March 31, 1979

Nuclear Regulatory Comm says 'remote' risk of reactor core meltdown has arisen at 3 Mile Island, Pa, nuclear power plant because large pressurized bubble of hydrogen gas has formed in top of reactor's sealed core vessel, which is supposed to be full of water for cooling fuel rods; notes methods under discussion for removing bubble involve risk of further exposure of fuel rods and possible meltdown; young children and pregnant women are evacuated from area under orders of Gov Dick Thornburgh, who sees no need as yet for gen evacuation; Pres Carter creates task force to act as clearinghouse for information on case; Defense Dept orders total rev of nation's nuclear policy; GAO repts that evacuation plans for areas surrounding many of nuclear plants in US are inadequate to protect public in serious accident; illus of steel storage tank being taken into plant (M)

HARRISBURG Pa., March 30 — When an air raid siren shrieked what turned out to be an unauthorized alert near the state Capitol here before noon today, setting off an unscheduled midday traffic jam Of jittery state employees, it was only the most dramatic result of three days of conflieting and sometimes flatly contradictory statemonts about the nuclear emergency at the Three Mile Island atomic plant neat Middletown in south‐central Pennsylvania.

Treas Dept, because of delay by Cong in raising natl debt ceiling, says that starting Apr 2 it will not make interest payments on Social Security trust funds (M)

Airey Neave, leading Conservative member of Brit Parliament, is killed when bomb apparently set by Irish terrorists explodes in his car; 2 separate factions of IRA claim responsibility; illus; por (M)

ARLINGTON, Va., Saturday, March 31 — Negotiations between the Teamsters and the trucking industry recessed early this morning with “substantial differences still separating the parties,” according to Wayne L. Horvitz, the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

IAM strikes United Air Lines after rank-and-file reject contract offer agreed to by union officials; United cancels all 1,600 daily flights through Apr 8 (L)

Streets of Goldsboro, Pa, town of 600 within sight of 3 Mile Island nuclear power plant, are virtually empty; worst fright of all came when orders were given to evacuate students from all schools within 5-mile radius of plant; Mayor Kenneth Myers and other residents comment (M)

Penna Gov Dick Thornburgh advises pregnant women and children to stay at least S miles from 3 Mile Island nuclear power plant, as Met Edison vents large puff of radioactive xenon, releasing highest levels of radioactive material yet vented from crippled plant; Nuclear Regulatory Comm says there is no immediate danger to public; says as many as 9,000 of reactor's 36,000 fuel rods may have been damaged since Mar 28, which compares with Met Edison's estimate of 180 to 360; damaging of rods makes their withdrawal more difficult, complicating cooling problems caused by hydrogen bubble in reactor core; comments by Thornburgh, Met Edison vp John G Herbein and Harold Denton and Dennis Crutchfield of comm; illus; map (M)

Foreign Min Saud al-Faisal says Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab nations favor recalling ambs from Cairo for signing peace treaty with Israel, but not severing diplomatic relations; Iraq has urged Arab League nations to sever relations with Egypt; King Hussein of Jordan and Pres Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr of Iraq press for Arab unity (M)

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt assures Pres Sadat that W Ger is ready to provide Egypt with additional econ aid but will offer new funds only in connection with joint Western initiative; US has made no direct request to W Ger, whose regular aid commitment to Egypt is $135 million a yr, concerning size of its participation in aid package growing out of Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty (S)

Egypt experiences upsurge of nationalism following signing of peace treaty with Israel; many Egyptians are unshaken by hostility of other Arab nations; Egyptian officials cite disunity among mins at recent Arab League meeting called by Iraq to discuss ways of punishing Egypt for signing treaty; doubt that Libya will risk starting border war in view of defeat it suffered in their brief war of July '77; Egypt suspended its membership in Arab League and withdrew its diplomatic mission from Amman after Jordan recalled its amb from Cairo; other moves taken by Egypt to counter Arab hostility noted (M)

Article on Benin notes strong French influence still exists even though country is politically Marxist-Leninist; France controlled territory, then Dahomey, from late 19th century until independence in '60; pol changes since independence noted; illus; map (L)