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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 Iraq's WMD Factories Found at Last
2 Reuters: North Korea's Kim said won't abandon nukes - report        
3 US: [NukeNet] Terrorist Threat Level To US Nuclear Weapons Will
4 US: USATODAY: Four federal Web sites that could aid terrorists
5 US: OA Online: NRC panel sets conference in New Mexico
6 UPI: Russian plutonium disposal going nowhere - 
7 FT: EU probe 'to delay nuclear decommissioning body'  
8 Japan Times: Two get suspended terms over 'heinous' export bid
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
9 US: NRC: Sunshine Act Meetings
10 US: NRC: NRC Staff to Hold Public Meeting with Southern Nuclear May 
11 US: CBS 2: Top Officials Hold Fake Degrees
12 Sofia Morning News: Bulgarian State with Majority Stake in New N-Pla
13 US: NRC: Live NRC Meeting Webcast Schedule
14 US: NRC: NRC Schedules Regulatory Conference to Discuss Inspection F
15 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
16 US: [NukeNet] PSEG memo on safety culture - improvements to follow
17 US: DHHS: Thyroid followup from fallout exposures
18 US: projo.com: Schools to test for radioactive elements        
19 MMN: The Truth About Depleted Uranium Weaponry - The Only Thing 
20 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
21 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
22 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
23 Guardian Unlimited: BNFL changes its name to Squared LTD
24 KVBC: NRC Reps In Pahrump To Host Open House On Yucca
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
25 AU ABC: NZ opposition rejects ditching anti-nuclear policies 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
26 Albuquerque Tribune: N.M. to have nuke material removed             
27 Seattle Times: Senate bill stirs worry over Hanford cleanup
28 kgw.com: Attorney General report: Hanford chemical tank data incompl
29 Oak Ridger: K-25 back to normal 							 							 							
30 Oak Ridger: Changes proposed to sick worker program 							 							 
31 Oak Ridger: Security changes loom for DOE sites 							 							 				
32 Oak Ridger: Our View: Emergency workers kept bad situation from gett
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
33 [NukeNet] Environmental Endowment Awards Grant to  Unplug Salem
*****************************************************************
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 Iraq's WMD Factories Found at Last
 
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 11:51:23 -0500 (CDT)

 
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=471&rnd=507.68139337297913

Guest Column: Iraq's WMD' Factory
By William S. Lind

As America's civilian and military high command comes unglued,
American actions in Iraq grow more inchoate.
 

The Marines did what needed to be done in Fallujah, turning the place
over to one of Saddam's generals who might be able to run it, mainly
because he comes from the tribe that has always run it. The pathetic
CPA, a.k.a. the Emerald City, bleated that they had not "vetted" him
and named another Iraqi general in his place, forgetting that anyone
the Americans "vet" is thereby labeled "collaborator."  We continue to
encircle Najaf, which is dumb, and the Iraqi resistance has again cut
the road from Baghdad to the airport, which is dangerous. One suspects
that a fly on the wall in meetings in the White House or in Baghdad's
Green Zone thinks it has wandered into a low-budget production of
Marat-Sade.

But what of the world beyond Iraq? That is where one sees the full
effect of Iraq's factory of WMDs  Wars of Mass Destruction. The State
Department has just told all Americans to leave Saudi Arabia, while
they can still get out alive. Over a hundred people are dead in
Thailand, where local Islamists are waging a new jihad. Moslems and
Christians are going at it again in Indonesia and Nigeria. The
Israelis, beaten in Gaza as they were beaten in Lebanon, find it
impossible to move either forward or back. Pakistan, whose army got
it's a** handed to it by tribesmen on the old Northwest Frontier, is
turning a deaf ear to increasingly desperate demands from America's
generals in Afghanistan for "tough action." President Mubarak of Egypt
warns from his tottering throne that America has never been so hated
in the Middle East as it is now.

Each day's newspapers make the same point: In the misnamed "War on
Terrorism," America is losing and losing badly. Osama & Company are
having a banner year.  The reason is not any brilliance on their part,
but gross buffoonery on ours.  Specifically, the invasion and
occupation of Iraq by America have created the greatest recruiting
drive in history  for the other side.

Not content with so modest an achievement, the Bush administration has
tossed its (expensive) cigar into the powder magazine by embracing
Israel the way Russia once embraced Serbia. Not only did Bush endorse
Mr. Sharon's de facto annexation of much of the West Bank, when
Sharon's own party voted against him on Gaza and thus gave Bush a way
out, he reiterated his support of Likud and its policies.  Apparently,
not even the gods' rarest gift, a golden bridge across which to
retreat from a blunder, is of interest to an administration that has
sealed itself off from reality.

It is however, somewhat unfair to blame the whole bloody mess on
George II. The entire Establishment is in this together. All Mr. Kerry
can do is say "stay the course;" Congress is silent on the whole
business; few in the media have the courage to state the obvious,
which is that we need to bring the troops home, now. Only old Ralph
Nader, playing the crocodile to Kerry's Captain Hook, has the guts to
call for an American withdrawal from Iraq. In an election where the
choice may be between Tweedledumb and Tweedlephony, Ralph is starting
to look pretty good, even to Russell Kirk conservatives like myself.

When the full scope of America's defeat in the Wars of Mass
Destruction ignited by Iraq becomes apparent, the political result is
likely to go far beyond any election, especially an election in
America's one-party Republicrat state (you get two candidates, but
they both represent the same thing.)

We are likely to see that interesting time known by historians as
"change of dynasty," where a defective and corrupt Establishment is
all swept away.
 
Now that could be fun to watch.
_____________
fwd//Starman

I don't think a 'change of dynasty' could happen soon enough; Watching
the House of Representatives Committee meeting on the issue of prison
abuses
(with Rumsfeld's common and absurdly-comical interjections of "What? I
can't hear you. Did you ask me a question? What? What?) in which the
four-star Generals swear the abuses were limited to a handful of
prison MPs, and universal ignoring the significance of Amnesty
International, Red Cross and other NGO's reports of widespread,
systematic brutality, humiliation and sadistic abuses, as well as
chronic injustices and unconscionable, abhorant behavior by troops
(theft, beatings, rounding-up and arresting bystanders who are often
detained for months on absolutely NO cause), etc -- is disgusting, a
helluva commentary on how far up their own asses the whole sick
Military-industry have their heads -- repeatedly referring to the
damning photos but failing to acknowledge the widespread racism and
senseless, gratuitous hostility by US Troops; They are simply
out-of-touch in failing to take responsibility while they are anxious
to cover the military's asses -- reflecting how absolutely unjustified
and illegal and hypocritical the whole US program in Iraq is; Which
goes to show -- the WMD factories were Made in the USA and are
imported into the nations targeted for colonial exploitation by US
Imperialism;

Re:
'Top US leaders set up Iraqi abuse'

Disregard for Iraqi rights set from top: US daily

Rediff On The Net
May 6, 2004 00:44 IST
Last Updated - May 06, 2004 00:57 IST
 
Accusing the US administration of "ignoring" accounts of
human rights violations "more serious" than those at
Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, a US national daily said
Wednesday that a pattern of disregard for the protections
of Geneva Conventions has been set from the top, by
Defence Secretary Rumsfeld and senior commanders.

"The foundation for the crimes at Abu Ghraib was laid
more than two years ago when Rumsfeld instituted a system
of holding detainees from Afghanistan not only
incommunicado, without charge, and without legal process,
but without any meaningful oversight mechanism at all,"
the Washington Post said in an editorial.

"Brushing off his violation of the Geneva Conventions, Mr
Rumsfeld maintained that the system was necessary to
extract important intelligence. But it was also an
invitation to abuses," the editorial said.

"Well-documented accounts of human rights violations have
been ignored or covered up, including some more serious
than those reported at Abu Ghraib," said the Post.

"Rectifying the problems dramatised by the Abu Ghraib
photos will require far more than prosecution of a
handful of reservists who committed abuses." Military
intelligence officers and private contractors who
encouraged or ordered maltreatment also must be
prosecuted, the paper said. 

Moreover, "senior officers and administration officials
responsible for creating the lawless system of detention
and interrogation employed in Afghanistan, Iraq and
elsewhere since 2001 should be held accountable," it
said. 

Source - 
http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/may/06iraq.htm

Sign the UN In - US Out Petition at:
http://www.kucinich.us/petitions/

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2004/05/dod050404.html
"Secret" classification of Toguba torture report, designated to keep
info hidden?
But the classification may have been more than simply unnecessary. It
might have been a violation of official policy, which forbids the use
of secrecy to cover up crimes:

"In no case shall information be classified in order to ... conceal
violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error [or to]
prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency...,"
according to Section 1.7 of Executive Order 12958, as amended by
President Bush (EO 13292):

http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/eoamend.html#1_7
In a lawyerly reading, the Pentagon might respond that the document
was not specifically classified "in order" to conceal violations of
law, even though that was the direct consequence, but for some other
purpose.

The fact remains that classification served to conceal illegal
activity for months, if not longer.

Furthermore, there is no effective mechanism to enforce even the
executive branch's own standards and policies on classification.
Rather, the Abu Ghraib torture scandal came to light through an
unauthorized disclosure of classified information, for which one must
be sadly grateful.

The report on torture at Abu Ghraib prison is apparently still
classified. But it is now widely available on the internet, including
here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/taguba.pdf
*****************************************************************
 2 Reuters: North Korea's Kim said won't abandon nukes - report             
         
Sun May 9, 2004 10:09 PM ET                                                             

TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told Chinese 
President Hu Jintao last month that Pyongyang was willing to 
freeze some of its nuclear programmes but would not completely 
scrap them, a Japanese newspaper said on Monday. 

That stance is in line with North Korea's existing position and 
China is concerned that it could cause a confrontation at 
six-party, working-level talks to start on Wednesday in Beijing 
on Pyongyang's nuclear programmes, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. 

North Korea had agreed to join this week's meeting after the 
reclusive Kim made a rare visit to Beijing in April when he was 
quoted as telling Chinese leaders North Korea would be patient, 
flexible and engaged in six-party talks. 

In his talks with Hu on April 19, Kim said North Korea would not 
agree to demands by Japan, South Korea and the United States that 
it scrap its nuclear programme in a complete, irreversible and 
verifiable manner, the Yomiuri reported, quoting Japanese 
government sources briefed by Chinese officials. 

Kim also made it clear that North Korea was seeking a quid pro 
quo such as energy assistance in exchange for freezing its 
nuclear development, the newspaper said. 

"North Korea is taking part in six-party talks to discuss 
compensation for freezing its nuclear development," Kim was 
quoted as saying. 

Kim added that North Korea would "continue to carry out nuclear 
programmes for peaceful purposes", indicating that Pyongyang 
would freeze only those nuclear programmes that are for military 
use, the newspaper said. 

China, Japan, North and South Korea, Russia and the United States 
held two rounds of talks among senior officials on the North's 
nuclear arms programmes in August 2003 and in February. But the 
talks made little progress on how North Korea's nuclear 
programmes might be dismantled and its energy and security 
concerns addressed. 

The nuclear crisis erupted in October 2002 when U.S. officials 
said communist North Korea disclosed it was working on a secret 
programme to enrich uranium for weapons, in violation of an 
international agreement.                                

  <b>Reuters.com</b> [http://www.reuters.com]
*****************************************************************
 3 [NukeNet] Terrorist Threat Level To US Nuclear Weapons Will
 
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 14:34:15 -0700

 
<x-flowed>

     Please pass this around as widely as possible-
especially to media.

 >The Congressional auditors also noted that it
took the Energy Department 21 months to write the
new >threat assessment and said that preparing to
meet the new threat level would take up to five
years.



     What might this mean about the "safety" of
commercial nuclear power plants and what we've all
been told?


