NUCLEAR
U.S. to investigate uranium dumping
BE head offers thoughts on a new reactor
France orders stand-off nuclear missiles
Japanese Reactor Risks Catastrophe, Warns Report
Clinton Will Skip Visit to N. Korea Not enough time for missile deal
Clinton says he won't have time to make trip to North Korea
Clinton Defers Talks On N. Korea Missiles
Clinton will pass on trip to N. Korea
US Engagement With N.Korea May Slow
U.S. watches Russian, Iran armament
Russia, Iran say talks fruitful
Russia Mulls Rumsfeld Missile Plan
Boy drinks uranium by mistake and stops growing
Nominee hailed for expertise
Rumsfeld gets Pentagon post
Bush's defense appointment highlights missile-shield plan
Final Report of International MOX Assessment
Nuclear waste issue heats up in West Texas

MILITARY
Cuba, China OK new defense links
Subchronic effects following a single sarin
Colombia kidnappings set new record
Colombian guerrillas snub drug plan
Colombian congressman assassinated
Accord ends troop dispute in Seoul
U.S. embassy in Myanmar closes
UN wants Uganda out of Congo
Albanian teen arrested again

OTHER
Don't bank on corruption


-------- NUCLEAR

U.S. to investigate uranium dumping

Bergen Record
Friday, December 29, 2000
The Associated Press
http://www.bergen.com/morenews/uran29200012296.htm

WASHINGTON -- The federal government is investigating whether European companies are dumping cheap enriched uranium illegally onto the U.S. market.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that it intends to scrutinize sales of low enriched uranium from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

At issue is whether fair market forces or illegal, unfair competition has led U.S. nuclear power plants to increase overseas purchases of enriched uranium.

U.S. Enrichment Corp., which operates government-owned enrichment plants in Piketon, Ohio, and Paducah, Ky., filed a trade complaint this month that prompted the investigation.

It alleged that Eurodif SA, controlled by the French government, and Urenco Ltd., a British-Dutch-German consortium, were pricing enriched uranium below their cost of production.

"We are pleased that the department has chosen to initiate an investigation. We believe we have presented a strong, compelling case that Eurodif and Urenco continue to dump enriched uranium into the U.S. market," said USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle.

-------- britain

BE head offers thoughts on a new reactor

Washington
Nucleonics Week
29 Dec 2000

What characteristics must a new nuclear reactor design have? Robin Jeffrey, who will take over as the chairman of British Energy in July 2001, offered some ideas during a speech he delivered in early December in London. Jeffrey mentioned, of course, that a new reactor design must be substantailly cheaper, quicker to build than previous designs, and every bit as safe. He then went on to say that a new design, which could be a derivative of a PWR or a Candu, or a pebble bed reactor, must also be "internationally licensed," with a "high factory construction content" and part of a "large production run." He said the target date for bringing the first unit into service needs to be shortly after 2010. And it goes without saying, Jeffrey said, that the commercial arrangements for building these reactors, "must enhance earnings per share" of the companies involved.

-------- france

France orders stand-off nuclear missiles

Yahoo News
Friday December 29, 10:36 am Eastern Time
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/001229/l29236982.html

PARIS, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The French defence ministry said on Friday it had signed a 231-million-euro ($215 million) contract for the initial development and purchase of medium-range, nuclear missiles for strike aircraft. The contract is with Aerospatiale Matra Missiles, a subsidiary of the European aerospace group EADS.

On Thursday, EADS clinched two separate French defence contracts worth 3.75 billion euros ($3.50 billion) -- the biggest deal it has won in its six-month life.

The contract announced on Friday was for ASMP-A stand-off missiles to be operational by the end of the decade and carried by Mirage 2000 and Super-Etendard strike aircraft.

It will later equip the advanced Rafale aircraft which will replace the two other types of aircraft in the air force and aboard navy aircraft carriers, the ministry said.

The new missiles will cost about 20 percent less than existing ASMP missiles but will perform better and in more adverse conditions, the ministry said in a statement without providing further details or figures.

The missiles will be the second component of France's ``force de frappe,'' or nuclear deterrent, together with long-range missiles fired from nuclear submarines.

One of the two contracts made public on Thursday, worth 2.85 billion euros, was for development of the M51 ballistic missile which will equip the submarine fleet, replacing models now in service.

The other contact, for about 900 million, was with EAD's Matra BAe Dynamics joint venture to produce new MICA air-to-air missiles.

EADS was formed at mid-year from the merger of the largest aerospace firms in France, Germany and Spain.

An EADS spokesman said on Thursday those plus other defence contracts won over the course of 2000 gave EADS an order book for the coming five years of some 130 billion euros, based on pro forma 1999 turnover of 23 billion euros.

Matra BAe Dynamics is a joint venture between EADS and Britain's BAe Systems (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BA.L). http://finance.uk.yahoo.com/quotes/ukie/q?s=BA.L&d=t

-------- japan

Japanese Reactor Risks Catastrophe, Warns Report

Environmental News Service
December 29, 2000
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/dec2000/2000L-12-29-11.html

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands (ENS) - Plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel produced in Europe and intended for a Japanese reactor will increase the risks of a catastrophic nuclear accident if used, says a report released in The Netherlands this week.

Dr Frank Barnaby of the UK based Oxford Research Group, an independent team of researchers studying nuclear decision making, produced the report with Greenpeace International. The report claims that the MOX fuel produced for Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is tainted.

Greenpeace protesters outside Belgonucleaire's plant in Dessel last year. (Photo courtesy Greenpeace/Cutrupi)

"This MOX fuel has been manufactured in an old facility in Belgium with poor production and quality control standards, even below those of the discredited plutonium company British Nuclear Fuels," said the report.

"This superficiality could increase the chances of a nuclear accident once the fuel is loaded into a reactor."

The report bases its conclusions on claims that MOX fuel standards are low at the Belgonucleaire facility in Belgium and that vital quality control checks are poorly applied or disregarded. The report said there is a lack of international standards for such nuclear fuel.

"Worse still, if TEPCO proceed with their plans to load this fuel, they will significantly increase the risks of a nuclear accident, with catastrophic effects involving the release of large amounts of deadly breathable plutonium particles into the atmosphere," said Barnaby.

"There would inevitably be higher lung cancer and other fatalities as a consequence."

MOX fuel is a mixture of about three percent plutonium oxide with about 97 percent uranium oxide, which can be used in nuclear reactors to produce electricity. Such fuel is routinely used for power generation in Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland.

Japan has a long term program to develop its nuclear energy industry and to produce secure supplies of electricity. The strategy includes a complete closed fuel cycle ensuring the proper management of the spent fuel and nuclear waste, by reprocessing the spent fuel, conditioning and disposing of the waste, and recycling the valuable fissile materials - uranium and plutonium.

TEPCO intends to load the MOX fuel into the Fukushima-1 unit 3 reactor in April 2001. A further shipment of plutonium fuel, also produced by Belgonucleaire, left Europe for Japan earlier this week.

Belgonucleaire markets plutonium MOX internationally with French company Cogema under the consortium COMMOX.

Earlier this year, UK government owned British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) admitted safety data for a similar MOX shipment to Japan in 1999 was falsified. The company is negotiating the return of the shipment to the UK and has paid the Japanese government $US60 million in compensation.

Japanese military boats escort the British Nuclear Fuels ship carrying the MOX fuel into Fukushima harbor last year. (Photo by Jorge Punzi, courtesy Greenpeace)

Barnaby cites statistical analysis of the Belgian MOX fuel by Dr Edwin Lyman, scientific director for Nuclear Control Institute, as showing indications of possible data manipulation.

The Washington, DC based Nuclear Control Institute is an independent research and advocacy center specializing in problems of nuclear proliferation.

"This is an issue of fundamental nuclear safety," said Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International nuclear campaigner and co-author of the report.

"Tokyo Electric and the Japanese government have so far complacently accepted the assurances of the European plutonium industry that they can be relied upon to tell the truth. Their investigations so far have been pathetic.

"It's as if they are looking into the quality and safety of 'hello kitty' dolls, rather than hundreds of kilograms of plutonium which could lead to a nuclear disaster.

