***************************************************************** 05/11/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.113 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 albawaba: Iran warns Israel regarding possible nuclear site attack 2 AFP: Tehran to fulfil nuclear obligations in days: official 3 Korea Herald: Working group talks on nukes begin 4 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Working-level Talks to Focus on Nuclear F 5 China Daily: Officials meet for new 6-party talks 6 AFP: Delegates prepare for NKorea nuclear talks with no sign of gap 7 U.S. Backs China Joining Nuclear Group 8 US: Taipei Times: Bush's US considers nuclear non-proliferation `a l 9 US: Reuters: Senate Passes Energy Tax Package 10 US: LR: New Nukes, Anyone? 11 AFP: Iran sternly warns Israel against attacking its nuclear sites 12 Reuters: Bush to Impose Sanctions on Syria -Sources 13 Scoop: Nuclear Deception And Learning On The Job NUCLEAR REACTORS 14 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of Three Mile 15 AU SMH: Perfect for the nuclear family: Lucas Heights may be next 16 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of Nine Mile P 17 Bellona: Public Commission suggested to complete reactor no.2 of 18 People's Daily: 2nd generating unit of 2nd-phase Qinshan nuke 19 Japan Times: Japan could have gone fully nuclear in '70s - U.S. repo 20 AFP: Japan nuclear panel to suggest dropping fast breeder reactors 21 asahi: Shikoku reactor set to be 3rd pluthermal plant 22 Sofia Morning News: Second Nuclear Plant Project Classified NUCLEAR SAFETY 23 [DU-WATCH] dirty bomb dust proves deadly 24 [DU-WATCH] Ex-combat nurse: Ask questions, demand answers 25 US: PJ: Lawmaker: Examine labeling for depleted uranium 26 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 27 US: [DU-WATCH] Kill murderous EPA policy to dump nuke waste into 28 AU THE AGE: SA fights to ward off nuke dump - 29 eTaiwanNews: INER builds laser-guided nuclear system to carry radioa 30 US: Las Vegas RJ: NRC authorizes nuclear cask testing 31 US: Las Vegas SUN: Cask design among concerns 32 US: Las Vegas SUN: NRC plans to test nuke casks 33 US: UPI: Washington hazardous waste site faulted - 34 TheNewMexicoChannel: Uranium Enrichment Plant Meeting Set In Hobbs 35 PISJ: Lawmaker to tour Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site 36 AU ABC: Mine water contamination report delayed » 37 US: KRNV: NRC authorizes testing of full-sized nuclear waste transpo NUCLEAR WEAPONS 38 Taipei Times: Rescuing nuclear non-proliferation 39 New Zealand News: No benefit in National's nuclear plan US DEPT. OF ENERGY 40 Las Vegas SUN: SRS waits for nuke report 41 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Worry over Hanford vapors 42 Seattle Times: State review criticizes oversight at Hanford 43 Tri-City Herald: Vapor monitoring near Hanford tanks may be inadequa 44 PRN: Gene Network Sciences Awarded $2.5 Million DOE Grant for Networ 45 U.S. Newswire: DOE Officials to Testify Before Congressional Committ 46 KTVB: Security at INEEL debated 47 Oak Ridger: Science.gov upgrades 48 Oak Ridger: After K-25 fire, citizens to study emergency response 49 Oak Ridger: Carrying on an ORNL tradition 50 Oak Ridger: Council wary of 'formal' application to DOE 51 WBIR-TV: BEHIND THE FENCES: AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT TODAY'S Y-12 52 Oak Ridger: A founder of the science of radioecology OTHER NUCLEAR 53 Google News Alert - nuclear 54 Reactor suit nears end ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 albawaba: Iran warns Israel regarding possible nuclear site attack Al Bawaba - Middle East News and Information 11-05-2004, 12:53 Iran Tuesday sent a sterm message to Israel against any military attack on its nuclear sites. In a TV interview, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rowhani, said "Israelis have repeated their threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran for a number of years, but I do not think that they will execute this stupid action." He was replying to a question about US and Israeli press reports speculating on an imminent Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites. "Israel knows our reaction, and knows that we would answer with a full hand," he said. "They are aware of our abilities and power, Israel knows that we would not tolerate it, and it will get a very decisive reply." (Albawaba.com) © 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com) [http://www.albawaba.com] ***************************************************************** 2 AFP: Tehran to fulfil nuclear obligations in days: official [http://www.spacewar.com/] TEHRAN (AFP) May 11, 2004 Tehran will complete fulfilling its obligations to a suspicious United Nations atomic watchdog within days, Iran's nuclear point-man said Tuesday in an interview with state television. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has so far met its obligations, and by May 15, almost all the things that were agreed upon will be fulfilled," national security chief Hassan Rowhani said. Iran must submit a report on its nuclear activities, after signing the additional protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in December, allowing snap inspections to be carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran has been frequently accused by the United States that its nuclear program is a cover-up for acquiring nuclear weapons, but has flatly denied the allegations. Iran's nuclear program must be examined again in June by the IAEA board of governors, which in preceding sessions castigated Iran's shortcomings and hidden activities. Rowhani repeated Tehran's wish for the IAEA to close the case as soon as possible, while the United States would like it sent to the UN Security Council for possible international sanctions. "We hope that the report which (IAEA chief Mohammad ElBaradei) present to the IAEA at the June meeting is a fair and accurate one, and that they will reach a fair decision," he said. "We believe that Iran's nuclear file