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The Atomic Energy Council confirmed yesterday that it was considering fining China Airlines - Taiwan's largest air carrier - for carrying radioactive cargo without obtaining a government permit in advance in accordance with the law. Officials at the council said that ground staff at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport became alarmed Feb. 23 when they detected radioactive material in the cargo of a CAL flight from the United States to Singapore via Taiwan. The airport workers found 15 barrels containing iridium 192 - an isotope of Iridium - and hauled them to a warehouse after labeling them as radioactive. Iridium-192 is used as an industrial radioisotope to locate areas of weakness in metal pipes. It is also used in the radiation treatment of some cancers and in radiotherapy.

A federal licensing panel heard claims and counter-claims Tuesday that a new Fermi 3 nuclear power plant proposed near Newport would be either a dangerous polluter or an environmentally friendly energy supplier. A three-member Atomic Safety Licensing Board convened at Monroe City Hall to weigh arguments against the plant from a broad coalition of environmental and citizen groups. Most of their charges that the plant would pose health and environmental risks were pooh-poohed by DTE Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission lawyers during the course of the five-hour hearing. The federal panel of three administrative law judges -Ronald M. Spritzer, Michael F. Kennedy, and Randall J. Charbeneau - will decide, possibly by the end of June, whether the claims against the plant have merit. If so, the groups will be granted the right to intervene in the formal licensing process. DTE has applied for an NRC license to build and run Fermi 3, a 1,560-megawatt reactor expected to cost about $10 billion that could be ready to operate by 2017.