***************************************************************** 03/30/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.77 ***************************************************************** 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 US Tried to Plant WMDs, Failed 2 Guardian Unlimited: CIA Adviser Works to Find Saddam's Agenda 3 AFP: US shifts focus of Iraq weapons hunt to Saddam's intentions 4 USATODAY: Continuing search finds no weapons of mass destruction 5 CNN.com: New inspector won't rule out finding Iraqi WMD - 6 albawaba.com: Nuclear energy chief - Iran to test uranium producing 7 KoreaTimes: Ban Hails China's Key Role on NK Nuke Row 8 US: Washington Times: Scientists vs. the administration 9 US: Oakland Tribune: Pentagon panel calls for update of nuke arsenal 10 UPI: No nuclear sanctions on Pakistan - 11 Hi Pakistan: Pakistan - a declared nuclear state, no question of rol 12 AU ABC: Pakistan govt knew of nuke trade: US official. 13 Evening Telegraph: Coping in post nuclear world on Dundee agenda NUCLEAR REACTORS 14 US: 25 Years Ago We Nearly Lost Pennsylvania 15 US: [du-list] Shutting down the nukes 16 US: [NukeNet] Frieda Berryhill's statement 3/28 17 US: NRC: News Release - Region I - 2004-016 - NRC to Discuss Annual 18 US: NRC: NRC to Meet with Nuclear Management Company to Discuss Perf 19 US: NRC: News Release - Region III - 2004-018 - New Location for NRC 20 US: NRC: Regulatory Guide; Issuance, Availability 21 US: NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting 22 EUpolitix: Millions for Romanian nuclear site 23 US: JS Online: Public meetings to tackle Point Beach's life span 24 Bellona: Details of Minatom’s dismantlement becoming clearer 25 US: Beacon Journal: Davis-Besse may hit full power this week 26 US: Brattleboro Reformer - Editorials Why bother? 27 US: EnergyPulse: Nuclear and Coal or Oil and Gas in Electricity Gene 28 Toronto Star: Private power operators backed 29 US: Brattleboro Reformer: NRC rejects review of Yankee 30 US: Helena Daily World: Nuclear reactor replacement part coming thro 31 US: Oak Ridger: A quarter century after Three Mile: Are lessons lear NUCLEAR SAFETY 32 [du-list] Water put at risk by nuke sites - 33 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find 34 US: NRC: Notice of Application for a License for Eastern Technologie 35 US: Las Vegas SUN: DOE criticized over handling of compensation clai 36 SF Chronicle: Halting the nuclear black market 37 US: WTNH.com: Radioactive canister found in East Lyme yard 38 US: Sun Herald: Crash on I-75 kills two, causes radioactive scare 39 US: Gallup Independent Radon: A deadly killer 40 US: USATODAY.com Report: Nuclear sites put drinking water sources at 41 US: Gallup Independent - Overexposed 81-year-old man waits for NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 42 US: [du-list] Fw: Libyan uranium to Ohio 43 US: Gallup Independent: Scab mine workers had more severe uranium ex 44 AFP: EU gives Britain final warning over Sellafield inspections 45 US: Salt Lake Tribune: NRC won't probe planned nuke site finances 46 BBC: Sellafield 'failing to comply' 47 RGJ: Promises aren’t good enough 48 US: ABQjournal: EPA Approves 'Remote-Handled' Waste for WIPP 49 US: lamonitor.com: Features Impact of uranium mining in the West foc 50 US: YDR: NRC: Waste division created - 51 US: NEWS.com.au: WA uranium mine to close 52 US: AU ABC: Australian miners seeking answers on contaminated water 53 US: ABC Canberra: Activists finish uranium protest trek » 54 US: AU ABC: Ranger mine employees return to work. 55 US: AU ABc: Mine workers back on the job after uranium scare. 56 US: AU ABC: WA to terminate uranium project. 57 Guardian Unlimited: Brussels gives Sellafield ultimatum 58 The Star Online: Going underground NUCLEAR WEAPONS 59 [southnews] Actress to greet Israeli nuke whistleblower 60 US: Salt Lake Tribune: No nuclear testing 61 Scotsman: Showbiz Welcome Planned for Nuclear Whistle Blower US DEPT. OF ENERGY 62 DOE: Health Effects Subcommittee (SRSHES): Cancellation of Meeting 63 Rocky Mountain News: Groups call Rocky Flats less of a threat to wat 64 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Nuclear safety first 65 Tri-City Herald: Tank farms under review 66 Tri-City Herald: Report critical of Hanford cleanup 67 AP Wire: New York company awarded contract for new storage facility 68 SFC: Total benefits: $15,000 to one worker; cost to government: $74 69 EA:Scientists report on the current state of INEEL's nuclear waste c 70 U.S. Newswire: DOE Awards Small Business Contract for 71 KTVB.COM: INEEL work delayed after digging reveals broken drum 72 Oak Ridger: DOE defends record 73 Oak Ridger: Red-flagged researcher home 74 lamonitor.com: Headline News Laboratory contracts fell in '03 75 PISJ: INEEL officials release amended plan to clean up underground 76 U of A: Caustic soils at Hanford may lock up contaminants fast 77 ENN: Health officials say tests would detect Rocky Flats pollution 78 ANA: Danger Lurks Below OTHER NUCLEAR 79 [du-list] DU in the news 30th March '04 80 Google News Alert - nuclear 81 EcoDefense: Russian Nuclear Watch Nr 3/2004 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 US Tried to Plant WMDs, Failed Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 18:09:14 -0600 (CST) Forwarded with Compliments of Government of the USA in Exile (GUSAE): Free Americans Resisting the Fourth Reich on Behalf of All Species. NOTE: Thanks to eon3.net for this. -- kl, pp ===== A message from the nanoosenet mailing list ===== [EMMAS] Whistleblower: US Tried to Plant WMDs, Failed Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 21:05:32 -0600 (CST) Daily Times Monitor of Pakistan http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_12-8-2003_pg1_9 According to a stunning report posted by a retired Navy Lt Commander and 28-year veteran of the Defense Department (DoD), the Bush administration's assurance about finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was based on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plan to "plant" WMDs inside the country. Nelda Rogers, the Pentagon whistleblower, claims the plan failed when the secret mission was mistakenly taken out by "friendly fire", the Environmentalists Against War report. Nelda Rogers is a 28-year veteran debriefer for the DoD. She has become so concerned for her safety that she decided to tell the story about this latest CIA-military fiasco in Iraq. According to Al Martin Raw.com, "Ms Rogers is number two in the chain of command within this DoD special intelligence office. This is a ten-person debriefing unit within the central debriefing office for the Department of Defense." The information that is being leaked out is information "obtained while she was in Germany heading up the debriefing of returning service personnel, involved in intelligence work in Iraq for the DoD and/or the CIA." According to Ms Rogers, there was a covert military operation that took place both preceding and during the hostilities in Iraq," reports Al Martin Raw.com, an online subscriber-based news/analysis service which provides "Political, Economic and Financial Intelligence". Al Martin is a retired Lt Commander (US Navy), the author of a memoir called "The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran-Contra Insider," and is considered one of America's foremost experts on corporate and government fraud. Ms Rogers reports that this particular covert operation team was manned by former military personnel and "the unit was paid through the Department of Agriculture in order to hide it, which is also very commonplace". According to Al Martin Raw.com, "the Agriculture Department has often been used as a paymaster on behalf of the CIA, DIA, NSA and others". According to the Al Martin Raw.com story, another aspect of Ms Rogers' report concerns a covert operation which was to locate the assets of Saddam Hussein and his family, including cash, gold bullion, jewelry and assorted valuable antiquities. The problem became evident when "the operation in Iraq involved 100 people, all of whom apparently are now dead, having succumbed to so-called 'friendly fire'. The scope of this operation included the penetration of the Central Bank of Iraq, other large commercial banks in Baghdad, the Iraqi National Museum and certain presidential palaces where monies and bullion were secreted." "They identified about $2 billion in cash, another $150 million in Euros, in physical banknotes, and about another $100 million in sundry foreign currencies ranging from Yen to British Pounds," reports Al Martin. "These people died, mostly in the same place in Baghdad, supposedly from a stray cruise missile or a combination of missiles and bombs that went astray," Martin continues. "There were supposedly 76 who died there and the other 24 died through a variety of 'friendly fire', 'mistaken identity' and some of them--their whereabouts are simply unknown." Ms Rogers' story sounds like an updated 21st-century version of Treasure Island meets Ali Baba and the Bush Cabal Thieves, writes Martin. "This was a contingent of CIA/ DoD operatives, but it was really the CIA that bungled it," Ms Rogers said. "They were relying on the CIA's ability to organise an effort to seize these assets and to be able to extract these assets because the CIA claimed it had resources on the ground within the Iraqi army and the Iraqi government who had been paid. That turned out to be completely bogus. As usual." "CIA people were supposed to be handling it," Martin continues. "They had a special 'black' aircraft to fly it out. But none of that happened because the regular US Army showed up, stumbled onto it and everyone involved had to scramble. These new Iraqi "asset seizures" go directly to the New US Ruling Junta. The US Viceroy in Iraq Paul Bremer is reportedly drinking Saddam's $2000 a bottle Napoleon-era brandy, smoking his expensive Davidoff cigars and he has even furnished his office with Saddam's Napoleon-era furniture. ***************************************************************** 2 Guardian Unlimited: CIA Adviser Works to Find Saddam's Agenda Wednesday March 31, 2004 2:46 AM By KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Still unable to find banned Iraqi weapons, the new U.S. weapons inspector said Tuesday his strategy is to expose Saddam Hussein's intentions regarding weapons of mass destruction. Charles Duelfer, the CIA's special adviser on the weapons hunt, said the Iraq Survey Group he oversees is looking for a comprehensive picture, not simply an answer to the question: Were there weapons or not? He did not say how long the effort might take. ``We're looking at it from soup to nuts, from the weapons end to the planning end to the intentions end,'' Duelfer said at a Capitol Hill news conference, nine weeks after he took over the weapons search. In a closed session before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier Tuesday, Duelfer said U.S. weapons hunters in Iraq have found more evidence Saddam's regime had civilian - or ``dual use'' - factories able to quickly produce biological and chemical weapons. And, according to declassified testimony shared with reporters, Duelfer said the survey group has found new evidence that Iraqi scientists flight tested long-range ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles that ``easily exceeded'' U.N. limits of 93 miles. Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, the top Democrat on armed services, called on the CIA to declassify Duelfer's status report. Levin said he is ``deeply troubled'' that the public version leaves out information that casts doubt on the notion that Iraq had an active WMD program. For instance, Duelfer's unclassified status report indicates that it's unclear whether Iraq's efforts to obtain aluminum tubes were to develop a uranium enrichment capability. But, Levin said, ``you'd get an impression of unlikelihoods'' in the classified version. Levin said the selective use of information in Duelfer's statement raises the same issues the CIA has faced regarding the prewar intelligence on Iraq. ``The CIA should not go down that road again,'' he said. Through a CIA spokesman, Duelfer said he wrote both versions of his status report, which were not meant to draw conclusions: ``They mirror each other, consistent with the protections for intelligence sources, methods and other classified information.'' Duelfer didn't break significant ground on the weapons search, saying he lacked sufficient information to make conclusions about what Saddam had. He said the survey group is still going through 20 million pages of documents, visiting possible weapons sites and trying to glean information from former government officials. Duelfer took over the job as the top civilian weapons inspector after his predecessor, David Kay, resigned in January and told Congress ``we were almost all wrong'' about Saddam's weapons programs. In a flurry of public statements questioning whether weapons would ever be found, Kay renewed the debate about the very weapons programs that the Bush administration used to justify last year's Iraq invasion. After the Tuesday session, Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., said the panel wasn't considering whether Kay was correct. ``It's his opinion. The opinion has been expressed this morning that a good deal of work remains to be done.'' However, with the November elections looming, Democrats are questioning - some loudly - whether the administration overstated the threat Saddam posed. What happens to the roughly 1,200-member survey team when the U.S.-led coalition turns over power to an interim Iraqi government on June 30 is still an open question, Warner said. Since landing in Iraq, Duelfer said his strategy has been to determine the regime's intentions behind the activities investigators have uncovered: Were weapons hidden that were not readily available? Was there a plan for a stepped-up production capacity? When did the leadership want to see results? Duelfer said the survey group continues to look for weapons of mass destruction and regularly receives reports - ``some quite intriguing and credible'' - about possible concealed stashes buried or hidden across Iraq. He said the group also questions former regime officials. However, many are still reluctant to talk because they fear prosecution, as well as retribution from former regime supporters. ``We do not know whether Saddam was concealing WMD in the final years or planning to resume production once sanctions were lifted,'' Duelfer's declassified testimony said. ``We do not know how the disparate activities we have identified link together.'' ^--- Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report. Guardian Newspapers Limited ***************************************************************** 3 AFP: US shifts focus of Iraq weapons hunt to Saddam's intentions [http://www.spacewar.com/] WASHINGTON (AFP) Mar 30, 2004 The new leader of the US hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction told Congress Tuesday he intends to focus on Saddam Hussein's intentions instead of hidden weapons. "In its simplest terms, my strategy is to determine the regimes intentions for all the activities ISG has uncovered," Charles Duelfer, leader of the Iraq Survey Group, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. The new strategy represents a change in direction from the past effort to uncover hidden caches of chemical and biological weapons as well as secret programs to produce them, the main rationale for the US invasion of Iraq. Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay, resigned last month and said he had come to the conclusion that Iraq had no stockpiles of banned weapons when the United States invaded the country a year ago. Duelfer, who testified behind closed doors, said in a prepared statement the search by the 1,200-member ISG had been hampered by the "extreme reluctance" of Iraqi scientists and managers to speak freely and the difficulty of sorting through millions of documents. "We do not know whether Saddam was concealing WMD in the final years or planning to resume production once sanctions were lifted," he said. "We do not know what he ordered his senior ministers to undertake. We do not know how the disparate activities we have identified link together." "In short, obtaining clear, truthful information from the senior Iraqi leadership has been problematic even at this point in time," he said. Among the ISG's findings so far, Duelfer said: -- The Tuwaitha Agricultural and Biological Research Center had equipment suitable for the production of biological agents, and was conducting research on a biopesticide that could be used as a surrogate for anthrax, and single cell proteins that had previously been used as a cover for biological agent production. -- Iraq was working to build new chemical facilities at the time of the war, and had plans to be able to produce a year's supply of any one of a variety of chemicals in 30 days. "This was a crash program," Duelfer said. Only a few of the chemicals were considered dual use, including one that had been used before to stabilize VX nerve gas. -- Iraqi scientists were developing a rail gun, ostensibly as an air defense weapons. But the rail gun experiments had applications for nuclear weapons research. Documents at the lab described diagnostic techniques important for nuclear weapons techniques. Others documents described a high voltage switch that can be used to detonate a nuclear weapon laser detonation, nuclear fusion, radiation measurement, and radiation safety. "It is this combination of topics that makes us suspect this lab was intentionally focused on research applicable for nuclear weapons development," he said. -- Iraq had a "robust" missile and unmanned aircraft (UAV) program. It was developing a variety of UAVs using Global Positioning System and inertial navigation systems. It flight tested missiles and UAVs with ranges exceeding a 150 kilometer (93 mile) UN limit, and was discussing with North Korea on technology for a missile in the 1,300 kilometer (800 mile) range. "Foreign missile experts" worked in Iraq in violation of UN sanctions from 1998 until just before the invasion, he said, "They undertook a complete review of the al-Samoud surface-to-surface missile system, which exceeded UN range limits." "We must determine what Saddam ordered, what his ministers ordered, and how the plans fit together," Duelfer said. "Were weapons hidden that were not readily available? Was there a plan for a break out production capacity? Were WMD technologies being developed for the missile and UAV programs? When did the leadership want to see results? How would technologies be integrated?" he asked. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 4 USATODAY: Continuing search finds no weapons of mass destruction Posted 3/30/2004 9:25 PM By Steven Komarow, USA TODAY WASHINGTON  U.S. arms investigators scouring Iraq are finding more evidence of Iraq's prewar interest in chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. But the inspectors haven't found any weapons, and Saddam Hussein's still-loyal deputies are refusing to talk, the new chief U.S. weapons inspector said Tuesday. "We do not know whether Saddam was concealing (weapons of mass destruction) or planning to resume production once sanctions were lifted," weapons chief Charles Duelfer said in written testimony made public after he testified in secret to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Duelfer's statement was his first since taking over from David Kay, who resigned as chief U.S. weapons inspector in January. Kay concluded that the intelligence on Saddam's alleged weapons before last year's invasion was "almost all wrong." His comments drew wide notice at the time because they appeared to undermine one of the Bush administration's chief rationales for the invasion of Iraq. While Duelfer did not contradict Kay's conclusions, he appeared to inject a tone of doubt more in line with White House statements that the hunt is still going on and that searchers could still find weapons. Duelfer said he was not ready to say that there were no weapons. Although the inspectors still haven't found any, credible reports of their existence continue to arise and must be checked out, he said. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the committee's senior Democrat, challenged Duelfer's remarks as vague and accused him of releasing selective information and "suspicions" not based on fact. In the closed-door committee session, Levin said, Duelfer and another witness provided classified information that cast doubt on any suspicion that weapons still exist. "I am therefore calling for the CIA to declassify, to the extent possible, the whole report so the public can reach their own conclusions," Levin said. Duelfer said he has been surprised by the lack of cooperation from former members of Saddam's regime. He speculated that even though Saddam is in custody, some scientists fear retribution if they give away secrets. "We have learned that his most senior and trusted officials can hold their tongues, as well," he says. Some in custody have been willing to talk, "but they oftentimes are the ones we know were not in the inner circle," he says. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, another Bush administration official argued that the invasion of Iraq was justified even if weapons aren't found. "Some have said that not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq  to date  proves that Saddam was not an imminent threat and that therefore, our coalition military action was not justified. These criticisms miss the mark," Under Secretary of State John Bolton said in written testimony to the House Committee on International Relations. "Our concern was not the imminence of Saddam's threat, but the very existence of his regime, given its heinous and undeniable record, capabilities and intentions." Contributing: Bill Nichols © Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. [http://www.gannett.com] ***************************************************************** 5 CNN.com: New inspector won't rule out finding Iraqi WMD - Mar 30, 2004 Duelfer: Captured regime leaders not cooperating From David Ensor CNN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In prepared testimony, the CIA's new chief Iraq weapons inspector said he does not rule out finding weapons of mass destruction, adding "we regularly receive reports, some quite intriguing and credible, about concealed caches" of weapons. Charles Duelfer said, however, that former Iraqi senior officials -- now prisoners of U.S. forces -- are not talking. "Over the past 10 months, we have learned that [deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's] most senior and trusted officials can hold their tongues," Duelfer said. "We know from high-level briefings that Saddam conveyed his most sensitive messages to particular individuals orally," he said. "Moreover, there were explicit instructions not to repeat such conversations." Saddam's government collapsed April 9, 2003, when U.S. troops entered Baghdad. U.S. forces captured the fugitive leader in December near his ancestral homeland of Tikrit. U.S.-led forces had invaded Iraq a month earlier after the Bush administration argued that Iraq was concealing stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, a nuclear weapons program and long-range missiles in violation of U.N. resolutions. No stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction have been found despite an intensive search. Critics have accused the administration of overstating the threat Iraq posed in order to go to war. Duelfer is testifying Tuesday behind closed doors before the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees. His comments contrast with those of his predecessor, David Kay, who has said he does not expect that any weapons of mass destruction will be found in Iraq. In prepared testimony, Duelfer said fear of retribution is still a significant stumbling block as the Iraq Survey Group he heads seeks information from Iraqi managers, scientists and engineers. "Many perceive a grave risk in speaking with us. On one hand, there is a fear of prosecution or arrest. On the other, there is a fear [that] former regime supporters will exact retribution. This is, in part, why we do not yet fully understand the central issue of regime intentions," Duelfer said. Duelfer, who is a special adviser to CIA Director George Tenet, said he is providing only a status report -- not a preliminary assessment of findings, which will come later. Like Kay, Duelfer said that the regime was in "clear" violation of several U.N. resolutions banning WMD programs in Iraq, including the ban on certain biological research and the ban on deploying missiles or unmanned aerial vehicles with a range of more than 93 miles (150 kilometers). © 2004 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. ***************************************************************** 6 albawaba.com: Nuclear energy chief - Iran to test uranium producing Al Bawaba - Middle East News and Information [webmaster@albawaba.com] 30-03-2004, 12:22 Iran will test uranium producing in Isfahan for the next fortnight, head of Iran's atomic energy organization Gholam Reza Aqazadeh said in an interview with IRIB news network. The senior official said that the plan to set up the production facilities has been completed and officials expect to launch the prototype productions in less than three weeks. He added the production of UCF was an important step in producing fuel cycle and said that the Isfahan-based factory will produce the raw material of the fuel cycling. The Islamic Republic has reportedly stopped uranium enrichment in an attempt to extend confidence-building measures and prepare an atmosphere which would settle misunderstandings. Aqazadeh further said Mohammad Elbaradei will visit Tehran soon. The smearing caused by the US media is "false propagation", he added. On his part, Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said "UCF equipments for uranium enrichment are produced under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agancy (IAEA) and the expriments are done for determining the accuracy of their functioning after receiving them from the producers." Kharrazi ruled out claims accussing Iran of violating the signed protocol of Non-Profileration Treaty (NPT). (Albawaba.com) © 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com) [http://www.albawaba.com] ***************************************************************** 7 KoreaTimes: Ban Hails China's Key Role on NK Nuke Row Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Nation By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday he understood China has tried much to persuade North Korea to comply with multilateral efforts for a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff. ``Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing heard much from North Korea on its position regarding the nuclear issue during his trip to Pyongyang last week,¡¯¡¯ Ban said in Beijing before returning home from his three-day visit. ``Seoul and Beijing consolidated their cooperative relations to smooth out the nuclear crisis on this occasion of the foreign ministers¡¯ talks.¡¯¡¯ After having talks with his Chinese counterpart for about three and a half hours on Monday, Ban said Seoul and Beijing agreed to step up efforts to hold the next round of six-party nuclear talks as early as possible. He told South Korea¡¯s Yonhap News Agency that Li¡¯s Pyongyang visit was ``quite unusual,¡¯¡¯ pointing out the fact that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had cut short his inspection trip to a provincial town and returned to his office to meet with Li for about 90 minutes. Kim is said to have never allowed more than an hour to a visiting foreign minister. Ban, however, said the North did not offer new suggestions, while stressing its earlier call for a ``freeze-for-compensation¡¯¡¯ deal as an initial step to resolve the 17-month standoff. He said he told Li that it would be unacceptable if the North¡¯s nuclear freeze means going back to a 1994 deal under which it agreed to freeze its nuclear activities. ``I made it clear to the Chinese side there should be a `plus alpha¡¯ in addition to that of the 1994 accord,¡¯¡¯ Ban said. The top Seoul diplomat, in the meantime, pointed out the need to increase the number of deputy foreign affairs and trade ministers from the current one to up to three. Ban returned to Seoul in the evening after meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr 03-30-2004 17:54 ***************************************************************** 8 Washington Times: Scientists vs. the administration March 30, 2004 released a report accusing the Bush administration of systemically suborning objective science to a political agenda. However, it failed to describe the political biases of those making the charges, which raise serious questions about the credibility of the charges and the organization behind them. The UCS has a long history of liberal positions and liberal activism, so its attack against the administration was hardly a surprise. However, the report was accompanied by a letter signed by 62 distinguished members of the academy  including 20 noble laureates, 19 winners of the National Medal of Science and several science advisers to previous presidents  who charged that the administration had "manipulated the process through which science enters into its decisions" and "misrepresented scientific knowledge and misled the public about the implications of its policies." The pedigrees of the signatories appeared to make them above partisanship, especially since they were identified only by their areas of expertise and schools of affiliation. Subsequent news stories and editorials picked up that theme. That supposed objectivity was an illusion. Many of the signatories have a demonstrated bias against the administration, several have a direct stake in UCS and its ongoing campaign, Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policymaking. Although they were never identified as such in the letter, four signatories  Thomas Eisner, Richard Garwin, Anne Kapuscinsky and Kurt Gottfried  are current members of the UCS Board. For instance, Mr. Gottfried, the chairman, was simply denoted as "Theoretical Nuclear and Particle Physics, Cornell University." Almost half of the signatories have donated to Democratic candidates and left-wing interest groups. For instance, David Baltimore, Noble laureate and president of the California Institute for Technology, gave $2,500 to the Committee for a Democratic Majority, $1,000 to Friends of Max Baucus and $300 to the Democratic National Committee. Dr. Harold Varmus, former director of the National Institutes of Health and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center, gave $2,000 to Clark for President and $500 to the DSCC. (See FEC Web site.) The administration is expected to release a formal response to the substance of the signatories' charges soon. Given the questionable objectivity and evident political agenda of many of those who made the original allegations, the White House response should be persuasive  if late. ***************************************************************** 9 Oakland Tribune: Pentagon panel calls for update of nuke arsenal Article Last Updated: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Experts argue that weapons should be upgraded to provide best defense in 21st century By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER An influential Pentagon panel wants to cut back maintenance of the nation's 1970s and 80s-vintage thermonuclear weapons and create a new, more flexible arsenal capable of killing, disarming or influencing a foreign adversary worldwide in a matter of hours. In a report obtained by the Federation of American Scientists, a panel of the Defense Science Board suggests retooling the nation's strategic forces -- limited in the Cold War to nuclear weapons aimed at enemy leaders and their nuclear forces -- to rely more than ever on highly precise conventional and exotic weapons, including lasers in space, unmanned hypersonic craft and earth penetrators up to 10 tons. "U.S. interests are best served by preserving into the future the half-century-plus non-use of nuclear weapons," stated the board's Task Force on Future Strategic Strike Forces. Yet for its most lethal and decisive forces, the panel said the United States still should expand its nuclear arsenal beyond late Cold War-era nuclear warheads to add new nuclear weapons tailored for lower yields and special effects. "This is moving away from anything ordinary people would understand as deterrence," said Andrew Lichterman, an arms researcher at the Western States Legal Foundation, an Oakland-based disarmament group. "This is talking about developing strategic weapons for new purposes, and it's something that should get a deep national debate before it goes further." The Bush administration's drive for new, low-yield nuclear weapons has been highly controversial. Critics say the new weapons hold little military use, could spur other nations' interest in nuclear arms and could blur the line between nuclear and conventional combat. "Pre-emptive nuclear war, that's what they're pushing, and it's absolute madness," said Bob Peurifoy, a former Sandia National Laboratories weapons manager. "Nuclear weapons are the absolute weapons of last resort. If we're losing American cities, then we should respond (with nuclear strikes). Short of that, I can't see any use of weapons with any nuclear yield, I don't care how low." Peurifoy and many other weaponeers say the current arsenal of about 7,600 weapons is well-tested and capable against a wide array of targets. Since 1995, the nation's three nuclear-weapons labs have studied those weapons for aging defects and found the essential nuclear components last for at least 45 to 60 years. Scientists are engaged in the bread-and-butter work of "stockpile life extensions" for all eight basic designs of warheads and bombs, upgrading them and adding decades to their shelf life. The Defense Science Board said that program is "on the wrong track" and should be scaled back to free up scientists and money for adding new weapons to the arsenal. Echoing the Bush administration's Nuclear Posture Review of December 2001, the Defense Science Board said current U.S. weapons would create so much blast and radioactive fallout that rogue nations or terrorists might doubt a president would use them in response to attack on the United States or its allies. The panel argued that fielding lower-yield weapons makes the threat of their use more believable. This broader, more capable arsenal also is designed to keep Russia and China from trying to compete with the United States and discourage allies such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan from seeking weapons to counter North Korea, for example. "Assuring U.S. allies in Europe and Asia that they need not develop nuclear arsenals of their own in anticipation of deterioration in their security environment remains an important U.S. objective," the task force said. The panel, composed largely of retired senior Navy and Air Force officers, nuclear-weapons scientists and think-tank analysts, recognized that creating a new nuclear arsenal will demand wholesale political and military commitment from U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha to Capitol Hill. "Ultimately, the issue requires deep White House involvement and the difficult creation of a consensus in Congress that can be sustained over a number of years if not decades," the panel wrote. In recent months, however, the Bush administration has softened its rhetoric on new weapons. Top U.S. weapons executives sought to mollify Congress last week with assurances that its new $9 million "advanced concepts" design program will "investigate new ideas, not necessarily new weapons." Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said scientists might redesign warheads for longer life and easier manufacture. So far, the military has not formally requested a specific, new nuclear weapon. The Defense Science Board called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to "provide guidance" to the commander in charge of U.S. nuclear forces on the need for new weapons research. STRATCOM's commander would list his needs to the Nuclear Weapons Council, which in turn would assign research into the weapons to scientists in California and New Mexico. These weapons are mostly not new but resurrections of 1960s and 70s thermonuclear designs produced by University of California scientists at Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos labs. None were deployed, primarily due to political opposition or dubious practical utility for the military. The Defense Science Board envisions using them largely against underground bunkers, to shake, crush or incinerate the leaders or weapons inside. Panelists suggested that by driving the weapons dozens of yards into soil, small nuclear explosions could be contained. But the panel stressed, that doesn't mean the weapons would be used. "It is, and will likely remain, American policy to keep the nuclear threshold high and to pursue non-nuclear attack options whenever possible. Nothing in our assessment or recommendations seeks to change that goal," the panel stated. "Nonetheless, in extreme circumstances, the president may have no choice but to turn to nuclear options." Contact Ian Hoffman at ihoffman@angnewspapers.com [ihoffman@angnewspapers.com] . ***************************************************************** 10 UPI: No nuclear sanctions on Pakistan - (United Press International) March 30, 2004 WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- Activities of a network of nuclear proliferators do not qualify Pakistan for nuclear-related sanctions, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday. "With respect to the Khan transactions, the answer to that is no. And at this point, the evidence is not there to support it," said John R. Bolton, under secretary for arms control and international security when asked if the Bush administration was going to impose sanctions on Pakistan. He was referring to a network of nuclear proliferators run by A.Q. Khan, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program. On Feb. 6, Khan confessed selling nuclear secrets and technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Khan said other senior officials of the Pakistani government were not involved in his racket and he was running the network on his own. Despite the confession, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan who enjoys a celebrity status in the country as the father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb. Bolton, who was testifying before the House Committee on International Relations on the Bush administration's nonproliferation strategy said: "If we had information about complicity of top levels of the government of Pakistan, we would act on it. At this point, there's no such information." [UPI Perspectives] All site contents copyright © 2004 News World ***************************************************************** 11 Hi Pakistan: Pakistan - a declared nuclear state, no question of roll back - Ambassador Qazi --> March 31 2004 WASHINGTON: Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi has said Pakistan is a declared nuclear state and there is no question of roll back. The claim by opponents in this regard, he said is based on their own whims and has nothing to do with reality. The Ambassador said this in his address to the Pakistani-American community in San Francisco. The Government of Pakistan, he said has handled the issue of Khan network revelations in a wise and bold manner, and the Bush Administration has appreciated Pakistan's committed and principled conduct. Mr. Qazi said Pakistan remains committed to non-proliferation and it had nothing to do with the clandestine activities of the Khan network. He said the multi-year Pak-US relations were destined to consolidate further in the time ahead, and the aspect of trade and commerce was a new positive dimension added to this mutually benefited relationship. About the war on terror, he said Pakistan is a frontline state whose cooperation in the fight against terrorism has been immensely appreciable. It was a country, whose role was crucial and, which had suffered more casualties than any other ally in the global war against terrorism. He categorically said that it was in Pakistan's best interest to eliminate terrorism and extremism from the society. "Pakistan has forcefully confronted al-Qaeda from its territory, and the world community has duly acknowledged the committed role being played by Pakistan," he said adding, Secretary Colin Powell, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz have appreciated Pakistan's singular role. About Pakistan-India dialogue process, he said Pakistan is serious about it and wants resolution of matters through peaceful means and stability in South Asia. He expressed the hope that India would also continue to reciprocate the same seriousness and sincerity for the resolution of issues, including Kashmir. He referred to the sentiments expressed by Pakistanis during the ongoing Pakistan-India cricket series, which shows desire of the two peoples to have peaceful relations based on equality. He said during the Pakistan Day reception, the Indian ambassador Lalit Mansingh told him that India has won one-dayers, to which he replied, "Watch out for the test matches which have just begun." He said expansion of trade, commerce, transportation and sports relations was also a positive sign, but it was imperative to resolve the pending issues amicably, so as to give a lasting shape to the improvement of bilateral relations. Of the economic improvement in Pakistan, he said all macro-economic indicators showed positive signs, as these have touched sound footings. On the other hand, the debt relief has made it possible for the Government to concentrate on public sector development, and ensure better of provision of education, health and social uplift. The Pakistan Ambassador to the United States called upon the community members to join the mainstream of the American society and take part in social service and become involved in substantive interaction. Mr. Qazi was in San Francisco to address a local chapter of Developments in Literacy (DIL), an organization that supports education in remote villages of Pakistan. It's headed by Sara Abbasi. He impressed the need for giving utmost attention to education of the girl child. During his stay in San Francisco, Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi gave interviews to Pakistan Link, Jaiza.com and the Indian West. The 'jaiza.com' is an internet magazine launched by spirited youngster Pakistani-Americans, who prepare standard programmes and sell to local television channels. He also visited the University of California, Berkley. Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 12 AU ABC: Pakistan govt knew of nuke trade: US official. 31/03/2004. ABC News Online Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was aware of Abdul Qadeer Khan's nuclear black market activities for at least a few years, but political pressures kept him from moving aggressively against Khan until recently, US Under Secretary of State John Bolton says. Mr Bolton reaffirmed Washington's view that President Musharraf and other top Pakistani officials were not "complicit in or approved of [Dr Khan's] proliferation activities" and therefore are not subject to US sanctions. Mr Bolton, testifying before an US congressional committee, came under fire from Opposition Democrats. They accused the Bush administration of failing to hold Pakistan's leaders accountable for Dr Khan's blackmarket activities and for not using economic muscle to keep countries and companies from doing business with Iran and North Korea. With Iran and North Korea's nuclear activities a growing concern for Washington, non-proliferation issues could loom large in the 2004 election. Since Dr Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, confessed in February to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya, US officials have insisted only Dr Khan was responsible, not President Musharraf and his government. Mr Bolton reiterated that position, saying US officials investigated Dr Khan's activities and "we have no evidence that President Musharraf and top officials of the government of Pakistan are complicit". But under questioning by the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee, Mr Bolton said President Musharraf was aware of Dr Khan's activities when he fired him as head of Khan Research Laboratory in the year 2001. -- Reuters © 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 13 Evening Telegraph: Coping in post nuclear world on Dundee agenda [http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk] 30 March 2004 Coping with the post-nuclear world was on the agenda for an international conference held by the University of Abertay Dundee at Dudhope Castle today. Academics and experts from Abertay and other Scottish institutions were joined by a delegation of civic and business leaders from 10 cities in Russia, fighting to cast off their past as bases for nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union. The 15-strong Russian party, which includes three mayors and three industrial leaders, plus business managers, local officials and interpreters, attended the Abertay conference as part of a week-long fact-finding mission to the UK. The group has already visited Rosyth to inspect the Technology Park and Europark established to help cope with the impact of the closure of the Royal Navy Dockyard. At today’s conference, they met the team engaged in the £4 billion clean-up of the former experimental reactor establishment at Dounreay. The delegation heard from the site operator — the UK Atomic Energy Authority — and representatives of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise network, which has set up a taskforce to maximise the benefits to the region from decommissioning work worth £100 million being let in contracts each year at Dounreay. The conference also featured presentations from Dundee & Tayside Chamber of Commerce & Industry on inward investment, as well Scottish Enterprise Tayside on the knowledge economy and Business Gateway, and Scottish Enterprise Fife on the government’s role in managing change. The conference was organised by the Dundee Business School (DBS) at Abertay University. Jim Paterson, of the school, said, “Russia as a whole is currently seeking to redeploy around 40,000 people from nuclear weapons and power programmes that have been, or are being, phased out. “Most of these jobs existed in what were known as closed cities, like the 10 represented at today’s conference. They’ve been tackling the problems of massive redundancy and how to create new jobs, just like Rosyth, Dounreay and several other parts of the UK. These are major issues, and we have as much to learn from the Russians as we have to teach them.” DBS has been working in the former Soviet Union for several years, on a commission from the UK Department of Trade & Industry, which has funded the Russian visit to the UK, following a similar visit last year to Oxford and the former nuclear research and development establishment at Harwell, in England. Tomorrow, the Russians will visit Abertay’s IC CAVE digital entertainment research centre and the Angus Training Group, in Arbroath. Later in the week, the tour takes in the former heavy industry sites of Ravenscraig and Gartcosh, near Glasgow, before going on to the Sellafield nuclear site, in the Lake District. ***************************************************************** 14 25 Years Ago We Nearly Lost Pennsylvania Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 10:54:18 -0600 (CST) Forwarded with Compliments of Government of the USA in Exile (GUSAE): Free Americans Resisting the Fourth Reich on Behalf of All Species. From: Earth First! Media Center Date: March 29, 2004 5:53:26 AM GMT+07:0 Subject: TMI: 25 years ago today, we nearly lost Pennsylvania. March 28th, 2004 Dear Readers, "Three Mile Island" was 25 years ago. What have we learned? Davis Besse was/is practically ignored by the media, but it would have been between ten thousand and a million times worse than TMI actually was, had it not been discovered in time (it was, but entirely by accident when a worker leaned against a control rod housing and it bent over). Al Queda and other terrorists have threatened to attack our nuclear power plants, but there are other good reasons, having nothing to do with terrorism, to reject this technology now, BEFORE there is a "real" meltdown. Closing our nukes is NOT giving in to terrorism. It's simply giving in to reason. There are many studies and reports from Three Mile Island, which are suppressed by the mass media, but which indicate there were massive die-offs of local birds and other animals in the area around the plant after the incident, as well as after large "venting" operations, which continue to this day. There are also studies indicating the incidence rates of cancers, leukemias, birth defects, and heart disease are higher around the plant -- that the "harmless levels" of radiation which the utility admits to having released were A) not harmless, and B) much larger than admitted. CNN, while interviewing a woman who lives within sight of the plant, who has a son with Down's Syndrome and who wonders if it was caused by the accident, simultaneously is telling us that, although no new nuclear power plants have been ordered since TMI, nevertheless, new nukes are expected to be ordered in the next five years. This might be true, but if so, it won't be because people are investing in them. It will be because the plants are being forced down our throats, paid for and permitted through massive tax breaks, blatant insurance fraud (the "Price-Anderson Act" is nothing but a big scam against the taxpayers), and secret military/industrial handshake deals at the highest levels of government, on down to the lowest levels of public "servants", who actually do the dirty work of aggravating activists and planting newspaper stories that purport to tell the "truth" about nuclear power as a "clean" energy source. There is nothing clean about nuclear power. The "waste problem" it creates will NOT be solved by Yucca Mountain, as ANY qualified and honest scientist can tell you. Thousands of the world's top scientists oppose nuclear power. You should, too! (In fact, you probably do. I believe that the VAST MAJORITY of Americans oppose nuclear power, despite all the best efforts of government and industry to make us like it.) When listening to a spokesperson for your local plant, always bear in mind that they are under no obligation to tell the truth to reporters or activists, or even to judges and juries! No one is allowed to investigate nuclear issues except the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and they have stated in writing, to this author (in a letter dated March 30th, 2002), that they will NOT investigate the veracity of statements made by public affairs officers of NRC licensees. That gives those public affairs officers a license to lie. Because many pro-nukers believe (erroneously) that nuclear power has a vital role in "National Security" issues, industry spokespeople feel further permitted to lie to the public. Nuclear power has destroyed our democracy, being an industry founded on lies, lies, and more lies -- the very antithesis of basic democratic principles. The only role nuclear power has in National Security is that it gives our enemies juicy targets to attack. Maybe blowing up several trains at once in Madrid, or flying several large jets into buildings at nearly the same time is even easier than attacking a spent fuel pool, dry storage cask, or operating nuclear power plant, but not THAT MUCH easier! In return for their efforts, the terrorists will be "rewarded" for an attack on our power plants with massive economic disruption AND a death toll that could easily be 1000 times worse than Madrid OR even than own own 9-11! That is STAGGERING BUT TRUE. An attack on a nuclear power plant could be 1000 times worse than 9-11. Winds blowing strongly from the plant to a major city nearby would be enough to cause many more deaths than 9-11 -- perhaps orders of magnitude more. Actual government figures alone for any type of meltdown, let alone a true "worst case scenario" are terrifying (and available for EACH U.S. reactor at the first web site listed below). But there is every reason to believe those figures are a gross under-representation of what could really happen. Chernobyl was only a PARTIAL meltdown -- reports are that "only" about 4% of the fuel melted or deformed, not nearly as bad as it could have been (or could still be; the containment is crumbling and the fuel inside is not being properly monitored). Perhaps 10,000 to 100,000 people died as a direct result of breathing Chernobyl's radioactive plume. The nuclear industry claims that less than 30 people died from Chernobyl, all of them workers who bravely went into the plant, but that is a lie. It was perhaps a thousand times that many people, or perhaps even more. Imagine being able to lie like that -- by three orders of magnitude -- and get away with it! Three Mile Island wasn't a "meltdown" at all. Nuclear fuel was deformed from the heat, but it was "a half hour from meltdown", despite the wording sometimes used on CNN and other media during this anniversary. No one will ever know within several orders of magnitude how much radiation was actually released. We are very lucky that Davis Besse didn't burst and become a full-scale meltdown. It would have been worse than Chernobyl, and far worse than Three Mile Island. The industry talks about all they've learned, but all they've really learned is how to fool the public and the media into thinking things are safe. Sincerely, Russell Hoffman Concerned Citizen Carlsbad, CA To learn more about this dangerous energy source, please visit some of my web sites and/or subscribe to my newsletter. I've spent decades gathering documentation from hundreds of sources, and in the interest of public education, I've gathered highlights and lowlights from the past half century of disinformation campaigns by the media, government, and nuclear industry. Internet Glossary of Nuclear Terminology (aka "The Demon Hot Atom"): http://www.animatedsoftware.com/hotwords/index.htm Internet Glossary of Nuclear Power Plants with links to activists and individual plant histories: http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/nukelist.htm Shut San Onofre (my local nuclear waste generating facility): http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/onofre/index.htm List of hundreds of books about nuclear technology (pro- and con): http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/mybooks.htm Most recent posting: Learn how the nuclear industry eats its own young: http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/onofre/2004/NukeWorkers.htm Learn about The Effects of Nuclear War here: http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/tenw/nuke_war.htm Additional material also by this author (for reference): Glossary of Pumps (largest collection anywhere -- 75 pumps animated and explained (including types used exclusively in Nuclear Power Plants)): http://www.animatedsoftware.com/elearning/All%20About%20Pumps/glossary/aap_glossary.html Glossary of Heart Terminology (over 150 words and phrases defined -- heart problems kill more Americans than any other disease and are a known result of radiation poisoning): http://www.animatedsoftware.com/elearning/Engine%20of%20Life/glossary/eol_glossary.html Co-Author, Glossary of Statistical Terminology (without a basic statistical understanding, nukes can easily be made to look good to the lay person, because it's so easy to lie with statistics): http://www.animatedsoftware.com/elearning/Statistics%20Explained/glossary/se_glossary.html (Note: Activists and reporters can use the password phrase "NO NUKES!" in our online software to view the entire products these glossaries are from, and may ask for a complimentary CD-ROM with all three programs on it (All About Pumps, Statistics Explained, and The Heart: The Engine of Life.) ======================================================= ************************************************* ** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY ** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer ** P.O. Box 1936, Carlsbad CA 92018-1936 ** (800) 551-2726 ** (760) 720-7261 ** Fax: (760) 720-7394 ** Visit the world's most eclectic web site: ** http://www.animatedsoftware.com ************************************************* ***************************************************************** 15 [du-list] Shutting down the nukes Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 20:22:25 -0800 Bob, Shutting down the nukes. In the early seventies President Nixon predicted that we would have 1,000 nuclear power plants by the year 2000. What kept the number to about 109, now 103? We did. Mass grassroots action, legal challenges, lobbying, spreading education revealing the ugly facts. Sadly, a long period of false confidence set in where activity decreased, except for a few of us, because people believed we had won when there were no longer any new orders for nuclear plants and the U.S. and Soviet Union agreed to stop building and testing nuclear weapons. Now we are in worse danger than ever. We have an administration and a congress packed with pro-nuclear corporation stooges and a new generation of young citizens having been mis-educated by the utilities (Have you looked at the textbooks and school libraries lately?). So what does it take to stop the Bush gang's using our money to subsidise new nuclear plants? What should we be doing to stop the building and testing of new nuclear and radioactive weapons (There's a difference, by the way.)? Information is the first step in taking responsibility; learn about it and spread what we learn to everyone. Try to be as accurate as possible and correct errors when they are pointed out. Bring the information to the schools - the teachers and the kids. Organize protests. Attend hearings. Soon the new energy bill that was blocked in the last session will be brought up. I hear it has a new polished-up name and will have a new number, but it will be just as bad. The industry will be freed from liability (Price-Anderson Act made permanent), there will be big subsidies for nuclear energy and weapons, gas, oil and coal, with a pittance for renewables. We can use this debate as an opportunity to alert people about the need for solar, wind and energy efficient alternatives to fossil and nukes. Raise it in every group; talk repeatedly to legislators; intervene in hearings; challenge the EPA to dismiss the petition from the Dept. of Energy, the Dept. of Transportation and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to freely release radioactive waste into our environment. distribute literature and books. Here are some good ones: Sidney Goodman, Asleep At The Geiger Counter; nuclear destruction of the planet and how to stop it. Chris Busby PhD, Wings of Death; nuclear pollution and human health. Janette Sherman, MD, Life's Delicate Balance Akira Tashiro, Discounted Casualties (about DU) Rosalie Bertell, PhD, Planet Earth, The Latest Weapon of War; a critical study into the military and the environment. 2003 Recommendations Of the European Committee On Radiation Risk; health effects of ionising radiation exposure at low doses for radiation protection purposes. Regulators' edition. This is the report by over 40 independent scientists and researchers sponsored by the European Parliament. I have copies of these available, and more. The last-mentioned, I have gotten to physicians and university professors concerned with the environment and human (and animal) health, with positive feedback. The fight goes on; don't give up hope. Mitzi Bowman, Coordinator, Don't Waste Connecticut, member of People's Action for Clean Energy, Military Toxics Project, Ct. Coalition Against Millstone, subscriber to Nuclear Information and Resource Service (very valuable, with info on nuclear power around the globe.) et al. For more info: upthesun@cshore.com, (203)389-2067 To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT 1543805.jpg 1543943.jpg ---------- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Attachment Converted: 1543805.jpg: 00000001,3d1357c2,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1543943.jpg: 00000001,3d1357c3,00000000,00000000 ***************************************************************** 16 [NukeNet] Frieda Berryhill's statement 3/28 Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 20:22:26 -0800 Thanks to Frieda for her opening statement for our 3/28 rally. norm -------- Original Message -------- Subject: March 28,2004 Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 11:28:17 -0500 From: Frieda Berryhill To: Norman Cohen Text of my talk I watched Salem being built in the 70's because there was a rumor that Delaware is planning to build a 2,000 MGW Nuclear Complex as well. I opposed nuclear power at first on moral grounds. Yes Plutonium has a half life of 24,000 year but other elements such as in the case of iodine-129 has a half life of 16 million years. This to me was unacceptable. I watched Salem being built all the while protesting and objecting. My worst moment came when one day I went to the reading room and came across a huge map. Bewildered at first as to what it was , I noticed the word "Liquefaction" it depicted the geology of Artificial Island and I saw to my horror that there is no rock bottom under those reactors. The whole complex sits on thousands of cement pilings 75 ft into the sandy soil. Look up Loma Prieta's Earthquake and see what liquefaction did in the San Francisco Bay area. During the hearings when this group insisted on cooling towers for Salem to stop the fish kills PSEG said and I quote " The soil condition of the Island are not suitable for cooling towers, we would have to build too many cement pilings. " WHAT ABOUT THE REACTORS? Then came Delaware's proposal for another 2000 MGW reactor across the river which would have made this the largest concentration in terms of MGW's anywhere in the world. This is when I said "over my dead body " and I asked and was granted intervenor status. The rest is history, I am still here the plant is not. But it led me to join the national movement. Spoke and testified from Boston to Atlantic City. Then came TMI, I met Dr. Johnsrud and joined the intervenors in the TMI restart. The official statement is "Nobody got hurt at TMI. But the lost they court case and the money paid out to the people who indeed got hurt was accompanied with a gag order Why? Of course the truth is out. Only 31 people got hurt at Chernobyl. But the horrible truth is out and this years academy award for documentary short subject went to "Chernobyl Heart". The truth is out. More then 20 years ago the proposal was made to recycle radioactive metals into consumer goods. We defeated it with 5.000 letters. The proposal is back and we hope to defeat it with 100.000 emails comment period ends May 17th. To start with 127,000 ton of metal from Oakridge is to be declassified for consumer goods and then of course the door is open. Now this Industry is in full swing again with the new, secretly composed Energy policy which proposes to build 50 new nuclear reactors by the year 2020. NO I SAID, THIS MUST BE A MISTAKE. A TYPO SOMEWHERE Then I got a copy of the Baltimore Chronicle of March 11 th 2004. It was no mistake. No wonder our Vice President does not want to disclose who formulated this new energy policy. Not only does the domestic nuclear program with its millions in subsidies look good for the industry, b ut China who has 8 plants plans to order from us 20 more reactors by the year 2020 at 2 billion dollars per plant. The Trade deficit with China for January alone was 11.5 Billion Dollar. You bet this is an incentive to proceed. Why should we worry about reactors in China ?" Let me remind you that after the Chernobyl accident the milk in Wilmington was contaminated 4 weeks later. Releases travel around the Globe. Why is this happening ? The beneficiaries of the Bush Energy Policy gave 17 million dollars to congressional campaigns in 2002. Time does not permit me to go into the lies and difficulties concerning nuclear waste. Let me close by remembering an anti nuclear activist with whom I had a very close working relationships. His name was Bill Garner. Bill was Assistant Attorney General for the state of Tennessee . He fought the lies deceptions at Oakridge with great passion. He died of a heart attack at the age of 54. The "Tennesseean" on January 31, 1979 in a long tribute to him published Bill's last words. THESE ARE THE LAST WORDS OF A DYING MAN " I only wish I could take a dozen of those TVA Bastards with me " Don't underestimate the passion of an anti nuclear activist. Frieda Berryhill -- Coalition for Peace and Justice (http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org); and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign (http://www.unplugsalem.org); 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8583/37; ncohen12@comcast.net. The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action (http://www.peace-action.org). "You can say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one" (Lennon). "Don't be late for your life" (Mary Chapin Carpenter). _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 17 NRC: News Release - Region I - 2004-016 - NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 www.nrc.gov No. I-04-016 DATE CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: [opa1@nrc.gov] Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) Corp. on Tuesday, April 6, to discuss the results of the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the R.E. Ginna nuclear power plant. RG&E operates the plant, which is located in Ontario, N.Y. The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Ontario Country Club, 2101 Country Club Lane in Ontario. Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants safety performance, as well as the role of the NRC in ensuring safe operation of the facility. The performance period to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2003. In addition, NRC staff will provide a brief overview of how the agencys Reactor Oversight Process works. A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/ginn_2003q4.pdf [PDF Icon] . Overall, the Ginna plant operated safely and met all cornerstone objectives during the period. (Cornerstones are measures of plant performance.) Therefore, at this time the NRC plans to conduct only baseline inspections at the site through September 30, 2005. The safety significance of one inspection finding by the NRC remains under review. That finding concerns the fire resistance of the cable tunnel escape hatch. The NRC conducted a site visit during the week of March 15 to gather additional information regarding the significance of the issue. Based on that information, a decision will be made whether further inspections are needed. During the first quarter of the assessment period, there was an inspection finding concerning the failure of the off-site emergency siren feedback system. However, an NRC supplemental inspection conducted in April 2003 concluded that a sufficiently broad evaluation of the issue had been conducted by RG&E and that corrective actions were adequate to address the underlying causes of the violation. With regard to security issues, the letter points out that the NRC has issued several orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The agency has also conducted inspections to review the implementation of these requirements and has monitored the action of plant operators in response to changing threat conditions. The NRC will continue security inspections during 2004. Current performance information for the Ginna plant is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/GINN/ginn_chart.html. Privacy Policy | Site Disclaimer Last revised Tuesday, March 30, 2004 ***************************************************************** 18 NRC: NRC to Meet with Nuclear Management Company to Discuss Performance of Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant News Release - Region III - 2004-01 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region III No. III-04-017 March 29, 2004 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 E-mail: [opa3@nrc.gov] representatives of Nuclear Management Company, on Monday, April 5, to discuss the results of the agencys assessment of safety performance at the Duane Arnold nuclear plant during 2003. The facility is located in Palo, Iowa. The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. at Palo Community Center, 1006 1st Street, Palo, Iowa. The public is invited to observe the meeting, and NRC officials will be available before the conclusion of the meeting to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of the plant. In addition, the NRC staff will provide an overview of how the agencys Reactor Oversight Process works. The NRC concluded that the plant operated safely last year, and plant performance does not require additional inspections beyond the normal inspection program. Routine inspections are performed by the two resident inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from Region III office in Lisle, Illinois. A March 4 letter from the NRC to Nuclear Management Company officials addresses the performance of the plant during this period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/duan_2003q4.pdf [PDF Icon] . With regard to security issues, the NRC has issued several orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The agency has also conducted inspections to review the implementation of these requirements and has monitored the action of plant operators in response to changing threat conditions. The NRC will continue security inspections during 2004. Current performance indicators and inspection findings for Duane Arnold are available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/DUAN/duan_chart.html. Last revised Monday, March 29, 2004 ***************************************************************** 19 NRC: News Release - Region III - 2004-018 - New Location for NRC Region III Office Beginning April 5 Office of Public Affairs, Region III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 www.nrc.gov No. III-04-018 DATE CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov [opa3@nrc.gov] The NRC Region III office will move to a new location in Lisle, Illinois, effective April 5. The mailing address will change, but current telephone numbers for the regional staff will remain the same. The new address is 2443 Warrenville Road, Suite 210, Lisle, Illinois 60532-4352. The new location is approximately two miles west of the current office. The regional office will be closed on Friday, April 2, while the move is underway. Privacy Policy | Site Disclaimer Last revised Tuesday, March 30, 2004 ***************************************************************** 20 NRC: Regulatory Guide; Issuance, Availability FR Doc 04-7029 [Federal Register: March 30, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 61)] [Notices] [Page 16627-16628] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30mr04-130] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a new guide in its Regulatory Guide Series. This series has been developed to describe and make available to the public such information as methods acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the NRC's regulations, techniques used by the staff in its review of applications for permits and licenses, and data needed by the NRC staff in its review of applications for permits and licenses. Regulatory Guide 1.200, ``An Approach for Determining the Technical Adequacy of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Results for Risk-Informed [[Page 16628]] Activities,'' is being issued for trial use. Regulatory Guide 1.200 is being developed to provide guidance to licensees in determining the technical adequacy of a probabilistic risk analysis used in a risk- informed, integrated decision-making process. Standard Review Plan Chapter 19.1, ``Determining the Technical Adequacy of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Results for Risk-Informed Activities,'' has been developed for the NRC staff to use in conjunction with Regulatory Guide 1.200. Comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time. Written comments may be submitted to the Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Questions on the content of this guide may be directed to Mr. A. Singh, (301) 415-0250; e-mail: AXS3@NRC.GOV [AXS3@NRC.GOV] . Regulatory guides and certain SRP chapters are available for inspection or downloading at the NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] under Regulatory Guides and in NRC's Electronic Reading Room (ADAMS System) at the same site. Single copies of regulatory guides may be obtained free of charge by writing the Reproduction and Distribution Services Section, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by fax to (301) 415-2289, or by e-mail to distribution@nrc.gov [ distribution@nrc.gov] . Issued guides may also be purchased from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) on a standing order basis. Details on this service may be obtained by writing NTIS at 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161; telephone 1-800-553-6847; http://www.ntis.gov/ [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.ntis.gov/] . Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is not required to reproduce them. Dated at Rockville, MD this 27th day of February 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Jack R. Strosnider Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 04-7029 Filed 3-29-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 21 NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting FR Doc 04-7161 [Federal Register: March 30, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 61)] [Notices] [Page 16615] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30mr04-128] Agency Holding the Meeting: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Date: Weeks of March 29, April 5, 12, 19, 26, May 3, 2004. Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Status: Public and Closed. Matters To Be Considered: Week of March 29, 2004 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. Week of April 12, 2004--Tentative Tuesday, April 13, 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 [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] . Week of April 19, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of April 19, 2004. Week of April 26, 2004--Tentative Wednesday, April 28, 2004 9:30 a.m. Discussion of Security Issues (closed--ex. 1). Week of May 3, 2004--Tentative Tuesday, May 4, 2004 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Results of the Agency Action Review Meeting (Public Meeting) (Contact: Bob Pascarelli, (301) 415-1245). This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] . Thursday, May 6, 2004 1:30 p.m. Meeting with Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) (Public Meeting) (Contact: John Larkins, (301) 415-7360). This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] . 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. * * * * * Additional Information By a vote of 3-0 on March 16 and 18, the Commission determined pursuant to U.S.C. 552b(e) and Sec. 9.107(a) of the Commission's rules that ``Discussion of Security Issues (closed--ex. 1 & 2)'' be held March 22, and on less than one week's notice to the public. By a vote of 3-0 on March 23, the Commission determined pursuant to U.S.C. 552b(e) and Sec. 9.107(a) of the Commission's rules that ``Affirmation of (1) Private Fuel Storage, LLC (Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation) Intervenor Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia's Motion to Reopen the Case Record on Contention ``O''--Environmental Justice, and (2) Private Fuel Storage (Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation) Docket No. 72-22-ISFI'' be held on March 24, and on less than one week's notice to the public. * * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-makin g/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 [dkw@nrc.gov] . Dated: March 25, 2004. Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary. [FR Doc. 04-7161 Filed 3-26-04; 9:54 am] ***************************************************************** 22 EUpolitix: Millions for Romanian nuclear site An EU loan of over €220 million for Romania’s second nuclear power plant was approved on Tuesday. Last minute doubts over money for the site, known as Cernavoda 2, have been overcome, paving the way for money to be spent on safety upgrades for the plant, which is currently only half-complete. The commission’s environment department had run into pressure from anti-nuclear groups, who claimed that environmental impact assessments on Cernavoda had not been properly carried out. In particular they said that the public had not been given full access to the environmental studies. Friends of the Earth claimed that “the different commission services concerned have either refused to supply reports, granted only partial access, or failed to respond within the period allowedâ€. The Green NGO said that the commission had been able to get away with this because it was operating under Romanian rather than EU law. The charge was denied by the secretary general of ROMATOM (the Romanian atomic forum), who told Eupolitix.com it was “fully untrueâ€. But the commission now faces accusations of malpractice from its anti-nuclear opponents, who announced following the decision that they will be referring the case to Europe’s fraud watchdog the EU Ombudsman. Mark Johnston of Friends of the Earth said “We strongly suspect the stated grounds for making this loan are bogusâ€. “The Commission has failed to give a detailed justification for the loan, and has refused access to key reports.