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RANSAC Nuclear News, October 30, 2003 Compiled By: Matthew Bouldin A. Plutonium Disposition
 A. Plutonium Disposition 1. US STATE DEPARTMENT LEAVING MOX PROGRAMME TO TWIST IN THE WIND Continuing hang-ups and disagreements between the United States and Russia over their bilateral agreement to destroy in parallel progress their surplus plutonium are threatening to kill the non-proliferation initiative as the US Department of State further entrenches its stance on liability in US-Russian nuclear remediation programmes, US and Russian officials said. The one programme that the State Department is allowing to continue its work is a unique regulatory exchange project between US and Russia nuclear watch-dog agencies that has, expanded beyond the boundaries of the plutonium disposition accord, State Department and Russian nuclear regulatory officials have said. But other programmes�such as industrial-level fuel testing and Russian adoption of the French-designed MOX fabrication plant blueprints and the plant�s construction�due to the July expiration of the 1998 bilateral agreement, are hostage to currently non-existent liability guidelines on which Russian and US officials say the State Department is unwilling to compromise. The on-again-off-again nature of the plutonium disposition programme, which has been beset by controversy, environmental outcry and scientific challenges since its inception in the late 90s under the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, is nothing new. What is new however, is the source of the current impasse. Previous setbacks have been blamed on the Russian side and its Ministry of Atomic Energy, or Minatom, which is historically unwilling to destroy its weapons-grade plutonium because it sees it as a future source nuclear energy. It has also shuffled its feet regarding liability issues, and sought less stringent requirements from the US side. But this time, insiders from the Russian side, and those contacted in the US, are saying it is the State Department that wants the programme "to die a slow death" by the next US presidential election. "[The whole plutonium disposition project] has been nothing but years of nuclear tourism, junkets, frequent flier miles and nights at the Marriot Grand," the prestigious Moscow hotel where US Department of Energy, or DOE, staffers stay on their trips to Moscow, said one Russian source close to the negotiations who asked not to be identified. "[US programme directors] are waiting for the programme to die out before the next [presidential] administration." Indeed, US President George Bush, is responsible for putting the plutonium disposition project in its current predicament by prohibiting immobilization�a method of encasing and storing plutonium in highly irradiated waste that environmentalists say is safer, and even the DOE says is cheaper. Immobilizing some of America�s of surplus plutonium was part of the plan until Bush nixed it in favour of the exclusively MOX option. Russia was against immobilisation from the beginning. The MOX option As currently envisioned, the plutonium disposition programme would burn 68 tonnes�34 tonnes from each country�of surplus weapons grade plutonium in mixed uranium and plutonium oxide, or MOX. The fuel would be burned in specially� and expensively�retrofitted commercial reactors in both countries. In Russia�s these would be the VVER-1000 light water reactors, as well as the BN-600 fast neutron reactor at Beloyarsk. The weapons plutonium would be destroyed in parallel progress between the two countries. The theory that MOX containing weapons-grade plutonium could work has yet to be realized at an industrial scale, and the July expiration of the 5-year-long 1998 US-Russian Plutonium Science and Technology agreement has now rendered further talks between the two countries on MOX disposition legally groundless, putting the future of the programme under a dark shadow. Many analysts looked to the 2000 Plutonium Management and Disposition agreement�signed by former US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin�and its intentionally vague wording on liability as a way out of the void left by the expiration of the 1998 agreement. This wording, many US officials argued at the time the 1998 accord expired, could be fine-tuned to fulfil the State Department's liability requirements. Michael Guhin, the State Department's ambassador for non-proliferation issues, is, according to a European official close to the negotiations, working to do precisely that. The European official, who requested anonymity, said, however, that the liability models Guhin is discussing are likely "much larger" than Russia would like to swallow at the moment. If�or when, as the European official insisted�the liability issues are overcome, it will disperse the deadlock on technology transfer regarding the construction of a $2 billion MOX fabrication facility in Russia. France's nuclear giant Cogema has made the design for the facility, which will also be used in the United States. The design of this facility has been transferred to the US concern Duke, Cogema, Stone & Webster, or DCS, which was formed to build the MOX fabrication plants in both the US and Russia. But because of the current liability impasse, said the European official, those designs cannot be transferred from DCS in the United States to contractors in Russia. Is the State Department trying to bury MOX or save it? An extension for the 1998 agreement from the State Department�which it refused to grant�would have kept the programme rolling. But according to Russian and American sources that are close to the negotiations, Undersecretary of State John Bolton, the Bush Administration's point-man on plutonium disposition, is working�via stringent liability requirements that Russia would never agree with�to quietly smother what many see as the environmentally unsound, outrageously costly and bureaucratically cumbersome project. Bolton has a long history of hostility toward bilateral non-proliferation agreements with Russia, and according to many observers, the lapsing of the 1998 agreement was just the kind of snag he was waiting for to ensnarl the entire programme. "Bolton's hostility to US-Russian bilateral nuclear agreements has focussed on liability agreements," said Edwin Lyman of the Union for Concerned Scientists, and former president of the respected anti-MOX Nuclear Control Institute, in a telephone interview from Washington. "What the United States is demanding in terms of liability is unprecedented and seems unreasonable." Bolton has consistently insisted that liability in bilateral nuclear efforts between the US and Russia be governed by the so-called Umbrella Agreement of the Cooperative Threat Reduction, or CTR, programme, run by the US Department of Defence. The Umbrella Agreement places full responsibility�from nuclear accidents, to a US contractor breaking a leg while falling down the stairs of his flat�on Russia, which is an unpalatable option for Moscow. Making the Umbrella Agreement an even blander dish for the Russians is the May signing of the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Programme in the Russian Federation, known as the MNEPR accord, which offers far less onerous liability requirements between Russia and Western donor states. The agreement was signed by 10 European nations, two pan-European entities as well as the United States�although Washington insisted that MNEPR's liability protocols be separated from the agreement itself. These protocols�which include the right to arbitration for liability disputes between signatory countries and Russia in case of accidents during bilateral nuclear projects and Russia�were left unsigned by the United States. Lyman said Bolton is prudently insisting on stringent liability controls�especially in the event that a rogue contractor intentionally causes an act of nuclear terrorism that could spread beyond national borders. "Bolton and the State Department are wise to duck responsibility, especially in the event of a terrorist event," said Lyman. He added that the State Department had a firmer grasp, in this situation, than does the DOE, which simply wants to press ahead with the programme. "You can't rely on the DOE to make accurate safety assessments," he said. The European source added that the MNEPR agreement is not strong enough to cover plutonium. "It's fine for decommissioning submarines and nuclear cleanup, but MOX needs a strong nuclear liability agreement in the spirit of the Umbrella Agreement," he said. Although the European official had no forecasts as to whether the MNEPR liability protocol would be strengthened or whether the Umbrella Agreement would be adopted, he said that a stronger nuclear agreement with Russia to deal with plutonium was need. Lyman was pessimistic about the MOX programme as a whole. "This is a US initiative, but the liability issue underscores the ridiculousness of MOX," he said. "The DOE is willing to fully fund [the $4 billion] MOX programme in the United States, where the State Department is doing everything to slow it down in Russia�US Congress is going to have to confront this." Lyman added that the liability deadlock was an example of "how far out of whack the two sides of this programme have become." Like the Russian source, Lyman said that the liability questions surrounding the MOX