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/08/politics/08NUKE.html
Nuclear Weapons Program Could Get Own Police Force
By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: May 8, 2004


ASHINGTON, May 7 - Facing questions about whether
terrorists could steal nuclear weapons material or
technology, the secretary of energy said Friday
that he was considering the creation of a federal
police force to replace the private guards used by
the weapons program for decades.

      Advertisement


The secretary, Spencer Abraham, also said that the
department would reduce the number of places where
weapons fuel is stored and would consider whether
it had underestimated the threat posed by
terrorists.

In response to the Sept. 11 attacks, the
department increased its estimate of the number of
attackers and the grade of arms that its nuclear
weapons plants should be prepared to repel. But
that estimate, produced last May, has been
challenged by the General Accounting Office, which
said that the estimate was smaller than what other
government experts postulated.

The Congressional auditors also noted that it took
the Energy Department 21 months to write the new
threat assessment and said that preparing to meet
the new threat level would take up to five years.

On Thursday Mr. Abraham, speaking to guards near
the department's Savannah River Site in South
Carolina, confirmed the complaints of some of the
department's fiercest critics. He said that the
guards at some weapons plants and laboratories
were putting in so much overtime that there was
not enough time to train them. And he said that
many department employees were afraid to point out
security problems to their superiors, calling it a
"failure of leadership" in the Energy Department.

The situation, he said, "calls for a change in our
management culture."

He also proposed to address the disappearance of
classified material on computer storage devices.
In June 2000, two hard drives were missing at Los
Alamos National Laboratory for 11 days. The F.B.I.
investigated but made no arrests.

Mr. Abraham said he would move the department
toward "diskless" computing within five years. The
department will also move to eliminate mechanical
door keys, because guards keep losing them, he
said.

Shortly before Mr. Abraham spoke, the Senate Armed
Services Committee gave the department a rare
victory on environmental policy. The committee
announced that it had adopted language, as part of
the defense authorization bill for next year, that
would make clear that the secretary of energy has
the power to allow highly radioactive wastes to be
left in place in aging steel tanks at Savannah
River, and not pumped out, solidified and shipped
to Yucca Mountain in Nevada for burial.

Last year, after the department proposed leaving
much of the waste in the tanks, an environmental
group, the Natural Resources Defense Council,
sued, arguing that a 1982 law, the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act, required that high-level waste be
buried in a deep repository. South Carolina
supported the suit, as did Idaho and Washington,
which have similar tanks, and Oregon, which is
across the Columbia River from the tanks at the
Hanford Site in Washington.

A Federal District Court in Idaho ruled for the
environmental group and the states. The Energy
Department is appealing - following a pattern of
arguing that it is exempt from environmental laws.

Kyle E. McSlarrow, the deputy secretary of energy,
contended in an interview this week that the law
allowed the energy secretary to define which waste
is hazardous enough to require deep burial. Mr.
McSlarrow added that the law on nuclear waste
disposal was "not a model of clarity and
direction."

With the issue thrown into flux by the court, Mr.
McSlarrow said, "we're not allowed to clean out
these tanks," because no one knows how clean they
have to be.

But Geoffrey Fettus, a lawyer at the Natural
Resources Defense Council, said the department was
trying to change the law without any hearings,
through a committee that does not usually deal
with the issue.

"It is our position that the Nuclear Waste Policy
Act should apply in South Carolina as it does
elsewhere," Mr. Fettus said. "We have every
indication that there's quite a floor fight
coming."






_______________________________________________________________________
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Change your settings at:
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</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 4 USATODAY: Four federal Web sites that could aid terrorists
 
  Home [http://www.usatoday.com/]         
    
  Posted 5/10/2004 2:23 PM   

By Michael J. Sniffen, 

Associated Press WASHINGTON � 

Rand researchers preparing a study for the National 
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency found four federal government Web 
sites they believed might aid terrorists enough to warrant 
restricting public access to them. All four have been restricted. 

Here are the sites and reasons: 

" Two databases maintained by the Transportation Department's 
Research and Special Programs Administration: the Office of 
Pipeline Safety's Pipeline Risk Management/Integrity Management 
Database and that office's National Pipeline Mapping System. The 
two databases are now protected by passwords so the researchers 
could not examine them directly and had to rely on descriptions 
of them. "An extensive evaluation might change such a ranking" of 
their risk, the researchers said. 

" The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation Plant Information Books detailing U.S. nuclear
facilities. It was withdrawn from the Internet after Sept. 11,
2001. 

Researchers could neither view it nor find a copy on any Internet 
archive site, but found written descriptions that said it 
"contained detailed information about nuclear facilities' 
internal workings, (so) we ranked it as having medium 
significance for targeting usefulness." 

The researchers could find only a few, harder-to-locate 
alternatives for detailed technical data of the sort likely to 
have been on the site, including the private National Resources 
Defense Council, which publishes a book on nuclear weapons 
manufacturing with technical information on the internal workings 
of facilities. 

" The Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation DataWeb online 
mapping Web site, which was withdrawn from public access after 
Sept. 11. The site had provided detailed technical information 
for community users near dams, including industry and 
universities, with records of the dams and their activities. 

The researchers looked specifically at the data that had been 
available for Grand Coulee Dam. The site had contained detailed 
engineering information on the dam that could potentially help a 
terrorist choose a target and plan an attack. Most of the data 
about internal features and functions was operational. 

Because the dam is a tourist attraction it was easy to find
other Web sites about it. Sources included the Army Corps of
Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Dam Safety
Program, the Grand Coulee Chamber of Commerce, the Association
of Dam Safety Officials, the U.S. and International Committee on
Large Dams and the World Commission on Dams. 

But "most of the alternatives did not have as much or as
specific detailed information" about internal features and
functions, the report said. 

On the other hand, some of the most detailed information about
internal features of the dam were found on a biking enthusiast's
Web site, which provided photographs from his visit to the dam,
and on the Web site of a Grand Coulee aficionado who provided
pictures of internal features. 

Related story: Study: Federal sites offer little data for
potential terrorists
[http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-05-10-fe
d-sites-ok_x.htm] 

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
  � Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
*****************************************************************
 5 OA Online: NRC panel sets conference in New Mexico
 
 [http://www.oaoa.com] 
   
Friday May 07, 2004   

American Online   

c /o Odessa American 222 E. 4th Street P.O. Box 2952 Odessa, TX 
79760
 
By Ruth Friedberg Campbell 

Odessa American
 			
To Contact the NRC Send a written limited appearance statement to 
Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, D.C., 20555-0001; e-mail to hearingdocket@nrc.gov 
with a copy to the board chairman, gpb@nrc.gov; or fax to the 
Office of the Secretary, (301) 415-5599.
 			
EUNICE, N.M. � A June 15 pre-hearing conference has been set for                     
those wanting a say in a proposed uranium enrichment plant near                      
Eunice, N.M.

The New Mexico Attorney General�s Office and New Mexico 
Environment Department have filed separate petitions for standing 
in a Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearing.
            
The Washington, D.C.-based organizations Public Citizen and the                     
Nuclear Information and Resource Service filed a combined 
petition.

How LES will dispose of waste generated by the proposed plant, 
whether it is economically viable and security are some of the                     
concerns the organizations and state agencies have. 

Louisiana Energy Services wants to build a $1.2 billion uranium 
enrichment plant near Eunice, N.M. The plant, to be called the 
National Enrichment Facility, would have 400 to 700 construction 
workers on site for five to seven years and permanently employ 
210 workers when operating. Operations are expected to start in 
mid- to late 2008. 
        
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will conduct the 
pre-hearing conference, said Tim Johnson, licensing project 
manager for the Louisiana Energy Services venture. 

The panel will decide what contentions will be tackled during 
hearings and which will be discarded, said Anthony Eitreim, chief                   
counsel for the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. A memo on the 
conference does not specify time or place, but Johnson said it 
will be open to the public. The memo says the conference should 
last no more than two days. 

The memo says the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board is aware of 
many people who want to speak at the pre-hearing conference, but 
time for that has not been set aside. Meanwhile, people can file 
a limited written appearance statement by mail, e-mail or fax.

During the pre-hearing conference, Eitreim said the panel will 
also discuss schedules and how the case will be handled. 

Eitreim said Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Chairman G. Paul                    
Bollwerk III, Dr. Paul B. Abramson and Dr. Charles N. Kelber will 
be present for the pre-hearing conference, along with attorneys                  
representing the different parties.

Eitreim said the state of New Mexico automatically has standing.                       
However, he said the Nuclear Regulatory commissioners will decide 
on standing for Public Citizen and Nuclear Information and 
Resource Service before June 15. The pre-hearing conference could 
be postponed if that decision is not made, he said. 

�This is just a kickoff. This is just a get-to-know-you hearing,� 
Eitreim said.
  
*****************************************************************
 6 UPI: Russian plutonium disposal going nowhere - 

(United Press International)
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
May 10, 2004                     

Moscow, , May. 10 (UPI) -- Six years after the United States 
announced an arrangement to safely dispose of plutonium in 
Russia, nothing except haggling over liability has been done.

 In the 1998 agreement, the multi-billion dollar cost of breaking 
down 68 tons of plutonium were to be mostly carried by the United 
States and Russian governments.

 Two facilities were to be built -- one in Russia and one in 
South Carolina. As yet, they remain on the drawing board over a 
dispute of who would bear responsibility if there were an 
accident or act of sabotage, the Washington Post reported Monday.

 A particular worry is that terrorist organizations or rogue 
states will buy or steal a nuclear weapon or the fissile material 
that powers an atomic blast. To build an atomic bomb from 
50-year-old technology would require only about 13 pounds of 
plutonium, said Thomas Cochran, director of nuclear projects at 
the Natural Resources Defense Council.

 As it stands, the Bush administration is adamant that U.S. 
companies and officials are engaged in a goodwill effort and 
should not be held liable for unintended problems.

[UPI Perspectives]                                                                    
*****************************************************************
 7 FT: EU probe 'to delay nuclear decommissioning body'  

  By Andrew Taylor, Utilities Correspondent  

  Published: May 10 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: May 10 2004 5:00  
     
Legislation to establish a new nuclear decommissioning authority 
could be delayed because of European Union investigations into 
possible state aid implications, say environmentalists opposed to 
the government- backed rescue of British Energy, the nuclear 
generator. 

The decommissioning authority, due to be launched next April, 
would acquire the nuclear liabilities of the state-owned British 
Nuclear Fuels and Atomic Energy Authority. But enabling clauses 
in the energy bill, due to start its second reading in the 
Commons today, would also allow the authority, if government 
required, to take on private sector nuclear liabilities including 
those at British Energy.

The legislation also includes measures that would allow ministers 
to increase existing state aid to the nuclear generator, says 
Greenpeace. It says it has received legal advice that the bill 
cannot be passed until these issues are approved by the European 
Commission.

The Commission - which is already investigating the 
government-backed rescue of the nuclear generator - has written 
to Greenpeace confirming that it is looking at "possible state 
aid implications" of the bill.

But the Department of Trade and Industry denied that the bill was 
at risk. It said: "We believe that there are no legal obstacles 
regarding the state aid to British Energy that could impair the 
passage and passing of the energy bill."

Officials say that government support for British Energy would be 
considered by the Commission under its wider investigation into 
the rescue proposals.

Ministers, however, face other problems in getting the bill 
passed. Not least of these is an amendment introduced in the 
Lords requiring the industry secretary "to ensure the integrity 
and security of electricity and gas supply".

Citigroup Smith Barney, stockbroker, says the amendment "could 
fundamentally change the relationship between the government, 
Ofgem [the energy regulator] and the industry, leading to direct 
government interference in investment and a return to central 
planning".  
     
      � Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2004. "FT" and
"Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. Privacy
*****************************************************************
 8 Japan Times: Two get suspended terms over 'heinous' export bid

  Tuesday, May 11, 2004   

 YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) The Yokohama District Court gave suspended 
prison terms Monday to a man and a woman for attempting to export 
to North Korea an inverter that could be used in the development 
of nuclear weapons.

 Yoshifumi Yoshihara, 45, a trading company president in Niigata 
Prefecture, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for 
three years, while Li Yong Sun, 52, a Korean resident of Shizuoka 
Prefecture, was given 10 months, suspended for three years.

 They had attempted to export an inverter for an industrial 
washing machine from Nagoya airport to North Korea in November 
via China without government approval, in violation of the 
Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law, the court said.

 The inverter did not reach North Korea and was returned to Japan 
in December on Yoshihara's order after police searched his home, 
it said.

 Judge Shoichi Matsuo termed the crime "heinous."

 Police earlier said the inverter could be used for stabilizing 
the frequency of electricity for a gas centrifuge used for 
enriching uranium.

 Exporters of such devices to North Korea and other designated 
countries are required by law to obtain approval from the 
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

 Japan in 2002 introduced export regulations that require 
governmental approval to export any items that could be used in 
the development of weapons of mass destruction.

 The two people had told investigators they did not know the 
inverter could be used for military purposes.

 The Japan Times: May 11, 2004 (C) All rights reserved 
*****************************************************************
 9 NRC: Sunshine Act Meetings
 
                        FR Doc 04-10613 
[Federal Register: May 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 90)] [Notices] 
[Page 25935-25936] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10my04-101]                         
 
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
DATES: Weeks of May 10, 17, 24, 31, June 7, 14, 2004.
 
PLACE: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
 
STATUS: Public and Closed.
 
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Week of May 10, 2004 Monday, May 10, 
2004 1 p.m.--Briefing on Grid Stability and Offsite Power Issues 
(Public Meeting) (Contact: Cornelius Holden, 301-415-3036).
 
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address--http://www.nrc.gov 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] .
 
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 9:30 a.m.--Briefing on Status of Office of 
International Programs (OIP) Programs, Performance, and Plans 
(Public Meeting) (Contact: Ed Baker, 301-415-2344).
 
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address--http://www.nrc.gov 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] .
 
1:30 p.m.--Briefing on Threat Environment Assessment (Closed--Ex. 
1). Week of May 17, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings 
scheduled for the Week of May 17, 2004.
 
Week of May 24, 2004--Tentative Tuesday, May 25, 2004 1:30 
p.m.--Discussion of Management Issues (Closed--Ex. 2). Wednesday, 
May 26, 2004 10:30 a.m.--All Employees Meeting (Public Meeting). 
1:30 p.m.--All Employees Meeting (Public Meeting). Week of May 
31, 2004--Tentative Wednesday, June 2, 2004 9:30 a.m.--Briefing 
on Equal Employment Opportunity Program (Public Meeting) 
(Contact: Corenthis Kelley, 301-415-7380).
 
 
[[Page 25936]] This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address--http://www.nrc.gov 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] .
 
1:30 p.m.--Meeting with Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards 
(ACRS) (Public Meeting) (Contact: John Larkins, 301-415-7360).
 
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address--http://www.nrc.gov 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] .
 
Week of June 7, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled 
for the Week of June 7, 2004.
 
Week of June 14, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled 
for the Week of June 14, 2004.
 
*The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on 
short notice. To verify the status of meetings call 
(recording)--(301) 415- 1292. Contact person for more 
information: Dave Gamberoni, (301) 415- 1651.
 
* * * * *
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By a vote of 3-0 on May 3, the 
Commission determined pursuant to U.S.C. 552b(e) and Sec.  
9.107(a) of the Commission's rules that ``Affirmation of Dominion 
Nuclear Connecticut (Millstone Nuclear Power Station, Units 2 and 
3) (Rejection by the Secretary of Petition to Intervene in 
License Renewal Proceeding as Premature)'' be held on May 4, and 
on less than one week's notice to the public.
 
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the 
Internet at: 
http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-makin 
g/schedule.html] . * * * * * This notice is distributed by mail 
to several hundred subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive 
it, or would like to be added to the distribution, please contact 
the Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). 
In addition, distribution of this meeting notice over the 
Internet system is available. If you are interested in receiving 
this Commission meeting schedule electronically, please send an 
electronic message to dkw@nrc.gov [dkw@nrc.gov] . Dated: May 5, 
2004.
 
Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary.
 
[FR Doc. 04-10613 Filed 5-6-04; 10:03 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M

 
*****************************************************************
 10 NRC: NRC Staff to Hold Public Meeting with Southern Nuclear May 14 to Discuss Initial
             Farley Plant License Renewal Inspection

News Release - Region II - 2004-03
 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region II
  No. II-04-037   		        May 7, 2004   
  CONTACT:     Ken Clark (404) 562-4416
 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417     E-mail:  [opa2@nrc.gov]   
  


Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will meet with Southern
Nuclear Operating Company management at 10:00 a.m. on Friday,
May 14 to discuss the results of the agencys initial inspection
of the Farley nuclear plant license renewal program. The Farley
plant is located in southern Alabama about 18 miles southeast of
Dothan, near the town of Columbia. 

Southern Nuclear submitted an application to renew the licenses
of the two units at the Farley plant in September of last year,
and that application, if approved by the NRC, would extend the
expiration date of the two units operating licenses from 2017
for Unit 1 and 2021 for Unit 2 to 2037 and 2041 respectively. 

The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at the
Southern Nuclear offices, 42 Inverness Center Parkway in
Birmingham, Alabama. NRC officials will be available prior to
the close of the meeting to answer questions from interested
observers. 

NRC officials say the inspection is the first of three planned
license renewal reviews at the Farley plant and was conducted to
verify that the companys license renewal program is being
implemented consistent with its license renewal application and
pertinent regulations. Subsequent NRC inspections will verify
that programs are in place to manage the material condition of
the plants systems, structures and components.   



  


 	Last revised Friday, May 07, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 11 CBS 2: Top Officials Hold Fake Degrees
 
[http://www.cbs.com/]    

Monday, May 10

  + Vince Gonzales Probes Diploma Mills And Some Federal
Officials Who've Benefitted From Them

 LOS ANGELES (CBS) They are safety engineers at nuclear power 
plants and biological weapons experts. They work at NATO 
headquarters, at the Pentagon and at nearly every other federal 
agency. And, as CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, 
they're employees with degrees from phony schools. 

"These degrees aren't worth the paper that they're printed on," 
says one insider, who asked CBS News to protect his identity. 

The man worked at a so-called diploma mill where students pay a 
lot of money to get a degree online or through the mail for 
little or no work. 

He says he's not surprised to know that there are people working 
at almost every level of government who have degrees from these 
types of operations. 

Assistant Secretary of Defense Charles Abell has a master's from 
Columbus University, a diploma mill Louisiana shut down. Deputy 
Assistant Secretary Patricia Walker lists among her degrees, a 
bachelor's from Pacific Western, a diploma mill banned in Oregon 
and under investigation in Hawaii. 

CBS News requested interviews with both officials. The Pentagon 
turned us down, saying, "We don't consider it an issue." 

But using such a degree is a crime in some states. Alex Contreras 
cracks down on diploma mills for Oregon, a state that's taken the 
lead on this issue. 

"You don't want somebody with a fake degree working in Homeland 
Security," says Contreras. "You don't want somebody with a fake 
degree teaching your children or designing your bridges." 

But we found employees with diploma mill degrees at the new 
Transportation Security Administration, the Defense Intelligence 
Agency and the Departments of Treasury and Education, where Rene 
Drouin sits on an advisory committee. He has degrees from two 
diploma mills including Kensington University. 

Kensington was forced out of business by officials in California 
and Hawaii. Another Kensington alum, Florida State Rep. Jennifer 
Carroll, just stepped down from the National Commission on 
Presidential Scholars. 

Both Carroll and Drouin say they worked hard and thought their 
degrees were legitimate. 

"The students are being sold a bill of goods that really don't 
help them at all," the insider says. "There are slick people out 
there, and it's happening every day, every minute probably 
somewhere in America." 

And taxpayers have paid for bogus degrees some workers used for 
hiring, promotions and raises. 

(MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc., All Rights Reserved.)

Policy | EEO Public File 2003 
[http://www.viacomlocalnetworks.com] |  [http://www.zope.com] | 
[http://www.dayport.com] � MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc., All 
Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 12 Sofia Morning News: Bulgarian State with Majority Stake in New N-Plant
 	 	 	 	 	 	
SOFIA NEWS AGENCY novinite.com

Business: 10 May 2004, Monday.

The state will hold at least 51 % in Bulgaria's second nuclear 
power plant, the energy minister has said.
 
Milko Kovachev told Reuters that the price of Belene-produced 
energy would be competitive. 

The plant in Belene should be built by 2010. Its construction was 
stalled in 1990 over financial problems, and after protests of 
environmentalists. In the beginning of this month the project was 
officially unfrozen. Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg then said 
the government would choose a private investor by the end of the 
year.
 
Around two billion levs are expected to be absorbed into the 
building of the plant.

 All Rights Reserved � Novinite Ltd., 2001-2004 - Copyright

Novinite.com (thebulgariannews.com also) is unique with being a
real time news provider in English that informs its readers
about the latest Bulgarian news.
*****************************************************************
 13 NRC: Live NRC Meeting Webcast Schedule
 
   [http://nrcvideo.cit.nih.gov] 

Live NRC Meeting Webcast
 
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently broadcasting
some Commission meetings over the Internet as a means of
improving communications with the public. Upcoming webcasts are:
 
                        Date     Subject   
  5/11/04     Briefing on Status of Office of International
Programs (OIP) Programs, Performance, and Plans
 9:30 A.M. 
  + Slides   
  6/2/04     Briefing on Equal Employment Opportunity Program
 9:30 A.M.   
  6/2/04     Meeting with Advisory Committee on Reactor
Safeguards (ACRS)
 1:30 P.M.   


The following resources will assist you in participating:
 
  + Public Meeting Schedule - provides a complete listing of
agency meetings. Live meetings shown as [webcast] 
  + Commission Meeting Schedule - lists all Commission meetings
for a six (6) week period. Live meetings shown as [webcast] 
  + Slides - available in advance of the meeting 
  + Transcripts - available within 48 hours of the conclusion of
the live meeting 
To view a webcast you will need to Download Webcast Viewer
RealOne Plugin [RealNetworks Media Streaming Player icon] .
 
You may also view previously held webcast meetings at our 
[http://nrcvideo.cit.nih.gov/archive.asp] .
 
Comments and Feedback
 
To help us determine the value of continuing to provide this
service, the NRC would appreciate your assistance by providing
comments and feedback on the usefulness, performance, and
frequency with which you might use this service or any other
items related to this service.
 
  + Contact Us About Webcasts 
  + Webcast Interest Survey 
Notes on Accessibility
 
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires equal access to
the Federal government's electronic and information technology.
In compliance with this Act, NRC is including text equivalents
(captioning) as part of the video image being shown over the
Internet during the Commission meeting. Although every effort is
made to assure the accuracy and completeness of this text, users
should be aware that errors may nonetheless occur. Expressions
of opinion in this text do not necessarily reflect final
determination or beliefs. No pleadings or other paper may be
filed with the Commission in any proceeding as a result of any
statement or argument contained in the text-equivalent
(captioned) material.
   
