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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 [southnews] Howard Should be in Dock over WMDs - Brown
2 AU The Age: America confronts a crisis of credibility - 
3 BBC: Iraq WMD inquiry details unveiled 
4 US: BBC: US intelligence goes under microscope 
5 US: BBC: Gulf soldier wins pension fight 
6 SunHerald.com: Iraq intelligence efforts led by Cheney magnified err
7 US: Guardian Unlimited: Bush accused of
8 Washington Post: Blair Agrees to Probe of Claims About Iraqi Weapons
9 Washington Post: Intelligence Panel Will Cast Net Beyond Iraq 
10 US: Washington Post: Powell Says New Data May Have Affected War Deci
11 Guardian Unlimited: Straw launches WMD intelligence review
12 UK Independent: Blair caves in to calls for WMD inquiry into Iraq fa
13 Scotsman.com: 'Intelligence Bosses Ignored Experts' Doubts over Iraq
14 UK Independent: How the Government's case for war has failed to add 
15 Washington Post: Iranians Don't Want To Go Nuclear 
16 [NukeNet] Next Six - Way N.Korea Nuclear Talks Set for Feb 25 
17 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Urgency Brings NK to the Negotiating Tabl
18 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: U.S. Commission on Intelligence Errors to
19 BBC: N Korea nuclear talks date set 
20 Washington Post: North Korea Agrees to New Talks on Nuclear Program
21 Xinhuanet: Chronology of key events in nuke issue on Korean Peninsul
22 US: USA Wants To Test Nuke Weapons Again
23 US: USATODAY.com - Budget summary: Major agencies
24 US: Las Vegas RJ: Assembly speaker endorses Kerry 
25 US: TOMPAINE.com: Nothing To Preempt
26 US: toledoblade: Spending plan seeks sacrifices as $2.4T budget redu
27 US: GEM: Bush budget battered from many sides   
28 US: The Hill.com: Almost everything wrong
29 US: Boyle: Preventing Nuclear Armageddon
30 Washington Post: Musharraf Named in Nuclear Probe 
31 US: Washington Post: U.S. Treads Carefully With Libya 
32 Washington Post: Pakistan's Nuclear Hero Defended 
33 The Telegraph: Denial twist to Khan confession
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
34 US: NRC: Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc; Notice of Receipt and 
35 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Subcommittee Meet
36 US: NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting
37 US: SignOnSanDiego.com: Edison scuttles San Onofre reactor trip
38 US: JS Online: Nuclear plant up and running
39 US: NCS: Technician Nuclear reactor still cutting edge
40 US: NRC: Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation; R.E. Ginna Nuclear 
41 US: The Courier: NRC environmental review meetings set for today
42 Sofia: Bulgaria's N-plant Unit 5 Switched Off Grid over Water Parame
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
43 [du-list] Veteran wins pensions tribunal over DU
44 US: [du-list] Indiana military areas require hunter education...
45 US: Washington Times: Hazardous safety plans
46 U.S. Newswire: U.S. to Launch Effort to Detect Terrorist 
47 Scotsman.com: Gulf Veterans Hail Uranium Poisoning Ruling
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
48 [CMEP] NRC "EJ" Policy; Bush's Bloated Yucca Budget
49 [NukeNet] NRC "EJ" Policy; Bush's Bloated Yucca Budget [Public
50 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Notice of Meeting
51 US: Salt Lake Tribune: State battles Nevada N-waste plan 
52 Las Vegas RJ: DOE request would boost Yucca Mountain budget 
53 chillicothe gazette: Piketon plant would benefit from Bush budget -
54 US: Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Nuke dump study omits real world
55 Las Vegas SUN: DOE earmarks $23 million to study nuke transportation
56 RGJ: Bush administration asks for more Yucca Mountain money
57 US: AP Wire: Edison abandons plan to ship nuclear reactor vessel aro
58 Indymedia/IMC Paris: German Castors rolling to La Hague and Sellafie
59 UK Independent: Company in nuclear waste row has links with BNFL
60 RosBusinessConsulting: Russian atomic ministry and BNFL discuss coop
61 ITAR-TASS: Russia may supply natural, enriched uranium to Europe
62 Advocate: SIDS say no to nuclear shipments
63 US: 	
64 Public Citizen: Bush�s Proposal to Inflate Yucca Mountain Budget 
65 US: PRN: Perma-Fix Awarded Contract for Sodium Bearing Wastewater Pr
66 KLAS: Bush Seeks to Pump Up Yucca Mt. Budget
67 KRNV: Nuke dump could be financial boon for Nevada
68 KRNV: DOE seeks $189 million to plan routes to Nevada nuke waste dum
69 KVBC: Bush Budget Would Increase Yucca Spending
70 NRC: NRC Sets Schedule for Review of LES Application; Offers Opportu
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
71 Guardian Unlimited: The final reckoning
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
72 Knox News: DOE cleanup making progress
73 Las Vegas RJ: DOE won't designate Atlas tailings policy 
74 Oakland Tribune: White House seeks more nuke funds
75 Tri-City Herald: $2.07 billion proposed for cleanup 
76 Dayton Daily News: Budget boosts amount for Mound cleanup
77 The Shorthorn Online: Lab bid may pose struggle
78 Oak Ridger: SNS maintains funding support in '05 budget 							 				
79 Paducah Sun: Bush budget funding cuts for plant cleanup -
80 Oak Ridger: Other Views: TVA should consider nuclear power as a viab
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
81 [DU-WATCH] DU Info Bulletin no 88
82 [du-list] DU in the News  4th  feb. 04
83 Google News Alert - nuclear
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 1 [southnews] Howard Should be in Dock over WMDs - Brown
 
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 18:23:16 -0600 (CST)

 
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The Australian government acknowledged that pre-war intelligence on Iraq's banned weapons may have been flawed but resisted pressure to follow the US lead in appointing a new inquiry into pre-war intelligence.

Prime Minister Howard should be the primary witness in any genuine
inquiry into the Weapons of Mass Destruction deception used to justify
war on Iraq, Greens Senator Bob Brown said today.

"Now that George W. Bush and Tony Blair are moving towards inquires, the
Howard government becomes obliged to follow suite. It must be a judicial
inquiry with power to call anyone.

"The question Mr Howard has to answer is not 'What went wrong with
intelligence', but 'Why did you not insist on detailed corroboration of
the false WMD claims before sending Australian service people to war?"
Senator Brown said.

    Australia resists pressure to follow US lead by setting up inquiry

The Australian government acknowledged that pre-war intelligence on 
Iraq's banned weapons may have been flawed but resisted pressure to 
follow the US lead in appointing a new inquiry into pre-war intelligence.

Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch US ally, said investigations could 
prove intelligence agencies wrong about Iraq's weapons of mass 
destruction, but it was wrong to suggest the intelligence was bogus, or 
that agencies made up material in pre-war assessments.

He said he would await the report of a parliamentary inquiry into 
Australia's intelligence in late February before making any decisions on 
extra inquiries.

His comment followed the announcement by US President George W. Bush of 
an independent inquiry into its pre-war intelligence. Britain's Prime 
Minister Tony Blair is expected to follow suit with a similar inquiry 
into British intelligence.

Howard said Australia's intelligence agencies made their assessments on 
mainly British and US intelligence, obtained through intelligence 
sharing agreements.

While the hunt for weapons had not yet turned up any evidence of the 
possession of actual weapons, it certainly had turned up evidence of 
weapons programs, and there was still further work to be conducted by 
the Iraq survey group, he said.

But he added: "Obviously, at the end of the day if it is conclusively 
and absolutely the case that there were no weapons, then questions might 
be asked."

Defence Minister Robert Hill said there was no doubt that Saddam Hussein 
had weapons of mass destruction.

"That's not in dispute, in fact he even used them on his own people and 
his neighbours," Hill told reporters in Sydney. But he said the issue 
was what had happened to the weapons.

Hill said he still had confidence in the quality of the intelligence on 
which the government made its decision to join the war.

The intelligence community agreed before the war that Saddam had weapons 
of mass destruction, he said.

"All of the major intelligence bodies around the world shared the same 
view ... they all believed that Saddam Hussein still had his weapons of 
mass destruction, that he was continuing to develop those weapons and 
that they were a threat," he said.

Former Australian diplomat Richard Butler, who headed the UN weapons 
inspection team in Iraq from 1997 until 1999, said Tuesday that a US 
inquiry into failures in intelligence was long overdue.

Butler, who is now the queen's representative in Australia's island 
state of Tasmania, said many people had been deeply puzzled by the 
failure to find substantial quantities of weapons of mass destruction in 
Iraq.

"Naturally, people have wanted to know where are these weapons that were 
the reason for such an extraordinary action as invading another 
country," he said.

"There is a kind of inquiry already underway in the Australian 
parliament. I have no expectation that the Australian prime minister 
will go further than that but, who knows, we might be surprised."

___________________________________________________
*Kevin Rudd: Let's have the truth, Mr Howard*

The Australian 04feb04

WHAT a tangled web we weave. In the lead-up to the last election, it was 
Tampa, children overboard and refugees. In the lead-up to this election 
it is the unfolding story of John Howard's war with Iraq.

Both illustrate a deeply ingrained pattern of behaviour on the part of 
the Prime Minister. Truth has been the principal casualty. Because 
whether it's border security or national security, "Honest John" has 
been loose with the truth. And the Australian people no longer know 
whether they can take this Prime Minister at his word even on the great 
questions of war and peace.

Let's be clear about Howard's reasons for war. In the legal opinion he 
tabled last March, the only reason canvassed was to eliminate Iraqi 
weapons of mass destruction. No humanitarian reason was advanced. 
"Liberating an oppressed people" has been a rationalisation advanced by 
the Prime Minister after the WMD argument came unstuck.

We have documented 20 occasions when the Government warned Australians 
of the dangers posed by Iraq's chemical and biological weapons -- not 
abstract capabilities, capacities or programs but actual completed weapons.

Since the "end" of the war, five parliamentary and congressional 
inquiries have been launched into the accuracy of pre-war WMD claims 
about Iraq. Many have already been critical. Others have yet to report.

In Australia, Howard had to be dragged kicking and screaming into any 
parliamentary scrutiny of his claims on Iraqi WMD. Howard's preferred 
strategy on Iraq has been an exit strategy -- as underlined by his 
famously arrogant remark that on Iraq, Australians had simply "moved on".

Howard advances three arguments in his defence.

First, the "we didn't exaggerate anything" argument. Howard argues there 
was nothing in his public case for going to war that was inconsistent 
with the private intelligence the Government had. He claimed Iraq was 
reconstituting its nuclear weapons program and as evidence advanced the 
tale that it had sought to obtain uranium from Africa. But since the war 
the Government has admitted that before going in it received 
intelligence casting doubt on this claim.

Before the war, Alexander Downer made claims about Iraq's attempted 
importation of aluminium tubing as evidence it had restarted its nuclear 
program. We now know that before the war the Government received 
intelligence casting fundamental doubt on this claim as well. Before the 
war the Government claimed that attacking Iraq was necessary to reduce 
the threat of WMD proliferation. What we weren't told was that British 
intelligence had already warned Australia that attacking Iraq would 
increase the risk of WMD proliferation -- as well as the terrorist threat.

Of course, Howard, Downer and Robert Hill have been desperate to 
construct some sort of firewall between themselves and their policy and 
intelligence bureaucracies -- just as they tried to do with the children 
overboard scandal.

Second, the "if there is a problem with Australian intelligence, that's 
not a problem for which Howard is politically responsible" argument. 
This makes a mockery of the Westminster system of government - a system 
in which ministers are responsible for the performance of their 
departments. In Howard's case, his department includes the Office of 
National Assessments, which was established with the explicit mandate of 
testing intelligence assessments received from London and Washington.

If that hasn't been done properly, and if Howard and his ministers 
didn't probe the raw intelligence underpinning final intelligence 
assessments before deciding to go to war, then Howard is demonstrably 
responsible. Not to mention the fact that his Government has presided 
over the intelligence system for eight years and is therefore absolutely 
responsible for the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the system.

Third, the "don't blame me, it's the fault of the Americans and British" 
argument. This has been the latest addition to the Howard repertoire. 
Unfortunately, it falls foul of the Prime Minister's boast in parliament 
last year that Australia had been a "contributor" to intelligence 
conclusions that Iraq possessed stockpiles of completed chemical and 
biological weapons. Then, of course, there's the ONA's vetting job of 
foreign intelligence.

The whole pack of cards tumbled down last week with the extraordinary 
revelations by former US weapons inspector David Kay that when the 
coalition went to war in Iraq, there were no stockpiles of Iraqi 
chemical and biological weapons remaining and that the UN system of 
containment in the 1990s had been effective. Coming from one of the 
leading US hawks on Iraq, this set off a chain of events in Washington, 
London and even Canberra - where Howard yesterday was forced to concede 
for the first time that he might have got it wrong.

So now we have an independent commission of inquiry in the US announced 
by George W. Bush on Monday and an independent UK inquiry announced by 
Tony Blair on Tuesday. But John Winston Howard is still running for cover.

We on our part will wait until the Australian parliamentary inquiry 
delivers its report in the coming weeks before making a judgment on the 
need for an independent inquiry in Australia. But if Howard is admitting 
to doubts, he should have the decency to front the parliament and tell 
the Australian people the truth.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,8575891,00.html

The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ 

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 2 AU The Age: America confronts a crisis of credibility - 

www.theage.com.au
 
February 4, 2004
 		 	   	   		
President Bush must act quickly if the US is to once again earn 
the trust of its allies, writes Zbigniew Brzezinski. 

Whether or how the Bush Administration should be held accountable 
for having inaccurately asserted, at war's outset, that Iraq had 
weapons of mass destruction is ultimately a matter for the 
American politicians to debate and the American electorate to 
resolve. 

But two consequences with ominous implications call for a more 
urgent response: US credibility worldwide has been badly hurt by 
the WMD affair, and US intelligence capabilities have been 
exposed as woefully inadequate. 

America is preponderant in the world today, but it is not 
omnipotent. Thus America must have the capacity, when needed, to 
mobilise the genuine and sincere support of other countries, 
particularly of its closest allies. It can do so only if it is 
trusted. 

That US credibility has been hurt is indisputable. It is a 
serious matter when the world's superpower undertakes a war 
claiming justification that turns out to have been false. 

Numerous public opinion polls demonstrate there has been a 
worldwide drop in support for US foreign policy. There is 
manifest resentment of recent American conduct and a pervasive 
distrust of America's leaders, even in countries that have 
participated in the coalition in Iraq. 

Trust is an essential ingredient of power, and its loss bears 
directly on America's long-term national security. An America 
that is preponderant but distrusted is an America internationally 
weakened. 

The point of departure for an effective global security policy is 
reliable and internationally credible US intelligence. The sad 
fact is that US intelligence was not up to par in the Iraq 
crisis. There are many reasons for that failure, but the most 
obvious one is the absence of an effective human clandestine 
intelligence service, compounded by excessive reliance on foreign 
intelligence services (the Niger uranium fabrications being a 
case in point). 

Over the years the US has been remarkably innovative in 
technological-scientific intelligence aimed at the Soviet Union, 
whose arsenal also depended heavily on science and technology. 
Consequently, the US was well informed about the scale, 
deployments and even war plans of its most likely strategic 
opponent. 

Regarding Iraq, the opposite has been the case. The US, we now 
know, was uninformed not only about the level of Iraqi military 
capabilities but also about Iraqi military and political 
planning. 

That indicates the means used to define with reasonable accuracy 
the nature and scale of the Soviet arsenal were not helpful in 
deciphering Saddam Hussein's relatively backward military 
capabilities or in penetrating his primitive regime, even though 
it was hated by significant portions of the Iraqi population. 

There is no excuse for the inadequacy of the intelligence that 
provided the background for the decision-making and the 
articulation of US policy. Though an autocracy, Iraq was a much 
more porous state than the totalitarian Soviet Union had been. It 
was certainly much more porous than contemporary North Korea. 

The misjudgement made and the imprecision of the information 
provided, based (we now know) largely on extrapolations and 
hypothetical conclusions, are just not acceptable. The evident 
shortcomings of US intelligence, if allowed to persist, pose too 
many risks for the future. 

Today, in the more diffused post-Cold War circumstances, access 
to reliable political intelligence derived from high-level human 
penetration of potential adversaries is the essential requirement 
of responsible and globally credible strategic policy-making. 

It is therefore a matter of high urgency that several steps be 
promptly taken to give American national decision-makers a more 
reliable basis for shaping policies that command international 
support: 


  + The Bush Administration should candidly acknowledge that the 
US was misinformed about the state and level of Iraqi armaments, 
a fact already evident to much of the world. Continued evasion on 
this subject is a disservice to America. 


  + A shake-up of leadership in US intelligence services is 
needed and appropriate; measures to that end should be promptly 
taken. Accountability is needed to restore credibility. 


  + A small committee of experienced people trusted by the 
Administration should be asked to present President George Bush 
with a plan for changing the priorities and the modus operandi of 
America's intelligence services, with high emphasis on the 
development of an effective clandestine service. 

America's national security is too much at risk for the issue to 
be handled in a traditional fashion. The usual reliance on a 
comprehensive review by a high-level commission working at a 
leisurely pace would not be an adequate response. Sweeping the 
matter under the rug would be even worse. 

A globally preponderant power, if blind, can only lash out when 
it senses danger. America's leadership in the world calls for 
something better than that. 

For the world at large, America's word should again be America's 
bond. 

Zbigniew Brzezinski was national security adviser to former US 
president Jimmy Carter and is the author of The Choice: 
Domination or Leadership. This article first appeared in The 
Washington Post.                

Copyright  � 2004. The Age Company Ltd
*****************************************************************
 3 BBC: Iraq WMD inquiry details unveiled 
 
  Last Updated: Tuesday, 3 February, 2004
 
[Tony Blair faces senior MPs on the Commons liaison committee]                              
Tony Blair was grilled for two-and-a-half hours
			 			   		
An independent inquiry is to examine intelligence which led 
Britain to war over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. 

Former cabinet secretary Lord Butler will chair a five-member 
committee looking at whether the pre-war intelligence was right 
or wrong. 

The committee will include two MPs, but the Lib Dems are not 
taking part - because it will not look at the political 
judgements on the war. 

Earlier, Tony Blair said the inquiry would not re-run Lord 
Hutton's report. 

"The issue of good faith was determined by the Hutton inquiry," 
he said. 

The other members of the committee are: former chief of the 
defence staff Field Marshal Lord Inge; former senior civil 
servant Sir John Chilcott; Labour MP Ann Taylor, chairman of the 
Commons intelligence and security committee; and Conservative MP 
Michael Mates. 

Private hearings 

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told MPs the committee would work in 
the same way as the Franks Inquiry into the 1982 Falklands war, 
which looked at how Britain failed to realise in advance that 
Argentina planned to invade the islands. 

That means the committee will meet in private, but its findings 
will be published by the end of July, without revealing any 
sensitive intelligence material. 

While the US inquiry may relatively risk free or even positive 
for Mr Bush... it is far less straightforward for Tony Blair The 
BBC's Nick Assinder Analysis: Blair and a WMD inquiry Lord Butler 
profile                 

But Liberal Democrat Sir Menzies Campbell said his party could 
not accept the inquiry's remit and urged ministers to think 
again. 

"Should not the prime minister and others in the special 
circumstances of this case be willing to submit to scrutiny of 
their competence and their judgement in the discharge of their 
responsibilities," he told MPs. 

Conservative leader Michael Howard said changes he had suggested 
to the remit meant the inquiry would address the government's use 
of the intelligence, not just how it was gathered. 

That would allow the public to judge for themselves whether the 
war was justified, he told BBC Radio 4's World At One. 

Earlier, Mr Blair told the Commons liaison committee of the most 
senior backbenchers he had wanted consensus. 

But he argued: "We can't end up having an inquiry into whether 
the war was right or wrong. That is something that we have got to 
decide. We are the politicians." 

US pressure? 

News of the inquiry follows the announcement of a US inquiry into 
its Iraq intelligence and Mr Straw said Lord Butler would work 
closely with the American commission. 

President George Bush's creation of a bipartisan committee raised 
the pressure for a similar inquiry in the UK. 

[UK troops on the al-Faw peninsula during the Iraq war]                            
The intelligence used to send troops to Iraq is under scrutiny                                                                

Last week Downing Street said it would wait and see whether the 
Iraq Survey Group turned up evidence of WMD. 

But Mr Blair denied US pressure had forced a change. 

An inquiry was needed because it now appeared the Iraq Survey 
Group (ISG) could take months to produce its final report on the 
search for banned weapons in Iraq, he said. 

And former ISG head David Kay had also said he thought there were 
not stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. 

'Defending the war' 

Mr Blair stressed that Dr Kay had pointed to evidence of weapons 
of mass destruction "programmes". 

If that was right, the legal basis for the war was "entirely 
secure", he continued. 

He added: "I think we've done the right thing, not just because 
Iraq was a dangerous place under Saddam but also because the rest 
of the world needs to know that this issue will be tackled with 
firmness." 

The war in Iraq has possib made terrorist attacks against British 
nationals and British interests more likely in the short term 
Commons Foreign Affairs Committee report 'War increased terror 
threat'           

On Monday the Commons foreign affairs committee suggested that 
the "continued failure of the coalition to find weapons of mass 
destruction" had damaged UK and US credibility in their conduct 
of the war against terrorism. 

Tuesday also saw Downing Street publish its response to the 
Commons intelligence and security committee's report on Iraq's 
weapons of mass destruction. 

The committee had criticised the way the government presented its 
claim that Iraq could use some weapons of mass destruction within 
45 minutes of an order, saying it allowed for speculation about 
its exact meaning. 

Some newspapers suggested the weapons could be fired at British 
bases in Cyprus. 

In its response, the government says it understands the 
committee's reasoning but "notes that the dossier did not say 
that Iraq could deliver chemical or biological weapons by 
ballistic missiles within 45 minutes". 

And responding to a separate report by the Commons foreign 
affairs committee, it denied the claim had been given "undue 
prominence". 

It adds: "The government stands by its interpretation in the 
dossier of the intelligence which was then available on the 45 
minutes claim." 
*****************************************************************
 4 BBC: US intelligence goes under microscope 
 
  Last Updated: Tuesday, 3 February, 2004
 
By Adam Brookes BBC correspondent in Washington   

The Bush administration had been hinting for days that it might 
happen. 

Now the president has confirmed there will be an independent 
inquiry into US intelligence and its role in the Iraq war. 

[President Bush, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld] Bush will hope 
the inquiry only reports after November's elections                                                               

The announcement follows public pressure on the Bush 
administration to explain how it concluded that Iraq possessed 
weapons of mass destruction, when none have been found there in 
the wake of the war. 

"I'm putting together an independent, bipartisan commission to 
analyse where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this 
war against terror," he said. 

Ever since the chief US weapons expert, David Kay, said last week 
that the intelligence agencies' conclusions on Iraq were almost 
all wrong, the pressure has been mounting on Mr Bush. 

Democrats, Republicans and the media have all been clamouring to 
know what kind of intelligence the president used in making the 
decision to go to war, how it was arrived at, and why it now 
seems to have been so misleading. 

But President Bush indicated that this inquiry won't be only 
about Iraq. It will look into the activities of US intelligence 
across the board on issues of proliferation and weapons of mass 
destruction. 

"We want to look at our war against proliferation and weapons of 
mass destruction in a broader context," he said. 

Spotlight on the spies 

That seems to mean that the activities of America's intelligence 
agencies in searching for information about nuclear weapons 
programmes in North Korea, Iran and Libya might come under the 
spotlight, too. 

One commentator with links the CIA told me the atmosphere at the 
agency's headquarters was 'funereal'              
	   	
This commission will reportedly be made up of nine people - 
politicians from both parties, and intelligence experts. It's not 
clear when it will report. 

But the Bush administration will be hoping that its conclusions 
will not emerge before next November's presidential elections, 
for fear of lending the Democrats electoral ammunition. 

This is probably a very worrying development for the quiet men in 
Langley and all the other places that the 14 or so American 
intelligence agencies reside. 

One commentator with links to the CIA told me the atmosphere at 
the agency's headquarters was "funereal". 

The inquiry - depending on the degree of its assertiveness and 
the breadth of its remit - could portray the intelligence 
agencies as supplying flawed information to the administration, 
and allowing America's leaders to go to war without an accurate 
picture of the situation in Iraq. 

*****************************************************************
 5 BBC: Gulf soldier wins pension fight 
 
  Last Updated: Tuesday, 3 February, 2004
 
[Soldiers]                              
Mr Duncan claims his service in the Gulf is linked to his ill 
health                                                                

A former soldier is believed to be the first veteran to win a war 
pension appeal after suffering depleted uranium poisoning during 
the first Gulf War. 

A tribunal in Edinburgh found in favour of Kenny Duncan from 
Clackmannanshire who became ill after his service in the Middle 
East. 

He had helped move tanks destroyed by shells containing depleted 
uranium. 

Mr Duncan had been awarded only half the full pension after 
leaving the Army. 

Public inquiry call 

He claimed he was repeatedly exposed to the poisonous dust and, 
returning home to Scotland became so ill he eventually had to 
retire. 

Now his pension will be reassessed after the Pension Appeal 
Tribunal Service accepted his case against the Ministry of 
Defence. 

Mr Duncan also claims his three children, born since the first 
Gulf War, are suffering symptoms similar to Iraqi children 
including low immune systems and deformed toes. 

It is great news for Ken and his wife to at long last have his 
condition recognised             Shaun Rusling NGVFA chairman          

The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association (NGVFA) said 
the tribunal's verdict added to its call for a full public 
inquiry into Gulf War illnesses. 

Shaun Rusling, chairman of the NGVFA, said the verdict was 
"justice". 

He said: "The finding by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal was 
absolutely tremendous and extremely significant for Kenny Duncan. 

"It proves that his ill health was due to depleted uranium 
poisoning and it is great news for Kenny and his wife to at long 
last have his condition recognised. 

"We are extremely pleased that justice has been done." 

Mr Rusling, himself a Gulf War veteran, demanded that the UK 
Government hold a public inquiry into Gulf War illnesses. 

"It is now 13 years since the Gulf War and no depleted uranium 
tests have been made available to former servicemen - this is 
despicable and unacceptable," he said. 

"There should be a public inquiry into the ill health suffered by 
Gulf War veterans." 

According to the association, 606 Gulf servicemen have died from 
ill health and a further 5,933 have applied for a war pension due 
to disablement. 
*****************************************************************
 6 SunHerald.com: Iraq intelligence efforts led by Cheney magnified errors, officials say

      Posted on Mon, Feb. 02, 2004     [story:PUB_DESC]       
    
 BY JONATHAN S. LANDAY, WARREN P. STROBEL AND JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
 Knight Ridder Newspapers
 
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - What went wrong with intelligence on Iraq 
will never be known unless the inquiry proposed by President Bush 
examines secret intelligence efforts led by Vice President Dick 
Cheney and Pentagon hawks, current and former U.S officials said 
Monday. 

The officials said they feared that Bush, gearing up his fight 
for re-election, would try to limit the inquiry's scope to the 
CIA and other agencies, and ignore the key role the 
administration's own internal intelligence efforts played in 
making the case for war. 

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the 
sensitivity of the issue, didn't dispute that the CIA failed to 
accurately assess the state of Iraq's weapons programs. But they 
said that the intelligence efforts led by Cheney magnified the 
errors through exaggeration, oversights and mistaken deductions. 

Those efforts bypassed normal channels, used Iraqi exiles and 
defectors of questionable reliability, and produced findings on 
former dictator Saddam Hussein's links to al-Qaida and his 
illicit arms programs that were disputed by analysts at the CIA, 
the State Department and other agencies, the officials said. 

"There were more agencies than CIA providing intelligence ... 
that are worth scrutiny, including the (Pentagon's now-disbanded) 
Office of Special Plans and the office of the vice president," 
said a former senior military official who was involved in 
planning the Iraq invasion. 

Some of the disputed findings were presented as facts to 
Americans as Bush drummed up his case for war. 

Those findings included charges of cooperation between Saddam and 
al-Qaida, Cheney's assertion that Iraq had rebuilt its nuclear 
weapons program and would "soon" have a nuclear bomb, and Bush's 
contention in his 2003 State of the Union address that Saddam was 
seeking nuclear bomb-making material from Africa. 

Senior officials on Monday revealed new details of how Cheney's 
office pressed Secretary of State Colin Powell to use large 
amounts of disputed intelligence in a February 2003 presentation 
to the United Nations Security Council laying out the U.S. case 
for an invasion. 

A senior administration official said that during a three-day 
pre-speech review, Powell rejected more than half of a 45-page 
assessment on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction compiled by 
Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, and based on materials 
assembled by pro-invasion hard-liners in the Pentagon and the 
White House. 

Powell also jettisoned 75 percent of a separate report on 
al-Qaida, said the official. 

Still, he said, Libby continued pressing Powell unsuccessfully 
right up until a few minutes before the speech to include dubious 
information purportedly linking Saddam to the Sept. 11, 2001, 
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 

Bush said Monday he would name an independent bipartisan 
commission to review intelligence failures in Iraq. It would also 
look at what is known about efforts by Iran, North Korea and 
terrorist groups to obtain nuclear, biological and chemical 
weapons. 

Two congressional committees, an internal CIA board and a White 
House advisory panel are already reviewing the Iraq intelligence. 

Bush's decision to name an independent commission followed 
assertions by David Kay, who quit last month as chief U.S. 
weapons inspector in Iraq, that Saddam had not hidden the banned 
chemical and biological warfare stockpiles. The president had 
cited such weapons as his prime justification for the March 
invasion. 

Bush and GOP leaders in Congress had resisted a demand by 
Democrats for an independent review of the Iraq intelligence, but 
calls by Kay and key Republicans last week for such an inquiry 
forced the president to reconsider. 

"I want to know all the facts," Bush told reporters after a 
Cabinet meeting. 

He insisted, however, that the war and occupation - in which more 
than 500 U.S. troops have died - were justified because Saddam 
had failed to halt all illicit weapons activities in violation of 
numerous U.N. resolutions. 

"Saddam Hussein had the intent and capabilities to cause great 
harm," Bush asserted. 

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the membership and 
duration of the independent commission weren't settled. He 
skirted the question of whether the panel would examine whether 
Bush and his top aides exaggerated or misrepresented intelligence 
on Iraq. 

"I'm not going to get into the scope issues at this point," he 
said. 

Top Democratic lawmakers said Bush should allow Congress to 
appoint the commission and determine the scope and duration of 
its inquiry. 

"One of the major questions that needs to be addressed is whether 
senior administration officials ... misled the Congress and the 
public about the nature of the threat from Iraq. Even some of 
your own statements and those of Vice President Cheney need 
independent scrutiny. A commission appointed and controlled by 
the White House will not have the independence or credibility 
necessary to investigate these issues," Senate Minority Leader 
Tom Daschle (D., S.D.) and four other senior Democrats wrote in a 
letter to Bush. 

The former and current officials said that an objective inquiry 
would require the panel to look at the roles that Cheney, his 
office and his neoconservative allies at the Pentagon played in 
collecting and analyzing intelligence on Iraq. 

Reviewing what the CIA did "is half the picture," said Melvin 
Goodman, a former senior CIA analyst who teaches at the National 
Defense University. "What you want is an open-ended, blue-ribbon 
inquiry of the whole picture, which is what (intelligence) the 
White House got and how the White House used what it got." 

Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld have long 
expressed serious doubts about the CIA's abilities. 

Cheney, according to a senior U.S. official, began visiting the 
CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security 
Agency during his first days in office for briefings on Iraq and 
other pressing national security issues. 

His staff collected intelligence on Iraq from sources such as 
newspapers, as well as from regular intelligence channels and 
from internal Pentagon initiatives directed by Undersecretary of 
Defense Douglas Feith. 

Those efforts, according to the current and former U.S. 
officials, combined raw intelligence from the CIA and DIA with 
information from defectors and Iraqi exiles such as Ahmad 
Chalabi, now a member of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing 
Council. 

The CIA and State Department saw Chalabi, who is close to 
neoconservatives inside and outside the administration, as an 
unreliable source of information with a self-interest in pressing 
the case for Saddam's ouster. 

The senior administration official said the assessments on 
illicit weapons, al-Qaida and human rights in Iraq that Libby 
pressed on Powell were products of Cheney's office and Feith's 
efforts. 

The bulk of the work on illicit weapons and al-Qaida links was 
rejected after representatives from Cheney's office failed in a 
10-hour meeting to show that the materials were from reliable 
sources, he said. 

He said that materials rejected as dubious or false included: 

_Sept. 11 terrorist Mohamed Atta met an Iraqi intelligence agent 
in Prague, the Czech Republic, five months before the attacks; 

_Iraqi efforts to purchase software from an Australian company to 
use for mapping the East Coast of the United States; 

_Satellite pictures that Libby insisted showed Iraq possessed 
robot aircraft capable of spraying lethal chemicals; 

_A chronology of contacts "going back years" between Iraqi 
officials and al-Qaida. "These pages put the two in contact, but 
they didn't prove a damn thing," said the senior official, who 
added that follow-up reports showed that "in meeting after 
meeting Iraq rebuffed al-Qaida, that Saddam had serious 
differences reconciling fundamentalist Islam with secular Iraq." 

Still, Powell included in his U.N. speech charges that Iraq had 
provided chemical and biological warfare training to several 
al-Qaida members and that he had helped an al-Qaida-linked group 
produce crude poisons. 

--- 
� 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.   
*****************************************************************
 7 Guardian Unlimited: Bush accused of
		 	
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Tuesday February 3, 2004
The Guardian 		
		
President George Bush, repeatedly challenged on his prewar 
certainties about Saddam Hussein's arsenal, yesterday confirmed 
an outside investigation into intelligence failures on Iraq. But 
the promise of an independent, bipartisan commission came under 
immediate attack, with critics accusing the White House of trying 
to undermine the inquiry from the start. 

The announcement yesterday marks the last retreat by the White 
House from its prewar assertions about Saddam, and the 
abandonment of one of the main justifications for the war. 

But Mr Bush was unapologetic yesterday. "We do know that Saddam 
Hussein had the intent and capabilities to cause great harm," he 
said. "We know he was a danger. And he was not only a danger to 
people in the free world, he was a danger to his own people. He 
slaughtered thousands of people, imprisoned people." 

Mr Bush is facing re-election this year and is necessarily 
cautious of exposing himself to attacks from his Democratic 
opponents that he manipulated intelligence to make the case for 
war. 

Instead, he told reporters, he favoured a sweeping investigation 
into the failings of US intelligence agencies on the entire issue 
of nuclear proliferation, from Iraq to North Korea, Iran and 
Libya, and as far back in time as the Indian and Pakistani 
nuclear tests in 1998, which the CIA failed to anticipate. "We 
also want to look at our war against proliferation and weapons of 
mass destruction, kind of in a broader context," he said. 

The scale of those ambitions has caused widespread dismay, and 
led to accusations that the White House had set tasks for the 
commission so broad as to be unworkable. "This should be an 
inquiry focused on the intelligence failure to understand what 
went wrong and how precisely to fix it. The president's proposal 
tries to bury that as simply an element in a broader effort," 
said Joseph Cirincione, director of the non-proliferation project 
at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Mr Cirincione's misgivings were given greater voice by Democratic 
legislators who said they would closely scrutinise the mandate, 
and the make-up of the commission for signs of Republican bias. 

"I think that it is important for us to have an independent 
commission, but it truly should be independent," said Tom 
Daschle, the Democratic leader in the Senate. "It sounds as if 
the president is going to call for one where he gets to appoint 
each of the members and dictate the design and ultimately the 
circumstances under which they do their work." 

Mr Cirincione said one test of Mr Bush's sincerity would be the 
mandate granted to the commission to review data put forward by 
the offices of the vice-president, Dick Cheney, and the defence 
secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in addition to the information 
gathered by the intelligence services. Analysts will also closely 
scrutinise the make-up of the commission to see how many national 
security and non-proliferation experts are among its ranks, and 
whether the technical experts chosen are known Republicans. 

Mr Cheney's reported involvement in the formation of the 
commission has already been the subject of concern. The 
commission is not expected to report until mid-2005 preventing 
any political fallout from the inquiry during this election year. 

It was the CIA weapons inspector David Kay's admission last week 
that he had found no concrete evidence of any Iraqi nuclear, 
chemical or biological weapons programme that forced the White 
House to acknowledge there was no substance to the rationale for 
the war on Iraq.
	
Guardian Newspapers Limited
*****************************************************************
 8 Washington Post: Blair Agrees to Probe of Claims About Iraqi Weapons
                 
(washingtonpost.com)
 
By Glenn Frankel Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, 
February 3, 2004; Page A14 

LONDON, Feb. 2 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair responded to growing 
pressure Monday by announcing that he would launch an independent 
inquiry into why British intelligence overestimated the threat of 
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the war last year. 

A spokesman said the details would be presented Tuesday in 
Parliament. The opposition Conservative and Liberal Democrat 
parties both introduced motions in the House of Commons on Monday 
demanding an investigation. 

The announcement marks a reversal of Blair's previous insistence 
that he would wait to see whether the Iraq Survey Group, a 
U.S.-led team, turned up evidence of unconventional weapons 
before launching a probe. 

Blair's move also came on a day when the House of Commons Foreign 
Affairs Committee issued a report concluding that the continued 
failure of inspectors to find weapons of mass destruction had 
damaged U.S. and British credibility in the conduct of the war 
against terrorism. The report also concluded that the war in Iraq 
had "possibly made terrorist attacks on British nationals and 
British interests more likely in the short term." 

Andrew MacKinlay, a committee member from Blair's ruling Labor 
Party, said at a news conference, "I think clearly there is a 
crisis of confidence now, both in Parliament and outside, about 
both the competence of our security and intelligence services and 
the analysis that was given of the raw intelligence." 

A report by a retired judge, Lord Brian Hutton, last week cleared 
the government of exaggerating intelligence in the run-up to the 
war. The Hutton findings accused the British Broadcasting Corp. 
of faulty journalism in reporting that Blair and his aides had 
"sexed up" a September 2002 intelligence dossier on the Iraqi 
threat. Blair's spokesman cited the Hutton report in explaining 
why the prime minister was now prepared for a new inquiry. 

"What's different between last week and this is that the Hutton 
report has cleared the government of allegations of having 
politically interfered with, falsified or hyped the intelligence 
on WMD," a spokesman said, adding that Hutton's report "allows us 
to address -- hopefully in a more rational way, a more rational 
context -- the perfectly valid question that people have asked 
about WMD." 

The spokesman said that in altering their stance, Blair and his 
aides had coordinated closely with the White House, which 
announced its own independent inquiry Monday. But critics said 
the White House had blindsided the prime minister by shifting its 
stance during the past week while Blair and his supporters were 
still insisting that the intelligence verdict on weapons of mass 
destruction was not complete. 

