***************************************************************** 04/09/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.86 ***************************************************************** 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 Iraq Diaries: All things Radioactive 2 Peoples' Daily: Nuclear reactor shut down due to malfunction in S.Ko 3 AU ABC: North Korea says nuclear stand-off "at brink of war" 4 asahi.com: Formal talks to start this month 5 US: Colorado Daily: Caldicott to speak Saturday 6 US: Daily Press OUR OPINION: Nuclear resurgence 7 US: Las Vegas SUN: Reliant Goes to Court Over Energy Crisis 8 AU The Age: US offered nukes to India - PM NUCLEAR REACTORS 9 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting of the 10 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Subcommittee Meet 11 US: NRC: Idaho State University Research Reactor Facility Environmen 12 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Coalition claims VY workers forced to work 13 US: USA Today: Risks are too great (Reactor Safety) 14 Guardian Unlimited: Russia finds home for floating reactor 15 US: toledo blade: NRC lauds safety focus at Davis-Besse 16 US: SF Chronicle: Nuclear reactor at UC Berkeley called earthquake s 17 Xinhuanet: US wants to hold DPRK nuclear working group talks this mo 18 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of Oyster Cree 19 US: The Mercury: NRC gives power plant high marks for safety 20 US: Newsday.com - Proposal: Brookhaven lab to clean up radioactive 21 US: PRN: Oconee Nuclear Station Receives Notice of Violation and Fin 22 US: Las Vegas SUN: N.Y. Lab to Clean Radioactive Reactor NUCLEAR SAFETY 23 [du-list] A year later - jo wilding diaries - 8th April 24 US: [du-list] Twin Cities AAP Contamination 25 [DU-WATCH] IRAQ: JAPANESE ANTI-DU GROUP TAKEN HOSTAGE 26 US: [du-list] US Whitewashes Warthogs Killing Marines 27 US: FR: DOL: Office of Worker's Compensation Programs 28 The Age: Russia's Pacific nuclear warning 29 US: palm beach post: Union: Wackenhut lax on nuclear security 30 US: CBS 2: Vets: Health Problems Linked To Uranium 31 US: Las Vegas SUN: Nuke Site Workers Fear Health Problems NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 32 US: [BATN] Plan moves nuclear waste by rail to Nevada dump 33 US: Deseret news: Firm tries again for waste permit 34 Las Vegas RJ: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: DOE defends hauling nuclear waste by r 35 Las Vegas RJ: Extension sought on comment period 36 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Welcome to our world 37 Las Vegas SUN: $2 million OK'd for legal battle against dump 38 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca rail route riles ranchers 39 Las Vegas SUN: Lawyers may spend $12 mil. for Yucca license preparat 40 US: NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste to Meet April 20 - 41 Pahrump Valley Times: County split on Yucca consultants NUCLEAR WEAPONS 42 BBC: Marchers revive nuclear protest 43 US: Las Vegas SUN: Nuke protesters prepare for annual Test Site vigi 44 AFP: Peace trekkers set off for British nuclear arms facility US DEPT. OF ENERGY 45 Tri-City Herald: 2 officials leaving Fluor Corp. 46 DAILY BRUIN: Protest opposes nuclear labs 47 Oak Ridger: EPA's talk on Y-12 uranium report nixed - for now 48 Oak Ridger: Marketing the past ... and Oak Ridge's future? 49 lamonitor.com: Local woman chair for CAB 50 lamonitor.com: LANL exempted on sealed source disposal OTHER NUCLEAR 51 Google News Alert - nuclear 52 Pahrump Valley Times: Uncle Sam's unwelcome visit ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Iraq Diaries: All things Radioactive [http://electronicIraq.net Anna Bachmann, Electronic Iraq, 8 April 2004 Just after my arrival in Iraq several weeks ago, I located the new Iraqi Ministry of Environment and talked to Dr. Ali Azziz, the Ministry Advisor. I spoke with him about my interest in looking at the issues of Depleted Uranium and radiation exposure at the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Facility just south of Baghdad (this facility was looted after the war because the U.S. Military failed to secure it. Many barrels of yellow cake uranium and other materials were dumped at the site and the barrels removed to be used by community members for things like water and food storage). Dr. Azziz told me that if I was interested in Radiation issues and Tuwaitha, I should talk to Dr. Bushra at the Radiation Center in Jadryia neighborhood of Baghdad. I have since visited Dr. Bushra and her facility about a half a dozen times and each visit opens up completely new questions. Imagine, if you will, the upscale neighborhood of Jadryia filled with large, comfortable homes of brick and stone, here you will find the Radiation Center located right next to a small community hospital. When you walk into the facility there is a sign in Arabic that includes the English letters, "W.H.O." The World Health Organization is funding the rebuilding of the Center. As you pass the sign you walk into a construction site filled with bricks, cement, and paint spattered workers. "This is the Radiation Center?" I ask. Apparently so. We are ushered into a small, unfinished room for a search of our belongings and a quick pat down (my translator calls this her daily "massage"), then we are led through the unfinished building, dodging workers carrying fresh cement, up some stairs covered in dirt and brick dust to the roof. There is a roof-top structure that contain a few rooms with desks, a computer and several men and woman professionally-dressed. These are the staff of the Radiation Center. We are introduced to Dr. Bushra, a plumb, pleasant looking woman wearing hijab (head scarf) who speaks reasonably good English. And so begin the odyssey of pleasant discussions on the unpleasant topic of radiation and Depleted Uranium that stretched over the course of the next six weeks. The Radiation Center was started in 1971 and is in charge of all sources of radioactivity in the country of Iraq. This includes any radioactive materials in hospitals, universities and industry as well as all radioactive waste. They are responsible for routine and emergency environmental monitoring for radiation. Dr. Bushra, like many on the staff, is a physicist and has been with the Center for many years. She was on the original World Health Organization survey team that did an assessment of the community around the Tuwaitha Nuclear Facility after the war and the looting. This original survey lasted three months (May - June) and included sampling of soil, food, vegetation and water. It also included, Bushra says, a health assessment for 4,000 community members. And I'm in luck, she tells me, they are just about to start a follow-up survey and I'm more than welcome to tag along. I can't believe my luck or how open Dr. Bushra is to talking to me. But it turns out that it is not quite that simple. The promised survey trip invite takes several weeks to materialize and when it finally occurs it is more like a guided tour than an actual survey. "And here on your right we have the earthen walls of the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Facility. Oh, on on your left is the impoverished village of Jeser-Diyala." We stop at a small school where a Ministry of Health team is taking blood samples from the children. We ask one of the team members if they are seeing any health effects from the radiation that this community was exposed to. We are told that there are a lot of health problems in the community made only more complicated by the problems of poverty, poor nutrient, hygiene and sanitation. But with radiation exposure there are more long-term effects. Within two years, we are told, we can expect to see a rise in Leukemia in these villages. But Dr. Bushra's rhetoric is always positive. "There is no problem," she assures us, "It's all taken care of." So persistent is this line of Dr. Bushra's I try to ask her more detailed questions on the issue of Depleted Uranium. Here is a typical conversation: Anna: "I understand that the Coalition Forces used Depleted Uranium-tipped munitions in Baghdad. Have you found evidence of this?" Bushra: "No, no evidence. There is no problem." Anna: "But I have a report here that the former Ministry of Planning was struck by Depleted Uranium." Bushra: "Oh, well, I guess we'll have to take a look at that." Several weeks later, when I ask her this question again, her response is, "Oh, we can not go there. Security. We can not get permission to enter." Anna: "But you should be able to get permission. Who do you need to go to to get this permission?" Bushra: "Hmmm. I don't know." You don't know?! This is the person who says that she is in charge of investigating Depleted Uranium contamination in all of Iraq and she doesn't know where to go to get permission to enter a site potentially loaded with this material? Anna: "Well, I do know of one place that you can go without permission. I've been there twice. It's a huge dump yard on the outskirts of Baghdad where they put lots of Iraqi military equipment after the war. There are a lot of tanks there and many were potentially struck with Depleted Uranium. It's very easy to find. Lots of people know about it. It's right off the highway." Bushra: "Oh? Really? Where is it?" So we gave her directions and were left wondering what this Radiation Center really does. I've spoken to many people here in Iraq about this apparent openness that masks an apparent deeper reluctance to speak the truth. Dr. Bushra seems to be a master of nodding her head 'Yes,' when what she is really saying is 'No." In many way, I'm amazed she is willing to talk to me at all. There are a lot of tight lips on the issue of radiation at Tuwaitha and Depleted Uranium. She could always have said, "I can't speak to you. You'll have to leave." But she remains as ever, always polite and accommodating. One man working with an Iraqi environmental non-governmental organization explained to me, "It was dangerous to share information under the former regime. Iraqis have been living with this oppression for so many years, it has become a part of our bones." On April 10th, the construction of the Radiation Center will be complete and there will be a grand opening ceremony. I plan to attend but I feel that it will take more than a ribbon cutting ceremony to begin a more open era of looking at the difficult questions of radiation in Iraq. Unfortunately for the Iraqis, with a radioactive half-life numbering in the millions of years, they will have plenty of time to grapple with these issues. Anna Bachmann [http://peacework.blogspot.com] is a Port Townsend, Washington resident. She has been in Iraq since February 2004 with Voices in the Wilderness. Page last updated: 8 April 2004, 23:58 ***************************************************************** 2 Peoples' Daily: Nuclear reactor shut down due to malfunction in S.Korea Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 09, 2004 South Korea shut down a major nuclear reactor in the southeastern part of the country Friday after detecting a technical malfunction, according to the Ministryof Commerce, Industry and Energy. The malfunction in the generation system caused an automatic shutdown of the No. 4 nuclear reactor in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, more than 200 kilometers southeast to Seoul, the ministry said. The authorities said the situation is under control and there are no indications of serious damage, adding that they are lookinginto what caused the problem and will turn the reactor back on within 12-15 hours after testing. The pressurized light-water reactor has a 1-million-kilowatt capacity. It is the fifth time for the reactor to suffer a glitch since it went into service on Dec. 31, 1999. The latest shutdown was on Oct. 10 last year. Source: Xinhua Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 3 AU ABC: North Korea says nuclear stand-off "at brink of war" RADIO AUSTRALIA [http://abc.net.au/ra/news/] North Korea says the stand-off with the United States over its nuclear ambitions is at the brink of nuclear war. The comment comes as the US vice president, Dick Cheney, heads to the region for talks with key Asian allies. North Korea's official news agency has accused Washington of "driving the military situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war". It has described six-party talks on the nuclear crisis, held in Beijing last month, as "fruitless", due to the US demand that Pyongyang dismantle its nuclear program as a first step to end the crisis. The US is demanding the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantling of North Korea's nuclear prorgams before it will offer any concessions. A third round of six-party talks, which include North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the US, is expected before the end of June. Mr Cheney is expected in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, on Saturday on the first leg of an Asian tour that also takes him to China and South Korea. 09/04/2004 22:47:25 | ABC Radio Australia News ***************************************************************** 4 asahi.com: Formal talks to start this month The Asahi Shimbun Tokyo and Pyongyang will hold formal talks this month, with discussion on the abduction issue a foregone conclusion, sources said Thursday. The agreement to hold official talks came through informal negotiations between representatives of the two nations. The venue was not announced. The deal is not connected to a secret meeting in China last week by Taku Yamasaki, former Liberal Democratic Party vice president, with North Korean officials. The bilateral talks would be held outside of the working-level task force to be set up by officials representing the six nations that have met twice in Beijing to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons development.(IHT/Asahi: April 9,2004) (04/09) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction ***************************************************************** 5 Colorado Daily: Caldicott to speak Saturday By RICHARD VALENTY Colorado Daily Staff Writer Dr. Helen Caldicott, one of the world's leading anti-nuclear activists, will be in Boulder on Saturday to present a program titled "Standing at the Nuclear Crossroads." Caldicott's activism began in the early 1970s, after radioactive fallout was discovered in her hometown of Adelaide, South Australia, from nuclear weapons testing conducted by the French government in the South Pacific. Caldicott co-founded Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1979, which eventually grew into International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, an organization with over 135,000 members, according to information from www.salsa.net. Saturday's event, to be held at Flatirons Theatre, 1089 13th St., from 4 to 6 p.m., is also a benefit to help pay for a film being produced about three nuns who will be spending this Easter in jail. On Oct. 6, 2002, Dominican sisters Carol Gilbert, Jackie Hudson and Ardeth Platte cut a chain-link fence to enter a nuclear missile silo in northern Colorado. The nuns poured blood on the lid of the silo and prayed in a protest action they called "symbolic disarmament." The sisters were convicted on charges of "obstruction of national defense" and are now serving time separately in federal prisons in California, West Virginia and Connecticut. Boulder resident Brenda Truelson-Fox and her company, Zero to Sixty Productions, will be presenting a five-minute trailer of the film "Conviction: U.S. v. Gilbert, Hudson and Platte" Saturday. The film is not yet completed, but Truelson-Fox says the trailer shows scenes of the sisters, Caldicott, and the prosecuting attorney in the federal case against the nuns. "It gives a really good overview of what the issues are, and the primary players," said Truelson-Fox. The sisters, said Truelson-Fox, were inspired by Caldicott's work to enter the world of anti-nuclear activism. "Each of the sisters talk about Caldicott's influence in their decision to take on the nuclear arsenal of this country," said Truelson-Fox. "The reason we included her (Caldicott) as a primary player in this film is because of her long-time commitment in both speaking and writing about global nuclear proliferation." According to Truelson-Fox, Caldicott is a "really dynamic speaker" who has influenced activists worldwide. "One of her main impacts is that through her lecturing and writing, she has motivated and educated many people to take their own stand about the nuclear weapons we have in this country," said Truelson-Fox. There is a $10 "suggested admission" for Saturday's event. Tickets are available at www.ticketweb.com, by phone at (303) 544-0359, or at the door. ***************************************************************** 6 Daily Press OUR OPINION: Nuclear resurgence [http://www.desertdispatch.com] Friday, April 9, 2004 Can it be that the American public has finally digested enough unbiased information about nuclear energy to get past the chicken little hysteria that has kept its development at a standstill for the past two decades? Perhaps. In a press release Thursday, the Nuclear Energy Institute noted that a new environmental survey by Gallup (March 8-11, two samples of 479 and 526 people each) demonstrates that public support for the use of nuclear energy has increased by 10 percentage points since 2001 to 56 percent. In 2001, a similar survey revealed that 46 percent favored the use of nuclear energy. Gallup's findings are, according to NEI, consistent with a nationwide survey by Bisconti Research/RoperASW that found 60 percent favor the use of nuclear energy; 36 percent oppose. And 57 percent would find it acceptable to add a new nuclear reactor at the existing nuclear power plant site nearest to them. Given the panic that arose following the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979 generated mostly by an uneducated media and sensationalized stories about what happened, followed by a popular movie about the ultimate nuclear meltdown ("The China Syndrome", starring our old friend Jane Fonda) it's remarkable that a growing majority of Americans now favor expanding nuclear power generation in the United States. Or maybe not. Consider this tidbit from the release: "The U.S. Senate, in a March 4 hearing before an Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee, explored the financial and regulatory issues related to building new nuclear power plants. Said Energy Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee: 'If we're really serious about clean air, I think we're going to have to build new nuclear plants.' " Sen. Alexander's comment obviously resonates in California, where clean air mandates have helped force the price of gasoline above $2.10 a gallon for regular. That's driving a re-evaluation on the public's part of all sorts of energy issues, environmental and otherwise. Recognizing those re-evaluations, a St. Petersburg Times business columnist wrote last week: "Matters as complex and touchy as nuclear power take years. But the wheels are turning. Plants are coming." They're coming, we're told, partly because there is also a re-examination under way by the U.S. Department of Energy of the process required to obtain operating licenses for new nuclear plants. That permitting process is so arduous and expensive that it has effectively outlawed any new plants for decades now. And, of course, the long battle over Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a repository for the nation's nuclear waste appears to be ending. Yucca Mountain would go a long way toward resolving one of the biggest hurdles to more nuclear plants; safe disposal of the waste. Add to that mix the rising demand for energy, particularly electricity (the Department of Energy says that by 2025, we will need 45 percent more than we now consume) and nuclear power is increasingly attractive. At present, nuclear power generates electricity for 1 of every 5 U.S. homes and business. Maintaining that ratio, let alone narrowing it, will require new plants. As the guy said, wheels are turning, and they're coming. Good. Steve Williams [http://www.highdesert.com/newmedia/] ***************************************************************** 7 Las Vegas SUN: Reliant Goes to Court Over Energy Crisis By DAVID KRAVETS ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - For the first time, a criminal case has been lodged against a company accused of manipulating power prices during California's energy crisis. A Reliant Resources Inc. power-trading unit and four of its top-level workers were indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on accusations that they illegally manipulated prices by shutting down the power plants during a two-day period. Reliant Energy Services Inc., its former vice president, a director, manager and trader are accused of illegally increasing electricity costs while creating a "false and misleading appearance of an electricity supply shortage." The four officials face charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and commodities manipulation. Jackie Thomas, 49, a former vice president of Reliant's power trading division; Reggie Howard, 37, a former director of the west power trading division; Lisa Flowers, 37, a term trader; and Kevin Frankeny, 42, manager of western operations, all were scheduled to surrender in San Francisco on Friday and appear before Magistrate Judge James Larson. Calls to their attorneys were not immediately returned. Mike Jines, Reliant's general counsel, said the charges were unfounded and that the company did not commit any wrongdoing. "We intend to contest these charges vigorously," he said. The company is accused of shutting down four of its five generating stations, withholding power from the market and purchasing electricity instead of producing it to meet quotas. The indictments, unsealed Thursday, said the company disseminated false and misleading rumors to brokers about the maintenance status of power plants and the availability of power for three summer months in 2000 at the time of rolling blackouts in California. Artificially high spot-market power prices were the result of "defendants' conspiracy, scheme to defraud and manipulation," the indictment said. Last month, Houston-based Reliant announced to shareholders that it expected an indictment against the subsidiary. The subsidiary is responsible for buying fuel for and marketing power produced by its electric generation facilities. The criminal investigation targets the same actions over a two-day period that led to a settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in January 2003, according to Reliant. In that deal, Reliant neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing and agreed to return $13.8 million it made by shutting down power plants over two days in June 2000. The price of electricity rose through the remainder of the week after that action, according to the indictment. Artificially inflated spot prices were then posted for market participants throughout California, including Pacific Gas &Electric Co. in San Francisco. Once those prices were