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RANSAC Nuclear News, April 15, 2003 Compiled by Lauren Arestie A. Cooperative Threat Reduction
 A. Cooperative Threat Reduction 1. U.S. Representatives Announce New Threat Reduction Proposals WASHINGTON - Several members of the U.S. Congress yesterday chastised their colleagues and the White House for directing insufficient attention to reducing WMD proliferation from the former Soviet Union at an event to promote new bipartisan nonproliferation legislation. The bill, proposed by Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) and 17 cosponsors, would authorize up to $330 million for nonproliferation efforts aimed primarily at the large quantities of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons material produced by the former Soviet Union and located at sites there. One measure also would authorize activities to retrieve nuclear materials from civilian nuclear reactors in countries outside the former Soviet Union. "This Congress needs to wake up. It is a disgrace that we would ... have so many debates about so many issues that mean nothing ultimately to the survival of the world and yet we have had hardly any debate on the floor of the House on this issue," said House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security Chairman Christopher Shays (R-Conn.). "We need to help our Russian colleagues contain this material," he said. "The new reality of the threat of nuclear terrorism has been met in Congress with more rhetoric than action. We intend to change that," Representative Chet Edwards (D-Texas) said. "We have had, I would suggest, more discussion on the House floor over the past two years on the renaming of post offices and federal office buildings than we have had on discussions on how to protect Americans from the ultimate nightmare of nuclear terrorism. That must change," he said. Edwards praised the Bush administration for negotiating an agreement last year with other G-8 leaders to jointly contribute $20 billion over 10 years for securing former Soviet weapons of mass destruction. Half that money would be put up by the United States. He added, however, that "small and moderate steps are not enough to protect American families against nuclear terrorism." Holding a plastic drinking cup, Edwards said, "God forbid, if a nuclear terrorists detonated just one full cup of highly enriched uranium in an American city, we would lose more citizens in an instant than we have lost in every conflict since the Revolutionary War." Yesterday's event echoed recent criticism of the Bush administration by Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). Last month, prior to the start of war in Iraq, Lugar urged the Bush administration to pay more attention to the subject, arguing that nuclear proliferation should be the government's top priority and that the administration should heed his call to create a senior executive position to manage the varied U.S. nonproliferation efforts. Edwards said funding to prevent nuclear proliferation comprises less than 1 percent of the national defense budget. Total funding for such activities through the departments of Energy, State and Defense totals about $1 billion per year. The defense budget for fiscal 2003 will total about $396 billion, not including $80 billion in supplemental funding now under consideration in Congress to pay for the U.S. military activities in Iraq and other items. The administration has requested $1.75 billion in threat reduction funding for fiscal 2004. House Republicans, including Weldon, have criticized the Pentagon's Cooperative Threat Reduction program for wasteful spending and an inability to obtain Russian cooperation with some disarmament efforts. Moreover, Representative Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), in his role as House Armed Services Committee chairman, said at a hearing last month the 12-year-old program has "strayed from its original purpose." He said it has moved from "the initial focus on the short-term, high-priority elimination of former Soviet-era strategic nuclear systems, to today's constantly expanding scope which includes all manner of weapons of mass destruction-related activities, sometimes only tangentially related to the original purpose or to the principle of reducing direct military threats to the United States." "If we are to continue to support diverting billions of dollars from the U.S. defense budget for these activities, we must ensure that the investment can be directly traced to an actual tangible reduction in military threats," he warned. Critics also have focused in part on difficulties in obtaining Russian cooperation. General Accounting Office testimony last month said Russia has not always adhered to agreements to pay its share of program costs, nor to always provide access to nuclear and biological sites for security enhancements. Weldon yesterday argued his proposals would have unprecedented support from key, high-level Russian government officials with whom he has had personal contacts. The legislation also would expand activities at the Energy Department, which has been less criticized, rather that the Pentagon program. Weldon also noted that the legislation contains measures intended to improve oversight and reporting of all U.S. threat reduction programs. At yesterday's event, the legislation received the endorsement of nongovernmental organizations from a range of political perspectives, including the Nuclear Threat Reduction Campaign, the Heritage Foundation and the Physicians for Social Responsibility. It's