is heading towards complete resolution," Rowhani added, citing ElBaradei's recent comments that Iran's cooperation "is on the right track." Iranian officials welcomed the comments, but were less happy about ElBaradei's further statement that "the world will not wait indefinitely." WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 3 Korea Herald: Working group talks on nukes begin 2004.05.12 By Choi Soung-ah S. Korea, U.S. likely to have bilateral discussions with N.K. on sidelines South and North Korea are likely to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the working-group meeting among six nations that will open in Beijing today to discuss how to end the nuclear standoff between Pyongyang and Washington, Seoul officials said yesterday. It is the first meeting of the working-level officials from the six nations, which also include Japan, China and Russia. The six players agreed to hold the working-level talks during the second round of six-party talks in Beijing. During or before today's talks, Seoul's deputy chief delegate, Cho Tae-yong, also plans to meet separately with his Chinese and Russian counterparts to fine-tune their cooperative efforts, the officials said. They said delegates of the two Koreas had unofficially made contact and agreed to meet on the sidelines prior to the formal talks, and that it was possible the meeting would take place. In Washington, the United States also indicated that it might hold one-on-one discussions with the North on the sidelines of the formal working-level talks. "I wouldn't be surprised if he (chief U.S. delegate Joseph DeTrani) had meetings, within the context of the six-party talks, with individual delegations, including the North Korean delegation," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher was quoted as saying during a press briefing. Key issues on the agenda for today's talks include Pyongyang's demand for a security guarantee and economic compensation for freezing its nuclear program. The United States insists on an agreement stipulating the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear programs before considering any such promises. The previous two rounds of main six-party talks, which were also held in Beijing, failed to achieve any clear breakthroughs between the communist state and participating nations. According to China's official Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said recently that all related parties regarded this meeting as an important step toward resolving the nuclear issue, and that all sides would exchange views on various topics in depth. China, as the host country, will be represented by Ning Fukui, Chinese ambassador on Korean Peninsula affairs. During the second round of the six-party talks from Feb. 25 to 28 in Beijing, all concerned parties agreed to form a working group to prepare for the third round, which is expected to be held by the end of June. Meanwhile, many Korea watchers are pinning high hopes on the down-to-earth talks for open and in-depth discussions on issues including possible compensation for a nuclear freeze. But experts point out that the United States might become exasperated, and South Korea is hesitant to take precipitate action while many here believe the working-group talks are unlikely to yield any significant answers soon to resolve the 19-month international dispute over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. (bluelle@heraldm.com) By Choi Soung-ah 2004.05.12 ***************************************************************** 4 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Working-level Talks to Focus on Nuclear Freeze and Updated May.11,2004 14:03 KST As the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia gear up for dialogue, the Washington Post says there might be some notable progress citing a U.S. plan to talk about "compensation" in return for the North's nuclear dismantlement. In the run-up to the six-nation working-level talks on North Korea's nuclear standoff in Beijing the Washington Post reports the Bush administration is prepared to look for ways to provide North Korea with so-called "rewards" for fully freezing its nuclear weapons program. The Post quoted a Bush administration official as saying, ¡°Americans want to talk about the nuclear dismantlement along with what South and North Koreans call "compensation" for scrapping nuclear ambitions as well as what Washington refers to as "corresponding measures." The U.S. has defined these corresponding measures as a multilateral security guarantee but with no aid. However, others at the table; South Korea, China, and Russia have offered shipments of heavy fuel oil, only under the condition that North Korea freezes its nuclear programs toward a full dismantlement. Beijing's working-level talks are likely to focus on the preliminary step of a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement as well as issues surrounding the North's compensation. The upcoming negotiations follow two previous rounds of six-party talks that involved higher-ranking diplomats but came short of yielding significant results. Contrary to previous reports that the Bush administration is against holding direct dialogue with the North Koreans, the U.S. State Department said it does not rule out bilateral talks with North Korea during this week's meeting on the nuclear dispute. ***************************************************************** 5 China Daily: Officials meet for new 6-party talks chinadaily.com.cn Guo Nei 2004-05-11 06:16 The first working group meeting of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue will begin tomorrow as scheduled, sources from the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday. An official of the office of Korean Peninsula nuclear issue of the ministry who did not want to be identified said the aim of the closed-door discussions is to prepare for the next round of six-party talks to be held before the end of June. Ning Fukui, Chinese ambassador on Korean Peninsula affairs, will head the