inflated, the indictment says Reliant Energy Services then sold power at the higher prices, costing electricity purchasers $32 million in overpayments. "The vast majority of corporate executives are honest, hardworking people," Attorney General John Ashcroft said in Washington. "But when a company conducts itself in the manner Reliant Energy Services is alleged to have acted here, it will face severe consequences." Several other energy companies have paid fines stemming from the energy crisis. Three former Enron Corp. traders have been charged with wire fraud related to price manipulation in California. Two of them have pleaded guilty and a third awaits trial in October. The government said the company could have to pay millions in criminal fines, if convicted. A Justice Department official said the government sought charges against the company because of its lack of cooperation in the probe, which Jines disputed as "inaccurate and unfair." The four individual defendants could face at least five years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines if convicted. The case is United States v. Reliant Energy Services, 04-0125. Reliant shares lost 23 cents Thursday to close at $8.46 on the New York Stock Exchange. -- ***************************************************************** 8 AU The Age: US offered nukes to India - PM - - http://www.theage.com.au April 10, 2004 - 10:30AM India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that the United States offered to supply his country with nuclear bombs in an attempt to dissuade it from launching nuclear tests in 1998. Strobe Talbott, who was the US State Department's No 2 official at that time, said there was no basis for Vajpayee's statement. Vajpayee told an election rally in Bhubaneshwar, the capital of eastern Orissa state, that he rejected Washington's offer because India needed to demonstrate it was capable of building its own nuclear weapons. "When I told them (Americans) you also have made that bomb, they replied when required you can take that from us. I told them frankly this bomb needs to be made and not borrowed," Vajpayee said. He said the offer came as the United States encouraged India not to go ahead with nuclear tests in 1998. "But we went ahead with the tests," Vajpayee said. Both India and its rival Pakistan have an undeclared number of nuclear weapons. Talbott said the credibility of Vajpayee's comment is "zero, less than zero." India's nuclear test caught the Clinton administration completely by surprise, he said. "How were we supposed to make this offer if we didn't know they were going to do it?" he asked. Talbott added that the administration first learned of India's action from news reports. Talbott travelled to the region later in May 1998 to urge India and Pakistan to exercise restraint in light of the new situation. The prime minister reiterated the government's position that India would never be the first to launch a nuclear attack but, "we will not hesitate to use it if somebody used the bomb against us." Vajpayee made the comments during a rally for India's parliamentary elections, which will be held in four phases between April 20 and May 10. ©2003 AAP Copyright © 2004. The Age Company Ltd. ***************************************************************** 9 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting of the FR Doc 04-8044 [Federal Register: April 9, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 69)] [Notices] [Page 18990] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr09ap04-87] Subcommittee on Reactor Fuels; Notice of Meeting The ACRS Subcommittee on Reactor Fuels will hold a meeting on April 21, 2004, Room T-2B1, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Portions of the meeting may be closed to public attendance to discuss Duke Power or Framatome proprietary information per 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4). The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: Wednesday, April 21, 2004--8:30 a.m. until the conclusion of business. The purpose of this meeting is to review proposed license amendment to authorize the use of mixed oxide (MOX) Lead Test Assemblies at the Catawba Nuclear Station. The Subcommittee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff, Duke Power, Framatome, and other interested persons regarding these matters. The Subcommittee will gather information, analyze relevant issues and facts, and formulate proposed positions and actions, as appropriate, for deliberation by the full Committee. Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, Mr. Ralph Caruso (telephone 301-415-8065) five days prior to the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Electronic recordings will be permitted only during those portions of the meeting that are open to the public. Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by contacting the Designated Federal Official between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged to contact the above named individual at least two working days prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes to the agenda. Dated: April 2, 2004. Michael R. Snodderly, Acting Associate Director for Technical Support, ACRS/ACNW. [FR Doc. 04-8044 Filed 4-8-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 10 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Subcommittee Meeting FR Doc 04-8045 [Federal Register: April 9, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 69)] [Notices] [Page 18990-18991] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr09ap04-88] on Fire Protection; Notice of Meeting The ACRS Subcommittee on Fire Protection will hold a meeting on April 23, 2004, Room T-2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The entire meeting will be open to public attendance. The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: Friday, April 23, 2004--8:30 a.m. until the conclusion of business. [[Page 18991]] The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the resolution of post- fire safe shutdown circuit analysis issues, revisions to the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Fire SDP, and the preliminary results of the staff's Fire Risk Requantification Study. The Subcommittee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with the NRC staff, representatives of the Nuclear Energy Institute, and other interested persons regarding this matter. The Subcommittee will gather information, analyze relevant issues and facts, and formulate proposed positions and actions, as appropriate, for deliberation by the full Committee. Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, Mr. Marvin D. Sykes (Telephone: 301-415-8716) five days prior to the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Electronic recordings will be permitted. Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by contacting the Designated Federal Official or the Cognizant Staff Engineer between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged to contact one of the above named individuals at least two working days prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes to the agenda. Dated: April 2, 2004. Michael R. Snodderly, Acting Associate Director for Technical Support, ACRS/ACNW. [FR Doc. 04-8045 Filed 4-8-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 11 NRC: Idaho State University Research Reactor Facility Environmental FR Doc 04-8046 [Federal Register: April 9, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 69)] [Notices] [Page 18988-18990] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr09ap04-86] Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of an amendment for Facility Operating License No. R-110, issued to the Idaho State University (the licensee or ISU) for operation of the Idaho State University Reactor Facility (ISURF) located in Pocatello, Bannock County, Idaho. Environmental Assessment Identification of the Proposed Action Renewal of the license (the proposed action) would allow an additional 20 years of operation for the Idaho State University Reactor Facility (ISURF). The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's application for amendment dated November 21, 1995, as supplemented on January 31, 2003 and July 10, 2003. The licensee submitted an Environmental Report for license renewal. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact. Need for the Proposed Action The proposed action is needed to allow continued operation of the ISURF to continue educational training and academic research beyond the current term of the license. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The research reactor is on the campus of the Idaho State University in the Lillibridge Engineering Laboratory. Lillibridge Engineering Laboratory has research and teaching laboratories, lecture halls, classrooms, library/study room, offices, and workshops. It is surrounded by similar facilities in the immediate area. The ISURF is authorized by an NRC license to operate at steady- state thermal power levels up to a maximum of 5 watts(t). The operating license was issued on October 11, 1967. Facility modifications have been minor as outlined in the SAR. The licensee has not indicated any plans to significantly change the design or usage. Since initial operation, the gaseous Argon-41 radiological release has been conservatively estimated to be less than 185,000 becquerels per year (5 microcuries per year). Average concentrations of Argon-41 are conservatively estimated to be less than 1.0 x 10-12 microcuries/milliliter. This concentration is well below the 10 CFR 20, Appendix B, Table 2 limit of 1.0 x 10\8\ microcuries/milliliter. Since 1992, the facility has had no radiological liquid or solid radiological releases. Material has been stored as required. Radioactive waste has been transferred and disposed of following the requirements of the licensee's byproduct license. Currently, there are no plans to change any operating or radiological release practices or characteristics of the reactor during the license renewal period. The NRC concludes that conditions are not expected to change and that the radiological effects of the continued operation will continue to be minimal. The radiological exposures for facility operations have been within regulatory limits and should remain so. Currently, there are no plans to change any operating or radiological release practices or characteristics of the reactor during the license renewal period. The NRC concludes that conditions are not expected to change and that the radiological effects of operation during the renewal period will continue to be minimal. The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types or amounts of any effluents that may be released off-site, and there is no significant increase to occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Potential non-radiological impacts related to the proposed action were evaluated. The license renewal does not involve any historic sites. The facility is wholly located within the Lillibridge building on the campus of Idaho State University. The licensee does not plan any major refurbishment activities, therefore, there will be no new [[Page 18989]] construction or ground disturbance. The proposed license renewal does not affect non-radiological facility effluents and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant non- radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. In addition, the environmental impact associated with operation of research reactors has been generically evaluated by the staff and is given in the attached generic evaluation. This evaluation concludes that no significant environmental impact is associated with the operation of research reactors licensed to operate at power levels up to and including 2 megawatts thermal. The NRC staff has determined that this generic evaluation is applicable to operation of the ISURF and, that there are no special or unique features that would preclude reliance on the generic evaluation. Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Alternatives to the Proposed Action As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). If the NRC denied license renewal, ISURF operations would stop with no change in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action and alternative action are similar. Agencies and Persons Contacted On November 13, 2003, the staff consulted with the Idaho State official, Mr. Doug Walker, Senior Health Physicist, Department of Environmental Quality, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had no comments. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action. For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the licensee's letter dated November 21, 1995, as amended on January 31, 2003, and July 10, 2003. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room, located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. The NRC maintains an Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. Documents from November 24, 1999, may be accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html] . If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301- 415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of March 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Marvin M. Mendonca, Acting Chief, Research and Test Reactors Section, New, Research and Test Reactors Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. Attachment to Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Environmental Considerations Regarding the Licensing of Research Reactors and Critical Facilities Introduction This discussion deals with research reactors and critical facilities designed to operate at low power levels, 2 MWt and lower. These small research reactors are used primarily for basic research in neutron physics, neutron radiography, isotope production, experiments associated with nuclear engineering, training, and as a part of a nuclear physics curriculum. Generally, these facilities are operated less than 8 hours per day and fewer than 5 days per week, or about 2000 hours per year. These reactors are located adjacent to technical service support facilities with convenient access for students and faculty. These reactors are usually housed in appropriately modified existing structures, or placed in new buildings that are designed and constructed to blend in with existing facilities on the campuses of large universities. However, the environmental considerations discussed herein are not limited to those facilities which are part of universities. Facility There are no exterior conduits, pipelines, electrical or mechanical structures or transmission lines attached to or adjacent to the facility other than for utility services, which are similar to those required in other similar facilities, specifically laboratories. Heat dissipation, if required, is generally accomplished by a heat exchanger whose secondary side includes a cooling tower located on the roof of or nearby the reactor building. The size of these cooling towers typically are on the order of 10 ft by 10 ft by 10 ft (3 m by 3 m by 3 m) and are comparable to cooling towers associated with the air-conditioning systems of large office buildings. Heat dissipation may also be accomplished by transfer through a heat exchanger to water flowing directly to a sewer or a chilled water system. Make-up for the cooling system is readily available and usually obtained from the local water supply. Radioactive gaseous effluents during normal operations are usually limited to argon-41. The release of radioactive liquid effluents can be carefully monitored and controlled. Liquid wastes are collected in storage tanks to allow for decay and monitoring prior to dilution and release to the sanitary sewer system or the environment. This liquid waste may also be solidified and disposed of as solid waste. Solid radioactive wastes are packaged and shipped offsite for storage or disposal at NRC-approved sites. The transportation of such waste is done in accordance with existing NRC-DOT regulations in approved shipping containers. Chemical and sanitary waste systems are similar to those existing at other similar laboratories and buildings. Environmental Effects of Site Preparation and Facility Construction Construction of such facilities invariably occurs in areas that have already been disturbed by other building construction and, in some cases, solely within an already existing building. Therefore, construction would not be expected to have any significant effect on the terrain, vegetation, wildlife or nearby waters or aquatic life. The societal, economic and aesthetic impacts of construction would be no greater than those associated with the construction of an office building or similar research facility. Environmental Effects of Facility Operation Release of thermal effluents from a reactor of less than 2 MWt will not have a significant effect on the environment. This small amount of waste heat is generally rejected to the atmosphere by means of small cooling towers. Extensive drift and/or fog will not occur at this low power level. The small amount of waste heat released to sewers, in the case of heat exchanger secondary flow directly to the sewer, will not raise average water temperatures in the environment. Release of routine gaseous effluents can be limited to argon-41, which is [[Page 18990]] generated by neutron activation of air. In most cases, this will be kept as low as practicable by using gases other than air for supporting experiments. Experiments that are supported by air are designed to minimize production of argon-41. Yearly doses to persons in unrestricted areas will be at or below established 10 CFR part 20 limits. Routine releases of radioactive liquid effluents can be carefully monitored and controlled in a manner that will ensure compliance with the regulations. Solid radioactive wastes will be shipped in approved containers to an authorized disposal site or to a facility licensed to treat and consolidate radioactive waste. These wastes should not require more than a few shipping containers a year. Based on experience with other research reactors, specifically TRIGA reactors operating in the 1 to 2 MWt range, the annual release of gaseous and liquid effluents to unrestricted areas should be less than 30 curies (1,110,000 MBq) and 0.01 curies (370 MBq), respectively. No release of potentially harmful chemical substances will occur during normal operation. Small amounts of chemicals and/or high-solid content water may be released from the facility through the sanitary sewer during periodic blowdown of the cooling tower or from laboratory experiments. The quality of secondary cooling water may be maintained using biocides, corrosion inhibitors and pH control chemicals. The use of these chemicals for this purpose is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The small amounts of laboratory chemicals that may be used in research laboratories are disposed of in accordance with EPA and state requirements. Other potential effects of the facility, such as aesthetics, noise, societal or impact on local flora and fauna are expected to be too small to measure. Environmental Effects of Accidents Accidents ranging from the failure of experiments up to the largest core damage and fission product release considered possible result in doses that are less than 10 CFR part 20 limits and are considered negligible with respect to the environment. Unavoidable Effects of Facility Construction and Operation The unavoidable effects of construction and operation involve the materials used in construction that cannot be recovered and the fissionable material used in the reactor. No adverse impact on the environment is expected from either of these unavoidable effects. Alternatives to Construction and Operation of the Facility To accomplish the objectives associated with research reactors, there are no suitable alternatives. Some of these objectives are training of students in the operation of reactors, production of radioisotopes, and use of neutron and gamma ray beams to conduct experiments. Long-Term Effects of Facility Construction and Operation The long-term effects of research facilities are considered to be beneficial as a result of the contribution to scientific knowledge and training. Because of the relatively small amount of capital resources involved and the small impact on the environment, very little irreversible and irretrievable commitment is associated with such facilities. Costs and Benefits of Facility Alternatives The costs are on the order of several millions of dollars with very little environmental impact. The benefits include, but are not limited to, some combination of the following: conduct of activation analyses, conduct of neutron radiography, training of operating personnel, and education of students. Some of these activities could be conducted using particle accelerators or radioactive sources which would be more costly and less efficient. There is no reasonable alternative to a nuclear research reactor for conducting this spectrum of activities. Conclusion The staff concludes that there will be no significant environmental impact associated with the licensing of research reactors or critical facilities designed to operate at power levels of 2 MWt or lower and that no environmental impact statements are required to be written for the issuance of construction permits, operating licenses or license renewals for such facilities. Revised: March 30, 2004. [FR Doc. 04-8046 Filed 4-8-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 12 Brattleboro Reformer: Coalition claims VY workers forced to work overtime [http://www.reformer.com/] April 09, 2004 Brattleboro, VT By CAROLYN LORIΙ Reformer Staff BRATTLEBORO -- The New England Coalition filed an allegation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that workers at Vermont Yankee are being forced to work overtime and discouraged from voicing their concerns about the extended days. The letter was sent on April 6 by Peter Alexander, executive director of the coalition, which is a nuclear power watchdog group. According to Alexander, workers contacted the coalition through the hotline set up specifically for Vermont Yankee employees with safety concerns. Alexander would not specify how many calls had been made regarding the extended workdays, but said that it was more than one. Nor did he indicate if the calls were made by permanent workers or contractors hired for the refueling outage currently under way. The coalition, he said, has a strict policy of protecting the identity of the callers. The letter states that workers "expressed concern about the adverse safety implications of being forced to work six and seven-day strings of 12-plus hour days during the current refueling outage." Alexander said that he was concerned about the quality of the work being done at the plant, which is not only undergoing refueling but physical modifications in preparation for the proposed 20 percent "uprate." Larry Smith, spokesman for Vermont Yankee, said plant officials have not received a copy of the letter or been contacted by the NRC. "When we get something, we'll evaluate it and respond promptly," he