Platts - Friday, June 20, 2003 http://www.platts.com ------------ Vienna (Nuclear News Flashes)--19Jun2003 Iran urged to comply with IAEA safeguards IAEA governors pressed for Iran to "promptly rectify" its safeguards compliance and "promptly and unconditionally" sign and implement an additional protocol to its safeguards agreement, but stopped short of issuing a condemnatory resolution, as sought by the U.S. However, the board of governors June 19 followed the U.S. line in stating that "pending resolution of outstanding" issues related to the pilot enrichment plant at Natanz, Iran should not introduce nuclear material into the plant. The board's opinion was expressed as a statement by Chairwoman Nabila al-Mulla, Kuwaiti ambassador. It followed a lengthy debate about Iran's failures to comply fully with its safeguards obligations, as outlined in a June 6 report to the board by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. Al-Mulla's statement did "welcome" Iran's commitment to full transparency about its nuclear program, calling on Iran to "permit the IAEA to take environmental samples at the particular location where allegations about enrichment activities exist," a reference to the Kalaye Electric Co. to which IAEA inspectors were refused access last week. In a compromise between members who wanted the issue to rest until the next scheduled meeting in September, and those who wanted special sessions convened as new information became available, the statement asks the director general to "provide a further report on the situation whenever appropriate." ------------ Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--19Jun2003 AP1000 meets NRC security requirements, says plant designer Westinghouse says the AP1000 "features meet the applicable design requirements" related to security, as mandated by the NRC's new design basis threat and interim compensatory measures. Westinghouse made the statement in a June 4 letter accompanying its assessment of the design requirements. But Westinghouse told NRC it is deferring selected security design details of the AP1000 to the combined construction-operating license (COL) applicant. The company said the assessment identifies the impact of the April 29 security orders on those portions of the site-specific design features and the operational programs that are the responsibility of the COL applicant. The letter was made available June 19 on the agency's Adams document system, but the assessment was withheld because it contains safeguards information. The AP1000 is currently under NRC design certification review and, if approved, would become the fourth off-the-shelf design available to companies interested in new plant construction. ------------