programme may be left to dangle for the next US presidential administration, should Bush be defeated in November 2004. Regardless of the outcome of that election, several Western press outlets have indicated that US Secretary of State Colin Powell may not seek to be reappointed to his position if Bush wins in 2004. In this case, said a source who has dealt with Bolton on the MOX issue, "Bolton himself is angling for [Powell�s] job." Despite several calls, neither Bolton nor his spokespeople could not be reached for comment, and others at the State Department refused to talk about�or said they had no knowledge of�the apparently worsening condition of the MOX programme. These State Department also would not comment on the possibility of Bolton taking over as Secretary of State. Sunnier predictions from the NNSA Brian Wilkes, the spokesman for the US National Nuclear Safety Administration, or NNSA, said that the key to furthering the MOX programme was in the hands of the State Department. The NNSA has played an integral role, under the DOE, in the MOX programme. As he said immediately following the expiration of the 1998 science and technology accord, Wilkes reiterated, in a telephone interview from Washington this week that "everything is going fine." "As we predicted, [the lapsing of 1998 agreement] would not affect us in the short term." he said. "If this goes on for a long time, then we could start to have problems, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it�and it is a State Department bridge." The European official agreed with Wilkes, saying: "I do think there will be an agreement for nuclear liability." Wilkes would not hazard a guess as to how long it would take before the MOX programme started having serious "problems." What does the future hold for MOX? For most on the Russian side, that time has already come. "There is no progress on the programme," said Yury Kolotilov, deputy project engineer at Russia's State Specialised Design Institute, or GSPI. This institute is an engineering subcontractor for Russia's nuclear fuel giant TVEL, and, if the MOX project goes forward, will have the responsibility of bringing the MOX fabrication plant designed by Cogema into accord with Russian standards. GSPI would also have a hand in designing the MOX fuel rods. "My people, who work mainly for TVEL, are now sitting and talking about licensing and regulatory issues," said Kolotilov in a telephone interview from Moscow with Bellona Web. "Its hard for us to know to whom we should even take our questions." In the past, noted Kolotilov, DOE authorities were readily available for inquiries pertaining to the progress of the programme. "Now there is no approaching their experts," he said. The glum forecast for the plutonium disposition plan follows a week's worth of meetings in Moscow, during which even the DOE programme's technical director, John Baker, said none of the plutonium disposition projects were making any progress, except for the regulatory exchange project, according to reports on the conference. Regulatory programme allowed to progress This last project�conceived by Andrei Kislov, head of GAN's fuel cycles division and the DOE's senior project manager for plutonium disposition, Sotirios Thomas�has been hailed by insiders as a necessary step for brokering any international nuclear remediation deals with Russia. Though the programme began within the framework 1998 US-Russian Plutonium Science and Technology agreement, it has been deemed by the State Department to fall beyond the accord's parameters. Begun as an effort to codify regulation, licensing and transparency for the plutonium disposition plan, the regulatory programme expanded, with the oversight of Kislov and Thomas, into a broader initiative. That initiative is to give GAN the legal underpinnings it needs to be a fully independent and effective oversight agency�a monumental task given that GAN has been marginalized and stripped of its powers by Minatom since its foundation. The programme has brought togetherr the expertise of the NNSA, the US Nuclear Regulatory Agency, or NRC, and GAN and has, judging by the jam-packed discussions it has been holding this week in Moscow, been a roaring success. According to a source with GAN, who asked not to be identified, the NRC and GAN have translated the NRC's two-step set of guidelines for licensing a nuclear facility. The first, called a construction authorisation request�known in industry acronym as CAR�is submitted to the NRC. The NRC then reviews the CAR documentation and either gives the nod to the project, or returns it to the contractor with so-called open items, or unresolved questions, via a document called a Request for Additional Information, or RAI. If all open items on the RIA are satisfied, the NRC grants the authority for construction to begin. If not, more RAIs are sent to the contractor. GAN�which has previously used only a one step process wherein construction applications are simply accepted or rejected, often under political pressure�will be adopting the NRC�s regulatory practice, the GAN source said. But at this week's meetings, it is not only GAN that has been asking questions. The NRC has come to Russian nuclear experts with its own inquires as well. A Tuesday discussion led by Yevgeny Nazin of the Moscow's Defence University for Radiological and Biochemical Research and Gennady Yegorov of the Electro-chemical department of the Russian Academy of Sciences, addressed the issue of chemical safety and accidents at nuclear installations�particularly a 1993 explosion that occurred in Tomsk�a field in which the NRC has little experience. During this accident, a tank containing a blend of paraffin and tributyl phosphate exploded, resulting in the release of uranium, plutonium, niobium, zirconium and ruthenium. The solution contained 8773 kilograms of uranium and 310 kilograms of plutonium. The explosion was so violent that the walls on two floors of the building collapsed. A fire broke out on the roof after the electrical system shorted. The release from the tank was estimated to be 4.3 TBq of long-lived isotopes. Gamma radiation 20 times higher than the norm was measured in the area that received the most fallout, northwest of the installation. "The NRC asked more questions that anything else," said the GAN official. "This programme is a genuine exchange of information, not just the United States dictating information to us." Infighting at the DOE According a US sources who are close to the plutonium disposition project, the success of the regulatory exchange programme has not come without the cost in inner-office friction. According to one of these sources, there has been professional jealousy toward [Sotirios] Thomas" because of the success of his programme. Thomas has been criticised, according to the source, for spending too much money on the project. But it has so far cost only $1m in comparison to research and development projects farmed out by the DOE to US laboratories like the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Los Alamos, which have resulted in multi-million dollar failures, said the source. According to other US sources, Baker seems to have lost faith in the MOX programme�as his remarks in Moscow seemed to suggest�and has apparently made requests to transfer out of the programme. One incident last year, reported by sources in Russia, hinted that the DOE's plutonium disposition office's attitude as a whole toward the MOX-only disposal scheme, as mandated by the Bush administration, has flagged. Highly placed sources at the Mayak Chemical Combine said that a group of scientists from the United States� Lawrence Livermore Laboratory had visited the Combine to discuss immobilization�after immobilisation had officially been taken off the plutonium disposition agenda by the White House. Baker, who would likely have had knowledge of such a trip, refused to comment when reached by Bellona Web, and DOE public relations officials could not confirm what any of the anonymous sources had said. Will Russia proceed on its own initiative? So far, the State Department's Guhin has managed to raise some $800,000 toward the first stages of building Russia's MOX fabrication facility. The project is estimated to cost $2 billion. Russian officials connected with the MOX programme have indicated that, if the liability guidelines and technical exchange guidelines, as currently dictated by France's Cogema, are worked out, Moscow is ready to begin pouring cement with the money it has in the bank. This, say experts, would be an enormous risk: Should funding dry up�and several observers including Lyman have noted Western countries are not anxious to donate to the cause�the Tomsk region will be left with an unfinished MOX fabrication facility. By the guidelines of the 2000 Plutonium Management and Disposition agreement, however, the Russians could not begin construction of their plant until the US side began its plant at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. If the Russians do begin to build, and money to finish the project does not materialize, it means that either US or Russian taxpayers will have to foot the bill for its completion, or both countries will be left with abandoned construction sites. Return to Menu B. Nuclear Smuggling 1. KAZAKH MINISTER DISMISSES IDEA OF NUCLEAR BLACK MARKET Controls on the export of nuclear material make it highly unlikely