N.Korea, Taiwan, radwaste, flashpoint?

[JMUCKERHEIDE@delphi.com]

Sandy presents again unmitigated evidence that the rad protection fiction that 
there is a very large "risk" from trivial *potential* exposures to
radioactivity produce *massive* economic and human costs throughout the entire 
world, while destroying the contributions of nuclear technologies by feeding
the weapons and ammunition to the anti-nukes that are destroying these
imperative contributions to a *rapidly* growing (by the US population every 3
years!) sustainable world economy. 

Thanks Sandy.

Regards, Jim Muckerheide
jmuckerheide@delphi.com

> Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 08:53:44 -0600
> From: Sandy Perle <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>
> Subject: N.Korea, Taiwan, radwaste, flashpoint?
> 
> 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    
> 
> Personal Homepages:
> 
> http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205 (primary)
> http://www.netcom.com/~sandyfl/home.html (secondary)