an "unheard of alliance" of groups, said Weldon. "They're trying to sell it from more of a national security point of view, not just from a 'nonproliferation, gee, nice to have' point of view. So they're really trying to sell it on both sides of the aisle," said Jon Wolfsthal, a nonproliferation analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. return to menu B. Multilateral Threat Reduction 1. EU Plans Strategy To Combat Weapons Threat An initiative to confront the threat of weapons of mass (WMD) destruction was launched yesterday by European governments. They instructed the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, to deliver to EU leaders a global threat assessment and a long-term strategy for combating the proliferation of weapons. His report will be considered at an EU summit in Greece in June - or possibly at an EU-US summit in late May. "We will want to discuss WMD proliferation with the Americans at some stage, and the May meeting would be an ideal opportunity if the report is ready by then," said one EU official. The new moves to step up the pooling of intelligence and monitoring of weapons came at talks between EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. Mr Solana said : "Recently it seems that almost every new piece of intelligence about weapons of mass destruction shows that the risks of proliferation are worse than we had thought." Yesterday's meeting was the first EU ministerial gathering since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, and it marked a clear shift away from the deep European divisions over the rights and wrongs of going to war. France is still smarting over UK backing for US military action without a specific UN mandate. But with the war virtually completed within three weeks, and Saddam toppled, the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, was conciliatory, insisting on the need for a united international community to forge the future. After the Luxembourg talks, he said that the emphasis now was not just on reconstructing Iraq and restoring democracy, but on bringing peace to the Middle East, defeating global terrorism and in particular dealing with weapons of mass destruction. He said the United Nations now had a central role to play in Iraq - a dig at continuing US insistence that the UN has been weakened by its take on Saddam. Mr de Villepin warned that the way to deal with Syria, suspected by the US of harboring wanted members of the Iraqi regime and concealing weapons of mass destruction, was through "dialogue and consultation". The British minister for Europe, Denis McShane, standing in for the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, also made clear the need for maximum co-operation to capitalize on the removal of Saddam. return to menu 2. EU Ministers Seek Consensus On Weapons BRUSSELS - Weapons of mass destruction will be debated by European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg for the first time today, in what could mark the start of a security doctrine for Europe. The issue, pushed heavily by Britain and the Netherlands, but with reservations from Germany and some other countries, signals an emerging consensus among member states that the EU needs a long-term strategy on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). "Iraq is not the end of the story. We will have to deal with other countries, such as North Korea," said a EU diplomat. "We need a policy. We cannot allow ourselves to be torn apart again, which the Iraq crisis did to us." And despite the tensions in the transatlantic alliance over Iraq, he said Europe and the US would work closely over WMD. "Neither can go it alone over dealing with WMD," he said. The EU's political and security committee has dealt regularly with WMD but mainly on the level of compliance and persuading countries with which it has relations to sign and ratify conventions. But today's debate will go much further, setting out several options over how to contain WMD proliferation. The central point in the confidential six-page document is that supporting treaty regimes is no longer sufficient. It suggests, instead, how the EU could beef up its policy: monitoring and information gathering should be stepped up, with closer co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, for example, is allocated a paltry �16m (�11m, $17m) for CTRP. Europe's total contribution is �600m, compared with the US's �20bn. The entire system of export controls should also be scrutinized, with the EU prepared to consider sanctions, cutting aid or introducing visa restrictions for those governments or their agencies that sell material or equipment needed for producing WMD. The paper, finally, raises the sensitive question of what action to take if sanctions are not effective. "Sooner or later, Europe will have to have a debate over pre-emptive strikes," said another diplomat. return to menu 3. Norway To Allocate 11 Millions Kronor To Dispose Of Radwaste In Murmansk Region The Murmansk Region Government and Finnark province administration of Norway signed three new contracts on nuclear and radiation safety totally amounting up to 11 million kronor, as IA REGNUM reported. The largest contract with the cost of 8 million kronor is to build a water conduit in Andreeva Bay. It is another time when the Norwegian government allocates funds to create radwaste disposal infrastructure in the region. The previously signed contracts have brought into being an office and public service complex in Andreeva Bay ("Norwegian village"). Next step is to modernize the water