that an extensive "black market" in fissile material exists, Kazakhstan's foreign minister said yesterday. Kassymzhomart Tokaev, visiting London, suggested that secret transfers between states rather than private commercial sales remained the main cause of nuclear proliferation. Kazakhstan, which scrapped the nuclear arsenal it inherited on the break-up of the Soviet Union, has been leading regional calls to persuade Iran to scrap its nuclear programme. Iranian officials have said the programme has been dependent upon "middlemen" not states for the provision of components and uranium. But Mr Tokaev raised doubts that nuclear material was sufficiently widely available for states to be able to base their nuclear programmes on private sales. "It's very difficult to believe that this black market exists," he told the Financial Times. "I have really heard nothing [certain] about this kind of market, if it exists at all." The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, sent a team of inspectors to Iran within two days of Tehran's agreement on October 21 to suspend uranium enrichment and sign the "additional protocol" of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), which would allow intrusive IAEA inspections of nuclear sites. The IAEA is determined to establish the source of components and nuclear material procured by Iran over the past decade despite tough sanctions. IAEA officials are analysing Iran's account of how it assembled its programme and have yet to report their conclusions. They doubt that Iran could have supplied itself from "middlemen". Separately, western intelligence officials remain suspicious of Pakistan's role as a possible source of material. The Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev spoke directly with Iran's president, Mohamed Khatami, last month, stepping up the pressure on Iran to sign the additional protocol. However, Kazakh officials say that the NPT remains ineffective if signatory states are not penalised for breaking it. "The NPT does not work, because there are no mechanisms to punish those countries that become de facto nuclear or are going to enter this [nuclear] club in the future," Mr Tokaev said. Return to Menu C. Chemical Weapons Destruction 1. U.S. TO ASSIST IN DESTRUCTION OF RUSSIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS WASHINGTON, October 29 (RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT VASILY VOROPAYEV) - The U.S. will continue to assist Russia with the destruction of its chemical weapon reserves, general director of the Russian Ammunition Agency Viktor Kholstov said. In meetings with relevant agencies in Washington, "the prospects of cooperation" were discussed, said Kholstov. "This interaction is in line with agreements reached by the presidents of Russia and the U.S.," the head of the Russian Ammunition Agency said. Kholstov met with high-ranking representatives of the U.S. National Security Council, the Pentagon and the State Department. A meeting with head of the Senate foreign relations commission Richard Lugar is also planned. Viktor Kholstov said that the Americans were satisfied with Russia's progress toward fulfilling the conditions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (Russia must destroy all of its chemical weapons by 2012). In particular, they were pleased that Russia destroyed about 600 tons of mustard gas at a facility in Gorny (the Saratov Region). "The Americans will mainly assist in the construction of a facility in Shchuchye (the Kurgan Region in Transuralia). This year the U.S. has allocated $228 million to aid Russia in destroying its chemical weapon reserves. Other countries, including Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland are currently assisting or will assist Russia in this as well, Kholstov said. Return to Menu D. Sub Dismantlement 1. RUMYANTSEV SAYS, US$ 4 BILLION NEEDED TO DISPOSE REMAINING 100 RETIRED N-SUBS If the current rate of disposition of nuclear submarines Minatom of Russia has been pursuing since 1998 remains the same � 15-17 N-Subs a year � US$ 4 billion and a decade would be required to dispose remaining 100 retired nuclear submarines. ITAR-TASS reports, RF Minister of Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev stated that at the press-conference held in St. Petersburg he visited on the occasion of 85-year anniversary of the Physics and Technical Institute. According to the Minister, less N-Subs will be disposed of in 2003 due to the necessity to distract finance and workforce to build a temporary container storage for liquid radioactive waste from the submarine reactors. �In future the rate will increase�, Rumyantsev assured adding that in 2003 the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program in the Russian Federation Agreement had been signed, which provides for the financial participation of the European and Nordic countries as well as the USA in disposition of the Russian nuclear submarines. The Minister also noted that Novaya Zemlya archipelago had been categorically rejected by Russia as a site for radioactive waste storage facility. �We don�t have and do not plan for disposing low and medium level waste in this territory�, he stressed and explained that in the former USSR there had been an idea to use the silos remained in Novaya Zemlya after nuclear tests to bury low level radwaste, however, now Russia could not afford �sending the radioactive waste to silos due to the thinking that there wouldn�t be any life on this soil�. According to Rumyantsev, the climatology calculations show that there are no assurances of safe radwaste storage in Novaya Zemlya during 100 years. Moreover, moored tundra could appear in the southern extremity of the archipelago as climatologists estimate. Presently Minatom of Russia is making assessments of alternative sites for disposal of low level waste where possible environmental damage be excluded. Return to Menu 2. IMANDRA DEFUELS CHARLIE II CLASS SUBMARINE AT NERPA Civilian nuclear support ship Imandra has completed defuelling of Charlie II class non-strategic submarine at Nerpa shipyard in the Murmansk region on October 29th. The defuelling operatation took two weeks. The defuelled submarine is the second generation Charlie II class K-458, which entered active service in the Russian Northern Fleet in 1975 and retired in 1991. Charlie II class submarines are equipped with one pressurised water reactor, or PWR. The operation was carried out by nuclear support ship Imandra, which is operated by Murmansk Shipping Company, the commercial operator of Russian nuclear powered icebreakers fleet. Imandra's primary task is to refuel nuclear powered icebreakers. The ship has room for both fresh and spent nuclear fuel. Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy, or Minatom, paid for the defuelling. The submarine will now be dismantled, its reactor section will be towed to Saida Bay in the Murmansk region for storage. Spent nuclear fuel will be transferred to Lotta, another nuclear support ship operated by Murmansk Shipping Company. Lotta will consequently transfer the fuel to a special train at nuclear powered icebreakers base Atomflot, located in the outskirts of Murmansk. The fuel will then be shipped to the Mayak reprocessing plant in the southern Urals. It was the first time that Imandra crew conducted the entire operation. Similar operations carried out by Imandra during the past several years involved military personnel of the Northern Fleet. Return to Menu E. Multilateral Threat Reduction 1. BRITAIN WILL PAY TO KEEP RUSSIAN NUCLEAR SUBS AFLOAT: OFFICIAL MOSCOW : Britain has agreed to pay Russia some 5.5 million dollars (4.7 million euros) to keep its decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines safely afloat, the chief of the Russian armed forces' ecological security department said. Russia and Britain would join forces for two projects that aim to make sure that 103 decommissioned subs would not present a threat to the local environment, General Alevtin Yunak was quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency as saying late Tuesday. According to the Russian atomic energy ministry, quoted by ITAR-TASS, 192 Soviet-era and Russian submarines have been decommissioned since the 1980s, of which 89 have been dismantled. Of the 103 nuclear submarines awaiting dismantling, 76 still contain a nuclear reactor. Return to Menu 2. ROBERTSON SAYS NATO, RF BUILDING NEW RELATIONSHIP MOSCOW, October 29 (Itar-Tass) - NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said the Alliance and Russia are building a new relationship. Upon his arrival in Moscow on Wednesday Robertson said his visit was aimed to banish the Cold War stereotypes and build new relations between NATO and Russia. This is Robertson's farewell visit to Russia. He will transfer his functions to Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the end of the year. Russia "praises George Robertson's personal contribution to the development of the Russia-NATO Council and formation of a new relationship," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said. Commenting on Robertson's visit to Moscow, Yakovenko said Russia and NATO have areas, in which their positions disagree. He told journalists Russia and NATO have areas, "in which their positions diverge." "In particular, we have different views on the expansion of the alliance," the Russian diplomat said. Moscow "does not intend to dramatise the current situation, but it is not going to remain an onlooker in this situation," the spokesman stressed. Yakovenko said, "NATO's expansion poses a threat to all European agreements in the field of military security." "The question of compliance with restraint by the alliance under the Russia-NATO Founding Act becomes acute," he said. "We continue to rivet attention of our partners to the fact that the three Baltic states and Slovenia are not members of the Conventional Force in Europe Treaty and that the weapons limitation regimes are not effective on their territories," Yakovenko said. He said Lord Robertson's visit to Moscow proves of "stable relations" between Russia and NATO. The meetings in the Russian capital "will allow both sides to exchange views on international security in the Euro-Atlantic region," Yakovenko stressed. "In the last year and half since the signing of the Rome Declaration the Russia-NATO Council has become a full-format mechanism of cooperation," the Russian spokesman said. Both sides "will hold consultations and adopt joint decisions that will help create safer future for all European states," Yakovenko stressed. In his words, "the two sides are considering ways to strengthen interaction in crisis response." "Russia and NATO are holding a dialogue on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and means of their delivery and studying possibilities for real interaction in theatre missile defence," the Russian diplomat said. The Russian Foreign Ministry notes of "real progress in Russia-NATO military cooperation." The major goal in this direction is to conduct joint exercise, in particular command and staff manoeuvres, Yakovenko said. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov told Itar-Tass that the Russia-NATO talks would focus "on the results of the Russia-NATO Council activity and prospects for further cooperation." The Russian diplomat said Robertson "is expected to have meetings in the ministries of defence and foreign affairs, hold talks in the State Duma and visit one of the military units." While in Moscow, Lord Robertson will take part in an international conference on Russia-NATO relations. "The visit by the NATO secretary-general is being held as part of his farewell tour of 40 countries with which NATO cooperates. We praise his personal contribution to building new relations with Russia," Chizhov said. He stressed, "Russia's concern about NATO's expansion regards the process itself and not the organisation." "By cooperating with NATO Russia is not concealing its negative position on NATO's expansion," Chizhov said. Return to Menu 3. RUSSIA, U.S. TO DISCUSS COOPERATION IN NUCLEAR ENERGY Moscow. (Interfax) - Russian Atomic Industry Minister Alexander Rumyantsev plans to discuss cooperation on the use of nuclear energy with U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and congressmen during his scheduled visit to the U.S. on November 3-7, a Ministry source has told Interfax. In New York Rumyantsev is scheduled to meet with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss ways to increase the role of international organizations in tackling the problem of nonproliferation of nuclear materials. "The minister's visits to the U.S. are traditional and usually take place twice a year," the source said. Return to Menu 4. RUSSIAN SENATOR: NATO IS TOOL OF COOPERATION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND EUROPEAN-ATLANTIC COUNTRIES MOSCOW, October 29, 2003. /RIA Novosti correspondent/ - Russia and the countries of the European-Atlantic zone are definitely interested in mutual cooperation, and the NATO is "one of the tools of such cooperation", chairman of the Federation Council's international committee Mikhail Margelov told RIA Novosti on Wednesday ahead of NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson's forthcoming visit to Moscow. "Today Russia has better relations with the NATO than with the European Union as the security issues form a more stable ground for a dialogue than problems of correlating mutual economic interests," he said. "Thus, the NATO and the Russia-NATO Council are unique foreign-political tools, I believe," Margelov added. The Russia-NATO Council set up in 2002 both envisages mutual consultations on common security problems and creates conditions for fulfilling joint programmes on fight against terrorism, prevention of weapons of mass destruction proliferation; anti-missile defence; joint actions in emergencies, the Senator pointed out. "Definitely, the last three years have raised serious questions for the world community. On the one hand, after September 11th the international anti-terrorist coalition was set up in no time, we managed to demonstrate the union of will, efficiency of our actions and opportunities of real cooperation. On the other, significant disagreements arose due to the military operation in Iraq prepared and carried out by the United States", Margelov believes. Threats for the Russian-NATO Council are obvious, he said. "These are old suspicions and failure to understand how much the world has changed. In my opinion, the NATO cannot be an institute, a kind of elder brother, to whom former USSR allies, East European countries appeal in a hope of receiving an additional tool to settle sometimes illusory mutual conflicts," the Senator explained. "The NATO cannot be a tool of building new barriers either. The barriers created under the flag of a military organization have absolutely different consequences than traditional protectionist measures in economic relations between neighbours. They testify to unconquerable differences, which does not strengthen international security," he emphasized. "The Russia-NATO Council has to become a tool that would settle arousing disputes both between its members and neighbours that cooperate with us within our common interests," Margelov pointed out. "Thus, the Council has every chance of becoming a working mechanism of ensuring international security or a club of "Cold War witnesses". What way our cooperation will choose depends on the common will and readiness for concessions, but chances are fairly good," the Russian Senator concluded. Return to Menu 5. MURMANSK REGION NEEDS $1.2 BILLION FOR NUCLEAR AND RADIATION SAFETY This sum was announced at the Presidium Russian State Council working group meeting in the beginning of October, Regnum.ru reported. On October 7th and 8th, 2003, Murmansk hosted a meeting of the Presidium Russian State Council working group meeting headed by the Murmansk region Governor Yury Yevdokimov. The meeting raised the issue of international cooperation development in the field of nuclear and radiation safety. Deputy Minister of Atomic Energy Sergey Antipov, representatives of the Foreign Ministry, Natural Resources Ministry, Transport Ministry, delegations of Kamchatka, Chelyabinsk and Astrakhan region participated in the meeting. According to Regnum news agency, the main issue discussed at the meeting was how to attract foreign investments to solve the problem of radioactive waste in Murmansk region. The Russian State budget allocates $66m annually for nuclear and radiation safety, while $1.2 billion total is needed to solve all the problems. Therefore, western aid could significantly speed up the clean-up works in the region. Today the biggest problem for western donors is Russian high taxes and access to the nuclear sites, head of Murmansk region information department Kirill Babayev admitted. Yury Yevdokimov said the �hardest� sites for access in Murmansk region are Andreeva bay, Sayda bay and technical base in Ostrovnoy as well as retired multipurpose nuclear submarines. The members of the working group should report about the work done to the State Council Presidium and the Russian President in December this year. Return to Menu F. Russia-Iran 1. ROSENERGOATOM TRAINS MEDIUM-RANK BUSHEHR NUCLEAR PLANT PERSONNEL MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) - Rosenergoatom, Russia's atomic energy concern, has finalized the training of medium-rank Bushehr nuclear power plant personnel from Iran, including plant shift supervisors and power unit shift supervisors, at the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant in Russia's Voronezh region, a Rosenergoatom source told Interfax. "The Iranian specialists have been trained how to operate the nuclear power plant safely at the VVER-1000 unit of the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant, which is identical to the one under construction in Bushehr," the source said. The Novovoronezh nuclear plant was chosen for training the Iranian specialists because it has a good training center for modeling various situations at nuclear power plants. Bulgarian and Indian nuclear specialists have also been trained at the Novovoronezh plant, the source said. Representatives of the training center are coaching Chinese specialists directly on premises of the Tianwan nuclear power plant under construction with Russia's assistance. The Novovoronezh nuclear plant has two units with VVER-440 reactors and one unit with a VVER-1000 reactor. Rosenergoatom operates 30 units at Russia's ten nuclear power plants. Return to Menu 2. Russia, Iran may agree on spent nuclear fuel return Russia and Iran may agree in early November in Moscow on the date and place of the signing of the protocol on the return of spent nuclear