"The British people are entitled to know why we went to war on a 
false prospectus," said former foreign secretary Robin Cook, who 
resigned to protest the war. In an interview with BBC Radio, Cook 
suggested that President Bush's turnabout had forced Blair's 
hand. 

"Although Tony Blair has been a very reliable ally to the Bush 
administration, it's very hard to see what he's got in return," 
Cook said. "When the chips are down, Washington doesn't appear to 
really give much concern to whether they're turning up the heat 
on Tony Blair." 

Britain has more than 10,000 troops in southern Iraq, and Blair 
remains the Bush administration's closest international ally in 
the Iraq campaign. But while Bush cited several factors in going 
to war, Blair insisted before the war that Iraq's alleged 
possession of weapons of mass destruction was the sole legal 
justification under international law. 

The prime minister and his aides have conceded they were stunned 
that no such weapons were uncovered in the weeks after the war, 
and until recently they remained hopeful that some would be 
found. 

Two elements in the intelligence dossier have proved particularly 
troubling for the Blair government: an erroneous claim from a 
single Iraqi source that Iraq could launch weapons of mass 
destruction within 45 minutes of an order, and an allegation that 
Saddam Hussein's government had sought to purchase nuclear 
materials from an unnamed African country. 

On the former, British officials first said that the 45-minute 
claim referred only to battlefield munitions rather than 
long-range missiles; then they said there were no such weapons. 
On the latter, the CIA has disputed the British claim and the 
White House has retracted Bush's reference to it in last year's 
State of the Union address. 

"No doubt there will be lots of blame-shifting," said Garth 
Whitty, a former British weapons inspector. "The politicians will 
try to shift it to the intelligence chiefs, and the intelligence 
chiefs to their political masters. The reality is everyone 
probably acted in good faith, but perhaps they were too quick to 
accept what they wanted to hear." 


               � 2004 The Washington Post Company
         
*****************************************************************
 9 Washington Post: Intelligence Panel Will Cast Net Beyond Iraq 

(washingtonpost.com)

By Dana Priest and Dana Milbank Washington Post Staff Writers 
Tuesday, February 3, 2004; Page A01 

The commission that President Bush will appoint to investigate 
the failures of prewar intelligence on Iraq will also review the 
CIA's misjudgments about weapons programs in Iran, Libya and 
North Korea, administration officials said yesterday. 

Bush said the nine-member panel -- which White House officials 
said would include current and former officials with experience 
in intelligence matters -- will "look at our war against 
proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, kind of in a 
broader context." 

Although the secret weapons programs of Iraq, Iran, Libya, North 
Korea and Pakistan have long been a top concern of U.S. national 
security officials, the intelligence agencies have missed 
critical weapons developments in each country. Administration 
officials have found themselves surprised at recent disclosures 
about nuclear weapons programs in Iran, Libya and North Korea. 
And the intelligence community was caught off guard when Pakistan 
tested a nuclear device in 1998. 

Stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has 
become a priority for the administration since Sept. 11, 2001, 
because of the fear that al Qaeda terrorists will try to acquire 
such weapons from secretive and sometimes cash-starved states 
that produce them. 

Bush conferred yesterday with former chief CIA weapons hunter 
David Kay, who told Congress last week that the prewar 
intelligence assessment on Iraq was wrong and that he does not 
expect anyone to find weapons of mass destruction. 

The White House said the president will release the names of the 
commission members later this week when he signs an executive 
order creating the panel. The group will include some former and 
current members of Congress, one White House official said. 

The administration has already contacted some people it hopes 
will serve, and it is waiting for acceptances, officials said. 
They declined to provide names but spoke admiringly of former 
senator Bob Kerrey, a Nebraska Democrat who is president of the 
New School University, as the sort of nonpartisan statesman they 
are seeking. He is a member of the commission investigating the 
Sept. 11 attacks. Other names floated by officials were William 
H. Webster and James Woolsey, both former CIA directors. Woolsey 
said in an interview that he had not been contacted. 

Congressional Democrats, who had demanded an independent 
commission to assess the prewar claims about Iraq, criticized 
Bush for deciding to make all the appointments to the panel 
himself. 

"A commission appointed and controlled by the White House will 
not have the independence or credibility necessary to investigate 
these issues," said a letter signed by Senate Minority Leader 
Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.), Senate intelligence committee Vice 
Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), House Minority Leader 
Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other Democratic congressional leaders. 
"Even some of your own statements and those of Vice President 
Cheney need independent scrutiny. A commission appointed and 
controlled by the White House will not have the independence or 
credibility necessary to investigate these issues." 

Critics of the war and many congressional Democrats have said it 
is crucial to know whether White House policymakers cherry-picked 
the CIA's intelligence on Iraq -- dropping the many caveats and 
using only the most inflammatory assessments -- in making its 
case for war. 

But Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees, 
which have been looking at prewar intelligence for months, have 
failed to persuade the Republicans who control the committees to 
ask the administration for this material. Even if they did 
request it, White Houses typically claim executive privilege, 
which safeguards communications between the president and other 
executive offices from outside scrutiny. 

In an interview yesterday with Washington Post editors and 
reporters, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said he expects the 
panel to look "at the analysts at the bottom all the way up to 
the policymakers" who rely on that intelligence. 

Asked whether discussions between CIA Director George J. Tenet 
and Bush would be an important element in the commission's work, 
Powell said, "I would assume that the commission will look into 
this." 

"My recommendation would be to give [the commission] as much 
access as you can," he added, "but I have to hold a little hook 
here because there may be some presidential privileges or 
executive privilege issues that I'm not aware of that the White 
House may have." 

He said he hopes the commission will "see whether or not there 
are gaps in the kinds of things we're doing and are there things 
we have overlooked in terms of how to cover these kinds of 
situations, whether it's North Korea or Libya or Iran." 

Bush, fielding a question on the commission after a meeting with 
his Cabinet, carefully avoided an acknowledgment that the Iraq 
intelligence was wrong. "First of all, I don't know all the 
facts," he said. "What we don't know yet is what . . . the Iraqi 
Survey Group has found, and we want to look at that." 

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the commission 
will incorporate the findings of the Iraq Survey Group; the 
weapons-hunting team is not expected to finish its work for 
months. "The Iraq Survey Group is doing its work, separately and 
apart from this commission," he said. "But it's important that 
their work -- that the commission look at their work as part of 
this broad assessment of our intelligence capabilities." 

Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the front-runner in the Democratic 
primary race, called the investigation "long overdue" and said 
waiting until after the elections to produce findings is 
"reflective of the attitude of this administration" to drag its 
feet on investigations. 

"We need a president of the United States who isn't slow to the 
table, slow to the walk, who gets it right the first time," Kerry 
said. "I hope this will not be an effort to sideline these issues 
which the American people deserve answers on before the election. 
We deserve this to be a true bipartisan effort and a rapid 
effort." 

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee, said Bush "is showing strong leadership once 
again by establishing a panel of experts to perform a 'no holds 
barred' review of America's intelligence community to make it 
stronger and more effective in a post-9/11 world." 


               � 2004 The Washington Post Company
         
*****************************************************************
 10 Washington Post: Powell Says New Data May Have Affected War Decision
                 
     (washingtonpost.com)
 
By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 
3, 2004; Page A01 

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday that he does 
not know whether he would have recommended an invasion of Iraq if 
he had been told it had no stockpiles of banned weapons, even as 
he offered a broad defense of the Bush administration's decision 
to go to war. 

Even without possessing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, 
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein intended to acquire them and tried to 
maintain the capability of producing them in case international 
sanctions were lifted, Powell said in an interview. But he 
conceded that the administration's conviction that Hussein 
already had such weapons had made the case for war more urgent. 

Asked if he would have recommended an invasion knowing Iraq had 
no prohibited weapons, Powell replied: "I don't know, because it 
was the stockpile that presented the final little piece that made 
it more of a real and present danger and threat to the region and 
to the world." He said the "absence of a stockpile changes the 
political calculus; it changes the answer you get." 

Powell spoke on the Iraq weapons issue for more than half of the 
hour-long interview. Throughout the discussion, Powell tried to 
balance the administration's rationale for going to war with the 
reality that no weapons of mass destruction have been uncovered 
in Iraq. Former chief U.S. weapons inspectors David Kay told 
Congress last week that Hussein did not have such weapons at the 
time of the U.S. invasion. 

Nonetheless, Powell said, history will ultimately judge that the 
war "was the right thing to do." 

Powell is widely perceived to have placed his credibility on the 
line last Feb. 5 when he appeared before the United Nations 
Security Council and offered a forceful and detailed description 
of the U.S. case that Hussein possessed weapons of mass 
destruction. In that appearance, Powell told the council: "What 
we are giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid 
intelligence." 

In the interview yesterday, Powell said he had "spent much of the 
weekend" reading Kay's testimony last week before the Senate 
Armed Services Committee. Powell came to the interview, held at 
The Washington Post, with an annotated and highlighted 
transcript, and suggested that Kay's testimony was more 
supportive of the administration than many news accounts have 
portrayed. 

Kay "did say, with respect to stockpiles, we were wrong, terribly 
wrong," Powell said, flipping through the pages of Kay's 
transcript and quoting from selected sections. "But he also came 
to other conclusions that deal, I think, with intent and 
capability which resulted in a threat the president felt he had 
to respond to." 

Powell said, "Saddam Hussein and his regime clearly had the 
intent -- they never lost it -- an intent that manifested itself 
many years ago when they actually used such horrible weapons 
against their enemies in Iran and against their own people." 

That intent, Powell said, was also demonstrated by Hussein 
keeping in place the capability to produce weapons. He said 
Hussein continued to train and employ people who knew how to 
develop weapons, "and there's no question about that and there's 
nobody debating that part of the intelligence." 

Moreover, Powell said, Iraq continued to have the "technical 
infrastructure, labs and facilities, that will lend themselves to 
the production of weapons of mass destruction." Such facilities 
"could produce such weapons at a moment in time, now or some 
future moment in time," Powell said. "I think there's evidence 
that suggests that he was keeping a warm base, that there was an 
intent on his part to have that capability." 

Powell asserted that Hussein was intent on creating delivery 
systems, such as longer-range missiles and unmanned aerial 
vehicles. 

"If you look at my presentation from last year, I talk about 
intent," Powell said. "I talk about the capability I think is 
there, the stockpiles, but a large part of the presentation is 
also what happened" and the unanswered questions about Iraq's 
weapons holdings. "He got a chance to answer the questions and he 
didn't answer the questions." 

Powell noted that when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, U.S. troops expected to 
be hit with chemical weapons. "We weren't hit with chemical 
weapons but we found chemical weapons," he said. "So it wasn't as 
if this was a figment of someone's imagination." 


  CONTINUED 1 2     Next > Print This Article  
 
               � 2004 The Washington Post Company
         
*****************************************************************
 11 Guardian Unlimited: Straw launches WMD intelligence review
		 	
Matthew Tempest, political correspondent
Tuesday February 3, 2004 		
		
Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, today confirmed that the 
government had agreed to demands for a new inquiry to review the 
intelligence build-up to the Iraq war.

A committee of five privy councillors will investigate the 
discrepancies between secret service reports on Iraq's weapons 
programmes and the lack of actual weapons found after the war.

But the Liberal Democrats have refused to participate in the 
inquiry, with the party's leader, Charles Kennedy, calling it 
"unacceptable".

Thus, although the Labour chairwoman of the intelligence and 
security committee, Ann Taylor, will be on the team, as will 
Conservative MP Michael Mates, there will be no representative 
from the Lib Dems. 

Following the prime minister's confirmation this morning to the 
liaison committee that he had authorised such an inquiry - which 
follows on from similar investigations by the foreign affairs 
select committee, the intelligence and security committee and 
Lord Hutton's inquiry - Mr Straw said the terms of reference of 
the inquiry would be to look at intelligence on WMD programmes 
and the global trade in WMD, as well as the accuracy of pre-war 
intelligence on Iraqi WMD and any discrepancies with what was 
eventually found. 

The committee will be chaired by former cabinet secretary Lord 
Butler, and will report back before the Commons summer recess.

Mr Straw said the committee would follow precedents set by the 
Franks inquiry into the Falklands conflict. Its conclusions will 
be given to the prime minister for publication, but classified 
parts will be blocked out. 

Witnesses to the inquiry will give evidence in private, however. 

Mr Straw said the committee would have access to all intelligence 
reports, as well as relevant government papers and would work 
closely with its US counterpart and the Iraq Survey Group. 

The Tories, who have called for such an inquiry since last June, 
responded: "For a prime minister who has 'no reverse gear', he 
can still execute an impressive u-turn."

Michael Ancram, the shadow foreign secretary, sarcastically told 
Mr Straw in the Commons that "perish the thought" that this 
decision had anything to do with the similar inquiry launched by 
President Bush. 

As well as Lord Butler the committee would be made up of Sir John 
Chilcot and Field Marshal Lord Inge.

Mr Ancram demanded that the inquiry investigate if there had been 
political "cherry-picking" of the intelligence material. He also 
insisted that statements made by the prime minister outside 
parliament, such as his remarks in St Petersburg last May, and 
comments made by his official spokesman, be included in the 
review. 

The Lib Dems' foreign affairs spokesman, Sir Menzies Campbell, 
joked that he "welcomed the government's volte-face - for which 
President Bush must take some credit..."

But he said his party could not endorse the inquiry's remit, 
saying it was narrower than the case study of the Franks report 
into the Falklands conflict. He criticised it for excluding 
consideration of the use the government made of intelligence. 

Mr Straw's predecessor as foreign secretary, Robin Cook, 
challenged him to say how the committee would be able to 
"separate out the judgement of the threat from the political 
judgment to go to war on the basis of that threat".

Tory backbencher Kenneth Clarke said many people in the security 
and diplomatic world believed that the decision to go to war had 
been made by President Bush many months before the attack. 

Tory Angela Browning caused a minor storm in the Commons when she 
pointed out that one of the committee's members, Ann Taylor, was 
making audible comments on questions from the government benches 
- throwing into doubt her objectivity. 

She also wondered whether the inquiry, as well as taking note of 
the US intelligence inquiry, would take evidence from Australia, 
where intelligence official Andrew Wilkie had resigned in protest 
at the "exaggeration" by the US/UK governments of intelligence 
evidence.

Earlier, under cross-examination by the parliamentary liaison 
committee, the prime minister admitted that David Kay's testimony 
at the start of the week had forced his hand on an inquiry.

He told MPs: "I think it is right, as a result of what David Kay 
has said, and the ISG now probably won't report in the very near 
term its final report, that we have a look at the intelligence we 
received and whether it was correct or not. 

"What is true about David Kay's evidence and this is something I 
have to accept and is one of the reasons why I think we now need 
a new inquiry - it is true David Kay is saying we have not found 
large stockpiles of actual weapons," he said. 

"What is untrue is to say that he was saying there was no weapons 
of mass destruction programme or capability and that Saddam was 
not a threat." Mr Blair said he did not want the inquiry to rake 
over the same material considered by Lord Hutton and indicated 
that he did not want it to produce a judgment on the integrity of 
the key figures involved in the decision to go to war. 

"This should not go back over the same ground as the Hutton 
inquiry," he said. 

"Of course the way intelligence is gathered, the way it is 
evaluated and used by government should be part of what the 
committee look into. 

"But we can do that without casting aspersions on people's good 
faith or honesty. That has been gone into in detail by the Hutton 
inquiry." 

Mr Blair also revealed: "I personally would have been very happy 
for the ISC to have done this inquiry. 

"I think they would have done it extremely well but because I 
wanted to proceed by consensus and because others said the Franks 
committee style is a better way of doing it, I have gone for that 
option," he said. 

The terms of reference of the inquiry are: 

� To investigate the intelligence coverage available on WMD 
programmes of countries of concern and on the global trade in 
WMD, taking into account what is now known about these programmes 
� As part of this work, to investigate the accuracy of 
intelligence on Iraqi WMD up to March 2003, and to examine any 
discrepancies between the intelligence gathered, evaluated and 
used by the government before the conflict, and between that 
intelligence and what has been discovered by the Iraq Survey 
Group since the end of the conflict � To make recommendations to 
the prime minister for the future on the gathering, evaluation 
and use of intelligence on WMD, in the light of the difficulties 
of operating in countries of concern
	
        Related articles 11.09.2003: Hoon 'potentially misled' 
committee 11.09.2003: Old-fashioned committee provides a window 
on Whitehall 'ring of secrecy'

Intelligence and security committee report Download the MPs' 
published report (pdf) 11.09.2003: ISC report: key quotes

Foreign affairs committee report Read the MPs' report in full 
(pdf) 07.07.2003: Conclusions and recommendations

The dossiers The government's September dossier on Iraqi WMD 
(pdf) The government's February dossier on Iraqi WMD (pdf)

Explained 03.06.2003: The different government inquiries

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 12 UK Independent: Blair caves in to calls for WMD inquiry into Iraq failures
 
By Andrew Grice, Ben Russell and Andrew Buncombe in Washington
 
03 February 2004

Tony Blair performed a hasty U-turn yesterday when Downing
Street agreed to an inquiry into the intelligence about Saddam
Hussein's weapons of mass destruction on which he took Britain
to war in Iraq. 

After months of resisting demands for an investigation despite
the failure to find any WMD, the Prime Minister climbed down on
the day George Bush confirmed that an independent commission
would look into the US intelligence on Saddam's arsenal. In
Britain, the inquiry is expected to be conducted by a committee
of MPs and peers, with an independent chairman. 

Last night it was reported that the chairman was likely to be
Lord Butler of Brockwell, the former cabinet secretary who
became master of University College Oxford after stepping down
as head of the civil service in 1998. But there was confusion
over the details as MPs waited for the terms of reference. 

Talks about how the inquiry would work hit a hitch after Charles
Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, failed to agree terms with
the Government during a telephone call with Mr Blair. Precise
details of the disagreement were unclear, but Mr Kennedy had
earlier argued that the inquiry should take into account the
workings of government and political decisions, as well as the
nature of intelligence reports. In a letter to Mr Blair he said
that the inquiry should be transparent, and led by someone from
outside active party politics. 

Although ministers said intelligence showed Saddam posed a real
and current threat, there were warnings from MPs that
intelligence chiefs should not be made scapegoats for a
political decision to go to war. 

Mr Blair has stonewalled in the face of growing all-party
demands for an inquiry, saying that people should wait until the
Iraq Survey Group, which is hunting for weapons, produces its
final report. But with no deadline set, his increasingly
untenable line was washed away when Washington made clear the US
President was to abandon his opposition to an inquiry. 

Mr Blair's official spokesman said the decision had been taken
after the Hutton report cleared the Government of allegations
that it interfered with, falsified or hyped the intelligence on
WMD. He said: "That allows us to address ... the perfectly valid
question that people have asked about WMD." The inquiry is
expected to look at the quality of the intelligence and the
assessments based on it. But the Tories and Liberal Democrats
said it should also consider the Government's handling of it. 

Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary who resigned from the
Cabinet over the war, said the inquiry should be public and
completed quickly. "The British people are entitled to know why
we went to war on a false prospectus," he said. "It would be
grotesque if the intelligence agencies were now to carry the can
for what was ultimately a political decision." 

Some MPs expressed fears that Mr Blair would hide behind the
inquiry, just as he refused to be drawn on the Kelly affair
while Lord Hutton's investigation was under way. But he is
likely to want to see it completed well before the election. 

In a report yesterday, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs
Committee said the US-led coalition had lost credibility over
the failure to find WMD in Iraq and may have increased the risk
of terror strikes. Andrew Mackinlay, a Labour member, said: "I
think clearly there is a crisis of confidence now, both in
Parliament and outside, about both the competence of our
security and intelligence services and the analysis that was
given of the raw intelligence." 	           


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 13 Scotsman.com: 'Intelligence Bosses Ignored Experts' Doubts over Iraq's Wmd'
 
Wednesday, 4th February 2004    	 

By Gavin Cordon, Whitehall Editor, PA News 

Intelligence chiefs ignored warnings from their own leading 
experts that they could not be certain Iraq had chemical and 
biological weapons, an ex-intelligence official who gave crucial 
evidence to the Hutton Inquiry claimed today.
 
Dr Brian Jones, a former branch head in the Defence Intelligence 
Staff (DIS), said that the most senior intelligence officials may 
have “misinterpreted” key evidence on Iraq’s weapons 
programmes.
 
He also disclosed, in an article for The Independent, that he and 
a DIS colleague had formally complained about the Iraq dossier 
because they feared that they would be made “scapegoats” 
after the war when no weapons were found.
 
Dr Jones’s disclosures came as MPs were preparing to debate 
Lord Hutton’s findings in the Commons and follow Tony Blair’s 
announcement yesterday of an inquiry into the Iraq intelligence.
 
His article lifts the lid on the extraordinary tensions within 
the intelligence in the run up to the publication of the 
Government’s Iraq weapons dossier in September.
 
They also cast new doubts on the role played by the Joint 
Intelligence Committee – which includes the heads of all the 
intelligence agencies – and its chairman, John Scarlett.
 
At the time, Dr Jones headed the branch within the DIS scientific 
and technical directorate which was responsible for analysing all 
intelligence on nuclear, chemical and biological warfare.
 
He described his team as the “foremost group of analysts in the 
West” on the subject.
 
But he said that when they had warned that the dossier had 
overstated the case that the Iraqis still had chemical weapons 
(CW) and biological weapons (BW), they were overruled.
 
DIS was told that the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, had other 
intelligence to back up the claims but it was considered to be so 
sensitive that it was “compartmented” and not shown to the 
other agencies.
 
However, Dr Jones said that did not satisfy the experts in DIS.
 
“My belief is that right up to the publication of the dossier 
there was a unified view amongst not only my own staff but all 
the DIS experts that on the basis of the intelligence available 
to them the assessment that Iraq possessed a CW or BW capability 
should be carefully caveated,” he said.                 [ 

*****************************************************************
 14 UK Independent: How the Government's case for war has failed to add up
 
By Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor
 
03 February 2004

Tony Blair told the Commons last week that "it is absolutely 
right that people can question whether the intelligence received 
was right and why we have not yet found WMD". Coming at the 
height of his perceived triumph on the Hutton report, with Labour 
MPs waving their order papers in support, the Prime Minister's 
remarks received less attention than they merited. 

His subtle shift on the central issue of the existence of Iraqi 
WMD was the first indication that Downing Street was open to the 
idea that its intelligence was at least questionable. 

During the Hutton inquiry, it emerged that before his evidence 
session with MPs, David Kelly was briefed by the MoD on so-called 
"tricky areas" such as his view of the Iraqi threat. 

The independent inquiry into the whole WMD affair will have to 
consider at least the following tricky areas of its own. 

1. THE LEGALITY OF WAR 

Tony Blair's key political decision to raise the spectre of 
Iraq's alleged WMD was driven largely by the legal advice he 
received from the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC. 

Lord Goldsmith made clear in his legal opinion on the eve of war 
that military action against Saddam could only comply with 
international law if the Iraqis were in breach of its UN 
resolutions on its banned armaments. If WMD did not exist, the 
legal basis for war is significantly weakened. 

2. 'UNACCOUNTED FOR' STOCKS 

The UK and US claimed Iraq possessed weapons because it had 
failed to prove that it had destroyed stocks banned at the end of 
the 1990-91 Gulf war. But Hans Blix, the former UN chief weapons 
inspector, said that simply because stocks were "unaccounted 
for", it did not automatically follow they existed. 

Mr Blair, in his foreword to the September 2002 dossier, said: 
"Intelligence reports make clear that he [Saddam] sees ... the 
belief overseas that he would use these weapons as vital to his 
... goal of regional domination." Mr Blair couldn't accept what 
now seems clear - that Saddam was bluffing. 

3. IMMINENT THREAT 

Tony Blair insisted WMD was a "current and serious threat" and 
said he had received an increasing amount of intelligence across 
his desk throughout 2002. The most powerful case for the 
imminence of the threat was the claim in the Government's dossier 
that Saddam could deploy chemical and biological weapons within a 
mere 45 minutes of an order to do so. 

But the Hutton inquiry has shown that the 45-minute claim was 
single sourced and referred to battlefield weapons, not 
long-range missiles. Even Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair's chief of 
staff, said there was no case for an "imminent threat", yet Mr 
Blair ignored him. 

4. TERRORISM 

George Bush claimed links between Saddam and al-Qa'ida and 
convinced 60 per cent of the American public that attacking Iraq 
was about preventing another 11 September-style attack on the US. 
Mr Blair and Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said there was a 
"potential link". There has never been any evidence of a link. 

The Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee found that 
Mr Blair had been explicitly warned by intelligence chiefs on 10 
February last year that the threat of terror groups getting their 
hands on WMD would be "heightened by military action against 
Iraq". 

5. DIRTY NUCLEAR BOMB 

The original draft of the UK dossier was cautious about the 
nuclear issue. The Defence Intelligence Staff warned: "Iraq could 
not produce sufficient weapons grade material for a single weapon 
for least four or five years and this only once sanctions have 
been removed." 

But Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's communications director, said 
that he and the Prime Minister preferred an earlier intelligence 
assessment suggesting that a dirty radiological device could be 
produced within one to two years. The dossier was accordingly 
made stronger. 

6. ALUMINIUM TUBES 

Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, and Mr Straw said 
intelligence showed Iraq was attempting to import aluminium tubes 
that could be used to refine Uranium for a nuclear device. 
Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy 
Agency (IAEA), dismissed the claim. 

7. URANIUM FROM AFRICA 

Mr Bush quoted the dossier's claim that Iraq was seeking uranium 
from Niger. The IAEA found the documents on which the claim was 
made were fakes. The intelligence was not British; it was from a 
"third country". Britain still stands by the claim. 

8. CHEMICAL WEAPONS PRODUCTION/DUAL USE 

The dossier said Iraq "continued" to produce chemical weapons, 
but this was based on a late piece of intelligence from MI6 that 
has never been made public. A memo submitted to the Hutton 
inquiry, which was leaked to the The Independent this week, 
showed that the DIS had warned on 12 September that "we have no 
idea how many chemical weapons or the quantity of agent that Iraq 
has". "Mr A", a weapons expert, told Lord Hutton he agreed with 
Iraqi comments that the inclusion of the phosgene plant in the 
dossier was "a pretty stupid mistake for the British to make." 

9. MOBILE BIO-LABS 

Gen Powell made a key part of his UN address the claim that 
mobile laboratories were in Iraq making biological agents for 
weaponisation. When asked by No 10 to provide amounts of 
biological agent, the DIS said "this is an impossible question". 

10. THERE WAS NO COMPELLING FRESH EVIDENCE ON WMD 

Mr Blair and other ministers have stated that the reason they 
became alarmed about WMD was because of the increasing number and 
seriousness of intelligence reports on the issue.. Perhaps the 
most damaging evidence to undermine came from Donald Rumsfeld, 
the US Defence Secretary, last summer. He told a Senate 
subcommittee: "The coalition did not act in Iraq because we had 
dramatic new evidence of Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass 
murder. We acted because we saw the existing evidence in a new 
light through the prism of our experience on 11 September 2001." 
It seems America's desire to avenge 9-11 was the real reason 
after all.                  


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 15 Washington Post: Iranians Don't Want To Go Nuclear 

(washingtonpost.com)

By Karim Sadjadpour Tuesday, February 3, 2004; Page A19 

Do the people of Iran want the bomb? Iran's recent decision to 
allow for tighter inspection of its nuclear facilities -- which 
Iran says are for civilian purposes -- was hailed by Iranian and 
European officials as a diplomatic victory, while analysts and 
officials in Washington and Tel Aviv continue to be wary of 
Tehran's intentions. But despite the attention given to Iran's 
nuclear aspirations in recent months, one important question has 
scarcely been touched on: How do the Iranian people feel about 
having nuclear weapons? 

Iranian officials have suggested that the country's nuclear 
program is an issue that resonates on the Iranian street and is a 
great source of national pride. But months of interviews I have 
done in Iran reveal a somewhat different picture. Whereas few 
Iranians are opposed to the development of a nuclear energy 
facility, most do not see it as a solution to their primary 
concerns: economic malaise and political and social repression. 
What's more, most of the Iranians surveyed said they oppose the 
pursuit of a nuclear weapons program because it runs counter to 
their desire for "peace and tranquility." Three reasons were 
commonly cited. 

First, having experienced a devastating eight-year war with 
Saddam Hussein's Iraq that took the lives of hundreds of 
thousands of their compatriots, Iranians are opposed to reliving 
war or violence. Many Iranians said the pursuit of nuclear 
weapons would lead the country down a path no one wanted to 
travel. 

Two decades ago revolutionary euphoria was strong, and millions 
of young men volunteered to defend their country against an Iraqi 
onslaught. Today few Iranians have illusions about the realities 
of conflict. The argument that a nuclear weapon could help serve 
as a deterrent to ensure peace in Iran seemed incongruous to 
most. "If we want peace, why would we want a bomb?" asked a 
middle-aged Iranian woman, seemingly concurring with an 
influential Iranian diplomat who contends that a nuclear weapon 
"would not augment Iran's security but rather heighten its 
vulnerabilities." 

Second, while a central premise of Iran's Islamic government from 
the time of its inception has been its steadfast opposition to 
the United States and Israel, for most Iranians no such nemeses 
exist. Iran's young populace -- more than two-thirds of the 
country is younger than 30 -- is among the most pro-American in 
the Middle East, and tend not to share the impassioned 
anti-Israel sentiment of their Arab neighbors. While the 
excitement generated on the Indian and Pakistani streets as a 
result of their nuclear detonations is commonly cited to show the 
correlation between nuclear weapons and national pride, such a 
reaction is best understood in the context of the rivalry between 
the two countries. The majority of Iranians surveyed claimed to 
have little desire to show off their military or nuclear prowess 
to anyone. "Whom would we attack?" asked a 31-year-old laborer, 
echoing a commonly heard sentiment in Tehran. "We don't want war 
with anyone." 

Finally, many Iranians, youth in particular, are opposed to the 
Islamic republic's becoming a nuclear power because they believe 
it would further entrench the hard-liners in the government. "I 
fear that if these guys get the bomb they will be able to hold on 
to power for another 25 years," said a 30-year-old Iranian 
professional. "Nobody wants that." In particular some expressed a 
concern that a nuclear Iran would be immune to U.S. and European 
diplomatic pressure and could continue to repress popular demands 
for reform without fear of repercussion. 

At the same time, most Iranians -- including harsh critics of the 
Islamic regime -- remain unconvinced by the allegations that 
their government is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons program. 
Many dismiss it as another bogeyman manufactured by the United 
States and Israel to further antagonize and isolate the Islamic 
regime. "I don't believe we're after a bomb," said a 25-year-old 
Tehran University student. "The U.S. is always looking for an 
excuse to harass these mullahs." A recently retired Iranian 
diplomat who said he is "strongly critical" of the Islamic 
government agreed with this assessment, saying Iran's nuclear 
program "is neither for defensive nor offensive purposes . . . 
It's only for energy purposes." 

I draw two lessons from this. First, the European-brokered 
compromise on Iran's nuclear program, which appealed to 
reformists and pragmatists within the Iranian government, was 
also a victory of sorts for the Iranian people, who are eager to 
emerge from the political and economic isolation of the past two 
decades and are strongly in favor of increasing ties with the 
West. A blatant lack of cooperation with the international 
community would not have been well-received domestically. 

Second, a more aggressive reaction by the international community 
-- a U.S. or Israeli attempt to strike Iran's nuclear facilities 
-- could well have the unintended consequence of antagonizing a 
highly nationalistic and largely pro-Western populace and 
convincing Iranians that a nuclear weapon is indeed in their 
national interests. Such a reaction would be disastrous for U.S. 
interests in the region, especially given Iran's key location 
between Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Western and Israeli diplomats and analysts should know that the 
ability to solve the Iranian nuclear predicament diplomatically 
has broad implications for the future of democracy and 
nonproliferation in Iran and the rest of the Middle East. The 
goal is to bring the Iranian regime on the same page with the 
Iranian people. A non-diplomatic attempt to destroy Iran's 
nuclear facilities could do precisely the opposite. 

The writer, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, is a 
visiting fellow at the American University of Beirut. 


               � 2004 The Washington Post Company
         
*****************************************************************
 16 [NukeNet] Next Six - Way N.Korea Nuclear Talks Set for Feb 25 
 
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 20:08:51 -0800

 
<x-flowed>


    http://www.nytimes.com
      http://snipurl.com/3bdb


http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-korea-north.html

Next Six - Way N.Korea Nuclear Talks Set for Feb
25
By REUTERS

Published: February 3, 2004


Filed at 2:34 a.m. ET

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea announced Tuesday it
would resume talks in Beijing on February 25 with
the United States, China and neighboring countries
seeking to resolve a crisis over Pyongyang's
nuclear arms ambitions.

The date for a second round of talks was given
after months of intensive shuttle diplomacy since
the first six-party session in August. The talks
also include Russia, Japan and South Korea.

``The DPRK and the U.S., the major parties
concerned to the six-way talks, and China, the
host country, agreed to resume the next round of
the six-way talks from February 25 after having a
series of discussions,'' said the official KCNA
news agency.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea, North Korea's official name.

The announcement came a day after Pakistani
officials said the father of Pakistan's atomic
bomb had confessed to selling nuclear secrets to
North Korea along with Libya and Iran.

China confirmed the date of the talks.

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck
told a news conference: ``We expect the talks to
last three days, but it's open-ended.''

Lee, who headed the South Korean delegation at the
August talks, said the five parties excluding
North Korea expected this month's session could
produce a ``working group able to discuss the
substantive and technical issues.''

``There is a recognition of the need for such a
working group. Whether North Korea will accept
that is difficult to say, considering how
sensitive North Korea's position can be,'' he
said.

``UNSTABLE SITUATION''

The United States wants North Korea to commit --
at least by the end of the next round -- to
dismantling any nuclear arms programs. Washington
has offered then to lay out in detail how it could
guarantee not to attack the state President Bush
called part of an ``axis of evil'' with Iran and
pre-war Iraq.

North Korea has offered to freeze its nuclear
activities in exchange for energy aid and
diplomatic recognition from the United States as
the first step in resolving the dispute.

The crisis erupted in October 2002 when U.S.
officials, including chief North Korea negotiator
James Kelly, reported that North Korean officials
had admitted at a meeting with them that Pyongyang
was pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons
program.

North Korea has since denied the U.S. account but
Kelly reiterated last month there had been no
ambiguity at the meeting. Other officials have
said the U.S. case is based on the intelligence
that prompted the North's initial admission.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
said in Tokyo Monday that the stalemate over North
Korea's nuclear arms program was a ``dangerous and
unstable situation.''

The talks announcement came just before a
delegation of North Korean officials arrived in
Seoul for separate cabinet-level talks with South
Korea.

South Korean officials have said they intend to
use the 13th round of inter-Korean ministerial
talks since 2000 to urge North Korea to resolve
the nuclear dispute, which has been an impediment
to deeper economic exchanges seen as vital to
reviving the North's struggling economy.






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*****************************************************************
 17 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Urgency Brings NK to the Negotiating Table   
 
      Updated Feb.3,2004 23:07 KST   

  by Lee Ha-won (may2@chosun.com)
 
  Related Articles - Six-Party Talks to Resume Feb. 25
   
North Korea appears to have agreed to holding a second round of 
six-way talks starting February 25 because it judged any further 
delay would leave it in a disadvantageous position. China will 
hold its People's Congress in March, and has been strongly 
demanding that the talks happen in February. In addition, Korea, 
Japan, and the United States have told the North they will be 
willing to talk about the North's proposal for "simultaneous 
actions." 

At cabinet-level inter-Korean talks that started on Tuesday in 
Seoul, North Korea made the sudden announcement that it wants to 
hold another round of six-way talks, perhaps to create an 
amicable atmosphere for the talks. 

Since the first round of six-way talks in August 2003, Korea and 
the U.S. have been negotiating with North Korea on agreeing to a 
"joint declaration" ahead of a second round of talks. But the 
U.S. and the North have been so far apart on the subject, so 
strategy changed in December to just trying to hold immediate 
talks without a prior declaration. 

The fact that the only agreement arrived at with North Korea over 
the last six months of negotiations is that there will be a 
second round of talks demonstrates how the prospects are not 
bright. The government sees this, and one official said "It's 
news when the North agrees to coming to these talks." 

"Even if we can't expect much from the upcoming six-way talks," 
said Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-Hyuck, the head of our 
delegation to the current cabinet-level talks in Seoul. "The 
position of each country will become clear." 

The North has been calling for something called "[North] 
Korea/U.S. simultaneous action" in what it suggests would be the 
first stage in resolving the nuclear crisis. It has announced on 
several occasions that aside from "stopping experimentation and 
production of nuclear weapons," it could also be willing to cease 
"the production of peaceful nuclear energy." In exchange, it 
wants to be removed from the United States' short list of 
terror-sponsoring nations, have a retraction of political, 
economic, and military sanctions and "blockades," and energy aid 
such as oil and electricity from neighboring nations. This would 
all happen "simultaneously." 

The Bush Administration has not looked on the North's proposal 
favorably. The U.S. is demanding the North issue a clear 
renouncement of nuclear weapons, since it was the North that 
violated the 1994 Geneva Agreement and the North that created the 
current crisis. Each side is expected to clash over the North's 
alleged highly enriched uranium (HEU) program for developing 
nuclear weapons. The North denies it has such a program, while 
the Bush Administration insists it is discussed at the next 
six-way talks. 

Korea and the U.S. have agreed to not entertaining high 
expectations for the talks, and have decided to work for the 
creation of a "six country working group." The group would meet 
on a smaller scale between sessions of the six-way talks, to 
focus on resolutions to the nuclear crisis in more detail. 

  by Lee Ha-won (may2@chosun.com)
*****************************************************************
 18 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: U.S. Commission on Intelligence Errors to Scrutinize NK   
 
      Updated Feb.3,2004 18:13 KST   
 

  by Joo Yong-jung (midway@chosun.com)
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A commission to be appointed by U.S President
Bush to investigate the failures of prewar intelligence on Iraq
will also review the possibility of other CIA errors related to
weapons of mass destruction in Iran, Libya and North Korea, the
Washington Post reported. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A commission to be appointed by U.S President
Bush to investigate the failures of prewar intelligence on Iraq
will also review the possibility of other CIA errors related to
weapons of mass destruction in Iran, Libya and North Korea, the
Washington Post reported. 
        
