-profile election issue after President Bill Clinton said he would leave the decision on whether to build a system to his successor, in order to avert a diplomatic crisis and because the technology was not ready.

Mr Clinton said the missile threat from rogue nations was "real and growing" and testing of missile defence systems would continue.

Nevertheless, he said, the technology for the $US60 billion ($104 billion) NMD program was "not yet proven".

"I simply cannot conclude, with the information I have today, that we have enough confidence in the technology and the operational effectiveness of the entire NMD system to move forward to deployment," Mr Clinton said.

Still, the presidential candidates, Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice-President Al Gore, have conflicting visions about how a missile defence system should proceed.

Governor Bush immediately attacked Mr Clinton's decision not to even go ahead with a limited shield with 100 land-based missile interceptors as further evidence of how "the Clinton-Gore administration has failed to strengthen America's defences", a refrain that is taking on a key role in his campaign.

"As president, I intend to develop and deploy an effective missile-defence system at the earliest possible date to protect American citizens from accidental launches or blackmail by rogue nations," Mr Bush said in a statement.

He is committed to a much more ambitious, larger-scale missile defence program that would protect not only the 50 US States, but also allies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and may include sea and space-based interceptors. Many Republican defence advisers do not believe the US should be constrained by diplomatic niceties of what they regard as the obsolete outdated anti-ballistic missile treaty signed with the Soviet Union in 1972 which bans national missile defences.

Russia, worried about an arms race, has been reluctant to amend the treaty to allow NMD.

In contrast, as a proponent of arms control, Mr Gore is not in favour of abrogating the ABM treaty.

Mr Clinton has closely consulted Mr Gore on his decision to defer missile defence deployment.

But it means the Democratic presidential nominee will have to spell out his position clearly in the lead up to the November election.

Mr Gore has not committed himself to a missile shield and remains wary. He is sceptical of whether North Korea or Iran pose a missile threat.

He said: "As president, I would oppose the kinds of missile defence systems that would unnecessarily upset strategic stability and threaten to open the gates for a renewed arms race with Russia and a new arms race with China including both offensive and defensive weapons."

"I welcome the opportunity to be more certain that these technologies actually work together properly," Mr Gore said.

Two of the three intercept tests have failed to hit their target so far. The deferral would give the next president "time to conduct updated discussions with other countries".

Mr Clinton said a decision to deploy missile defence should be deferred "until we have absolute confidence that the system will work and until we have made every reasonable diplomatic effort to minimise the cost of deployment and maximize the benefit ... not only to America's security, but to the security of law-abiding nations everywhere subject to the same threat".

"As the next president makes a deployment decision, he will need to avoid stimulating an already dangerous regional nuclear capability, from China to South Asia," Mr Clinton said.

A recent CIA assessment found that a US national missile defence could push China to build up its missile force.

Mr Clinton's decision to defer the construction of a system was welcomed by allies in Europe, as well as Russia and China, which were alarmed at the prospect of NMD.

The Clinton decision to defer the start of construction on the missile program means the Pentagon will miss its deadline of 2005 to build satellite and radar sensors, and interceptor missiles.

The deadline was set at 2005 when it became clear in 1998 that North Korea had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile and intelligence assessments found it could have missiles able to hit the US by that year.

---

Delaying the missile shield

Bergen Record
Monday, September 4, 2000
http://www.bergen.com/editorials/miss20000904.htm

PRESIDENT CLINTON's decision to postpone deployment of a national missile defense shield is wise and welcome.

He acknowledged last week that much more testing needs to be done before any definitive conclusions about the missile shield's effectiveness can be reached. Given those huge questions, Mr. Clinton put off starting construction on a radar station in Alaska, leaving that decision to his successor.

Construction of that radar station in the Aleutian Islands would have begun next spring, and might have put the United States in violation of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. It would have greatly alarmed our European allies as well. Great Britain was quick to support the president's decision to hold off on the shield.

Mr. Clinton also noted that a missile shield would not protect the United States from other forms of terrorism beside rogue nuclear missiles from Iran, Iraq, or North Korea. Those forms of terrorism "include chemical and biological weapons and a range of deadly technologies for deploying them," Mr. Clinton said last week in a speech on defense policy at Georgetown University. "So it would be folly to base the defense of our nation solely on a strategy of waiting until missiles are in the air and then trying to shoot them down."

Unfortunately, George W. Bush, the Republican candidate for president, does not agree. While his Democratic rival, Al Gore, has not made a decision on whether to support the shield pending further research, Mr. Bush has said he would build an even wider missile defense shield.

Last week, Mr. Bush criticized Mr. Clinton's decision, saying it "underscores the fact that for seven years, the Clinton-Gore administration has failed to strengthen America's defenses."

That's partisan politics at its worst. In fact, Mr. Clinton's decision is cautious and prudent, since proceeding with the shield would have been dangerous for several reasons. The technology is still unproven. Testing so far has been riddled with failures and delays. And many critics believe that rather than protecting us, the missile shield could lead to a new international arms race with Russia and China, which could heat up global tensions and distance the United States from its allies.

As Mr. Clinton noted in his Georgetown speech, it is important to our national security to work with Russia to continue to reduce existing nuclear arsenals. The president said that "maintaining strategic stability increases trust and confidence on both sides. It reduces the risk of confrontation. It makes it possible to build an even better partnership, and an even safer world."

---

White House Fact Sheet on National Missile Defense

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=v0901231.6us&level3=351&date=20000904

WASHINGTON, September 1 - The following was released today by the White House:

The Clinton Administration is committed to the development of a limited National Missile Defense (NMD) system designed to protect all 50 states from the emerging ballistic missile threat from nations that threaten international peace and security. In the event of an attack, American satellites would detect the launch of missiles; radar would track the enemy warheads; and highly accurate, high-speed ground-based interceptors would destroy missiles before they reach targets in the United States.

NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE DECISION

President Clinton announced today that the NMD program is sufficiently promising and affordable to justify continued development and testing, but that there is not sufficient information about the technical and operational effectiveness of the entire NMD system to move forward with deployment.

In making this decision, the President considered the threat, the cost, technical feasibility and the impact overall on our national security of proceeding with NMD. He considered a thorough technical review by the Department of Defense as well as the advice of his top national security advisors.

The Pentagon has made progress on developing a system that can address the emerging missile threat. But we do not have sufficient information to conclude that it can work reliably under realistic conditions. Critical elements of the program, such as the booster rocket for the missile interceptor, have not been tested; and there are questions to be resolved about the ability of the system to deal with countermeasures. The President made clear we should not move forward until we have further confidence that the system will work and until we have made every reasonable diplomatic effort to minimize the costs.

The Pentagon will continue the development and testing of the NMD system. That effort is still at an early stage: three of the nineteen planned intercept tests have been held so far. Additional ground tests and simulations will also take place.

The development of our NMD is part of the Administration's comprehensive national security strategy to prevent potential adversaries from threatening the United States with such weapons and acquiring the weapons in the first place.

Arms control agreements with Russia are an important part of this strategy because they ensure stability and predictability between the United States and Russia, promote the dismantling of nuclear weapons, and help complete the transition from confrontation to cooperation with Russia. The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty of 1972 limits anti-missile defenses according to a simple principle: neither side should deploy defenses that would undermine the other?s nuclear deterrent, and thus tempt the other to strike first in a crisis or take countermeasures that would make both our countries less secure.

This announcement will provide additional time to pursue with Russia the goal of adapting the ABM treaty to permit the deployment of a limited NMD that would not undermine strategic stability. The United States will also continue to consult with Allies and continue the dialogue with China and other states.

An NMD program that meets the projected threat

Last August, the President decided that the initial NMD architecture would include: 100 ground-based interceptors deployed in Alaska, one ABM radar in Alaska, and five upgraded early warning radars.

This approach is the fastest, most affordable, and most technologically mature approach to fielding an effective NMD against the projected threat. It would protect all 50 states against emerging threats from both North Korea and the Middle East and is optimized against the most immediate and certain threat, North Korea. On July 23, 1999, President Clinton signed into law H.R. 4, the 'National Missile Defense Act of 1999,' stating that it is the policy of the United States to deploy as soon as technologically possible an effective NMD system. The legislation includes two amendments supported by the Administration: the first making clear that any NMD deployment must be subject to the authorization and appropriations process, and thus that no decision on deployment has been made; the second stating it is the policy of the United States to seek continued negotiated reductions in Russian nuclear forces, putting Congress on record as continuing to support negotiated reductions in strategic nuclear arms, reaffirming the Administration's position that missile defense policy must take into account important arms control and nuclear nonproliferation objectives.

NMD Budget

The Clinton Administration has spent approximately $5.7 billion on NMD, and budgeted an additional $10.4 billion in FY 2001-2005 to support possible deployment of the initial NMD architecture. Our current estimate for developing, procuring and deploying our initial system -- 100 interceptors, an ABM radar, upgrades to 5 early warning radars, and command and control -- is around $25 billion (Fiscal Years 91-09). But to put that in perspective, it represents less than 1 percent of the defense budget over the coming six years.

Joint Statement of Principles on Strategic Stability

At the June 4 Moscow summit, Presidents Clinton and Putin signed a Joint Statement of Principles on Strategic Stability. The Principles state that the international community faces a dangerous and growing threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, including missiles and missile technologies, and that there is a need to address these threats, including through consideration of changes to the ABM Treaty. The Principles also record agreement to intensify discussions on both ABM issues and START III.

Joint Statement on Cooperation on Strategic Stability

The United States has made clear to Russia that we are prepared to engage in serious cooperation to address the emerging ballistic missile threat and have identified a number of specific ideas for discussion. At the June 4 Moscow Summit, Presidents Clinton and Putin signed an agreement to establish a Joint Center for exchanging early warning data on missile launches; they also agreed to explore more far-reaching cooperation to address missile threats.

On July 21 in Okinawa, Presidents Clinton and Putin issued a Joint Statement on Cooperation on Strategic Stability, which identifies specific areas and projects for cooperation to control the spread of missiles, missile technology and weapons of mass destruction.

---

Statement by Al Gore On National Missile Defense

NewsWire Corporation
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=v0901226.0us&level3=139501&date=20000904

NASHVILLE, September 1 /U.S. Newswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation - The following statement by Al Gore was released today by Gore/Lieberman 2000:

I agree with the President's decision to defer the decision to deploy a National Missile Defense (NMD) for the next administration. Now that he has made his decision, I feel free to express myself on the subject.

The United States faces the real possibility that countries such as North Korea or Iran will succeed in acquiring weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles able to deliver these weapons at intercontinental range.

Of course it is possible that North Korea or Iran might at some point change their intentions and remove this threat. We should be alert to such possibilities, but they are not in our grasp at this moment.

The NMD system which the Clinton-Gore Administration has under development is meant to be deployed in a timely way, and is explicitly designed to handle the type of threat that we could expect if our estimates are realized and we have to face a small number of deployed Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) warheads.

The President's decision allows time for additional testing of our NMD system. I welcome the opportunity to be more certain that these technologies actually work together properly. As the President said, there are 16 additional intercept tests already scheduled. One could decide to proceed with deployment at any point along that process, once fully convinced that the technologies are ready.

Passage of more time also allows for more clarity about the costs of the system.

The President's decision also allows the next President time to conduct updated discussions with other countries.

As regards the Russian Federation, I think it important to state what my approach would be if I am the next President. I respect the Russians, concerns and would want the opportunity to persuade them that the NMD system would never become a threat to them.

I would be prepared to work hard to persuade the Government of the Russian Federation to modify the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty. And, I would also look for very creative approaches for joint U.S.-Russian responses to a threat that can be aimed at either one or both of us. But, at the end of the day, I would not be prepared to let Russian opposition to this system stand in the way of its deployment, if I should conclude that the technologies are mature enough to deploy and are both affordable and needed. I would also work to persuade the Chinese that a U.S. NMD system is not intended to threaten them, and to allay the concerns of our allies.

However, as President, I would oppose the kinds of missile defense systems that would unnecessarily upset strategic stability and threaten to open the gates for a renewed arms race with Russia and a new arms race with China including both offensive and defensive weapons.

It would be my objective as President to avoid such an outcome. Instead, I would aim for another round of deep negotiated reductions to levels agreed between the United States and Russia at the Helsinki summit. If the Russians wish to reduce unilaterally below that level for economic reasons they certainly can and should. But for the United States to go lower requires a thorough reexamination of the official nuclear doctrine which to this point guides our military in its planning. As President, I would initiate such a review and engage deeply in the process.

I have said before that the Senate's rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was an act of massive irresponsibility damaging to the security interests of the United States, and I repeat that if elected President I will immediately revive the ratification process and seek to rally the full force of American public opinion behind it.

If I am elected President, I would also plan to use the extra time created by President Clinton's decision for a serious bipartisan dialogue about defensive systems aimed at establishing a consensus that clearly does not exist at the present time. Of course, if I became convinced of a need to act I would propose moving forward whether or not it has been possible to establish this consensus, but it would clearly be in the nation,s best interest if we could do so.

--- NewsEdge

Where Bush, Gore Stand on Missiles

September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0901154.201&level3=788&date=20000904

WASHINGTON (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - Bill Clinton is letting the next president decide whether to build a national missile defense system and how. Here is where the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and their running mates stand on the issue:

Democrats:

Al Gore: Favors continued work on technology for a ``limited'' system and places high priority on getting Russia to agree to amending Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which prohibits national missile defenses. Has not decided whether a system should be deployed. Has not ruled out deploying a system without Russia's agreement to change ABM Treaty.

Joe Lieberman: In Senate, has shifted from supporting cuts in money for a national missile defense to siding with Republicans in support of early deployment. Has voted consistently against reducing Pentagon's budget.

Republicans:

George W. Bush: Favors a more ambitious missile system than has been considered by Clinton administration and wants it in place as soon as possible. Would withdraw U.S. from ABM Treaty if Russia did not agree to amendments providing for a missile defense. Wants system to be able to protect allies as well as United States. Also favors significant cuts in U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

Dick Cheney: As defense secretary in 1992, declared a national missile defense a ``top national priority'' and set goal of having at least a rudimentary system available by the end of the decade. In the 1980s in Congress, backed President Reagan on ``Star Wars'' space-based missile defense. Also oversaw Pentagon budget cuts as defense secretary.

---

Scientists Praise Clinton Decision to Delay Deployment

NewsWire Corporation
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=v0901285.1us&level3=788&date=20000904

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation - The Federation of American Scientists today praised the President's courageous decision to delay deployment of the troubled Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system but warned that a dangerous decision to abrogate the anti-ballistic missile treaty and deploy the system was still possible next year.

Before the most recent test of the BMD system failed in July, more than 50 American Nobel laureates signed an FAS letter warning that: "Even if the next planned test of the proposed anti-ballistic missile system works as planned, any movement toward deployment would be premature, wasteful and dangerous."

Aggressive pursuit of a BMD endangers a generation of effort to control the nuclear arms race, and faces active opposition from Europeans as well as the Russians, Chinese and many U.S. experts in military technology and international diplomacy. Numerous technical reviews have shown that the proposed system could not find and destroy dozens of fast-moving nuclear warheads in the face of decoys and other likely enemy deceptions. The system failed completely in two recent tests against very simple targets.

"There is much to be lost and nothing to be gained by rushing to deploy any ballistic missile defense system," said Henry Kelly, FAS president. "U.S. security would surely be weakened by deploying a defensive system that would be easy to defeat, and that would encourage new nuclear investments in China and other nations. We hope that freed of election-year politics, a new administration and a new Congress will make the correct decision: invest in research, but avoid any movement toward deployment."

For more information, contact Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American Scientists, at 202-546-3300.

---

Other Systems Might Provide a U.S. Missile Shield

New York Times
September 04, 2000
By JAMES GLANZ
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/090400missile-defense.html

In putting off a decision on a national missile defense on Friday, President Clinton said the earliest such a shield could be put in place was 2006 or 2007. But the president made a decision on just one system. What he did not say, and what the debate over that system has obscured, is that a number of lesser-known antimissile weapons might be candidates for the same job.

They are known as theater missile defense systems, and they are intended to protect American troops and bases in relatively small regions of conflict, much as was attempted during the Persian Gulf war in 1991. But some already under development could be expanded, potentially, to protect larger areas and perhaps even the entire United States, according to experts inside and outside the military.

Many of these systems have yet to be tested for the purpose for which they were originally intended, let alone a new, more ambitious one, and the difficulty of adapting them would range from making simple changes in their computer software to perhaps adding sophisticated new sensors or other hardware.

Still, with several of these weapons scheduled to be available as theater defenses by 2007, the delay announced by Mr. Clinton is bringing them much closer scrutiny as to whether they might eventually be adapted to provide some form of national defense.

"It does debunk the argument of the Pentagon that if you want missile defense soon, your only choice is the missile defense system they've been pushing," said Dr. Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who specializes in military policy.

The plan Mr. Clinton has delayed would track missiles through space and shoot down descending warheads from a land-based site in the United States. Many of the theater defenses use interceptors, lasers or fragmentation explosives fired from ships or airplanes that could maneuver relatively close to small countries like North Korea, whose missile program has been cited as one reason a national missile defense is needed.

Some of these theater systems are now intended to shoot down short- and medium-range missiles in midflight or on their way down to a target, but proponents say they might be adapted to destroy the kinds of faster long-range missiles that would be the object of a national missile defense.

That could be done by adding long-range sensors that would potentially give theater systems enough time to destroy missiles in midflight, or by targeting missiles soon after they were launched, in the so-called boost phase. Other theater defenses have been specifically intended to work in the boost phase.

The idea of boost-phase interception was even endorsed this summer by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who suggested that his nation might cooperate with the United States in developing it. Russia has opposed a national missile shield, arguing that it threatens to undermine its arsenal and violates the Antiballistic Missile Treaty the United States signed with the Soviet Union in 1972.

But Russia has not objected to theater systems that work in the boost phase. One reason is that they do not violate the ABM treaty. Another is that because of Russia's large size, interceptors cannot be positioned close enough to attack Russian rockets while they are being launched.

China, however, in addition to its objections to a national defense system, does see theater defenses as a threat because they could theoretically be used to protect Taiwan and Japan, its potential adversaries.

But for the most part, theater defenses have not generated the same kind of resistance at home or abroad as the Pentagon's idea for a national missile defense, because the theater defenses have not been intended to offer the kind of blanket protection from missile attack that would challenge existing theories of arms control, which are based on mutual vulnerability.

This would undoubtedly change if they were expanded to protect the whole of the United States, and any defense system that did so would probably violate the ABM treaty, according to arms control experts. Some critics have seen these theater systems as an attempt to bring in a national missile defense through the back door.

In his speech on Friday, Mr. Clinton said Russia had agreed to cooperate with the United States "in areas such as theater missile defense," but he did not mention the systems' wider potential.

Nevertheless, Russia might agree to changing the ABM treaty to allow for adapting to broader use a theater missile defense system that it does not view as a direct threat, said Dr. Harold Brown, secretary of defense in the Carter administration. "This is a way of possibly preserving the ABM treaty," he said.

Dr. Dean Wilkening, director of the science program at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, said, "There's no clear, technical distinction between the theater and national missile defense systems."

Referring to a Navy system that would shoot down missiles with shipboard interceptors, Dr. Wilkening said, "They are well down the road to being fully capable national missile defense systems."

Until recently, with the emerging missile programs of nations like Iraq and North Korea, the idea of creating a national missile defense lost favor after the end of the cold war. But spending for theater defenses has more or less grown through the 1990's.

The $5.1 billion that the United States will spend on missile defense in fiscal year 2001 will be equally divided between theater defenses and national missile defense, according to the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.

That contrasts starkly with the situation in the 1980's, when expenditures on national defenses dominated spending.

Most of the theater programs -- which have names like the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad), the Patriot Advanced Capability - 3 and the Navy Theaterwide and Navy Area Defense -- use interceptors fired from ships or trailers that attempt to ram an enemy missile or explode near it.

Of those systems, extensive testing has already been done for the new Patriot, scheduled to be put in the field starting next year. Unlike the version used in the gulf war, which exploded near descending missiles, this one aims to ram them.

Thaad has also been extensively tested and is expected to be deployed by 2007. Current plans have the Navy Theaterwide Defense available for emergency use in 2007 and fully deployed three years later, while the shorter-range Navy Area Defense should be ready sooner.

One program that is receiving generous financing but little publicity is the development of a powerful laser to shoot down ballistic missiles from a platform in space, intended for use by 2013.

The Airborne Laser program, run by the Air Force, aims to put a similar laser aboard a modified Boeing 747 and begin shooting down test missiles by 2003. Seven planes are expected to be in operation by 2009, according to a spokesman for the program, if Congress provides the money. The laser systems could be be designed to work as national or theater defenses.

Some proponents of adapting theater defenses favor using them in the boost phase, since decoys like balloons or fake warheads separate from the missile at higher altitudes and make the job of finding and shooting down the real warhead that much harder.

Others insist that this is not the only way, and that the protection that midcourse interceptions could offer against large or inaccessible countries, like Russia, China or Iran, would be indispensable.

Either way, those who would use the theater missile defenses, or T.M.D., to replace the Pentagon's favored system say their mobility and flexibility make them a better choice.

"A national missile defense capability that evolves from T.M.D. will probably be cheaper, better contribute to defense against both long- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and allow for more effective growth in capability as the threat increases," wrote John M. Deutch, Dr. Brown and John P. White in the summer issue of the journal Foreign Policy.

Mr. Deutch, a former director of central intelligence and deputy defense secretary, and Dr. White, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a former deputy defense secretary, both served under President Clinton.

Among conservatives, who have long supported expansive national missile defenses, enthusiasm for theater defenses runs high.

But precisely what additional improvements might be necessary to convert those systems into a national defense by intercepting missiles in midflight is still not entirely clear, Dr. Wilkening of Stanford said, since most of them are still under development. Moreover, recent amendments to the 1972 ABM Treaty, which have not been ratified by Congress, prohibit testing theater defenses against intercontinental ballistic missiles directly.

By far the most important element needed to turn those theater defenses into potential national defenses are long-range sensors, said Dr. David Wright, a senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

With that sensor technology, which the United States already plans to deploy in space and possibly on the ground over the next decade, the Navy system "starts to look like an interceptor which could, in principle, shoot down strategic missiles," Dr. Wright said.

Critics of converting theater systems say the change would be far more difficult -- requiring, for example, interceptors vastly faster and more maneuverable than the theater systems could muster.

Also, the sensors carried aboard the interceptors for homing in on a target might have to be improved. Dr. Wright pointed out that the system would have to be able to discriminate between missiles and the decoys that would surely accompany an enemy attack.

A State Department official said enthusiasts of conversion were overstating their case. "They seem to imply that you don't need to go the N.M.D. route that this administration is taking," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There are flaws in these glib statements and analyses."

In any case, the administration has no plans to convert theater defenses into national defenses, the official said. "It would be very difficult for the United States, as a practical matter, to develop a system and label it as one thing with the intent of surreptitiously being able to fulfill a completely different mission."

But Lt. Col. Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, said: "All of these systems can have applicability to both theater and national missile defense. It just depends on which direction the nation wants to go."

Modified theater defenses would not be the only way to create such a defense. According to some experts, the simplest and cheapest solution would be to start from scratch with faster interceptors launched from military cargo ships, a strategy advocated by Dr. Richard L. Garwin, a physicist at the Council on Foreign Relations, or from airplanes, an approach that Dr. Wilkening has studied.

The Air Force is developing a system, called the Airborne Laser, based on an entirely different technology that is targeted toward the boost phase. An eight-year $1.6 billion development program that aims for the shooting down of a missile in 2003, the system is expected to include a laser mounted in the nose of a converted Boeing 747.

The Air Force is designing the laser to destroy short- and medium-range missiles while they are being launched by rupturing their metal skin. If the system works, it could potentially be used against intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The space-based laser program will receive $148 million in fiscal year 2001 and would cost $2 billion to $3 billion through its first planned antimissile shot from space in 2013, said Dr. Douglas P. Crawford, the integrator of that project at the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. If it works, the laser can be used against either theater or national threats, Dr. Crawford said. (This is the only boost-phase defense that would threaten Russia directly since the laser could be fired from a distance.) He added that the technology has been receiving a much more positive reception than it had for years.

"The 'Star Wars' moniker was a term of derision through the late 80's and early 90's," he said, "but I haven't heard it recently."

---

Father of H-bomb Defends University

Associated Press
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/a/AP-Nuclear-University.html

LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) -- Physicist Edward Teller isn't sure whether the nuclear weapons labs he helped found have a spy problem.

But the man known as the ``Father of the H-Bomb'' is sure that any problems aren't going to be fixed by ousting the University of California as manager of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

He's reminded of the crisis of 1949 when scientists working on the weapons program at Los Alamos, N.M., learned that secrets of the atomic bomb had been leaked to the Soviets.

``President Truman's reaction to this discovery was, in my opinion, precisely the right one -- speed up our work,'' the 92-year-old scientist said.

``Today, there is not even a whisper of speeding up our work,'' he said. Instead, there's been a ``magnifying of the damage done when probably there was no damage or little damage.''

``UC's management has been good. The connection with UC is valuable. It would be a grave mistake to interrupt it,'' he said in an interview.

Through his decades-long career, Teller has exerted a profound influence on America's defense and energy policies. In 1939, Teller was one of three scientists who encouraged Albert Einstein to alert President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the power of nuclear fission -- the splitting of an atom's nucleus -- could be tapped to create a devastating new weapon.

Today's troubles in the weapons program began last year with allegations that nuclear secrets had leaked to China. Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was fired and later charged with mishandling classified information. However, Lee was not charged with espionage and he denies any wrongdoing.

Next came budget and deadline troubles for a huge laser being built to simulate thermonuclear explosions at Lawrence Livermore.

And both Los Alamos and Livermore are being investigated for possible discrimination against Asians, a concern highlighted by the prosecution of Taiwanese-born Lee.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, under pressure from members of Congress to remove UC from its management role, has ordered major changes in security. He's scheduled to get a report on how to do that this Tuesday, although no immediate announcement was expected.

Some feel public censure has gone too far.

Losing UC would be ``a horrible thing,'' says Los Alamos scientist Manvendra Dubey. ``When UC manages you, you attract a certain kind of employee. You attract the brains.''

That opinion is shared by Sidney Drell, a member of the presidential commission that wrote a scathing lab report titled ``Science at its Best, Security at its Worst.'' He thinks UC should be corrected, not ejected.

``Unfortunately, there's been tremendous overreaction,'' he said.

The curious pairing of class instruction and mass destruction goes back to the 1930s when a team of physicists led by Ernest O. Lawrence worked at the Berkeley ``Rad Lab'' (Radiation Laboratory). In the early 1940s, Berkeley up-and-comer Glenn Seaborg helped discover a key to the nuclear realm -- plutonium.

Soon, U.S. scientists racing to beat the Nazis to an atomic bomb had set up shop at Los Alamos.

After the war, UC wanted out of the weapons business, but the new Atomic Energy Commission asked the university to stay on, hoping to keep the program under civilian control, said Cal Tech historian Peter Westwick.

UC agreed, motivated by patriotism and possibly the fact that Lawrence had ``quite a thriving operation going'' at the Berkeley lab.

Today, the Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, in the hills above the Berkeley campus, performs unclassified research.

But an annex Lawrence helped start in the country town of Livermore, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, has grown into a premier weapons lab.

It includes the office where Teller, lab director emeritus, still works three days a week.

The Hungarian immigrant is gray and frail, unable to see a board full of equations, but his intellect is nimble; he crisply dismisses those who criticize the labs he helped build.

``The criticism comes to a great extent from people who have quite a limited understanding of what really goes on in the labs in a scientific way,'' he says. ``They're not only ignorant, they are not aware of the fact that they're ignorant.''

---

Bush, Gore on missile defense

USA Today
09/04/00
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncsmon05.htm

Bush says build it now; Gore wants more tests President Clinton's announcement that he will defer a decision on building a U.S. missile defense calls attention to the presidential candidates' positions on the issue.

Republican George W. Bush:

Is ready to begin building a missile defense system as soon as he takes office, if elected.

Favors a more ambitious and costly system that would include sea and space-based weapons to protec t U.S. allies as well as the United States.

Would break the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 if Russia does not agree to amendments allowing construction of a missile defense system.

Vice President Gore:

Supports building a defense but wants to wait for more Pentagon tests and diplomatic talks before making a final decision.

Favors a limited land-based system that would protect the 50 states.

Prefers amending the ABM treaty to allow the system but would break the treaty if it were in the national interest.

---

Striking BIW Workers Reject Offer

NewsMax.com
Monday, Sept. 4, 2000
UPI
http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/9/4/03409

AUGUSTA, Maine - Striking union members at Bath Iron Works, Maine's largest private employer and a major Navy shipbuilder, on Sunday rejected the company's latest offer.

Local S6 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union representing the 4,800 production workers who walked off the job a week ago, would not release the vote totals and the company would not comment on the outcome, Portland, Maine, television station WCSH reported. A simple-majority vote was required for the strikers to return to work.

The rejection had been widely expected, with many workers publicly criticizing the tentative agreement reached Thursday by company and union negotiators. The union urged the rank and file to accept the offer or face the prospect of being off the job for months.

The latest offer called for pay increases of 4 percent, 3.5 percent and 4 percent over the next three years. It also provided for a $750 ratification bonus, $250 higher than last week's offer.

But workers have said those raises would not offset increased contributions toward health insurance they are being asked to pay. The company wants to increase their share from 11.5 percent to 14 percent. Although the company, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, agreed to remove a provision to cross-train workers for other BIW jobs - a provision in earlier company offers that had strikers concerned it signaled layoffs - the company would not agree to a no-layoff clause in the contract.

The company, which employs 7,600 people, has previously denied union reports that it plans to lay off 500 workers once a new contract is adopted.

Officials with BIW have said the latest offer would make the Maine workers the highest-paid shipyard workers in the country. Workers countered that that did not take into account the state's higher cost of living. The company initially proposed a five-year contract with 2 percent raises in the first, third and fifth years and 2 percent lump-sum bonuses in the second and fourth years. The union rejected that offer, asking for an 8 percent wage increase the first year and 7 percent for the second and third years.

The workers went on strike at midnight Monday after rejecting by 85 percent a new proposal offering consecutive annual wage hikes of 4, 3.5 and 4 percent, plus the $500 signing bonus, and containing the cross-training provision and the greater health-insurance contributions. Management contended the contract would be worth $48,000 a year at the end of the three-year-contract, a figure the union disputed.

With Sunday's rejection, the workers are preparing for an extended strike. Those who walk picket lines or assist with strike-related activities will begin receiving $100 a week in strike pay and many have accepted other employment.

---

Yes, There Is an ABM Treaty

Washington Post
Monday , September 4, 2000 ; A25
By Michael J. Glennon
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8177-2000Sep3.html

James Woolsey's argument that the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty is no longer in force is right on the law, wrong on the facts and bewildering in its assertion that there is "no reasonable case" for any view but his [op-ed, Aug. 15].

Woolsey is correct that international law required the assent of both Russia and the United States to continuation of the ABM Treaty following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. When part of a state becomes a new state, the new state does not succeed to a treaty to which the predecessor state was party unless it and the other party accept the treaty. There is no dispute that Russia has accepted the ABM Treaty. The question is whether the United States has accepted it.

A month after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Bush administration affirmed that the United States accepted the ABM Treaty and regarded Russia as a successor to the Soviet Union's rights and obligations under it. At a joint press conference on Jan. 29, 1992, following a meeting with President Yeltsin, Secretary of State James Baker stated: "I made the point to President Yeltsin that the United States remains committed to the ABM Treaty . . . [W]e expect the states of the commonwealth to abide by all of the international treaties and obligations that were entered into by the former Soviet Union, including the ABM Treaty."

Yet this, Woolsey said, was not acceptance by the United States because "the executive cannot act for the United States by itself." The Constitution requires some form of Senate or congressional approval.

Reasonable people can differ on whether the president can act alone in designating a successor state to a treaty. The Clinton administration has claimed that sole presidential action is constitutionally permissible. The Bush administration presumably concurred, having sought no legislative approval before or after Baker's commitment.

The better view, though, would seem to be that power here is not exclusively presidential but concurrent, and that if Congress or the Senate had insisted upon a role in designating successor states, it constitutionally could have done so. But whether presidential power is exclusive or concurrent in this case is moot: Congress and the Senate have concurred in the president's judgment that the ABM Treaty remains in force.

In 1996 Congress enacted a law providing that the United States "shall not be bound by any international agreement entered into by the president that substantively would modify the ABM Treaty unless the agreement is entered pursuant to the treaty-making power of the president under the Constitution." Of course, it would have made no sense to prohibit the president from modifying an agreement that did not exist; Congress must have believed the ABM Treaty to be in effect in 1996, or it would have had no reason to seek to limit presidential power to amend it.

Similarly, in approving the Flank Document Agreement to the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, the Senate again in 1997 concurred that the ABM Treaty was in force. It added a condition requiring that the president "certify to the Senate that he will submit for Senate advice and consent to ratification any international agreement--that would add one or more countries as state parties to the ABM Treaty. . . . " Why would the Senate seek to ensure inclusion in efforts to amend the ABM Treaty if it believed the treaty was not in force?

The reasonable inference to be drawn from both such measures is not, as Woolsey asserts, that the president is acting alone, but that Congress and the Senate have agreed that the treaty is in force.

"When the president acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress," Justice Jackson wrote in his famous concurring opinion in the 1952 steel seizure case, "his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate. In these circumstances, and in these only, may he be said (for what it may be worth) to personify the federal sovereignty."

In proclaiming that the United States remains bound by the ABM Treaty, therefore, the president's authority was "at its maximum," and the treaty remains in effect. If the next president wishes to deploy an ABM system and the Russians--or the Senate--will not approve an amendment to the treaty, the United States will have no alternative but to withdraw from it. Wishing the treaty away won't work.

The writer is a law professor at the University of California at Davis and former legal counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.


-------- MILITARY (by country)

NATO Practices Submarine Rescue Efforts Near Turkey

New York Times
September 04, 2000
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/late/04cnd-nato-sub.html

ANKARA, Turkey -- In the wake of a Russian submarine disaster, NATO on Monday began its largest live submarine search and rescue exercise ever off the southern coast of Turkey.

The Sorbet Royal 2000 was scheduled long before 118 seamen died in the Russian submarine Kursk three weeks ago. But NATO authorities say the catastrophe illustrates the need for international cooperation to conduct a rapid and timely rescue of submariners in similar accidents.

Russia was criticized for delaying the arrival of foreign rescue teams at the Kursk site.

"NATO's ability to react to a submarine accident and execute a rescue operation will be put to the test in the exercise," said spokesman Capt. Serdar Dulger.

On Monday, four submarines were to sit at the bottom of the sea while surface vessels tried to locate them, Dulger said. A Turkish frigate, five other NATO rescue ships and dozens of coast guard boats left port to search for mock sunken submarines.

