VLADIVOSTOK, Sep 1, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Two centers for storing radioactive waste from Russian nuclear submarines, built with money provided by the United States, were opened Friday by U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson in the Primorsk region of Russia's Far East.

The new storage and disposal facilities costing several hundred million dollars were assigned to Russia's Pacific Fleet by the U.S. government under bilateral strategic arms' limitation agreements.

The ceremony unveiling the new facilities in the Bays of Chazhma and Konyushkov comes at a time of heightened concern over radiation hazards posed by Russia's nuclear fleet in the wake of last month's sinking of the Kursk submarine.

The Norwegian ecologist group Bellona said earlier this week that daily readings taken in the Barents Sea since August 12, when the Kursk sank in still unexplained circumstances, showed its two reactors had not leaked.

Richardson was due to leave for Sakhalin late Friday where he will attend a meeting of U.S. and Russian oil and gas chiefs.

He will then fly on to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsk where an agreement is expected to be signed Monday on the disposal of liquid radioactive waste at the SRZ-49 defense plant, Interfax reported.

Vodka, brake fluid, perfume: All's fair game for some thirsty Russians

NICOLAS MILETICH, Agence France-Presse

MOSCOW (September 1, 2000 12:35 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Russians are fabled for their lust for vodka, but many also quench their thirst for liquor with less traditional beverages such as perfume, brake liquid or disinfectant, blithely ignoring the risk of death.

In early July, a small woodcutters' party in the Siberian forest ended in tragedy. Ten people died from swallowing an explosive concoction of 90 percent proof alcohol diluted with brake liquid.

Interviewed by police, a survivor of the drinking bout explained that the lumberjacks were dozens of kilometers (miles) away from the nearest village, had nothing else to water down the pure alcohol and were desperate for a drink.

Brake liquid, apparently sought after by connoisseurs, had already caused four fatalities a month before in the region.

A bottle of vodka costs around 60 rubles in the shops, around $2. That is too expensive for some who turn to moonshine or any other alcohol-based liquid.

In Russian cities, drinkers appreciate Esculape disinfectant (made from 90 percent proof alcohol), which costs half the price of vodka.

Another popular product, say perfume shop assistants, is "Rose Water", a 40 percent eau de Cologne that is a cheap buy. Others prefer anti-freeze.

On ships, sailors often knock back methylated spirits meant for the upkeep of the engines. Some die, others go blind.

There is an unusually high tolerance in Russia toward heavy drinkers. Popular criticism of former president Boris Yeltsin had nothing to do with his vodka consumption, seen as perfectly normal by most of his compatriots.

Foreigners are not so understanding.

The director of the Russian space agency's flight control center, Vladimir Lobachev, spent a night in jail after being discovered drunk on a beach near Cape Canaveral, Florida last year, just as a Russian astronaut was blasting off onboard the U.S. shuttle Discovery.

Russians' legendary resistance to alcohol was illustrated when a driver was arrested in the central region of Kazan with 12 grams of alcohol in his blood, more than twice the level seen as deadly (about five grams).

"Sooner or later, Russia will learn to drink and the people will stop drowning themselves in alcohol", the Monitor weekly from Nizhny-Novgorod assured optimistically in a recent issue.

But in the meantime, there are new products on the market that soften the effects of over-consumption, notably a vodka with secret ingredients, "which does not give a hangover," according to its manufacturers.

Those who are skeptical about this miracle vodka can buy cans of brine, a mixture that indisputably helps to restore one from the ravages of drink.

Or why not go into home production? A 190-page manual "Samogon and home brewed vodkas," sold at Moscow bookshops for less than a $1, explains step-by-step how to build your own still and prepare 500 recipes for vodka and samogon (home-made alcohol flavored with dill, terragon or horseradish, made from beetroot, potatoes or sugar).

Two recipes grab the eye: "fast vodka," ready in two hours (for emergencies) and "love vodka" (ginger, celery, nutmeg...) supposed to have powerful aphrodisiac qualities.

MOSCOW. Sept 1 (Interfax) - The average figure for Russia's

population in 2001 is expected to be 144.5 million, according to the

overall forecast for social and economic development in the Russian

Federation for 2001 presented to the State Duma alongside the draft

budget for next year.

This represents a population drop of 700,000 people compared to2000.

This year's national birth rate of 8.7 per thousand people will

rise to 8.8 in 2001. In 27 regions, the coefficient is expected to be

ten per thousand. The national death rate will rise from 14.3 to 14.4

per thousand. The natural population drop will stabilize at a level of

5.6 per thousand.

The general life expectancy, according to the Statistics

Committee's estimate, is 66.6 this year and will rise to 66.8 in 2001

(61 for men and 73 for women).