      The Washington Post article entitled, ��Intelligence Panel
Will Cast Net Beyond Iraq.��   

Bush said Monday that the nine-member commission would look at 
U.S. intelligence on weapons of mass destruction programs and 
proliferation, ��in a broader sense.�� 

The secret weapons development programs of Iraq, Iran, Libya and 
North Korea have been a top priority for U.S security officials, 
but U.S intelligence agencies have successively missed key 
information about weapons development in the countries, the 
newspaper said. Bush administration��s officials have been 
startled themselves, as the nuclear weapons programs of North 
Korea, Iran and Libya have been disclosed over the last few 
years, the Post reported. 

The Bush administration intends to include North Korea��s weapons 
of mass destruction in its investigation, because it has judged 
that it needs to deal with suspicions over information about the 
North��s WMD program, as Pyongyang and Beijing have denied the 
existence of the North��s nuclear weapons development program, 
which is said to use enriched uranium. 

President Bush is expected to issue an executive order to 
constitute the commission and to announce the list of members 
this weekend. Former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, 
former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey and former CIA director 
William Webster are being considered for seats on the commission, 
U.S. news agencies said. 

*****************************************************************
 19 BBC: N Korea nuclear talks date set 
 
  Last Updated: Tuesday, 3 February, 2004
 
[North Korean spent nuclear fuel rods in Yongbyon] North Korea 
will discuss its nuclear programme                                                          

North Korea has agreed to new six-way talks on its nuclear 
weapons programme, according to its state media. 

Discussions will begin on 25 February, involving the United 
States, North Korea and other major parties, KCNA news agency 
reported. 

China confirmed the date, but cautioned that resolving the 
nuclear stand-off would be a slow process. 

Talks involving the US, China, Japan, Russia and North and South 
Korea last August ended inconclusively. 

The crisis erupted in October, 2002, when US officials said North 
Korea admitted having an illicit nuclear weapons programme. 

'Dangerous and unstable' 

A statement from KCNA said: "The DPRK [North Korea] and the US, 
the major parties concerned to the six-way talks, and China, the 
host country, agreed to resume the next round of the six-way 
talks from February 25 after having a series of discussions." 

China - North Korea's closest ally - has been leading diplomatic 
efforts to get talks started again for months. 

"It is an important step in peacefully resolving the North Korean 
nuclear crisis," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue. 

"Of course we all know the North Korean issue is a complicated 
issue. It cannot be resolved through one or two meetings," she 
said. 

On Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said the 
deadlock over the nuclear crisis was a "dangerous and unstable 
situation". 

North Korea has demanded economic assistance and guarantees from 
the US that it will not launch an attack, but the US has insisted 
North Korea commit to dismantling its nuclear weapons programme 
first. 

The BBC's Jonathan Head says that once the next round of talks 
gets under way, negotiations are likely to focus on a detailed 
timetable for the concessions made by each side. 

Nuclear 'evidence' 

Last month, North Korea said it had shown its "nuclear deterrent" 
to an unofficial delegation from the United States. 

The US team confirmed they had seen the secret nuclear complex 
that Washington believes is being used to develop nuclear 
weapons. 

They were the first group from outside North Korea to visit the 
Yongbyon facility since the North expelled UN inspectors at the 
end of 2002. 

In 1994, North Korea agreed to halt activities at Yongbyon, 90 
kilometres (50 miles) north of the capital, Pyongyang, under a 
deal with the United States. 

But after that agreement broke down in late 2002, North Korea 
claimed to have finished reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods being 
stored at Yongbyon - enough to help it build up to six more 
nuclear weapons. 

The US has also said Pyongyang admitted to harbouring a separate, 
enriched uranium programme. 

Our correspondent says given the extent of mistrust between the 
two sides, any negotiations may move very slowly. 



*****************************************************************
 20 Washington Post: North Korea Agrees to New Talks on Nuclear Program
                 
     (washingtonpost.com)

By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, 
February 3, 2004; Page A15 

TOKYO, Feb. 3 -- North Korea agreed early Tuesday to a new round 
of six-nation talks later this month aimed at resolving a 
standoff over its nuclear program, according to the Pyongyang 
government's official news services. 

North Korea, the United States and China recently "held several 
rounds of consultations and agreed to hold six-nation talks 
beginning February 25," according to the KCNA news agency and 
Radio Pyongyang. 

The South Korean Foreign Ministry confirmed the report. 

The agreement comes six months after the first round of 
negotiations in Beijing among the United States, North Korea, 
South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. Those talks broke up 
without any significant progress being made. 

Tuesday's announcement also follows a recent flurry of diplomatic 
activity aimed at starting new talks with the North. James Kelly, 
the U.S. assistant secretary of state, met with South Korean 
Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon in Seoul on Monday and was scheduled 
to arrive in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss the North Korea issue. 

South Korea's official news service said the meeting later this 
month, like the first round of negotiations, would be held in 
China. It was not clear how long the talks would last, but the 
August round lasted three days. 

Analysts say expectations for a new round of talks are higher 
than in the past. Pyongyang has appeared ready to offer a freeze 
of its professed nuclear program in exchange for key demands, 
including economic assistance and a resumption of oil shipments. 
Washington has previously insisted that the North first agree to 
completely dismantle its nuclear program in a irreversible and 
verifiable manner. 

Before the North Korean announcement of new talks, Secretary of 
State Colin L. Powell expressed optimism about the possibility 
for advancing negotiations with Pyongyang. In an interview with 
Washington Post reporters and editors on Monday, he said he did 
not want any future meeting "to be another exchange of talking 
points." 

Powell added that the process had been slowed because North Korea 
appeared to have certain expectations about the visit last month 
by an unofficial delegation to its nuclear facility at Yongbyon. 
The North Koreans displayed what they described as reprocessed 
plutonium. 

"The message they should have gotten back was that 'Fine, you 
showed these two groups what you showed them. You didn't add -- 
it seemed to us anyway -- to the body of information known about 
your activities. Now let's get on with it and let's find a 
diplomatic solution.' " 

The current nuclear standoff between North Korea and the United 
States began in 2002 when the United States accused the communist 
government of secretly trying to enrich uranium, and the 
government surprised U.S. officials by admitting it in private 
talks. Since then, however, the Pyongyang government has 
insistently denied it ever acknowledged to U.S. representatives 
that it tried to enrich uranium for weapons use. 

Staff writer Glenn Kessler in Washington contributed to this 
report. 


               � 2004 The Washington Post Company
*****************************************************************
 21 Xinhuanet: Chronology of key events in nuke issue on Korean Peninsula   
 
  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-02-03 18:37:35   

    BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The second round of the 
six-party talks on nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula will 
open in Beijing on Feb. 25, it was announced by the Korean 
Central News Agency (KCNA) of the Democratic People's Republic of 
Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday. The following is a chronology of key 
events in the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula since 1991. 
     
    1991:  

    Dec. 31 -- The DPRK and South Korea sign a joint declaration
on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. 

    1992: 

    Jan. 30 -- The DPRK and the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) sign comprehensive safeguards agreement in Vienna. 

    Feb. 19 -- In the sixth round of inter-Korean talks, the
prime ministers of the DPRK and South Korea respectively read
out an agreement on reconciliation, non-aggression, exchanges
and cooperation, and a joint declaration on the denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula. The two documents were approved by DPRK
leader Kim Il Sung and South Korean President Roh Tae-woo. 

    1993: 

    March 12 -- The DPRK announces that it would withdraw from
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in three months,
citing the continuance by South Korea and the United States of
their "Team Spirit" joint military maneuvers and the IAEA's
demand that the DPRK's military facilities be subject to
inspection. The DPRK joined the NPT in late 1985. 

    June 2-11 -- The DPRK and the United States hold formal
talks for the first time in New York. In a joint statement
issued at the end of the fourth round of talks, the two sides
agree on assurances against the threat and use of force,
including nuclear weapons, on peace and security in a
nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, including impartial application
of full-scope safeguards, mutual respect for each other's
sovereignty, and non-interference in each other's internal
affairs, and on support for the peaceful reunification on the
Korean Peninsula. The DPRK announces the suspension of its
withdrawal from the NPT. 

    July 14-19 -- The DPRK and the United States hold their
second formal talks in Geneva. The DPRK agrees to have dialogues
with the IAEA as soon as possible and the United States says it
would help the DPRK reconstruct its nuclear reactors. 

    1994: 

    July 8-Aug. 12 -- The DPRK and the United States hold their
third formal talks in Geneva. In a joint statement the DPRK
agrees to replace the existing graphite-moderated nuclear
reactors with light-water reactors. The United States promises
to provide a light-water reactor and alternative energy to the
DPRK. 

    Oct. 21 -- The DPRK and the United States sign Framework
Agreement in Geneva. Under the accord, the DPRK agrees to freeze
its existing nuclear program in exchange for the construction of
one 2,000-megawatt light-water reactor or two 1,000-megawatt
ones by the United States within 10 years. Before the completion
of the light-water project, the United States and other
countries would provide heavy oil to the DPRK for energy
compensation.
                                
                                
  Copyright �2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 22 USA Wants To Test Nuke Weapons Again
 
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 02:48:44 -0500

 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign"
<nonukes@foesyd.org.au>
To: <Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 11:57 PM
Subject: [abolition-caucus] US Nuke Testing All
Over Again

   Nuclear Testing

January 30, 2004 Episode no. 722
(PBS)


  http://www.pbs.org
  http://snipurl.com/49p5


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week722/cover.html

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: We have a special report
today on the debate
over new atomic testing. The administration has
proposed that testing
resume in Nevada -- underground -- to develop
so-called bunker
busters: nuclear weapons that could destroy
whatever was hidden deep
in the ground. The proposal has raised many
questions, military,
political, and moral, about whether resumed
testing would advance
national security and, if it would, how to balance
that against the
fears of people who live downwind from the test
site. Lucky Severson
reports.

LUCKY SEVERSON: For 47 years, until the first
President Bush signed a
moratorium in 1992, the U.S. government tested
nearly 2,200 atomic
devices, an average of one every eight days. Over
500 were open-air
tests, many in the Nevada desert northwest of Las
Vegas. Now the
administration of President George W. Bush has
asked Congress for
funding to study and develop new types of nuclear
weapons, and to
prepare the old Nevada site to resume testing on
short notice.

(To Baker Spring, Heritage Foundation): Would you
sleep better
knowing that we were resuming nuclear testing?

BAKER SPRING (Arms Control Expert, Heritage
Foundation): Absolutely.
Absolutely.

SEVERSON: Baker Spring is an arms control expert
with the Heritage
Foundation, a conservative think tank. He says the
Bush
administration's rationale to upgrade its aging
nuclear arsenal and
develop new, smaller weapons makes sense.

Mr. SPRING: It is based on, in my judgment, the
correct perception
that we're in a completely different strategic
environment than we
were in the Cold War. As a result, we may need
different tools to
maintain deterrence in a post-Cold War world.

SEVERSON: It's the so-called rogue nations like
North Korea and Iran
that worry the administration, particularly their
deep bunkers that
may be hiding weapons of mass destruction. So the
Pentagon wants to
develop low-yield bombs that can destroy those
bunkers. Critics say
it's a dangerous policy because it proposes using
battlefield nuclear
weapons to destroy even non-nuclear targets like
chemical and
biological weapon stockpiles. Daryl Kimball is
with the Arms Control
Association.

DARYL KIMBALL (Executive Director, Arms Control
Association): I think
it's a very dangerous notion to suggest that
nuclear weapons should
be viewed as just another weapon in our arsenal.
By any standard,
these are, no matter who has them, weapons of mass
terror and
destruction. So the U.S. should not try to expand
the role of nuclear
weapons from deterring nuclear threats to
deterring chemical and
biological threats.

Mr. SPRING: Nuclear weapons are inanimate objects.
They don't have
any moral content. It is the purposes for which
they are used that
have moral content. I think that is what we have
to focus on.

SEVERSON: One of the biggest concerns among
critics is that it will
provoke a new nuclear arms race.

Mr. SPRING: I disagree fundamentally. I think on
balance, the U.S.
nuclear deterrent is actually having the effect of
dampening down the
appetite for nuclear weapons and in the context of
adversaries, like
North Korea, who, I think, if they saw the U.S.
was really traveling
down the path of unilateral nuclear abolition,
would actually
increase the appetite for nuclear weapons.

Mr. KIMBALL: The fact that the U.S. has nuclear
weapons that can
destroy Teheran and Pyongyang has not deterred
either state from
pursing nuclear weapons so far. The fact that the
U.S. is developing
new kinds of nuclear weapons to strike leadership
targets in those
countries is making the leaders in those states
even more committed
to developing the kinds of deterrent capabilities
that can stop a
U.S. attack.

SEVERSON: After an extended debate on Capitol
Hill, Congress, in
November, voted to approve even more funding than
the administration
requested. The debate was intense, but it was
little noticed outside
of Washington, except in communities near the
Nevada test site.

Like St. George, Utah, where there are a large
number of people who
are extremely upset about the prospect of new
testing. Michelle
Thomas, for instance.

MICHELLE THOMAS (St. George Resident): You can't
say to the world
that "We're not going to allow you to have these
kinds of weapons,
you don't know how to handle them," and turn
around and do it
yourself -- that's hypocrisy in its highest form.

SEVERSON: Michelle Thomas and thousands like her
call themselves
"downwinders" -- downwind from the test site. Mary
Dixon, an
executive at Salt Lake public television station
KUED, is a
downwinder. She's unalterably opposed to more
testing.

MARY DIXON (Creative Director, KUED-TV): I think
to do that again, to
me, that's immoral. Why? Because you do not put
your own people at
risk. You just do not do that. This government's
job is to safeguard
its citizens. That's not protecting us. That is
putting us at risk.

SEVERSON: The reason downwinders are so angry is
because of their
personal tragic experience with radioactive
fallout. Many were living
here during the above-ground testing that ended in
1963. They were
assured by the government that the tests were
safe, that there was
nothing to fear. Claudia Peterson is a
downwinder -- a cancer victim.

CLAUDIA PETERSON: My biggest fear as a child was
what the Russians
were going to do to us, not what our own
government was doing to us.

SEVERSON: It wasn't until the late 1970s when the
truth came out that
the U.S. government had deliberately timed dozens
of atomic
atmospheric explosions on days when the wind blew
across communities
in rural southern Utah. The wind carried dangerous
levels of
radiation. But the news came as no surprise here.

Local cemeteries are filled with an unusually high
number of cancer
victims. One was Mary Dixon's sister.

Ms. DIXON: We've lived with this legacy; we are
still living with
this legacy. People are still getting sick from
the fallout that
happened in the '50s and '60s. The way radiation
works is it doesn't
make you sick right away. It mutates cells and
affects you. And
thyroid cancer, that one that I got, can take up
to 27 years to show
its effects.

SEVERSON: But the radiation didn't stop in the
West. It dusted
communities across America. The largest doses were
in upstate New
York. The National Cancer Institute reports that
there may be as many
as 75,000 cases of thyroid cancer among those
exposed, although the
institute says there is no "certain" link.

Ms. THOMAS: With the kind of breast cancer I got,
they knew it was a
fallout-related one because it was the same kind
the women in
Nagasaki and Hiroshima got so many years after the
attack there.

SEVERSON: Finally, in the early 1980s, Congress
determined that there
were indeed casualties of testing and set up a
fund to award victims
and their families, particularly those who
suffered specific kinds of
thyroid cancer and leukemia. By mid-June of 2002,
4,200 downwinders
had been compensated.

The only Utah politician who voted against a new
study was
Congressman Jim Matheson. It was his father,
Governor Scott Matheson,
who spearheaded the battle to get compensation. A
few years later,
his father died of one of the cancers covered in
the downwind
legislation.

Rep. JIM MATHESON (D-UT): It was a situation where
the government
lied, and it's something that a lot of people in
southern Utah feel
strongly about; and it touched my family in many
ways, so I feel
strongly as well.

SEVERSON: The government argues that new tests
would be safer,
because they will be conducted underground. People
here disagree.

Rep. MATHESON: Even the underground tests did emit
radiation into the
atmosphere, so I don't feel that it's safe just
because it's
underground. It may be different from the
above-ground testing, but
it still causes a lot of concern for me.

SEVERSON: Over the years, southern Utah has become
a popular
retirement center with thousands of new residents,
some of whom are
more inclined to trust the judgment of the
government. Russ Butcher
is a retired computer scientist.

RUSS BUTCHER (Retired Computer Scientist): Because
of the way I feel
about our way of life and how we've gotten to
where we are as
Americans and the type of freedom we enjoy, and I
know it's under
constant threat, if it requires nuclear [weapons],
then I would have
to say I am for it. I think America will always be
trusted not to use
something like that unless it is an absolute must.

FRED ESPLIN (Vice President of Relations,
University of Utah): I
think we have been far too cavalier in assuming
our own virtues and
our motives in this.

SEVERSON: Many Utahans, like Fred Esplin, a
downwinder, understand
the administration's "compelling" reasons to
upgrade our nuclear
arsenal but still question the morality and wisdom
of it.

Mr. ESPLIN: I do believe that the United States is
and continues to
be the last best hope for democratic reform around
the world. How we
go about it, and whether we are throwing our
weight around or whether
we work collaboratively and cooperatively with
other people, has
long-term implications. We have had far too much
of the former and
far too little of the latter.

SEVERSON: Congressional supporters say just
because $29 million has
been approved for research doesn't mean the
government will actually
get down to testing. But arms control analyst
Baker Spring says he
won't be at all surprised if testing resumes as
soon as possible.

Mr. SPRING: No, I wouldn't be, and the reason I
wouldn't be is that
most people agree that if you're going to treat an
entirely new
nuclear weapon, you're going to need to test it.
...

Mr. ESPLIN: There are all of the assurances of
safety, but you have
people that have been burned once and aren't
prepared to be burned
twice, literally burned once and don't want to be
burned again.

Mr. SPRING: Is it completely risk free? No
activity is. But I think
we can clearly reassure the people of Nevada and
Utah that there is
going to be absolutely ironclad commitment to
making this activity as
safe and reliable as possible.

Ms. DIXON: I cannot ever again believe assurances
that this is 100
percent safe. I just cannot believe assurances
anymore. I will always
be skeptical.

SEVERSON: The earliest testing could resume is
2006. By then, there
will be intense public debate that will reach
beyond the safety,
security, and strategic concerns to the moral
implications of
resuming nuclear testing. For RELIGION & ETHICS
NEWSWEEKLY, I'm Lucky
Severson from St. George, Utah.

-- 


    Posted for educational and research purposes
only,
~   in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107
~


*****************************************************************
 23 USATODAY.com - Budget summary: Major agencies
 
  Posted 2/2/2004 3:25 PM     Updated 2/3/2004 9:16 AM   

The Associated Press WASHINGTON � Here are agency-by-agency 
highlights of budget proposals involving major federal 
governmental departments. 

Department of Agriculture: Spending: $83.3 billion; percentage
change from 2004: +6.2%. 

" Would cut discretionary spending from $20.7 billion this year
to $19.1 billion, a decrease of 8.1%, the biggest cut for a
major government agency. 

" Would cut the Crop Insurance Fund by 6.9%, to $3.7 billion.
The fund subsidizes premiums for coverage against plunges in
crop prices. 

" Would add $60 million for programs targeting mad cow disease. 
More than three-fourths of all Agriculture Department spending
is on mandatory programs, like food stamps and crop subsidies,
where benefits are set by law. 

The cut in the crop insurance program is based largely on USDA's
expectations of how bad the weather will be. The budget could be
revised upward if drought or other natural disasters raise
costs. 

Natural resources and environmental programs took big hits in
the proposed budget. The Forest Service fell 7.6% to $4.2
billion. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, which gives
farmers advice and assistance on soil and water conservation and
similar programs, was budgeted $2.9 billion, down 4.1% 
The mad cow funds include $33 million to speed development of a
national animal identification system and $17 million to test
for mad cow disease at farms and rendering plants. Agriculture
Secretary Ann Veneman announced the mad cow proposals last week,
along with $178 million to complete renovation of the National
Centers for Animal Health in Ames, Iowa. The animal disease
complex funding is part of USDA's growing food
security-bioterror infrastructure. 

The budget also would allocate $1 million to investigate whether
cattle producers were victimized by the plunge in cattle prices
after the mad cow outbreak. Another agency, the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission, is investigating whether some cattle
traders got word of the infected Holstein before the Agriculture
Department announced it. 

Commerce Department: Spending: $5.8 billion; percentage change
from 2004: -1%. 

" Discretionary spending by the department would fall 1% to $5.7
billion. The other $100 million in the department's budget is
for programs already mandated in existing law. 
" Would provide $180 million extra to Census Bureau for
continued improvements to the design of the 2010 census and the
information it provides. 

" Would provide $12.2 million to the Bureau of Economic Analysis
to improve the accuracy and timeliness of the some key economic
indicators. Among other things, the money would be used to speed
up the release of quarterly reports on gross domestic product 
the broadest measure of the economy's health  and monthly trade
reports. The release of each report would be accelerated by two
weeks. 

" Would cut money available for grant programs under the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration. 
Commerce Secretary Don Evans praised the extra money going to
the BEA for more timely economic reports. "By providing business
leaders and government policymakers the information they need
when they need it, we help them make informed decisions that
affect jobs, income and economic growth." 

Department of Defense: Spending: $402.6 billion; percentage
change from 2004: -9% (Excludes most costs for Iraq and
Afghanistan). 

" The 9% reduction reflects the administration's decision to
exclude from the 2005 budget most of cost of occupation of Iraq
and ongoing operations in Afghanistan. The White House said
Monday that up to $50 billion will be requested for those
operations in coming months. 

" Includes $10.2 billion for missile defense. Some of the money
would pay for the deployment of a batch of long-range missile
interceptors at Fort Greeley, Alaska, and Vandenburg Air Force
Base, Calif. The Pentagon expects to have 20 interceptors in
place at the two locations by the end of 2005. These missiles
are designed to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles
fired by North Korea. 

" Would fund a 3.5% base pay raise for military personnel. 

" Includes $1.2 billion to develop the Army's RAH-66 Comanche
combat and scout helicopter. 

" Would spend $3.1 billion on the F/A-18 Hornet program. The
money includes the purchase of 42 of the carrier-based fighters. 

" Includes almost $3.2 billion for an Army modernization program
called Future Combat Systems, which is developing an array of
military gear for soldiers to use in 2010 and afterward. This is
nearly double this year's spending. 

" Would spend $4.2 billion on the F/A-22 Raptor program. The
money would fund the purchase of 24 of the next-generation Air
Force fighter. 

" Would spend $1.9 billion on unmanned aerial vehicles, a $600
million increase over this year. 

" Would spend $4.5 billion on the Joint Strike Fighter, a
next-generation all-purpose fighter. Defense officials say the
design for the plane has grown heavier during development and it
will cost more than originally proposed. It has not been
determined whether the military would buy fewer planes once it
is finished, or spend more. 

" Would spend $1.7 billion on the V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor
aircraft sought by the Marines and Air Force. It has suffered
several deadly crashes in development. The funding, only
slightly higher than this year, would buy 11 aircraft. 

" Includes $352 million to develop the "littoral combat ship," a
small coastal warship for the Navy. 

Department of Education: Spending: $66.4 billion; percentage
change from 2003: +5%. 

" Would increase aid to poor school districts by $1 billion, to
$13.3 billion. 

" Would increase spending on education for children with
disabilities by $1 billion, to $11 billion. 

" Would include $50 million for new school voucher programs and
another $14 million for the second year of private-school
vouchers for poor students in the District of Columbia. 

" Would increase funding for Pell Grants, which help needy
students attend college, from $12 billion to $12.8 billion. 

" Would cut $1.4 billion from a range of other areas, including
vocational education, the Even Start family literacy program,
arts in education and parent assistance centers. 

Bush wants to increase discretionary spending on education  the
spending not mandated by law  by 3%, to $57.3 billion. For the
federal government, that would mark a 43% increase on
elementary, secondary and higher education since Bush took
office. 

The spending plan keeps a focus on the bipartisan No Child Left
Behind, the 2001 law that demands more progress from the
nation's students and sets sanctions for poor schools that don't
show enough achievement. The budget would advance Bush's agenda
of school choice, including private-school vouchers, and put
added emphasis on high school rigor. 

Critics say the signature spending increases for poor schools
and special education fall far short of what students need and
what federal officials have promised. 



Energy Department: Spending: $22.1 billion; percentage change
from 2004: +5.3%. 

" Discretionary spending on all Energy Department programs would
increase by 1.2%, to a total of $23.6 billion. Increases in
nuclear security spending, nuclear waste disposal and cleanup of
radioactive waste are offset somewhat by less proposed spending
for energy resources, science and technology and environmental
research programs. 

" Would boost spending by 4.4%, to $9 billion, for the
semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, which
manages nuclear weapons programs. That includes earmarks of $6.6
billion, an increase of $332 million, for maintaining current
nuclear warheads. 

" Calls for spending $7.4 billion for environmental cleanup of
radioactive waste left over from Cold War nuclear weapons
production, an increase of $373 million, or 5.3%, over last
year. 

" Would spend $303 million, 52.5% more than Congress is
providing this year, to move ahead with a proposed nuclear waste
site in Nevada. Much of that money would go for obtaining a
federal permit for the project. 

" Calls for $287 million for research into clean coal
technology, a 60% increase from last year, as part of a 10-year,
$2 billion program. 

" Would provide $228 million, or 43% more than last year, as
part of a $1.7 billion, five-year program to promote development
of hydrogen fuel-cells for cars and small power stations. 

" Proposes spending $502 million, or 22% less than last year,
for research into the long-term health and environmental
consequences of energy use and development. That includes
programs for global climate change; air, land and marine
environments; and biological effects of radiation. 

Environmental Protection Agency: Spending: $7.6 billion;
percentage change from 2004: -8.9%. 

" Discretionary spending on all EPA programs would decrease by
7.2%, to a total of $7.8 billion. The agency's overall spending
would be less because it is offset by money recovered from
companies responsible for toxic waste cleanups. 

" Would boost spending from $5 million this year to $65 million
in fiscal 2005 for a new program to reduce diesel emissions from
school buses. 

" Proposes spending 9.9% more, or $1.4 billion, for Superfund
cleanups not paid for by polluters found responsible for some of
the nation's worst contamination. Also, spending to clean up
low-level contamination on industrial sites, called
"brownfields," would increase 30%, to $121 million. 

The department's 8.9% decrease in overall spending would result
primarily from a $492 million reduction in low interest loans to
states and communities for clean water pollution control
projects. Funding would drop from $1.3 billion to $850 million. 

Another $335 million spending cut would come in allocations to
local governments to improve wastewater, storm water and
drinking water facilities. Last year's budget provided $429
million. 

Department of Health and Human Services: Spending: $571.6
billion; percentage change from 2004: +2.7%. 

" Discretionary spending on all HHS programs would decrease by
1.6%, to $68.2 billion. 

" Would decrease spending for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention by $408 million, or 8.9%. 

" Would increase spending at the Food and Drug Administration by
$109 million, or 7.9%, including an additional $8.3 million for
enforcement of animal feed regulations designed to prevent
spread of mad cow disease. 

" Would increase spending on defense against bioterror attacks
by $160 million, or 4%, focusing on rapid detection and enhanced
border security. 

More than 85% of the HHS budget is for mandatory payments for
Medicare and Medicaid, the government health insurance programs
for seniors and the poor, respectively. Among the new
initiatives proposed by the Bush administration is the promotion
of marriage among low-income Americans, at a cost of $120
million, to be matched by participating states. 

The administration is saying that the overhaul of Medicare and a
new prescription drug benefit for seniors will cost a third more
over 10 years  $534 billion instead of $395 billion  than
lawmakers thought when they narrowly approved the legislation
two months ago. The difference in the 2005 spending year would
be $7 billion. The differences are attributable to differing
assumptions about the number of low-income participants in the
drug benefit and how many seniors will sign up for managed care
plans under Medicare. The administration assumes that by 2009,
at least 30% of Medicare beneficiaries, roughly 12 million
people, will be in managed care plans, twice the estimate of the
Congressional Budget Office. 

Department of Homeland Security: Spending: $31.4 billion;
percentage change from 2004: +8.9%. 

" Would increase discretionary spending by 4.6% to $28.3
billion. The other $3.1 billion in the department's budget would
fund programs already mandated by existing laws. 

" Calls for over $890 million  a 20% increase  to enhance
aviation and transportation security to improve integration of
baggage screening equipment at airports and improve efficiency. 

" Proposes $3.6 billion in grants to first responders 
firefighters, police and other local counterterrorism
authorities  a 3% increase over last year. However, it calls
for an 18% cut in overall spending for the Office of Domestic
Preparedness. 

" Calls for a 9% increase for the Coast Guard, with $490 million
in additional funding to upgrade port security and other needs. 

The president's budget funds the department's second full year
of operations. Government-wide, the Bush administration is
seeking $47.4 billion in homeland security funding, an increase
of 14.4%. That includes $8 billion for military spending on
homeland security and $2.5 billion for Project BioShield, a
program to develop and purchase vaccines, drugs and other tools
for biodefenses. Project Bioshield, which received $885 million
in 2004, has been placed in a special budget category so it
doesn't have to compete with other homeland security
appropriations. 

The budget proposes a 10% increase in non-defense homeland
security spending across the government. 

Department of Housing and Urban Development: Spending: $34
billion; percentage change from 2003: -1.9%. 

" Would increase discretionary spending by 3.9%, to $31.3
billion. The remaining $2.7 billion in the HUD budget would fund
programs already mandated by law. 

" Would increase funding for the Housing Certificate Fund, which
includes a popular housing voucher program that helps low-income
families pay rent, by 9%, to $16.9 billion. 

" Would revamp housing voucher programs with a goal of giving
local and state housing authorities more flexibility in helping
low-income families. 

" Proposes $50 million more to help move chronically homeless
persons into permanent housing with supportive services. 

About 2 million families receive the housing vouchers. HUD says
changes are needed in the voucher programs to give local
agencies more flexibility in helping low-income families, but
critics fear the proposal may result in far fewer families
getting vouchers. 

It's the second straight year the administration has proposed
revamping the voucher program. A proposal last year to give
states control of the $12 billion program met stiff opposition
in Congress. 

HUD continues to focus on reducing chronic homelessness through
programs that partner with the Departments of Veterans Affairs
and Health and Human Services. 

The administration says a proposal to allow first-time home
buyers to take out government-insured loans without making down
payments will help achieve Bush's goal of 5.5 million new
minority homebuyers by 2010. People who take out a zero down
loan would have to make higher monthly payments, so the proposal
would not cost additional money to taxpayers. 

Department of Justice: Spending: $21.8 billion; percentage
change from 2004: -12.7%. 

" Discretionary spending on all Justice Department programs
would decrease by 3.1%, to a total of $18.7 billion. 

" Would boost spending on counterterrorism programs by 19%, to
$2.6 billion. 

" Would increase FBI budget by 11%, to $5.1 billion, including
an increase of $60 million for counterterrorism investigations,
$55 million to combat cybercrime and $52 million for
counterintelligence and counterespionage programs. 

" Proposes adding 123 Drug Enforcement Administration agents and
support staff at a cost of $35 million to restore drug
investigations to their pre-Sept. 11 strength. 

Much of the proposed spending increases for the Justice
Department and FBI reflect the top two priorities of combatting
terrorism and foreign espionage. 

The Bush administration says more FBI and DEA agents are needed
to replace those transferred to counterterrorism duties after
the 2001 terror attacks. The administration wants to focus on
disrupting 40 major drug organizations. 

The budget proposes a moratorium on new prison construction and
promotes using outside contractors to provide more prison space,
with a goal of paying for an additional 4,500 beds in 2005. 

The department's 12.7% decrease in overall spending results
primarily from a reduction of $931 million in spending from the
crime victims fund, which has had savings of over $1 billion in
each of the last two years. 

Department of Labor: Spending: $57.3 billion; percentage change
from 2003: -4.5%. 

" Would increase discretionary spending by 1.3%, to $11.9
billion. The other $45.4 billion in the labor budget is to fund
programs already mandated by law. 

" Would add $79 million to job training and employment services,
including $250 million for a new community college initiative to
train workers in high-growth fields. Would provide $50 million
to provide personal re-employment accounts. The program was
proposed last year but did not get funded. This time, a pilot
program is proposed. 

" Would change how job training programs are administered, by
cutting migrant and seasonal farm worker programs and youth
opportunity grants and consolidating them into general block
grant programs that would let states decide how to spend the
money. 

" Would cut $79 million from the Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, which promotes labor standards internationally and
supports efforts to combat child labor. 

" Would raise civil monetary penalties for child labor
violations and mine safety violations, and for late filing of
financial reports by unions and employers. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Spending: $16.2
billion; percentage change from 2004: +5.6%. 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's budget would
increase by nearly $900 million, reflecting President Bush's
plan to refocus the agency on returning to the moon and then
exploring Mars and beyond in coming decades. 

In addition to the increase, NASA is planning to reallocate $11
billion over the next five years for the effort. 

The budget for fiscal 2005 includes $4.1 billion for space
science, encompassing $1.2 billion for solar system exploration,
$691 million for Mars and $70 million for moon preparations.

There is also $1.1 billion for space telescopes, including the
Hubble, which is proposed for shutdown in future, though an
effort in Congress is underway to keep it in service. 

Space flight also would see a boost, from $5.8 billion to $6.6
billion, and studies in biophysical science also would grow in
preparation for lengthy space flights. NASA'a earth science
spending is slated to shrink from $1.52 billion to $1.48
billion, and spending on aeronautics also would decline. 

"We're not going there to put flags and footprints, but to
answer compelling questions about the origin of the universe and
whether life exists elsewhere," said NASA Comptroller Steve
Isakowitz. 

Securities and Exchange Commission: Spending: $913 million;
percentage change from 2004: +13%. 

" Priorities include hiring 106 new attorneys and accountants to
handle the SEC's huge caseload in the aftermath of the corporate
scandals, and for tightened oversight of mutual funds following
revelations of widespread trading and marketing abuses. 

" The $913 million request includes $20 million which the agency
was unable to spend last year because it couldn't hire new
professionals fast enough. Under landmark anti-fraud legislation
enacted in 2002, Congress gave the SEC expanded powers and
almost doubled its budget. 

Social Security Administration: Spending: $53.7 billion;
percentage change from 2004: +10.7%. 

" Discretionary spending would increase by 5.9% to $7.6 billion.
The other $46.1 billion in the Social Security budget is for
programs already mandated by existing law. Social Security
payments, which are estimated to total $519 billion next year,
are not considered part of the federal budget. 

" Would increase spending for the Office of the Inspector
General to focus on investigating and prosecuting identity theft
crimes. 

" Would increase administrative spending to increase
productivity, detect and prevent erroneous payments, decrease
backlogs and help administer the new Medicare prescription drug
benefit. 

Department of Transportation: Spending: $58.4 billion;
percentage change from 2004: -0.3%. 

" Would cut discretionary spending by 3.9%, to 13.3 billion. 

" Would increase spending on highways and public transit over
the next six years from $247 billion to $256 billion. 

" Would cut by 13.6% the Federal Aviation Administration's
budget for modernizing air traffic control equipment and
facilities. 

" Would cut Amtrak funding from $1.2 billion to $900 million, or
25%, unless the administration's proposal to restructure the
nation's passenger railway is adopted. Then, funding would
increase to $1.4 billion. 

With worsening highway congestion a hindrance to economic
productivity, President Bush wants to spend 3.6% more for
highways and transit over the next six years than he proposed in
May. That amount is still less than the $300 million Senate and
House leaders have proposed as a minimum. Despite expected
increases in air travel delays, money for upgrading air traffic
control equipment and towers would be cut. Leonardo Alcivar,
Transportation Department spokesman, said the FAA's main
priorities will continue to be funded. 

Treasury Department: Spending: $396.5 billion; percentage change
from 2004: +7.3%. 

" Discretionary spending for the department's agencies  the
biggest slice of which goes to the Internal Revenue Service 
would total $10.8 billion, down slightly from $11.2 billion in
2004. 

" Biggest chunk of money  $350 billion  goes for interest
payments to finance the nation's debt, which now stands at
around $7 trillion. 

" The budget would provide $300 million to go after tax cheats 
especially those involved in illegal tax shelters  and to
increase the number of audits to ensure compliance with tax
laws. And, $285 million would be provided to continuing
modernizing IRS' computer systems. 

" The budget would provide $65 million to Treasury's Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, which plays an important role in the
government's efforts to put terrorist financiers and money
launders out of business. That's $8 million more than the 2004
estimate. 

" The department said its key priorities are making President
Bush's tax cuts permanent; improving tax compliance and
modernizing IRS' computer systems; and fighting the financial
war on terrorism. 

Department of Veterans Affairs: Spending: $65.3 billion;
percentage change from 2004: +8.3%. 

" Would increase discretionary spending on veterans programs by
1.8%, to $29.7 billion. 

" Proposes a $250 annual enrollment fee for veterans with the
highest incomes and no service connected health issues. 

" Would increase copayments for outpatient pharmacy services for
high-income veterans to $15 per 30-day supply of medication. The
current pharmacy copayment is $7. 

" Would eliminate waiting lists for veterans for medical care
this year. 

Veterans Affairs again is pushing an idea that has proved
unpopular with many veterans service groups  the $250
enrollment fee and $15 prescription drug copayment for
high-income veterans no service-connected health problems.

Congress rejected similar proposals for the 2004 budget, but
provided $700 million more for VA than President Bush requested. 
The budget includes $524 million for construction following VA
Secretary Anthony Principi's decisions on a proposal to overhaul
the agency's hospitals and other health facilities. 

Another $38.7 billion is budgeted for entitlement programs in
the VA, such as providing monthly stipends to disabled veterans,
and housing and burial benefits. 

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 24 Las Vegas RJ: Assembly speaker endorses Kerry 
 
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
 

Perkins calls senator `best fit for Nevada' By ERIN NEFF
REVIEW-JOURNAL
 

As seven states start casting their preference for the
Democratic presidential nominee today, Nevadans are lining up
behind the man they consider the "real deal."
 
 On Monday, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins became the
highest-ranking Democratic official in the state to endorse Sen.
John Kerry, D-Mass.
 
 "I'm hopeful he'll win our caucuses," said Perkins,
D-Henderson. "I think he's the best fit for Nevada. He was a war
hero, and he is an absolute no on Yucca Mountain."
 
 In a news release, Kerry said he was grateful to have Perkins'
support. Several candidates had sought his endorsement over
several months.
 
 "Every one of the campaigns called," Perkins said.
 
 The endorsement came after weekend calls to Kerry's campaign
staff in Washington, D.C., as Kerry hopped across the nation
with new national polling data suggesting he leads President
Bush by 2 percentage points in a general election matchup.
 
 Perkins' support adds momentum to a campaign once thought dead
in Nevada amid the estimated 3,000 Democrats pledging support
for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
 
 Kerry's campaign in Nevada is led by former Rep. Jim Bilbray
and by state Sen. Terry Care, the former state party chairman.
 