The Sept. 4-13 exercise will involve searching for a submarine in distress, as well as rescuing sailors from a submarine lying 480 feet under sea level using a minisubmarine, submarine rescue chambers or atmospheric diving suits.

The maneuvers are being carried out off the Mediterranean port city of Mersin.

Participating will be the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine USS Dallas, along with four other submarines from Turkey and Italy, as well as six rescue systems and seven surface vessels. Israel, Argentine, Chile, Singapore and NATO partner Sweden are sending observers.

The British Navy canceled its participation because it dispatched its LR5 minisubmarine to help the Kursk, which sank following two explosions that tore the hull open Aug. 12 in the Barents Sea off northwestern Russia. The LR5 was not used after Norwegian and British divers opened the submarine's hatches and found it was too late to save the crew.

The NATO exercise has been conducted every three years since 1986. The Sorbet Royal 2000 exercise was originally scheduled for 1999 but was postponed after an earthquake killed some 17,000 people in northwestern Turkey last summer, Dulger said. The quake devastated Turkey's largest navy base in Golcuk.

The last Sorbet Royal was conducted in Vestfjorden, Norway, in 1996.

-------- colombia

Colombia a Vietnam?

Los Angeles Times
Monday, September 4, 2000
http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/20000904/t000083133.html

Re "Colombia Is No Vietnam, U.S. Says," Aug. 31: The Clinton administration claims its $1.3-billion intervention in Colombia is not another Vietnam, but in fact it is. Only substitute "the war on drugs" for "anti-communism" as the justifying cause--another religious battle that is pursued despite the facts of the matter.

The biggest religious mania of our times, however, is the worship of energy. Industrial nations rely on fossil fuels that pollute our air and water to the point of changing the weather. And they use nuclear energy, despite the fact there is no credible means to get rid of its wastes, which remain perilously dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years to the point they could render the surface of the planet unlivable for all existing species.

National insanity. And people today think some primitive societies were strange. CARMEN A. LODISE Santa Barbara

* President Clinton says that Colombia is no Vietnam. How would he know? By the time we see the effects of the $1.3 billion in aid, Clinton, just as he was during the Vietnam War, will be long gone. PAUL G. TEAGUE Lakewood

---

Colombia seeks U.S. financial backing

USA Today
09/04/00- Updated 08:38 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia's finance minister traveled to Washington on Monday to seek U.S. support for a $1.2 billion bond offering needed to cover government expenses. The trip follows a request during President Clinton's visit last week for U.S. tariff exemptions on Colombian textiles and clothing as a complement to a $1.3 billion U.S. anti-narcotics aid package. Colombia has argued it needs economic help in addition to military aid to successfully combat drug trafficking.

-------- drug war

Drug-Policy Debate

New York Times
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/letters/l04pur.html

To the Editor:

Re "Listening to a Change in the Silence," by Joyce Purnick (Metro Matters column, Aug. 31):

To begin a real debate on drug policy, we must confront our conflicting attitudes toward problem drug use.

Do we understand it as an involuntary disease, demanding solutions that focus on treatment and harm reduction, or do we see it as a criminal justice issue?

If we view problem drug use as a health issue, we must recognize that the treatment currently available doesn't always work and isn't suitable for everyone.

According to studies, 30 percent of those who receive treatment fail to recover.

The answer to inadequate treatment is better treatment, not a resort to the criminal justice system. After all, we would never jail a cancer patient when treatment fails to cure.

CORINNE A. CAREY New York, Aug. 31, 2000

The writer is director, Harm Reduction Project, Urban Justice Center.
To the Editor:

"Colombia Says Key to Drug Fight Is for U.S. to Tame Demand Here" (front page, Aug. 30) makes a valid point concerning the importance of investing in effective drug prevention strategies.

One proven approach is after-school programs.

While research has shown these programs to be highly effective at reducing adolescent drug use, as many as 15 million children have no access to such programs because of inadequate financing.

When Congress and President Clinton consider expenditures intended to reduce the demand for drugs, financing for after-school programs should be at the top of their list.

LUCY FRIEDMAN New York, Aug. 30, 2000

The writer is president of the After-School Corporation, a nonprofit group.

---

Rebels kill 35 in Colombia after Clinton visit

USA Today
09/04/00
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm

BOGOTA, Colombia - A surge of rebel violence left 35 people dead over the weekend following President Clinton's visit to Colombia, including seven police officers slain by guerrillas - some of whom were disguised as police. Clinton was there to deliver a $1.3 billion anti-narcotics aid package. But critics have said the aid, including helicopters and troop training, is skewed toward the Colombian military, leaving police forces increasingly vulnerable. On Sunday, the Colombian navy intercepted a speedboat off its Pacific coast on Sunday and seized three tons of cocaine.

---

Rebel violence kills 34 in Colombia

Washington Times
September 4, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://208.246.212.80/world/worldscene-200094212536.htm

BOGOTA, Colombia - A surge of rebel violence left 34 persons dead over the weekend following President Clinton's visit to Colombia. The casualties included seven police officers slain by guerrillas - some of whom were disguised as police.

In the latest attack, leftist guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, sneaked up on a police station Saturday in northern Colombia, officials said yesterday. The assault took the small town of Tomarrazon by surprise, said National Police operations director Gen. Tobias Duran.

Twenty-seven other persons were killed in heavy overnight clashes that ended Saturday in western Colombia. Twelve of them were FARC rebels.

-------- europe

NATO Launches Submarine Exercise

Associated Press
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-NATO-Submarine-Rescue.html

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- In the wake of a Russian submarine disaster, NATO on Monday began its largest live submarine search and rescue exercise ever off the southern coast of Turkey.

The Sorbet Royal 2000 was scheduled long before 118 seamen died in the Russian submarine Kursk three weeks ago. But NATO authorities say the catastrophe illustrates the need for international cooperation to conduct a rapid and timely rescue of submariners in similar accidents.

Russia was criticized for delaying the arrival of foreign rescue teams at the Kursk site.

``NATO's ability to react to a submarine accident and execute a rescue operation will be put to the test in the exercise,'' said spokesman Capt. Serdar Dulger.

On Monday, four submarines were to sit at the bottom of the sea while surface vessels tried to locate them, Dulger said. A Turkish frigate, five other NATO rescue ships and dozens of coast guard boats left port to search for mock sunken submarines.

The Sept. 4-13 exercise will involve searching for a submarine in distress, as well as rescuing sailors from a submarine lying 480 feet under sea level using a minisubmarine, submarine rescue chambers or atmospheric diving suits.

The maneuvers are being carried out off the Mediterranean port city of Mersin.

Participating will be the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine USS Dallas, along with four other submarines from Turkey and Italy, as well as six rescue systems and seven surface vessels. Israel, Argentine, Chile, Singapore and NATO partner Sweden are sending observers.

The British Navy canceled its participation because it dispatched its LR5 minisubmarine to help the Kursk, which sank following two explosions that tore the hull open Aug. 12 in the Barents Sea off northwestern Russia. The LR5 was not used after Norwegian and British divers opened the submarine's hatches and found it was too late to save the crew.

The NATO exercise has been conducted every three years since 1986. The Sorbet Royal 2000 exercise was originally scheduled for 1999 but was postponed after an earthquake killed some 17,000 people in northwestern Turkey last summer, Dulger said. The quake devastated Turkey's largest navy base in Golcuk.

The last Sorbet Royal was conducted in Vestfjorden, Norway, in 1996.

-------- iran

THE MIDDLE EAST
Iranian Says U.S. May Lift Trade Sanctions

Washington Post
Monday, September 4, 2000; Page A18
World In Brief Compiled by Leslie Shepherd
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-09/04/120l-090400-idx.html

TEHRAN--Iran's parliament speaker said that attempts are being made in the United States to lift trade sanctions against Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported after U.S. and Iranian lawmakers met for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"It seems that there are efforts underway in the United States for lifting sanctions against Iran," the news agency quoted Mehdi Karrubi as saying after he returned from New York where he and four other Iranian lawmakers attended a meeting of world parliament leaders at the United Nations.

Karrubi did not provide details, but the news agency said he also met representatives of some U.S. companies who want the U.S. sanctions lifted. The speaker told state-run Tehran television that he met leaders of American oil companies and discussed the issue with them.

American companies are barred under a 1996 sanctions law from investing more than $20 million in Iran's oil and gas sector. As a result, U.S. firms have lost billions of dollars in contracts to European competitors.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) met Karrubi and four other Iranian lawmakers.

In Washington, a State Department spokesman said there has been no change in the sanctions policy toward Iran. (Associated Press)

-------- iraq

Hussein gravely ill with cancer
Takes steps to pass control to youngest son

Globe & Mail
Monday, September 4, 2000
MATTHEW KALMAN Special to The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/20000904/UIRAQN.html

Jerusalem -- Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is gravely ill with cancer of the lymph system and has set up a family council led by his youngest son to take control if the President were to become incapacitated, a leading Arabic newspaper reported yesterday.

Western newspapers have reported several times in recent years that the 63-year-old President has cancer, but the London-based Asharq al-Awsat went into considerable detail in its report.

The Saudi-financed publication quoted an Arab doctor "with an excellent reputation" as saying that a medical team of three French doctors, one German and one Swede is taking care of Mr. Hussein. The team had been brought together by a committee chaired by the President's personal secretary and confidant, Abed Hamoud, the daily said.

Western diplomats in the Middle East said they could not confirm the accuracy of the reports.

The death of Mr. Hussein could spark a succession crisis between his two sons, both of whom are known for their ruthless behaviour.

Mr. Hussein was last seen in public last month as he was driven through Baghdad in an open-air car with visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

According to the unidentified Iraqi doctor who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, Mr. Hussein is suffering from pains in his hip and lungs and has problems breathing. His sight has also been affected and he suffers temporary memory losses and is unable to concentrate, the doctor said.

The doctor said that Mr. Hussein had so far refused to undergo chemotherapy treatment.

The paper also said the President recently led a family meeting attended by his secretary Mr. Hamoud; his two sons, Udai and Qusay; and his three brothers, Barazan, Watban and Sabawi. They appointed a family council led by Qusay to run the affairs of Iraq in the event the President were unable to fulfill his duties or were to die suddenly.

Last month, the Arab media reported that Qusay had effectively been appointed his father's deputy and second-in-command. The reports said Mr. Hussein was seeking to change the constitution so 34-year-old Qusay could become president if needed; the legal age now is 40.

Qusay is known as the ruthless commander of the Special Security Organization, a key branch of the Iraqi security apparatus. In 1997, Qusay reportedly ordered the execution of 1,500 political prisoners, according to a United Nations report. Iraq denied the report, which said relatives were even ordered to pay for the bullets used to kill the prisoners before being allowed to retrieve their bodies for burial.

His older brother, Uday, 36, was badly injured in an assassination attempt in 1996 and is only just able to walk without assistance. He is a notorious playboy who made headlines in 1998 for clubbing his father's food-taster to death. He was considered the favourite to succeed his father until the attack. He still controls the official Babel newspaper and could mount a strong challenge for the leadership of Iraq when his father dies.

---

Saddam has cancer, son Kusay on rise

World Tribune
Monday, September 4, 2000
http://www.worldtribune.com/tout-7.html

LONDON -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been sidelined by cancer, a newspaper here reported.

Iraqi sources said many of Saddam's duties are being assumed by his younger son, Kusay. They said Kusay heads a committee of family members that are ready to take over leadership should Sadam be incapacitated, Middle East Newsline reported.

So far, Saddam's health is said to have deteriorated. The sources said the president sustains periods of extreme weakness and failure to concentrate.

On Sunday, the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily reported that Saddam is being treated by a five-member panel of physicans that comprises three French doctors, a German and Swede. The newspaper said Saddam has been diagnosed as having cancer of the endocrinal glands.

No Iraqi doctor was allowed to join the team of physicians, A-Sharq Al Awsat said. Iraqi opposition sources said Saddam fears assassination from his numerous enemies inside and outside Iraq.

Saddam, the newspaper said, headed a recent meeting that included Kusay, his older brother Uday, and three of the president's brothers. Saddam decided that Kusay would head a leadership committee in case the president dies or is incapacitated.

Arab diplomatic sources said they expect a fierce powerful struggle between Kusay and Uday in the aftermath of Saddam's death. Uday was thought to have been Saddam's choice for leadership until he was wounded in an assassination attempt in 1996.

Another scenario, the sources said, is that Saddam will raise tension in the Middle East over the next few months. U.S. officials acknowledge that Washington has placed a Patriot missile battery on alert for possible deployment to Israel out of concern that Baghdad will fire missiles during the U.S. elections in November.

Israel has deployed two Patriot batteries since the Gulf War.

Meanwhile, the United States continues its raids of Iraqi air defense installations. On Saturday, U.S. jets bombed an air defense sites in southern Iraq after its planes came under missile attack.

The United States and Britain have been enforcing no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq.

-------- myanmar

Annan protest over Suu Kyi standoff

BBC News
Monday, 4 September, 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_909000/909546.stm

Burma's military leaders are blocking access to NLD leaders The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has added his voice to the wave of international protests against the Burmese military authorities' treatment of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

She has not been seen in public since Friday, when the police forcibly ended a nine-day standoff that developed from her efforts to visit party activists outside the capital, Rangoon.

Mr Annan expressed his "deep concern" at the military administration's actions against the Burmese opposition leader and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD).

"Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and the freedom of political expression are particularly disturbing," he said in a statement.

Stand-off

Aung San Suu Kyi and fellow party workers were stopped by security forces on 24 August shortly after leaving the capital.

Refusing government requests to turn back, she and 14 other members of the NLD set up a makeshift camp in Dala, a suburb of Rangoon.

The stand-off ended on Friday night when riot police moved in to return the group to the capital.

Since then, the military authorities have blocked access to her and other opposition leaders.

They deny reports that any of the group has been placed under house arrest - saying only that they have been requested to at home while investigations are carried out into their alleged contacts with foreigners and a group of ethnic Karen rebels, known as God's Army.

However, the British ambassador in Burma said he was not allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and was manhandled by the security forces when he tried to contact her and other senior NLD members.

"I was jostled and I was grabbed a couple of times outside the NLD office," Ambassador John Jenkins told the BBC.

He said there were growing concerns that the government may be moving to ban the NLD entirely.

International criticism

The situation in Burma has attracted criticism from the United States, the European Union and Australia.

"(We are) appalled by the standards of human right in Burma and we certainly deplore the way in which Aung San Suu Kyi has been treated, " Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Reuters news agency.

The NLD won elections in May 1990, but Burma's military rulers refused to recognise the result, jailing some party members and placing others under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late Burmese nationalist leader, General Aung San, was held under house arrest for six years after the NLD's election victory.

Although this was lifted in 1995, the military government has maintained restrictions on her movements.

---

World protests as junta forces Suu Kyi back home

The Guardian/Observer
Monday September 4, 2000
John Gittings, East Asia editor
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,363860,00.html

The pro-democracy Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was under police guard yesterday after her nine-day protest against travel restrictions in a suburb of the capital, Rangoon, had been forcibly ended.

Foreign diplomats were unable to contact Ms Suu Kyi in her home, which was surrounded by troops and police who were said to have padlocked the gate.

The US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, joined EU leaders over the weekend in condemning the action by the Burmese military junta.

She said the US was outraged and strongly condemned the violation of the human rights of Ms Suu Kyi and members of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

The junta's official propaganda put out a mocking statement claiming that Ms Suu Kyi had "arrived home safe and sound". The government, it said, had taken into consideration "the adverse weather factor" and complaints from the NLD about living conditions in her roadside camp.

She and her travel companions had been "escorted" home on Saturday "in a motorcade facilitated by the government for their safe and convenient return".

Burmese security officials raided the NLD headquarters after Ms Suu Kyi was forced home. Members of the party going to the building to seek information were denied entry. Foreign diplomats were also turned away by military intelligence officials.

One security official claimed that "incriminatory material and documents" had been seized. Diplomats said that at least three senior members of the NLD had also been detained and had their telephone lines cut.

The regime said that no NLD executive committee members were under arrest, but said their movement was being "restricted".

NLD members were apprehensive last night that the junta was preparing to suppress the party which had survived in spite of years of harassment.

Ms Suu Kyi was stopped on the road when she tested the regime's restrictions on August 24 by leaving the capital in an attempt to visit the NLD's youth wing in the countryside.

After several days during which the regime pretended to treat the affair as a joke, it showed signs of becoming rattled by the strength of international criticism.

"This is a careful, insincere, premeditated move [by Ms Suu Kyi] to attract international attention and to coincide with the upcoming [UN] Millennium Summit," the foreign minister, Win Aung, said shortly before the camp was broken up.

"What she would like to see is for us to arrest her and put her into prison," he added. Supporters of Ms Suu Kyi may infer from this statement that she is not going to be actually jailed. But she could now face a further long period of virtual imprisonment in her house.

---

World Anger As Myanmar Cracks Down on Opposition

Yahoo News
Monday September 4
By Aung Hla Tun
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000904/ts/myanmar_suukyi_dc_1.html

YANGON (Reuters) - Dozens of police took up positions outside the headquarters of Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition Monday as the military government faced international outrage over its crackdown against opponents of the regime.

Diplomats said they believed senior leaders of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, were under house arrest with their telephones cut.

Diplomatic access to Suu Kyi and other senior opposition figures was refused.

But the government denied Suu Kyi and other senior NLD members were under house arrest, although it confirmed their movements had been restricted. The NLD won elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he felt ``deep concern'' over events in Myanmar, after the government halted a nine-day roadside protest by Suu Kyi, forcing her to return home and tightening restrictions on leading members of her party.

Suu Kyi, her driver and 14 NLD members were brought home by the authorities early Saturday after spending nine days and nights in two cars parked by a dirt track outside Yangon.

``Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and the freedom of political expression are particularly disturbing,'' Annan said in a statement.

The government said it was investigating whether some NLD members had been ``engaging (in) terrorist activity'' by conspiring with an armed anti-government group called God's Army to smuggle bombs into the country.

``Senior NLD central executive committee members have been requested to stay at their respective residences and to co-operate with the government during the course of (the) investigation,'' it said in a statement.

International Condemnation

God's Army, which groups radical ethnic Karen fighters and Myanmar student activists and is led by two cheroot-smoking teenage twins revered as having godlike powers, was blamed for taking hundreds of hostages at a Thai hospital in January.

The hospital siege ended with all 10 guerrillas involved in the attack being shot dead by Thai commandos. God's Army is believed to have around 200 fighters at most.

The United States, Britain and Australia have all condemned the crackdown by the Myanmar military.

``The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members and the violations of their fundamental human rights,'' Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in a statement.

Albright said she had reports that military agents had taken away files after spending hours Saturday at NLD offices.

At the NLD headquarters in Yangon, around a dozen policemen stood guard in front of the building Monday and dozens more were deployed in the area, some on light trucks.

They did not appear to be armed, but police with riot gear and shields were visible behind the scenes.

Yangon was calm, residents said, with many people unaware of the events of the weekend.

The roadside protest was the first time Suu Kyi had tried to leave Yangon since another roadside confrontation in 1998 that lasted 13 days until deteriorating health and dehydration forced her to return home.

The protest embarrassed Myanmar and raised doubts over a planned meeting of European Union and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers in Laos in December.

The government stepped up its verbal attacks on the NLD as the stand-off dragged on, and took a new tack at the weekend with its accusations that the party was involved with God's Army.

---

Crackdown on Burmese Opposition Party

New York Times
September 04, 2000
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/world/burma-party-ap.html

YANGON, Myanmar, Sept. 3 -- Police and intelligence officers moved against Myanmar's battered opposition party today, surrounding the homes of its leaders and effectively shutting down its nerve center in a crackdown that has brought international condemnation.

The authoritarian military regime in the former Burma said senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy were "requested to stay at their respective residences."

The crackdown followed what the opposition said was the forced end to a nine-day standoff between the military regime and the opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, the 55-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, and her National League for Democracy colleagues were forced to return to the capital on Saturday after spending nine days on a suburban roadside. Security personnel had stopped her from traveling to the countryside for political work, and she refused to return to Yangon, the capital, formerly called Rangoon.

At almost the same time, party headquarters in Yangon were raided and senior party officials were confined to their homes.

---

Pressure Myanmar

New York Times
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/letters/l04bur.html

To the Editor:

Re "Popular Burmese Leader Tests Wills With Junta" (news article, Aug. 30): Despite the standoff between the Burmese pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the country's military authorities, your article suggests that there is little that the United States can do to pressure the regime because it has already banned new investment by American firms.

Yet a fifth of the export earnings of Myanmar, which was called Burma until it was renamed by the junta, comes from exports to the United States. Those exports, particularly apparel shipments, have been growing. Shouldn't the United States consider barring imports from Myanmar?

ROBERT NAIMAN Washington, Aug. 31, 2000

The writer is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

---

Burma clamps down on opposition

Washington Times
September 4, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://208.246.212.80/world/worldscene-200094212536.htm

RANGOON, Burma - Police and intelligence officers moved against Burma's battered opposition party yesterday, surrounding the homes of its leaders and effectively shutting down its nerve center in a crackdown that has triggered international condemnation.

The authoritarian military regime said senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy party were "requested to stay at their respective residences."

The crackdown followed what the opposition said was the forced end to a nine-day standoff between the military regime and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

-------- russia

Russians Shell Chechen Forest

NewsEdge Corporation
September 4, 2000
By RUSLAN MUSAYEV
Associated Press Writer
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0901152.701&level3=772&date=20000904

ACHKHOI-MARTAN, Russia (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - Russian artillery forces on Friday hammered a forest where Chechen rebels were believed to have taken refuge after a fire fight that killed several rebels.

Four helicopters patrolled overhead and a spotter plane guided the Russian rocket-launcher fire during the morning bombardment, which was observed by an Associated Press reporter. Tanks and armored personnel carriers combed the woods, but no rebels were found.

The fighting in the area west of the Chechen capital Grozny began Thursday with a 40-minute shootout between a federal reconnaissance platoon that encountered a group of rebels.

The rebels fled into the forest between the towns of Samashki and Zakan-Yurt, leaving behind the bodies of three fighters, residents said.

Russian troops have moved into most of the region in a military operation launched last year to regain control from independence fighters who drove out Russian troops in a 1994-96 war.

But Russian forces are still struggling to wipe out small bands of Chechen fighters who retaliate with sniping, ambushes and mines. Troops are attacked daily and have suffered thousands of casualties.

Over the preceding 24 hours, more than 100 rebels were detained by Russian forces, the Russian military said Friday.

Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said that large amounts of weapons and ammunition were also seized, the Interfax news agency reported. Sergeyev said the military was concentrating on rounding up rebels in cities.

Russian jets and helicopters flew combat missions over Chechnya on Thursday, attacking suspected rebel positions with bombs and rockets, military officials said. They claimed that 35 rebels were killed.

There was no way to independently check the Russian claims. Both sides routinely exaggerate the losses they claim to inflict on each other, while underreporting their own losses.

---

Explosion Strikes Russian Marketplace

New York Times
September 04, 2000
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/late/04cnd-russian-explosion.html

MOSCOW -- An explosion tore through a market in the central Russian city of Ryazan on Monday, killing two people and wounding four others, an emergency official said.

A second explosion Monday damaged a boutique in the northern city of St. Petersburg, the Federal Security Service said. The explosion was caused by a bomb, but there were no immediate claims of responsibility, the security service said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the St. Petersburg blast.

The blast in Ryazan tore apart a kiosk in the outdoor grocery market at about 8:30 a.m. in the small industrial city about 120 miles south of Moscow, said Marina Ryklina, a spokeswoman with the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

NTV television showed the market cordoned off by police and stunned shoppers milling nearby carrying bags of potatoes and other goods.

Authorities were investigating whether the explosion was a bomb or an industrial accident, she said. A refrigerator may have exploded, she said.

The explosions followed an Aug. 12 bomb attack in a crowded underground passageway in Moscow, which killed 12 people and wounded more than 100. That blast was blamed on Chechen rebels, but no arrests have been made.

The blasts Monday came on the first anniversary of an apartment bombing in Buinaksk in southern Russia that killed 64 people.

Authorities blamed Chechen rebels for the Buinaksk bombing and three other apartment explosions last September that killed a total of about 300 people and resulted in Russian forces moving into Chechnya.

But bombings by criminals locked in turf disputes are not unusual.

---

Russian planes bombard Chechnya

USA Today
09/04/00- Updated 08:38 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm

NAZRAN, Russia - Russian warplanes and artillery Monday pounded suspected rebel positions across Chechnya amid indications that the insurgents may launch large-scale attacks in the next few weeks, government officials said. Russian jets and helicopter gunships bombed and rocketed suspected targets in the south of the region, but there were no indications of rebel casualties. Military units across Chechnya were put on increased alert because of warnings that the guerrillas could mount major offensives during the first half of September.

-------- space

China Launches Observation Satellite

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0901090.600&level3=788&date=20000904

BEIJING (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - China placed a multipurpose observation satellite into orbit Friday aboard a Long March 4-B rocket, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The rocket carrying the ZY-2 satellite blasted off early Friday from the Taiyuan Launch Center in northern Shanxi province, Xinhua said.

The satellite is designed to conduct scientific experiments in space and to gather and send back pictures and other data that can be used to survey land, plan cities, monitor crops, and survey disasters, Xinhua said.

According to an independent count, the launch was the 62nd by a Long March rocket. In June, a Long March 3 rocket put a meteorological satellite into orbit from the Xichang launching center in southwestern China.

China launched its first satellite in 1970 and 15 years later began offering Long March rockets for international commercial satellite launches at discount prices.

Its launch program has sought to overcome failures in the mid-1990s, including the explosion of a Long March 3B rocket that killed six people on the ground.

---

NASA Gets Set To Boost Flight Rate

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0903143.100&level3=788&date=20000904

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - NASA has long yearned for the day when it could start sending space shuttles up in quick succession to the international space station.

``One of these days,'' shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore kept saying, ``the dike is going to break, the dam is going to burst.''

Well, D-day is finally here.

Safety is the main concern as NASA gets set to boost its space shuttle flight rate in order to furnish and finish a space station that's more than two years behind schedule. The surge begins Friday with the scheduled launch of Atlantis.

Just last week, the General Accounting Office warned that a dwindling and aging shuttle work force could jeopardize flight safety as the pace picks up. An independent team commissioned by NASA offered an even grimmer assessment last spring, saying cutbacks had eroded safety procedures and put undue stress on the remaining workers.

In response, NASA and its prime shuttle contractor, United Space Alliance, have hired a few hundred more people, including experienced veterans.

The space agency also is modernizing the shuttle to make it safer.

``We're starting to embark on a set of activities that is probably as complex as anything that we've ever done in the space business, including landing on the moon,'' Dittemore says. ``We have tens of flights, assembly flights, tens of spacewalks and these are all related.''

Atlantis will carry a load of space station supplies on this week's mission. A U.S.-Russian crew of seven will unpack the shuttle and a cargo ship that's already waiting for them, and hook up equipment both inside and outside the outpost orbiting 230 miles high.

Discovery will follow in October with the first major truss that will extend beyond the modules already in place to carry electronics and communications equipment. Then Endeavour is to arrive in November with the U.S. power supply and Atlantis again in January with Destiny, America's lab module.

And so it will go, mission after mission, until the station is completed in 2006. After that, the station is planned to operate for 10 more years _ with tens more shuttle ferry flights.

Everything had been on hold pending the arrival of the control module Zvezda, Russian for Star. Its flawless docking in July, after more than two years of delay, broke the shuttle logjam and paved the way for the planned launch of the station' s first permanent crew on a Russian Soyuz rocket on Oct. 30.

Beginning with Zvezda, the next year should see 15 American and Russian flights to the space station. Space station manager Jim Van Laak calls it ``the most intense period of flight operations human space flight has ever undertaken.''

NASA plans a total of five shuttle flights this year, then eight flights in 2001 and just about every year thereafter. That compares with a paltry three missions in 1999 and five in 1998, when Russia's cash shortage curtailed work on Zvezda.

With an estimated 1.2 million procedures performed on a shuttle before each launch, the increase in workload is painfully clear.

Astronaut Terrence Wilcutt, commander of Atlantis' upcoming flight, worries about the stress on NASA of going from three to five to eight missions a year. But he believes the space agency is up to the task and says morale in the astronaut corps is ``really, really high.''

``Everybody's waiting to get this thing going,'' Wilcutt says. ``You can see all the crew assignments that need to be made and everyone knows that they're standing in line somewhere.''

NASA last logged eight shuttle missions in 1997. The all-time high was nine in 1985, the year before the Challenger disaster. Back then, flight controllers only had the shuttle to worry about; now they're monitoring a space station, too.

``Flying two vehicles at the same time does put an increased stress on the available manpower,'' says flight director Phil Engelauf. ``It's hard to work multiple projects at the same time and that's what we're going to have to do. But at the same time, that's pretty much what people have wanted to do. That's why we came here.''

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Safety issues loom for NASA

USA Today
09/04/00- Updated 09:24 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/digest/nd1.htm#strike

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Safety is the main concern as NASA gets set to boost its space shuttle flight rate in order to furnish and finish a space station that's more than two years behind schedule. In response to recent warnings about its dwindling workforce, NASA and its prime shuttle contractor, United Space Alliance, have hired a few hundred more people, including experienced veterans. The space agency also is modernizing the shuttle to make it safer. With Friday's launch of Atlantis, NASA plans a total of five shuttle flights this year, eight flights in 2001 and just about every year thereafter. ''We're starting to embark on a set of activities that is probably as complex as anything that we've ever done in the space business, including landing on the moon,'' shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore says.

-------- u.n.

Funding shortage curbs U.N. Afghan anti-mine drive

PAKISTAN: September 4, 2000
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8034

ISLAMABAD - The United Nations has said its programme to remove land mines from Afghanistan was being cut back because donor money had run short, raising the spectre of increased casualties.

A statement by the Islamabad-based office of the U.N. Coordinator for Afghanistan said the programme would reduce costs by sending team members on unpaid leave, trimming or freezing salaries and putting operations on hold for a month.

"This cutback means that mine survey, clearance and mine awareness will be substantially reduced during the last third of the year, on top of previous reductions earlier this year when the funding shortfall started to become apparent," it said.

"Any reduction in mine action automatically has severe repercussions for communities," it quoted programme adviser Polly Brennan as saying about clearing unexploded mines and other ordnance and making people aware of the dangers.

"Civilian mine and unexploded ordnance casualties, already estimated as at least 300 per month, can be expected to increase," she added.

The U.N. statement said that in the longer term, the inability of people to use land because of mine contamination during two decades of the Afghan conflict would have "a negative impact on reconstruction and rehabilitation, the return of refugees, agricultural output, and the broader economy".

Brennan attributed the reduced availability of funds to donor fatigue with Afghanistan, where millions of mines and other unexploded ordnance were scattered during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and factional fighting afterwards.

"The international community does not always understand that despite the conflict we have been able to conduct successful mine action operations for the past decade."

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Millennium Summit to Be Biggest Gathering of Heads of State or Government

Xinhua
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=v0901293.4xi&level3=27823&date=20000904

UNITED NATIONS (Sept. 1) XINHUA - The upcoming Millennium Summit is expected to be the biggest gathering of heads of state or government in the history of the United Nations, the world body said Friday.

A total of 152 heads of state or government and over two dozen other senior officials will attend the Millennium Summit to be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York from September 6 to 8, according to the latest U.N. information.

Only three of the 188 member states will not send their highest-ranking representatives to the summit, namely Kiribati, Somalia and Yugoslavia.

The participants will include Chinese President Jiang Zemin, U. S. President Bill Clinton, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The gathering will be even bigger than the 50th anniversary celebrations of the United Nations in 1995, the U.N. said.

The Millennium Summit will address a host of issues under the official theme "The United Nations in the 21st Century." Among the most challenging are how to pull billions of people out of poverty, strengthen U.N. peace operations and deal more effectively with the world's environmental problems.

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Millennium Summit at U.N. to Draw 150 Leaders
Diplomacy: This week, the secretary-general will seek a pact on slashing extreme poverty, reversing the spread of AIDS and boosting peacekeeping.
The sidelines are where much of the real action is expected to occur.

Los Angeles Times
Monday, September 4, 2000
By MAGGIE FARLEY, Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/updates/lat_summit000904.htm

UNITED NATIONS--In what may be the largest gathering of presidents, premiers and potentates in history, more than 150 international leaders will converge on the United Nations this week with a formidable goal: solving the world's direst problems.

For U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Millennium Summit is a symbolic chance to reinvent the troubled world body. By the end of the week, he wants each leader to pledge support for a bevy of targets, including halving extreme poverty by 2015, reversing the spread of AIDS by 2010 and bolstering peacekeeping operations.

But with such sweeping problems, can this three-day rush of speeches and meetings actually help the U.N. overcome its image of all talk and no action?

"It is easy to be cynical about these meetings and say, 'Oh, they produce nothing,' " said Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette. "But many such gatherings have made a real difference in focusing political energy and raising political will."

Although most of the goals for the summit, which starts Wednesday, came out of past U.N. conferences, it is the first time they will be part of a comprehensive agreement to be signed at the end of the week.

Over the session's three days, each leader will have five minutes to address the assembly. While the speeches drone on, other leaders will attend four round-table talks designed to improve education, prevent war and ensure that globalization leaves no one behind. Almost 70 countries plan to sign or ratify other existing U.N. treaties on issues such as human rights, discrimination against women and eradication of land mines.

Much of the real action will be on the sidelines. President Clinton will seize one more chance to oversee Middle East peace, shuttling between Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Long-stalled talks over Cyprus could resume, and a deteriorating peace pact in Congo may get a boost. Hundreds of other meetings will take place in hotel rooms, countries' missions and dozens of "love booths" set up around the U.N. building for quickie negotiations.

"This is so if an Arab wanted to meet an Israeli, for example, they wouldn't have to go to each other's mission," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said. About 250 such meetings have been booked for the first day alone.

Goodwill and good intentions abound. But ironically, at the moment the U.N. is trying to push its plan of action for the next century, its members are deadlocked over whether to expand the body's political powers or curtail them.

"There is a real struggle for the heart and soul of the organization," said Edward C. Luck, an expert on the U.N. based at New York University School of Law. "Those who are trying to slow down the momentum of internationalism are making their mark."

At the heart of the dispute is the "Annan Doctrine," the secretary-general's revolutionary vision that has caused division since he enunciated it at last year's General Assembly: When a country is overwhelmed by disaster, war--even civil or ethnic conflict--the international community should be compelled to intervene, Annan says. Borders should no longer be boundaries. Sovereignty should no longer be a shield for governments that abuse their own people.

But China and others have countered with formal proposals to ensure that a country's domestic business remains its own. For Beijing, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's intervention in Yugoslavia last year set an unnerving precedent for outside interference in China's relations with Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, and Tibet.

Russia also worries about the United Nations tangling with its treatment of the separatist republic of Chechnya, and India feels the same about disputed Kashmir. And even Australia said last week that it will limit cooperation with U.N. monitors who have been investigating racial discrimination against aborigines.