said. Smith added that although there was work being done "around the clock," safety remained a top priority. NRC regulations stipulate that workers must be allowed to self-declare if they are unfit to work for any reason, including fatigue. According to the coalition's letter, one Yankee employee reported that telling his supervisor that he was too tired to work would be "career suicide." Neal Sheehan, NRC spokesman for region I, said the commission was in the process of establishing more stringent rules regarding how many hours can be worked. Current NRC guidelines do not allow shifts longer than 16 hours. Workers are allowed to work no more than 16 hours out of 24; no more than 24 out of 48 and no more than 48 out of 72 hours. In 2002, however, the commission voted to develop new rules. A document outlining the new plan states that the established policy limits "allow too many hours of work and insufficient time for rest to ensure that personnel working within the limits are not impaired by fatigue form working excessive hours. Specifically, the limit of no more than 16 hours in any 24-hour period is too high to ensure that personnel are not impaired by acute fatigue." The new rules have not yet been established. When asked how many hours Vermont Yankee workers are putting in during one shift, Smith said there was "no real answer," adding that it varied according to the type of work being done. At least 148 permanent workers at the plant belong to Local 300 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. According to local president George Clain, there are processes in place for dealing with forced overtime, but the union has not had to employ them. "We have not heard one complaint from any of our members, permanent or contractors," he said. The only calls from Yankee workers, said Clain, have been complaints about overtime not being given according to seniority. Alexander acknowledged that many workers want the overtime but said that employees should have the option to work less if they feel their ability to perform has been diminished. Not only is there concern about the quality of the work being done at the plant but, said Alexander, there is concern about employees driving on the roads while extremely fatigued, posing a threat to themselves and other drivers. Vernon Police Chief Ian McCollin said a handful of tickets have been issued recently for minor infractions but couldn't specify if the drivers were from the plant. He said the department made it clear to Vermont Yankee officials that speed limits will be strictly enforced. According to Sheehan, the NRC will convene a panel to investigate the allegation. He said he did know how long it would take. Alexander said that he received an e-mail from David Vito, allegations coordinator for the NRC, the day after he filed the allegation. Alexander and Vito discussed options for dealing with the allegations, including the NRC writing a letter to Entergy. While Alexander said that he supported this, he added that more had to be done quickly as the outage is expected to last only four weeks and a enormous amount of work is being done under a great deal of pressure. "It needs to happen now," he said. ***************************************************************** 13 USA Today: Risks are too great (Reactor Safety) [http://www.usatoday.com/] By Jim Riccio You would have thought the prospect of suicidal terrorists targeting U.S. nuclear reactors would make the Bush administration think twice. Despite the nuclear industry's abysmal economics and atrocious safety record and the added threat of nuclear terrorism, President Bush is prepared to dole out billions of taxpayer dollars to Vice President Cheney's friends to construct new nuclear reactors. Never mind that these new reactor designs are unsafe, uneconomic and unnecessary. The Bush administration is willing to have the U.S. taxpayer split the cost for new nuclear reactors that the industry would never build on its own. The president plans to provide the nuclear industry billions of dollars in guaranteed loans. However, the Congressional Budget Office has found that the risk of nuclear-industry default on these government loans is extremely high, well above 50%. If the nuclear industry and Wall Street financiers are unwilling to assume the economic risk of constructing new nuclear power plants, why should the American taxpayer? Nuclear power already has proved itself to be an unmitigated economic disaster. The nuclear industry estimated that the cost of the first 75 reactors would be $45 billion. They missed the mark by $100 billion, and that doesn't include the last, most expensive reactors! Only the blind or the biased could continue to support this failed technology. But bad economics is only part of the problem. The government's nuclear advisers have determined that these new nuclear designs constitute ''a major safety trade-off'' because they lack containment domes, the last line of defense protecting the public from a catastrophic release of radiation. Nuclear power already is the most dangerous and expensive means yet devised to boil water. But when you add to this danger the threat of a terrorist attack, the continued support of nuclear power becomes unconscionable. Rather than attempt to construct additional terrorist targets in our midst, the federal government should phase out the remaining nuclear reactors and replace them with clean, renewable sources of electricity. After all, terrorists aren't targeting windmills and solar panels. Jim Riccio is the nuclear policy analyst for Greenpeace. New reactor designs are unsafe; facilities would be terrorist targets. © Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of ***************************************************************** 14 Guardian Unlimited: Russia finds home for floating reactor Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow Saturday April 10, 2004 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] Russia named the location for the world's first floating nuclear power station yesterday. A stretch of land on its northern coast will become home to a project that for years seemed to be no more than a far-fetched dream. The local government in the polar region of Archangel said yesterday they had allotted land for the 70-megawatt reactor near the Sevmashpredpriyatiye shipyard on the northern coast. It will occupy 1.5 hectares (3.8 acres) of sea space, and require 0.6 hectares of coastline to which it can be tethered. Despite environmentalists calling the project "crazy", government officials yesterday said they were determined for it to go ahead. Nikolai Shingaryov, spokesman for Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy, told the Guardian: "This is a project on which we have worked for several years. We designed the floating reactor. Engineering, social and environmental experts have all approved it. The only thing that we had yet to resolve was where to build it. And now we know." He said several regions were competing to host the station. "In the polar regions this is the cheapest and most ecologically clean way of producing electric energy and hot water. The technology of these KLT-40 reactors has been in use for thousands of hours on icebreakers and on nuclear submarines. It would be well-protected and it is no more dangerous than any other nuclear ship." The site was chosen, officials told the Interfax agency yesterday, because there was no seismic activity or high winds there. Environmentalists reacted with alarm at the proposal. Vladimir Kuznetsov, a nuclear power expert from the Russian Green Cross, said: "Our major objection is that all the information about the past work and reliability of this type of reactor is still completely secret." He said the previous site for the reactor, just off the coast of Pevek in Chukotka, where the Chelsea FC boss Roman Abramovich is governor, was abandoned after studies - aided by his group - exposed its likely its environmental impact. He claimed that the studies for Archangel had been carried out by "spoon-fed" locals to prevent similar negative results. Though the spent fuel will be taken by train to the reprocessing plant 1,800 miles away in Chelyabinsk in southern Russia, concerns were raised as to where low to medium level waste would be stored. Mr Kuznetsov said he was not aware of plans to dump waste in the sea, but did not know what "would happen in reality". Yet Vladimir Slivyak, of the environmental group Ecodefense, said some waste would have to be dumped in the sea or "the station would need a whole separate ship to store this waste". He added that the station would have to be brought to shore every 10 years to change the fuel, and that its tethering to the shore could break in the severe storms of the northern region. "If the plant loses its electricity source from the shore, it could blow up," he said. Mr Slivyak said the project - for years a pipe dream of Russia's poorly funded yet imaginative nuclear industry - was close to realisation. He said other states needed to get involved in the project for it to become a reality as Rosenergoatom has only invested $1m (£545,000) thus far. "This is nothing," he said. He added: "India is very interested in this, but Russia would face problems over its non-proliferation commitments if it gave them the technology. China is the most interested, but their conditions are not favourable to Moscow." He said that despite this interest, it would probably take three to four years to build. But he added: "It is too crazy to be implemented, even in a country like Russia." [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 15 toledo blade: NRC lauds safety focus at Davis-Besse Friday, April 09, 2004 By [smurphy@theblade.com] BLADE STAFF WRITER OAK HARBOR, Ohio - A federal oversight panel yesterday praised FirstEnergy Corp. for how it has handled the recent restart of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant but expressed concern about lapses in communication by the facility's staff and management. "The company is proceeding in a very methodical and safety-focused way," Jack Grobe, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission committee overseeing the restart, said after a meeting with the utility at Oak Harbor High School. The two-hour meeting was the first between the oversight panel and FirstEnergy since the NRC approved restarting the plant March 8. Officials yesterday reviewed the restart process, which culminated Sunday with the plant at 100 percent of capacity for the first time since shutting down Feb. 16, 2002. In a review of its actions at the plant the past two months, FirstEnergy acknowledged some maintenance issues in the nonnuclear part of the facility. They include an electrical supply breaker that malfunctioned Tuesday, said Mark Bezilla, a Davis-Besse vice president. The breaker's failure removed power to one of four condenser circulation water pumps. Mr. Bezilla said the faulty breaker was replaced, and that an inspection showed all other breakers for the pumps were operating properly. Afterward, Mr. Grobe said he thought the plant's staff handled the situation properly. "That's something the operators had to react to very quickly," he said. "They did very well." However, during the meeting, Mr. Grobe said NRC inspectors had received information from plant employees that led them to believe the facility would proceed with a planned shutdown of a diesel generator before resolving the breaker issue. He said an NRC official called a plant manager and learned that wasn't the case. "We did not receive that kind of clear safety focus from your staff," Mr. Grobe told Mr. Bezilla. The plant vice president said he had informed employees that the generator shutdown was not to take place until the breaker problem was fixed. "Our intent had always been to solve the problem before proceeding," Mr. Bezilla said. The NRC panel also cited a lack of clear communication between shifts at the plant about a feedwater block valve that malfunctioned in mid-March. The valve is used to stop the flow of water through an 18-inch line that feeds steam generators. When closed, the valve diverts water through a smaller startup line, which allows the plant to operate at no more than 20 percent capacity. Employees noticed the valve wasn't working right but didn't make the extent of the problem clear to the next shift, Mr. Bezilla said. He told the NRC panel that the employees were performing an exercise on the valve and noticed its stem move when the bolt was loosened. The employees immediately halted the exercise, he said. "Management considered this a significant near-miss," Mr. Bezilla said. "[The employees] should have known ahead of time that it didn't look right. It should have been a planned stop, not an emergency stop." NRC officials said better communication is needed to prevent problems from turning into potential crises. "I just want them to turn up the level of focus," Mr. Grobe said after the meeting. The oversight panel chairman said during the meeting that the committee will monitor the plant for at least the first year after the restart. For earlier stories on Davis-Besse, go to www.toledoblade.com/davisbesse Contact Steve Murphy at: smurphy@theblade.com or 419-724-6078 © 2004 The Blade. OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 ***************************************************************** 16 SF Chronicle: Nuclear reactor at UC Berkeley called earthquake safe Laura Perkins [lperkins@sfchronicle.com] Friday, April 9, 2004 [San Francisco Chronicle] Here is a look at the Bay Area's past. Items have been culled from The Chronicle's archives. 1979 April 10: Thomas H. Pigford, head of UC Berkeley's nuclear engineering department, says the facility is safe even though it is just 40 yards from the Hayward Fault. The $2 million facility is used to produce short-lived radioactive isotopes to be used in medical diagnosis, chemistry, mineral analysis, archaeological aging and hydrology. April 12: Cleanup continues at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory where researcher George Lun dropped a clear Lucite instrument, spilling the radioactive isotope Americium 241. Lun is still being examined for possible radioactive contamination. The room where the spill occurred has been sealed off and officials say there is no danger outside the laboratory. -- Lun returns to work at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory with no apparent ill effects after breaking a small container of a radioactive substance. The laboratory remains sealed and is being cleaned. 1954 April 9: The regional office of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, now located in Berkeley, is moving out of the metropolitan area "as soon as possible," according to deputy administrator Stewart Campbell. Campbell said, "we need a safe place in event of hydrogen bomb attack," and explained that 50 miles away would be adequate. 1929 April 9: Boeing Air Transport announces it will install radio telephones on all planes flying mail between Oakland and Chicago. Four ground stations have already been established and eight more are planned on the Chicago-San Francisco run. The phones are expected to increase pilots' safety and to decrease delays in mail delivery. April 10: After four years of experimenting, Berkeley police announce plans for radio police signals. Police plan to install a 500-watt short-wave transmitting station at City Hall from which signals will be sent to patrolmen in automobiles. Among cities using the radio in police work are Detroit, London, and Vancouver, British Columbia. April 11: The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors is considering adopting an ordinance that would ban unlicensed pilots or unlicensed planes from carrying passengers. There are similar laws in effect in Alameda and San Mateo counties. April 13: Twelve members of the Antarctic expedition of Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd arrive in the United States for a six-month leave of absence. The chill of a typical San Francisco April morning led several to complain about the cold. Lieutenant Harry Adams notes that the cold in the Bay Area is different from the cold of the South Pole, where men are comfortable working outside in weather 30 and 40 degrees below zero. April 15: About 120 of the Central National Bank's customers use the Oakland bank's new depositing device for motorists. The "day and night depository" allows customers to deposit funds along with their name and address into a box. The deposit enters a steel tube that leads directly to a vault. E-mail Laura Perkins at lperkins@sfchronicle.com [lperkins@sfchronicle.com] . ©2004 San Francisco Chronicle ***************************************************************** 17 Xinhuanet: US wants to hold DPRK nuclear working group talks this month www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2004-04-10 06:26:11 WASHINGTON, April 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States, Japan and South Korea have agreed to hold the six-party working group talks on dismantling the nuclear programs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as soon as possible, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said at a news briefing on Friday. Ereli said US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-Hyuck and Japanese Foreign Ministry Director General Mitoji Yabunaka held "information trilateral consultations" in San Francisco on April 7th and 8th onthe DPRK and the six-party talks. "They concluded that the six-party working group should be convened as soon as possible, ideally by the end of the month," Ereli said. "They also agreed that the third plenary, which has not yet been scheduled, should be held no later than the end of June," Ereli said. The second round of six-party talks were held in Beijing on Feb.25-28 and they agreed to meet again before July and decided to create working groups to resolve obstacles to future high-level talks. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that the second round of six-party talks held in Beijing achieved "a good deal of progress" in seeking a solution to the nuclear issue of the Koreanpeninsula. The United States has demanded the "complete, certifiable and irreversible dismantlement" of the DPRK nuclear programs. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 NRC: NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region I - 2004-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-04-020 April 8, 2004 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 AmerGen Energy Company, LLC, on Thursday, April 15, to discuss the results of the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. The plant is located in Lacey Township, N.J., and operated by AmerGen. The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Lacey Township Municipal Building, 818 W. Lacey Road in Lacey. 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/oc_2003q4.pdf [PDF Icon] . Overall, the Oyster Creek plant operated safely and met all cornerstone objectives during the period. (Cornerstones are program areas where NRC measures plant safety performance.) As a result of a recently finalized white inspection finding stemming from an electrical cable failure at the plant, the NRC will conduct a supplemental inspection to review the companys root cause analysis and corrective actions related to the problem. Otherwise, the NRC plans to perform baseline-level inspections at the facility through Sept. 30, 2005. The NRC has closed a previous cross-cutting issue identified in the mid-cycle 2003 letter regarding the plant. The issue was in the area of human performance and involved lapses in following procedures. While the agency does not plan further reviews in this area, it will continue to monitor progress through the baseline inspection program. 