†Johnston claims that ten parts of the 11 part safety report on Cernavoda have been kept secret. “We think this is a prima facie case of maladministration, which we will now ask the Ombudsman to investigate. The loan is for a total of €223.5 million, and Cernavoda is due to go into operation in 2007. Published: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 16:47:57 GMT+01 Emily Smith “We strongly suspect the stated grounds for making this loan are bogus." Friends of the Earth ©2004 EUpolitix.com About EUpolitix ***************************************************************** 23 JS Online: Public meetings to tackle Point Beach's life span jsonline.com Plant cost savings to be weighed against environmental concerns By THOMAS CONTENT tcontent@journalsentinel.com Posted: March 29, 2004 The path toward deciding whether to keep the Point Beach nuclear plant open for 20 more years moves into a new phase this week. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will explain its decision-making process to the public at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Two Creeks Town Hall, 5128 E. Tapawingo Road, Two Rivers. The first of about seven public meetings over the next two years is planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Two Creeks Town Hall in Manitowoc County, near the nuclear plant. Nuclear Management Co. of Hudson, which operates the plant owned by Wisconsin Energy Corp. of Milwaukee, filed an application last month to keep the nuclear plant running until the early 2030s. Wisconsin Energy Corp. executives say that keeping the plant open will save the company and its ratepayers $474 million that would have to be spent on new coal plants and buying power if the two-reactor plant is shut down when its licenses expire in 2010 and 2013. Having power plants powered by a range of fuels helps keep costs down, said Rick Kuester, president and chief executive of We Generation, the power-plant subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy. That argument has won over some of the company's largest customers, members of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group. But another group, the Wisconsin Citizens' Utility Board, says the savings aren't worth the security and environmental risks posed by nuclear power. The savings of $474 million may seem like a considerable amount of money, but spread over a large group of customers over decades, it amounts to just a 2.3% savings compared with the alternative, more costly scenario outlined by the utility. "It's only a 2 percent benefit to ratepayers by relicensing versus building other generation," CUB executive director Charlie Higley said. "Given the age of the (reactors) and the likelihood for increased safety concerns, that 2 percent is not worth it." Higley's group and environmental groups such as Clean Wisconsin are concerned about the need to store spent nuclear fuel - a high-level hazardous waste - on site at the nuclear plant because the federal government has not opened a storage repository for spent fuel. The Bush administration is moving ahead with plans to open a storage facility in Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but that plan faces court challenges from Nevada and environmental groups. Wisconsin Energy's alternative scenario envisions building two new coal plants in 2013 to help the utility keep up with demand for electricity. Demand for power in Wisconsin has been increasing by 2% a year. Point Beach supplies 25% of Wisconsin Energy's generating capacity, and one-sixth of all the electricity produced by all of the state's utilities. From the March 30, 2004 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Copyright 2004 [http://www.jsonline.com/copyright.html] , Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 24 Bellona: Details of Minatom’s dismantlement becoming clearer As the dust settles from President Vladimir Putin’s March 9th overhaul of government ministries, it is now apparent that both Ministry of Atomic Energy and the Gosatomnadzor, or GAN, have been abolished and incorporated into the new and larger Ministry of Industry and Energy, or MIE, as part of a presidential effort to streamline and consolidate the Russian government. Former Minatom head and current FAAE chief Alexander Rumyantsev talks with reporters in his office. nuclear.ru Charles Digges, 2004-03-30 16:53 The sweeping reconstruction resulting from Presidential Order No. 316 “on organs of executive power” which was issued five days before Putin rolled easily into a second term during the March 14 elections, indicating that the incumbent had little doubt he would remain in power. It remains to be seen whether his massive vertical reshuffle—which places power in far fewer hands—will create a more transparent or a more opaque environment for countries engaged in nuclear threat reduction efforts with Russia. By late March, it was known that the parameters of Putin’s across-the-board reforms included reducing the once mighty Ministry of Atomic Energy, or Minatom, to the status of a federal agency—thus removing its minister from a cabinet-level position, and that GAN had become a federal service. But the shake-up has left several crucial questions that touch on issues from US-Russian threat reduction efforts, to who, in fact is controlling nuclear material within Russia’s borders unanswered. Minatom—now newly renamed the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy, or FAAE—has for years been the major interlocutor on bilateral nuclear threat reduction efforts between Russia and the US Department of Energy, or DOE, as well as the DOE’s counterpart organizations in other G-8 and Western nations Alexander Rumyantsev, the former Minister of Atomic Energy, has been appointed by governmental decree to stay on as head of FAAE. Former GAN chief Andrei Malyshev also will remain as head of the newly-formed Federal Service of Atomic Inspection, or FSAN, its Russian abbreviation. Structure of the Ministry of Industry and Energy Minister: Vladimir Khristenko Federal Services: Atomic Inspection (Andrei Malyshev) Technological Regulation and Metallurgy (Unknown) Technological Inspection (Vladimir Kuliechev Federal Agencies: Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev Space Agency (Anatoly Perminov) Industry (Boris Alyoshin) Constuction, Housing and Utilities (Vladimir Averchenko) Energy (Sergei Oganesyan) Source: RANSAC Ministries, agencies and services There are, under Putin's new vertical restructuring of the government, several important differences between ministries, agencies and service—the main one for FAAE being that it no longer has the power to develop legislation. This function is now the responsibility of its sponsoring ministry, the MIE, headed by Viktor Khristenko. As an agency—the bottom of the ladder in Putin’s new vertical structure—FAAE also no longer controls the activities of the federal services and agencies once under Minatom’s control. The new agency also has no control over state non-budgetary funds. Instead, MIE will make plans for the FAAE, and the FAAE will report on progress toward meeting planned targets. According to the Presidential order, agencies will only provide state services and manage state property, as well as compile lists registers and surveys. As a service, FSAN has slightly more—and independent—functions, which will come as good news to many environmentalists and countries engaged in threat reduction efforts, all of which have lobbied for stronger nuclear regulation than Russia’s enfeebled former GAN was able to provide after years of Minatom hobbling its authority. Nonetheless, though GAN may have higher status in the new structure, it has, nonetheless, fallen in position overall. Begun as an independent regulatory agency reporting directly to the president, it later lost status and was sent instead to report to the prime minister. This latest change has Russia’s nuclear regulatory agency reporting to a minister—yet another step down the totem pole from prime minister. Andrei Malyshev, the Minatom-bred former head of GAN, who will remain at the helm of FSAN. gan.ru FSAN also remains under control of the MIE, which also supervises FAAE activities, and a new report by the Russian American Nuclear Security Council, or RANSAC—an NGO that advises both governments on nuclear security issues—questioned whether or not that would impact FSAN’s independence. The Russian Shipbuilding agency—which was in charge of Russian naval shipyards and submarine decommissioning within them—and the Munitions agency, responsible for storing and destroying Russia vast stocks of chemical weapons, have also both been dissolved. Their operations have been taken over by the newly formed Federal Agency for Industry, which also falls under the MIE’s purview. What is the nuclear defence complex under the new regime? In a footnote to the creation of the FAAE, Putin’s order stated that “on issues of the nuclear defence complex [FAAE] is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.” The order does not define what, precisely, the nuclear defence complex is, nor does it specify how the “subordination” of the FAAE will take place. In the past, the nuclear defence complex had comprised ten closed cities that were the centre of Russians nuclear weapons development and production. Some of these cites—due largely to US-Russian bilateral agreements effected by the DOE—have ceased their military production, and others still have been demilitarized as part of efforts to consolidate the nuclear weapons complex. At present, there is no definite understanding of how the division of authority between MIE and the Ministry of Defence will develop. The recent RANSAC report offered three working theories of what the result of this transition will be: 1.) Split functions: In this version, wrote RANSAC, the functions of Minatom are split, some going to the FAAE—as well as the MIE in terms of legislative development—and others broken off wholly and transferred to the Defence Ministry. 2.) Dual Jurisdiction: Under this scenario, the RANSAC report speculated, the FAAE retains management of the various Minatom spheres, but reports to MIE for civilian issues and the Defence Ministry on military issues. 3.) Bureaucratic Influence: In this outcome, RANSAC speculated that the Defence Ministry does not assume any direct control of either the FAAE or former Minatom functions, but instead it merely exerts more influence on the actions of the agency and the nuclear complex. Nikolai Shingaryov, FAAE's press and information officer inherited from Minatom. Charles Digges/Bellona Minatom says ‘no significant changes’ will occur Nikolai Shingaryov, the chief information officer for the former Minatom, who has retained that same post at FAAE, told Bellona in a telephone interview that of these possible scenarios presented by RANSAC, the third is the most likely, but that much remained unclear. “We are not sure if, how or when things will be broken down, judging by the documents we currently have,” he said, referring to the presidential order. “But at present we are functioning as we always have—we are responsible for the closed cities and the activities that occur in them, we negotiate with the DOE in terms of cooperative threat reduction activities, we do not predict any significant changes and haven’t been given reason to expect any.” Acording to Minatom’s web site, Russia will also continue its controversial cooperation with Iran on the building of the Bushehr reactor on the Persian Gulf, Iran’s border with Iraq. That Rumyantsev is staying on as head of the new agency points to the notion that the MIE will serve as more of a bureaucratic clearing house for FAAE and that MIE resist taking direct control of the old Minatom’s activities, several analysts have suggested. Indeed, one high-ranking official at the Defence Ministry reached by Bellona Web, who asked that his name not be used, said the Defence Ministry doesn’t want to take on many of the Minatom responsibilities implied by the presidential order and speculated upon by the RANSAC report. “First, why would we want to take control over the closed-city structure beyond the cities of Trekhgorny and Lesnoy,” the two closed cities dealing with warhead assembly and disassembly, which are now under the Defence Ministry control, said the ministry official. “The closed cities suck several million dollars a year away from Minatom, and we can’t see including that in our defence budget. Supporting the closures of production reactors at Tomsk and Zheleznogorsk [two closed cities in Minatom’s domain] is not out business, but Minatom’s.” Though the Defence Ministry official and Shingaryov could not say exactly, the vague arrangement under the presidential order seems to support the RANSAC report’s speculation that the demilitarized closed nuclear cities, like Zheleznogorsk, Seversk, Zelenogorsk, Zarechny and Novouralsk, would remain under the FAAE’s control. These cities, noted the report, could serve to fulfil Putin’s recent push toward making science and technology a bigger part of the Russian economy, turning them into “incubators” for technology development and production. Closed cities, therefore, with ongoing military activities will likely fall to the Defence Ministry. It remains unclear, however, according to the Defence Ministry official and RANSAC under whose jurisdiction the Mayak Chemical Combine would fall. The Defence Ministry official stated flatly that “I hope [Mayak] stays with the new agency.” According to Shingaryov, Mayak would “by all indications we currently have,” continue to operate under the purview of the FAAE. How responsibility for the closed cities will be divided up is, according to the RANSAC report and most analysts, of paramount importance to the worldwide non-proliferation drive. Firstly, many non-proliferation activities operate from within these cities and many scientists from these cities are integral to threat reduction activities. Secondly, many of these facilities still maintain large amounts of fissile material and the scientists and workers within them have sensitive knowledge of nuclear weapons and fissile material, the RANSAC report argued. Lay-offs and structure changes Shingaryov’s predictions have, as yet, gone un-contradicted at official levels. But various staff members of Minatom said in interviews with Bellona Monday that that they fear for their jobs after a March 18 governmental decree stipulating the creation if so-called liquidation committee. Minatom employs some 1 million people. By this decree, committees at each of the eliminated ministries must be formed to warn workers if they are to be laid off. The committees are also responsible for helping laid-off workers find jobs or arrange financial assistance for them. Employees in Moscow’s central office slated for lay offs, said Minatom sources, have already been notified. Those who have been dismissed will receive notice as to whether they will be rehired by the new agency within the next two months. Overall though, these sources said, the agency expects to cut the Minatom workforce by some 10 percent. Vladimir Khristenko, head of the newly-created Ministry for Industry and Energy. AP Short and long term threat reduction concerns For the West, concerns about the downgrading of Minatom from mistrial to agency status come from a well-spring of short- and long-term nuclear threat reduction efforts that, both for ongoing programmes and ones to come. One concern, pointed out by the RANSAC analysis, was that reorganization, especially during the current period of confusion as to who controls what functions, is disruptive and will continue to interrupt bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Previously scheduled visits to closed cities by western experts, for example, were cancelled after Putin’s order was issued, the RANSAC report said. In this environment, last summer’s windfall of nuclear remediation funding for Russia following the Evian G-8 summit may dry up, as investing nations in the G-8 and elsewhere may be reluctant to pour more money into this uncertain situation. Likewise, official decisions from Russian counterparts in key projects will now be hard to obtain before the dust settles for good. It is also likely that labor distribution issues within the new Russian government will not be entirely solved in time for this June’s G-8 summit, where key agreements and new issues were planned to be finalized, noted RANSAC. In the longer term, the distribution of functions between MIE and Defence Ministry will be pivotal, noted the report, and the possible scenarios for this distribution raise several questions. If, for instance, the Defence Ministry gains control over some functions, what US agency will take the lead in interactions with the Defence Ministry? Will the DOE simply continue to manage its programmes through the Defence Ministry? Will the US Department of Defence, which is the Defence Ministry’s traditional partner, take over these functions? Will the DOE work with the FAAE? Although Shingaryov said these functions would likely remain between the new agency and the DOE, he himself admitted in his Monday interview that their future was uncertain. And how will access issues be resolved from now on? The Defence Ministry, known for its security concerns, has always been a tough negotiating partner when it comes to western access to sensitive nuclear facilities. Will the Defence Ministry be willing to cooperate, if indeed access will remain the Defence Ministry’ decision? RANSAC’s analysis also questioned the highly enriched uranium, or HEU purchase agreement between the US and Russia, wherein Russian HEU is down-blended to low enriched uranium, or LEU, that the United States buys and burns in its commercial reactors. The HEU purchase agreement provides for nearly $10 billion over 20 years and the majority of these funds—not without occasional corruption scandals—has been funneled to Minatom for purposes of consolidating the nuclear weapons complex. How will these funds be used in the future? Another key issue is the division of MIE Minister Khristenko’s own division of labor. As minister of an essentially energy driven ministry, the economically and politically important oil and gas sectors are likely to dominate his energy portfolio, said the report. Many recent reports in the Russian media have indicated that Rumyantsev or one of his deputies may a dual role as a deputy minister to Khristenko, which would be a reassuring move for Russia’s threat reduction partners. Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 25 Beacon Journal: Davis-Besse may hit full power this week | 03/30/2004 | FirstEnergy nuclear plant to calibrate instruments, remove rust from water By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer FirstEnergy Corp's Davis-Besse nuclear power plant is making electricity again and could reach full power by Wednesday or Thursday, the company said. The nuclear plant, in Oak Harbor about 25 miles east of Toledo, was started up for the first time in more than two years on March 16, then had to shut down the next day for relatively minor valve repairs. Those repairs were finished last week and the reactor restarted shortly afterward, FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider said. Davis-Besse reconnected to the power grid between 5 and 6 a.m. Saturday and reached 45 percent of maximum power after 11 p.m. that day, he said. The reactor generates more than 900 megawatts of electricity, but distributes a maximum of 883 megawatts. The Akron utility pushed back the timetable for the power plant to reach 100 percent power. The company early on Monday was estimating that Davis-Besse would hit 100 percent power today. But personnel Monday afternoon determined the power plant needs to do more instrument calibrating and needed more time to remove higher-than-normal levels of rust from its cooling water, Schneider said. The higher-than-normal iron levels are a result of the system not being used for more than two years, he said, and similar to what is found during every refueling outage. When Davis-Besse hits 100 percent power, the Akron utility hopes it won't need to shut it down again until the first quarter of 2005 for scheduled maintenance, Schneider said. The restart follows the discovery in March 2002 of a football-sized rust hole nearly all the way through the top of theDavis-Besse reactor. FirstEnergy has since spent about $600 million in repairs and to buy replacement power. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on March 8 gave its approval to restart the power plant and will continue to monitor its progress. Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or [jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com] ***************************************************************** 26 Brattleboro Reformer - Editorials Why bother? [http://www.reformer.com/] March 30, 2004 Brattleboro, VT Two days before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was to hear from area residents about the Vermont Yankee power increase, federal regulators on Monday abruptly denied a Vermont condition of approval that called for an independent assessment of the plant. Responding to a request from Vermont's senators to allow public input on the uprate, NRC Executive Director for Operations William Travers wrote in a letter to Sen. James Jeffords that the agency's existing baseline inspection program is adequate, and no additional review will be performed. On Wednesday, the NRC comes to Vernon to meet with Vankee Yankee officials for an annual review of the plant's operations. Then, apparently in a nod to the senators' requests that the agency take public comment, the NRC has expanded the meeting. NRC officials will present their uprate review procedure to the public and take comments and questions from members of the public. Our question is this: Why bother? Federal regulators already have decided against the wishes of Vermonters -- from the state Senate and the Public Service Board down to local residents -- who have clearly stated that they want to see an independent assessment of Vermont Yankee before Entergy is allowed to increase its profits and its power output. In ruling against an independent review, the NRC has publicly thumbed its nose at Sens. Leahy and Jeffords, their constitutents, and the state's elected officials. It has turned its back on thousands of pages of testimony filed before the Vermont Public Service Board, and hundreds of hours of oral arguments in Montpelier. And now, before the agency even listens to residents of the communities around Vermont Yankee, the NRC has declared that a decision has been made. Why then has the NRC hired an independent contractor to moderate Wednesday's meeting? Why will the delegation include high-level staff members from NRC headquarters in Maryland, including William Ruland, project director in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulations, and Tad Marsh, director of the Divisions of Licensing and Project Management in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulations? It's worth noting that not one new nuclear power plant has been ordered in the United States in 20 years, yet over the same period, the nation's existing fleet of nuclear plants have expanded output by the equivalent of three large reactors, thanks to green lights from the NRC, which has never denied up uprate request. Nuclear power proponents say operators have learned to run the plants better and cheaper. Vermont Yankee now shuts for refueling about once every 18 months, for just about one month, instead of once a year for two months or longer, as it did in the 1970s and '80s, according to a December 2000 article in The New York Times. "Suddenly people realize that you can actually make money with these plants," said Ted Marston, chief nuclear officer at the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit research consortium that has helped utilities obtain license renewals beyond the initial 40 years for which they were approved. Profit is a powerful motivator, and with a Bush-Cheney energy plan that increases reliance on nuclear power, it's possible that the NRC has been rendered little more than the industry's rubber stamp. And in some less active or less independent markets that might fly. But Vermonters have never been ones to let Washington, or anyone else, tell them what to do. Others may go willingly down the uprate path. Not Vermonters. The NRC's heightened attention to this area reveals a niche in the agency's armor. Public opinion -- especially during an election year -- still counts. As the Times commented in January: Over this application, a battle line has been drawn. Wednesday's meeting is one of two opportunities the public will have to talk about the uprate. The meeting begins at Vernon Elementary School at 7 p.m., when Entergy and NRC staff will discuss the plant's performance over the past year. The public is allowed to listen but not participate in this portion. At 8 p.m., NRC officials will discuss the status of the uprate request and describe the agency's review process. They will also talk about the independent assessment decision. From 8:30-11 p.m., the public will be allowed to comment and ask questions. The time allowed to each person will be determined by the number of people in attendance. NRC regional spokesman Neil Sheehan points out that "this is not a hearing, there will be no sworn testimony." A public hearing will be scheduled at a later date, Sheehan said. "Whether anybody takes advantage of that ... remains to be seen." Indeed it does. ***************************************************************** 27 EnergyPulse: Nuclear and Coal or Oil and Gas in Electricity Generation? 3.31.04 Paolo Fornaciari Doctor in Engineering, Italian Nuclear Association,Deputy Chairman, formerly Enel Deputy Director The CEO of Italy's National Oil Company, Vittorio Mincato, in an article published in the italian economic newspaper "Il Sole 24 Ore", Tuesday, december 23rd, title being "Future under the sign of oil", has stated: "Clean coal does not exist. Coal was born dirty, contains polluting agents in the combustion process, leaves a huge ash quantity, is difficult to dispose and can be dangerous to men and environment. On the opposite, natural gas includes few air polluting substances and no waste to eliminate. Also with the modern clean coal technologies, for the same energy generated, coal produces twice the amount of carbon dioxide, more than twice of nitrogen oxide, more than eight times of the main heavy metals and even more than ten times of dust as compared with natural gas. Neither nuclear seeems a realistic alternate to natural gas. Even without considering the very strong public opposition against the construction of new nuclear power plants, nuclear energy is too costly, is not competitive in the free market and its particularly low costs are deceiving since they do not include radioactive wastes treatment and plant decommissioning at the end of their life. Making the economic analyisis in a correct way, nuclear energy is much less competitive than usually thought. In addition, the nuclear plant capital cost is high (four or five times that of a gas combined cycle for the same power), the construction time is very long(about seven years) even without considering the required time for plant authorization and permits, such that the nuclear option is risky both for the public and for the private operator from the economic point of view. The development of the new renewable energies, although desirable, shall take place in the medium- long period: eolic energy is competitive already with gas generation, but its future is bounded to the environmental impact (noise and landscape respect) and solar photovoltaic is still too expensive. The only solution is to confide to natural gas.” Eight years before, at the World Energy Congress (WEC), held in Tokyo on October 8/13 1995, Daniel Yergin, one of the most international outstanding energy experts, author of the book “The Prize” on the world oil history, did define natural gas as “The rising star in the world energy portfolio.” The situation however has dramatically changed in the last few years, not because the exhaustion of the world energy resources, as was envisaged 35 years ago from the Rome Club with its best seller “The limits to growth”, but because of the price. As the President of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, testified to the US Congress on July 10th 2003 “In summary, the long-term equilibrium price for natural gas in the United States has risen persistently during the past years from approximately $2 per million Btu on december 1999 to more than $5 today with spikes of more than 9$ on january 2001 and on march 2003, as a consequence of a scarsity of supply. Yesterday the gas price for july delivery did arrive at 6.3$ per million Btu.” The studies performed in the past years from Esso, Royal Dutch Shell and World Bank, assume a value of 2000 billion/barrel for the ultimate world oil reserve, lead to a forecast for the Hubbert peak around the year 2000. The Royal Dutch Shell President, Phil Watts has also recently affirmed: “The world is not running out of oil, but the world oil share in the global energy demand shall drop from the actual 40 percent today, down to 25 percent in 2050.” Even considering the new efficient gas combined cycle (GCC) power plants capital cost of 500 $/kW and 6 USmills/kWh for O cost, the full generation cost, the higher gas price (5$/MBTU in 2003 and possibile 8 to 10 $ in the years to come) is at least double (56USmills/kWh) today as compared with nuclear or coal. The oil era is declining, perhaps is already over. Why do not abandon oil and gas for nuclear and coal in power generation, like most of the industrial Nations did 30 years ago, after the Kippur war? Replying to this question, Andrew Weissman, President of the “Energy Ventures Group”, did answer recently to me: “Regrettably, the political opposition to nuclear power in the U.S. is very strong. My own view is that, with the benefit of hindsight, over the years, we’re likely to regret very highly the move away from nuclear that occurred in the U.S. beginning during the early 70’s, which is likely to have a terrible cost.” The Administration of the US Government was well aware that a new incumbent energy crisis was coming (the Energy Information Administration of US DOE, the US Geological Survey, MIT, Stanford University, National Petroleum Council, the Cheney Report on the New US Energy Plan, (a plan envisaging the restart, after 20 years, of nuclear energy in electricity generation) and the President of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan) intervening at the US Senate on July 10th 2003, had all expressed serious concerns about a possibile energy crisis during winter 2003/2004. But between the alternate to lose social consent or to ride the pride wounded by the terroristic attack of September 11th, 2001, President Bush, did choose the Iraq war. According to the ENI’s CEO, Mincato: “In the energy mix there is no room for coal and nuclear”. Andrea Clavarino, Chairman of the Italian Coal Association, has already answered about coal saying that: “The coal polluting emissions are equivalent if not lower, than those of the natural gas (methane is in fact a powerful greenhouse gas). A recent study performed by the Muenchen University shows that the polluting emissions from fossil fuels are not different if in addition to the combustion phase, all the others previous phases are considered. In addition- says Clavarino – the world gas resources are mainly located in two Countries only, Algeria and Russia, with risk for their supply, while coal reserves are distributed in more than 100 Nations”. I shall then reply on nuclear only. How can one sustain that for gas as for oil there are no problems of availability in the years to come? “For gas – according to Mincato - the risk is for an over capacity in Europe instead, the supply being well above the demand. The possibility of a new oil shock is far remote and there is no problem for the security of oil supply in the European Union”. This last statement is in obvious constrast with the EU Green Paper on “Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply”, while in addition numerous have been the wars for the control and possession of oil wells in these last 50 years. “But the oil demand in Europe – Mincato writes – shall decline in the next 10 to 15 years while the offer is abundant and increasing”. “Making the evaluations in a correct way, nuclear is much less economic than believed.” This also is not true: making the counts in a “correct way” for all the power plants, the result is that the new gas combined cycle stations, even assuming 500 $/kW as capital cost and 6 USmills/kWh for O, because the increased gas price (6 $/MBTU today and 8 to 10 $/BTU in the years to come) generates today electricity at 56 US mills/kWh, twise the costa s compared with nuclear or coal. It is “not correct” to also forget about the operating data available: the average operation cost for the US electric power plants, shows 18 mills/kWh for the US nuclear fleet as compared with 36 mills/kWh for the new US GCC stations, neither indicate in seven years the construction time for nuclear power plants, when 4 to 5 years have been achieved in Europe, Japan and South Korea. Similar considerations apply to radioactive waste treatment and disposal, nuclear plants and decommissioning cost, since differently than in the fossil fuel case, they are all included in the plant capital cost. Obviously the decommissioning cost is 8 to 9 percent only if the decommissioning is, as should be, delayed by 50 or 60 years at least, while the “accelerated case” might be 100 percent or even more. Nuclear and not natural gas (methane is a powerful greenhouse gas) can help in complying with the Kyoto Protocol requirements. According to Mrs. Loyola De Palacio, EU Commission Vice President, “Without nuclear energy Europe can not respect the Kyoto recommendations.” About the “external costs”, the US DOE indicates they are “negligible” for nuclear energy. Not by chance Denmark, leader in wind farms production, has a carbon dioxide emission per capita double as compared with Italy. Finally, for the public opinion acceptability, an item that frightens the politicians, a recent EU poll (EUROBAROMETR 56,2) shows that in the European Union, those “ who strongly agree or tend to agree that nuclear energy shall remain an option for the electricity generation, is 47.6 % in Germany, 52.6% in UK , 54.5% in Italy, 59.2% in France, 65.0% in Finland and 73.6% in Sweden. Politicians should be leaders, not followers! For all the reasons reported above, it is hard to understand why is it possibile to substain today: “the nuclear option seems at this point vanished” and that “the future is under the sign of oil.” What “is” and not “seems” is that the “new era” at low oil barrel prices, envisaged four years ago, today is over. Readers Comments James Hopf 3.30.04 I agree with the author entirely (of course), and would like to comment on some of the claims made by prominent fossil fuel industry figures that were quoted. First of all, the statements about plant decommissioning and waste management being a significant added cost for nuclear, as well as the implied statement that it is not fully accounted for in the price, are both completely false. I'm not as familiar with the European situation, but in the US all plant decomissioning and waste management costs are paid by the utility, and are therefore fully included in the price. Despite this, nuclear has the lowest operating cost of any power source save hydro (in other words, the 1.8 cent/kW-hr cost includes all these back-end costs). All spent fuel management costs are paid for by a tac of only 0.1 cents/kW-hr on nuclear electricity. Plant decommissioning costs only add ~0.1-0.2 cents more. These low impacts on power price are due to the effects of long-term compounding interest, and the fact that these costs are not incurred until the end of a plants ~60 -year life. Any financier will tell you that costs that don't have to be paid until way into to the future have very little impact on the cost (necessary price) for a service, or industry. On the flip side, costs incurred up front have an enormous impact on power price, which is why the higher initial construction costs for nuclear are such a huge issue. The "opportunity cost" effect is so large that utilities, under a "totally free" market system will often still choose to go with gas even if the overall lifetime generation cost (ignoring interest) is far lower for a coal, nuclear, or hydro plant. At today's gas prices, nuclear and coal are more econimic even if a substantial interest rate (~10%) were assumed. Unfortunately, utilities (and Wall St.) in the US have such a short term focus (along with a high perceived risk for the 1st few nukes) that even this will not be enough. Hence, the govt. should step in to provide financing under "reasonable" terms, at least for the first few plants. Concerning the comments from the coal executive about coal being better than gas, I understand how CH4 is a much stronger greenhouse gas, and how gas leakage should be figured into the GW calculation. Despite this understanding, I remain highly skeptical that coal would have a lower overall impact on global warming than gas. Furthermote, GW is only part of the issue. It is not even the main reason for nuclear's preferability over coal, as far as I'm concerned. People may have started to forget the good old fashioned pollution issues, in order to jump onto the latest bandwagon of global warming, but not me. The main reason to move away from coal is (and always has been) the horrible pollution effects, including emissions of SOx, NOx, Mercury, and particulates. Based upon these emissions (NOT CO2 emissions), it is estimated that coal kills ~10,000 people per year in the US. Also based upon these (non-CO2) emissions, European studies have estimated coal's external costs at ~7 cents/kW-hr (compared to nuclear's 0.1-0.2 cents). Once again, these external cost esitmates do NOT include GW concerns! For these reasons, as well as GW, nobody should even consider the thought that coal is superior in any way to gas with respect to the environment. The reasons why we need nuclear (as opposed to just using all gas) do not have to do with environmental concerns nearly as much as they have to do with concerns of cost, energy cost stability, energy security, balance of trade, and the conservation of a precious and limited resource. Copyright © 2002-2004, CyberTech, Inc. - All rights ***************************************************************** 28 Toronto Star: Private power operators backed TheStar.com - Tue. Mar. 30, 2004. | Updated at 06:36 PM JOHN SPEARS BUSINESS REPORTER Ontario Power Generation Inc. should consider leasing more nuclear facilities to private-sector operators if they can do a better job, says John Manley. The former federal finance minister, who headed a panel that just completed a report for the Ontario government on OPG's future, spoke yesterday to the Canadian Club. "There should be no inhibitions in OPG against using private-sector partners either as lessees of facilities or as joint ventures or other partners in order to