Even when countries invite the U.N. inside their borders to maintain peace, it doesn't always go well. A series of the blue-helmeted soldiers' failures--notably in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda--has worked against the argument for an expanded U.N. role.

In an upcoming mini-summit, Annan will push the Security Council to ensure that peacekeepers' abilities can keep pace with expectations. A recent report Annan commissioned outlines how to make peacekeeping missions clearer and better funded and see that they are properly equipped.

Along with dealing with age-old problems, the Millennium Summit will try to bring solutions to new challenges of the 21st century. To help bridge the growing digital divide, the U.N. has created a high-tech version of the Peace Corps. The "Net Corps" will send volunteers to developing countries to train people how to set up Internet networks and use computers to help with health, education, the environment and small enterprise. A separate U.N. initiative called "First on the Ground" will provide satellite and cellular phones for disaster areas.

A handful of leaders could use the help of a videoconferencing system--not all of the leaders of the world body's 188 member nations will attend the summit. The usual list of rogues is staying home: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will not appear, nor will the leaders of North Korea, Yugoslavia or Libya. At the last minute, Cuban President Fidel Castro announced that he will come, but as a leader known for his seven-hour addresses, he might feel constrained by the five-minute limit on speeches.

And for those who might want to spoil the party, security will be tighter than it has ever been in New York. The city's Police Department is responsible for the safety of the leaders until they get to the international territory of the U.N., and it has seen its share of attacks and assassination attempts.

One year, an anti-Castro contingent tried to fire a rocket at the U.N. building from a small boat in the East River. The missile landed in the river with a harmless splash. More seriously, police and the FBI foiled a plot by Muslim extremists to blow up the U.N. with a car bomb in 1993, just days before the attack was to take place.

No one will get near the U.N. without a special pass or a siren and black limousine this week. Closed-off streets mean a week of gridlock for cantankerous New Yorkers. But the U.N. has started a citywide ad campaign to remind people why they should tolerate traffic-stopping motorcades with grace.

Singer Harry Belafonte, who is a U.N. goodwill ambassador, narrates a somber television spot explaining the goals of the summit with the tagline, "History Is Made Here." Bus shelters, telephone booths and nearly half of the city's subway cars will carry posters with the summit's themes in giant letters.

New Yorkers, who endure a U.N.-related traffic snarl every year when the General Assembly opens, are learning to grin and bear it.

"The traffic will be terrible, almost unbearable," said cabdriver Sofian Chebib, originally from Syria. "But it may be that I'm waiting so my own president can go by. Maybe he will go help make peace. That's worth waiting for."

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Nearly Useless As 150 heads of state arrive in New York for the largest ever summit, the UN's role is again in question

Common Dreams NewsCenter
Published on Monday, September 4, 2000 in the Manchester Guardian (UK)
by Madeleine Bunting
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/
http://www.commondreams.org/views/090400-102.htm

Feeling virtuous is one of the most pleasurable human emotions. And more than 150 heads of state have scheduled virtue into their diaries for this week. Tony Blair does his bit on Wednesday, President Clinton and Fidel Castro are both pitching up. They're gathering in New York for the biggest UN summit ever and they'll give and listen to more long speeches on poverty eradication, conflict resolution and sustainable development than ever before. Welcome to the UN's Millennium Summit, scheduled to beat all previous records on admirable promises, declarations of noble ideals and evocations of a peaceful and just future for humanity.

The contrast between the frenetic activity in the UN in New York and its rapidly disintegrating operation in Sierra Leone is painfully obvious. And yet more embarrassing revelations about the UN's role in Rwanda are published in a new book this week. We are wearily familiar with this old conundrum: the UN is good at drawing up idealistic conventions, but near-useless at getting them translated into political reality. This usually prompts one or other of two conclusions: first, that the UN is powerless, second that it is hypocritical - or both.

These will be the sort of criticisms flung at the UN in the second international jamboree this month - the autumn meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Prague. Thousands of frustrated demonstrators are expected in the Czech capital in a follow-up to Seattle last November.

But the UN is extraordinarily powerful in many ways; few other organisations have the power to get 150 heads of state into town. They come to buy into the closest we've got to a universal, secular faith - the UN Declaration of Human Rights is its credo and Kofi Annan its high priest. As William Shawcross writes in concluding his study of UN peacekeeping operations, Deliver Us From Evil: "In a more religious time it was only God whom we asked to deliver us from evil. Now we call upon our own man-mutions for such deliverance."

Not only do many pray for the UN to deliver them from evil, they pray for it to deliver them their daily bread (hundreds of thousands of south Sudanese have been dependent on the UN food operation for years). The 500-plus UN conventions (land mines, rights of children, elimination of discrimination against women) which Annan is urging his guests to sign-up to this week, are a modern day version of the Beatitudes, our vision of the Kingdom of God. It's no accident that many UN secretary-generals have been deeply religious (including the practising Christian Annan). Dag Hammarskjöld, one of the most admired men to head the UN, made its spiritual mission explicit: "We have tried to make peace on this earth and we have failed miserably. Unless there is a spiritual renaissance, this world will know no peace."

The charge of hypocrisy is levelled at the UN, just as it is at any other faith-based organisation. This opens up the whole vexed relationship between idealism and reality - and nowhere is this issue more complicated than politics. If the reality doesn't fulfill the promise of the ideals, do you junk the ideals? Surely the role of idealism is as a motivating aspiration and a yardstick. Curiously, the right has often been much more comfortable with this issue than the left; believing some variation of original sin, it knows that human nature can't match the ideals it aspires to. It is the left which finds the mismatch so frustrating.

The relationship between idealism and politics is not academic, it is central to why the Czech police claim to be preparing tear gas and riot police to deal with up to 50,000 activists in Prague on September 26. While the UN summit in New York will elaborate the ideals, the real decisions affecting billions of lives will be made in Prague by the IMF and the World Bank. On hundreds of websites environmentalists, human rights groups and anarchists have embarked on a mass education programme to mobilise their supporters in the campaign against international financial institutions. The big idea whose time has finally come is global democratic deficit. They want to know why the IMF and the World Bank are run on a blatantly undemocratic system of money buying votes, while the far more democratic UN has always been squeezed out of any significant input into managing the global economy.

Right from the start the UN was rigged primarily as a talking shop to promulgate an ideology. Attempts to provide the UN with muscle in economic matters have been blocked throughout its history by primarily the US, as a New Economics Foundation pamphlet published today charts. The IMF and the World Bank rejected the idea of being UN agencies; a UN international trade organisation collapsed for lack of US support and the UN conference on trade and development was emasculated. The result is the kind of castrated idealism and international institutional chaos we have now; the UN has a remit for the environment and for development but no access to the economic levers which might enable it to deliver on either. So, the UN painstakingly negotiates complex treaties on such issues as biodiversity only to find them coming into conflict with World Trade Organisation rules: which takes precedence in international law? No one knows - and that's what has banded such disparate groups together as conservationists, trade unions and development NGOs in the global protest movement.

The UN's idealism was part of a western bid for ideological hegemony; it was never designed to have any military or economic power. But its use as a cold war weapon is over, and now we need it to have power. That is what the last 10 years has shown again and again when the UN has been called into peacekeeping operations. And as it has had to grapple with challenges to the whole globe such as climate change, Aids and biodiversity.

What happens next is the tricky part: in the last 50 years, an elaborate moral edifice has been constructed of human rights, but how can it survive the next 50 years with any credibility? Recently, Sir Crispin Tickell drew from 25 years experience of diplomacy and environmentalism to paint a bleak picture of ever-increasing natural disasters due to climate change such as floods and droughts. The International Red Cross has already warned that the scale and frequency of disasters have overwhelmed our capacity to respond - there will be many more refugees and much more hunger. Will we look back on the second half of the 20th century as an astonishing period of moral luxury, the UN's universal human rights as a formulation of Christian millenarianism like socialism, admirable but impractical? The cracks in the moral edifice are visibly growing: people are beginning to opt out of its orthodoxies - the right to asylum is a vital test case with Jack Straw's bid to renegotiate the Geneva convention. Or will we find a way - muddling, messy - to bring UN ideal and political reality into closer relationship?

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Lack of money forces UN to reduce mine clearing operations

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
By KATHY GANNON Associated Press Writer
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0901104.300&level3=27823&date=20000904

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - Saying it has no money, the United Nations announced Friday it would be sharply reducing its land-mine clearing operations in Afghanistan _ one of the heaviest mined countries in the world.

Donations have dried up and as a result the U.N. will cut by half its mine clearing operations, according to a U.N. statement issued in the Pakistani capital.

This is certain to mean more land mine victims in a country that already sees at least 300 people hurt by land mines every month, the statement said.

``Civilian mine and unexploded ordinance casualties already estimated as at least 300 per month can be expected to increase,'' Polly Brennan, Mine Awareness Adviser to the program, said in the statement.

The mine-clearing operations sought dlrs 25 million in donations, but received only dlrs 14 million, said Stephanie Bunker, a spokeswoman for the U.N. in Pakistan.

The lack of funds is being blamed on ``donor fatigue'', a term used by the U.N. to mean that people have gotten tired of giving.

Estimates on the number of land mines in Afghanistan vary from five million to as many as 10 million. Earlier the United Nations said it would take 30 years to clear the land mines in Afghanistan.

Millions were laid by invading Soviet soldiers during the 1980s and millions more by Islamic rebels who took power when communist rule in Afghanistan ended in 1992.

As a result of the cutbacks the U.N. will be sending its staff on unpaid leave, which is expected to result in a 40 percent saving in salaries.

To date the U.N. has cleared 1.2 million explosives from former battlefields, agricultural lands, roads and residential areas. Last year the U.N.'s mine awareness program reached more than one million Afghans teaching especially the young how to identify a land mine, said the statement.

Despite international protest, land mines continue to be laid in Afghanistan.

Opposition spokesman Mohammed Abil said that an offensive by the country's ruling Taliban in northern Afghanistan was repulsed because of the freshly laid mines laid by opposition soldiers.

Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is one of the world's heaviest mined cities. The mines were laid by warring Islamic factions who ruled the country from 1992 to 1996 when they were thrown out by the hardline Taliban rulers.

Many of the land mine victims are young children who scavenge through the war ruins searching for scrap metal to sell, say aid workers in Kabul.

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U.S. Expected to Grant Visa to Castro

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=v0901338.6xi&level3=27823&date=20000904

WASHINGTON (Sept. 1) XINHUA via NewsEdge Corporation - The United States is expected to grant visa to Cuban President Fidel Castro to attend the U.N. Millennium Summit next week in New York, State Department officials said Friday.

The State Department earlier confirmed that they received a visa application for Castro, who would make a speech at the U.N. Millennium Summit.

The State Department officials said it is "a matter of process, " not a matter of decision, to grant the visa to Castro, who would make his first trip to the United States since 1995.

Under an agreement between the United States and the United Nations, Washington must grant visas to foreign officials wanting to attend U.N. events unless their presence would "prejudice" U.S. security.

The officials said that the United States would comply with its commitments "under the host nation agreement."

Last week, the United States refused to issue visas to Cuba's National Assembly Speaker Ricardo Alarcon and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and an unspecified number of other Cuban officials to attend an international conference of lawmakers in New York, which Washington argued was not a part of the U.N. event.

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Island of Tuvalu To Become 189th Country Admitted to United Nations
Revenues from Sale of .tv Top Level Domain Assist with Fees To Join

Yahoo News
Monday September 4, 5:01 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000904/ca_dottv.html

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Who: Tuvalu, an island nation in the South Pacific.

What: Honorable Ionatana Ionatana, Prime Minister of Tuvalu, and Tuvaluan delegates will be at the United Nations to witness the acceptance of their country as the newest member of the United Nations. This will be the 189th member of the U.N.

dotTV is paying Tuvalu $50 million (one million dollars each quarter) to use the .tv TLD. Tuvalu is using revenues generated from the sale of its .tv TLD address to pay the fees required to join the U.N. During the past six years, only four countries have applied and entered the U.N.

dotTV, the newest top-level domain (TLD), announced the availability of .tv Internet addresses in April, uniting "TV," the world's most recognized two letter symbol, with the World Wide Web to empower companies, organizations and individuals to create the global Internet destinations and brands of tomorrow.

Where: United Nations New York, NY
When: Tuesday, September 5, 2000.

Contact: dotTV Rob Kostich or Sarah Alcorn, 626/535-2803 sarah@www.tv or Schwartz Communications Merrill Freund or Elizabeth Holwerda, 415/512-0770 eholwerda@schwartz-pr.com

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Nepali PM Leaves for New York to Attend UN Summit

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=v0903002.8xi&level3=27823&date=20000904

KATHMANDU (Sept. 3) XINHUA via NewsEdge Corporation - Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala left for New York Sunday to participate in the Millennium Summit of the United Nations to be held on September 6 to 8.

In his address to the summit on Thursday, Koirala will stress for strengthening and enhancing the role of the U.N. in the 21st century, according to Nepali Foreign Secretary Narayan Thapa.

Nepal will also raise the issue of fighting against global poverty, world security and reform and expansion of the U.N. Security Council with representation from the developing countries, he said.

The forthcoming U.N. summit will focus its discussion on the role of the U.N. in the new century on such issues as disarmament, trafficking of women and children and women's equality, said Nepali Foreign Minister Chakra Bastola.

The summit will be participated in by heads of state or government of about 150 countries around the world and will be followed by U.N.'s 55th General Assembly meeting.

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Top U.N administrator delays decision on holding Yugoslav elections in Kosovo

Associated Press
September 4, 2000
By MERITA DHIMGJOKA Associated Press Writer
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0901104.301&level3=27823&date=20000904

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) _ The top international official in Kosovo delayed a decision Friday on whether to allow the province to be included in voting in Yugoslavia's presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for later this month.

U.N. administrator Bernard Kouchner was expected to announce his decision Friday, but was delayed because of continuing consultations with local and international officials, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

``He has still got various Albanian and international leaders to talk to about this,'' Claire Trevena said. A decision likely will be announced Monday.

International officials were caught off guard earlier this week when an aide of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said 500 polling stations would be opened in Serb enclaves in the troubled province of Kosovo for the Sept. 24 vote.

In a surprise move, a Radical Party official allied with Milosevic's ruling Socialists and neo-Communists, criticized the announced voting in Kosovo, saying it could lead to widespread vote-rigging.

``We won't accept the vote at polling stations in Kosovo where Radicals don't have monitors,'' said Tomislav Nikolic, the ultranationalist party's presidential candidate. ``The Socialists and (neo-Communists) must not play this game.''

According to U.N officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Washington opposes including Kosovo in the elections, while European governments are not so adamant, pointing out that the province formally remains part of Yugoslavia, although it currently is run by the United Nations and NATO.

The United Nations is preparing to hold local elections in Kosovo on Oct. 28. Kosovo Serbs have declared they will boycott that vote.

Thousands of Serbs fled the province when Yugoslav troops and police withdrew in June 1999 after NATO's 78-day bombing of Yugoslavia.

Those who stayed often have been attacked by armed ethnic Albanians, who seek to drive the remaining 100,000 Serbs from the province.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe criticized the proposed vote, which would leave the organization with less than a month to prepare voters lists, screen about 5,000 candidates, and run a public awareness campaign in the province.

``This is unrealistic,'' OSCE Ambassador Daan Everts told The Associated Press. ``You can't have decent and real elections up to the international standards like this. This is not serious.''

Milosevic's plan adds a new element of volatility to the already-high political tensions and security concerns in the province.

U.N. police are providing security for several ethnic Albanian politicians, most of whom belong to the Democratic League of Kosovo, the party of moderate leader Ibrahim Rugova. In recent weeks, several party officials have been attacked or received death threats.

NATO is adding about 2,000 fresh troops to the 40,000 already in the province ahead of the October elections.

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Five Arrested in Scuffles Near U.N. as World Leaders Prepare to Gather

New York Times
September 04, 2000
By TINA KELLEY
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/regional/ny-un-arrest.html

Five people were arrested yesterday near the United Nations in scuffles that appeared to have been aimed at the Iranian delegation to the Millennium Summit, one of the largest gatherings of national leaders, which begins today.

About 4:15 p.m., a 44-year-old man with a Swedish passport was arrested near 53rd Street and Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive for throwing yellow paint at the motorcade of the Iranian delegation, the police said. The man, whose name was not released, was charged with disorderly conduct, Officer Theresa Farello said.

After 5 p.m., two men were arrested in the lobby of the United Nations Plaza Hotel, at 44th Street near First Avenue, for shouting racial epithets, the police said. They were found to be holding paint as well.

The president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, had been scheduled to stay at the hotel, the police said.

In another incident, a man running down 44th Street threw yellow paint at the hotel. A police officer grabbed the man, and both fell to the ground. The officer was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center with minor injuries, and the suspect was arrested and taken to Bellevue because he appeared to be emotionally disturbed, the police said.

Another man got into a scuffle with several people at 44th Street and Second Avenue, and was arrested and taken to Bellevue for evaluation. The police, who did not release the names of the suspects or the charges against them, later closed 44th Street to pedestrians and let people enter the hotel only in groups of 10.

Three suspicious packages were searched at the United Nations Plaza Hotel, but no bombs were found.

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With Clinton Due, Holbrooke Defends U.N.

New York Times
September 04, 2000
By BARBARA CROSSETTE
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/090400un-holbrooke.html

With President Clinton preparing to visit New York this week for a meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, the American ambassador, Richard C. Holbrooke, said on Saturday that the United States must focus more on its relations with the organization, which he called "indispensable" to American foreign policy.

"American dollars spent on the United Nations are worthwhile," Mr. Holbrooke said in an interview. "We need to fix it and save it, rather than walk away from it or weaken it."

On Wednesday, Mr. Clinton will open a three-day series of speeches and round-table discussions by more than 150 heads of government, many of whom will also be talking privately in dozens of specially constructed conference nooks or in diplomatic missions around New York.

Mr. Holbrooke, who is completing a year as ambassador to the United Nations, has found much of his time consumed in lobbying his administration colleagues on international issues and in carrying out demands made on the United Nations by Congress. A group of congressmen who have often been hostile to the United Nations have established multiple hurdles to full American participation, blocking payment of past dues and some new assessments.

"The U.S. will have to have a more profound discussion on how the U.N. fits into its security objectives," Mr. Holbrooke said. "With all its flaws, the U.N. is an indispensable organization for American foreign policy."

Mr. Holbrooke's potential foreign policy role in a new Democratic administration -- if Vice President Al Gore wins the presidency in November -- is the focus of unending speculation among other diplomats. But he said he intended to "work straight through until Jan. 20" no matter what the outcome of the election. His arrival here was delayed a year by Congressional blocks and federal ethics investigations, largely into his contacts with American embassies after he left a federal post.

He said that he did not disagree that reform was still needed in the United Nations and that, in his dealings with the organization's international civil servants, he had been "dismayed at the bureaucratic behavior and obstructionism." He has been strongly supportive of strengthening the peacekeeping department and of initiatives taken by Secretary General Kofi Annan to reform other areas of administration. Mr. Holbrooke's next target, he said, is the United Nations department of public information, which he contends is overstaffed and ineffective.

But while Mr. Holbrooke has been vocal in criticizing United Nations shortcomings, especially when members of Congress are visiting, there is no doubt that his job has been made more difficult by Congressional restrictions imposed in the name of reform, other diplomats say.

Mr. Holbrooke and another ambassador, Donald Hays, a budget and management expert assigned full time to the American mission to the United Nations, have spent many hours fighting to get United States dues to the organization reduced -- to 22 percent of the regular budget, from 25 percent, and to 25 percent of peacekeeping costs, from just over 30 percent. Congress has demanded the reduction, but other member nations regard any reduction as a violation of international treaty obligations.

It is far from certain they will succeed, most other diplomats say, since 188 nations will have to agree to let the richest country in the world cut back on payments geared to the American portion of the international economy, which is higher than the Congressional targets.

The American delegation has also had to expend much diplomatic capital this year to get the United States back on an important budget committee, where it had lost a seat because of other nations' anger at its failure to pay its dues.

When any peacekeeping operation is planned, Mr. Holbrooke must hold up a final decision by the Security Council for 15 days in order to notify Congress and give members the right to object. At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a spokesman said that this was a pledge made voluntarily by the Clinton administration, not a Congressional rule, and that it reflected the administration's unwillingness to fight on Capitol Hill over issues involving the United Nations.

Mr. Holbrooke has criticized his own administration for asking Congress for too little money in peacekeeping budget assessments. When money is withheld, as it has been recently for African missions, the United Nations has to scramble to pay bills or to field adequate operations.

Some United Nations officials and diplomats, including some from friendly European nations, also say that Mr. Holbrooke, a Clinton cabinet member, has often been more eager to act quickly in times of crisis than officials in Washington.

In May, when a peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone descended into fiasco with the capture of 500 peacekeepers by rebels, the administration was silent, refusing help to Mr. Annan. Diplomats say that Mr. Holbrooke was known to have wanted some show of American power, and perhaps logistical support for the United Nations, short of the use of American troops.

Despite uneven patches, however, Mr. Holbrooke said in the interview that he was convinced that relations between the United Nations and the United States were better after visits to the organization by Mr. Gore, several cabinet members and about 80 members of Congress.

"In the end, the United States will have to decide how important this organization is, with all its flaws," he said. "The U.S. is stronger now in the U.N., and the U.N. is stronger in the U.S. -- but we still have a way to go."

---

Cramping Their Summit Style Gridlock Is Only One Worry for U.N. Meeting

Washington Post
Monday, September 4, 2000; Page A01
By Colum Lynch Special to The Washington Post
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-09/04/127l-090400-idx.html

UNITED NATIONS-Kings, chancellors, presidents and prime ministers from more than 155 countries will gather in New York City this week to chart the future of the United Nations in the 21st century. But first they will have to contend with unprecedented gridlock, a shortage of luxury hotel rooms and a clash of super-sized egos vying for center stage at the so-called Millennium Summit.

The United Nations says the three-day event, which runs Wednesday through Friday, will attract the largest number of world leaders ever under one roof. It will present a security and protocol nightmare that may overshadow the event's main purpose: uniting U.N. member states behind Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposed agenda of reducing poverty, fighting AIDS and enhancing U.N. peacekeeping around the globe.

Organizers had planned that the heads of states would hold many of their closed-door meetings in the U.N.'s grand economic and social chamber along the East River. But they were forced to move those sessions into cramped basement conference rooms after the U.S. Secret Service said it would have to shut down Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, the highway that passes underneath the meeting hall, for fear of a terrorist bombing.

That decision has fueled resentment against the United States among many diplomats, who believe the new venue is undignified for a gathering of world leaders. Making matters worse, President Clinton is considering canceling his appearance at the round-table discussions to make time for Middle East peace talks.

Negotiations on a final declaration by world leaders have been soured by a dispute between Namibia and Finland, the first two countries to share the presidency of the General Assembly.

The Finns accuse Namibia's foreign minister, Theo Ben Gurirab, whose post as president of the General Assembly ends Tuesday, of freezing them out of the process of drafting the declaration. The Namibians counter that Finland leaked confidential versions of the document to its European allies.

American diplomats, meanwhile, are struggling to prevent the summit from degenerating into a forum for bashing the United States.

U.S. officials have pressed Gurirab to remove language in the draft declaration that emphasizes noninterference in countries' internal affairs, a rhetorical stab at the U.S. emphasis on human rights around the globe. One official said summit documents also refer to "colonial or alien domination and foreign occupation"--wording that the State Department believes is aimed at reviving Cold War-era ideological debates.

"I don't remember the last time the United States was trying to create new colonies," the official said.

In the past week, the Clinton administration has urged U.N. weapons inspectors to avoid a clash with Iraq and deferred a decision on whether to build a nuclear missile defense system, defusing two potentially inflammatory issues during Clinton's bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.

With Putin, Clinton is expected to discuss the threat of nuclear proliferation and the prospect of International Monetary Fund loans to Russia. With Jiang, he is likely to discuss human rights and trade. And with Abdullah, the main topic is certain to be the price of oil.

Even those meetings, however, are likely to be eclipsed by Middle East peace talks among Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. With a Sept. 13 target date for an agreement fast approaching, White House advisers say Clinton is deeply focused on breaking the Palestinian-Israeli impasse over the future of Jerusalem.

In the sessions on the future of the United Nations, diplomats said, Clinton's authority will be undercut by the continuing failure of the United States to pay its regular U.N. dues or assessments for peacekeeping missions, even those Washington has strongly backed. U.S. arrears now amount to $1.7 billion by the U.N.'s count and about $1 billion by Washington's calculation.

Nonetheless, Clinton and his advisers are expected to underscore the importance of strengthening the U.N.'s capacity to conduct peacekeeping. They also will try to persuade foreign leaders to cough up more money and troops, and they will campaign to block Sudan from gaining a seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Meanwhile, U.N. protocol experts have been busy ensuring that rivals, such as Clinton and Cuban President Fidel Castro, are never seated beside each other. The leaders of Pakistan and India have been assigned separate round-table discussions.

U.N. ambassadors responsible for ensuring that their bosses receive at least a bit of limelight have been warned that each country will be given only five minutes to address the General Assembly. German diplomats are trying to make the most of their five minutes by swapping their speaking order with Slovenia, which is heavily dependent on German aid, to guarantee that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder goes on during prime time back home.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the unpredictable Latin American leader who recently traveled to Baghdad to meet President Saddam Hussein, warned that five minutes will not be sufficient for a man of his stature to speak his mind. He said he would talk for 30. Annan, personally, will have to ask him to limit his time, according to U.N. sources.

Then, of course, there is the task of finding hotel space, not to mention guided tours, shopping excursions, food and entertainment for first ladies and a few first husbands.

"We booked our hotel rooms more than a year ago, but we have had trouble because our delegation grew," said Dumisana Shadrack Kumal, South Africa's U.N. ambassador. "What's worse is, it's impossible to get a restaurant reservation. I have had my staff call all the restaurants around the United Nations and they are all booked. But the only people I pity are the New Yorkers, because traffic is going to be incredible."

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) has warned the city's residents to plan to walk or take public transportation all week. In addition to the gridlock from 170 motorcades (with a total of 1,300 limousines, buses and cars) ferrying world leaders between the United Nations and 36 hotels, the city has granted permits for 91 demonstrations, including major protests against Castro and Iranian President Mohammed Khatemi. Giuliani said 8,000 police officers will provide security, at a cost to the city of more than $10 million.

"They'll get protected better than anyplace else in the world, but as far as I am concerned, some of them I think are despicable, horrible human beings and you should always make that point every time you get a chance to make that point," Giuliani said, extending a traditional New York welcome.

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U.N. chief says United Nations and Olympics share same ideals

NewsEdge
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0831203.901&level3=27823&date=20000904

UNITED NATIONS (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - The United Nations and the Olympics share the same ideals _ tolerance, equality, fair play, and most of all peace, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message to the games of the 27th Olympiad.

``Together, the Olympics and the United Nations can be a winning team,'' he said Thursday. ``But the contest will not be won easily. War, intolerance and deprivation continue to stalk the earth. We must fight back. Just as athletes strive for world records, so must we strive for world peace.''

Annan praised the International Olympic Committee for reviving the ancient Greek tradition of the ``Olympic Truce,'' calling for all hostilities to cease during the games from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1 in Sydney, Australia.

``I join the United Nations General Assembly in urging all those at war to observe the Olympic Truce,'' he said. ``This may sound unrealistic. But as any athlete will tell you, nothing happens without a dream.''

The secretary-general said there is increasing interest in the power of sports to promote a culture of peace, and he praised the establishment in Greece of the International Olympic Truce Center under IOC auspices.

``Let us all now enjoy this inspiring spectacle, and let us sustain the momentum of peace and goodwill so admirably set in motion,'' he said.

``The Olympic games display the very best of our common humanity. Coming together across virtually every line of race, ethnicity, language, religion, gender and national identity, the athletes _ on their own or as members of a team _ will scale new heights, set new records and give the world a lesson in international understanding,'' Annan said.

The secretary-general will be represented at the opening of the games by Sergio Vieira de Mello, his special representative in East Timor, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The U.N. flag will fly in Sydney and two U.N. representatives will run in the Olympic Torch relay in the run-up to the official opening, he said.

In addition, following a request to the secretary-general, the International Olympic Committee authorized several East Timorese athletes to compete in the games as individuals, under the Olympic flag.

Following a referendum last year to break its ties with Indonesia, the United Nations is administering East Timor in its transition to independence.

---

Millennium hopes

Washington Times
September 4, 2000
Embassy Row James Morrison
News and dispatches from the diplomatic corridor.
http://208.246.212.80/world/embassy-200094212929.htm

Roble Olhaye arrived in New York on Friday after two months in his native Djibouti helping arrange a political settlement to Somalia's long nightmare of civil war.

Still jet-lagged, he launched into overseeing the final arrangements for the arrival of his president for this week's three-day Millennium Summit at the United Nations, beginning Wednesday.

Mr. Olhaye serves both as his country's ambassador to the United States and United Nations.

In Washington, the envoy from the tiny country in the Horn of Africa is also the second-most-senior ambassador and dean of the African diplomatic corps.

He has high hopes for showcasing Africa's problems at the U.N. summit.

"This Millennium Summit is the brainchild of the secretary-general, who happens to be an African," Mr. Olhaye said, referring to Kofi Annan of Ghana.

"He has persuaded the international community not to turn their eyes away from countries that have been plagued by violence and chaos," Mr. Olhaye said.

African leaders will be emphasizing the need for development aid and programs to fight poverty, he added.

Many Washington-based ambassadors will be traveling to New York, but few have the double duty that Mr. Olhaye has.

Most ambassadors are relying on their U.N. counterparts to make the arrangements, from hotel reservations to airport accommodations for presidential planes.

This will be the United Nations' biggest gathering of world leaders.

"This is a good opportunity for every country to contribute to the United Nations as a world body," said Costa Rican Ambassador Jaime Daremblum.

He said Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez, who will address the summit on Friday, will promote the need for governments to spend more on education.

Brazilian Ambassador Rubens A. Barbosa said the summit will promote U.N. goals for the 21st century.

"It is a symbolic effort to strengthen the U.N. system," he said.

Richard Wyatt, the charge d'affaires at the European Union mission to the United Nations, agreed that the summit is designed to set "a general sense of direction rather than precise measures."

"The world is becoming more interdependent. Peacekeeping requires more and more attention at the global level," he added.

The EU has a special interest in seeing U.N. reforms in the new millennium.

"The EU actively supports the U.N. We pay 36 percent of the budget and represent 5 percent of the world's population," he said.

Macedonian Ambassador Lubica Z. Acevska said the summit will give her country a chance to showcase its success in developing a democracy and avoiding the conflicts that engulfed other areas of the Balkans.

"Macedonia has become a success story," she said.

"The summit is a great idea to bring together the world leaders to a forum on making this millennium one of peace," she said.

"It will be a wonderful opportunity for everyone there."

For Miss Acevska this will be one of her last official duties, as she prepares to finish her diplomatic tour this month.

To contact James Morrison, call 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail morris@twtmail.com

---

Godzilla of summits has a hostile city in its grip

Washington Times
September 4, 2000
By Betsy Pisik THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://208.246.212.80/world/default-200094214021.htm

NEW YORK - A city calling itself the Millennium Capital of the World might be expected to open its arms to 170 world leaders attending a Millennium Summit. But promising a week of epic gridlock and sharpshooters on rooftops is not the way to win the hearts of New Yorkers.

Starting Wednesday, the United Nations is hosting what it plausibly calls the largest gathering of world leaders in human history.

Each of those kings, presidents and prime ministers will be accompanied by wives and retainers, all needing a place to sleep. They will want to hold meetings and receptions. They will commute to and from the United Nations - usually in large motorcades. They will do a little shopping.

All of which means a four-day traffic jam that will shut down midtown Manhattan more surely than Godzilla and King Kong combined.

From tomorrow through Friday evening, streets running through the midtown East Side will be closed to traffic, and often to pedestrians as well. The streets that are open are likely to be choked by 170 motorcades, some of them a dozen sedans long.

City Hall says it will spend as much as $10 million on security but is showing little enthusiasm for it.

The leaders "will get protected better than any place else in the world, but as far as I am concerned, some of them I think are despicable, horrible human beings," Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani told reporters last week. "You should always make that point every time you get a chance to make that point," he added.

It was Mr. Giuliani who, at the last such gathering of world leaders five years ago, had Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat expelled from the Lincoln Center in the middle of a special concert for the visiting dignitaries.

Having learned something from that earlier summit, New York officials are begging locals to avoid a "diplo-zone" from 35th to 47th streets between Third Avenue and the East River. Portions of FDR Drive - a lifeline for commuters that runs the length of Manhattan and connects to bridges to Queens and Brooklyn - will be shut down sporadically and without notice.

Transit police caution drivers that streets surrounding two dozen hotels and diplomatic residences and missions will also be subject to closures, as will a milelong stretch of Fifth Avenue bordered by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and scores of diplomatic residences.

To add insult to inconvenience, New Yorkers will find black-clad sharpshooters watching them from the skyline.

"I am always proud to see my prime minister come to such a gathering," said one taxi driver, a native of India. "But I do not wish to be here during it."

The United Nations is trying to show its sympathy for "the good people of New York."

"We know their patience will be tried in the course of the summit week, but we would like to invite them to be patient and to reassure them that this is really for a good cause," said Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette.

After years of escalating security concerns during the high-profile annual opening of the General Assembly, U.N. officials are aware that they have as much to fear from irate Manhattanites as they do from international terrorists.

In an effort to salve commuters' frustrations, the organization has spent $115,000 on posters in subways and bus shelters promising that the summit participants will reduce or reverse poverty, AIDS and global warming. There is even a 30-second television spot narrated by Harry Belefonte to showcase the organization's work around the world.

But reducing slums and HIV transmission are abstract goals to a Type-A New Yorker who really, really has to get to a meeting in midtown, or an exhausted commuter who just wants to go home.

These people may not care that the FDR Drive runs directly beside the Trusteeship Council chambers, where 170 presidents and prime ministers will be posing for a group snapshot.

Coordinating the movements of so much precious cargo has for months been a full-time job for the staff in the U.N. protocol and security offices, not to mention their counterparts in the U.S. Secret Service and New York Police Department.

The protocol department has refined to an art the pronunciation of foreign names and the arcana of diplomatic seniority. They have already determined that the specially built platform will be both large enough and sturdy enough to accommodate 170 sometimes overweight leaders when they pose for their group photograph.

The United Nations itself is reluctant to discuss security details, but the precautions are evident.

The complex has been closed to tour groups since Aug. 28, and the ground floor of the Secretariat building is swarming with uniformed and plainclothes police.

Steps have been taken to protect arriving motorcades as well. Heads of state will be discharged behind a blind that is designed to foil any snipers lurking inside the skyscrapers on First Avenue.

But none of this is foolproof, admitted one security guard who asked not to be identified.

"Anyone who wants someone dead that badly won't be deterred because he hasn't got a clear shot," said the guard, who admitted he has long felt very vulnerable working at the Delegates' Entrance.

-------- u.s.

