No. 9 (21/03/97)     Statement by the North Atlantic Council on the Situation in Albania

The Alliance is monitoring closely and with deep concern the developments in Albania on which it is being kept continuously informed.
The Alliance fully supports the action undertaken by international organisations, in particular by the OSCE and the EU, as well as efforts by individual Allies.
It urges the parties to cease acts of violence and establish a dialogue as called for by the Presidency of the European Union and by the Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE.
(NATO Press Release (25)97)

No. 9 (21/03/97)     NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Nuclear Materials Safety                                     Management - 17-21 March, Amarillo, Texas

Some 60 nuclear scientists and engineers from Belgium, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S. will meet in Amarillo, Texas, 17-21 March to discuss nuclear materials handling, safety and disposition. The NATO Advanced Research Workshop, "Nuclear Materials Safety Management", is cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Amarillo National Resource Center for Plutonium, a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Energy and the State of Texas, will host the workshop.
The aim of this Advanced Research Workshop is to address the safe management of materials, especially in those parts of the fuel cycle which are not yet addressed by coordinated joint projects.
The workshop will advance discussion between technical communities which, until recent years, did not interact.
Participants meeting in small breakout groups are expected to identify projects for collaborative research in the fields of nuclear materials safety management.
Technical briefings will focus on plutonium storage and transportation safety, mixed oxide fuel fabrication and transportation safety, and spent fuel storage, transportation and safety issues. Other nuclear materials safety issues to be discussed include geologic disposal, waste and environmental safety concerns, and safety issues concerning storage of highly-enriched uranium.
(NATO Press Release (26)97)

No. 9 (21/03/97)     Press Briefing by Secretary Albright

Madelaine Albright told at the press conference after the meeting between her and Russian Foreign Minister Primakov that they had been dealing with topics of primary interest for both countries during the talks. The bulk of the questions discussed in the negotiations are to be resolved yet. At the same time, Ms Albright concluded that the talks had been intensive and cooperative.
They were discussing each of the question of the agenda of the coming summit meeting, with special reference to European security and NATO-Russian relations.
Bill Clinton expects that the meeting with Boris Jeltsin will yield positice results. The U.S. leadership thinks that the summit meeting in Helsinki will help them achieve their goals, namely:

• to create a more secure world by further reducing nuclear weapons,
• to expand trade and investment in a way that would be acceptable to both the U.S. and Russia, and
• to create a safe and unified Europe for the benefit of sovereign and independent democracies.

(White House Press Briefing 18 March 97)