conduit to provide for water supplies of all buildings in the area. The work will be executed by a Russian contractor - the binding condition of joint contracts associated with Andreeva Bay. In this case it will be one of the Murmansk construction companies. The second large contract - more than 3 million kronor - deals with disposition of 20 radioisotope generators (RITEG). All 20 generators will be sent to Moscow for disassembly already this July to proceed than to Chelyabinsk Region for ultimate disposal. The Norwegian village will be completed this fall. At the Vadso, Norway, meeting the leaders of Finnmark province and Murmansk Region agreed to cut the symbolic ribbon at the inauguration of the Andreeva Bay complex late October. During the meeting the sides discussed all technical and financial issues jf the cooperation including targeted fund spending which is to be monitored by the Murmansk regional administration. The experts estimate the radwaste disposition in the Murmansk Region would cost about 1.5 billion USD while the federal budget provides for only 70 million USD for these purposes. In addition to Norway, the financial assistance to the Murmansk Region is also rendered by Sweden and the U.K. with the U.S. and Germany expressing their interest in participating the radwaste disposition in this Russia's region. return to menu C. Russia-U.S. 1. Russia Sees A Threat In U.S. Presence In Republics MOSCOW - The war in Iraq has spurred Russia to strengthen its defense potential and intensify combat training of the armed forces. ``We are drawing military and political conclusions (from the Iraq war),'' said the Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov. "This conflict makes us remember the words of (Russian Czar) Alexander III who said that Russia has only two reliable allies - the army and the navy.'' A week after the U.S.-British forces attacked Iraq, Russia held its biggest wargames in the Caucasus mountains in the past 10 years. Simultaneously Russia's mobile nuclear forces held exercises that included the test-firing of an intercontinental missile. The Navy has begun its most massive deployment in the Indian Ocean since the break-up of the Soviet Union. ``The unprecedented activity of the Defense Ministry points to Moscow's deep concern over the crisis in Iraq,'' a Moscow-based daily said last week. The Russian military sees the U.S.-led war in Iraq as a potential threat to Russian security, pointing to growing U.S. military presence in former Soviet republics and resumed flights of American U-2 spy planes along Russia's borders. The Air Force Commander, Alexander Mikhailov, went as far as to warn the Americans that Russia would shoot down any spy plane that intruded "as little as one kilometer'' inside the Russian air space. At the height of the military campaign in Iraq, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, paid a much publicized visit to the Russian space forces command center, while the Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov, visited a top-secret nuclear weapons facility. Mr. Putin said plans for the build-up of space-borne forces based on "new generations of space technology'' were being carried out "in full scope.'' Defense experts expect Russia to step up the deployment of the latest Topol M long-range nuclear missiles and the fourth generation plus anti-missile system, Triumph. Analysts said Russia needed to urgently upgrade its nuclear and missile shield to protect itself against the likely nuclearization of countries like North Korea, which see the acquisition of nuclear arms as the only guarantee against U.S. military intervention. The defense committee of the Russian Parliament's Lower House has called for increasing the defense budget by 70 per cent from 353 billion rubles ($11.5 billions) to 600 billion rubles ($19 billions) next year. The Russian Government is speeding up the military reform. Mr. Putin, has approved plans to switch the core of the armed forces to volunteers over the next four years. It is planned to reintroduce basic military training in Russian schools, which was stopped in the early 1990s at the height of Russia's romance with the West. return to menu 2. Moscow Stresses It Sticks To Regime Of Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons And Missile Technologies MOSCOW - Russia strictly adheres to the regime of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and missile technologies when it exports armaments to third countries, a diplomatic source in Moscow told RIA Novosti. He was commenting on a US CIA report on purchases by other countries of technologies relating to weapons of mass destruction and also upgraded conventional ammunition. The report, drawn up for the US Congress, contains claims that Russian organizations last year continued to supply various goods and technologies connected with ballistic missiles to such countries as Iran, India and China. The document also makes a supposition that Russian organizations are most likely back Iranian efforts to develop a new missile and strengthen Tehran's own missile manufacturing potential. In the view of the report's authors, Russia has been in recent years the main source of upgraded conventional weapons for Iran, Libya, Sudan, China and India. As the Russian diplomat stressed, these claims by American secret services are "unfounded, and not backed by any facts or proofs". The Russian side has not been provided with concrete evidence that it supplied missile technologies and nuclear weapons abroad, the source emphasized. At the same time he recalled