Last revised Monday, May 10, 2004       
*****************************************************************
 14 NRC: NRC Schedules Regulatory Conference to Discuss Inspection Finding at Brunswick
                          Nuclear Plant
News Release - Region II - 2004-03
 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region II
  No. II-04-038   		        May 7, 2004   
  CONTACT:     Ken Clark (404) 562-4416
 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417     E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov
[opa2@nrc.gov]   
  


The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a regulatory
conference with officials of Progress Energy on Wednesday, May
19, in Atlanta to discuss a preliminary NRC inspection finding
of ineffective corrective actions concerning an emergency diesel
generator problem on Unit 2 of the Brunswick nuclear power plant
near Southport, North Carolina. 

The NRC staff and Progress Energy officials will discuss the
safety significance of the finding related specifically to
corrective actions for a leak in the diesel generators cooling
water system. Emergency diesel generators at nuclear plants
would be used to provide emergency power should the normal power
supply from offsite not be available. Progress Energy requested
the conference to discuss the companys evaluation of the safety
significance of the NRCs preliminary finding. 

The meeting will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the NRCs Region II
office in Atlanta, located in the Atlanta Federal Center at 61
Forsyth Street, SW, Suite 24T20. The public can observe the
meeting, and NRC officials will be available before its
conclusion to answer any questions. 

The NRC evaluates regulatory performance at commercial nuclear
power plants with a color-coded process which classifies
inspection findings as either green, white, yellow or red, in
increasing order of safety significance. The NRCs preliminary
evaluation has determined that the safety significance of this
issue is white, meaning that it is considered to be of low to
moderate safety significance. 

No final decision on the safety significance, any apparent
violation or any contemplated enforcement action will be made
during the conference. NRC officials will make those decisions
at a later time and that information will be available on the
NRCs web site at www.nrc.gov.   



  


 	Last revised Friday, May 07, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 15 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
 
                        FR Doc 04-10518 
[Federal Register: May 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 90)] [Notices] 
[Page 25932-25933] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10my04-97]                         
 
Comment Request AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
 
ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information 
collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment.
 
SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of 
continued approval of information collections under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to be 
submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 
327, Special Nuclear Material (SNM) and Source Material (SM) 
Physical Inventory Summary Report, and NUREG/BR-0096, 
Instructions and Guidance for Completing Physical Inventory 
Summary Reports 2. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0139. 3. How 
often the collection is required: The frequency of reporting 
corresponds to the frequency of required inventories, which 
depends essentially on the strategic significance of the SNM 
covered by the particular license. Certain licensees possessing 
strategic SNM are required to report inventories every 2 months. 
Licensees possessing SNM of moderate strategic significance must 
report every 6 months. Licensees possessing SNM of low strategic 
significance must report annually.
 
4. Who is required or asked to report: Fuel facility licensees 
possessing special nuclear material.
 
5. The number of annual respondents: 10. 6. The number of hours 
needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 98 hours 
(an average of approximately 4.25 hours per response for 23 
responses).
 
 
[[Page 25933]] 7. Abstract: NRC Form 327 is submitted by fuel 
facility licensees to account for special nuclear material. The 
data is used by NRC to assess licensee material control and 
accounting programs and to confirm the absence of (or detect the 
occurrence of) special nuclear material theft or diversion. 
NUREG/BR-0096 provides specific guidance and instructions for 
completing the form in accordance with the requirements 
appropriate for a particular licensee.
 
Submit, by July 9, 2004, comments that address the following 
questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary 
for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the 
information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate 
accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden 
of the information collection be minimized, including the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be 
viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 
20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide 
Web site: 
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comm 
ent/omb/index.html] . The document will be available on the NRC 
home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this 
notice.
 
Comments and questions about the information collection 
requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Brenda 
Jo. Shelton (T-5 F52), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7233, or by 
Internet electronic mail to infocollects@nrc.gov 
[infocollects@nrc.gov] . Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd 
day of May 2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
 
[FR Doc. 04-10518 Filed 5-7-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 16 [NukeNet] PSEG memo on safety culture - improvements to follow
 
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 14:34:24 -0700

 
<x-flowed>

 >From: Norm Cohen <ncohen12@comcast.net>

shutting the nukes down would be an improvement.  ;-)
Norm


May 6, 2004

Independent team delivers recommendations for improvement at PSEG Nuclear

Report prepared in response to NRC letter to management

Members of an independent team chartered by Chairman and CEO Jim Ferland 
have delivered their final report evaluating the environment at Salem/Hope 
Creek for raising and addressing safety issues. The team was formed in 
response to a letter received on Jan. 28, 2004, from the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) and was led by Jim O'Hanlon, the former head of Dominion 
Power's generation business. Team members consisted of outside consultants 
with extensive nuclear regulatory and management experience. They conducted 
an extensive review that included 190 interviews of current and former 
employees at the station, as well as at the Newark general office.

As part of their work, team members examined numerous records. These included:
* survey results
* NRC inspection reports
* records of unresolved conflicts
* management's operational decision-making
* the Employee Concerns Program
* management's effectiveness in detecting and preventing retaliation and 
chilling effect behavior
* the communication between Newark corporate management and PSEG Nuclear 
(corporate/site interface) and the effects of that communication on the 
work environment.

The bottom line: The results of the independent team are consistent with 
those of two major surveys recently conducted at the site and call for 
action to improve the work environment at Salem/Hope Creek.  The findings 
of the team highlighted that employees at all levels contribute to a safety 
conscious work environment (SCWE) and that management must clearly express 
and continually reinforce its unwavering commitment to safety.

"The team's candid feedback and recommendations will help us improve our 
overall safety focus," said Ferland. "The report tells us that, although we 
have always had a corporate ethic that favors safety over production, that 
message may not be coming through as loudly and clearly as we would like. 
Let there be no mistake about it -- safety will always be first in this 
company."

Frank Cassidy, president of PSEG Power, said that, to reinforce the 
priority of safety, the Power Behaviors will be modified to place safety at 
the top of the list for all employees as part of a "next steps" plan. "For 
our nuclear operations, these behavior standards will be used as a 
benchmark to track our specific efforts to improve the work environment at 
Salem/Hope Creek and to measure our progress going forward," said Cassidy. 
"We need to make it crystal clear - to everyone in the organization - that 
a commitment to safety is the most important expectation we have."

"The work that lies ahead will be a challenge to all of us," said Cassidy. 
He noted that PSEG Nuclear President and Chief Nuclear Officer Roy Anderson 
and Senior Vice President Chris Bakken have the bulk of the responsibility 
on their shoulders to help effect change at the country's second largest 
nuclear installation. "The program we intend to implement will take 
everyone's best effort," he said, "but I pledge my own direct involvement 
and I know that Roy ,Chris and I have very specific results we want to 
achieve."

Bakken said an action plan is being prepared that will integrate the 
results of the team's recommendations along with the results of the Synergy 
and USA Assessment surveys. He also noted that senior management at Nuclear 
will be meeting on May 10 and 11 to address these issues and to develop a 
plan to address the findings that will be presented to the NRC at a public 
meeting in June. Prior to that public meeting, the company will file all 
three reports - the extensive executive summary of the Synergy Survey, the 
USA Assessment Survey and the final report of the Independent Assessment 
Team - with the NRC and will present its action plan to all Nuclear 
employees, as well.

"In addition to the Independent Assessment Team's Report, we have a renewed 
commitment from PSEG's senior management and the Nuclear Committee of the 
Board of Directors to make significant improvements in the way we manage 
and operate at Salem/Hope Creek," said Anderson. "The entire senior 
management team understands this message and recognizes that our actions 
must match our words.

"We must ensure that employees feel free to raise concerns, that we address 
concerns promptly and that we will not tolerate retaliation of any kind," 
Anderson said.  "We will also be enhancing our Employee Concerns Program so 
that it remains an effective resource for employees.  We are fortunate to 
have Mike Brothers -- with his experience in safety-conscious work 
environment improvements at Millstone and several other commercial and DOE 
nuclear facilities -- to lead our SCWE effort. I have every confidence that 
we will succeed."


_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings at:
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</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 17 DHHS: Thyroid followup from fallout exposures

                        FR Doc 04-10536 

[Federal Register: May 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 90)]
[Notices]               
[Page 25909]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10my04-62]                         

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[Program Announcement 04173]
 
Epidemiological Follow-Up of Thyroid Disease in Persons Exposed 
to Radioactive Fallout From Atomic Weapons Testing at the Nevada 
Test Site; Notice of Intent To Fund Single Eligibility Award A. 
Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
announces the intent to fund fiscal year (FY) 2004 funds for a 
grant program to study the prevalence of thyroid disorders and 
cancers in adults, who, as children, were exposed to radioactive 
fallout from the nuclear device testing at the Nevada Test Site, 
1944-1957. The study is designed to provide a third (Phase III) 
diagnostic examination of the thyroid gland (approximately 55 
years post exposure). The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 
number for this program is 93.283. B. Eligible Applicant

    Assistance will be provided only to The University of Utah, 
Salt Lake City, Utah. The University of Utah, under a previous 
five-year cooperative agreement and a one-year continuation, 
initiated data collection activities. They are prepared to 
initiate activities for Phase III of the Utah Thyroid Disease 
Study. To date the University of Utah has completed:

    1. Developing training materials for the field team.
    2. Hired the first of three field teams to perform medical
exams.
    3. Identified physicians need to perform biopsies of the
thyroid 
gland.
    4. Updated the exposure (dose) model algorithm.
    5. Revised exposures estimated during Phase II.
    6. Completed the identification of subjects needed for the 
mortality study.
    7. Begun to locate and identify the study cohort.
    It is in the best interest of the CDC to continue funding
the 
University of Utah to completion of the Utah Thyroid Disease
Study.

C. Funding

    Approximately $500,000 is available in FY 2004 to fund this 
award. It is expected that the award will begin on or before 
September 1, 2004, and will be made for a 12-month budget period 
and 12-month project period. Funding estimates may change. D. 
Where to Obtain Additional Information

    For general comments or questions about this announcement, 
contact: Technical Information Management, CDC Procurement and 
Grants Office, 2920 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146, 
Telephone: 770-488-2700.

    For technical questions about this program, contact: Robert 
C. Whitcomb, Jr., Ph.D., Extramural Project Officer, 1600 Clifton 
Road NE, Mail Stop E-39, Atlanta, GA 30333, Telephone: 
404-498-1800, E-mail: Rwhitcomb@cdc.gov [ Rwhitcomb@cdc.gov] .

    Dated: May 3, 2004. William P. Nichols, Acting Director, 
Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention. [FR Doc. 04-10536 Filed 5-7-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 
4163-18-P
 
*****************************************************************
 18 projo.com: Schools to test for radioactive elements        

Providence, R.I. | AP's The Wire
 
05.10.2004 07:22 A.M.   

The Associated Press    

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - The state has ordered tests at 150
schools and large day care centers around Vermont to check for
radioactive elements in drinking water. 

The tests ordered by the Department of Environmental
Conservation will check for uranium, radium 226 and radium 228.

The decree was prompted by tests at the Middletown Springs
Elementary School that turned up uranium levels above the state
safety standard. 

Schools can expect to pay about $300 for the one-time test, said
Ellen Parr Doering of the DEC. The elements are naturally
occurring. 

High levels of uranium in water emit radioactivity, which can
heighten the risk of cancer or kidney problems in people who
drink the water. The state began in 2001 to require that
operators of public water systems show that the water had safe
levels of uranium. A public water system is one that serves at
least 25 people or has at least 15 connections. 

Gail Conley, superintendent of the Chittenden East Supervisory
Union, said three schools in his district will require testing -
Underhill Central, Brewster Pierce and Smilie Memorial. 

"We do regular water testing, and we generally contract that
out," Conley said. "This will just be another step, but we're
interested in making sure we have safe drinking water." 

Parr Doering said she expects that most of the schools to be
tested will have acceptable results. 

"We're not sure how many more schools will have a problem, but
we don't think it'll be that large," she said. 

