Latvija in brief - 2004-03-11

A nuclear reactor in Salspils is expected to generate some 1,550 tons of waste, including 1,300 tons with some radioactivity when it is shut down later this year.

The Soviet-era reactor was built for research purposes and is planned to be decommissioned by 2008. It is still not known where the nuclear waste will be stored.

Mavriks Vulfsons (photo), former professor and communist turned freedom fighter, died on March 8 at the age of 86 in Riga. Vulfsons played an instrumental role during the independence movement when in 1988 he revealed that the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact had existed, a fact that was suppressed during the Soviet period. The revelation established that an illegal occupation had occurred.

A Latvian sailor, Viktors Aleksejevs, will return home after spending more than 10 years in the South American country of Uruguay. Aleksejevs was left to guard a ship that he had been working on after it was impounded in 1994. No one came back for him and his passport was later stolen. According to media reports, Aleksejevs did not know how to get back to Latvia.

After a recent visit to Latvia, officials from NATO's office of security concluded that the Baltic state could safeguard the alliance's secrets, according to the country's secret service and Constitutional Protection Bureau.

A record number of cancer cases and oncology diseases were registered last year, the state's Oncology Center has revealed. Last year 5,413 people died of cancer in Latvia and 9,163 malignant tumors were detected. Experts attributed the rise to people finally deciding to visit a doctor for their diseases after carrying their them for some time.

International railway carriers may now enter the Latvian market, according to an amendment recently passed by Parlia-ment. The amendment was required to comply with the EU's directive on free competition in railways. The state will also provide a subsidy for passenger traffic.

A conference of supporters of Russian minority schools received a message from Dmitry Rogozin (photo), deputy speaker of the Russian Duma, via satellite. Rogozin planned to attend the March 6 conference in person but was banned from entering Latvia. The meeting advocated giving the Russian language an official status in the Baltic state and an end to the coming education reform set to go into effect in September of this year. The conference ended early due to a bomb threat.

The Health Ministry has banned any further sale of the Belarussian headache reliever Askofens P after a surge in hospital cases in western Latvia were attributed to the drug. Over 20 people have recently been hospitalized for hypoglycemia, resulting in low blood sugar, after taking Askofens P. With the help of experts the ministry is currently evaluating the drug.