China to help Pakistan build second nuclear plant

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

Index:



China to help Pakistan build second nuclear plant

TEPCO unable to set timetable for reactor restart

Russia sees US hypocrisy on Iran nuclear program

Japan firm to build part of global nuke-test monitoring system

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



China to help Pakistan build second nuclear plant



ISLAMABAD, March 27 (Reuters) - China will help build a 300-megawatt 

nuclear power plant for Pakistan, similar to one it completed in 

1999, a senior Pakistani official said on Thursday.



The prime minister's finance adviser, Shaukat Aziz, told a news 

conference that a memorandum of understanding had been signed by the 

leaders of the two countries to build the second Chasma nuclear power 

plant.



"All the policy approvals are in place, but other details including 

financing will be worked out," Aziz said, a day after Prime Minister 

Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali returned from a three-day official visit 

to China.



Beijing had helped build the 300-megawatt Chasma plant in the central 

province Punjab. It was connected to the national power grid in early 

2000.



Aziz said China would also help improve Pakistan Railways under 

another memorandum of understanding signed this week. Part of the 

$500 million needed for this project will be domestically raised and 

the rest lent by China on easy terms.



Although Pakistan and China are old friends, Chinese private 

investment in Pakistan has been negligible. Two-way trade hovers 

around $1.5 billion a year.



"China is a global economic power. We should take a rub-off effect 

from them," Aziz said.

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



TEPCO unable to set timetable for reactor restart



TOKYO, March 27 (Reuters) - Japan's largest power utility, Tokyo 

Electric Power Co Inc (TEPCO) <9501.T>, said on Thursday that it 

could not yet set a timetable for the restart of its nuclear 

reactors, most of which have been halted for checks.



The company said it could suffer a 9.5 million kilowatt power 

shortage in the summer, when demand peaks, if it is unable to restart 

at least some of the reactors.



TEPCO president Tsunehisa Katsumata told reporters: "We are still in 

talks with the local people (living near the reactors), and we are 

not in a position to talk about when we will be able to restart the 

reactors."



Many of TEPCO's nuclear reactors have been closed due to unplanned 

safety checks in the wake of revelations of past lapses.



It has been forced to turn to thermal power plants to supply power, 

adding to its fuel procurement costs.

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



Russia sees US hypocrisy on Iran nuclear program



MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow's top nuclear power official accused 

Washington Wednesday of using a double standard in criticizing 

Russian sales of nuclear technology to Iran while ignoring similar 

activity by Western companies.



Russia's technology sales and construction of a power station at 

Bushehr in southwest Iran have long irritated the United States, 

which accuses Tehran of trying to acquire nuclear weapons. President 

Bush places Iran in an "axis of evil" alongside Iraq and North Korea.



"We also have complaints against the United States," Atomic Energy 

Minister Alexander Rumyantsev told reporters. "It is always 

criticizing us, but its close economic partners supply Iran with 

sensitive technology."



He was referring to media reports that an Iranian gas centrifuge, 

which is used to enrich uranium for both power stations and weapons, 

was made by Western companies.



A delegation from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic 

Energy Agency, or IAEA, inspected the gas centrifuge last month, and 

Rumyantsev said Iran's cooperation with the IAEA showed it was not 

secretly developing nuclear weapons.



"Iran is now within the framework of IAEA laws," he said.



Washington says Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, needs 

no nuclear power and that the program is a front for producing 

weapons.



U.S. legislation forbids funding for Russia's cash-strapped space 

program while it cooperates with Iran.



Rumyantsev was confident that Russian criticism of the U.S.-led 

military campaign in Iraq would have no effect on the close relations 

with Washington forged after the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. 

landmarks.



"This does not touch the basic trend of our cooperation," he said.



Rumyantsev was presenting a summary of his ministry's 2002 results, 

which showed that Russia was pressing ahead with construction of 

nuclear power stations in China, India and Iran. Its exports hit 

$2.62 billion in 2002.



"This year we plan to raise our exports to $3 billion," he said, 

specifying other work Moscow hoped to complete in Iran.



"Russia is ready to conduct technical and economic analysis on 

building a second reactor at Bushehr ... to work with Iran on 

security issues, and to discuss the use of nuclear technology in 

medicine and agriculture," he said.

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



Japan firm to build part of global nuke-test monitoring system



TOKYO, March 26 (Kyodo) - Space Communication Corp. said Wednesday it 

will construct and run part of a global system which will be able to 

detect any nuclear tests around the world planned by the preparatory 

body of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.



The global system is to link 321 monitoring stations and 16 

radionuclide laboratories around the world with an international data 

center in Vienna via satellite communication networks, the Tokyo-

based communication satellite business operator said.



The system is aimed at ensuring a permanent ban on all nuclear tests 

in the world.



Construction of the system is collectively being undertaken by the 

Hughes Network Systems Ltd. of Britain and by the preparatory body.



The Tokyo firm has recently signed a contract with Hughes Network to 

participate in building the part of Japanese remote sites contained 

within the Pacific Ocean Region of the worldwide system, it said.



Specifically, it will manage the automatic transmission of data on 

seismic sensors, radionuclide detectors and infrasound station data 

collected from nine unmanned monitoring stations and on analysis from 

a radionuclide laboratory.



The stations will be scattered across Japan, the company said, adding 

the system should be completed by 2005.



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

Sandy Perle

Director, Technical

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  Extension 2306

Fax:(714) 668-3149



E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net

E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com



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

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



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