Chinese team at the meeting. The open-ended meeting will bring together diplomats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, China, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan. Members of the group are expected to hold some one-on-one talks today in Beijing. The working group meeting comes on the heels of a China-tour late last month by Kim Jong-il, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and visit by a US Vice-President Dick Cheney shortly before that. The DPRK's leading newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said yesterday that Pyongyang is ready for reform-oriented and trustworthy measures if the US turns to "a reasonable and realistic stance" and abandons its "hostile stance" against the DPRK. "Whether an outcome will be achieved at the six-party talks to resolve the nuclear problem depends solely on the US attitude," it said. "There are no changes in our basic position to find a peaceful solution to the problem through talks and our republic continues to demonstrate patience and flexibility while continuing to participate positively in the six-party talks." (China Daily 05/11/2004 page1) ***************************************************************** 6 AFP: Delegates prepare for NKorea nuclear talks with no sign of gap narrowing [http://www.spacewar.com/] BEIJING (AFP) May 11, 2004 Negotiators from six countries prepared Tuesday for working-level talks in Beijing on defusing the North Korean nuclear standoff, as Washington and Pyongyang signaled no narrowing of the gap dividing them. While China called for "reasonable expectations" and moves to strengthen trust, North Korea insisted it be rewarded if it froze its nuclear program, while the United States ruled out any pay-off for such a move. "We hope that all the parties involved as well as the press will have reasonable expectations for the process of the working group meeting," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular briefing. "We hope that the various parties will have an in-depth exchange of views, put forward reasonable solutions so as to promote understanding, enhance trust and reduce doubt," he said. The US delegation, headed by North Korea envoy Joseph DeTrani, a former CIA officer, was expected to meet Tuesday with counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia ahead of the formal start of talks the following day. The inter-agency US delegation, which included representatives from the National Security Council and the Pentagon, had no plans to meet Tuesday with the North Korean delegates, a US embassy official said. No end date has been set yet for the working group talks, which the Chinese foreign ministry said would be held behind closed doors with no media access. "As to when the meeting will be concluded, this depends on the opinions of parties concerned...," said Liu. "There has been no pre-set date." The talks are the first to take place since a second round of high-level six-country meetings ended in Beijing in late February with no visible progress towards solving the 19-month-old issue. Agreement to hold working group discussions, and to meet for a third round of six-way talks before the end of June, marked the only tangible result of the February meetings. As the delegations descended on the Chinese capital, North Korea on Monday said the issue of how it should be rewarded for giving up its nuclear program ought to be the top issue in this week's talks. "Only then the meeting would attain its objective," the state-run North Korean news agency said in a commentary. It said a US demand for the "complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement" of North Korea's nuclear programs would "only throw up a hurdle" and could even forestall success in the third round of six-party talks. The US government, meanwhile, insisted that North Korea abandon its nuclear program without the promise of any immediate quid pro quo. "We will pursue that objective at the working group talks and the next round of six-party talks expected before the end of June," a US embassy official said. "It's in North Korea's best interest to embrace the opportunities provided by the six-party talks," the official said. Liu, the foreign ministry spokesman, Tuesday reiterated that China, along with South Korea and Russia, had agreed to provide North Korea with energy aid "under certain conditions." WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 7 U.S. Backs China Joining Nuclear Group Tue May 11, 2004 04:56 PM ET By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration, after fierce debate, is backing China's membership in an influential group that controls nuclear exports despite Beijing's insistence on providing atomic reactors to Pakistan, a country with a troubling nuclear record. Washington has sought assurances in recent days from China that power reactors for Pakistan will be subject to international safeguards but so far have not received a satisfactory response, one official told Reuters. Nevertheless, "We're supporting their membership," a State Department spokesman said. "They are a significant nuclear supplier, have a good enough non-proliferation record and have made significant improvements in exports controls on nuclear and dual-use items," he said. Whether the United States would support China's bid for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group was heatedly debated. State Department moderates backed the move while hard-liners, including Undersecretary of State John Bolton and the Pentagon, opposed it, officials said. The decision reflects a broader struggle as Washington tries to balance proliferation concerns with a need to work with Pakistan and China on other problems. Both countries are allies in Washington's "war on terrorism." CONCERNS The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), established in 1976, controls exports of equipment and materials that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Guidelines require members to withhold certain nuclear transfers "when there is an unacceptable risk of diversion to such (nuclear weapons) activity." The NSG last year invited China to apply for membership and Beijing did so. Now the group, including France, Britain and Russia, is deciding whether to let the bid be approved by consensus. China has been the principal supplier of nuclear equipment and services to Pakistan since the late 1970s. This includes helping Islamabad construct a 300 megawatt nuclear power reactor at Chasma, Pakistan. Last week, China and Pakistan agreed on a second Chinese reactor at Chasma. Pakistan developed nuclear weapons unencumbered by international arm controls. The father of its program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, ran an international blackmarket that sold nuclear secrets to North Korean, Iran and Libya. The State Department recently imposed sanctions on 13 companies, including five in China, for trading with Iran, which Washington says has an aggressive nuclear weapons program. Tehran insists its program is peaceful. HARDER TO COOPERATE Despite such concerns, some officials said a U.S. decision opposing China's membership would have made it harder for Beijing to cooperate with the administration, which insists U.S.-China ties are better than ever. "One of the basic concepts of the Nuclear Suppliers Group is that you don't supply reactors to countries that are not members of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty," said Gary Milhollin of the Wisconsin Project on Arms Control. Pakistan refuses to sign the NPT. "What are the Chinese really giving up if they can supply a proliferant country like Pakistan with nuclear technology? What's the point of having them in the group," he said. But Evan Medeiros of the RAND Corp, said the U.S. decision is "a well thought through effort to recognize China's real progress (on nuclear issues) and encourage further results in more troublesome areas of proliferation like missile exports," Media reports said Pakistan promised the Chinese reactors would be peaceful and the technology would not be transferred to a third party without China's consent. But a U.S. official said: "We are still seeking firm assurances on their nuclear deals with Pakistan to insure these reactors will be properly safeguarded and there won't be any risk of diversion." "We've approached China about some of our concerns; we're still awaiting a response back," he said. c Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 Taipei Times: Bush's US considers nuclear non-proliferation `a lost cause' [http://www.taipeitimes.com] By Yuan Jing-dong Tuesday, May 11, 2004,Page 9 As member states to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) wrap up the Third Preparatory Committee meeting for next year's NPT Review Conference from April 26 to May 7 in New York, the future of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime hangs in the balance. While the international media is focusing on developments in Iraq, the committee is being held at a critical juncture. This will be the last meeting prior to next year's conference, and at stake are the viability and future of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. Indeed, developments since the 2000 committee depict a rather gloomy picture. The "13 Steps" toward nuclear disarmament, including the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the negotiation of a Fissile Materials Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) have not made any progress. While the US-Russian Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (SORT or the Moscow Treaty) of May 2002 reduced the two leading nuclear weapon states' arsenals to 2,200 each by 2012, it does not carry the effect of an arms control treaty that is irreversible and verifiable. At the same time, the international nuclear non-proliferation regime's authority and integrity have received major assaults over the last few years. Among these are the North Korean nuclear weapons program, questions surrounding Iran's nuclear activities and the revelation of an international nuclear proliferation network involving Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear arms program. These grave developments raise serious doubts about the effectiveness of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime in its ability to detect, deter and stop nuclear proliferation activities. It also highlights the weakest joint in the current international non-proliferation arrangement: the variation and inability of national export control systems to screen and prevent proliferation transfers and exports. The greatest concern of all is the possibility that terrorist groups that may gain access to weapons of mass destruction and use them. changed landscape At stake are two critical issues: Has the international nuclear proliferation landscape so drastically changed that the current regime, established a quarter of a century ago, can no longer handle the emerging challenges and therefore necessitates alternative strategies? Whether or not the regime, while assaulted and vulnerable, remains the best available and widely-acceptable instrument to serve the international nuclear non-proliferation cause but one that still can and should adapt to the changing international security environment? Obviously, developments over the past two decades pose serious challenges to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. Three come out prominently. One is the political foundation of the NPT. The grand political bargain negotiated at the time and reiterated in 1995 and 2000 is the commitment of non-nuclear weapons states to seek nuclear weapons while the five designated nuclear weapons states -- the US, Russia, China, France and the UK would undertake good-faith efforts in nuclear disarmament. That bargain is being undermined by the slow progress in nuclear disarmament. The second development is that since the early 1970s when the first oil shock led to a growing interest and demand for nuclear energies. In accordance with Article 6 