fuel from the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Valery Govorukhin, the state secretary of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy, made this statement on Thursday, referring to the arrangement on the visit to Moscow on November 3 by secretary of Iran's Supreme Council for National Security Hasan Rowhani. Iran will probably withdraw by that time its extra demands for the deliveries of fresh fuel to Bushehr by Russia and will state its readiness to sign the document in the form in which it was drafted a year ago and coordinated with all the Russian agencies concerned, including the Russian government, Govorukhin said. The Iranian side insists that the fuel be delivered to Bushehr within a month from the signing of the protocol, he said. "It can actually be shipped from Russia the day after the signing given that commercial matters are settled simultaneously," Govorukhin said. Return to Menu 3. A. RUMYANTSEV AND G. SHAFEI DISCUSSED BUSHEHR CONSTRUCTION COOPERATION October 29 Minatom of Russia hosted the meeting of the Minister of the Russian Federation of Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran Golamreza Safei and representatives of the Organization of Atomic Energy of Iran, as Nuclear.Ru was informed by Minatom of Russia press-service. A. Rumyantsev appreciated the decision of the Iranian government regarding signing of the additional protocol to the IAEA safeguards agreement. Minatom has been recurrently colling for Iran to sign the additional protocol that would facilitate continuing and developing the cooperation of Russia and Iran in peaceful uses of atomic energy. The meeting discussed issues of construction of Bushehr-1 nuclear power plant including the agreement on the detailed construction schedule. The Iranian side expressed its wish to have more stringent state-level oversight by the Russian Federation of the unit one construction progress. The sides agreed to hold a coordinating meeting with participation of the RF Minister of Atomic Energy and head of the Organization of Atomic Energy (OAEI) of Iran in Teheran in January 2004. The sides discussed the issue of signing of the protocol to amend the intergovernmental cooperation agreement concerning the construction of nuclear power plant in Iran as regards the return of irradiated nuclear fuel from Bushehr nuclear plant to Russia, and showed interest in signing this protocol at the shortest date. The meeting also discussed possible cooperation in construction of Bushehr plant second unit. An agreement was reached to create a working group to include representatives from ministries of foreign affairs of both countries, Minatom of Russia and OAEI, which would study into the possibility of such cooperation. Return to Menu 4. IRAN WANTS TO SPEED UP BUILDING OF FIRST UNIT BUSHEHR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT MOSCOW, OCTOBER 29. /RIA NOVOSTI / -- Iran thinks necessary heightening Russian control over building the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear power station on the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf. The Iranian side said this at a meeting in Moscow between Russian Nuclear Power Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, Iranian Ambassador Gholam Reza Shafei and representatives of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, the press service of the Russian Ministry for the Nuclear Power Industry says in a communique. Construction of the first nuclear power unit of the Bushehr facility has been discussed and a detailed building schedule coordinated. The sides have agreed to hold in Teheran in January 2004 a coordinating conference involving Alexander Rumyantsev and the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation. Agreement has been reached to set up a working group of representatives of the two countries' foreign ministries, the Russian Ministry for the Nuclear Power Industry and the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation. The working group will discuss the possibility of Moscow-Teheran cooperation in building the second nuclear power unit. In addition, representatives of Russia and Iran have discussed the conclusion of a protocol and the making of amendments into the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in building a nuclear power plant in Iran as regards return to Russia of wasted nuclear fuel from the Bushehr plant. They have voiced interest in the earliest signing of the protocol, said the ministerial press service. Return to Menu 5. IRAN'S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE IN IAEA: RUSSIA HAS PLAYED ITS ROLE IN TEHERAN'S DECISION TO INK ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL TEHERAN, OCTOBER 29. /RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT NIKOLAI TEREKHOV/ -- On Wednesday Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian permanent representative in the International Atomic Energy Agency, has set high store by Russia's role in Teheran's taking the principled decision to sign what is called the additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement. Salehi stressed in an exclusive interview to RIA Novosti: "Russia has always insistently advised to the Islamic Republic that it should sign the additional protocol". He is convinced that "after signing the additional protocol, new spheres of cooperation between Russia and the Islamic Republic will open in the field of peaceful atom". Return to Menu 6. LAST GROUP OF IRANIAN SHIFT ENGINEERS FOR BUSHEHR TRAINED Voronezh, Russia, Oct 29, Itar-Tass/ACSNA/IRNA -- The last group of Iranian shift engineers for the Bushehr nuclear power plant has completed a course of training at the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant in Russia. The graduation examinations were attended by representatives of an Iranian government agency, the chief of the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant training center, Alexander Ivanchenko told Tass. The first reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant is scheduled to go into operation in the first months of 2005. By that time a total of 700 Iranian specialists will have been trained at Novovoronezh in more than 30 specialties. Over 300 specialists have already completed training with the use of simulators approximating all conceivable processes at an operating nuclear power plant. The engineers trained in the last group will be responsible for commanding work shifts. "They are competent specialists with university degrees. Some received higher education in European countries. They have in-depth knowledge of how a nuclear power plant works and should be run," Ivanchenko said. Return to Menu 7. RUSSIA, IRAN AGREE TO SIGN SPENT N-FUEL PROTOCOL SOON Moscow, Oct 29, Itar-Tass/ACSNA/IRNA -- Russia and Iran have agreed to sign a protocol on the return of spent nuclear fuel from the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the near future, a Russian Atomic Energy official said after bilateral talks on the issue on Wednesday. The negotiators reportedly discussed progress in the construction of Bushehr`s first reactor and agreed a detailed construction schedule. Russian specialists have worked on the power plant`s first unit since 1995. The completion rate is nearing 80-85 percent. Under the newly-agreed schedule the reactor is to go operational in the first months of 2005. About 1,500 Russian specialists are building the power plant. Over one hundred Russian enterprises are involved in the project in the capacity of providers. The first reactor`s estimated cost is nearly one million dollars. Likely cooperation in the construction of a second reactor at Bushehr was another issue discussed. It was agreed to form a working group of officials from the Russian and Iranian foreign ministries, Russian Atomic Energy Ministry and the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization for more detailed work on the subject. Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev has spoken highly of Iran`s decision to sign a supplementary protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency. He believes this will help advance Russian-Iranian cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear power. An Itar-Tass correspondent reports from Tehran that Iran within days will hand over to the IAEA leadership an official declaration of the intention to put its signature to the supplementary protocol to the Nuclear Arms Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran`s representative at the IAEA Ali Akbar Salehi said. The draft message is being studied by Iranian officials concerned. It will be presented to the IAEA after being signed by the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Hassan Rowhani. Return to Menu 8. RUSSIAN OFFICIAL: NO OBSTACLE IN SENDING FUEL TO BUSHEHR PLANT Moscow, Oct 29, IRNA -- Russian Minister of Nuclear Energy Alexander Rumyantsev in a meeting here Wednesday with Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Gholam-Reza Shafei said there is no obstacle to sending fuel for Bushehr nuclear power plant. The two sides also discussed the general trend of the two nations nuclear cooperation, the progress in the Bushehr power plant operational phases and the return of spent fuel to Russia. The Russian energy minister said, "Moscow has always had good ties with Iran and our position regarding ties with Tehran have not changed." He