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 information for the Oyster Creek plant is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/OC/oc_chart.html. Last revised Thursday, April 08, 2004 ***************************************************************** 19 The Mercury: NRC gives power plant high marks for safety Megan Wolf mjwolf@pottsmerc.com 04/09/2004 LIMERICK -- The nuclear power plant has achieved the highest government rating for performance and security. In a yearlong inspection, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2003, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission found several problems -- 16 to be exact -- but they all measured low on the safety scale, according to Arthur L. Burritt, the senior resident inspector at the Limerick Generating Station. "The common problem with the 16 examples was employees not following procedures," Burritt said. Ron J. DeGregorio, a site vice president of Exelon Nuclear, which owns the power plant, told the NRC he and his staff acknowledge there were problems at the station. He said they found a need for better management at the technical end of plant operations. "We appreciate the critical insights, and we will continue to strive for continued excellence," DeGregorio said. Last year, the NRC spent 4,792 hours inspecting the twin reactors. Three team inspections and 17 regional inspections were completed. Two resident inspectors are assigned to the site. Burritt said he and the other inspector, Blake Welling, are on call 24 hours a day. The NRC staff presented its findings to Exelon and the public at a meeting Thursday night in the Limerick township building. Mohamed M. Shanbaky, a branch chief for the NRC, said five levels of grading are given to power plants throughout the nation: licensee response, the highest achievement, to unacceptable, the lowest achievement. Of the 102 plants the NRC regulates, 75 have the "licensee response" grade. The Limerick Generating Station falls under that category. The excellent rating from NRC means the power plant is subject to only baseline inspections in 2004. Baseline inspections include 92 hours per year of equipment inspections, 100 hours per year of employee radiation protection and 80 hours per year of emergency preparedness. The two resident inspectors will remain on site as watchdogs. During Tuesday’s meeting, DeGregorio cited statistics from a report completed by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. He said that in 2001, the Limerick plant fell into the highest percentile of the INPO’s ranking system. "Our accomplishments include safe and reliable units and record power production," DeGregorio said. "In the past year, we have had the lowest dose of radiation exposure of our workforce in the United States." ©The Mercury 2004 Copyright © 1995 - 2004 [http://www.poweronemedia.com] All ***************************************************************** 20 Newsday.com - Proposal: Brookhaven lab to clean up radioactive reactor instead of entombing it [http://www.newsday.com] April 9, 2004, 4:19 PM EDT UPTON, N.Y. -- In a reversal of plans, the federal Department of Energy proposed a $96.8 million cleanup of a shuttered reactor at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on eastern Long Island, officials announced. The new proposal, announced Thursday night, would remove more than 99 percent of the radioactive graphite from the reactor rather then entombing it for 87,000 years _ the length of time it would take to become harmless. The plan still requires review from several regulatory agencies, with public comments to follow in June. The reactor has been closed for 35 years, and the cleanup would also include removing mercury from the nearby Peconic River. If all goes according to plan, final approval for the cleanup would come in January 2005, said Frank Crescenzo, deputy manager of the Department of Energy's Brookhaven office. The announcement at the lab's Community Advisory Council meeting was welcome news to environmentalists and lawmakers, who had criticized the agency's entombment plan. "This is a major victory for environmentalists and the public," said council member Adrienne Esposito. The graphite, a biological shield, fuel canals and some surrounding soil would be taken away under the plan. The graphite reactor operated from 1950 to 1969. The removal of graphite and the river cleanup were part of the final process of decommissioning the reactor at the Brookhaven National Lab. U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop, D-Southampton, had helped organize discussions to consider new ways to deal with the reactor. "I am pleased that local families will not have to wait 87,000 years wondering about the safety of their drinking water," Bishop said. Crescenzo said public feedback was important to the change in approach. The project should take two to four years, he said. "The Congressional delegation and the public made it clear that the graphite was a big concern for them," Crescenzo said. "Their concern certainly influenced the process." In addition to Bishop, both of New York's senators and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy all hailed the decision. Brookhaven Lab employs more than 2,800 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff, and has an annual budget of $463 million. Major programs include nuclear and high-energy physics, physics and chemistry of materials, environmental and energy research, nonproliferation, neurosciences and medical imaging, and structural biology. ___ On the Net: www.bnl.gov Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press Copyright © Newsday, Inc. Produced by Newsday Electronic ***************************************************************** 21 PRN: Oconee Nuclear Station Receives Notice of Violation and Fine From Nuclear Regulatory Commission [http://www.prnewswire.com/] "http://www.duke-energy.com" CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Power was notified today by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of a $60,000 proposed fine for the violation of NRC requirements at the Oconee Nuclear Station. The violation is associated with May 2001 changes to the station's licensing basis document. Duke Power analysis prior to making these changes indicated that NRC approval was not required; the NRC disagrees. "This violation concerns the timing of actions that would be taken in certain hypothetical situations," said Ron Jones, Oconee site vice president. "We do not believe that our actions in 2001 adversely impacted the safety of the plant or the public. The Oconee team has a tradition of excellent operations that spans more than three decades. Our commitment to safety comes first in everything that we do. "We continue to work with the NRC to understand their concern and resolve this issue," said Jones. The company will decide within 30 days whether to pay the civil penalty or protest its imposition. Duke Power, a business unit of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK [http://alliance.marketwatch.com/custom/alliance/interactivechart .asp?symb=DUK&astyle=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,10,0,0&c=179&urlpull=&logourl= &post=0] ), is one of the nation's largest electric utilities and provides safe, reliable, competitively priced electricity and value-added products and services to more than 2 million customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. In 2004, Duke Power celebrates 100 years of service. The company operates three nuclear generating stations, eight coal-fired stations, 31 hydroelectric stations and numerous combustion turbine units. Total system generating capability is approximately 19,900 megawatts. More information about Duke Power is available on the Internet at: http://www.dukepower.com [http://www.dukepower.com] . Duke Energy is a diversified energy company with a portfolio of natural gas and electric businesses, both regulated and unregulated, and an affiliated real estate company. Duke Energy supplies, delivers and processes energy for customers in North America and selected international markets. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 500 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available on the Internet at: http://www.duke-energy.com [http://www.duke-energy.com] . CONTACT: Dayle Stewart Phone: 864-885-4608 24-Hour: 704/382-8333, option 1 SOURCE Duke Energy Web Site: http://www.duke-energy.com Copyright © 1996-2004 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights ***************************************************************** 22 Las Vegas SUN: N.Y. Lab to Clean Radioactive Reactor ASSOCIATED PRESS UPTON, N.Y. (AP) - The Energy Department has proposed a $96.8 million cleanup plan to remove radioactive material from a shuttered reactor at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, scrapping a proposal to entomb it in concrete instead. The proposal, made Thursday at a meeting of the lab's citizens advisory committee, was hailed by environmentalists who had criticized the agency's plan, announced in December, to entomb the reactor for up to 87,000 years. "This is a major victory for environmentalists and the public," advisory committee member Adrienne Esposito said. The plan, which would remove more than 99 percent of the radioactive graphite from the reactor, still requires review from regulatory agencies as well as a public comment period starting in June. The project should take two to four years, said Frank Crescenzo of the Department of Energy's Brookhaven office. Some surrounding soil would also be taken away under the plan. The graphite reactor operated from 1950 to 1969. The removal of graphite and the cleanup of mercury from the nearby Peconic River is part of the final process of decommissioning the reactor at the Brookhaven National Lab. "I am pleased that local families will not have to wait 87,000 years wondering about the safety of their drinking water," said Rep. Tim Bishop, who had helped organize discussions to consider new ways to deal with the reactor. Both New York senators and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy also hailed the decision. Said Crescenzo: "The congressional delegation and the public made it clear that the graphite was a big concern for them. Their concern certainly influenced the process." Brookhaven Lab, located in eastern Long Island, employs more than 2,800 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff, and has an annual budget of $463 million. Major programs include nuclear and high-energy physics, physics and chemistry of materials, environmental and energy research, nonproliferation, neuroscience and medical imaging. --- On the Net: http://www.bnl.gov [http://www.bnl.gov] -- ***************************************************************** 23 [du-list] A year later - jo wilding diaries - 8th April Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2004 15:08:46 -0700 April 8th A Year Later I expect everyone knows by now about the kidnapping of three Japanese civilians and the threat to burn them alive unless the Japanese government withdraws its troops from Iraq. Anxious, everyone huddled round the satellite TV in one of the apartments. The tape from the kidnappers showed them crouched, blindfolded, knives to their throats. "It's them!" Nayoko used to bring food for the street kids and wash their clothes for them, the boys who later stayed in the shelter in Bab a Sherji and now live in the Kurdish House. She wasn't with an NGO at all, just an individual who raised some money to come over and help the kids and did it, learnt some Arabic, quietly got on with it. As a result no one, no embassy, no organisation, knows anything about her. The Japanese embassy thought all three of them had just arrived. And it makes no difference, of course it makes no difference, that I know them; it makes no difference to the terror on her face, the young woman who used to help the street kids on Abu Nawas, the man who was investigating depleted uranium contamination. It makes no difference that their faces are familiar, that I used to see them at the internet on Karrada Dakhil and wander down the street with them. But it feels horrible. Because you know that the Japanese government won't accede to the demand and you know that the kidnappers won't go back on their ultimatum and you know there's not much chance of them escaping and it's no different from all the other violent deaths that people have suffered out here, a lot of them pre-planned in one way or another, contemplated by the pilot who fired the missile into the civilian area or the commander who sent the pilot, but to see them alive and to know what is coming is almost unbearable. Karrada on Thursday evening was the usual pile of traffic, hooting at inanimate objects as if that might ease the gridlock, the smells of popcorn and petrol mingling around the weekend shoppers. Most of the day's plans were thwarted by closures. The schools in Sadr city and lots of other bits of town are closed. Those that are open are mostly empty because parents are keeping the kids at home where they can try to keep them safe. The colleges and universities are deserted, more or less. The Magreb youth centre was closed because it's near to Adamiya where there have been battles. Instead I went to look for Akael, the man I met in the hospital last year after the bombing of Palestine Street outside the Omar Al-Faroukh Mosque. He was 20 then, a piece of shrapnel embedded in his forehead, the doctors unsure, because the scanning equipment didn't work any more, whether it had pierced his brain. I was kicked out of the country a couple of days later and never managed to find out what happened, but I did have their address. We drove for ages looking for street 9, house 12 which, in theory, had to be close to a mosque. "The streets are all in a mess," the lad by the side of the road explained, not referring to heaps of festering rubbish that you find on a lot of streets or even to the craterous holes in the road but to their order. The streets have numbers rather than names, which ought to make it easier to find the one you want: street 9 might be expected to sit somewhere between 8 and 10. But no. "This one is Street 3 and that one is Street 43." He gave us an apologetic look. What could you do when the world around you made no sense? No one we asked knew where street 9 was. They could tell us what this one was and the one next to it. This is fourteen and that one is twenty six, they would say, with an apologetic gesture. The streets are all in a mess. Someone suggested we ask the responsible for the district, the Mukhtar. There's one in each area, the senior gentleman of the district, a source of information and social authority. He came out from his siesta, pulled up the metal shutter of what looked like a garage next to his house to reveal a tiny shop but he, too, was unable to tell us where street nine was and didn't know the family. Since it was the mosque that was closest to the bombing, we went there and Dhafur went in to ask. Yes, they knew the attack we meant and the street where the houses had been damaged. A man who was leaving offered to lead us there in is car, but the way was blocked by tanks and armoured personnel carriers, a group of young men close by. The soldiers waved guns and Dhafur remarked that there was only one God but also only one death and with that he reversed up the street and we decided to find Akael's family another day. Raed ran up the stairs breathless. On the streets of Sadr city, Sadr's people are telling everyone that if they get the chance they should kidnap a westerner and they'll offer prisoner exchanges for their own people who have been seized by the americans. After we'd promised not to go anywhere for a couple of days, his eyes lit up. "This Boomchucka Bus, I think it is the best idea I've ever heard. The children need this." He can sort out the bus for us and a driver, will equip it with a microphone, music and speakers. "Music is my job." He's been dreaming of the bus tour, what size of bus we need, where the circus flag will look best, the sound of all the kids yelling Boomchucka again. He says he'll go and spread the word in the places before the bus arrives that it's coming and it's on their side, so people won't be nervous or suspicious. Raed misses the circus. Then he nipped up to the roof to check on the security arrangements, pronounced himself satisfied with the three men with Kalashnikovs on the roof and the three more outside, shouted Boomchucka and darted next door to cook some pastry parcels. We're constantly reassessing. You ask yourself whether what you're doing is worth what appears to be the level of risk on any given day. If there are a few days when it looks a bit dodgy then you sit it out in the apartment and see what happens. If things improve then you get on with it. If not then you try and work out a safe way to leave. The last few months things have been intense at times but not too dangerous and I think what I and we have been doing has been worth the risks. If that changes, if I can't do the stuff I'm trying to do, if it's too dangerous to run the Boomchucka Bus Tour, if the schools and youth centres and universities don't reopen so we can do the twinning and solidarity projects, then I'll leave. I'm lucky enough to have that option. My good friend Nada has been getting kidnap threats by telephone for about the last three weeks. They tell her they will kidnap her and beat her and kill her, or perhaps her kids, for five million dinars in ransom, about $3500. They, whoever they are, object to her being friends with foreigners and she refuses to give in to them, although it was only today that she told us and made us promise we wouldn't give in to them either. Al-Sadr is now in control of Najaf, Samawa and Kut, or parts of them. The good thing about travelling is that you get to meet loads of interesting people but, on the down side, then you have to worry about them when you hear their city is being fought over. I can't get hold of any of the people I met in Samawa to find out if they're ok. The Italian NGO Un Ponte Per managed to get a truckload of relief supplies into Falluja today and a huge demonstration stormed through the US military checkpoint that was meant to keep people out of the city, bringing aid for the people there. They were Shia and Sunni, chanting their common interest in fighting the Americans. A child was brought into the Red Cross hospital in Baghdad after his parents took him to his grandad in a safe area. His grandad took him out for a walk and an F-16 fired a missile into the people, killing 9, including his grandad. He's lost both legs and one of his arms. The bombers are roaring overhead tonight: even the moon is on fire, rising enormous and orange beyond Karrada Kharitj. ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 24 [du-list] Twin Cities AAP Contamination Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2004 15:08:45 -0700 Thanks to Christine Ziebold for the following article that appeared on March 30. Shoreview Press. March 30 2004 edition Symposium addresses TCAAP contamination, cleanup by Emily Mahlen Staff Writer From 1941 to 1976, the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills produced 16.5 billion rounds of ammunition for the U.S. military and its allies. While rounds were being manufactured to protect the safety of the American public, pollution from the 2,370-acre site was slowly seeping into the ground, contaminating groundwater and drinking water in several metropolitan communities. A symposium of key players involved in the decades-long cleanup of the TCAAP was held last Monday to discuss environmental issues. While all entities involved agreed that the site must be cleared of contamination, there was a pointed disagreement about the standards of the cleanup. And perhaps the most controversial contaminant — depleted uranium — was left off the meeting agenda, to the dismay of some audience members. TCAAP today Clean-up efforts and environmental assessments have been going on at the Army-owned TCAAP property — located north of Highway 96, east of Interstate 35W and west of Shoreview — since 1981, and the land was placed on the Superfund National Priorities List of toxic waste sites in 1983. Pollutants that have been addressed include chemicals, ammunition-related heavy metals, lead, radioactive waste from depleted uranium rods, and volatile organic compounds found in industrials solvents or degreasers that had either seeped into groundwater or had been dumped into pits for disposal or burned in areas around TCAAP. Since then, roughly two-thirds of the TCAAP property has been converted into the Arden Hills Army Training Site. The land left over — 774 acres — has been designated as “excess property” by the Army. An agreement is in the works to sell it to the city of Arden Hills. About 113 acres of the parcel would be handed over to Ramsey County for the Rice Creek Corridor Area, free of charge. The majority of the remaining TCAAP property has been deemed by the Army as non-contaminated. However, “there’s a fair amount of cleanup left,” said Arden Hills Community Development Director Aaron Parrish. “Particularly when you’re dealing with environmentally impaired property, there are potential liability issues.” Alliant Tech Systems, a company that manufactures ammunition components, is still located on TCAAP property and has plans of leaving in the near future. Arden Hills City Hall and a brand-new Ramsey County patrol station are also located on small former TCAAP parcels. The city of Arden Hills is working to make the rest of the property usable with the Army, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency and a partnership called CRR Inc., of three development firms: Centex Homes, Ryan Companies US Inc., and Glenn Rehbein Companies. Mike Fix, TCAAP spokesman for the U.S. Army, said the Army shoulders liability for the excess acreage. “The Army is committed to fulfilling its clean-up obligations here, and protection of human health and the environment are the most important aspects of the Army’s clean-up actions here. This project is known nationally for its cooperative efforts with its regulators, the MPCA and the EPA.” Transfer talk The federal government has until 2040 to completely decontaminate the 774 acres and make it viable for property transfer. However, the city and the Army are considering an Early Transfer Authority, which would allow the property to be developed and returned to productive use more quickly. In the city of Arden Hills’ case, the developer of the land would be responsible for cleanup. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency would all have to grant approval for an early transfer of TCAAP. City, Army and environmental officials are pushing for early transfer not only for quicker development but also because it is more cost-effective. “You can save money on the remediation of the site by coordinating the cleaning of the site with the development,” Parrish said. In addition, the Army is required to clean TCAAP only to military industrial standards, while the city desires residential and commercial standards. John Hink, an environmental engineer with CRR Inc., said at the symposium that the Army is liable to do only the bare minimum of decontamination. “Where the Army might say, ‘We have no proof of the extent of contamination, so we’re not going to look,’ we have to take a contrary position where we don’t know anything, so we have to look.” Added Barry Steinberg, environmental attorney for CRR Inc., “The [Army’s] obligation is not to clean the property up to pristine levels or to the condition in which they found it.” Thus far, the Army has completed two environmental assessments at TCAAP, which were aimed toward continued use of the site for military industrial purposes. The unknowns Whereas decontamination efforts at TCAAP have progressed with soil covers and the cleanup of some areas with volatile organic compounds, there are still site-wide issues that have not been quantified. According to a presentation given at the symposium, issues the federal government have not addressed include asbestos-containing building materials, PCB-contaminated lubricants used to extract underground utility lines, oil-sealed roads, underground and aboveground tanks, and more. “Obviously this site has lots of stuff on it ... the problem of unexpected problems is large. It’s a difficult, difficult issue for users of the property,” said Paul Bloom, a University of Minnesota soil science professor and member of RAB, a community Restoration Advisory Board formed in 1996 to follow TCAAP’s progress and environmental issues. The cost of the remaining TCAAP property is up in the air as well. An appraisal is expected in June, but then environmental liability costs must be deducted from that figure. It is also unknown how much it will cost to clean TCAAP to residential and commercial standards. Some are worried that developing a currently toxic piece of land will prove too daunting of a task. “If [cleaning] costs more than can be recaptured ... then the development community will walk,” said Steinberg at the symposium. According to Fix, the Army has spent about $187 million to date on clean-up efforts, and plans to shell out another $40 million. Fix said Alliant, which has been located on the property for decades, is also chipping in. Uranium controversy One of the biggest obstacles the Army and/or developers must face in TCAAP’s decontamination is the presence of depleted uranium. Decontamination of the areas — specifically building 502, where depleted uranium rods were used to make projectile ammunition — have been under close monitoring and cleanup since 2001. Dr. Christine Ziebold, a member of RAB, has been in the forefront of voicing concern about depleted uranium. An epidemiologist, she worries about the health of humans and the environment on and around the former arsenal site. “Alliant used a lot of ‘depleted’ uranium’ out at [TCAAP],” she said. “Plus there are documents showing contamination of the soil and exterior walls of building 502. There is just no way in the world this is not an environmental concern.” Ziebold said information on the uranium issue has been sparse and unavailable to the public. “A lot is remaining unsaid,” she said. At the symposium, Parrish assured audience members that the city would not proceed with development until the area is completely safe. “Like all environmental issues on this site, it’s something we’re going to carefully evaluate as we go forward,” he said. Parrish noted the city will do its own testing on the site. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will issue a report on the radionuclide status of the site from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, at Arden Hills City Hall, 1245 Highway 96. Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions at the meeting. For more information on the TCAAP site and former TCAAP property, go to the city of Arden Hills’ Web site at www.ci.arden-hills.mn.us and click on “TCAAP Reuse Information Page.” People may also add their names to the TCAAP e-mail update list by calling Arden Hills City Hall at 651-634-5120. Emily Mahlen can be reached at ppnews@sherbtel.net or at 651-407-1218. TCAAP Clean-up Timeline 1978: Environmental studies began on the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant. 1981: TCAAP was declared as the source for contamination in the city of New Brighton’s water supply. 1983: Areas of TCAAP were placed on the Superfund National Priorities List of toxic waste sites. 1986: The Army implemented soil vapor extraction systems at two areas in TCAAP, which have since removed over 218,000 pounds of volatile organic compounds from the soil. The Army completed the inspection, cleaning and testing of all sewer lines in TCAAP. A Record of Decision was executed to construct a water treatment system for the Village of St. Anthony. 1987: The Army, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency entered into a Federal Facility Agreement for the investigation and remediation of TCAAP. The Army began the cleanup of contaminated groundwater in the area. Portions of TCAAP and a six-mile plume of groundwater running through Arden Hills, New Brighton and St. Anthony were addressed. Over 150,000 pounds of volatile organic compounds have been removed from deep groundwater. 1990: The Army completed a water treatment system for the city of New Brighton. 1992: A Record of Decision was executed to clean a groundwater plume in the southwest area of TCAAP. 1993: A Record of Decision was executed to clean a groundwater plume in the northern area of TCAAP. Shallow groundwater pump-and-treat systems were installed. 1995: Late Congressman Bruce Vento created a TCAAP Reuse Committee to develop framework for land-use recommendations. The plan includes a mix of open space, natural features, transit- and pedestrian-friendly housing, retail space and light industry. The Vento Plan is available on the city of Arden Hills’ Web site at www.ci.arden-hills.mn.us. 1996: A community Restoration Advisory Board was formed to follow TCAAP’s progress and environmental issues. 1997: A Record of Decision was signed by the Army, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, stating that the area would be cleaned to industrial standards. Actions include excavating soils, cleaning up shallow groundwater contamination, containing a deep groundwater plume, etc. 1999: Major actions from the 1997 Record of Decision had been implemented. 2002: More TCAAP remedial and removal actions had been completed, according to the EPA. Actions include the excavation of soils, installation of a soil vapor extraction system, placement of a soil cover, investigation of tar-like materials on a small area of TCAAP, and execution of assessments and inspections. 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. ***************************************************************** 25 [DU-WATCH] IRAQ: JAPANESE ANTI-DU GROUP TAKEN HOSTAGE Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 00:39:18 -0500 (CDT) An urgent appeal from Japan. Charles Jenks, attorney at law President of the Core Group Traprock Peace Center 103A Keets Road Deerfield, MA 01342 413-773-1633; fax 413-773-7507 charles@mtdata.com http://www.traprockpeace.org Begin forwarded message: From: Date: April 8, 2004 4:30:31 PM EDT To: "Leuren Moret" , "Doug Rokke" , "Susan H. Riordon" , , Subject: JAPANESE NO DU GROUP ARRESTED Dear Friends This is news from Japan.Our friend arrested in Iraq, and goverment is leaving them to death. We are very,very concerned with this situation. Following is our appeal for goverment. Please spread this appeal. Kazuko Ito attorney at law. ------------------------------------------- Appeal for the Release of the three Japanese Taken Hostage in Iraq Issued by the Anti-DU (Depleted Uranium) Groups in Japan April 8, 2004 Today Mr. Noriaki Imai, 18 years old, and two other other Japanese were taken hostage by an armed group in Iraq. Mr. Imai is a member of the Campaign to Abolish DU (Depleted Uranium) as well as director of the NO DU Sapporo Project. The armed group has issued the statement to the effect that bthey will kill them unless Self-Defense Forces of Japan withdraws within three days.b Mr. Imai has been deeply saddened by the fact that many innocent Iraqi children have been suffering from cancer and leukemia. He has become engaged in the activity for abolition of depleted uranium so that DU weapons would not be used again. He has been opposing of Iraq War and the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq. He went to Iraq in order to see the reality of the DU damage by his own eyes and convey it to as many people as possible. He has been planning to produce a picture booklet about Iraqi children as a means for such purpose Japanese Government should not have such well-meaning citizens killed. We request that Japanese Government hold the regard for life to be of the greatest importance. It should not be allowed to sacrifice citizens for the sake of the Self-Defense Forces deployed in Iraq. What is needed most in Iraq now is not to send an army, but to extend medical relief for the still increasing victims by the war and the DU weapons. We demand strongly that Japanese Government withdraw the Self-Defense Forces immediately and to try every means to save the three hostages as soon as possible. cAs the fighting intensifies, similar captures can occur to the civilians of many nationalities engaged in the relief activities in Iraq. Recently a shell fell just near the base camp of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in Samawah. Now that the whole land of Iraq including Samawah area has become the fighting field, the condition of not sending the SDF to a fighting field has already collapsed. The swift withdrawal of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces must be the sincere hope of the majority of the people, not only that of particular groups, in Iraq. Anti-DU Groups in Japan Campaign for Abolition of DU Weapons, Tokyo Citizensb Network for DU Abolition NO DU Hiroshima Project NO DU Sapporo Project Hokkaido Peace Net [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 26 [du-list] US Whitewashes Warthogs Killing Marines Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2004 15:08:54 -0700 US Whitewashes Warthogs Killing Marines http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_friendly_fire_add.html The US Central Command has issued its investigative report on the attack on Marines at An Nasiriyah by 2 A-10 Warthogs on March 23, 2003. Initially, Americans were told, and US media reported, that the Marines died as a result of Iraqi's pretending to surrender, and then firing on the Marines. It was then revealed that two A-10's had attacked the Marines during the worst so-called 'friendly' fire incident of the war. 18 Marines died and 17 were wounded during the engagement with Iraqi forces and the US A-10's. The A-10's fired Maverick missiles at vehicles and strafed vehicles and US Marines on the ground with 30 mm 'depleted' uranium rounds. One Marine witnessed 9 strafing runs. On March 19, 2004, NPR had broadcast accounts by Marines given shortly after the battle to Marine historians. Marines described multiple deaths from the A-10's; a sergeant said that most of the Americans deaths were caused by the A-10's. Col. Reed Bonadonna, Marine historian, described the devastating effect of the 30 mm DU rounds and called for a legitimate investigation of the incident: "I think that most of the Marines felt that with the kind of price that is being paid by this war, by a lot of people, and with the stakes being what they are, that falling back on some kind of no comment or bland, evasive or euphemistic language is really inadequate to the situation. That this kind of sacrifice, only the truth is good enough. That to try to protect somebody's nasty little career or to try to throw a gloss over this as if it didn't exist. The proper function of military history is to instruct people so we do it better next time, save people's lives." (transcription from NPR broadcast.) Yet, the Central Command report did not confirm a single death caused by the A-10's. It found that the cause of death for 10 Marines was "indeterminable." Of Marines wounded, the Central Command said in its press release: "Of the 17 wounded, only one was conclusively determined to have been hit by friendly fire." Further, that "three Marines were wounded while inside vehicles that received both friendly and hostile fire, and the exact sequence and source of their injuries could not be determined." It is unbelievable that the military could not confirm if these Marines were injured by an A-10's strafing, as DU is radioactive. There was barely a mention of 'depleted' uranium in the report itself, even though it played a key role. It was mentioned in connection marking vehicles that had been hit by the 30 mm rounds as radioactive. It seems clear that the military has minimized this deadly incident. Why? http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_friendly_fire_add.html covers this controversy. It also provides exclusive commentary by Dr. Doug Rokke (retired Major USAR); Tedd Weyman, Iraq Field Team leader for the Uranium Medical Research Center, and Ross Wilcock, MD., as well as links to the NPR and Central Command original resources and media accounts. Charles Jenks, attorney at law President of the Core Group Traprock Peace Center 103A Keets Road Deerfield, MA 01342 413-773-1633; Fax 413-773-7507 charles@mtdata.com http://traprockpeace.org ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 27 FR: DOL: Office of Worker's Compensation Programs FR Doc 04-8053 [Federal Register: April 9, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 69)] [Notices] [Page 18988] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr09ap04-85] [[Page 18988]] DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of Workers' Compensation Programs OMB Extension of a Currently Approved Information Collection AGENCY: Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Employment Standards Administration, Labor. ACTION: Notice of OMB extension under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. SUMMARY: The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) is announcing that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has extended, under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, a currently approved collection of information under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, and the Black Lung Benefits Act. This notice announces both the OMB number and expiration date. Compliance Date: As of April 9, 2004, affected parties must continue to comply with the information collection requirements described below, which have been extended by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shelby Hallmark, Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Employment Standards Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3524, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: 202-693-0036 (this is not a toll-free number). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 25, 2003, OWCP requested that OMB extend under the PRA a currently approved information collection for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended (EEOICPA), 42 U.S.C. 7384 et seq., the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, as amended (FECA), 5 U.S.C. 8101 et seq., and the Black Lung Benefits Act, as amended (BLBA), 30 U.S.C. 901 et seq. The information collection requirements that needed to be extended by OMB are derived from regulations that implement these three statutes at 20 CFR 10.801, 30.701, 725.701 and 725.705, and consist of pharmacy billing data requirements that must be followed so bills that are submitted to OWCP for payment by the responsible program can be processed automatically. On March 31, 2004, OMB approved this extension of a currently approved collection of information for three years. The OMB control number assigned to this information collection is 1215-0194. The approval for this information collection will expire on March 31, 2007. Signed at Washington, DC, this 2nd day of April, 2004. Shelby Hallmark, Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Employment Standards Administration. [FR Doc. 04-8053 Filed 4-8-04; 8:45 am] ***************************************************************** 28 The Age: Russia's Pacific nuclear warning - - http://www.theage.com.au April 9, 2004 - 4:05PM Russia's Okhotsky Sea is in imminent danger of a nuclear disaster from two sunken power units, local politicians warn. The 2.5-tonne IEU-1 units were lost in the Pacific Ocean's Okhotsky Sea in 1987 and 1997 due to emergencies during their transportation by helicopters, MPs told reporters. One unit now rests off Sakhalin island's eastern Nizky cape, while another lies only 300 metres away from the island's northern Maria cape. "In case their shell is destroyed by seawater, the released strontium-90 would contaminate all regions near the Okhotsky Sea," and the fish harvested here by fishing crews from many countries, the regional parliament's deputy Viktor Sereda said. "All of Russia's Far East would be in danger due to migration of sea animals," Sereda added. Russia's cash-strapped Pacific Fleet tried to retrieve the units, but all expeditions fell through due to lack of financing, despite appeals by local ecologists. ©2003 AAP Brought to you by [aap] Copyright © 2004. The Age Company Ltd. ***************************************************************** 29 palm beach post: Union: Wackenhut lax on nuclear security [PalmBeachPost.com Home] By Stephen Pounds, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Friday, April 9, 2004 A union representing some nuclear-plant guards managed by the Wackenhut Corp. issued a scathing report in Washington Thursday, accusing the company of lax security and poor training at several U.S. plants, including one in St. Lucie County. The Service Employees International Union based its report on inspections and studies by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, nuclear-plant operator Entergy and media reports. The service employees' union represents 500 to 1,000 guards at three nuclear plants in Illinois where Wackenhut provides security. The union's report said Wackenhut, which is contracted to guard more than 30 nuclear plants nationwide, has provided poor security at several plants, cut training for its guards, cheated on security drills at a federal weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and retaliated against whistleblowers. The Palm Beach Gardens company calls the report "a compilation of their previous accusations, lies and misleading statements." The report will be sent to Congress and to the company, union spokesman Andrew McDonald said. The union denies that the report is part of an effort to unionize more of Wackenhut's guards. "It raises questions as to this company's ability to protect our nuclear facilities," McDonald said. While some incidents occurred over the past 18 months, others cited in the union's report took place from 1997 to 2000. Many issues were taken up with the respective power company and not with Wackenhut. Wackenhut Vice President Marc Shapiro said the union report is part of a strong-arm strategy to increase its membership in the security guard industry. "The current corporate campaign by the SEIU is all about market share where guards outnumber law enforcement by 3 to 1," Shapiro said. In February, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission defended Wackenhut security measures at a nuclear power plant in New York after being deluged by an e-mail "form letter" from union members. It concluded that security at the Indian Point plant was adequate. "In general, the issues raised in the letter are dated," the commission said. "Many significant actions have been taken to enhance security at the NRC-licensed facilities since Sept. 11." Three incidents at Florida Power & Light's plant on Hutchinson Island were detailed in the union's report. In 2000, a guard was positioned in a spot where his view was obstructed. In 2002, a visitor left his escort for 10 minutes while inside the plant, and last year a flat-bed truck with new fuel containers was left unattended and had not been searched before entering the plant, the union report said. "We take security... very, very seriously," FPL spokesman Bill Swank said. "Mistakes can happen, but we have a good track record of taking corrective action." stephen_pounds@pbpost.com [stephen_pounds@pbpost.com] • Copyright © 2004, The Palm Beach Post. All rights reserved. By ***************************************************************** 30 CBS 2: Vets: Health Problems Linked To Uranium [http://www.cbs.com/] Friday, April 9 Video Local soldiers say uranium dust made them sick, Hazel Sanchez reports. + Sen. Schumer Vows To Fight For Extended Health Benefits NEW YORK (AP) Six Iraq war veterans charged Friday that the Army ignored their complaints about uranium poisoning from U.S. weapons fired during combat. "We were all healthy when we left home. Now, I suffer from headaches, fatigue, dizziness, blood in the urine, unexplained rashes," said Sgt. Jerry Ojeda, 28, who was stationed south of Baghdad with other National Guard members of the 442nd Military Police Company, which is based in Rockland County. He said the soldiers' symptoms also include shortness of breath, migraines and nausea. The soldiers held a news conference in the garden of Ojeda's Queens apartment house, joined by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who said he would fight to get the victims extended health benefits after they're discharged. New York's other senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton, said Thursday that as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she would ask Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to require health screenings for all returning troops. Five of the men said they also were recently tested by an independent physician, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a former Army doctor and nuclear medicine expert. He found traces of depleted uranium in their bloodstream, with four registering high levels. After their return from Iraq, "the Army was unfortunately not cooperative when they asked for testing," Schumer said. "To stonewall this -- which is what has happened -- is not the American way." In Washington, Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said that the military would do "the right thing" and test any soldier who expressed concerns about uranium exposure. Sgt. Herbert Reed, 50, who works as an assistant deputy warden at the city's jail on Rikers Island, said that when a dozen soldiers asked for treatment last fall, they initially "were turned away." Three of them persisted and were tested in December, said Reed, who has yet to receive his results. The men said that Army officials at Fort Dix, in New Jersey, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, are now testing urine samples they supplied. Results are expected in about three weeks. Since the start of the Iraq war, U.S. forces reportedly have fired at least 120 tons of shells packed with depleted uranium. Depleted uranium -- far less radioactive than natural uranium -- is left over from the process of enriching uranium for use as nuclear fuel. The extremely dense material has been used by the U.S. and British militaries for tank armor and armor-piercing weapons. Once fired, DU shells melt, vaporizes and turns to dust. The soldiers said the uranium apparently mixed with sand and dirt in Iraq, then entered the soldiers' bloodstream after they inhaled it. Veterans started reporting health problems as a result of DU shells in 1991, after the first Gulf War. Since then, the debate over the use and effects of depleted uranium munitions has escalated. Some experts believe the nuclear component used in warfare is practically harmless, while others blame DU for cancers and other illnesses. (© 2004 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material ***************************************************************** 31 Las Vegas SUN: Nuke Site Workers Fear Health Problems By SHANNON DININNY ASSOCIATED PRESS RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - Steve and Virginia Wallace know the symptoms of exposure to chemical vapors: headaches, nosebleeds, a metallic taste. With a combined 30 years working at the Hanford nuclear site, the two respiratory equipment specialists believe workers there aren't being adequately protected. The state and federal governments are investigating procedures at Hanford's so-called tank farms amid allegations that corners are being cut - and workers endangered - to speed cleanup of the nation's most contaminated nuclear site. More than 90 workers have sought medical care for exposure at the tank farms in the past two years, according to data gathered by the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit watchdog group. Few workers will speak publicly. A 1997 draft report by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory concluded that the risk of contracting cancer from exposure to the vapors could be as high as 1.6 in 10. In the industrial world, normal risk is for one worker in 10,000 to contract cancer from exposures in the workplace, according to Tim Jarvis, a former researcher at the laboratory and peer reviewer of the report. Jarvis now is a private consultant often contracted by the Government Accountability Project. "The report shows that exposure to tank vapors is extremely hazardous and will most likely lead to fatal cancers in the workers if exposure is continued," he said. "My own personal opinion is I'm not being protected," said Virginia Wallace, who takes samples inside the tanks. Her husband is an instrument technician. "People are afraid to seek medical attention. I've been scared." For 40 years, the Hanford reservation made plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal. Today, work there centers on a $50 billion to $60 billion cleanup to be finished by 2035 under an accelerated schedule pushed by the Bush administration. The most deadly waste, about 53 million gallons of radioactive liquid, sludge and saltcake, sits in 177 underground tanks less than 10 miles from the Columbia River. Plans call for turning much of that waste into glass logs and burying it at a nuclear waste repository. Experts have identified as many as 1,200 chemicals, including some known cancer-causing agents, in the tanks. CH2M Hill, the