"The Japanese authorities appear to have learnt nothing from recent nuclear accidents in Japan, and it will be the people of Fukushima and the rest of Japan who will pay the terrible consequences. Whether it is BNFL, Belgonucleaire or Cogema, they have demonstrated over the years that they cannot be trusted."

In August, nearly 1,000 Japanese citizens and non-governmental offices, including Greenpeace Japan and Citizens Nuclear Information Center, launched a court action seeking an injunction against TEPCO to prevent the loading of the plutonium MOX fuel produced by Belgonucleaire.

Three judges in the Fukushima District court, north of Tokyo, will hear evidence of the MOX production standards at Belgonucleaire, in Dessel, Belgium, where 32 assemblies of plutonium fuel were manufactured and subsequently shipped to Japan in 1999.

Before making a decision on the plaintiffs' case, the Fukushima Court has agreed to hold one further hearing in late January when additional evidence will be submitted.

-------- korea

Clinton Will Skip Visit to N. Korea Not enough time for missile deal

San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, December 29, 2000
David E. Sanger, New York Times
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/12/29/MN173673.DTL

Washington -- President Clinton said yesterday that he had decided not to visit North Korea before the end of his term because he lacked the time to put together a deal ending that country's nuclear missile program.

Clinton said he made the decision after evaluating last-minute talks with the secretive Pyongyang government, and not because of any pressure from the incoming Bush administration, which would be left with the task of putting the deal into effect. But the efforts to strike a deal were clearly a source of tension with the Bush team.

Some of Bush's advisers and a few Republicans in Congress had warned Clinton not to reach an agreement that would tie their hands.

Clinton's decision could well mark the start of a long pause in the intense negotiations with North Korea, which was long viewed as a rogue state. It could take a year or more, some White House officials and members of Congress say, for the new administration to assess relations with the North.

That likelihood was reinforced yesterday when Bush said Donald Rumsfeld would be his secretary of defense.

It was Rumsfeld's report two years ago, suggesting that U.S. intelligence agencies had underestimated the missile threat from North Korea, that accelerated the current negotiations. It also formed some of the rationale for supporters of a national missile defense.

Rumsfeld, one former Pentagon official said yesterday, "would likely be very suspicious of any deal that purported to freeze or roll back the North Korean missile threat."

There is also considerable debate within the intelligence community about whether the North is serious, or is trying to milk the West for aid.

According to administration officials, in the past few months North Korea did offer a complete halt to exports of missiles and related technologies. In presentations to Madeleine Albright, the North also offered to freeze the development of new missiles, a senior administration official said yesterday.

But time ran out before the two sides could resolve issues of verification or discuss one of the most difficult questions: whether the North would destroy its existing stocks of missiles. The country is believed to have roughly 100 missiles of various types, although not all have been deployed.

In another development, South Korea yesterday received the right to detain American servicemen suspected of rape and murder as part of a revised agreement governing the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed throughout the country.

Under the old Status of Forces Agreement, first signed in 1966 and revised in 1991, American troops accused of a crime were detained in U.S. military custody until convicted in the South Korean judicial system and until all appeals were exhausted.

Calling it too lenient and an infringement upon its sovereignty, South Korea had sought revisions to the original agreement, which governs the legal treatment of U.S. troops. The troops have been stationed in South Korea since 1954 as protection against communist North Korean aggression.

Under the revised treaty, U.S. soldiers accused of murder, rape, arson, drug trafficking and eight other serious crimes would be turned over to South Korea upon indictment. In murder or rape cases, South Korean police would have the right to arrest and detain U.S. military suspects.

---

Clinton says he won't have time to make trip to North Korea
He said he had made progress with the communist nation that the incoming Bush administration could build upon.

Philadelphia Inquirer
Friday, December 29, 2000
By Larry Margasak ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2000/12/29/national/CLINTON29.htm
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/national/clin292.shtml

WASHINGTON - President Clinton will not travel to North Korea before the end of his term, leaving further progress in establishing an accord with the communist nation to his successor, George W. Bush.

"I believe the next administration will be able to consummate this agreement," Clinton said yesterday. "I expect visits back and forth. I think a lot of things will happen" that will "make the world a much safer place."

Clinton said at a news conference that there was not enough time left in his presidency - just three weeks - to prepare and execute the trip "in an appropriate manner."

The United States has been seeking an agreement to curb North Korean missile production and development.

In an earlier statement, the President explained that there would have to be progress toward an agreement "that advances our national interest" before he made such a trip.

The President insisted he had made a "lot of progress" with North Korea.

"I expect the next administration to build on it," he said.

Clinton said that he had talked extensively with Bush about North Korea and that the Republican president-elect did not influence his decision not to make the trip.

Clinton said he briefed Bush on his administration's efforts with North Korea, and there were other high-level discussions with Colin Powell, Bush's nominee for secretary of state, and his designated national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

Clinton said that with the leadership of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and the success of talks with the North Koreans on the nuclear issue, further progress can be made.

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, invited Clinton in October, and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright traveled to the communist nation for talks with Kim. The President said Kim "put forward a serious proposal concerning his missile program. Since then, we have discussed with North Korea proposals to eliminate its missile-export program as well as to halt further missile development."

The President said that engagement with North Korea, in coordination with South Korea and Japan, "holds great promise and the United States should continue to build on the progress we have made."

---

Clinton Defers Talks On N. Korea Missiles

Salt Lake Tribune
Friday, December 29, 2000
BY BARRY SCHWEID THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.sltrib.com/12292000/nation_w/57971.htm
http://dailynews.philly.com/content/daily_news/2000/12/29/national/WIRJ29.htm

WASHINGTON -- Ending more than two months of suspense, President Clinton said Thursday he will not make a presidential visit to North Korea and is looking to his successor for progress in curbing the communist country's missile program.

Clinton told reporters at the White House he informed President-elect George W. Bush that he would not make the trip, which would have been a historic first, because in his three remaining weeks he lacked the time "to make it right."

In a statement, Clinton also noted "sufficient promise" in the talks his administration has held with Pyongyang on development and export of missiles to continue the effort.

"I believe the next administration will be able to consummate this agreement," Clinton said. "I expect visits back and forth. I think a lot of things will happen" that will "make the world a much safer place."

North Korea has been a focus of Clinton's foreign policy. In 1994, the two sides negotiated an agreement to freeze North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for safer reactors and energy supplies from the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Last week, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who visited Pyongyang in October, cited a "genuine possibility" that North Korea would agree to limit its production and export of missiles and missile technology.

One reason the United States is considering construction of an anti-missile shield was unease over North Korea's missile strength. Clinton deferred to Bush a decision on whether to begin activities toward deployment of the defense system. The next president favors a far more extensive and expensive program than the Clinton administration envisioned.

Clinton said he has talked extensively with Bush about North Korea, and the Republican president-elect did not influence Clinton's decision against making the trip.

"We had a very, very good talk about it, and he did not discourage it at all," Clinton said.

He said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il "put forward a serious proposal concerning his missile program," and the United States had discussed with Pyongyang proposals to eliminate the export program and halt further missile development.

Richard Solomon, a former chief of the State Department's Asia bureau, said the administration "deserves real credit for advancing the process of opening contact with North Korea in close coordination with our ally in the South (Korea) and other key regional players like Japan."

Solomon, president of the U.S. Institute for Peace, said North Korea was not prepared to agree to the kind of restraints on missile exports that would have justified a presidential trip.

-------

Clinton will pass on trip to N. Korea

Washington Times
December 29, 2000
By David R. Sands THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/world/default-20001229222355.htm

President Clinton yesterday announced he would not be making a hoped-for trip to North Korea, saying there was not enough time left in his term to nail down a deal to curb Pyongyang's long-range missile program.

The White House held out till the last minute in hopes that the precedent-shattering trip could be arranged, despite considerable skepticism among congressional Republicans and many leading U.S. Korean scholars.

"We've made a lot of progress on the missile issues," the president said, "but I concluded that I did not have sufficient time to put the trip together and to execute the trip in an appropriate manner in the days remaining."

Mr. Clinton leaves office Jan. 20.

The secretive communist regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has staged a remarkable diplomatic opening this year after a half-century of near-isolation and military tension with South Korea and the West.

