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RANSAC Nuclear News, November 3, 2003 Compiled By: Matthew Bouldin A. Plutonium Production Reactor Shutdown
 A. Plutonium Production Reactor Shutdown 1. RUSSIA, US WORK TO CLOSE SIBERIAN REACTORS NUCLEAR DILEMMA: As aging nuclear reactors are being shut down there are fears of nuclear proliferation as thousands of scientists and technicians seek work abroad. Russia has lifted its ban on foreigners at two secret military settlements in Siberia as a first step in retiring its most dangerous surviving, Soviet-designed, nuclear power plants. This groundbreaking deal between Russia and the US will, when fully worked through, complete a nuclear threat reduction program and end plutonium production in both countries. But the situation, ironically, is complicated because the demise of obsolete Siberian reactors could increase the prospect of nuclear proliferation by making thousands of Russian military scientists and technicians redundant and encouraging them to seek work abroad. The three condemned reactors are 40 years old; their design is the one from which Soviet nuclear engineers learned lessons in order to build the now-infamous Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine -- the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986. Urgent safety upgrades are being prepared by the Russian and US experts involved in the program even during the phase-out period in order to avert a meltdown. The ADE-4 and ADE-5 reactors in Seversk near Tomsk, western Siberia, and the ADE-2 reactor in Zheleznogorsk, eastern Siberia, generate enough plutonium to produce approximately one nuclear weapon every 36 hours. They also generate heat and electricity for the surrounding communities and will continue to operate until low-emission, efficient coal-fired plants are put in place. `Closed cities' Seversk, once known as Tomsk-7, and Zheleznogorsk, formerly Krasnoyask-26, were among the 10 "closed cities" that were at the heart of the Soviet Union's huge nuclear weapons production industry. Built in the 1940s and early 1960s, these so-called nuclear cities housed more than 170,000 people, mostly nuclear power workers and their families. These communities, used to receiving the best of everything until the end of the Cold War, are now facing the prospect of wide-ranging job losses as their reactors and reprocessing plants close. A new accord, agreed in Moscow after long and difficult negotiations, will allow the specialist US enterprises Washington Group International and Raytheon Technical Services access to the once top-secret plants to enable technicians to shut down the reactors and replace them them with coal-fired energy operations. The cost of the work -- US$466 million -- will be met by Washington. The revitalized -- and safe -- Seversk project will have to produce 1,810 megawatts-thermal (MWt) of energy and the Zheleznogorsk project 765 MWt in order to make up for the energy lost through the closure of the old reactors. The plants at Seversk and Zheleznogorsk are the last of Russia's original 13 plutonium-producing reactors slated to be dismantled. The US has already shut down all of its own 14 plutonium production reactors. According to reliable but unofficial estimates, Russia has 125 tonnes of weapons plutonium stored at various sites around the country. The US has declared that it holds 100 tonnes of plutonium. These are quantities far in excess of their perceived defense needs. A report recently drawn up by Russian nuclear regulators and provided to US officials states that the three surviving military reactors are in such poor physical condition that their conversion to civilian use could result in a Chernobyl-type accident. Several prominent US nuclear experts -- among them Princeton University's Frank von Hippel and Harvard University's Matthew Bunn, both former White House non-proliferation advisors -- have also urged against the conversion of the reactors. Lack of safety features The situation is grave because, unlike US reactors, they lack essential safety features such as concrete containment domes capable of holding radiation in case of an accident leading to major leaks. They have potentially fatal deficiencies in the areas of design, equipment and materials. US inspectors last year visited the plants, however, and gave priority to a series of urgent safety upgrades proposed by Russian experts in order to avert a disaster during the final phase and shutdown of the reactors. These will be designed and put in place under the authority of the US Energy Department's Pacific Northwest National Lab at a projected cost of US$25 million. Significantly, these upgrades will not extend the life of the reactors. Russia is also worried by the repercussions of large-scale unemployment among its nuclear specialists. Layoffs on the proposed scale may well pose significant proliferation risks when nuclear weapons scientists and technologists are forced to seek work elsewhere. Specialists at the plants are promised jobs under a US-financed "nuclear cities" program, which aims to boost job chances for the former Soviet weapons scientists. But tens of thousands of such specialists are already unemployed. Washington is now considering boosting the scheme by creating jobs in Russia in a bid to head off fishing expeditions by rogue states or terrorist organizations keen to net nuclear expertise from the pool of unemployed Russian scientists. Return to Menu B. Sub Dismantlement/K-159 1. RAISING OF SUNKEN SUBMARINE FINANCED K-159 submarine that sank two months ago is to be raised in August - September 2004 Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Kuroyedov