get the best possible result out of their generating assets," Manley said. He was responding to a question from the audience about the generally positive performance of the Bruce nuclear station, operated by privately owned Bruce Power under an 18-year lease from OPG. "We see Bruce as a model that's worked, and we contemplate it expanding, whether it's Bruce or other potential partners that would help produce a better result," Manley said. "Our view is that the responsibility of the company (OPG) ought to be to get the best possible performance out of the assets." OPG management should be rewarded for that, even if it means concluding an outside operator might do a better job, he said. Duncan Hawthorne, chief executive of Bruce Power, asked after the speech whether his company would consider operating other nuclear plants, replied: "We've said before we're interested in any opportunity that might arise." Manley, also questioned after his speech, said any search for possible private nuclear operators should examine companies in addition to Bruce Power. Manley's panel said Ontario is likely to need nuclear power for the foreseeable future. The province is due to lose 7,500 megawatts of generating capacity  about one-quarter of total capacity  by 2007, the provincial government's deadline for closing all coal-burning plants. The province lacks suitable sites for major new hydroelectric projects, he said, while natural gas is becoming less plentiful and more expensive. Conservation can blunt growth in demand, but can't reverse it. Legal Notice: Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All ***************************************************************** 29 Brattleboro Reformer: NRC rejects review of Yankee March 30, 2004 Brattleboro, VT By CAROLYN LORIÉ Reformer Staff BRATTLEBORO -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has refused to do an independent engineering assessment of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, as requested by the state Public Service Board. The request was part of the board's order issuing a certificate of public good for the plant's proposed 20 percent "uprate." In letters addressed to U.S. Sens. James Jeffords and Patrick Leahy, the executive director of operations of the commission, William Travers, stated that the NRC will conduct "the normal risk-informed baseline inspection program at this time (i.e., additional inspections are not warranted at this time.)" According to the letter, the decision was based on the NRC's assessments of Vermont Yankee's performance, the most recent dated March 2, 2004. State officials at all levels expressed disappointment in the NRC's decision. "I was taken aback by this announcement," said David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service. "We thought this was a reasonable thing to ask to satisfy people. The question of safety can't be undervalued." O'Brien has a conference call scheduled with the NRC today, which was scheduled prior to Monday's announcement. He said he intended to use the opportunity to emphasize his support for the board's request for an assessment and now is "even more motivated" to voice that support. Gov. Jim Douglas asked O'Brien to urge the board to reconsider its decision. According to spokesman Jason Gibbs, the governor "is disappointed in the NRC's decision. It's his view that the board's request is fair and reasonable." Sens. Leahy and Jeffords, whose letter earlier this month to the NRC prompted Monday's response, also expressed disappointment in the NRC's refusal to carry out the wishes of the board. "The Vermont Public Service Board requested this, and the Vermont Senate made a similar request. I would urge the NRC to rethink their position and agree to the state's request," said Sen. Leahy, in an e-mail to the Reformer. While it was clear that state officials agreed with the board's order, what is not clear is what the board will do in response to the NRC's decision. According to the order issued on March 15, the board's decision to issue a certificate of public good is contingent on the NRC's independent engineering assessment. The order reads: "The Board will retain jurisdiction to make modifications to this Order based upon the result of the NRC's assessment and Entergy's plant changes (if needed)." However, because the NRC has sole jurisdiction regarding issues of radiological safety, the board must be careful not to make any decison that can be considered preemptive. In other words, it cannot question the NRC's assessment of the safety of Vermont Yankee. For this reason the board's order specifically called for an engineering assessment which can be tied to reliability versus a safety assessment, which can be linked to radiological concerns. The question now, however, is how much authority does the PSB -- a state body -- have to modify its decison because the NRC -- a federal regulator -- chose not to follow its recommendations. Calls to board chairman Michael Dworkin were not returned. Patrick Parenteau, professor at Vermont Law School, said the board could go in a number of directions, including ordering Entergy to pay for a private safety assessment. "They are going to have to decide if the conditions that they put in this certificate are meaningful or not," said Parenteau. Although the Senate passed a resolution echoing the board's call for an independent engineering assessment, it was largely symbolic and marks the limit of what it can do. "The Legislature simply has no remedy. We don't have jurisdiction so we can't do anything more than what we have done," said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Windsor. Welch added that he was "extremely disappointed" by the NRC's decision. "(The assessment) would have provided some peace of mind to people," he said. Sen. Mark MacDonald, D-Orange, had sharp words for Entergy, which is based in Louisiana, who he said showed no respect for what Vermonters want. Officials at Vermont Yankee refused to comment, saying that this was an issue between regulators. Area residents will have an opportunity to question NRC officials directly about the decision on Wednesday, when the commission will hold a public meeting to discuss Vermont Yankee's safety record and the proposed uprate. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Vernon Elementary School. Peter Alexander, executive director of the New England Coalition, which served as an intervenor in the uprate case, said that he hopes Monday's decision will prompt people into action. "This letter should provide even more motivation to the people of the region to show up on Wednesday night and express their concerns and demand an ISA," he said. The coalition's expert witness, industry whistleblower Paul Blanch, said he was not surprised by Monday's announcement. "The NRC has never done what the public wanted," he said. ***************************************************************** 30 Helena Daily World: Nuclear reactor replacement part coming through Helena RUSSELLVILLE - What is saucer-shaped, weighs about 93 tons including its shipping container and is scheduled to arrive at Arkansas Nuclear One April 1 riding on a 76-yard-long, 19-axle transport? If you guessed Unit 1's replacement reactor vessel closure head, you are correct. The replacement RVCH was scheduled to begin its journey to Unit 1 Monday where it was scheduled to be loaded onto the world' second largest airplane - a Russian-owned ANTONOV AN-124 - at its fabrication site in Chalon, France. The first of three air hops began Monday when the AN-124, with the replacement RVCH on board, left Chalon for Ireland and Newfoundland where it refueled. From Newfoundland, the AN-124 flew directly to Memphis where it was scheduled to arrive this morning. The replacement RVCH will be offloaded from the airplane onto the ground transport. The trip from Memphis to ANO began today and is expected to take two days. Because of the transport's large size, the Department of Transportation will allow it to travel only during daylight hours. The transport will cross the Mississippi River near Helena and will generally travel through Arkansas on U.S. Highway 49 to U.S. Highway 64 to U.S. Interstate Highway 40 in Conway to exit 84 in Russellville to U.S. Highway 64 to Arkansas Highway 333 to ANO. Impacts to ANO traffic are being evaluated and alternate arrangements will be communicated to employees as needed based on the exact time of arrival and offload. Until time for its installation, the replacement RVCH will be stored and assembled with the replacement control rod drive mechanism service structure in a facility that is currently under construction west of ANO's protected area. The storage facility is scheduled for completion in May. [editorial@helena-arkansas.com] Copyright © 2002. The Helena Daily World. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 31 Oak Ridger: A quarter century after Three Mile: Are lessons learned? Story last updated at 11:47 a.m. on March 30, 2004 By: Dick Smyser | Editor's License Twenty-five years after the Three Mile Island accident on March 28, 1979, says Harold Denton, utility companies are still shying from building new nuclear power generating plants. Existing plants, however, he points out, continue to supply 20 percent of the nation's electricity. Further on the positive side, he says, operating licenses for many of the existing plants are being renewed, some for up to 20 years. Also, some of the renewals allow significant increases in operating power levels. Thomas H. Pigford recalls the serious shortcomings in plant operators' training as well as critical lapses in sharing crucial information that led to Three Mile becoming known as the nation's worst nuclear power accident even though no deaths or major injuries were officially ascribed to it. Denton and Pigford were both much involved a quarter century ago with the accident at the power plant on an island in the Susquehanna River just south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital. It began in the very early morning hours of that Wednesday, seemed not all that serious at first but, by Friday, threatened the evacuation of tens of thousands until the area was reassured by a Sunday visit from President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn. Denton, Nuclear Regulatory Commission official, was hurried to the scene from Washington and became the central figure for communication with the scores of media people who flocked there. Pigford, now the retired chairman of the Nuclear Engineering Department at University of California, Berkeley, was a member of the special commission appointed in the weeks following by President Carter to investigate the cause and assess the results of what proved to be a total setback, within the United States at least, for what seemed to be growing public acceptance of nuclear-generated power. Denton, now retired and a nuclear consultant, lives in Farragut. Pigford, my late wife's brother, is also a consultant and regularly serves on national advisory panels on nuclear matters. He delivered one of the Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory Community Lectures four years ago. I sought comment from both. * * * Denton, contacted Saturday afternoon in Washington where he had gone for a Smithsonian Institution conference reassessing the accident, said Three Mile showed how crucial can be the performance of reactor operators. The plant, hindsight showed, should never have been shutdown, allowing it to overheat and suffer damages to its core much more extensive than first assessed. Another major error was speculation that a hydrogen bubble might form within the reactor and explode releasing high levels of radiation to threaten the area. More careful analysis showed that no such bubble could form but the mere prospect terrorized many area residents, thousands of whom did evacuate, fortunately with no serious consequences. Denton recalls how President Carter, on arriving on the scene that Sunday, handed him a "magic" White House telephone number that, the president said, would reach him - Carter - at any time. Currently, Denton says, existing plants are operating efficiently with staffs better trained as a result of Three Mile. But, and entirely for economic reasons, no new plants are likely even though many existing plants have become highly profitable - "cash cows" in some instances. Denton in recent years has consulted for ORNL relative to the High Flux Isotopes Reactor. * * * Pigford, who I contacted at his home in Oakland, Calif., is still quite concerned about reactor safety - worried that the compelling lessons of Three Mile may not have been or even now sufficiently heeded. "The principal lesson learned from Three Mile Island is that the extensive safety features in our modern nuclear power stations can be defeated by human errors by the reactor designer, the reactor operators, and the regulatory system," he says. He recalled an earlier near serious accident - in September 1977 - at the Davis-Bessee plant in Ohio, a plant that has also been cause for new safety worries only within the past year. At Davis-Bessee, a year and a half before Three Mile, there was also concern that the reactor was getting too much water, thus prompting operators to turn off the high-pressure injection system. "Fortunately," Pigford says, "a supervisor recognized what was happening and closed the relief valve 20 minutes later and readmitted emergency coolant (the water). No damage was done to the reactor because it had been operating at only 9 percent power. The incident was investigated by the NRC and by Babcock and Wilcox, the reactor supplier, but no information calling attention to the correct operating actions was provided to other utilities." After this 1977 incident, Pigford says, an NRC official pointed out the likelihood of similar errors at other similar plants, of which Three Mile was one. Despite this warning, Pigford says, there was no new operator training and, when similar circumstances did occur at Three Mile, there was no early diagnosis and reactor water was not restored until two hours later. By that time, Pigford says, "enormous fuel damage had been done and considerable radioactivity released to the reactor building." Then, a few days later, Pigford recalls, "The TMI danger was exacerbated when NRC officials incorrectly concluded that a bubble of explosive hydrogen and radiolytic oxygen had formed within the reactor vessel, leading an onsite official to recommend evacuation of the surrounding communities." Fortunately a massive evacuation was finally avoided after industry officials pointed out that hydrogen is routinely added to reactor coolant at high pressure and that an explosive mixture could not form. "Again, on-the-spot technical knowledge of the nuclear system had been inadequate," Pigford says. The presidential commission's conclusion was that "the major factor that turned the TMI incident into a serious accident was inappropriate operator action, and inability of operators and especially the NRC to learn the proper lessons from previous incidents --. The Commission concluded that, starting with the Davis-Bessee 1977 event and given all the deficiencies of the safety system and its regulation, an accident like Three Mile Island was eventually inevitable." It was only years later that the very extensive damage to the TMI core was understood, Pigford says. "More responsive earlier analyses by NRC of the 1977 Davis-Bessee precursor event and its potential consequences would have alerted NRC to forewarn the utilities of the incipient danger." And still now, Pigford says, "Aggressive follow-up by NRC and industry to understand the risks from recent near misses at nuclear power stations is essential and remains a serious concern. History should not be allowed to repeat itself." - RDS ***************************************************************** 32 [du-list] Water put at risk by nuke sites - Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 20:22:30 -0800 spacer15.gif n_logo14.gif masthead6.gif market014.jpg n_logo24.gif Home News Entertainment Classifieds Coupons Homes Cars Jobs Customer Service Home 15449fd.jpg News Local News Local Sports Elections Nation/World Ohio News Obituaries Opinion Technology Space & Science Weather Entertainment 1544a05.jpg Classifieds 1544a0b.jpg Coupons 1544a11.jpg Homes 1544a17.jpg Cars 1544a1d.jpg Jobs 1544a24.jpg Customer Service Network Newspapers CentralOhio.com The Advocate, Newark Chillicothe Gazette Coshocton Tribune The Fishwrapper The Granville Sentinel Lancaster Eagle-Gazette The Marion Star News Herald, Port Clinton News Journal, Mansfield News-Messenger, Fremont The Pataskala Standard Telegraph-Forum, Bucyrus Times Recorder, Zanesville 1544a2b.jpg Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Local News 1544a33.jpg Water put at risk by nuke sites Report says threat of contamination remains serious By Larry Bivins and Greg Wright Gannett News Service WASHINGTON -- Major sources of drinking water remain at risk of serious contamination from the nation's nuclear weapons complexes, despite billions in federal spending to clean up hazardous waste produced at these sites, according to a new report released Monday. The seepage of radioactive and toxic byproducts into vital water resources pose grave health dangers to the tens of thousands of workers at these nuclear facilities, area residents and people who live dozens of miles away, authors of the report concluded. Long-term exposure to such radioactive materials, including cesium, mercury, strontium, plutonium, trichloroethylene and uranium, could cause heart disease and cancer. "There is an extremely serious risk around sites where there is a lot of waste and precious groundwater," said Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. Based on a two-year study conducted by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of about 30 environmental, health and safety organizations, the report contends that the Department of Energy has been retreating from a commitment to clean up these sites. The department has spent an estimated $200 billion so far, the report said. "Cleaning up the legacy of U.S. nuclear weapons production is the biggest environmental project in the nation's history, but DOE has failed to eliminate the threat of contamination to major water supplies," said Susan Gordon, the alliance's director. The Energy Department rejected the alliance's report. A spokeswoman defended the department's cleanup efforts. "We follow the federal and state regulatory requirements to protect the environment surrounding our sites, including groundwater safety standards," said Chris Kielich, a DOE spokeswoman. "Our sites are cleaner today because we have made dramatic progress in cleaning up our facilities under the accelerated cleanup plan." Vina Colley, a spokeswoman for the Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security in Ohio, pointed out the far-reaching impact of contamination. "Our water goes down to Cincinnati and the Mississippi River," she said. "We're affecting everybody all over the place with this water." A recent report found radioactive pollutants in drinking water 70 miles downstream from the Savannah River weapons site near Augusta, Ga., and Aiken, S.C., said Lou Zeller, director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, which keeps track of cleanup at the site. Among the major water bodies facing the greatest threat are the Columbia River in Washington, the Clinch River in Tennessee, the Great Miami River in Ohio and the Savannah River in South Carolina, the alliance said. Ohio's Great Miami Aquifer, the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas and Idaho's Snake River Aquifer are among the underground water sources being polluted, the report said. Kingston, Tenn.; Richland, Wash.; and Cincinnati are among the cities that rely almost exclusively on at-risk aquifers or rivers for drinking water. "The record shows that a veritable toxic soup of contamination" has affected groundwater well beyond the boundaries of the nation's 13 weapons sites, said Marvin Resnikoff, whose firm Radioactive Waste Management Associates conducted the technical research for the study. Originally published Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Home | News | Entertainment | Classifieds | Coupons | Homes | Cars | Jobs | Customer Service 1544a4b.jpg 1544a61.jpg spacer15.gif gannett4.gif usatoday4.gif Contact Us | Subscribe | Place an ad Copyright ©2004 Chillicothe Gazette. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your agreement to the Terms of Service (Terms updated 12/20/02) usaweekend4.gif gfoundation4.gif 1544a6d.jpg To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ---------- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Attachment Converted: spacer15.gif: 00000001,683feae7,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: n_logo14.gif: 00000001,683feae8,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: masthead6.gif: 00000001,683feae9,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: market014.jpg: 00000001,683feaea,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: n_logo24.gif: 00000001,683feaeb,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 15449fd.jpg: 00000001,683feaec,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a05.jpg: 00000001,683feaed,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a0b.jpg: 00000001,683feaee,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a11.jpg: 00000001,683feaef,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a17.jpg: 00000001,683febe6,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a1d.jpg: 00000001,683febe7,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a24.jpg: 00000001,683febe8,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a2b.jpg: 00000001,683febe9,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a33.jpg: 00000001,683febea,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a4b.jpg: 00000001,683febeb,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a61.jpg: 00000001,683febec,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: spacer151.gif: 00000001,683febed,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: gannett4.gif: 00000001,683febee,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: usatoday4.gif: 00000001,683febef,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: usaweekend4.gif: 00000001,683fece6,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: gfoundation4.gif: 00000001,683fece7,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1544a6d.jpg: 00000001,683fece8,00000000,00000000 ***************************************************************** 33 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding FR Doc 04-7011 [Federal Register: March 30, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 61)] [Notices] [Page 16614-16615] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30mr04-127] of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc.'s Facility in New Brunswick, NJ AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability of environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna M. Janda, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch 2, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406, telephone (610) 337-5371, fax (610) 337-5269; or by e-mail: [dmj@nrc.gov] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of a license amendment to E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc. for Materials License No. 29-00139-02, to authorize release of Buildings 122 and 124 and associated outdoor areas at its facility in New Brunswick, New Jersey for unrestricted use and has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this action in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The amendment will be issued following the publication of this Notice. [[Page 16615]] II. EA Summary The purpose of the proposed action is to allow for the release of Buildings 122 and 124 and associated outdoor areas at the licensee's New Brunswick, New Jersey facility for unrestricted use. E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc. was authorized by NRC from 1964 to use radioactive materials for research and development and manufacturing and distribution purposes at the site. On October 16, 2003, E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc. requested that NRC release Buildings 122 and 124 and associated outdoor areas at the New Brunswick facility for unrestricted use. E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc. has conducted surveys of the buildings and associated outdoor areas and determined that the buildings and outdoor areas meet the license termination criteria in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20. The NRC staff has prepared an EA in support of the proposed license amendment. III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the EA (summarized above) in support of the proposed license amendment to release the buildings for unrestricted use. The NRC staff has evaluated E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc.'s request and the results of the surveys and has concluded that the completed action complies with the criteria in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20. The staff has found that the environmental impacts from the proposed action are bounded by the impacts evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Facilities'' (NUREG-1496). On the basis of the EA, the NRC has concluded that the environmental impacts from the proposed action are expected to be insignificant and has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action. IV. Further Information The EA and the documents related to this proposed action, including the application for the license amendment and supporting documentation, are available for inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] (ADAMS Accession No. ML040830086). These documents are also available for inspection and copying for a fee at the Region I Office, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at (800) 397- 4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to [pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, this 23rd day of March, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. John D. Kinneman, Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch 2, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I. [FR Doc. 04-7011 Filed 3-29-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 34 NRC: Notice of Application for a License for Eastern Technologies, FR Doc 04-7030 [Federal Register: March 30, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 61)] [Notices] [Page 16613-16614] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30mr04-126] Inc., Berwick, PA and Opportunity To Request a Hearing AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of consideration of a new license application request and opportunity to request a hearing. DATES: A request for a hearing must be filed by June 1, 2004. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna M. Janda, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406; telephone (610) 337-5371 or e-mail [dmj@nrc.gov] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an application for a new license from Eastern Technologies, Inc. to operate a nuclear laundry at the licensee's facility located at 51 River Road, Berwick, Pennsylvania. The license would authorize the collection, laundering, and decontamination of contaminated clothing and other launderable non-apparel items; collection and decontamination of respirators and other items that are used in conjunction with a protective clothing program; and for the possession of contaminated equipment in the licensee's portable laundry unit. II. Opportunity To Request a Hearing The NRC hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding on an application for a new license. In accordance with the general requirements in Subpart C of 10 CFR Part 2,\1\ ``Rules of General Applicability; Hearing Requests, Petitions to Intervene, Availability of Documents, Selection of Specific Hearing Procedures, Presiding Officer Powers, and General Hearing Management for NRC Adjudicatory Hearings,'' any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding and who desires to participate as a party must file a written request for a hearing and a specification of the contentions which the person seeks to have litigated in the hearing. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- \1\ The references to 10 CFR Part 2 in this notice refer to the amendments to the NRC Rules of Practice, 69 FR 2182 (January 14, 2004), codified at 10 CFR Part 2. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- In accordance with 10 CFR 2.302 (a), a request for a hearing must be filed with the Commission either by: 1. First class mail addressed to: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications; 2. Courier, express mail, and expedited delivery services: Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, Attention Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Federal workdays; 3. E-mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, [Hearingdocket@nrc.gov] ; or 4. By facsimile transmission addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, at (301) 415-1101; verification number is (301) 415-1966. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.302 (b), all documents offered for filing must be accompanied by proof of service on all parties to the proceeding or their attorneys of record as required by law or by rule or order of the Commission, including: 1. The applicant, by delivery to Eastern Technologies, Inc., P.O. Box 409, Ashford, Alabama 36312; and, 2. The NRC staff, by delivery to the Office of the General Counsel, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, or by mail addressed to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hearing requests should also be transmitted to the Office of the General [[Page 16614]] Counsel, either by means of facsimile transmission to (301) 415-3725, or by e-mail to [ogcmailcenter@nrc.gov] . The formal requirements for documents are contained in 10 CFR 2.304 (b), (c), (d),and (e), and must be met. However, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.304 (f), a document filed by electronic mail or facsimile transmission need not comply with the formal requirements of 10 CFR 2.304 (b), (c), and (d), if an original and two (2) copies otherwise complying with all of the requirements of 10 CFR 2.304 (b), (c), and (d) are mailed within two (2) days thereafter to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (b), a request for a hearing must be filed within 60 days of the date of publication of this Federal Register notice. In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR Part 2 of the NRC's regulations, the general requirements involving a request for a hearing filed by a person other than an applicant must state: 1. The name, address and telephone number of the requestor; 2. The nature of the requestor's right under the Act to be made a party to the proceeding; 3. The nature and extent of the requestor's property, financial or other interest in the proceeding; 4. The possible effect of any decision or order that may be issued in the proceeding on the requestor's interest; and 5. The circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing is timely in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (b). In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (f)(1), a request for hearing or petitions for leave to intervene must set forth with particularity the contentions sought to be raised. For each contention, the request or petition must: 1. Provide a specific statement of the issue of law or fact to be raised or controverted; 2. Provide a brief explanation of the basis for the contention; 3. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is within the scope of the proceeding; 4. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is material to the findings that the NRC must make to support the action that is involved in the proceeding; 5. Provide a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert opinions which support the requestor's/petitioner's position on the issue and on which the requestor/petitioner intends to rely to support its position on the issue; and 6. Provide sufficient information to show that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or fact. This information must include references to specific portions of the application that the requestor/petitioner disputes and the supporting reasons for each dispute, or, if the requestor/petitioner believes the application fails to contain information on a relevant matter as required by law, the identification of each failure and the supporting reasons for the requestor's/petitioner's belief. In addition, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (f)(2), contentions must be based on documents or other information available at the time the petition is to be filed, such as the application or other supporting documents filed by the applicant, or otherwise available to the petitioner. Contentions may be amended or new contentions filed after the initial filing only with leave of the presiding officer. Requestors/petitioners should, when possible, consult with each other in preparing contentions and combine similar subject matter concerns into a joint contention, for which one of the co-sponsoring requestors/petitioners is designated the lead representative. Further, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (f)(3), any requestor/petitioner that wishes to adopt a contention proposed by another requestor/petitioner must do so in writing within ten days of the date the contention is filed, and designate a representative who shall have the authority to act for the requestor/petitioner. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (g), a request for hearing and/or petition for leave to intervene may also address the selection of the hearing procedures, taking into account the provisions of 10 CFR 2.310. III. Further Information In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' details with respect to this action, including the license application by Eastern Technologies, Inc. and related documents are available for inspection and copying for a fee at the Region I Office, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406. These documents are also available for inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] . The only document currently on file is the Eastern Technologies, Inc. License Application dated January 30, 2004 (ADAMS Accession No. ML040510525). This document may also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O-1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at (800) 397- 4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to [pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, this 23rd day of March, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. John D. Kinneman, Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch 2, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I. [FR Doc. 04-7030 Filed 3-29-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 35 Las Vegas SUN: DOE criticized over handling of compensation claims Today: March 30, 2004 at 11:37:53 PST By Suzanne Struglinski WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department needs to show better results of actually getting compensation benefits to former employees before Congress decides to give it more money to run the program, senators told federal officials today. Senators demanded answers on why it has taken the department so long to figure out how to run the program, but Energy Undersecretary Robert Card said it has made "substantial improvements" since November and has plans to eliminate its backlog of claims by 2006. The Labor Department and the Energy Department share responsibility for helping former Energy Department employees, now sick from various illness due to toxic exposures at nuclear weapons construction plants, get federal compensation or help with state compensation through a law passed in 2000. "In terms of performance, the winner is clear. The Labor Department is performing well, and the Energy Department is not," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing today. Grassley said the Energy Department has only processed about 8 percent of 23,000 claims filed so far according to its own data, but his own analysis that left out withdrawn and ineligible claims shows just under 2 percent of the claims have been processed and only one paid out. "The least our government can do is try to compensate them, compensate them quickly and compensate them obviously before they die," Grassley said. Overall, the Labor Department has received more than 50,000 claims and made final decisions on more than 27,000, Grassley said. Card, who oversees the program, said the department submitted a bill to Congress Monday night that would allow it to pay physicians more to review claims and hire them for a longer period of time. It also asks for an additional $33 million. Under the law, the Labor Department helps former Energy Department employees who are sick from exposure to beryllium or who have cancer or silicosis caused by radiation exposure receive lump sum payments of $150,000 each and payment of future medical expenses associated with their illness from their work at department facilities, including the Nevada Test Site, located 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Test Site workers have field 2,270 claims as of March 11, but only 103 claims have been filled to total of $12.6 million. The Labor Department has denied 728 and referred 1287 to that National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for further review. ***************************************************************** 36 SF Chronicle: Halting the nuclear black market [http://sfgate.com] [chronfeedback@sfchronicle.com] Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Globalization and the Cold War's end have given rise to a nuclear black market with chilling implications for the future of arms control. Rogue nations and terrorist groups have greater access to the makings of a radioactive "dirty bomb," or even a nuclear device, than ever before. In the most recent example of this alarming trend, Pakistan's senior bomb- maker was recently found to have linked companies and banks in Europe, Asia and the Middle East that provided high-tech equipment and financing for nuclear weapons programs in Libya, Iran and North Korea, and perhaps others. The main document governing how countries handle these issues, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, was never expected to address such a dispersed network. To convince states to fore- swear nuclear weapons -- while letting the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, in the midst of the Cold War, keep theirs -- the treaty codified the right of non- nuclear states to receive and develop the means for peaceful applications of nuclear energy, such as medicine, agriculture and the creation of power. Under this guise, countries can develop or import essentially all the equipment they need to produce a nuclear weapon. Such countries do not even have to reveal the existence of these facilities or let inspectors visit them until they are ready to begin operation. This freedom to obtain equipment and facilities without transparency means that the system relies only on the discretion of the supplier. A number of countries have been somewhat reluctant to sell to rogue countries any equipment that could be used to develop a nuclear capability. But Iran, Libya and North Korea were able to import all manner of sophisticated equipment from new, essentially private suppliers. The United States, with outside assistance, is now attempting to shut down this supplier network, but new suppliers may come along if the international community does not act immediately. Strong economic and diplomatic action must be taken against countries such as Iran, even if it means additional costs and lost investment opportunities. Such actions have been proven effective: After years of sanctions and U.S. leadership, Libya has given up its weapons of mass destruction, including a significant nuclear program. Until recently, I was one of the leading proponents of sanctions against Libya; earlier this year, I learned firsthand what a key role international pressure played in the sea change Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy made. In meetings with him and members of his government earlier this year, it became clear that Khadafy decided Libya could better assure its security through a positive relationship with the United States and the West than with a risky and costly policy of developing weapons of mass destruction. Libya's leaders also told me that their nation faces growing economic difficulties that can be resolved only by redirecting resources into development, integrating closely into the world economy and seeing sanctions ended. If the leadership of other countries, such as Iran, reaches the same conclusion, it will be a great boon to the cause of nonproliferation. I have just introduced a bill that makes it clear that Iran, as a state abusing its access to the means of peaceful nuclear development, has forfeited the right to produce nuclear material for reactors and must be deprived of new nuclear-related trade, investment and trade agreements until it permanently and verifiably ceases all suspect nuclear activities and dismantles any fuel- production facilities. Furthermore, U.S. nuclear trade sanctions law must be amended to meet these new challenges. Existing law targets governments for illicit nuclear trade, not private individuals, banks or corporations. I will soon introduce the Nuclear Black Market Elimination Act, which would empower the president to halt all U.S. business and financial transactions with any individual or company that engages in black-market nuclear trade and would require the president to inform Congress of foreign companies that undercut U.S. sanctions. The technology to produce nuclear weapons has become too dispersed among too many nations to rely solely on Cold War-era approaches. All countries -- those implicated in the black market, those seeking to protect and extend investment in Iran despite its nuclear activities, and the United States -- must now exercise responsibility for their own and their citizens' activities that may support, materially or politically, the creation of more nuclear weapons. Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Francisco and San Mateo counties, is the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, which is conducting a hearing today on nonproliferation. [graphical line] Page B - 9 ©2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ ***************************************************************** 37 WTNH.com: Radioactive canister found in East Lyme yard March 30, 2004 (East Lyme-AP, Mar. 30, 2004 7:39 AM) _ Authorities are trying to find out how a small canister with radioactive material in it ended up in an East Lyme yard. The canister is apparently a device that is usually found on helicopters may by Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford. Richard Elliott found it Saturday after he decided to do some yard work, The five-inch by two-inch canister is now at the Department of Environmental Protection headquarters in Hartford. It contains a small amount of strontium-90. Officials confirm the canister is a device containing a low level of radioactivity used to test blade function on a certain model of helicopter. Officials now say they're investigating whether the device plopped off a Sikorsky H-53 helicopter and into Elliott's yard or was deposited there some other way. [http://www.worldnow.com] Content © Copyright 2000 - 2004 WorldNow, WTNH, and Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 38 Sun Herald: Crash on I-75 kills two, causes radioactive scare 03/30/04 www.sun-herald.com A pickup truck carrying radioactive material crashed into a tree on Interstate 75 between the Jones Loop Road and U.S. 17 exits late Monday afternoon, killing both occupants. The radioactive material, used for surveying and to check the density of concrete and asphalt, was in one of the boxes thrown from the truck was deemed not to be a serious threat to anyone, said Wayne Sallade [ccemgt@peganet.com] , director of Charlotte County Emergency Management [http://www.charlottecountyfl.com/emerg.htm] . The wreck occurred about 5 p.m., and shut down the southbound lanes of the interstate for about three hours. Traffic was diverted off I-75 on to U.S. 17 (exit 164) and Harborview Road (exit 167). Deputies directed vehicles to U.S. 41. That main road through Punta Gorda was jammed with vehicles. A 24-year-old man, whose name was not available late Monday, died at the scene after being helped out of the wreckage by passers-by. The second man, whose age and name was not available, was removed from the wreckage by Charlotte County Fire & EMS rescuers. The man was flown to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, but died a short time later. Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Conner Cardwell said the truck was traveling south, near mile-marker 163, when it apparently veered left, over-corrected and then went off the west side of the highway before slamming into a tree about 40 feet from the road. The force of the crash twisted the vehicle so that the passenger compartment was not recognizable. The truck came to rest on its left side and the impact tore the bark off the tree. Conner said it was unclear why the vehicle lost control. The truck did not have any flat tires. The radioactive material was in a metal box which was among others scattered amid the truck's contents about 50 feet from the mangled vehicle. "Our crews isolated the area and called in the Special Operations team," said Dee Hawkins, the Fire & EMS spokeswoman, of finding that the material might be radioactive. Team members donned protective gear to examine the truck and its cargo. After more than an hour of examining the paperwork in the truck and the containers, the contents were deemed safe, Hawkins said. "They had to be cautious because once they see that radiation sign they know they are dealing with something potentially dangerous," she said. Cedric Dukes, a truck driver from Miami, was directly behind the truck and saw it lose control and flip before hitting the tree. Dukes and others rushed to the passengers because it was leaking fuel and they feared it would explode. When he got there, he found one passenger unconscious and draped on the driver side door. He said the other passenger was also unconscious and looked to be seriously injured. "I saw the whole thing and I wanted to get my truck past the wreck just in case it did explode," Dukes said. "We helped get the driver out. He was out, and then he came to a bit. Then they gave him CPR and he died." About two hours after the wreck, Dukes and Freda Davis, of Port Charlotte, were among the witnesses checked for radiation. They were cleared. "We don't know which one was driving because you know during an accident, people can move around," Davis said. Following the crash, traffic was stopped, and northbound traffic also backed up near the crash scene. About 8:15 p.m. the southbound lanes were opened. You can e-mail Christian Czerwinski at cczerwinski@sun-herald.com. By CHRISTIAN CZERWINSKI Staff Writer ***************************************************************** 39 Gallup Independent Radon: A deadly killer January 23, 2004 Detectors to be installed in 175 Church Rock homes Kathy Helms Diné Bureau FORT DEFIANCE — Members of Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency will be installing radon detectors in up to 175 homes in the Church Rock area beginning Monday. Nearly one in 15 homes in the United States has a high level of indoor radon, the second-leading cause of lung cancer. January is National Radon Action Month. According to the National Academy of Science, between 15,000 and 22,000 deaths annually are a result of exposure to radon, a radioactive, invisible, odorless gas. Radon comes from the decay of naturally occurring uranium in the earth's soil and can accumulate indoors to dangerous levels. According to Stephen Etsitty, executive director of Navajo EPA, his two-person Radon Program staff Vivian Craig and John Plummer try to get around to as many agencies on Navajo as they can during the winter months. Though Navajo EPA recognizes January as National Radon Action Month, because the month is an optimum time for testing, "we do our own outreach effort in February," he said. Craig said her program's immediate priority, according to their work plan, is to test all of the head start centers. "We are about 97 percent complete with Chinle Agency. Now we're focusing on Eastern Agency head starts and so far we're maybe about 50 percent complete." The canisters used to detect radon are placed inside a home or building and left undisturbed for seven days. At the end of that time, Craig and Plummer retrieve the canisters and send them off to U.S. EPA in Las Vegas for analysis. It takes about a month before results are known, Craig said. Last Tuesday, Craig and Plummer placed canisters at various head start locations in the Eastern Agency. They planned to retrieve them this Tuesday, but heavy snowfall kept schools closed, "so we lost a day's work because most of the head start centers were closed," Craig said. "We know that January is National Radon Action Month, but like Mr. Etsitty stated, that's a real crucial time for us to be out sampling since it's cold and the doors and windows are closed. So we kind of delay it a month or so and then we get on the (radio) Focus program and let everybody out there know that we are proclaiming our own Radon Action Month, and let schools know that we're available for outreach presentations," she said. Invisible visitor Because radon is a colorless, odorless gas, its presence often goes undetected. Radon is a decay product of uranium and occurs naturally in soil and rock. Therefore, radon levels can vary from home to home, according to U.S. EPA. Well water and building materials are other sources of radon. A national residential radon survey completed in 1991 showed the average indoor radon level is 1.3 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). "What really helps us with the radon program is we have a little radon house. It's like a show-and-tell. It shows you how radon comes into your home, because it's hard to explain what radon is when you can't see it. The little home has cement cracking and that's where radon can come in, or if your crawl space is not properly sealed," Craig said. There are solutions for homes which test positive for elevated radon, at a price tag of between $800 and $2,500, according to U.S. EPA. "Working for the radon program, one of our things is education first," Craig said. "When we go out, we explain to our people what uranium is, where does it come from, where the impacts from mining are, how it affects a person's health, and how it also affects the vegetation and water. So we try to educate. We're also working with health board members from each agency area." Craig said the Radon Project office is actively working with the Church Rock Chapter and the Church Rock Uranium Monitoring Program. Church Rock is home to the United Nuclear Corp. Superfund Site. "We're supposed to be out there Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. and do an outreach presentation to the chapter. They have hired a new temporary employee to work with us to set out these canisters," Craig said. The community estimated about 175 homes needed to be tested. "That's going to start on Monday and hopefully we can hit 25 homes a day, depending on weather and road conditions," she said. "U.S. EPA from Las Vegas laboratory is providing the canisters and they're already here and set to go for Monday. It doesn't require really much on their part. We want to take care of all of the paperwork" and make sure that proper testing protocol is followed, she said. "All they have to do is just not disturb the canister for seven days once we leave it." Increasing workloadCraig's and Plummer's work load has practically tripled since they began working with the head start centers. "Now there's early head start and there's early child care," Craig said. Multiply those three children's facilities by 110 chapters and you have some idea of the number of facilities the two workers must visit. Then throw in the fact that these centers are spaced throughout the entire Navajo Reservation, and it's easy to understand why lost work days or unexpected new buildings can be a problem. "We always take extra canisters to make sure that we can kill two or three birds with one stone, because of the amount of distance that we have to travel. Just last Friday we went clear out to Toreon, Oho Ensino, and Pueblo Pintado. That was quite a distance for one day. There are just two of us," she said. According to Etsitty, "Before the beginning of each fiscal year, we have a work plan and we forecast where we want to go. I think this year we started off with Chinle Agency, and we try to get around to as many agencies as possible at this critical time." Besides head starts, the Radon Program also works with parent/teacher nights. "When the parents come for the evening meeting, we let them know that we're available. We have two coming up one with Shiprock community and one with Twin Lakes," Craig said. Craig and Plummer also work with middle schools and with the Uranium Radiation Educational Outreach Program at Northern Arizona University. "We're mainly targeting seventh- and eighth-graders to get them involved in environmental science," Craig said. For more information about the Radon Program or how to have your home or work facility tested, contact the Navajo EPA Radon Program, (928) 871-7863. Top | Current Daily News Friday January 23, 2004 (selected stories) — Contents — New Twin Lakes School beginning to a bright future Contact the Gallup Independent Please send the Gallup Independent feedback on this website and the paper in general. E-mail: [gallpind@cia-g.com] By mail: The Independent PO Box 1210 Gallup, NM 87305 500 N. 9th Gallup, NM 87301 All contents property of the Gallup Independent. Any duplication ***************************************************************** 40 USATODAY.com Report: Nuclear sites put drinking water sources at risk Posted 3/29/2004 10:54 PM Updated 3/29/2004 11:00 PM Report: Nuclear sites put drinking water sources at riskBy Larry Bivins and Greg Wright, Gannett News Service WASHINGTON — Major sources of drinking water remain at risk of serious contamination from the nation's nuclear weapons complexes, despite billions in federal spending to clean up hazardous waste produced at these sites, according to a new report. The Columbia River in Washington is among the major water bodies threatened, according to a new report. By Greg Wahl-Stephens, AP The seepage of radioactive and toxic byproducts into vital water resources pose grave health dangers to the tens of thousands of workers at these nuclear facilities, area residents and people who live dozens of miles away, authors of the report concluded. Long-term exposure to such radioactive materials, including cesium, mercury, strontium, plutonium, trichloroethylene and uranium, could cause heart disease and cancer. "There is an extremely serious risk around sites where there is a lot of waste and precious groundwater," said Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, which released the report Monday. Based on a two-year study conducted by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of about 30 environmental, health and safety organizations, the report contends that the Department of Energy has been retreating from a commitment to clean up these sites. The department has spent an estimated $200 billion so far, the report said. "Cleaning up the legacy of U.S. nuclear weapons production is the biggest environmental project in the nation's history, but DOE has failed to eliminate the threat of contamination to major water supplies," said Susan Gordon, the alliance's director. The Energy Department rejected the alliance's report. A spokeswoman defended the department's cleanup efforts. "We follow the federal and state regulatory requirements to protect the environment surrounding our sites, including groundwater safety standards," said Chris Kielich, a DOE spokeswoman. "Our sites are cleaner today because we have made dramatic progress in cleaning up our facilities under the accelerated cleanup plan." Among the major water bodies facing the greatest threat are the Columbia River in Washington, the Clinch River in Tennessee, the Great Miami River in Ohio and the Savannah River in South Carolina, the alliance said. Ohio's Great Miami Aquifer, the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas and Idaho's Snake River Aquifer are among the underground water sources being polluted, the report said. Kingston, Tenn.; Richland, Wash.; and Cincinnati are among the cities that rely almost exclusively on at-risk aquifers or rivers for drinking water. "The record shows that a veritable toxic soup of contamination" has affected groundwater well beyond the boundaries of the nation's 13 weapons sites, said Marvin Resnikoff, whose firm Radioactive Waste Management Associates conducted the technical research for the study. Vina Colley, a spokeswoman for the Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security in Ohio, pointed out the far-reaching impact of contamination. "Our water goes down to Cincinnati and the Mississippi River," she said. "We're affecting everybody all over the place with this water." A recent report found radioactive pollutants in drinking water 70 miles downstream from the Savannah River weapons site near Augusta, Ga., and Aiken, S.C., said Lou Zeller, director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, which keeps track of cleanup at the site. In Idaho, about 270,000 people depend solely on the Snake River Aquifer, considered "literally the lifeblood of Southern Idaho's economy," said Jeremy Maxand, director of the Snake River Alliance, which monitors the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. Maxand pointed to the Energy Department's appeal of a federal court order barring its plan to leave radioactive waste in storage tanks above major water resources in Idaho, New York, South Carolina and Washington as one example of the department backing away from cleanup obligations. "Our government made this mess," Maxand said. "Our government must clean it up  completely." © Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. ***************************************************************** 41 Gallup Independent - Overexposed 81-year-old man waits for uranium workers compensation March 27, 2004 Part two of three by Kathy Helms Diné Bureau GRANTS  In 1963, workers at Kerr-McGee uranium mines in the Ambrosia Lake region went on strike. Margarito Martinez of Grants was president of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union at the time. Martinez said the company tried to take away the workers' benefits, so they walked out. "But the strike wasn't really about money. It was about radiation. But I couldn't tell the men that we were being contaminated because they wouldn't listen. They had to feed their families. That was the only jobs in the area. We were all making big money. So they kept on working and they kept on getting contaminated including me," Martinez said. He now has silicosis. "Kerr-McGee tried to take everything away from us, and that wasn't going to happen. We stayed on strike for eight months. The whole town was in an uproar here for a long time. But the union prevailed. I had to go all the way to Washington to sign the back-to-work agreement." The company hired scabs to take the place of the unionized workers. The scabs showed up for work "all tough, with guns," saying no one was going to stop them, according to Martinez. "We let them cross the picket line. We didn't care. Everything has its justice," he said. "It's just like Paul Hicks," former president of the New Mexico Uranium Workers Council. Martinez alleges that when Hicks learned that adding Post 71 uranium miners to a 1999 proposed Radiation Exposure Compensation Act amendment would drag out the process, Hicks dropped his support for House Bill 1516 which covered everyone and doubled the amount of compensation per claim and lobbied for passage of Senate Bill 1515. That bill, which gained approval, excluded men and women who worked the mines after 1971. "He didn't want to add the Post 71 miners because it was going to slow down compensation, and that was wrong. I walked out of a meeting one time, I told him: 'They made you a boss and you doctored the readings so the men could go get contaminated more.' "That's all right. God works in different methods. He died of cancer. I don't won't nobody to die of cancer but I hate for somebody to be lying. ... But he lived long enough for me to tell him what I thought, and what I knew was right and what was wrong." Building solidarity A coal miner for 32 years, Martinez first went to work for the uranium industry in 1959 when he landed a job with Rare Metals. A union man, Martinez and several others tried to organize the workers. "We even drew it to a vote, but it didn't pass because of the company. So as a result, they fired me and my buddy on Mother's Day. I didn't tell my wife," he said. In 1960 he went to work for Kerr-McGee at Ambrosia Lake. He also joined the union and was appointed a committeeman. After two failed attempts, he was elected president. "Kerr-McGee had eight or 10 mines and a mill. That was the biggest operation here, the uranium thing," he said. "These guys were paying big money. Most of us were contract miners, so the more we did, the more we got paid. We cut base pay off at $4 an hour." By the time he retired in 1985 at the age of 62, base pay was nearly $10 an hour. Martinez was an underground miner who worked graveyard shift. All of the Kerr-McGee mines at Ambrosia Lake were shaft mines, he said. "Straight down ... 1,000 feet. I was the one that used to drive the tunnel. We called them track drifts. From the bottom you drive the tunnel to get under the ore bodies. You lay track, ground support you do everything. You get paid by the foot. I used to make all the time like $20 an hour. The most I made was $32 an hour," he said. Martinez's father showed him how to mine in the coal mines. All mining is based on the same theory, he said, but there is one big difference. "In the coal mines you have to pump the water in. In the uranium mines, you have to pump the water out. If you didn't you'd drown. If the water table is 30 feet down, you can imagine at 1,000 feet how much water you've got to get rid of," Martinez said. "The best helpers I ever had were two women. I treated my helpers good. I made it easy for them and they made it easy for me and we made all kinds of money." At the underground station, Martinez and his helpers would load up their supplies, including dynamite, and take it back to the tunnel in which they were working. "We all had wet suits. They were yellow. That didn't keep you from getting wet. You know why? Because your own body sweated so much, you got wet from inside and from outside," he said. Martinez and crew would prepare their ground support and then he would drill enough holes to hold a case of dynamite. "On graveyard you could blast any time. So as soon as we were ready, we'd blast. The lunchroom was the central blasting area. Everybody has got to be checked off the board before they blast," he said. In accordance with federal law, they were not allowed back in the tunnel until half an hour after they blasted. "The ones that drilled the tunnels, they didn't have too much radiation, but we did," he said. The dynamite wouldn't bring everything down off the tunnel wall, so while Martinez's helper ran the locomotive and hauled five carloads to the station by herself, Martinez stayed behind and scaled the rough edges with a bar or pick. "By the time she came back, I was ready to put a tie in. I had to push the rails ahead," laying track as he went, he said. "When she'd come back, whatever I needed, she brought it from the station. We'd clean all of the blast out and then we'd start the ground support. We would drill up they called it 'pin timbering.' We had wire mesh that was like regular link chain. We used to put 50 feet up every day overhead. We bolted it to the ceiling and then to the walls and then we were ready to start drilling again," he said. The mesh kept the ceiling from collapsing in on them as they worked. Respirators were basically worthless at protecting against the damaging effects of radiation, according to Martinez. "You don't breathe radon daughters. They go through you. They go in you. You know where they settle? Right in your bones. You can't see them, smell them or taste them," he said. "We had a chip in our helmet that said how much exposure we had. They used to change them about every two to three months. Then all of the sudden, they disappeared." Set up Martinez recalled one man who allegedly was asked to "doctor the radiation readings" because they were too high. The man refused. "Guess what happened? They set him up. They put two rolls of toilet paper in his lunch bucket, and they fired him. They accused him of stealing. "You know what Kerr-McGee and Homestake used to do?" Martinez asked. "If you were overexposed, they used to take you to the surface and say, 'You work on the surface.' Then they would try to cut your wages. They're doing you a favor? No! They're giving you a cut in pay." Now 81, Martinez has applied for compensation three times since 1985. "The first time they called me and told me I was approved. My late wife was still alive. I said, 'OK, we'll just let it happen.' Later, they sent me another letter: No." It was denied. "Then here not long ago, my lawyer said I qualified, and we were all happy. But some (woman) there in Washington found a little flaw in the application and they said 'No.'" On Feb. 13, Martinez got another OK from the U.S. Department of Justice. "All I'm waiting for is the money. But I won't believe it until I see the money in my account. My lawyer says the way they drag their feet, it's likethey think the money's coming out of their pocket," he said. (back to top) All contents property of the Gallup Independent. Send questions or comments to [gallpind@cia-g.com] ***************************************************************** 42 [du-list] Fw: Libyan uranium to Ohio Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 20:22:33 -0800 We need answer to what is really happening at Piketon, Ohio fast....Will Piketon be a national dump site? How many jobs will this dump site have in the end.. We should be cleaning up the off-site ground water and the land. We need to education and warn the community what is happening at this site..Stop tell them they are getting clean safe jobs. We have the right to know what is really happening at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion plant in Piketon, Ohio.. Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 8:06 AM Subject: Libyan uranium to Ohio I can't help but question why the final destination for this weapons-grade uranium would be the Piketon, Ohio if we are only supposed to be processing depleted uranium and that's what the new facilities will be. IElisa, called the EPA. This stuff from Libya is not included in the tally of the 60,000 tons of uranium scheduled for transport to us from Oak Ridge. (EPA only handles "hazardous waste." Depleted uranium falls into that category; this does not.) When I asked the department of energy representative at the RBES meeting a few weeks ago if it was true - the rumor we were hearing that we are going to be getting uranium from overseas, Germany, etc., he emphatically denied it - there would be no uranium coming to us from overseas. This shipment was already finalized and on the way. They say with the new centrifuge (which is not licensed yet) we may be able to process plutonium (necessary to build bombs). Our government has approved the construction of 50-100 new nuclear power plants to be done over the next 20 years, and also building a new facility to mass produce nuclear weapons ("bunker busters," which aerosolize radioactive material into the air when they explode, are one kind they are planning to produce) - first time this has happened since the cold war. Both of these projects will increase demand for someone to handle processing/storage of uranium. I think we may be getting more over time than the 60,000 tons of DU currently in storage for processing if we feed the demand for more. . We just think it's important for people to be aware of environmental decisions that can impact the health and well-being of so many generations to come, and I'm not seeing this out there in the news. SUBSCRIBE TO 1545592.jpg 154562d.jpg 154566f.jpg 15456b4.jpg SITE MENU: HOME NEWS Community Regional State Nation & World Business Opinion Announcements & Records Today's Headlines CLASSIFIEDS SPORTS High School College Professional Stats Overload INTERMISSION Photo Galleries The Vibe Movie Times OBITUARIES COMMUNITY INFO Our Schools Bus Schedule Elected Officials Links WEATHER FORUMS WEEKLY FEATURES SPECIAL SECTIONS ARCHIVES SUBMISSIONS CONTACT US ABOUT US Home > Attachment Converted: 1545592.jpg: 00000001,7445c804,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 154562d.jpg: 00000001,7445c805,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 154566f.jpg: 00000001,7445c806,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 15456b4.jpg: 00000001,7445c807,00000000,00000000 ***************************************************************** 43 Gallup Independent: Scab mine workers had more severe uranium exposure March 29, 2004 Part three By Kathy Helms Diné Bureau GRANTS  Israel Martinez used to work for at a uranium mine and mill. Hemade a good living nearly $10 an hour shoveling mud in the pitch ditch. Lateron, he graduated to yellowcake. Now Martinez has pulmonary fibrosis. His medicalrecords indicate it is from uranium exposure. He has trouble breathing when he walks more than 100 yards due to restrictivelung disease. "I put my shoes on and it's getting worse. I think I'm goingto be suffocated somewhere. The doctor said, too, that something's wrong withmy kidneys," Martinez said. Unfortunately for him, his uranium exposure didn't begin until 1977 when he startedwork for Homestake Mining Co. in Grants. He stayed there until 1982. On Sept.22, 1999, he was diagnosed with fibrosis of the lungs. Martinez, 55, said hehas never smoked. His pre-employment screening showed he was in good health beforehe went to work at the mine. "I didn't have no shortness of breath or anything," hesaid. He doesn't qualify for compensation under the federal Radiation Exposure CompensationAct (RECA) because he didn't work in the mines before 1971, the cutoff date forqualifying. He is one of a group known as the Post 71 miners. "Once you work in there for a week, you have to eat it (the uranium), swallowit somehow, you know? When I used to get home, I blew my nose and black, blackwith uranium. And then I work at the mill with yellowcake and they only giveus paper masks to work in there. But I see in Albuquerque at Sandia Lab thatthey wear suits," he said. Martinez's friend, Margarito Martinez, president of Oil, Chemicals and AtomicWorkers Union for 16 years and a strong safety advocate, said Homestake was a "scabmine" which had less emphasis on safety than union mines. He told Israel, "Themasks don't stop nothing. The radon daughters go right through you. You've gotto have a lead suit an inch thick for a radon daughter not to go through you.It settles in your bones and you have it there for life." Israel said, "I hurt a lot in my bones and my shoulders. In my back. I didn'tknow how bad the uranium was until I started going to the (RECA) meetings. Allkinds of things happen: Your liver, your stomach, mental disorder you forgeta lot. That's what happened to me too." When Israel rotated to the mill at Homestake, he said, "I worked with thatmud, that waste from the natural uranium." "Slurry," Margarito explained. "It's gray. Not even the pigs would like to be in there, you know? It smellsawful. Sometimes when I cough, it seems like it tastes like that, the way itsmelled in there. This other guy that was working with me, Ray Rael, me and himwere the only ones that they put us in there. Something is wrong with his boneor something. He has to get blood every two weeks so he can get energy. The doctortold him it was uranium related," Israel said. Now he's going to Tucson,Ariz., for surgery over there. "They just leave us here to die little by little," he said. Margarito said the "big escape" for the U.S. government is that thegovernment said it was not buying uranium from 1971 forward. His son, a Post71 miner, "talks about going to get a bunch of guys and file a class actionlawsuit so they will start accepting applications for Post 71 miners." Israel believes the mines and mills should have been posted. "They shouldhave put a sign there: 'Work At Your Own Risk,' or 'Restricted Area.'" Margarito said his granddaughter's mother-in-law tried to apply for compensation. "Butthey said, 'Post 71, no application. You're Post 71.' A lot of women have diedof cancer. They worked at the mill; they worked everywhere," he said. Therewere approximately 1,200 Post 71 miners male and female in the union, accordingto Margarito. Israel received lots of "cross-training" during the five years he workedfor Homestake. "I started in the pitch ditch, in the sand and mud and thenI went with the supplies, and then I was a miner underground. I learned to mineand to drill in hard rock. I blasted and ran the slusher. "The vent bag where we got the air, when we blasted we got to go in thereand seal it up and there's like no air to breathe. You have to wait a half hourand most of the miners they don't want to wait a half hour because they're losingmoney. So they want to go back in. "'We have to wait a half hour,' I told them. 