Mr. Kim hosted South Korean President Kim Dae-jung for a three-day summit in June, and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright became the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit Pyongyang when she traveled there in October.

Mrs. Albright's trip focused on a North Korean offer to consider ending the development, launch, and export of long-range missiles in exchange for foreign assistance in putting communications satellites in space.

But crucial details of the deal -including verification of North Korea's compliance and controls over U.S. technology used for the satellite launches - put added pressure on negotiators as Mr. Clinton pondered whether to make the trip.

President-elect George W. Bush yesterday again refrained from comment on the North Korean trip, although a number of Republican lawmakers have warned Mr. Clinton against making the visit.

Donald Rumsfeld, named by Mr. Bush yesterday as his choice for secretary of defense, authored the 1998 report on global missile dangers that targeted North Korea as perhaps the prime international threat to U.S. security.

Mr. Clinton said Mr. Bush had not opposed the idea of a trip when the two discussed the issue.

"We had a very, very good talk about it, and he did not discourage it at all," Mr. Clinton said. "It would not be fair to put that on him."

Sitting on one side of the world's most heavily militarized border, North Korea stunned its East Asian neighbors and U.S. military analysts with the 1998 test of a three-stage rocket over Japanese airspace.

The test raised fears that the North could deliver ballistic missiles that could hit the United States.

U.S. officials said Mrs. Albright had made concrete progress on the missile deal while in Pyongyang, although the visit did not go off without a hitch.

North Korea's Mr. Kim broke with the carefully orchestrated agenda for the trip, taking Mrs. Albright to a mass rally at which the glories of the North's missile program were celebrated.

"There was a feeling that Albright got blindsided by the North Koreans on the propaganda front," said L. Gordon Flake, executive director of the Mansfield Center for Pacific Affairs.

"The North Koreans paraded Kim Dae-jung in front of the masses when he came; they did it to Albright; they did it when [Russian President Vladimir] Putin paid a visit. There was every indication they fully intended to do the same thing to President Clinton," Mr. Flake said.

Mr. Flake said there was a "pretty sizable consensus" among U.S. North Korea watchers that a Clinton trip in the next few weeks was premature. They warned Mrs. Albright in a private meeting after her return that the trip might commit an unwilling Bush administration to policies it had not had time to evaluate, and it could raise North Korean ambitions about how far the U.S. government was willing to go.

Larry M. Wortzel, director of the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, was an outspoken critic of the proposed presidential visit and applauded Mr. Clinton's decision not to go.

He said Mr. Bush should not make the trip until North Korea's Mr. Kim has ended the formal state of war that still exists with the South and carries through on a promise to visit Seoul.

Jon Wolfsthal, a specialist on North Korea and nonproliferation issues at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that the effort to enhance his foreign-policy legacy clearly drove Mr. Clinton's approach to North Korea in recent months.

But he also said the incoming Bush administration could build on recent progress by the Clinton administration if it chose to do so.

"There's clearly a lot of detail to work out, but I think it's clear by now the North Koreans are ready to cut a deal," he said.

Mr. Clinton yesterday lobbied his successor to follow his lead.

"We made a lot of progress with North Korea," he said. "And I believe that the next administration will be able to consummate this agreement. I expect visits back and forth."

While Japanese leaders have been more skeptical, South Korea's Mr. Kim had supported the idea of a Clinton trip.

South and North Korean negotiators, meanwhile, began three days of talks yesterday on ways to boost cooperation to help the North's shattered economy. The talks are the first high-level negotiations solely on economic matters.

--------

US Engagement With N.Korea May Slow

Excite
December 29, 2000
By JAE-SUK YOO, Associated Press Writer
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/001229/02/int-skorea-clinton

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - President Clinton's decision not to visit North Korea and President-elect Bush's more skeptical take on the North will slow U.S. efforts to engage the communist nation, South Korean analysts said Friday.

Few South Korean experts believe the Bush administration will drastically change Washington's North Korea policy. But most expect some slowdown in U.S. rapprochement with the North: Republicans have traditionally taken a tougher stance on Pyongyang's Stalinist regime.

"Loss of momentum in improving U.S.-North Korea relations is inevitable," said Kim Sung-han, a North Korea expert at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a government think-tank.

Lee Seo-hang, an analyst at the institute, said the Bush administration "is expected to closely consult with South Korea on its North Korea policy, and engagement will remain the key word in relations with North Korea. But the pace will be slowed down and demands for reciprocity will gain strength."

There was no immediate reaction from North Korean or South Korean officials, but South Korean President Kim Dae-jung had said Wednesday that a Clinton visit to Pyongyang was unlikely. He said he hoped to visit Washington as soon as possible to consult with Bush on North Korea.

Work to defuse decades-old hostilities had gained quick momentum in the last months of Clinton's tenure, as Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang and North Korea reached out to South Korea, a longtime U.S. ally.

South Korea had hoped Clinton would push the process along further by making an unprecedented visit to the world's most isolated communist state before he left office in mid-January. Such a visit would have been a watershed in Seoul's own "sunshine" policy of seeking reconciliation with the North.

But Clinton said Thursday he would not visit North Korea because he did not have enough time to make such a trip successful. He said he looked to his successor, Bush, for more progress on curbing the North's missile program to warrant more aggressive engagement with Pyongyang.

"Unsure of what he can get out of a trip, it probably would not have been easy for Clinton to decide to go," said Lee Jong-seok, a North Korea expert at Seoul's private Sejong Institute.

Together, the United States and South Korea fought a three-year war against the Chinese-backed North Koreans in the early 1950s. The war ended without a peace treaty, and since then, the United States has stationed thousands of troops in the South.

North Korea has been a focus of Clinton's foreign policy. In 1994, the two sides negotiated an agreement to freeze North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for safer reactors and energy supplies from the United States, Japan and South Korea.

More recently, U.S officials have been trying to narrow differences on limiting the North's production and export of missiles and missile technology to pave the way for a Clinton visit to clinch a deal. Missile talks were held in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month, but no agreements were reached.

One of the reasons Clinton weighed construction of an anti-missile shield was concern over North Korea's missile strength. He deferred a decision on the defense system to Bush, who favors a far more extensive and expensive program.

On Thursday, Clinton said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il "put forward a serious proposal concerning his missile program," and the United States had discussed with Pyongyang proposals to eliminate the country's export program and halt further missile development.

"I believe the next administration will be able to consummate this agreement," he said.

-------- russia

U.S. watches Russian, Iran armament

InfoBeat News
Morning Coffee Edition - 12/29/2000
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405581283

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is disturbed by reports that Russia is prepared to sell Iran missiles, submarines and other equipment, the State Department said Thursday.

``It's not sufficient for Russia to simply call this type of equipment quote `defensive,''' spokesman Philip Reeker said. ``Some of the equipment reportedly being discussed between the Russian defense minister and his Iranian counterpart would pose a serious threat'' to security interests of the United States and others.

Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev and Iranian Adm. Ali Shamkhani said in Tehran as they signed several agreements that a new chapter in military cooperation had been opened between their countries.

Russia alarmed Washington by announcing last month that it was abandoning a 1995 pledge not to sell tanks and other battlefield weapons to Iran. Washington, which accuses Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, is trying to persuade Moscow to change its mind and has threatened economic sanctions.

On Wednesday, Sergeyev said Russia will abide by international agreements on arms sales to Iran, an apparent reference to international nuclear and other nonproliferation agreements. The Russian government has said it will not supply hardware capable of creating or delivering weapons of mass destruction.

Reeker said the United States will continue to watch closely the evolving military relationship between Russia and Iran and is ready to impose sanctions if it were to determine Russia is making unacceptable weapons sales to Iran.

He said the United States would continue talks with Russia aimed at keeping in place a freeze on certain Russian military sales to Iran as agreed earlier this month by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

---

Russia, Iran say talks fruitful

InfoBeat News
Morning Coffee Edition - 12/29/2000
By AFSHIN VALINEJAD Associated Press Writer
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405581388

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The visit of Russia's defense minister to Iran opened a new chapter of military cooperation between the two countries and led to several agreements, he and his Iranian counterpart said here Thursday.

Russia's Igor Sergeyev said the agreements included training Iranian army officers in Russia, and the ``exchange of information about the military structures, military doctrine and general threats to both countries.''

