***************************************************************** 03/02/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.53 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 [southnews] Bush should 'come clean' on WMD 2 BBC: UN nuclear chief upbeat on Iran 3 Las Vegas SUN: Inspector Upbeat on Iran Nuke Cooperation 4 Korea Herald: N.K. renews anti-U.S. propaganda 5 Korea Herald: More nuclear talks likely this month 6 Korea Herald: More nuclear talks likely this month 7 KoreaTimes: NK Should Be Allowed to Run Peaceful Nuclear Program 8 KoreaTimes: Seoul Seeks Working-Group Talks 9 asahi.com: Ban on N. Korea port calls gets push 10 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: Talks bear little fruit 11 Russia Journal Daily: Economy - EU expansion hits Russia 12 CNN.com: Malaysia rebuffs U.S. over nukes - 13 Las Vegas SUN: India Nuke Chief Defends Atomic Security 14 Las Vegas SUN: Malaysia Urged to Tighten Export Controls NUCLEAR REACTORS 15 US: NRC'S TMI-25 REPORT FLAWED 16 US: 3 actions to help stop a nuclear relapse 17 US: AR: Another leak is found at Palo Verde nuclear station 18 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Regulatory Conference with Entergy Operations o 19 US: NRC: NRC Approves Power Uprate for Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant 20 US: NRC: South Carolina Electric and Gas Company, Virgil C. Summer 21 US: NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting 22 US: PC News Herald: Did FirstEnergy executives really deserve raises 23 US: Rutland Herald: Senators request a Vt. meeting on Yankee 24 US: Times-Standard: Nuclear fuel workshop set for Saturday 25 US: JTO: Debatable -- Should Wisconsin's nuclear plant licenses be r 26 Platts: Power Map 27 US: APP.COM: Lawmakers seek oversight of nuclear plant closings 28 asahi.com: Kyuden eyes Saga for pluthermal plans NUCLEAR SAFETY 29 US: channelcincinnati.com: Health - Is A Highly Toxic Chemical In Yo 30 Halifax Herald Limited: Water at 18 schools still not potable 31 US: Boston Globe: Cancer coincidence? NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 32 US: Deseretnews: Radioactive-waste bill stalls in Senate 33 US: Deseretnews.com: Nuclear waste to stop in Utah? 34 US: toledoblade: Oregon to demand oversight of dump 35 US: CCDR: Health department criticizes Cotter 36 Platts: Hungarian site eyed for repository 37 Nevada Appeal: Waste storage problem shouldn't be partisan - NUCLEAR WEAPONS 38 JoAnn Wypijewski: The Bravo H-Bomb Test 39 Scotsman: Nuclear Spy Tells How Israelis Nabbed Him 40 asahi.com: Yoichi Funabashi: Islanders want truth about Bikini nucle 41 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: 50 years after Bikini 42 asahi.com: Exiled by radiation for 50 years US DEPT. OF ENERGY 43 DOE: Hydrogen Safety, Codes and Standards Research 44 DOE: National Energy Technology Laboratory; Notice of Availability o 45 DOE: National Energy Technology Laboratory; Notice of Availability o 46 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridg 47 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah 48 Tri-City Herald: PNNL's training program honored 49 Tri-City Herald: Hanford health foundation launches DOE counterattac 50 Oak Ridger: Energy Bowl begins today at museum 51 Platts: DOE asks court to defer costs of spent fuel delivery delay 52 Platts: Interview with Energy Secretary Abraham 53 Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald standards upheld 54 Oak Ridger: New method suggested for treatment of trenches 55 CourierPress: Editorials Washington Calling: Lots of uranium still m 56 amarillo.com Consultant: Contamination of aquifer down 57 Oak Ridger: Through the years with our Atomic City ID 58 Oak Ridger: ORNL researchers receive awards OTHER NUCLEAR 59 Google News Alert - nuclear 60 Newswise: Evidence Bubbles Over to Support Tabletop Nuclear Fusion D ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 [southnews] Bush should 'come clean' on WMD Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 20:52:41 -0600 (CST) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/7gSolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> US President George W. Bush should "come clean" and admit he was mistaken about Iraq's weapons arsenal, the former chief of the group of experts responsible for finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, David Kay, told a British newspaper today. "It's about confronting and coming clean with the American people, not just slipping a phrase into the state of the union speech," Kay told /The Guardian/ in an interview in Washington. "I was convinced and still am convinced that there were no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction at the time of the war," he said. "There were continuing clandestine activities but increasingly driven more by corruption than driven by purposeful directed weapons programs." Kay resigned in January and has blamed intelligence failures, not political leaders, for the much-publicised accusations that Saddam possessed chemical and biological weapons and sought nuclear arms - the core of Bush's case for war. Despite clearly admiring Bush and believing he went to war in Iraq in good faith, according to /The Guardian/, Kay thinks the President has to go further to regain public trust. "He (Bush) should say: 'We were misunderstood and I am determined to find out why'," he said. "When you don't say you got it wrong, it leads to the general belief that you manipulated the intelligence and so you did it for some other purpose. "I think we lost the credibility of our intelligence. The next time you have to go and shout there's fire in the theatre people are going to doubt it," Kay said. The former head of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), the team searching for weapons which continues to comb the country, shocked the Senate on January 28 by saying they had almost all been "wrong" on Iraqi weapons. Subsequently London and Washington have announced inquiries into the quality of the intelligence used by the governments to justify the decision to invade Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein. The archives of South News can be found at http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: southnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 2 BBC: UN nuclear chief upbeat on Iran Last Updated: Tuesday, 2 March, 2004 [The nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran] Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for energy The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has praised Iran's better co-operation with global non-proliferation efforts as a "sea change". "We are clearly moving in the right direction," Mohammed ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters. Last week, the IAEA expressed concern over Iran's failure to declare aspects of its nuclear programme. Iran agreed last year to make a full disclosure of its nuclear activities. The United States has accused Iran seeking nuclear weapons, but the government in Tehran says its nuclear programme is for purely peaceful purposes. 'Light at the end of the tunnel' "If you compare where we were a year ago and where we are today, that's a sea change," Mr ElBaradei told reporters before meeting European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Brussels. "I hope, sometime in the future - should Iran continue to co-operate, continue to give us all the details - we should be able to see some light at the end of the tunnel," Mr ElBaradei said. He said he was confident Iran would comply with its commitment. However, Mr ElBaradei refused to comment on whether IAEA was likely to censure Tehran when the agency meets next week in Vienna. Polonium experiments In its report last week, the IAEA said Iran had not declared designs for the advanced P-2 centrifuge used to make bomb-grade material. The report, obtained by the BBC, said Iran had also experimented with polonium, a radioactive substance that can trigger a nuclear blast. Western diplomats said the report raised questions about Tehran's readiness to co-operate with the UN. Iran said the traces of enriched uranium and polonium were the result of contamination of components imported for legitimate nuclear power programmes. The IAEA said it was in contact with Pakistan to verify the claim. And the agency welcomed Iran's agreement to suspend enrichment activities and to stop the assembly and testing of centrifuges, saying it would help to build confidence. ***************************************************************** 3 Las Vegas SUN: Inspector Upbeat on Iran Nuke Cooperation Today: March 02, 2004 at 11:05:35 PST By PAUL AMES ASSOCIATED PRESS BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency gave an upbeat assessment Tuesday of Iran's cooperation with international inspectors despite continuing concerns over the Islamic republic's nuclear program. Mohamed ElBaradei said there had been a major in Iran's relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency over the past year. "If you look at the big picture, we are clearly moving in the right direction," the IAEA director-general told reporters, alluding to Tehran's commitment under pressure last year to reveal past nuclear secrets and cooperate with agency inspectors. ElBaradei acknowledged, however, relations had been damaged by discoveries by IAEA inspectors of traces of radioactive elements and advanced equipment in Iran that could be used to make atomic weapons. "The bad news is that they have some R (research and development)activities that have not been declared," said ElBaradei. "That is a setback in the confidence building." He confirmed that the IAEA is in contact with Pakistan to verify Iran's claims that the traces of enriched uranium and polonium-210 were the result of contamination of components imported for legitimate nuclear power programs. "It's really important for us to get particle samples from Pakistan," ElBaradei. He praised the Pakistani authorities for cooperating with the agency and expressed hope they would soon provide the samples. ElBaradei refused to speculate on how the IAEA's board might react next week when it convenes in Vienna, Austria, to discuss Iran's nuclear program. The United States is seeking a declaration that Iran is in breach of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran is hoping a positive declaration from the agency could lead to the resumption of trade talks with the European Union. ElBaradei was in Brussels to attend an EU conference on nuclear energy. He was also scheduled to hold talks on Iran and other proliferation issues with the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana. After Iran's decision last year to open up to international inspectors and halt its uranium enrichment program, and a commitment by Libya to end weapons of mass destruction programs, ElBaradei said North Korea had become "the No. 1 proliferation concern." He said the agency had little firsthand knowledge of what was happening in the Communist state since its inspectors were thrown out in 2002, but the IAEA was "very concerned" about North Korea's capability to develop nuclear arms. Following revelations of the black-market network in nuclear technology headed by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, ElBaradei said the agency was making good progress in identifying middlemen in Europe and Asia suspected of involvement. He said the information would be passed on to governments in expectation that sanctions against illicit traders would "make sure that this will not be a model for people to follow." Reacting to allegations that British intelligence spied on U.N. officials in the run up to the Iraq war last year, ElBaradei said he'd seen no evidence that IAEA offices had been bugged, but said the agency "worked on the assumption that we are bugged all the time." -- ***************************************************************** 4 Korea Herald: N.K. renews anti-U.S. propaganda North Korea has toned up its rhetoric against the United States since six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program ended inconclusively last week. The participants in the talks agreed to resolve the row over the North's nuclear weapons program peacefully but could not reach agreement on how. North Korean officials later blamed the United State for the lack of progress in the negotiations. Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North Korean Workers' Party, claimed in a commentary Tuesday that Washington set North Korea as its next target for its military campaign after the Iraqi war. 2004.03.03 ***************************************************************** 5 Korea Herald: More nuclear talks likely this month 2004.03.03 Participants in last week's six-nation discussions on the North's nuclear arms program are arranging the first in an expected series of follow-up meetings, a senior presidential aide said yesterday. Officials will discuss technical matters involving the nuclear program, National Security Adviser Kwon Chin-ho said. "I understand a meeting will likely be held in mid-March to discuss holding the working-group meeting, although we cannot confirm that because of a lack of confirmation from our partners," he said. Despite there being no clear breakthrough in the second round of the multilateral discussions in Beijing last week, the parties agreed to hold another round of dialogue in Beijing no later than June to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. South and North Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan participated in the Beijing talks, which concluded on the weekend. Meanwhile, France has expressed a willingness to participate in the multilateral talks. "The issue of nuclear nonproliferation is a matter of the international community," the Japanese Sankei Shimbun quoted an official of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying. "In that context, the European Union also has something to do with it. ***************************************************************** 6 Korea Herald: More nuclear talks likely this month 2004.03.03 Participants in last week's six-nation discussions on the North's nuclear arms program are arranging the first in an expected series of follow-up meetings, a senior presidential aide said yesterday. Officials will discuss technical matters involving the nuclear program, National Security Adviser Kwon Chin-ho said. "I understand a meeting will likely be held in mid-March to discuss holding the working-group meeting, although we cannot confirm that because of a lack of confirmation from our partners," he said. Despite there being no clear breakthrough in the second round of the multilateral discussions in Beijing last week, the parties agreed to hold another round of dialogue in Beijing no later than June to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. South and North Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan participated in the Beijing talks, which concluded on the weekend. Meanwhile, France has expressed a willingness to participate in the multilateral talks . "The issue of nuclear non-proliferation is a matter of the international community," the Japanese Sankei Shimbun quoted an official of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying. "In that context, the European Union also has something to do with it. ***************************************************************** 7 KoreaTimes: NK Should Be Allowed to Run Peaceful Nuclear Program Schwaetzer Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Nation > Times Interview By Yoo Dong-ho Staff Reporter Former German Vice-Minister Irmgard Schwaetzer says the United States should not approach North Korea¡¯s nuclear ambition the same way it did toward Iraq about a year ago. ``North Korea should absolutely give up its own nuclear arms program, however, the U.S. and other interested countries should definitely seek a peaceful diplomatic solution to end the prolonged nuclear impasse,¡¯¡¯ Irmgard said in an interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday. Irmgard, now a board member of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, said, ``We are looking closely at what the U.S. is doing to North Korea,¡¯¡¯ adding that Germany finds on many occasions that George W. Bush administration¡¯s policies are not helpful. ``There have been few German politicians who supported the unilateral U.S.-led war on Iraq.¡¯¡¯ She went on to say that other countries, including the U.S., cannot demand that the reclusive country relinquish its atomic program even for `peaceful purposes.¡¯ ``If the North accept the international nuclear watchdog¡¯s regularized access and inspection as a precondition, I don¡¯t see why not.¡¯¡¯ Touching upon last week¡¯s six-party nuke talks, Irmgard gave an upbeat assessment by saying, ``It is very difficult to solve the spiky issue on a bilateral basis.¡¯¡¯ She, however, called for more detailed discussions to be engaged between the six countries in order to establish a nuclear-free environment. Regarding the two Koreas¡¯ reunification, Irmgard adopted a firm tone and said that German unification cannot serve as a workable model for inter-Korean unification for now. ``North Korea¡¯s current economic and political system, let alone its nuclear weapons program, shows no future for unification,¡¯¡¯ she said. The so-called interior changes from the North, especially in terms of economic system, will only pave the way for the much-awaited reunification,¡¯¡¯ she said. ``People in East Germany had a good insight into the situation on West Germany and were informed on the other¡¯s politics, economy and style of life via televisions whereas North Korea is almost standing quite alone.¡¯¡¯ Irmgard said Friedrich Naumann Foundation¡¯s a group of members will hold a four-day training seminar on market economy and accounting in the North¡¯s capital city of Pyongyang starting the end of March as part of its ``pilot project¡¯¡¯ aimed at bringing the isolated country¡¯s inward changes. Irmgard, one of the best-known female politicians in Germany, also touched on gender policy by saying South Korea¡¯s National Assembly needs more female lawmakers to really represent the whole population. ``The whole society should realize that unless half of human resources are utilized it will lack certain aspects that have to be discussed.¡¯¡¯ Nearly 40 percent of German Parliament is made up of female lawmakers, she said. yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr 03-02-2004 18:55 Dr. Schwaetzer ***************************************************************** 8 KoreaTimes: Seoul Seeks Working-Group Talks Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Nation By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter North Korea, the United States and the other four nations participating in the six-way talks on Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear standoff are trying to arrange their first working-group meeting to handle technical matters, a senior presidential aide said on Tuesday. ``I understand a meeting will be held in mid-March to discuss arranging the working-group meeting as early as possible,¡¯¡¯ National Security Adviser Kwon Chin-ho told reporters on his way to a weekly Cabinet meeting at Chong Wa Dae. Wrapping up the second round of six-party talks in Beijing last Saturday, the six nations, including South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, agreed to hold the third round of nuclear talks in Beijing by the end of June to realize a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. They also agreed to set up a working group to handle technical matters related to the dispute in between the main rounds of talks. Kwon assessed the just-ended talks as successful, saying, though it would take time for a complete settlement of the impasse, he thought ``the talks laid the groundwork for peace on the peninsula.¡¯¡¯ Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck also said the upcoming working-group talks would be a venue where working-level officials from the six countries would have more candid negotiations. ``Officials will have more frank and candid talks as the working-group meeting will be kept secret without giving detailed information to the press,¡¯¡¯ said Lee, who led the Seoul delegation for the last round of six-party talks. jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr 03-02-2004 19:17 ***************************************************************** 9 asahi.com: Ban on N. Korea port calls gets push The Asahi Shimbun Ruling coalition partner New Komeito will allow a bill that bans port calls by North Korean ships to pass during the current Diet session, party officials said Monday. The officials said the proposed legislation, being drafted by a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, is needed to exert pressure on Pyongyang following the failure of the six-party talks in Beijing last week to make significant progress on the North's nuclear programs and the abduction issue. ``The bill on port call ban must be worked on,'' a senior New Komeito official said. ``It is up to the government to invoke it, but we may as well have it as a diplomatic card.'' The bill's introduction depends on whether progress is made at bilateral negotiations Japan is seeking to hold soon with North Korea, the official said. LDP Secretary-General Shinzo Abe on Sunday reiterated his resolve to push the bill through the Diet session. Opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) is also positive toward the idea and is preparing its own bill.(IHT/Asahi: March 2,2004) (03/02) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction ***************************************************************** 10 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: Talks bear little fruit Agreement to meet again is a small ray of hope. The ultimate goal of the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear program is to bring about a nuclear-weapons-free Korean Peninsula through diplomacy. To succeed, it is vital to define the conditions and methods under which Pyongyang would agree to dismantle its nuclear capabilities. We must also determine how Japan, the United States, South Korea, China and Russia can ease the anxieties that the North has regarding the safety of its system. The second round of these talks, which brought the parties to the table for first time in six months, ended Saturday. But any in-depth work in sorting out the critical issues at hand was deferred to future meetings. We have consistently stated that Pyongyang must clearly renounce any intentions toward nuclear development, including plutonium and uranium-enrichment programs alike, and effectively freeze all related activities at the present stage. On this point, the results of the latest session were naturally disappointing. The gulf separating the North from Tokyo, Washington and Seoul was not bridged. The three partners sought a ``complete, verifiable and irreversible'' elimination of all North Korean nuclear programs. Pyongyang continued to deny that it even has a uranium-enrichment scheme. The North's proposal late last year to ``freeze nuclear programs for peaceful use as well'' was not even mentioned this time. The only target for abolishment, Pyongyang's negotiators said repeatedly, is nuclear weapons. China, in its position as chair of the talks, moved to put together a joint statement, delaying the scheduled end of the talks by a full day in order to do so. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also visited the venue, urging that concerted efforts be made to break the deadlock. Yet in the end it proved impossible to tone down the prickly face-off between Washington and Pyongyang. Each of the participating countries put forth efforts. For instance, Seoul teamed up with Beijing and Moscow to propose energy aid, contingent on the North's agreement to freeze its nuclear programs and allow visits by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. So far, however, this offer has failed to persuade Pyongyang to back down from its hard-line stance. In the end, the talks resulted in no binding joint agreement. Cited in the speaker's statement were three points: the goal of ``realizing a nuclear-weapons-free Korean Peninsula,'' holding a meeting by June for the next round of talks, and establishing a working-level taskforce to help iron out the differences. On this front, the apparent success in raising these six-way talks to the status of a regular framework should not be overlooked. This is an important first step to bringing North Korea into the workings of the global community. There were also exchanges that raise hopes. Pyongyang, for example, asked the other participants just how they defined ``total nuclear abandonment,'' and the specific actions to which this definition refers. At the bilateral session between American and North Korean delegates, the North expressed the desire to engage in detailed talks on terms for giving up its nukes. Recent remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell before the U.S. Senate, regarding a ``positive attitude'' by Pyongyang, would appear to refer to such developments. We caution, however, that a cool assessment of both the North's real intentions and its negotiating tactics must be made to keep these talks on course and ensure they bear fruit. In its two-way discussions with Japan, the North Korean side appeared more positive than at the previous round. Kim Kye Gwan, Pyongyang's main delegate, said that progress in the issue of the North's abduction of Japanese is connected to resolving the nuclear problem and improved relations between Pyongyang and Washington. The two-way meet reconfirmed that Japan and the North will continue to hold bilateral talks on the abduction issue. Along with a decision to form a six-nation task force, the expansion of diplomatic channels with the North is also significant. Based on this, in addition to the obvious dialogue required between Japanese and North Korean negotiators, we hope that ties with Washington, Beijing, Seoul and Moscow will be put to optimum use in achieving visible progress in resolving the nuclear and abduction issues as soon as possible. --The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 29(IHT/Asahi: March 2,2004) (03/02) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction ***************************************************************** 11 Russia Journal Daily: Economy - EU expansion hits Russia Mar 03, 2004, 08:33 (Moscow time) | SEARCH [Acting Economy Minister German Gref (TRJ)] MOSCOW - Russia could lose as much as $150m a year as a result of the European Union’s expansion, acting Economy Minister German Gref told reporters on Tuesday. At the same time, he