'That's what the book says,'" Israelsaid. "One guy, he says, 'Come on. Let's go in there.' He died because ofthat. He was only 18 years old. His lungs were all burned up from the dust andthen the powder the dynamite." "When I was underground, there was a big tank of water there that was openon top. The opening was right there in the station. When the motor becomes fullwith uranium, all of that dust goes in there. They told us that water was good.So I took a drink of that water when I was thirsty," he said. At the mill, the yellowcake was put in a big barrel called the roaster. "Iguess they've got to roast it," Israel said. "That yellowcake, it gotpasted on the wall. It's a see-through plastic wall, and it sticks to there.And very hard like glue. The floor too, it had yellowcake all over it. The yellowcakefrom the walls falls to the floor. It gets all over us." But he washed upbefore he went home. Working in mud from the natural uranium ore was much worse than working in theyellowcake because he had to stand in the mud, he said. Though he wore gloves,sometimes his eyes or nose would itch. "You've got to have one of the handsfree to get the other glove off and that's how you touch the uranium," hesaid. "My youngest daughter, she's 22. She has thyroid. She has to take thosepills forever, as long as she lives, hoping it won't turn into cancer. When thatcancer gets you, it bites you," Israel said. Monday March 29, 2004 Selected Stories: New co-op to promote native artists Gallup cop's son sentenced for cocaine charges Fate of Kayenta school still up in the air Tribal panel OKs $1.9 million for economic plan Scab mine workers had more severe uranium exposure Off-reservation support offered to Native women City building permit standards may change Deaths Gallup Independent Gallup Independent. Send questions or comments to [gallpind@cia-g.com] ***************************************************************** 44 AFP: EU gives Britain final warning over Sellafield inspections TERRA.WIRE
[http://www.terradaily.com/] BRUSSELS (AFP) Mar 30, 2004 The European Commission told Britain Tuesday to give EU inspectors unfettered access to the Sellafield nuclear site or face legal action, in a stern warning welcomed by environmental campaigners. The European Union executive said its patience had run out after repeatedly asking British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) to open up access to a facility on the site in northeast England that stores spent nuclear fuel. EU energy commissioner Loyola de Palacio gave British authorities until June to submit a plan proposing ways of ending the alleged breach of an EU atomic treaty. "This problem has been known for a long time, but no concrete initiative has been taken by the operator to rectify it," she said. "The situation had therefore become untenable for the commission." She added: "It calls into question the credibility of our safeguards, which our team of inspectors has been carrying out for 50 years in accordance with very high standards." Under the terms of the 1957 Euratom Treaty, EU inspectors have the right to enter nuclear facilities in member states to ensure that material is being stored safely and cannot end up in the wrong hands. But for several years, inspectors have been unable to gain access to a pond at Sellafield called B30 that stores irradiated fuel because of high radiation levels and poor visibility, Brussels complained. "Should the UK authorities fail to meet these obligations within the deadlines set, the commission could impose penalties directly on BNFL," it warned. The 34-year-old Sellafield plant has had a troubled history, long being the focus of environmental and anti-nuclear energy campaigners. In 2000, BNFL suffered more bad publicity when an investigation found that safety records had been systematically falsified. Jean McSorley of London-based campaign group Greenpeace backed the commission warning, but said Brussels was missing the point about nuclear energy. "Sadly this dispute smacks of a demarcation row between the UK and the EU over whose officials will have responsibility for enforcing safety at nuclear sites rather than being about protecting the health and safety of workers at Sellafield and the people who live around the site," she said. TERRA.WIRE ***************************************************************** 45 Salt Lake Tribune: NRC won't probe planned nuke site finances March 30, 2004 By Judy Fahys The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has refused to scrutinize the finances of a nuclear waste storage site proposed for Utah -- even after the federal embezzlement indictment of the Skull Valley Goshutes tribal leader who is the project's biggest advocate. The NRC also said last week it will not reconsider concerns raised by Utah state attorneys about the financial plan drafted by the eight-utility limited liability company behind the multibillion-dollar project. Nor will it delve into the corruption allegations raised by Skull Valley Goshutes who are opposed to the facility and who have complained for years that project funds are being misused. "It's hard to imagine a facility that should demand tougher scrutiny than this should," said Paul EchoHawk, an Idaho attorney representing Goshutes opposed to the facility. "They [the NRC] are facilitating the [alleged] corruption." It has been seven years since Private Fuel Storage LLC (PFS) asked the NRC to license its parking lot for casks of used nuclear fuel on 820 acres of reservation land leased from the Skull Valley band. If approved, the license would allow the utility consortium to provide a valuable service to the nuclear industry by warehousing, above ground 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, up to 44,000 tons of reactor rods for at least 20 years. Goshute objectors made a special request in February to have federal regulators investigate their corruption allegations after tribal chairman Leon Bear was indicted in December on tax fraud and embezzlement charges. But the NRC said -- for the third and final time -- that its license process is not the right place to deal with the corruption complaints, even though the commission "assumed the truth of the facts alleged." In addition, the commission once again rejected the state's separate complaints about the project finances. The state has pushed for more transparency, but the value of the Goshute lease remains secret to the public, as is the overall project cost and the source of PFS' funding. While EchoHawk's clients decide whether to challenge the ruling, PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin defended the NRC decision. She said disclosure of financial information to the public and competitors would be a disadvantage to PFS and noted that regulatory staff and state attorneys have been free to study and challenge the financial plans. She also pointed out "nothing's been proven yet" against Bear. "Our lease," she said, "is with the Skull Valley Band, not a particular individual." fahys@sltrib.com [fahys@sltrib.com] "> Copyright Salt Lake City Tribune ***************************************************************** 46 BBC: Sellafield 'failing to comply' Last Updated: Tuesday, 30 March, 2004 [Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant] Sellafield has been given until June to comply with the EU's demands Sellafield has been warned it could face stiff penalties for not meeting stringent European Union (EU) rules on nuclear waste. The Cumbrian nuclear reprocessing plant has been given until 1 June to come up with an accounting plan on how spent nuclear fuel has been processed. The EU has told British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), Sellafield's major operator, that the situation is "unacceptable". The UK government has said that BNFL officials are co-operating with the EU. Under the 1957 Euratom Treaty it is up to EU inspectors to check accounting records of the nuclear material and compare them with the results of on-the-spot inspections. The EU has said that the main purpose of such inspections is to make sure the nuclear material used is not diverted from peaceful and non-military uses. Currently the spent fuel is held in a "pond" at the Sellafield site. The European Commission chief spokesman Reijo Kemppinen said: "BNFL is failing to comply with the rules concerning accounting for nuclear material, and the access of Commission inspectors to nuclear material to check the nature and quality of the material." WHAT SELLAFIELD HAS TO DO Adequate pla accounting for nuclear material Physical access to the facilities concerned Six monthly report on progress implementing the plan Source: EU Commission A statement went on to say that inspectors have for a number of years informed BNFL the nuclear material in question could not be inspected properly, in contravention of the Euratom Treaty. "It is irradiated fuel. In accounting terms, it is impossible to determine accurately the quantities of material stored and on-the-spot inspections cannot take place because of the high level of radiation and poor visibility in the part of the facility concerned," it said. The statement added: "Despite its commitments, BNFL has so far failed to come up with a formal action plan or adopt the measures needed to put an end to the infringement once and for all." Problem Under the 1 June deadline there has to be an overall plan ensuring adequate accounting for the nuclear material in question. Also, there must be physical access to the facilities and every six months the EU has to receive a report on progress implementing the plan. A spokesman for the UK government has said it was aware action was needed. "We know there is a problem and we are very open about that. The government has already set up a d-commissioning agency to clean up at Sellafield, but this is not something we will be rushed into. "The Commission is surely not suggesting that the UK authorities may be diverting this material for non-peaceful uses, which is the real purpose of their checking. There is no suggestion of any leakage." Jean McSorley of the environmental campaign group Greenpeace backed the commission warning, but she said Brussels was missing the point about nuclear energy. "This dispute smacks of a row between the UK and the EU over responsibility for enforcing safety, rather than being about protecting the health and safety of workers at Sellafield and the people who live around the site," she said. In 2000 an investigation found that safety records at the 34-year-old plant had been systematically falsified. ***************************************************************** 47 RGJ: Promises aren’t good enough [http://www.rgj.com/] --> [online@rgj.com] RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL 3/29/2004 11:04 pm Nevadans have good reasons not to trust the federal government, which wants to build a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain and promises it will be safe and secure. Reason 1 is a new book, “The Ambushed Grand Jury,” that claims the Justice Department covered up misconduct at the one-time Rock Flats nuclear weapons plant near Denver. The second reason is a draft audit by the Department of Energy’s inspector general, which alleges that DOE has failed to keep accurate count of worker injuries at nuclear waste cleanup sites and downplays the dangers of the work. That’s why Nevadans should remain suspicious of the political process that is trying to rush approval of the waste dump. The state needs scientific proof, not promises. ***************************************************************** 48 ABQjournal: EPA Approves 'Remote-Handled' Waste for WIPP March 30, 2004 The Associated Press CARLSBAD — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan to ship some higher-level waste to the federal government's nuclear waste dump near Carlsbad. The DOE would like to send the first shipment of remote-handled waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in 2006, said Roger Nelson, chief scientist at the Department of Energy's Carlsbad Field Office. WIPP has always been scheduled to get some remote-handled waste — waste that's so radioactive it must be kept in shielded rooms and handled by remote control robotic equipment. Congress approved storing remote-handled waste at WIPP in the early 1990s when it transferred the land for the site to the DOE. "We have determined that these documents provide an adequate general framework for the characterization of RH (remote-handled) waste for disposal at WIPP," the EPA said in a letter dated Friday. Characterization is the process of determining what's in a waste container. About 10 sites have remote-handled waste slated for WIPP. Such waste is expected to make up about 4 percent of the total sent to WIPP. The EPA still must approve details of shipping the waste and do site inspections before the DOE can ship the waste. The state of New Mexico also must approve a permit change since the state regulates mixed waste — shipments that include hazardous materials such as chemicals as well as radioactive waste. Nelson said most of the remote-handled waste will be mixed. Copyright Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 49 lamonitor.com: Features Impact of uranium mining in the West focus of new paperback The Online News Source for Los Alamos Monitor Staff Report "Yellowcake Towns: Uranium Mining Communities in the American West" focuses on the boom-and-bust impact of uranium mining in the West. Four western mining and milling communities were at the center of the twentieth-century uranium boom. Moab, Utah; Grants, New Mexico; Uravan, Colorado; and Jeffrey City, Wyoming, all experienced positive economic growth and development before the ultimate impact of uranium mining became apparent. In 2002, University Press of Colorado first published "Yellowcake Towns" by Michael A. Amundson, a historical analysis of the ups and downs of these towns over a forty-year period. In the new paperback edition, Amundson follows the origin, development and decline of the U.S. uranium industry from the perspective of these four communities. Though different in many respects, all were at one time connected by their economic dependence on the mining and milling of "yellowcake" or processed uranium ore. The book covers the history of uranium's origin as atomic bomb material in the early days of the 1950s Manhattan Project to its use in nuclear power plants, the Three Mile Island accident and the 1980s collapse of the industry. Amundson examines the relationship between the federal government's uranium mining policies and the industry in general and details the related effects on each of these communities. The uranium industry brought enormous social changes to these towns, as well as vast environmental consequences due to the mining of radioactive material. Historians of mining, community and the West, and anyone interested in the story of nuclear energy in the United States, may find something of interest in "Yellowcake Towns." Michael A. Amundson is an assistant professor of history at Northern Arizona University and is co-editor of "Atomic Culture: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 50 YDR: NRC: Waste division created - York Daily Record [ydr.com] Waste division created Tuesday, March 30, 2004 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has created a Division of High-Level Waste Repository Safety in its Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. This section will enable the NRC to focus on major high-level radioactive waste programs and issues, and conduct a comprehensive licensing program for the proposed high-level waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Department of Energy plans to submit an application to the commission in December for a license to build and operate the repository. The commission regulates Three Mile Island in Dauphin County and Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in York County. Copyright © York Daily Record 2004 122 S. George St., P.O. Box 15122 York, PA 17405, (717) 771-2000 ***************************************************************** 51 NEWS.com.au: WA uranium mine to close (March 31, 2004) WESTERN Australia's only uranium mine will close after the state government and WMC Resources agreed to terminate the operating agreement. The termination will also see the rehabilitation of the Yeelirrie uranium project, located near Wiluna, more than 900km north-east of Perth. State Development Minister Clive Brown said the termination of the Yeelirrie State Agreement and the rehabilitation of the site built upon the government's policy to ban future mining of uranium, announced in June 2002. Mr Brown said it also built upon WA government legislation preventing the federal government from establishing a nuclear waste dump in the state. The legislation was passed by state parliament in Albany last week. WMC Resources advised the government that tender documents for the rehabilitation work were currently being finalised. "The Gallop Government has been working with WMC Resources to ensure the rehabilitation of the Yeelirrie uranium project," Mr Brown said today. "WMC Resources had previously advised the government that they intended the rehabilitation work to occur this year and I am pleased to announce today that this timeline has been confirmed. "I welcome the confirmation of this timeline and congratulate WMC Resources on its commitment to the rehabilitation process." The rehabilitation program would focus on returning the site to its original condition by removing surface disturbances and revegetating with native flora. The Uranium (Yeelirrie) Agreement Act was legislated by the former Liberal government of Sir Charles Court in 1978 to facilitate the possible construction of a uranium and vanadium treatment plant at Yeelirrie. AAP Copyright 2004 News Limited. All times AEST (GMT+10). ***************************************************************** 52 AU ABC: Australian miners seeking answers on contaminated water [http://abc.net.au/ra/default.htm] More than 100 employees from the Ranger uranium mine in Australia's Northern Territory are back at work after a contamination incident forced the mine's closure a week ago. Preparations are underway for the mine's eventual re-opening as investigations continue into the incident. About 150 people attended a public forum in the neighbouring town of Jabiru on Tuesday night. Representatives from mine operator Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) and the Commonwealth's supervising scientist were questioned about why processing water was mistakenly switched to the fresh water system. The crowd was told it is still being investigated. There were also questions on the long-term impact for employees who were exposed to the contaminated water. The forum was told extensive advice is being sort on the long-term health impacts. An ERA spokesman says the company has flown a health specialist from Britain to help assess the risks of exposure to the contaminated water. Specialists from the Australian Centre for Human Health Risk Assessment are also involved. 31/03/2004 11:27:08 | ABC Radio Australia News Radio Australia Homepage [http://abc.net.au/ra/default.htm] | ***************************************************************** 53 ABC Canberra: Activists finish uranium protest trek » alt="Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online"> [http://abc.net.au/] Tuesday, 30 March 2004 Anti-nuclear activists have arrived at Parliament House in Canberra, after walking more than 2,000 kilometres from the Roxby Downs uranium mine in South Australia. Aboriginal elder 'Speedy' McGuiness and activist William Taylor are calling for an end to uranium mining in Australia. After arriving in Canberra, an emotional Mr Taylor described how he had heard many stories about the effects of uranium mining on small communities. "We're haunted by the stories and the people we meet, who are compelled to try and make some sense of this," Mr Taylor said. "When governments don't send up for us, then [we must] stand up and do it ourselves." [http://www.abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm] | Privacy Policy ***************************************************************** 54 AU ABC: Ranger mine employees return to work. 31/03/2004. ABC News Online "Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online"> [http://www.abc.net.au/] A small number of employees from the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory have returned to work. Twenty maintenance workers are back on the job a week after the mine was shut down because of a contamination incident. A further 100 employees will return to work later today. The plant closed last week when process water contaminated fresh water supplies. The maintenance workers and administration staff will prepare the mine for reopening. Meanwhile, about 150 people attended a public forum in the neighbouring community of Jabiru on Tuesday night. ERA, the Commonwealth supervising scientist and Gundhemi Aboriginal Corporation addressed the meeting. Community concerns ranged from the long-term health impacts from the exposure of workers to contaminated water, through to why the accident happened in the first place. © 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 55 AU ABc: Mine workers back on the job after uranium scare. 31/03/2004. ABC News Online "Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online"> [http://www.abc.net.au/] More than 100 employees from the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory are back at work today after a contamination incident forced the mine's closure a week ago. Twenty workers returned overnight with preperations underway for the mine's eventual reopening. Investigations continue into the incident. About 150 people attended a public forum in the neighbouring town of Jabiru last night involving mine operator Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) and the Commonwealth's supervising scientist, Dr Arthur Johnston. They were questioned about why processing water was mistakenly switched to the fresh water system. The crowd was told that is still being investigated. There were also questions on the long-term impact for employees who were exposed to the contaminated water. A worker at the nearby airport says they use the mine's fresh water and he is also being tested. "I'm concerned that happened in the first place and there should be a separate supply for the processing and separate for drinking," the worker said. The forum was told extensive advice is being sort on the long-term health impacts. Meanwhile, ERA has flown a health specialist from the United Kingdom to help assess the risks of exposure to the contaminated water. Specialists from the Australian Centre for Human Health Risk Assessment (ACHHRA) are also involved. ERA spokesman Simon Prebble told the forum 12 workers reported ill health. "What we've done is to source the best person we could find across the world from Rio Tinto - our chief occupational health physician," Mr Prebble said. "We flew him straight out from the UK and he's been here providing advice, not just to ERA but also to all of the concerned individuals." Dr Johnston assured the forum crowd they are pursing this line of investigation. "The thing that concerns us now are possible long-term effects on those people at the mine who drank the water or principally drank the water, consumed the water," Dr Johnston said. One of the locals at last night's forum expressed concern because ERA is the biggest employer in the area. "I think the main thing was it took so long for the information to get out and than misinformation coming out and the rumours and things like that," the local said. "It was mentioned in the meeting in fact that perhaps we should have had this earlier and I think if that would have been the case, we would have squashed all this." © 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 56 AU ABC: WA to terminate uranium project. 31/03/2004. ABC News Online "Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online"> [http://www.abc.net.au/] Western Australia's only uranium project will soon come to an end. The State Government has announced plans to terminate the Yeelirrie State Agreement that covers tenements 500 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. WA State Development Minister Clive Brown says the holder of the tenements, WMC Resources, has agreed to stop mining uranium in the area and rehabilitate the land. "I think it has been a very good decision that the company has taken and I commend them for taking it," Mr Brown said. "We've said that we're opposed to uranium mining and certainly we're very appreciative of the company agreeing with the policy position that we've taken and also agreeing to end this agreement. "With this hurdle achieved there is nothing in the way to stop the government legislating to make WA nuclear-free. "The nature of that [rehabilitation] work will take place over the next six months but it's standard rehabilitation work that relates to all mining areas once they're concluded," he said. Greens MLC Robin Chapple says it is great news for the state because it will impede uranium mining in the future. "This basically means now that another government at some stage in the future, if somebody wanted to mine uranium in that area, would have to allow for a licence to be taken out to that area," Mr Chapple said. WMC expects to complete its rehabilitation work by the end of the year. © 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 57 Guardian Unlimited: Brussels gives Sellafield ultimatum Ian Black in Brussels Wednesday March 31, 2004 [http://www.guardian.co.uk] Britain has been given until June 1 to come up with a detailed plan to clean up spent nuclear fuel stored at BNFL's Sellafield plant in Cumbria. The European commission said yesterday that safety checks would have to be carried out under the Euratom treaty and six-monthly reports submitted. Brussels objects to Britain's failure to say exactly how much plutonium waste is stored in an outdoor "pond" known as B30. Radioactivity levels are so high that workers can only safely spend an hour a day there. The ponds have existed since the 50s, when no proper records were kept, and the commission has been asking for improvements since 1986. Britain admitted last year that "conditions in B30 mean the safeguard verification activities that can be carried out are limited". But officials suggested the commission's decision may be politically motivated and rejected the implication that radioactive material may be vulnerable to smuggling. Ireland has long complained about pollution from the plant. Greenpeace said the threat to punish BNFL smacked of political opportunism. "The UK government and BNFL have prevaricated for years despite the fact that they knew there was a huge problem, and the commission has also failed to act until now," said the environmental group. Failure to comply with the deadline may lead to penalties for BNFL. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 58 The Star Online: Going underground [http://thestar.com.my/] By MAXIM KNIAZKOV When nuclear waste is involved, a mountain turns into a political Everest, writes MAXIM KNIAZKOV. IT’S NONDESCRIPT, really. And not that much of a mountain by Nevadan standards. A retiree in good shape could probably climb to its crest in about an hour to behold clusters of silvery bristlebush and hear the howling wind. But Yucca Mountain, nestled on the western edge of the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, is hardly about vistas. Ever since the US Congress picked it as the proposed site of a national nuclear waste repository in the late 1980s, it’s been all about politics. It’s technology versus ecology, federal versus local, red meat versus tofu. It is already one of the most recognisable geographical names in the US capital and is drawing about 7,000 visitors a year. Camouflage-clad guards in James Bond sunglasses peer at laminated passes at the main nuclear site checkpoint. “No cameras pointed north or east!” warns John Hartley, an Energy Department geologist, nodding toward surrounding mountains. “If you try to walk here alone, you’ll see how quickly black helicopters will close in on you.” The rugged range conceals some of the most closely-guarded US secrets: an underground labyrinth, in which the government tested nuclear warheads during the Cold War, and famous Area 51, a secret weapons site, whose very existence the government denies. Yucca Mountain fits into this classified picture. If the US Energy Department has its way, in 2010 the mountain will begin receiving in its belly casks of spent atomic fuel from aircraft carriers, submarines and power plants and will eventually become the largest repository of nuclear waste in the world. An experimental tunnel wide enough to accommodate a subway train leads into the mountain’s inner sanctum. It’s cold, grey and empty, with only a far-away blinking light betraying human activity. “Most studies are pretty much done,” said Abraham Van Luik, an government science advisor showing visitors around. “There are just some remaining experiments.” The 8km-long underground gallery has 12 alcoves dug out along its length that serve as laboratories. Here, rock is measured for consistency and water content, heated and frozen, and every crack is closely watched. If all licences are granted, the underground testing facility is bound to dramatically expand. A 60km to 80km long grid of tunnels will be excavated through Yucca Mountain’s core to house hermetically sealed containers holding up to 77,000 tonnes of deadly waste. “It’s a legal but not by any means geological constraint,” explains Hartley. The 77,000 tonnes are stipulated by federal law, but the storage site can be easily expanded to hold up to 140,000 tonnes of radioactive material, officials said. Given the government’s projection that the United States will generate about 108,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel by 2040, up from the 47,000 tonnes that are already stored around the country, the repository here could present a long-term solution to the problem. But Nevadans of every political stripe are up in arms. A recent poll conducted by KVBC television showed 65% of the population remains firmly opposed to what local residents refer to as “a nuclear dump in our backyard.” Practically every state official blasts the project as a mortal threat to the environment and local tourism industry. “I will continue cutting the budget, making it difficult for Yucca Mountain to open,” promises Nevada’s Democratic US Senator, Harry Reid. “And we will continue to raise awareness of the dangers of transporting nuclear waste.” There have been demonstrations and petition drives, sit-ins and noisy rallies. So far, to no avail. Having failed to stop the US$58bil (RM220bil) project in Congress last year, the state is now trying its luck to courts, challenging the plan on environmental grounds. Energy officials counter by saying that Yucca’s volcanic rock is so hard that the chance of water seeping into storage tunnels is practically nil. But the idea of living next to millions of pellets radiating death still does not sit well with many Nevadans, although a sense of inevitability appears to be settling in. A survey by the Nuclear Energy Institute has found that 76% of local residents now think it’s time to start negotiating acceptance terms with the rest of the country. – AFP Copyright © 1995-2004 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D) Managed by I.Star. ***************************************************************** 59 [southnews] Actress to greet Israeli nuke whistleblower Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 19:35:04 -0600 (CST) BRITISH actress Susannah York will lead a delegation of demonstrators greeting Israeli nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu when he is released from an Israeli prison, a spokesman for the group said today. Actress to greet whistleblower From correspondents in Jerusalem AP 31mar04 BRITISH actress Susannah York will lead a delegation of demonstrators greeting Israeli nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu when he is released from an Israeli prison, a spokesman for the group said today. On April 21 Vanunu is to be freed from a prison in the southern city of Ashkelon after serving 18 years for treason and espionage. Israel's Mossad spy agency captured him in Europe in 1986, after he disclosed details and photos of Israel's top-secret nuclear plant and the country's reputed nuclear weapons arsenal to The Sunday Times of London. Vanunu, who worked at the plant, served more than a decade in solitary confinement after being convicted in an Israeli court. He has become a hero of anti-nuclear weapons activists during his years in prison and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Ernest Rodker, a spokesman for the Free Vanunu Committee in London, said York and more than 70 other protesters plan to gather in Israel to celebrate Vanunu's release. "These are people who want to be in Israel when Mordechai is freed," he said. Rodker said York would be joined by Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire from Northern Ireland, two members of the British parliament and anti-nuclear demonstrators from Europe, Japan and the United States. He said the group would apply for a permit to wait outside Ashkelon's Shikma prison in the hours before Vanunu is freed. "We would hope that we will have the opportunity to meet him," he said. "We don't want a confrontation with Israeli authorities, but we believe that Israel is a democracy and as a released prisoner Mordechai ... should have the right to meet with whoever he wants." Israeli officials say Vanunu may still possess information that could harm Israeli security and are taking steps to limit his freedom of movement, possibly confiscating his passport. Vanunu recently issued a statement through his brother saying he has no more nuclear secrets to disclose. Based partly on photographs that Vanunu provided the British newspaper, it is widely believed Israel has the sixth largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. The CIA recently estimated Israel has between 200-400 nuclear weapons. Israel has an official policy of "nuclear ambiguity", saying only that it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. _____________________________ Yishai: Ban Vanunu supporters from Israel By JPOST.COM STAFF Mar. 30, 2004 16:48 Shas chairman Eli Yishai asked Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday to order Interior Minister Avraham Poraz (Shinui) to prohibit entry to Israel to foreign left-wing activists who intend to show their support of Mordechai Vanunu upon his release, Israel Radio reported. Mordechai Vanunu is expected to be released next month from Shikma Prison in Ashkelon after serving 18 years for revealing Israel's nuclear secrets. In 1986, Vanunu severely damaged Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity when he sold London's Sunday Times photographs of plutonium spheres used for triggers in Israeli nuclear warheads taken from inside the reactor at Dimona, where he worked as a technician. His interview was widely used to determine that Israel then had an arsenal of some 200 nuclear bombs. Israel is keen on keeping Vanunu in the country under close supervision. According to Vanunu's adopted parents, he rejected an offer for early release in return for a deal for never leaving Israel and never speaking about the country's alleged nuclear deterrent. 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/ ***************************************************************** 60 Salt Lake Tribune: No nuclear testing March 30, 2004 It's a frightening paradox. While a new health clinic opens in St. George to screen people for radiation-caused cancers, the more nuclear detonations. After being subjected to lethal radioactive fallout and government lies about the tests and their risks, Utahns of both political parties are wholly justified in protesting even the talk about resuming nuclear testing. The Kane County Commission last week was right to oppose it. The commissioners are justified in feeling betrayed by their Republican representatives in Congress who voted to spend $30 million to get the Nevada site ready for underground testing. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett and Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop all voted for the funding. Utah's sole Democrat in Congress, Rep. Jim Matheson, voted against it and this month drafted legislation that would require protection from radiation fallout if testing were resumed. The Bush plan to lift the 1992 moratorium on nuclear testing is not only alarming, it is infuriating to the hundreds of downwinders, Utahns who were exposed to radiation from the testing and who can trace family disease and death to its effects. Since 1990 more than $700 million has been paid to 10,637 radiation victims and their families through the Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act. Screenings at the St. George clinic are being conducted to find more people who have the cancers associated with nuclear exposure, such as leukemia, thyroid cancers and lymphoma. The clinic and another that will operate in San Juan County were funded by Congress in 2000. Now President Bush says the military needs to get the site primed for testing should the need arise. His promise that he has no plans now to resume the tests sounds too much like assurances made 50 years ago that nuclear tests were safe. The only valid reason to get the test site ready is if detonations are likely to resume. Bush's denials even while he funds the resumption of testing to bolster the already huge U.S. nuclear capabilities have a hollow ring to Utahns seasoned by years of government deception. Countries like North Korea and Iran, who want to build their own nuclear arsenals, surely also doubt Bush's sincerity. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is based on the concept that non-nuclear countries will stay non-nuclear if nations that have the weapons, especially the United States, will move toward nuclear disarmament. To protect both the health of Utahns and the safety of the world, President Bush should continue the moratorium on new nuclear tests. "> Copyright Salt Lake City Tribune ***************************************************************** 61 Scotsman: Showbiz Welcome Planned for Nuclear Whistle Blower [http://www.scotsman.com/] 30th March 2004 British actress Susannah York will lead a delegation greeting Israeli nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu when he is released from an Israeli prison next month, a spokesman for the group said today. Vanunu is to be freed from a prison in Ashkelon on April 21 after serving 18 years for treason and espionage. Israel’s Mossad spy agency captured him in Europe in 1986, after he disclosed details and photos of Israel’s top-secret nuclear plant and the country’s reputed nuclear weapons arsenal to The Sunday Times of London. Vanunu, who worked at the plant, served more than a decade in solitary confinement after being convicted in an Israeli court. He has become a hero of anti-nuclear weapons activists during his years in prison and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Ernest Rodker, a spokesman for the Free Vanunu Committee in London, said Ms York and more than 70 other protesters plan to gather in Israel to celebrate Vanunu’s release. “These are people who want to be in Israel when Mordechai is freed,†he said. Rodker said Susannah York would be joined by Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire from Northern Ireland, two British MPs and anti-nuclear demonstrators from Europe, Japan and the United States. He said the group would apply for a permit to wait outside Ashkelon’s Shikma prison in the hours before Vanunu is freed. “We would hope that we will have the opportunity to meet him,†he said. “We don’t want a confrontation with Israeli authorities, but we believe that Israel is a democracy and as a released prisoner Mordechai ... should have the right to meet with whoever he wants.†Israeli officials say Vanunu might still posess information that could harm Israeli security and are taking steps to limit his freedom of movement, possibly confiscating his passport. Vanunu recently issued a statement through his brother saying he has no more nuclear secrets to disclose. Based partly on photographs that Vanunu have to the Sunday Times, it is widely believed Israel has the sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. The CIA recently estimated Israel has between 200-400 nuclear weapons. Israel has an official policy of “nuclear ambiguity,†saying only that it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. [http://www.scotsman.com/] | ***************************************************************** 62 DOE: Health Effects Subcommittee (SRSHES): Cancellation of Meeting FR Doc 04-7022 [Federal Register: March 30, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 61)] [Notices] [Page 16579] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30mr04-76] This notice announces the cancellation of a previously announced meeting. Federal Notice Citation of Previous Announcement: March 11, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 48) [Notices] [Page 11635] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access. Previously Announced Time and Date: 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m., April 6, 2004. Place: Adam's Mark Hotel Columbia, 1200 Hampton Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29201. Change in the Meeting: This meeting has been canceled. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phillip Green, Executive Secretary, SRSHES, Radiation Studies Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health, CDC, 1600 Clifton Road, NE. (E-39), Atlanta, Georgia 30333, telephone (404) 498- 1800, fax (404) 498-1811. The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, has been delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining to announcements of meetings and other committee management activities for both CDC and ATSDR. Dated: March 23, 2004. Joseph E. Salter, Acting Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [FR Doc. 04-7022 Filed 3-29-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4163-18-P ***************************************************************** 63 Rocky Mountain News: Groups call Rocky Flats less of a threat to water Problems limited, compared with sites in less-arid climates By Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News March 30, 2004 A network of citizens groups contends that even with a $200 billion cleanup plan, the nation's nuclear weapons complex still endangers rivers and drinking water. But the area surrounding the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant is lucky, the network says. The plant has polluted two reservoirs with radioactive plutonium, closing one, but those problems pale in comparison with the threat in less-arid climates. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability said that nuclear weapons plant pollution threatens aquifers in Texas, Idaho and Ohio, as well as the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon, the Savannah River in South Carolina and Georgia, and Tennessee's Clinch River. In Colorado, Rocky Flats was built by sheer chance on top of impermeable shale, so any groundwater that might have been contaminated can't reach the deep aquifer. Instead, it seeps off the mesa into Walnut Creek and Woman Creek, where it must meet the nation's most stringent standard for radiation: 0.15 picocuries per liter, said Steve Gunderson of the state Health Department. A person would have to drink two liters of that water a day for 30 years to get cancer from it. But activist Leroy Moore said that water coming off Rocky Flats twice violated that standard in 1997, and he worries that it could happen again - particularly in a violent rainstorm. "They don't really know where that plutonium came from," he said. "They need to discover the plutonium source. That's not easy to do." Dave Shelton, head of the environmental program at Rocky Flats, said he knew of only one high count in 1997 and that it didn't meet the rules for a violation. Water is tested at three ponds, and on the two creeks as they leave the site, Shelton said. "Our water quality has easily met the 0.15 standard." Plutonium doesn't dissolve in water but remains in particulate form, like sand, so it doesn't move at the speed of the water, Gunderson said. One underground water-filtration system set up to catch uranium has never found any, he said. Gunderson said that nearby Great Western Reservoir and Standley Lake were polluted with plutonium when winds picked up contaminated soil and blew it there. Rocky Flats is cleaning up that soil and taking it off the site, so Gunderson believes that the reservoirs could be contaminated again only if Rocky Flats fails to control dust during the cleanup. "There will be a bunch of groundwater wells left on site" after it is leveled, so officials can watch for any spikes in pollution, Gunderson said. If the trace amounts of plutonium or uranium left in buried soil at Rocky Flats ever does move, "we think we'll see it before it becomes a problem." imsea@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5438 ***************************************************************** 64 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Nuclear safety first [seattlepi.com] [OPINION] Tuesday, March 30, 2004 SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD Here's a nuclear-weapons issue the Bush administration ought to hype: the treatment of Hanford workers. There's reason for the administration to worry about the health of current and former nuclear workers at Hanford and around the country. Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will look at the huge shortcomings in what was supposed to a model program to compensate Cold War-era workers from Hanford, South Carolina and elsewhere. Instead, the Department of Energy has processed only about 6 percent of the death and injury claims under the program, launched in 2000. The Energy Department says it is making changes but needs more money. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wants the Department of Labor to handle the program, an idea backed by Washington's senators, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. For current Hanford workers, the Energy Department seems to have even more difficulty seeing its own problems. A draft report by the department's own inspector general says official records downplay the dangers faced by nuclear cleanup workers. Hanford workers, Washington state and advocacy groups have voiced safety concerns for years. They also fear that the department's contractors aren't providing adequate medical treatment. The Bush administration ought to do much better by U.S. workers whose jobs are vital to national security. Back to top [Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119 (206) 448-8000 Send comments to [newmedia@seattlepi.com] ©1996-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer ***************************************************************** 65 Tri-City Herald: Tank farms under review This story was published Tuesday, March 30th, 2004 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer Most work has stopped at the Hanford tank farms as contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group reviews whether more should be done to keep workers safe. Workers allowed on the tank farms to perform essential tasks, such as monitoring, are being required to wear respirators. That requirement "may be in place for an extended period of time" as CH2M Hill performs a thorough evaluation and consults with the Department of Energy, Hanford workers and organized labor officials, according to a statement from CH2M Hill. Among the permanent changes being considered are requiring all employees to wear respirators as work resumes and improving monitoring for fumes. Now, respirator use is voluntary if monitors show no vapors present. The changes come after more than 40 workers have reported exposure to vapors from the underground tanks since January 2002. As work has progressed to empty the tanks instead of just monitor them in recent years, more people have been working near the tanks. Despite many changes made by CH2M Hill by February 2004 to reduce exposure to vapors, 11 workers reported smelling vapors in the last two weeks. The vapors come from huge underground tanks of highly radioactive waste from the past production of plutonium at Hanford for weapons. Hanford has 177 tanks that vent into the atmosphere buried in fields, or "farms." Most of the chemicals present in the fumes in the tanks are in very small quantities, such as a few parts per billion, according to CH2M Hill. It has set standards to clear workers from an area when ammonia is measured in amounts far less than allowed under federal safety standards or when total organic chemicals are present at 2 parts per million. CH2M Hill has acknowledged that breathing the ammonia fumes is unpleasant and may cause symptoms, particularly in those most sensitive. But the contractor does not believe that the fumes have caused more than temporary symptoms. Workers have reported symptoms such as headaches, nosebleeds, skin irritation, nausea, accelerated heart rate and breathing difficulty, according to GAP. CH2M Hill began limiting work and requiring respirators for essential work temporarily last week after three workers smelled vapors and one developed a nosebleed two hours later. "We decided to continue it indefinitely until we ensure the safest possible practices for tank farm workers," said Joy Turner, spokeswoman for the DOE contractor. The move has DOE's support after more reports of tank vapors in recent weeks. "This increase in exposures appears to indicate the actions being implemented are not sufficient and has elevated our concerns for the continued safety of tank farm workers," wrote Roy Schepens, DOE manger of the Office of River Protection, in a letter Friday to CH2M Hill President Ed Aromi. "Nothing is more important to CH2M Hill than the health and safety of our workers," Aromi said in a prepared statement. In addition to considering whether the use of respirators should be permanently expanded, the contractor also is assessing monitoring. That includes the frequency of monitoring, an assessment of whether different or additional equipment is needed and whether additional personal monitoring of workers may be used. It's also looking at engineering changes that could have the potential to reduce or eliminate vapor exposures. In the early 1990s, when the content of tank vapors was unknown, more precautions were taken for workers. But with what CH2M Hill says is a better understanding of what is in the tanks, it had made use of respirators voluntary and had prohibited systems, similar to scuba gear, that provided supplied air. It found that tripping and decreased visibility with supplied air systems made their use hazardous. The new and, for now, temporary requirement that workers wear respirators in the tank farms is the result of both the anxiety of workers and an increase in tank vapor incidents, Turner said. The contractor has taken several other steps as worker concern has grown over exposure to tank vapors. The farms with 149 single-shell tanks, the oldest of the tanks, have been inspected, and any possible leaks from equipment into the air have been sealed with foam or tape. Instrument cabinets that sometimes have had vapors leak in at hose and pipe connections have had fans installed to dispel any buildup before workers enter. Two new types of respirators are being offered to employees that are more comfortable than traditional full-face air-purifying respirators. CH2M Hill is providing more training to workers, including a mandatory eight-hour class for workers with unescorted access to the tank farms. It educates workers on the content of the tanks, controls in place and the symptoms and effects of chemical exposure. The contractor also has tried raising the discharge vent on one tank to 15 feet above the ground, well out of the worker's breathing zone. Its effectiveness is being evaluated to see if the same approach should be used at other tanks. As CH2M Hill launches a fresh round of safety assessments and improvements, several agencies are watching. Investigations or evaluations of tank farm safety are being conducted by Washington state officials, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and DOE's Office of Independent Oversight and Safety Assurance. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 66 Tri-City Herald: Report critical of Hanford cleanup This story was published Tuesday, March 30th, 2004 By Les Blumenthal Herald Washington, D.C., bureau WASHINGTON -- Cleaning up almost 200 square miles of ground water contaminated with hazardous and radioactive waste at Hanford poses an "enormous challenge," according to a new report issued Monday that concludes the Energy Department's current cleanup program is inadequate. "It's going to be a huge controversy," said Gerald Pollet of Heart of America Northwest, which tracks the Hanford cleanup. "They (DOE) want to walk away from the issue of ground water contamination." Energy Department officials insisted, however, that all federal and state ground water standards are being met, along with deadlines in the Tri-Party Agreement that covers the reservation cleanup. "We have been working this issue aggressively," said Colleen Clark, a department spokeswoman in Richland. The report, released by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, said plumes of contamination beneath the reservation contain more than 1 million gallons of highly radioactive wastes and 440 billion gallons of radioactively contaminated fluids. Some of the plumes already have reached the Columbia River. The report said one plume of radioactive strontium flows into the Columbia River at levels 1,400 times the federal drinking water standard, and that other radioactive substances have been found in springs along the river's bank. Quoting an Environmental Protection Agency study, the report said current efforts to pump and treat the underground plumes have, so far, failed to stem the movement of the contamination. The report also said that without "adequate" monitoring information it was hard to determine how fast the contamination was moving toward the Columbia and Yakima rivers. Though the report noted "deliberate discharges" to the ground at the reservation had been halted, it said, according to whistleblowers, "leaking lines at the tank farms continue to result in the loss of millions of gallons of contaminated water every day." Department officials emphatically denied there were any leaking lines at the tank farms and said steps had been taken to ensure old lines were capped or replaced. "We are very careful about this," said Erik Olds, another department spokesman in Richland. Pollet and Tom Carpenter, a lawyer for the Government Accountability Project, said there also was concern that barrels of radioactive waste buried in unlined trenches prior to 1970 could start leaking and that any radioactive sludge left in the bottom of Hanford's underground storage tanks could pose a long-term threat to ground water. "They need to go after this piece by piece," Carpenter said of the ground water contamination. The department plans on cleaning up 13 sites that pose high risks to ground water, Clark said. In addition, the department will decommission old monitoring wells that can provide a pathway for contaminants to reach ground water, drill new monitoring wells, eliminate any leaking lines or standing water on the reservation and continue to pump and treatment efforts, she said. The report, based on an analysis of previous studies done by agencies such as the National Research Council and the General Accounting Office, for the most part did not break new ground. But its authors said it was the most comprehensive look at ground water contamination at Hanford and 12 other DOE sites to date. "It's not that it has found something new, but it's an indictment of current cleanup plans," Pollet said. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability is an umbrella group made up of about three dozen mostly local organizations that monitor activities at department nuclear sites across the country. The contamination includes such radioactive substances as plutonium, iodine, cesium, tritium and uranium, such heavy metals as mercury, nickel and chromium and a half-dozen or so volatile organized compounds, the report said. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 67 AP Wire: New York company awarded contract for new storage facility at SRS | 03/30/2004 | Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Krog Corp. has been tapped by the Department of Energy to build a new storage building at the former nuclear weapons complex, the Savannah River Site. The Orchard Park, N.Y.-based business was chosen Tuesday for the $55 million contract to build a second glass waste storage facility at the site. The contract runs through June 30, 2006. "We continue to make significant progress in cleaning up the Cold War legacy sites and we need the infrastructure to support this ongoing priority," said Jessie Roberson, head of DOE's environmental management program. At peak construction, the project could generate as many as 200 jobs. A processing facility already converts high-level waste into glass and seals it in steel canisters. The canisters are placed temporarily in the storage area before being shipped to a repository. ***************************************************************** 68 SFC: Total benefits: $15,000 to one worker; cost to government: $74 million [http://sfgate.com] NANCY ZUCKERBROD, Associated Press Writer (03-30) 15:43 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly four years after Congress passed a law to help ill nuclear weapons plant workers, the government has devoted $74 million to a compensation program that so far has sent only one check, worth $15,000, to one worker. The Energy Department told lawmakers during a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Energy Committee that it needs more time and money to do a better job. Some lawmakers instead suggested turning the program over to the Labor Department, which already is running another program for compensating weapons plant workers exposed to radiation. "Four years and one claim, that's wrong," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. Energy Department officials told lawmakers one worker from Washington state has received $15,000 in compensation so far. Officials did not reveal the worker's name. Of the roughly 22,000 eligible workers who have filed for help, only 372 have received word about whether evidence shows their illnesses are job-related, according to the department. Robert Card, the department's undersecretary, said the agency hopes to quicken the program's pace if Congress gives it another $33 million atop the roughly $26 million being spent on the program this year. Card said doing that and lifting a cap on fees paid to doctors who assess whether workers' illnesses are job-related would enable several hundred workers to get compensation payments before the end of the year. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the Energy Department was overpaying New Orleans-based Science and Engineering Associates, the contractor it hired to run the program. As an example, Grassley said, the company is billing the government $90 per hour for nurses who help process claims, an amount he said is more than twice what the Labor Department is paying for the same work. "Only in a government contract can people make so much money and perform so poorly," Grassley said. He said the company refused to provide him and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, details of its expenses in administering the program. Company CEO Bobby Savoie said in an interview with The Associated Press that the information Grassley was seeking is privileged. He said the company could be sued for publicly releasing such personnel data. "We kindly explained that in a letter to Sen. Grassley's staff, who then intentionally misled that hearing by stating that we were being uncooperative," Savoie said. He said his company has been a government contractor for 22 years and has opened up its books to government auditors on many occasions. Richard Miller, a policy analyst for the Government Accountability Project, a private watchdog group, said the Energy Department had spent $16.7 million on the contract through last November and continues to spend about $1 million a month with the firm. Savoie said he was not familiar with the specific figures. The 2000 law directed the Energy Department to help former workers submit claims with state workers' compensation authorities instead of directing its contractors to fight them. Ultimately, the government is the one on the hook for paying whatever claims are awarded. Most of the claims are from people who worked for contractors at Energy Department facilities in nine states: Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington. On the Net: Energy Department's Office of Worker Advocacy: tis.eh.doe.gov/advocacy [http://tis.eh.doe.gov/advocacy] / San Francisco Chronicle] ©2004 Associated Press ***************************************************************** 69 EA:Scientists report on the current state of INEEL's nuclear waste contamination EurekAlert! Public release date: 30-Mar-2004 Contact: Sara Uttech suttech@agronomy.org [suttech@agronomy.org] 608-273-8080 American Society of Agronomy [http://www.asa-cssa-sssa.org] Scientists report on the current state of INEEL's nuclear waste contamination From microorganisms to geophysical imaging, 17 research papers published in Vadose Zone Journal reveal the complex environmental problems at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory MADISON, WI, MARCH 30, 2004 – Although none of the cleanup, closure, and future monitoring issues at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) site has been fully resolved, extensive current research in a special section of the February edition of Vadose Zone Journal (VZJ), does address the subsurface and associated contamination issues at the INEEL. The research reported in this issue, as well as other research at the site form a strong basis of knowledge upon which cleanup and closure are being based. Papers present the current understanding of the subsurface at the INEEL site as well as specific contamination, characterization, and modeling issues. Originally, the INEEL site, which is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility, was used as a test-fire naval gunnery range during World War II. Following the war, the site was used for the development and demonstration of nuclear energy. In recent years, research at the INEEL has focused on environmental issues. For more than 50 years, nuclear energy research was conducted and the size of the site grew. The site, soon be renamed the Idaho National Laboratory, is in a remote location of the U.S. and therefore, it was also used for disposal of wastes containing radioactive and hazardous materials. Some of these compounds have traveled over 170 miles downward through fractured basalt and unconsolidated sediments to the underlying Snake River Aquifer, which is the major underground water resource in Idaho. The subsurface contamination has resulted from direct injection of waste into the aquifer and from compounds migrating from waste sites and disposal ponds located near the soil surface, through the vadose zone, which is the mostly unsaturated zone between the soil surface and the permanent groundwater table. The research papers contained in this special issue of VZJ include: + In the introductory paper, current cleanup activities and a look forward toward research activities at the INEEL are briefly discussed. There is also a brief overview of the papers in the special section of the Vadose Zone Journal about the INEEL site. + Three review-type papers discuss the geologic setting, the hydraulic and geochemical setting, and a conceptual model of water movement in the vadose zone. The conceptual model is largely based on prior field studies conducted at the INEEL and long-term monitoring data at the site. + Three papers address water flow through fractures, which are common in the basalt underlying the INEEL. Water recharge to the Snake River Aquifer and associated transport of contaminants is a major issue and focus of research at the INEEL. + Two papers deal with characterization and monitoring that has application to deep (thick) vadose zones, such as at the INEEL. In one paper, the authors discuss barometric effects on water level measurements and in the other paper, the authors discuss the use of advanced tensiometers. + A paper surveying advances in geophysical methods for imaging subsurface properties and processes at the INEEL and other DOE sites. Better geophysical imaging is important for developing effective cleanup strategies at contaminated sites. + Two papers address microorganisms in the vadose zone and a paper addressing effects of a management practice of applying brine to unpaved roadways in a waste management complex on subsurface chemical properties. + There is a paper describing the waste management complex, in a large-scale controlled experiment designed to simulate conditions at the complex. + Three papers describing modeling approaches to forecast fluid flow and contaminant transport in porous media. One of the papers discusses the need to evaluate conceptual uncertainty before evaluating parametric uncertainty when conducting regulatory-driven modeling. In the paper, the authors assess conceptual uncertainty of several processes for conditions at a major subsurface waste disposal area at the INEEL. The other two modeling papers present approaches that could be used at the INEEL or any other site. ### Future research at the INEEL site will continue to challenge the frontiers of environmental science and will contribute to a strengthening of humanity's ability to deal with complex environmental problems in areas throughout the world. Subscribers can access the full February issue of VZJ which includes this special section; nonsubscribers can access the abstracts, or pay a $10 per-article fee, or buy a $25, 14-day site pass, at: www.vadosezonejournal.org [http://www.vadosezonejournal.org] . Vadose Zone Journal is an electronic, peer-reviewed, international publication published by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), with the Geological Society of America as cooperator. The research and assessment needs of the vadose zone have grown in response to the pressure of increasing human impacts, prompting this new publication for a diverse range of scientists and engineers. The mission of the Vadose Zone Journal is to disseminate information about the physical, chemical, and biological processes operating in this zone and to facilitate science-based decision making and sustainable management of the vadose zone. The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) www.agronomy.org [http://www.agronomy.org] , the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) www.crops.org [http://www.crops.org] and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) www.soils.org [http://www.soils.org] are educational organizations helping their 10,000+ members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy, crop and soil sciences by supporting professional growth and science policy initiatives, and by providing quality, research-based publications and a variety of member services. [[ Back to EurekAlert! ]] ***************************************************************** 70 U.S. Newswire: DOE Awards Small Business Contract for Construction of New Glass Waste Storage Building at Savannah River Site 3/30/2004 12:38:00 PM To: National Desk, Energy Reporter Contact: Joe Davis, 202-586-4940, or Julie Petersen, 803-952-7690, both of the U.S. Department of Energy WASHINGTON, March 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that The Krog Corporation of Orchard Park, New York has been awarded a small business contract for the construction of a new Glass Waste Storage Building (GWSB) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). This is a DOE direct-managed, fixed price contract valued at approximately $55 million and covers a contract period from March 29, 2004, through June 30, 2006. This will be the second glass waste storage facility at the site. "We continue to make significant progress in cleaning up the Cold War legacy sites and we need the infrastructure to support this ongoing priority," said Jessie Roberson, DOE's Assistant SSecretary of Environmental Management. "We are also pleased that we were able to select a highly qualified, small business for this project." At peak construction the project could generate as many as 150 to 200 new jobs for the Savannah River Site economy. This award demonstrates the department's continued support of President George W. Bush's initiative to increase the number of direct contracts awarded to small businesses. The Krog Corporation is a small engineering and construction firm experienced in challenging construction projects incorporating quality assurance and safety considerations into its performance. Key personnel are experienced in working at SRS on projects such as the Tritium Extraction Facility and the Consolidated Incineration Facility. SRS's Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) vitrifies stored high-level waste and seals it in stainless steel canisters. These canisters are stored in nearby GWSB No. 1 for safe, temporary storage until their permanent transfer to a repository. Since DWPF began radioactive operations in 1996, over 1500 canisters have been filled, and GWSB No. 1 is nearing capacity. A second GWSB is required to achieve the Department's accelerated cleanup goals and meet DWPF's canister production rates. GWSB No. 2 will be constructed to meet federal and DOE nuclear safety design requirements, ensuring protection of future facility workers, the public, and the environment. It will consist of four underground vaults with a footprint of approximately 200 feet by 200 feet, store 2340 canisters and, at current DWPF production rates, provide storage capabilities until 2015. http://www.usnewswire.com/ [http://www.usnewswire.com/] /© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ ***************************************************************** 71 KTVB.COM: INEEL work delayed after digging reveals broken drum 01:49 PM MST on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 IDAHO FALLS -- Work crews stopped digging up radioactive waste at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory this month after one excavator discovered a shallow container. Crews expected the containers to be buried at least six feet deep. They planned to remove about four feet of soil before building a containment tent and removing the drums. But one broken drum was discovered only four feet deep. Workers recovered it with clean soil and suspended work. Officials say a new plan will be released May Third. The effort is part of the cleanup of the 97-acre Superfund site. The radioactive waste includes plutonium and volatile chemicals that could threaten the groundwater supply. ©2004 Belo Interactive Inc. ***************************************************************** 72 Oak Ridger: DOE defends record Story last updated at 11:51 a.m. on March 30, 2004 HOT TOPIC: Two reports critiques different aspects of program, including effectiveness and safety. By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] While a report issued Monday notes the history of environmental challenges on the Oak Ridge Reservation, the Department of Energy argues the document does little to illustrate the progress the agency has made against those challenges. On top of that, DOE's Inspector General's Office is preparing an audit that reportedly states the Energy Department has failed to keep an accurate count of worker injuries at nuclear waste cleanup sites across the United States, and its records often downplay the hazards associated with the work. Joe Davis, a spokesman for DOE headquarters, said he wasn't sure if Oak Ridge's cleanup work would be identified in the document, which might not be available until mid-April. However, Davis acknowledged that DOE management teams are in the process of providing the Inspector General's Office with specific issues that need to be addressed in the audit. DOE headquarters apparently disagreed with the findings outlined in a draft of the document. As for the environmental challenges, the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability's 250-plus page report claims major water supplies - including Tennessee's Clinch River - are at risk from radioactive and toxic contamination seeping from nuclear weapons production, research and testing facilities. In addition, the document questions the adequacy of DOE's current remediation techniques at more than a dozen sites across the United States, including Oak Ridge. The report suggests that a source of Oak Ridge contamination has been storage facilities of radioactive and hazardous materials including settlement ponds, seepage pits and trenches, inactive tanks, abandoned underground pipelines and surplus facilities. The settlement ponds and waste burial pits are leaking chemicals and other materials into the ground as well as affecting water sources, according to the document. However, Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for DOE's Oak Ridge Operations office, said Monday afternoon that local cleanup progress to date has resulted in the elimination of all significant off-site exposure potential. "These projects have included the excavation of wastes from selected disposal areas in Melton Valley and Bear Creek Valley; initiation of ground water interception and treatment activities at the Y-12 National Security Complex to reduce off-site releases; implementation of a comprehensive monitoring program for contaminated surface and groundwater; and prevention of groundwater use in contaminated off-site areas," said Wyatt. The DOE spokesman also said the federal agency has initiated new waste management practices that prevent creation of similar problems in the future. Wyatt said future plans call for a hydraulic isolation project for the remaining Melton Valley burial grounds to be completed in 2006, a massive effort to cleanup the Oak Ridge K-25 site for use as an industrial park by 2008, and a program to dispose of all accumulated low-level radioactive waste by 2005. "Plans are in place to ensure that any potential hazards remaining after completion of the Oak Ridge cleanup programs are monitored and restricted to ensure proper long-term stewardship needs are addressed," Wyatt said. The work mentioned by Wyatt is part of what's known as the "accelerated cleanup" plan for the federal government's Oak Ridge Reservation - home to Y-12, a weapons plant; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a science and energy research facility; and K-25 site, which already houses some private-sector companies. Wyatt also pointed out that public input is a key element of all DOE environmental management work. These efforts include the funding of multiple public oversight groups, frequent public meetings on topics of interest, accessibility of site records through the DOE Information Center in Oak Ridge, and other community outreach activities. ***************************************************************** 73 Oak Ridger: Red-flagged researcher home Story last updated at 12:18 p.m. on March 30, 2004 SITUATION: Two others are still stuck in Canada due to visa problems. By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] A quick end to a visa-related problem allowed Seok Yun to return to work Monday morning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and it means he'll get to witness the birth of his second child. "I'm really relaxed right now," Yun said during an interview Monday afternoon. The 36-year-old was one of three foreign postdoctoral researchers who were red-flagged while making arrangements to return to the United States last week from a meeting of the American Physical Society in Canada. Ridge National Laboratory. The 36-year-old was one of three foreign postdoctoral researchers who were red-flagged while making arrangements to return to the United States last week from a meeting of the American Physical Society in Canada. Because all three of them work in security-sensitive areas of science and technology, they faced what could've been a lengthy review by the U.S. Embassy before travel visas would be issued. Yun was warned the process could take as long as a month, which would've caused him to miss the birth of his second child. Instead of coming home to Oak Ridge, he would've been forced to stay in Canada or return to his native country of South Korea. "It would've been very scary not to come back to my wife," said Yun. His wife, Youngsuk Kim, is expected to give birth to their second child at the end of April. Other than the couple's 2 1/2-year old son, Abraham, no other relatives live in the United States. Before the visa problem arose, Yun said he expected to return home from his week-long stay in Canada on Sunday. He said officials from the U.S. Consulate, ORNL and Oak Ridge Associated Universities worked together to allow him to accomplish that. While Yun's situation had a speedy, but happy ending, the other two researchers - Feng Ye of China and Julian Velev of Bulgaria - are still in Canada. The U.S. Embassy was closed on Monday. "We didn't anticipate anything would happen yesterday," said Pam Bonee, spokeswoman for Oak Ridge Associated Universities, who added the situation is still being closely monitored. Through a program at ORAU, the three postdoctoral researchers were assigned to work at ORNL. Both Yun and Ye are doing research with the Condensed Matter Sciences Division while Valez is assigned to ORNL's Metals and Ceramics Division. Both Bonee and Lee Riedinger, ORNL's deputy director for Science and Technology, said this isn't the first time their organizations have experienced travel-related delays due to security. In fact, the three Oak Ridge postdoctoral researchers were warned they could experience problems before they left town. Terrorist-related events, especially the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, have resulted in tighter security policies when it comes to travel. And, while all three of the postdoctoral researchers have valid H-1b visas that allow them to work in the United States, that's different from the type of visa they needed to get back into the country. Riedinger said he heard that researchers from other U.S. institutions who attended the American Physical Society meeting were in "the same boat" as the Oak Ridge foreign nationals. The American Physical Society publishes the world's most prestigious and widely-read physics research journals, and the organization develops and implements programs in physics education and outreach. ***************************************************************** 74 lamonitor.com: Headline News Laboratory contracts fell in '03 The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor Money to subcontractors at Los Alamos National Laboratory was down $230 million last year in lab procurements, a decrease of 23.7 percent from the year before. But sensitive areas of small business and regional economic development fared relatively well. Total procurement dropped from more than $1.2 billion in FY2002 to $970.6 million in FY2003. But procurements from northern New Mexico fell by only 15 percent and declined in the state as a whole by 14 percent. The lab released a report Monday on its small business procurement program for last year, summarizing highlights of its efforts and trends for various categories of small businesses. The report noted procurements in FY2002 were significantly high, suggesting the decline should be interpreted in light of the previous year's spike. Lab officials had predicted the slump a year ago, due primarily to rehabilitation funds from the Cerro Grande Fire that peaked the year before. The lab was also preoccupied by a number of audits, reviews, temporary freezes and management reforms related to procurement issues that came to light in November and December 2003, the first months of the fiscal year. Still, the percentage of procurement flowing to small business was slightly higher in several categories than any year since 1998. Despite the significant drop in total procurement, the report said, "Nevertheless, the laboratory has maintained a very strong record in placing approximately 55 percent of its procurements with businesses in New Mexico and close to 45 percent of its procurements with small firms in New Mexico and across the country." The report said the initiatives and operational improvements carried out last year had originated with a laboratory-wide policy statement by Laboratory Director G. Peter Nanos in April 2003 that "required maximum small business utilization." "Over the years we've had a pretty dedicated effort to develop programs that introduce small businesses to the laboratory, because we are large and complex," said Teresa Trujillo, the lab's small business officer. Notable achievements for the year included targeted efforts with Native American businesses, a construction forum for small business contractors to help them anticipate upcoming projects and a "Fed day" trade fair to acquaint small businesses with other Federal procurement opportunities. Eight courses relevant to doing business with the lab were conducted in the region. New communications, a quarterly newsletter and an improved small business website were also highlighted. Included in the lab's outreach program last year was a Town Hall, conducted by Rich Marquez, the lab's associate director for administration. The meeting in Santa Fe was attended by 400 people. During that event, a number of small business people expressed concern that the lab's large sub-contractors were not using local small business contractors for their sub-sub contractors. "We have a lot of oversight over that out of this office. There are currently 50 major subs that we will expect will subcontract with the small businesses," Trujillo said. The report said, "The Laboratory has determined the need to validate the reported statistics of major subcontractors to ensure integrity of the data and will begin to require documentation to support reported statistics." Trujillo said, "I will ask them for documentation on local travel, auto supplies, automotive service and repairs. They know I will ask them for that list." The statistics are used to measure the lab's performance against socioeconomic goals established with the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Energy's manager for nuclear programs. Shares of the total pie earned by small businesses, including those owned by women, the disadvantaged, minorities and veterans, are identified separately in the lab's report. This is the second annual report, and Trujillo said the reports would continue into the future. Of the $384,291,820 million obligated in northern New Mexico last year, $329,709,381, about 86 percent was spent in Los Alamos, and $37,463,735 went to Santa Fe. Rio Arriba accounted for most of the remainder with $15,358,823. As for the future, Trujillo said, "From everything I've heard, we're going to level out. I'm anticipating approximately a straight line with no more spikes." The full report is publicly available online at http://sbo.lanl.gov. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 75 PISJ: INEEL officials release amended plan to clean up underground waste tanks Pocatello Idaho State Journal: By Emily Jones [ejones@journalnet.com] - Journal Writer ARCO - Officials at Idaho's nuclear site released an amended plan Monday to clean up several underground waste tanks. The four tanks, located in Test Area North at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, are filled with about 12,000 gallons of liquid waste and sludge contaminated with radioactive material, heavy metals and organic compounds collected at the site since the 1950s. According to the new plan, which amends a 1999 Record of Decision concerning the area, the tanks and surrounding contamination soil will be excavated and disposed of at INEEL's CERCLA Disposal Facility. The original plan called for treating the tanks at an off-site commercial facility in Washington. But the facility is no longer available, INEEL spokesman Joe Campbell said. To treat the waste, INEEL employees will use a process called chemical oxidation/reduction with stabilization. The process includes using a chemical similar to hydrogen peroxide to destroy chemical contaminants. The original plan included removing the waste before excavating the tanks, but further study indicates the tanks can be removed before removing the waste, reducing the potential for worker exposure, officials said. Campbell said the decision to use the chemical oxidation treatment was made after reviewing public comments on the proposal. Other alternatives included vitrification, or changing the waste into a glass-like material, and thermal desorption, where heat is used to separate volatile and non-volatile contaminants to be treated separately. Cleaning the tanks is required under a 1991 settlement agreement signed by the state of Idaho, Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. The recently amended cleanup plan was signed in 1999. Emily Jones [ejones@journalnet.com] covers regional issues, agriculture and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory for the Journal. She can be reached at 239-3175 or by e-mail at ejones@journalnet.com. [ejones@journalnet.com.] Copyright © 2004 Pocatello Idaho State Journal P O Box 431 Pocatello, ID 83204-0431 ***************************************************************** 76 U of A: Caustic soils at Hanford may lock up contaminants fast University of Arizona 30.03.2004 Soil particles lock up contaminants hundreds to thousands of times faster under the caustic conditions found beneath leaking toxic waste tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation than under normal soil conditions, researchers report. Understanding more about how contaminants such as radioactive cesium and strontium move through the soil under real-world conditions will help cleanup efforts at Hanford and other sites contaminated with nuclear waste. Previous research on the movement of soil contaminants had not replicated the extreme conditions found at the Hanford Site in Washington state. "There’s a lot of interest in trying to determine the best approach to dealing with the massive subsurface waste at Hanford," said research team leader Jon Chorover, an associate professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "Our work helps predict the migration of this stuff. Understanding how these contaminants move in the soil can help with remediation." Sunkyung Choi, a research associate at UA, will present the team’s finding at the 227th national meeting of the American Chemical Society. Choi’s presentation, "Cesium and strontium uptake to clay minerals and their weathering products in a caustic waste," will be given at 4:15 p.m Pacific time on Monday, March 29, in Grand Ballroom D of the Anaheim Marriott, 700 West Convention Way, Anaheim, Calif. Other members of the team include UA research specialist Mary Kay Amistadi and UA professor of materials science and engineering Supapan Seraphin. The research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. At the Hanford Site, high-level nuclear waste from the manufacture of weapons is stored in 177 tanks buried in the soil. The waste contains toxic and highly radioactive elements, including plutonium, cesium 137 and strontium 90, mixed in with other materials that make the liquids in the tanks extremely caustic. Weapons production began at the Hanford Site in 1944. Since then, 67 of the tanks have leaked, releasing highly radioactive liquid waste into the soil. Some of the contaminants have been found in the groundwater. Cost estimates for cleaning up the site run into the tens of billions of dollars. Figuring out exactly how the wastes move through the soil is difficult because the tanks’ contents are complex mixtures of chemicals. But the contaminated soils and toxic wastes materials are too dangerous for the scientists to work with directly. "If we were working with the concentrations of radioactivity that are out there, it would be lethal doses," Chorover said. "It would kill everyone in the lab." He and his team are doing the next best thing. They have created non-radioactive chemical mixtures that match those in the Hanford tanks and are studying how those chemicals move through uncontaminated Hanford soil collected near the tanks. In addition, to better understand how the different components of soil interact with the various chemicals, the team created some model soils to test with the Hanford-like chemical mixtures. Even so, geochemical processes in soils occur over years, so the research, too, must be conducted over years, not days or weeks. So to test how various liquid-and-soil mixtures interact over time, the researchers put the mixtures in small chemical-resistant plastic bottles and loaded the bottles onto mixers that look like mini-Ferris wheels. The wheels, each of which holds more than 100 bottles, turn the bottles end-over-end. The wheels keep turning day, after day, after day. One of the experiments has been going on more than 2 years. At set times, the researchers test the liquid and solid portions of bottles’ contents to see how chemicals from the liquid have reacted with the soil particles. To the researchers’ surprise, over time the contaminants in the experimental set-ups were bound by newly formed clays in the soil, forming unusual minerals called zeolites and feldspathoids. The mineral particles, about a thousand times smaller than a grain of sand, don’t dissolve easily and therefore keep the contaminants trapped in the soil. "We find the contaminants are remarkably slow to redissolve and appear to be more stable than initially thought," said Chorover. That stability may keep the contaminants from leaching deeper into the soil and the groundwater. The team also found that the various clays from the soil and the various contaminants react differently with one another. Although learning that contaminants get sequestered in solid particles seems like good news, Chorover is cautious. "We really don’t know the lifetimes of these particles. We’ve shown it in the lab, but we don’t know what’s happening in the field," he said. "We do know contaminants are migrating through the soil in the field, so these laboratory results don’t explain all of what we see at Hanford." The team’s next step is figuring out how stable the solids are and how long they last in the environment. More information: www.arizona.edu/ 30.03.2004 | Jon Chorover | Source: EurekAlert! | CMS by NETZGUT ***************************************************************** 77 ENN: Health officials say tests would detect Rocky Flats pollution Tuesday, March 30, 2004By Robert Weller, Associated Press DENVER  State health officials looking into allegations of environmental misdeeds at the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant said Monday their tests would detect any signs of dangerous pollution levels lingering at the site. The officials are reviewing site plans after publication of a book claiming plutonium-contaminated waste was burned illegally and contaminated water was sprayed around the plant, which made plutonium triggers from the 1950s until 1989. "The department is confident that the comprehensive soil sampling that has occurred and continues to be conducted at the site today would identify any dispersed environmental contamination," said Douglas H. Benevento, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. In a letter to Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, Benevento said soil tests completed in areas where contaminated water was sprayed showed plutonium concentrations far lower than levels that must be treated. Former Rocky Flats worker Jacque Brever said she believes there are many forms of plutonium missing from the state health department's list of chemicals to be looked for at the site. Udall asked state and federal health officials to look into the claims raised by the book, The Ambushed Grand Jury: How the Justice Department Covered Up Government Nuclear Crimes and How We Caught Them Red Handed, which was written by the foreman of a grand jury that investigated activity at Rocky Flats. Source: Associated Press ENN is a registered trademark of the Environmental News Network Inc. Copyright © 2004 Environmental News Network Inc. ***************************************************************** 78 ANA: Danger Lurks Below Alliance for Nuclear Accountability Water Report: Danger Lurks Below, The Threat to Major Water Supplies from Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Plants The Threat to Major Water Supplies from Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Plants April 2004 The following chapters are posted in pdf only. + Table of Contents & Preface + Executive Summary Technical Background + 1. Hydrogeology, Aquifers & Geology + 2. Health Effects + Health Effects Table Site-by-Site Profiles + 3. Fernald + 4. Hanford Reservation + 5. Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory + 6. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory + 7. Los Alamos National Laboratory + 8. Mound Facility + 9. Nevada Test Site + 10. Oak Ridge Reservation + 11. Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant + 12. Pantex Plant + 13. Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant + 14. Rocky Flats Site + 15. Savannah River Site Overview, Conclusions and Recommendations + 16. Cleanup Overview + 17. Remediation + 18. Longterm Stewardship + 19. Conclusions and Recommendations + 20. Glossary Report prepared by Radioactive Waste Management Associates - www.rwma.com [http://www.rwma.com/] For the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability - www.ananuclear.org [http://www.ananuclear.org/] Supported by a grant from the Citizen's Monitoring and Technical Assessment Fund - www.mtafund.org [http://www.mtafund.org/] TOP | HOME [http://www.ananuclear.org/index.html] ***************************************************************** 79 [du-list] DU in the news 30th March '04 Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 20:22:24 -0800 KUWAITI minister leaves for US to attend non-NATO ally ceremony SpaceDaily - USA ... Major non-NATO allies are eligible for priority delivery of defense material and the purchase, for instance, of depleted uranium anti-tank rounds. ... <http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040328151106.icnr213n.html> IT'S the end of the world as we know it Vive Le Canada - Canada ... Depleted uranium is already used in "bunker busters" and armour-piercing weaponry, and there seems to be no official acknowledgement of the costs to health ... <http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php?story=20040326120338159> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ---------- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. ***************************************************************** 80 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 14:16:26 -0800 (PST) IRAN ’ s Nuclear Ambitions Islam Online - UK Iran’s recent decision to halt all United Nations inspections of its nuclear sites for the next month emphasizes Tehran’s struggle to preserve its ... See all stories on this topic: WCC to Meet with Non-Nuclear NATO States Regarding Disarmament Worldwide Faith News (press release) - USA ... 22 791 6153 - Mobile: +41 79 507 6363 jcm@wcc-coe.org 7 www.wcc-coe.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 29/03/2004 - pr-04-03 WCC to encourage non-nuclear NATO states ... HALTING the nuclear black market San Francisco Chronicle - San Francisco,CA,USA Globalization and the Cold War's end have given rise to a nuclear black market with chilling implications for the future of arms control. ... See all stories on this topic: SHOWBIZ Welcome Planned for Nuclear Whistle Blower The Scotsman - Edinburgh,Scotland,UK British actress Susannah York will lead a delegation greeting Israeli nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu when he is released from an Israeli prison next ... See all stories on this topic: ROK, China to resolve nuclear crisis on Korean Peninsula Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam ... of Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon wrapped up his visit to China on Tuesday, assured that Beijing will continue efforts to resolve nuclear issue on the ... See all stories on this topic: NORTH Korea Expresses Interest in Compensation for Nuclear Freeze Donga - Seoul,South Korea ... North Korea has expressed intentions to accept the US’ demand for ‘complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling (CVID)’ of its nuclear programs.”. ... See all stories on this topic: NO nuclear testing Salt Lake Tribune - Salt Lake City,UT,USA ... George to screen people for radiation-caused cancers, the Bush administration is getting the Nevada Test Site ready for more nuclear detonations. ... See all stories on this topic: COLD War nuclear scientists warm to Scotland The Scotsman - Edinburgh,Scotland,UK RUSSIAN nuclear officials have turned to Scotland for help to keep weapons expertise out of the hands of rogue nations. With thousands ... See all stories on this topic: NO nuclear sanctions on Pakistan Washington Times - Washington,DC,USA WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- Activities of a network of nuclear proliferators do not qualify Pakistan for nuclear-related sanctions, a senior US official said ... REPORT: Nuclear sites put drinking water sources at risk USA Today - USA WASHINGTON — Major sources of drinking water remain at risk of serious contamination from the nation's nuclear weapons complexes, despite billions in federal ... See all stories on this topic: 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/ ***************************************************************** 81 EcoDefense: Russian Nuclear Watch Nr 3/2004 From: "Vladimir Slivyak" Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 05:45:17 +0400 Russian Nuclear Watch * March 2004 * N 3 (21) CONTENTS THE END FOR RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF ATOMIC POWER 12 years of public protests resulted in disbanding of the ministry that lobbied nuclear industry interests RUSSIA RE-THINK STRATEGY IN CIVIL NUCLEAR INDUSTRY - 10 NEW REACTORS BY 2020. BUT STILL NOT REALISTIC Previous plan included 20 to 40 new reactors to be built in next 15 years JAPAN HELPS TO RE-START CONSTRUCTION OF RUSSIAN BREEDER REACTOR BN-800 is a real threat for over 4,5 million people, its construction was frozen in 1988 after mass protests. But in the framework of the US-Russian plutonium disposition plan, breeder construction may be continued IT'S TURN OF FLOATING 'CHERNOBYLS' India, China and Indonesia dreaming of getting Russian floating nuclear plant while Russian region in the north-west abruptly rejected the project "MAYAK" IS BANKRUPT - DEBT MAY GROW UP TO A BILLION RUBLES IN 2004 Head of reprocessing facility blame all problems on media, teachers and medicians and appeals to Russian president CHUKOTKA: PLAYING THE GAME OF HAZARD Minatom said it will not fund Bilibino nuclear plant safety and will not extend it's life-time. The only problem that extremely dangerous reactors will be in operation for another 5-15 years _______________________________________________ THE END FOR RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF ATOMIC POWER 12 years of public protests resulted in disbanding of the ministry that lobbied nuclear industry interests Historic changes in Russian government, called "administrative reform" by just re-elected president Vladimir Putin, has put nuclear industry in troubled position. Both analysts and environmental activists expresses similar conclusion of the reform: it limits political influence of nuclear industry. Ministry of atomic power of Russia (Minatom) is now disbanded, and replaced by Federal Agency of atomic power that is part of the Ministry for industry and energy. The Agency will be headed by Alexandr Rumyantsev, former minister. The responsibilities of ex-Minatom will be divided between two existing ministries. Nuclear weapon related issues will be among responsibilities of the Ministry of defense (with $12 billion budget) headed by Sergey Ivanov and controlled by President directly. Non-weapon issues, such as construction and decommissioning of reactors, nuclear fuel cycle, science, are in competence of Ministry of industry and energy (total budget of $1,5 billion) headed by Victor Khristenko. That ministry formally includes the Federal Agency of nuclear energy established instead of Minatom. The same ministry presently also includes Gosatomnadzor or GAN (Federal service for nuclear regulation) which headed by Andrey Malyshev, ex-deputy minister for atomic power. Minatom was established 12 years ago and remained the most publicly criticized ministry in the history of Russia. (This is short version of the article. Full article will appear in "Nuclear Monitor" issue 607, contact publishers at: wiseamster@antenna.nl) _______________________________________________ RUSSIA RE-THINK STRATEGY IN CIVIL NUCLEAR INDUSTRY - 10 NEW REACTORS BY 2020. BUT STILL NOT REALISTIC Previous plan included 20 to 40 new reactors to be built in next 15 years Rosenergoatom, state-owned company operating nuclear plants in Russia, plans to invest $800 million in developing and building nuclear plants in Russia in 2004, Anatoly Kirichenko, director of the company's international department, told Interfax news agency. Kirichenko said that Rosenergoatom annually invests up to $1 billion in developing and building nuclear power plants. He said that the company used "exclusive" state funds on these projects, although it is interested in other sources of financing also. According to the official, private investors are out of nuclear business so far. In August-September 2004 the company plans to launch new reactor No. 3 at Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant (VVER-1000 design) and that this year work will continue on Kursk-5 (RBMK-1000) and Volgodonsk-2 (VVER-1000). Kirichenko added that over the next 15 years the company plans to launch a total of 10 nuclear power units - 5 before 2010 and 5 more before 2020. This is totally different estimation from what was included in "Strategy for development of nuclear power industry for 2000-2050", approved by Russian government in 2000. Previous estimation was at the level of 20 to 40 new nuclear reactors by 2020. In 1992 Russian strategy of civil nuclear development included construction of 26 new reactors through the next 10 years. None of it was built before 1996 when strategy was changed. New plan of Russian government included construction of 16 reactors. Up to 2004 only one unit put in operation (Rostov-1). In fact, poor economic situation in Russia is not the only reason for slow development in nuclear industry. Public dislike for nuclear power still prevent industry from getting new investment from private sector. Rosenergoatom's 10 nuclear plants have 30 reactors with a total capacity of 22.2 million kilowatts, or 11% of Russia's production capacity. Nuclear plants accounted for 15.6% of total Russian electricity production in 2002. At the same time, about 6 reactors has its operational resource expired, needs expensive repairs and must be shut down in the closest 5 years. By 2010, 19 of 30 Russian reactors will have its resource expired. _______________________________________________ JAPAN HELPS TO RE-START CONSTRUCTION OF RUSSIAN BREEDER REACTOR BN-800 is a real threat for over 4,5 million people, its construction was frozen in 1988 after mass protests. But in the framework of the US-Russian plutonium disposition plan, breeder construction may be continued Russia and Japan this year will launch full-scale experiments in the field of use of weapons-grade plutonium, which appeared as a result of US-Russian process of disarmament. The Japanese Ministry of Education and Science declared experts of the two sides have successfully completed the initial tests stage and are currently developing a bilateral agreement on further cooperation. The project is being implemented by the Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR), located in Dimitrovgrad (Volga river region, Russia) and the Japanese Nuclear Fuel Cycle Development Institution, which is a state-run organisation. NIIAR is well-known in Russia for its illegal activities of dumping liquid radioactive waste into the underground waters. Last year, local environmental activists went to court in order to push nuclear facility to stop polluting environment. Tokyo in 2002 promised to allocate about 100 million dollars for the scrapping of excess weapons-grade plutonium in Russia. This process is part of the US-Russia agreement to utilize 68 tons of weapons-grade plutonium signed in 2000. While disarmament process is welcomed by civil society, the way two countries decided to get rid of plutonium is highly dangerous. So-called mixed oxides of uranium and plutonium, or MOX fuel, will be fabricated and then used in civil nuclear reactors that were designed for another type of uranium fuel. Activists on both sides argue the plan may lead to accidents and plutonium pollution, also includes transportation of plutonium for long distances when dangerous material will be vulnerable to theft and terrorist atacks. Moreover, plan is too expensive and there are cheaper and safer alternatives. But Japan still invests into Russian plutonium program conducting tests not only at troubled NIIAR, but also at the Beloyarsk nuclear plant where Russia 's only breeder reactor BN-600 is in operation. That tests are entirely funded by Japan. There are strong reasons for conducting tests outside of Japan because its own breeder/plutonium program is frozen since the accident at Mondzu reactor in 1995. Working in Russia, in case of new accident during the tests, Japanese industry would not be responsible for another failure. After numerous scandals with falsification of nuclear safety data by reactor operators, and accidents happened through the last 5 years, Japanese public is too sensitive to new failures. According to official information, Russia and Japan started preliminary experiments with plutonium fuel at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant two years ago. The existing methods of producing MOX are extremely costly, Russian and Japanese experts are working on developing other ways to fabricate fuel. At the same time, Russian authorities announced that new reactor (BN-800 design) will be built at Beloyarsk nuclear plant and Japan agreed to fund part of construction costs, according to Russian state-run company Rosenergoatom. BN-800 at Beloyarsk plant is one of the most protested nuclear power projects in Russia. In 1988 environmental activists forced authorities to suspend construction of reactor which getting re-started presently and expected to be finished by 2009-2010. Many local residents believe, new reactor that will use plutonium present a great danger to a region with 4,5 million population. Since summer 2003, nearly 10 actions of protest happened in Ekaterinburg, closest big city to the Beloyarsk nuclear plant. Activists marked by protests against reactor construction latest parliamentary and presidential elections, also elections of governor. Safety record of Beloyarsk nuclear plant can not make anyone optimistic. For the history of this plant, at least 27 large leakages occurred, and at least 14 fire accidents. According to local scientists, in late 1990s traces of plutonium were found in the environment near Beloyarsk nuclear plant. On September 9, 2000, plant nearly exploded when local grid stopped energy supply and the plant's reserve generators appeared not functional. _______________________________________________ IT'S TURN OF FLOATING 'CHERNOBYLS' India, China and Indonesia dreaming of getting Russian floating nuclear plant while Russian region in the north-west abruptly rejected the project In 2004 Minatom will take decision on whether to build first floating nuclear power plant in Russia. "In 2004 we'll decide on this project where to go further", - minister of nuclear energy Alexandr Rumyantsev told in an interview to RIA Novosti, state news agency. - "Political will and money are needed for the project. Questions related to the floating NPP project are currently being under discussion". At the same time, Rumyantsev stressed that "as long as there is no political will to attract other than state funds, the discussion is going viscously". Two countries, India and China, are seriously interested in the project of a floating NPP, and Indonesia is indicating its long term interest. The floating NPP operates on the base of KLT-40 "second-hand" unit, previously used at submarines, that uses uranium with higher level of enrichment compared to civil nuclear power plants. According to Ministry of atomic power (Minatom), floating NPP has capacity of 77 íWt, can be constructed for 3-5 years and costs $150 million (while $200-300 million is estimated by non-Minatom experts) and return investment through 13 years. As newspaper "Gazeta" reported, Russia is exploring possibilities of constructing a floating NPP in India. It will likely be protested by many Western countries as India hasn't still joined the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In 1992, when India conducted its nuclear tests, Nuclear Suppliers Group banned any nuclear cooperation with India. Although, now Russia is building two units at Kudankulam NNP in Tamilnad, Southern India. But this construction is regulated by international agreement signed before the ban was introduced. When this project is completed, Russia must not cooperate with India for as long as it rejects NPT. India must also put all of its nuclear facilities under the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) control. Despite the ban, possibility of constructing a floating NPP in India was discussed at Russian-Indian negotiations in Minatom in January during Atala Bihari Vajpai, Indian premier minister, visited to Moscow. Earlier, Kanval Sibal, the first deputy head of ministry of foreign affairs, stated that India is interested in purchasing new civil nuclear reactors from Russia. NPT will not be important as long as floating nuclear reactors will be not sold to India, but just leased. Meanwhile, US president has recently urges not to supply equipment to the countries that have not signed the Treaty. USA will most probably actively object to the supply of the floating NPP to India, and Minatom might find itself in the situation similar to the one in Iran. Worth to remind, USA have successfully holding Minatom back from supplying fuel to and launching Busher NPP already for over a year. But Russia can only start constructing the NPP for another country when the first floating power plant is constructed and put in operation inside Russia. According to Aleksandr Polushkin, deputy director of Roseneroatom (state-owned company operating nuclear reactors), first "a pilot model of NPP should prove its operational reliability". Financing of the project in Russia is also a problem. Initially it will be financed by Rosenergoatom, but company will hardly be able to finance the construction on its own. Therefore a possibility of getting a loan under the governmental guarantee is considered. Once the funds found, the project may be implemented in 3 years, and then Russia can come out to the external market with nuclear plant-ships. According to statement by Rosenergoatom, in 2004 it will allocate about $1 million for the project development. China is ready to finance the construction of the first NPP, although Minatom is going to reject this proposal because it includes the construction of floating nuclear plant at Chinese factories. Contrary to the skeptical Russian prognosis, China believes they have almost reached the agreement on constructing the floating NPP. After negotiations in the middle of 2003, Chinese representatives confirmed "a great probability of signing a contract on constructing the floating NPP and finding a positive solution over funding for the project". The third candidate to order the floating plant, Indonesia, is more cautious and not offering credits. At the negotiations in April 2003 a possible building of the floating NPP was considered for 2010-2015 provisionally. The idea of importing floating NPPs has several weak points. First, nuclear fuel with higher uranium enrichment than usual fuel for a commercial nuclear reactor automatically brings forward a concern of nuclear proliferation and terrorist threat. Such fuel can be used for making quite powerful 'dirty bomb'. Moreover, the floating NPP can be a convenient target for terrorists since it's located on the water where its protection is hard to keep efectively and expensive to ensure. Furthermore, as environmentalists say, the project will result in huge amounts of radioactive waste part of which can appear in the water which would lead to contamination of the coastal areas. In the end of 2002 Minatom proposed to build the floating NPP in Kaliningrad region, north-west of Russia, but the local authorities abruptly rejected this idea and made a public statement on extreme danger of the floating NPP. _______________________________________________ "MAYAK" IS BANKRUPT - DEBT MAY GROW UP TO A BILLION RUBLES BY THE END OF 2004 Head of reprocessing facility blame all problems on media, teachers and medicians and appeals to Russian president "In 2003, the nuclear reprocessing facility "Mayak" put incredible efforts and managed to avoid bankruptcy. By the end of 2004 its bank credit debts are expected to rich 1 billion Rubles ($35 million)." This statement was made by Vitaly Sadovnikov, "Mayak" director general, at an annual conference of facility personnel in Ozersk, Chelyabinsk region of Russia. "Mayak" is the only Russian spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility, a persistent environmental pollutant and violator of Russian legislation. The date when the director general made his statement was a 55th anniversary since facility first produced plutonium for nuclear bomb. Everything changes today; environmental problems are growing rapidly, the facility is bankrupt, but still under the regime of total secrecy. At the same time, there are facts of thefts, misappropriations, drunken personnel at work - all that happening at "Mayak". In 2003, 35 workers were detained at 'Mayak" when trying to take various properties out of the facility, and about 50 workers were detained drunk. Import of spent fuel: 127 tons in 2003, 0 in 2004 According to Sadovnikov, in 2003 only about 127 tons of spent nuclear fuel reprocessed at "Mayak", while costs of reprocessing increased twice. Projected capacity of "Mayak" is 400 tons per year. 3 trains with foreign nuclear waste (two from Ukrainian Rovno NPP, and one from Bulgarian Kozloduy NPP) arrived. Funds were also received under HEU-LEU, Russia-USA agreement on turning highly-enriched uranium from weapons into low-enriched for use at civil nuclear reactors. "Mayak" also exported small quantities of plutonium-238. As director general said, in 2004 "Mayak" is to face more difficulties. Because new decree regulating the import of spent nuclear fuel was adopted by Russian government in 2003, and because inability of Ukraine to sign an intergovernmental agreement, "Mayak" will probably not receive foreign spent nuclear fuel from its permanent long standing partner, Rovno NPP. It's estimated in 2004 "Mayak" will reprocess no more than 58 tons of spent nuclear fuel. Sadovnikov also reported that 35 % of technological shortcomings at the complex are caused by technical reasons, and equipment is over 60 % worn-out. Environmental violations 'Mayak" is scandalously known in regard with numerous violations over nature protecting legislation. The facility's experts so far could not solve environmental problems arisen as a result of regular dumping liquid radioactive waste into the Techa river and the explosion of liquid radioactive waste storage (1957). Moreover, illegal practice of dumping radioactive waste into the environment was continued in 2003, despite the fact that Russian legislation ban such activities. In the beginning of 2003, Gosatomnadzor (or GAN - Russian nuclear regulatory body) decided to suspend the "Mayak" license for reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel because facility regularly dump radwaste. In March 2003r, "Mayak" submitted a complex plan on waste reductions which resulted in resuming the license. Although, as Sadovnikov stated at the conference, in 2003 the plan was not fulfilled. And, consequently, legislation is being violated again. Nevertheless, GAN is not in a hurry to suspend the license again. One of reasons is that this body is now headed by Andrey Malyshev, former deputy-minister from Minatom, and not by previous director Yury Vishnevsky who dared to take measures against further violations over legislation by the "Mayak" management. Mr. Vishnevsky was forced to leave GAN shortly after the story with suspending of license and likely as a result of that story. It's a mistake to believe "Mayak" is really planning to stop dumping waste. The facility management is focusing not on stopping contamination but on changing the status of lakes where radioactive waste dumped. Karachay and Staroe Boloto lakes became open radioactive storages after 40 years of "use" by "Mayak", containing billions of cubic metrs of low- and medium-level radwaste. Now facility management asks Moscow to change official status of lakes - "technical water reservoir" instead of "natural lake". The difference is that dumping radwaste into "technical reservoir" is totally legal, but dumping to "natural lake" is criminal act. Media, teachers and medicians are enemies "Enemies who hinder to hold the nuclear shield" are mass-media, medicians and teachers of Ozersk city, Sadovnikov said. The mass-media writes "everything wrong", medicians and teachers of Ozersk recently dared to publish a letter about importing of nuclear waste. In the letter posted to the web site of Ozersk (www.0zersk.ru), the residents wrote to the Russian president that they "are not willing to threat the environment: and demand to ban import of spent nuclear fuel to Ozersk", that they are tired of humiliations related to checkouts at control posts that are the only entrance to the city. Ozersk is still secret city where armed soldiers protect the entrances and check documents. Director general read the letter out, urged his colleagues "not to allow "enemy" ideas to win", and told them about "horrors" they may expect if the closed city of Ozersk will be opened. The main horror would be to live "like everyone else". In the end of his ardent speech, having the workers completely scared by internal enemies, ruthless media, and "shameless doctors and teachers" dared to appeal to the government, Vitaly Sadovnikov in a couple of minutes managed to convince 400 people that it's necessary to write an open letter to the president. However strange it is, the matter of this document is not mentioning the environmental catastrophe. In open letter the workers urged the president not to open "the closed autonomous territorial unit of Ozersk" . Obviously, in order not to be eaten up by the furious media, medicians, and teachers, while at the same time to let Russians stay unaware of a real scale of radioactive threat. Better sleep when know little. _______________________________________________ CHUKOTKA: PLAYING THE GAME OF HAZARD Minatom said it will not fund Bilibino nuclear plant safety and will not extend it's life-time. The only problem that extremely dangerous reactors will be in operation for another 5-15 years Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant in Chukotka region, Far East of Russia, will not be funded after its extended lifetime expires. Bilibino NPP units are about working out their resource, but last year the local authorities initiated the decision not to close the NPP down but to prepare documentation to extend its lifetime period for other 5-15 years. In February 2004 Russian Ministry of atomic power assured it will be the last time that reactors' lifetime is extended. Safety programs at Bilibino NPP already excluded from fudning list of "Nuclear and Radioactive Safety of Russia" national program which considers spending of 6 billion Rubles ($250 million) in 2000-2006. The decision to shut down the old and unsafe NNP must definitely be welcomed. Although, Minatom and Chukotka authorities are playing with fire while extending lifetime of the reactors that were not designed for such a long operational period. Units at Bilibinsk NPP (EGP-6 design) are a completely out-of-date nuclear technology, put in operation around 1973. There are no reactors of that type operating elsewhere in Russia, nor abroad. -- Published by Ecodefense, Russian branch of NIRS-WISE Post address: Ecodefense Nizhegorodskaya 70/2-5 109052 Moscow, Russia e-mail: ecodefense@online.ru WWW http://www.antiatom.ru Editor: Vladimir Sliviak Editor: Alisa Nikulina Translator: Galina Ragouzina ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************