signed an order on organization of a special expedition to the shipwreck location of the K-159 nuclear submarine that sank in the Barents Sea two months ago. PRAVDA.Ru learnt from an informed source at the Russian Shipbuilding Agency that the RF Nuclear Power Ministry, the Defense Ministry and Rossudostroyenie (Shipbuilding agency) signed a joint decision on organization of an operation for K-159 raising. Within the two last months of the year, the parties plan to spend 126 million rubles on examination of the possibility of the submarine raising. The Malakhit design bureau is to be responsible for the examination. A plan of the submarine raising from the depth of 240 meters is to be approved in the first quarter of 2004. It is supposed that the submarine raising will be carried out in August - September 2004. At the same time, the Grani.ru online edition informs that according to the legislation "On amendments and additions to the federal law "On the 2003 federal budget", financing of national defense is to be increased from the previously fixed sum of 344.5 billion rubles to 354.9 billion rubles. A great share of the additional sum of 10.5 billion rubles will be spent on maintenance of the RF armed force. 126 million rubles, $4.2 million are to be appropriated for raising of the K-159 submarine. The Dutch company Mammoet was paid $64 million for raising of the Kursk submarine except other spending. Unlike K-159, Kursk sank at the depth of about 100 meters. Certainly, the submarine that tragically sank two months ago was relieved of ammunition and had easier weight, but the body of K-159 is extremely old and submerged too deep, at the depth of 240 meters. Successful performance of the raising operation requires more financing to be appropriated next year. A source of PRAVDA.Ru in Rossudostroyenie reports that technical facilities of the Severny Reid (North Raid) enterprise in the city of Severodvinsk (the Arkhangelsk Region). A transportable polystyrene system produced at the enterprise guarantees additional floatation of vessels thanks to foamed polystyrene filled in empty bodies. The description of the unique technology is available on www.sevreid.ru. Return to Menu C. Nuclear Smuggling 1. RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCE SEIZED IN LATVIA IS STRONTIUM: OFFICIAL RIGA (AFP) Oct 29, 2003 Radioactive substances seized by Latvian security services last week have been identified as strontium, which can be used in making a so-called "dirty bomb", a spokesman for the Baltic country's security services said on Wednesday. "The radiation security center is investigating the quantity, content, activity time and place of producing this substance. Strontium could be used in making a so-called 'dirty bomb'," Dainis Mikelsons, a press officer at the Constitutional Protection Bureau told AFP. Latvia's secret service seized the substance last week, saying they had averted a possible threat to state security. The amount seized has not been revealed and will not be known until next week. Strontium is a rare substance, which is also used as a radioactive isotope. Like caesium, it is an element that can inflict ionising radiation -- radiation that can cause changes to cell DNA that are often the cause of cancer or can transmit birth deformities. Strontium takes a long time to decay to safe levels, which -- in theory -- would make it useful for making a "dirty bomb": a device that would explode and spew radioactive material over parts of a city or a complex, making them unhabitable for a long while. Mikelsons said that four people who had been detained on October 23 in the corridor of the University of Latvia's solid-state radiation chemistry laboratory in connection with the find had since been released. "Latvian laws do not envisage bringing to trial persons suspected of illegal handling of radioactive substances if not repeated within a one-year period," Mikelsons said. He declined to identify the people concerned, but stressed that they are not from the laboratory where they had been detained. Kristine Apse-Krumina, an aid of the Security Police chief, said a thorough analysis of the substance had been carried out at the Radiation Security Center and that the experts' conclusion would be ready in a week. Return to Menu D. Cooperative Threat Reduction 1. ATOMIC ENERGY MINISTER TO HOLD TALKS IN WASHINGTON AND SPEAK IN UN WASHINGTON, November 3 (RIA Novosti correspondent Arkady Orlov) - Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev will arrive on a working visit in Washington on Monday. The press service of the Energy Ministry told RIA Novosti that Rumyantsev's visit will last till Friday, November 7. On Tuesday he will hold talks with US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, in the course of which the sides will discuss joint efforts in non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons, nuclear technologies and materials. On the same day, Rumyantsev and Abraham will have a number of meetings in the Capitol with members of the Senate and House of Representatives as well as members of the George Bush administration. On November 5, the counterparts will arrive in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania State) where they will take part in the opening ceremony of the first international technological exhibition and a conference Partnership for Prosperity and Security. The most important place at the exhibition has been taken by the section where a number of advanced Russian technologies and developments to be used on a commercial basis in nuclear power engineering, oil and gas extraction and processing, production of hydrogen fuel elements, protection and