[ RadSafe ] France still confident it will win bid to host fusion reactor

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

France still confident it will win bid to host fusion reactor
Pledge around US$200 million for Chernobyl Shelter
India lower house of parliament okays nuclear bill
NRC OK's Life Extension For Southern Co.'s Farley Nuclear
Japan Court Rules Hiroshima Denied Aid
Book claims Saudi oil fields set with "dirty bombs"
Moldovan prosecutors investigate arms smuggling 
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France still confident it will win bid to host fusion reactor

PARIS (AP) - France said Thursday it remains confident that an 
international fusion reactor will be built at Cadarache in southern 
France, even though Japan says it has not abandoned its bid for the 
project.

"We are in the final straight," Francois d'Aubert, the French 
minister for research told the Senate. "Everything indicates that 
this final straight will lead

direct to Cadarache," he added to applause.

He said Japan and the European Union, which is negotiating on 
France's behalf, reached a technical agreement on the reactor on May 
5 and that he expected an international accord on the issue before 
July.

The US$13 billion (euro10 billion) experimental International 
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project is funded by a consortium 
comprised of Japan, the United States, South Korea, Russia, China and 
the European Union.

But the six parties have been divided over where to locate the plant. 
Japan, the United States and South Korea want it at Rokkasho in 
northern Japan. Russia, China and the EU want it at Cadarache in 
southern France.

Japan has been irritated by French declarations - including from 
President Jacques Chirac - suggesting that victory for Cadarache was 
imminent. Japan said last week that it would lodge a protest with 
both France and the European Union and that it hasn't abandoned its 
effort to win the project.

The ITER plant aims to show that nuclear fusion presents a vast and 
safe source of energy that can wean the world off pollution-producing 
fossil fuels. Nuclear fusion produces no greenhouse gas emissions and 
only low levels of radioactive waste.
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European Union, G8 and Ukraine pledge around US$200 million for 
Chernobyl Shelter

LONDON (AP) - The European Union and the Group of Eight industrial 
nations pledged a combined US$185 million (145 million) Thursday to 
the construction of a protective shelter over the destroyed nuclear 
reactor that caused the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.

The Ukraine government, which was criticized Wednesday by a group 
representing victims of the disaster for its plans to examine the 
possibility of nuclear fuel reprocessing, also promised US$22 million 
(17 million) for the shelter at a donor conference in London.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which hosted 
the meeting and manages the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, said that the 
pledges showed the international community's commitment to building 
the shelter.

"I think it's very important that this project be brought to a 
successful conclusion," said Hans Blix, a former U.N. weapons 
inspector and chairman of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund.

Blix said that Thursday's donations would allow the project "to be 
pursued with a much greater intensity in the next two years."

The protective shelter is meant to contain remnants of the reactor.

Officials said G8 member Russia was expected to announce its first 
contribution to the fund in the next few days. Five or six countries 
outside the G8 were also expected to pledge shortly, they said.

More than US$600 million (469 million) has already been pledged to 
the fund by 28 donor governments. Total costs are estimated at US$1 
billion (780 million).

Fabrizio Saccomanni, the bank's vice president for nuclear safety, 
said two consortia were bidding to build the shelter, naming them as 
a European-led group, Novarca, and a U.S.-led group, Ch2M Hill.

Saccomanni said the tender discussions had not yet reached the stage 
of determining project costs.

Ukraine's Emergency Situations Minister David Zhvania said there 
would be no Ukrainian investigation into the alleged misappropriation 
of funds by the previous government under former President Leonid 
Kuchma.

He said the EBRD was responsible for monitoring the fund.

"However, there were certain violations from the Ukrainian side, and 
we have to improve the quality of management," he said. "That 
probably is our key task."

In 1986, Ukraine was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, 
when reactor no. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded, spewing 
radiation over much of northern Europe. Some 4,400 people died and 
about 7 million people in the former Soviet republics are believed to 
have suffered from radiation-related health problems.

Chernobyl's remaining reactors were finally closed in 2000.

Officials say the proposed confinement structure - a 100-meter-high 
(328-foot-high) steel arch spanning some 260 meters (853 feet) - 
could be the largest moveable structure ever built.

The EBRD said it expects the new shelter to be completed in 2008 or 
2009. It is designed to last 100 years.

The Chernobyl Union, a leading Ukrainian anti-nuclear group and a 
group representing victims of the disaster, said Wednesday that plans 
to examine the possibility of nuclear fuel reprocessing were 
"impossible from an economic and technical point of view." Yuriy 
Andreev, the union's head, said the plan would cost hundreds of 
millions of dollars (euros) to implement.