 State Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, Assemblyman Tom
Collins, D-North Las Vegas, and state and local education
officials have endorsed Kerry.
 
 Local Kerry supporters will meet tonight at The Tap House,
anchored by local members of the International Association of
Fire Fighters and the Democratic politicians who have endorsed
the Massachusetts senator. 
"We're absolutely thrilled to have the speaker's endorsement,"
said Erin Bilbray, a spokeswoman for Kerry's campaign in Nevada.
"I think people are coming on board this campaign because they
are looking at his record. It's always been against Yucca
Mountain and pro-gaming."
 
 Mike Sloan, general counsel and executive vice president at
Mandalay Resort Group, is endorsing Kerry.
 
 Today's results in key states such as Missouri, South Carolina,
Arizona and New Mexico probably will affect Nevada's Feb. 14
Democratic caucuses more so than previous votes in Iowa or New
Hampshire.
 
 Local supporters of North Carolina Sen. John Edwards are
hopeful Edwards can win South Carolina and boost his campaign.
 
 "A lot is riding on South Carolina," said Justin Gilbert, who
is organizing support for Edwards.
 
 Nevadans for Dean spokesman Billy Rogers said he is hopeful
that Dean will come into Nevada's caucuses with strength.
 
 "Dean will likely lose all seven states (tonight)," Rogers
said. "But we'll see what happens on Saturday with the caucuses
in Michigan and in Washington state."
 
 Rogers said that if Dean does well Saturday, he can continue to
have strong grass-roots support in Nevada.
 
 Dean then could use the Nevada caucuses to help boost his
chances for delegates in Wisconsin, a state considered key to
the new Dean strategy.
 
 Local supporters of retired Gen. Wesley Clark are hoping for a
strong showing and possibly a victory in Oklahoma today to give
their candidate momentum heading into Nevada.
 
 
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
 25 TOMPAINE.com: Nothing To Preempt
 
  Ray McGovern, a 27-year career analyst with the CIA, is 
co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and 
co-director of the Servant Leadership School, an outreach 
ministry in the inner city of Washington, DC.                                                   

Finally, some honesty. But mounting problems for the White House. 

The CIA's chief weapons inspector, David Kay, has driven the 
final nail into the coffin where rests the Bush administration's 
policy of preemptive war. �It turns out that there was nothing to 
preempt. 

Which calls into question the real reason why more than 500 U.S. 
troops have been killed and at least 6,000 severely wounded�and 
why untold thousands of Iraqi army conscripts and civilians have 
also been killed. �(Precise figures are impossible to come by 
since U.S. casualties are flown back to the United States in the 
dead of night, and proconsul Paul Bremer has instructed Iraqi 
authorities to stop counting civilian casualties.) 

Nothing to preempt also means that the U.S./UK attack on Iraq 
last March falls into the category of "preventive war" explicitly 
condemned by international law. �Which also means that the 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's political career is probably 
finished, as is the political future of other gullible leaders of 
the "coalition of the willing"�in Australia, for example, and in 
even in Denmark. 

You will not have heard this on FOX news, but the Australian 
Senate has already formally censured Prime Minister John Howard 
for misleading the country on Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction" 
(WMD) and for suppressing a key report from Australian 
intelligence warning that still more widespread terrorism could 
be expected to follow any attack on Iraq. 

The fact that Kay came up empty-handed also means that the 
transparently disingenuous remarks of President George W. Bush 
and his senior aides in attempting to justify the invasion and 
occupation of Iraq will fall far short of what the White House 
needs in order to defend the most misguided and destructive U.S. 
foreign policy decision since Vietnam. 

Announcing last week that he was leaving his job as 
searcher-in-chief for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, 
Kay dared not say "Mission Accomplished." �Rather, he said he 
believed that "probably 85 percent of the significant things" 
have now been found�but no WMD. � He dutifully urged that the 
other 15 percent be pursued under his successor, Charles Duelfer, 
but Duelfer is openly skeptical that he will have any better 
luck. 

Deulfer told the press on Jan. 9 "the prospect of finding 
chemical weapons, biological weapons is close to nil at this 
point." �He noted that the inspectors have debriefed many 
knowledgeable Iraqi scientists, who "have every incentive to show 
them where the WMD are, and they have come up with nothing." 

Nevertheless, senior administration officials are still putting 
up a hopeful front. �One told the press on Saturday that until 
"all" the Iraqis involved in WMD programs are interviewed, the 
"jury is still out" on the accuracy of U.S. intelligence. 
�Another said yesterday that it would be premature to make any 
definitive judgment until "millions and millions of pages" of 
documents have been translated from the Arabic. 

To his credit, Kay is having none of that. �"Why could we all be 
so wrong?" he asks; and his lament is all too reminiscent of 
Robert McNamara's "We were wrong, terribly wrong" on Vietnam. 
�Kay initially had been a strong supporter of the attack on Iraq 
and, when appointed chief inspector, he exuded confidence that he 
would find the weapons. 

Most of the answer is to be found in a novel, faith-based 
approach to intelligence analysis�an approach that applies the 
theorem propounded by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: �"The 
absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." �Secretary of 
State Colin Powell rang a change on that theme last week when he 
provided this explanation: � "What we demanded of Iraq was that 
they prove the negative of our hypothesis." 

Vice President Dick Cheney and the true believers working in the 
sizable intelligence apparat in his office have kept faith with 
the Rumsfeld theorem�Kay's and Duelfer's apostate comments 
notwithstanding. �In an interview with National Public Radio last 
week, Cheney insisted that inspectors in Iraq may still find WMD. 
� This expression of faith was accompanied by a litany of other 
assertions discredited by Kay and others; for example, that 
trailers found in Iraq posed "conclusive evidence" that Saddam 
Hussein "did in fact have programs for WMD." 

Kay made short shrift of that lingering canard when he alluded to 
a new intelligence community consensus that the trailers were 
actually designed to produce hydrogen for weather balloons, or 
perhaps rocket fuel. 

For good measure, Cheney threw in the old saw about a link 
between one of the 9/11 hijackers and Iraq, and cited the 
compendium of unconfirmed reports on such links that was prepared 
by Rumsfeld disciple Douglas Feith, sent to the Senate, and then 
leaked immediately to the right-wing Weekly Standard. � Powell, 
however, recently admitted there is no concrete evidence of such 
ties, despite his conjuring up a "sinister nexus" in his UN 
speech on Feb. 5, 2003. �And, in a highly unusual move, the 
Defense Department disavowed Feith's litany when it hit the open 
press. 

On WMD Cheney insisted, "It's going to take some additional 
considerable period of time in order to look in all the 
cubbyholes (sic) and ammo dumps... where you'd expect to find 
something like that." �This is not the first hint that Cheney has 
dropped that he would like to string out the quest for WMD until 
after the November election, while asking the American people in 
the interim to keep faith. 

Other senior officials appear to be hedging their faith in the 
gullibility of American voters. �They are urging the president to 
say, "The CIA made me do it." 

Quizzed on WMD by reporters last week, Powell explained that his 
UN speech was based on "what our intelligence community believed 
was credible." �(This is a far cry from the "solid sources" he 
said were the underpinning of that speech.) � Powell complained 
to the reporters, "If they (the Iraqis) didn't have any (WMD), 
then why wasn't that known beforehand?" �Why indeed? 

Whom to Blame? 

Were not a campaign for the presidency in full swing, FOX and 
other U.S. media serving as ventriloquist for the administration 
might succeed in cutting off the legs of this major story. �But, 
clearly, that will not be possible. �It appears likely that Karl 
Rove and the president's other political advisers are now telling 
Bush that Cheney's tough-it-out attitude has run its course. 

Do we have a volunteer to take the fall? �Yes�CIA Director Tenet, 
who for months has been telling intimates that he intends to 
leave his post soon anyway. �President Bush's gratuitous 
accolades for the CIA yesterday, however, suggest that he has not 
yet been persuaded to jettison him. �So it appears possible that 
the CIA director (widely referred to in Washington as "Teflon 
Tenet") may survive to serve another day. 

Why? �Because he is useful. He has done what he has been told to 
do�even when this meant scandalizing his analysts by acquiescing 
in Secretary Powell's request that Tenet sit directly behind him 
at the UN in an obvious attempt to give CIA's imprimatur to 
"intelligence" his analysts knew to be highly dubious. �Besides, 
Tenet knows far too much about what Bush had been told before 
9/11. 

Tenet might even agree to stay on and cooperate in a campaign to 
blame the administration's misguided decisions on Iraq on the 
intelligence community. �This even though he knows better than 
anyone that those decisions predated by at least several months 
the National Intelligence Estimate conjured up quickly in the 
fall of 2002. �The draft of that estimate was used to persuade 
Congress to cede to the president its constitutional power to 
declare war. 

That the malleable Tenet will comply with just about anything was 
clear by his acquiescence in Rumsfeld's cynical request early 
last year to keep track of how good the intelligence would prove 
to be regarding WMD�chutzpah of the highest order, since it was 
the "mini-CIA" Rumsfeld created in the Pentagon that fed Bush the 
lion's share of adulterated "intelligence" on those putative 
weapons. 

So most signs point to Tenet being a willing scapegoat, if that 
is what the White House decides. �Kay has already said that 
fundamental errors in pre-war intelligence assessments were so 
serious that the intelligence community should overhaul its 
collection and analysis efforts. �In response, an intelligence 
official said lamely, "it is premature to say that the 
intelligence community's judgments were completely wrong or 
largely wrong�there are still a lot of answers we need." 

Published: Jan 27 2004 	 	
*****************************************************************
 26 toledoblade: Spending plan seeks sacrifices as $2.4T budget reduces most 
domestic funds
 
Tuesday, February 03, 2004 
 
By BLADE WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
 
WASHINGTON  The White House used a truck yesterday to deliver to 
Congress copies of President Bush's 2005 budget proposal  a $2.4 
trillion spending plan that calls for a record $521 billion 
deficit even without more money included to maintain the military 
presence in Iraq. 

Mr. Bush's budget does call for sacrifice across the board in 
most domestic programs.

The spending plan was denounced by Democrats as putting the 
country too far in debt while cutting important social services. 
The proposal would make big winners of defense (a 7 percent 
increase) and homeland security (a 10 percent increase). 

But it might face challenges from conservative Republicans as 
well as Democrats during an election year.

The 2005 fiscal year begins Oct. 1, a month before the November 
presidential election.

At a White House briefing, budget officials pledged to cut the 
deficit in half by 2009. But that assumes no substantial spending 
for Iraq and Afghanistan after this year, rapid economic growth, 
no recessions, and no major spending increases for other 
programs.

Democrats on the House Budget Committee ridiculed the budget 
proposal, saying that the administration already has added $1.7 
trillion to the national debt and should not be entrusted to add 
more debt. They noted Mr. Bush assumes $1.3 billion will be 
raised from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 
action that Congress has not approved. 

At a Cabinet meeting opened briefly to reporters, the President 
said he is confident, if reelected, he will be able to cut this 
year's $521 billion deficit in half by 2009. Next year's deficit 
is projected at $364 billion, not counting more for Iraq and 
Afghanistan.

Mr. Bush defended the red ink spending by saying the recession, 
the 9/11 attacks, and the war in Iraq are high hurdles for a 
budget and for a country to overcome.

Because he wants to make permanent his recent tax cuts, scheduled 
to expire within five years, Mr. Bush has proposed cuts in most 
domestic programs. Environmental programs, transportation, and 
aid to small businesses would be cut the most. Seven of the 16 
Cabinet-level agencies would receive less funding. 

Joshua Bolten, director of the White House Office of Management 
and Budget, said the proposal would terminate 65 government 
programs, including 38 education programs such as the $247 
million Even Start family literacy program, at a savings next 
year of $4.9 billion, and make deep cuts in 63 other programs.

Only a few agencies would get a significant boost in spending. 
NASA, entrusted with Mr. Bush's new emphasis on going back to the 
moon and then to Mars, would get $16.2 billion next year, up 
about 6 percent. The National Endowment for the Arts, Mr. Bush's 
proposal to set up job-training programs in community colleges, 
announced during his recent trip to Toledo, and the No Child Left 
Behind Act are slated to get new money.

Hit hardest would be programs at the Agriculture Department and 
the Environmental Protection Agency, followed by programs within 
the Departments of Health and Human Services, Transportation, 
Treasury, Justice, and Commerce. The General Services 
Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Small 
Business Administration all would face deep cuts.

Democrats took issue with several main assumptions by the White 
House. The budget assumes that the growing economy will push tax 
revenues up by 13.2 percent, which critics say is too high a 
projection. They said that it is pie in the sky and if not met 
would mean that the deficit would not decline by half in 2009. 

Critics also said making tax cuts permanent would cost at least 
$900 billion over the next 10 years.

Democrats charged that the budget would raid Social Security 
and the Medicare Trust Fund surpluses. They said the deficits and 
widening debt burden would weaken the economy, not strengthen it.

They accused the administration of wanting to impose new fees on 
veterans for medical care, new fees on meat safety inspections, 
and higher patent fees, all of which Congress has rejected. 

In addition to making the recent tax cuts permanent, Mr. Bush 
proposes to let individuals put as much as $5,000 a year into 
individual retirement savings accounts and into lifetime savings 
accounts if Congress approves.

The low savings rate of Americans is a constant source of worry 
to economists, but some critics said a lifetime savings account, 
which could be dipped into for various expenses, would not 
encourage long-range savings. Mr. Bush proposed similar savings 
accounts last year, but Congress did not pass them.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.) issued a statement calling Mr. 
Bush's proposal the most antifamily, anti-worker, anti-health 
care, anti-education budget in modern times.

The Blue Dog Coalition  36 conservative and moderate Democrats 
who call themselves fiscal hawks  said its members were 
outraged by the ballooning deficit spending along with the 
administration's blatant disregard for fiscally responsible 
policies.

Some Republicans said they are uncomfortable with the growing 
deficits.

Mr. Bolten countered that a $521 billion deficit, which is 4.5 
percent of gross domestic product, is not historically out of 
range. Deficits have been this large, or larger, in six of the 
last 25 years, including a peak of 6 percent in 1983.

In Ohio, spending for the Army's newest tank, the M1A2 SEP, would 
increase 62 percent to $292 million. That could mean a big 
funding advantage for the Lima Army Tank Plant southwest of 
Toledo, which makes and upgrades the tanks.

Funds to install gun shields and other protective gear on Army 
Humvees would decrease about 30 percent. Still, that amount is 
good news to Ohio because more than half of that would go to 
O'Gara-Hess &Eisenhardt of Fairfield to armor 818 new vehicles. 
Another big defense winner would be the Wright-Patterson Air 
Force Base in Springfield.

Funding for the Air Force Materiel Command, which is 
headquartered at the base, would increase $9.6 billion to $120.5 
billion. Wright Patterson manages more than half of the Air Force 
Materiel Command's budget.

Mr. Bush's proposal also includes more money for the Portsmouth 
Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon.

The $289 million includes funds to keep the Portsmouth plant on 
cold standby so it could be restarted, clean up the grounds, 
start construction on a plant to convert nuclear waste into a 
stable form, and clean old buildings that once housed centrifuge 
technology. Information from the Associated Press was included in 
this report.

� 2004 The Blade. By using this service, you accept the 
terms of our privacy statement and our visitor agreement. Please 
read them. The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, 
OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000
*****************************************************************
 27 GEM: Bush budget battered from many sides   
 			 				 		 
Government Executive Magazine -                                                       2/3/04                                           Bush
			 			 			 					 			 			 
February 3, 2004 

By Peter Cohn, CongressDailyAM  

President Bush's $2.4 trillion, fiscal 2005 budget request ran 
into grumbling on its release Monday from nearly every 
constituency on Capitol Hill, illustrating the tough task ahead 
for GOP leaders aiming to deliver an election-year win for the 
White House.

 The budget contains about $818.4 billion in discretionary 
spending, with about $386.2 billion of that for programs other 
than defense and homeland security -- a microscopic 0.5 percent 
rate of growth. It would eliminate 65 programs and reduce funding 
for 63 others, saving $4.9 billion in fiscal 2005, according to 
the Office of Management and Budget.

 Under the administration's projections, the deficit would be cut 
by more than half in dollar terms, to $241 billion in fiscal 
2007, and as a percentage of gross domestic product to 2.1 
percent in fiscal 2006 -- both projections beating the 
administration's target of cutting the deficit in half over five 
years.

 While GOP leaders and the House and Senate Budget Committee 
chairmen gamely defended the administration's budget, it 
mollified few on Capitol Hill, including members of their own 
party. Such dissension in the ranks indicates the road to a 
218-vote House majority on a budget resolution might be difficult 
to come by -- not to mention in the more closely divided Senate.

 "While he showed restraint in several areas, the total spending 
is still too high," said Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina -- 
chairwoman of the House Republican Study Committee -- who leads a 
bloc of more than 90 House lawmakers calling for cuts or a freeze 
in many discretionary programs.

 Across the Capitol, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a leading budget 
hawk, blasted a proposed $250 million increase for the Yucca 
Mountain nuclear waste depository in his state as "unacceptable," 
given the deficit.

 Estimates compiled by the House Budget Committee Democratic 
staff peg the cost of extending and making permanent expiring tax 
breaks as Bush proposes at $1.43 trillion over fiscal 2005-2014, 
excluding necessary adjustments to the alternative minimum tax 
and Bush's proposed bonus depreciation plan.

 The prospect of adding to the deficit through further tax cuts 
has moderate Republicans, as well as Democrats in both chambers, 
concerned. Moderate Senate Republicans, including Sens. Lincoln 
Chafee of Rhode Island and Olympia Snowe of Maine, said Congress 
should not just rubber stamp Bush's tax proposals. Snowe said in 
a statement, "It is vital that we scrutinize both sides of the 
federal ledger -- for spending and for revenues" during the 
budget process.

 Another moderate, Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., said "everything 
has to be on the table" to reduce the deficit, including all 
discretionary and mandatory spending, including defense and 
homeland security, as well as new tax cuts and making old ones 
permanent. "You can't come close to cutting the deficit in half 
just dealing with that 17 percent of the budget" that makes up 
non-defense, non-homeland security discretionary spending, Castle 
said.

 In addition to making taxes part of the solution, Castle said, 
Congress should revisit some increases for homeland security. 
"You can't tell me that [the Transportation Security 
Administration] is efficiently run," he said, also suggesting 
some of the Pentagon's weapons programs should be re-evaluated.

 Castle said he agreed with a number of policy proposals espoused 
by GOP conservatives, including a reduction in the number of 
unrequested earmarks included in annual spending bills. He fell 
short, however, of endorsing a proposal announced Monday by Rep. 
Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., to impose an earmark moratorium.

 Bush's plan received no applause from the 
moderate-to-conservative Blue Dog Coalition of House Democrats 
who style themselves budget hawks. Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas 
and a Blue Dog cochairman, said record deficits, the trade 
imbalance and the pending retirement of large numbers of the Baby 
Boom generation threaten "an economic perfect storm," and the 
budget "does nothing to prepare our nation to deal with these 
economic dangers."

 With perhaps the most to lose under Bush's spending proposals, 
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., said 
his panel "will be carefully scrutinizing" the proposal "to see 
if we can afford them in a lean budget year. They will have to be 
reconciled with proven programs and traditional congressional 
priorities."

 Even an appropriations "cardinal" like Foreign Operations 
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., whose 
subcommittee would see an increased allocation, acknowledged, 
"The administration and this subcommittee will have a difficult 
task of convincing our colleagues of the need for this increase."

*****************************************************************
 28 The Hill.com: Almost everything wrong

The Newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress        

February 4, 2004   
  
  THE POLLSTERS Mark Mellman   

Almost everything wrong
 
David Kay has finally admitted what most had long surmised: The 
administration got it wrong on the weapons of mass destruction 
(WMD) in Iraq. Not just a little wrong. Kay said we got almost 
everything completely wrong.
 
This astounding admission will likely lead Americans to question 
George Bushs competence or even his integrity, though it is 
unlikely to change voters attitudes about the wisdom of the war 
itself.
 
First, lets recall just how wrong President Bush and his 
spokespeople were. In October 2002, the president stated a series 
of definitive facts. Iraq, he said, possesses and produces 
chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. 
No hedging, no uncertainty here. Moreover, these statements are 
not just about the past or the future. Possesses, produces 
and is seeking are statements about the present. 

So were the presidents specific claims in the State of the 
Union. He talked about Iraq having 500 tons of chemical weapons, 
25,000 liters of anthrax and 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin. 
Pretty specific. Pretty concrete. Not just used chemical weapons 
in the past and may again, but specific amounts of WMD currently 
in Iraqs possession. 

Colin Powells U.N. speech similarly was filled with specifics. 
Volumes of chemical weapons, numbers of sites and even artists 
renderings of the design of mobile biological weapons factories.
 
There was only one major problem with the reams of specific data 
revealed by the president and his cabinet: They apparently have 
almost no basis in fact.
 
Plunging the country into war on the basis of inaccurate claims 
is serious business. Either the president is incompetent or he 
was dishonest. It is hard to discern a third way. 

It is possible that the president and his team just were not 
capable of interpreting and analyzing the available data. No 
business would tolerate that level of incompetence for even a 
day.
 
It is also possible that the president clearly understood the 
limitations of the evidence but consciously sought to mislead the 
country to gain popular backing for this policy. Indeed, some 
reports have suggested that the administration settled on the WMD 
argument because it polled best. Bill Clinton was pilloried 
because someone, foolishly, polled on where he should vacation. 
Misleading the country into war is an infinitely more serious 
matter. Where is all the outrage about this presidents reliance 
on polls?
 
The public has not yet settled this in its own mind. A CBS/New 
York Times poll found 60 percent saying that the administration 
was at least hiding important elements of what it knew, if not 
lying outright. Voters were also evenly divided on whether they 
had confidence in Bushs ability to deal with an international 
crisis. Since Saddam Husseins capture, approval of the way Bush 
has handled Iraq has continued to decline. Public reaction to the 
Kay report is not yet in, but it could be devastating. 

Voters will continue to have serious questions about this 
presidents ability and/or his integrity.
 
But what of attitudes toward the war itself? One might think that 
if its prime rationale is demolished, support for the war might 
collapse. So far, that has not happened.
 
Depending on how the question is asked, close to six in 10 
Americans still believe the United States made the right decision 
in going to war against Saddam. Indeed, 63 percent told 
ABC/Washington Post pollsters the war would be justified even if 
there are no weapons of mass destruction.
 
Thus, support for the decision to go to war may remain intact. 
But what the war revealed about Bush could still make Iraq his 
political Waterloo.
   
  Mark S. Mellman is president of The Mellman Group and has 
worked for Democratic candidates and causes since 1982.   

� 2003 The Hill 733 Fifteenth Street, NW Suite 1140 Washington, 
DC 20005 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax web site design + 
*****************************************************************
 29 Boyle: Preventing Nuclear Armageddon
 
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 00:40:27 -0600 (CST)

 
http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk/articles/preventing_armageddon.htm

31 January 2004
Preventing Nuclear Armageddon
by
Francis A. Boyle
 
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the impoverishment of
Russia leaving the United States as the world's "only superpower"
or "hyperpower," we are getting to the point, if we are not there
already, where only the United States has the capability to launch
an offensive first-strike strategic nuclear weapons attack upon any
adversary. For that precise reason, deploying the so-called "national
missile defense" (NMD) has become a critical objective of the Bush
Jr. administration. NMD is not really needed to shoot down a stray
missile from some so-called "rogue state." Rather U.S. NMD is
essential for taking out any residual Russian or Chinese strategic
nuclear weapons that might survive a U.S. offensive first-strike
with strategic nuclear weapons systems.

The successful deployment of NMD will finally provide the United
States with what it has always sought: the capacity to launch a
successful offensive first-strike strategic nuclear attack, coupled
with the capability to neutralize a Russian and/or Chinese retaliatory
nuclear attack. At that point, the United States will proceed to
use this capability to enforce its Hegemonial Will upon the rest
of the world. Strategic nuclear "thinkers" such as Harvard's Thomas
Schelling call this doctrine "compellance" as opposed to "deterrence."
With NMD the world will become dominated by this U.S. "compellance"
strategy.

For example, writing in the March 10, 2002 edition of the Los Angeles
Times, defense analyst William Arkin revealed the leaked contents
of the Bush Jr. administration's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that
it had just transmitted to Congress on January 8. The Bush Jr.
administration ordered the Pentagon to draw up war plans for the
first-use of nuclear weapons against seven states: the so-called
"axis of evil" - Iran, Iraq, and North Korea (the DPRK could be
nuclear armed); Libya and Syria; Russia and China, which are nuclear
armed. This component of the Bush Jr. NPR incorporated the Clinton
administration's 1997 nuclear war-fighting plans against so-called
"rogue states" set forth in Presidential Decision Directive 60.
These warmed-over nuclear war plans targeting non-nuclear weapons
states expressly violated the so-called "negative security assurances"
given by the United States as an express condition for the renewal
and indefinite extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) by all of its non-nuclear weapons states parties in 1995.

Equally reprehensible from a legal perspective were the NPR's
additional call for the Pentagon to draft nuclear war-fighting plans
for first nuclear strikes (1) against alleged nuclear/chemical/biological
"materials" or "facilities"; (2) "against targets able to withstand
non-nuclear attack"; and (3) "in the event of surprising military
developments," whatever that means. According to the NPR, the
Pentagon must also draw up nuclear war-fighting plans to intervene
with nuclear weapons in wars (1) between China and Taiwan; (2)
between Israel and the Arab states; (3) between North Korea and
South Korea; and (4) between Israel and Iraq. It is obvious upon
which side the United States will actually plan to intervene with
the first-use nuclear weapons.

In this regard, Article 6 of the 1945 Nuremberg Charter provides
in relevant part as follows:

...

    The following acts, or any of them, are crimes coming within
    the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for which there shall be
    individual responsibility:

	(a) Crimes against peace: namely, planning, preparation,
	initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in
	violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances,
	or participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the
	accomplishment of any of the foregoing;

..

    Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating
    in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy
    to commit any of the foregoing crimes are responsible for all
    acts performed by any persons in execution of such plan. [Emphasis
    added.]

To the same effect is the Sixth Principle of the Principles of
International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal
and in the Judgment of the Tribunal, which were adopted by the
International Law Commission of the United Nations in 1950:

PRINCIPLE VI

    The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under
    international law:

	(a) Crimes against peace:

	    (i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a
	    war of aggression or a war in violation of international
	    treaties, agreements or assurances;

	    (ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for
	    the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under
	    (i).... [Emphasis added.]

Notice that both of these elemental sources of public international
law clearly provide that the "planning" or "preparation" of a war
in violation of international "assurances" such as the aforementioned
U.S. negative security assurance constitutes a Nuremberg Crime
against Peace. Such is the Bush Jr. NPR! To the same effect are
paragraphs 498, 499, 500, and 501 of U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10
(1956).

The Bush Jr. administration is making it crystal clear to all its
chosen adversaries around the world that it is fully prepared to
cross the threshold of actually using nuclear weapons that has
prevailed since the U.S. criminal bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
in 1945. Yet more proof of the fact that the United States government
has officially abandoned "deterrence" for "compellance" in order
to rule the future world of the Third Millenium. The Bush Jr.
administration has obviously become a "threat to the peace" within
the meaning of U.N. Charter article 39. It must be countermanded
by the U.N. Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the U.N.
Charter. In the event of a U.S. veto of such "enforcement action"
by the Security Council, then the U.N. General Assembly must deal
with the Bush Jr. administration by invoking its Uniting for Peace
Resolution of 1950. For the future good of all humanity, the Bush
Jr. administration must be restrained by both the international
community and the American people.
*****************************************************************
 30 Washington Post: Musharraf Named in Nuclear Probe 

(washingtonpost.com)

Senior Pakistani Army Officers Were Aware of Technology
Transfers, Scientist Says 

By John Lancaster and Kamran Khan Washington Post Foreign Service 
Tuesday, February 3, 2004; Page A13 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 2 -- Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, 
Abdul Qadeer Khan, has told investigators that he helped North 
Korea design and equip facilities for making weapons-grade 
uranium with the knowledge of senior military commanders, 
including Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, according 
to a friend of Khan's and a senior Pakistani investigator. 

Khan also has told investigators that Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, the 
Pakistani army chief of staff from 1988 to 1991, was aware of 
assistance Khan was providing to Iran's nuclear program and that 
two other army chiefs, in addition to Musharraf, knew and 
approved of his efforts on behalf of North Korea, the same 
individuals said Monday. 

Khan's assertions of high-level army involvement came in the 
course of a two-month probe into allegations that he and other 
Pakistani nuclear scientists made millions of dollars from the 
sale of equipment and expertise to Iran, Libya and North Korea. 

They contradict repeated contentions by Musharraf and other 
senior officials that Khan and at least one other scientist, 
Mohammed Farooq, acted out of greed and in violation of 
long-standing government policy that bars the export of nuclear 
weapons technology to any foreign country. 

In conversations with investigators, Khan urged them to question 
the former army commanders and Musharraf, asserting that "no 
debriefing is complete unless you bring every one of them here 
and debrief us together," according to the friend, who has met 
with the accused scientist twice during the past two months. 

On the basis of Khan's claims, Beg and another former army chief 
of staff, Gen. Jehangir Karamat, who occupied the post from 1996 
to 1998, have been questioned by investigators in recent days, 
but both have denied any knowledge of the transactions, according 
to a senior Pakistani military officer who spoke on condition of 
anonymity. 

Gen. Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan's chief military spokesman, 
declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations but 
asserted that "General Pervez Musharraf neither authorized such 
transfers nor was involved in any way with such deeds, even 
before he was president." Beg and Karamat could not be reached 
for comment Monday night. 

Khan and other senior scientists and officials at the Khan 
Research Laboratories, the uranium-enrichment facility Khan 
founded in 1976, have been under investigation since November, 
when the International Atomic Energy Agency presented Pakistan 
with evidence that its centrifuge designs had turned up in Iran. 
The flamboyant European-trained metallurgist, who is 67, became a 
national hero in Pakistan after the country detonated its first 
nuclear device in 1998. 

In a briefing for Pakistani journalists late Sunday night, a 
senior Pakistani military officer said that Khan had signed a 
12-page confession on Friday in which he admitted to providing 
Iran, Libya and North Korea with technical assistance and 
components for making high-speed centrifuges used to produce 
enriched uranium, a key ingredient for a nuclear bomb. 

Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai, commander of Pakistan's Strategic 
Planning and Development Cell, described Khan as the mastermind 
of an elaborate and wholly unauthorized smuggling network 
involving chartered cargo flights, clandestine overseas meetings 
and a Malaysian factory that reconditioned centrifuge parts 
discarded from Pakistan's nuclear program for sale to foreign 
clients, according to a journalist who attended Kidwai's 
21/2-hour briefing. 

The technology transfers began in 1989 and were brokered by a 
network of middlemen, including three German businessmen and a 
Sri Lankan, identified only as Tahir, who is in custody in 
Malaysia, Kidwai told the journalists. 

According to Kidwai's account, Khan told investigators that he 
supplied materials and assistance to Iran, Libya and North Korea 
not to make money but to deflect attention from Pakistan's 
nuclear program and -- in the case of Iran and Libya -- as a 
gesture of support to other Muslim countries. 

The senior Pakistani investigator and a senior intelligence 
official said Monday that Khan also said he supplied Iran and 
Libya with surplus, outmoded equipment from the laboratory that 
he knew would not provide either country with any near-term 
capability to enrich uranium. 

"Dr. Khan is basically contesting the merit of the nuclear 
proliferation charges," the investigator said. "Throughout his 
debriefing, Dr. Khan kept challenging the perception that 
material found from the Libyan or Iranian programs would allow 
them to enrich uranium." 


  CONTINUED 1 2     Next > Print This Article  


 
               � 2004 The Washington Post Company
*****************************************************************
 31 Washington Post: U.S. Treads Carefully With Libya 

(washingtonpost.com)

By Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 3, 
2004; Page A14 

The United States is scheduled to open a political dialogue with 
Libya on Friday in London, with the Bush administration also 
considering sending a State Department envoy to Tripoli to 
discuss diplomatic issues with senior Libyan officials, U.S. 
officials said yesterday. 

But the Bush administration is split over the next steps to take 
with the government of Moammar Gaddafi, with the Pentagon 
resisting major reciprocal gestures in response to Tripoli's 
agreement to surrender its weapons of mass destruction, the 
officials added. 

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday that Libya's 
cooperation warranted deepening the level of engagement through 
"political openings and developments," as promised by President 
Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair when they announced 
Tripoli's agreement to hand over all equipment and data for 
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. 

"We've seen a fascinating sign of change in Libyan attitudes," 
Powell said in an interview with editors and reporters at The 
Washington Post. 

"We've now had a couple weeks of action on removal and 
verification [of weaponry], and we've learned a lot, and it was 
appropriate at this point that we begin a political dialogue to 
see what lies ahead. We're still removing material and we're 
still verifying, but it is a fundamentally changed situation with 
respect to Libya." 

Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and British officials 
will meet with their Libyan counterparts to discuss the next 
steps. One possibility is to lift the ban on Americans traveling 
to Libya once Libya completes the dismantling of its weapons 
programs, U.S. officials said. Pentagon policymakers are balking, 
however, at other steps that U.S. officials had thought were in 
the pipeline. And they are actively opposed to taking Tripoli off 
the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, which comes out 
annually in the spring. 

"There's a cold wind blowing on a number of forward-leaning, 
reciprocal moves that we thought we'd queued up. And there's 
outright opposition to removing Libya from the list of the state 
sponsors of terrorism," said a well-placed U.S. official who 
spoke on the condition of anonymity. 

Although the State Department issues the list, making any changes 
to it involves an interagency decision, and Pentagon opposition 
could kill prospects of formal removal of Libya this year, U.S. 
officials said. Some officials and Libya experts are concerned 
that failing to provide the promised diplomatic carrot could 
frustrate and disillusion officials in Tripoli who encouraged 
cooperation with the United States and Britain. 

On other countries, Powell indicated that the strongest prospect 
for removal from the terrorism list may be Sudan, which hosted al 
Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the 1990s. Powell said he hopes 
negotiations later this month to end Sudan's civil war can 
produce agreement on the disputed oil-rich area of Abyei, the 
last major hurdle. A formal peace accord would be the key in 
getting Sudan off the list, U.S. officials say. 

But Powell also said Syria is even further away than it was last 
year, after failing to respond to concerns he outlined during 
talks with President Bashar Assad in Damascus. "They started 
doing a few things, but it wasn't adequate," he said. 

Powell said the time had come for the Syrians to "take a hard 
look" at what is happening in the region "and see whether or not 
they want to modify some of their policies." 


               � 2004 The Washington Post Company
         
*****************************************************************
 32 Washington Post: Pakistan's Nuclear Hero Defended 

(washingtonpost.com)
 
By Jefferson Morley washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Tuesday, 
February 3, 2004; 10:18 AM 

Online commentators in Pakistan are rallying to the defense of
the country's leading nuclear scientists, one of whom has
confessed to selling weapons technology to North Korea, Iran and
Libya. 

Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, is 
reportedly under house arrest in connection with a U.S.-backed 
investigation into the lucrative black market in nuclear weapons 
technology. Correspondents John Lancaster and Kamran Khan (no 
relation to the physicist) report in today's <b>Washington 
Post</b>that Khan has signed a 12-page confession. Khan has also 
reportedly told investigators that Pakistani President Pervez 
Musharraf knew about his efforts to help North Korea�s nuclear 
program. 

The revelation will likely stoke an already intense debate. While 
many Pakistanis defend Khan as a national hero, others in the 
South Asian media see Khan, a flamboyant self-promoter, as the 
scapegoat of Musharraf and the permissive nonproliferation 
policies of the U.S. government. 

The 67-year old scientist is "being held incommunicado with heavy 
security around his house," according to the <b>Times of 
India</b>. The paper's headline suggests that U.S. officials in 
Washington are not keen to hear Khan recount the story of his 
nuclear-related activities in the past two decades: "US, Pak 
dread Khan's Disclosures." 

"Washington and Islamabad," says the Delhi-based daily, are 
"holding their breath" to see if Khan "will spill the beans about 
Pakistan's official complicity in the spread of nuclear weapons 
technology." 

In Islamabad, the pro-democracy daily <b>The Nation</b>says 
Khan's detention is "bound to create a wave of puzzled resentment 
among a populace which has been accustomed to regard him as the 
father of the national nuclear programme." 

"Dr Khan could not have done anything wrong or even inappropriate 
without the connivance or neglect of those controlling" 
Pakistan's nuclear program, the editors say. 

Another commentator in <b>The Nation</b>wonders why Musharraf has 
been so cooperative with the U.S. effort to hold Khan 
accountable. 

"Why it is so that the general who shows fists to the opposition 
in the parliament, has become so nervous that he is not prepared 
to face the situation and instead seems to have become a part of 
the international press campaign against Pakistan's nuclear 
programme." 

<person>Dawn</person>, the English-language daily that often 
gives voice to the Pakistani establishment, reports that 
opposition political leaders in the country say the sacking of 
Khan will cause "irreparable damage to the country's integrity." 

The press in India, Pakistan's South Asian nuclear rival, turns a 
critical eye on the U.S. role over three decades. The <b>Times of 
India</b>goes back to the early 1980s, when Pakistan, like Saddam 
Hussein's Iraq, was a quietly favored U.S. ally. 

As correspondent Syed Saleem Shahzad notes in the <b>Asia 
Times</b>, the U.S. Congress cleared the way for Pakistan's 
nuclear program. In 1981 the Congress, under pressure from Ronald 
Reagan's White House, voted to formally exempt Pakistan from U.S. 
laws prohibiting aid to any non-nuclear country engaged in 
illegal procurement of equipment for a nuclear weapons program. 
The Pakistani government also won a six-year aid package from the 
United States worth $3.2 billion. Free from the threat of 
sanctions, Pakistan conducted a cold test at a small-scale 
nuclear reprocessing plant in 1982. From there, the so-called 
Islam bomb began to grow. 

Pakistan proceeded to spend some $10 billion developing a nuclear 
arsenal, say the editors of the Times of India. The money came 
from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and the 
depositors of the BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce 
International), which became notorious in the early 1990s for 
myriad criminal activities. The bank, say the editors of the 
Times of India, was founded by a Pakistani and operated freely in 
the Persian Gulf oil enclave of Dubai. It is inconceivable, they 
argue, that Western intelligence agencies didn't know all about 
this black market. 

In the early 1990s, Khan began selling his technological prowess 
to other parties, enabling him to amass substantial properties in 
Pakistan as well as building a hotel in the African city of 
Timbuktu, according to numerous reports. 