safety of the nuclear, chemical and bacteriological materials, the struggle against terrorism and others will be for the first time represented on the US market. Rumyantsev and Abraham are expected to speak in Philadelphia on the creation of a joint Russian-US project in the sphere of such technologies. On Wednesday, the ministers will arrive in New York where they will address the session of the First UN General Assembly Committee for Disarmament and Security to be held in the UN Headquarters. On Thursday and Friday, Rumyantsev and Abraham will continue bilateral negotiations, the press service reported. Return to Menu E. Multilateral Threat Reduction 1. EU TO CONTINUE FUNDING MODERNIZATION OF RUSSIA'S NUCLEAR SECTOR MOSCOW, OCTOBER 31 (RIA NOVOSTI) - The European Union will continue to allocate sums for the modification of the Russian nuclear sector, Philippe Busquin, overseeing research in the European Commission, said at the Friday press conference in Moscow. The European Union annually allocates about 25 million euros for the sector's modification, he said. Within the TACIS program to ensure nuclear safety, the EU allocates from 60 to 80 million euros a year for work in the nuclear sphere, he said. The European Union is interested in replacing RBMK reactors at some nuclear power plants by reactors of a new type, said Busquin. Work is under way together with Russian specialists to create new, safer reactors. We will gradually switch from the present reactors to safer ones, Philippe Busquin said. He stressed that RBMK reactors, earlier in service at the Chernobyl plant, greatly concern the EU. Another sphere of cooperation in the nuclear sphere is, to Busquin, the disposal of nuclear waste. Active work is being done together with Russian scientists to prepare programs for the destruction of nuclear waste by transmutation, said Busquin. Return to Menu F. U.S.-Russia 1. RUSSIAN-U.S. CONSULTATIONS ON NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR PROBLEM DUE IN NOVEMBER MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) - Russia and the United States will have consultations on the North Korean nuclear problem in Washington in November, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told Interfax. Losyukov will lead the Russian delegation to the consultations. Losyukov hopes "the United States will give a more detailed account of its idea" on how to settle the situation on the Korean Peninsula at the negotiations. "That will help our work with North Korea and other parties to the negotiations [on the North Korean nuclear problem] before the second round of negotiations," the deputy minister said. Last week Pyongyang agreed to hold a second round of the negotiations and said it was ready to consider the U.S. proposal of "written guarantees of non-aggression." The first round of the six-party negotiations (Russia, the United States, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and China) was held in Beijing in late August. Russia believes it necessary to concentrate on preparations for the second round, Losyukov said. "The second round of the negotiations, in contrast to the first one during which initial positions were stated, may focus on a more detailed consideration of settlement variants and phases of progress towards a result acceptable to everyone," Losyukov said. "The result [that would be] acceptable to everyone is well known," he said. "It is the liquidation of the North Korean nuclear weapons program, but an atomic energy program is permitted by international agreements for countries cooperating with the IAEA. The other inseparable element of the settlement is security guarantees for North Korea," he said. "I think this result cannot be achieved immediately, even during the second round of the negotiations. So, the parties should make intermediate synchronized steps. The second round should focus on the discussion of such steps," the deputy minister said. For details, see the Interfax Diplomatic Panorama for November 3. Return to Menu 2. U.S. HAWK WANTS RUSSIA OUT OF G-8 Richard Perle, a hawkish policy adviser whose voice is heard in the Pentagon, has called for Russia to be expelled from the Group of Eight industrialized countries over the arrest of Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky. "Russia should be excluded from the G-8. No [other] G-8 country is allowed to treat its leading businessmen the way Russia treated Khodorkovsky," Perle was quoted as saying in Russian translation in the Thursday issue of Kommersant. "I believe Russia is moving fast in the wrong direction." Perle, who believes that the White House should contain the Kremlin rather than cooperate with it, has criticized the campaign against Yukos shareholders from the beginning. "It's possible already to say that real damage is being done to the prospects for future Russian economic growth and development by what appears to be an arbitrary, capricious and vindictive campaign against a private company," he said during a Moscow seminar in July after the arrest of Yukos shareholder Platon Lebedev. Although he resigned as chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, Perle retains strong influence on U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and is one of the leaders of the neo-conservative camp in Washington. The influence of this camp on President George W. Bush has waned somewhat, but it is still strong when it comes to shaping U.S. defense policy, according to Alexander Pikayev, a military specialist at the Carnegie Moscow Center. The conservatives, however, can do little to influence Washington's relations with Russia, according to both Pikayev and Ivan Safranchuk, Moscow