stressed that Russia’s positive dialog with the EU could solve the problem. Ten countries – Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia – will join the European Union on May 1, 2004. He said reports about the so-called “trade war” between the European Union and Russia were exaggerated. According to Mr. Gref, Russia is in the process of settling its disagreements with the European Union. He said common approaches had been found on all controversial issues, including uranium fuel and agricultural products. Another round of EU-Russia talks will be held later this month, when EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will visit Moscow. In late February, the European Council discussed EU-Russian relations at a meeting in Brussels. It concluded that the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), signed in 1997, has to be “applied to the EU-25 without precondition or distinction” by May 1, 2004. If Russia refuses to extend the agreement, the EU threatened tough measures and even economic sanctions against Russia. As compensation, Russia asked visa-free travel to Europe for Russians, financial aid to the Kaliningrad region (Russia’s enclave on the Baltic Sea), lower customs tariffs and higher quotas for the import of Russian goods. In January, Russia announced its 14 demands on the European Union regarding its trade relations with the EU acceding countries. But Brussels rejected these demands saying that all EU-Russian agreements should be extended to the new members. EU officials are ready for talks on separate issues, but they insist that Russia sign an additional protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, extending it to the Eastern European countries joining the EU on May 1. They also insist that Russia should do it “without precondition”. Documents prepared by the European Commission for the EU meeting in Brussels on February 23-24, contained 17 demands on Russia. The EU wants Russia to delimit its borders with Estonia and Lithuania, reform the energy sector, ratify the Kyoto Protocol before May 1, raise security standards in the sphere of transport and nuclear energy and stop charging “unjustified” fees on European airline companies for flying over Russia. RosBusinessConsultingEU expansion hits Russia russiajournal.com ***************************************************************** 12 CNN.com: Malaysia rebuffs U.S. over nukes - Mar. 2, 2004 Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's son has been linked to nuclear trade.] Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's son has been linked to nuclear trade. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- A high-ranking U.S. envoy has urged Malaysia's leaders to crack down on nuclear trafficking, but the country's foreign minister said there was no immediate need to tighten export controls to prevent the spread of technology. The U.S.-Malaysian discussions follow the seizure of a shipment of nuclear centrifuge parts made by a Malaysian company that is majority-controlled by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son. The talks come at a highly delicate time for Abdullah, who is on the verge of calling general elections. The opposition has said that a police probe that cleared the company controlled by his son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, of knowingly making nuclear parts for Libya smacks of favoritism. John Wolf, assistant secretary of the State Department's non-proliferation bureau, met Abdullah, U.S. officials said. Malaysian officials would only confirm that Wolf spoke with lower-ranking officials. "They were very useful talks," Wolf told The Associated Press at the airport on his way back to Washington. He did not offer details. A Malaysian official, asked about Wolf's meeting with Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, said the U.S. envoy did not raise the issue of sanctions, but it would be "foolhardy" for Washington to do so. U.S. law allows President George W. Bush to cut off foreign or military aid to nations trafficking in nuclear technology, but Malaysia -- a wealthy but prickly U.S. ally in Southeast Asia -- receives little U.S. assistance. In the talks, U.S. officials said Wolf would urge Malaysian officials to tighten export controls and brief them on Bush's initiative to improve security of nuclear materials and to treat traffickers as criminals. For his part, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid said Malaysia would consider signing additional Non-Proliferation Treaty protocols prohibiting the transfer of technology intended exclusively for nuclear use, but did not currently "see any necessity." He spoke before the meetings. Malaysia contends it does not have the high-tech capacity to make nuclear-specific technology and parts made here had other possible uses. Malaysia complains it has been unfairly singled out as part of the network led by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, to supply technology and know-how to Libya, Iran and North Korea. The seizure of the Malaysian-made parts in October was central to uncovering Khan's network. The company, Scomi Precision Engineering, or SCOPE, says it thought the components were destined for Dubai's oil-and-gas industry. Full disclosure Malaysian police say the company was deceived by a Sri Lankan middleman, Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, who is married to a Malaysian. Police say he has broken no local laws and he remains at liberty. Bush has described Tahir as the "chief financial officer and money launderer" of Khan's network. Syed Hamid said he did not expect Wolf to challenge the way Malaysia handled its probe into the Libyan deal and its refusal to arrest Tahir. "The whole thing is over already," Syed Hamid said before the talks. "Whatever had been needed to be done has been done. There has been full disclosure and a lot of transparency. It is no longer an issue." SCOPE is a subsidiary of the oil-and-gas company Scomi, which is majority owned by Kaspadu, an investment company. The prime minister's son has a controlling stake in Kaspadu and Tahir once had a seat on the board, though he stepped down in February 2003. Abdullah has said it would have been unreasonable to expect the company to have questioned what seemed like a legitimate contract and to risk losing the business, valued at $3.42 million. Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This © 2004 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. ***************************************************************** 13 Las Vegas SUN: India Nuke Chief Defends Atomic Security March 01, 2004 By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM ASSOCIATED PRESS BOMBAY, India (AP) - India's nuclear chief defended the country's atomic security, telling The Associated Press Monday that weapons secrets can't easily leak and that facilities are safe from terrorist threats. "Our installations are very secure," said Anil Kakodkar, chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission. "There is a scare arising out of terrorism, but there need be no fear on that count here." Since testing nuclear weapons in 1998, India has repeatedly said it is a responsible nuclear-armed state with laws preventing the illegal sale of information on nuclear arms and missiles. A. Gopalakrishnan, a top nuclear engineer, also said he believed India's facilities were secure. "I am 100 percent sure that there is no chance of anything going out of India," said Gopalakrishnan, chairman of India's nuclear regulatory board from 1993-96. "In strong contrast to Pakistan, the Department of Atomic Energy tightly controls the material here, and no senior scientist or senior person can take out any material." Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said last week that India was increasing security measures in view of the transfer of nuclear knowledge from Pakistan to Iran, Libya and North Korea. India and other countries fear the nuclear secrets sold by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father is the country's nuclear program, could fall into the hands of international terrorist groups. At all of India's nuclear installations, electrified fencing and four barriers manned by armed guards protect critical areas, while high sensitivity detectors are installed along the gates, according to a top scientist, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We have been vigilant from the very beginning," said K.S. Parthasarthy, who retired in January after 16 years as the secretary of the Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, which regulates India's 14 civilian nuclear installations. There was speculation last week that India and Pakistan may be using the same black market network to supply their nuclear programs. This came after a Washington court document showed that a South Africa-based Israeli businessman - facing felony charges of exporting nuclear bomb triggers to Pakistan - was also dealing with an Indian trader trying to buy material for Indian rocket facilities. Atomic energy officials have said their dealings are aboveboard, and the Indian businessman told AP the material he sought was for the country's civilian space program and not for weapons. Shannon Kile, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said India's nuclear program was home grown. "There have been illicit transfers to India, but largely the Indian nuclear program is based on indigenous technology and indigenous expertise, while Pakistan depends heavily on imported technology," said Kile in a telephone interview. Kile said India was "not considered a problem in the way installations in the former Soviet Union are - that's where most of the material is." He said insurgency threats in various parts of India have made the nuclear establishment alert. India has faced lingering tension in strife-torn Kashmir and insurgencies in northeast regions. "Fundamentalists, terrorists wanting to attack nuclear facilities - this is something India has had to contend with for the last 10 to 15 years," said Gopalakrishnan, who returned to India last year after a research program with the Belfer Center at Harvard University during which he visited top American nuclear facilities. "The kind of terrorism the West woke up to since 9/11 has been known to us and has troubled us over for the last two decades." He recalled carrying a bag and walking unchecked into sensitive areas of major American nuclear installations because he was accompanied by a senior American scientist - something he could have never done in India even when he held a top nuclear post. ***************************************************************** 14 Las Vegas SUN: Malaysia Urged to Tighten Export Controls Today: March 02, 2004 at 1:50:31 PST By PATRICK McDOWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - The United States urged Malaysia on Tuesday to fall in line with a new crackdown on nuclear trafficking, plugging criminal loopholes and tightening export controls after the discovery that a local company manufactured parts for Libya's nuclear program. U.S. envoy John Stern Wolf, an assistant secretary heading the State Department's bureau of non-proliferation, held 30 minutes of talks with Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and separate discussions for about one hour with Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar at Putrajaya, the administrative capital, officials said. Wolf left both meetings without speaking to reporters. On Monday, Syed Hamid had promised to hold a news conference after his meeting with Wolf, but canceled it hours later, without giving reasons. Malaysian officials said Wolf, a former U.S. ambassador to Malaysia, would not be meeting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose son is the majority owner of the Malaysian company that made the parts for Libya. Police say the company was tricked into making the parts and have cleared it of responsibility. Syed Hamid said Tuesday before meeting Wolf he did not think the American would challenge the way Malaysia handled the probe into the Libyan deal and its refusal to arrest the key middleman, who remains at liberty in Malaysia. "The whole thing is over already," Syed Hamid said. "Whatever had been needed to be done has been done. There has been full disclosure and a lot of transparency. It is no longer an issue." Syed Hamid said Malaysia would consider signing additional Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty protocols prohibiting the sale of technology intended exclusively for nuclear use, but did not currently "see any necessity" to do so. Malaysia contends it does not have the high-tech capacity to produce nuclear-specific technology, and that the parts made here had other conceivable uses. The meetings follow complaints by Malaysia that it has been unfairly singled out as part of the network led by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, to supply nuclear technology and know-how to Libya, Iran and North Korea. But U.S. officials are eager for Malaysia to stiffen export controls and take sterner measures against proliferation following the seizure of a ship carrying Malaysian-made centrifuge parts to Libya. "Assistant Secretary Wolf will be seeking to increase the existing cooperation between the U.S. and Malaysia on non-proliferation," U.S. Embassy spokesman Frank Whitaker