Bath Shipyard Workers Vote to Continue Strike

Yahoo News
Sunday September 3
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000903/ts/generaldynamics_strike_dc_1.html

BATH, Maine (Reuters) - Unionized workers on strike at Bath Iron Works, which builds the most advanced U.S. Navy destroyers, voted on Sunday to reject a tentative contract deal and continue their weeklong work stoppage, union officials told Reuters.

The negotiating team for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 6 last week tentatively agreed to accept the proposed contract after the shipyard backed off forcing workers to do jobs in other specialties during layoffs.

But union member Frank Moore said the language of the cross-training provision confused some rank-and-file members. He also said they expressed concern over escalating medical costs that would be absorbed by workers.

``We're ready to dig in again,'' Moore said, adding that picketing resumed after the vote. The vote count was not immediately disclosed.

Union members said they also wanted pay increases above those offered in the proposed three-year contract.

The strike, involving about 4,800 workers, has shut down production at one of only two U.S. shipyards that build Aegis-class destroyers for the U.S. Navy. U.S. Navy Seas Systems Command spokesman Dick Cole said there were five destroyers at the shipyard in various stages of completion.

Susan Pierter, a shipyard spokeswoman, said the company was aware of the vote, and declined further comment.

Asked about the vote results, union local President Rock Grenier said: ``A majority has rejected it. That's all I will say.''

After voting at the Augusta Civic Centre, several hundred union members started a bonfire with copies of the proposed contract. Police stopped the demonstration and summoned fire trucks to the scene to douse the burning papers.

The shipyard's contract proposal would have increased wages by 4 percent this year, 3.5 percent next year and 4 percent in 2002. A mechanic's hourly wage base would have risen to $17.63 from $15.75 over the life of the contract, the shipyard said in a statement. Pension benefits and the 401(k) employer match would also have increased.

Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics, which acquired Bath Iron Works in 1995, also offered to increase its ratification bonus to $750 for each worker, up from its original offer of $500.

The union represents about 64 percent of the shipyard's work force. The shipyard, which has been building ships for the Navy since 1893, is one of Maine's largest private employers, with about 7,700 workers.

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Paying atten-shun to the military's needs But Bush and Gore differ on what's required

US News & World Report
(9/4/00)
By Richard J. Newman
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/000904/defense.htm

There will be some artful parsing of words when the chiefs of the four military services testify before Congress in late September. The brass will be pleading for a boost in defense spending of as much as $150 billion a year-bolstering George W. Bush's claim that the Clinton administration has starved the military. At the same time, the chiefs will be giving President Clinton credit for reversing declines in defense funding-burnishing Vice President Al Gore's credentials as a contender for commander in chief. "Either they'll [tick] off Gore by saying we have all these problems," muses one congressional analyst, "or they'll [tick] off Bush by saying we have no problems."

So which is it? Last week, Bush chided Clinton and Gore for presiding over a "military in decline." He vowed to raise pay, revitalize training, and replace "uncertain missions" in places such as Kosovo and Bosnia with "well-defined objectives." Gore fired back, pointing to Clinton's approval last year of a $112 billion hike in defense spending over six years and the biggest military pay raise in 20 years. America's force, Gore boasted, "is the strongest and the best in the entire world."

Undeniably so. But the U.S. military's vast menu of missions makes comparisons with any other single force oversimplistic. No other military is required to be ready to fight and win two separate wars while conducting indefinite missions in the Balkans and the Persian Gulf, relief operations wherever they pop up, and exercises with numerous other nations. Those requirements, plus sizable cuts in troop strength and the defense budget since the end of the Cold War, have left gaps that are noticeable throughout the force. "When the Army was at 780,000 [in the 1980s], our mission was to fight two wars," says Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Garvey, former commandant of the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Fort Knox, Ky. "Now we're at 470,000, missions are up 300 percent, and the budget is down 30 percent. What makes you think you can still do two wars?"

The sense that their leaders are equivocating has led to growing cynicism in the ranks. A Navy survey, for instance, found that in 1996, 63 percent of officers said they were satisfied with their leadership. Two years later that had fallen to 51 percent. A survey released earlier this year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that outdated equipment, spare-parts shortages, and understaffed units were more frustrating than low pay or decaying housing. That puts Bush on firm footing when he cites readiness shortfalls as a cause of declining morale.

Risky business. But Bush's solutions, such as seeking an "orderly and timely withdrawal from places like Kosovo and Bosnia," are more slippery. "In the Balkans, there would be huge consequences to withdrawing," says Tom Donnelly of the Project for the New American Century, a conservative think tank. A European pullout would probably follow a U.S. withdrawal. That could quickly plunge the Balkans back into bloody chaos. Plus, says a senior Pentagon official, "it's not just about our commitment to the Balkans but to our NATO allies."

Bush also wants to raise military pay by $1 billion a year, or $750 per service member, to help fill personnel shortfalls. But experts question how well that would work. "A shotgun, across-the-board approach is a very inefficient way to solve problems," says David Burrelli of the Congressional Research Service. Better, he argues, to target bonuses at scarce specialists, such as pilots, mechanics, and engineers-which the Pentagon has done over the past several years.

Then there is congressional gamesmanship, which even a president may be powerless to reform. Since 1997, the Pentagon has sought congressional approval to close dozens of unneeded bases to save up to $5 billion that could be spent on training, base improvements, and other needs. Congress has refused, complaining that Clinton manipulated previous rounds of base closing for political purposes. And Congress has been more inclined to direct money at favored weapons programs than at readiness. This year, Congress added $2.8 billion to the defense budget for new weapons the Pentagon didn't ask for. But it added only $600 million for extra training, operations, and maintenance. Don't expect the military chiefs, however, to complain about that.

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THE MILITARY ISSUE
What War-Ready Means, in Exacting Pentagon Math

New York Times
September 04, 2000
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/090400wh-bush-military.html

AUSTIN, Tex., Sept. 3 -- Gov. George W. Bush kicked off a heated political debate when he declared that 2 of the Army's 10 active divisions were "not ready for duty, sir." Had he wanted to highlight the complexities of measuring military readiness, however, he could have looked closer to home.

The 49th Armored Division of the Texas National Guard -- nominally under the governor's command -- has the lowest ranking for wartime readiness that the Pentagon gives, according to military officials. It has been that way for the last three years.

But just as the Pentagon disputes that its active-duty forces are not ready for combat, the 49th Guard division's case reveals a far more difficult question about the overall state of the American military today. It involves an arcane, sometimes subjective readiness accounting system that can be misleading and is not easily reduced to the sound bites of a presidential campaign.

Even Mr. Bush and his running mate on the Republican ticket, Dick Cheney, the former defense secretary, who has joined heartily in the criticism, do not dispute that the American military is technologically advanced, highly trained and well equipped.

The real question, and one that the candidates on both sides have only glanced on, is how the next administration intends to prepare its forces, and for what and where.

"It's not if you're ready," as a senior military officer at the Pentagon put it, "it's what you're ready for."

The difficulty in assessing the state of today's military is that the

Pentagon's system for measuring readiness ultimately measures only one thing: fighting a major ground war with air and naval support. Any units doing anything else -- and thus not preparing for that worst case -- can run afoul of the system's subjective but merciless readiness classifications.

And so the two divisions cited by Mr. Bush -- the 10th Mountain and the 1st Mechanized Infantry -- were briefly classified as unready for war last fall, not because they suffered from budget cuts and low morale, as Mr. Bush suggested, but rather because large parts of the divisions were keeping peace in Bosnia and Kosovo, according to Army and Pentagon officials.

"The idea that it counts if you're training to fight Saddam but doesn't count if you're actually deploying deterring Milosevic or containing conflict in the Balkans is a strange artifact of our national military strategy, and makes little sense," said Michael O'Hanlon, a defense analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington who has informally consulted for the Gore campaign.

For the 49th, Governor Bush's own division, the meager readiness rating it holds may not be the best indicator of its ability to conduct military operations.

According to the Pentagon's system, the 49th is unfit to fight a war. Since March, however, nearly 700 men and women of the 49th, including its headquarters company and most of its commanders, have overseen the American sector of NATO's peacekeeping operation in Bosnia and, by all accounts, doing it well.

Next year, the 49th is sending roughly 300 more combat troops to Bosnia. In October, the Texas Air National Guard is sending Governor Bush's old unit, the 111th Fighter Squadron, to patrol the so-called no-fly zone over southern Iraq, where American pilots are routinely responding to Iraqi antiaircraft fire with air strikes.

It is the sort of combat the unit never saw when Mr. Bush trained as a fighter pilot in the Texas National Guard during the Vietnam War.

Of course, the Pentagon's accounting system serves a purpose, which is to prioritize dollars for the armed services and their combat units. The system's ratings are based on the national military strategy, which since Mr. Cheney was secretary of defense has called on the military to be prepared to fight and win two major regional wars -- in, say, the Persian Gulf and Korea -- at nearly the same time.

On that scale, the Pentagon's latest quarterly readiness report to Congress, issued last week, concluded that "most major combat and key support forces are ready to meet assigned taskings, although there are force readiness and capability shortfalls that increase risk in executing operations." John Hillen, a retired Army captain who has been a defense policy adviser to the Bush campaign, said, "These things are so eminently capricious and fungible that the readiness ratings are not really significant."

"If you were a lawyer," Mr. Hillen said, "you could say that, technically, both sides are right."

Under the two-war situation, the Army would need all 10 of its active divisions, supplemented by units from the Army Reserve and the National Guard, to satisfy the war plans. That is the standard by which the divisions are measured for readiness, but it is one that ignores how the Army is using its forces today and how it is likely to keep doing so, whoever is elected in November.

The oddity of the readiness measuring system is that forces involved in actual military operations score lower under it. After the Persian Gulf war in 1991, several Air Force squadrons returned home only to be classified as unready since they had not been doing the training that had to be checked off to qualify as ready. Never mind that those squadrons had just returned from waging one of the most successful air campaigns in history.

As long as the Army is keeping peace in Bosnia or Kosovo or conducting exercises in Kuwait or fighting fires in the Western United States, those units will not be doing what it takes to meet the system's highest standards for the war plans. After an extended peacekeeping mission, for example, it can take months for units to regain the highest level of readiness.

"You face very different scenarios in a peacekeeping mission," said one Army officer involved in monitoring readiness. "You're not going to move, attack and defend the way you have to in the war-fighting mission. Those are skills that have to be practiced over and over again until they're almost subconscious."

The Army, like the other services, has begun to address the problem by relying more heavily than ever on the National Guard and Reserves. But because the Army's eight Guard divisions are not, for now, in the nation's war plans, they have received a lower priority when it comes to financing for equipment and training. The Army does not expect them to be at the highest level of readiness.

Still, the 49th slipped to the lowest level three years ago because of shortages in training time, equipment and personnel, officials in Texas and Washington said. (Even though he is commander in chief of the Texas National Guard, Mr. Bush has little impact on the 49th's readiness, since the state provides only 5 percent of the Guard's budget.)

Even so, the 49th's deployment to Bosnia has freed another division to concentrate on the war mission. By the time the 29th Infantry Division from Virginia takes over the American sector in Bosnia, almost all the American troops in Bosnia will be reservists, compared with 25 percent today.

The Army has gone even further, proposing to include the Guard divisions in the war plans. That would relieve the strain on the active divisions, but it could cost billions since the Guard divisions would have to bring themselves up to a higher level of readiness.

So far in the campaign, neither Mr. Bush nor his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore, has proposed ways to address the fundamental problems, at least as measured by the accounting system. Mr. Bush has proposed increasing the modernization budget by $20 billion to design and build new weapons systems, and raising pay and benefits by $1 billion, or nearly $750 for each person in uniform. Mr. Gore, too, has proposed increasing benefits for the troops.

While those address other problems, like increasing morale or creating new weapons, they do little to fix the problems outlined by Mr. Cheney this week. Workaday needs like spare parts and training rarely transfix Congress.

And no one in either campaign has talked about the easiest solution. If the next administration decided to change the national military strategy, concluding that two major wars were not very likely to happen at once, the question about whether forces are ready would disappear.

"You can fix the problem," Mr. Hillen said, "by changing the way you measure it."

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Military connects with Gen Y via the Net

USA Today
09/04/00
By Steve Barrett, USA TODAY
http://usatoday.com/news/ndsmon05.htm

A year ago, while serving as an Army basic training commander, Lt. Col. Bill Gallagher decided to find out why so many of his recruits seemed different from the young soldiers he'd known before.

So Gallagher and several other battalion commanders at Fort Jackson, S.C., began devouring books and studies about "Generation Y."

Like others who had looked at this generation of Americans, Gallagher identified several common traits. Hooked on the Internet, with its instant access to information, members of Gen Y crave immediate feedback, often challenge things they are told and can't stand to be away from their computers for very long.

"They expect fast answers, and they expect information on demand," Gallagher says. "Smart commanders recognize this. This is a unique group based on their age and upbringing."

Gallagher's inquiries have since spread like a computer virus around the military. Determined to win the hearts and minds of young Americans with little passion for the military life, the armed forces are rethinking the ways they find, train and keep troops.

From giving young Army soldiers laptop computers to take college courses online to redesigning Navy ships to tap into the skills of Web-surfing sailors, the military is attempting to appeal to one demographic group as never before.

Often defined as men and women 22 and younger, Generation Y also has also been described as the Net or Digital Generation or the Baby Echo Generation.

Plagued by persistent problems in persuading young people to join and stay in the military, the services are meeting this group on its own turf by launching projects to find thousands of recruits each year via the Internet.

A year ago, Maj. Gen. Evan Gaddis, head of the Army Recruiting Command, faced a shortfall of 6,000 recruits. This year, he says, the Army will sign up more than enough soldiers to meet its target of 80,000, thanks in part to the Internet. "You have to operate where young people go. That's why all our recruiters use laptops," Gaddis says.

Vice Admiral Norbert Ryan, chief of naval personnel, says Gaddis is right. All four services have found recently that cyberrecruiting can be more efficient that the old method of stalking malls and high schools for enlistees.

"If recruiters have leads on recruits, and they came off the Internet, they can't get out of the office fast enough to talk to them," Ryan says.

A changed culture

Twenty years ago, it was common for a green recruit to get this advice from a veteran soldier or sailor: "Shut up and do what you're told."

How the times have changed. Just listen to Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Jesse Elliot, a 32-year veteran. "The days of 'I speak and you listen' are gone. It should be, 'We speak and we listen to each other,'" Elliott says of the Navy's new leadership style.

Don Tapscott, author of the book Growing up Digital, says the military has no choice but to search out ways to appeal to Gen Y.

Tapscott believes the battle is winnable. He cites this story:

"One of the perceived problems with a young person joining the military is, in the past, they would be out of touch with their friends. I was on vacation in a little town in Italy. There were all these kids in an Internet center, clicking away.

"A guy standing outside this cybercafe says, 'Those are my two daughters. They are at the stage where they don't want to go on vacation with their parents. The deal is, if they get a half-hour access on the Net everyday, they will happily go on vacation with us.'"

The Army and Navy want to give young troops all the Net time they can handle.

While the Army is promoting long-distance learning by giving young soldiers computers, the Navy is designing ships with wireless Internet connections.

Capt. Charlie Hamilton, who is helping to design a Zumwalt class of Navy destroyers, says it is imperative that they be fully wired for Gen Y sailors.

Among the features on the new destroyers:

A state room for each sailor instead of the large bays that sleep 70 to 90.

Desktop computer access for every sailor.

Broadband connection to the Internet and cable television channels such as CNN and ESPN.

"We will be giving them opportunity in near real time to talk to their families while on deployments 6,000 to 12,000 miles away," Hamilton says. Sailors will also be able to use the World Wide Web for college courses aboard ship.

"Members of Generation Y feel most enfranchised as people if they have rapid access to cable, wide-bandwidth media outlets, the Internet, phones and faxes," Hamilton adds. "When you don't give that to them, they feel, 'I'm not a complete person because I can't reach out and touch what I need to.'"

Spc. Victoria Marin, 21, an Army supply clerk at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, says Hamilton has it about right. Marin spends several hours a day on computers and the World Wide Web, and she gets all kinds of information there, from the day's news to directions to friends' houses. She seldom reads newspapers or uses maps, and she will hop on the Internet to verify information given to her by friends or colleagues.

"We're less patient. We want our information fast," Marin says.

Even after only a week in the field, Marin admits, she starts to feel woefully out-of-touch with her e-mail world.

Spc. David Holmes, 21, a military policeman, agrees. He says the Army is "not as strict as people make it out to be," and he sees areas where the military is belatedly trying to connect with his generation.

Take regulation AR670-1. Until July, male soldiers were not allowed to wear earrings, even off duty. In deference to the large number of young men with pierced ears, the Army changed the reg so that male soldiers can wear earrings when they're not in uniform.

Appealing to the Gen Y culture has an important payoff to the military besides merely having enough bodies to fill the ranks. Their computer skills are proving essential in operating complex weapons. Stories about computer-illiterate commanders relying on young techies are so common as to become a military cliché. Author Tapscott says the Pentagon is wise to design barracks, ships and many facets of military life to fit the particular talents of Gen Y.

"These kids are authorities on the single most important innovation changing the world," Tapscott says. "For the first time in history, children are experts on something important."

Providing creature comforts

When the Army's Gallagher was commanding a basic training battalion in 1999 , his colleagues noticed how important it was to offer timely answers to recruits' questions about training and Army life, so top commanders at Fort Jackson began telling drill sergeants to provide quick feedback whenever possible.

"If you look at an Army battalion, you've probably got three generations represented. Your commanders are baby boomers. Then your captains and non-commissioned are Gen Xers. The young kids are Generation Y," Gallagher says. "Sociologists tell us it's a unique totem pole."

The social stratification of a typical military unit is more than just unique. It's scary to the armed forces because its personnel shortages result from young troops leaving the military in droves.

The loss of troops who failed to complete their first term of duty approached 40% in 1998-99, the highest in history.

Gallagher's civilian boss, Army Secretary Louis Caldera, has spent a good deal of time studying Generation Y as the Pentagon has struggled to attract and keep young troops. Caldera says the Army must recognize several truths in designing advertisements and programs for young recruits. It is a sales philosophy that might prompt President Kennedy to turn over in his grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

"It is not principally about 'what can I do for my country?'" Caldera says of Generation Y. "They want to know, 'How does this benefit me?'"

Caldera and the heads of the other services say they are not pandering, or going soft, by crafting a military that is easier for young adults to navigate, whether that means providing free computers or more relaxed living standards.

The Navy is designing many of its new ships with unheard-of creature comforts, while outfitting old ships with a modicum of luxury when possible. The Navy is in the midst of throwing out 180,000 dilapidated bunks and replacing them with 4-inch thick, innerspring mattresses.

Among other Navy initiatives: providing more storage space aboard ships and moving sailors' lounges away from sleeping quarters.

"We are trying to reward them and provide a better place to live," says Commander Rudy Malush, who manages crew systems at Naval Sea Systems Command. "We're not coddling sailors. We can't build them a palace at sea. It's a warship."

However, Malush says, the Navy can improve some of the traditionally unpleasant aspects of shipboard life. One of the ideas behind "Sailor 21," the Navy's vision for sailors in the next decade, is a more livable work environment.

For years, sailors moving to their next job have had to suffer a cumbersome, random process where they negotiate with personnel specialists by telephone. In the future, Navy officials say, a computer program tied to the Internet will have their interests and skills automatically logged in, and job openings will come to them via e-mail.

"Young people, when they enter the military, are digital kids," notes Murray Rowe, a Navy planner. "They are very used to having stuff tailored to them. We have to think very carefully about all of this."

---

Lockheed Martin to Establish World-Class Propulsion, Thermal and Metrology Center at Stennis Space Center, Mississippi

NewsEdge Corporation
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=p0901091.501&level3=27716&date=20000904

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation - Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) today announced a plan to establish an advanced Propulsion, Thermal, and Metrology Center at the John C. Stennis Space Center, Mississippi.

The plan represents a partnership between Lockheed Martin's Space Systems and Technology Services companies, the State of Mississippi, Hancock County, and NASA. Lockheed Martin Space Systems will operate the Propulsion and Thermal functions of the Center. Lockheed Martin Technology Services will be responsible for the Metrology portion of the Center. Both will be housed in the same facility, with construction to start soon and operations expected to begin in the Fall of 2001. Approximately 270 jobs will be created at the center. These jobs reflect the projected needs of the two Lockheed Martin companies and their potential suppliers.

"We are proud to partner with the State of Mississippi in creating new jobs for the 21st Century," said Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Officer, Vance Coffman. "This Center of Excellence will allow the Corporation to achieve economies of scale by serving multiple sites with standard processes and strategic partnerships with our suppliers. I want to thank all those involved in making this a reality."

"We are excited about the opportunity to work cooperatively with the State of Mississippi and NASA on a project that will bring high-tech jobs to the region and allow us to better serve our customers," said Albert E. Smith, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Space Systems. "We have been pleased by the warm reception and constructive business climate in the state, and look forward to moving ahead on this initiative."

Added Mike Camardo, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Technology Services, "We appreciate the support of Mississippi, Hancock County, and NASA officials for a project that will consolidate world class metrology expertise to serve our corporation and a growing base of customers in government and commercial markets. It is a win-win for Lockheed Martin and the people of Mississippi."

Activities performed in the approximate 220,000-square-foot center will include the production of propulsion systems, such as thrusters, used for satellites and other spacecraft produced by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. The thermal control systems produced at the facility will protect space vehicles from the extreme temperatures of the space environment. These systems include thermal "blankets," heat pipes, radiators, and engine heat shields. Metrology refers to the science of measurement, and this center will be responsible for the highest level of "primary standards" in the extremely precise calibration of test equipment and tools. The Metrology Center, located within the same facility, will be operated by Lockheed Martin Technical Operations, an operating unit of Lockheed Martin Technology Services.

The State of Mississippi and Hancock County will partner with Lockheed Martin in the specialized training required for those hired to work at the center. Lockheed Martin officials cited the proximity to NASA's propulsion center of excellence -- also based at Stennis -- as critical to the decision to consolidate its world class capabilities in one place. The result will be better service to the Corporation's customers. "Being very near to a related facility operated by one of our most important customers will allow for close communications and faster response," Smith said.

The new center combines satellite propulsion activities to support the Space Systems Company's principal sites including operations in Sunnyvale, CA and Denver, CO.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space, aeronautics, and technology services. Lockheed Martin had 1999 sales surpassing $25 billion.

For more information about Lockheed Martin Corporation, please visit the Web site at: http://www.lockheedmartin.com.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin Corporation

CONTACT: Jeff Adams of Lockheed Martin Corporation, 408-742-7606, Pager: 888-916-1796, or jeffery.adams@lmco.com

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/534163.html or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 534163

Web site: http://www.lmco.com http://www.lockheedmartin.com (LMT)

--

Corporal congressman

Washington Times
September 4, 2000
Inside the Beltway
John McCaslin Political tidbits and other shenanigans from around the nation's capital.
http://208.246.212.80/national/inbeltway.htm

A new political action committee is focusing on electing former U.S. military personnel, reservists and National Guardsmen to the U.S. Congress.

"The most effective way to ensure that the armed forces are properly engaged is to ensure that those making the decisions have a keen understanding of how our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines live, train and fight. In short, someone who has military experience," says the National Defense PAC.

The PAC, which labels itself nonpartisan, supports any candidate's bid for Congress so long as they've worn a uniform (active or reserve) of the nation's armed services.

"Since 1992, U.S. military personnel have been cut by over 700,000, including eight standing Army divisions," notes the PAC. "Twenty Air Force and Navy wings with 2,000 combat aircraft and 232 strategic bombers have also been pared. The Navy has lost four aircraft carriers and 121 surface combat ships and submarines. In addition, we have closed over 700 bases worldwide. . . .

"The U.S. military is in such a state that if called upon to muster a force comparable to the victorious Desert Shield/Storm contingent, it would fail."

The PAC's Web site (www.nationaldefensepac.org) contains a rather long list of former members of the armed services, all of whom happen to be Republican, who are candidates for Congress

---

Army joins battle against mosquitoes

USA Today
09/04/00- Updated 05:17 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/ndsmon02.htm

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) - In a sealed laboratory, scrub-suited Army scientists are probing the mysteries of mosquitoes that spread the West Nile virus, including one that could be especially adept at transmitting the sometimes deadly disease.

Controlling the U.S. outbreak of West Nile, which has killed seven people and sickened scores more since it first appeared in the country last year, depends partly on entomologist Michael Turell and his six-person team at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease at Fort Detrick.

Their subjects include Aedes japonicus, an Asian mosquito species relatively new to this country. Although the main culprits so far have been common backyard mosquitoes in the Culex family, scientists say japonicus may be more capable of carrying the virus far from the New York City area, where all the U.S. deaths so far have happened.

''There is no question it is going to be a player,'' Turell said. ''But is its role going to be the 10th most important mosquito or the second most important mosquito? That we don't know.''

Where does it breed? When does it feed? What does it bite? Those are the questions the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants answered.

The agency asked the Army to join the West Nile fight shortly after the virus appeared for the first time in the Western Hemisphere last September, said Stephen Ostroff, West Nile coordinator at the CDC. Scientists at Fort Detrick develop defenses to germ warfare, but they also have battled outbreaks of Ebola and other exotic diseases around the world.

''The role that they are playing is a very important one,'' Ostroff said. The more the CDC knows about the mosquitoes that transmit the virus, the better it can advise the public on how to reduce the risk of infection, he said.

Scientists at Rutgers and Fordham universities also are studying links between West Nile and mosquitoes.

The researchers call the mosquitoes ''vectors'' - organisms that transmit the virus by feeding on infected animals, especially crows, and then biting uninfected ones, such as humans. Some mosquito species are more competent vectors than others, and Turell has found that Aedes japonicus is among the best.

In laboratory tests, japonicus has been four to five times more effective than Culex pipiens in transmitting West Nile from infected chickens to virus-free chickens, he said.

Still, that doesn't necessarily mean japonicus is a competent vector in the wild. Scientists know it breeds in old tires, which puts it close to people, and that it feeds in the daytime. But they don't know if it feeds in the evening, when crows are roosting, or even if it feeds much on birds.

''The problem of trying to find a fed mosquito in the middle of a forest is extremely difficult,'' Turell said.

Nevertheless, researchers found the West Nile virus in a few swarms of japonicus mosquitoes in New York's Westchester County, where one of the West Nile deaths happened. The virus also has been found in at least five other mosquito species.

Researchers are intrigued by findings that japonicus and West Nile share much of the same U.S. territory. In the past two years, they have found the mosquitoes for the first time in most of the seven states - Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island - where infected birds have been recovered.

''That's a pretty rapid spread for a mosquito in only two breeding seasons,'' Ostroff said. ''If it continues to move at the pace it appears to have been moving, the potential to carry the virus farther afield is a cause for concern.''

Scientists are less concerned, though, about japonicus' ability to transmit the virus to humans - mainly because the evidence is scanty.

''This is the first time West Nile and japonicus have ever been in the same place at the same time,'' Turell said. He said the mosquito isn't found in Romania or southwestern Russia, the sites of other recent West Nile outbreaks. And in the Far East, where japonicus is common, West Nile fever is rare.

Ostroff said he was gratified that while the virus appears to be spreading among wild birds and insects, there has not been a rapid increase in human infections. Seven cases of human infection have been reported so far this year - six in New York and one in New Jersey - with no deaths.

''We have always acknowledged there isn't any way to prevent 100% of human illness, but what we could do is work to minimize the amount of human illness that we would see,'' Ostroff said. ''I'd like to believe we're actually accomplishing some of that.''


-------- OTHER

-------- environment

FIRST IN A SERIES
Shoring Up Little Slices of the Seas Clinton's desire to leave an environmental legacy sent the federal marine sanctuaries budget soaring after years of skeleton staffs and modest ambitions.

Los Angeles Times
Monday, September 4, 2000
By JOHN BALZAR, Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/updates/lat_refuge000904.htm

It is one of those observations that seldom alight in our awareness. A realization too grandiose and, at the same time, too ethereal to take hold. Unless we pause. Then we savor what an astonishing thing is at hand: The greatest of California's many natural wonders remains hidden at our doorstep.

The largest animals that ever lived, bigger than dinosaurs, are swimming out there now on the other side of Highway 1. Just beyond the beach, a canyon drops away as deep as the Grand Canyon, and barely explored. Within sight of our cities and from fresh-charged currents of seawater as clean as anywhere in the world, hunter-gatherers pursue tonight's dinner. Beneath, the fuel of our economy has collected in ancient pools of oil just for the taking.

And we must consider ourselves too, the ever-growing millions of people who crowd the shoreline with our homes and farms and industry and diversions. We eat from these waters and play in them. At the same time, we assault their purity with sewage and pesticide and fertilizer runoff. Not so long ago, we deposited worse--our radioactive waste. The heaving surface of this sea is our economic highway to countries of the Pacific Rim.

It is little wonder that California's tiny claim on the Pacific challenges our capacity to comprehend. Only intermittently do headline events awaken the larger public interest. Like oil spills.

Beginning 20 years ago, Congress and federal regulators were drawn to California to block the spread of offshore drilling. No-oil zones were proclaimed in 1980, 1981, 1989, 1992. National Marine Sanctuaries, these areas were called. From Ventura north to Sonoma County, these four odd-shaped tracts of California ocean encompass almost half of the surface area of the 12 National Marine Sanctuaries designated so far nationwide.

Perhaps if these places had been called "petroleum-free marine zones" matters would have rested. But "sanctuary" is a powerful word. It carries an ecclesiastic promise of protection, refuge, asylum. Sacred ground, as it were.

Congress implied so when writing the sanctuary act. It claimed perpetual guardianship of these waters. But it imposed conflicting requirements too. Fishing, for one thing, was to be "facilitated" at the same time the resource was to be preserved.

It was an artful, please-everyone compromise. These underwater areas were of such importance as to rate the protective aura of national parks. At the same time, commercial and sporting uses would be encouraged, as in national forests.

Sooner or later, the two visions would have to collide.

Today, faster than many ever expected, the Clinton administration is moving to tilt the balance of sanctuaries toward greater preservation. After years of skeleton staffs and modest ambitions, the sanctuaries are growing: bigger budgets, more confidence, sharper teeth. Responding to critics who want more sanctuary in their sanctuaries, the administration and its field managers have embarked on a site-by-site reevaluation of the system, with a promise of making tomorrow's protected areas of the ocean, somehow, more protected.

Whether too far or not far enough is a matter of rising interest. But the process of re-imagining America's underwater sanctuaries is underway, and in a fashion so novel and homespun that it could be called an experiment in 21st century postmodern resource governance. That is, the federal government is seeking to rule by consensus instead of by fiat.

"The program is in a process of dynamic change," says Dan Basta, the energetic director of the National Marine Sanctuaries. "I see the future as helping to take the nation to a new level of protection and conservation of its living marine resources."

Just as with terrestrial parks, marine sanctuaries arose from two imperatives: nature and politics.

From a naturalist's vantage, California's sanctuaries at the Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank are the underwater equivalent of rain forests. The same as on land, certain marine habitats provide more shelter and better growing conditions than other places. California's sanctuaries are among the most advantageous areas for sea life anywhere on America's coasts.

The contours of the bottom are knifed with canyons and studded with seamounts, pinnacles and islands. A narrow continental shelf, swirling currents and prevailing offshore winds combine to draw deep water toward the surface, bathing these regions in the soupy nutrients of life. Groves of kelp harbor teeming colonies of flora and fauna.

The midsection of California also happens to be a convergence zone where warm waters of Mexico meet cold waters of Alaska. Thus, the periodic shifts in ocean temperature that we know as La Niña and El Niño, and the slower-scale cycles of oceanic shifts that are barely understood, bring ever-changing variety to the fish and other pelagic creatures offshore.

Politically, the sanctuaries were created with the National Marine, Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972--not as part of the national park or forest services but under the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For the first sanctuary, in 1975, the idea was small: to protect the wreckage of the ironclad Civil War ship Monitor off Cape Hatteras, N.C.

In following years, the concept was enlarged to satisfy crusading, if small, local constituencies out to stop offshore oil drilling. These citizens needed no more argument than the memory of oiled beaches and wildlife in Santa Barbara in 1969 and Alaska's Prince William Sound 20 years later. Sanctuaries thus became no-drilling areas wrapped in the lofty language of conservation. With varying degrees of trepidation, fishermen acquiesced after securing promises that they would not be subject to harvest regulations by a new federal agency.

Once established, sanctuaries kept the lowest of profiles. To make sure, Washington restrained them with tiny budgets and a mere handful of administrators. Sanctuary managers variously imposed limits on dumping shipboard and harbor trash, restricted treasure hunting, directed freighters to voluntarily move farther offshore and encouraged schools to teach about the oceans. But they did not carry the badges of park rangers, nor did they presume license to defend the heart of the resource: its living organisms.

"The program is far from fulfilling its potential," concluded a 1999 audit by the congressionally authorized National Academy of Public Administration. "Most close observers of the sanctuaries say that the program is uncertain, ineffective and pitifully small."

In short, the nation's underwater parks were mostly paper parks. The very idea of "sanctuary" lost its mystique. The oil company Chevron borrowed the word for an advertising campaign, calling its offshore oil platforms marine sanctuaries and "an ideal place for nature to call home." By the standards of the day, as we shall see, the company had justification for its claim.

But change already was underway. By the time the academy's audit was issued, the Clinton administration had shifted up a gear. The departing president's desire to leave an environmental legacy sent the sanctuary budget soaring 85%, to $26 million, with $10 million more for 2001. A new acting director was named: Basta, a savvy career civil servant with a penchant for straight talk. He sounded a do-or-die call for preservation. Staffs grew and so did their ambitions.

The sanctuaries were given the mission to remake themselves one by one, following the example of countries such as Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas, Kenya and New Zealand. The Florida Keys began first, and now is in the wrap-up stages of sectioning off large and distant tracts of coral reefs as "no-take" zones, off-limits to fishing. The Channel Islands off Santa Barbara now has embarked on a similar quest, reevaluating everything from its boundaries to its overall mission. Next, Monterey Bay will set out to chart a new future. Ditto the Farallones and Cordell Bank.

The original law creating the sanctuaries provides regulators with plenty of running room. True enough, the day-to-day management of sanctuary fisheries is left to state fish and game departments, and in the case of some species, to the National Marine Fisheries Service and a network of industry-dominated fishery councils. Public and private use of these waters, yes, is encouraged. But the law also contains what can be read as an overriding responsibility "to maintain, restore and enhance living resources by providing places for species that depend on these marine areas to survive and propagate."

Three words appear repetitively in the Sanctuaries Act: comprehensive coordinated conservation. Never had a single agency been entrusted to manage both what goes into the sea and what comes out.

What follows today and Tuesday are visits to each of California's four National Marine Sanctuaries, south to north. They touch about one-fourth of the state's coastline and cover 5.6 million acres as measured on the surface, an area only slightly smaller than all the federal government's terrestrial parklands in California. As it turns out, they are places where nature is gaining and losing ground at the same time. They mock the old wheeze about the American frontier being closed, leaving nothing to discover. They are the greatest wildernesses left to California.