also stressed on speedy completion of Bushehr nuclear power plant saying he is ready to make a trip to closely inspect the construction and remove possible technical operational snags. "We can also begin preliminary discussions on building the second phase of Bushehr power plant," he said. Following the signing of an addendum to the contract, return of spent fuel to Russia and its related documents, fuel for the power plant will be sent, he said. For his part, Shafei alluded to the `useful comments offered on the part of Russian officials` regarding the recent Tehran decisions on its nuclear program. Hopefully, following Iran`s announcement on signing the additional protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the two countries will forge closer cooperation. He said the Russia should follow up its commitments in building the Bushehr power plant so it can be completed on schedule. Russian specialists have worked on the power plant`s initial phase since 1995. The completion rate is nearing 80-85 percent. Under the newly-agreed schedule the reactor is to become operational in the first months of 2005. About 1,500 Russian specialists are building the power plant. Over one hundred Russian enterprises are involved in the project in the capacity of providers. The first reactor`s estimated cost is nearly one billion dollars. Also, the last group of Iranian shift engineers for the Bushehr nuclear power plant has completed a course of training at the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant in Russia. By that time of the completion of the first phase of the power plant a total of 700 Iranian specialists will have been trained at the training site. Over 300 specialists have already completed training with the use of simulators approximating all conceivable processes at an operating nuclear power plant. Return to Menu G. Russian Nuclear Forces 1. ROSAVIAKOSMOS THINKS POSSIBLE MOVING MILITARY PROGRAMME FROM BAIKONUR TO PLESETSK MOSCOW, OCTOBER 30. /RIA NOVOSTI / -- Russia is not going to abandon Baikonur in Kazakhstan, though moving the military programme to the Plesetsk cosmodrome is quite possible Sergei Gorbunov, official spokesman for Rosaviakosmos, has said. "Most of the satellite launches on the Defence Ministry programme are made from the Russian territory. There is no alternative now for Baikonur for launching heavy Proton, Soyuz and Progress rockets to the International Space Station", Gorbunov said. "Abandoning Baikonur is not economical. Rosaviakosmos invests large sums in its development", said the Rosaviakosmos spokesman. And added that "Russia maintains good relations with Kazakhstan and lease payments are transferred on the schedule". Return to Menu 2. RUSSIA AND NATO ARE ON VERGE OF CONCLUDING AGREEMENT ON JOINT ASSESSMENT OF THREAT OF WMD PROLIFERATION MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - While speaking on Thursday in Moscow at the international conference "Does Russia need NATO?" NATO Secretary General George Robertson stated that Russia and NATO were close to the conclusion of an agreement on joint assessment of the threat of proliferation of mass destruction weapons. According to him, it demonstrated "solid foundation for partnership between Russia and NATO." The NATO Secretary General stated that in any critical situation it was impossible to jeopardize comprehensive cooperation between Moscow and the Alliance. According to Robertson, due to the Russia-NATO Council, members of the Alliance and Russia were applying their political influence to strengthen borders in the Balkans as well as to resolve problems in other regions. The NATO Secretary General stated that "we have a lot to learn from each other starting from actions to be undertaken in Afghanistan and finishing with the way to modernize our armed forces to ensure maximum return from each invested dollar, euro or ruble." He indicated that Russia and NATO developed a joint participation plan to create theater missile defense (TMD) systems, drafted a framework agreement on rescue of crews of submarines and successfully implemented a number of joint operations related to emergency civil planning. Return to Menu 3. RUSSIA'S STRATEGIC NUCLEAR ARMS FULLY PRODUCED BY DOMESTIC MAKERS MOSCOW, OCTOBER 30 (RIA NOVOSTI) - Russia's strategic nuclear armaments are virtually in full manufactured by domestic works, general designer of the strategic missile systems Topol-M Yuri Solomonov, director of the Moscow Heat Engineering Institute, said on Thursday at the RIA Novosti news conference. Today works of the Russian defense-industrial complex account for 99.9 percent of the national output of strategic nuclear armaments, he specified. To Solomonov, this is one of the achievements of the Moscow Heat Engineering Institute as the head works for the development and production of strategic missile systems. His institute is the first enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex to arrange, in the first half of the 90s, own batch production of everything necessary for such systems. Before the break-up of the USSR, the manufacture of weapons, and many other things, was carried out within the framework of national cooperation. Arms manufacturers were set the goal of arranging intra-Russian cooperation and "today we have fully met the goal", the head of the Moscow defense enterprise said. Return to Menu 4. RUSSIAN CARRIER ROCKET WITH JAPANESE SATELLITE BLASTS OFF FROM PLESETSK MOSCOW, OCTOBER 30 (RIA NOVOSTI) - At 16:43, Moscow time, a Russian light rocket Rokot carrying the Japanese satellite Servis-1 was launched with success from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, said the Russian Space Troops. Scheduled for Wednesday, the launch was put off for 24 hours because of bad weather. The orbited small craft is intended for zero-gravity and hard-radiation tests of electronic equipment, including components for portable computers, mobile and satellite telephones of the next generation. The craft has been developed and built by the Melco company of the Mitsubishi concern on order from the Japanese institute of unmanned experimental systems /USEF/. Weighing 850 kilograms, the satellite will be put in the Sun-synchronous orbit of 1,000-kilometer altitude and inclination angle 99.5 degrees. The Russian conversion light carrier rocket Rokot has been created by the Khrunichev Scientific-Industrial Center on the basis of the combat missile SS-19. All Rokot commercial launches are made by the joint venture Evrockot, made up of the Khrunichev Center /49 percent of shares/ and the European aerospace concern EADS Space Transportation /51 percent of shares/. Another two Rokot commercial launches are planned for 2004. Return to Menu 5. RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER: RUSSIA, NATO AGREE ON RUSSIA NEW MILITARY DOCTRINE MOSCOW, October 30, 2003 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and NATO do not have any misunderstanding on Russia's new military doctrine, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov announced during his visit to the 27th Sevastopol guard infantry brigade of the Moscow military district together with NATO Secretary General George Robertson. In the middle of October, there was "certain misunderstanding" in Colorado Springs, but only in "journalistic circles," the minister pointed out. "None of NATO ministries nor George Robertson demanded anything from me, and I calmly discuss with my colleagues from the Alliance Russia's new military doctrine," Ivanov explained. "It does not state that NATO poses a threat to Russia," he emphasised. "Nuclear weapons still remain a deterrent means and we do not speak of being the first to use them," the Russian Defence Minister said in Colorado Springs. Russia is not going to be the first to use nuclear weapons, but it reserves the right to the preventive use of force if the interests of the country and its allies are threatened and all other means of protection have been exhausted, he pointed out then. Return to Menu 6. RUSSIAN STRATEGIC MISSILES GENERAL DESIGNER CONCERNED OVER DEFENCE INDUSTRY SETUP MOSCOW, OCTOBER 30, 2003. /RIA NOVOSTI/ -- General designer of the strategic missile system Topol-M Yuri Solomonov, director of the Moscow Heat Engineering Institute, views as dangerous the situation prevailing in the Russian defence complex. "In two to three years to come Russia will still be able to make complex, high-tech arms. If nothing changes, after some years we will no longer be able to produce state-of-the-art armaments to meet new goals in the insurance of national security," Solomonov said at a RIA Novosti press conference. He sharply censured the hitting of state-set targets in the field of the defence policy. Commenting, at journalists' request, on Russian President Vladimir Putin's words that Russia has a sufficient reserve of strategic nuclear missile, Solomonov has confirmed that, although "obsolete", they can be used. Reliance on the old reserves is an ad hoc solution, believes Yuri Solomonov. Return to Menu 7. THE PRACTICALITY OF NATO'S CONTINUED EXISTENCE The abundance of details and fuss around Russia-NATO relations make it difficult to discern the main questions about the practicality of the continued existence of NATO. The supporters of my view say, "We will not board this train. It is moving towards the frontline on the cold war rails." Meanwhile, the other side keeps asking