Sergeyev's visit came amid American pressure on Russia not to sell arms to Iran.

Iran's Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani said military cooperation between Iran and Russia had reached a ``historic'' point.

``The two countries have made concrete decisions to expand and deepen all kinds of military, security and defense relations on the long term,'' Shamkhani said. ``This will guarantee peace and stability to the region.''

In an interview with state television after Sergeyev's departure, Shamkhani spoke of Iran's concerns in the Middle East.

``The presence of NATO and Israel in the region, especially with NATO's coming close to Iran's border, is considered a threat,'' he said.

Northwestern Iran borders Turkey, a member of NATO and an ally of the United States, which Iran traditionally regards as its No. 1 enemy.

Iran had to increase its defense capabilities because of ``the crises and the numerous challenges in the region,'' he said, without elaboration.

Sergeyev, the first Russian defense minister to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, held talks with senior Iranian political and military officials, including President Mohammad Khatami and Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi.

The Russian official discussed among, other things, the situation in Afghanistan and security issues in the region.

Both countries are opposed to the Taliban, the Muslim fundamentalist militia that controls 95 percent of Afghanistan, which borders both countries.

Russia alarmed Washington by announcing last month that it was abandoning a 1995 pledge not to sell tanks and other battlefield weapons to Iran. Washington, which accuses Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, is trying to persuade Moscow to change its mind and has threatened economic sanctions.

Sergeyev said Wednesday his country will abide by international agreements concerning arms sales to Iran, an apparent reference to international nuclear and other nonproliferation agreements. The Russian government has said it will not supply any hardware capable of creating or delivering weapons of mass destruction.

The United States and other countries also have raised concerns that Russia's construction of a nuclear power plant in Iran could give it access to materials and knowledge that could be used in making nuclear weapons. Both Moscow and Tehran have denied the claim.

Sergeyev toured the Organization of Aerospace Industry of Iran, the home of the country's missiles program, and an aircraft factory.

Iran, which has declared itself self-sufficient in missiles production, has built and tested several missiles, including the Shahab-3, which has a range of 810 miles. Washington denounced a July test of the Shahab-3, which it said could reach Israel or U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.

Iran also has built its own tanks, armored personnel carriers and a fighter plane. ``All of our efforts in the defense industry are to keep the balance of power in the region,'' the minister said on television.

---

Russia Mulls Rumsfeld Missile Plan

InfoBeat News
Afternoon Edition - 12/29/2000
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405586840

MOSCOW (AP) _ President-elect Bush's choice of Donald Rumsfeld as the new secretary of defense is likely to raise pressure on the Kremlin to reach a compromise with the United States on its plan to deploy anti-missile defenses, analysts said Friday.

``Rumsfeld is known as a proponent of a tough line, and he is likely to take a rigid stance on the National Missile Defense,'' said Dmitry Trenin, a political affairs expert for the Carnegie Endowment's Moscow office.

Russia has categorically rejected the Clinton administration's push to modify the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty to allow the deployment of a limited anti-missile system, saying that the move would upset the strategic balance and trigger a new arms race.

President Clinton has deferred to his successor a decision on whether to start activities that would lead to the deployment of a national missile shield. The shield would aim to counter attacks from so-called ``rogue states,'' now referred to by the U.S. State Department as ``states of concern.''

Rumsfeld led a bipartisan commission that concluded two years ago that potential missile threats either from an accidental launch or a rogue nation were closer than U.S. intelligence believed, fueling arguments to push ahead with missile defenses.

``The report by Rumsfeld's commission has stoked the Americans' desire to have anti-missile defenses, so his appointment isn't going to make life easier for the Russians,'' said Ivan Safranchuk, an arms control analyst at PIR-Center, an independent think tank in Moscow.

He and other analysts predicted that Moscow would eventually have to abandon its staunch resistance to any changes in the ABM Treaty, and would bargain for concessions from the United States in exchange for an agreement to modify it.

Russian officials say Moscow remains firmly against any revision of the ABM treaty and they have threatened to opt out of existing arms control agreements if the United States proceeds with deploying missile defenses.

``There is no chance that Russia may convince the United States to abandon its missile defenses, so it will have to reach an agreement,'' Safranchuk said. ``Despite all the rhetoric, Moscow doesn't want to quarrel with the United States.''

-------- thailand

Boy drinks uranium by mistake and stops growing
Father did not seek help, vague on detail

Anchalee Kongrut
Fri, 29 Dec 2000 11:41:52 EST
http://www.bangkokpost.com/today/291200_News19.html

A 10-year-old boy is trapped in the body of someone half his age after he drank a substance containing uranium.

Five years ago, Chetsada Palawatvichai, or Golf, mistook a radioactive substance containing uranium-92 for a beverage. After mixing it with water he drank it. The boy suffered severe burns to his lips and developed body rashes. Worst of all, the substance apparently stunted his mental and physical growth. Golf's frame-he weighs 19kg and is only 1.19m tall-has remained unchanged.

His father, Kriengkrai, gives few details about the accident or radioactive minerals kept at his home. He said his Taiwanese business partner left over a tonne of the mineral behind in Saraburi province after their business venture failed.

Mr Kriengkrai, a real estate agent who has stood for politics, said he kept the mineral in anticipation of making profit from its sale.

He could not say how his son managed to gain access to the mineral which "well kept". He said the mineral was kept in various places at home, including a bird cage and ice boxes.

An atomic scientist said the substance was probably monazite, which goes into military equipment.

It contains radioactive substances such as uranium-92 and thorium. Monazite was valuable when the US army had military bases here and the substance was in demand.

Mr Kriengkrai said he had asked the Office of Atomic Energy for Peace to take the rest from his house.

Manoon Aramrattana, the office's deputy secretary-general, said the agency took 50kg from the house in October 1997.

Mr Kriengkrai did not offer any more.

The radiation level was low, Mr Manoon said. The father did not present the boy for a radiation check-up, which made it impossible to assess his physical condition.

The office would not press charges against Mr Kriengkrai because he had no intention of breaking the law against possession of the mineral.

Mr Kriengkrai says that early next month he will take his boy to hospital-the first time he has sought help.

-------- us nuc politics

Nominee hailed for expertise

Washington Times
December 29, 2000
By Rowan Scarborough and Ralph Z. Hallow THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-20001229221952.htm

In Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary-designate, George W. Bush yesterday tapped a proven military and corporate manager who shares the president-elect's view that a missile-defense system is vital to the well-being of the United States.

Mr. Rumsfeld, 68, brings to the Pentagon the record of a precocious politician and exuberant free-marketer.

After a three-year stint as a U.S. Navy aviator, he won election to the House of Representatives in 1960 before age 30.

He worked in the Nixon White House and later became the nation's youngest secretary of defense in 1975. He served just 14 months in the hectic days after the last U.S. personnel escaped Saigon and before the American military deteriorated into a drug-plagued, dispirited outfit of the late 1970s.

He left Washington nearly 24 years ago for a career in corporate America, but occasionally returned to perform spot government duty as a special envoy or commission member.

It was one of those jobs, chairing the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat, that caught Mr. Bush's eye.

The commission published a report in 1998 that challenged conventional thinking and delivered a victory to missile-shield advocates. It warned that a looming missile threat from rogue nations would become a reality much sooner than estimates from the Central Intelligence Agency predicted. In the report's classified section, defense sources say, Mr. Rumsfeld revealed a hawkish view toward China and North Korea - two proliferators of weapons of mass destruction.

"I felt he did an extraordinary job with a delicate assignment," Mr. Bush said yesterday of the commission chairmanship. "He brought people together to understand the realities of the modern world. In picking Don Rumsfeld, we'll have a person who is thoughtful and considerate and wise on the subject of missile defense."

Mr. Rumsfeld endorsed the Bush defense agenda, saying, "I have studied carefully your address and blueprint for defense . . . and I support it enthusiastically."

For a Bush defense secretary, missile defense will be only part of the equation.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Bush invested much political capital in pledging to rebuild an armed forces stretched thin by frequent overseas deployments and budget cuts in the 1990s. Mr. Bush also wants Mr. Rumsfeld to make politically risky decisions on whether to cancel popular, multibillion-dollar weapons systems in favor of developing futuristic technologies for the next president.