Little more than a generation ago, students were taught that the blue whale was on the verge of extinction. For some children, at least, it was a formative lesson about the consequences of human progress, for the fabled blue--reaching a length of 110 feet and a weight of 190 tons--was larger than any creature known to have lived. No fifth-grader at the time could expect to see such an animal any more than its long-ago and smaller cousin, the brontosaurus.

So it borders on the fantastic to realize blues are back, and here. An estimated 200 of them--protected as endangered species--collect around the Channel Islands during summer, living as close to the urban megalopolis of Southern California as many suburban commuters, spraying the horizon with their 30-foot geysers of steamy seafood breath. Chunky, aerobatic humpback whales too. And sometimes fin whales and orcas, and occasionally even the blunt-headed sperm whale. Gray whales, of course, travel the coastal corridor each year to and from their calving grounds in Mexico.

Those who fear for the oceans can take heart by this proximity of giants. But not all is cause for joy. Far from it.

During the last generation, the succulent white abalone, the aristocrat of bottom-dwellers, was all but wiped out by persistent fishing, slow-to-react management and disease. Once so plentiful that its shells served as throw-away ashtrays, the white abalone was California's sublime eating pleasure, with meat like lobster, only denser and more refined. It now is headed for the endangered species list, a first for an oceanic invertebrate. An underwater survey last summer by the state Department of Fish and Game found only 150 white abalone over a vast tract of mid-state coast, including the sanctuary. Of those, only one group of four and three groups of two lived close enough to each other to breed.

Once-abundant stocks of rockfish have been shockingly thinned out too, on account of the skill of commercial and recreational fishermen in catching fish and holding sway with fishery regulators. Rockfish--a family of scowling, tubby, big-eyed, spiny-finned fish--has long been a symbol of California's coastal waters. It's an old story. The perseverance of fishermen and their political clout, sustained by America's softheartedness for its salt-of-the-earth individualists, cannot be matched by fishery regulators.

Last year for the first time, rockfish season was closed for two months, but the catch still exceeded 10 million pounds.

One of the region's foremost rockfish experts, Milton Love, a research biologist at UC Santa Barbara, says it would take "a minimum of decades" for some rockfish, like the bocaccio, to recover--provided the very best of management and ocean conditions, neither of which is certain.

Love is responsible for some of the most convincing evidence of the problem. For five years, he and his team of researchers have been diving around the Channel Islands in a research submersible, counting fish and documenting their findings on video.

Where have they found an abundance of rockfish? Not in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary but under nearby oil platforms, where they are safe from fishermen. If given a vote, the fish surely would side with Chevron on the practical boundaries of sanctuaries, never mind what maps show.

For more than 20 years, Love says, biologists have realized that many slow-maturing and long-lived species of rockfish could not sustain the fishing pressure allowed by regulators. Today, the problem is intensified by a new type of fishery--the "live fish" market. Asian restaurants have created a demand for living rockfish, which are displayed for customers in tanks as evidence of their freshness. Most prized are smaller specimens, which also, unfortunately, are tomorrow's brood stock.

Traditionally, fishery managers have been prohibited from acting swiftly when science first indicates a problem. Instead, they must carefully quantify fish populations and their decline before taking restrictive steps--a process that has repeatedly proved to be too slow to prevent depletion.

In case after case here as elsewhere, fish populations have been devastated before they were understood. For instance, the historical record of the 500-pound giant sea bass in California is not contained in scientific literature but in fading photographs on the walls of spearfishing and bait shops. Today, with the large ones virtually gone, it is illegal to land them.

But, to illustrate the difficulty of management: a fisherman who unintentionally hooks a juvenile giant sea bass may do it little good by releasing it. If brought up from deeper than 60 feet, the fish's swimbladder bloats up and it may be unable to get back home from the surface. Some charter boat captains know how to deflate the bladder by piercing it with a needle, but other fishermen may just unhook the fish, not realizing it may perish.

The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary rings four islands that lie to the west of Malibu and south of Santa Barbara, and also a small island just west of Catalina, called Santa Barbara Island.

The sanctuary boundary begins at the high-tide mark of each island and extends out six miles beyond their shores, for a total of 1,252 square miles, or an area 60% bigger than Orange County. The average depth is about 280 feet with a bottom of mostly mud and rock.

On a map, the sanctuary appears in the shape of a 70-mile golf course dogleg, with a detached 15-mile-diameter circle about 40 miles to the southeast. One corner of the sanctuary approaches within five miles of the mainland near Oxnard, but nowhere does it touch. For millions of urban residents, it is far enough away to be out of mind. For lack of staff and budget, there are few signs noting its presence, and a tiny visitor center in Santa Barbara is difficult to find. A typical fast-food restaurant along Highway 101 does at least as much to call attention to itself.

A boat is necessary to gain even a passing feel for the place. Today, the sanctuary's small patrol cruiser leaves the Santa Barbara harbor just as the morning fog shears loose from the water's surface. An hour later, you approach that invisible boundary marking the sanctuary's edge.

At the helm is a blond man with broad shoulders, a cheerful angular face and the easy confidence of a beach boy. The son of a Navy oceanographer, Matt Pickett is 36, a lieutenant commander in NOAA's seagoing officer corps, a pilot and a diver. By chance, he is one of the most important men in marine conservation today. As superintendent, he is responsible for remaking the Channel Islands sanctuary.

Pickett nods to starboard. The ocean begins to boil. Within just moments, the boat is engulfed. A carpet of common dolphins rings the boat and soon extends to the horizon in all directions, perhaps 2,500 or more leaping and frolicking animals, their playful spirits lifting yours, their hydraulic breathing adding a factory noise to the idling of the boat's engine. Surprisingly, such experiences are not uncommon. One would have to travel to Alaska and search out caribou herds to match the sensation of being surrounded by so many wild mammals in motion.

Within a couple of hours, the Channel Islands reveal what is easiest to see here: humpback whales the size of freight cars, more than a dozen of them in singles and pairs, spouting, lob-tailing with graceful flukes lifting into the air, and sometimes breeching half out of the water, creating splashes that echo for a mile. Beyond them pass two of 800 huge ships that ply the adjacent shipping lanes each month. Farther on, the blocky hulks of oil platforms. Closer to the shore of Santa Cruz Island, a fleet of squid fishermen drops its nets. Never mind that squid fishing is usually undertaken at night. Here it is rich enough to work during the day too.

Smaller boats of urchin fishermen call this home too. The parking lot at the Santa Barbara harbor is sprinkled with fancy pickups belonging to these prosperous fishermen who work underwater, alone, plucking the red-brown pincushions by the truckload for the Asian sushi markets. Many of them used to be abalone fishermen.

A runabout bristling with surfboards knifes toward the southern flank of Santa Cruz Island where there are more empty point breaks than intrepid surfers. Threatened brown pelicans skim in formation inches off the water. Oystercatchers and shearwaters dart through the sky. Rare Xantus' murrelets bob in the swell. A few sailboats lie at anchor in sheltered coves.

Underwater, with hooded wetsuits and scuba gear, you are immersed intimately in the reason for this region's vitality: the pea-soup plankton murk that is the foundation of the food chain. Visibility shrinks to the size of a small room.

Even if the water were crystal clear, however, most of the sanctuary remains unseen--beneath the depth attainable by scuba divers.

Six-foot-long jellyfish, transparent except for their shocking orange internal organs, ride the currents and winds, the most entirely footloose animals in the world. Sea lions watch with wet spaniel eyes from the edge of kelp forests, one of five pinniped species in the sanctuary. Clusters of metallic balloons drift on the chilly swells, having blown to sea from a christening on the mainland.

The collision of images again challenges our ability to comprehend. With evidence of human industry everywhere, the character of this seascape remains essentially as wild as when the prehistoric Chumash people occupied these islands and fished these waters thousands of years ago.

"Think of it," Pickett says as he towels off in the cabin of his patrol boat. "This is the most impressive piece of water I've ever seen in terms of diversity and abundance--and that includes Alaska and the Florida Keys.

"Yet, look around you. You're three miles from one of the busiest shipping lanes in the country, eight miles from an oil platform, 50 miles from L.A., one of the densest concentrations of coastal habitation in the world. You're on the edge of the Pacific Missile Test Range and 25 miles from the coast highway.

"Within this small patch of ocean is evidence of the consequences of industrialization, and also the possibilities of coexistence."

Today, the sanctuary imposes only six regulations on activities here: No oil drilling, no flights over the area lower than 1,000 feet, no shipboard discharges except food waste, no scavenging from shipwrecks (150 have been discovered), no cargo vessel traffic and no disrupting the sea bottom. This final regulation has little consequence, because fishermen with bottom-trawling nets are exempt and continue to drag across choice areas of the sanctuary sea floor with evermore sophisticated equipment.

But there is plenty of other government here. Sanctuary waters are subject to international treaties and rules of the U.S. military, as well as county codes, the regulations of the state Coastal Commission, water quality boards, the California Department of Fish and Game, plus the rules of federal agencies from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Coast Guard to the National Park Service, which administers the land and tidal waters around the islands.

In total, more than a dozen overlapping arms of government claim a slice of the sanctuary pie. Only the sanctuary office, however, is charged with overall conservation.

Why does it matter if anyone takes a broad view? A simplified for-instance: The state Department of Fish and Game regulates the squid fishery by balancing the presumed abundance of squid with the economic interests of fishermen. But what of others who depend on the squid, such as the endangered humpback whale? Well, the whale's interests fall under the National Marine Fisheries Service, which does not control fishing of squid.

In a different age, say a century ago when the national parks were being formed, the federal government might have untangled the jurisdictional web by decree. But Americans are leery of federal power grabs now, even those that might reflect logic or popular will. So Congress burdened the sanctuaries with a New Age, get-along experiment in governance: Rather than muscle them out, other agencies and commercial interests are to be coaxed in and "coordinated."

The result is another modern marvel of the sanctuary: the bureaucratic. You could liken it to a 1960s commune, with an advisory council, working groups and ancillary committees representing everything from science to tourism, from fishermen to scuba divers, each drawn to the table by the fear of being left out, all of them captive to a hothouse process that is supposed to result in . . . well, a plan.

Should the boundaries of the sanctuary be expanded? Some would like it extended to the mainland. Should cruise ships be restricted? And so forth.

Looming larger than all these questions is a controversial new idea for management of the oceans. That is, setting aside portions of sanctuaries as "no take" reserves. President Clinton's administration has embraced the proposition. Perhaps such places will be replenishment nurseries for fish. Or benchmarks to gauge the effects of fishing elsewhere in the sanctuary.

"This is only a small slice of the ocean," sanctuary superintendent Pickett says. "I, for one, will sleep better if we have a little slice of it set aside."

Under a new law called the Marine Life Protection Act, the state of California is about to embark on a study of the same strategy. One aim of the bill is to reevaluate scores of tiny reserves, a mere 0.006% of state waters, already scattered along the coast.

Combined, the force of the federal and state governments appears destined to create a larger network of true underwater parks--and soon. At the Channel Islands sanctuary, the question is where and how large. By November, a working group of citizens and government officials is supposed to reveal a proposal for public comment.

The task is a biological and political challenge of enormous scope, perhaps impossibly so. No reserve could be large enough to protect the interests of the whale, or even migrating fish such as tuna. On the other hand, abalone could be safeguarded in a single cove--although for scant benefit beyond. Or just consider the spiny lobster: No matter what California does, the fate of this imperial crustacean rests with Mexico, where the animal breeds. Thus, a lobster reserve here may give rise to bigger lobsters but not more of them. Doubters wonder if, in the end, fishermen can be coaxed into relinquishing any prime waters. Or will they work to ensure that reserves are limited to the least productive parts of the sanctuary? This has occurred elsewhere in experiments with no-take zones.

Some scientists would prefer that the civic energy now being devoted to reserves be expended instead in redesigning the nation's system of fishery management to put conservation on an equal footing with economics.

Yet, there is an undeniable appeal to bringing so many interests and layers of government together with all the seriousness of global treaty negotiators, each of them made to promise they will not abandon the other in quest of a goal to right past failures of stewardship. One of the oldest cliches in conservation is that people protect best what they love the most. The long-winded deliberations now underway will call the bluff of those who profess just that, offering them a chance to surprise themselves, as well as the cynics.

Times researcher Anna M. Virtue contributed to this story.

------

Climate Change Has The World Skating On Thin Ice

Common Dreams NewsCenter
Monday, September 4, 2000
by Lester R. Brown
http://www.commondreams.org/views/090400-103.htm

If any explorers had been hiking to the North Pole this summer, they would have had to swim the last few miles. The discovery of open water at the Pole by an ice-breaker cruise ship in mid August surprised many in the scientific community.

This finding, combined with two recent studies, provides not only more evidence that the Earth's ice cover is melting, but that it is melting at an accelerating rate. A study by two Norwegian scientists projects that within 50 years, the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during the summer. The other, a study by a team of four U.S. scientists, reports that the vast Greenland ice sheet is melting.

The projection that the Arctic Ocean will lose all its summer ice is not surprising, since an earlier study reported that the thickness of the ice sheet has been reduced by 42 percent over the last four decades. The area of the ice sheet has also shrunk by 6 percent. Together this thinning and shrinkage have reduced the Arctic Ocean ice mass by nearly half.

Meanwhile, Greenland is gaining some ice in the higher altitudes, but it is losing much more at lower elevations, particularly along its southern and eastern coasts. The huge island of 2.2 million square kilometers (three times the size of Texas) is experiencing a net loss of some 51 billion cubic meters of water each year, an amount equal to the annual flow of the Nile River.

The Antarctic is also losing ice. In contrast to the North Pole, which is covered by the Arctic Sea, the South Pole is covered by the Antarctic continent, a land mass roughly the size of the United States. Its continent-sized ice sheet, which is on average 2.3 kilometers (1.5 miles) thick, is relatively stable. But the ice shelves, the portions of the ice sheet that extend into the surrounding seas, are fast disappearing.

A team of U.S. and British scientists reported in 1999 that the ice shelves on either side of the Antarctic Peninsula are in full retreat. From roughly mid-century through 1997, these areas lost 7,000 square kilometers as the ice sheet disintegrated. But then within scarcely a year they lost another 3,000 square kilometers. Delaware-sized icebergs that have broken off are threatening ships in the area. The scientists attribute the accelerated ice melting to a regional temperature rise of some 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1940.

These are not the only examples of melting. My colleague, Lisa Mastny, who has reviewed some 30 studies on this topic, reports that ice is melting almost everywhere--and at an accelerating rate. (See Worldwatch News Brief, March 6, 2000) The snow/ice mass is shrinking in the world's major mountain ranges: the Rocky Mountains, the Andes, the Alps, and the Himalayas. In Glacier National Park in Montana, the number of glaciers has dwindled from 150 in 1850 to fewer than 50 today. The U.S. Geological Survey projects that the remaining glaciers will disappear within 30 years.

http://www.worldwatch.org/alerts/000306.html

Scientists studying the Quelccaya glacier in the Peruvian Andes report that its retreat has accelerated from 3 meters a year between roughly 1970 and 1990 to 30 meters a year since 1990. In Europe's Alps, the shrinkage of the glacial area by 35-40 percent since 1850 is expected to continue. These ancient glaciers could largely disappear over the next half-century.

Shrinkage of ice masses in the Himalayas has accelerated alarmingly. In eastern India, the Dokriani Bamak glacier, which retreated by 16 meters between 1992 and 1997, drew back by a further 20 meters in 1998 alone.

This melting and shrinkage of snow/ice masses should not come as a total surprise. Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius warned at the beginning of the last century that burning fossil fuels could raise atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), creating a greenhouse effect. Atmospheric CO2 levels, estimated at 280 parts per million (ppm) before the Industrial Revolution, have climbed from 317 ppm in 1960 to 368 ppm in 1999--a gain of 16 percent in only four decades.

As CO2 concentrations have risen, so too has Earth's temperature. Between 1975 and 1999, the average temperature increased from 13.94 degrees Celsius to 14.35 degrees, a gain of 0.41 degrees or 0.74 degrees Fahrenheit in 24 years. The warmest 23 years since recordkeeping began in 1866 have all occurred since 1975.

Researchers are discovering that a modest rise in temperature of only 1 or 2 degrees Celsius in mountainous regions can dramatically increase the share of precipitation falling as rain while decreasing the share coming down as snow. The result is more flooding during the rainy season, a shrinking snow/ice mass, and less snowmelt to feed rivers during the dry season.

These "reservoirs in the sky," where nature stores fresh water for use in the summer as the snow melts, are shrinking and some could disappear entirely. This will affect the water supply for cities and for irrigation in areas dependent on snowmelt to feed rivers.

If the massive snow/ice mass in the Himalayas--which is the third largest in the world, after the Greenlandic and Antarctic ice sheets--continues to melt, it will affect the water supply of much of Asia. All of the region's major rivers--the Indus, Ganges, Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow--originate in the Himalayas. The melting in the Himalayas could alter the hydrology of several Asian countries, including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Viet Nam, and China. Less snowmelt in the summer dry season to feed rivers could exacerbate the hydrological poverty already affecting so many in the region.

As the ice on land melts and flows to the sea, sea level rises. Over the last century, sea level rose by 20-30 centimeters (8-12 inches). During this century, the existing climate models indicate it could rise by as much as 1 meter. If the Greenland ice sheet, which is up to 3.2 kilometers thick in places, were to melt entirely, sea level would rise by 7 meters (23 feet).

Even a much more modest rise would affect the low-lying river floodplains of Asia, where much of the region's rice is produced. According to a World Bank analysis, a 1-meter rise in sea level would cost low-lying Bangladesh half its riceland. Numerous low-lying island countries would have to be evacuated. The residents of densely populated river valleys of Asia would be forced inland into already crowded interiors. Rising sea level could create climate refugees by the million in countries such as China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Viet Nam, and the Philippines.

Even more disturbing, ice melting itself can accelerate temperature rise. As snow/ice masses shrink, less sunlight is reflected back into space. With more sunlight absorbed by less reflective surfaces, temperature rises even faster and melting accelerates.

We don't have to sit idly by as this scenario unfolds. There may still be time to stabilize atmospheric CO2 levels before continuing carbon emissions cause climate change to spiral out of control. We have more than enough wind, solar, and geothermal energy that can be economically harnessed to power the world economy. If we were to incorporate the cost of climate disruption in the price of fossil fuels in the form of a carbon tax, investment would quickly shift from fossil fuels to these climate-benign energy sources.

The leading automobile companies are all working on fuel cell engines. Daimler Chrysler plans to start marketing such an automobile in 2003. The fuel of choice for these engines is hydrogen. Even leaders within the oil industry recognize that we will eventually shift from a carbon-based energy economy to a hydrogen-based one. The question is whether we can make that shift before Earth's climate system is irrevocably altered.

Lester R. Brown is the founder and president of the Worldwatch Institute.
http://www.worldwatch.org/

---

Quarreling Over Monuments

New York Times
September 04, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/04mon2.html

Last week, Richard Cheney provided further evidence of the divide between the two main presidential candidates on environmental issues when he criticized the Clinton administration for the way it has been designating millions of acres of public land as national monuments, thereby protecting them from mining and other forms of commercial development.

The Republican vice presidential nominee did not, as originally reported, threaten to "rescind" these monument designations, nor did he say that he would ask Congress to do so. Under law, only Congress has the power to roll back a designation. However, he made one telling remark that has annoyed the White House while reinforcing the impression that a Bush administration would be much more reluctant than Mr. Clinton has been to use federal power to expand wilderness protections.

Mr. Cheney charged that Mr. Clinton had used his authority "willy-nilly all over the West" without consulting local residents or accommodating their needs. Mr. Clinton has designated 11 monuments -- the first encompassing 1.7 million acres in Utah's canyonlands, the latest protecting 197,000 acres of the Hanford Reach, the last undammed stretch on the Columbia River. Mr. Cheney's remarks suggested that in these and other designations, Mr. Clinton had undermined private property rights. But in fact the land in question already belonged to the federal government. A monument designation simply gave it a higher level of protection against future intrusions by, say, the mining industry. Furthermore, the interior secretary, Bruce Babbitt, has spent weeks talking to local residents. The interests of existing stakeholders, mainly ranchers with grazing allotments, have been largely preserved.

It is also true, however, that a monument designation is a quintessentially federal act, imposed from above by the executive branch. Although that is just what Congress intended in 1906 when it passed the Antiquities Act, giving the president unilateral authority to rescue historic sites imperiled by Congressional inaction, recent Republican presidents have resisted using it. Presidents Nixon, Reagan and Bush are the only chief executives since 1906 not to designate at least one monument.

Governor Bush is on that wavelength. He says he sees an important federal role in conservation, but mainly as a manager of existing parks and wilderness areas and as a "partner" in local conservation efforts. Mr. Clinton, by contrast, is prepared to use federal powers pre-emptively to protect additional lands from development, and presumably Mr. Gore would do the same. It is that expansive view of the federal role, as much as anything, that prompted Mr. Cheney's criticism.

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Britain calls for creation of UN rapid reaction force

Yahoo News
September 04, 2000
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/article.html?s=asia/headlines/000904/world/afp/Britain_calls_for_creation_of_UN_rapid_reaction_force.html

LONDON, Sept 4 2000 (AFP) - Britain has called for the creation of a United Nations rapid reaction force which can be deployed on peacekeeping operations at short notice.

The proposal was part of a series of recommendations made by the British government to improve the way the UN intervenes in conflicts aound the world.

The recommendations include expanding the UN Security Council to give it greater legitimacy, setting up a permanent headquarters of peacekeeping forces and creating a UN staff college to train soldiers for peacekeeping assignments.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the failure of the UN to respond adequately to recent conflicts showed that radical reform was necessary.

"Shortcomings were brutally evident in many of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and elsewhere," said the document containing the reccommendations.

"Once again in Sierra Leone this year we saw the harm that the slow and inadequate deployment of a peacekeeping mission can bring in particular operations."

The call for reform comes on the eve of a special UN Millennium Summit in New York, which is to be attended by 152 world leaders, in the biggest gathering of heads of state ever held.

Cook said he would be using the summit to lobby other governments to support the recommendations, which were prepared jointly by the Labour government and the small opposition Liberal Democrat party.

"We are urging that there should be a capacity for an on-standby headquarters of peacekeeping forces, certainly to deploy rapidly, so we don't have to start, every time, putting it together," Cook told BBC radio.

"We have got to improve the quality of the peacekeeping forces," he added. "That's why we propose there should be a UN staff college to continue to carry out the training of peacekeepers."

"We suggest that Britain would be a very logical place to have it because of our own expertise in peacekeeping and our commitments to the UN."

Enlarging the Security Council would "enhance its ability to speak for the world when it does take on cases where we do need to stand up to dictators and we do need to halt bloodshed and humanitarian offences," Cook said.

Germany and Japan should become permanent members along with one representative each from Latin America, Africa and Asia, the document states.

In addition, it recommends that there should be a further four non-permanent members of the Council, the United Nations most powerful decision-making body.

Cook pledged, when he became foreign secretary in 1997, to break with the past and pursue an "ethical foreign policy."

Recent reports in the British press have claimed that Cook has quietly dropped that commitment. He refused to be drawn on the issue on Monday, saying only: "I have pursued a commitment which I gave, that we would put human rights at the heart of our foreign policy."

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German Police End Hostage Standoff

NewsEdge Corporation
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0901113.501&level3=2884&date=20000904

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - Police stormed an apartment Friday where a suspected killer was holding a family hostage and exchanged fire with the man, leaving him and one of his captives wounded.

The suspect, 32-year-old Sven Boettcher, took hostages after allegedly killing his girlfriend and two of her daughters, police said.

The situation began Thursday evening, when Boettcher allegedly forced his way into his 36-year-old former girlfriend's apartment while her three children, ages 11, 14 and 15, were also there. An argument broke out and the youngest daughter fled to a neighbor's apartment. Police say Boettcher then shot the woman and the other two girls and fled by the balcony.

From there, police said, he forced his way into the nearby apartment of a family he knew and took the four family members hostage. The father convinced Boettcher to let him leave, saying he would buy him beer. He then called police.

A special police unit was able to free the two children, but Boettcher continued to hold the wife at gunpoint in a bedroom, officials said. Officers stormed the apartment shortly after midnight.

After the shootout, Boettcher was in critical condition with two bullet wounds to his head, authorities said. The wife was recovering from a bullet wound to her shoulder. No police were hurt.

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Mrs. Clinton Tries to Stop Transfer

NewsEdge Corporation
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0901205.000&level3=36180&date=20000904

NEW YORK (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - Hillary Rodham Clinton is working to block the transfer of Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel, to a federal prison that his supporters consider dangerous.

``The issue was brought to Hillary's attention, and she was concerned on humanitarian grounds,'' said the first lady's Senate campaign spokesman, Howard Wolfson. ``She had those concerns conveyed to the appropriate authorities.''

Wolfson wouldn't say whom Clinton contacted to discuss transfer or reveal other details.

Pollard, a former Navy analyst, was convicted of espionage in 1985 for giving Israel tens of thousands of top-secret U.S. military documents.

Jewish leaders in New York City told Clinton last week that Pollard was due to be moved from the Butner, N.C., federal prison, where he is serving his life sentence among nonviolent offenders, to a Virginia unit that houses violent inmates.

The first lady was told that inmates in the Virginia unit include white supremacists and that racist incidents are common.

Federal prison officials do not comment on an inmate's housing, so it was unclear when or if the move would take place.

Pollard's status and whether he should be granted clemency has been a topic in the New York Senate race. Neither Clinton nor her Republican opponent, Rep. Rick Lazio, has taken a stand on clemency.

---

Moscow denounces U.S. threat in spy flap

Globe & Mail
Monday, September 4, 2000
GEOFFREY YORK Moscow Bureau
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/International/20000904/USPYYN.html

Moscow -- A bitter dispute over an alleged American spy is fuelling new tensions between Moscow and Washington, culminating in an extraordinary U.S. threat of economic pressure against Russia.

Russian politicians are angrily accusing Washington of "blackmail" for its threat to discourage Americans from travelling to Russia unless the Kremlin frees Edmond Pope from a Moscow jail.

On the weekend, parliamentary speaker Gennady Seleznyov warned the United States not to interfere in the charges against Mr. Pope.

"If Pope's guilt is proven, then he will have to answer before the law," he said.

In an echo of Cold War tactics, some Russian analysts say the Kremlin could try to swap Mr. Pope for convicted spy Aldrich Ames. Mr. Ames is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who is serving a life prison term in the United States for passing secrets to the former Soviet Union's secret service from 1985 to 1993.

The controversy also is casting a shadow over a planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Bill Clinton during a United Nations summit in New York later this week.

It coincides with another surge in anti-Western rhetoric from Russian politicians and military leaders, many of whom claim that a Western submarine caused the sinking of a Russian nuclear submarine and the deaths of 118 crewmen last month.

The spy dispute began in April when Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB), the successor to the Soviet KGB, arrested Mr. Pope on espionage charges. They accused him of covertly meeting Russian scientists and trying to buy secret torpedo technology.

Mr. Pope, 54, is a businessman and retired U.S. naval intelligence officer who travelled often to Russia and had created two private companies to acquire Russian marine technologies for commercial uses in the West.

After almost five months in the infamous Lefortovo Prison, where political prisoners and foreign spies are traditionally kept, Mr. Pope is said to be weak and in deteriorating health. His wife, who visited him last week, said he has lost 30 pounds and is not getting proper treatment for a thyroid condition and a rare form of bone cancer that is in remission but needs constant monitoring.

He faces a 20-year prison term if he is convicted on the espionage charges. No trial date has been set, although the FSB says it has completed its investigation.

The United States has repeatedly proclaimed Mr. Pope's innocence, and more than 140 members of Congress have demanded his release from prison.

In an unusual pressure tactic, Washington escalated its campaign by threatening to issue a formal warning about travel to Russia. It would discourage Americans from visiting Russia, damaging tourism and investment.

Washington argues that the jailing of Mr. Pope demonstrates that other Americans might not be safe in Russia. "We're examining the implications of this [case] for other Americans, business people who might travel to Russia, and we are looking at the consular information that we provide," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

The Russian government has reacted with outrage to the U.S. threat, calling it an "especially worrying" development. "Attempts to put pressure on the investigating and judicial bodies do not add to the prestige of the United States," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a terse statement.

"What we are witnessing is a new manifestation of double standards. The U.S. authorities show no lenience to people convicted on similar charges inside the United States, whatever the state of their health, but expect other countries to use a different approach."

Sergei Shishkarev, deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, termed the U.S. threat "open blackmail" against Russia. "It's time for the Americans to learn to lose with dignity," he told a Russian news agency.

The Russian media also have lashed back at Washington, denouncing the threat as an unprecedented case of "hard-line pressure" by the U.S. administration, probably motivated by the politics of the U.S. election season this fall.

"Russia has in effect been issued with an ultimatum: either Pope is freed or business contacts are curtailed," the daily newspaper Kommersant commented. "People at the Russian Foreign Ministry could not remember a case where the Americans had raised an ordinary spy scandal to such a high level."

It said the Kremlin is in a dilemma because it does not want a quarrel with Washington, yet it also does not want to appear to be yielding to U.S. pressure.

Another Moscow newspaper put great emphasis on a scheduled trip to Moscow this month by Louis Freeh, chief of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The visit could lead to a deal to swap Mr. Pope for Mr. Ames, the newspaper said, citing confidential sources.

While the Americans have argued that Mr. Pope was trying to purchase 20-year-old Russian technology that is sold on the open market, the Russians have described the technology as a secret weapon, similar to the Squall torpedoes that were reportedly being tested on the nuclear submarine Kursk when it blew up and sank in the Barents Sea last month. Some reports say the Squall is the fastest torpedo in the world.

The FSB has launched a publicity campaign to defend its case against Mr. Pope. According to the FSB, Mr. Pope paid large sums of foreign currency to a Russian scientist to obtain secret information on a Russian high-speed underwater rocket that can travel as fast as 100 metres per second.

This weapon, which can destroy a modern warship, has been eagerly sought by the U.S. military, the FSB said in a statement. It said Mr. Pope deliberately met his Russian contacts in different locations to avoid the FSB's surveillance.

On the weekend, the FSB also disclosed that a second American, a 68-year-old man, had been arrested at the same time as Mr. Pope, but had been released because of his old age. This showed that the FSB often considers "principles of humanity" in deciding who to arrest, a Moscow radio station said.

The FSB said that doctors have examined Mr. Pope more than 10 times since his arrest and that his health is fine. But U.S. officials say the Russians have refused to allow Mr. Pope to be examined by a doctor from the U.S. embassy.

A Moscow court is scheduled to hear Mr. Pope's latest appeal for release on Sept. 11.

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U.S. Presses Russia to Free Imprisoned American

NewsMax.com
Monday, Sept. 4, 2000
http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/9/1/154446

The United States government has threatened to put Russia under a travel warning it if doesn't release an ailing American accused of spying.

It is a matter of no small import for a foreign state to land on a list of countries that the United States formally warns travelers to visit at their peril.

In the past, this has cost those countries loss of considerable tourist and commercial revenues.

According to Agence France-Presse news service:

The Russian refusal to free, or allow an American physician to visit, Edmund Pope, who has been detained without trial in a Moscow prison since April, is raising international concerns over how Russia treats other nationals in its custody.

President Clinton took up the Pope case with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright did the same with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, with no success.

Putin declined to intervene and Ivanov said that "there are no new circumstances" to justify Pope's release.

Pope's case took on added gravity when another U.S. citizen, Yefim Shurkovich, died on July 31 after having been denied medical treatment in a Russian prison.

With the failure of diplomatic persuasion, the United States has now turned to more-overt methods of pressure designed to embarrass and even penalize Russia.

Earlier this week, a State Department official said Pope's treatment in jail "raises serious concerns about the safety and security of American business travelers in Russia."

Taking advantage of those growing concerns, a State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said Thursday:

"We're examining the implications of this for other Americans, business people who might travel to Russia, and we are looking at the consular information that we provide.

"You can't say he's healthy and not let people go in and see him, to see that he's healthy.

"The people who have seen him, including his wife, say his health has deteriorated seriously."

Requests for an American Embassy doctor to examine Pope have been denied repeatedly.

If convicted, Pope, a 53-year-old former U.S. naval intelligence officer suffering from a rare form of bone cancer now in remission, faces 10 to 20 years in prison for spying and another four to seven years for disclosing state secrets.

He is accused of contacting Russian scientists in Moscow and the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, among other places in Russia, with the intent to obtain "top secret" information.

Pope, his family and the U.S. government insist he is innocent.

The Russian Federal Security Service has denounced the U.S. pressure, calling the charges against Pope extremely serious and asserting he has been examined more than 10 times by Russian doctors, who report his condition is satisfactory.

On Tuesday, Pope was visited by his wife, Cheri, in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison, where she reported his health had worsened.

The next day, a Russian court scheduled a Sept. 11 hearing for Pope to appeal for his release on medical grounds.

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Hearing Halted in Terrorism Case

NewsEdge Corporation
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0901010.500&level3=2884&date=20000904

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - A judge has granted a motion to halt bond proceedings in the case of a Palestinian immigrant being held as a suspected terrorist.

Mazen Al-Najjar has been jailed for three years without charges on the basis of secret evidence. His bond hearing Thursday was halted so a federal can rule on the handling of that evidence.

The former University of South Florida Arabic instructor is seeking to be released while he appeals a deportation order. The Immigration and Naturalization Service arrested him in May 1997 after the order was issued.

At issue is whether immigration Judge R. Kevin McHugh should review the secret evidence before giving Al-Najjar's attorney, David Cole, a chance to view a summary of it.

Cole plans to ask U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard to order McHugh to give him a copy of the summary before the evidence is presented.

``This is information being presented behind closed doors,'' Cole told McHugh. ``It should not be considered unless the evidence is necessary and appropriate.''

McHugh scheduled a Sept. 18 conference call with the attorneys.

None of the secret evidence against Al-Najjar has been introduced. The INS showed classified material to McHugh in May 1997, prompting him to order Al-Najjar detained as a national security threat.

Lenard ruled in May that Al-Najjar's civil rights had been violated and ordered the bond hearing.

``It's just another week after another week,'' Al-Najjar said Thursday. ``I will complete reading another book, maybe.''

McHugh's latest decision came one day after a federal agent acknowledged the government lacks any direct evidence that Al-Najjar had raised money for a terror group or had helped organize any violence.

On Wednesday, INS attorney Daniel Vara played a 13-minute videotape of various gatherings organized by the Islamic Committee for Palestine as evidence Al-Najjar had consorted with known terrorists.

Al-Najjar was an officer in the committee and helped organize the conferences, some of which were attended by leaders of the terrorist group Islamic Jihad.

The tape was compiled from nearly 500 hours of video seized in 1995, but INS agent William D. West was unable to offer any example of Al-Najjar soliciting money for the Islamic Jihad or advocating terrorism.