said Monday. Wolf will provide information to Malaysia about steps taken at the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as President Bush's campaign against proliferation, Whitaker said. The middleman accused by Malaysian police of orchestrating the parts shipment for Libya, Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, remains free in Malaysia because officials insist that he has broken no local laws. Bush has described Tahir, a Sri Lankan businessman, as the "chief financial officer and money launderer" of Khan's network. Tahir is married to a Malaysian and lives part-time here. Malaysian police said in a recent report he deceived a local company, Scomi Precision Engineering, or SCOPE, into making centrifuge parts that could be used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. SCOPE, a wholly owned subsidiary of oil-and-gas company Scomi, thought the parts were bound for the oil and gas industry in Dubai, police said. Scomi is majority owned by Kaspadu, an investment company in which the prime minister's son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, has a controlling stake. Tahir also had a seat on Kaspadu's board, although he stepped down a year ago. -- ***************************************************************** 15 NRC'S TMI-25 REPORT FLAWED Date: Tue, 02 Mar 2004 21:21:29 -0800 Three Mile Island Alert, Inc. 315 Peffer Street Harrisburg, PA 17102 www.tmia.com PRESS RELEASE Contact: (717)-541-1101 Eric Joseph Epstein eepstein@igc.apc.org NRC¹s Public Presentation Rife with Factual Inaccuracies TMIA releases, ³What¹s Wrong with the NRC¹s 2004 Fact Sheet on the TMI Accident² Harrisburg, PA. (March 3, 2004) - Three Mile Island Alert, a safe-energy group formed in 1977, researched and reviewed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission¹s (NRC's) Three Mile Island Fact Sheet 2004. The eight page report methodically exposes an embarrassing array of factual errors, historical revisions, and gross distortions. The group is releasing its findings today on PDF to coincide with the NRC¹s TMI publicity event set for 9:30 this morning (Enclosure). TMI-Alert chairman Eric Epstein stated, ³The NRC incorrectly identified the initiating cause of the accident, failed to acknowledge large releases of radiation, ignored the operators criminal practices, glossed over adverse health effects, and misled the media about safety and staffing reductions throughout the industry.² Mr. Epstein noted, ³The NRC appears to be unaware of the current deteriorated condition of Three Mile Island Unit-2 . The reactor is not decontaminated or decommissioned, and First Energy does not possess adequate funding to perform either task. ² U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs/ Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov /www.nrc.gov Attachment Converted: "c:\program files\eudora\attach\FindingsTMIA.pdf" Attachment Converted: "c:\program files\eudora\attach\NRCFact Sheet.pdf" ***************************************************************** 16 3 actions to help stop a nuclear relapse Date: Tue, 02 Mar 2004 21:21:25 -0800 Dear Friends: Enclosed is information about 3 actions you can take to help stop a nuclear power resurgence. The first is a reminder about actions for the 25th anniversary of Three Mile Island. The second is a simple step you can take to help our colleagues in Russia shut down aging and dangerous nuclear reactors there. The third is a call for a European-wide action on Chernobyl Day at the French and Finnish embassies (although there is certainly no reason this could not be done in the U.S. and other countries as well!). We hope you’ll join in these actions! Michael Mariotte Nuclear Information and Resource Service Washington, DC TMI 25th Anniversary Anti-Nuclear Days of Action Posters for the TMI 25th Anniversary Anti-Nuclear Days of Action and"buttons" to add to your website or email alerts are now available from NIRS or from www.besafenet.com/nuclear.htm * Please send us any information about your group's events as soon as you can (date, location, etc.). Thanks. To include your information in the special edition of the Nuclear Monitor, we need your information by Monday March 8. * The posters can be downloaded on legal size paper for handouts or posting. TMI Poster 1 has a picture of a mom/child in front of cooling towers, and TMI Poster 2 has a TMI Meltdown picture.You can add your local contact information at the bottom. Let us know if you want us to do that for you. Also, let us know if you can't use pdf and we can send it in html. * The buttons can be added to your website or email alerts. There are 8 buttons to choose from (it may take a few seconds to download).It will link to the BESAFE website "Nuclear" page (www.besafenet.com/nuclear.htm)--it includes the posters, NIRS nuclear power plant maps, BE SAFE nuclear brochures, etc. Please help spread the word on the Anti-Nuclear Week of Action by sending out the posters and buttons this week. Many thanks. NIRS and BeSafe Close Unsafe Russian Reactors To sign the declaration below send an e-mail with you name and contact information to bodrov@sbor.net or visit the web site www.greenworld.org.ru (in English). declaration of non-governmental environmental organizations on the problem of power units of Leningrad and Kola Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), which have reached their design lifetime limit The oldest existing Chernobyl-type RBMK-1000 power unit of Leningrad NPP and a VVER-440 power unit of Kola NPP have reached their design lifetime expiration in 2003. Political decisions about the lifetime extension of these reactors have been taken without the comprehensive analysis of social, ecological, economical and political consequences for the people living in the North-West Russia and the whole Baltic-Scandinavian region, without the state environmental examination prescribed by law. The participation of concerned public was not provided in the decision-making. We, those who have signed this declaration, consider this as a violation of the Constitution, laws and international commitments of the Russian Federation. we demand: · To shut down reactors operated beyond their lifetime limit, because they create a higher probability of nuclear accidents. Further fate of these power units is to comply with the RF Regulation on the state environmental examination and to be based on the presumption of a potential environmental hazard from any economic activity involving them. · To develop the feasibility studies of power units decommissioning and possible alternative scenarios for the disposal of aged power units. These scenarios must foresee: Ø resolution of energy problems by energy saving, renewable sources and improved efficiency of combined heat-and-power plants operating in the North-West of Russia; Ø solution of social problems emerging during the decommissioning of power units; Ø solution of the problem of reliable long-term disposal (repository) of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. · To provide the availability of the feasibility studies for the environmental community of Russia and neighboring countries, as it is prescribed by the «RF Regulation of the state environmental examination» «Regulation on the Assessment of Environmental Impact from the Planned Economic and Other Activities in the Russian Federation» and International (Espoo) «Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context». · To organize public hearings on the feasibility studies, as the form of public participation in decisions taken about the fate of old power units. · To carry put the state environmental examination of the feasibility studies on possible decommissioning alternatives for the aged power units in accordance with the Regulation on the state environmental examination. · To comply with legislative provisions about establishing and financing the decommissioning fund and making it transparent for the public. · To introduce the market system, which ensures the consumer’s freedom of choosing the electric energy from a source, which agrees with the consumer's idea of ecological safety. We believe that the fulfillment of these demands is the implementation of right for public participation in the provisions for sustainable development of the North-West Russia as a part of the Baltic-Scandinavian Region. 1. Oleg Bodrov, NGO GREEN WORLD, Sosnovy Bor of Leningrad Oblast, St. Petersburg, Russia, phone/fax +7 81269 72991 2. Vladimir Chuprov, GREENPEACE Russia, energy department, Moscow Phone/fax +7095 2574116 3. Elena Kruglikova, Apatity Environmental Centre, Apatity, Murmansk region, Russia, phone/fax +7 81555 75553 4. Dmitry Strazhinsky, NGO PIM (Nature and Youth), Kirovsk, Murmansk region, Russia: +7 81531 55280 5. Igor Babanin, GREENPEACE Russia, St. Petersburg department, St. Petersburg, Russia, phone/fax:+7812 3521022 6. Gennady Shabarin, Information Agency Sustainable Development, St. Petersburg, Russia, phone: +7 812 1728597 7. Lydia Popova, Co-chairperson of the International Socio-Ecological Union, Director of the Centre for Nuclear Ecology and Energy Policy, Moscow, Russia, phone/fax: +7095131 70 12 8. Aleksey Yablokov, President of the Centre Ecological Policy of Russia, Moscow, tel. +7(095) 952 80 19 9. Gennady Mingazov, editor-in-chief of the Karelsky ecological newspaper "Green Leaf", tel. +7095 9494087 10. Andrey Kozlovich, leader of the Fund youth and the childhood "Ariston", Segezha, Kareliya, tel. +7 (81431) 50032 11. Olga Vysockaya, leader of the youth ecological society Eco-As, Ekonord Centre, Apatity, Murmansk region, Russia, tel./ôàêñ (81555) 79762 12. Mikhail Piskunov, Council Chairman of the "Centre for support of the Civil Initiative" Dimitrovgrad, Uliyanovskaya area, tel/fax (84235) 3-66-26, e-mail: csgi@vinf.ru 13. Michael Mariotte, Executive Director, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, 1424 16th Street NW, #404, Washington, DC 20035, 202-328-0002, nirsnet@nirs.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- APPEAL BY THE WIENER PLATTFORM “Atomkraftfreie Zukunft“ INTERNATIONAL PROTEST RALLY in front of the FRENCH and FINNISH EMBASSIES 26th April 2004 / Chernobyl day! as part of a European-wide Campaign Day You are requested to join in this campaign and hold a demonstration on 26th April 2004 in front of the French and Finnish embassies. A prompt response regarding your participation would be appreciated!!! Nuclear energy is going to be further developed in Europe. The shock of Chernobyl and the still prevalent disastrous consequences of this catastrophe seem to have been forgotten. The final disposal of atomic waste worldwide has still not been solved!!! There are plans to build 28 new atomic reactors, including the completion of, as well as new, reactors in Eastern Europe. The European pressurized water reactor ( EPR) was developed in the 1990s by Siemens and Framatome (now Areva). In 2004 the French government wants to start building a new nuclear reactor. The Finnish government has also given the go-ahead for a new pressurized water reactor. These are not „energy political“ decisions, they are „industrial political“ ones! By this means the nuclear lobby is trying to bring the constantly declining use of its capacity back into equilibrium! EUROPEAN-WIDE WITHDRAWAL FROM THE NUCLEAR ENERGY PROGRAM!!! PLEASE SUPPORT US!!! Wiener Plattform „ Atomkraftfreie Zukunft“ Fehnerweg 16, A 2380 Perchtoldsdorf / Wien e-mail: i.scherff.b.brauchinger@aon.at This is the NIRS E-Mail Alert list. You are on this list because you signed up on our website, at a NIRS table at a concert, on a petition, or directly to NIRS. Your name and address are never sold, rented, or traded with anyone for any reason. For address changes or to unsubscribe, just send an e-mail to nirsnet@nirs.org. If you have friends or colleagues who would like to be on this list, have them send a note to nirsnet@nirs.org Thank you! Michael Mariotte, Nuclear Information and Resource Service ***************************************************************** 17 AR: Another leak is found at Palo Verde nuclear station Arizona Republic March 2, 2004 Officials at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station have discovered a trace amount of boric acid leaking from one of the facility's three units, the third leak in two months at the plant west of Phoenix. Workers discovered the leak Sunday after the unit was taken off-line for an unrelated generator problem. The leak does not threaten the public and no employees have been injured, said Sheri Foote, a spokeswoman for Arizona Public Service Co., the plant's operator. The residue was found inside the large unit's concrete housing, Foote said. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inspecting another unit at the facility, which was shut down last month after workers discovered radioactive material leaking. Foote did not know if APS planned an internal investigation into the incidents. She expected the unit affected by the boric acid leak back in service by early next week. - David J. Cieslak subscribe to The Arizona Republic The Republic | about KPNX-TV | The News Store ***************************************************************** 18 NRC: NRC to Hold Regulatory Conference with Entergy Operations on Waterford Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region IV - 2004-00 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV No. IV-04-008 March 2, 2004 CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a regulatory conference with officials of Entergy Operations, operator of the Waterford 3 nuclear power plant, on March 8. Conferees will discuss the significance of an inspection finding regarding the plants emergency diesel generators. Waterford 3 is located about 20 miles west of New Orleans, Louisiana. The meeting, which is open to public observation, will begin at 1:00 p.m. in NRC Region IV offices in Arlington, Texas. The public will have the opportunity to observe and ask questions of the NRC staff before the meeting is adjourned. The NRC staff will discuss with Entergy officials the inspection finding and an associated apparent violation of NRC requirements identified in an inspection report issued on February 2. The apparent violation involves the licensees apparent failure to establish appropriate procedures and follow them during the installation of a fuel line for an emergency diesel generator during May 2003. The NRC evaluates regulatory performance at commercial nuclear power plants with a color coded process which classifies regulatory findings as either green, white, yellow or red, in increasing order of safety significance. The NRC's preliminary evaluation determined that the safety significance of the problem was "greater than green," meaning that the violation involved more than very low safety significance. No decision on the final significance, the apparent violation or any contemplated enforcement action will be made during the conference. Those decisions will be made by NRC officials at a later time. Last revised Tuesday, March 02, 2004 ***************************************************************** 19 NRC: NRC Approves Power Uprate for Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant News Release - 2004-03 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-030 March 02, 2004 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by the Nuclear Management Co. to increase the generating capacity of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant by six percent. The NRC staff determined that the licensee could safely increase the power output of the reactor primarily through minor component upgrades and evaluations demonstrating the plant can operate safely at the increased power level within its existing design. The power uprate at the plant, located near Green Bay, Wisconsin, increases the generating capacity of the plant from approximately 557 to 590 megawatts electric. The licensee intends to implement the uprate by the end of May. The NRC previously published a notice about the power uprate application in the Federal Register providing the public an opportunity to comment or request a hearing. No comments or hearing requests were received by the NRC. The NRCs safety evaluation of the requested power uprate for the plant focused on several areas, including nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, operations, and other technical specification changes. Last revised Tuesday, March 02, 2004 ***************************************************************** 20 NRC: South Carolina Electric and Gas Company, Virgil C. Summer FR Doc 04-4574 [Federal Register: March 2, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 41)] [Notices] [Page 9856-9857] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr02mr04-90] Nuclear Station; Notice of Availability of the Final Supplement 15 to the GenericEnvironmental Impact Statement Regarding License Renewal for the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station 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 NPF-12 for Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station (V.C. Summer), for an additional 20 years of operation.V.C. Summer is owned by South Carolina Electric and Gas Company (SCE), and is located in Fairfield County, South Carolina, approximately 26 miles northwest of Columbia, South Carolina. 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 Environmental Report submitted by SCE (SCE 2002b); (3) consultation with Federal, State, and local agencies; (4) the staff's own independent review; and (5) the staff's consideration of public comments, the staff recommends that the Commission determine that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for V.C. Summer are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable. The final Supplement 15 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 20852, 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 (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 . The final supplement to the GEIS is also available for public inspection at the Thomas Cooper Library, 1322 Greene Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, and at the Fairfield County Library, 300 Washington Street, Winnsboro, South Carolina 29180. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. William Dam, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O-11 F1, Washington, DC 20555. Mr. Dam may be contacted at (301) 415-4014 or . Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of February, 2004. [[Page 9857]] 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. 04-4574 Filed 3-1-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 21 NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting FR Doc 04-4670 [Federal Register: March 2, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 41)] [Notices] [Page 9857] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr02mr04-91] AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. DATE: Weeks of March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 2004. PLACE: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. STATUS: Public and Closed. MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Week of March 1, 2004 Tuesday, March 2, 2004 9:30 a.m. Meeting with Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes, (ACMUI) and NRC Staff (Public Meeting) (Contact: Angela Williamson, 301-415-5030). This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov. Wednesday, March 3, 2004 9:30 a.m. 25th Anniversary Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 2 Accident Presentation (Public Meeting) (Location: TWFN Auditorium, 11545 Rockville Pike) (Contact: Sam Walker, 301-415-1965). This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov. 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--http://www.nrc.gov. 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--http://www.nrc.gov. 1:30 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). Week of March 15, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of March 15, 2004. Week of March 22, 2004--Tentative Tuesday, March 23, 2004 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Status of Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES), Programs, Performance, and Plans (Public Meeting) (Contact: Alan Levin, 301-415-6656). This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov. 1:30 p.m. Briefing on Status of Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) Programs, Performance, and Plans (Public Meeting) (Contact: Jack Davis, 301-415-7256). This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov. 2:30 p.m Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). Wednesday, March 24, 2004 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Status of Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Programs, Performance, and Plans (Public Meeting) (Contact: Mike Case, 301-415-1275). This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov. Week of March 29, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of March 29, 2004. Week of April 5, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of April 5, 2004. 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: Dave Gamberoni, (301) 415- 1651. * * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html* * * * * 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 dkw@nrc.gov. Dated: February 26, 2004. Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary. [FR Doc. 04-4670 Filed 2-27-04; 9:40 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M ***************************************************************** 22 PC News Herald: Did FirstEnergy executives really deserve raises? - portclintonnewsherald.com Tuesday, March 2, 2004 EDITORIALS OK, so 2003 wasn't exactly a stellar year for FirstEnergy Corp. Here's a list of highlights -- or perhaps lowlights -- as outlined by The Associated Press last week: The company: + Played a major role in the nation's worst blackout, occurring on Aug. 14. + Had to restate its earnings. + Continued having problems with the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, which was out of service for all of 2003 after being off-line most of 2002. + Saw lowered profits as a result of a New Jersey rate case. + Saw higher pension costs. + Experienced increased regulatory oversight. All in all, it wasn't FirstEnergy's best year, and rank-and-file employees felt the results, losing out on $51 million in bonus money. So, it would seem to follow that executives -- the people ultimately responsible for the company's performance -- also would feel the sting of a bad year. Not so. FirstEnergy's directors decided that the top executives deserved raises ranging from 3.1 percent to 10.3 percent and also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in incentive pay. Here's a rundown, taken from a filing last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as outlined by AP: + FirstEnergy's late chairman and CEO, H. Peter Burg, was paid $1,051,142 in salary in 2003, up 6.2 percent from $989,511 in 2002. Burg died in January while being treated for leukemia. He received a bonus of $775,492 in 2003, down from $1,386,412 in 2002. + Burg's successor as CEO, Anthony J. Alexander, was paid 8.3 percent more in base salary in 2003 ($702,519) than in 2002 ($648,523.) He received a long-term bonus of $371,670 in 2003, down from $664,455 in 2002. + Chief financial officer Richard H. Marsh made 5.2 percent more in base salary in 2003, $375,556, compared with $357,129 in 2002. He received a bonus of $176,991 last year, compared with $316,421 in 2002. + General counsel Leila L. Vespoli got a 10.3 percent base salary increase in 2003 to $352,173. She was paid $319,264 in 2002. Her bonus in 2003 was $151,739, up from $146,724 in 2002. + FirstEnergy Service Co. senior vice president Kevin J. Keogh was paid $357,545 in base salary in 2003, up 3.1 percent from $346,654 in 2002. He was paid a $151,739 bonus in 2003, down from $271,320 a year earlier. FirstEnergy spokeswoman Kristen Baird said the executives' pay was based on several factors, including what's happening in the utility industry. "It's a competitive issue," she told The Associated Press. "You want to retain your best people." Given FirstEnergy's 2003 performance, we wonder whether the executives should be retained, much less given raises and bonuses. Originally published Tuesday, March 2, 2004 Copyright ©2004 News Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 Rutland Herald: Senators request a Vt. meeting on Yankee Mar. 2, 2004 By SUSAN SMALLHEER Herald Staff Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., have asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to hold a public meeting in Vermont on a plan to increase power production by 20 percent at Vermont Yankee. In a letter sent Friday to the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Vermont's two senators cited concerns raised by their constituents in asking for the Vermont meeting. "We have been contacted by Vermonters expressing concern regarding the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) process for evaluating such an uprate and requesting an independent review of the proposal," the letter to NRC Chairman Nils Diaz read. "We write to share these constituent concerns with the NRC and to confirm our understanding of the NRC's newly revised guidance and standards for conducting the review process." The letter didn't ask for a public hearing, a much more formal process, akin to the technical hearings that were held in the past eight months by the state's Public Service Board on the uprate request. The Jeffords-Leahy letter noted that they hoped Entergy Nuclear's application for the Yankee increase would be reviewed under the new standards on nuclear power uprates adopted by the NRC in December 2003. Once Entergy's request for a license amendment to increase power is published in the National Register, then a hearing could be requested, and Jeffords is keeping that option open once the formal review process begins, according to a staffer. But Diane Screnci, spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commis_sion, said late Monday that even after the Entergy license amendment is published, the public has 30 days to comment, but that a formal public hearing is not one of the options. Screnci said she had not seen the two senators' letter, but that they would get a response. Staff from the senators' offices met with NRC staff last month, raising concerns first brought up by constituents. Raymond Shadis, staff advisor for the New England Coalition, contested that, saying that any license amendment could be subject to a public hearing, and he said his organization planned on seeking such a review. He said what the senators had asked for amounted to a "simple public