High levels of radium have been found in wells in Colchester and
Milton. Most of the residents treat water to remove radiation
before drinking it. 

Middletown Springs is providing bottled water to staff and
students as it considers several options for upgrading or
improving its water system. 	   

Providence Journal newsroom at (401) 277-7303. 

� Belo Interactive Inc.   
*****************************************************************
 19 MMN: The Truth About Depleted Uranium Weaponry - The Only Thing 
Depleting is Human Life 

Media Monitors Network (MMN) A service of MMN International Inc.                                                     

E-mail: Editor@MediaMonitors.net   	 

 Vincent L. Guarisco is a freelance writer from Bullhead City
AZ., a contributing writer for many web sites, and a lifetime
member of the Alliance of Atomic Veterans. He contributed this
article to  Media Monitors Network (MMN)
[http://www.mediamonitors.net/] . 	Send feedback 	 			 			 

 by Vincent L. Guarisco (Monday 10 May 2004) 

"The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and
what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great
propaganda accomplishments of the dominant political mythology.
" 

-- Michael Parenti, political scientist and author 

Ever notice how crafty the inventors of modern weaponry working
for the Pentagon are -- giving their weapons misleading names
that deliberately give the opposite impression of the actual
intended use? None is more Orwellian, nor more ghoulish, than
"Depleted Uranium," or its even less intrusive acronym -- "DU."
Since the early 80's, the all-too-aware world has sounded the
alarm about depleted uranium, from a full-blown international
outcry to United Nations warnings transmitted through
blood-stained pages of the Geneva and Nuremberg conventions to
the echos of wooden mallets feverishly slamming down in the
world court at the Hague. 

The message is very clear -- the radiation level in depleted
uranium is NOT depleted, in fact, it WON'T be depleted to any
safe degree for about two billion years. In retrospect, that's a
long time to beg for forgiveness, not only for what we have
done, but for what we continue to do on multiple battlefields. 

Fact---only approximately 14 percent of Americans at best
understand the full matrix surrounding depleted uranium. 

Listen up -- depleted uranium is a deadly weapon of mass
destruction that has been banned by virtually every nation on
the planet. Its illegal use by the United States breaks all
existing international treaties, conventions, protocols, and
articles of war. It was first introduced into our arsenal around
1983 under the leadership directives of then President George H.
W. Bush, and used in the first Gulf War in Iraq to the tune of
350 tons of exploded poison. 

The main difference between father Bush and his son is that
junior unleashed his radioactive arsenal mainly in Iraqi urban
centers and civilian neighborhoods, rather than in desert
battlefields. Untold thousands of Iraqi people, U.S. soldiers,
and coalition troops will pay the price for generations in
chronic illness, widespread cancers, long-term disabilities and
genetic birth defects. 

Last year, the Christian Science Monitor sent reporters into
Iraq to investigate long-term effects of depleted uranium. In
his May 15, 2003 report,
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0515/p01s02-woiq.html staff writer
Scott Peterson tells of seeing children playing on top of a
damaged tank near a vegetable stand on the outskirts of Baghdad
-- a tank that had been destroyed by armor-piercing shells
coated with depleted uranium. Wearing his mask and protective
clothing, Peterson pointed his Geiger counter toward the tank.
It registered 1,000 times the normal background radiation. 

The families who survived the tragic decade of sanctions, and
the recent shock-and-awe bombing campaign of Baghdad may not
survive the radiated aftermath of this continued military
sacrilege. The highly toxic "Highway of Death" in 1991 after
Desert Storm was only a warm-up session compared to what is
happening in Iraq during Enduring Freedom under George W. Bush. 

DU was introduced into our arsenal under the pretension that by
incorporating this radioactive concoction into our munitions, it
somehow makes them more armor piercing. Even if this is true,
what they (the marketing department) forget to mention is that
DU is perhaps the most lethal time-released agent ever to be
unleashed on mankind except for maybe one exception -- its kin
-- the Atom Bomb. 

Its poisonous effectiveness continues to take life long after
the tanks, fighter jets, helicopters, Bradley vehicles, unmanned
drones and troops have long gone, put simply, DU is a prolonged
latent kiss of death that genetically keeps on embracing for
generations to come. 

It's a fact that other nations will forever hold us responsible
for what our government has done in our name, they fully
understand that we are willing participants who supply the
needed funds that build these weapons; ignorance is not an
acceptable excuse for war crimes committed against humanity!
This will not soon be forgotten or forgiven. 

Because I'm the offspring of an Atomic Veteran, and have
witnessed what can happen to loved ones exposed to radiation, I
hereby claim my right to rename DU --"Death Unlimited." May this
horrible name always serve as a subliminal reminder whenever you
hear others fraudulently attempting to reference it otherwise. 

The documented track record associated with DU is a hideous
reality, a carcinogenic killer causing birth defects, lung
disease, kidney disease, leukemia, breast cancer, lymphoma, bone
cancer, and neurological disabilities, etc. 

When DU munitions explode, it becomes an atomized dust devil
that fills the air with a blanket of radioactive poison, which
travels in the wind and is easily inhaled and ingested. Then it
enters the soil polluting ground water and infecting the food
chain. Eventually, the uranium extends past its immediate
epicenter impacting the surrounding environment. This stuff is
nothing to play with. 

What is most astonishing is that most Americans have never even
heard of DU, and few (14%) fully understand what it is, where
its being used, and who is being targeted by its usage. DU is
one of the Pentagon's best-kept secrets, its most widely-used
genocidal weapon for wiping out entire populations quietly and
covertly. 

Sara Flanders, co-director of the International Action Center
and coordinator of the DU Education Project, writes
http://www.coastalpost.com/03/09/11.htm that the Pentagon
"continues to assert that there are no 'known' health problems
associated with DU. But Army training manuals require anyone who
comes within 75 feet of any DU-contaminated equipment or terrain
to wear respiratory and skin protection." 

Although the Bush Pentagon denies publicly that DU weapons can
cause sickness, it's own internal reports warn that the
radiation and heavy metal of DU weapons could cause kidney, lung
and liver damage and increased rates of cancer. Flanders says
the Pentagon continues to deny health problems associated with
DU. But Army training manuals require anyone who comes within 75
feet of any DU-contaminated equipment or terrain to wear
respiratory and skin protection. 

Who comes up with this crazy stuff? Was DU conceived somewhere
deep some murky hushed corridor of the Project for a New
American century (PNAC)? Or perhaps it came from some other
think tank that funded a secret scientific lab deep in the belly
of the Atomic energy weapons program? 

What was the dialogue? Did they say---gee, let's invent a quiet
nuclear weapon that can surreptitiously be deployed inside
conventional weaponry to progressively eliminate our enemies
(and their families) long after we are gone to help reduce
future risks of blowback, retribution and revenge? 

They had to entertain the idea that every plan has a degree of
downside -- surely they knew that by using these weapons in
battle our own troops would be exposed too, in fact, even more
so because they store, transport, handle and load these DU
munitions into the very guns that fire them. 

So why do they continue with this knowing full well the danger
to our own troops? Do they purposely shorten the lifespan of our
soldiers to shave several costly years off healthcare and
pension plans? What are we to think about all this? Are they
premeditated murderers? 

According to Dr. Doug Rokke, U.S. Army health physicist who led
the first clean-up of depleted uranium after the Gulf War,
�Depleted uranium is a crime against God and humanity.� (Listen
to Rokke's interview on the subject at
http://traprockpeace.org/RokkePressConf23July03.html ) 

Rokke's own crew -- 100 employees -- was devastated by exposure
to the fine dust. �When we went to the Gulf, we were all really
healthy,� Rokke said. However, after performing clean-up
operations in the desert (mistakenly without protective gear),
30 staff members died, and most others -- including Rokke
himself --developed serious health problems. Rokke now has
reactive airway disease, neurological damage, cataracts, and
kidney problems. 

�We warned the Department of Defense in 1991 after the Gulf War.
Their arrogance is beyond comprehension,� Rokke said. 

Unbelievable? Think again. Or better yet---ask the more than
150,000 Gulf War Vets who have filed claims after previously
serving in Iraq's toxic wastelands during the first Gulf War.
After doing so, they were shamelessly denied their benefits by
the risk management boys who said that Gulf War Syndrome was a
figment of their imagination. Heck, the masters treat their dogs
better then them! 

Is it any wonder that Uncle Sam took away their M-16's before
they returned home? With arms in hand, I would love to know
which way those same gun barrels would point after receiving
such crap in the VA after serving so valiantly. Conspiracy
theory? 

Everyone can't be wrong, so answer me this---why in Sam-Hell
does the Pentagon continue to use these weapons even though
there is an overwhelming abundance of scientific data from
around the globe to back these claims? 

George W. Bush justifies his continued carnage with a convenient
"Saddam Hussein was a horrible dictator who gassed his own
people and threatened his neighbors..." 

But Admiral Gene LaRocque, who fought the Cold War as a
commander of a nuclear-armed carrier task force in Europe and
served as a war planner in the Pentagon, says war has become a
"spectator sport" for most Americans. LaRocque said: 

"I had been in thirteen battle engagements, had sunk a
submarine, and was the first man ashore in the landing at Roi.
In that four years, I thought, What a hell of a waste of a man's
life. I lost a lot of friends. I had the task of telling my
roommate's parents about our last days together. You lose limbs,
sight, part of your life-for what? Old men send young men to
war. Flag, banners, and patriotic sayings... 

"We've institutionalized militarism. This came out of World War
Two... It gave us the National Security Council. It gave us the
CIA, that is able to spy on you and me this very moment. For the
first time in the history of man, a country has divided up the
world into military districts.... You could argue World War Two
had to be fought. Hitler had to be stopped. Unfortunately, we
translate it unchanged to the situation today... 

"I hate it when they say, "He gave his life for his country."
Nobody gives their life for anything. We steal the lives of
these kids. We take it away from them. They don't die for the
honor and glory of their country. We kill them." 

Are George Bush and his Pentagon guilty of war crimes against
the people of Iraq? By unleashing this most deadly of weapons of
mass destruction, are they demonstrating reckless disregard for
the health and safety of American troops? 

You be the judge. 

Source:

by courtesy &� 2004 Vincent L. Guarisco 
MMN Recommend Reading

Copyright � 2004 MMN International Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 20 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
 
                        FR Doc 04-10515 
[Federal Register: May 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 90)] [Notices] 
[Page 25933-25934] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10my04-98]                         
 
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment For the Dow 
Chemical Company, Midland, MI AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Region III, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; 
telephone (630) 829-9871; or by e-mail at  [wgs@nrc.gov] .
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of an 
amendment to Material License No. 21-00265-06 issued to Dow 
Chemical Company (the licensee), to remove the 703 Incinerator 
from its license at its Midland, Michigan facilities, and release 
the incinerator for unrestricted use.
 
The NRC staff has prepared this environmental assessment (EA) to 
support this licensing action in accordance with the requirements 
of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The 
amendment will be issued following the publication of this 
Notice.
 
II. EA Summary The purpose of the proposed action is to remove 
the 703 Incinerator from Byproduct Material License No. 
21-00265-06, issued to the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, 
Michigan, and release the licensee's 703 Incinerator for 
unrestricted use. The 703 Incinerator had been used since 1959 to 
incinerate hazardous wastes and had been used since 1966 to 
incinerate materials containing small quantities of hydrogen-3 
(H-3) and carbon-14 (C-14). On January 9, 2004, Dow Chemical 
Company submitted a request to remove the 703 Incinerator from 
its license at its Midland, Michigan facilities, and release the 
incinerator for unrestricted use. Dow Chemical Company provided 
survey results which demonstrated that the 703 Incinerator was in 
compliance with Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, 10 CFR 
20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use.'' No 
radiological remediation activities are required to complete the 
proposed action. The NRC staff has reviewed the information 
provided and surveys performed by Dow Chemical Company to 
demonstrate compliance with the license termination criteria in 
Subpart E of 10 CFR 20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria for 
Unrestricted Use,'' to ensure the NRC's decision is protective of 
public health and safety and the environment.
 