that "there are no decisions of an international character banning or restricting arms supplies to Libya or Sudan". "Russia's military technical cooperation with these countries is absolutely legitimate, and, moreover, is very limited in scope," the source stressed. return to menu D. Nuclear Submarine Dismantlement 1. Nuke-Sub SNF Unloading Facility Commissioned At Zvezda Plant On April 11, a coast plant designed for unloading of spent nuclear fuel from nuke-subs was commissioned at Zvezda Enterprise, city of Bolshoy Kamen, in the Russian Far East. According to ITAR-TASS, officials from Minatom of Russia and the U.S. Department of Energy took part in the ceremony. The plant comprises a number of facilities to ensure safe treatment and transportation of radioactive materials. With the launch of the plant, a production cycle is now complete, including safe radwaste treatment, interim storage at Zvezda Enterprise and sending it for final disposal. The plant also incoroprates floating low-level liquid radwaste (LLW) treatment facility Landysh and interim storage facilities. The construction of the facilities at Zvezda Enterprise lasted 7 years and was partially funded by U.S. and Japan. Dozens of companies from the U.S., Russia, France, Japan, the Great Britain and Norway have been involved in the project. In 2003, in the framework of the international co-operation the construction of a specialized railway junction for radwaste transport will be started at Zvezda Enterprise, the plant's chief of department Alexander Kissilev said. Funds for this work will be provided by the Japanese government. Presently, more than 40 scrapped nuclear-powered subs from the Russian Pacific Fleet are waiting their for turn to be disposed of with 2 to 3 nuke-subs being dismantled at Zvezda Enterprise annually. return to menu 2. Russia Launches US, Japan-Funded Nuclear Sub Scrapping Facility VLADIVOSTOK - Russia on Friday inaugurated the first nuclear submarine recycling plant located on its Pacific sea board, whose construction, spanning over seven years, was to a large extent funded by the United States and Japan. The Zvezda plant, located in the port of Bolshoy Kamen, in the Vladivostok area, will be used to scrap decommissioned Pacific Fleet nuclear submarines, said the head of its sub recycling department, Alexander Kiselyov. It should recycle between two and three subs a year, and will also process nuclear wastes that have accumulated in Russia's far eastern region over the past 50 years, he added. Up to 40 Soviet-era nuclear-powered vessels, all in a state of disrepair and representing a serious environmental hazard, are awaiting to be recycled in Russia's far east. The inauguration of the Zvezda plant was attended by delegations from the United States, Japan and Britain. return to menu E. Russia-North Korea 1. North Korea Wants Japan, Russia Out Of Talks Despite North Korea's apparent warming toward the notion of multilateral dialogue to resolve its nuclear standoff with the United States, any such discussion is likely to be held back by arguments over which countries will participate, officials said yesterday. South Korea prefers the so-called "two plus four" model, featuring the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia. But North Korea and China are opposing the participation of Japan and Russia, insisting that they are not directly related to security concerns on the Korean Peninsula, said Seoul officials. "The North sees no reason for Japan and Russia to join the multilateral talks because it wants to discuss the abolition of the armistice pact and the signing of a nonaggression pact with the United States during the forum," said a ranking official at the Foreign Ministry. The armistice agreement, which ended the three-year Korean War in 1953, was signed by four combatants - the United Nations, the United States, North Korea and China. "Instead, the North wants the European Union (EU) to participate in the multilateral forum in an apparent hope that the EU may play a leading role in providing economic aid to Pyongyang," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Seoul officials have said the multilateral talks, if opened, will incorporate not only the North's nuclear arms program but also whether the international community should provide economic support to the destitute communist state. The United States has advocated a broader multilateral setting to include both Koreas, five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Australia, Canada, and the EU. But Seoul officials said the North is uncomfortable with such a format. Washington has persistently rejected Pyongyang's demand for direct negotiations to address the nuclear standoff and discuss other security issues. In a significant turnaround, North Korea said Saturday it would consider any form of dialogue with the United States if Washington agrees to discuss economic aid and security assurances. South Korea and the United States welcomed the North's softening of its demand for bilateral talks, regarding it as a positive development in resolving the nuclear issue. The nuclear dispute started after the United States said last October that the North admitted to having a nuclear program using enriched uranium. Since then, the North has expelled U.N. inspectors monitoring sealed nuclear reactors, declared that it was withdrawing from the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and begun to reactivate its nuclear plant. Pyongyang's changes in attitude came days after U.S.