Mexico pressed to hire foreign nuclear auditor

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Mexico pressed to hire foreign nuclear auditor

MEXICO CITY, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Environmental group Greenpeace 
appealed to Mexico on Wednesday to hire international auditors for an 
upcoming safety inspection at the nation's only nuclear power plant. 

"It is important to conduct a truly independent audit of the Laguna 
Verde plant to understand the magnitude of its problems," Greenpeace 
Mexico Director Alejandro Calvillo said at a news conference. 

"So far, discussions between Greenpeace and the Federal Electricity 
Commission (CFE) over an independent auditor have not been clear," he 
added, saying the CFE had excluded environmental groups from the 
decision process. 

Calvillo said he would propose three potential candidates to audit 
the plant, a company from Britain and two expert consultants from the 
United States, when he meets Thursday with CFE Director Alfredo Elias 
Ayub. 

He would not identify potential candidates for the project but added 
the British company would charge about $100,800 (67,200 pounds) for 
an inspection lasting six weeks, not including expenses. 

The government said in June it would inspect the Laguna Verde plant 
after a Greenpeace report said it was on the verge of a nuclear 
catastrophe that could rival Ukraine's Chernobyl. 

Mexico, which has yet to say who will audit the plant, has said 
Laguna Verde poses no safety threat, though it agreed to an 
evaluation in order to dispel doubts. 

Calvillo said a "transparent" audit of the Laguna Verde nuclear plant 
would be impossible under the government's existing proposal because 
the CFE would be able to filter all information provided to the 
auditor. 

Experts cited by environmental groups say that fallout from a 
disaster at Laguna Verde, on Mexico's Gulf coast, would reach the 
southern shores of the United States within hours. 

The plant has had at least two major equipment failures that caused 
shutdowns, in 1994 and last year, Greenpeace said. 

The Laguna Verde nuclear plant began operating in 1989 and generated 
3.67 percent of Mexico's electrical power in the third quarter last 
year. The plant is in Veracruz state, just 175 miles (275 km) east of 
Mexico City, one of the world's biggest cities. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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