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the 
EA (summarized above) in support of Dow Chemical Company's 
proposed license amendment to terminate its license and release 
the 703 Incinerator for unrestricted use. Based on its review, 
the staff has determined that the affected environment and the 
environmental impacts associated with the decommissioning of Dow 
Chemical Company's facilities are bounded by the impacts 
evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in 
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496). 
Additionally, no non-radiological impacts were identified. The 
staff also finds that the proposed release for unrestricted use 
of the Dow Chemical Company's facilities is in compliance with 10 
CFR 20.1402, and finds no other activities in the area that could 
result in cumulative impacts. On the basis of the EA, the staff 
has concluded that the environmental impacts from the proposed 
action would not be significant. Accordingly, the staff has 
determined that a FONSI is appropriate, and has determined that 
the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not 
warranted.
 
IV. Further Information In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the 
NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' Dow Chemical Company's request, the 
EA summarized above, and the documents related to this proposed 
action are available electronically for public inspection and 
copying from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of 
NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC 
Web site at 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] 
. These documents include Dow Chemical Company's letter dated 
January 9, 2004, with enclosures (Accession No. ML041200347); and 
the EA summarized above (Accession No. ML041210129). These 
documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers
 
[[Page 25934]] located at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O 
1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 
20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a 
fee. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should 
contact the NRC PDR reference staff by telephone at 
1-800-397-4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to  [ pdr@nrc.gov] 
. Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 30th day of April 2004.
 
George M. McCann, Acting Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division 
of Nuclear Materials Safety, RIII.
 
[FR Doc. 04-10515 Filed 5-7-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 21 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
 
                        FR Doc 04-10516 
[Federal Register: May 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 90)] [Notices] 
[Page 25934] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access 
[wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10my04-99]                         
 
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for the Fort Wayne 
State Developmental Center, Fort Wayne, IN AGENCY: Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Region III, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; 
telephone (630) 829-9871; or by e-mail at wgs@nrc.gov 
[wgs@nrc.gov] .
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of an 
amendment to Material License No. 13-13530-01 issued to Fort 
Wayne State Developmental Center (the licensee), to terminate its 
license and release the licensee's Fort Wayne, Indiana facilities 
for unrestricted use.
 
The NRC staff has prepared this environmental assessment (EA) to 
support this licensing action in accordance with the requirements 
of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a 
finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The 
amendment will be issued following the publication of this 
Notice.
 
II. EA Summary The purpose of the proposed action is to terminate 
the Fort Wayne State Developmental Center's license and release 
the licensee's facilities in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for 
unrestricted use. The NRC licensed Fort Wayne State Developmental 
Center for in-vitro studies and tracer experiments in laboratory 
animals using hydrogen-3 (H-3), carbon-14 (C-14), phosphorus 
(P-32), and any byproduct material listed in Section 31.11(a) of 
10 CFR Part 31. On October 9, 2003, Fort Wayne State 
Developmental Center submitted a request to terminate its license 
at its Fort Wayne, Indiana facilities, and release the facilities 
for unrestricted use. Fort Wayne State Developmental Center 
provided survey results which demonstrated that the facilities 
were in compliance with Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, 10 
CFR 20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use.'' No 
radiological remediation activities are required to complete the 
proposed action. The NRC staff has reviewed the information 
provided and surveys performed by Fort Wayne State Developmental 
Center to demonstrate compliance with the license termination 
criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR 20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria 
for Unrestricted Use,'' to ensure the NRC's decision is 
protective of public health and safety and the environment.
 
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the 
EA (summarized above) in support of Fort Wayne State 
Developmental Center's proposed license amendment to terminate 
its license and release the Fort Wayne, Indiana facilities for 
unrestricted use. Based on its review, the staff has determined 
that the affected environment and the environmental impacts 
associated with the decommissioning of Fort Wayne State 
Developmental Center's facilities are bounded by the impacts 
evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in 
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496). 
Additionally, no non-radiological impacts were identified. The 
staff also finds that the proposed release for unrestricted use 
of the Fort Wayne State Developmental Center's facilities is in 
compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402, and finds no other activities in 
the area that could result in cumulative impacts.
 
On the basis of the EA, the staff has concluded that the 
environmental impacts from the proposed action would not be 
significant. Accordingly, the staff has determined that a FONSI 
is appropriate, and has determined that the preparation of an 
Environmental Impact Statement is not warranted.
 
IV. Further Information In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the 
NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' Fort Wayne State Developmental 
Center's request, the EA summarized above, and the documents 
related to this proposed action are available electronically for 
public inspection and copying from the Publicly Available Records 
(PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is 
accessible from the NRC Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] 
.
 
These documents include Fort Wayne State Developmental Center's 
letter dated October 9, 2003, with enclosures (Accession No. 
ML040620687); and the EA summarized above (Accession No. 
ML041190657). These documents may also be viewed electronically 
on the public computers located at the NRC's Public Document Room 
(PDR), O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy 
documents for a fee.
 
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems 
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the 
NRC PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or (301) 
415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [ pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated at 
Lisle, Illinois, this 30th day of April 2004.
 
George M. McCann, Acting Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division 
of Nuclear Materials Safety, RIII.
 
[FR Doc. 04-10516 Filed 5-7-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 22 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
 
                        FR Doc 04-10517 
[Federal Register: May 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 90)] [Notices] 
[Page 25934-25935] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10my04-100]                         
 
of No Significant Impact for Release of Facility for Unrestricted 
Use for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bath, 
NY AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Region III, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; 
telephone (630) 829-9871; or by e-mail at wgs@nrc.gov 
[wgs@nrc.gov] .
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
 
[[Page 25935]] I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) is considering the release of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs (DVA) Medical Center in Bath, New York, for 
unrestricted use.
 
The NRC staff has prepared this environmental assessment (EA) to 
support this licensing action in accordance with the requirements 
of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The 
amendment will be issued following the publication of this 
Notice.
 
II. EA Summary The purpose of the proposed action is to release 
the DVA Medical Center in Bath, New York, for unrestricted use. 
Although the Bath, New York facility is not a permittee under the 
DVA NRC Master Material License (MML) Number 03-23853-01VA, the 
DVA requested the NRC review and approve the facility for 
unrestricted release because radioactive byproduct material was 
identified at the facility. The approval is consistent with a 
March 17, 2003, Letter of Understanding (LOU) between the NRC and 
DVA for DVA permittees. The LOU requires the DVA to submit for 
NRC review, permittee requests for the release of buildings for 
unrestricted use where radioactive materials with a half-life 
greater than 120 days were used. During a special inspection at 
the Medical Center in Bath, the DVA discovered radioactive 
materials in the form of five old stock vials of carbon-14, four 
carbon-14 standards, and four hydrogen-3 standards, which have 
half-lives greater than 120 days. On November 20, 2003, the DVA 
submitted a request to the NRC, consistent with the LOU, to 
release the Medical Center in Bath, New York, for unrestricted 
use. The DVA Medical Center provided survey results which 
demonstrated that the facilities were in compliance with Title 
10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 20.1402, ``Radiological 
Criteria for Unrestricted Use.'' No radiological remediation 
activities are required to complete the proposed action. The NRC 
staff has reviewed the information provided and surveys performed 
by the DVA to demonstrate compliance with the license termination 
criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR 20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria 
for Unrestricted Use,'' to ensure the NRC's decision is 
protective of public health and safety and the environment.
 
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the 
EA (summarized above) in support of the DVA's request to release 
the DVA Medical Center in Bath, New York, for unrestricted use. 
Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected 
environment and the environmental impacts associated with the 
decommissioning of the DVA's facilities are bounded by the 
impacts evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement 
in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination of NRC- Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496). 
Additionally, no non- radiological impacts were identified. The 
staff also finds that the proposed release for unrestricted use 
of the DVA's facilities is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402, and 
finds no other activities in the area that could result in 
cumulative impacts. On the basis of the EA, the staff has 
concluded that the environmental impacts from the proposed action 
would not be significant. Accordingly, the staff has determined 
that a FONSI is appropriate, and has determined that the 
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not 
warranted.
 
IV. Further Information In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the 
NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' the DVA's request, the EA summarized 
above, and the documents related to this proposed action are 
available electronically for public inspection and copying from 
the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document 
system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] 
. These documents include DVA's letter dated November 20, 2003, 
with enclosures (Accession No. ML033280739); and the EA 
summarized above (Accession No. ML041210173). These documents may 
also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at 
the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O 1 F21, One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
 
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems 
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the 
NRC PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or (301) 
415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [ pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated at 
Lisle, Illinois, this 30th day of April 2004.
 
George M. McCann, Acting Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division 
of Nuclear Materials Safety, RIII.
 
[FR Doc. 04-10517 Filed 5-7-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 23 Guardian Unlimited: BNFL changes its name to Squared LTD
 
		 	
Adam Jay
Tuesday May 11, 2004
The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk]  		
 		
� BNFL Enterprise (Investment Management) Ltd quietly changed
its name last week to the far less radioactive Innovation
Squared Ltd. Sensing a nuclear cover-up, I call BNFL HQ, to be
told the Sellafield operator has turned seller. The company in
question was a non-core (reactor?) business - a community
initiative that has changed hands now it has reached its
half-life. So, nothing sinister in the name change? "Not at
all," insists a spokeswoman. "It's kind of funny, though. I'd
have thought everyone would want to hang on to the BNFL name."
Once it's been decontaminated, that is. 

adam.jay@guardian.co.uk [adam.jay@guardian.co.uk] 
	
[UP] 



Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 24 KVBC: NRC Reps In Pahrump To Host Open House On Yucca

May 10, 2004   

Nuclear waste could soon be headed to southern Nevada. As the 
push for Yucca Mountain continues, many have concerns about 
storing all that waste. News 3's Ben Correa reports Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission representatives are in Pahrump hosting an 
open house, calling it a meet and greet of sorts. They say it's a 
chance for Pahrump residents to get a closer look at the Yucca 
Mountain plan. 

Some Nye County residents actually support the project and think 
Yucca Mountain will create a huge economic boom in the area. 
"Everything we do is homemade. We are a family business." At the 
Coyote Cafe, a smile is promised. "We have the best food and ribs 
in town." Darryl Hill is part owner of the restaurant. Hill is 
not worried about Yucca Mountain. In fact, the Pahrump resident 
thinks the project will do wonders for the business and the area. 
"It means lots of people will drive down this highway, and they 
will be hungry, and I will be able to feed them and that's 
revenue for me and my family." 

The Department of Energy wants to store radioactive waste from 
around the country at Yucca Mountain. Critics are worried about 
the transportation of the waste, if Yucca Mountain is suitable 
for storage and the surrounding environment. Some say the Yucca 
Mountain battle is over, because the project is a done deal. "I 
don't like it. I suspect I will stay here until I retire, then 
after that move on to some place that is not near Yucca 
Mountain." 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission still has to approve or deny 
the DOE license request for the Yucca Mountain repository.   

[http://www.worldnow.com]     All content � Copyright 2000 -
2004 WorldNow and KVBC. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 25 AU ABC: NZ opposition rejects ditching anti-nuclear policies 

[http://abc.net.au/ra/news/]     

New Zealand's opposition leader, Don Brash, says he would not 
make any change to the country's anti-nuclear laws without a 
clear public mandate.

Dr Brash's comments come after a report commissioned by New 
Zealand's opposition National Party last week recommended doing 
away with the law banning nuclear-powered ships.

The report says the 20-year-old legislation has caused serious 
friction with the United States and Australia.