At one gathering shown on the tape, a Muslim prayer leader identified the charity as the ``active arm of the Islamic Jihad,'' but Al-Najjar was neither present at, nor organized, that event, West acknowledged under cross-examination.

Cole said the government's case was an extension of its focus on Al-Najjar's brother-in-law, Sami Al-Arian.

Al-Arian incorporated the Islamic Committee for Palestine and the World and Islam Studies Enterprise, a think tank associated with the University of South Florida. Al-Najjar's primary work was with the think tank, Cole said.

Al-Arian, a legal permanent resident, is free and has remained in the courtroom since testifying earlier this week.

Al-Najjar is one of several immigrants held on secret evidence nationwide. An Egyptian in New York, a Palestinian in New Jersey and an Iraqi in California were released after rebutting terrorist allegations.

---

Final Lockdown at Sydney Olympic Park Complete

NewsEdge Corporation
September 4, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=v0901155.1xi&level3=2884&date=20000904

CANBERRA (Sept. 1) XINHUA via NewsEdge Corporation - Sydney's normally slow traffic slowed to a dawdle around Olympic Park Friday as security personnel carried out "Lockdown Day" on the home of the Games.

It was the final sweep of the Homebush venue, with security personnel littering Olympic Park and searching through vehicles in the venue's biggest clampdown on security yet.

Officials reported an incident-free day, with the only problem a non-related transport issue where buses were forced to detour along Australia Avenue, a problem that should be fixed by Saturday.

After last Wednesday's lockdown on the Main Press Centre, Friday's exercise took on a decidedly larger scale.

Soldiers began arriving from early in the morning as police and the army set up a command post near Dawn Fraser Avenue.

More than 1,000 security personnel were on hand to search for suspicious objects, parcels and anything that might resemble a bomb or booby trap.

All entrances to Olympic Park were manned by security personnel, conducting thorough searches on anyone or anything that tried to enter.

Vehicles were stopped and searched from bonnet to boot, while army personnel also roamed the car parks and grounds searching for anything suspicious.

From Friday onwards, only people with appropriate accreditation will have access to Olympic Park.

New South Wales state Police Commissioner Peter Ryan said security forces were now prepared for any terrorist threat.

"We've planned, we've trained, we've put all resources in," he said in a radio interview.

"We are prepared to respond to it (terrorism). We have hundreds of bomb-trained and search-trained people," he added.

Any vehicles entering the area will need to be accredited and will undergo full bomb searches.

The stringent security will be maintained until October 1.

-------- activists

NUCLEAR ENERGY SHOULD NOT RECEIVE RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDITS

Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2000
From: michael mariotte <nirsnet@nirs.org>

ALERT-- ALERT-ALERT-ALERT-PLEASE CIRCULATE

NO NUCLEAR REACTORS FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED

The nuclear power industry is trying to gain access to yet another subsidy and the U.S. is poised to support them in upcoming international negotiations. By falsely claiming that nuclear power is needed to address global climate change, the industry hopes to construct and operate new reactors all over the world. The in-dustry wants to use a pollution trading credit scheme in the current Kyoto climate change agreement to off-set nuclear energy's oppressive construction costs. The Clinton/Gore administration is planning to support use of pollution credits to nuclear energy based on the same formula used to give renewable energy credits. This policy would give nuclear energy status equal to sustainable energy under the energy credit plan in the Kyoto agreement.

CALL OR EMAIL officials below. Demand the Clinton/Gore administration adopt the following positions:

( NUCLEAR POWER IS NOT SUSTAINABLE AND IS NOT THE SOLUTION TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE; ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ARE. ( ANY FURTHER SUBSIDY TO THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY WILL THWART SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES AND ULTIMATELY HURT OUR EFFORTS TO ADDRESS GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE ( NUCLEAR POWER MUST BE SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDED FROM THE CDM (Clean Development Mecha-nism) OF THE KYOTO AGREEMENT AND GIVEN NO CREDITS

ALSO, TELL THE CLINTON/GORE ADMINISTRATION MANY "DEVELOPING" NATIONS DON'T WANT NUCLEAR POWER AND THEIR CITIZENS DO WANT A VOICE

We must not spread nuclear terror by allowing financially and/or politically fragile nations to be burdened with nuclear waste, pollution and weapons proliferation risk as many countries (including the US) currently are. All nations deserve better. We MUST reduce greenhouse gases domestically, not get false "credit" for reductions by selling any nation dirty nuclear reactors. The U.S. should learn from our own hor-rible mistakes with nuclear energy and not allow the nuclear industry to abuse other nations with their failed technology-no nuclear power reactor order has been placed in the U.S. since 1973. We have yet to find a way to safely store the first cupfull of radioactive waste produced in the U.S. on April 24, 1942. We must tell the Clinton/Gore administration that it is unacceptable to support the nuclear industry in trying to get more undeserved investment and legitimacy, even while ratepayers in the United States are bailing out nuclear reactors to the tune of $500 billion dollars. A boost to the nuclear industry could also mean more nuclear reactors will be built in the US, after many years of stagnation and rate-payer robbery.

Contact the following U.S. officials before and during climate change meeting in Lyon which commences on September 4. Further alerts and updates will be coming.

CALL OR EMAIL (PHONE IS BEST): Mr. David Gardiner, Executive Director, White House Climate Change Task Force, Phone: 202-395-2343, Fax: 202-395-2311; email: David_Gardiner@ceq.eop.gov

Mr. Frank Loy; Under Secretary for Global Affairs; Phone: 202-647-8877; Fax: 202-646-0753 email: mitchelllm@state.gov

Mr. Roger Ballentine; Deputy Assistant to the President on Environmental Issues; Phone: 202-456-1782; Fax 202-456-1736; email: rballentine@who.eop.gov

BACKGROUND

Through the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement created to address climate change, the nuclear industry hopes to get credit (to offset construction costs) for something it cannot deliver: clean, environmentally friendly, non-polluting, energy production. Language in the Kyoto Protocol will allow developed nations to build power plants in other countries and get a pollution credit if the new plant leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However, the country receiving the credit does not have to reduce their own greenhouse gas production. This concept is called the Clean Development Mecha-nism, or CDM. In essence, it is a worldwide pollution trading credits scheme. The United States (Three Mile Island), Russia (Chernobyl), and Japan (Tokaimura) are among the nations eligible for CDM credits. Each of these countries has a poor nuclear technology record and a history of sacrificing democratic principles, such as public participation, for nu-clear industry profit. Decisions on policies and enforcement for the Kyoto agreement happen at annual meetings of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Climate Change Convention. This year is the sixth meeting (COP 6). It will be held in The Hague, Netherlands from November 13-24, 2000. Decisions on the CDM may be made, however, at an interim meeting occurring September 4-15 in Lyon, France. In fact, the nuclear industry is pushing hard to give nuclear power CDM credits during LYON and is relying on the US, China and Japan to push the industry position during the negotiations.

THE U.S. MUST APPROVE LANGUAGE WHICH SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITS THE INCLUSION OF NUCLEAR POWER IN THE CDM.

One of the CDM's primary objectives is to help developing countries achieve sustainable development by sub-sidizing previously unsubsidized industries. Allowing nuclear energy to receive pollution trading credits through the CDM would in effect reduce the cost of nuclear reactor construction, thereby giving nuclear power another huge, unde-served subsidy, while keeping money from sounder, proven investments like energy efficiency. Every dollar invested in energy efficiency is up to seven times more effective in CO2 emissions reduction than that same dollar invested in nu-clear power. Energy efficiency alone could account for 60% of the emissions reduction necessary in the U.S. to meet the Kyoto protocol. Further investment in nuclear would also keep funds away from renewable energy development. This trade-off is exactly what has happened in the U.S. over the past 50 years. When comparing U.S. government subsidies for nuclear, solar, and wind, the nuclear power industry has received the majority (96.3%) of $150 billion in investments since 1947; that's $145 billion for nuclear reactors and $5 billion for wind and solar. Nuclear subsidies have cost the average house-hold a total amount of $1,411 [1998 dollars] compared to $11 for wind. The more money we spend on nuclear power, the less greenhouse gas reduction benefit we receive, while we hurt sustainable technology investment. The U.S. claims it does not want to limit "developing" nations to certain technologies; that developing nations should decide for themselves which technologies are sustainable and which are not. While this seems to be a reasonable position on its face, implementation of the Kyoto agreement allows for very little equitable public participation. Therefore, a mechanism for ensuring that the citizens of a nation really want a certain technology does not exist. Additionally, many smaller developing nations fear nuclear power CDM credits would favor high-growth nuclear projects in devel-oping countries over smaller, sustainable projects in non-nuclear developing nations. As an Indonesia delegate com-mented: "I think it is simple colonialism to push nuclear power onto developing countries, leaving them with all the bur-dens that come with it". Indian NGO's have worded a letter to the U.S., Japan, and Canada stating, "[T]he undersigned Indian social and political organizations , human rights organizations, NGOs, women's rights organizations, and trade unions are writing to urge you to exclude nuclear power from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol". Member nations of AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States) oppose giving nuclear reactors credit for green-house gas reduction, asking that CDM projects "Not support the use of nuclear power". Countries of AOSIS do not sup-port the use of nuclear power to address global climate change even though their island nations stand to lose the most from sea level rise.

Each current 1000-megawatt reactor produces 40 bomb's worth of plutonium per year and atomic waste which will be dangerous for many thousands of years, with no proven storage technology able to last for the entire hazardous life of these radioactive wastes, natural and man-made barriers included.

Finally, nuclear reactors threaten our health. As a matter of normal operation, reactors release radioactive sub-stances to the air and water. Many human population studies demonstrate that additional, low, constant levels of radia-tion can cause cancer and genetic mutations in this and future generations. Subjects of these studies, often nuclear facil-ity workers and communities, suffer higher rates of diseases than non-nuclear communities, even with apparent normal operation of these facilities.

For more information, Contact: Cindy Folkers, NIRS, 202-328-0002, cindyf@nirs.org

----

Winning without violence

Washington Times
September 4, 2000
Nat Hentoff
http://208.246.212.80/op-ed/ed-column-200094155526.htm

Many Americans know or care little about the tradition of direct-action nonviolence. But on Sept. 18 and 25, the Public Broadcasting System will illuminate the still reverberating lives of Gandhi, the Reverend James Lawson, a key strategist during the American civil rights movement, and Mikhuseli Jack, who helped conquer South African apartheid. This televised documentary is called "A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict."

Another part of "A Force More Powerful" focuses on Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, Sergio Bitar, a key force in Chilean opposition to the murderous regime of Augusto Pinochet, and the extraordinarily brave Danish resistance to Nazi occupation.

I know something about the often-misunderstood subject of direct-action nonviolence. It is not passive pacifism, as the examples of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King have so compellingly demonstrated. My own knowledge comes from having written a biography -and edited the letters - of A.J. Muste, a Christian minister who was a key strategist of the anti-Vietnam War movement and also advised King in his nonviolent but very direct-action campaigns.

King told me that he became interested in the strategy of nonviolence when he heard A.J. Muste lecture at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where King was a student.

As A.J. Muste used to say - and as this television documentary makes dramatically and reverberatingly clear - "Peaceableness does not mean trying to disturb nothing or glossing over realities. It is the most profound kind of disturbance we seek to achieve. Nonviolence is not apathy or cowardice or passivity."

Steve York, who produced and wrote this two-part, three-hour documentary, points out: "Nonviolent movements often form in response to out-and-out tyranny; but rather than subduing people, repression often energizes them. It rouses public sentiment from the center, the core. The moderate middle won't act until the extremes are cast into dramatic relief."

"The tide turned in Nashville, for example," Mr. York goes on, "when the home of a prominent black lawyer was bombed. Such acts fueled the nonviolent ranks of the civil rights movement, rallied the African-American community, engaged the white community, and caught the attention of media and government because the contrast was devastating."

The contrast is between violent hatred and the nonviolence of determined resistance to that hatred.

During the Vietnam War - influenced by A.J. Muste, Dorothy Day, the Catholic speaker of truth to power and others - I committed civil disobedience in front of a draft registration center, along with hundreds of others that day.

Based on my knowledge of American leaders of nonviolent direct action - including A.J. Muste and Martin Luther King - Peter Ackerman, editor of this television series, is exactly right when he says that "leaders in these conflicts themselves are often reluctant leaders and even more reluctant heroes. They're not power-mad; they're not looking for glory. Some of them don't especially want to be leaders; they just want to stop the tyranny or the inequity."

There is a companion book to this documentary, published by St. Martin's Press. The title is the same: "A Force More Powerful." Sen. John McCain, who is well-experienced in direct action that is not nonviolent, says of the book: "I recommend it to anyone who believes that power only flows from the barrel of a gun."

There are added values to a PBS series like this one. The television program will be distributed to libraries and schools; videos can be purchased for home use. Moreover, the Albert Einstein Institution will see to worldwide dissemination of video cassettes and study guides for classrooms and libraries.

In a time when there are so few authentic heroes (none of whom are currently running for president on the major-party tickets), "A Force More Powerful" shows all of us - young and old alike - people who take principled risks far beyond their own self-interest.

Nat Hentoff is a columnist for The Washington Times. His column runs on Mondays.

---

Protests over dragging death

USA Today
09/04/00- Updated 02:27 PM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nwsmon03.htm

SASOLBURG, South Africa (AP) - Hundreds of angry black protesters threw rocks and spit on police Monday outside a court where a white man appeared on charges of dragging a black man behind his pickup truck.

Five police suffered minor injuries and one man was charged with public violence, Sgt. Stephen Thakeng said.

The crowd of 200 later ran through the town for several minutes, attacking white businesses.

''People must vent out their anger, and that is exactly what they are doing today,'' said Dennis Victor Bloem, a parliamentarian for the ruling African National Congress.

Pieter Odendaal is charged with murder for the Aug. 26 death of John Mosoko Rampuru, a black driver for his construction company.

Police say Odendaal dragged Rampuru's body behind his pickup truck for three miles before dumping the mutilated corpse in an open field.

''End racism in South Africa,'' read a sign held by one protester outside the court in Sasolburg, 50 miles south of Johannesburg, where Odendaal was taken for a bail hearing.

Odendaal declined to apply for bail. A hearing was set for Sept. 28 to decide whether he should be sent to a psychiatric hospital for testing, Thakeng said.

As police with riot shields and helmets led Odendaal into the building, the crowd became enraged and began spitting and throwing sand at them. As he left the courthouse, the demonstrators threw rocks at the police vehicle transporting him.

''If justice is not done, there is something we call revenge. That will happen,'' said Alfred Mphasa, Rampuru's brother.

-------

OneList subscriber submissions:

NucNews - Please circulate -- help educate! - http://prop1.org

1. The Migration Begins: The International Space Station
From: "Viviane Lerner" <vlerner@interpac.net>

2. TIMES PROMOTES TMD
From: "Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space" <globalnet@mindspring.com>

3. Piketon workers say safety a concern in cleanup operation
From: "Vina Colley" <vcolley@earthlink.net>

4. World-Wide Rise in Oil Prices
From: ivan buchbinder <pentaske@memes.com>

------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: "Viviane Lerner" <vlerner@interpac.net>

The Migration Begins: The International Space Station

Environment News Service
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
Healing Our World: Weekly Comment
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/sep2000/2000L-09-01g.html

Don't plant seed too soon, Consult the Moon. -- The English herbalist Culpepper

On October 30, 2000, an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts will be launched from the space complex in Kazahkstan, Russia to the International Space Station, under construction in orbit, 220 miles above the surface of the Earth.

This four month mission will begin the first long term human presence in space. What will this mean for our culture, our environment and our bodies as the migration into space begins?

Over 16 countries are participating in its construction, which began in November 1998. The Russians are major contributors and partners, since they have vast experience in long duration space flight. This project is the single largest international aerospace endeavor ever attempted by humankind.

The flight later this year will begin the planned permanent occupancy of the station, which is estimated to have a 10 year lifetime.

NASA tells us that the International Space Station will provide low gravity environments for medical research and will help us learn the effects that long term exposure to reduced gravity have on humans and animals. They say it will teach is how materials behave in space, give opportunities for the long term observation of the Earth, and provide opportunities for businesses to produce new products and services. It will eventually be the launching pad for missions to other planets.

Designing and building the station will cost between $22 and $24 billion. The total program cost, assuming a 10 year lifetime for the station, is about $37 billion. About $10 billion of the costs will come from the international partners.

But what other costs must we consider?

Artist's rendition of a lunar strip mine from "NASA, The First 25 Years...A Resource for Teachers," NASA publication EP-182, 1983 Humans have been affecting the environment of space since the launch of the first spacecraft Sputnik by the Russians in 1957. Thousands of pounds of metal and other waste have been either left in orbit around the earth, deposited on the Moon and Mars, or allowed to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. In the space station era, waste disposal and resource use are still tricky problems. The plans are to recycle as much as possible, but non-recyclable items will be put on a Russian return vehicle, which will totally disintegrate reentering Earth's atmosphere, or on one of the U.S. space shuttles, which will bring it back to Earth for disposal.

Our perception of ourselves as humans and our purpose on this Earth have been affected by gaining access to outer space. No longer is Earth believed by everyone to be our only home.

In fact, some people use the space program and the beginning of our migration into space as justification for continued abuse of the Earth.

If you believe most science fiction movies, the Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future and humanity lives in space or on other worlds. This belief holds that technology will come to the rescue by providing us other worlds to inhabit.

This is a classic misperception of the current pace of space exploration and technology. Current space suit design, life support systems, emergency crew return technology and medical responses to space induced problems are all in their infancy.

How will be we care for the space environment? Artist's conceptions from the last 20 years are not too encouraging and usually show a strip mine on the moon or the destruction of an asteroid for its mineral resources. Rather than scour space and the other planets for more resources for our hungry industries and use it as a limitless landfill, we should be re-examining our needs and wants, eliminating the extreme excess and waste in our world.

In his essay "The Preservation of Natural Value in the Solar System," Holmes Rolston, III reminds us, that "in a typical handful of humus, which may have ten billion organisms in it, there is a richness of structure, a volume of information ... enormously advanced over anything elsewhere in the solar system, or even, so far as we know, in myriads of galaxies."

Rolston provides us with six rules toward developing a space exploration ethic. They are not perfect, but they give us good food for thought.

Rule 1: Respect any natural place spontaneously worthy of a proper name. He says that places that have enough "site integrity" to create the impulse to name them suggests that they should be protected. While every crater on the moon may not evoke such a response, many do and have been named. Rule 2: Respect exotic extremes in natural projects. We should not only look for places that have functional utility in the solar system, but for places that are extraordinary and unbounded by earthly constraints. An ocean made of liquid methane could be such an exotic extreme worthy of protection.

Rule 3: Respect places of historical value. Some areas on Mars clearly once had vast amounts of water flowing through them. The other planets represent 4.6 billion years of collected history. This should be considered before chopping them up for their resources or using them as sites for simulated nuclear reactor meltdowns.

Rule 4: Respect places of active and potential creativity. On Earth, we are driving species to extinction, thereby changing evolutionary cycles for all time. On other worlds, processes are in motion and geologic evolution is in play.

Rule 5: Respect places of aesthetic value. There is more than science and industrial products to be had in space. Vast expanses of unexperienced beauty and mystery await us. These visions will provide us the poetry of the future. They should not be blown up for their mineral resources.

Rule 6: Respect places of transformative value. We ought to preserve those places that radically transform our perspective. In space, that which we call hot or cold, summer or winter and dark and light are bizarre and jumbled. Places that stretch the limits of our perceptions, pushing us to new thoughts and values, must be preserved.

Michael Collins, command module pilot on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, said, "The more we see of other planets, the better this one looks."

Our only home The fact of the matter is that you can go from one end of the solar system to the other and not find a single drop of available fresh water or breathable air. There is no bird song, no sound of wind blowing through the trees and no laughter of children. There are no bright sunny days to enjoy on your porch or gentle rain showers to romp in with your family.

Space exploration may continue and provide us many valuable benefits, but the Earth will always be our only home. Don't dream of walking on Mars in the future. Rather, dream of walking on an Earth that is free of pollution, free of hunger, and free of greed.

And work to make it so.

RESOURCES

1. For a comprehensive look at all aspects of the International Space Station, visit http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html

2. Read about Flight 2R, the first flight to occupy the space station, at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/flights/2r/index.html

3. See the complete list of international partners and their contributions at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/partners/index.html

4. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter commissioned an $11.7 million study to explore how a factory could be set up on the moon. See the section on strip mining at http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/AASM5D.html. Read more about lunar strip mining at http://www.permanent.com/l-mining.htm

5. Holmes Rolston, III's essay can be found in the book "From Beyond Spaceship Earth: Environmental Ethics and the Solar System," published by Sierra Club Books in 1986. Look for it at Powells bookstore or other used bookstores.

6. Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them. Tell them what you feel the priorities of our space exploration efforts should be. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html or you can search by state at http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html. You can also find your representatives at http://congress.nw.dc.us/innovate/index.html

[Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. is a writer and teacher in Seattle. He spent nearly 20 years working for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, including a year working on the early development of the space station. He can be found hiking around the city, occasionally looking skyward, wondering if our space exploration will yield any new wisdom or will instead, perpetuate old errors.

Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at jackie@healingourworld.com and visit his web site at http://www.healingourworld.com]

------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: "Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space" <globalnet@mindspring.com>

Other Systems Might Provide a U.S. Missile Shield
TIMES PROMOTES TMD

New York Times
September 4, 2000
By JAMES GLANZ

In putting off a decision on a national missile defense on Friday, President Clinton said the earliest such a shield could be put in place was 2006 or 2007. But the president made a decision on just one system. What he did not say, and what the debate over that system has obscured, is that a number of lesser-known antimissile weapons might be candidates for the same job.

They are known as theater missile defense systems, and they are intended to protect American troops and bases in relatively small regions of conflict, much as was attempted during the Persian Gulf war in 1991. But some already under development could be expanded, potentially, to protect larger areas and perhaps even the entire United States, according to experts inside and outside the military.

Many of these systems have yet to be tested for the purpose for which they were originally intended, let alone a new, more ambitious one, and the difficulty of adapting them would range from making simple changes in their computer software to perhaps adding sophisticated new sensors or other hardware.

Still, with several of these weapons scheduled to be available as theater defenses by 2007, the delay announced by Mr. Clinton is bringing them much closer scrutiny as to whether they might eventually be adapted to provide some form of national defense.

"It does debunk the argument of the Pentagon that if you want missile defense soon, your only choice is the missile defense system they've been pushing," said Dr. Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who specializes in military policy.

The plan Mr. Clinton has delayed would track missiles through space and shoot down descending warheads from a land-based site in the United States. Many of the theater defenses use interceptors, lasers or fragmentation explosives fired from ships or airplanes that could maneuver relatively close to small countries like North Korea, whose missile program has been cited as one reason a national missile defense is needed.

Some of these theater systems are now intended to shoot down short- and medium-range missiles in midflight or on their way down to a target, but proponents say they might be adapted to destroy the kinds of faster long-range missiles that would be the object of a national missile defense.

That could be done by adding long-range sensors that would potentially give theater systems enough time to destroy missiles in midflight, or by targeting missiles soon after they were launched, in the so-called boost phase. Other theater defenses have been specifically intended to work in the boost phase.

The idea of boost-phase interception was even endorsed this summer by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who suggested that his nation might cooperate with the United States in developing it. Russia has opposed a national missile shield, arguing that it threatens to undermine its arsenal and violates the Antiballistic Missile Treaty the United States signed with the Soviet Union in 1972.

But Russia has not objected to theater systems that work in the boost phase. One reason is that they do not violate the ABM treaty. Another is that because of Russia's large size, interceptors cannot be positioned close enough to attack Russian rockets while they are being launched. China, however, in addition to its objections to a national defense system, does see theater defenses as a threat because they could theoretically be used to protect Taiwan and Japan, its potential adversaries.

But for the most part, theater defenses have not generated the same kind of resistance at home or abroad as the Pentagon's idea for a national missile defense, because the theater defenses have not been intended to offer the kind of blanket protection from missile attack that would challenge existing theories of arms control, which are based on mutual vulnerability.

This would undoubtedly change if they were expanded to protect the whole of the United States, and any defense system that did so would probably violate the ABM treaty, according to arms control experts. Some critics have seen these theater systems as an attempt to bring in a national missile defense through the back door.

In his speech on Friday, Mr. Clinton said Russia had agreed to cooperate with the United States "in areas such as theater missile defense," but he did not mention the systems' wider potential.

Nevertheless, Russia might agree to changing the ABM treaty to allow for adapting to broader use a theater missile defense system that it does not view as a direct threat, said Dr. Harold Brown, secretary of defense in the Carter administration. "This is a way of possibly preserving the ABM treaty," he said.

Dr. Dean Wilkening, director of the science program at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, said, "There's no clear, technical distinction between the theater and national missile defense systems."

Referring to a Navy system that would shoot down missiles with shipboard interceptors, Dr. Wilkening said, "They are well down the road to being fully capable national missile defense systems."

Until recently, with the emerging missile programs of nations like Iraq and North Korea, the idea of creating a national missile defense lost favor after the end of the cold war. But spending for theater defenses has more or less grown through the 1990's.

The $5.1 billion that the United States will spend on missile defense in fiscal year 2001 will be equally divided between theater defenses and national missile defense, according to the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington. That contrasts starkly with the situation in the 1980's, when expenditures on national defenses dominated spending.

Most of the theater programs -- which have names like the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad), the Patriot Advanced Capability - 3 and the Navy Theaterwide and Navy Area Defense -- use interceptors fired from ships or trailers that attempt to ram an enemy missile or explode near it.

Of those systems, extensive testing has already been done for the new Patriot, scheduled to be put in the field starting next year. Unlike the version used in the gulf war, which exploded near descending missiles, this one aims to ram them.

Thaad has also been extensively tested and is expected to be deployed by 2007. Current plans have the Navy Theaterwide Defense available for emergency use in 2007 and fully deployed three years later, while the shorter-range Navy Area Defense should be ready sooner.

One program that is receiving generous financing but little publicity is the development of a powerful laser to shoot down ballistic missiles from a platform in space, intended for use by 2013.

The Airborne Laser program, run by the Air Force, aims to put a similar laser aboard a modified Boeing 747 and begin shooting down test missiles by 2003. Seven planes are expected to be in operation by 2009, according to a spokesman for the program, if Congress provides the money. The laser systems could be be designed to work as national or theater defenses.

Some proponents of adapting theater defenses favor using them in the boost phase, since decoys like balloons or fake warheads separate from the missile at higher altitudes and make the job of finding and shooting down the real warhead that much harder.

Others insist that this is not the only way, and that the protection that midcourse interceptions could offer against large or inaccessible countries, like Russia, China or Iran, would be indispensable. Either way, those who would use the theater missile defenses, or T.M.D., to replace the Pentagon's favored system say their mobility and flexibility make them a better choice.

"A national missile defense capability that evolves from T.M.D. will probably be cheaper, better contribute to defense against both long- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and allow for more effective growth in capability as the threat increases," wrote John M. Deutch, Dr. Brown and John P. White in the summer issue of the journal Foreign Policy.

Mr. Deutch, a former director of central intelligence and deputy defense secretary, and Dr. White, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a former deputy defense secretary, both served under President Clinton.

Among conservatives, who have long supported expansive national missile defenses, enthusiasm for theater defenses runs high. But precisely what additional improvements might be necessary to convert those systems into a national defense by intercepting missiles in midflight is still not entirely clear, Dr. Wilkening of Stanford said, since most of them are still under development. Moreover, recent amendments to the 1972 ABM Treaty, which have not been ratified by Congress, prohibit testing theater defenses against intercontinental ballistic missiles directly.

By far the most important element needed to turn those theater defenses into potential national defenses are long-range sensors, said Dr. David Wright, a senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. With that sensor technology, which the United States already plans to deploy in space and possibly on the ground over the next decade, the Navy system "starts to look like an interceptor which could, in principle, shoot down strategic missiles," Dr. Wright said. Critics of converting theater systems say the change would be far more difficult -- requiring, for example, interceptors vastly faster and more maneuverable than the theater systems could muster. Also, the sensors carried aboard the interceptors for homing in on a target might have to be improved. Dr. Wright pointed out that the system would have to be able to discriminate between missiles and the decoys that would surely accompany an enemy attack.

A State Department official said enthusiasts of conversion were overstating their case. "They seem to imply that you don't need to go the N.M.D. route that this administration is taking," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There are flaws in these glib statements and analyses."

In any case, the administration has no plans to convert theater defenses into national defenses, the official said. "It would be very difficult for the United States, as a practical matter, to develop a system and label it as one thing with the intent of surreptitiously being able to fulfill a completely different mission."

But Lt. Col. Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, said: "All of these systems can have applicability to both theater and national missile defense. It just depends on which direction the nation wants to go."

Modified theater defenses would not be the only way to create such a defense. According to some experts, the simplest and cheapest solution would be to start from scratch with faster interceptors launched from military cargo ships, a strategy advocated by Dr. Richard L. Garwin, a physicist at the Council on Foreign Relations, or from airplanes, an approach that Dr. Wilkening has studied.

The Air Force is developing a system, called the Airborne Laser, based on an entirely different technology that is targeted toward the boost phase. An eight-year $1.6 billion development program that aims for the shooting down of a missile in 2003, the system is expected to include a laser mounted in the nose of a converted Boeing 747.

The Air Force is designing the laser to destroy short- and medium-range missiles while they are being launched by rupturing their metal skin. If the system works, it could potentially be used against intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The space-based laser program will receive $148 million in fiscal year 2001 and would cost $2 billion to $3 billion through its first planned antimissile shot from space in 2013, said Dr. Douglas P. Crawford, the integrator of that project at the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. If it works, the laser can be used against either theater or national threats, Dr. Crawford said. (This is the only boost-phase defense that would threaten Russia directly since the laser could be fired from a distance.) He added that the technology has been receiving a much more positive reception than it had for years. "The 'Star Wars' moniker was a term of derision through the late 80's and early 90's," he said, "but I haven't heard it recently."

Bruce K. Gagnon Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 90083 Gainesville, FL. 32607
(352) 337-9274
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com

-------------

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: "Vina Colley" <vcolley@earthlink.net>

Piketon workers say safety a concern in cleanup operation

Monday, September 4, 2000
The Columbus Dispatch
Jonathan Riskind Dispatch Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- A congressman says he's worried about worker safety at southern Ohio's uranium-enrichment plant in light of a recent accident there and employee complaints about inadequate safety procedures.

Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland of Lucasville met last week with about 10 current and former employees involved in cleanup operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon. They allege that safety measures are lax and that workers who raise concerns are harassed.

Strickland wants the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate. The Dispatch confirmed last week that a U.S. Justice Department lawyer and a special agent of the Energy Department's inspector general's office interviewed at least one employee about his concerns.

"I hope against hope that not everything I have been told is totally accurate,'' Strickland said. "because if it is, there has been conduct that borders on the illegal if not the illegal.

"Right now, I cannot verify that it has occurred. But I am very concerned that it may have and that there may be developing a culture of intimidation and harassment -- and there may be things happening that send a very strong message to employees that if they see safety violations they should keep quiet about it.''

The cleanup operations are separate from the enrichment plant, which produces commercial-grade material used for nuclear power- plant fuel.

The cleanup is being run by Bechtel Jacobs, a company based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which subcontracts much of the work.

Bechtel employs 106 workers on the grounds of the uranium-enrichment plant, and subcontractors employ about 150 workers.

But the number of cleanup jobs is expected to grow significantly, because the 1,700-employee plant, formerly run by the government and now operated by a privatized federal corporation called USEC, is to close in June. That means the entire 3,700- acre site will need to be decontaminated, which will require hundreds of workers, potentially billions of dollars and years of effort.

Southern Ohio workers and officials are sensitive to complaints about safety being compromised at the Piketon plant.

Federal officials have acknowledged that during the Cold War, when the plant produced weapons- grade material, hundreds of workers may have been exposed to hazardous radiation and chemicals. A compensation proposal is pending in Congress.

Strickland has written a letter to Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, asking whether an Aug. 22 accident was related to the cleanup-related safety concerns he's heard about. He noted in the letter that he began hearing complaints about possible safety problems more than two months ago, which he has relayed to Energy Department officials.

In that accident, an employee suffered severe burns while working on a demonstration of a new cleanup technology.

"If this incident is in any way related to a lack of safety oversight, then immediate intervention is required,'' Strickland wrote.

The Energy Department is concerned about the allegations and the fact that so many employees have complained about problems, said Leah Dever, the department's Tennessee-based site manager in charge of the Piketon cleanup project. The department will send a representative to Portsmouth and hire an outside company to assess Bechtel Jacobs, subcontractors and the Energy Department itself, she said.

Dever said it is premature to comment on the substance of the employees' concerns or on the possible causes of the Aug. 22 accident.

But "it does seem as though there are a number of concerns, some which may or may not be related,'' Dever said. "We really encourage employees to express their concerns and bring them to the forefront. That is the only way to improve.''

Joe Nemec, Bechtel Jacobs president, declined to comment on any specific allegations, saying, "They are actively being looked at not only by us but by the Department of Energy and the Department of Labor.''

But Nemec said, "From day one, safety has been our primary focus. Our primary goal is to make sure we protect workers, the public and the environment.''

He noted that the worker injured Aug. 22 was not employed by Bechtel Jacobs or a Bechtel subcontractor. He was there as subcontractor to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has been working with Bechtel on a new way to attack groundwater contamination.

Nemec disputed claims that workers are discouraged from airing safety concerns. He said Bechtel has put in place "a very active employee- concerns program.''

But several of the workers who met with Strickland said in interviews with The Dispatch last week that Bechtel Jacobs and several subcontractors have failed to take certain safety steps, such as not ensuring that proper radiation and chemical monitoring is carried out on-site.

One of the workers, Phil Borris, said he was demoted from his job as location manager in charge of radiation and chemical control for Safety and Ecology Corp., a Bechtel subcontractor. He said his problems began in June, when he asked Bechtel and his company to buy some monitoring equipment. He said the companies balked for months.

"My contention is the overall atmosphere is a hostile atmosphere that has suppressed employee concerns to the point that overall nuclear safety issues are being compromised,'' Borris said.

However, his employer says that "worker safety is one of the core services provided by SEC,'' wrote President John H. Macrae Jr. last week in response to questions that Safety and Ecology has an " 'open-door policy' in an effort to facilitate meaningful communication free from harassment or intimidation.''

Macrae disputed Borris' claim that the purchase of needed safety equipment was improperly delayed, saying the equipment was bought after satisfying proper procedures and ordered before the company learned that Borris had complained to the government.

Macrae denied that Borris was demoted for raising safety concerns. The company's work is expanding, so it decided to hire a senior site manager, he said.

Borris' new position, "site manager-projects,'' offers the same pay and eventually could require a large staff, Macrae said.

Federal officials apparently are concerned enough about Borris' allegations to have sent a Department of Justice attorney and a special agent from the Energy Department's inspector general's office -- which is independent of the rest of the Energy Department -- to interview him last week.

The Justice Department and the special agent who interviewed Borris declined to comment.

