American local government officials visit Urenco Almelo:
Will they believe the nuclear industry's sweet-talking?

While anti-nuclear activists are busy carrying out actions against a nuclear waste transport from France to Gorleben in Germany, around 20 Americans are on a visit to Urenco's uranium enrichment plant in Almelo, The Netherlands.

Urenco, in cooperation with several American companies, wants to build a similar plant in Hartsville, Tennessee. To this end, Urenco has invited selected local government officials and others from the region around Hartsville to come and visit their plant in Almelo. WISE Amsterdam fears that Urenco will give the officials an excessively positive picture of the uranium enrichment industry and say little or nothing about the often serious mistakes that Urenco has repeatedly made through the years. Some examples of these:

1. Radiation. The level of radiation near the Urenco site is sometimes much higher than standards allow. In the spring of 1994, for example, radiation levels measured at the boundary of the Urenco site reached a staggering 27 times the allowed levels (1).

2. Security deficiencies. Dr. A.Q.Khan, a Pakistani who once worked at Urenco, stole technical information from Urenco in order to build a uranium enrichment plant in Pakistan for atomic weapon production. Dr. Khan is now suspected of having transferred the same technology to North Korea (2). Also, blueprints stolen from Urenco Germany were once sold to Iraq (3). So two out of the three countries in what President Bush calls the "axis of evil" obtained nuclear weapons technology because of gaps in Urenco's security.

3. Waste. As well as enriched uranium for nuclear fuel production, Urenco produces far larger quantities of depleted uranium. Urenco likes to send its depleted uranium to Russia for "re-enrichment" (4). This "re-enrichment" process also produces large amounts of waste, which is stored in Russia "on the cheap", in conditions which would not be considered acceptable in the Netherlands or the US.

WISE Amsterdam hopes that the American delegation enjoys their visit to the Netherlands but nevertheless rejects uranium enrichment technology. WISE Amsterdam is currently supporting a number of local groups in Tennessee by supplying them with information.

Uranium enrichment is no ordinary business – it's a dangerous technology with a dirty past and a dirty future!

Notes to editors:
NIRS/WISE Amsterdam is an information and networking center for citizens and environmental organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation, and sustainable energy issues ( http://www.antenna.nl/wise)

Urenco runs uranium enrichment plants in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands ( http://www.urenco.com)

References:
(1) "License Urenco Almelo destroyed for 2nd time", WISE News Communique, 25 February 1994 ( http://www.antenna.nl/wise/407/4028.html)

(2) "Nederlandse kennis in Koreaanse kernkoppen" (Dutch technology in Korean nuclear warheads), report on the Dutch TV news program 2 Vandaag, 23 October 2002

(3) "Urenco-Iraq espionage investigation", WISE News Communique, 26 April 1996 ( http://www.antenna.nl/wise/451/4455.html)

(4) "Uranium Enrichment Tails Upgrading", WISE Uranium ( http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/edumu.html)