BEIJING, SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 -- A five-person expert mission of Nautilus staff and associates flew from Beijing to Pyongyang today. The group is heading for the village of Unhari in Onch'on Province on the coast west of Pyongyang to conduct maintenance on seven wind electric turbines constructed in 1998.
The team will also construct a water-pumping windmill in Unhari for irrigation of food crops. On Aug. 28, Nautilus shipped two Parish water-pumping windmills from Earth Texas in an Evergreen cargo plane that flew from San Francisco direct to Pyongyang.
"The team plans to work with the DPRK Center for Non-Conventional Energy Technology Development to design and assemble a locally made DPRK water-pumping windmill in the future," explained Dr. Peter Hayes, Executive Director of the Nautilus Institute. "The second unit shipped from Texas will be used as a design prototype for this purpose," he added.
"Later, it will be installed on a joint Mercy Corps-DPRK agricultural development project in the DPRK," he continued. "This cooperation is part of a new, more coordinated approach to US-DPRK non-governmental engagement."
Also on the August flight was an ultraviolet light water purification unit for use in a DPRK hospital. The team will demonstrate the use of this unit, supplied by Water Health International, based in Berkeley, California.
"We are looking forward to working closely with DPRK technicians on the ground in the DPRK," said Dr. Hayes. "This mission has been two years in the making, and the time is ripe for US-DPRK non-governmental cooperation to forge ahead in the aftermath of the ROK-DPRK Presidential Summit."
The Nautilus team has five members: Dr. Hayes, head of delegation; Tim Savage; Mick Sagrillo; Chris Greacen; and David Von Hippel. The team returns on October 3.
For more information: Please contact Steve Freedkin, (510) 204-9296.