-led forces toppled the Saddam Hussein regime in a war against Iraq which South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said had "petrified" the North. return to menu 2. Russia About-Turns On DPRK Nuclear Stand-Off Russia is ready to take part in multilateral talks after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) softened its stance on the nuclear stand-off, a senior Russian diplomat said Monday. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov voiced Russia's position in response to a DPRK statement Saturday that Pyongyang would not stick to any particular dialogue format for settling the nuclear issue if the United States drops its anti-DPRK policy. A day later after Pyongyang softened its demand for direct bilateral negotiations, US President George W. Bush said that prospects looked better for multilateral talks to resolve a nuclear standoff with the DPRK. As "Washington has read the signal given by Pyongyang to be ready for talks on nuclear problems in different formats under certain circumstances," said the Russian diplomat, "we certainly welcome the change of tone in the US policy". Losyukov said Russia "is ready to take part in multilateral discussions." "We will actively use these opportunities because we were against any conflict on the Korean peninsula," the deputy minister stressed. South Korean officials said the collapse of Saddam's regime might have induced the DPRK to make the surprise change in its stance. The nuclear crisis erupted last October when Washington said the DPRK had admitted to running a secret nuclear program in breach of a 1994 bilateral accord. The US suspended fuel deliveries to the DPRK. In response, the DPRK kicked out international weapons inspectors, withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and later reactivated a nuclear reactor for purpose of generating electricity. Pyongyang has preferred holding bilateral talks with the United States, and Russia has been trying to arrange direct dialogues between the DPRK and the United States. However, Washington has rejected such negotiations, insisting on dealing with the issue within a multilateral framework. return to menu 3. Russia Criticizes US Stance On North Korea MOSCOW - A top Russian diplomat criticized the United States on Monday for its unwillingness to hold direct talks with Pyongyang on the nuclear crisis gripping the Korean Peninsula. "The United Sates would rather stay on the margins, taking part in negotiations led by a group of countries," the Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov as saying. "Such an approach has no prospects, and we will not get involved with it." Losyukov's comments came just two days after North Korea signaled new flexibility in its stance, with the state KCNA news agency quoting a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that Pyongyang "will not stick to any particular dialogue format" if the United States "is ready to make a bold switchover in its Korea policy for a settlement of the nuclear issue." Up to now, Pyongyang had insisted on direct talks with Washington, while the United States has demanded that the crisis be handled in a multilateral forum. Losyukov, Moscow's point man on North Korea, recently has expressed increasing frustration over the standoff between Washington and Pyongyang and concern that it could spark a new international conflict. Last week, he said Russia was promoting six-sided talks including the Koreas' neighbors; by signaling support for the North Korean approach on Monday, he may have been hoping to push the United States to compromise. Losyukov said Russian diplomacy could aid in settling the crisis only if the United States shows "a real readiness to negotiate," Interfax reported. He said Moscow had expressed its willingness to help numerous times but never received "a pragmatic answer" from the Americans. The North Korean nuclear crisis flared in October, when U.S. officials said Pyongyang acknowledged having a nuclear program in violation of a 1994 agreement. Washington and its allies suspended fuel shipments, and the North retaliated by expelling U.N. nuclear monitors, withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and restarting a nuclear reactor. Earlier this year, Moscow tried unsuccessfully to mediate the crisis, sending Losyukov to Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in January. At a summit two months earlier, U.S. President George W. Bush had made a plea for Russian President Vladimir Putin's help in moving North Korea away from pursuing a nuclear weapons program, according to a senior U.S. diplomat. The United States had hoped to capitalize on the relationship Putin and Kim have developed. Putin was the first prominent statesman to meet with the North Korean leader as the country emerged from isolation in 2000. Kim has twice paid lengthy visits to Russia. return to menu 4. Russia to Re-Evaluate Position on North Korea ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- A top Russian diplomat said on Friday that a nuclear-armed North Korea was against Russian national interests and that the Kremlin would re-evaluate its opposition to international sanctions should the North Koreans develop nuclear weapons. The statements, by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, who was the Kremlin's emissary to North Korea during a diplomatic mission in January, amounted to a warning to North Korea that patience was ebbing in one of the few nations that has offered it sympathy during a five-month nuclear crisis with the United States. North Korea has said it would regard international sanctions as an act of