venting session," and not a substantial review of the Entergy application. Shadis noted that only the NRC deals with safety issues associated with the power increase, since Vermont state review focused on economics and some environmental questions. "It's nothing more than a public relations tool," Shadis said. "It would be useless. In a public meeting, there is no NRC accountability. They are making a huge mistake if they think it will make the uprate one teeny-weeny bit safer." "Window dressing? It's more like barn dressing, which is a polite term for what we clean out behind the stalls," Shadis said. "Nothing comes of it." Shadis said the NRC has never held a formal public hearing on any uprate case involving power increases at any of the nation's 110 commercial nuclear reactors. Screnci said she hadn't seen the Jeffords-Leahy letter, and she declined specific comment on their request. But she said the NRC regularly holds public meetings to discuss the NRC review process, and she said the NRC held a similar meeting in Connecticut two weeks ago to discuss its process involving license extension. "It is not unusual for the NRC to hold a meeting," she said. Shadis said the NRC was turning a "blind eye" to serious safety issues in the Entergy Nuclear proposal, which would retrofit key components at the Yankee reactor in Vernon and increase the amount of steam generated by the plant, which in turn creates more electricity. The New England Coalition, an anti-nuclear group based in Brattleboro, has been fighting Entergy Nuclear's request, saying that it puts too much pressure on an aging nuclear reactor, which doesn't meet some current NRC requirements for nuclear plants. The NRC concedes the point, but says Vermont Yankee has been "grandfathered" on some newer regulations. Shadis also pointed to the fact that Vermont's lone congressman, Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., had held a public meeting in Brattleboro a few months after the terrorist attacks of 2001 about safety at Vermont Yankee. "Nothing came of that either," Shadis said. Contact Susan Smallheer at susan. smallheer@rutlandherald.com. Copyright © 2004 and Barre-Montpelier ***************************************************************** 24 Times-Standard: Nuclear fuel workshop set for Saturday Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - EUREKA -- A five-hour workshop on storing the Humboldt Bay Power Plant's spent nuclear fuel is set for March 6. The workshop will be held from 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at South Bay Elementary School at 6077 Loma Avenue. The public workshop will include information on used fuel security, license process update, displays and plant information. Before the power plant's nuclear unit can be dismantled, nuclear fuel rods now stored in a pool on the King Salmon site must be moved. The Pacific Gas and Electric Co. plans to move the fuel into dry casks, which will be stored on a bluff on the property. The system is made up of a steel canister placed in a steel storage pack that will allow the package to later be moved to a permanent facility. PG applied to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to build and operate the dry storage facility in December, and the approval process could take several years. © 2003 Times - Standard ***************************************************************** 25 JTO: Debatable -- Should Wisconsin's nuclear plant licenses be renewed? Journal Times Online By Rob Golub About 100 miles north of Racine, near Manitowoc, are two nuclear reactors that must shut down in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Unless. They must shut down unless the state Public Service Commission and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission renew their licenses. Wisconsin Electric, which uses the name "We Energies" on electric bills, has started the renewal process for the Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant in Two Rivers. Should the plant licenses be renewed? There are benefits to nuclear power. Nuclear plants provide "baseload" electricity, which means steady, reliable electricity. Unfortunately, it's easiest to obtain this kind of power from sources that are often undesirable. Nuclear and coal power are both arguably threats to the environment and human health, yet both are preferred for baseload power. Nuclear power is considered a relatively inexpensive way to generate power and Gov. Jim Doyle says Wisconsin needs cheap power for a strong economy. But there are three main problems with continuing to generate nuclear power at Point Beach: 1. In the unlikely event of an accident or successful terrorist attack, serious levels of radiation could be released. 2. We haven't quite figured out what to do with nuclear waste. The Yucca Mountain in Nevada is slated to become a depository if the NRC approves the idea, but the Department of Energy is still preparing its application to the NRC. Storing waste at Yucca is a controversial idea. If it's approved, nuclear waste would be shipped by rail and truck from all over the country to a site about 100 miles from the 1.5 million residents of greater Las Vegas. 3. Point Beach was built in the early 1970s. Despite updating by We Energies, there's arguably something disturbing about continuing to operate an aging plant. Regardless of the potential problems, nuclear power is relatively cheap and there has never been a major accident in Wisconsin. With Wisconsin's relatively safe, successful track record, why change things now? view The Journal Times Do Not Call policy. This entire web site content copyright 2003, The Journal Times, 212 4th St., Racine, WI, 53403. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 Platts: Power Map This weeks data highlight is taken from Platts POWERmap and visually depicts active and future nuclear generation throughout North America. New nuclear development for generation has stalled in the U.S. mainly due to large capital costs, bad public perceptions, and issues regarding waste disposal. This story has been taken from Platts Nucleonics Week issue dated February 12, 2004. 2003 Global Nuclear Energy Output No Record, Still Hefty Washington, DC, February 13, 2004Long regulatory outages in Japan cut nuclear generation some 86-million megawatt hours (MWh) gross in 2003 from the 2002 output, reduced average output from 77% of capacity to 59%, and was the major factor in a worldwide decline in nuclear output of about 70-million MWh, to some 2.60-billion MWh, according to an exclusive analysis by Platts Nucleonics Week. World average capacity usage dropped more than two points, to 76.4%. Regulatory outages, mainly for top and bottom vessel head inspections and repairs, were also the major contributor to the decline of U.S. nuclear generation by about 14-million MWh, with average gross capacity factor dropping from nearly 90% to just over 87%. Nevertheless, both the world and the U.S. performances in 2003 would have set records in 2001, so the 2003 showing still meant a large number of operators were running their plants very well. South Korea's units generated some 13-million more MWh and Russia's, 10-million more than in 2002. The Czech Republic produced some 9-million more MWh with Temelin's becoming fully functional, while Bulgaria lost about 3-million MWh in part from the permanent shutdown of Kozloduy-1 and -2. And some nuclear units did very well indeed. Germany's 1,475-MW Isar-2 broke its own 2002 record by generating more than 12.3-million MWh. For the first time, the second largest generator was French: Electricite de France's (EDF) Cattenom-3, produced 11.7-million MWh. Every one of the top 10 generators worldwidesix German, two French and two U.S. unitsput out more than 11-million MWh in the year. For a decade, nuclear operators have been pushing their plants to be more efficient generators, said Margaret Ryan, Platts global editorial director for nuclear. The reduction in 2003 output was largely due to one unique situation and does not appear to signal any downward trend in nuclear capabilities. [Nuclear Plants of North America] For a free one-on-one interactive demonstration, contact Platts at 1-800-PLATTS-8 (toll-free within the U.S.) +1-212-904-3070 (direct), or e-mail us at support@platts.com. Call us today to find out more about POWERmap. This strategic desktop mapping system contains map layers and key statistical data for North American energy markets. You can use it independently or in conjunction with Platts analytical database services. Either way, POWERmap gives you the ability to uncover answers to your energy market questions. Click here to read more about Platts Nucleonics Week Take a trial to Nucleonics Week today to read more about the latest on the nuclear industry. Since 1960, Nucleonics Week has been the leading source of global news for the commercial nuclear power business, and annually analyzes nuclear performance worldwide. + Find out who's building nuclear plants, and who's shutting them down. + Learn which plants are performing best, and why they're succeeding. + Get accurate, up-to-the-minute technical information when something goes wrong at a nuclear plant anywhere in the world. + Explore the economics of nuclear plants and discover how vendors and operators are changing them. + Find out more about the political challenges facing nuclear power, locally and globally. + Refer to our exclusive monthly table of generating performance at virtually every nuclear power unit in the world to get a better sense of the industry. [printer friendly version] Printer-friendly format Contact Us Client Services Help Copyright © 2004 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 27 APP.COM: Lawmakers seek oversight of nuclear plant closings ASBURY PARK PRESS Published in the Asbury Park Press 3/01/04 By NICHOLAS CLUNN MANAHAWKIN BUREAU LACEY -- Under legislation proposed by lawmakers representing residents closest to the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, a new state council would review costs, environmental effects and safety risks associated with closing a nuclear plant. The bills' sponsors, Sen. Leonard T. Connors Jr. and Assemblymen Christopher J. Connors and Brian E. Rumpf, all R-Ocean, say approaching expiration of operating licenses for the state's four nuclear plants warrants extra oversight, according to a press release. "New Jersey should not wait for the decisions of others before planning for the potential impact of those decisions on our state," the statement says. Oyster Creek could close in 2009 if the federal government denies its application to operate for an additional 20 years. Plant officials said it will apply during mid-2005. A decision is expected in 2007. New Jersey's other nuclear plants, Salem I, Salem II and Hope Creek, are in Salem County. The plants' licenses expire in 2016, 2020 and 2026, respectively, and no renewal applications have been filed. The state could create this council and never use it, if expectations by the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group, hold up. The institute believes most U.S. plants will seek license renewal. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved every renewal application submitted thus far. The New Jersey Coordinating Council on the Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants, a 12-member board comprised of state agencies heads, mayors and county freeholders, would recommend legislative and administrative action relevant to protecting the public from dangers associated with decommissioning a nuclear plant. The legislation could prompt state lawmakers beyond the Shore area to join the 15 Ocean County municipalities that have either questioned Oyster Creek's safety or the process that would allow it to operate through its 60th year in 2029, said Suzanne Leta, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group, which opposes license renewal. "I think that Senator Connors needs to start talking to other legislators about Oyster Creek and this bill is one way to do that," said Leta, whose group supports the bills. The lawmakers introduced the measures in the Senate (S674) on Jan. 25 and in the Assembly (A2235) on Feb. 9. ***************************************************************** 28 asahi.com: Kyuden eyes Saga for pluthermal plans The Asahi Shimbun In the latest sign the nation's comatose pluthermal (plutonium-thermal) program is regaining consciousness, Kyushu Electric Power Co. (Kyuden) says it hopes to start churning out pluthermal power at a nuclear plant it operates in Genkai, Saga Prefecture, as early as fiscal 2008. Kyuden President Shingo Matsuo on Monday told reporters the company had begun explaining its plan to members of the Saga prefectural assembly. The power company, which supplies the entire Kyushu region, plans to hold meetings with the Saga prefectural government and local municipalities near the Genkai plant in an attempt to receive consent for the project. Pluthermal power is generated through the burning of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, the plutonium for which can be recycled from spent nuclear fuel rods. MOX fuel can be burned in existing nuclear reactors. Because the method is crucial to Japan's nuclear-fuel recycling program, the government and the electric power industry are eager to promote pluthermal power despite safety concerns. The nation's pluthermal program has essentially sat inactive for years due to a public backlash following a series of scandals involving MOX-fuel data forgeries and cover-ups of accidents at nuclear plants. Kyuden has nevertheless maintained a cordial relationship with Genkai and the prefectural government. There has been no major operational trouble at the Genkai plant and no active anti-nuclear movement among local residents. As a result, the Saga prefectural government is expected to approve the plan after obtaining the necessary consent from local municipalities. Osaka-based Kansai Electric Power Co., meanwhile, expressed its intent to resume its pluthermal pursuits at its Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture by fiscal 2008. With Kyuden now on board, the nation's nuclear-fuel recycling program appears ready to resume where it left off. But time is running out. Spent nuclear fuel stored at nuclear power plants nationwide will eventually reach full capacity in nine years if the nuclear-fuel cycle program is left incomplete. A full domestic cycle will become possible when a nuclear reprocessing plant is constructed in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, but it is unclear when the plant will start operating as opposition against the use of plutonium remains strong. The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan has said it will burn MOX fuel at 16 to 18 nuclear reactors by fiscal 2010. Kansai Electric Power is a step ahead, claiming it will introduce MOX fuel at two reactors in Takahama by fiscal 2008, and at one or two reactors at a plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture. The firm plans to place orders for MOX fuel with an overseas reprocessing firm by the end of this fiscal year.