The Republican national-security establishment said Mr. Rumsfeld is up to the job.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger praised Mr. Rumsfeld's corporate-government portfolio.

"I don't know anybody who has a similar range of experience -White House chief of staff, NATO ambassador, secretary of defense, chairman of the ballistic-missile threat commission, CEO of major American corporations," Mr. Kissinger told The Washington Times. "To find someone with these qualifications who also favors missile defense and knows strategic issues - it's almost impossible. It's the best choice [President-elect Bush] could have made."

By contrast, Mr. Kissinger noted that when President Clinton came into office in 1993, he "had almost nobody in his administration who had this understanding of defense issues."

Mr. Clinton's first defense secretary, the late Les Aspin "was not a strategist or an administrator," the former Nixon aide said.

The former director of the U.S. Arms Control Agency, Ken Adelman, said Mr. Rumsfeld "is a wonderful strategic thinker and a very determined individual with great managerial skills but who also knows and cares about key national-security issues."

"Rumsfeld is obviously far more qualified and experienced than anybody Clinton appointed when he first came in - and a far more serious person," said Mr. Adelman, who served in the Reagan administration.

Mr. Bush yesterday acknowledged he will need congressional approval to achieve his military goals and urged Mr. Rumsfeld to "challenge the status quo inside the Pentagon."

Mr. Bush now has in place a star-studded national-security team whose players should not be shy about challenging each other's world views. His vice president, Richard Cheney, is a former defense secretary; his secretary of state, Colin Powell, is a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman; his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, played a prominent role in the administration of Mr. Bush's father.

Mr. Kissinger said that Mr. Clinton "basically thought his foreign policy should emphasize the so-called soft issues" such as environmental concerns. "This group -Cheney, Colin Powell, Rumsfeld -is very familiar with the historic, fundamental issues of foreign and defense policy and will bring them into an organic relationship with the 'soft issues.'"

In selecting Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Bush bypassed former Sen. Daniel R. Coats, disappointing a number of Senate Republicans who openly pushed the Coats candidacy.

Republicans said yesterday their backing may have hurt Mr. Coats as much as helped him. They said Mr. Bush may have wanted a man free of any firm ties to the exclusive Senate club. This way, Mr. Rumsfeld will have the latitude to cancel, if need be, weapons systems held dear by some of those same senators.

GOP officials foresaw no problems for the Rumsfeld nomination to win confirmation before the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full Senate. "He'll sail through," a Senate aide said.

"Donald Rumsfeld is a strong choice to serve as secretary of defense in the new administration. He has a distinguished record of public service over the last three decades." said Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat and ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.

Mr. Rumsfeld's endorsement of Mr. Bush's defense agenda can be interpreted to mean he supports the current ban on open homosexuals in the military. On other social issues, such as mixed-sex training and women in combat, his beliefs are not known.

"Unfortunately, we have no idea what Mr. Rumsfeld's views are these contentious issues," said Robert Maginnis, analyst at the Family Research Council, which favored Mr. Coats. "After all, when he was secretary, these were not significant issues. We've been a strong supporter of missile defense and we know about his strong background on missile-defense issues and this gives us great confidence we're meeting a man who will be very dependable at the helm of the Pentagon. His appointment sends a very serious shot across the bow to China, Russia and rogue nations that missile defense is a done deal."

"He has impeccable credentials," Mr. Maginnis added. "Rumsfeld is not going to be pushed around by Powell or Cheney."

While many conservatives backed Mr. Coats, they expressed no displeasure with Mr. Bush's choice.

"Rumsfeld knows his way around and is not going to get pushed around by anybody," said Morton Blackwell, who heads the conservative Leadership Institute and who once ran President Reagan's White House liaison office.

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, said Mr. Rumsfeld is "a very good choice that further strengthens" the incoming administration's team.

"When you look at that team Bush has assembled, you see a serious approach to national defense," Mrs. Donnelly said. "The Rumsfeld report on missile defense was a sound analysis of the threat to this country and to our allies. And that report will be a very good blueprint for our national security in the new millennium."

---

Rumsfeld gets Pentagon post

Washington Times
December 29, 2000
By Sean Scully THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-20001229224737.htm

President-elect George W. Bush yesterday named Donald H. Rumsfeld to be secretary of defense 23 years after he completed a term in that job in the Ford administration.

Mr. Rumsfeld promised yesterday to direct the development of a missile-defense system and to help Mr. Bush fulfill his promise to restore the prowess of the military.

"History teaches us that weakness is provocative. The task you have outlined is to fashion deterrence and defense capabilities, so that our country will be able to successfully contribute to peace and stability in the world," he said.

Mr. Bush praised his nominee as a man of strength and experience. "There's no question in my mind that his record of service to the country is extraordinary," the president-elect said. "This is a man who has got great judgment, he has got strong vision, and he's going to be a great secretary of defense -again."

Mr. Rumsfeld, 68, has a lengthy resume that includes being elected to Congress before he was 30, serving as White House chief of staff, becoming the youngest man ever to head the Defense Department and holding the post of U.S. ambassador to NATO. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, co-chaired Sen. Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign, and ran large private-sector concerns, including biotech firm Gilead Sciences Inc., pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle & Co. and electronics manufacturer General Instrument Corp.

Mr. Rumsfeld led a panel that reported in 1998 that the United States could face the prospect of a direct missile attack by small nations, such as Iraq, Syria and North Korea, as early as 2003. That clashed sharply with official estimates that it would take decades for those nations to develop intercontinental missiles.

The report shook official Washington and led Republicans, including Mr. Bush, to demand development of a system to detect and shoot down incoming missiles.

The choice of Mr. Rumsfeld was something of a surprise. Republicans close to Mr. Bush had been signaling for days that Mr. Rumsfeld was in line to head the CIA and that former Sen. Daniel R. Coats of Indiana would be his choice for defense.

Senate conservative leaders had been pushing for Mr. Coats, but Mr. Coats did not impress the president-elect in an interview last week. Mr. Bush was said to be unimpressed by other candidates for the job as well, such as former Defense Department official Paul D. Wolfowitz.

Mr. Rumsfeld has close connections with the incoming Bush administration. He was the political mentor of Vice President-elect Richard B. Cheney, who followed Mr. Rumsfeld as White House chief of staff and later as defense secretary. Mr. Rumsfeld took an active role in Mr. Bush's remarkable fund-raising operation, which took in $70 million before the primary season hit its peak and which drove most serious Republican rivals out of the race almost before it began.

Mr. Rumsfeld joins a national security team already heavy with veterans. Mr. Bush's first appointment was retired Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf war, to be secretary of state. He then appointed former Stanford Provost Condoleeza Rice as his national security adviser.

Mr. Powell, Mr. Cheney, Miss Rice and Mr. Rumsfeld will form the core of Mr. Bush's foreign-policy team.

"One of the things that's really important for the American people to understand is, I'll be getting some of the best counsel possible. . . . There's going to be disagreements. I hope there is disagreement, because I know that disagreement will be based upon solid thought," said Mr. Bush. "And what you need to know is that if there is disagreement, I'll be prepared to make the decision necessary for the good of the country."

This is the second surprise appointment from the Bush team, which has shown a talent so far for keeping news under wraps and confounding pundits and even close advisers. Just a week ago, Mr. Bush surprised everyone by naming former Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft as attorney general. Gov. Frank Keating of Oklahoma was thought to be Mr. Bush's choice.

Mr. Bush expects to make more nominations today, perhaps naming Gov. Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin to head the Department of Health and Human Services. The president-elect said yesterday that he does not expect to finish his Cabinet before the new year, but this could be done by the end of next week. "Don't hold me to it, though," he said.

Mr. Bush said he thinks he is making good progress on naming his Cabinet, with eight of the 14 top positions filled, given the monthlong uncertainty over the winner of the presidential election.

"As to the deputy secretaries and assistant secretaries and legal counsels for all the departments . . . we feel like we're making pretty darn good progress, but it's hard to move quickly until we get the secretaries named," he said.

Mr. Bush has yet to name heads for the departments of Transportation, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Interior, and Energy. The most important remaining opening is at the Department of Education, crucial because of Mr. Bush's promise to make education the major focus of his administration.