war, a position Russia has previously endorsed even as it has tried informally to mediate the nuclear dispute. But in an interview with the Interfax news service, Losyukov said Russia would continue to oppose international sanctions against North Korea's nuclear program only "as long as our North Korean colleagues maintain common sense." Should North Korea begin producing weapons, he said, "Russia will have to seriously consider its position, as the appearance of nuclear weapons in North Korea and the possibility of using them close to our borders goes categorically against Russia's national interests. "If the issue in North Korea becomes one of nuclear weapons development or, worse, of the possibility of using them, this present us with a very serious choice." Losyukov's comments reflected not only growing Russian concern over North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but perhaps concern that the United States' and Britain's apparent triumph in the war in Iraq might embolden the White House to consider military action against North Korea. Since the United States confronted the North Koreans last autumn with evidence that they were secretly conducting a nuclear-weapons program in defiance of the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, North Korea has abrogated the treaty and restarted a reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. return to menu F. Russia-Iran 1. Russia Tells US Officials Nuclear Cooperation With Iran Will Continue Russia's Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev has played down US fears that Russian construction of a nuclear power plant in Iran may trigger proliferation and made it clear that Moscow would continue its nuclear cooperation with Iran, IRNA reported from Moscow. According to Itar-Tass news agency, Rumyantsev said he assured US officials that "everything will be done in strict compliance with international norms and agreements". The Russian atomic energy minister met US Undersecretary of State for arms control and international security John Bolton in Washington Thursday. "We tried to remove American officials' fears that Russian construction of a nuclear power plant in Iran may trigger proliferation (of weapons of mass destruction)," Itar-Tass cited Rumyantsev as saying. "Therefore, our information on cooperation with Iran was apprehended with understanding that we do not violate any international commitments," the minister said. Rumyantsev's new statements evidently jarred with those in March when he said that US "is always criticizing us, but its close economic partners supply Iran with sensitive technology". He was referring to media reports that an Iranian gas centrifuge, a sophisticated apparatus able to enrich uranium for both power stations and weapons, was made by Western companies. Iran said it was surprised by those "irresponsible" remarks of Russian officials. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi reiterated that "the nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic are indigenous and Iran uses its own know-how and possibilities (to build a complete nuclear energy cycle)". A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in February inspected the gas centrifuge in central Natanz. Washington has whipped up its anti-Iran rhetoric after President Mohammad Khatami made public Tehran's plans for a complete nuclear fuel cycle. The announcement came shortly after US officials were cited late last year as alleging that American satellites had spotted two sites in Arak and Natanz that suggested they could be used for making nuclear weapons. Washington suspects Tehran's plans, arguing, "Iran's costly pursuit of a complete nuclear fuel cycle only makes sense if it's in support of a nuclear weapons program." US says Iran's nuclear programs, while the country sits on some of the biggest oil and gas reserves of the world, are questionable. Iran says it wants the programs as part of the country's bid to generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity to cope with the rising energy demand in the 65-million-nation in the next 20 years, while its gas and oil reserves are becoming overstretched. Washington also alleges that Russian construction of a nuclear plant in Bushehr could enable Iran to build a nuclear weapon, a charge which both Tehran and Moscow deny. According to Itar-Tass, Rumyantsev said Bolton informed him that Group of Eight industrial countries' senior officials had agreed in Paris on the implementation of the initiative to grant Russia 20 billion US dollars in ten years for enhancing nuclear safety. Rumyantsev also discussed the utilization of excessive weapon-grade plutonium, safety of radioactive materials, accounting, control and protection of nuclear materials in the meeting with US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, it said. return to menu G. Nuclear Industry 1. Amid North Korea Crisis, Russia Atom Firm Opens In Seoul SEOUL - Russia's government-owned atomic fuel and services firm opened an office in Seoul last week despite a nuclear crisis in neighboring North Korea. Vladimir Smirnov, general director of the company, Tenex, told a reception at the Russian embassy the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 had proved the need for greater security in the nuclear power industry and the guarantee of atomic fuel supplies. Tenex, which is also known as Technsnabexport, supplies 30 percent of South Korea's nuclear fuel needs. Smirnov declined to give absolute figures. Asked whether the crisis surrounding North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions had influenced the decision to open an office in Seoul, Smirnov told Reuters: "It does not hinder us. The atomic energy minister has repeatedly stated the ministry of atomic energy has no link to the present situation in North Korea." He said Tenex had been providing nuclear fuel and other related services and products for more than a decade. return to menu 2. Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plant To Be Auctioned Off ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN - A nuclear power plant that supplies one of Kazakhstan's regions with electricity, heat and desalinated water will be put on auction this month. The Mangyshlak Atomic Energy Combine (MAEK) was built in the 1960s as a strategic military facility. Today, it supplies the Mangistau region's population of 315,000 with potable water, heat and electricity. MAEK's BN-350 liquid metal fast breeder reactor, which was launched in 1973 and has a service life of 20 years, is to be mothballed by June 2003. MAEK has accumulated debts totaling 8.3 billion tenge, 4.5 billion of which it owes the state (there was 152 tenge to the dollar at the official rate on Friday). Declared bankrupt by a court ruling in January this year, MAEK will be put on auction, the date of which is expected to be announced next week. Under a government order, MAEK's future owner must ensure a continuous technological cycle for the plant, which is essential for uninterrupted supplies of electricity, heat and water for the region. The new owner must also ensure the safety of the reactor. The Caspian Consulting Company has assessed MAEK at 6.38 billion tenge. MAEK's Financial Director Yermek Ismailov told Interfax this amount will be the starting price at the auction. Experts believe the Kazatomprom agency is MAEK's most probable new owner. return to menu H. Announcements 1. On the Course of the Implementation of the Global Partnership Agreement Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction A regular meeting of senior officials of the Group of Eight was held in Paris at the beginning of April to discuss the course of the implementation of the Global Partnership (GP) agreement against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction, reached at the G8 summit in June 2002 in Kananaskis, Canada. France as the G8 President in the current year is coordinating this work. Special emphasis in the course of the meeting was laid upon the importance of carrying out specific projects for a review of work done at the upcoming (this June) G8 summit in the French city of Evian. Also measures of a legal and organizational-technical character were discussed that have to be undertaken by all the participants to raise the effectiveness of gratuitous foreign assistance in the implementation of the disarmament programs in Russia. The practical steps of Russia in cooperation with the partners for the fulfillment of the obligations assumed at Kananaskis received a positive evaluation. This primarily concerns the decision by the Russian side to fully exempt assistance programs-related works from taxation under the future Agreement on the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program in the Russian Federation (MNEPR). The partners expressed their support for the speeding of the additional technical elaboration of the draft of this international legal instrument, designed to become the legal basis for working out bilateral GP accords. In this connection efforts will be exerted to prepare the MNEPR agreement for signature at the participating countries' foreign ministers meeting to be held in Sweden at the end of May 2003. There continued the examination of the prospects for widening the range of participants in GP programs through the enlistment of new donor nations in it. For the representatives of 17 concerned countries a special information meeting was held with the presentation of specific areas of possible cooperation. Events of this kind are planned to be organized in the future as well. return to menu 2. 7,000 Nuclear Warheads Eliminated Through Megatons To Megawatts Program Bethesda, MD - USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) announced today that the ongoing Megatons to Megawatts nuclear nonproliferation program has successfully eliminated the equivalent of 7,000 Russian nuclear warheads-signifying successful completion of more than one-third of this 20-year agreement to eliminate the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads. Since 1994, USEC and its Russian partner, Techsnabexport (TENEX), acting as executive agents for the U.S. and Russian governments, have implemented the Megatons to Megawatts program at no cost to taxpayers. Through this unique government-industry partnership, bomb-grade uranium from dismantled Russian warheads is being recycled into fuel and used by American power plants to produce electricity. On average, one in 10 American homes, businesses, schools and hospitals receive electricity generated from Megatons to Megawatts fuel-and this ratio is much higher in certain areas of the country. "We are extremely proud of the ongoing success of the Megatons to Megawatts program," said USEC President and CEO William H. Timbers. "Over the past nine years, USEC and TENEX have been continuously engaged in establishing and maintaining a strong, flexible and cooperative working relationship. The Megatons to Megawatts program has significantly enhanced world security by steadily reducing stockpiles of nuclear bomb-grade materials, while creating a clean, valuable resource-nuclear