"It's just a political move ... only Russia and America have the 
capacities for that," Andreev said.

The state-run nuclear operator said Saturday that Ukraine wants to 
build 11 new nuclear reactors by 2030 in a strategic move aimed at 
boosting its energy independence. Energoatom also said the government 
had instructed it to carry out a feasibility study into recycling 
nuclear fuel.
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India lower house of parliament okays nuclear bill

NEW DELHI, May 12 (Reuters) - India, armed with nuclear weapons and 
developing its atomic power industry, passed a bill in its lower 
house of parliament on Thursday that bans illegal proliferation of 
nuclear technology.

India and its rival Pakistan stunned the world in 1998 by carrying 
out tit-for-tat nuclear tests, drawing sanctions by the United States 
on both South Asian powers.

"We have adopted the most responsible policy on sensitive and dual-
use nuclear and missile-related technologies," Foreign Minister 
Natwar Singh said before lawmakers passed the measure, The Weapons of 
Mass Destruction and Their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful 
Activities) Bill, by a voice vote.

"We are committed to ensure that these do not fall into the wrong 
hands, especially the terrorists and non-state actors."

Neither India nor Pakistan have signed the 1970 Nuclear 
Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

India has been seeking to develop its civilian nuclear industry with 
Russian and U.S. assistance. Currently, only about three percent of 
India's total power requirement is met by nuclear energy which it 
aims to increase to around 25 percent by 2050.

The bill, which also bans the transfer of biological and chemical 
weapons and their delivery systems, says any person who indulges in 
nuclear proliferation would face at least five years in prison, which 
could be extended to a life sentence.

The proposed legislation, which must pass the upper house of 
parliament before it becomes law, covers Indians in India and abroad 
and foreigners residing in India.

Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems estimates that India has between 100-
150 nuclear warheads and Pakistan 25-50.

On Thursday, India tested its nuclear-capable Prithvi short-range 
missile, seen as a deterrent against Pakistan which also has missiles 
able to carry nuclear warheads.

Last September, Washington lifted decades-old curbs on equipment for 
India's nuclear power facilities and space programme, a sign of 
increasingly warm ties between the two major democracies.

But irritants remain. In last September, the U.S. administration 
imposed sanctions on two Indian scientists for alleged nuclear 
cooperation with Iran, resulting in New Delhi protesting the move.
----------------

NRC OK's Life Extension For Southern Co.'s Farley Nuclear

CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said 
Thursday that Southern Co. (SO) can run its 1,776-megawatt Farley 
nuclear plant in Alabama for an additional 20 years.

There are no safety or environmental concerns that would preclude 
extending the life of Farley's two reactors 20 years beyond the span 
allowed in their original 40-year licenses, the NRC said in a 
release. Unit 1 at the plant can now run until June 2037, and Unit 2 
can run until March 2041.

With the Farley approval, the NRC has approved 20-year life 
extensions for 32 U.S. nuclear reactors, or nearly a third of the 
U.S. fleet. Nuclear plants supply 20% of the nation's power.

Southern subsidiary Alabama Power owns Farley, and Southern unit 
Southern Nuclear Operating Co. runs the plant. Farley is located near 
Dothan, Ala., in the southeast corner of the state.

Atlanta-based Southern also runs and partially owns the two-unit 
Hatch and Vogtle nuclear plants in Georgia. The NRC approved a 20-
year license renewal for Hatch in January 2002, and anticipates 
receiving an application for Vogtle in June 2007, according to the 
agency's Web site.
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Japan Court Rules Hiroshima Denied Aid

TOKYO (AP) - Survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima who now 
live abroad are entitled to the same government-paid medical benefits 
and funeral costs enjoyed by survivors still living in Japan, a 
Japanese court ruled Tuesday.

The Hiroshima court ruled against the city of Hiroshima, which twice 
rejected the aid claims of three survivors and the widow of a fourth 
living in the United States.

Under the Atomic Survivors' Support Law, survivors of the 1945 atomic 
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who are officially recognized by 
the government are eligible for state health care and other benefits, 
including monthly allowances of up to $1,260 and free medical 
checkups. Their funeral costs also are paid.

"The law is designed to broadly provide support to those with health 
problems resulting from the atomic bombings," a summary of the 
district court's ruling said, adding that those who live abroad also 
should be eligible.

There are 285,600 atomic bomb survivors, including 5,000 living 
abroad - many of them Koreans who were brought as soldiers or slave 
laborers to Hiroshima, Nagasaki and elsewhere in Japan during Tokyo's 
colonization of the Korean Peninsula in 1910-45. About 900 survivors 
live in the United States.