"Let me just put it to you this way: On Inauguration Day, we'll be ready to assume our respective offices," Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Bush also made a series of secondary appointments, including naming Ari Fleischer his White House press secretary. The campaign press secretary, Karen Hughes, was named earlier this month to a higher-ranking position as a senior adviser to Mr. Bush. She will continue to advise him on communications, along with policy issues.

Mr. Bush also named Joseph Hagin, former deputy campaign manager, as his deputy chief of staff for operations. Former campaign policy director Joshua Bolten will serve as deputy chief of staff for policy.

Mr. Cheney, meanwhile, tapped a pair of his former deputies at the Defense Department to join his staff. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will become Mr. Cheney's chief of staff and foreign-policy adviser and former Defense Department general counsel David Addington will become the vice president's counsel.

None of the staff appointments made by Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney require Senate confirmation, as will Mr. Rumsfeld and the other Cabinet-level officers.

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

Bush's defense appointment highlights missile-shield plan
San Jose Mercury News
Friday, Dec. 29, 2000
BY STEVEN LEE MYERS
New York Times
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/nation/docs/missiles29.htm

WASHINGTON -- For more than two years, one name more than any other has driven the debate over whether to build a national missile defense: Donald Rumsfeld.

Now, in choosing Rumsfeld to be his secretary of defense, President-elect George W. Bush has signaled that the politically and diplomatically divisive goal of building a ``shield'' against nuclear missiles will be at the core of the new administration's national security agenda.

In 1998, Rumsfeld -- the former Republican congressman, former ambassador to NATO and former secretary of defense -- oversaw a commission that concluded that ``rogue'' nations could threaten the United States with ballistic missiles sooner than analysts had predicted.

Conservatives who supported a missile shield hailed the findings as refreshingly candid and worrisome. Liberals who supported arms control criticized them as too focused on potential threats and not on the diplomatic and financial obstacles to building a missile shield.

Either way, the commission's report -- followed a month later by a provocative North Korean missile test -- led the Clinton administration to propose its own limited version of a national missile defense.

``The Rumsfeld report was the main reason the debate was gradually turned around and the administration turned around,'' said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., an ardent advocate of a missile defense.

In his campaign for president, Bush repeatedly advocated building a more expansive defensive system than the one President Clinton proposed and, this summer, deferred. Rumsfeld offered little detail, however, except to say that he would not rule out defenses based on the ground, as Clinton proposed, or at sea and in space.

Thursday, Bush was no more specific, saying only that he would expect Rumsfeld to work closely with his budget director ``to make sure that the missile defense receives the priority we think it must receive in future Pentagon budgets.''

Still, it is clear that Bush's selection of Rumsfeld completes a national security team -- including the next vice president, Dick Cheney, and the next secretary of state, retired Gen. Colin Powell -- that shares the dream of building the sort of shield against nuclear ballistic missiles that President Reagan envisioned in the 1980s.

Rumsfeld's report, released in an unclassified form in July 1998, was striking in its contradiction of previous analyses by the nation's intelligence agencies, which had concluded that no additional nation would be able to strike the United States with ballistic missiles for at least a decade.

Instead, the commission warned that countries such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq could develop a missile ``with little or no warning'' -- and essentially at any moment.

Since the report became public, North Korea, in particular, has undergone significant changes. Its once-reclusive leader, Kim Jong Il, has been negotiating with the Clinton administration to halt its production of long-range missiles.

Rumsfeld did not address North Korea on Thursday, but his remarks indicated that his assessment of the threat of a ballistic missile attack on the United States had not changed.

``There is no question but that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the delivery systems for them is extensive across the world,'' he said.

Bush's proposals for a missile defense will face the same hurdles as Clinton's. And because Bush's would go further, they may be more contentious, especially in Russia and China, two nuclear-armed nations that view missile defenses as destabilizing.

Clinton deferred a decision to move ahead with a limited system that began with 100 interceptors after failing to persuade the Russians to amend the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 and after repeated failures of tests of the system.

Although Bush and Rumsfeld have not advocated abandoning the treaty, they have suggested that they will not be bound by its prohibition on developing a missile defense.

-------

Final Report of International MOX Assessment Available Online

Fri, 29 Dec 2000 20:12:33 +0900
From: "CNIC(IIJ)" <cnic-jp@po.iijnet.or.jp>
http://www.cnic.or.jp/english/topics/plutonium/ima/

CNIC has made the entire text of the final report of International MOX Assessment (IMA) available from its web-site.

Comprehensive Social Impact Assessment on MOX Use in Light Water Reactors"(1997), the Final report of IMA, is available as a PDF file at: http://www.cnic.or.jp/english/topics/plutonium/ima/ (free of charge,2.0MB)

Paper vesion of this report is also avialable at: http://www.cnic.or.jp/english/books/

Final Report of the International MOX Assessment "Comprehensive Social Impact Assessment of MOX Use in Light Water Reactors"

by J. Takagi, M. Schneider, F. Barnaby, I. Hokimoto, K. Hosokawa,C. Kamisawa, B. Nishio, A. Rossnagel, M. Sailer

November, 1997 IMA Project Citizens' Nuclear Information Center

--

Members of IMA Project Project Director Jinzaburo Takagi (Citizens' Nuclear Information Center)

Project Assistant Director Mycle Schneider (WISE-Paris)

Co-researchers Frank Barnaby (Independent) Ichiro Hokimoto (Kokugakuin University) Komei Hosokawa (Saga University) Chihiro Kamisawa (Citizens' Nuclear Information Center) Baku Nishio (Citizens' Nuclear Information Center) Alexander Rossnagel (University of Kassel) Michael Sailer (Oeko-Institut) Mycle Schneider (WISE-Paris) Jinzaburo Takagi (Citizens' Nuclear Information Center)

Together with researchers from France, Germany and U.K., the project has conducted a full and complete assessment of the effects of MOX utilization in fields such as: environment and health; security; technological safety; economy; back-end policy; social and legal; and transportation. Based on the conclusion that there is no rational cause nor social benefits to continue further development of MOX utilization in light water nuclear reactors, the report offers 10 recommendations to the Japanese government and electric power companies, including shut-down of Monju fast breeder reactor, resolution of nuclear fuel reprocessing contracts with overseas firms, and a complete evaluation of MOX by electric power companies.

Situations around plutonium use in Japan still remain grim. The government has not given up on its plans to use MOX fuel, and the use of it in Fukushima has become a center of the struggle as it is planed to be the first site to use MOX, and currently a court case is being fought by citizens against the use of MOX at the Fukushima plant.

CNIC is greatly concerned over the fact that the government is attempting to carry out its MOX utilization program without conducting any credible studies on the effects. We therefore hope that the IMA final report will be used as an opportunity to create greater public interest and concerns against the MOX utilization policy.

Posted by Satoshi Fujino, CNIC

New URL of CNIC: http://www.cnic.or.jp/

Citizens' Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) 1-58-15, Kotobuki-bldg., 3F,Higashi-nakano, Nakano-ku,Tokyo 164-0003,Japan phone 81-3-5330-9520,fax 81-3-5330-9530 URL: http://www.cnic.or.jp/ e-mail : cnic-jp@po.iijnet.or.jp

-------- us nuc waste

Nuclear waste issue heats up in West Texas

Odessa American
December 29, 2000
By Melanie Maxcey Odessa American
http://www.oaoa.com/news/nw122900c.htm

PECOS - When Reeves County commissioners meet next week, they will once again take up their fight against the dumping of nuclear waste in West Texas.

County Judge Jimmy Galindo said the court will hold a special meeting Tuesday and one of the topics for the court to consider will be whether to hire lobbyists for the Texas legislative session that begins in January.

The issue was tabled at Wednesday's commissioners court meeting.

If approved, Galindo said the county could spend between $30,000 and $40,000 on lobbyists. The commissioners are considering three candidates, Galindo said, but he declined to name them.

In 1980, the state of Texas entered into a compact with Vermont and Maine to accept their nuclear waste.

Envirocare of Texas, a nuclear waste disposal company, hopes to act as a private contractor for that waste.

In western Ward County, Envirocare has proposed an above-ground, long-term radioactive-waste-storage facility. The site would receive and store low-level radioactive waste, such as nuclear-power-plant parts, medical waste and oilfield equipment, for up to 500 years.