Colorado-based contractor hired to handle cleanup, and the Energy Department, which manages the cleanup, say most of the chemicals are diluted and pose no danger to workers. Only three - ammonia, nitrous oxide and butanol - have been found in the tanks' air cavities at levels exceeding occupation exposure limits, CH2M Hill said. "No one has received a toxic dose of these chemicals," said Rob Barr, director of environment safety and quality for the Energy Department's Office of River Protection. "We are concerned and they should be concerned," Barr said. But, he added, "We have a very high assurance that there are no long-term effects of the chemicals that are out there, because they are at such a low level." CH2M Hill says the rising number of exposures are, in part, a result of educating workers about vapors and encouraging them to report unusual smells. More than 800 people work in the tank farms for CH2M Hill. The total work force at Hanford is about 11,000 people. Following four vapor incidents in two weeks last month - which sent nine workers for medical evaluations - CH2M Hill halted routine work in the tank farms. The company has restarted some work since, but employees who enter the tank farms must wear respirators. Critics argue that respirators can't protect against all 1,200 chemicals. Last month, the Energy Department began formally investigating the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation, the private contractor that monitors and provides health care to Hanford workers. The contractor has denied allegations that include fraud and medical-records mismanagement. Officials there did not return telephone messages seeking comment Friday. A report CH2M Hill commissioned last fall by four independent experts cited failures to communicate procedural changes or safety issues about vapors. Susan Eberlein, vice president of safety for CH2M Hill, said the company is continuing to educate employees about vapors and improve communications. "We're trying to minimize exposures as much as possible," she said. -- ***************************************************************** 32 [BATN] Plan moves nuclear waste by rail to Nevada dump Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2004 22:00:38 -0000 Published Monday, April 5, 2004, by the Associated Press Plan Would Transport Nuke Waste by Rail By Ken Ritter Associated Press LAS VEGAS -- Radioactive waste bound for a planned national nuclear dump in Nevada would be transported by trains on a 319-mile rail line to be built across the state, the federal government announced Monday. The department has not said what routes it intends to use to transport the waste from 127 sites across the nation to a planned rail head near Caliente, 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas near the Utah line. Nevada officials and anti-dump activists have derided the Caliente-to- Yucca Mountain route -- which loops around the vast Nevada Test Site and Nellis Air Force Base bombing range -- as expensive and dangerous. Bob Loux, state nuclear projects chief, predicted Monday that despite the announcement, the Energy Department eventually will decide to ship nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain almost exclusively by truck. Nevada consultants say it would take nearly 10 years to acquire necessary land and build the rail line, at a cost of more than $2 billion. Allen Benson, spokesman for the federal project, said the Energy Department believes the rail line will cost $880 million and take four years to build. Loux said state officials will challenge the rail plan. Nevada has accused the federal government of neglecting to inform ranchers, miners and rural residents about its plan. Making rail the preferred method for shipping nuclear waste to the Yucca Mountain dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, with the Caliente corridor as the preferred route, becomes official when the decision is published in the Federal Register, Benson said. The Caliente-to-Yucca route was one of five originally considered. One of the rejected routes skirted Las Vegas and its 1.6 million residents. In July 2002, the Bush administration and Congress approved Yucca Mountain as the site to store 77,000 tons of radioactive waste now held in 39 states. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/kgOolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Email article texts/URLs for posting to . Manage your subscription by sending a blank email message to: BATN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe, BATN-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com to unsubscribe, BATN-digest@yahoogroups.com to switch email to digest mode, BATN-normal@yahoogroups.com to switch email to normal mode, BATN-nomail@yahoogroups.com to switch email delivery off. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN for web access & archives. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: BATN-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 33 Deseret news: Firm tries again for waste permit [deseretnews.com] Friday, April 9, 2004 Facility would accept hottest waste in state By Lisa Riley Roche Deseret Morning News The head of a company that was spurned in its efforts to build a low-level radioactive waste facility in Tooele County said Thursday he's trying again — this time, pitching a plant that would handle even hotter materials. "We need to show a need," Charles Judd, the president of Cedar Mountain Environmental Inc., told the Deseret Morning News about his intention to propose a facility that will accept waste with a higher level of radioactivity than anything currently accepted in the state. Last month, the Tooele County Commission rejected Judd's request for a permit to build a radioactive waste facility on 500 acres located next to Envirocare, saying he had not demonstrated a need for a second waste facility in the county. Judd, a former president of Envirocare, announced this week he's reapplying for a permit at the same site. Thursday, he said the new application will seek to take radioactive waste that is both more and less contaminated than what's already coming to Utah. Although he has not yet completed a detailed application, Judd estimated that about 10 percent to 15 percent of the waste the plant would handle would be hotter than wastes now going to Envirocare. The materials would be mostly soils, debris and concrete from government sources and possibly power plants. He said he is not seeking a license to handle the controversial Class B and C wastes, primarily the by-products of decommissioned nuclear power plants. Instead, he wants to expand the types of less radioactive Class A wastes that would be brought into the state. Such a proposal would need the approval of state regulators, both the governor and the Legislature, and the county commission. Last year, Envirocare ended up withdrawing an application to take hotter wastes from Ohio amid a public uproar. Still, Judd said he believes his proposal can succeed. "We think they're good," he said of his chances of convincing public officials to go along with his plan. "We wouldn't be investing the large amount of money we are if we didn't think we wouldn't be successful." Others aren't so sure. "I think it would be a tough sell for them to make for any radioactive waste," said Rep. Stephen Urquhart, co-chairman of the state Legislative Task Force on Waste Policy. "If it's hotter than what we receive, it would be that much more difficult." The Republican from St. George, who sponsored legislation last session to give the state more control over what radioactive wastes are allowed, recalled the public opposition to Envirocare's effort to bring in hotter waste. "You'd probably be safe to predict the people and their representatives won't jump for joy at the prospect of hotter radioactive waste," Urquhart said. "There's a reason there's only four radioactive waste facilities in the country. They're tough to license." Tooele County Commissioner Matt Lawrence also cited the battle over the uranium mill tailings from Fernald, Ohio. "You saw what happened in the state when they started talking about Fernald," Lawrence said. "I think the citizens of Tooele County would be leery of accepting more waste," he said, regardless of whether or not it's hotter. "At some point, it's not as much economic benefit to the county as it is what the people want." Waste watchdog Jason Groenewold of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah said he was surprised Judd was attempting to make his proposal more attractive to lawmakers by including hotter waste. "It's probably about as attractive as inviting a dirty pig into your house. A radioactive pig, maybe," Groenewold said. "It is the last thing Utah needs." E-mail: lisa@desnews.com [lisa@desnews.com] © 2004 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 34 Las Vegas RJ: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: DOE defends hauling nuclear waste by rail Friday, April 09, 2004 1,000 other shipments would go on truck trailers, report says By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department on Thursday defended its choice to ship most nuclear waste by railroad to a Yucca Mountain repository, stating in a formal notice that rail would be safer and less disruptive than shipments of radioactive material by truck. The department said it was moving forward with a blueprint calling for 3,000 to 3,300 railroad shipments over 24 years from government weapons plants and commercial nuclear utilities in 39 states to a proposed burial site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Another 1,000 shipments still would travel on truck trailers from sites that don't have the capability to load oversized 150-ton rail-shipping casks, DOE officials said. The notice in the Federal Register also left open the prospect that some radioactive spent fuel could be transported over water. For utilities that don't have access to a railroad, nuclear waste could be loaded into casks and moved by barge to a rail depot, according to the DOE. As an alternative, that material could be loaded onto trucks and driven to railheads. A previous DOE study identified nuclear plants in 14 states where barges "could be a feasible way to move spent nuclear fuel to the closest railhead." That study detailed a potential 1,575 nuclear waste shipments over waterways that included Chesapeake Bay, Lake Michigan, the Hudson River, the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. While shipping firms insist nuclear waste can be moved safely over water, environmental organizations and political leaders in states such as Michigan have predicted intense opposition. Allen Benson, spokesman for the department's Office of Repository Development, said barge shipping "is an option and certainly in very limited instances it may be considered." Specific routes for railroad and truck shipments remain to be determined, although the DOE identified potential corridors in an environmental study issued in 2002. The Energy Department formalized its nuclear waste transportation strategy in an eight-page record of decision published in the Federal Register, a legal requirement for the Yucca Mountain Project to move forward. In a separate notice published Thursday, the department committed to move ahead with environmental studies of a railroad to carry nuclear waste from Caliente to Yucca Mountain. Nevada officials were studying the documents and planned to meet to discuss possible legal action against the transportation plan, according to attorney Joe Egan. State officials have argued DOE is skirting parts of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires thorough study in advance of most major government decisions. In particular, the state is examining a DOE backup plan that envisions moving nuclear waste by truck through Nevada if a cross-state railroad isn't built by the government's 2010 target to open a repository. A DOE "supplement analysis" completed last month concluded the backup plan had already been examined enough to move ahead without further study. "The supplement analysis is an entirely new, unprecedented category of NEPA document that they created," Egan said. "Basically it was an analysis that said they didn't need to do any analysis. I think they are dead wrong." In its record of decision, the Energy Department said shipping nuclear waste to Nevada mostly by rail "tends to minimize the potential environmental impacts that could occur." The department indicated it is developing security plans that could include the use of armed federal agents as escorts for all shipments and designs for "security cars" for rail transport. DOE also is forming an anti-terrorist "design basis threat" that identifies likely scenarios for attacks on waste shipments and requirements to repel such attacks. Calculating health impacts over a projected 24-year railroad shipping campaign, DOE estimated routine radiation exposures to workers and the public could contribute to four cancer fatalities. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 35 Las Vegas RJ: Extension sought on comment period Friday, April 09, 2004 By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Nevada's senators on Thursday demanded more time for state residents to comment on a government plan to set aside public land for a possible railroad to Yucca Mountain. An official public comment period should be extended another 90 days before the Interior Department decides to withdraw federal land for the study, according to Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev. The public comment period ended March 29. Reid and Ensign pressed for more time in a letter sent to Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Norton will weigh an Energy Department request to withdraw public land in a mile-wide corridor that runs 319 miles between Caliente and the proposed nuclear waste site in Nye County, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. DOE has proposed to build a railroad through rural Nevada to carry nuclear waste to a Yucca Mountain repository. The radioactive material would arrive in Caliente from around the country on an existing rail line. "The DOE has a long history of steamrolling Nevadans," the senators said. Withdrawing the corridor would stifle mineral exploration and restrict access for ranchers who graze cattle, according to Reid and Ensign. Reid said he has created a page on his Web site where Nevadans can register comments on the land withdrawal that he will forward to Norton. The address is http://reid .senate.gov/yuccamtn_com ments.cfm. Interior officials could not be reached for comment Thursday night. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 36 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Welcome to our world LAS VEGAS SUN Just before attending an Oval Office ceremony in July 2002, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said, "I am very proud of the Secretary of Energy ..." At the ceremony, President Bush signed the Yucca Mountain resolution, giving his approval to the Energy Department's plan to turn Nevada's Yucca Mountain into the nation's sole dumping ground for high-level nuclear waste. Today, Craig isn't so complimentary. "I will not allow (the Energy Department) to hold this work hostage ..." he thundered at a hearing on a nuclear waste issue in his own state. Craig is now experiencing a taste of what Nevada has been experiencing for years -- the department's habit of changing rules late in the game. For example, Congress first decreed that Yucca could only be used if the mountain's natural geology would be the main barrier against radiation. Later, the Energy Department decided the main barrier could include man-made casks and other engineering. In Idaho, and five other states, Congress said all nuclear waste left over from Cold War weapons production is high level and must be removed. Now the Energy Department is threatening to withhold $350 million in cleanup funds unless the states agree to a reclassification of some of the waste as low level, and agree to bury it within their own borders. Craig is furious. Welcome to our world, Sen. Craig. ***************************************************************** 37 Las Vegas SUN: $2 million OK'd for legal battle against dump By Cy Ryan < [cy@lasvegassun.com] > SUN CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY -- The Legislative Interim Finance Committee on Thursday released $2 million for the state to continue its legal battle to stop Yucca Mountain, the site of a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository. But the money was not approved without some concern. Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, the chairman of the committee, said he doesn't want to see the radioactive waste being shipped to Nevada, but questioned whether the state should have a backup plan to get compensation. Arberry said the federal government has unlimited amounts of money to continue the battle to get Yucca Mountain approved. "I don't want it (the dump) but they could ramrod us in the end. I hope we could then get large compensation." Bob Loux, executive director of the state Office of Nuclear Projects, said the federal government has not put any money on the table. He added the fight was far from other. Loux and Senior Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams said they were optimistic that the state would win one of its four lawsuits before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Loux told the committee that, if the Energy Department loses the case, it "would likely be fatal to the project (Yucca Mountain)." Such a loss, Adams said, would be a "setback they (Energy Department) would be unable to recover from." Outside the meeting Loux and Adams said there was a good chance the appeals court would rule in favor of the state in its challenges to the radiation standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which says the federal radiation standards are not strict enough. Members of the appeals court focused their questions on that issue when the case was argued last month, they said. Meanwhile, Loux said the Energy Department is expected to file its application late this year with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to go forward with the project. He said he is asking for $10 million to $15 million in federal support to put on the state's case before the regulatory commission during a hearing that could take 4 to 5 years. Loux, in reply to a question from Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said the state office is in compliance with all federal and state laws. The office several years ago was criticized by a federal audit as not following all of the federal requirements. In other action the finance committee also: + Allocated $2.6 million to the state Forestry Division to buy new buses and other vehicles to haul firefighters to forest and range fires. Of the 120 vehicles, 70 have been pulled off the line because of safety concerns. An inspection found cracks in the chassis that could not be repaired, according to forestry officials. Deputy Forester Pete Anderson told the committee, "Our firefighting capabilities are cut in half." The federal government determined these old Carpenter vehicles were not safe and were subject to rollovers. The average age of these vehicles is 29 years with 100,000 to 200,000 miles on each. The money will buy 49 new vehicles. + Deferred approval of $2.1 million to the school districts to reimburse them for the subsidy for retired employees who belong to the state health system. The 2003 Legislature ordered local governments to provide a subsidy, much as the state does, to help those on a pension pay for their health coverage. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, urged the committee to approve the money from an emergency fund, saying there was an obligation to follow the law. "We passed a law. The money is in the contingency fund. It will provide some relief." Raggio said this was not a one-time expenditure. The districts will need $4 million next year to cover this cost. He added the cost will be built into the state formula for support of schools. Raggio suggested there may be a compromise where the state does not have to pay the full 100 percent of the subsidy. Motions to approve the allocation failed and the issue will be considered again June 11. ***************************************************************** 38 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca rail route riles ranchers By Kirsten Searer WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department's hired law firm can collect up to $12 million this year to prepare the license application for the Yucca Mountain project, according to its contract. That compares with $1 million allocated to Nevada for Yucca Mountain oversight, which includes license application work, Nevada officials say. The state sued the Energy Department last month for an additional $4 million to effectively participate in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing process. The department last month awarded the law firm Hunton &Williams a $45 million contract through 2008 to be its main legal counsel for the licensing of the proposed nuclear waste storage project at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The firm will prepare the application and defend it during the licensing hearings. The department expects to submit its application to the commission by the end of the year. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has three years to review it but can ask Congress for an additional year, potentially extending the process through 2009. The department wants to open the site in 2010. According the 47-page contract obtained by the Sun, Hunton can bill for and collect about $12 million from the start of the contract on March 24 through the end of the year for an estimated 45,000 hours of work. The exact amount billed per hour by the lawyers is not included in the contract but senior partners can collect up to $3.1 million this year. The firm is allocated up to $10 million next year and the budget decreases to $3 million by 2008. The department included roughly $20 million additional for work through 2013 on the license. Nevada's $6 million contract with Egan, Fitzpatrick, Malsch and Cynkar, a Virginia law firm hired by the state to handle litigation as well as the license proceeding preparation, expires in September, said Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. He expects the contract to be renewed for an amount not to exceed $5.7 million, but explained that the state does not have the revenue right now to do it. Loux's office is using the $1 million allocated by Congress so far this year and dipping into the $182,000 protection fund but he hoped the Energy Department would allocate the state more money or that the state would win its lawsuit to get another $4 million. Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the Energy Department must give Nevada oversight money for the project. ***************************************************************** 40 NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste to Meet April 20 - 22 in Rockville, Maryland News Release - 2004-04 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-040 April 9, 2004 The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) will hold a meeting April 20 - 22 in Rockville, Md. The Committees discussions will include, among other items, an update on the West Valley Demonstration Project and its performance assessment plans, as well as discussions of the Department of Energys timetable to respond to key technical issues for the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The public meeting will be held in Room T-2B3 of the agencys Two White Flint North Building, at 11545 Rockville Pike. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. on April 20, and at 8:30 a.m. on April 21 and 22. A complete agenda is available on the NRCs Web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acnw/agenda/2004/14 9.pdf [PDF Icon] . For additional information or schedule changes, please contact Howard Larson at 301-415-6805. Last revised Friday, April 09, 2004 ***************************************************************** 41 Pahrump Valley Times: County split on Yucca consultants April 9, 2004 COX, TRUMMELL VOTE NO ON 17 WORK CONTRACTS WORTH $1.2 MILLION By MARK WAITE Nye County Director of Natural Resources and Federal Facilities Les Bradshaw persuaded a majority of Nye County Commissioners Tuesday to approve a list of 17 consultants totaling $1.2 million for the Independent Scientific Investigation Program. Bradshaw emphasized the amount of time needed to build up experience in the various fields of study in arguing to retain the list of consultants. The contracts are funded through a five-year cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy, based on a proposal submitted by Nye County in February 2002. Bradshaw went out of his way to explain the benefits of the program to Nye County. Commissioners Patricia Cox and Candice Trummell still voted against the contracts. Bradshaw's summary states the 10 major tasks are designed to reduce uncertainty in defining pathways of potential radioactive contaminants from the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository into Amargosa Valley. Commissioner Cox had a problem with the statement in Bradshaw's summary report that "it is the opinion of the NWRPO (Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office) that requiring a competitive bid process for these professional service contracts would be highly detrimental to the ISIP (Independent Scientific Investigation Program) and would ultimately result in a loss of funding from DOE." Cox objected due to her recent push to seek competitive proposals from consultants on county contracts in order to have possibly better choices. "It wasn't to say we don't have a good team, it wasn't to say our consultants weren't the most qualified, but how do we know if we never went through the (bidding) process in the first place?" Cox asked. Commissioner Trummell asked why consultants were paid on a fixed fee instead of an hourly rate. She added the county could award separate contracts for testing. Bradshaw said his experience in bundling various projects in a flat rate contract is more cost efficient. Otherwise consultants would submit a higher estimate of their hourly rate to cover any uncertainties. Under the fixed fee arrangement, consultants have to absorb any loss due to unforeseen costs, he said. Bradshaw said the consultants will be in Pahrump for the annual Devil's Hole Workshop and would be available to make a special presentation to commissioners June 2. "We're very confident in these people. We worked with all of them last year," Bradshaw said. "They are highly respected in the work they do. They've given us good value (for our) money in the past." Bradshaw said the names have been submitted to the Energy Department, which approves the county's oversight work program, an indication the consultants are well qualified. The Independent Scientific Investigation Program is a team effort, which sometimes involves several consultants working in a single area, he said. Bradshaw said the scientific investigation program provides an independent analysis of Energy Department research on Yucca Mountain. "We don't always have to take their work at face value. It offers us suggestions to give DOE on how to improve their program." While he said the Energy Department doesn't always accept Nye County's advice, Bradshaw added, "We believe we've had an impact on the national program." Said Bradshaw: "We have fielded a winning team. We have a team that won the pennant last year and the evidence for that is we have a long-term involvement in this program. DOE continues to fund us." In arguing for keeping the current list of contractors, some of whom have worked for as long as seven years with the Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office, Bradshaw said, "Science is a process of incremental knowledge. Some (consultants) have been around the process many years. You've got to get that incremental knowledge in your brain." The consultants were selected initially based on their special expertise or knowledge, he said. Bradshaw provided figures showing 39 percent of the contractor dollars in the program last year, $259,000, stayed in Nye County. Overall half of the program's money last year, $808,000, stayed in Nye County. Commissioner Joni Eastley complimented Bradshaw for providing a table outlining each consultant's line of work. The consultants, their fees and their various tasks include: • Thomas Anderson, $40,000, regional geologic characterization; • William Belke, $12,000, quality assurance; • Tom Buqo, consulting hydro-geologist, $100,000, regional water level monitoring and surface geophysical surveys; • George Danko, Board of Regents CCSN/UNR, $80,000, repository ventilation modeling; • Earth Knowledge LLC, $190,000, data management; • James Foster, $40,000, lab technician; • Mary Ellen Giampaoli, $35,000, environmental compliance and restoration; • Kenneth Hooks, $10,000, quality assurance; • Ed Huskinson Jr., $30,000, geologist support; • Jamieson Walker, $135,000, managing geologist; • Joseph "Spike" LaComb Jr., $85,000, geologist; • Questa Engineering Corp., $200,000, aquifer and tracer testing; • Rocky Rockwood, Technician II, $50,000, field technician; • Terra Spectra Geomatics Inc., $60,000, website and map production; • John Walton, $50,000, water chemistry monitoring and ventilation modeling; • James R. Wilcoxon, $70,000, geologist. Bradshaw asked commissioners to delay approving a $30,000 contract with the University of Texas-El Paso for graduate student work on water chemistry monitoring; the university would be providing its own contract. The ventilation studies will use computer modeling to show natural ventilation would yield a cooler, drier, safer nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Wells will be sunk 700 feet at Jackass Aero Park in Lathrop Wells to sample groundwater flows. Geologic samples will be taken of the soil from the Lathrop Wells site and along Forty Mile Wash. Long-term groundwater sampling, including a chemical analysis, and regional water level monitoring in Pahrump, Stewart and Amargosa valleys are on the work plan under this year's program. A surface geophysical survey is designed to complete a survey in the vicinity of two wells on the western margin of Fortymile Wash to identify contact between the volcanic and alluvial aquifers. Fortymile Wash leads from Yucca Mountain south into Amargosa Valley. An integrated data management system will continue developing and updating conceptual models of the hydro-geologic and hydro-chemical systems down gradient of Yucca Mountain. A tracer test will check the travel times of potential contaminants in Fortymile Wash. Regional geological mapping will be done to identify potentially fast groundwater flows from the Nevada Test Site into Amargosa Valley. For comment or questions, please e-mail [webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com] Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2003 ***************************************************************** 42 BBC: Marchers revive nuclear protest Last Updated: Friday, 9 April, 2004 [The first Aldermaston march] Some 10,000 people joined the 1958 rally march to Aldermaston Hundreds of people have begun a four-day march to Aldermaston to protest about nuclear weapons. The protest, which revives a peace movement which began in 1958, started in London's Trafalgar Square. Aldermaston's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) provides the warheads for the UK's nuclear deterrent. Campaigners fear "the next generation of nuclear weapons" are to be researched and tested there. Scotland Yard said up to 1,000 people attended the London rally - much less than the thousands predicted - to hear speeches. Speaking at the gathering, which was organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), veteran Labour politician Tony Benn said: "Fifty-nine years ago Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by the most terrifying weapons ever devised and tens of thousands were killed. It makes me angry to see t number of people who have come to support the march today [ src=] Singer Damon Albarn "That was a warning to the human race that we ignore at our peril," he said. Bruce Kent, vice-president of CND, said: "This event is to wake up a sleeping population that is unaware of the dangers of nuclear weapons." Mr Kent said he was not disappointed by the low turnout and the CND movement was as relevant as ever. But Damon Albarn, lead singer of pop group Blur, who was not one of the speakers, said: "It makes me angry to see the number of people who have come to support the march today. "I know it's Good Friday but people could give a little bit of thought, it's not even raining. "They don't bother at all. I think if there had been a bomb in London the place would be packed, like in Madrid but because there's not, nobody bothers." In 1958, 15,000 attended the first CND march to mark its birth and an estimated one million took to the streets during last year's Stop the War marches. Before the rally, CND chairwoman Kate Hudson said the supposed Aldermaston programme highlighted Britain's "nuclear hypocrisy", in claiming to want to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction at the same time as developing new ones. She said: "The development of a new generation of UK nuclear weapons risks escalating the drive for other countries to develop their own WMD rather than encouraging them to disarm deadly weapons." Actress Susannah York praised jailed Israeli scientist Mordechai Vanunu in her address. [Route of the Aldermaston march] Marchers set off on Good Friday and expect to arrive on Easter Monday Vanunu has been in jail for 18 years in Israel as a whistleblower who revealed state secrets about the country's nuclear weapons programme. She said: "One of the most courageous men in recent history, Mordechai Vanunu, is scheduled for release in 12 days' time. "Mordechai Vanunu spoke out for us and you are speaking out for him." About 400 people were registered to take part in the four-day march to the weapons plant but more were expected to join along the way. Thames Valley Police predicted "congestion and disruption" along the march route and criticised organisers for not working more closely with them. People living in Slough, Maidenhead, Reading and Oxford could be affected. Supt Jim Trotman, area commander for west Berkshire, said the organisers had not sought the correct road closure orders for the route, which could put the safety of marchers and road users at risk. Aldermaston pictures were provided to BBC News Online courtesy of BECTU History Project. ***************************************************************** 43 Las Vegas SUN: Nuke protesters prepare for annual Test Site vigil By Mary Manning New York state resident Michelle Riddell decided to join demonstrators at the gateway to the Nevada Test Site today after meeting a band of 15 walkers marching along U.S. 95 to demonstrate against nuclear weapons experiments. "I had no idea they were still testing," Riddell said of underground subcritical tests using nuclear materials that have been continuing since the nuclear weapons test ban of 1992. The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has been targeting nuclear materials, including plutonium, in high-explosive experiments that stop short of producing a nuclear chain reaction in a chamber 1,000 feet beneath the Test Site. "I was really concerned about it," Riddell said. "That they are still testing is absurd." Riddell and her 80-year-old father, Dan Driscoll, met the walking protesters in Beatty as father and daughter returned from a day trip Thursday to Death Valley, she said. The Nevada Desert Experience, a group of religious representatives, has trekked to the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, for almost 20 years to hold a vigil at the desert proving ground's entrance. On Easter weekends, the group prays and protests at the entrance to the Test Site. Some choose to trespass on the Test Site and are cited by Nye County sheriff's deputies. The group takes its cue from an anti-nuclear movement that began in the 1950s when nuclear testing began at the Nevada site. In the 1980s the Test Site, one of the most secret experimental grounds of the Cold War, drew up to 3,000 demonstrators. Actor Martin Sheen, who plays a U.S. president on NBC's "The West Wing," was arrested along with singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson during those protests. Since the 1992 moratorium, interest has waned in massive outpourings of anti-nuclear demonstrations at the Test Site. However, the Bush administration's push to resume full-scale underground nuclear weapons testing has rekindled interest in the Test Site, said Paul Colbert, a spokesman for the Nevada Desert Experience. The Test Site's primary mission is to stand ready to test nuclear weapons, but the Department of Energy, manager of the site, has no current plans to revive underground nuclear testing, officials said. The 15 walkers left Las Vegas on Palm Sunday and walked the 65 miles to the site, Colbert said. They were expecting at least two vans filled with others to join the demonstration today. Those gathered in the desert were to conduct "the nuclear stations of the cross," a step-by-step exercise that draws on Christ's suffering that leads to his crucifixion, Colbert said. Then some protesters were expected to march across a steel cattle guard where Test Site guards and sheriff's deputies will be waiting, Colbert said. Trespassing demonstrators typically are handed a citation and released. ***************************************************************** 44 AFP: Peace trekkers set off for British nuclear arms facility [http://www.spacewar.com/] LONDON (AFP) Apr 09, 2004 Some 300 peace activists set off from central London on Friday on an Easter weekend trek to a British nuclear arms facility to denounce the ongoing development of the world's most lethal weapons. The 90-kilometer (52-mile) march on the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Berkshire, west of London, was organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), one of Britain's oldest anti-war groups. It alleges that the Aldermaston facility -- which the peace trekkers intend to surround upon their arrival Monday -- is expanding to develop new nuclear weapons to replace Britain's ageing Trident submarine-based missiles. The march set off from Trafalgar Square in London where, according to police estimates, around 1,000 people gathered for a CND rally to warn of the dangers posed by nuclear weapons. "Fifty-nine years ago Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by the most terrifying weapons ever devised, and tens of thousands were killed," said veteran politician Tony Benn, referring to the 1945 bombings of the two Japanese cities at the end of World War II. "That was a warning to the human race that we ignore at our peril," he told the smaller-than-expected crowd. CND vice president Bruce Kent said the group wanted to "wake up a sleeping population" to the dangers that nuclear weapons still pose, a decade after the demise of the Cold War. He said a UN conference in New York in May to review the Non-Proliferation Treaty would be a critical event in international efforts to abolish nuclear weapons. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 45 Tri-City Herald: 2 officials leaving Fluor Corp. This story was published Friday, April 9th, 2004 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer Ron Hanson, the vice president of environmental and nuclear operations for the Fluor Government Group, will retire May 1. Hanson was Fluor Hanford's president from 1998 to 2001. He then led Fluor Corp.'s Department of Energy business, which includes Fluor Hanford cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation where plutonium was produced during World War II and the Cold War. Harry Boston, executive director for business development, also has announced he is leaving the corporation midmonth to take another job, which Fluor did not disclose. Boston formerly was manager of DOE's Office of River Protection at Hanford. His replacement has not been announced. Hanson will be replaced by Gary Coxon, according to a memo sent to Fluor Hanford employees. Coxon has worked for more than 25 years with Bechtel and four years with Lockheed Martin. Coxon was responsible for Bechtel's worldwide environmental business, molding a group of stand-along projects into the nation's leading environmental remediation business, according to the staff memo. The memo also said under his leadership Bechtel won most of the projects it bid on over more than two years and the size of the business unit tripled over three years. Coxon also has experience with DOE contracts at the federal sites in Savannah River, S.C., and Oak Ridge, Tenn. Hanson worked for Fluor for nine years of his 38-year career. His performance at Fluor Hanford, as the third of six presidents since 1996, was strong enough to win a contract extension. Now the contract expires in 2006. Fluor Hanford has had successes, such as completing the stabilization of plutonium at the Plutonium Finishing Plant this year and nearing the end of spent fuel removal at the K Basins. However, the contractor has fallen far behind the scheduled start of removal of sludge from the K Basins and lost $3 million in fees over the delay last year. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 46 DAILY BRUIN: Protest opposes nuclear labs [http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/] Friday, April 09, 2004 By Nancy Su DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR nsu@media.ucla.edu Hundreds of protesters are expected to gather today at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to protest the lab's nuclear weapons research. The University of California runs the Livermore lab, which has been the site of protests for over 20 years. The Livermore lab in Northern California, together with the UC-managed Los Alamos lab in New Mexico, helped develop some of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal. The labs are now research facilities for homeland security and are doing nuclear research under the Stockpile Stewardship Program. Since nuclear underground testing was stopped in the early 1990's, the Stockpile Stewardship Program was developed to ensure the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons. "Nuclear weapons are a strong symbolism of what's wrong with our country. It's domination and control based on the threat of annihilation," said Tara Dorabji, the outreach director of TriValley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, the Livermore watchdog group sponsoring the protest this year. Protesters accuse the lab of continuing to develop new and modified nuclear weapons. Each year they gather in front of the lab on Good Friday to begin events with a prayer and speeches. They then march toward the gates of the lab. Lynda Seaver, a spokeswoman for the Livermore lab, denied that the lab is developing new weapons. Seaver said the purpose of nuclear research at the lab is to ensure the safety and security of existing weapons, not to develop new ones. But despite denials of new weapons research, last year Washington set aside $15 million for feasibility studies for the Livermore and Los Alamos labs on the a new bunker-busting bomb. The Livermore lab has gained attention in recent years because of homeland security issues and the increased importance of nuclear and biological weapons in world affairs. The Livermore labs have also recently experienced an increase in protesters at the annual demonstrations. Last August, over 1,000 protesters gathered to mark the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb over Japan and to demonstrate against Livermore's nuclear research and Bush's foreign policy. The Los Alamos lab was built as part of the Manhattan Project. The lab designed the nuclear weapons that were eventually used to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. At the Good Friday protest last year, about 270 protesters gathered and 73 were arrested for blocking the gate of the lab. Seaver said the lab will prepare for the demonstration this year by making necessary safeguards to ensure workers can enter and exit the lab. Carolyn Scarr, a member of the board of directors for the Ecumenical Peace Institute – Clergy and Laity Concerned, said the UC has something to answer for in managing these labs. "The UC should not only get out of developing weapons, they should do some real research in demobilizing the nuclear stockpile," Scarr said. ***************************************************************** 47 Oak Ridger: EPA's talk on Y-12 uranium report nixed - for now Story last updated at 1:12 p.m. on April 9, 2004 By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] It looks like the Environmental Protection Agency won't get a chance this month to address its concerns about a public health assessment on uranium releases from Oak Ridge's nuclear weapons plant. EPA officials were supposed to talk about the issue during Tuesday's Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects Subcommittee. However, The Oak Ridger learned shortly after 11 a.m. Friday that EPA's portion of the public meeting has been nixed. Jennifer Sarginson, who handles media inquires for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, cited the Kingston location of the meeting as a reason for EPA's talk being postponed. "Basically, EPA, ATSDR, the subcommittee and the community all got together and talked about this and agreed that the best thing to do would be to present this portion of the agenda at the June 8 meeting," Sarginson said. "And, that one actually takes place in Oak Ridge - which is why it seems more pertinent." ATSDR's public health assessment states that past and current off-site exposures to uranium released from the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant pose "no apparent health hazard." What this means is people could've been or