Dr Brash says a change to the National Party's policy on the 
nuclear issue would require a public mandate, in the form of a 
referendum or endorsement in an election.

"We're not about to change this policy in a hurry," he said.

"But if we can find a win-win solution, where we can re-establish 
a close working relationship with Australia and the United 
States, while keeping New Zealand nuclear free, I think that 
would be a tremendous outcome." 


10/05/2004 16:53:57 | ABC Radio Australia News 

[http://www.abc.net.au/privacy.htm]         
*****************************************************************
 26 Albuquerque Tribune: N.M. to have nuke material removed                      

May 10, 2004

TRIBUNE STAFF

 Initiatives announced today by U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer 
Abraham will remove all weapons-grade nuclear material from New 
Mexico's two national labs within three years.

 Abraham announced the measure as part of an effort to tighten 
security at Department of Energy labs, which have been under fire 
for a number of security gaffes. 

Speaking at the DOE's Savannah River Site in South Carolina this 
morning, Abraham said consolidating material that needs 
high-level protection at fewer sites is the best way to simplify 
security.

 Weapons-grade nuclear material includes enriched uranium and 
plutonium that are used for research.

 The remaining nuclear material in Technical Area 18 at Los 
Alamos National Laboratory will be moved to the Nevada Test Site 
under the initiatives. 

The pulsed reactor at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque 
will be replaced within three years by a computer simulation 
system. 

Sandia spokesman John German described the pulsed reactor as "a 
small reactor used for validating computer codes." Abraham did 
not specify where the pulsed reactor material will be sent.

 That some "certain types of nuclear material" will be moved from 
Los Alamos to Nevada "is not new," Los Alamos spokesman Kevin 
Roark said today. 

"We've been in discussions and planning for a couple of years for 
that," he said. "Some may begin moving as early as this summer."

 The Energy Department has been under growing criticism from some 
members of Congress and public interest watchdog groups for 
failing to adequately improve security to meet the increased 
threats made apparent by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York 
and on the Pentagon.

 Abraham also said he intends to closely examine the current use 
of private firms for security on lab property, eliminate the need 
for keys in labs and create a new "diskless" information system 
for data to prevent theft of sensitive documents.

 "Since the stakes are so high, everything is on the table," 
Abraham said, including establishing an elite federal force to 
protect labs.

 All 170 uniformed security police officers at Sandia National 
Laboratories already are federal employees, German said. And all 
are members of a union, the Security Police Association, Local 
7002. The union's current four-year contract with Sandia was 
signed in November 2001.

 "We're still reviewing the secretary's remarks and beginning to 
look at what changes these new initiatives will bring to the 
lab," German said. 

"This is something Sandia's management will be working on closely 
with DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration over 
the coming months."

 Roark said Los Alamos has a private guard force of about 600 
persons, all employees of Protection Technology of Los Alamos, a 
subsidiary of the Day &Zimmerman Co. of Philadelphia. 

Protection Technology has had the security contract with Los 
Alamos since 1992.

 "At Los Alamos, we've been out front loud and very clear about 
security improvements," Roark said. 

"Secretary Abraham has laid out a host of options, and we're 
excited about exploring them. The more standardized we can become 
in terms of guard forces, training, equipment and tactics - the 
more military-style it gets - the more we think security across 
the complex would improve."

 Los Alamos has been targeted twice for security tests by special 
forces, which on both occasions managed to get away with 
quantities of plutonium. The Project on Government Oversight, a 
watchdog group that encourages whistle-blowers, has been a 
persistent critic of the lab's security performance.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 [http://www.abqtrib.com/print/index.cfm] 

� The Albuquerque Tribune. Users of this site are subject to our 
*****************************************************************
 27 Seattle Times: Senate bill stirs worry over Hanford cleanup
 	 	 	
Monday, May 10, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
 			 			 			 			
By Shannon Dininny The Associated Press                                            

YAKIMA � A U.S. Senate committee's approval of legislation that 
would allow the Energy Department to reclassify high-level 
nuclear waste in South Carolina concerns officials in Washington 
state who have been fighting the same move at the Hanford nuclear 
site. 

The department has been pushing members of Congress to change the 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act since a federal judge in Idaho last year 
ruled that reclassifying thousands of gallons of highly 
radioactive sludge as low-level waste violated the law. 

A Senate committee announced Friday it had approved changes in 
the law that will allow the Energy Department to avoid removing 
the sludge from tanks at the Savannah River nuclear site in South 
Carolina. 

Energy Department officials expressed hope that the change might 
also help them reach agreement with Washington and Idaho 
officials. 

But officials in Washington state raised concerns that the 
legislation might allow the department to reclassify waste in 
Hanford's aging and leaking underground tanks, which hold about 
53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste from World War II 
and Cold War-era plutonium production. 

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., called the legislation a 
"divide-and-conquer" strategy that would be a major step backward 
in national efforts to clean up high-level nuclear waste. 

"This legislation turns 30 years of law on its head for one 
region of the country without a single legislative hearing in the 
traditional committee of jurisdiction, just to overturn a court 
ruling this administration doesn't like," Cantwell said in a news 
release. 

"We can't pretend that changing the rules for one state won't 
have an impact on the others," Cantwell said. 

The Energy Department plans to siphon out the highly radioactive 
liquid waste in the tanks, but claims the residual sludge is too 
expensive to extract. 

Instead, the department has proposed reclassifying it as 
low-level waste, encasing it in a mortarlike grout, then filling 
the tanks with concrete and leaving them in place. 

Washington state joined Oregon, Idaho, South Carolina, New Mexico 
and New York in filing a "friend of the court" brief to the 9th 
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the court to uphold the 
Idaho judge's decision. 
 
Gov. Gary Locke last week said legislative language that allows 
the Energy Department to unilaterally reinterpret cleanup 
agreements is unacceptable and threatens the long-term health of 
citizens and the environment. 

"Current law does not allow, and Congress should not sanction, 
DOE's claimed authority to unilaterally redefine what is 
high-level waste, and what is not," Locke said in a letter to 
ranking members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which 
approved the language Friday. 

Deputy Secretary of Energy Kyle McSlarrow said Friday the Energy 
Department has engaged in good-faith negotiations with Idaho and 
Washington to arrive at a solution so that cleanup can progress. 

"We have several important issues to resolve and we look forward 
to continuing our discussions so that we can devise a solution 
that will work for these other states as well," McSlarrow said in 
a news release.                      

Copyright � 2004 The Seattle Times Company
*****************************************************************
 28 kgw.com: Attorney General report: Hanford chemical tank data incomplete 

News for Oregon and SW Washington | AP Wire

05/11/2004 

By SHANNON DININNY  / Associated Press 

Monitoring equipment may not be adequate to detect potential 
toxic vapors from underground tanks at the Hanford nuclear 
reservation, in part because information about what the tanks 
contain is incomplete, according to a new state report released 
Monday. 

Federal authorities have been investigating procedures at 
Hanford's tank farms amid allegations that workers are being 
endangered to speed cleanup of the nation's most contaminated 
nuclear site. 

Last year, state Attorney General Christine Gregoire launched a 
probe by several state agencies after a letter she sent to the 
federal Energy Department on the matter was not answered. 

Based on its review, the state Ecology Department determined that 
information on the tanks' chemical contents is incomplete. 
Further, the information is not managed in a way that allows a 
comprehensive assessment of the tanks' contents, and it lacks 
recognized quality assurance, Gregoire and Gov. Gary Locke said 
in a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. 

"Due to the lack of understanding of chemical waste constituents, 
and in some cases the types of monitoring equipment used, the 
monitoring done for worker protection may not be adequate to 
detect potential toxic chemical vapor contaminants," the letter 
said. 

Employees working within the tank farms should be supplied air 
tanks and other gear to protect against chemical vapor exposure 
until the Energy Department completes a more thorough review, 
Ecology Department spokeswoman Sheryl Hutchison said. 

Joe Davis, an Energy Department spokesman, said investigations 
into procedures at the tank farms continue by the department's 
Inspector General and Office of Oversight. 

"We hope that the attorney general has provided an independent 
analysis of the tank farms and we will not comment on their 
report until we have received their information," Davis said. 

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 other material, 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. 

The contractor hired to clean up the tank waste, CH2M Hill, and 
the Energy Department, which manages the cleanup, have said most 
of the chemicals are diluted and pose no danger to workers. 

More than 800 people work in the tank farms for CH2M Hill. The 
total work force at Hanford is about 11,000 people. 

R. Bryan Kidder, a CH2M Hill spokesman, said company officials 
had not yet seen the report and could not comment on it. 

The report also found that 21 workers had been exposed to 
radioactivity in the tank farms during 2002 and 2003, but that 
the exposures were not connected to the reported releases of 
toxic vapors. 

All of those exposures to radioactivity were at levels below the 
threshold for health concerns, the report said. 

A state investigation continues into the medical care provided to 
Hanford workers by the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation, a 
private, nonprofit contractor at the site, said Deputy Attorney 
General Rob Costello. 

Federal authorities have been investigating allegations of fraud 
and medical-records mismanagement by HEHF, which has denied the 
allegations. 

Robert Nelson, a spokesman for the state Department of Labor and 
Industries, said that department's probe showed no indications of 
fraud or mismanagement with regard to insurance claims for 
Hanford workers. 

An audit by the Energy Department's Inspector General  part one 
of the agency's three-part investigation  also concluded that 
contractors at the site had largely reported workers' exposures 
to chemical vapors correctly when recording injuries. 

This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by 
the invisible item's flow. This text is invisible on the page, 
but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow.     

� Belo Interactive Inc.   
*****************************************************************
 29 Oak Ridger: K-25 back to normal 							 							 							
 
Story last updated at 11:43 a.m. on May 10, 2004

AFTER THE FIRE: Visual inspections identified no impact to
areas surrounding the incident scene. 

By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff
[paul.parson@oakridger.com] 

An investigation will be conducted into the chemical fire this
weekend that resulted in the evacuation of around 150 people who
live in a half-mile radius of the Oak Ridge K-25 site.

Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the Department of Energy's Oak
Ridge Operations office, confirmed the investigation this
morning. However, he said the team that will conduct the
inspection has not been assembled.

For the most part, federal contractors and private sector
companies who work at the K-25 site returned to work this
morning. Roads that were closed due to Saturday's fire were also
open after being closed nearly 24 hours.

Justice, both with Wackenhut Services Inc., check the clearance 
of a worker near the Oak Ridge K-25 site Saturday. Roads leading 
to and from the site were closed due to a chemical fire on the 
federal property.                                                                                               

The fire sparked Saturday when sodium that was being packaged for 
commercial reuse by Commodore Advance Sciences Inc., caught fire 
during heating for repackaging. Commodore is working under a 
subcontract to Toxco Inc., a private-sector company leasing space 
at K-25, which is also referred to as the East Tennessee 
Technology Park or the Heritage Center.

DOE spokesman Walter Perry said, due to the material involved, 
the fire had to burn itself out. However, officials stressed that 
there was no radioactive material burning.

Perry described what was actually burning as a "sodium shield." 
He said it looked like a telephone pole and was 11 1/2 feet long 
and 2 1/2 feet wide.

Visual inspections conducted by DOE, the Tennessee Emergency 
Management Agency and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 
identified no impact to areas surrounding the K-25 site, 
including waterways, as a result of Saturday's fire. In addition, 
analysis of the sodium confirmed that there was no radioactive 
material involved.

Due to Saturday's voluntary evacuation, somewhere between seven 
and

14 people reportedly spent the night at a shelter set up at Roane 
State Community College in Harriman, according to officials.

While routes known as Highway 58 and Gallaher Road were closed to 
traffic due to the incident, one emergency-related official said 
a family drove through smoke from the fire prior to the closure, 
saying they felt ill after doing so. Officials could not confirm 
whether this family sought medical attention.