representative of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information. Thus, Perle's appeal alone to exclude Russia from the G-8 will probably have little practical impact on the Bush administration's policy toward Russia, the experts said. However, it may set off a new round of criticism of President Vladimir Putin's domestic policies in the U.S. Congress, Safranchuk said. Perle may be using the Yukos affair to push his vision of foreign policy that would contain Russia rather than elevate it to the status of a strategic partner, Safranchuk said. "One player cannot have full control of such a game," he said, referring to those carrying out the attack on Yukos. "Other players start spinning this affair to advance their interests." Perle also criticized the campaign in Chechnya and said he hoped that Russian oil companies would be denied contracts in postwar Iraq. He said the White House should be under no illusions that the Kremlin will help to end alleged development of nuclear weapons by Iran. Perle was forced to step down as chairman of the Defense Policy Board last spring because of a potential conflict of interest between his duties on the Pentagon board and his defense-related business activities. He remained a board member. He is not known to have any business ties with Yukos, Safranchuk said. Return to Menu G. Russia-India 1. INDIAN PM PLANNING TO VISIT RUSSIA ON NOVEMBER 11-13 MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) - Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is expected to pay an official visit to Russia on November 11- 13, a Moscow diplomatic source told Interfax on Monday. "This visit will come as part of annual bilateral meetings between the Russian leadership and the Indian prime minister, which have become a routine feature of the Russian-Indian strategic partnership over the past few years," the source said. The Indian Embassy in Moscow told Interfax on Monday that Vajpayee will be accompanied by a delegation of senior Indian businessmen during his visit to Russia. The delegation will include the heads of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Exporters. The agenda for the Indian prime minister's visit includes a meeting between Russian and Indian businessmen to be opened by Vajpayee. Commenting on bilateral trade and business ties, the Indian Embassy said that apart from existing energy contacts, the two nations are actively engaged in discussing new reciprocal investments in Russia's Sakhalin-1 project and the construction of a nuclear power plant in southern India. Indian commercial banks are expected to begin operating in Russia by the end of the year, and Russian banks will open offices in India soon, the embassy said. It said that Russian companies are actively searching for opportunities to start investment projects in India, particularly in the area of infrastructure. A number of Russian firms recently won an Indian tender to build highways. They have also received contracts in the oil and gas sector. Return to Menu 2. RUSSIA FOR LIFTING BAN ON NUCLEAR DEALS WITH INDIA MOSCOW NOV. 2. Russia will push for lifting international restrictions on the flow of nuclear technologies to India, the Russian Atomic Energy Minister, Alexander Rumyantsev, has said. He said he would take up the issue with American leaders during his visit to the United States next week. "I always raise the problem of India whenever I meet my colleagues from other countries," the Russian nuclear chief said. He is leading a delegation to a nuclear technologies exhibition in the U.S. devoted to the 50th anniversary of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. "There is a pressing need to review the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and work out a special arrangement for India to allow it to cooperate with other countries in the nuclear field," Mr. Rumyantsev said. He told The Hindu that Russia was trying to impress upon the NSG the need to treat India as a special case, because it had indigenously developed its nuclear weapons' technologies, rather than receiving them from a third country; had a flawless record on nuclear non-proliferation and had no alternative to nuclear power to meet its growing energy needs. The U.S. objections have blocked talks on the issue. Russia defied the U.S. pressure to sign a 1998 agreement for the supply of two 1,000-MW light-water nuclear reactors for the Koodankulam power station in Tamil Nadu, arguing that the deal had been negotiated before the NSG slapped a ban in 1992 on the supply of nuclear technologies to countries which had not placed their nuclear programmes under "full" safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Plans to supply four more Russian reactors to Koodankulam have been put on hold pending the lifting of NSG restrictions. Washington has threatened to impose sanctions on Russia if it continued to supply nuclear fuel for the Tarapur power reactors, but Moscow went ahead with supplies. During his visit to India last year the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, reaffirmed Russia's commitment to continued cooperation with India in the nuclear field "in the framework of international rules and obligations" and called for "improving" these rules. India argues that the NSG restrictions on nuclear technology transfers to "non-nuclear weapon states" are no longer applicable to India after it de facto became a nuclear-weapon state following the 1998 tests.The problem is likely to be discussed again during the coming visit of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to Moscow next week. Return to Menu H. Russia-China 1. RUSSIA, CHINA NUCLEAR SOCIETIES SIGN