  CONTINUED 1 2     Next > Print This Article  


 
           � 2004 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
*****************************************************************
 33 The Telegraph: Denial twist to Khan confession

- Calcutta : International

Wednesday, February 04, 2004 |     Advertise with us 
 			
																											 										   				 			 			 
  IMTIAZ GUL   			 
  				 								
A file picture of Abdul Qadeer Khan with an army officer. 
(Reuters)                                                                                                                                              

Islamabad, Feb 3: Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the Islamic 
bomb now under a probe in Pakistan for leaking nuclear secrets, 
is said to have denied the government�s claim that he had made a 
confession.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
																								
Qazi Hussain Ahmad, head of the six-party Opposition alliance, 
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), talked to Khan by phone and said: 
�The revered nuclear scientist denied he had confessed to the 
government of having indulged in proliferation�.
																								
�After the government�s claim about Khan�s confession, I tried to 
reach the scientist and finally managed to contact him through 
his mobile phone,� Ahmad told the private Geo television channel. 
He said that Khan denied he gave any such statement to the 
government.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
								 																								
He further quoted Khan as saying that he has been confined to his 
residence and no one is allowed to see him.
																						 														 				 								
																								
The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) had sealed Khan�s fate after 
a lengthy meeting chaired by President Pervez Musharraf on 
Saturday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
																								
An official statement, which was been issued after the meeting, 
said: �In the background of the investigations into alleged acts 
of nuclear proliferation by a few individuals and to facilitate 
those in investigations in a free and objective manner, Khan, 
special adviser to the Prime Minister on strategic affairs, has 
ceased to hold the office.�                                                                                                                                                                             
														 				 								 																								
Hours after his removal, the authorities also intensified 
security around Khan�s residence.                                                                                                                                                                               
														 				 								 																								
As most Pakistanis await Musharraf�s national address on 
Thursday, the fate of the father of the country�s nuclear bomb 
hangs in balance, particularly after he allegedly admitted his 
involvement in nuclear proliferation to Iran, Libya and North 
Korea.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
																								
Military authorities, currently interrogating Khan and six of his 
colleagues, also seem to be at a loss on how to proceed against a 
man who is idolised by millions of Pakistanis as a �national 
hero�.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
								 																								
�No doubt he is a hero, but we were faced with the choice of 
saving the national hero or saving the country from international 
sanctions,� senior army officials said while briefing 
mediapersons on the interrogation being of Khan and six of his 
Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) aides.
																						 														 				 								
																								
�Our focus was nuclear proliferation and not the money involved 
in it,� officials explained when asked as to how much money Khan 
may have made by the sale of nuclear secrets to Iran and Libya.
																						 														 				 								
																								
But since Monday, Khan has been cut off from the rest of the 
country. Several journalists tried in vain to get Khan�s 
reactions to the government�s claims.                                                                                                                                                                           
														 				 								 																								
The interrogation � officially called debriefings � had begun in 
late November after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
and Iran disclosed the sources that were aiding Tehran�s nuclear 
programme. One of them was Pakistan.
																						 														 				 								
																								
Officials also claimed Khan had confessed to his contacts with 
the �nuclear underworld� based in the Gulf emirate of Dubai and 
some European countries.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
				 								 																								
 He used his authority as head of KRL for unauthorised business 
contacts with Libya, North Korea and Iran in violation of 
national and international laws,� officials said.
																						 														 				 								
																								
Khan pursued the proliferation business between 1989-2000 because 
of the immunity he enjoyed as the head of the country�s prime 
nuclear programme, the officials said.
																						 														 				 								
																								
General Shaukat Sultan, the Pakistan army chief spokesman, told 
the German press agency DPA late yesterday that the scientist�s 
�personal security had been enhanced but denied he had been put 
under house arrest.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
											 			 
   Copyright � 2002 The Telegraph. All rights reserved.    
*****************************************************************
 34 NRC: Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc; Notice of Receipt and 
 
                         FR Doc 04-2113 [Federal Register: 
February 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 22)] [Notices] [Page 5197] 
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access 
[wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03fe04-101]                         
 
Availability of Application for Renewal of Millstone Power 
Station, Units 2 and 3 Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-65 and 
NPF-49 for an Additional 20-Year Period The U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) has received an 
application, dated January 20, 2004, from Dominion Nuclear 
Connecticut, Inc., filed pursuant to Sections 104b (Operating 
License No. DPR-65) and 103 (Operating License No. NPF-49) of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 10 CFR part 54, to 
renew the operating licenses for the Millstone Power Station, 
Units 2 and 3, respectively. Renewal of the license would 
authorize the applicant to operate each facility for an 
additional 20-year period beyond the period specified in the 
respective current operating licenses. The current operating 
license for the Millstone Unit 2 (DRP-65) expires on July 31, 
2015, and the current operating license for Millstone Unit 3 
expires on November 25, 2025. The Millstone Power Station Unit 2 
is a pressurized-water reactor designed by Combustion 
Engineering, and Unit 3 is a pressurized-water reactor designed 
by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Both units are located in 
Waterford, Connecticut. The acceptability of the tendered 
application for docketing, and other matters including an 
opportunity to request for a hearing, will be the subject of 
subsequent Federal Register notices.
 
Copies of the application are available for public inspection at 
the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland, or electronically from the NRC's Agencywide Documents 
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading 
Room under accession number ML040270166. The ADAMS Public 
Electronic Reading Room is accessible from the NRC web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. In addition, the 
application is available on the NRC Web page at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/ operating/licensing/renewal/ 
applications.html, while the application is under review. Persons 
who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the 
NRC's PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, extension 
301-415-4737, or by email to pdr@nrc.gov. A copy of the license 
renewal application for the Millstone Power Station, Units 2 and 
3, is also available to local residents near the Millstone Power 
Station at the Waterford Public Library, 49 Rope Ferry Road, 
Waterford, Connecticut 06385-2806, and at the Three Rivers 
Community College, Thames River Campus, 574 New London Turnpike, 
Norwich, Connecticut 06360.
 
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of January 2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental 
Impacts, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 
[FR Doc. 04-2113 Filed 2-2-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 35 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Subcommittee Meeting
 
                         FR Doc 04-2114 
[Federal Register: February 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 22)] 
[Notices] [Page 5199] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03fe04-104]                         
 
on Thermal-Hydraulic Phenomena; Notice of Meeting The ACRS 
Subcommittee on Thermal-Hydraulic Phenomena will hold a meeting 
on February 10-11, 2004, Room T-2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
 
Portions of the meeting may be closed to public attendance to 
discuss Westinghouse proprietary information per 5 U.S.C. 
552b(c)(4).
 
The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: Tuesday 
and Wednesday, February 10-11, 2004-8:30 a.m. until the 
conclusion of business The Subcommittee will discuss the 
resolution of open thermal- hydraulic issues related to the 
AP1000 design, including ADS-4 entrainment, long term cooling, 
boron concentration, and computer code modeling differences. The 
Subcommittee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with 
representatives of Westinghouse and the NRC staff regarding these 
matters. The Subcommittee will gather information, analyze 
relevant issues and facts, and formulate proposed positions and 
actions, as appropriate, for deliberation by the full Committee.
 
Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or 
written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, 
Mr. Ralph Caruso (Telephone: 301-415-8065) five days prior to the 
meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be 
made.
 
Electronic recordings will be permitted only during those 
portions of the meeting that are open to the public.
 
Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by 
contacting the Designated Federal Official between 7:30 a.m. and 
4:15 p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged 
to contact the above named individual at least two working days 
prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes to 
the agenda.
 
Dated: January 23, 2004.
 
Sher Bahadur, Associate Director for Technical Support, 
ACRS/ACNW.
 
[FR Doc. 04-2114 Filed 2-2-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 36 NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting
 
                         FR Doc 04-2238 
[Federal Register: February 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 22)] 
[Notices] [Page 5199-5200] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03fe04-105]                         
 
Date: Weeks of February 2, 9, 16, 23, March 1, 8, 2004.
 
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
 
Status: Public and Closed.
 
Matters To Be Considered: Week of February 2, 2004 There are no 
meetings scheduled for the Week of February 2, 2004.
 
Week of February 9, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings 
scheduled for the Week of February 9, 2004.
 
Week of February 16, 2004--Tentative Wednesday, February 18, 2004 
9:30 a.m. Briefing on Status of Office of Chief Financial Officer 
Programs, Performance, and Plans (Public Meeting) (Contact: 
Edward L. New, 301- 415-5646) This meeting will be webcast live 
at the Web address: .
 
Week of February 23, 2004--Tentative Wednesday, February 25, 2004 
9 a.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1) Thursday, 
February 26, 2004 9:30 a.m. Meeting with UK Regulators to Discuss 
Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1) Week of March 1, 2004--Tentative 
Tuesday, March 2, 2004 9:30 a.m. Meeting with Advisory Committee 
on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) & NRC Staff (Public 
Meeting) (Contact: Angela Williamson, 301- 415-5030) This meeting 
will be webcast live at the Web address: .
 
 
[[Page 5200]] Wednesday, March 3, 2004 9:30 a.m. 25th Anniversary 
Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 2 Accident Presentation (Public 
Meeting) (Contact: Sam Walker, 301-415-1965) This meeting will be 
webcast live at the Web address: .
 
2:45 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1) Thursday, 
March 4, 2004 1:30 p.m. Briefing on Status of Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) Programs, Performance, and 
Plans--Waste Safety (Public Meeting) (Contact: Claudia Seelig, 
301-415-7243) This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address: .
 
Week of March 8, 2004--Tentative Tuesday, March 9, 2004 9:30 a.m. 
Briefing on Status of Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards (NMSS) Programs, Performance, and Plans--Material 
Safety (Public Meeting) (Contact: Claudia Seelig, 301-415-7243) 
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address: .
 
1:30 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1) The 
schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on short 
notice. To verify the status of meetings call (recording)--(301) 
415- 1292. Contact person for more information: Timothy J. Frye, 
(301) 415- 1651.
 
The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet 
at: .
 
This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred 
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like 
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the 
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). In addition, 
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is 
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission 
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic 
message to .
 
Dated: January 29, 2004.
 
Timothy J. Frye, Technical Coordinator, Office of the Secretary.
 
[FR Doc. 04-2238 Filed 1-30-04; 10:12 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M

 
*****************************************************************
 37 SignOnSanDiego.com: Edison scuttles San Onofre reactor trip
 
 2:30 p.m. February 3, 2004
  
JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune Workers surround San Onofre's Unit 
1 nuclear reactor vessel after it was removed from its 
containment structure in Nov. 2002. 
  

SAN CLEMENTE  Southern California Edison today cancelled plans 
to send a retired reactor on a three-month ocean journey from San 
Onofre Nuclear Generating Station around South America to a 
disposal site in South Carolina. 

The decision came two weeks after Argentina banned the barge that 
was going to carry the 770-ton radioactive reactor pressure 
vessel from entering its territorial waters. 

"We've experienced delays beyond our control in finalizing 
satisfactory arrangements for the shipment," company spokesman 
Ray Golden said in a statement. "As a result, we have missed the 
last window of opportunity to leave in time to meet deadlines for 
delivering the RPV to the disposal site." 

SCE had planned to send the reactor to a Barnwell, S.C. disposal 
site that was the only site willing to take the low-level nuclear 
waste. 

The company had planned to send the reactor by sea on a barge 
because its size and weight prohibited carrying it across the 
United States by rail. 

The environmental group Greenpeace International had urged four 
South American governments to demand more information and 
precautions about the trip before permitting the barge to enter 
their territory. 

The reactor will remain at San Onofre until "appropriate 
arrangements are made for its permanent disposal," according to 
an SCE statement. 

Golden said the RPV "remains completely safe, and poses 
absolutely no risk to the public or the environment" at its 
current location. 

The RPV, classified as low-level nuclear waste, is an 
8-inch-thick carbon steel shell that once housed the plant's 
uranium fuel, removed almost a decade ago, Golden said. The shell 
was filled with and surrounded by concrete, and then encased in a 
steel canister in preparation for transport. 

 � Copyright 2004 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.   
*****************************************************************
 38 JS Online: Nuclear plant up and running
 
Cooling system problem had shut down Kewaunee facility

 By THOMAS CONTENT
tcontent@journalsentinel.com Posted: Feb. 2, 2004 

The Kewaunee nuclear power plant resumed generating electricity 
over the weekend, more than two weeks after being shut down 
because of various problems. 

The plant was operating at 60% of total capacity on Monday 
morning, said Maureen Brown, spokeswoman for Nuclear Management 
Co., the Hudson company that runs the Kewaunee and Point Beach 
nuclear plants. The plant restarted at 2:45 a.m. Sunday, Brown 
said. 

The plant was shut down Jan. 16 after silt and lake weeds clogged 
a component of a plant cooling system. A Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission report about its special inspection of that problem is 
expected to be released within a month, an agency spokeswoman 
said. 

Nuclear Management Co. was attempting to restart the plant last 
week when a carbon dioxide leak occurred in a relief valve that 
is part of the plant's fire suppression system. 

The problem prompted Nuclear Management to declare a low-level 
emergency - known as an "unusual event" - for about two hours 
Friday while the carbon dioxide was vented and plant operators 
evaluated the status of the fire suppression system. 

An "unusual event" is the lowest of four emergency-action levels 
in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's emergency response system. 
No workers were injured. 

The Kewaunee plant is owned by Wisconsin Public Service Corp. of 
Green Bay and Wisconsin Power and Light Co. of Madison. The two 
firms said in November they plan to sell the plant to Dominion 
Resources Inc. of Richmond, Va. At full capacity, the plant 
generates 535 megawatts of electricity. 

From the Feb. 3, 2004 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 39 NCS: Technician Nuclear reactor still cutting edge
 
technicianonline.com /  02.04.2004 /    news /  

Tim Lytvinenko/TECHNICIAN             

The nuclear reactor in Burlington Labs, the latest in a series of 
nuclear reactors on campus. N.C. State was the first university 
in the nation to have an active reactor on its campus.
   	 	
 Shannon Holder Staff Reporter

Students not involved in the nuclear engineering program may not 
be aware that within the Burlington Laboratory building is a 
functioning nuclear reactor. 

"I had heard rumors, but I didn't think there was one so close to 
campus that was operating," Ben Stepp, a junior in zoology, said. 

According to the book First Temple of the Atom: North Carolina, 
the nuclear reactor was the first to operate on any college 
campus in 1953. 

It was the also the first reactor to be used entirely for 
peacetime training and research. Up to that point, the military 
only used nuclear energy for research. 

The introduction of the nuclear reactor in the 1950s also gave 
N.C. State the ability to offer the first doctorate in nuclear 
engineering. 

The current reactor has been in place for over 30 years and no 
accidents have occurred in that time. 

"I feel safe having a nuclear reactor around," Julie Cloninger, a 
senior in zoology, said. She knew of the nuclear reactor's 
existence and has never feared its possible effects. 

"Even in an accident scenario, the reactor shuts itself down and 
cools off," Ayman Hawari, the director of the nuclear reactor 
program, said. "It's very safe." 

The program has undergone some changes through the years, and has 
recently won an award from the U.S. Department of Energy. 

The reactor is now the lead reactor in the Multi-University 
Southeast Innovations and Education Consortium, which includes 
other universities such as Georgia Tech and the University of 
Maryland. 

The reactor's purpose goes farther than just education. According 
to Hawari, research from the reactor can aid forensic 
investigations. 

"It is used by police to investigate murders," he said. "Most 
recently for a case where a guy had been poisoning his wife and 
the police wanted to see if she had arsenic in her system." 

The reactor has also researched some high profile cases. 

"We were sent samples of the World Trade Center dust to help 
analyze it, and also sent samples of the space shuttle after it 
crashed last year," Hawari said. 

The director also notes that nanotechnology stands to benefit 
from the nuclear reactor. 

"We are planning on creating an anti-matter beam that could help 
us improve nanotechnology," he said. This part of the program has 
garnered the interest of companies like IBM and Intel. 

The small reactor does not conduct enough energy to power the 
school during a power outage. 

"The small reactor produces about one megawatt of thermal 
energy," Hawari said. "If you compare that to the Harris power 
plant, that produces 3,000 megawatts to supply the area." 

Hawari, who has been at NCSU for two years, anticipates great 
things for the reactor. Currently, a program linking the reactor 
to other schools through Web casting is in the works, to allow 
other schools an opportunity to research. 

"Nuclear engineering was cutting edge in the 1950s, and the 
reactor was revolutionary," Hawari said. "Even after 50 years, it 
remains a unique and cutting edge facility." 

TECHNICIAN Contact us Join Technician Meet the staff 
Download ratecard About Technician


	     	   		
                North Carolina State University's Student 
Newspaper Since 1920 CONTACT US |All Rights Reserved.         
*****************************************************************
 40 NRC: Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation; R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power 
 
                         FR Doc E4-169 
[Federal Register: February 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 22)] 
[Notices] [Page 5197-5198] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03fe04-102]                         
 
Plant; Notice of Availability of the Final Supplement 14 to the 
Generic Environmental Impact Statement Regarding License Renewal 
for the R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant Notice is hereby given 
that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has 
published a final plant-specific supplement to the ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS)'', NUREG-1437, regarding 
the renewal of operating license DPR-18 for R.E. Ginna Nuclear 
Power Plant (Ginna), for an additional 20 years of operation. 
Ginna is owned
 
[[Page 5198]] by Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation (RG & E), 
and is located in Wayne County, New York, approximately 20 miles 
east of Rochester, New York. Possible alternatives to the 
proposed action (license renewal) include no action and 
reasonable alternative methods of power generation.
 
It is stated in Section 9.3 of the report: based on (1) the 
analysis and findings in the GEIS (NRC 1996; 1999); (2) the Ginna 
ER [Environmental Report] (RG & E 2002b); (3) consultation with 
other Federal, State, and local agencies; (4) the staff's own 
independent review; and (5) the staff's consideration of the 
public comments received, the recommendation of the staff is that 
the Commission determine that the adverse environmental impacts 
of license renewal for Ginna, including cumulative impacts, are 
not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for 
energy-planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.
 
The final Supplement 14 to the GEIS is available for public 
inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland, or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component 
of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov (the Public Electronic Reading Room). Persons 
who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the PDR 
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
pdr@nrc.gov. The final supplement to the GEIS is also available 
for public inspection at the Ontario Public Library, located at 
1850 Ridge Road, Ontario, New York, and the Rochester Public 
Library, located at 115 South Avenue, Rochester, New York.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Schaaf, License 
Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory 
Improvement Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555. Mr. Schaaf may be contacted at (301) 
415-1312 or RGS@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd 
day of January, 2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Pao Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental 
Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 
[FR Doc. E4-169 Filed 2-2-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 41 The Courier: NRC environmental review meetings set for today

The Courier 201 East Second St P.O. Box 887 Russellville, AR 
72811-0887 
                                 
Tuesday, February 03, 2004 
	   
By Regina Smith 

 education@couriernews.com

Arkansas Nuclear One has petitioned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission to renew the operating license for its unit two
reactor. 

The NRC has announced that two public meetings on environmental
review will be held today. The NRC staff will be on hand to
listen to public comments regarding the application. 

The meetings will be held at 1:30 and 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn
in Russellville. Before the meetings, an open house will be held
to allow the public to speak informally with members of the NRC
staff. 

According to a press release issued by the NRC, the original
operating license for a nuclear power plant has a term of 40
years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20
years if commission requirements are met. The current license is
not set to expire until July 17, 2018. 

In 2001, following a review of staff recommendations, the
commission unanimously approved the license extension for unit
one. 

As part of the application process, Entergy has submitted an
environmental report that is available for public inspection at
the Pendergraft Library and Technology Center on the campus of
Arkansas Tech University. 

After the conclusion of the information gathering process, the
commission will prepare a summary of conclusions and significant
issues. The document will also be available to those who
participated in the scope process and will be on display at
Tech. 

The NRC staff will then prepare a draft environmental impact
statement supplement for public comment and will hold another
public meeting to solicit comments. 

Concerned citizens may also submit written comments on the ANO
unit two specific supplement. Comments should be submitted by
Feb. 20 and can be mailed to Chief, Rules and Directives Branch,
Division of Administrative Services, Mail Stop T-6-D-59, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, or
by E-mail to: ANOEIS@nrc.gov.   

Copyright � 2004, Russellville Newspapers, Inc.         
                                
*****************************************************************
 42 Sofia: Bulgaria's N-plant Unit 5 Switched Off Grid over Water Parameters
       
SOFIA NEWS AGENCY

novinite.com

Politics: 3 February 2004, Tuesday.

Unit five at Bulgaria's nuclear power plant Kozloduy, 200 
kilometres north of Sofia, was switched off the energy grid 
February 3 after deviation from the parameters of water in the 
second (nonradioactive) circuit was detected. 

No changes in the radiation situation were detected. 

The failure did not threaten the safety in the area as the event
was rated 0 on the INES scale of atomic events.[ width=] 
  
 All Rights Reserved � Novinite Ltd., 2001-2004 - Copyright
&Disclaimer - Privacy Policy   

Novinite.com (thebulgariannews.com also) is unique with being a
real time news provider in English that informs its readers
about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also
*****************************************************************
 43 [du-list] Veteran wins pensions tribunal over DU
 
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 20:08:42 -0800

 
<x-flowed>

NATIONAL GULF VETERANS & FAMILIES ASSOCIATION
PRESS RELEASE


Wednesday 3rd February 2004      Landmark Breaking
News

Another first for Hull based National Gulf Veterans &
Families
Association
(Charity)

Scottish Veteran first to win Landmark ruling on
Depleted Uranium
poisoning
from the Gulf War the Tribunal was heard in Edinburgh
02 02 04.

Kenny Duncan from Clackmananshire Scotland yesterday
became the first
British Gulf War Veteran to win his case for Depleted
Uranium Poisoning
from
the gulf War 1991.

Kenny served with the Royal Corps of Transport and
served as a
specialist
Tank transporter, it was one of his jobs to move Iraqi
Tanks hit and
destroyed by Depleted Uranium, it was doing this job
that caused his
exposure by inhaling the Depleted Uranium Dust from
the burnt out tanks
hit
by DU. All 3 of Kenny and Mandy's children have
physical health
problems
since being born post Gulf War.

Kenny won his case at the Pensions appeal Tribunal
service at Scotland
he
was represented by Mr Roy Gibson of the NGVFA based in
Hull the
National
Charity for Gulf War Veterans.

The tribunal found that Mr Kenny Duncan's exposure to
Depleted Uranium
was
attributable to service in the 1991 Gulf War. The
Chairman and Doctor
found
the Chromosome Aberrations Tests carried out at the
World Health
Organisation Laboratories Bremen Institute implicit,
it must be noted
that
these tests had to be paid for by the Charity. We have
to thank a
German
Professor Dr Albrect Schott who recognised the
similarities and had the
bloods taken and tested at the Bremen Institute. The
blood tests show
damage
by Ionising radiation from the Gulf War and can only
be from the
Battlefield. We have to thank Dr.Med W.Hoffmann M.P.H
WHO Bremen
Institute
Germany.

It must be noted that it is 13 years since the Gulf
War 1991 and the
Government and the Ministry of Defence have not yet
tested British
Soldiers
for Depleted Uranium Damage and disease, yet the 24hr
Urine test has
been
available since 1996, and the chromosome aberration
test since 2000, it
begs
the question WHY our troops have not been tested and
why they have to
turn
to a small Charity for testing.

This result makes for further pressure on the prime
minister for a
public
enquiry into Gulf War Illness.

606 Soldiers that we know of have died since April
1991, 5933 to date
have
applied for War Pensions due to Disablement. We
however believe that
this is
just the tip of the iceberg and the figures on both
accounts are
actually
double.

For further information:

Contact Shaun Rusling (Chairman)

Professor Malcolm Hooper DU Panel.

Advocate Roy Gibson


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 44 [du-list] Indiana military areas require hunter education...
 
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 20:08:47 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Hello All:  Sorry but given the current insanity of Army plans for open
burning of unwanted contaminated buildings at the ammunition plant near
Charlestown and other severely contaminated DOD sites in Indiana where
people hunt legally or illegally and the obvious irony of this DNR
Wildbulletin I couldn't help but post it.

It is obvious to me that the hunter training mentioned does not include
things like recognition of unexploded ordinance (UXO), Toxic & Hazardous
materials, etc. or precautions for safely hunting in areas where
contaminated soils, water, or game may be present!  If it did we might find
some allies in our struggles to better Indiana's environs...

Maybe someone will be interested in pursuing the issue of "proper" training
for hunters using Indiana Military Areas?

Per the Charlestown AAP controversy, perhaps it would be worthwhile to
contact the local DNR Conservation Officer and see if they could intervene
until some common sense can be interjected...  lad


Camp Atterbury to require hunter education in the future
-----------------------------------------

Beginning with the spring turkey season this year, hunter education
certification will be required for all hunters using Camp Atterbury Maneuver
Training Center in central Indiana.

The requirement is set to comply with U.S. Army regulations and applies to
all hunting, including turkey, deer and small game.

"Security and safety are of the utmost importance," said Kenneth Newlin,
Camp Atterbury post commander.  "We're confident that those who have
completed DNR's hunter education course know what they need to do to say
safe in the field."

Other Indiana military areas, such as Newport and Crane, also require hunter
education.  These areas are currently closed to hunting due to national
security concerns.

Newlin anticipates that limited hunting will be open this year on Camp
Atterbury, but he warns that military training and tightened security could
halt hunting access at any time.

Hunting during established hunting seasons will remain open at DNR's
Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area.  Hunter education is recommended for all
hunters and required for hunters born after 1986.

A listing scheduled hunter education classes is available online at:
http://www.in.gov/dnr/lawenfor/hunt-edu.htm

_______________________________________________
Wildbulletin mailing list
Wildbulletin@lists.in.gov
http://lists.IN.gov/mailman/listinfo/wildbulletin



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 45 Washington Times: Hazardous safety plans
 
  February 03, 2004 			   

That trains continue to be a tempting target for terrorists was 
emphasized last week in the form of a bulletin from the FBI and 
the Department of Homeland Security to law enforcement agencies 
warning of a "continued terrorist interest in conducting attacks 
on U.S. subways and railways." The danger is compounded in the 
District, which has both an easily accessible Metrorail system 
and rail lines (owned by CSX Transportation). 
 
Only .5 percent of the 1.7 million carloads of hazardous 
materials shipped annually around the country actually pass 
through the District. In response to that threat, the D.C. 
Council is considering the Hazardous Materials Transportation 
Act, which would ban the transport of hazardous materials through 
the District when other practical routes exist. While well 
intentioned, the bill faces significant constitutional questions 
and adds little to safety. 
 
If passed, the legislation would set a terrible precedent, 
allowing other communities to effectively bar passage of whatever 
materials they deem unsafe. For instance, high-level radioactive 
waste headed to the planned repository at Yucca Mountain in 
Nevada would have a difficult time making it across any given 
county, much less the country. 
 
As a bar to such cross-state transportation, the act is likely to 
run afoul of several federal statues, not the least of which is 
the Constitution's Interstate Commerce Clause. It may also 
violate the Federal Railroad Safety Act and the Hazardous 
Materials Transportation Act. 
 
Even if the legislation were to survive the inevitable legal 
battle, it would have nearly a negligible effect on the safety of 
the District. 
 
All parties in this debate agree that shipments can be delayed or 
rerouted at the request of local officials, as was the case 
during the president's State of the Union address. But rerouting 
shipments will not solve the problem; it merely moves the problem 
into someone else's backyard. 
 
A major supporter of the bill  Greenpeace (Friends of the Earth 
and the Sierra Club are also supporting it)  also is backing the 
misguided chemical security bill sponsored by Sen. Jon Corzine. 
Before then, the group campaigned for a complete ban on the use 
of chlorine. 
 
Greenpeace says that if passed, the legislation "will serve as a 
model for the rest of the country." In a sense it will  as an 
unconstitutional approach to a serious threat. The cooperative 
strategy currently being pursued by public- and private-sector 
officials toward better rail security seems best in this case. 
 

 
*****************************************************************
 46 U.S. Newswire: U.S. to Launch Effort to Detect Terrorist 
Shipments of Nuclear, Radiological Material; Lithuanian Airport 
Event to Introduce Program
 
 2/3/04 2:55:00 PM 

To: National, International and Assignment Desks, Energy Reporter 

Contact: Bryan Wilkes of the National Nuclear Security 
Administration, 202-586-7371; or Anthony Pahigian of the U.S. 
Embassy in Lithuania, 011-3705-266-5500 

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- On Thursday, Feb. 5 at 3 
p.m. Lithuanian time (8 a.m. EST), the National Nuclear Security 
Administration (NNSA) will introduce a new program at the Vilnius 
Airport in Lithuania to prevent terrorists from smuggling nuclear 
and other radioactive material. 

NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation 
Paul Longsworth, U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Stephen D. Mull, 
Lithuanian Minister of the Interior Virgilijus Bulovas, and 
members of the Lithuanian parliament will be in attendance. 

They will announce the installation of sophisticated radiation 
detection equipment at the Vilnius Airport, will lead a tour of 
the facility (NO CAMERAS in sensitive areas), and will show a 
demonstration of the technology. 

This will be the only announcement of this new program and the 
only opportunity to see a demonstration of the technology. 

------ 

NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency of the Department of Energy. It 
enhances U.S. national security through the military application 
of nuclear energy, maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, 
promotes international nuclear nonproliferation and safety, 
reduces global danger from weapons of mass destruction, provides 
the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion, and 
oversees its national laboratories to maintain U.S. leadership in 
science and technology. 

http://www.usnewswire.com/

*****************************************************************
 47 Scotsman.com: Gulf Veterans Hail Uranium Poisoning Ruling
 
Wednesday, 4th February 2004    	 

By Rod Minchin, Scottish Press Association 

A former soldier has become the first veteran to win a war 
pension appeal after suffering depleted uranium poisoning during 
the Gulf War, it emerged today.
 
Kenny Duncan took the Ministry of Defence to the Pension Appeal 
Tribunal Service over his claim that he suffered depleted uranium 
poisoning during active service in Iraq.
 
The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association (NGVFA) said 
the tribunal’s verdict added to its call for a full public 
inquiry into Gulf War illnesses.
 
The father of three, from Clackmannanshire, served with the Royal 
Corps of Transport as a specialist tank transporter during the 
first Gulf War in 1991.
 
Part of his job was to move Iraqi tanks destroyed by depleted 
uranium shells.
 
The campaign group said the Edinburgh-based tribunal, which ruled 
in Mr Duncan’s favour yesterday, accepted his claims that he 
was poisoned from inhaling depleted uranium dust from the 
burnt-out tanks.
 
The tribunal found that Mr Duncan’s exposure to the uranium was 
attributable to his service in the Gulf.
 
Shaun Rusling, chairman of the NGVFA, said the verdict was 
“justice”.
 
He said: “The finding by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal was 
absolutely tremendous and extremely significant for Kenny Duncan.
 
“It proves that his ill health was due to depleted uranium 
poisoning and it is great news for Kenny and his wife to at long 
last have his condition recognised.
 
“The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association is 
extremely pleased that justice has been done.”
 
Mr Rusling, a former Parachute Regiment medical officer, said 
that prior to the Gulf War the use of depleted uranium was 
“extremely experimental”.
 
He said: “Prior to the war the Ministry of Defence advised the 
Army, who were based in Saudi Arabia, of the dangers of depleted 
uranium but the information never made it down to the troops.
 
“Troops should not be exposed to anything experimental – the 
Ministry of Defence knew this.”
 
But he went on to again demand that the Government hold a public 
inquiry into Gulf War illnesses.
 
“It is now 13 years since the Gulf War and no depleted uranium 
tests have been made available to former servicemen – this is 
despicable and unacceptable,” he said.
 
“There should be a public inquiry into the ill health suffered 
by Gulf War veterans.
 
“Mr Blair talks about social justice but he still refuses to 
give servicemen a public inquiry and depleted uranium tests.”
 
According to the association, 606 Gulf servicemen have died from 
ill health and a further 5,933 have applied for a war pension due 
to disablement.
 
In November a coroner ruled that the death of Major Ian Hill was 
linked to his service in the Gulf War.
 
Lawyers for his family described the verdict as a “landmark 
decision”, saying it would give hope to around 2,000 other 
veterans.
 
The 54-year-old from Knutsford, Cheshire, died in March 2001 from 
a heart attack.
 
He blamed a decade of failing health on Gulf War Syndrome caused 
by vaccinations and tablets he was given upon enlisting.
 
In June the High Court refused to overturn a landmark ruling 
recognising the existence of the syndrome for the first time.
 
But the Government still does not recognise the syndrome
although it does accept some veterans did become ill.

*****************************************************************
 48 [CMEP] NRC "EJ" Policy; Bush's Bloated Yucca Budget
 
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 11:40:56 -0600 (CST)

 
This message contains two items:

1. Action Alert: Tell the NRC to Retract Proposal to Weaken Its
"Environmental Justice" Policy
2. Press Release: Bush's Proposal to Inflate Yucca Mountain Budget Is
Irresponsible

~~~~~~~~~~~

!!! A C T I O N    A L E R T !!!
*** Apologies for cross-posting ***
*** Please forward widely! ***

Feb. 3, 2004

Tell the NRC to Retract Proposal to Weaken "EJ" Policy!

Yielding to pressure from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the
nuclear industry's lobbying arm, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) has announced a revised policy for evaluating matters of
"environmental justice" (EJ) in licensing and other regulatory actions.
The proposed revisions would severely hinder interveners' ability to
cite disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental
effects on low-income or minority populations as legal grounds for
opposing NRC licenses or regulations.

Tell the NRC to retract this regressive policy change!  Submit prepared
comments via Public Citizen's Web site here (the deadline is tomorrow,
Feb. 4):
http://action.citizen.org/pc/issues/alert/?alertid=4935036

Click on this URL to view Public Citizen's comments to the NRC:
http://snipurl.com/495p

Click on this URL to view other comments to the NRC on the EJ policy
statement:
http://snipurl.com/495q

The policy change, which is open for public comment until February 4,
comes in response to a scathing letter from the NEI condemning the
agency for its treatment of EJ in its licensing actions.  In the letter,
the NEI asserts that the NRC has misinterpreted the 1994 executive order
that charged government agencies with achieving environmental justice as
part of their respective missions.  The NEI further demands that the NRC
establish a clear articulation of its EJ policy such that its legal
weight would be diminished.  Finally, the powerful industry lobby
recommends, rather brazenly, that "any contentions related to
environmental justice currently being adjudicated should be dismissed,
and no contentions related to environmental justice should be admitted
in any future licensing proceedings."

NEI represents the members of Louisiana Energy Services (LES) and
Private Fuel Storage (PFS), two industry consortiums whose license
applications have been stalled or denied because of EJ contentions.  LES
is seeking a license for a uranium enrichment facility, and PFS is
seeking a license for a high-level nuclear waste storage facility.  NEI
also represents large nuclear-owning utility companies Exelon Generation
Company, Entergy Corporation, and Dominion Generation, each of which
seeks an "Early Site Permit" (ESP) for a proposed new nuclear reactor.
These companies do not want to have their licenses delayed or denied
because of environmental justice interventions, regardless of their
validity.

The NRC is accepting comments on its EJ policy through Feb. 4, 2004,
per a notice in the Dec. 12 issue of the Federal Register, which
extended the comment period by 30 days from its original deadline of
Jan. 5, as noted in the Nov. 5 Federal Register.  Comments may be
submitted by hard copy to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.  Comments may also be uploaded via the NRC's
rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.  Or, submit prepared
comments via Public Citizen's Web site here:
http://action.citizen.org/pc/issues/alert/?alertid=4935036

~~~~~~~~~~~

*** P R E S S    R E L E A S E ***

Feb. 2, 2004
Contact: Michele Boyd (202) 454-5134; Erica Hartman (202) 454-5174

Bush's Proposal to Inflate Yucca Mountain Budget Is Irresponsible

Congress Should Not Boost Budget for Nuclear Waste Dump While Legal
Challenges and Key Safety Issues Remain Unresolved

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Bush's proposal to boost the budget for
the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump to $880 million and change how the
project is funded is irresponsible given the pending legal challenges
against the project and unresolved questions about the site's safety,
Public Citizen said today.

In the 2005 budget released today, Bush allocated much of the
additional funding -- a 30 percent increase from 2004 -- to develop and
operate the transportation system for shipments to Yucca Mountain. The
budget calls for the purchase of truck and rail casks and other
equipment for waste shipments in 2010.

"The idea of buying equipment for transporting waste to Yucca Mountain
before questions about the safety of the site are resolved, and before
the routes and mode of transport are even determined, is ludicrous,"
said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy
and Environment Program. "The Department of Energy (DOE) is obviously
trying to sink so much money into this hole in the ground that the
project becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

One of the most alarming proposals in the administration's Yucca
Mountain budget is the elimination of congressional oversight of much of
the project's funding. Since 1982, nuclear power utility consumers have
paid fees to the Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for the establishment of a
national repository for high-level nuclear waste.  Bush proposes that
these fees be paid directly to the DOE, thereby cutting Congress out of
decisions regarding how the fees are used.

"This is just a budgeting gimmick that artificially reduces federal
spending and hides the real costs to consumers and taxpayers," said
Hauter.

Contained in the budget was the DOE's annual programmatic assessment of
the Yucca Mountain project. The agency rated the project "adequate"
despite the many fundamental questions that remain unresolved regarding
the suitability of the site to safely and permanently isolate high-level
radioactive waste.  Not only is the site located over a drinking water
aquifer, but it is in an earthquake zone.

The DOE has been working since September 2001 to answer 293 scientific
questions, or key technical issues, that revolve around Yucca Mountain's
ability to keep radiation from contaminating the surrounding
environment. So far, answers to 83 questions have been completed and
accepted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  In a December
2003 letter, the NRC informed the DOE that it could not evaluate the
answers that the DOE had submitted because the DOE had not supplied all
the necessary technical documents.

"Due to the doubts and uncertainties plaguing the Yucca Mountain
project, Congress should not increase its budget or change the funding
practices," said Hauter. "It appears that the Bush administration is
steamrolling scientific concerns to ram this project through."

Recent developments point to the need to rein in funding for the
project. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is
deciding a slate of lawsuits against the project. One key case against
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) charges that the EPA's
standards setting the amount of radiation that can be released are not
consistent with recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences
(NAS), as Congress directed in the 1992 Energy Policy Act. The EPA rule
arbitrarily limits the period for which Yucca Mountain must comply with
radiation release rules at 10,000 years, even though the NAS has found
that the maximum doses from the dump are likely to occur for 300,000
years.