The four survivors involved in the case, including one who died, 
moved to the United States after surviving the U.S. atomic bomb that 
was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. They later visited Japan 
and obtained the government certificates to be eligible for the 
government support program.

When they sought their allowances in 2003 and 2004 by submitting 
documents by mail, however, Hiroshima officials denied their claims 
on grounds they did not live in the city.

One of the four, Teruko Morinaka, a 73-year-old Japanese-American 
born in Ohio, was visiting Hiroshima, her father's hometown, at the 
time of the bombing and has since developed liver ailments due to 
radiation exposure, the Kyodo News agency said.
--------------------

Book claims Saudi oil fields set with "dirty bombs"

NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) - A book being published next week says 
Saudi Arabia has wired its oil fields with radioactive explosives to 
discourage invaders from trying to take control of the kingdom's 
reserves, but Saudi Arabia denied it had any explosives at all 
attached to its oil facilities.

In "Secrets of the Kingdom" Gerald Posner says 'dirty bombs' would 
not only destroy the oil-rich country's energy infrastructure in the 
event of an invasion, but would make the oil fields unsafe to work in 
for decades, according to an advance copy of the book seen by 
Reuters.

Saudi Arabia has decided that "leveling the major oil production 
facilities and blasting away the core of the industry's 
infrastructure was not enough to deter an enemy from seizing its 
prized commodity," it says.

"We have not seen Mr Posner's latest book. However the allegation 
that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has explosives or any other type of 
weapon, much less nuclear weapons, attached to its oil facilities, is 
false and has no basis in fact whatsoever," Nail Al-Jubeir, director 
of the Saudi Information office in Washington, told Reuters.

Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi security consultant and co-author of reports 
into Saudi oil field security by the Washington-based Center for 
Strategic and International Studies, said: "This is complete made-up 
fantasy."

He added: "If (Posner) had studied the Saudi petroleum security 
infrastructure he would realize it's impossible to do what he claims 
the Saudis have done. Saudi Arabia does not have dirty bombs. It does 
not have any radioactive substances."

The book, to be published by Random House on May 17, attributes the 
claims to electronic intercepts of Saudi communications from the U.S. 
National Security Agency.
------------------

Moldovan prosecutors investigate arms smuggling in Russian-backed 
separatist region

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) - Moldovan prosecutors have launched an 
investigation into suspected weapons smuggling in the eastern 
breakaway province of Trans-Dniester, officials said Thursday.

The investigation comes after the British weekly Sunday Times said an 
undercover reporter working for the newspaper arranged to buy three 
radioactive rockets from Trans-Dniester.

Moldova's deputy chief prosecutor, Vasile Gorbulea, said that while 
Moldovan authorities do not control the region, "prosecutors have 
ways to bring the suspects to justice."

The newspaper reported that three Alazan rockets were offered to the 
reporter for US$500,000 (385,000) after he approached a senior 
officer in Trans-Dniester's secret police, claiming to represent a 
militant group in Algeria.

The rockets, which have a range of 12 kilometers (8 miles), came from 
weapons storage facilities in the region that are leftover from the 
Soviet army, the newspaper reported.

Those weapons depots now belong to Russia, which has 1,800 troops in 
the region to guard the weapons.

Moldova has demanded that Russia honor a 1999 agreement to withdraw 
its troops and weapons from the region, and that Moscow stop 
supporting the Trans-Dniester separatists.

But the Russian government considers the region a strategic location 
and has refused to withdraw, claiming that its troops are 
peacekeepers and their presence is needed to prevent a new war 
between Moldova and the separatists.

Also Thursday, William Hill, head of the Moldovan office of the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that 
separatists stopped OSCE experts from visiting a weapons depot. For 
several years, they have been visiting depots to supervise Russia's 
removal of Soviet-era weapons and ammunition and to keep track of 
weapons stocks.

Hill said their refusal to allow inspectors access to the site 
contradicts statements from separatist leaders "about transparency 
and cooperation."

Russian-speaking separatists in Trans-Dniester split from Moldova in 
1992 after a brief war that left over 1,500 people dead. The province 
broke away over fears that Moldova would reunite with Romania.

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin recently called for international 
help in resolving the crisis.

Moldova's government claims the region is a heaven for weapons 
smuggling and international criminals, but Trans-Dniester officials 
have denied the charges.

Last month, Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, proposed 
international monitoring of his country's border with Trans-Dniester. 
The plan also calls for inspections at arms factories located in 
Trans-Dniester.

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Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1902 

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at earthlink.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/