Ireland and Norway discuss Sellafield "monster"

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Index:



Ireland and Norway discuss Sellafield "monster"

N. Korea Techs Study S. Korea Reactors

Minister defends Lucas Heights security

======================================



Ireland and Norway discuss Sellafield "monster"

  

DUBLIN, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Irish nuclear safety minister Joe Jacob on Monday held 

talks with Norwegian environment minister Borge Brende to discuss their countries' 

opposition to Britain's Sellafield nuclear power plant. 



In a statement Jacob said the meeting, in Dublin, had focused on Ireland's legal 

moves against the plant, which it considers a major health threat. Brende said 

Norway was considering its own legal options against the plant. 



"As marine nations we share a common sense of responsibility towards our seas. 

Consumers are increasingly and justifiably demanding uncontaminated food from 

uncontaminated sources," said Jacob. 



"Radioactive pollution in the seas caused by complexes such as the monster that is 

Sellafield -- which in our view have no economic justification whatsoever -- is the last 

thing fishing nations such as Ireland and Norway can tolerate." 



Brende was leaving the Irish capital for talks in London with British ministers 

Margaret Beckett and Micheal Meacher later on Monday, and was due to visit the 

Sellafield plant on Tuesday. 



"The Nordic countries have always been most supportive of Ireland's stance and 

opposition to Sellafield," said Jacob. 



"I am particularly gratified that at this early stage in the Norwegian government's time 

in office that they are in the process of examining their own legal options in relation to 

Sellafield." 



Two weeks ago a United Nations court refused Ireland's request for an injunction to 

block the start up of a 472 million pound ($688.8 million) nuclear fuel manufacturing 

plant on the Sellafield site, scheduled to begin operations on Thursday. 



The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered the British 

and Irish governments to co-operate and submit written reports to the tribunal by 

Monday. 



Ireland is considering a complaint to the OSPAR tribunal which rules on the OSPAR 

convention on maritime issues in the northeastern Atlantic, and a possible challenge 

in the European Court of Justice. 



Ireland has long complained of nuclear pollution from Sellafield, just across the Irish 

Sea in Cumbria, on England's northwest coast. Since September 11 Ireland has also 

raised fears the plant could be the target of an attack. 

------------------



N. Korea Techs Study S. Korea Reactors

  

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Twenty North Korean nuclear experts began a two-week 

tour of South Korean nuclear power plants on Monday - a visit that comes while 

Pyongyang has stepped up its anti-U.S., anti-South Korean rhetoric. 



The visit is part of a U.S. agreement to build nuclear power plants and train workers 

in the North. But it coincides with North Korean statements attacking the United 

States for demanding inspections of its suspected nuclear program, among other 

issues. 



Officials said the North Koreans, led by Kim Hui-moon, a Cabinet-level official, flew to 

Seoul from Beijing on Sunday and were taken by car on Monday to the east coast 

village of Ulchin, where four French-built nuclear reactors are operating. 



They were the first North Koreans to visit South Korea since official dialogue 

between the two Koreas was halted in mid-November amid a breakdown in Cabinet-

level talks. 



``They are here for education and training,'' said Lim Ui-do, a South Korean official 

assigned to the U.S.-led international consortium that is building two modern nuclear 

power plants in North Korea. 



The two Western-designed reactors are a reward for the communist regime's freeze 

of its suspected nuclear weapons program under a 1994 accord with the United 

States. 



As part of the accord, the American-led Korean Peninsula Energy Development 

Program is required to train hundreds of North Koreans who will operate the two 

reactors. 



Consortium officials say that the completion of the two reactors in North Korea, 

originally set for 2003, will have to be delayed for several years because of funding 

and other problems. 



The 20 North Koreans were the first to be sent to South Korea for training. By the 

end of next year, 290 more North Koreans are scheduled to be trained at South 

Korean facilities, officials said. 



When finished, the U.S.-designed light-water reactors will replace the North's Soviet-

designed, graphite-moderated reactors, which experts say produce greater amounts 

of weapons-grade plutonium. 



The Korean Peninsula was divided in 1945. Today, they share the world's most 

heavily armed border. 



About 37,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 

Korean War. The war ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, and the North and 

South are still technically at war. 



On Sunday, North Korea said it was not afraid to go to war with the United States, 

accusing Washington of trying to make it the next target after Afghanistan in the 

U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign. 

-------------------



Minister defends Lucas Heights security



17 December Australian Broadcasting Corporation -  Federal Science Minister Peter 

McGauran says he is confident security  measures at the Lucas Heights nuclear 

reactor in Sydney are adequate,  despite a major protest this morning.   



Dozens of Greenpeace demonstrators walked through the front entrance of  the 

facility this morning, unfurling anti-nuclear banners on a radio  tower and the reactor 

building.  



More than 40 people were arrested.  



Mr McGauran says guards and police quickly had the situation under  control.  



"We won't be rushed into any change of security procedures, because we  know we 

have very strong security," he said. 



"It was really a decision by the guards at the time to make a risk  assessment, and 

they decided these demonstrators, particularly given  their large numbers, could not 

be stopped. 



"But quickly New South Wales police could be called," he said.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle				Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   

Director, Technical			Extension 2306

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service	Fax:(714) 668-3149 	           

ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.		E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  	E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com   

Costa Mesa, CA 92626                    



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com





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