PRESS RELEASE (95)93                    5 October 1995

         NATO ADVANCED RESEARCH WORKSHOP ON
    KNOWLEDGE, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND FORECASTING
             12-14 OCTOBER IN BUDAPEST

Around fifty experts mainly drawn from NATO and Central
and Eastern European countries (Partnership for Peace
members)  will meet in a NATO Advanced Research Workshop
from 12-14 October in Budapest to discuss issues of
knowledge and technology transfer and forecasting.

Experts will discuss these issues especially in relation
to key technologies such as laser technology,
biotechnology and information technology.  Other
sessions will review experiences in technology forecast
in different countries.

The workshop will provide a forum for international
exchange of information.  Important questions to be
discussed throughout the workshop are:

-    What lessons can be learned from a historical
perspective of knowledge and technology transfer and
forecasting activities?

-    What are the perspectives for international
co-operation in fields of key-technologies?

-    How can knowledge transfer, technology flow and
technology forecasting activities have an effect on the
international technological co-operation/competition?

-    How can technology assessment and forecasting help
policy  makers identify promising technologies for the
future?

The NATO Advanced Research Workshop will be jointly
organized by the International Association for
Technology Assessment and Forecasting Institutions
(IATAFI) and the Hungarian Innovation Research Center
(IKU).

For further information, please contact the
co-directors, Dr. Annamaria Inzelt (Director of the
Innovation Research Center (IKU), Budapest, Fax: +
361-118-3040) and Reinhard Coenen (Deputy Director of
the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems
Analysis (ITAS) of the Research Centre Karlsruhe, Fax: +
49- 7247/82-4806); or Dr. A.H. Jubier, NATO Scientific
and Environmental Affairs Division, (Fax international
(32-2) 728-4232). NATO Information is also available on
E-Mail via the following address:
                    "".

Bulgaria claims controversial nuclear reactor is safe

Bulgaria, which has been urged by wealthier states not to reopen its
oldest nuclear reactor, said Wednesday the reactor was safe and began
restarting it. The Kozloduy plant's 440-megawatt reactor No. 1, which
was built by Soviet engineers and came into operation in 1974, has
been closed for seven months for upgrading and safety checks.
Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee Chairman Yanko Yanev handed a
permit to the plant's management to operate the reactor during the
coming winter, officials said. "We have given all the evidence
proving that reactor No. 1 can operate," Kozloduy plant's chairman
Kozma Kuzmanov said. Energy officials said the reactor will be
connected to the national power grid by Friday or Saturday. A
meeting at the Kozloduy plant with Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee
officials, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Kiril Tsochev, discussed
the condition of the reactor and the nuclear plant as a whole. "The
reactor is safe according to the Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee,
which is the only regulatory authority in the country," Deputy Prime
Minister Kiril Tsochev, who is in charge of the energy sector, said
before leaving for Kozloduy. Officials say four independent
institutes have studied the reactor vessel in the last seven months
and concluded that it was safe. Bulgaria, which lacks energy
resources, relies heavily on the Soviet-made nuclear plant at
Kozloduy, which stands on the banks of the Danube River. The
3,760-megawatt plant, which has four 440-megawatt reactors and two
more modern 1,000-megawatt reactors, meets 40 percent of the
country's energy needs. Energy officials warned Bulgaria would face
severe power cuts this winter if reactor number one stayed idle
because a further two reactors were due to close for refueling.
Source: Reuters

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