ACCORD TO COOPERATE BEIJING, November 3 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and China will expand cooperation along the entire range of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, including the construction of nuclear power stations, President of the nuclear society of Russia Valery Kryukov told ITAR-TASS on Monday. Kryukov said an agreement on that has been signed with the Chinese nuclear society in Beijing. Upon the signing of the agreement, a delegation of Russian nuclear specialists left for East China's major port of Lianyungang, near which Russian specialists are helping to build two power-generating units of the Tianwan nuclear power station. Russia intends to bid in tender for the construction of two more reactors on this building site. A uranium-ore enrichment enterprise has already been built in China with Russian participation. The enterprise turns out near 500 metric tons of nuclear fuel every year. An experimental fast-neutron reactor is now being built with Russia supplying the main components and fuel for it, General Secretary of the Chinese Nuclear Society Fu Manchang told ITAR-TASS. Chinese specialists are also showing interest in the Russian nuclear-power plants for spacecraft. Return to Menu I. Russia-Iran 1. IRAN TOPS SHARON'S MOSCOW AGENDA MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has arrived Sunday in Moscow for a summit with President Vladimir Putin expected to focus on Israeli concerns about Iran's nuclear program and a Russian-backed U.N. resolution on a Mideast peace plan. Israeli officials traveling with Sharon said the talks on Monday would also touch on proposals for improved intelligence sharing in the international fight against terrorism. Iran has pledged to open its nuclear program to unfettered inspections and to suspend uranium enrichment. But Israeli officials fear Iran is continuing to covertly acquire nuclear arms know-how, at least some of it from countries of the former Soviet Union, possibly including Russia. The head of Israeli military intelligence told a parliamentary committee last week that, if unchecked, Iran would have a self-sufficient nuclear weapons capability by next summer. Israeli officials said Sharon would raise objections to a Russian initiative to seek a U.N. Security Council endorsement of the "road map" Mideast peace plan, which the United States also opposes. Israel only reluctantly accepted the U.S-backed plan, which aims to end violence and establish a Palestinian state by 2005. The Israeli government has attached a list of reservations to the proposal, making its implementation dependent on a Palestinian crackdown on militant groups and stipulating that any monitoring be under U.S. control. Israel sees the United Nations as a hostile forum and officials say that deepening its involvement would hinder, rather than help, peace efforts. "Turning the plan into a U.N resolution would be an obstacle to implementation," a senior Israeli official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The United States has objected to the timing of the resolution, citing the absence of a stable Palestinian government. Visiting Moscow has become an annual affair for Sharon. He made his first trip as prime minister in September 2001 and visited again in October 2002. Sharon, born in British-ruled Palestine of Russian heritage, says he has a good personal rapport with Putin. Both men spent years in their country's security services before entering politics; Sharon in the military and Putin in intelligence. Israel's relations with Russia are also colored by the presence of 1 million Russian-speaking immigrants, one-sixth of Israel's population and a powerful political force. Putin has said Russia has a responsibility to ensure the security of such a large group of Russian-speakers. Bilateral trade is strong, running at $720 million a year and expected to hit the billion-dollar mark soon, the senior Israeli official said. Return to Menu 2. IRANIAN SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY'S MOSCOW VISIT PUT OFF MOSCOW/TEHRAN, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Dr. Hassan Rouhani, will not arrive in Moscow on Monday, the Iranian embassy to Russia told a RIA Novosti correspondent. The spokesman for the embassy did not specify whether the visit was annulled or postponed, and also refused to tell the reasons. RIA Novosti learnt from Russian diplomatic sources that the visit by the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran had been put off. Dr. Hassan Rouhani planned to meet in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Minister of Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev and other Russian high-ranking officials. During this visit it was planned to discuss prospects of the signing by Tehran of the additional protocol to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the protocol with Russia on the return of the spent nuclear fuel which will be supplied for first power generating unit of the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, built with Russia's assistance. Apart from that, it was expected that Rouhani will make important statements in Russia concerning the Iranian nuclear program. Return to Menu 3. RUSSIA, IRAN AGREE TO STEP UP CONTROL OVER POWER PLANT ERECTION Moscow, Nov 2, Itar-Tass/ACSNA/IRNA -- The Russian Nuclear Energy Ministry agreed with Iran�s proposal to increase control over the construction schedule of the first power unit of the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Tass learnt on Sunday from secretary of state of the Russian Nuclear Energy Ministry Valery Govorukhin who commented on Russian-Iranian talks on Bushehr