That site is just 13 miles from Pecos and eight miles from the Pecos River, Galindo said.

Galindo said Tuesday's special meeting also would give commissioners the chance to discuss the county's priorities and expectations before making a decision to hire the lobbyists.

"The main objective is that we, on behalf of the community, do not want a radioactive waste dump located adjacent to Reeves County," Galindo said.

In late 1999, Reeves County was the first county in the area to pass a resolution against Envirocare's Ward County site. The meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Reeves County Courthouse, 100 E. Fourth St.


-------- MILITARY

Cuba, China OK new defense links

Washington Times
December 29, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://www.washtimes.com/world/worldscene-20001229212915.htm

HAVANA - Cuba and China have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation between their armed forces, Cuban state media said yesterday.

The protocol was signed Wednesday by Gen. Fu Quanyou, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and by his Cuban counterpart, Gen. Alvaro Lopez.

The Chinese defense official was on a five-day goodwill visit to the communist-ruled Caribbean island.

-------- chemical weapons

Subchronic effects following a single sarin

From: magnu96196@aol.com

J Toxicol Environ Health A
2000 Dec 29;61(8):695-707

Subchronic effects following a single sarin exposure on blood-brain and blood-testes barrier permeability, acetylcholinesterase, and acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system of rat: a dose-response study.

Jones KH, Dechkovskaia AM, Herrick EA, Abdel-Rahman AA, Khan WA, Abou-Donia MB

Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.

[Medline record in process]

Subchronic neurotoxic effects of sarin (O-isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) treatment at various doses in male Sprague Dawley rats were studied. The animals were treated with a single intramuscular (im) injection of 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, or 1 x LD50 (100 microg/kg). The animals were maintained for 90 d thereafter. [3H]Hexamethonium iodide was used to monitor the changes in blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability in cortex, brainstem, midbrain, and cerebellum. Brainstem exhibited a significant decrease (approximately 58% of control) in uptake of [3H]hexamethonium iodide at 1 x LD50 dose. No significant changes were observed in BBB permeability in cortex, midbrain, and cerebellum at any dose. Plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity remained unchanged, reflecting recovery of the enzyme activity from the initial inhibition following single exposure of 1 x LD50 sarin. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the cortex remained inhibited (approximately 29%), whereas in the brainstem there was an increase (approximately 20%) at 1 x LD50 dose of sarin. The m2-selective muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (m2-mAChR) ligand binding was inhibited significantly at 1 x LD50 in the cortex, whereas brainstem showed significantly increased (approximately 45%) ligand binding at 1 x LD50 dose. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), on the other hand, showed a biphasic response in ligand binding in the cortex with a decrease (approximately 30%) at 0.01 x LD50 but an increase (approximately 40%) at 1 x LD5O. Brainstem did not show any significant change in nAChR ligand binding. These results suggest that single exposure of sarin could lead to changes that may play an important role in neuropathological abnormalities in the central nervous system.

PMID: 11132698, UI: 21018749

-------- colombia

Colombia kidnappings set new record

Washington Times
December 29, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://www.washtimes.com/world/worldscene-20001229212915.htm

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia, the kidnapping capital of the world, set a new record this year with more than 3,000 abductions, according to a report from a private monitoring group.

The war-ravaged South American country has an average of more than nine reported abductions each day, mainly by leftist guerrillas and criminals seeking ransoms.

The report, issued Wednesday by the private Free Country foundation, said at least 3,029 persons were kidnapped through November, compared with 2,757 during all of 1999. Many cases are never reported to monitoring groups or authorities.

--------

Colombian guerrillas snub drug plan

InfoBeat News
Morning Coffee Edition - 12/29/2000
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405582266

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Guerrillas in Colombia issued a New Year's message on Thursday, pledging to defeat a major U.S.-backed anti-drug offensive.

The leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said in a posting to the Internet that it was determined in 2001 ``to defeat the evil war plans of the governments of the United States and Colombia.''

The United States is providing $1.3 billion in support of Plan Colombia, President Andres Pastrana's strategy for reviving Colombia's ailing economy and for destroying drug crops and laboratories protected by armed groups including the FARC.

The aid from Washington includes Special Forces training for Colombian counternarcotics troops and helicopters to help ferry troops into rebel-held southern coca fields. Heavy fighting with guerrillas is expected once the troops start major operations, possibly in January.

The FARC believes the U.S. aid program is really aimed at stopping the rebels and their 36-year war. U.S. officials insist they are only interested in curbing drug production in the country, which supplies 90 percent of the world's cocaine and a large amount of heroin.

---

Colombian congressman assassinated

InfoBeat News
Afternoon Edition - 12/29/2000
By JAVIER BAENA Associated Press Writer
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405586983

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ Gunmen shot and killed a lawmaker who headed a peace committee in Colombia's congress, his mother and four bodyguards, police said. Leftist guerrillas were immediately blamed for Friday's attack.

The assailants stopped an armored four-wheel drive vehicle carrying Rep. Diego Turbay and the others in southern Caqueta State, and sprayed it with automatic weapons fire, National Police Gen. Alfredo Salgado said.

``They were forced to stop and executed,'' Salgado told The Associated Press, blaming the killing on Colombia's largest guerrilla army, the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

There was no immediate comment or claim of responsibility from the rebels, the largest and most active insurgent group operating in the state. Right-wing paramilitary groups, the guerrillas' archrivals, are also active in the area.

The group was apparently heading along a highway from the state capital, Florencia, to the town of Puerto Rico, where they were to attend an inaugural ceremony for the town's newly elected mayor.

President Andres Pastrana's government, which is involved in peace talks with the FARC in a nearby demilitarized zone, denounced the killings and ordered security forces to track down the culprits.

The killings come at a delicate moment in a 2-year-old peace process aimed at ending this South American country's 36-year conflict. Negotiations on a prisoner exchange are under way, aimed in part at reviving the flagging talks, suspended unilaterally by the FARC in November.

The killings Friday were only the latest tragedy to hit one of Colombia's powerful political clans.

In 1996, Turbay's brother, Rodrigo Turbay, a former president of Colombia's congress, died in a riverboat drowning incident while a hostage of FARC guerrillas in the same region.

The Turbays are Caqueta's most powerful political family. Julio Cesar Turbay, a cousin of Diego Turbay's father, was president of Colombia from 1978-82.

-------- korea

Accord ends troop dispute in Seoul

Washington Times
December 29, 2000
By Sang-hun Choe ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.washtimes.com/world/default-20001229222512.htm

SEOUL - South Korea has received the right to detain American servicemen suspected of rape and murder as part of a revised agreement governing the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed throughout the country.

The new accord, reached yesterday after 11 rounds of talks since 1995, resolves one of the most contentious disputes between the two allies.

Under the old Status of Forces Agreement, first signed in 1966 and revised in 1991, American troops accused of crimes were detained in U.S. military custody until they were convicted in the South Korean judicial system and all appeals were exhausted.

Calling it too lenient and an infringement upon its sovereignty, South Korea sought revisions to the agreement, which governs the legal treatment of U.S. troops stationed there since 1954 as protection against communist North Korean aggression. Activists said the accord discriminated against South Korea compared with similar arrangements the United States has with Japan and Germany.

Under the revised treaty, U.S. soldiers accused of murder, rape, arson, drug trafficking and eight other serious crimes would be turned over to South Korea upon indictment. In murder or rape cases, South Korean police would have the right to arrest and detain U.S. military suspects.

South Korea, in return, promised to protect and strengthen suspects' rights to legal counsel and speedy trial. The new agreement also called for enhanced safeguards for accused U.S. soldiers regarding detention facilities and media exposure, said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Frederick Smith, who signed the accord with his South Korean counterpart, Song Min-soon.

The rights and responsibilities of the U.S. troops stationed here is a politically sensitive subject among South Koreans.

Many were enraged by the handling of a case involving a U.S. soldier accused of killing a South Korean waitress. The soldier was detained by the U.S. military but fled the base hours before he was to stand trial in a Seoul court. Eventually apprehended by Seoul police, he later was sentenced to eight years in prison.

