But it has yet to implement the majority of recommendations that were laid out in a general safety audit of the Sellafield site. Of the inspectorate’s 28 recommendations, 25 have yet to be satisfied.. Paula Radcliffe’S hopes of winning a first World Cross-Country title here in this Belgian port today are being aided by the weather. Grey skies, rain and a strong wind whipping in from the North Sea have turned the Wellington Racecourse – which was already turned up by Belgian runners at last weekend’s national championships – into something of an endurance exercise. Paula Radcliffe’S hopes of winning a first World Cross-Country title here in this Belgian port today are being aided by the weather. Grey skies, rain and a strong wind whipping in from the North Sea have turned the Wellington Racecourse – which was already turned up by Belgian runners at last weekend’s national championships – into something of an endurance exercise.
Wilfred Meert, the meeting official, was anything but his normal, sanguine self yesterday after visiting the race venue.

“There are enormous difficulties with the course which we are still facing,” he said “After the national championships it was a total disaster. We have re-routed it to avoid some of the worst places, but this morning the wind was so strong it blew half our tents away and also the start gantry came down. It could not be worse.”Assuming a gantry does not fall on her head, however, the conditions could hardly be better for the 27-year-old Bedford runner as she toes the line in today’s main 8km race seeking to improve upon a record which reads, over the last four years – second, second, third, fifth.Although Derartu Tulu will not be defending her title – she is preparing instead for her marathon debut in London next month – her Ethiopian team-mate Gete Wami is here, and in a suitable state of fitness to repeat her victories of 1996 and 1999. On the latter occasion, in Belfast, the woman who out-sprinted Radcliffe to the 1999 world 10,000m title also showed that she was capable of operating in heavy conditions.While this event has become something of a holy grail for the Briton, Wami’s attitude to it appears less intense. “My ambition is always to win in each race I run,” she said yesterday. As for the absence of Tulu, she commented: “There are other Derartus in the Ethiopian team.” Apart from Wami, Radcliffe knows she will face strong opposition from the two leading Kenyans, Susan Chepkemei and Lydia Cheromei, who were third and fourth ahead of her last year.Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan, who won the long and short versions of this title in Marrakesh three years ago, is entered for tomorrow’s 4km race, although her prospects are hindered by being on antibiotics following illness. Radcliffe will also run in the shorter event – where she finished fourth last year – as part of a team that includes trials winner Helen Pattinson and former Canadian Kathy Butler.In the absence of Kenya’s five-times winner Paul Tergat, who is also concentrating on his marathon debut in London, Belgium’s naturalised Moroccan Mohammed Mourhit is hoping to retain his 12km title tomorrow.

Britain’s own Mohammed, Somalia-born Mohammed Farah, is hoping for a top-15 place in the junior men’s race after his 25th place on his debut last year.* Michael Tietz of Birchfield Harrier has been banned by UK Athletics for two years after testing positive for nandrolone last year.. Six months to the day after he crossed the finish line in Sydney to claim an Olympic gold medal, Kieran West will attempt to lead Cambridge to victory in the 147th Boat Race today. Six months to the day after he crossed the finish line in Sydney to claim an Olympic gold medal, Kieran West will attempt to lead Cambridge to victory in the 147th Boat Race today.
West, the president of the Cambridge Boat Race squad, took a year out in 2000 to train for the Olympics, so had to watch last year from the sidelines as Oxford defeated Cambridge for the first time in eight years.Now he returns to settle the score, intent on bringing the golden tinge of success to a Light Blue crew who are the bookmakers’ favourites. With him are three returning Blues, the Olympic spare man Richard Dunn, and the formidable coaching team of Robin Williams and Harry Mahon, for whom the loss last year was their first in this race. Oxford also bring to the field four returning Blues and last year’s successful coaching team, but are a slightly shorter and lighter crew than Cambridge.Cambridge’s final week of training has been unsettled, with a temporary shuffle in the crew order focusing their minds on the improvements they had to make to row their best in the race. They will be crucial, as they face a determined and strong Oxford crew, keen to prove that last year’s success was no fluke.The Dark Blues row with a more aggressive style at the finish of the stroke, which can look shorter, but have handled the bouncy water well, and their boat is running smoothly with little check. Cambridge at their best can easily improve on this, but during practice outings have taken a long time to warm up and get the boat to top speed.In one of their last outings yesterday both crews practised short running and standing bursts, to get the feel of the sluggish water.