The DOE intends to submit its license application for the high-level
waste dump to the NRC at the end of 2004.  The court's decisions on
these cases, which are expected this spring, could force a significant
reassessment of Yucca Mountain that would necessarily take years and
perhaps even permanently derail the project.

###

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization
based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit
www.citizen.org.

**********
If you would like to be removed from the CMEP ListServ, send an email to listserv@listserver.citizen.org with the words "unsubscribe CMEP" in the message.

Questions about the CMEP ListServ can be directed to CMEP-request@LISTSERVER.CITIZEN.ORG.

To learn more about this and other Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program campaigns, visit our website at http://www.citizen.org/cmep/

-Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program
*****************************************************************
 49 [NukeNet] NRC "EJ" Policy; Bush's Bloated Yucca Budget [Public
 
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 20:08:46 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
This message contains two items:

1. Action Alert: Tell the NRC to Retract Proposal to Weaken Its
"Environmental Justice" Policy
2. Press Release: Bush's Proposal to Inflate Yucca Mountain Budget Is
Irresponsible

~~~~~~~~~~~

!!! A C T I O N    A L E R T !!!
*** Apologies for cross-posting ***
*** Please forward widely! ***

Feb. 3, 2004

Tell the NRC to Retract Proposal to Weaken "EJ" Policy!

Yielding to pressure from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the
nuclear industry's lobbying arm, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) has announced a revised policy for evaluating matters of
"environmental justice" (EJ) in licensing and other regulatory actions.
The proposed revisions would severely hinder interveners' ability to
cite disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental
effects on low-income or minority populations as legal grounds for
opposing NRC licenses or regulations.

Tell the NRC to retract this regressive policy change!  Submit prepared
comments via Public Citizen's Web site here (the deadline is tomorrow,
Feb. 4):
http://action.citizen.org/pc/issues/alert/?alertid=4935036

Click on this URL to view Public Citizen's comments to the NRC:
http://snipurl.com/495p

Click on this URL to view other comments to the NRC on the EJ policy
statement:
http://snipurl.com/495q

The policy change, which is open for public comment until February 4,
comes in response to a scathing letter from the NEI condemning the
agency for its treatment of EJ in its licensing actions.  In the letter,
the NEI asserts that the NRC has misinterpreted the 1994 executive order
that charged government agencies with achieving environmental justice as
part of their respective missions.  The NEI further demands that the NRC
establish a clear articulation of its EJ policy such that its legal
weight would be diminished.  Finally, the powerful industry lobby
recommends, rather brazenly, that "any contentions related to
environmental justice currently being adjudicated should be dismissed,
and no contentions related to environmental justice should be admitted
in any future licensing proceedings."

NEI represents the members of Louisiana Energy Services (LES) and
Private Fuel Storage (PFS), two industry consortiums whose license
applications have been stalled or denied because of EJ contentions.  LES
is seeking a license for a uranium enrichment facility, and PFS is
seeking a license for a high-level nuclear waste storage facility.  NEI
also represents large nuclear-owning utility companies Exelon Generation
Company, Entergy Corporation, and Dominion Generation, each of which
seeks an "Early Site Permit" (ESP) for a proposed new nuclear reactor.
These companies do not want to have their licenses delayed or denied
because of environmental justice interventions, regardless of their
validity.

The NRC is accepting comments on its EJ policy through Feb. 4, 2004,
per a notice in the Dec. 12 issue of the Federal Register, which
extended the comment period by 30 days from its original deadline of
Jan. 5, as noted in the Nov. 5 Federal Register.  Comments may be
submitted by hard copy to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.  Comments may also be uploaded via the NRC's
rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.  Or, submit prepared
comments via Public Citizen's Web site here:
http://action.citizen.org/pc/issues/alert/?alertid=4935036

~~~~~~~~~~~

*** P R E S S    R E L E A S E ***

Feb. 2, 2004
Contact: Michele Boyd (202) 454-5134; Erica Hartman (202) 454-5174

Bush's Proposal to Inflate Yucca Mountain Budget Is Irresponsible

Congress Should Not Boost Budget for Nuclear Waste Dump While Legal
Challenges and Key Safety Issues Remain Unresolved

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Bush's proposal to boost the budget for
the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump to $880 million and change how the
project is funded is irresponsible given the pending legal challenges
against the project and unresolved questions about the site's safety,
Public Citizen said today.

In the 2005 budget released today, Bush allocated much of the
additional funding -- a 30 percent increase from 2004 -- to develop and
operate the transportation system for shipments to Yucca Mountain. The
budget calls for the purchase of truck and rail casks and other
equipment for waste shipments in 2010.

"The idea of buying equipment for transporting waste to Yucca Mountain
before questions about the safety of the site are resolved, and before
the routes and mode of transport are even determined, is ludicrous,"
said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy
and Environment Program. "The Department of Energy (DOE) is obviously
trying to sink so much money into this hole in the ground that the
project becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

One of the most alarming proposals in the administration's Yucca
Mountain budget is the elimination of congressional oversight of much of
the project's funding. Since 1982, nuclear power utility consumers have
paid fees to the Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for the establishment of a
national repository for high-level nuclear waste.  Bush proposes that
these fees be paid directly to the DOE, thereby cutting Congress out of
decisions regarding how the fees are used.

"This is just a budgeting gimmick that artificially reduces federal
spending and hides the real costs to consumers and taxpayers," said
Hauter.

Contained in the budget was the DOE's annual programmatic assessment of
the Yucca Mountain project. The agency rated the project "adequate"
despite the many fundamental questions that remain unresolved regarding
the suitability of the site to safely and permanently isolate high-level
radioactive waste.  Not only is the site located over a drinking water
aquifer, but it is in an earthquake zone.

The DOE has been working since September 2001 to answer 293 scientific
questions, or key technical issues, that revolve around Yucca Mountain's
ability to keep radiation from contaminating the surrounding
environment. So far, answers to 83 questions have been completed and
accepted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  In a December
2003 letter, the NRC informed the DOE that it could not evaluate the
answers that the DOE had submitted because the DOE had not supplied all
the necessary technical documents.

"Due to the doubts and uncertainties plaguing the Yucca Mountain
project, Congress should not increase its budget or change the funding
practices," said Hauter. "It appears that the Bush administration is
steamrolling scientific concerns to ram this project through."

Recent developments point to the need to rein in funding for the
project. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is
deciding a slate of lawsuits against the project. One key case against
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) charges that the EPA's
standards setting the amount of radiation that can be released are not
consistent with recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences
(NAS), as Congress directed in the 1992 Energy Policy Act. The EPA rule
arbitrarily limits the period for which Yucca Mountain must comply with
radiation release rules at 10,000 years, even though the NAS has found
that the maximum doses from the dump are likely to occur for 300,000
years.

The DOE intends to submit its license application for the high-level
waste dump to the NRC at the end of 2004.  The court's decisions on
these cases, which are expected this spring, could force a significant
reassessment of Yucca Mountain that would necessarily take years and
perhaps even permanently derail the project.

###

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization
based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit
www.citizen.org.

_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings at:
http://chrome.nocdirect.com/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 50 NRC: Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Notice of Meeting
 
                         FR Doc 04-2115 
[Federal Register: February 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 22)] 
[Notices] [Page 5198-5199] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03fe04-103]                         
 
The Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) will hold its 
148th meeting on February 24-27, 2004, Room T-2B3, 11545 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
 
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance except for 
portions that will be closed to discuss and protect information 
as well as unclassified safeguards information pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 552b(c)(1) and (3).
 
The schedule for this meeting is as follows: Tuesday, February 
24, 2004 8 a.m.-8:10 a.m.: Opening Statement (Open)--The Chairman 
will open the meeting and turn it over to the Working Group 
Chairman.
 
Working Group: Biosphere Dose Assessments for the Proposed Yucca 
Mountain High-Level Waste Repository (Open) 10 a.m.-8:20 a.m.: 
The Working Group Chairman will discuss the purposes of these 
working group sessions.
 
8:20 a.m.-8:50 a.m.: Keynote Presentation: What are the key 
issues in Biosphere Dose Assessments? How do the assessments 
enhance confidence by estimating potential doses? (Open)--The 
Committee will hear and discuss views on biosphere dose 
assessments by a distinguished expert.
 
8:50 a.m.-9:50 a.m.: Introduction to Biosphere Dose Assessment: 
NRC Staff Expectations Regarding Content of Potential Yucca 
Mountain License Application (Open)--The Committee will hear 
presentations by NRC staff representatives regarding the 
potential Yucca Mountain license application.
 
10:10 a.m.-11:10 a.m.: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Approach 
to Conducting Biosphere Dose Assessments for Yucca Mountain 
(Open)--The Committee will hear a presentation by DOE 
representatives regarding the biosphere dose assessments for 
Yucca Mountain.
 
11:10 a.m.-12 Noon: Public Comments (Open)--The Committee will 
hear comments from the public.
 
1 p.m.-5:15 p.m.: Technical Session Discussions: Elements of a 
Biosphere Dose Assessment Program (Open)--The Committee will hear 
presentations on two key areas of interest: environmental pathway 
analysis and metabolic models.
 
5:15 p.m.-5:45 p.m.: Public Comments (Open)--The Committee will 
hear comments from the public.
 
Wednesday, February 25, 2004 8 a.m.-8:10 a.m.: Opening Statement 
(Open)--The Working Group Chairman will make opening remarks 
regarding the conduct of today's sessions.
 
Working Group: Biosphere Dose Assessments for the Proposed Yucca 
Mountain High-Level Waste Repository--Continued (Open) 8:10 
a.m.-9:40 a.m.: NRC's Risk Insights Initiative: Impact on 
Biosphere Dose Assessment Plans (Open)--The Committee will hear 
presentations by NRC and DOE representatives regarding agreement 
information needs to be included in a potential Yucca Mountain 
License Application.
 
9:55 a.m.-12 Noon: Presentations by Stakeholder Organizations 
(Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by stakeholder 
organizations.
 
1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: NRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research 
(RES) Perspective on Biosphere Dose Assessments (Open)--The 
Committee will hear a presentation by NRC RES representative 
regarding biosphere dose assessments.
 
1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m.: Working Group Roundtable Panel Discussion 
(Open) 3 p.m.-4 p.m.: Panel and Committee Summary Discussion 
(Open) 4 p.m.-4:30 p.m.: Public Comments (Open) 4:30 p.m.-4:45 
p.m.: Closing Comments by the Working Group Chairman (Open) 4:45 
p.m.-5:45 p.m.: Discussion of ACNW Letter Report (Open)--The 
Committee will outline the principal points to be included in a 
potential letter report resulting from these Working Group 
sessions.
 
Thursday, February 26, 2004 11:30 a.m.-11:40 a.m.: Opening 
Remarks by the ACNW Chairman (Open)-- The Chairman will make 
opening remarks regarding the conduct of today's sessions.
 
11:40 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Waste Management--Related Safety Research 
Report (Open)--The Committee will discuss recent Member 
activities relevant to the ACNW review of NRC waste 
management-related safety research as well as discuss a proposed 
report.
 
1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.: Radiological Dispersal Devices (Closed)--The 
Committee will be briefed by the NRC staff on the current status 
of work in progress on health and safety and public protection 
issues related to radiological dispersal devices.
 
4:45 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Preparation of ACNW Reports (Open)--The 
Committee will discuss potential ACNW reports on matters 
discussed during this meeting. It may also discuss possible 
reports on matters discussed during prior meetings.
 
Friday, February 27, 2004 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.: Opening Remarks by 
the ACNW Chairman (Open)-- The Chairman will make opening remarks 
regarding the conduct of today's sessions.
 
8:35 a.m.-10 a.m.: Risk Insights Report (Open)--The Committee 
will be updated by and hold discussions with representatives of 
the NRC staff on recent risk insight activities.
 
10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m.: Report on Key Technical Issue (KTI) Status 
and DWM Evaluation of DOE's Bundling Approach
 
[[Page 5199]] (Open)--The Committee will be briefed by a 
representative of the NRC staff on the status of Yucca Mountain 
KTIs and the results of its evaluation of DOE ``Bundles'' 
received to date.
 
11:15 a.m.-2:45 p.m.: Preparation of ACNW Reports 
(Open/Closed)--The Committee will continue discussion of proposed 
ACNW reports. In addition, the Committee will discuss a proposed 
ACNW report on Radiological Dispersal Device (Closed).
 
2:45 p.m.-3 p.m.: Miscellaneous (Open)--The Committee will 
discuss matters related to the conduct of Committee activities 
and matters and specific issues that were not completed during 
previous meetings, as time and availability of information 
permit.
 
Procedures for the conduct of and participation in ACNW meetings 
were published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2003 (68 FR 
59643). In accordance with these procedures, oral or written 
statements may be presented by members of the public. Electronic 
recordings will be permitted only during those portions of the 
meeting that are open to the public. Persons desiring to make 
oral statements should notify Mr. Howard J. Larson, Special 
Assistant (Telephone 301-415-6805), between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. 
ET, as far in advance as practicable so that appropriate 
arrangements can be made to schedule the necessary time during 
the meeting for such statements. Use of still, motion picture, 
and television cameras during this meeting will be limited to 
selected portions of the meeting as determined by the ACNW 
Chairman. Information regarding the time to be set aside for 
taking pictures may be obtained by contacting the ACNW office 
prior to the meeting. In view of the possibility that the 
schedule for ACNW meetings may be adjusted by the Chairman as 
necessary to facilitate the conduct of the meeting, persons 
planning to attend should notify Mr. Howard J. Larson as to their 
particular needs.
 
In accordance with Subsection 10(d) Pub.L. 92-463, I have 
determined that it is necessary to close portions of this meeting 
noted above to discuss and protect information as well as 
unclassified safeguards information pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552b(c)(1) and (3).
 
Further information regarding topics to be discussed, whether the 
meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, the Chairman's ruling 
on requests for the opportunity to present oral statements and 
the time allotted, therefore can be obtained by contacting Mr.
 
Howard J. Larson.
 
ACNW meeting agenda, meeting transcripts, and letter reports are 
available through the NRC Public Document Room at pdr@nrc.gov, or 
by calling the PDR at 1-800-397-4209, or from the Publicly 
Available Records System (PARS) component of NRC's document 
system (ADAMS) which is accessible from the NRC Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html or 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc- > Video Teleconferencing 
service is available for observing open sessions of ACNW 
meetings. Those wishing to use this service for observing ACNW 
meetings should contact Mr. Theron Brown, ACNW Audiovisual 
Technician (301-415-8066), between 7:30 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. ET, at 
least 10 days before the meeting to ensure the availability of 
this service. Individuals or organizations requesting this 
service will be responsible for telephone line charges and for 
providing the equipment and facilities that they use to establish 
the video teleconferencing link. The availability of video 
teleconferencing services is not guaranteed.
 
Dated: January 28, 2004.
 
Andrew L. Bates, Advisory Committee Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. 04-2115 Filed 2-2-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 51 Salt Lake Tribune: State battles Nevada N-waste plan 
 
February 03, 2004   
 
The Associated Press 

the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project. But a new study shows
that the project already is providing thousands of well-paying
jobs in Nevada, and ending it would mean substantial economic
loss to the state economy. 
 
    In 2000, the Yucca Mountain project contributed $195.7
million to Nevada's economy and accounted for 3,650 jobs,
according to the report by the Center for Business and Economic
Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 
 
    "If the Yucca Mountain Project were discontinued, economic
losses . . . would be substantial," Keith Schwer, director of
the center and an author of the report, told the Las Vegas
Review-Journal for a Monday report. 
 
    The study says construction of the repository -- a grid of
tunnels 1,000 feet underground -- could boost Nevada's gross
state product by as much as $228 million during peak activity in
2006. Average annual economic benefit from transportation and
operations could top $127 million per year. 
 
    The Energy Department projects spending $58 billion on the
repository, which it wants to open in 2010. The agency plans to
submit an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by
the end of this year. 
 
    The Bush administration and Congress in 2002 approved the
plan to entomb 77,000 tons of spent commercial nuclear reactor
fuel and highly radioactive military and industrial waste
beneath an ancient volcanic ridge 90 miles from Las Vegas. 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
    Nevada is fighting the project in federal court in
Washington, where arguments were heard last month. A ruling is
pending. 
 
    Steve Holloway, executive vice president of Associated
General Contractors in southern Nevada, said Yucca Mountain
already provides good jobs. 
 
    "Of course, they don't talk much about it," he said of
current workers. "They're sworn to secrecy." 
 
    Schwer said what he termed "perception-based risk impacts"
would partially offset some economic gains. 
 
    He said that unlike gambling and tourism, which can be
affected by national and international recession, Yucca Mountain
would be a stable source of economic activity "independent of
the vagaries of the financial markets." 
 
    Mary Riddel, associate director of the center and co-author
of the Yucca Mountain report, noted that public concerns about
the safe transport of nuclear waste could affect development in
southern Nevada. 
 
    "If households perceive the risk as too high, they may
relocate in order to protect themselves from transportation
accidents," she said. 
 
    Riddel headed a 2003 survey of 343 southern Nevada residents
and found that between 1 percent and 3 percent of households
living near proposed nuclear waste truck routes would relocate. 
 
    However, she said risk-tolerant residents might also move
 
    -- -- -- 
 
    On the Net: 
 
    Yucca Mountain Project: http://www.ymp.gov
 
    Nevada Nuclear Waste Projects Office:
http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste
 
    U.S. Department of Energy: http://www.energy.gov
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
    
 
   
 
   
 
              
 
  
Copyright Salt Lake City Tribune
*****************************************************************
 52 Las Vegas RJ: DOE request would boost Yucca Mountain budget 
 
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
 

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
 

The Energy Department would receive $880 million next year to
spend on the development of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca
Mountain under President Bush's budget proposal. 
Photo by Gary Thompson.
 
WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday proposed to spend $880
million next year on the Yucca Mountain Project, a record
increase as the government broadens its work to develop a
nuclear waste repository in Nevada.
 
 Bush sent a fiscal 2005 budget to Congress containing 51.7
percent more for nuclear waste disposal than what lawmakers gave
the Department of Energy to spend this year.
 
 Officials said it was the first of what could be a half-dozen
years or more of dramatic budget requests to license and build
waste-handling facilities and underground storage tunnels at
Yucca Mountain, construct a railroad to the site, and assemble a
national network to transport spent nuclear fuel to Nevada.
 
 The Energy Department has estimated repository costs at $58
billion while critics say it probably will cost billions more
than that. More than $6 billion has been spent already.
 
 The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management got the
biggest percentage increase among DOE programs in the new
budget. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Yucca Mountain
represented "one of the most significant and long-standing
commitments" in the DOE's $23.5 billion overall request.
 
 Abraham said new funding would allow the Energy Department to
remain on schedule to begin repository operations in 2010,
including finalizing a license application by the end of this
year.
 
 Completing a repository for spent nuclear fuel is key to
ensuring the future use of nuclear power and to enable the
government to complete environmental cleanup at its weapons
factories, he added.
 
 "There is still much work to be done, at the site, at the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission and in various courtrooms , but I
believe that at the end of the day America finally will have a
long-promised, safe repository for nuclear waste," Abraham said
in his budget announcement.
 
 Among its features, the program's transportation budget tripled
to $186 million, with most of the new money earmarked toward
acquisition of shipping casks.
 
 Additionally, an increase of $66 million was earmarked to
finalize the repository's design blueprints, while $46 million
was added to begin preparing the site for construction possibly
beginning in 2007 or 2008.
 
 The budget contains $23 million to issue an environmental study
of the proposed Nevada railroad corridor to ship nuclear waste
from Caliente to the Yucca site, 100 miles northwest of Las
Vegas.
 
 The Energy Department also proposes to grant the state of
Nevada $2 million and local counties $7.5 million for their
Yucca Mountain programs.
 
 At the same time he announced the new DOE budget, Abraham said
department officials plan to try again to amend accounting rules
for the Yucca program. 
Although an arcane topic, accounting practices play a big role
in determining how much money Congress allocates to the Yucca
program each year out of a ratepayer-funded nuclear waste
account.
 
 The account carries a current surplus of $12.4 billion. Abraham
said the Energy Department will seek legislation allowing $749
million in ratepayer fees to be fenced off and spent on the
Yucca program without counting against budget limits.
 
 The DOE and the utility industry have made similar tries in the
past, but have run into opposition in Congress from lawmakers
who oppose loosening their control over the nuclear waste fund.
 
 Abraham said Monday the plan has a better chance now because
the DOE can point to rapidly mounting expenses for Yucca
licensing, transportation and waste acceptance programs to
justify its needs. He said Congress would retain its power to
oversee how the money is spent.
 
 Nevada lawmakers said they will once again try to sideline the
Yucca Mountain budget, although last year Congress gave the
Energy Department all but $11 million of what it wanted.
 
 But Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said the department may run
into fresh resistance from lawmakers concerned about growing
federal budget problems.
 
 "The enormous costs of Yucca Mountain have yet to be addressed
and when you get these deficit hawks talking about the
ballooning deficit, that gives us the opportunity to stand up"
and challenge the program, Berkley said.
 
 Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., said they
plan to erect roadblocks to the accounting proposal. 
"We're not going to allow that," Reid said. "They come in with
that every year, that's nothing new. Budget oversight is the
only way to hold DOE to any kind of accountability."
 
 John Kane, senior vice president for governmental affairs at
the Nuclear Energy Institute, applauded the budget request and
the proposed changes to the nuclear waste fund.
 
 "It is essential, now that Congress and the White House have
approved Yucca Mountain, that sufficient funding be available,"
Kane said.
 
 But government watchdog Wenonah Hauter said the Energy
Department budget is irresponsible given pending legal
challenges against the program and unresolved questions about
safety.
 
 "The Department of Energy is obviously trying to sink so much
money into this hole it the ground that the project becomes a
self-fulfilling prophecy," said Hauter, director of the Critical
Mass Energy and Environment Program.
 
 Reps. Jon Porter and Jim Gibbons, both R-Nev., made similar
points.
 
 "It is premature for the DOE's budget to call for an $880
million price tag when this matter is still pending in the halls
of justice," Porter said. 

Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
 53 chillicothe gazette: Piketon plant would benefit from Bush budget -

chillicothegazette.com

Tuesday, February 3, 2004   

By DANIEL PRAZER Gazette Staff Writer 

PIKETON -- If President Bush gets his way, Pike County will get a 
shot of federal money to jump-start work at the Piketon uranium 
enrichment plant. 

In a Monday news conference, U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati, 
announced budget numbers submitted yesterday to Congress for the 
fiscal year 2005. 

In a year where the entire federal budget shows only a 1 percent 
increase -- well below the rate of inflation -- the money Bush 
asked Congress to direct toward Piketon represents a 
disproportional amount in the budget. In the past three years, 
Portman said, federal funding of activities around the Piketon 
plant has increased 140 percent. 

The money won't go toward the recently announced American 
Centrifuge facility, a $1.5 billion plant the United States 
Enrichment Corp. announced Jan. 13 it would locate in Piketon. 
However, it will create a good environment for companies to 
invest in the area, said USEC President Nick Timbers. 

"If there is a vital community here, it's an attractive place for 
people to come and work," Timbers said. "Any time you make a 
connection between a private sector basis and government basis, 
it serves the community well." 

Among funding announced, the plant's cold standby program, which 
readies the mothballed gaseous diffusion plant for a quick 
restart, would receive an additional $38 million, a 65 percent 
increase to $132 million. 

The environmental cleanup program also included an $11 million 
increase, bringing the federal money earmarked for cleanup 
efforts to $91.8 million. About $51 million was slated for a 
waste conversion plant that will process byproducts of past 
enrichment, all of which is still sitting on site. 

While the money hasn't been approved by Congress, Portman is 
optimistic. 

"Congress defers to the administration quite a bit, but Congress 
usually changes things... so we've still got some work to do," he 
said, noting it will be up to area delegates to educate their 
peers on the plant's importance in America's national energy 
strategy. 

In addition to jobs, a key factor in the recommended budget lines 
is securing a domestic source of energy, Portman added. 

The money for the waste plant will go toward its construction, 
planned to start in July, said Don Grace, president of Uranium 
Disposition Services, the company doing the conversion. The 
construction will generate 120 jobs, and 150 people will be 
needed once the plant is operational. 

The Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative was pleased to hear 
the numbers, said Jennifer Chandler, SODI program coordinator. 

"To hear this is really exciting for the area, because that's 
what we want for this site -- a productive use and cleanup," she 
said. "We think there's room for both." 

(Prazer can be reached at 772-9364 or via e-mail at 
dprazer@nncogannett.com)

Originally published Tuesday, February 3, 2004
 
*****************************************************************
 54 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Nuke dump study omits real world

Today: February 03, 2004 at 9:12:34 PST 

 A study paid for by the Energy Department, and produced by
economists at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, claims that
the state's economy would suffer if work at the Yucca Mountain
project were stopped. UNLV's Center for Business and Economic
Research claims that the 3,650 jobs at the project, most of them
high-paying, translate into about $131 million in annual
disposable income. Furthermore, the researchers say if the
project goes forward, the building of the dump and the
construction of a rail line in Southern Nevada would yield an
additional 2,000-2,500 jobs during the transportation and
operations phase of the dump from 2010 to 2035.

 Would more Energy Department jobs be created if the Yucca
Mountain project gets the final go-ahead? Certainly. But this
simplistic analysis, for which the Energy Department paid
$100,000, doesn't adequately take into account what happens when
-- not if -- a deadly accident occurs in the transportation and
the burial of high-level nuclear waste. These relatively few
Yucca Mountain jobs (more than 830,000 people are employed in
Clark County) could ultimately put Southern Nevada's economy
entirely at risk.

 If nuclear waste spills out during a transportation accident in
Southern Nevada, who would believe that property values would
stay the same? In addition, tourists would be wary of coming to
Las Vegas. What business would want to expand or relocate here?
Some, maybe many, Nevadans would decide to pick up and leave our
state altogether.

 The authors of the study -- Mary Riddel, Martin Boyett and R.
Keith Schwer -- do acknowledge that there could be short-term
economic fallout in the first year waste is shipped, but they
add that it could become insignificant shortly thereafter as
people grow more tolerant of the shipments. With respect to
those who live near the shipping routes, the researchers write
that "convincing the public to allow ongoing transport of
high-level nuclear waste may be challenging." Talk about an
understatement. The authors add that there is a way "for
mitigating the social costs and reducing local resistance to
nuclear-waste transport: reducing the risk that people perceive
from transport." Such an "education" program -- what we would
call a public relations campaign -- "can moderate public risk
perception if the targeted audience finds the DOE information to
be well r esearched and effectively presented," they write. "If
credibility is compromised, then the DOE information could act
to inc! rease the public's perception of risk, undermining the
effectiveness of public risk-education programs."

 The Energy Department's reputation, however, already has been
ruined -- it routinely rejects information that shows how
dangerous it is to bury nuclear waste inside Yucca Mountain. The
Energy Department also hasn't adequately considered the dangers
associated with shipping nuclear waste, especially from
terrorists. Instead of honestly addressing all of the project's
faults, the Energy Department prefers to ignore them, trying to
fit a square peg in a round hole.

 If a high-level nuclear waste dump is brimming with economic
benefits, as the authors of the study claim, then why has every
other state in the nation not volunteered its land as a
permanent burial site? Indeed, the other 49 states'
representatives and senators in Congress couldn't target Nevada
fast enough to be the nation's sole nuclear waste dump. We're
sure that Energy Department officials are pleased with the
results of the UNLV study they paid for, but Nevadans understand
that this study is divorced from reality and is a product that
truly is befitting the term "ivory tower." There is no amount of
new jobs that we could ever define as a "benefit" if it results
in dangerously transporting 77,000 tons of man's deadliest waste
cross-country and burying that nuclear garbage in Southern
Nevada. 
 
*****************************************************************
 55 Las Vegas SUN: DOE earmarks $23 million to study nuke transportation
 
By Suzanne Struglinski 

 WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department plans to spend $23 million
to study how to move nuclear waste through Nevada, but it also
made clear Monday that finishing the license application for the
Yucca Mountain repository by the end of the year will be its
first priority.

 Of the department's record-breaking $880 million request for
the nuclear waste storage site planned for Yucca Mountain, 90
miles northwest of Las Vegas, $186 million is to be spent on the
transportation component. The department needs to figure out how
to move the 77,000 tons of spent fuel destined for Nevada from
the 39 states where most of it now sits.

 If it receives its full-funding request, the department will
add $23 million for transportation planning in Nevada with $163
million for a national program, projects director Margaret Chu
said at a budget briefing Monday. Only $69 million was allocated
for transportation in 2004.

 Chu said the new budget request is to cover a "critical year"
for the project since it will integrate the mountain's readiness
to take waste, the transportation plan and the plan to have the
repository take waste by 2010.

 "The (funding) increase has been well understood for many years
and it has been carefully planned," Chu said.

 But Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., called the request "irresponsible
and premature" since the federal court still has not ruled on
Nevada's legal challenges against the project. And Rep. Jim
Gibbons, R-Nev., said he would not support wasting millions of
taxpayer dollars on the Yucca Mountain project.

 A major part of the transportation money is to be used to award
contracts for transportation casks and rail infrastructure, Chu
said. Other dollars are to go toward completing the
environmental studies on a new Nevada rail line and finding ways
to include local governments in on the planning.

 But none of that will move forward until the license
application is done.

 Fiscal year 2004 ends Sept. 30, so the department's goal of
finishing and submitting its license application to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission by December will come in the first three
months of fiscal year 2005.

 Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Chu and other department
officials said they had no doubts Monday that the department
will meet the December deadline but emphasized that it needs the
money to do it.

 "I've told all the stakeholders that we fund the license
application first and nobody gets another dollar until that's
fully funded," said Energy Department Undersecretary Robert
Card. "So we don't need all $880 (million) for three months
worth of work to get the license application in obviously, but
those will be the first dollars that we spend."

 Card said the $880 million request will fully fund the program
to keep it on track for the 2010 deadline but any reduction will
not hurt the license application.

 "So when that budget is cut the important things are the ones
very interesting to stakeholders -- the transportation system,
the additional science on the repository -- those are the first
things cut, not because we're mean but we've made it very clear
from the get-go that there is no sense in us doing more science
or transportation if there is no repository," Card said.

 Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said this idea is exactly what
she and the delegation have been fighting about for years.

 "Does it make any sense to anyone that they would stop the
science before moving forward?" Berkley said. "It's not
meanness; it is insanity. If he is so hell-bent on the project,
let him put it in the president's state or his, not mine. Let
him put it 90 miles from where his children live not 90 miles
from where my children live."

 Meanwhile, Chu said the department called for $9.5 million to
go to Nevada -- $7 million for the counties and local government
and $2.5 million for the state for its oversight
responsibilities and about $11 million in Payment Equal to Tax
funds. Energy Department spokesman Allen Benson said the funds
pay for businesses' taxes that would have gone to the state and
property taxes that go to Nye and Clark County.

 The specific Nevada figures could not be located in budget
documents released Monday, but officials said the money has been
requested. Documents showed a $21 million request for external
oversight and PETT funds, a $10 million increase from 2004.

 Chu acknowledged that the department did not request any funds
in 2004 but did not say why it had decided to include the
oversight funds again this year.

 Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval threatened more legal
action against the administration if it did not restore funding
for the state's oversight. Congress eventually approved $1
million for the state and $4 million to be split among county
and local governments for 2004.

 The department split its $880 million request with $749 million
from the account nuclear utilities pay into to support the
project and $131 million from the Defense Department.

 Chu said the department will send a proposal to Congress that
would secure $749 million from the Nuclear Waste Fund that could
only be used to fund the Yucca project and nothing else from
this point forward. So any cuts to the department's request
would not benefit other programs in the Energy and Water
spending bill.

 Card stressed it would all still be subject to the
appropriations process, and not constrain Congress at all in
allocating money to the project.

 
 
*****************************************************************
 56 RGJ: Bush administration asks for more Yucca Mountain money

Tuesday | Feb 3, 2004

By Doug Abrahms

RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

WASHINGTON � The Bush administration asked Monday for more than a 
50 percent increase to pay for the nuclear waste repository at 
Yucca Mountain next year as the Energy Department readies its 
application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The president�s budget for 2005 requests $908 million for Yucca 
Mountain, up from $580 million approved in 2004.

Money for the Yucca Mountain project, about 90 miles northwest of 
Las Vegas, becomes more critical this year for the Energy 
Department as it plans to file a license permit with the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission in December. Experts say the application 
will take at least three years to clear the commission and 
cutting Yucca Mountain�s budget could delay it further.

�To remain on schedule to begin operation in 2010, the 2005 
budget requests $907.5 million,� Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham 
said Monday. �This is key to ensuring the future use of nuclear 
power in this nation.�

The Energy Department expects Yucca Mountain to start receiving 
waste from nuclear power plants and contaminated sites in 2010.

But Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was able to shave off more than $100 
million from Yucca Mountain�s budget last year and plans to do it 
again.

�Budget oversight is the only way to hold DOE to any kind of 
accountability,� Reid said. �DOE�s only interest is jamming the 
project through and I intend to force them to prioritize their 
work on safety studies and science first by restricting the 
amount of money they have.�

The Nuclear Energy Institute, which represents large electric 
companies, applauded the budget increase.

�The nuclear waste management program has been consistently 
underfunded for many years,� said John Kane of the NEI. �It is 
essential � now that Congress and the White House have approved 
Yucca Mountain as the site for used fuel disposal � that 
sufficient funding be available to permit DOE to meet its 
schedule.�

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., also said he would work to reduce the 
project�s financing.

�At a time when budget deficits are an urgent concern and there 
are funding demands for the war in Iraq and homeland security 
that must be met, it is unacceptable to see an almost 52 percent 
increase for the funding of the Yucca Mountain project,� he said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, a Republican from Reno, said he also will fight 
to prevent the Energy Department from taking Yucca Mountain off 
budget, where Congress would lose much of its oversight. 
Electricity customers pay into a nuclear waste fund, which is 
expected to pay for a large portion of Yucca Mountain.

Nevada officials are challenging Yucca Mountain in court. A 
ruling from the federal court of appeals is expected this year on 
Nevada�s challenges to both the siting process and constitutional 
questions around the nuclear waste dump.         

Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc.Newspaper. Use 
*****************************************************************
 57 AP Wire: Edison abandons plan to ship nuclear reactor vessel around Cape

 | 02/03/2004 | 

  [thestate.com - The thestate

 SETH HETTENA Associated Press

SAN DIEGO - Southern California Edison on Tuesday abandoned a 
plan to send a 600-ton decommissioned reactor vessel on what 
would have been the longest voyage ever for a piece of nuclear 
waste in U.S. history. 

Edison blamed a series of delays that came as it finalized plans 
to send the vessel on a 15,500 mile trip around the icy tip of 
South America to a nuclear graveyard in Barnwell, S.C., spokesman 
Ray Golden said. 

The vessel will remain safely in place, wrapped in tons of steel 
and concrete, at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station next 
to the ocean between Los Angeles and San Diego. Edison will 
explore other options to get the vessel to the East Coast, 
including a domestic route. 

Edison has spent several million dollars getting the vessel ready 
for shipment and seeking approval from more than a dozen state 
and federal agencies since 1999. 

Plans had called for a truck to carry the decommissioned reactor 
vessel down a 17-mile stretch of the California coast. A barge 
was to take the vessel on a nonstop 90-day voyage past Cape Horn 
to the East Coast. Finally, a train was to haul the vessel to 
Barnwell, S.C. 

"It's good news from an environmental perspective because the 
reactor's much safer in our opinion ... on site," said Tom 
Clements, senior adviser to Greenpeace International's nuclear 
campaign. "Plus, it avoids a diplomatic confrontation with Chile 
and Argentina." 

Critics said the company was risking disaster by sailing the 
vessel past Cape Horn, one of the world's most dangerous nautical 
passages. Daniel Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the 
Gap, a Los Angeles-based nuclear watchdog group, called it "the 
worst possible route from a safety standpoint you can come up 
with." 

Countries along the route had raised objections to the shipment, 
most notably Argentina, where a federal court last month banned 
the vessel from entering its 200-mile territorial waters. 

Continued delays would mean the passage around Cape Horn would 
occur closer to South America's winter, when the weather often 
turns treacherous, Golden said. The utility also had to avoid the 
March breeding season of the western snowy plover, a threatened 
species that nests on the beaches where the reactor would have 
passed. 

Edison's record-breaking route wasn't its first choice. A plan to 
get the vessel to South Carolina by rail and barge fell apart 
when Edison failed to reach terms with a railroad company. The 
Panama Canal refused to waive new weight limits for nuclear 
waste, forcing it to go around South America. 

The Barnwell site, operated by Chem-Nuclear Systems LLC, was the 
only site available to Edison for disposal of the reactor vessel. 
Barnwell is scheduled to close its doors to California's nuclear 
waste in 2008, unless South Carolina agrees to extend the date. 

"Disposal of nuclear materials is something that should be 
continued to be allowed," Golden said. "We hope that in the 
future there might come available to us facilities closer to us 
that would allow the disposal of materials." 

The decommissioned reactor generated enough power for 450,000 
homes from 1968 until it was shutdown in 1992. Modifications that 
could have kept it running were deemed too expensive. 

ON THE NET 

Southern California Edison, http://www.edison.com/

Transportation Department, www.dot.gov 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, www.nrc.gov 

Barnwell disposal site, http://www.chemnuclear.com/  


*****************************************************************
 58 Indymedia/IMC Paris: German Castors rolling to La Hague and Sellafield
                                                            
German anti-nuclear activists report that 11 Castor caskets of 
spent nuclear fuel are to be railed into France today (Tuesday) 
and tomorrow en route to processing plants in La Hague, France, 
and Sellafield, England.
 			 			 
The Hamburg-based X-tausendmal quer group says the Castors are
to cross into France at Lauterbourg at about 2 pm on Wednesday.
A southwest German activist group reports the allegedly last
consignment of spent nuclear fuel left Neckarwestheim nuke
today, but that it's no reason to celebrate. 

The Ludwigsburg-based Aktionsb�ndnis CASTOR-Widerstand writes in
a media release that at 9.30 am the consignment of two Castors
was trucked out of Neckarwestheim to Walheim, for reloading on a
train at W�rth, en route to Sellafield. They say there was a
noticeable increase in police presence and some protest. The
northerners say a consignment is likely from the Stade nuke,
closed down last year because its operator said it had had
become uneconomical. Protest actions are planned south of
Hamburg, the group says. There would be vigils at the Buchholz
and Rotenburg railway stations from 6 pm. 

(Infophone : 0160 - 95 48 96 10) 

In the southwest protesters will meet at 9 am at Walheim station
to demonstrate against the continued operation of the nuke. 
The Unterweser (Esenshamm) nuke near Bremen also has transport
permits. Although this is also likely to be the last consignment
from there to Sellafield, says X-tausendmal quer, "we are firmly
assuming that no transport will roll out of the Kr�mmel
station." 