fuel. More than 100 American nuclear power reactors-virtually the entire U.S. fleet-have participated in this program by using Megatons to Megawatts fuel." In February, Russia's Ministry for Atomic Energy saluted the successful implementation of the government-to-government program as "an example of the effective realization of bilateral cooperation in real disarmament." On April 15, the Megatons to Megawatts program will be included in the television documentary series "Avoiding Armageddon," scheduled to air nationally on PBS at 9 p.m. The four-part series runs from April 14 to 17. The 20-year, $8 billion Megatons to Megawatts program is a government-industry partnership that is commercially financed. Through a multi-step process in Russia, the bomb-grade uranium material is diluted until it becomes suitable for use as fuel in commercial nuclear power reactors. These activities provide jobs for Russian nuclear specialists at three large nuclear facilities. USEC purchases the fuel to market to its utility customers. The fuel from Russia makes up approximately one-half of USEC's total fuel sales. The other half is produced domestically by USEC at its facility in Paducah, Kentucky. To date, approximately 175 metric tons of Russian nuclear warhead material has been recycled into fuel-enough fuel to power a city the size of Boston or Seattle for about 270 years. By 2013, when the program is completed, 500 metric tons of Russian warhead material (the equivalent of 20,000 warheads) will have been converted into enough fuel to power the entire United States for about two years. Notably, the nuclear power plants producing this electricity do not emit air pollution or greenhouse gases that may contribute to global climate change. To generate an equivalent amount of electricity from fossil fuels would require approximately: � 3 billion tons of coal (30 million coal cars), or � 10 billion barrels of oil (10,000 supertankers) or � 60 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (10 years' worth of U.S. usage for electricity generation). In addition to enhancing world security and helping to save our natural resources, the benefits of the Megatons to Megawatts program are far-reaching in other ways: � The United States receives access to a valuable supply of electricity-producing power plant fuel, which promotes U.S. energy security and fuel diversification objectives. � This fuel represents about half the amount used annually by U.S. nuclear power plants, which generate 20 percent of America's electricity. � The Russian Federation receives a steady stream of income that helps finance nuclear safety, cleanup and weapons material security programs and helps keep many Russian nuclear workers employed. To date, USEC's purchases of Russian warhead-derived fuel have totaled about $3 billion. "Today, the Megatons to Megawatts program represents an unprecedented partnership of government and private industry that has successfully reduced the threat of nuclear terrorism worldwide," said Timbers. "It also supports the security objectives of the 1991 Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program by eliminating nuclear bomb-grade warhead material from the weapons systems destroyed through Nunn-Lugar projects." return to menu 3. Official Spokesman of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Answers a Media Question About UN Security Council Meeting on DPRK Question: Could you comment on the consideration by UN Security Council of the North Korean problem that took place on April 9? Answer: Indeed, in the course of the consultative meeting of the UN Security Council on April 9 its members discussed the situation evolving around the so-called DPRK nuclear problem. The Security Council considered this question following the earlier submitted report and resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors and the communication of the DPRK leadership to the UNSC with the notification of its decision to withdraw from the NPT. The discussion of the question proceeded in a constructive and balanced vein, which Russia had actively facilitated. Concern was expressed in the Council over the Pyongyang decision, but it is of fundamental importance that its members spoke for continuing the search for ways to resolve the situation by politico-diplomatic means in a peaceful manner. This mood in full measure reflects the consistent stand of Russia on this problem. The representative of Russia reiterated in the Security Council the Russian approach in favor of solving the DPRK nuclear problem on a comprehensive basis, envisaging the ensuring of a nuclear-free status for the Korean peninsula and adequate consideration for the lawful security interests of all the concerned parties, including the DPRK. No official documents or statements of the SC were adopted at the end of the discussion. It was agreed to continue to track the situation in this matter. Russia will continue its efforts aimed at assisting an effective politico-diplomatic settlement of the DPRK nuclear problem. return to menu I. Links of Interest 1. Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, January-June 2002 return to menu 2. Nuclear Terrorism: Resources for Journalists and the Public return to menu 3. Threat Reduction Literature Review return to menu 4. The Science Centers Partners Program 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. If you would like to be removed from our mailing list or if you have questions/comments/concerns, please reply to news@216.119.87.134 |
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