President Kim Dae-jung had urged Washington to revise the treaty as quickly as possible to prevent anti-American activists in Seoul from using the issue to demand that all U.S. forces leave South Korea.

The new agreement calls for U.S. troops at 85 facilities nationwide to respect South Korean environmental regulations. It also boosts the labor rights of South Koreans working for the U.S. military and calls for joint quarantine inspections on animals, plants and other products imported by U.S. forces.

-------- myanmar

U.S. embassy in Myanmar closes

InfoBeat News
Afternoon Edition - 12/29/2000
http://us.f23.mail.yahoo.com/ym/login?.rand=ebkab7qi8b2tc

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The U.S. Embassy in military-ruled Myanmar closed Friday because of a security concern, an embassy spokesman said. He did not offer details. "We had a security concern here and thought it prudent to close a day early for the holiday, in the context of the State Department worldwide alert," said the spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity. On Oct. 12, the State Department issued an alert urging caution by U.S. citizens abroad after the terrorist bombing attack that killed 17 aboard the USS Cole in Yemen. The embassy spokesman, reached in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, by phone from Bangkok, said the embassy was expected to open again Tuesday. Other foreign embassies in Myanmar, also known as Burma, were open Friday.

-------- u.n.

UN wants Uganda out of Congo

InfoBeat News
Morning Coffee Edition - 12/29/2000
By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press Writer
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405580538

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The Security Council demanded Thursday that Rwanda and Uganda immediately stop new offensives in Congo and withdraw their troops from the country.

In a statement, ambassadors said they were concerned about the recent fighting in northwestern Equateur province and southeastern Katanga province. The attacks have forced thousands of people to flee their homes and cross into the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo in the northwest and Zambia in the southeast.

The United Nations has said the attacks appeared to be separate offensives mounted by Ugandan and Rwandan forces, who are both backing rebels who took up arms in 1998 to oust President Laurent Kabila from power.

The rebels have acknowledged taking new positions in the diamond-rich Katanga province, but say the moves are designed to prevent the Congolese government from launching new attacks on their troops.

Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, the current council president, said the 15 ambassadors called on both the Rwandan and Ugandan forces to abide by their recent commitments to implement a cease-fire and pull back their troops.

Congo's U.N. mission went further, demanding in a letter released Thursday that the council impose sanctions on the two countries for refusing U.N. demands to leave the country.

There was no indication the council would take up the request for sanctions, but its statement was unusually blunt in ascribing blame for the recent hostilities to the two countries.

Rwanda and Uganda say they are in Congo to protect their borders from remnants of the Interahamwe militia and former Hutu soldiers who fled into what was Zaire after taking part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Kabila has enlisted the support of Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia to fend off the rebel attacks and the Rwandan and Ugandan ``aggression.'' The council also called for other foreign troops to leave the country.

All the key players signed a cease-fire agreement in Lusaka, Zambia in 1999 _ and have made further cease-fire commitments since to end the war.

---

Albanian teen arrested again

InfoBeat News
Morning Coffee Edition - 12/29/2000
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405581468

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - An ethnic Albanian teen-ager suspected of killing a Russian peacekeeper was re-arrested Thursday, exactly a month after he escaped for the fifth time from jail.

Faton Hajrizi, 15, was nabbed in his northern hometown of Srbica, said U.N. police spokesman Bikal Rajbahak. His frequent escapes prompted officials to nickname him ``Houdini,'' after the legendary magician escape artist.

``A crowd of about 30 people tried to prevent the arrest, but was held back by a warning shot fired by a police officer,'' Rajbahak said.

Hajrizi was first arrested for the killing of Russian Pvt. Igor Korshunov in Sbrica in late March. He has been in custody off and on since.

Once Hajrizi broke his leg during a breakout. That didn't stop him from trying again. A few weeks later, he crawled through a ventilation shaft while wearing the leg cast.

The 31-year-old Russian was one of more than two dozen peacekeepers to die in Kosovo since the NATO-led force arrived in June 1999, most from natural causes, traffic wrecks and accidents clearing explosives.


-------- OTHER

-------- imf / world bank

Don't bank on corruption

Washington Times
December 29, 2000
Rachel Ehrenfeld
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/ed-column-20001229194421.htm

Four years after the war on corruption was launched by James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, and after many international conventions, multilateral and international agreements against bribery and corruption, corruption still appears to be on the rise. Understandably, Horst Köhler, managing director or of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), recently remarked that "fighting corruption is as difficult as it is essential."

Capital flight - billions, most of it stolen from formerly government-owned entities - has occurred in Russia, and the IMF was required to pump $15 billion back into the Russian economy to prevent its collapse. Last November, the Russian Public Opinion and Market Research Center (ROMIR) and Gallup International survey found that as many as 27.8 percent of Russian elite groups regard corruption as the biggest threat to the country's security. The government's historically weak grasp on moral authority now hampers its fight against corruption, a failing for which the Russian people pay a high price.

The billions that former Indonesian President Suharto stole from his country now poison relations between that country and Singapore because the current Indonesian president, Abdulrahman Wahid, seems to believe that Singapore has helped "launder" the missing funds. In the meantime, the IMF is under pressure to forward payments of a $5 billion loan to Indonesia, despite serious setbacks in its reform programs, for fear of further destabilization.

The Philippines' stability is threatened by accusations that former movie star President Estrada has stolen millions, aping his predecessor, Ferdinand Marcos. And according to Clay Westcott from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), "as much as one-third of public investment in many Asia-Pacific nations is squandered on corruption." Mexico's new reforming President Vicente Fox faces the monumental test of ending the "mordita," the traditional bribe that has penetrated every institution in Mexico.

The long list of countries looted by their governing elite, sometimes elected democratically, makes it apparent to all those who participate in public life that corruption has become a grave concern of the post-communist world. It can undermine the foundations of civil society, and unchecked, it can endanger the stability and legitimacy of democratically elected governments. Over time, it could lead to the breakdown of market economies and undermine economic growth.

The fight against corruption is failing for the following reasons: There is no clear definition of corruption, nor is there an objective uniform standard to identify countries that are vulnerable to corruption and to measure their resilience. Also, since there is no firm agreement on what constitutes corruption, the surveys, indices and analysis that have been developed to assess the phenomenon are not comprehensive enough. They are mostly based on perceptions and anecdotal information.

Furthermore, most international agreements on corruption lack teeth and are impossible to enforce. Not surprisingly, all international conventions and programs fail to make even a dent in this scourge. Thus, the millions of dollars spent on anti-corruption programs yield very little in the way of improvements. Clearly there has to be a better way to deal with this problem.

Large amounts of IMF and World Bank funds made available to countries vanishes as a result of corruption. The IMF and the World Bank have explicitly voiced their increasing concern with the spread of corruption in their member countries. It is time that these two powerful lending organizations build into their lending conditions specific requirements for effective, anti-corruption policies, rules and practices that countries would have to introduce in order to be eligible for funds.

In order to apply conditions of this sort, there has to be an objective benchmark, against which a country's performance can be assessed.

Recently, the IMF and the World Bank have started to assess countries' compliance with standards having to do with the stability of the countries' financial sectors. That means relying on the internationally accepted "Basel Core Principles" for effective banking supervision, and similar sets of standards for assessing the quality of securities and insurance oversight, issued by the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors.

Similar basic standards can be developed against corruption. The IMF and the World Bank should develop such standards, based on the key elements of the existing international agreements and "best country practices." This standard, which could be called the International Integrity Standard (IIS), would form the benchmark against which countries' actions to fight corruption can be tested. The IMF and the World Bank, reinforced by independent and specialized anti-corruption experts, are ideally placed to perform these evaluations. By insisting on applying such conditions to their loans, they can negotiate the strengthening of anti-corruption policies and practices in their member countries.

Using the IIS to help rid the world of the scourge of corruption, these organizations can better fulfill their mandate to foster economic growth and fight poverty. The United States, as a major shareholder in both organizations, should use its leverage to insist that the organizations do so and soon.

We welcome your opinions. Please email your letters to the editor to letter@twtmail.com. All letters may be edited for clarity and length. Please include your name, daytime telephone number, city and state.

Rachel Ehrenfeld is the director of the New York City-based Center for the Study of Corruption & the Rule of Law (CSC).


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