"There is nothing to celebrate for nuclear opponents about this
last consignment out," writes the Neckarwestheim group. "By
building an interim storage, atomic waste production will
continue for decades in Neckarwestheim as well. Meanwhile
hundreds of tonnes of highly radioactive waste are in storage in
Sellafield whose disposal is totally unclear. The first return
transports to Gorleben have to be expected in the next few years
without there being a final disposal solution in sight. The
production of atomic waste must be stopped immediately. Even if
they are called 'abandonment of atomic power, all other ways are
dangerous and completely irresponsible." 

The new regulations requiring nuclear power stations to store
their waste on their own premises makes life a lot easier for
them, write the Neckarwestheim activists. "There have never been
better conditions for keeping nuclear power stations than under
this Red-Green government's socalled abandonment of atomic
power," their statement says. 

Neckarwestheim : c/o DemoZentrum, Wilhelmstr. 45/1, 71638
Internet : http://neckarwestheim.antiatom.deatomfeindliche
Gr�sse ! ***** Aktionsbuendnis CASTOR-Widerstand Neckarwestheim
anti-akw.neckarwestheim@s.netic.de Info-tel 07141 / 903363 * fax
/ 923991 http://neckarwestheim.antiatom.de		 		   	 	 
							 							 								 							 								 						   					 				
*****************************************************************
 59 UK Independent: Company in nuclear waste row has links with BNFL
 
By Michael Harrison, Business Editor
 
03 February 2004

Government proposals to allow British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) to
make hundreds of millions of pounds by storing foreign nuclear
waste permanently in Britain were mired in further controversy
yesterday. 

NAC International, the firm of consultants which drew up the
consultative document on behalf of the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI), also earns fees from BNFL for private
consultancy work. Geoff Varley, the lead author of the document,
was also an employee of BNFL for 13 years between 1975 and 1988. 

The disclosure of NAC's links with the state-owned BNFL drew
condemnation from opposition parties. Norman Baker, the Liberal
Democrats' frontbench environment spokesman, said: "Instead of
regulating the nuclear industry, the Government is being driven
by it. If the DTI is independent, it should withdraw these
proposals and commission a new study from an independent body." 

The DTI document, issued on Friday, recommended that BNFL should
be allowed to store intermediate level radioactive waste left
over from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at its
Sellafield plant, rather than sending the waste back to its
country of origin. 

It estimated that this would benefit BNFL by up to �650m. But
the document also pointed out that this would raise problems
over where to store the waste because a deep underground
repository might not be built until the next century. 

BNFL pays NAC about �20,000 a year for consultancy services and
fuel tracking. In a statement at the front of the report, NAC
denied that Mr Varley's links with BNFL constituted a conflict
of interest. It read: "These circumstances do not, in any way,
impinge on his ability or the ability of his colleagues to give
views on the matter in hand, because it is fundamental to the
long-term survival and success of NAC's consulting practice that
NAC provides an informed and up-to-date service with the
qualities of independence and impartiality." 	           


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 60 RosBusinessConsulting: Russian atomic ministry and BNFL discuss cooperation 

      RBC, 03.02.2004, Moscow 17:42:12.Authorities of the Russian 
Atomic Ministry and British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL) have 
discussed issues concerning bilateral cooperation in the sphere 
of nuclear energy in Moscow today, the press service of the 
ministry reported. Among participants were Russian atomic 
minister Alexander Rumyantsev and BNFL chief executive Michael 
Parker. The sides considered cooperation between enterprises of 
the Russian ministry and the British company in respect to 
raising nuclear security at reactors, upgrading and increasing 
efficiency of nuclear power stations, etc. 






Send your notes and suggestions to max@rbc.ru
All rights reserved � 1995-2000 RosBusinessConsulting 

--> 
*****************************************************************
 61 ITAR-TASS: Russia may supply natural, enriched uranium to Europe
 	 	 	 
[ITAR-TASS News Agency of Russia]     

03.02.2004, 21.35

MOSCOW, February 3 (Itar-Tass) - Russia may soon start the
supply of natural and enriched uranium to Europe. Russia and EU
representatives will hold negotiations and make a decision
before May 1, 2004, Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko said
on Tuesday. 

�The EU member countries have given a mandate for negotiations
on European imports of natural and enriched uranium for nuclear
power plants,� he said. The sides will soon switch from
consultations to negotiations. 

Russia �will insist on preservation of its long-term contracts
on fuel delivery to nuclear power plants of EU candidate
countries,� Khristenko said. Therefore it is very important to
Russia to get answers to its concerns about the EU enlargement,
he added. 

� ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,
*****************************************************************
 62 Advocate: SIDS say no to nuclear shipments
 
 Web Posted - Tue Feb 03 2004

 FOLLOWING a high level meeting of the Small Island Development 
States (SIDS), which was completed in the Bahamas, a decision has 
been made to oppose the controversial transportation of 
radioactive materials through the Caribbean region. 

The decision, which was announced through watchgroup Greenpeace 
International calls for an immediate end to the shipment of 
dangerous materials through SIDS regions. Greenpeace 
International representative Duncan Currie stated that the 
decision taken was �a strong condemnation of the environmental 
and security threat posed by transport of radioactive materials 
and a clear demand that they must cease. The Pacific and the 
Caribbean countries have spoken with a united voice in the Nassau 
Declaration and Draft Strategy. The nuclear shipping states 
cannot ignore this demand�. 

The decision came even as a ship carrying high level nuclear 
waste from France en route to Japan was scheduled to pass through 
the Caribbean. According to reports, the shipment of materials is 
being delivered on the Pacific Sandpiper, which left Cherbourg, 
France, on July 19. The ship is supposed to pass through the 
Caribbean and the Panama Canal. Greenpeace International stated 
that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International 
Conference on the Safety of Transport of Radioactive Material, 
held in July 2003, agreed that �the provision by shipping states 
of appropriate and timely information to en route states was 
desirable, though shipping states insisted on freedom of 
navigation�. 

The group has urged SIDS governments to protect their respective 
marine environments. It stated in its presentation to the 
assembled parties that �the obligation to protect the marine 
environment, together with the duty of consultation and 
preparation of environmental impact assessment, has emerged as a 
countervailing force against the freedom of navigation, which has 
throughout its development been set against other rights and uses 
of the ocean�. It cited the example of the movement of the 
Southern California Edison, which was given permission by the US 
Department of Transport in December 2003, to ship a 668-tonne 
Reactor Pressure Vessel Package Transport System (RPVPTS) from 
California to South Carolina. 

The trip is expected to take the ship around Central and South 
America and through the Caribbean. It also stated that the ship 
can make a port stop if it encounters emergency weather. It can 
also enter a port if it needs to make emergency repairs or a 
communication emergency. Barbados is included on the list of 
possible ports of call in case of the above-mentioned 
emergencies. Concern was raised over the lack of attention over 
salvage attempts, if the reactor sinks beneath 300 feet. Also, no 
environmental impact assessment was made with specific relation 
to contingency plans for responding to pollution incidents in the 
marine environment. It was also argued that no liability 
arrangements were in place to provide full compensation, should 
disaster occur. The shipment includes �some of the most 
radioactive material ever produced � the glass blocks are so 
radioactive that a person standing within one metre of an 
unshielded block would receive a lethal dose of radiation in less 
than a minute. If released into the environment, the waste would 
be a deadly environmental pollutant for hundreds of thousands of 
years,� the Report stated. 

This follows on the heels of action taken by CARICOM heads in 
1999, when two British flagged ships carrying plutonium were 
destined to pass through the Caribbean. Then, the heads issued a 
strongly worded statement on the issue. 

Barbados Advocate �2000
*****************************************************************
 63 	
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	By CAROLYN THOMPSON
 	 		Associated Press Writer
 	 	
 	February 3, 2004, 3:20 PM EST

 	 		WEST VALLEY, N.Y. -- 	 	 President Bush's proposed 2005
budget would reduce funding to the West Valley Demonstration
Project by more than $26 million, and could lead to a loss of
150 to 200 jobs at the former nuclear site, according to a
source close to the project. 

The budget includes $73 million for cleanup of the 3,300-acre
site, which housed the country's first commercial nuclear fuel
reprocessing plant. That's down from just under $100 million
allocated this year. 

"There would be employment cuts as a result of the budget," said
the source, who spoke on the condition on anonymity. "It's
pretty significant." 

West Valley has seen budget-related staff reductions in the
past. The site's contractor for 22 years, West Valley Nuclear
Services Co., currently employs about 500 people, down from 716
in 2001. 

The private Nuclear Fuel Services recovered used fuel rods
containing uranium to make new fuel from 1966 to 1972. 

NFS believed there was money to be made in recovering used
uranium to make new fuel. But when the project halted for
expansion in 1972, after processing 640 tons of fuel, it never
resumed because of high costs and increasingly stringent
government controls. 

Among the waste left behind at the 200-acre site were: an
underground tank of liquid waste measuring 70 feet in diameter
and 30 feet deep, a processing facility littered with pieces of
nuclear fuel rods, and spent fuel assemblies stored in water. 

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the West Valley
Demonstration Project Act, making the state and federal
governments partners in the cleanup. The two have been at odds
in recent years over several issues, including who will be
responsible for the long-term monitoring of the site if some
waste remains. 

Tom Attridge of the New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority said the state views the proposed spending
cuts as an indication the federal government intends to back off
of the project. The Energy Department wants most of the site in
a low-maintenance, monitoring mode by 2008. 

"This is the kind of sign we've been seeing from DOE over the
past couple of years, this kind of ramping down of their work
here, and we're a bit concerned," said Attridge, the senior
project manager at West Valley. 

He and others said the cuts would hinder the progress of a
highly skilled work force. 

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., termed the proposed cuts
"unacceptable" and said she would work to restore funding. 

"The administration is again putting the safe, timely completion
of the West Valley Demonstration Project in jeopardy," Clinton
told The Buffalo News. "The community and employees at West
Valley have labored to make this project a national model, and
they deserve the continued commitment of the Department of
Energy." 



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*****************************************************************
 64 Public Citizen: Bush�s Proposal to Inflate Yucca Mountain Budget 
Is Irresponsible
 
Feb. 2, 2004 

Congress Should Not Boost Budget for Nuclear Waste Dump While 
Legal Challenges and Key Safety Issues Remain Unresolved 

WASHINGTON, D.C.  President Bushs proposal to boost the budget 
for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump to $880 million and 
change how the project is funded is irresponsible given the 
pending legal challenges against the project and unresolved 
questions about the sites safety, Public Citizen said today. 

In the 2005 budget released today, Bush allocated much of the 
additional funding  a 50 percent increase from 2004  to develop 
and operate the transportation system for shipments to Yucca 
Mountain. The budget calls for the purchase of truck and rail 
casks and other equipment for waste shipments in 2010. 

"The idea of buying equipment for transporting waste to Yucca 
Mountain before questions about the safety of the site are 
resolved, and before the routes and mode of transport are even 
determined, is ludicrous," said Wenonah Hauter, director of 
Public Citizens Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. 
"The Department of Energy (DOE) is obviously trying to sink so 
much money into this hole in the ground that the project becomes 
a self-fulfilling prophecy." 

One of the most alarming proposals in the administrations Yucca 
Mountain budget is the elimination of congressional oversight of 
much of the projects funding. Since 1982, nuclear power utility 
consumers have paid fees to the Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for the 
establishment of a national repository for high-level nuclear 
waste. Bush proposes that these fees be paid directly to the DOE, 
thereby cutting Congress out of decisions regarding how the fees 
are used. 

"This is just a budgeting gimmick that artificially reduces 
federal spending and hides the real costs to consumers and 
taxpayers," said Hauter. 

Contained in the budget was the DOEs annual programmatic 
assessment of the Yucca Mountain project. The agency rated the 
project "adequate" despite the many fundamental questions that 
remain unresolved regarding the suitability of the site to safely 
and permanently isolate high-level radioactive waste. Not only is 
the site located over a drinking water aquifer, but it is in an 
earthquake zone. 

The DOE has been working since September 2001 to answer 293 
scientific questions, or key technical issues, that revolve 
around Yucca Mountains ability to keep radiation from 
contaminating the surrounding environment. So far, answers to 83 
questions have been completed and accepted by the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC). In a December 2003 letter, the NRC 
informed the DOE that it could not evaluate many of the answers 
that the DOE had submitted because the DOE had not supplied all 
the necessary technical documents. 

"Due to the doubts and uncertainties plaguing the Yucca Mountain 
project, Congress should not increase its budget or change the 
funding practices," said Hauter. "It appears that the Bush 
administration is steamrolling scientific concerns to ram this 
project through." 

Recent developments point to the need to rein in funding for the 
project. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
is deciding a slate of lawsuits against the project. One key case 
against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) charges 
that the EPAs standards setting the amount of radiation that can 
be released are not consistent with recommendations of the 
National Academy of Sciences (NAS), as Congress directed in the 
1992 Energy Policy Act. The EPA rule arbitrarily limits the 
period for which Yucca Mountain must comply with radiation 
release rules at 10,000 years, even though the NAS has found that 
the maximum doses from the dump are likely to occur for 300,000 
years. 

The DOE intends to submit its license application for the 
high-level waste dump to the NRC at the end of 2004. The courts 
decisions on these cases, which are expected this spring, could 
force a significant reassessment of Yucca Mountain that would 
necessarily take years and perhaps even permanently derail the 
project. ### 

*****************************************************************
 65 PRN: Perma-Fix Awarded Contract for Sodium Bearing Wastewater Project
 by West Valley Nuclear Services Company, LLC

[PR Newswire]   

 Perma-Fix Awarded Contract for Sodium Bearing Wastewater Project 
by West Valley Nuclear Services Company, LLC Tuesday February 3, 
9:27 am ET 

ATLANTA, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Perma-Fix Environmental 
Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: PESI; BSE: PESI; Germany: PES.BE) has 
been awarded a contract currently valued at approximately 
$962,000 to process sodium-bearing wastewater at the Department 
of Energy's (DOE) West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Site 
located near West Valley, NY. This project, which will be 
conducted at the WVDP site, will result in a waste suitable for 
shipping to a DOE approved disposal site.

WVDP is a unique operation within the DOE. It came into being
through the WVDP Act of 1980 that requires DOE to be responsible
for the solidification of high-level wastes generated at the
site, treatment and disposal of low-level and transuranic wastes
generated by the project and decommissioning the facilities used
in the process. The land and facilities are not owned by DOE,
but instead are owned by the New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority. After decommissioning at the site is
complete, the Act requires the premises to be returned to New
York State. West Valley Nuclear Services Company, LLC operates
the WVDP on behalf of the Department.

Waste treatment processes conducted at the WVDP resulted in the
generation of concentrated sodium-bearing wastewater, which is
classified as a mixed low-level waste. West Valley Nuclear
Services Company awarded a contract to Perma-Fix to treat this
waste using an in-container processing system for acceptance and
disposal.

Perma-Fix, along with its subcontractor RWE NUKEM, is scheduled
to perform in-container processing of this waste stream at WVDP
in mid 2004. System design is ongoing and laboratory testing
continues to refine the recipe needed to successfully solidify
this high sodium waste. This project is unique in that Perma-Fix
had previously participated in treatability studies to address
the special nature of this waste and has worked closely with
West Valley Nuclear Services to develop a solidification
treatment system that will result in a waste acceptable for
disposal.

Dr. Louis F. Centofanti, Perma-Fix chairman and chief executive
officer, said: "We look forward to utilizing our solidification
expertise to address such a problematic waste stream for the DOE
during their efforts to cleanup the West Valley Site. The
contracts we receive to provide waste management services for
Low Level Radioactive and Low Level Mixed Radioactive Wastes
allow us to enhance the value that our treatment facilities, and
onsite process systems, provide to the DOE and its prime
contractors."

Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. is a national
environmental services company, providing unique mixed waste and
industrial waste management services. The Company continues to
increase its focus on the nuclear services segment, which
provides radioactive and mixed waste treatment services to
hospitals, research laboratories and institutions, numerous
federal agencies including the Departments of Energy and Defense
and nuclear utilities. The industrial services segment provides
hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment services for a
diverse group of customers including Fortune 500 companies,
numerous federal, state and local agencies and thousands of
smaller clients. The Company operates nine major waste treatment
facilities across the country.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" which
are based largely on the company's expectations and are subject
to various business risks and uncertainties, certain of which
are beyond the company's control. Forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the value of the contract with
the WVDP, ability to treat the waste stream, growth within
nuclear services and enhancement of the value of our treatment
facilities and onsite systems to the DOE and its contractors.
These forward-looking statements are intended to qualify for the
safe harbors from liability established by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While the company
believes the expectations reflected in this news release are
reasonable, it can give no assurance such expectations will
prove to be correct. There are a variety of factors which could
cause future outcomes to differ materially from those described
in this release, including without limitation, future economic
conditions, industry conditions, the ability of the company to
apply its technologies, the DOE's failure to abide by or comply
with the contracts or to deliver waste as anticipated or
termination of the contract by the DOE or its prime contractor.
The company makes no commitment to disclose any revisions to
forward-looking statements, or any facts, events or
circumstances after the date hereof that bear upon
forward-looking statements. The views expressed by the authors
are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the
U.S. Government, the U.S. Department of Energy, the State of New
York, or any of its agencies. This document has undergone Export
Control Review and has been approved for general release.

Source: Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc.
                                 
Copyright � 2004 PR Newswire. All rights reserved. Republication
*****************************************************************
 66 KLAS: Bush Seeks to Pump Up Yucca Mt. Budget

February 3, 2004   

  Atle Erlingsson, Reporter

(Feb. 2) -- It was a big day in Washington, D.C. as the President 
unveiled his 2005 budget proposal for Yucca Mountain -- a 
potentially huge financial boost if his proposal to pump millions 
more into the project wins approval. 

The fact that President Bush is asking Congress for an increase 
for Yucca Mountain is not surprising. What's really raising 
eyebrows is the amount of money he's asking to be funneled in to 
YMP. 

This year, in 2004, taxpayers are spending $577 million on Yucca 
Mountain. For 2005, President Bush wants to spend $880 million -- 
that's a 52.5% increase over this year's budget. 

The President says the money is needed to build the repository. 
The money would also be used to move the license application to 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission forward. That license is needed 
for the Yucca Mountain repository to open. 

Opponents of the project are up in arms over the President's 
proposal. Nevada Senator Harry Reid questions why the President 
complains about the lack of funding for other programs, but wants 
an increase for this one. 

Senator Harry Reid, (D) Nevada; "Every program that he talks 
about needing help, there's no money to do that, but yet there is 
money to spend almost $1 billion in one year, digging a hole in 
the desert in Nevada. It seems to me that that's outrageous." 

Even though this is a political issue, Senator John Ensign and 
Representative Jon Porter, both Republicans, say the increase for 
Yucca Mountain is too much. 

Keep in mind; this is strictly the President's budget proposal. 
It must first be passed in Congress, and it's possible the number 
could be reduced before all is said and done.   

All content � Copyright 2000 - 2004 WorldNow and KLAS. All
Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 67 KRNV: Nuke dump could be financial boon for Nevada

February 4, 2004   

  LAS VEGAS, NV, February 3

A university study is projecting economic benefits for Nevada if 
the federal Energy Department builds a national nuclear waste 
dump in the desert northwest of Las Vegas. 

In 2000, the Yucca Mountain project contributed almost 200 
million dollars to Nevada's economy, and accounted for more than 
3,600 jobs. 

That's according to a recent report by the Center for Business 
and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

The study says building the repository could boost Nevada's gross 
state product by as much as 228 million dollars a year in 2006. 

It says transportation and operations could contribute another 
127 million dollars a year. 

The Energy Department projects spending 58 billion dollars on the 
repository, which it wants to open in 2010. 

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.) 

All content � Copyright 2001 - 2004 WorldNow and KRNV. All
Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 68 KRNV: DOE seeks $189 million to plan routes to Nevada nuke waste dump

  LAS VEGAS, NV, February 3

The Energy Department wants to spend 186 million dollars studying 
how to get the nation's most highly radioactive waste from 39 
states to Yucca Mountain. 

The project director says the 2005 Yucca Mountain budget covers a 
critical year for the repository it plans to open 90 miles 
northwest of Las Vegas. She says that if the DOE gets the money 
it seeks, it'll meet its deadline of December for submitting a 
license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

The agency wants to have the repository open in 2010. So far, the 
Energy Department hasn't identified truck or rail routes to 
Nevada or preferred trucking routes to Yucca Mountain. It has 
picked a favored route for a new rail line across the state. 

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)   

All content � Copyright 2001 - 2004 WorldNow and KRNV. All
*****************************************************************
 69 KVBC: Bush Budget Would Increase Yucca Spending

February 4, 2004   

President Bush is seeking a big increase in spending for Yucca 
Mountain in the budget he sent to Congress today. The 2005 budget 
proposes 880 million dollars for the nuclear waste repository 90 
miles northwest of Las Vegas. 

That would be an increase of 300 million dollars over 2004. The 
money would help the Energy Department complete the licensing 
application it aims to submit to the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission by the end of the year. 

The DOE wants to begin burying nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain 
starting in 2010. Bush and Congress approved the site in 2002 -- 
although Nevada is fighting the project in court. Overall, the 
president wants the federal government to spend 2.4 trillion 
dollars in the budget year beginning October first. 

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved   

All content � Copyright 2000 - 2004 WorldNow and KVBC. All
*****************************************************************
 70 NRC: NRC Sets Schedule for Review of LES Application; Offers Opportunity to Request Participation in
                             Hearing
News Release - 2004-01
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION   
  Office of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200   
  Washington, DC 20555-0001     E-mail: opa@nrc.gov  
  No. 04-018     February 2, 2004   
  

milestone schedule for reviewing an application from Louisiana
Energy Services (LES) to build a gas centrifuge uranium
enrichment plant in Eunice, New Mexico, to be known as the
National Enrichment Facility. The agency will hold a hearing on
the application as part of its review and invites persons whose
interest may be affected by the proceeding to file a written
petition for permission to participate in the hearing. 

LES is an international consortium of companies in the nuclear
industry consisting of two general partners, Urenco Investments,
Inc., and Westinghouse Enrichment Company, and six limited
partners. The NRC has determined that the application, which was
submitted on December 15, contains sufficient information for
the agency to begin its detailed review and has formally
docketed, or filed, the application. A copy is available on
the NRCs Agencywide Document Access and Management System
(ADAMS) using accession number ML040020261 through
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. A copy is
also available at the NRCs Public Document Room at One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. 

The Commission believes that it is obligated to make sure that
its adjudicatory processes are conducted in a manner that would
achieve sound and timely decisions. Consequently, the Commission
will endeavor to identify efficiencies, and provide the
pertinent resources the agency needs to complete reviews and
reach timely decisions in licensing uranium enrichment
facilities. 

The NRC staff will conduct a comprehensive review of the LES
application and prepare a safety evaluation report and an
environmental impact statement before the hearing is completed.
The applicant (LES) and the NRC staff will be parties to the
hearing. 

Any other person whose interest may be affected and who wishes
to participate as a party in the hearing proceeding must file a
petition to intervene within 60 days of publication of
publication of the Commissions notice and order in the Federal
Register, expected shortly. The petition must be filed with the
Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff, with copies by fax or e-mail and to the NRC
staff and applicant attorney at the addresses listed in the
Federal Register notice. The petition must include the
particular interest of the petitioner in the proceeding and how
that interest may be affected by the results of the proceeding;
a specification of the contentions, or specific issues, that the
petitioner 

seeks to have litigated in the hearing; and other information as
set out in detail in the Federal Register notice.   



  


 	Last revised Monday, February 02, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 71 Guardian Unlimited: The final reckoning
		 	
Leader
Tuesday February 3, 2004
The Guardian 		
		
Another week, another inquiry. But never a glimpse of the only 
investigation that will really suffice: a full, open, 
unrestricted and independent inquiry into the reasons why this 
country went to war in Iraq. That is the question, with all its 
weighty implications for future policy, that must be answered if 
government and governed are ever finally to move beyond this 
endlessly damaging episode. 

Last week's Hutton report shed light on some aspects of a 
conflict that was waged here as well as in Iraq. But the report's 
remit was narrow, as Tony Blair intended, and in the event was 
interpreted even more narrowly. This week, the spotlight switched 
to the now generally acknowledged shortcomings of the 
intelligence estimates of Saddam's prewar WMD capability. It may 
be that public scrutiny of "the quality and use made of 
intelligence relating to WMD in the run-up to the Iraq war and 
its aftermath", as demanded yesterday by the Tories, will add to 
our overall understanding of the bigger question. It seems that 
Mr Blair, whose opposition to such an inquiry has been undercut 
by George Bush's decision to launch one in the US, has 
reluctantly acquiesced. But such an investigation, however 
framed, must not become another way of avoiding the larger issue, 
another detour away from the heart of the matter. That bigger 
question - why war? - must, in the national interest, be 
thoroughly addressed at last. 

Prewar intelligence-gathering, and the judgments, expert and 
political, that were based upon it evidently form a critical part 
of this bigger picture. But it is hard not to feel a bit sorry 
for the spooks. Long before the war, this newspaper and others, 
here and in the US, reported a rising tide of anxiety within 
intelligence circles about perceived political pressure to 
provide hard evidence of an Iraqi WMD threat. Such reports were, 
necessarily, anonymously sourced. But these sources, Brian Hutton 
please note, were genuine enough and in some cases, surprisingly 
senior. Mr Blair's insistence on publishing the September 
dossier, based on classified information, deepened these 
misgivings. MI6, the CIA and others saw the trap - but they could 
not finally avoid it. They were in effect driven from cover. They 
were obliged to construct and underwrite a public, politically 
driven case for war which, if it turned out to be flawed (as it 
has), would, they suspected, inevitably rebound on them (as it is 
doing now). Any inquiry should closely examine this process while 
recalling that in the end, it was politicians, not spies, who 
made the judgment that war was the only option. Blaming only the 
spooks, like blaming only the BBC, is like beating the waiter 
about the head because the chef has overcooked the joint. 

That intelligence-gathering, like reporting, is an imperfect 
business is probably already widely understood. What needs 
explaining, in contrast, is how military pre-emption can be 
justified in future when threat assessments are so very 
unreliable. That is but one question for a wider inquiry into the 
roots of the war. The government must explain why it felt the 
situation to be so pressing in early 2003 that UN inspections had 
to be halted, with all the still reverberating, negative 
consequences for UN and western unity. The war's legality must be 
determined. Most fundamentally, the suspicion that Mr Blair went 
to war because he knew the US was going to do so anyway, and he 
believed a refusal to join in would wreck Britain's key strategic 
relationship, needs close examination. 

For this wider inquiry, a panel of six privy counsellors, as in 
the Franks committee's 1983 inquiry into the Falklands war, 
working in public with full access to officials and records, may 
be the best way forward. Without such a full accounting, the 
poison injected by Iraq into British public life cannot be drawn. 
Without it, there will be no final reckoning.
	
Guardian Newspapers Limited

*****************************************************************
 72 Knox News: DOE cleanup making progress

British firm expects to wrap up work by late summer

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
February 3, 2004

OAK RIDGE - BNFL Inc. has achieved several cleanup milestones and 
expects to complete its $300 million Oak Ridge project in late 
summer. 

The company, a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels, is cleaning 
up three large buildings once used to process uranium for bombs 
and reactor fuel. The nuclear decommissioning project, one of the 
largest ever, is being done under a contract with the U.S. 
Department of Energy. 

 BNFL announced that it had finished removing three "surge tanks" 
- each weighing about 35,000 pounds - from the K-29 building. The 
tanks once housed uranium that was enriched by the gaseous 
diffusion process at the Oak Ridge plant. 

"Each tank had extensive radiological contamination that required 
careful removal and size reduction," BNFL said in a press 
release. 

The company's engineering manager, Will Wesselman, said two 
cranes were needed to lift and load the tanks onto a trailer. 
After being broken into pieces, the tanks will be compacted and 
sent to a disposal site. 

Meanwhile, the DOE contractor announced it had completed the 
removal and disassembly of all converters and compressors in the 
three buildings - K-29, K-31 and K-33. 

That milestone was completed 41 days ahead of schedule, a company 
spokeswoman said. 

There were a total of 1,536 converters and 1,534 compressors in 
the three buildings. The larger converters weighed as much as 32 
tons each. 

The original plan was to ship the converters intact to a 
recycling center, but BNFL said changes required that the 
converters be disassembled at the Oak Ridge site. 

"With the dismantling operations virtually complete, we continue 
on our accelerated schedule,'' Jeff Stevens, the BNFL general 
manager, said in a prepared statement. 

Gerald Boyd, DOE's Oak Ridge manager, praised the company for 
doing the work on schedule and in a safe manner. 

Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 				

2004, Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
*****************************************************************
 73 Las Vegas RJ: DOE won't designate Atlas tailings policy 
 
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
 

Critics claim agency being cowardly 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Energy Department has decided not to
disclose its solution for the uranium tailings piled near the
Colorado River in southeastern Utah until it issues its final
environmental impact statement.
 
 Federal agencies commonly identify their preferred alternative
when they release the draft of the impact statement, which in
the case of the Atlas tailings is expected in April.
 
 With the agency opting not to disclose its preferences until it
releases its final EIS in October, the public will have just 45
days to weigh in on the possible solutions.
 
 The DOE is considering five alternatives, ranging from capping
the tailings in place on the banks of the Colorado to pumping it
by pipeline to the White Mesa uranium recycling mill.
 
 Critics claim the agency is being cowardly, possibly because it
is going to recommend capping the tailings. 
"They don't want to put out a preferred alternative, because
they don't want to take any heat from the public," Moab resident
Bill Love said.
 
 Sharon Buccino of the Natural Resources Defense Council said,
"The Department of Energy should put its cards on the table so
that the affected public has a meaningful opportunity to react."
 
 Don Metzler, the DOE's Moab project manager, said his agency is
not being evasive, just thorough in its information-gathering
and receptive to all public comments.
 
 Ammonia, heavy metals and mildly radioactive materials are
seeping into the Colorado River, possibly putting endangered
fish and downstream water supplies at risk.
 
 The Energy Department took over the site in October 2001 and is
trying to decide how to dispose of it safely for at least 1,000
years. Congress ordered it to get advice from the National
Academy of Sciences.
 
 Aside from the unlikely alternative of doing nothing at all,
capping the tailings in place would be the cheapest solution, at
about $249 million.
 
 
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
 74 Oakland Tribune: White House seeks more nuke funds
 
Article Last Updated: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 
 
Bush seeks
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER
The Bush administration wants more money for nuclear weapons in
2005, including studies of new or modified hydrogen bombs and,
if called upon, the means to conduct nuclear tests faster. 

In a year of cutbacks or meager growth for most domestic
agencies, the White House is seeking a 5.4 percent increase for
the weap-ons arm of the U.S. Energy Department, to $6.6 billion. 

Despite bipartisan criticism among House lawmakers last year,
the National Nuclear Security Administration signaled Monday
that it is asking for more money across-the-board in the
modestly expensive, but controversial programs aimed at new and
modified H-bomb designs. 

An unusual coalition of GOP budget hawks and Democrats gutted
several of those programs last year, cutting in half requests
for speeding nuclear testing, if ordered by the president, and
for a massive nuclear "bunker buster" known as the Robust
Nuclear Earth Penetrator. 

In the case of the bunker buster, the administration was forced
to shut down work on one of two competing nuclear-weapons
designs and devote all of its bunker-buster research to a single
bomb, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's B-83. 

Now the Bush administration is reviving both ideas, seeking a 25
percent increase in test readiness, to $30 million, and a more
than 200 percent increase for the penetrator, to $27 million. 

"They're coming back in and trying to recover their losses,"
said David Culp, legislative liaison for the Friends' Committee
on National Legislation, a Quaker group that monitors nuclear
arms issues. "I think that's going to get pretty tough scrutiny
from Congress." 

The administration also has slated $9 million, up a third from
this year, for "advanced concepts" teams to explore bomb ideas,
both new and old. 

"It shows where the Bush administration's priorities are. This
is pure discretionary spending, and they're choosing to spend it
on nuclear weapons," said Christopher Paine, a senior nuclear
weapons analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council. 

At least one powerful Republican already has warned the
administration will have a fight on its hands. 

After Linton Brooks, the nation's top nuclear-weapons executive,
congratulated directors of the nation's three weapons labs on
repeal of a 1994 ban on low-yield nuclear weapons, the chairman
of a key weapons funding committee noted his dismay that "the
only message conveyed to the weapons laboratories is one of
unbridled enthusiasm for new weapons designs and seeking new
military missions for nuclear weapons." 

"Although we find your actions unhelpful," wrote Rep. David
Hobson, R-Ohio, "they are at least instructive in gauging the
actual intent of the Advanced Concepts work proposed by the
administration; we will view future proposals from the
department with this memo in mind." 

Brooks anticipates a flare-up of last year's debate in Congress.
He said Monday that the administration does not plan on
inventing "mini-nukes" in 2005. 

"There is nothing in this budget that is aimed at producing
low-yield weapons," said Brooks, the NNSA administrator, in a
budget briefing. "We have no requirement for developing new
weapons. What we are trying to do is look at technology that
might be used to improve existing weapons." 

Budget documents and interviews with lab and government
officials suggest the scope of the advanced concepts work is
broader, however. Weapons scientists routinely look at new
security measures and new kinds of components and materials
whenever they do standard refurbishment of nuclear weapons to
stave off aging. 

But the advanced concepts program is, by definition, geared
toward new weapons design or new uses of older design ideas. One
likely project is the agent-defeat weapon, a bomb designed for
special radiation or heat effects to kill biological or chemical
weapons in storage, much like neutron bombs of the 1980s. 

The biggest share of increases in the nation's nuclear weapons
budget is for day-to-day weapons research and maintenance -- for
example, a total of $182 million on studies of plutonium under
explosive pressure and $6.1 million to maintain the W84 warhead,
a weapon that lacks a working delivery system -- and for
repaired or new facilities. It's also for security. 

More than three years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the
National Nuclear Security Administration is starting to staff up
for the higher number of potential terrorist attackers that
intelligence analysts say reasonably could be expected to
attempt the theft of ingredients for a nuclear weapon. 

Heightened defenses for the nation's three nuclear weapons labs,
four factories, nuclear test site in Nevada and a trucking
service between them will cost an extra $107 million in 2005. 

It includes no money for consolidating most nuclear-weapons
materials in fewer, hardened underground bunkers that would be
safer from attacks by land and air, an idea that the government
has studied for more than a decade.

 Contact Ian Hoffman at

ihoffman@angnewspapers.com . 		   	 	
*****************************************************************
 75 Tri-City Herald: $2.07 billion proposed for cleanup 

This story was published Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004 

By Annette Cary Herald staff writer 

The Bush administration proposed a olid $2.07 billion budget for 
Hanford cleanup in fiscal year 2005 on Monday, but attention was 
focused on what was missing. 

The proposed budget does not include $64 million set aside to be 
spent on Hanford cleanup only when the issue of reclassifying 
high-level waste is resolved to the administration's 
satisfaction. 

"I am disappointed that DOE appears to be using the budget as 
leverage in its dispute with our state," said U.S. Sen. Patty 
Murray, D-Wash., in a prepared statement. "... This could have 
been a very good budget for Hanford. As it is we still have some 
work to do." 

The budget is a $48 million increase over the budget estimate for 
the current fiscal year. It includes increased money for projects 
such as cleaning up contamination along the Columbia River, 
dismantling the Plutonium Finishing Plant and treating and 
shipping transuranic waste to a permanent disposal site in New 
Mexico. 

The preliminary total looks good, said Todd Martin, chairman of 
the Hanford Advisory Board. 

"Hanford is still a priority in the budget," he said. "It's still 
up in the $2 billion range." 

But he cautioned that the 2005 federal budget process still is in 
an early stage. The proposed budget for Hanford must now make its 
way through Congress and could be changed considerably before 
money is appropriated. 

On Monday, state, Mid-Columbia and other officials who follow the 
Hanford budget had only had a cursory look at the proposed budget 
for 2005. But they were questioning the drop in money for Hanford 
tank waste programs. 

That budget dropped from about $402 million to about $349 million 
for work to continue removing high-level waste from Hanford's 
underground tanks. The tanks, which were intended for temporary 
storage, hold waste from plutonium production dating back to the 
1940s. 

DOE attributed some of the proposed budget decrease to progress 
on pumping liquid waste from the leak-prone single-shell tanks 
into better double-shell tanks. The budget would decrease after 
all liquid waste is removed. 

But in addition, DOE believes some tank waste cleanup cannot move 
forward with the current legal uncertainty surrounding its 
authority to reclassify waste, according to a statement from the 
office of U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash. 

In July, a federal judge in Boise ruled that DOE could not 
legally reclassify high-level radioactive tank wastes as 
low-activity waste prior to treatment. The ruling is on appeal. 

DOE also has turned to Congress, pushing for legislation that 
would grant it that authority. 

The Hanford Communities, a coalition of Hanford-area governments, 
has opposed giving DOE broad reclassification authority, saying 
questions could be reasonably resolved by working with regulators 
on a case-by-case basis. 

The state of Washington, one of Hanford's regulators, also 
opposes giving DOE the power to reclassify high-level waste. 

DOE may believe it can't fully invest in some cleanup work with 
the issue unsettled, said David Mears, senior assistant attorney 
general in Washington. But setting aside cleanup dollars over the 
issue also "may partly be a way of pressuring the state" to 
change its stance opposing legislation to give DOE more authority 
to reclassify Hanford waste, he said. 

The Washington congressional delegation, including Hastings, has 
urged DOE and the state government to resolve the disagreement. 

Hastings praised the overall cleanup budget proposed by the Bush 
administration Monday for providing $7.4 billion nationwide, a 6 
percent increase over last year. 

It also includes a $16 million increase to speed up the 
processing of claims for compensation and medical benefits to 
workers made ill because of their work at Hanford and other sites 
producing nuclear weapons. 

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, DOE's national lab in 
Richland, also could benefit from increased budgets for homeland 
security and the Genome to Life program, Hastings said in a 
prepared statement. 

In other budget items, the cleanup money for Hanford's Office of 
River Protection would decline by 4.5 percent from 2004 because 
of the tank waste budget changes. However, the budget includes an 
increase to $690 million from $686 million to continue building 
the vitrification plant to treat tank wastes. 

Other Hanford cleanup projects -- those not affecting tank 
cleanup -- are included in the Richland DOE office budget of 
$1.03 billion. That's an increase of 10.4 percent from the $930 
million estimated for 2004, after figures are adjusted for 
changes such as creating a new DOE office to oversee the national 
lab in Richland. 