which were held in Moscow this week. He specified that the ministry controls the operation of the Russian Atomstroiexport Company, building power sets in Iran, China and India, `from the very beginning of construction in those three countries�. However, he added, "We share the concern of the Iranian side, since we understand that construction of the unit has reached the final stage, and the Iranian side is interested in cutting the construction period. "The schedule of completing the construction of the power set in Bushehr is likely to be agreed finally" in January 2004, the ministry official added. The secretary of state supposed that Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Hassan Rowhani would discuss this question when he comes to Moscow on Monday. Govorukhin noted that Atomstroiexport handed over a proposal to the Iranian side in the middle of the year, which had been examined by specialists and where it is written: �physical commissioning and loading of fuel -- the latter half of 2005 and commissioning of the nuclear power plant - the latter half of 2006�. Return to Menu 4. SECRETARY OF IRANIAN SECURITY COUNCIL TO MAKE IMPORTANT STATEMENTS ON NATIONAL NUCLEAR PROGRAM DURING HIS VISIT TO RUSSIA TEHRAN, November 1, 2003. /RIA Novosti/. Chief Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Hasan Roukhani will make important statements regarding the Iranian nuclear program during his visit to Russia. According to information obtained by RIA Novosti from diplomatic sources, Mr. Roukhani will start his visit to Russia on November 3. He plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, head of the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry Alexander Rumyantsev and other high-ranking officials. It is expected that the talks will focus on the perspectives of signing an additional protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a protocol on the mandatory return of spent nuclear fuel, which will be supplied for the first power-generating unit of the Busher nuclear power plant, to Russia. During the meetings between Mr. Roukhani and the Russian leadership, the sides will discuss the results of the recent talks between foreign ministers of four countries - Iran, Great Britain, Germany and France - where Iran announced its willingness to sign the additional protocol and freeze the works on uranium enrichment. Return to Menu 5. DATE FOR IRAN'S SIGNING IAEA PROTOCOL WILL BE CLEAR SHORTLY - RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - The dates for Iran's signing of the additional protocol to the agreement on guarantees with the IAEA and an agreement on returning spent nuclear fuel from Bushehr to Russia will become clear in several days. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, who is in charge of Asian affairs in the ministry, aired this opinion in a Friday interview with Interfax. "Let's wait for several days. Probably there will be more clarity in Iran's signing an additional protocol and an agreement on returning spent nuclear fuel," he said. October 31 was the deadline, in line with a resolution adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors, by which Iran had to show complete transparency in its nuclear activities and express a willingness to sign the additional protocol. "October 31 is not some absolute borderline, taking into account that the negotiations [between Iran and the IAEA] are developing in a positive direction and that Iran made statements on this score," Losyukov said. "I believe several days are not critical for resolving the problem. We are looking forward to favorable developments," he said. "Iran has not abandoned the way of cooperation with the IAEA," the deputy minister said. "There were doubts concerning some of its programs, but Iran is cooperating actively, showing openness, and is prepared to sign relevant agreements, and therefore it would be difficult to criticize Tehran on this issue. It is just necessary to let IAEA inspectors work and explain unclear points that come up to the Iranians," he said. Following the October 21 talks in Tehran with the British, German and French foreign ministers, the Iranian authorities pledged to sign the additional protocol, submit full information on its nuclear programs, and suspend uranium enrichment experiments. Losyukov said Russia was actively involved in efforts to reach this outcome. "It does not matter that three rather than four ministers traveled to Tehran. The point is that, before the visit of the three ministers, Russia had done substantial work for this trip to be productive. Russia made a great effort, and our Western partners are aware of this," he said. Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Hasan Ruhani will visit Moscow on November 3. He is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Among other issues, Ruhani is expected to discuss Iran's nuclear program. Return to Menu 6. RUSSIAN NUCLEAR POWER MINISTER OPTIMISTIC OVER IRAN'S INKING ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL TO NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY MOSCOW, OCTOBER 31 (RIA NOVOSTI) - Russian Minister for the Nuclear Power Industry Alexander Rumyantsev believes that although Iran's signing the additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is yet uncertain, the situation instills optimism. He voiced this viewpoint in an interview with RIA Novosti on Friday. "I believe that the situation instills optimism, although still unsettled. It is optimistic above all because Iran has officially declared its readiness to sign the protocol," Rumyantsev said. At the same time, he noted that some unclear aspects and technicalities still