------------

Message: 4
Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2000
From: ivan buchbinder <pentaske@memes.com>

World-Wide Rise in Oil Prices
Panic Buying as Blockade Squeezes Pumps Dry

By John Lichfield in Paris
5 September 2000
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Europe/2000-09/blockade050900.shtml

Petrol stations in several French cities were beginning to run out of fuel last night at the end of the first day of a national blockade of oil refineries and depots by truck drivers and farmers.

Pumps in Lyons, Grenoble, Marseilles and Toulouse were besieged by panic-buying motorists from early morning, soaking up several days' normal supply. Oil companies said that some stations had already run out of the most popular grades of fuel.

With private ambulances, bus companies, taxi drivers, waste disposal firms and even forestry workers joining, or threatening to join, the barricades in the next couple of days, France appears doomed to another week of oil-fired discontent. Talks with the three main road transport federations at the ministry of transport in Paris broke up last night without reaching a settlement.

Negotiations with the truck drivers, as well as farmers and taxi drivers, are expected to resume today. All the groups are demanding some form of government tax cut, subsidy or compensation for the world-wide rise in oil prices.

Their demands have been hardened, or encouraged, by the generous package of cuts in social payments and harbour charges given to fishermen last week to end their two-day blockade of French ports.

The first lorry and tractor barriers moved into place at the gates of refineries, petrol depots and ports at 60 strategic points around the country on Sunday evening.

By the morning, many refineries were besieged by a bizarre collection of heavy trucks, ambulances, tractors and coaches. The Paris area was spared at first but all the fuel depots around the capital were reported to have been sealed off by last night.

Lorries also barricaded access to the airport at Nice and Mulhouse, to stop supplies of aviation fuel reaching the airlines. Taxi-drivers blocked the centre of Montpellier but much bigger taxi demonstrations, to disrupt traffic in Paris and other large cities, are planned for Thursday.

After the usual government policy of non-resistance to organised social unrest, there was no attempt by police to keep the fuel depots open. The transport and agriculture ministers have promised some kind of help for farmers and hauliers but the first round of talks at the transport ministry appeared to have failed last night.

The Agriculture Minister, Jean Glavany, warned farmers "not to expect too much". He said a farmer using a tractor or other farm machinery could not be compared to a trawler, using thousands of litres of fuel every time it left port.

Lorry owners' federations are demanding a tax rebate of 70 centimes (7p) a litre for up to 1,000 litres, per lorry, per week, all back-dated to 1 January.

The truck owners complain that the rise in fuel prices and high French fuel taxes have made it impossible to compete with trucks from other EU countries. Diesel costs Fr4.70 a litre (47p) in France, compared to Fr3.50 a litre a year ago and Fr3.60 a litre in Spain.

-------------------------------------------------------------


DOEWatch List ----A Magnum-Opus Project
Subscribe online: http://www.onelist.com DOEWatch page: http://members.aol.com/doewatch

1. Nuclear multiple choice: an Atomic City pop quiz
From: magnu96196@aol.com

2. Ban on pro-union tattoos stirs concern at nuke plants
From: magnu96196@aol.com

3. Tests show Gulf war victims have uranium poisoning
From: magnu96196@aol.com

4. Iraqis Say Their Cancer Rate Is Up and Blame 'Depleted Uranium' Used by U.S.
From: magnu96196@aol.com

5. Congressional Research Reports
From: "Paul Maser" <pmaser@govmail.state.nv.us>

6. Piketon workers say safety a concern in cleanup operation
From: magnu96196@aol.com

7. Report backs dump for radioactive waste
From: magnu96196@aol.com

8. Richardson backs Russian nuclear-storage site plan
From: magnu96196@aol.com

9. JCO To Pay $121M in Compensation
From: magnu96196@aol.com

10. Nuclear clean-up costs jump
From: magnu96196@aol.com

11. Risk reports won't be on Net The government says it must limit access
From: magnu96196@aol.com

12. Sick worker law needs salvaging
From: magnu96196@aol.com

--------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 09:15:12 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Nuclear multiple choice: an Atomic City pop quiz

September 4, 2000
http://www.knoxnews.com/science/munger/fm09042000.shtml

In the back-to-school spirit of late summer, here's a little pop quiz for the bored and the curious. Test your knowledge about Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other federal operations in the Atomic City. Answer a dozen questions correctly and you win a virtual pat on the back. (Answers can be found at the end of the column.)

1. The $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source, expected to be one of the world's top research facilities for materials exploration, is being constructed atop what ridge? (a) Heartbreak (b) Pine (c) Budget Breaker (d) Oak (e) Chestnut.

2. The Y-12 nuclear weapons plant specializes in manufacturing warhead packages known as: (a) neutron generators (b) noseblowers (c) secondaries (d) primaries (e) fissile firecrackers.

3. The original K-25 building that enriched uranium for use in atomic bombs was a mile-long, three-level structure in the shape of what letter? (a) L (b) U (c) K (d) S (e) O.

4. Union Carbide managed the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge facilities for many years before turning over the reins to Martin Marietta in 1984. Who was the last president of Union Carbide's Nuclear Division? (a) Ralph Gibbs (b) Ansley Pitts (c) Roger Hibbs (d) Jasper Pibbs (e) Bill Jones.

5. At different times, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been called: (a) Clinton Laboratories (b) X-10 (c) Holifield National Laboratory (d) The Country Club (e) All of the above.

6. After Alvin Weinberg left ORNL in 1972, this man served as acting director of the Oak Ridge laboratory and later became president of the Electric Power Research Institute: (a) Floyd Culler (b) Floyd Cramer (c) Fred Collins (d) I.C. Nooks (e) Sargent Smithwick.

7. Tommy Phelps, a microbiologist at ORNL, once found useful enzyme-producing microbes in: (a) the parking lot of an Albuquerque K-mart (b) buffalo dung at Yellowstone National Park (c) a stick of twice-chewed Juicy Fruit (d) beach-dried coconut shells in Haiti (e) toenails of a rare tortoise in the Yucatan.

8. Which of these is NOT a designated "user facility" at Oak Ridge National Laboratory? (a) Buildings Technology Center (b) High Temperature Materials Laboratory (c) National Environmental Research Park (d) X-N Voltage Review Station (e) Advanced Propulsion Technology Center.

9. In 1989, scientists at ORNL (and just about every other major research lab in the country) worked overtime on experiments to prove or disprove the phenomenon known as: (a) icy light (b) centrifugal escalation (c) cold fusion (d) Diane's distemper (e) Cerenkov radiation.

10. Which of these institutions is not a member of Oak Ridge Associated Universities? (a) University of North Dakota (b) Tuskegee University (c) Massa chusetts Institute of Technology (d) Michigan State University (e) Duke University.

11. ORNL's newly upgraded IBM RS/6000 SP supercomputer is capable of how many calculations per second? (a) 24 trillion (b) 65 million (c) 8.6 trillion (d) 1 trillion (e) to be determined.

12. Steven Lindberg, one of ORNL's top environmental scientists, is particularly well known for his research involving this pollutant: (a) Xenon (b) mercury (c) polychlorinated biphenyls (d) barium (e) hydrochloric acid.

ANSWERS: 1. (e) 2. (c) 3. (b) 4. (c) 5. (e) 6. (a). 7. (b) 8. (d) 9. (c) 10. (c) 11. (d) 12. (b)

Frank Munger can be reached at 482-9213 or by e-mail at twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. This weekly column on science and technology also is available on our Web site at http://www.knoxnews.com/science/munger/.

========= Comments: This is typical PR from this paper, when most other papers have done special reports on health problems.

--------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Ban on pro-union tattoos stirs concern at nuke plants

By VIRGINIA BALDWIN GILBERT
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 03, 2000
http://www.knoxnews.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=UNIONTATTOOS-09-03-00&cat=FF

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is monitoring the safety of five Commonwealth Edison nuclear power plants in northern Illinois that have been threatened with a shortage of certified control room workers because of a labor dispute.

Nuclear plant workers have been escorted off their jobs more than 50 times in the last week for entering control rooms wearing temporary tattoos displaying a union logo.

A company spokesman says the plants will have no trouble meeting requirements for certified staff. State inspectors are checking certifications at every shift.

The union, Local 15 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and Commonwealth Edison have been negotiating for more than a year over a company proposal to reduce pension benefits for younger workers.

Workers throughout the plant have been wearing shirts, buttons and bandannas with the union logo. When removable tattoos were added to the mix last month, management balked at allowing workers to wear them in control rooms.

"The control room is hallowed ground," said Bill Harris, a spokesman for Commonwealth Edison. "Operators are expected to have great respect for handling the nuclear core."

Control room workers have been allowed to wear buttons for years, Harris said. But the tattoos represented "the sudden appearance of something new and different," he said.

"Anything that would indicate to a unit supervisor that the nuclear operators had something on their minds other than monitoring and controlling a nuclear reactor could be considered a distraction."

The workers were asked to remove the tattoos. Some did and were allowed to work. Some did not and were sent home.

Harris said the plants - Braidwood and Dresden near the Indiana border, Byron near the Wisconsin border, Quad Cities near the Iowa border and LaSalle, in the north-central part of the state - had "lots of operators" with the proper certification. Two supervisors and four union-represented operators operate each control room during a shift. The plants have three shifts.

A preliminary report issued by the NRC on Thursday said the company had moved some supervisory personnel with the proper certification into the jobs or asked union personnel without the tattoos to extend their shifts. "There has been no evidence that the incidents have been detrimental to safety," said the report.

The union filed unfair labor charges against the company Friday in Chicago, asking for an immediate decision from the National Labor Relations Board.

"I think they're overreacting," said William Starr, president of Local 15. Starr described the tattoo as a two-inch square with blue and red letters and the slogan, "Strength in Unity."

"The buttons say exactly the same thing," Starr said. "That's acceptable, but you can't wear the tattoo on your hand?"

The local considers the issue one of free speech, Starr said. "Some guys aren't wearing them. A lot of them who are, they're pretty ticked off about it."

The NRC would have the power to order a shutdown if personnel with the proper certification were not present in a control room.

But Harris, of Commonwealth Edison, said there was absolutely no chance that any of the plants would lack sufficient certified personnel.

---------------

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 09:32:40 EDT
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Tests show Gulf war victims have uranium poisoning

Jonathon Carr-Brown and Martin Meissonnier
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2000/09/03/stifgnnws02001.html

NEW evidence that Gulf war syndrome exists and was caused by radiation poisoning will be revealed today by a former American army colonel who was at the centre of his government's attempts to diagnose the illness. Dr Asaf Durakovic will tell a conference of eminent nuclear scientists in Paris that "tens of thousands" of British and American soldiers are dying from radiation from depleted uranium (DU) shells fired during the Gulf war.

The findings will undermine the British and American governments' claims that Gulf war syndrome does not exist and intensify pressure from veterans on both sides of the Atlantic for compensation.

Durakovic, who is professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown University, Washington, and the former head of nuclear medicine at the US Army's veterans' affairs medical facility in Delaware, will tell the conference that he and his team of American and Canadian scientists have discovered life-threateningly high levels of DU in Gulf veterans 10 years after the desert war.

His findings, which have been verified by four independent experts, is embarrassing for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and American Defence Department, which have consistently refused to test Gulf war veterans for DU.

Durakovic will tell the European Association of Nuclear Medicine that tests on 17 veterans have shown DU in the urine and bones of 70% of them.

Depleted uranium does not occur naturally. It is the by-product of the industrial processing of waste from nuclear reactors and is better known as weapons-grade uranium. It is used to strengthen the tips of shells to ensure that they pierce armour.

Durakovic, who left America because he was told his life was in danger if he continued his research, has concluded that troops inhaled the tiny uranium particles after American and British forces fired more than 700,000 DU shells during the conflict.

The finding begins to explain for the first time why medical orderlies and mechanics are the principal victims of Gulf war syndrome.

British Army engineers who removed tanks hit by DU shells from the battlefield and medical personnel who cut off the clothes of Iraqi casualties in field hospitals have been disproportionately affected.

Once inside the body, DU causes a slow death from cancers, irreversible kidney damage or wastage from immune deficiency disorders.

In the UK, where more than 400 veterans are estimated to have died from "Gulf war syndrome", at least 50 of those victims came from Reme (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) units. Others, such as Ray Bristow, 42, of Hull, who was a theatre technician for 32 Field Hospital, are now wheelchair-bound.

Tests carried out by Durakovic on Bristow showed that, nine years after leaving the Gulf, he had more than 100 times the safe limit of DU in his body.

Durakovic said: "I doubt whether the MoD or Pentagon will have the audacity to challenge these results. I can't say this is the solitary cause of Gulf war syndrome, but we now have clear evidence that it is a leading factor in the majority of victims.

"I hope the US and UK governments finally realise that, by continuing to use this ammunition, they are effectively poisoning their own soldiers."

An MoD spokesman said it would study any new evidence: "Our aim is to get the best care for British veterans and our views are based on the best evidence around."

========

Comments: Some of the details are that uranium toxicity is dominated with heavy metals effects below about 20% enrichement. And it does appear that all the fluorine based nerve gases are playing a role in the heavy metal retention in the body. Both U and F tend to concentrate in the lump nodes and poison the immune protective cells, which allows virals, bacteria, and fungus to cause additional problems.

-----------

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Iraqis Say Their Cancer Rate Is Up -- and Blame 'Depleted Uranium' Used by U.S.

September 3, 2000
Rick Wood
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
http://www.sltrib.com/09032000/nation_w/18928.htm

A young girl suffering from leukemia is one of 20 people in the cancer ward at Saddam Pediatric Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqis claim a surge in cancer rates.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Wearing a lace-fringed bonnet and a faint smile, Azhaar Kamel, 7, watched with wide eyes as American visitors entered a cancer ward at Saddam Pediatric Hospital.

She was a gentle child. She also was a symbol of an issue as troubling and elusive as any childhood fantasy or fear. Azhaar had leukemia. So did several of the other 19 cancer patients from various parts of Iraq.

Doctors, echoing their government, blamed nearly all of the cancers on a simple-sounding acronym: DU. But the "depleted uranium" debate is not simple. It involves about 320 tons of armor-piercing slugs that U.S. and British planes and tanks fired during the Gulf War.

The slugs were made from the low-level radioactive metal that remains when U-235 isotopes are removed from natural uranium to make enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and reactors. Heavier than lead, depleted uranium self-ignites and gets sharper as it penetrates armor.

Much of it vaporizes, giving off fine particles that can be inhaled. Some fall onto the ground, sometimes where crops are later grown. Some cling to damaged equipment that soldiers and civilians later climb on. Winds carry some away.

Whether the particles -- which have low, alpha-ray radioactivity and are chemically toxic -- pose dangers is unresolved. Iraqis say the particles have caused a sharp rise in cancer rates and birth deformities, especially in Basra and other southern areas.

Iraqis have had more exposure to such particles than U.S. troops, but there are other factors: a population weakened by malnutrition, pollution from refineries and burning oil wells, and Iraq's use of poison gas against both Iran and rebels among its own people. The World Health Organization has not yet studied depleted uranium in Iraq.

Veterans groups in the United States are concerned because hundreds of U.S. soldiers may have had close exposure. Some think that could be one factor in the unusual illnesses many Gulf War veterans have reported.

Definitive studies of depleted uranium's long-term effects have not been done. A General Accounting Office report to Congress on March 29 said that two expert reviews of evidence, plus monitoring by Veterans Affairs of a few dozen highly exposed veterans, show that radiation from inhaled or ingested depleted uranium is an unlikely health hazard to U.S. troops.

That supported the Pentagon's position.

But the report, which notes that veterans with DU shrapnel in their bodies have elevated uranium levels in their urine, also says more research is needed.

Opposition groups such as the Military Toxics Project cite conflicting evidence among both civilian and military studies. They point out elaborate protective procedures used to handle depleted uranium. And, noting that such weapons were used in Kosovo, they say the Pentagon is protecting its ability to use the weapons on future battlefields.

"I am looking for a way to follow up on this," said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who had asked the General Accounting Office for an analysis and is still bothered by some discrepancies in the report. "I'm not convinced that enough research has been done, and I do have a continuing sense that this depleted uranium was dangerous and may have caused health problems.

"To me, the response so far of the federal government really goes to the core of whether we treat our soldiers fairly. What I have noticed working with Agent Orange and other issues like this is, we sort of have a tendency to say to our military people, when they say they're not feeling well, to basically assume that it's not serious or that they're making it up.

"My view is we should assume that they're telling the truth and that they're right. After they've made this kind of sacrifice, that should be the kind of assumption we have."

Feingold added that a broader, intensive study by the National Academy of Sciences on the possible illnesses associated with Gulf War toxin exposures in general, including depleted uranium, is expected to be released soon.

--------------

Message: 5
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: "Paul Maser" <pmaser@govmail.state.nv.us>

Congressional Research Reports

http://www.pennyhill.com/
Also see: http://www.cnie.org/updates/70.htm

---------------

Message: 6
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Piketon workers say safety a concern in cleanup operation

September 4, 2000
Jonathan Riskind Dispatch Washington Bureau
http://www.dispatch.com/news/newsfea00/sep00/409580.html

WASHINGTON -- A congressman says he's worried about worker safety at southern Ohio's uranium-enrichment plant in light of a recent accident there and employee complaints about inadequate safety procedures.

Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland of Lucasville met last week with about 10 current and former employees involved in cleanup operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon. They allege that safety measures are lax and that workers who raise concerns are harassed.

Strickland wants the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate. The Dispatch confirmed last week that a U.S. Justice Department lawyer and a special agent of the Energy Department's inspector general's office interviewed at least one employee about his concerns.

"I hope against hope that not everything I have been told is totally accurate,'' Strickland said. "because if it is, there has been conduct that borders on the illegal if not the illegal.

"Right now, I cannot verify that it has occurred. But I am very concerned that it may have and that there may be developing a culture of intimidation and harassment -- and there may be things happening that send a very strong message to employees that if they see safety violations they should keep quiet about it.''

The cleanup operations are separate from the enrichment plant, which produces commercial-grade material used for nuclear power- plant fuel.

The cleanup is being run by Bechtel Jacobs, a company based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which subcontracts much of the work.

Bechtel employs 106 workers on the grounds of the uranium-enrichment plant, and subcontractors employ about 150 workers.

But the number of cleanup jobs is expected to grow significantly, because the 1,700-employee plant, formerly run by the government and now operated by a privatized federal corporation called USEC, is to close in June. That means the entire 3,700- acre site will need to be decontaminated, which will require hundreds of workers, potentially billions of dollars and years of effort.

Southern Ohio workers and officials are sensitive to complaints about safety being compromised at the Piketon plant.

Federal officials have acknowledged that during the Cold War, when the plant produced weapons- grade material, hundreds of workers may have been exposed to hazardous radiation and chemicals. A compensation proposal is pending in Congress.

Strickland has written a letter to Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, asking whether an Aug. 22 accident was related to the cleanup-related safety concerns he's heard about. He noted in the letter that he began hearing complaints about possible safety problems more than two months ago, which he has relayed to Energy Department officials.

In that accident, an employee suffered severe burns while working on a demonstration of a new cleanup technology.

"If this incident is in any way related to a lack of safety oversight, then immediate intervention is required,'' Strickland wrote.

The Energy Department is concerned about the allegations and the fact that so many employees have complained about problems, said Leah Dever, the department's Tennessee-based site manager in charge of the Piketon cleanup project. The department will send a representative to Portsmouth and hire an outside company to assess Bechtel Jacobs, subcontractors and the Energy Department itself, she said.

Dever said it is premature to comment on the substance of the employees' concerns or on the possible causes of the Aug. 22 accident.

But "it does seem as though there are a number of concerns, some which may or may not be related,'' Dever said. "We really encourage employees to express their concerns and bring them to the forefront. That is the only way to improve.''

Joe Nemec, Bechtel Jacobs president, declined to comment on any specific allegations, saying, "They are actively being looked at not only by us but by the Department of Energy and the Department of Labor.''

But Nemec said, "From day one, safety has been our primary focus. Our primary goal is to make sure we protect workers, the public and the environment.''

He noted that the worker injured Aug. 22 was not employed by Bechtel Jacobs or a Bechtel subcontractor. He was there as subcontractor to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has been working with Bechtel on a new way to attack groundwater contamination.

Nemec disputed claims that workers are discouraged from airing safety concerns. He said Bechtel has put in place "a very active employee- concerns program.''

But several of the workers who met with Strickland said in interviews with The Dispatch last week that Bechtel Jacobs and several subcontractors have failed to take certain safety steps, such as not ensuring that proper radiation and chemical monitoring is carried out on-site.

One of the workers, Phil Borris, said he was demoted from his job as location manager in charge of radiation and chemical control for Safety and Ecology Corp., a Bechtel subcontractor. He said his problems began in June, when he asked Bechtel and his company to buy some monitoring equipment. He said the companies balked for months.

"My contention is the overall atmosphere is a hostile atmosphere that has suppressed employee concerns to the point that overall nuclear safety issues are being compromised,'' Borris said.

However, his employer says that "worker safety is one of the core services provided by SEC,'' wrote President John H. Macrae Jr. last week in response to questions that Safety and Ecology has an " 'open-door policy' in an effort to facilitate meaningful communication free from harassment or intimidation.''

Macrae disputed Borris' claim that the purchase of needed safety equipment was improperly delayed, saying the equipment was bought after satisfying proper procedures and ordered before the company learned that Borris had complained to the government.

Macrae denied that Borris was demoted for raising safety concerns. The company's work is expanding, so it decided to hire a senior site manager, he said.

Borris' new position, "site manager-projects,'' offers the same pay and eventually could require a large staff, Macrae said.

Federal officials apparently are concerned enough about Borris' allegations to have sent a Department of Justice attorney and a special agent from the Energy Department's inspector general's office -- which is independent of the rest of the Energy Department -- to interview him last week.

The Justice Department and the special agent who interviewed Borris declined to comment.

======

Comment: This is certainly the atmosphere of harrassment and retaliation that I saw in the coverups of Oak Ridge gas diffusion and other serious problems. Its been going on for decades. Especially the cover up of HF health effects

---------------

Message: 7
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Report backs dump for radioactive waste
Engineering firm calls above-ground vaults safe

09/03/2000
Associated Press
http://dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/162181_radioactive_03.html

SAN ANTONIO - A report released Friday indicates state officials should not object to allowing low-level radioactive waste to be stored in an above-ground vault, possibly in Andrews or Ward counties in West Texas.

According to a report released by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the above-ground "assured isolation" vaults would meet the requirements of a compact Texas signed with Maine and Vermont to accept radioactive waste, so long as the state finds a permanent disposal site sometime in the 24th century.

Proponents say above-ground vaults would allow closer monitoring of radioactive waste.

The 450-page report compiled by Rogers & Associates Engineering said building either the above-ground vaults or the underground disposal facility would cost about $140 million, the San Antonio Express-News reported in Saturday's editions.

"We are extremely pleased that the report prepared on behalf of the TNRCC regarding assured isolation technology has found that assured isolation may be a viable, safe alternative for the state of Texas," said Rick Jacobi, vice president of Envirocare of Texas, one of two private companies vying for the opportunity to operate such a waste disposal site.

"We have long held that assured isolation meets the requirements of the compact the state of Texas signed with Maine and Vermont."

State lawmakers requested the report. The Legislature would decide whether to allow construction of any low-level radioactive waste dump.

Envirocare has submitted a license application to the Health Department for a site in Ward County, west of Odessa's Ector County. Waste Control Specialists wants to build a similar facility in Andrews County, northwest of Midland County.

Most of the anticipated 2.7 million cubic feet of waste for such a site would come from four nuclear power plants in Texas, Vermont and Maine, the newspaper reported.

Erin Rogers, a spokeswoman with the Texas Nuclear Waste Defense Coalition, said she is concerned that the state hasn't done all its homework in considering the dump.

In 1998, a decade-long effort to license a disposal site in Hudspeth County, near El Paso, failed when state regulators ruled a geological fault under the site wasn't properly studied.

-------------

Message: 8
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Richardson backs Russian nuclear-storage site plan

September 4, 2000
New York Times
http://www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisStory=82446017

MOSCOW -- After touring a secret nuclear submarine base on Russia's Pacific Coast, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson indicated Sunday that he will support a Kremlin request for help in building a high-security storage site for nuclear fuel from decommissioned Russian subs.

Richardson and other U.S. experts were given broad access to the naval base at Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, where about 20 submarines already are awaiting dismantling.

The Russian navy has asked the United States to assume half the cost of a $200 million floating dry-dock that would store radioactive reactor casings and nuclear fuel. U.S. law allows for such aid, but only when it benefits U.S. national security.

Richardson said Sunday he believes the site is needed to protect Russian reactor fuels from the dangers of terrorist theft and so-called insider sales by Russians desperate for money.

"It's going to take some hard work," he said, to convince Congress "that this is a worthy project; that it makes sense to defuel and decommission these nuclear subs on the basis of nonproliferation. But we think it makes sense to make this a priority."

A senior Energy Department official said the Russian navy has made a convincing case that it lacks the money to dismantle and defuel the subs by itself. And the 20 submarines don't seem sufficiently seaworthy to be towed to Vladivostok, where another U.S.-built site could accommodate the fuel and reactor parts.

"The Navy says that if you try to tow these subs, they'll break apart," the official said.

Richardson's Kamchatka stop concluded a weeklong swing through the former Soviet Union that was largely devoted to promoting nuclear nonproliferation and improving goodwill with his Russian counterparts. Americans on the trip have said they are impressed with the openness of the Russians, who have escorted them through an atomic-weapons plant and the nuclear sub base despite tensions in the U.S.-Russian relationship.

Most recently, some Russian military leaders have stopped just short of accusing the United States or other NATO powers of sinking the Russian submarine Kursk in a covered-up collision.

---------------

Message: 9
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

JCO To Pay $121M in Compensation

September 04, 2000
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2000/sep/04/090400521.html

TOKYO (AP) -- JCO Co., a uranium-processing firm, said Monday it has agreed to pay a total of $121 million in compensation to settle 6,875 cases stemming from Japan's worst nuclear accident.

JCO spokesman Katsunori Suzuki said it has yet to settle about 150 other cases involving the Sept. 30, 1999 accident. He declined to disclose the total amount sought in the unsettled claims.

In addition to people exposed to radiation, the compensation covers losses suffered by farms, fisheries and service industries, Suzuki said. He said the settlement came after negotiations with individuals, groups and companies over the past eight months.

"We will continue to negotiate with the people concerned, but it will take quite a long time," he said.

The accident at the JCO Co. uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, 70 miles northeast of Tokyo, killed two workers and exposed hundreds of people working and living in the area to radiation. Workers violated safety regulations by mixing nitric acid and enriched uranium in buckets, setting off an uncontrolled atomic reaction that took hours to bring under control.

Suzuki said JCO will use $9.5 million in insurance plus funds from its parent company, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., to pay the compensation.

------------

Message: 10
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Subject: Nuclear clean-up costs jump

By Matthew Jones
September 4 2000
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT39OA32PCC&live=tr ue&useoverridetemplate=ZZZ99ZVV70C&tagid=ZZZPB7GUA0C&subheading=UK

The cost of decommissioning nuclear plants and cleaning up radioactive materials at British Nuclear Fuels, the state-owned atomic services group, has jumped £7bn ($10.2bn) following a review of the group's long-term nuclear liabilities.

The review, to be published with the company's annual accounts on September 14, will reveal the cost of decommissioning nuclear plants, managing radioactive waste and reprocessing Magnox fuel at BNFL sites has risen to £34bn.

Of the £7bn extra costs, about £3bn will be passed on to the Ministry of Defence and the UK Atomic Energy Authority, which still own some of the facilities on BNFL sites. This will leave BNFL with total liabilities of about £23bn and the group will announce it is taking a £170m special charge next week.

The higher decommissioning costs are likely to increase pressure on the government to rethink its planned privatisation of up to 49 per cent of the company. The proposal has already been postponed until 2002 following a series of incidents in the last 12 months that are expected further to depress the group's profits.

The large increase in liabilities will be attributed mainly to decommissioning problems discovered at chemical plants at BNFL's Sellafield site in West Cumbria.

Members of BNFL's Liabilities Management Unit, the team assembled to conduct the review, have found some waste silos at Sellafield to be leaking and records for others to be missing or inaccurate.

Silo B41, one of the worst examples on the site, was originally designed to treat contaminated fuel cladding but has been used as a dump for pieces of nuclear fuel and radioactive equipment. Engineers are now having to build a containment structure around the silo, doubling the cost of decommissioning from £100m to £200m.

An early draft of the report on liabilities suggested the cost of waste management and decommissioning on BNFL sites could rise by as much as £9bn.

However, experiments on the spread of radioactivity in concrete are understood to have shown that up to 70 per cent of the rubble from dismantled structures could be disposed of in normal landfill sites. Previously the company had feared it would have to treat all concrete from Sellafield's plants as intermediate level radioactive waste.

BNFL's share of the discounted liabilities, the amount of money that needs to be set aside to meet the cost of clean-up projects in the future, will rise by £500m. Half of this will be taken as "normal" account charges for this year, a further £170m will be treated as a special charge, and the remaining £80m will be written off over the lives of the plants to be decommissioned.

However, BNFL's discounted liabilities could rise by a further £700m if the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate decides to reduce the period before decommissioning begins to between 40 and 50 years. It is considering a reduction from the 100 years used by BNFL which assumes it would take that long for radiation to decay to safe levels.

BNFL is understood to be lobbying against the move and is in talks with ministers over the ownership of its liabilities.

--------------

Message: 11
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Risk reports won't be on Net
The government says it must limit access to worst-case scenarios to protect national security.

September 04, 2000
Las Vegas Review-Journal
By Steve Tetreault
Donrey Washington Bureau
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2000/Sep-04-Mon-2000/news/14203814.html

WASHINGTON -- Fearful of the Internet's reach worldwide, the government is limiting the spread of information about potential deadly accidents at industrial plants around the country.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department announced on Aug. 4 that certain details of worst-case spills, leaks, explosions and fires at 15,000 facilities that handle toxic chemicals will not be posted on government Web sites.

Instead, citizens will be able to examine the information in monitored reading rooms, after showing photo identification, agreeing to limit the number of reports they read and being forbidden to photocopy them.

State and local emergency planning committees that have access to these chemical accident scenes, which are part of risk management reports filed by the companies, also are urged to allow read-only access to them.

Twenty-five public and private plants in Nevada, including 10 in and around Las Vegas, are required to produce risk management assessments containing worst-case accident scenarios involving their largest tanks, several probable alternatives and what safety measures are in place to prevent or contain disaster.

The disclosure policy aims to prevent terrorists from tapping information online that could map deadly sabotage, the agencies said.

To most people involved, the posting of the policy in the Federal Register was not a surprise. The federal agencies had signaled their direction more than a year ago, and as a practical matter the information was not being posted on the Internet, at the urging of the FBI.

"This is what we've been dealing with all along," said Michael Cyphers, Henderson emergency management coordinator. "The information has always been available from the facilities. This just keeps it from becoming electronic."

Analysts say the issue is among the first forcing the government to weigh security against community right-to-know with the Internet as a backdrop. Right-to-know groups and others favoring liberal government disclosure said they are troubled by the policy.

They said it will make it more difficult to build databases to analyze plant safety and push the chemical industry for safety and security improvements, and that it won't stop a determined terrorist.

Some chemical risk information already is available electronically in summary form, and missing parts can be pieced together from census data and other sources, disclosure advocates said.

"This is the first and probably the most drastic case of information being held back and obscured from the public when the right to know is greater than the possible risk," said Ari Schwartz, policy analyst at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a civil liberties group.

Portions of risk reports the EPA says are being kept off the Internet include the identity and amount of chemical that would be involved in a fire, explosion or leak, its rate of spill or release into the atmosphere, the distance a spill or a toxic plume would travel, maps of the scenario, the population within the area and the community and environmental features that would be affected.

Posting these details where they can be anonymously searched from anywhere in the world increases the chance that U.S. facilities could be targeted for terrorist acts, the federal agencies said.

"A single successful terrorist attack on a chemical plant could be considerable and would likely cause more damage than would many accidental chemical releases," the agencies said.

In May 1999, three companies near Henderson that handle toxic chemicals discussed their worst-case accident scenarios at a public meeting that drew 300 people to the Henderson Convention Center.

For longtime residents it was not an academic exercise. In 1991, a spill involving 42 tons of liquid chlorine from Pioneer Chlor Alkali sent a toxic cloud over Henderson and eastern Las Vegas, sending more than 300 people to hospitals for treatment of eye, nose and throat irritation and forcing evacuation of about 10,000 residents.

At the meeting, Pioneer reported its worst accident would release 150 tons of toxic chlorine into the atmosphere over 10 minutes. The chlorine would spread in detectable levels over an 18-mile radius.

At Titanium Metals Corp., the release of a ton of chlorine would affect residents about a mile away, citizens were told.

Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. reported it handled five chemicals that pose a risk. Among its accident scenarios, it said a 14-ton release of hydrogen sulfide would affect areas up to nine miles away. A release of almost 3 tons of boron trichloride used in pharmaceuticals would have an impact up to a quarter-mile from the plant.

The companies continue to post information about their safety programs at a shared Web site, www.cmusn.org. The site contains hypothetical accident scenarios, but Gary Sulik, Pioneer plant manager, said those are not the ones developed for the government.

Bob Andrews, director of Clark County emergency management, said he instinctively favors releasing all available information on potential hazards, but pauses to consider the outcome of a terrorist act.

"I hate to waffle on this," he said. "I think I'm prepared to go with the people who are knowledgeable with information that it could be a problem if it became too accessible. I wish I had the right formula. The problem we have in a democracy is the freer you are the more at risk you are."

While it is keeping some information off the Internet, the EPA said less-sensitive information about chemical spills will be posted online. Also, the agency said it would establish a "vulnerable zone indicator system" to inform requesters via e-mail if they live or work in an area at risk for chemical accidents.

Citizens wanting more would be directed to special reading rooms that will be established with security in mind. A minimum of 50 rooms will be set up around the country, the EPA said. Visitors will need to show a photo ID and sign in. They will be allowed to examine no more than 10 reports a month, and while they will be able to take notes, they will not be allowed to photocopy material.

"The communities' right to know is not well served by the reading room system," said Peggy Pierce, a Sierra Club leader in Southern Nevada.

The disclosure of chemical accident scenarios has been debated within government for the past two years. An EPA advisory committee originally tilted toward Web-posting all information, but shifted gears after the FBI and the CIA weighed in.

A study commissioned by the EPA panel reported there have been two threats on U.S. chemical facilities. In 1991, a half dozen unexploded pipe bombs were found rigged to chemical tanks near a U.S. Navy base in Norfolk, Va. In 1997, the FBI broke up a plot to plant explosives on a hydrogen sulfide tank at a refinery in Bridgeport, Texas.

The study drew skeptics, including some members of Congress, who argued neither was terrorist-related. They said the Virginia incident was linked to an insurance scam and the Texas plot was being engineered by four members of the local Ku Klux Klan to divert attention from a planned armored car robbery.