(IHT/Asahi: March 2,2004) (03/02) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction ***************************************************************** 29 channelcincinnati.com: Health - Is A Highly Toxic Chemical In Your Mouth? Opinions Vary On Potential Dental Danger A toxic metal used in nuclear weapons and reactors could be in your mouth right now. Beryllium can be found in golf clubs and bicycle frames, and is just one of the many metals that dental labs can use to make dental crowns, bridges and partial dentures, WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Joelle Girone reported Monday. Its use dates back to the Cold War, and while it's effective, it's also potentially deadly. Still, many Ohioans work with beryllium in the aerospace industry to make nuclear weapons, Girone reported. The metallic element gained national attention in 2000 when the government admitted that many workers, past and present, now are sick or dead because they were unknowingly exposed to its toxic dust. Now, decades after the Cold War, beryllium is once again creating a buzz, literally, in the various tools in dental offices used to craft your dental crowns, bridges and other work. And figuratively, the concern stems from the the dust created during the finishing process of certain dental work. A toxic cloud can result in an incurable, often fatal lung disease or cancer, Girone reported. Proper ventilation and protection for workers is key as dust fills the air in most labs. Still, many technicians don't know the risks. But the overall concern is great enough that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued hazard information bulletins that warn labs to protect employees. In Ohio, a citizens' group is taking the threat head-on. "We would like to see no dental lab using beryllium in dental products," Ohio Citizen Action spokeswoman Sandy Buchanan said. "It's not necessary. The risks are high to dental technicians who have to grind up the mineral. There are safer substitutes available." OCA claims there's no reason dental labs should use beryllium. Girone contacted 10 Tri-State labs that said they don't use beryllium products. But that doesn't mean your dentist doesn't. Products can be purchased on the Internet, and suppliers send from all over. "I believe, for most of them, it's a cost factor," Buchanan said. "It's cheaper than precious metals they might use in their dental supplies." According to one dentistry Web site, porcelain fused to a metal dental crown can cost between $520 and $780, Girone reported. A gold dental crown runs from $570 to $960. But according to workers, there's a bigger cost. Mike Bauer, only 47, said he can barely climb two flights of stairs without coughing or gasping. In 2001, a doctor diagnosed him with chronic beryllium disease. Tests showed he has seven granulomas, or scars, in his lungs, Girone reported. The once-active maintenance manager said he now lives a life filled with prescriptions. "I still have a rough time handling it," Bauer said. "I don't know if beryllium is going to kill me or not, but I know it will play a part in my death." Bauer said he was exposed to beryllium dust while working at Brush Wellman in Elmore, Ohio, which, at one time, was the country's largest producer of beryllium. And despite the fact that many former workers there claim to have beryllium disease, some still believe it's safe under proper conditions and even safe enough for you to have in your mouth. "There probably is no concern whatsoever," local dentist Alan Weinstein said. "The material does not corrode, and it stays relatively inert. I've seen partial dentures patients that were 20 or 30 years old and the partials themselves have not degraded whatsoever." Weinstein said he doesn't use beryllium in his practice, but added that the metal can be useful. Like mercury, gold and silver, it's used in amalgams or fillings, Girone reported. Right now, there's no real long-term research on health effects associated with wearing beryllium, yet Weinstein said that stressing over it is more likely to make you sick. "If your immune system is compromised, you're more susceptible to those same potential ailments that the anti-amalgamists groups say you're going to get," Weinstein said. "It's probably not because of the amalgam, but the fear of the amalgam." Bauer said the fear is justified. "You cut a diamond with glass long enough and you're not going to have a diamond left," he said. "Same thing with that plate or whatever's in your mouth. It's going to be wearing down. If there's beryllium in that, you got it halfway to your lungs just by having it in your mouth." Copyright 2004 by ChannelCincinnati.com. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 30 Halifax Herald Limited: Water at 18 schools still not potable Tuesday, March 2, 2004 Ted Pritchard / Herald Photo Emily Young, a Grade 6 student at Harrietsfield Elementary, pours herself a cup of water from a spring water dispenser Monday. Harrietsfield is among 18 schools that must get drinking water from an outside source due to contamination. DON'T DRINK THE WATER Here are the test results for schools with elevated levels of lead-210 in their drinking water. The acceptable limit according to the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality is 0.1 becquerels per litre. Springfield Consolidated: 0.13 River John Consolidated: 0.16 Atlantic Memorial-Terence Bay (Whites Lake): 0.39 Atlantic Memorial-Terence Bay (Terence Bay): 0.61 Brookside Junior High: 0.27 East St. Margarets: 0.45 Harrietsfield Elementary: 0.27 Herring Cove Junior High: 0.20 Sir John A. Macdonald High: 0.22 St. Margarets Bay Elementary: 0.23 Tantallon Elementary: 0.12 Tantallon Junior High: 0.40 William King Elementary: 0.36 Prospect Road Elementary: 0.40 Big Tancook Elementary: 0.15 Cape Sable Island: 0.33 Here are the schools with elevated levels of uranium in their drinking water. The acceptable level is 20 micrograms per litre. Cabot High School: 21.00 Cyrus Eaton Elementary School: 21.00** River John Consolidated: 21.80* East St. Margarets: 22.80* Harrietsfield Elementary: 66.50* William King Elementary: 24.00 * average level ** one test Note: The final test results for Uniacke District School are within the guidelines for lead-210 at .09. But the Education Department and Chignecto-Central regional school board have decided to keep the school on bottled water as a precaution. Water at 18 schools still not potable By RICK CONRAD/ Education Reporter Students in 18 Nova Scotia schools will have to stay on the bottle for at least a few more months. Water tests conducted at 186 schools with their own water supplies have found 18 of them have elevated levels of uranium and radioactive lead, also known as radionuclides. That means those schools will remain on bottled or trucked-in water until a viable treatment system is found, said Dr. Robert Strang, medical officer of health for the Capital district health authority. "Nobody is drinking that water because as soon as we got any hint of even a potential problem, schools were placed on bottled water," Dr. Strang said Monday. "And even if kids had continued to drink this water, the health risks that come from these levels ... are extremely small and really only occur over a lifetime of drinking the water." All other schools tested were OK, he said. The Environment Department conducted tests at schools in four different seasons over the past year to get an accurate read on the level of contaminants. The last round of tests was carried out in December, said Pat Wall, senior radiation health officer for the department. The final numbers, released Monday, are the averages for each school. "These radionuclides will vary with the water table during the seasons," Mr. Wall said. "So we have to get four tests completed in four different seasons in order to get the average to tell us whether we are over the guidelines or not over the guidelines." The school with the highest level of uranium was Harrietsfield Elementary near Halifax with 66.5 micrograms per litre. The school with the highest level of radioactive lead, or lead-210, was Atlantic Memorial-Terence Bay Elementary in Terence Bay with a reading of 0.61 becquerels per litre. The acceptable limits for Canadian drinking water are 0.1 becquerels per litre for lead-210 and 20 micrograms per litre of uranium. Schools were tested for 14 naturally occurring radionuclides. Lead-210 and uranium were the only ones found in significant AMOUNTS numbers in the province. A dozen of the schools are in the western part of Halifax Regional Municipality. Mr. Wall said the problem is prevalent in drilled wells in granite. It was first found in March 2002, when the province began testing water in schools. Schools with elevated levels have been using bottled water, at school boards' expense, since the problem was detected. But there may be an end in sight, Mr. Wall said. The province is investigating treatment methods like reverse osmosis, activated carbon filters and other options, he said. The province's Special Water Advisory Group hopes to come up with some solutions in the next few months, he said. Harrietsfield Elementary is one of the test sites for a new filtration system, according to principal Alison Leverman. So far, the school is using the system only for water for washing hands and flushing toilets, she said. Ms. Leverman said the school's been using bottled water for at least a decade. And the school's traditional water fountains were ripped out about 15 years ago, she said. "It's nothing new for us. It's just our routine." Dr. Strang said schools with elevated levels will continue to be tested regularly, while those just under the guidelines will be assessed every couple of years to ensure the water remains safe. "Even if a treatment system is put in place, we'll continue to monitor their water," he said. "It's perfectly safe for people to continue to drink the water while we do further investigation." Copyright © 2004 The Halifax Herald Limited ***************************************************************** 31 Boston Globe: Cancer coincidence? Boston.com / News / [Audrey DiGiovanni, holding her 2-year-old daughter, Marlene, is worried that the breast cancer that struck her aunt, Anna Maguire, is connected to the metal-finishing plant in their Belmont neighborhood.] Audrey DiGiovanni, holding her 2-year-old daughter, Marlene, is worried that the breast cancer that struck her aunt, Anna Maguire, is connected to the metal-finishing plant in their Belmont neighborhood. (Globe Staff Photo / Wendy Maeda) Cancer coincidence? Boston Globe It started slowly, when two people on Cindy Taylor's suburban street were diagnosed with melanoma. Then a man a few roads over told her of strange tumors on his neck. Brain cancer seized a 20-year-old. Beth Daley 3/2/2004 --> See all stories on this topic: DEBATABLE - - Should Wisconsin's nuclear plant licenses be ... Journal Times Online - Racine,WI,USA By Rob Golub. They must shut down unless the state Public Service Commission and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission renew their licenses. ... See all stories on this topic: UN nuclear chief upbeat on Iran BBC News - London,England,UK The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has praised Iran's better co-operation with global non-proliferation efforts as a "sea change". ... See all stories on this topic: CAMECO bids on nuclear plant The Globe and Mail - Canada ... has rolled into the US electricity market by bidding $333-million (US) for a 25.2-per-cent stake in a Texas nuclear power plant, the first step in what it ... See all stories on this topic: NUCLEAR Protesters 'Did Not Break Law' The Scotsman - Edinburgh,Scotland,UK ... Jane Tallents, 45, from Helensburgh, was arrested and charged with breach of the peace during an anti-nuclear protest at Holyrood in April 2001. ... See all stories on this topic: ASTANA Denies Links To Nuclear Smuggling Network Radio Free Europe - Prague,Czech Republic Authorities in Kazakhstan deny the country's involvement in any international nuclear-technology-smuggling network. A company suspected ... LET'S get serious about nuclear proliferation International Herald Tribune - Paris,France ... threat is still lacking. We are losing the fight to stop the spread of nuclear-weapons capabilities to rogue states. In too many ... SKOREA hopes for working group nuclear talks in two weeks Channel News Asia - Singapore SEOUL: South Korea's chief negotiator to six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear drive said he hoped a first working group meeting on the issue ... See all stories on this topic: MALAYSIA, US to talk on tighter nuclear checks Hindustan Times - New Delhi,India Malaysia, embroiled in a nuclear scandal involving the prime minister's son, will discuss tightening export controls on Tuesday with Washington's senior ... See all stories on this topic: WORLD News > ' Foreign spies penetrate Pakistan's nuclear ... New Kerala - Ernakulam,Kerala,India Pakistan is under threat because foreign intelligence agencies have penetrated the country's nuclear programme and are trying to roll back its nuclear ... This daily-once News Alert is brought to you by Google News (BETA)... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Remove this News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts/remove?s=92d1672a1b037a07&hl=en Create another News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en Try Google News: http://news.google.com/ ***************************************************************** 60 Newswise: Evidence Bubbles Over to Support Tabletop Nuclear Fusion Device Source: Purdue University Released: Tue 02-Mar-2004, DescriptionResearchers are reporting new evidence supporting their earlier discovery of an inexpensive "tabletop" device that uses sound waves to produce nuclear fusion reactions. The new findings are being reported in a paper that will appear this month in the journal Physical Review E. Newswise  Researchers are reporting new evidence supporting their earlier discovery of an inexpensive "tabletop" device that uses sound waves to produce nuclear fusion reactions. The researchers believe the new evidence shows that "sonofusion" generates nuclear reactions by creating tiny bubbles that implode with tremendous force. Nuclear fusion reactors have historically required large, multibillion-dollar machines, but sonofusion devices might be built for a fraction of that cost. "What we are doing, in effect, is producing nuclear emissions in a simple desktop apparatus," said Rusi Taleyarkhan, the principal investigator and a professor of nuclear engineer at Purdue University. "That really is the magnitude of the discovery - the ability to use simple mechanical force for the first time in history to initiate conditions comparable to the interior of stars." The technology might one day result in a new class of low-cost, compact detectors for security applications that use neutrons to probe the contents of suitcases; devices for research that use neutrons to analyze the molecular structures of materials; machines that cheaply manufacture new synthetic materials and efficiently produce tritium, which is used for numerous applications ranging from medical imaging to watch dials; and a new technique to study various phenomena in cosmology, including the workings of neutron stars and black holes. Taleyarkhan led the research team while he was a full-time scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and he is now the Arden L. Bement Jr. Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue. The new findings are being reported in a paper that will appear this month in the journal Physical Review E, published by the American Physical Society. The paper was written by Taleyarkhan; postdoctoral fellow J.S Cho at Oak Ridge Associated Universities; Colin West, a retired scientist from Oak Ridge; Richard T. Lahey Jr., the Edward E. Hood Professor of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI); R.C. Nigmatulin, a visiting scholar at RPI and president of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Bashkortonstan branch; and Robert C. Block, active professor emeritus in the School of Engineering at RPI and director of RPI's Gaerttner Linear Accelerator Laboratory. The discovery was first reported in March 2002 in the journal Science. Since then the researchers have acquired additional funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, purchased more precise instruments and equipment to collect more accurate data, and successfully reproduced and improved upon the original experiment, Taleyarkhan said. "A fair amount of very substantial new work was conducted, " Taleyarkhan said. "And also, this time around I made a conscious decision to involve as many individuals as possible - top scientists and physicists from around the world and experts in neutron science - to come to the lab and review our procedures and findings before we even submitted the manuscript to a journal for its own independent peer review." The device is a clear glass canister about the height of two coffee mugs stacked on top of one another. Inside the canister is a liquid called deuterated acetone. The acetone contains a form of hydrogen called deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, which contains one proton and one neutron in its nucleus. Normal hydrogen contains only one proton in its nucleus. The researchers expose the clear canister of liquid to pulses of neutrons every five milliseconds, or thousandths of a second, causing tiny cavities to form. At the same time, the liquid is bombarded with a specific frequency of ultrasound, which causes the cavities to form into bubbles that are about 60 nanometers - or billionths of a meter - in diameter. The bubbles then expand to a much larger size, about 6,000 microns, or millionths of a meter - large enough to be seen with the unaided eye. "The process is analogous to stretching a slingshot from Earth to the nearest star, our sun, thereby building up a huge amount of energy when released," Taleyarkhan said. Within nanoseconds these large bubbles contract with tremendous force, returning to roughly their original size, and release flashes of light in a well-known phenomenon known as sonoluminescence. Because the bubbles grow to such a relatively large size before they implode, their contraction causes extreme temperatures and pressures comparable to those found in the interiors of stars. Researches estimate that temperatures inside the imploding bubbles reach 10 million degrees Celsius and pressures comparable to 1,000 million earth atmospheres at sea level. At that point, deuterium atoms fuse together, the same way hydrogen atoms fuse in stars, releasing neutrons and energy in the process. The process also releases a type of radiation called gamma rays and a radioactive material called tritium, all of which have been recorded and measured by the team. In future versions of the experiment, the tritium produced might then be used as a fuel to drive energy-producing reactions in which it fuses with deuterium. Whereas conventional nuclear fission reactors produce waste products that take thousands of years to decay, the waste products from fusion plants are short-lived, decaying to non-dangerous levels in a decade or two. The desktop experiment is safe because, although the reactions generate extremely high pressures and temperatures, those extreme conditions exist only in small regions of the liquid in the container - within the collapsing bubbles. One key to the process is the large difference between the original size of the bubbles and their expanded size. Going from 60 nanometers to 6,000 microns is about 100,000 times larger, compared to the bubbles usually formed in sonoluminescence, which grow only about 10 times larger before they implode. "This means you've got about a trillion times more energy potentially available for compression of the bubbles than you do with conventional sonoluminescence," Taleyarkhan said. "When the light flashes are emitted, it's getting extremely hot, and if your liquid has deuterium atoms compared to ordinary hydrogen atoms, the conditions are hot enough to produce nuclear fusion." The ultrasound switches on and off about 20,000 times a second as the liquid is being bombarded by neutrons. The researchers compared their results using normal acetone and deuterated acetone, showing no evidence of fusion in the former. Each five-millisecond pulse of neutrons is followed by a five-millisecond gap, during which time the bubbles implode, release light and emit a surge of about 1 million neutrons per second. In the first experiments, with the less sophisticated equipment, the team was only able to collect data during a small portion of the five-millisecond intervals between neutron pulses. The new equipment enabled the researchers to see what was happening over the entire course of the experiment. The data clearly show surges in neutrons emitted in precise timing with the light flashes, meaning the neutron emissions are produced by the collapsing bubbles responsible for the flashes of light, Taleyarkhan said. "We see neutrons being emitted each time the bubble is imploding with sufficient violence," Taleyarkhan said. Fusion of deuterium atoms emits neutrons that fall within a specific energy range of 2.5 mega-electron volts or below, which was the level of energy seen in neutrons produced in the experiment. The production of tritium also can only be attributed to fusion, and it was never observed in any of the control experiments in which normal acetone was used, he said. Whereas data from the previous experiment had roughly a one in 100 chance of being attributed to some phenomena other than nuclear fusion, the new, more precise results represent more like a one in a trillion chance of being wrong, Taleyarkhan said. "There is only one way to produce tritium - through nuclear processes," he said. The results also agree with mathematical theory and modeling. Future work will focus on studying ways to scale up the device, which is needed before it could be used in practical applications, and creating portable devices that operate without the need for the expensive equipment now used to bombard the canister with pulses of neutrons. "That takes it to the next level because then it's a standalone generator," Taleyarkhan said. "These will be little nuclear reactors by themselves that are producing neutrons and energy." Such an advance could lead to the development of extremely accurate portable detectors that use neutrons for a wide variety of applications. "If you have a neutron source you can detect virtually anything because neutrons interact with atomic nuclei in such a way that each material shows a clear-cut signature," Taleyarkhan said. The technique also might be used to synthesize materials inexpensively. "For example, carbon is turned into diamond using extreme heat and temperature over many years," Taleyarkhan said. "You wouldn't have to wait years to convert carbon to diamond. In chemistry, most reactions grow exponentially with temperature. Now we might have a way to synthesize certain chemicals that were otherwise difficult to do economically. "Several applications in the field of medicine also appear feasible, such as tumor treatment." Before such a system could be used as a new energy source, however, researchers must reach beyond the "break-even" point, in which more energy is released from the reaction than the amount of energy it takes to drive the reaction. "We are not yet at break-even," Taleyarkhan said. "That would be the ultimate. I don't know if it will ever happen, but we are hopeful that it will and don't see any clear reason why not. In the future we will attempt to scale up this system and see how far we can go." ABSTRACT Additional Evidence of nuclear emissions during acoustic cavitation R.P. Taleyarkhan1, J.S. Cho2, C.D. West3, R. T. Lahey3, Jr., R.I. Nigmatulin4, and R.C. Block3 1Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, 2Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, 3Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180, 4Russian Academy of Sciences, 6 Karl Marx Street, Ufa 450000, Russia Time spectra of neutron and sonoluminescence emissions were measured in cavitation experiments with chilled deuterated acetone. Statistically significant neutron and gamma ray emissions were measured with a calibrated liquid-scintillation detector, and sonoluminescence emissions were measured with a photomultiplier tube. The neutron emission energy corresponded to <2.5 MeV and had an emission rate of up to ~4X105 n/s. Measurements of tritium production were also performed and these data implied a neutron emission rate due to D-D fusion which agreed with what was measured. In contrast, control experiments using normal acetone did not result in statistically significant tritium activity, or neutron or gamma ray emissions. © 2004 Newswise. 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