were exposed, but the estimated doses weren't at levels expected to cause adverse health effects. The health assessment focuses heavily on the Scarboro neighborhood, located just over a ridge from the weapons plant now known as the Y-12 National Security Complex. EPA's Office of Radiation and Indoor Air indicated it did not agree with ATSDR's final conclusion regarding past uranium exposures - voicing concern over health evaluation criteria used by ATSDR and suggesting the health assessment underestimated some radiation doses, among other things. While some people questioned why a talk on an Oak Ridge issue would take place in Kingston, ATSDR officials said the meeting was scheduled before the agency found out EPA would be coming. When The Oak Ridger asked Sarginson how many community members were involved in the decision to postpone EPA's talk, she responded: "There were a couple of community members who were originally trying to get EPA to come to the meeting. It's those community members who were concerned about making sure that EPA got to the meeting." The Oak Ridger also learned some community members were trying to arrange a non-subcommittee meeting for Monday night to allow EPA officials to discuss their concerns about the health assessment in Oak Ridge. Attempts to schedule this Monday night meeting apparently didn't sit well with some people involved with the subcommittee. "The official meeting is scheduled for Tuesday," said Sarginson. "There was supposedly a meeting in the works for Monday, and it was an unofficial meeting. "But, that's been canceled to my knowledge. And, that was not an official meeting. That was not something we coordinated - meaning ATSDR." Consisting of around 20 community members, the subcommittee essentially serves as an advisory group to ATSDR - a federal public health agency involved with hazardous waste issues. Minus the EPA portion, Tuesday's Health Effects Subcommittee meeting is still scheduled to take place, starting at noon in the Kingston Community Center, 201 Patton Ferry Road, Kingston. The meeting is open to the public. ***************************************************************** 48 Oak Ridger: Marketing the past ... and Oak Ridge's future? Story last updated at 12:50 p.m. on April 9, 2004 TIMELINE: Two forums on Oak Ridge tourism set for April 15 in Georgia, with a final report possibly issued at the end of May. By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] Without a doubt, the Graphite Reactor is important to telling the Oak Ridge story. The world's oldest nuclear reactor received the highest marks from community members who were asked to rank the importance of 65 sites that could be used to develop a Heritage Tourism plan for Oak Ridge. Built in the early-1940s and designated a national historic landmark in 1966, the reactor, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was used to extract plutonium from irradiated uranium slugs - a milestone in the creation of the atomic bomb that ended World War II. The reactor also produced the first electricity from nuclear energy in addition to being the world's foremost source of radioisotopes for medicine, agriculture, industry, and other purposes - among other things. As a result, the reactor will be one of the sites used to test visitor interest in touring Oak Ridge during two forums on April 15 in Atlanta, Ga., according to Judy Randall, president and chief executive officer of North Carolina-based Randall Travel Marketing. "I'm very curious about it," said Randall, when asked how well she thought the reactor would test. Randall officials presented a prioritized list of sites during a public meeting Thursday evening at the American Museum of Science and Energy. The list was a result of meetings held last week. Another part of the city's history likely to be presented in Atlanta is the Roosevelt Cell - a piece of operating equipment in the K-25 building that was spruced up for a planned visit by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that never occurred. Other sites that could be tested include the American Museum of Science and Energy; Beta 3 with its associated calutrons, which were used to enrich uranium for the atomic bomb at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant; and Chapel on the Hill, Oak Ridge's first church. With a project cost of about $40,000, Randall Travel Marketing is working with the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau on developing the tourism plan. However, one lingering issue pertaining to the tourism plan is whether or not it should strictly focus on Oak Ridge's history, specifically the World War II portion. State Rep. Jim Hackworth, D-Clinton, who attended Thursday's meeting, stressed the importance of Oak Ridge's future. For example, the elected official pointed out ORNL could soon house the world's fastest supercomputer. Randall questioned whether or not "the future" could be a tourist attraction. There was also some concern that people visiting Oak Ridge won't be able to see current and future Department of Energy-related projects due to strict security measures. "Where can they see it?" said Joe Valentino, executive director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau. Regarding the April 15 forums, one will include 25 people who match the demographic profile of likely leisure travelers from Atlanta who have visited Oak Ridge while the second forum will include 25 likely leisure travelers from who have not visited Oak Ridge. A final report could be available by the end of May, with a public presentation to follow, according to Randall. ***************************************************************** 49 lamonitor.com: Local woman chair for CAB The Online News Source for Los Alamos [http://www.lanl.gov/worldview] [http://www.lac-nm.us] ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor Los Alamos real estate appraiser Katherine Guidry has assumed the position of chair of the Northern New Mexico Citizens' advisory Board. She takes over from Jim Brannon, who submitted his resignation in a letter to the board, March 3. Guidry said the organization has had "lots of hits and misses" over the last year and faces a number of challenges in the future, including a reorganization within DOE that calls into question the group's future. The NMCAB is an independent advisory group that provides citizen input on a variety of environmental matters at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The DOE funds an office and staff in Santa Fe, as well as meetings, travel and other activities of the board. Guidry chaired her first board meting last week in the Cities of Gold Hotel in Pojoaque. NMCAB is in its second incarnation, after the previous board was dissolved at the end of a stormy period in the early 1990s. At that time it was one of the few organizations in which people could express frustrations with the laboratory, including environmental issues, but more often social and political issues as well, Guidry said. "That board was disbanded by DOE for inefficiency. It defined what we were not," she said in an interview in Los Alamos Wednesday. In the early '90s Guidry became involved in environmental issues as an appraiser, when she made use of a new environmental reading room and helped develop an overlay map indicating where old lab sites overlapped private properties in the town site. The information could tell a property owner such things as what happened there and how much soil was removed in the clean-up operation. The focus, she said, was on clean-up issues at the time, but her interests led to what is now a standard environmental disclaimer on property reports, advising a buyer that the appraiser is not an environmental expert. For that advice, a specialist is advisable. In a new formulation beginning in 1997, NNMCB has been organized more tightly around issues like environmental remediation, waste clean up, monitoring and long-term surveillance. More recently it has made a stronger push to increase citizen involvement. Guidry said she joined to get an education about what is being done. "We may have pollution problems and there may be larger problems that we as a community should be involved in," she said, mentioning concerns about the planned decommissioning and decontamination at Technical Area 21 on property to be transferred to Los Alamos County in the future. Guidry attended classes in Washington, D.C., with the help of LANL's risk reduction and environmental stewardship division. She has become increasingly engaged in the board's efforts to facilitate the communication of controversial issues to the public and how the public can be heard. One significant issue on the horizon is a proposal to shift a portion of future waste management operations from the environmental management office of DOE to a new Office of Future Liability within the National Nuclear Security Administration. The proposal was described in a statement by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who chaired a hearing of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development of the appropriations committee on March 31. "This budget proposes shifting a number of cleanup responsibilities to other offices and creating an entirely new office to manage the future clean up of any on-going DOE activities that are not currently managed by EM (Enviornmental Management)," Domenici observed. For the CAB the transition raises the possibility that the organization's charter will expire in 2006, when the proposed change is scheduled to go into effect, since NNSA does not have a public involvement policy or budget. "All the sites are concerned," Guidry said. She will be joining the chairs of all the site-specific advisory boards around the country to meet with Jessie Roberson, assistant secretary of DOE's EM office, in Washington in two weeks. "I think she is learning that we are unhappy that it's not settled yet." Guidry said the board has now put in place formal structures meant to help them deal with the issues. The deadline for public review of a proposed new environmental management policy known as "risk-based end states" has been suspended under widespread criticism, notably by the department's own citizen stakeholders, represented by the advisory boards. Other pressing challenges include prospective budget cuts in environmental management and severe staff shortages at the New Mexico Environment Department. "The clean up isn't going to happen if they're so understaffed that they can't follow through," she said. "The reality is that we all need each other. DOE needs us. NMED needs us and we need them. The issue is too important to let it get fumbled by politics." Although her work as chair is just beginning, she has a definite sense of direction. "My era is about bringing a balance of power between the large institutions and the affected community." The lever, she feels, is the quality of information and a thorough and credible process of risk communication. Outgoing chair Jim Brannon expressed his personal confidence in Guidry's competence. He said it was a good time to step down, citing personal and professional reasons for his decision. The North New Mexico Citizens' Advisory board meets bimonthly in Pojoaque. The next meeting will be held May 21. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 50 lamonitor.com: LANL exempted on sealed source disposal The Online News Source for Los Alamos [http://www.lanl.gov/worldview] [http://www.lac-nm.us] ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor The New Mexico Environment Department has exempted radioactive wastes in the form of sealed sources from complicated procedures that have hindered disposal of encapsulated nuclear materials potentially attractive to terrorists. NMED quietly approved the decision to modify its Hazardous Waste Facility Permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in Carlsbad in a letter to managers. "The sealed source program is very important to homeland security requirements," said Dennis Hurt, a DOE spokesperson by telephone from Carlsbad on Wednesday. The testing for headspace gas sampling for sealed sources, is no longer considered necessary, he said. It slows the process down and, because it involves breeching a double-wrapped and secure container, is considered more dangerous for workers. DOE said in a statement Wednesday, that they had "demonstrated to NMED's satisfaction that the possibility of hazardous gases inside sealed sources is insignificant." Sealed sources containing by-products from nuclear reactors have been used for a variety of industrial and research purposes throughout the country. They were scattered around in a relatively unregulated environment until 1979 when Los Alamos National Laboratory began accepting and storing them on a temporary basis. Over time, LANL's off-site recovery program (OSRP) has collected thousands of sealed sources, including plutonium-239 materials that were defense related or no longer used by universities. These materials meet one of the criteria for storage at WIPP, but until recently have not been accepted there because they were not defense related. After 9/11 that changed, said Lee Leonard, Los Alamos manager of OSRP. "It's really a national security program now," he said, noting Congress tasked OSRP to recover 5,000 sources between Oct. 2002 and April 2004. He said the program has exceeded the goal by 500 items. A number of sealed sources have been authorized to b e discarded at WIPP because they contain weapons-grade materials and the list may be expanded. "Since we've become a national security program, we've been asked to get into other kinds of sources - not just transuranic materials - but any source that has the potential to be used by a terrorist, like cobalt or cesium," Leonard said. Relief from procedures that were routine, but not necessarily applicable, to these materials is considered a milestone in the recovery project. "It would allow us to move these sources more quickly through LANL and off the Hill and get them where they belong," Leonard said. Jon Goldstein, communications director for NMED, acknowledged the department had authorized the modification. From Las Cruces, Wednesday, he referred questions to the department's WIPP Information Page on the web, http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/wipp/index.html, where the letter of determination can be found along with public comments regarding the change. Among concerns expressed by the public was that the exemption was to be allowed based on the reliability of the documentation, known as "Acceptable Knowledge." "All waste streams going to WIPP require an AK," Leonard said. "That's a document that explains that you really know what you're throwing away. We already know what these things are in a very exact way, unlike the normal WIPP waste." He compared it to throwing away a car part with a part number and complete information about its manufacture and origin, as opposed to "normal WIPP waste," which is more like throwing away a bag of garbage whose contents is highly variable diverse and more difficult to characterize. The recorded contents of a sealed source can be verified by a non-destructive assay that would verify the characterization of the radioactive material. He said the lab would be in a position to ship sources by mid-summer, but because of delays in shipping another lab waste stream, the Quick-to-WIPP drums, the sealed sources might not be shipped first. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 51 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2004 14:25:47 -0700 (PDT) KHARRAZI Rejects ElBaradei ’ s Statement on Iran ’ s Nuclear ... Tehran Times - Tehran,Iran TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Tehran had not violated its commitments under nuclear non-proliferation safeguards and any ... See all stories on this topic: OUR OPINION: Nuclear resurgence Victorville Daily Press - Victorville,CA,USA Can it be that the American public has finally digested enough unbiased information about nuclear energy to get past the chicken little hysteria that has kept ... See all stories on this topic: NORTH Korea says standoff with US at "brink of nuclear war" Channel News Asia - Singapore SEOUL : North Korea said Friday the standoff over its atomic ambitions was on the brink of nuclear war as US Vice President Dick Cheney headed to the region ... See all stories on this topic: SECURITY To Be Raised At Nuclear Facility Hartford Courant (subscription) - Hartford,CT,USA HADDAM -- Security at the decommissioned Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant will be bolstered when highly radioactive nuclear waste begins to be ... See all stories on this topic: OCEAN County, NJ, Nuclear Plant Settles Claims in Fish Deaths Miami Herald - Miami,FL,USA ... 9 - The owner of the Oyster Creek nuclear-power plant has agreed to pay $1 million to settle claims that hot water discharged from the plant killed at least ... See all stories on this topic: WELSH protestors in nuclear protest News Wales - Cardiff,Wales,UK Peace and nuclear disarmament protestors from Wales will be amongst those at the Trafalgar Square rally on Good Friday; on the London to Aldermaston Atomic ... See all stories on this topic: POLITICS of Security: When Vajpayee said 'No' to Going Nuclear Times of India - India Though the British Labour Party took the decision to go nuclear in 1946, the first British nuclear test took place under the Conservative administration in ... BRAZILIAN scientist: Commercial interests behind nuclear ... Xinhua - China ... to export thenuclear fuel at a lower price in the near future, said Aquilino Senra, a professor at Rio de Janeiro University's Nuclear Engineering Program. ... See all stories on this topic: NORTH Korea says nuclear stand-off "at brink of war" Radio Australia - Australia North Korea says the stand-off with the United States over its nuclear ambitions is at the brink of nuclear war. The comment comes ... See all stories on this topic: PROTEST opposes nuclear labs The UCLA Daily Bruin - Los Angeles,CA,USA Hundreds of protesters are expected to gather today at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to protest the lab's nuclear weapons research. ... 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/ ***************************************************************** 52 Pahrump Valley Times: Uncle Sam's unwelcome visit April 9, 2004 MARK WAITE There seem to be few dates on the calendar people dread more than the April 15 tax deadline. There was a time when I waited until the evening of April 14 to file my tax returns - when I had a job where I actually had to pay Uncle Sam at the end of the year. That was to make them wait until the last possible moment before taking more of my money. It was the heady days of the 1990s when my certificates of deposit paid almost seven percent interest. Nowadays, I'm usually entitled to a refund, so I get that tax form off to Fresno, Calif., fairly quickly after I get my forms in January. This year, however, I was expecting a little more of a refund than my calculations came up with, since that uncle seemed especially greedy during 2003. I wouldn't mind paying taxes as much if they went to something tangible I could see, like a light rail system so I wouldn't have to battle Interstate 15 traffic and smog going into Las Vegas. Or a good medical facility in Pahrump might be a positive use for my federal tax dollars. Instead, it will go to some faraway war, buying some high tech piece of military equipment that will be obsolete in several years. Or it could be spent on a project like Yucca Mountain, which, after the government spent several billion dollars, could still go the way of the Superconducting Super Collider project in Waxahachie, Texas, which the government walked away from in 1993 after spending $2 billion. If I could appear in front of some Congressional committee on taxation, my testimony might go something like this: Senator Dingleberry: Mr. Waite, tell us about your plans to reform the tax code. Mr. Waite: Certainly Senator. First of all, we could increase the standard deductible, currently at $4,500 for a single person. Let's double it to, say, $9,000. That way the poorest people would get the sharpest reduction on their taxes. Everybody would ultimately benefit. Senator Dingleberry: But how would we pay for that tax cut? Mr. Waite: A recent study showed 90 percent of U.S. corporations paid no income tax. Let's get rid of all those special, corporate tax breaks and make them pay, like us poor schmucks have to pay. Senator Dingleberry: But those big corporations contribute huge amounts to my campaign. Why, Amalgamated Consolidated Consortium Incorporated last year donated $350,000 to my successful re-election campaign. They'd expect something in return. Mr. Waite: Exactly the point, Senator. Now for another suggestion: Why not include a one-page questionnaire in every income tax form asking Americans their opinion on government spending. For example, we might list the major spending categories. Like defense, how about we tell Americans how much we spend on it, and ask them to circle their multiple choice answer if they want to a) spend more on defense, b) spend the same amount or c) spend less. Every working American fills out an income tax report; that would be a great way to sample American opinion. It could be just a non-binding survey, like a straw poll, or better yet, make it binding. Senator Dingleberry: But that sounds too simple. We need to make it complicated. Mr. Waite: I figured as much. Senator Dingleberry: Thank you for your testimony, Mr. Waite. Meeting adjourned. Then, suddenly, my dream ended and I was back in Pahrump. My economics professor in college used to poke fun at tax preparers, saying anyone could figure out their income taxes. But I have to admit, an accountant found me a generous tax break in 1997 after returning from a year in Australia. I didn't have to pay any income tax in 1986 on income paid by my employer in Texas, since I lived outside the U.S. more than 300 days. I got enough money back to buy a used Ford Escort. It can be a real unpleasant surprise, however, to find out you owe Uncle Sam money years after the due date. Those interest rates rank up there along with the loan sharks. The prospect of getting that income tax refund check can make going to the mailbox more interesting this time of year. One woman in Pahrump called the Pahrump Valley Times office, concerned about reports by a neighbor who claimed there was somebody driving up their street one night checking mail boxes, right near tax time. This year when I opened the mailbox and was surprised to find two checks from the Department of the Treasury: the income tax refund I calculated and a second check for $1 with no explanation. Why I received the second check for $1 I have no idea but I'll take it. I wonder how much it cost a federal payroll clerk to generate that $1 check. Write to Mark Waite at mwaite@pvtimes.com [webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com] Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2003 ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************