Russia, with persistence worthy of a better application: "Which compartment will you choose? First or second class?" Before the first stage of enlargement, NATO had 20 army corps staffs, 35 divisions, 100 brigades, 1.5 million troops, 4,500 combat aircraft, 2,000 helicopter gunships, 500 warships, 14,000 tanks, and 23,000 artillery pieces and mortars. The admission of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic increased the NATO strength by five divisions, ten brigades, 200,000 troops, 500 combat aircraft, 50 warships, 3,500 tanks and 5,500 artillery pieces and mortars. The seven new members will reinforce NATO with 45 brigades, 300,000 troops, 500 combat aircraft and 50 warships. A military force that will be considerably larger than the Russian group of forces deployed in the western strategic direction can be legally dispatched to the Baltic countries. Their airfields can service all types of aircraft and nobody can prevent them from deploying nuclear weapons there. As a result, Russia's territory from Murmansk to Astrakhan along the Volga will be within the range of NATO tactical aviation. This is the military-political data. And here are the dynamics. The scale and dynamics of military exercises have been growing consistently, with the military command agencies carrying out training in organising and conducting classical operations of the initial stages of the war, strategic defence and offensives. The number of exercises has grown from 600 in 1997 to 670 in 1998, 720 in 1999, 806 in 2000 and 820 in 2001. There has also been a dramatic increase in the number of crisis management exercises, during which the forces also trained in isolating the battle zone, suppressing the enemy's electronic facilities, knocking out the system of state control and economy, and supporting "friendly" political forces and groups. Public opinion is being diverted from another vital question: Why has the US and NATO aggression against Yugoslavia been forgotten? The answer is simple: it was done to save them from responsibility for unleashing the first war in central Europe since the end of WW2 in 1945. We follow the frantic attempts to substantiate the underlying NATO idea: to create a special task command for operations throughout the world. In other words, they want to take over the UN police functions. Almost everybody knows that NATO is an organisation that is not only managed, but ordered about by the USA, which needs the bloc to help it ensure its total domination beyond Europe. And in this situation Russia, though it has a realistic view of NATO, has made far-reaching steps towards rapprochement with it. In May 1997 Russia and NATO signed the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Co-operation and Security. It served as the basis for the creation of the Permanent Joint Council, which discussed security issues of mutual concern. An analysis of the results of Russia-NATO collaboration shows that we have reasons to believe that we can co-operate and very successfully at that. But today this co-operation looks merely as an outline rather than genuine work. Our joint interest did not cover new processes and events, such as the Iraqi war, though that war concerned the interests of not just the USA, Britain and Iraq, but also of the rest of the world. Its tragic consequences can affect the international situation, making the threat of a global war quite real. Nobody, not even the USA will be able to hide from global chaos. In the past, the Pacific and Atlantic oceans saved it from world conflagrations but the process and results of globalisation are quickly stripping away its inviolability. Russia must not smile and bow to US military policy, but prevent the danger it is bringing to the world, including the American people. We must say this openly and critically. In the 20th century, the people of Europe suffered from the tragic consequences of Hitler's technology to attain world domination. Many nations hoped the danger would fade away. Alas, it did not. Russia and NATO could not influence and do not have to this day a mechanism for influencing military-political decisions that bear on the future of Europe and the rest of the world. We have learned to strike agreements on the exchange of delegations and whole battalions and on the joint rescue of crews at sea. But these are details, though important ones. Regrettably, we still cannot come to agreement on the main issue of excluding war from the life of humankind. Our co-operation has not ensured a breakthrough in the creation of a new European - and I repeat, European - security system. The intellectual and organising possibilities of members of parliament are not being used to the full in the fight against international terrorism. The role of military power in this struggle is seen as the ultimate solution, while other instruments that can effectively influence the causes rather than the consequences of terrorism have been disregarded. NEW INTERACTION SCHEME I think Russia and NATO should focus their attention on the following spheres of co-operation: 1. Co-operation in peacekeeping and the settlement of crisis situations. Possible interaction in peacekeeping logistics. Our experts should continue discussing the use of transport and organising transportation in the bloc, standardisation and the use of terms and definitions of material-technical supplies, the lack of which hinders understanding during the planning and provision of logistic support to joint peacekeeping operations. (The Russian Defence Ministry would like to study the operation of NATO's multinational logistics centre and possibly send its representatives there.) 2. Co-operation in rescuing submarine crews (there is a special programme). 3. Co-operation in the area of non-strategic ABM systems. In particular, Russia suggests joining forces to make a gradual and comprehensive analysis of nuclear missile threats and, should the existence of such threats be confirmed, elaborate a concept of the creation of an ABM system. 4. Development of dialogue on the implementation of Russia's military doctrine and the NATO strategic concept, reform of armed forces and development of military infrastructures. 5. Re-training of Russian servicemen set for demobilisation and their social adjustment. 6. Dialogue on military-political aspects of arms control, including strategic offensive weapons in combination with ABM, the CFE treaty, and the open skies treaty. 7. Collaboration in military-transport aviation, in particular the elaboration of a programme of exercises with the use of military transport aviation, air refuelling, and so on. 8. Co-operation in science and technologies. 9. Co-operation in the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and in navigation and hydrographic support of naval activities on the seas. Return to Menu 8. RUSSIAN SS-19 ROCKETS TO FLY TO SPACE PLESETSK COSMODROME/ARKHANGELSK REGION/, OCTOBER 29. /RIA NOVOSTI / -- Russia has found an efficient way to utilize its combat missiles SS-19, on whose base the Rokot carrier rocket has been made. Now they will make space flights, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said to journalists after inspecting the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the north of Russia on Wednesday. Launch of a Rokot booster with a Japanese satellite was fixed for that day. Heavy winds have put off the launch for 24 hours. Rokot was to put in orbit the Japanese research satellite Service-1. Return to Menu 9. GEORGE ROBERTSON: I WOULD NOT EXCLUDE RUSSIA JOINING NATO IN THE FUTURE (excerpted) In an exclusive interview, granted to Interfax ahead of his farewell visit to Moscow, NATO Secretary General George Robertson speaks about his feelings on the eve of his upcoming visit to Russia and says what advice he will give his successor. [...] Interfax: The Russian Defence Ministry's recent open doctrine for modernising the armed forces warns that Russia will revise its military development plans, including its nuclear strategy, if NATO remains a military alliance with an offensive military doctrine. Furthermore, the doctrine says Russia "is closely following the process of NATO's transformation and expects that direct and indirect anti Russian components will be removed from both the military planning and the political declarations of member countries of the alliance." May we have your comments? Robertson: The recent _white paper_, as our Russian colleagues call it - they've told us repeatedly that it's not, in fact, an official _doctrine_ - has attracted quite a bit of attention at NATO. Certainly, we welcomed this unprecedented degree of openness and transparency with regard to the challenges Russia faces in the area of defence modernisation. Many of these challenges are shared by NATO member states and Russia alike. It is clear that we can do more to benefit from each other's experience in this area. We share many of the strategic threats identified in the document, from terrorism to proliferation to arms trafficking and regional instability, We also welcomed the fact that the accomplishments of the NATO-Russia Council were recognised so prominently. At the same time, we have some questions about parts of the document. We believe that continuing to identify NATO as a potential _threat_ is inconsistent with the spirit of the partnership we launched at Rome. These are stereotypes we need to confront head-on. We also have some questions about how some statements about the need to protect the interests of Russians living outside Russia might be interpreted. I think this highlights the need for further dialogue. Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov and Ambassador Totskiy have begun this process. The Deputy Head of the General Staff, General Baluyevskiy, will be in Brussels next week, and will continue this dialogue. But dialogue and transparency need to go beyond senior officials, and need to run two ways. If many in Russia believe that today's NATO has an _offensive military doctrine_ or retains _anti-Russian elements_, then we in NATO also need to do a better job of explaining to Russian colleagues and the Russian people our perspectives as well. [...] Return to Menu H. Russian Nuclear Industry 1. REACTOR TO BE RE-LAUNCHED AT BELOYARSK N-PLANT AFTER MAINTENANCE YEKATERINBURG, October 30 (Itar-Tass) - Routine maintenance at the third unit of the nuclear power plant in Beloyarsk, the Yekaterinburg region, has been completed, a source in the power plant's information service told Itar-Tass on Thursday. The unit was shut down on October 15. The reactor has been refuelled and undergone scheduled maintenance. Radiation levels at the plant and around it remain normal. The work to relaunch the reactor will begin later on Thursday. On Sunday the power-generating unit is scheduled to achieve capacity operation. Work is in progress to build the fourth, 800-megawatt power-generating unit with a BN-800 reactor. Its launch is scheduled for 2009. Currently 30 reactor units of Russia's ten nuclear plants are on stream. The BN-600 fast breeder reactor is the world's most powerful unit of this type. Return to Menu 2. Vietnam seeks Russian help in nuclear energy expert training Vietnam is seeking Russia's help in training nuclear energy experts and technicians to serve its industrialization and modernization program, according to the Vietnam News Agency on Wednesday. The idea was expressed by Nguyen Van Dung, Director of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Vietnam General Confederation ofLabor during his meeting with Russian nuclear energy experts, unionists and managers in Hanoi. The Russians are currently visiting Vietnam at the invitation of the Electricity of Vietnam's trade union. Vietnam plans to start building a new nuclear reactor in 2007 or 2008 near the capital city of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City to replace the existing one in central highlands province of Lam Dong.It is also expected to build its first nuclear power plant with total investment of some two billion dollars in 2017. Return to Menu 3. RUSSIA LOOSES TENDER TO BUILD NUCLEAR REACTOR IN FINLAND The reactor will most likely be delivered by French-German company Framatome. A contract has not yet been signed, but power company TVO has announced that it has ended negotiations with the other bidders, or General Electric and Russian company Atomstroyexport, Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat reported. According to Mauno Paavola, the President and CEO of TVO, financial aspects were decisive in the choice of location and manufacturer. TVO compared the price of electricity production to the costs of the investment. TVO selected the largest reactor from its alternatives. The new reactor, a pressurised water reactor, will have an output of 1,600 megawatts, which is the maximum authorised by Parliament. TVO had budgeted 1.7 - 2.5 billion euros for the purchase of the reactor. Paavola estimated that the total value of the investment would be three billion euros, including nuclear waste management expenses. The bid of GE was reportedly expensive, and the reactor offered by the Russians was smaller in size. Paavola remarked that all bidders were equal in technological and safety issues. Paavola commented that all key issues have already been agreed upon with Framatome, but that in theory it is possible that the manufacturer of the reactor will still change if some disputes should arise. The Russian nuclear ministry representative said to ITAR-TASS that it was a pity Finland would built reactor, which exists only on paper. Observers close to the negotiations believe the deal has been closed in practice. The purchase will be financed primarily by raising capital in international fixed income markets. The investment is in fact the largest private industrial investment in Finnish history. The new reactor should be in commercial operation by 2009. Return to Menu I. Official Statements 1. Alexander Yakovenko, the Official Spokesman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Answers Questions from Russian Media Regarding the Upcoming Visit to Moscow of NATO Secretary General George Robertson (excerpted) [�] Question: What could be said in confirmation of the effectiveness of the new mechanism of interaction between Russia and NATO? Answer: It can be stated that substantial useful work has already been carried out within the Russia-NATO Council that aids in the transformation of the Council into a significant element of the European security architecture. The joint guideline documents of the RNC, in particular on the problems of the Balkans, help promote stability in Southeastern Europe. Useful practical Russia-NATO cooperation is actively developing. Concrete results have been obtained in the joint work on antiterrorist problems. Possibilities are being explored for Russia-NATO interaction in the field of crisis response. Systematic preparation is under way for holding RNC procedural training exercises in development of the basic concept of joint peacekeeping operations. Russia and NATO are engaged in an in-depth and keen dialogue on major issues of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery vehicles; they are exploring the possibility of real cooperation in the area of theater antimissile defense. Interesting projects are also being implemented with respect to emergency civil response and elimination of consequences of natural and technogenic catastrophes. [�] Return to Menu 2. ALEXANDER YAKOVENKO, THE OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN OF RUSSIA'S MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ANSWERS A MEDIA QUESTION REGARDING THE READINESS OF PYONGYANG TO CONSIDER THE UNITED STATES' OFFER TO EXTEND TO THE DPRK "WRITTEN GUARANTEES OF NON-ATTACK" 2444-28-10-2003 QUESTION: How do you feel about the statement of the DPRK Foreign Ministry's spokesman to the effect that Pyongyang is ready to consider the United States' offer to extend to the DPRK "written guarantees of non-attack"? ANSWER: Moscow has taken note of this statement and regards it as a positive move of the DPRK in response to the new ideas of the US administration concerning the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula. As is known, Russia has invariably been advocating a peaceful, negotiated solution of this problem based on a nuclear-free status for the Korean Peninsula and due regard for security concerns of the DPRK. The American side's proposals concerning possible guarantees appear to be in the spirit of the statement of the APEC Chairman in Bangkok on Korean problems, which reflects the opinion of all the participants in the forum. Russia generally welcomes any steps directed to the de-escalation of tension and a search for diplomatic ways to solve this problem within the framework of the six-way negotiating process. Return to Menu 3. DEFINING A FOREIGN POLICY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (excerpted) Senator Chuck Hagel Conference on "New American Strategies for Security and Peace" Washington, DC October 29, 2003 [�] America must re-define its relationships with Russia and China. This may be our most important challenge of the 21st century ... and we must get it right. This challenge cannot be overstated or overvalued. America's long-term relationships with these two countries will affect our future and the course of world events. These countries must be partners, not rivals, in helping promote global stability. China has been helpful in dealing with North Korea. Russia has been helpful in dealing with Iran. Russia, China and America share common interests - economic growth, trade, stability, defeating terrorism, and preventing the spread of endemic diseases, such as AIDS and SARS. There is much we can build on together. There are also differences, and there will continue to be differences, between our nations. Our emphasis should be on our common interests, which will help move us toward resolving our differences, rather than pursuing alternative courses that seek to check each other's power. [�] Return to Menu J. Links 1. The European Union's New Non-Proliferation Strategy Return to Menu 2. EUROPE-US COOPERATION PAYS OFF IN TEHRAN Return to Menu DISCLAIMER: Nuclear News is presented for informational purposes only. Views presented in any given article are those of the individual author or source and not of RANSAC. RANSAC takes no responsibility for the technical accuracy of information contained in any article presented in Nuclear News. RANSAC's Nuclear News is compiled two to three times weekly. To be automatically removed from our mailing list, click on the following link: Remove Me From The List If you have questions/comments/concerns, please reply to news@216.119.87.134 |
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