"There have been a sizable number of fatalities resulting from hazardous material accidents. There have been zero fatalities from terrorist attacks on such facilities. One could say there is a greater need to inform communities about the hazards they face than to protect them against a speculative threat," said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy.

========

Comments: Early in the Manhattan Project half the town of Buffalo, NY had to be evacuated because of a large HF release. It etched the glass on windows and burned the paint off buildings. One newpaper covered it and almost all the copies were taken up as it was hitting the street. Except for some old residents memories and some classifed documents, no public traces remain.

And there are likely some illnesses due to the releases and their uptake in gardens, milk, and so on.

This current stance is almost as bad as the Manhattan Project days.

----------------

Message: 12
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com

Sick worker law needs salvaging

September 5, 2000
By Katherine Rizzo, Associated Press
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/politics/14514.shtml

WASHINGTON -- Some lawmakers from states with nuclear weapons plants think Speaker Dennis Hastert may be key to salvaging legislation offering help to workers sickened by Cold War-era radiation exposure. Reps. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., and Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., are asking colleagues from other states with a nuclear weapons connection if they will ask Hastert to intervene, said Karen Long, Whitfield's legislative director.

Under House rules, jurisdiction over the issue is shared by three committees.

Whitfield and Wamp want those committees to voluntarily stand aside and let a compensation bill go forward without the customary -- and time-consuming -- scrutiny and approval.

Compensation for the sick workers, including some in Oak Ridge will be one of the urgent issues awaiting lawmakers as they return this week for an election-shortened session.

Medical and financial compensation was approved by the Senate as part of a large military bill, but it does not have widespread support in the House or in the Clinton administration. The House has passed no provisions.

A House subcommittee has scheduled a Sept. 14 hearing to examine the issue, but there's a chance that it could be a moot issue by then, since the conference committee dealing with the defense bill may vote before that either to approve or delete the program's authorization.

During the congressional recess, there have been staff-level discussions about reducing the scope of the Senate-approved compensation by making it harder for sick workers to qualify.

The program passed by the Senate would give lifetime medical benefits and at least $200,000 apiece to nuclear weapons plant workers made ill by exposure to radiation, silica or beryllium.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS

1 JCO To Pay $121M in Compensation
2 NUCLEAR UNDER COST PRESSURE AS LIBERALISATION KICKS IN
3 NUCLEAR PLANT PROTESTS BLOCK AUSTRIA-CZECH BORDER
4 Third-Generation Safety Shell for Nuclear Power Plant
5 REPORT BACKS DUMP FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE
6 Radiation Shield Bricks Developed
7 Coolant Leak at Tohoku Elec Nuclear Plant

-----------

NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES

1 JCO To Pay $121M in Compensation
September 04, 2000
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS SUN

TOKYO (AP)--JCO Co., a uranium-processing firm, said Monday it has agreed to pay a total of $121 million in compensation to settle 6,875 cases stemming from Japan's worst nuclear accident.

JCO spokesman Katsunori Suzuki said it has yet to settle about 150 other cases involving the Sept. 30, 1999 accident. He declined to disclose the total amount sought in the unsettled claims.

In addition to people exposed to radiation, the compensation covers losses suffered by farms, fisheries and service industries, Suzuki said. He said the settlement came after negotiations with individuals, groups and companies over the past eight months.

"We will continue to negotiate with the people concerned, but it will take quite a long time," he said.

The accident at the JCO Co. uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, 70 miles northeast of Tokyo, killed two workers and exposed hundreds of people working and living in the area to radiation. Workers violated safety regulations by mixing nitric acid and enriched uranium in buckets, setting off an uncontrolled atomic reaction that took hours to bring under control.

Suzuki said JCO will use $9.5 million in insurance plus funds from its parent company, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., to pay the compensation.

------------

2 NUCLEAR UNDER COST PRESSURE AS LIBERALISATION KICKS IN

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
UK: September 4, 2000

LONDON - NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS ARE UNLIKELY TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN THE NEAR FUTURE BECAUSE OF HIGH CAPITAL COSTS, SAID MILTON WHITFIELD, PARTNER AT U.S. LAW FIRM SHAW, PITTMAN, POTTS AND TROWBRIDGE ON FRIDAY.

"Wall Street looks at short term returns which nuclear plants cannot provide," he told a Uranium Institute conference.

Unless the capital cost of building a nuclear power plant can be drastically reduced nuclear is not a likely option in the long run either.

The long term viability of existing nuclear generation assets will still be determined by comparisons of production costs for nuclear versus costs for fossil fuel plants, he added.

Many industry experts believe the muclear industry will have to substantially reduce costs to become competitive in a newly liberalised market where wholesale electricity prices are decreasing rapidly.

"Nuclear will come under strong cost pressure as competitive markets develop," said British Energy chief executive Peter Hollins.

Whitfield said one of the ways of reducing cost was to outsource non-core business such as information technology, human resources and customer services.

Such views on cost reduction were shared by other industry experts.

"Transforming from an average performance to a best practice company can reduce costs by 60 percent," said Mark Whitwill, senior consultant at NAC International in Switzerland.

"For the electricity business economies of scale can be of huge benefit, " he added.

He said that the market place itself will decide whether nuclear power is a viable option.

-----------

3 NUCLEAR PLANT PROTESTS BLOCK AUSTRIA-CZECH BORDER

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
AUSTRIA: September 4, 2000

VIENNA - ENVIRONMENTALISTS BLOCKED THREE BORDER CROSSINGS BETWEEN NORTHERN AUSTRIA AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC ON SATURDAY IN PROTEST AGAINST PRAGUE'S IMMINENT ACTIVATION OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT.

The five-hour blockade began at 1000 GMT at the Wullowitz, Guglwald and Weigetschlag crossing points in the province of Upper Austria, some 70 km (40 miles) from the Soviet-designed Temelin plant.

Nuclear-free Austria has threatened to block the Czech Republic's admission to the European Union if it puts the controversial power plant into operation this year.

The Czech government has dismissed both Austrian and German concerns about the safety of the plant and plans to activate the fuel in Temelin by mid-September.

Temelin operator CEZ loaded the first 1,000 megawatt block of the $3 billion nuclear power plant with fuel in July. The plant has been modified and fitted with western control systems supplied by Westinghouse, a unit of British Nuclear Fuel Ltd.

-----------

4 Third-Generation Safety Shell for Nuclear Power Plant

People's Daily Online
Saturday, September 02, 2000

A third-generation Safety Shell for nuclear power plants was successfully tested at the Metallurgy and Architecture Institute on August 29, demonstrating China's cutting-edge technology in this field.

Safety Shell is on the very outer side of a nuclear reactor and the last shield to contain radiation when a nuclear leakage occurs.

The model tested is able to make construction quicker and cost-effective. Foremost, it can offer a capacity to contain leakage higher than international standard.

This containment model test is a core part of an important project in the nation's Ninth Five Year Plan. The overall goal of this project is to use China's second-generation safety shell as the foundation to design a world class one to use in commercial nuclear power plants of 0.6 million to 1 million kilowatts.

A third-generation Safety Shell for nuclear power plants was successfully tested at the Metallurgy and Architecture Institute on August 29, demonstrating China's cutting-edge technology in this field.

----------

5 REPORT BACKS DUMP FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE
ENGINEERING FIRM CALLS ABOVE-GROUND VAULTS SAFE

Dallas Morning News: Texas/Southwest
09/03/2000
ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN ANTONIO - A report released Friday indicates state officials should not object to allowing low-level radioactive waste to be stored in an above-ground vault, possibly in Andrews or Ward counties in West Texas.

According to a report released by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the above-ground "assured isolation" vaults would meet the requirements of a compact Texas signed with Maine and Vermont to accept radioactive waste, so long as the state finds a permanent disposal site sometime in the 24th century.

Proponents say above-ground vaults would allow closer monitoring of radioactive waste.

The 450-page report compiled by Rogers & Associates Engineering said building either the above-ground vaults or the underground disposal facility would cost about $140 million, the San Antonio Express-News reported in Saturday's editions.

"We are extremely pleased that the report prepared on behalf of the TNRCC regarding assured isolation technology has found that assured isolation may be a viable, safe alternative for the state of Texas, " said Rick Jacobi, vice president of Envirocare of Texas, one of two private companies vying for the opportunity to operate such a waste disposal site.

"We have long held that assured isolation meets the requirements of the compact the state of Texas signed with Maine and Vermont."

State lawmakers requested the report. The Legislature would decide whether to allow construction of any low-level radioactive waste dump.

Envirocare has submitted a license application to the Health Department for a site in Ward County, west of Odessa's Ector County. Waste Control Specialists wants to build a similar facility in Andrews County, northwest of Midland County.

Most of the anticipated 2.7 million cubic feet of waste for such a site would come from four nuclear power plants in Texas, Vermont and Maine, the newspaper reported.

Erin Rogers, a spokeswoman with the Texas Nuclear Waste Defense Coalition, said she is concerned that the state hasn't done all its homework in considering the dump.

In 1998, a decade-long effort to license a disposal site in Hudspeth County, near El Paso, failed when state regulators ruled a geological fault under the site wasn't properly studied.

1999 Katie winner for best news-related Web site 1998, 1999 best online newspaper in the state Texas Associated Press Managing

-------------

6 Radiation Shield Bricks Developed
LAS VEGAS SUN
September 03, 2000
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP)--Ryan McGlothlin takes a sugar-like powder, stirs in a substance that resembles flour, pours the mix into a mold and bakes it.

The result is a small, shiny, black bar designed to shield against radiation. The powder is polyethylene and the "flour" is a gray topsoil.

McGlothlin, a chemistry major at the College of William and Mary, and chemistry department chairman Richard Kiefer are using those ingredients to develop a material to make bricks that would protect astronauts against radiation on Mars. They are working with aerospace researcher Sheila Thibeault at NASA Langley Research Center in nearby Hampton.

"What we're doing is the basic research, establishing that yes, you can do this," Kiefer said. The work also could have applications on Earth, such as use in shields around nuclear reactors, he said.

NASA hopes to put people on Mars within the next several decades. Because of the different orbits of Earth and Mars, the window of opportunity for travel between the two planets occurs only once every two years. That means that anyone traveling to Mars would have to stay there for a long time.

The prospect of an extended stay on Mars prompts a number of concerns, among them the health effects of galactic cosmic radiation, found nearly everywhere in space. The magnetic field surrounding the Earth deflects the radiation, but Mars does not have such a field.

Radiation can cause illness or even death, depending on the dosage and length of exposure. Therefore, astronauts will need a material they can use to build shelters and laboratories that also will shield against radiation.

The lighter the material is in terms of mass, the better its shielding properties, and research has shown that liquid hydrogen is the best possible shield, Kiefer said. "But that's a little impractical to take to Mars," he said.

So the next best thing is a solid polymer, or chemical compound, that contains a lot of hydrogen. And polyethylene, a very cheap plastic from which plastic bags are made, has more hydrogen than other polymers, said McGlothlin, 21, of Lebanon, Va.

Loading lots of building material onto the space shuttle would create a heavy weight at launch. So the researchers are trying to figure out how much--or little--polyethylene is needed to create bricks by mixing it with a material that astronauts can find in abundance once they get to Mars: regolith, or topsoil.

"We're trying to find the most efficient way to get the least payload and the maximum payout," Kiefer said.

Obviously, Mars topsoil isn't easy to get on Earth. Chemical analysis of soil samples obtained by probes has shown that Mars topsoil is similar to that on the moon. But since that isn't plentiful on Earth either, the researchers are using regolith from a quarry in Minnesota that is similar to lunar soil.

Regolith contains very little hydrogen, so it would not shield very well against radiation without the addition of polyethylene, Kiefer said.

At a laboratory at NASA, McGlothlin experiments with mixing different concentrations of polyethylene and regolith to see what works best. He has created small "Mars bars" containing 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent polyethylene.

Once the polyethylene and regolith are thoroughly mixed, McGlothlin puts the mixture in a drying oven to remove moisture.

The mixture then is poured into a stainless steel mold that creates a small sample bar, such as 3 1/2 inches by three-quarters of an inch. The mold is heated for a half hour at 245 degrees Fahrenheit.

Back at William and Mary's chemistry labs, McGlothlin does thermal mechanical analyses on the samples to find out how the material reacts under extreme temperatures. The bricks also are tested to make sure they can withstand pressure, so bricks toward the bottom of a building would not crumble or crack.

The topsoil the researchers are using is gray, so bricks made from it are black. Bricks made from Martian topsoil would be a reddish color.

Kiefer said another student who since has graduated began testing Mars bricks using a different polymer a year ago. McGlothlin picked up the project this summer and will continue the research until he graduates next May.

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7 Coolant Leak at Tohoku Elec Nuclear Plant
Yahoo! Inc., and Reuters Limited
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 3

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's fifth-biggest power utility, Tohoku Electric Power Co Inc, said on Monday about one liter (0.22 gallon) of coolant water had leaked from a pipe at one of its nuclear plants in the north of the country.

The pipe connected one of six machines that filter coolant water to remove impurities at the plant in the Miyagi district, 202 miles from Tokyo, a company spokesman said.

No radiation had escaped into the environment outside the 524-megawatt plant in Saturday's incident, he added.

The equipment was stopped immediately and remains closed while the cause is investigated, he said, adding the incident had not disrupted operation of the plant itself.

Japan has 51 commercial nuclear reactors which supply about a third of its electricity.

But a series of nuclear accidents in Japan including its worst incident in September last year which killed two uranium plant workers, has undermined public trust in the nation's nuclear policy.

Tohoku Electric shares ended Monday morning down 5 yen or 0.33 percent at 1,535 yen.

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NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS
1 Piketon workers say safety a concern in cleanup operation
2 Russian Leader Wants Sub Raised
3 Report: Gulf War Victims Have Uranium Poisoning
4 EX-US army doctor says uranium shells harmed vets
5 Father of H-bomb Defends University
6 Richardson backs Russian nuclear-storage site plan
7 TOMORROW'S THREAT: THE DIFFICULT CASE FOR ANTI-MISSILE DEFENCE

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NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES

1 Piketon workers say safety a concern in cleanup operation
Monday, September 4, 2000
JONATHAN RISKIND
The Columbus Dispatch
Dispatch Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON--A congressman says he's worried about worker safety at southern Ohio's uranium-enrichment plant in light of a recent accident there and employee complaints about inadequate safety procedures.

Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland of Lucasville met last week with about 10 current and former employees involved in cleanup operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon. They allege that safety measures are lax and that workers who raise concerns are harassed.

Strickland wants the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate. The Dispatch confirmed last week that a U.S. Justice Department lawyer and a special agent of the Energy Department's inspector general's office interviewed at least one employee about his concerns.

"I hope against hope that not everything I have been told is totally accurate,'' Strickland said. "because if it is, there has been conduct that borders on the illegal if not the illegal.

"Right now, I cannot verify that it has occurred. But I am very concerned that it may have and that there may be developing a culture of intimidation and harassment--and there may be things happening that send a very strong message to employees that if they see safety violations they should keep quiet about it.''

The cleanup operations are separate from the enrichment plant, which produces commercial-grade material used for nuclear power- plant fuel.

The cleanup is being run by Bechtel Jacobs, a company based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which subcontracts much of the work.

Bechtel employs 106 workers on the grounds of the uranium-enrichment plant, and subcontractors employ about 150 workers.

But the number of cleanup jobs is expected to grow significantly, because the 1,700-employee plant, formerly run by the government and now operated by a privatized federal corporation called USEC, is to close in June. That means the entire 3,700- acre site will need to be decontaminated, which will require hundreds of workers, potentially billions of dollars and years of effort.

Southern Ohio workers and officials are sensitive to complaints about safety being compromised at the Piketon plant.

Federal officials have acknowledged that during the Cold War, when the plant produced weapons- grade material, hundreds of workers may have been exposed to hazardous radiation and chemicals. A compensation proposal is pending in Congress.

Strickland has written a letter to Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, asking whether an Aug. 22 accident was related to the cleanup-related safety concerns he's heard about. He noted in the letter that he began hearing complaints about possible safety problems more than two months ago, which he has relayed to Energy Department officials.

In that accident, an employee suffered severe burns while working on a demonstration of a new cleanup technology.

"If this incident is in any way related to a lack of safety oversight, then immediate intervention is required,'' Strickland wrote.

The Energy Department is concerned about the allegations and the fact that so many employees have complained about problems, said Leah Dever, the department's Tennessee-based site manager in charge of the Piketon cleanup project. The department will send a representative to Portsmouth and hire an outside company to assess Bechtel Jacobs, subcontractors and the Energy Department itself, she said.

Dever said it is premature to comment on the substance of the employees' concerns or on the possible causes of the Aug. 22 accident.

But "it does seem as though there are a number of concerns, some which may or may not be related,'' Dever said. "We really encourage employees to express their concerns and bring them to the forefront. That is the only way to improve.''

Joe Nemec, Bechtel Jacobs president, declined to comment on any specific allegations, saying, "They are actively being looked at not only by us but by the Department of Energy and the Department of Labor.''

But Nemec said, "From day one, safety has been our primary focus. Our primary goal is to make sure we protect workers, the public and the environment.''

He noted that the worker injured Aug. 22 was not employed by Bechtel Jacobs or a Bechtel subcontractor. He was there as subcontractor to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has been working with Bechtel on a new way to attack groundwater contamination.

Nemec disputed claims that workers are discouraged from airing safety concerns. He said Bechtel has put in place "a very active employee- concerns program.''

But several of the workers who met with Strickland said in interviews with The Dispatch last week that Bechtel Jacobs and several subcontractors have failed to take certain safety steps, such as not ensuring that proper radiation and chemical monitoring is carried out on-site.

One of the workers, Phil Borris, said he was demoted from his job as location manager in charge of radiation and chemical control for Safety and Ecology Corp., a Bechtel subcontractor. He said his problems began in June, when he asked Bechtel and his company to buy some monitoring equipment. He said the companies balked for months.

"My contention is the overall atmosphere is a hostile atmosphere that has suppressed employee concerns to the point that overall nuclear safety issues are being compromised,'' Borris said.

However, his employer says that "worker safety is one of the core services provided by SEC,'' wrote President John H. Macrae Jr. last week in response to questions that Safety and Ecology has an " 'open- door policy' in an effort to facilitate meaningful communication free from harassment or intimidation.''

Macrae disputed Borris' claim that the purchase of needed safety equipment was improperly delayed, saying the equipment was bought after satisfying proper procedures and ordered before the company learned that Borris had complained to the government.

Macrae denied that Borris was demoted for raising safety concerns. The company's work is expanding, so it decided to hire a senior site manager, he said.

Borris' new position, "site manager-projects,'' offers the same pay and eventually could require a large staff, Macrae said.

Federal officials apparently are concerned enough about Borris' allegations to have sent a Department of Justice attorney and a special agent from the Energy Department's inspector general's office--which is independent of the rest of the Energy Department--to interview him last week.

The Justice Department and the special agent who interviewed Borris declined to comment.

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2 Russian Leader Wants Sub Raised
September 03, 2000
LAS VEGAS SUN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW (AP)--Raising the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk, a complicated and costly operation, is necessary because of radiation concerns, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said Sunday.

If the submarine were left at the bottom of the Barents Sea, where it sank on Aug. 12, "the public, and not only ecologists, would remain alarmed," Klebanov said on RTR television's weekly news magazine program Zerkalo.

The submarine sank following a devastating explosion and the blast's damage raised concerns that there could be a leak of radioactive material from the ship's reactor. No increases in radiation in the area have been reported.

Klebanov, who heads the commission investigating the cause of the disaster, said that raising the submarine would be an "extremely complicated process" but that Russia wanted to complete it within a year.

The government has provided no details on how the lifting would take place, or on how the cash-strapped government can bear the burden a project estimated to cost up to $100 million.

Klebanov also reiterated the government's intention to begin an operation to recover the bodies of the Kursk's 118 crewmen in late September. In that operation, holes are to be cut in the submarine's hull, allowing divers to enter to extract the corpses.

The cause of the accident has not been determined. Russian officials have focused on the contention that the Kursk collided with another object, possibly a foreign vessel or a World War II-era mine.

Some observers have said the most likely cause was a torpedo exploding inside the ship.

On Zerkalo, Russian Baltic Fleet commander Vladimir Yegorov said the possibility of a torpedo explosion "has not been excluded," but suggested that the explosion could have been touched off by a collision.

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3 Report: Gulf War Victims Have Uranium Poisoning

UPI
MONDAY, SEPT. 4, 2000

LONDON - New findings undermine British and U.S. government claims that Gulf War Syndrome does not exist, the Sunday Times of London reported.

The newspaper report says a former American army colonel, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, will tell a conference of nuclear scientists in Paris today (Sunday) that "tens of thousands" of British and U.S. soldiers are dying of radiation from depleted uranium shells fired during the Gulf War.

Dr. Durakovic will tell the conference that he and his team of American and Canadian scientists have discovered life-threatening levels of depleted uranium in Gulf veterans 10 years after the war.

Durakovic, a professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and the former head of nuclear medicine at the U.S. Army's veterans' affairs medical facility in Delaware, says troops inhaled uranium particles after American and British forces fired more than 700,000 shells during the Gulf War.

His findings have been verified by four independent experts.

Once inside the body, depleted uranium causes a slow death from cancers, irreversible kidney damage or immune deficiency disorders.

In one of Durakovic's tests, results showed that Ray Bristow, 42, had more than 100 times the safe limit of depleted uranium in his body.

"I doubt whether the Ministry of Defense or Pentagon will have the audacity to challenge these results," Durakovic told the Times. "I can't say this is the solitary cause of Gulf War Syndrome, but we now have clear evidence that it is a leading factor in the majority of victims."

A spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defense said officials would study any new evidence.

Gulf War Syndrome is a non-scientific label that has been often used to describe unexplained illnesses often characterized by fatigue, joint pain, skin rash, memory loss and other medical problems suffered by veterans since the end of the Gulf War.

Over the years, many veterans have complained their governments have not given their ailments serious consideration, and have criticized federal investigations that found no link to possible chemical or biological agent use in the Persian Gulf.

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4 EX-US army doctor says uranium shells harmed vets
Reuters Limited
September 3, 2000

PARIS, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A former U.S. army doctor said on Sunday that many Gulf War veterans suffered from renal and other diseases as a result of inhaling particles of depleted uranium used in anti- tank shells.

"According to some estimates, 320 tonnes of depleted uranium were exploded during the (1991) Gulf War," doctor Asaf Durakovic told reporters after speaking before a conference of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine.

"Many of the patients (that I examined) suffered renal disease and failure, the clinical consequences of inhaled uranium," he said.

Durakovic said depleted uranium that coated shells to ease penetration of thick armour exploded into multiple particles, which "became part of atmospheric dust" after hitting targets.

"Because of the omnipresence of small sub-micron radioactive dust in the Persian Gulf, uranium that was liberated by impact (with tanks)...evaporated at temperatures higher than several thousand degrees centigrade," he said.

"Some of those particles were inhaled and stayed in the lungs...where they can cause cancer, and some entered into the bloodstream and affected kidneys and bones."

Durakovic, who held the rank of colonel, is now with the department of Nuclear Medicine at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington.

He told reporters that he had come under "political pressure" from U.S. authorities to halt his research shortly after the Gulf War, when the U.S. military first challenged the notion that a mysterious "Gulf War syndrome" affected many veterans.

Authorities are now conducting their own studies.

"I don't claim uranium contamination is the (main) cause of the Gulf War syndrome but the veterans show high levels of depleted uranium in their bodies and studies about this must be intensified," he said.

The British Sunday Times newspaper said Durakovic would tell the conference that "tens of thousands" of British and American soldiers were dying from radiation from depleted uranium shells. But he gave no such figure.

Some published medical studies have linked the Gulf War syndrome, with symptoms ranging from flu to chronic fatigue and asthma, to the multiple vaccines given soldiers during the war to counter possible Iraqi chemical weapons attacks.

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5 Father of H-bomb Defends University
September 04, 2000
LAS VEGAS SUN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP)--Physicist Edward Teller isn't sure whether the nuclear weapons labs he helped found have a spy problem.

But the man known as the "Father of the H-Bomb" is sure that any problems aren't going to be fixed by ousting the University of California as manager of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

He's reminded of the crisis of 1949 when scientists working on the weapons program at Los Alamos, N.M., learned that secrets of the atomic bomb had been leaked to the Soviets. "President Truman's reaction to this discovery was, in my opinion, precisely the right one--speed up our work," the 92-year-old scientist said.

"Today, there is not even a whisper of speeding up our work," he said. Instead, there's been a "magnifying of the damage done when probably there was no damage or little damage."

"UC's management has been good. The connection with UC is valuable. It would be a grave mistake to interrupt it," he said in an interview.

Through his decades-long career, Teller has exerted a profound influence on America's defense and energy policies. In 1939, Teller was one of three scientists who encouraged Albert Einstein to alert President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the power of nuclear fission - the splitting of an atom's nucleus--could be tapped to create a devastating new weapon.

Today's troubles in the weapons program began last year with allegations that nuclear secrets had leaked to China. Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was fired and later charged with mishandling classified information. However, Lee was not charged with espionage and he denies any wrongdoing.

Next came budget and deadline troubles for a huge laser being built to simulate thermonuclear explosions at Lawrence Livermore.

And both Los Alamos and Livermore are being investigated for possible discrimination against Asians, a concern highlighted by the prosecution of Taiwanese-born Lee.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, under pressure from members of Congress to remove UC from its management role, has ordered major changes in security. He's scheduled to get a report on how to do that this Tuesday, although no immediate announcement was expected.

Some feel public censure has gone too far.

Losing UC would be "a horrible thing," says Los Alamos scientist Manvendra Dubey. "When UC manages you, you attract a certain kind of employee. You attract the brains."

That opinion is shared by Sidney Drell, a member of the presidential commission that wrote a scathing lab report titled "Science at its Best, Security at its Worst." He thinks UC should be corrected, not ejected.

"Unfortunately, there's been tremendous overreaction," he said.

The curious pairing of class instruction and mass destruction goes back to the 1930s when a team of physicists led by Ernest O. Lawrence worked at the Berkeley "Rad Lab" (Radiation Laboratory). In the early 1940s, Berkeley up-and-comer Glenn Seaborg helped discover a key to the nuclear realm--plutonium.

Soon, U.S. scientists racing to beat the Nazis to an atomic bomb had set up shop at Los Alamos.

After the war, UC wanted out of the weapons business, but the new Atomic Energy Commission asked the university to stay on, hoping to keep the program under civilian control, said Cal Tech historian Peter Westwick.

UC agreed, motivated by patriotism and possibly the fact that Lawrence had "quite a thriving operation going" at the Berkeley lab.

Today, the Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, in the hills above the Berkeley campus, performs unclassified research.

But an annex Lawrence helped start in the country town of Livermore, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, has grown into a premier weapons lab.

It includes the office where Teller, lab director emeritus, still works three days a week.

The Hungarian immigrant is gray and frail, unable to see a board full of equations, but his intellect is nimble; he crisply dismisses those who criticize the labs he helped build.

"The criticism comes to a great extent from people who have quite a limited understanding of what really goes on in the labs in a scientific way," he says. "They're not only ignorant, they are not aware of the fact that they're ignorant."

--- On the Net:
Lawrence Berkeley lab: www.lbl.gov
Lawrence Livermore: www.llnl.gov
Los Alamos: www.lanl.gov

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6 Richardson backs Russian nuclear-storage site plan
Monday, September 4, 2000
New York Times

MOSCOW--After touring a secret nuclear submarine base on Russia's Pacific Coast, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson indicated Sunday that he will support a Kremlin request for help in building a high- security storage site for nuclear fuel from decommissioned Russian subs.

Richardson and other U.S. experts were given broad access to the naval base at Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, where about 20 submarines already are awaiting dismantling.

The Russian navy has asked the United States to assume half the cost of a $200 million floating dry-dock that would store radioactive reactor casings and nuclear fuel. U.S. law allows for such aid, but only when it benefits U.S. national security.

Richardson said Sunday he believes the site is needed to protect Russian reactor fuels from the dangers of terrorist theft and so- called insider sales by Russians desperate for money.

"It's going to take some hard work," he said, to convince Congress "that this is a worthy project; that it makes sense to defuel and decommission these nuclear subs on the basis of nonproliferation. But we think it makes sense to make this a priority."

A senior Energy Department official said the Russian navy has made a convincing case that it lacks the money to dismantle and defuel the subs by itself. And the 20 submarines don't seem sufficiently seaworthy to be towed to Vladivostok, where another U.S.-built site could accommodate the fuel and reactor parts.

"The Navy says that if you try to tow these subs, they'll break apart, " the official said.

Richardson's Kamchatka stop concluded a weeklong swing through the former Soviet Union that was largely devoted to promoting nuclear nonproliferation and improving goodwill with his Russian counterparts. Americans on the trip have said they are impressed with the openness of the Russians, who have escorted them through an atomic-weapons plant and the nuclear sub base despite tensions in the U.S.-Russian relationship.

Most recently, some Russian military leaders have stopped just short of accusing the United States or other NATO powers of sinking the Russian submarine Kursk in a covered-up collision.

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7 TOMORROW'S THREAT: THE DIFFICULT CASE FOR ANTI-MISSILE DEFENCE
The Times: Opinion:
September 4 2000

Nearly 30 years ago, in 1972, the US and the Soviet Union signed a bilateral treaty that deliberately, by outlawing the construction of a defensive shield to protect their territories against each other's inter-continental ballistic missiles, left both sides vulnerable to fatal attack. The idea behind neutrally assured destruction (NAD) was as simple as the danger it sought to avert was stark. The assumption was that no government would be so suicidally insane as to launch a first strike, if the certain consequence would be a devastating counter-strike against which it had no effective defence.

The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) was a landmark in Cold War diplomacy. The "balance of terror" it enshrined changed the calculus of the nuclear arms race and gave both powers the confidence to cut their strategic arsenals.

NAD led, and was seen to lead, to a safer world. And, because the doctrine of overwhelming retaliation is still the core of deterrence, the merest hint at diluting the ABM Treaty is, even now, hugely controversial. President Clinton's decision last Friday to leave to his successor the question of building a limited national missile defence shield (NMD) has thus occasioned little surprise in Washington. The difficulties ahead are formidable, and discretion, for this populist President, has always been the better part of valour. Systems testing will continue, but deployment is on hold, deferring the date by which NMD could theoretically be in place from 2005 until 2006 or 2007.

NMD would not, in fact, change the strategic balance. It would be capable of destroying no more than "a few simple" incoming missiles. Its purpose is to defend US territory against missile attack by rogue states such as North Korea or Iraq; it would still leave US vulnerable to the substantial Russian arsenal. But NMD would breach the letter, though not the spirit, of the ABM Treaty. The US wants Russia to agree to amend it; should Moscow refuse, many powerful Republicans argue that the US should unilaterally abrogate it.

Mr Clinton's case for this delay is that on three of the four criteria he had said must be taken into account - cost, technical feasibility, and the impact of NMD on strategic arms control agreements - the jury, even in America and decidedly in the rest of Nato, is still out. The Pentagon's efforts to hit an incoming missile in mid-flight have so far scored more misses than hits, and the failure in July of the third test of a pilot scheme made it difficult for Mr Clinton to state that the programme was in a state of "technical readiness" that justified the start of construction. The politics of NMD is equally problematic.Nato is badly split; and Russia is a long way from being convinced that NMD is in no way directed against it.

The paramount final criterion - the risk of a rogue missile strike - is also a matter of dispute. The logic behind NMD is that the battle to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles - and of the ability to tip them with nuclear, chemical or biological warheads - has been lost. It has been lost, moreover, to unpredictable or outlaw states which are the last countries the world can risk seeing so equipped. Such states cannot be guaranteed to be deterred by the threat of massive US retaliation; and even the hypothetical possibility of a first strike, however improbable and however suicidal for the state that launched it, could seriously inhibit US resolve to protect its allies and global interests.

These are formidable arguments. Yet there are sceptics even among those who accept them. They contend that no system can guarantee total protection, even from limited attack; that the more likely threat is of suitcase bombs, truck bombs and short-range missile attacks on US bases; and that NMD will thus upset the strategic equation without materially enhancing the security of US territory. Last month 50 US Nobel laureates denounced the project as "premature, wasteful and dangerous". It is easy, in context, to see why Mr Clinton decided to pass the parcel, but that does not mean that he was wise to do so. The reality is that whoever wins the presidential election, NMD in some form is going to be developed; and, with the Republicans committed to a much more ambitious programme which would combine space, ground and sea-based missiles, it is not necessarily helpful to the political battle to be won abroad that NMD will now become a partisan campaign issue.

The delay is a relief to Downing Street, because Britain would be involved in NMD from the start. Its assent is needed for an operationally essential upgrading of the US radar and eavesdropping stations at RAF Fylingdales and Menwith Hill in Yorkshire; and Tony Blair faces rising protests from critics who, misleadingly, say that NMD is a dangerous rerun of the Reagan "Star Wars". This will not be an easy decision; and, with most European governments opposed, it involves a choice between the US and the rest of Europe. Mr Blair may hope - quite probably mistakenly - that he can kick it into touch until after the next election.

The Prime Minister should see, however, that tactics are a minor consideration. This is an urgent, strategic question which does not admit of a hands-off approach. The missile threat from delinquent states is a reality. Sales of rocket technology, by North Korea and China in particular, are spreading this menace fast; more than 20 countries, including Iran and Iraq, already possess short or medium- range missile technology, two dozen either have or are developing crude weapons of mass destruction and, in 1998, North Korea tested a missile able to reach parts of the US. And the reality impinges on Europe more, if anything, than it does on the US, because it is geographically closer to some of the most likely sources of danger. Leadership will be required, if NMD is not to become a rerun of the 1980s protests against cruise and Pershing missiles; and that means a closer analysis now, not in a few years, of the balance to Britain of risks and benefits.

It is not in British or European interests for the US to be laid open to blackmail by states that may have only a handful of missiles. That goes for this country too. For Britain, though, there is the risk that, in providing facilities for a missile shield that would cover only the US, Britain would become a more likely target without increasing its own capacity to ward off missile attack. It follows that, because it would protect not just US territory, but that of America's "friends and allies", the Bush version of NMD could be more attractive, even though it would have more technical obstacles to surmount and would also be much harder than the modest Clinton plan to sell to Russia.

The real question about NMD is not whether, but when, it will be deployed. The decisive requirements - and they are geopolitical as well as technical - are that Americans must first be convinced that anti-missile defence is at least part of the solution to a fast-changing missile threat. It then, for Britain, becomes a question of trust. As last month's generally sceptical report by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee acknowledged, it would be "unprecedented" for this country to turn down a request to upgrade US facilities; a refusal would have a grave impact on a "uniquely close" security relationship. Al Gore and George W. Bush both belong to the US political tradition that has kept the special relationship rock solid where it really matters. On that habit of trust, as much as on the conviction that missile defence may be as central to this generation of strategists as the nuclear umbrella was to the last, The Times would ultimately base its support.