Among proposed budgets for Richland projects are the following: 

n The budget for the Plutonium Finishing Plant would increase to 
$183 million from $143 million as work moves from stabilizing 
plutonium left at the plant to tearing it down. 

n The budget for work at the K Basins would decrease as work to 
remove spent nuclear fuel in the basins is completed. The budget 
would drop to $125 million from $166 million. 

n As more transuranic waste -- typically barrels of contaminated 
junk -- is treated and shipped to New Mexico for permanent 
storage, the budget for the work would increase to $197 million 
from $152 million. 

n Spending on security would drop to $57 million from $62 million 
as more of the plutonium and nuclear fuel is consolidated from 
locations around the nuclear site to the plateau at Hanford's 
center. 

n The budget for cleaning up land along the Columbia River would 
increase to $216 million from $180 million. 

n Money to clean up waste sites in the 200 Area in central 
Hanford would increase to $131 million from $116 million. 

n In addition to money for cleanup costs, additional DOE money 
will come to Richland to cover expenses such as tribal grants and 
salaries for DOE employees. 

� 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
 76 Dayton Daily News: Budget boosts amount for Mound cleanup
 
 End in sight after 10 years of work at 300-acre tract
 
By Dale Dempsey Dayton Daily News Tuesday, February 03, 2004

 MIAMISBURG -- The president's 2005 proposed budget fully funds 
the accelerated environmental cleanup of the Mound site in 
Miamisburg, which after more than a decade of work finally has 
its end in sight.
 
 The former nuclear weapons plant is scheduled to be cleaned up 
to industrial standards by March 2006, and then completely turned 
over to a Miamisburg development group.
 
 "The contractor has been doing a great job and if they receive 
the money that is in their budget they'll be out on time," said 
Mike Grauwelman of the Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement 
Corp., which is developing the 300-acre site as a technology 
park. "We've gotten more done in the last 12 months than we have 
in the previous five years. I look out my window and there are 
buildings coming down, soil being removed."
 
 CH2M-Hill is the primary contractor for the $98 million cleanup.
 
 As proposed, the Mound would receive $15.8 million in 2005, up 
from $14.5 million in the 2004 budget, according to the office of 
Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio.
 
 The primary contaminant that placed the Mound site on the 
National Priorities List, or Superfund list, in 1993 was organic 
solvents that were used in the cleaning of the equipment on site. 
In addition, there were found metals and radionuclides. The 
cleanup involves the soils, groundwater and demolition of 
contaminated buildings.
 
 Grauwelman also said the MMCIC has pulled together $1.3 million 
in private money to build a 27,000 square-foot building in the 
technology park.
 
 "We were running out of places to put people," he said.
 
 The 2005 budget also includes $43 million to maintain the 
accelerated schedule for activities under the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to assist 
employees of energy department contractors and their survivors 
with their applications for state workers' compensation benefits.
 
 This, together with funding in 2003 and 2004, will enable the 
Energy Department to significantly expedite the process through 
2005, eliminating the backlog of claims. Former Mound workers 
have filed 388 compensation claims, but only eight have been 
approved to date, according to Web site maintained by DOE.
 
 Elsewhere, the Environmental Protection Agency's budget has a 
proposed 30 percent increase, to $121 million, to to clean up 
low-level contamination on industrial sites, called 
"brownfields."
 
 Two large brownfield projects in Dayton are the former Nibco 
foundry on Germantown Street and the former Harrison Radiator 
facilities on Monument Avenue. The Harrison site, dubbed Tech 
Town, has already received a $3 million Clean Ohio grant and a 
$2.5 million federal earmark in this year's budget.
 
 An increase in federal brownfield funds could be helpful, 
although $121 million averages out to only about $2.4 million per 
state, said Norm Essman, Dayton's director of economic 
development.
 
 "We would certainly welcome an increase in brownfield funding, 
but we think there needs to be some changes to the regulations," 
Essman said.
 
 Also of possible interest to communities, the EPA budget calls 
for a $492 million cut in low-interest loans to states and 
communities for clean-water pollution-control projects; funding 
would drop to $850 million. And allocations to local governments 
to improve wastewater, storm water and drinking water facilities 
would shrink by $335 million.
 
 
 
 Jim Bebbington contributed to this story. Contact Dale Dempsey 
at 225-2270.
 
Copyright � 2004, Cox Ohio Publishing. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 77 The Shorthorn Online: Lab bid may pose struggle
 
  [The Shorthorn]   [UT-Arlington]           
  
News Editor:<b>Brad Rollins</b> 817-272-3661   

NEWS | february 03, 2004 

UT System

 If the system pursues the Los Alamos bid, its biggest battle 
will be against the University of California 

  The Shorthorn: Andrew Campbell   
  
A Visionary Stroke 

Art and art history senior Courtney Wooten works on an untitled 
piece for her advanced painting class Monday afternoon in the 
paint studio. When asked why she chose art as a major, she said, 
Ive been doing art all my life, this felt normal to me.^   

By Connie Yue Contributor to The Shorthorn 

Getting the go-ahead from the Board of Regents may be the easiest 
part in the UT Systems quest to win the multi-billion dollar 
management contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
 
Lockheed Martin Corp. and the University of Colorado have 
expressed interest, but the systems biggest competitor may be 
the University of California, which has managed the facility 
since its establishment more than 60 years ago.
 
Regents will decide Wednesday whether to pursue the contract, 
which the U.S. Department of Energy said would open for bids. The 
department is expected to issue a request for proposals soon.
 
A department evaluation report issued in April could foreshadow 
an uphill-battle for the UT System if it decides to pursue the 
contract. Despite two security breaches at the lab and a series 
of financial frauds in the past two years, the report says 
California remains a vital part of the research community of the 
facility. While recommending the contract be opened for bids, the 
report urges the university to compete for the contract but 
partner with an outside business management firm. 

It is important to note that a decision to compete is not a 
repudiation of the university, the report says of California, 
but simply a recognition that the universitys performance in 
the area of business management did not rise to the exceptionally 
high standards required to override the presumption of 
competition in department orders.
 
California is expected to bid for the contract, but a 
spokesperson said Monday they were awaiting the issuance of the 
official proposal request.
 
The UT Systems special engineering adviser, Charles Sorber, who 
served as an interim president here until Friday, said he would 
be appointed to head the Los Alamos bid if regents approve 
pursuing it. Chancellor Mark Yudof declined to comment on the 
prospect last week, and a system spokesperson said Monday that 
there would be no comment until the regents decide.
 
If the system does pursue Los Alamos, Sorber may be facing some 
difficult challenges.
 
University of California laboratory management has largely 
improved its business practices, states the report by the 
departments National Nuclear Security Administration. 

Reforms in the university management were cited as effective 
after an internal shake-up, which resulted in the resignation of 
the then-laboratory director and the firing, and penalizing, of 
some 17 top officials in areas of finance, audit and security. 

The report further recommends the department base some of its 
contract modifications on the universitys initiatives. 

It is difficult to see how any organization could have done more 
to deal with the problem than [the university] has done&, the 
report says. Further, the university brings substantial value to 
the mission of Los Alamos in science, recruiting, retention and 
fostering a culture of scientific skepticism and peer review.
 
Many research staff members at the facility have also expressed 
their strong connection with the universitys management team. 
The report cited 2,500 employees, including some of its senior 
fellows, have signed a petition to stress the value of its 
association with California.         

The University of Texas at Arlington| Department of Student 
Publications � Copyright 2001. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 78 Oak Ridger: SNS maintains funding support in '05 budget 							 							
 
Story last updated at 11:52 a.m. on February 3, 2004
							

LAB CHIEF: 'We're cautiously optimistic. This is a proposed
budget. It has to be appropriated.' 

By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff


The Department of Energy's $24.3 billion budget request for
fiscal year 2005 includes around $113.6 million for the
Spallation Neutron Source.

"That's what we were expecting," said Jeff Wadsworth, director
of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is managing the SNS
project.

The funding request includes $80.5 million for construction
work and $33.1 million for operation of the SNS, which is being
built atop Chestnut Ridge in Oak Ridge.

Since the SNS is nearing its 2006 completion date, funding
requests for the project have begun to decrease. But, that's
just the way the project was planned.

"It goes down, and it makes it a little easier to be funded,"
Wadsworth said.

Marie Moffitt/Staff                                                                                                     
					   						At the Department of Energy Information Center,
Norman Mulvenon looks over budget notes Monday during a live 
telecast of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's fiscal year 2005 
budget request for his department.                                                                                              

                         In fact, funding for the SNS began to 
taper down in FY 2003. Over the years, funding for the SNS has 
been around $143 million for FY 2004, $225 million for FY 2003, 
$291 million for FY 2002 and $278 million for FY 2001.

The SNS will fire an ion beam down its linear accelerator tunnel 
toward a mercury target; a beam that, at 80 percent of the speed 
of light, could reach the moon in 1.5 seconds. The resulting 
protons will bombard a mercury target, generating neutrons for 
use in research.

Neutron-scattering research has been responsible for improvements 
in jets, compact discs, shatterproof windshields, satellite 
information for weather forecasts and stronger, lighter plastics. 
Neutrons have also been used in medical research for such studies 
as determining how bones mineralize during development and how 
they decay during osteoporosis.

In other areas, Wadsworth said the FY 2005 budget request 
includes around $17.8 million for continued construction on the 
Center for Nanophase Materials Science - a $62 million research 
facility being built near the SNS. The ORNL chief said he also 
expects positive numbers in the area of computational sciences.

"We're very ambitious to build the world's fastest supercomputer 
at ORNL," Wadsworth said.

Wadsworth said he was unsure how much funding ORNL would get in 
the security arena. However, he pointed out that funding appears 
to be flat in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energy 
sources, and there could be funding drops in some biological and 
environmental programs.

"We're cautiously optimistic," said Wadsworth. "This is a 
proposed budget. It has to be appropriated."

Gerald Boyd, manager of DOE's Oak Ridge Operations office, said 
more detailed figures pertaining to Oak Ridge's portion of the FY 
2005 budget are not expected to be available until this 
afternoon.

Mike Hughes, president of Bechtel Jacobs Co., said Monday 
afternoon that he had not seen the FY 2005 budget request so he 
could not comment on it. Bechtel Jacobs oversees environmental 
cleanup work for DOE in Oak Ridge.

Bill Wilburn, a spokesman for BWXT Y-12, said the company 
typically doesn't comment on the federal budget when it's 
initially released. BWXT Y-12 manages the Y-12 National Security 
Complex for the National Nuclear Security Administration - the 
quasi-independent agency within DOE that oversees the nuclear 
weapons complex.

When Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham released DOE's $24.3 
billion budget request for FY 2005 on Monday afternoon, he said 
it was the largest in the history of the department. He announced 
the budget during a press conference in Washington, D.C., which 
was broadcast live to the DOE Information Center in Oak Ridge.

At a quick glance, DOE's budget request includes $9 billion for 
the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the 
federal weapons complex; $2.5 billion to expand the nation's 
energy supply; $3.4 billion for fundamental scientific research; 
and $8.6 billion to support the goal of protecting the 
environment.

"It (the budget) includes unprecedented funding increases to 
hasten the cleanup of the Cold War environmental legacy, to 
construct a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 
to deliver on essential nuclear-related defense requirements, to 
provide for energy security by exploring the promise of hydrogen 
and fusion, and to promote basic science research to ensure 
America's technological preeminence well into the future," 
Abraham said.

Abraham said the budget request also includes $43 million within 
the Environment, Safety and Health program to accelerate the 
processing of claims for former workers who may have become ill 
as a result of their work at DOE facilities.

"This is a matter of doing what's right and taking care of those 
whose labors helped secure our safety. With this budget request, 
we are making good on implementing a three-year program to 
completely eliminate the backlog of applications by the end of 
2006," the energy secretary said.

Susan Gawarecki, executive director of the Oak Ridge Reservation 
Local Oversight Committee, said it was too soon for her to 
comment on the budget request.

"It's all subject to change," said Gawarecki, whose organization 
closely monitors DOE's environmental cleanup activities.

FY 2005 begins Oct. 1.
*****************************************************************
 79 Paducah Sun: Bush budget funding cuts for plant cleanup -
 
 Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650
 
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
 
cleanup 
The spending plan also would eliminate funding for community
 
The Bush administration is seeking a steady $100 million next
million less for Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant cleanup and
nothing for a program that helps create jobs for displaced
nuclear workers. 

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham rolled out the cleanup numbers
Monday as part of President Bush's overall budget request to
Congress for fiscal 2005, starting Oct. 1. Congress will
scrutinize the budget before passing its version in late summer
or early fall. According to the staff of U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield,
R-Hopkinsville, the Bush request contains: 

$92.8 million for plant cleanup, down from $120.2 million this
year. The decline comes only four months after the Energy
Department and Kentucky regulators signed a new agreement to
speed up plant cleanup. DOE is seeking bids from small
businesses, trying to make plant infrastructure and cleanup work
more cost-efficient. 

Kentucky Cabinet for Environmental and Public Protection
officials said they were unaware of the request and declined
comment. 

Nothing for the Worker and Community Transition program, which
funds community reuse organizations that create jobs for
laid-off nuclear workers. That would cut off funding for the
Paducah Area Community Reuse Organization (PACRO), which has
been a conduit for about $2.5 million in Energy Department money
toward the new Purchase Area Industrial Park. PACRO's role has
added emphasis now that USEC Inc. plans to close the 1,270-job
Paducah plant starting in 2010 and replace it with a gas
centrifuge plant in Piketon, Ohio. 

"What I've suggested to everybody is we look at ways to fund the
Paducah organization other than through the DOE program," said
PACRO Director John Anderson. "There is a great deal of momentum
to sunset it." 

$75 million for Olmsted Locks and Dam work, enough to start
building a $564 million dam this fall. The request, in a
separate budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is $12
million more than allocated this year. Dam work is expected to
last until 2012 and generate 250 peak construction jobs. 

$25 million for Kentucky Lock, compared with $29.9 million this
year. The expanded lock and new locks at Olmsted are designed to
improve river shipping by cutting locking time in half. 

$55.9 million for a new factory to convert nearly 40,000
cylinders of uranium-enrichment waste into safer material that
might have commercial use. The request is $5.4 million lower
than the $61.3 million budgeted this year. Uranium Disposition
Services, the contractor, expects to break ground by this summer
for the 150-job plant. 

$7.8 million for nuclear plant safeguards and security, up from
$7 million this year. 

$8.12 million for a new Lexington-based office overseeing
cleanup at Paducah and a closed enrichment plant at Piketon. The
office received $7.81 million this year. 

$43 million nationwide for a controversial program designed to
compensate nuclear workers sickened from plant toxins. The added
money is designed to cut down on a huge claims backlog in the
program, which received $27 million this year. 

PACRO�s budget has rapidly shrunk from $8 million since its
first year of operation in 1999 to $150,000 this year. Anderson
said the demise of community reuse organizations became apparent
last month at a meeting of directors. 

"This gives us about two years to generate an income stream from
other sources," he said. "That can be done. It's just that
everybody is going to have to work together." 

Among other things, Anderson is pursuing contracts with plant
cleanup and recycling firms, including cylinder-converter UDS
and Los Angeles-based ToxCo, which wants to find markets for
abandoned fluorine cells at the Paducah plant. 

*****************************************************************
 80 Oak Ridger: Other Views: TVA should consider nuclear power as a viable
 
Story last updated at 11:48 a.m. on February 3, 2004
option 							 							 							



The (Nashville) Tennessean, Jan. 26

Tennessee Valley Authority officials wouldn't be doing their
jobs if they didn't consider the potential for more nuclear
power in their production equations.

Faced with higher costs for pollution equipment and mounting
environmental concerns about coal-fired plants, TVA must
consider the benefits and the risks of the nuclear option. TVA
ratepayers deserve it. The seven-state region which lives with
the consequences of coal-fired pollution should demand it.

TVA's record on nuclear power has been poor. Part of the reason
for the utility's $25 billion debt rests in planning for power
plants that were never built. Problems at Browns Ferry, Sequoyah
and Watts Bar mothballed TVA's nuclear power program for nearly
a decade.

Some of the obstacles were common to the national nuclear power
effort. The most prominent has been the failure of the federal
government to provide a repository for nuclear waste which has a
lifespan of thousands of years. The high cost of licensing fees
stopped many nuclear programs in their tracks.

Much has changed as TVA looks at bringing on line another
reactor at Browns Ferry and possibly working with a private firm
to innovate with a boiling water reactor at Bellefonte. A fourth
of TVA power comes from nuclear plants.

Needs have changed as well. With TVA facing potentially high
costs for pollution equipment, cleaner burning nuclear power
looks more appealing. The damage to the Great Smoky Mountains
from coal-burning plants should be worth the consideration of a
nuclear alternative.

The nuclear power option isn't perfect. In the absence of
viable wind or solar options, however, it looks like a better
alternative. TVA would be remiss if the utility failed to
consider what it would take to make nuclear power a bigger part
of its power output. 







*****************************************************************
 81 [DU-WATCH] DU Info Bulletin no 88
 
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 00:42:56 -0600 (CST)

 
DU INFO BULLETIN NO 88
Book Review
1)	Terry Walkers: The Mother of all Battles
Veterans News
2)	War Illness Blow for Gulf Veterans
3)	For Whom The Death Tolls
4)	Zapped Veteran Fights On
5)	Gulf War Syndrome Action Demanded
DU News
6)	Bombs and Brains Don't Mix
7)	US Military Wreaks Worldwide Environmental Havoc
8)	Anti-War Group Stage Protest At Arms Depot
9)	Networking for Environmental Justice"
     10)  Uranium in Your Koolaide 
     11)Cluster Bombs: War Crimes of the Bush
Administration
Events
12)	Depleted Uranium Anti-Tank Shells: Toxic
Contaminant or Smart Technology?

Book Review

1)'The Mother of all Battles'
ISBN: 1-904166105
 By Terry Walker

 The first book on Gulf War Syndrome from the UK.
 You can buy it from 
http://www.design-publications.co.uk/ 
 at #9.99 plus #2.50pp

 Write- up
Mother of All Battles" by Terry Walker
 It was the worst and most environmentally toxic war
of
 the 20th century. 
 
 Following the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saddam
Hussein promised the Mother of all Battles; few in
the West believed him. Yet, for ordinary Iraqis the
conflict was catastrophic. As Iraq was repeatedly
subjected to heavy bombardment from the air, coalition
ground forces faced a significantly diminished Iraqi
army and Republican Guard. Some offered minor or token
 resistance, but most surrendered with dignity. 

 It took the allied forces less than two months to
 eject the Iraqi military from Kuwait but for many
British veterans the consequences of the Gulf War
 lasted much longer. 

Considerable numbers of formerly healthy men and women
have fallen ill since this period yet the government
 officially denied any link between vaccines to
protect
against Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and the
subsequent catalogue of illnesses and disabilities.
But the numbers of former soldiers afflicted with
 illnesses continued to rise and the machinery of a
 government cover-up was set in motion. 

Terry Walker was one of these victims and this is his
story.

Veteran News

 2) WAR ILLNESS BLOW FOR GULF VETERANS 

DAVID BYERS

12:00 - 23 January 2004 

A North Staffordshire support group has voiced its
disappointment after the Government rejected calls for
a debate into Gulf War Syndrome. Gulf War Syndrome UK
Support Group chairman Justin Harvey said: "I'm
disappointed and I think it will disappoint a lot of
veterans and their families."

Mr Harvey - who served as a trooper in an armoured
regiment reconnaissance unit during the Gulf War -
added: "I think a debate is the only way we will get
to the bottom of what has happened. If the government
has nothing to hide it should allow a public inquiry
to take place."

Addressing the House of Lords yesterday, Labour's Lord
Morris of Manchester asked for a Government response
to a coroner's ruling that a Territorial Army
reservist died from health problems he developed
during the 1991 Gulf War.

But Lord Bach said: "We are not convinced a public
inquiry would help.

"The possibility that we may look again at this matter
has not been ruled out, but in the present
circumstances, it is only through the programme of
research initiated by this Government, that we are
ever likely to be able to establish the causes of Gulf
veterans' illnesses."

http://www.thesentinel.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=67725&command=displayContent&sourceNode=67252&contentPK=8602409>

3) FOR Whom The Death Tolls
Deliberate Undercounting of Coalition Fatalities 
by Paul de Rooij
There is evidence of a concerted effort afoot to
obfuscate the number of casualties in the recent crop
of US-led wars.  May 1st was the day the president
Bush landed on an aircraft carrier and declared the
end to the war and the start of the occupation of
Iraq. [1]  Since then many casualty numbers have been
publicized, most of them disingenuous fudges of the
real death toll.  There are many reasons why the
casualty toll is understated, which we dissect in this
brief essay.
The Bush regime is doing its best to hide the human
cost of its recent wars.  Publicity of the soldiers
deaths is bad during an election year, and would be
bad for the continued justification for the American
occupation of Iraq.  If they are intent on hiding the
casualty figures, then it behooves us to uncover and
amplify them.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan04/DeRooij0124.htm

4) Zapped Veteran Fights On
By PAUL WOOD
) 2004 THE NEWS-GAZETTE
Published Online January 25, 2004

   RURAL THOMASBORO  Doug Rokke has a stack of Army
commendations as big as a suitcase. But he's not
winning much love now from the military, speaking out
all over the world on the dangers of depleted uranium.
   The uranium, with most of the highly radioactive
material taken out to be used in reactors, is heavy
and hot-burning, and shells made from it have been
used by tank crews in both Gulf Wars and Somalia to
penetrate thick steel.
   The health physicist, who retired this fall from
the Army reserves as a major, says the nation has a
debt to its warriors who became ill in the Gulf Wars,
as well as to the Kuwaitis and Iraqis who still have
dangerous weapons in their homeland. Rokke said 320
tons of uranium remain on the ground.
   "My 30-plus-year military career has been dedicated
to ensuring our nation's sons and daughters have
optimal military education and training, they receive
the medical care and applicable pensions that they
earned during service our nation, they are given safe
and effective equipment, and that environmental
contamination caused by military operations is cleaned
up," Rokke, 54, said last week. 
   He also has health concerns as close to home as it
gets.
   "I'm zapped," he says. The way to test for uranium
fragments in the body is through urine tests. 
http://www.news-gazette.com/story.cfm?Number=15330>

5) Gulf War Syndrome Action Demanded 
A call for action for those suffering from so-called
Gulf War Syndrome is due to be made in the House of
Lords. 
Lord Morris of Manchester will demand the government
responds to a coroner's ruling that an ex-soldier's
death was linked to his service in the 1991 war. 
The Labour peer will make the plea on Thursday,
following the verdict on the death of Army reservist
Major Ian Hill in 2001, after a decade of ill health. 
Last November's coroner's decision, was the first of
its kind in the UK. 
Major Hill, 54, a retired Army officer with 20 years'
experience as a field nurse, volunteered for service
because of a shortage of medically-trained personnel. 
'Inquiry promise' 
His health deteriorated throughout the 1990s and he
died in March 2001, after founding the National Gulf
War Veterans' and Families' Association. 
Cheshire coroner Nicholas Rheinberg ruled at the
Warrington inquest that he had died from natural
causes "to which service in the 1991 Gulf campaign
contributed". 
Lord Morris said Major Hill's widow, Carole, told him
that before becoming prime minister, Tony Blair had
promised her dying husband that if Labour won power he
would ensure that these veterans got a full public
inquiry. 
"These are matters which I shall be raising in the
House of Lords," said Lord Morris. 
"Scores of Gulf War veterans have been taken ill and
have died prematurely. 
"This inquest ruling is something which the Ministry
of Defence must respond to." 
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/England/Manchester/3418479.stm

DU NEWS

6) Bombs and Brains Don't Mix
 
How Military Exercises Caused Devastating Neurological
Damage to Civilians
 
January 31, 2004 (Montreal) - A famed Mad Cow
Disease researcher has now turned his attention to
other diseases of the brain, such as Parkinsons and
Alzheimers Disease, and has found what he thinks is a
smoking gun on the small South Pacific island of
Guam.
 
The island was occupied by the Japanese during WWII
and was eventually liberated by US forces after heavy
fighting.  Guam today has very high rates of various
neurodegenerative diseases.  And these two facts are
not at all independent of one another, as many people
maintain, claims Mark Purdey, columnist for the
investigative online magazine RedFlagsDaily.
 
Purdey makes the case that the environmental
contamination caused by the aerial bombing off the
coast of Guam and other events related to the US
military presence there in the decades following the
US liberation, are the real cause of the high rates of
brain maladies afflicting the inhabitants.
 
And Purdey is not the only one who feels this way. 
During a BBC documentary entitled Poisons in
Paradise one resident of the Island recalls the WWII
fighting and states There was something in the bomb
that was polluting the water. The children at that
time were bathing in it and drinking it.
 
The environment in certain areas of Guam is heavily
polluted with toxins, including radioactive ones, such
as strontium, barium, cesium, according to Purdey. 
This is due to radioactive decontamination performed
routinely on military ships off the coast.
 
Regarding his opinions on sensitive and controversial
subjects, Purdey certainly pulls no punches.  About
weapons of mass destruction, he states:
 
The only difference between the positions of the
developed  vis-a-vis the undeveloped  nations
regarding their handling of weapons of mass
destruction, is that the less sophisticated rogue
states have not yet developed a sufficiently
watertight infrastructure of secrecy and mass media
spin to keep their various acts of human and
ecological barbarism under wraps.
  
The complete article can be found at
http://www.redflagsweekly.com/conferences/mad_cow/2004_jan13.html

7) US Military Wreaks Worldwide Environmental Havoc

by Heather Wokusch January 24, 2004

http://antiwar.com/orig/wokusch.php?articleid=1761

While some German politicians are worried about the
closing of US 
military bases in their regions, others fear nasty
surprises will 
surface after the Americans depart. The United States
has consistently 
valued military power more than the environment  - but
at what price?

Some in the White House argue that US national
interests transcend 
greenie niceties, and this certainly was the case with
Bush's 3-day stay 
at Buckingham Palace last year. US security forces
trashed the Royal 
Gardens, historic statues and even the palace itself
in an effort to 
provide the best environment for the president. The
Queen's ensuing 
outrage didn't seem to bother Washington: if US
self-protection mandates 
despoiling a patch of land far away, then so be it.

The issue of US military bases overseas arouses
similar conflicts. 
According to Gary Vest, an assistant deputy
undersecretary of defense 
for environmental security, "There is not a [US]
military base in the 
world that doesn't have some soil or ground water
contamination. That is 
just a given."

8) Anti-War Group Stage Protest At Arms Depot
     
A Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster could happen in
Warwickshire, 
according to anti-war campaigners.

21 January 2004 Leamington UK Courier

http://www.leamingtonspatoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=691&ArticleID=727125

They staged a demonstration outside the DM Kineton
arms depot on 
Saturday, protesting against the storage of weapons
containing depleted 
uranium - which they say could lead to widespread
radioactive 
contamination if there was a serious accident or
terrorist attack.

Long Itchington resident Richard Williams was part of
the 15-strong 
group, who called themselves the Warwickshire Weapons
Inspectors. He 
said: "We succeeded in getting our message across, but
we didn't have 
any joy in our attempts to get into the base itself.

"We want people to be aware of what is really going on
here. These 
weapons could cause a major contamination of this
densely-populated 
region if there was an accident. This could lead to
mass evacuation, and 
the sealing-off of a large area of the Midlands for
decades, even 
centuries - as has happened in Chernobyl.

9) "Networking for Environmental Justice"
 
Stephanie Ariganello
staff writer
Arden Hills Bulletin 1-14-2003

Concern over possible depleted uranium leaks and
remediation clean up drew residential crowds to
discussions regarding the former Twin Cities Army
Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills.
On Monday, Jan. 5, a national representative for the
Environmental Protection Agency headed a presentation
regarding depleted uranium on former TCAAP land. On
Jan. 6 the TCAAP Restoration Advisory Board held a
regular meeting to discuss the pending five-year
environmental review conducted through the United
States Army.
Depleted uranium was used in the production of certain
munitions in what was known as Building 502 on TCAAP
property. Alliant Techsystems Inc., a child company to
Honeywell, was the manufacturer of the DU shells and
penetrators from the 1970s until the late 80s or early
90s. Alliants largest customer is the U.S. Department
of Defense.  DU is a byproduct of the uranium
enrichment process for nuclear fuel and weapons-grade
uranium production. It is considered waste material
and under strict storage requirements because of its
radioactive nature.  The first meeting served as a
forum for informing residents on the basics of the
production and clean up efforts. According to some
attendees, questions still remain unanswered.
Most of the frustration surrounding the issue seems to
come from the compartmentalizing of the government
agencies. The EPA, though involved in the remediation
on some level and enforcer of standards, defers to the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission on sites involving
substances like depleted uranium.
DU resurfaced during the RAB meeting the following
evening, as many questioned its role in the five-year
environmental assessment.  One man in the audience
stood to ask if the DU had been removed completely
www.miltoxproj.org

10) Uranium in Your Koolaide 
Ewa Jasiewicz, Occupation Watch
Occupied Basra 
DU - What is it? 
Depleted Uranium is a highly toxic heavy metal derived
from nuclear bomb and fuel waste. It's heavy weight
and pyrophoric qualities cause it to burn-melt like a
blowtorch through steel when a DU coated/loaded
penetrator, self-sharpening by nature, strikes a hard
target. It's mainly used to incinerate battle tanks,
and on contact pulverizes into breathable aerosol-like
dust that can travel 26 miles and remains radioactive
for 4.5 billion years. 
Despite the name "Depleted" Uranium, DU has 60% the
radioactivity of natural uranium, which is pure
uranium, and all uranium whether "natural", "depleted"
or "enriched" is a chemical and radiological toxic
substance emitting alpha, beta and gamma particles,
all of which have a destructive effect on the cellular
make-up of the human body, ie they attack the human
body at the most essential, primary and vital levels. 
Imagine the effect of DU weapons on tanks and compare
it to that of the after-drift and settlement into
water systems, soil, vegetation, and the animal/human
body. The energy of a single alpha particle, never
mind the gamma, the heaviest penetrating rays known to
science - is more than the amount required to damage
important macromolecules (the glue that holds us
together) such as DNA, RNA, enzymes and proteins. It
does this by breaking molecular bonds and chemical
reactions, which alter or destroy the shape,
organization and function of these essential life
sustaining molecules. DU particles have the capacity
to penetrate, corrode, crack and break down the
building bricks of human life within the body, through
generating cancer. It can kill, slowly and
undetectably at first, with the effects of DU
invisible for the first 4 years of exposure. 
According to Dr Durakovic, a former US army colonel
and current professor of medicine, in the course of
one year, 1 milligram of uranium emits 390 million
alpha particles, 780 million beta particles and
associated gamma rays. This is over one billion
high-energy, ionizing, radioactive particles and rays
which can produce extensive biological damage 
biological warfare fought out across the inner
terrains of the human body: attacking the ovaries,
lungs, lymph nodes, kidneys, breast, blood, bones,
brain, stomach and fetuses. There are over 1000
different cancer types known to medical science.
Cancer means mutated cells. The body's immune system
kicks in to combat the cancerous cells and in doing so
begins to attack the whole body. White blood cells do
the fighting. They're designed to attack any foreign
cells, or any foreign object entering the body, be it
viruses, mutated cells or even organs such as
mismatched transplanted kidneys. As cancer spreads
through the body, the immune system strategy is to try
to defeat it. Cancer cells divide rapidly, overtake
other cells and can spread faster than the immune
system can react. Death envelops when cancerous cells
reach a critical mass in the body, attacking and
multiplying through mutating every cell around them. 
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/01/25/1998471

11) Cluster Bombs: War Crimes of the Bush
Administration, 
by Paul Rockwell

2004-01-30 | The formal war in Iraq has ended, and
most of the big guns have fallen silent. Yet the death
toll continues to rise, not merely because of the
brutality of occupation and the resistance, but
because of one of the most heinous, unpredictable
weapons of modern war-the cluster bomb. 

All over Iraq, unexploded cluster bombs, originally
dropped by U.S. troops in populated areas, are still
killing and maiming civilians, farm animals,
wildlife-any living thing that touches them by
accident. 

Under Article 85 of the Geneva Conventions, it is a
war crime to launch "an indiscriminate attack
affecting the civilian population in the knowledge
that such an attack will cause an excessive loss of
life or injury to civilians." Under the Hague
Conventions, Article 22 and 23, "The right of
belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is
not unlimited," and "It is especially forbidden to
kill treacherously individuals belonging to the
hostile nation or army." 

A cluster bomb is a 14-foot weapon that weighs about
1,000 pounds. When it explodes it sprays hundreds of
smaller bomblets over an area the size of two or three
football fields. The bomblets are bright yellow and
look like beer cans. And because they look like
playthings, thousands of children have been killed by
dormant bomblets in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq. Each
bomblet sprays flying shards of metal that can tear
through a quarter inch of steel. 

The failure rate, the unexploded rate, is very high,
often around 15 to 20 percent. When bomblets fail to
detonate on the first round, they become land mines
that explode on simple touch at any time. 

Human Rights Watch reports that 1600 Kuwaiti and Iraqi
civilians have been killed, many more injured, by
explosive duds following the Persian Gulf war. 

Under the Geneva Conventions, cluster bombs are
criminal weapons because it is impossible to use them
in significant numbers without indiscriminate effects.

In the war in Bosnia in 1995, Major General Michael
Ryan recognized the inherent danger to civilians and,
out of respect for the laws of war, prohibited the use
of cluster bombs in the European theatre. According to
Air Force reports, "The problem was that the
fragmentation pattern was too large to sufficiently
limit collateral damage and there was also the further
problem of potential unexploded ordinance." 
http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=1397&blz=1

EVENTS
12) MIT's Program on Human Rights & Justice, in
Cambridge Massachusetts presents
Depleted Uranium Anti-Tank Shells: Toxic Contaminant
or Smart Technology?

Saturday March 6, 2004
Building 34, Room 101
1:00-5:00 p.m.

Alexandra Miller, Radiologist, Armed Forces
Radiobiology Research Institute
Ken Czerwinski, former MIT Assistant Professor of
Nuclear Engineering
Jan Snihs, Researcher, Swedish Radiation Protection
Institute; scientific
leader, UN Environmental Programme, Kosovo
Michael Kilpatrick, Deputy Director, Deployment Health
Support, Office of
the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
Dan Fahey, Policy analyst, Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy, Tufts
University; former US veteran, Persian Gulf, 1991
Jim Walsh, Executive Director, Managing the Atom
Project, Belfer Center for
Science and International Affairs, Harvard University

Several of these folks will be apologists.
    I want to be there nonetheless!

Anyone have pictures of sick vets to share?

    Best regards,

    Sunny Miller, Director

    Traprock Peace Center
    103A Keets Road
    Deerfield, MA 01342

            http://www.traprockpeace.org

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 82 [du-list] DU in the News  4th  feb. 04
 
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 20:08:52 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
SCOTTISH Veteran First to Win Landmark Ruling on Depleted Uranium ...
UN Observer
Kenny Duncan from Clackmananshire Scotland yesterday became the first British
Gulf War Veteran to win his case for Depleted Uranium Poisoning from the
Gulf War ...
<<http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=1408&blz=1>http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=1408&blz=1>

GULF Veterans Hail Uranium Poisoning Ruling
The Scotsman
A former soldier has become the first veteran to win a war pension appeal
after suffering depleted uranium poisoning during the Gulf War, it emerged
today. ...
<<http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2486531>http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2486531>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm%3Fid%3D2486531>http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm%3Fid%3D2486531

USEC Inc. Earns $10.7 Million in 2003 on Improved Gross Margin; ...
Business Wire (press release)
... Assets 1,426.7 1,287.7 Property, Plant and Equipment, net 185.1 190.9
Other Assets Deferred income taxes 52.5 50.8 Prepayment and deposit for
depleted uranium ...
<<http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040203005931&newsLang=en>http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040203005931&newsLang=en>



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*****************************************************************
 83 Google News Alert - nuclear
 
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 15:00:19 -0800 (PST)

 
KHAN Case Deals Blow to Nuclear Black Market
Moscow Times
VIENNA, Austria -- The nuclear black market that supplied Iran, Libya and
North Korea is small, tightly knit and appears to have been badly hurt
by the ...
<http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/02/04/255.html>
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/02/04/255.html

SCIENTIST 'denies nuclear deals'
BBC News
A senior Pakistani opposition figure says it is not true that the county's
top nuclear scientist has admitted leaking nuclear secrets. ...
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3456231.stm>
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3456231.stm

SIX - way nuclear talk prospects unclear
Korea Herald
Pyongyang's agreement to rejoin six-party talks on its nuclear program
is good news but just how good depends on how well several explosive issues
are defused. ...
<http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/02/04/200402040068.asp>
See all stories on this topic:
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N Korea agrees to nuclear talks
NEWS.com.au
NORTH Korea said today it has agreed to six-nation nuclear talks starting
on February 25, prompting expectations the countries will discuss the
North's offer ...
<http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8580789%255E1702,00.html>
See all stories on this topic:
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DECISION-MAKING board of Nuclear Watchdog Agency to meet on Libya
WTEV
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The head of the UN atomic agency will brief the
agency's board on the progress of dismantling Libya's nuclear weapons
program after some ...
<http://www.wtev.com/news/world/story.aspx?content_id=D35558E2-61CA-4789-B489-8D1C44604686>
See all stories on this topic:
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N. Korea Nuclear Talks may Bring Understanding, says Russian ...
Voice of America
... North Korea says he does not expect any breakthroughs in a new round
of six-nation talks this month aimed at ending the standoff over North
Korea's nuclear ...
<http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=ED1E4BBD-CD73-4513-826B356F1BAA8182>
See all stories on this topic:
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TEEN sparks nuclear alert
NEWS.com.au
A SCHOOLBOY hacker narrowly escaped jail yesterday after sparking a nuclear
panic by keying into a top secret US weapons laboratory. ...
<http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8580685%255E13762,00.html>
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8580685%25255E13762,00.html

NUCLEAR plant up and running
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Kewaunee nuclear power plant resumed generating electricity over the
weekend, more than two weeks after being shut down because of various
problems. ...
<http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/feb04/204513.asp>
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/feb04/204513.asp

NORTH Korea ends stalemate, sets nuclear crisis talks for Feb 25
Channel News Asia
... North Korea set February 25 as the date for a new round of six-party
talks in a move that rekindled hopes for an end to the 15-month crisis
over its nuclear ...
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/69288/1/.html>
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&client=google&num=30&newsclusterurl=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/69288/1/.html

NUCLEAR scandal grows
Gulf Daily News
ISLAMABAD: The father of Pakistan's nuclear programme told investigators
he gave nuclear weapons technology to other countries with the full knowledge
of top ...
<http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=73289&Sn=WORL>

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