remain. Return to Menu J. Russian Nuclear Industry 1. OMZ DIRECTOR GENERAL BENDUKIDZE NOW HEADS ATOMSTROYEXPORT Since November 1 Kakha Bendukidze, the director general of JSC �Objedinenniye Mashinostroitelniye Zavody� (OMZ) (united machine engineering works), has become the top executive in JSC Atomstroyexport (ASE), OMZ press-service reports. This decision was made by the ASE board. Viktor Kozlov, the former director general, was elected the chairman of the board. OMZ, which specializes in engineering, manufacturing, sales and servicing the equipment and machinery for nuclear power, produces, in particular, the major equipment of the primary circuit of VVER reactors and is involved in construction of five nuclear power units outside Russia. In January 2003 OMZ purchased about 20% of ASE (vendor of equipment and services for construction of nuclear power plants abroad) shares with indirect participation aiming at further development of this sector and strengthening competitiveness on global markets. Presently negotiations are underway as of possible involvement of other Russian equipment producers and financial institutions in the ASE capital. According to Bendukidze, the business relations between ASE and OMZ will be as previously built exclusively on the market basis that meets long-term interests of both sides. Return to Menu 2. RUSSIAN NUCLEAR STATIONS INCREASE PRODUCTION BY 8% Moscow. (Interfax) - Russia's nuclear power stations increased the output of electricity by 8% in the first 10 months of 2003 year-on-year, an Rosenergoatom official told Interfax on Monday. "Over 120 billion kilowatt-hours of energy were produced in January-October, compared to 111.3 billion in the same period last year," he said. Rosenergoatom stations produced 139.8 billion kilowatt-hours in 2002. This year's target is at least 147 billion, the official said. "The increased production of cheap energy in nuclear power stations is keeping down energy bills for households and industries, because their energy cost is lower, by an average of 13%, than for energy generated in thermal power stations," he said. Of the 30 nuclear power units, 26 are now operational, the official said. Four power units have been stopped for scheduled maintenance. All of Russia's nuclear power stations have been checked for preparedness to operate in fall and winter, when their load will be at its highest, he said. Return to Menu K. Official Statements 1. INTERVIEW GRANTED BY KONSTANTIN V. TOTSKY, RUSSIA'S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE AT NATO, TO ITAR-TASS NEWS AGENCY, "LESS SUSPICION, MORE READINESS TO COOPERATE" (excerpted) 2448-29-10-2003 "In my work in the NATO sector I increasingly feel that I can be of considerable use to Russia for ensuring a higher level of its security. In this regard, the situation gladdens me, for in contacts with the representatives of NATO, including the highest level, there is less and less suspicion, more and more readiness to cooperate..." This was how General of the Army Konstantin V. Totsky, in an interview with ITAR-TASS correspondent A. Kondrashov, assessed the first results of his work in Brussels as Russia's Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Alliance. [�] QUESTION: Probably dozens of joint projects - military-political, technical, peacekeeping, for the exchange of experience, and so forth - are currently under way between Russia and NATO. Which of them are the most important ones? Where is there any substantial progress? What new possibilities have been revealed in the last few months? ANSWER: I would single out the joint development of theater missile defense (TMD) systems. After all, this is a very sensitive area for both sides, it is high technologies, it is the secret systems, but now we are trying to put them together, to make them compatible in automated mode, so they are run from a single command post, and project the air situation onto unified monitors for analysis and control... All this indicates that we have taken very wide steps towards each other in the military-technical field and in terms of trust. There is progress in emergency civil planning and response. And Russia is prepared to expand cooperation substantially. We are prepared right now to draw up a list of manpower and resources for joint use in the unified coordination center of response to emergency situations. While we did create the center, response is still poor. When this summer forests were burning all over southern Europe, we had as in the old times to ask for overflight permission for fire-fighting planes and helicopters from each country and wait weeks... It is time to sign a common document making the transfer of help easier when needed. Another highly promising area is cooperation between scientists and military of the two sides in such a specific field of ecology as the cleanup and reclamation of territories previously occupied by cantonments, bases and firing grounds. Russia and NATO have established a joint working group, which is operating very productively. All in all, about 15 such joint groups and committees are currently working on a permanent basis. And I also want to single out peacekeeping. This is a very promising area. We somehow overlook the fact that Russian observers are currently participating in eleven UN and OSCE peacekeeping operations throughout the world. Russia could further expand this participation. [�] QUESTION: How do matters stand with the financing on our part of cooperation with NATO? Are some funds set into the 2004 budget for these purposes? And, simultaneously, can Russia count on some funds from NATO? I mean, for example, the disposition of antipersonnel mines, chemical