The World War II-era K-25 site was formerly used to enrich 
uranium through a gaseous diffusion process. While the site is 
the subject of a massive cleanup project, there are also several 
buildings there that are either leased to private companies or 
used to house DOE-related contractors. 

*****************************************************************
 30 Oak Ridger: Changes proposed to sick worker program 							 							 							
 
Story last updated at 11:21 a.m. on May 10, 2004

SPECIFIC AREA: Bill would address 'problems' with the physician
panels. 

By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff
[paul.parson@oakridger.com] 

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, has introduced legislation
to fix what he calls problems with a compensation plan for
job-sickened nuclear workers.

"A number of problems have been identified that are slowing the
processing of claims and awarding of compensation," the
congressman said.

There are two primary programs in the compensation effort for
job-sickened nuclear workers. The Labor Department runs one
program that pays lump sum benefits plus continuing medical
coverage for former workers with diseases potentially related to
radiation exposure, silicosis and chronic beryllium disease.

The Department of Energy runs the other program, which covers a
much broader array of medical conditions and requires extensive
employment history development to provide the workers with the
best opportunity for claim defense. DOE's portion of the
compensation effort provides no direct benefits, but assists
workers in pursuing claims with state workers' compensation
programs.

The language in the bill would address the following problems
with the physician panels under what's known as "Subtitle D" of
the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program
Act:

* Lets the market set the pay rate for physicians serving on
these panels. The current rate of $69 an hour is about half of
the average rate for these physicians;

* Removes restrictions on hiring authority so that DOE can hire
federal or contract employees and maximize the use of available
physicians;

* And, it eliminates the requirement that an agreement with the
state must be in place before cases are sent to the physician
panel.

The physician's panel in question is an endpoint in the review
process for sick worker claims. Developed by the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the panel consists
of experts who review available evidence and determine if
workplace exposures likely caused a worker's cancer. 

*****************************************************************
 31 Oak Ridger: Security changes loom for DOE sites 							 							 							
 
Story last updated at 11:34 a.m. on May 10, 2004

CONGRESSMAN: 'If there are ways to not slow it down and change
the design, I think you're gonna see support for it.' 

By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff
paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] 

According to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, a request for
proposals will be issued in the next several months for the
construction of a highly enriched uranium facility on an
expedited basis at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

However, both the Department of Energy's Inspector General's
Office and the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group known as
the Project On Government Oversight have been critical of the
storage facility's existing design.

Both have said this design would be costly and pose some
security issues.

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, said the secretary's
request calls for the storage facility to go forward as designed.

"One of the problems with redesign is it could potentially slow
down the whole development," Wamp said. "If there are ways to
not slow it down and change the design, I think you're gonna see
support for it. The main thing is to get it going. It really
can't wait."

In February 2000, the federal government OK'd a design for the
Y-12 storage facility that consisted of an earthen berm on the
top and three sides of the facility. That was when Lockheed
Martin Energy Systems managed the Oak Ridge weapons plant.

BWXT Y-12 took over as the plant's managing contractor in late
2000. In June 2002, the National Nuclear Security Agency, which
oversees DOE's weapons facilities, approved BWXT Y-12's
recommendation to redesign the storage facility to remove the
berm.

According to an Inspector General's audit, the storage
facility's current design could cost an estimated $253 million.
In the long run, the government risks spending at least $25
million more than necessary to construct the facility, which has
complex construction requirements that could add time to the
project's schedule.

In addition, both POGO and the Inspector General have said the
non-berm design will not provide improved security and design
flexibility over the original design.

CONSOLIDATION PLAN

Abraham announced the new request for proposals Friday during a
talk with DOE security officers and managers who attended the
32nd Annual Security Police Officer Training Competition being
held at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Journalists
were allowed to listen in on the talk via telephones.

"The agency and its contractors, however, have a long history
of stonewalling security reforms," said Danielle Brian,
executive director of POGO. "We look forward to ensuring the
Department implements Abraham's initiatives."

According to DOE, the sites impacted by the security changes
include Y-12, the Savannah River Site, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory in California, Los Alamos and Sandia
National labs in New Mexico, Pantex Plant in Texas and DOE
facilities in Idaho and Nevada.

The energy secretary also said his agency is moving forward
with plans to consolidate nuclear materials. Critical to the
consolidation effort, according to Abraham, is the availability
of final storage locations.

A new storage facility at Y-12 would be used to consolidate the
site's stockpile of bomb-grade uranium. Abraham said this will
significantly shrink the size of Y-12's protective area.

"We need to explore whether we can down-blend substantial
quantities of the department's highly enriched uranium
holdings," he said. "Potentially, this could yield a number of
security benefits, but the programmatic impact of a major
campaign of down-blending needs to be assessed.

"I have also directed NNSA to conduct a study to assess the
down-blending of large quantities, perhaps as much as 100 tons,
of the HEU stored at Y-12 and to assess the programmatic impacts
of such a large campaign."

A 2001 report by POGO identified the need to dispose of the
large quantities of nuclear materials which are no longer used
yet make the nation's homeland security more vulnerable.

UNDER LOCK AND KEY

Security issues at DOE and NNSA facilities nationwide have been
a hot topic for quite some time, with several of those
facilities, including Y-12, experiencing problems with missing
keys.

"We all know that we've experienced a number of problems with
lost keys and lost key cards," Abraham said. "That is not an
acceptable situation. Put simply, I intend to do away with the
use of mechanical keys as an element of our protection system."

Abraham noted that keyless access technology exists, and is
currently in use at a small number of locations throughout the
Energy Department. He said these technologies include "swipe
card/PIN combinations" as well as mechanical and electronic
cipher locks.

The energy secretary then announced an initiative to research
and identify suitable technology alternatives that will enable
the Energy Department to transition to a keyless security
environment - where access is not afforded by any physical item
or object that can be lost or stolen. The transition would take
place in phases over the next five years.

According to Abraham, this effort will begin with a pilot
project in the NNSA, and will later be expanded to appropriate
facilities.

MAINTAINING SECURITY

According to Abraham, the DOE complex has been protected in the
past, and it is still being protected.

However, I have become convinced that we must make certain
changes ... we must improve ... we must adapt to a world that
changed three Septembers ago, if we are going to successfully
protect this complex in the future," Abraham said.

Abraham acknowledged that most people were familiar with the
reports of poor performance during security tests and of people
sleeping on duty. However, he said he was convinced these were
"rare lapses" in security.

"But frankly, rare or not, they are unacceptable - and the
failure of any and all levels of management to address instances
such as these will not be tolerated," Abraham said.

POGO has brought forward a steady stream of whistle-blowers and
disclosures concerning the poor working conditions and training
of the guard force.

"My philosophy on security is quite simple: When it comes to
the security of a department with the responsibilities ours has
- of maintaining the nuclear weapons stockpile, providing
nuclear propulsion for the Navy, and coordinating global
nonproliferation efforts - there is no room for error," Abraham
said.

Locally, DOE's Inspector General's Office was critical of a
June 2003 security test at Y-12, calling the results "tainted
and unreliable" because security officers were privy to
information about the exercise before it was conducted.

Secretary Abraham also discussed the potential of federalizing
DOE security forces, many of which currently are contractors, to
streamline operations and maximize accountability.

"Because the stakes are so high, everything is on the table,"
he said.

Wamp said he would be willing to work with Abraham and the
unions on federalizing the security offices, but he stressed
that people should look at the situation with their eyes open.

"People should not assume that because the workforce becomes a
federal workforce vs. a private workforce that it's gonna get
better," the congressman said. "It could make improvements, but
it may not. It's gonna end up being the same people." 
*****************************************************************
 32 Oak Ridger: Our View: Emergency workers kept bad situation from getting
worse                                                                                                                                                                   
 
Story last updated at 11:12 a.m. on May 10, 2004

Saturday afternoon's fire at the Oak Ridge K-25 site could have 
been a lot worse and a greater panic might have ensued if not for 
the tireless efforts of our local police and sheriff's agencies, 
Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Red Cross and numerous other 
county, state and federal emergency personnel and volunteers.

Patrick Fitzsimmons of the Knoxville area chapter of the Red 
Cross said a total of 14 people evacuated from their homes 
following Saturday's incident and took advantage of a shelter set 
up throughout the night at Roane State Community College's main 
campus in Harriman.

Of those 14, five were children, Fitzsimmons reported.

Assisting the Sunday "morning shift" were local volunteer Mark 
Eisenhauer, as well as Lendle and Dottie Duncan of Clinton, 
representing the Appalachian chapter of the Red Cross 
headquartered in Oak Ridge.

Also on hand was Dave Ross of Rockwood, who was working with the 
Roane County Amateur Radio Club to keep an eye - or perhaps more 
accurately an ear - on the sequence of events as they were 
unfolding.

Should it have been necessary, the Red Cross was prepared to open 
up a second shelter in Oak Ridge High School. Fortunately, 
evacuation efforts were called off about 8 a.m. Sunday.

As it was, the fire reported at the K-25 site led to the 
evacuation of residents living within a half-mile of the plant. 
While this impacted about 200 or so residents, there was 
apparently some discussion of a two-mile radius evacuation and 
this would have affected closer to 5,000 residents.

The Duncans said they are volunteers with several organizations 
besides the Red Cross, including the Holiday Bureau and Homeland 
Security.

"We just enjoy helping people," Len Duncan said.

Meanwhile, Eisenhauer, a facility engineer with the Y-12 National 
Security Complex, said he moved to the Volunteer State from 
Dayton, Ohio, fairly recently. He said he works with the Red 
Cross as a way to "get involved with the community."

Even after the evacuation shelter efforts were called off Sunday 
morning, roadblocks remained up on Highway 58 to safeguard the 
community from any danger.

Patrolman Jim Lambert of the Kingston Police Department was 
assisted at his "buffer" block by Daniel Lantz with code 
enforcement and Richard Wood, volunteer in police service.

"We've called on all our reserves and regular police, too," 
Lambert said of his department's night-long duty. "Everyone 
employed with the Kingston Police Department has been out at some 
point."

So, whether volunteer or paid employee, we reiterate our support 
and the community's appreciation to the men and women who helped 
prevent a bad situation from getting any worse this weekend.

When disaster strikes, it's comforting to know that so many 
Anderson and Roane County emergency workers stand ready and able 
to lend a hand. 
*****************************************************************
 33 [NukeNet] Environmental Endowment Awards Grant to  Unplug Salem
 
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 14:34:17 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
Hi all,

I am very pleased to announce that the Environmental Endowment of NJ has 
awarded the Unplug Salem Campaign
a grant of 18 thousand dollars for the period of May 2004 through April 
2005. This grant is 2 thousand dollars more than last year's grant. Grant 
money will go to help pay my salary and expenses as Coordinator of the 
Unplug Salem Campaign.

This is an important time for us as we continue to watchdog PSEG's attempts 
to fix their defective safety culture at all 3 nukes, as PSEG builds dry 
cask storage for Hope Creek, as the 316(b) permit comes up for renewal, and 
as we try to get the NJ DEP to not re-issue the permit
for glyphosate spraying.

Thanks to all who helped support Unplug Salem in the past year. Be assured 
that we will work as hard as we can to
make South Jersey and Delaware safe from nuclear pollution and nuclear danger.

Norm

-- 
Coalition for Peace and Justice 
(http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org); and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign 
(http://www.unplugsalem.org); 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 
609-601-8583/37; ncohen12@comcast.net. The Coalition for Peace and Justice 
is a chapter of Peace Action (http://www.peace-action.org). "You can say 
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one" (Lennon). "Don't be late for your 
life" (Mary Chapin Carpenter).




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Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings at:
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