N.Korea, Taiwan, radwaste, flashpoint?

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

The radwaste deal between Taiwan Power and N. Korea continues to 
escalate. Will N. Korea attempt to become the radwaste dumping ground 
of the Pacific rim area, and if so, what are the re[ercussions?
------------

  TAIPEI, Jan 27  - Taiwan on Monday urged South Korea  
to accept its deal to ship nuclear waste to impoverished North 
Korea so as not to damage ties further. 
  Despite increasingly militant protests in South Korea,  
Taiwan flatly rejected Seoul's appeal to end the deal to ship up to
200,000 barrels of waste to North Korea. 
  Under a January 11 contract, state utility Taiwan Power Co  
plans to ship 60,000 barrels of nuclear waste over two years to 
the Stalinist state, whose own nuclear programme has been at the eye
of a political storm. 
  ``The case is a legal and reasonable business activity,''  
the foreign ministry said. ``We hope South Korea can treat 
Taipower's international business contract with rationality.'' 
  Taiwan urged South Korea not to cause any ``disturbance.''  
  ``It (South Korea) should not interfere with bilateral  
affairs between our country and North Korea to avoid further 
damage of relations between our country and South Korea,'' the 
ministry said in a statement. 
  Taipower declined to disclose financial terms, but Taiwan  
media have said the utility has agreed to pay cash-starved 
Pyongyang US$1,150 for each barrel it takes. 
  Taiwan state television, quoting reliable sources, said  
Pyongyang had sent engineers to Taiwan to inspect the island's 
ports and that the first nuclear waste might be shipped to North Korea
by the end of February. 
  South Korea, worried that the deal could pollute the Korean  
peninsula with radioactivity, says there is no verification that the
arch rival North can store nuclear waste safely. 
  Scores of South Korean environmental activists burned Taiwan  
flags and an effigy of Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui on Saturday in
Seoul as South Korea sought to rally international pressure on Taipei
to cancel the Taipei-Pyongyang waste pact. 
  Taiwan's foreign ministry said it was satisfied that North  
Korea was capable of handling low-level radioactive nuclear 
waste and that the contract complied with international 
regulations. 
  Taiwan has no diplomatic ties with either North Korea or  
South Korea, both of which recognise Taiwan's own arch rival -- 
the communist Chinese government in Beijing. 
  Taipei and Seoul ended decades of anti-communist solidarity  
in 1992 after South Korea switched ties to Beijing. 
  Taiwan opinion was mixed about the government's decision.  
  In Taipei on Monday, dozens of pro-government protesters  
burned effigies of South Korean President Kim Young-sam and a 
South Korean flag, reciprocating for Seoul's weekend protests. 
  But Taiwan's fledgling New Party echoed South Korea's  
concern over possible environmental pollution, saying the row 
would tarnish Taiwan's international image. 
  Taiwan has three nuclear power plants in operation and a  
fourth under construction, but has run out of space for the 
nuclear waste they generate. 
  Taiwan's only nuclear waste dump, a 98,112-barrel facility  
on Lanyu island, has room for only 440 more barrels. 

Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Office: (800) 548-5100 Ext. 2306 
Fax: (714) 668-3149

E-Mail: sandyfl@ix.netcom.com    

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