weapons and decommissioned nuclear submarines? ANSWER: This summer our permanent mission filed a request for the 2004 financing of the Russia-NATO Council with regard for joint training exercises, meetings of expert groups and other activities. And the result is encouraging, almost by an order of magnitude greater than in the current year. In respect of the Defense Ministry alone we are being allocated 500 thousand dollars. The current year's amount was only 140 thousand. Russian MFA-related financing will also increase. True, about 20 of our ministries and departments are currently enlisted in cooperation with NATO. And this is the weakest element. Because the financing of their ties with NATO goes under the International Activities item and they have to make do within these modest limits. But from 2005 we expect to get target financing of all the joint projects, of all the joint training exercises and trips of experts. In other words, all the ministries and departments engaged in cooperation with NATO will begin to receive target financing. The Alliance, by the way, has the Partnership for Peace (PFP) program, for which a definite amount of funds is being allocated. We expect to study carefully all these partner programs and think of the possibility and advisability of using the PFP potential in cooperation between NATO and Russia. Previously we treated PFP with a certain degree of negativism, because we looked upon it as a program to assist the countries intending to join NATO. But states which do not intend to join the Alliance are also actively using these programs. For example, Sweden. The Swedish ambassador told me recently that his country was receiving a solid return from the Partnership for Peace program. In the elimination of chemical weapons and disposition of decommissioned nuclear submarines, NATO nations are helping us on a bilateral basis. As to mine weapons, we cannot give them up so far. I personally feel we need several more years. The abandonment of mine obstacles will make the protection of our borders more difficult, in the most dangerous sections at that - in Chechnya, Ingushetia, Tajikistan. [�] QUESTION: At President Putin's recent meeting with military commanders the thought was expressed that we intend to follow the transformation of NATO, but if the anti-Russian focus of the military planning of the Alliance is going to continue, this will require a change in the nuclear strategy of Russia. How to explain this unexpected turn? ANSWER: I do not quite understand why the media have accentuated attention to this topic precisely. For the President spoke primarily of cooperation, interaction with the armed forces of other states, and participation in peacekeeping operations. There was expressed the hope that NATO will get rid of the last rudiments of the past, which have already been conceived, but which so far are not confirmed in documents either in politics or in military planning. I feel that not only the NATO nations, but also Russia should review a lot in order to make irreversible the process of the conversion of Russia and NATO from enemies into partners and even allies. If we achieve these aims, we will save billions of dollars, and raise the level of our own security, having a minimally necessary but sufficient defense potential. [�] Return to Menu 2. ON OUTCOME OF WORK OF VIII SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF STATES PARTIES TO CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION 2423-25-10-2003 The VIII Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP) to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was held in The Hague, Netherlands, on October 20-24. Representatives of more than 100 countries which have joined the Convention took part in the work of the forum. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Kislyak headed the Russian delegation. The VIII Session of the CSP took decisions on major issues of the CWC implementation, as well as on the functioning of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). They aim to assist the ongoing progress in chemical disarmament and at measures to strengthen the regime for nonproliferation of one of the types of weapons of mass destruction. The conference approved a Convention-allowed extension of the time limit for destruction of chemical weapons for the United States, South Korea and the Russian Federation. April 29, 2007, was fixed as the specific reviewed date for destruction of 20 percent of Russia's stockpiles; this matches the deadline envisaged by the federal target-oriented program, "Destruction of the Stockpiles of Chemical Weapons in the Russian Federation." "In principle," without date fixing, the time limits were extended for 45 percent and 100 percent of the stockpiles. The forum unanimously approved the "action plans" for achieving the universality of the OPCW and its realization at the national level. These measures are designed to help the further consolidation and strengthening of the Convention regime. The session of the Conference approved a budget and a program of activities of the OPCW for 2004, and adopted a number of decision on other questions relating to activities of the Organization. The election of members of the OPCW Executive Council took place. Russia is among them. Return to Menu L. Links 1. PROGRESSIVE INTERNATIONALISM - A DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY Return to Menu 2. REMARKS TO THE BRUGES GROUP - THE NEW WORLD AFTER IRAQ: THE CONTINUING THREAT OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (excerpted) 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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