of the NPT, over the last three decades, there have been both significant increase in the development of nuclear power and the availability of nuclear materials and technologies that are dual-use. Third, and related to the second, is the ability of the international non-proliferation regime to monitor nuclear transactions in a way that can detect noncompliance without hindering peaceful use of nuclear energies. To achieve this objective requires not only an effective IAEA inspection regime and recipient states' willingness to enter into safeguards agreements with the former but also the scope and effectiveness of national export control systems of supplier states. The growing number of dual-use nuclear items and technologies adds further complication in balancing commercial interests and non-proliferation concerns. Can the international nuclear non-proliferation regime deal effectively with these developments and challenges? There are essential approaches to this. One is to consider the regime a lost cause and seek alternative strategies. The other is to amend the regime to make it more effective. The current US policy reflects the first approach. While not completely discarding the regime, Washington clearly shows less faith in the regime's ability to stop proliferation and has launched its own counter-proliferation offensive, including the pre-emptive use of force for regime change, the development of missile defense shields, and greater resort to coercive diplomacy such as economic sanctions. cooperation needed However, the US approach raises serious questions and its effectiveness is far from clear. The irrefutable fact is that regardless of its unchallenged power, its ability to stem nuclear proliferation depends on international cooperation, which is best achieved through such international arrangements as the NPT. Indeed, the pursuit by one state of absolute security can cause others to seek greater military capabilities. This is the logic of the security dilemma. The use of overwhelming force cannot effectively deal with the non-state operated international nuclear smuggling network; at the same time, it can actually harden the determination of proliferant states to acquire nuclear weapons to avoid Saddam Hussein's fate. The current international nuclear non-proliferation regime must adapt to the new environment to remain a viable instrument for preventing nuclear proliferation. This requires major political and technical efforts and can be achieved only through the broadest extent of international cooperation. On the latter, the strengthening of the IAEA safeguards regime in both extending the signing and ratification of the Additional Protocol to the largest number of member states possible and giving the agency greater resources so that it can effectively carry out its mandate. In addition, the lesson of the Abdul Qadeer Khan nuclear proliferation network suggests that national export control systems also need to be strengthened as the first-line defense against illicit transfers. Greater awareness and resources must be invested in developing the necessary infrastructure and training personnel, as well as better coordination among member states in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a multilateral nuclear export control regime. However, the ultimate solution to nuclear proliferation is a political one. It requires addressing the issue of why states seek nuclear weapons and the obligations of the nuclear weapons states in good-faith disarmament. One of the key factors in influencing states' decisions to go or forgo the nuclear options is the security environment under which a particular state is situated. In regions where perennial hostility pits states against one another, there is strong pressure for the weaker party to seek nuclear weapons capabilities. This certainly applies to South Asia, the Korean Peninsula and to some extent, to the Middle East. In addition, the pursuit of prestige and regional dominance also has driven states to acquire nuclear weapon capabilities. Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Iraq to various degrees exemplify these proliferation drivers. Perceived failure The perceived failure of the nuclear weapons states in fulfilling their part of the bargain sends a wrong message to the international community. This tarnishes the image of the regime and raise questions about its viability as it continues to maintain two-tiered groups of the haves and have-nots within. However, perhaps more damaging than the apparent double standard is the US decision to develop mini-nukes, the so-called the bunker busters. The US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) of 2002 blurs the boundary between nuclear and conventional use of force, giving legitimacy to nuclear weapons at precisely the moment when the international nuclear nonproliferation regime needs to be salvaged. Clearly, to rein in nuclear proliferation needs bolder initiatives and political leadership. The UN Security Council last week adopted a binding resolution criminalizing the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by non-state actors and requiring member states to adopt and enforce measures to prohibit such activities. US President George W. Bush last February proposed major initiatives calling for renewed efforts to combat the proliferation of WMD and their delivery systems. The Proliferation Security Initiative, a US-led multilateral effort, seeks to interdict shipments of WMD related items. These initiatives are laudable. But to ultimately win the nonproliferation war, not just engage in nonproliferation battles, requires even more extensive international cooperation in salvaging and rejuvenating the international nuclear nonproliferation regime. For long-lasting international peace and security, and securing its own fundamental interests, the US must take the leadership role and indeed lead by example. The Iraqi experience shows that the US can ill afford the absence of international cooperation and its resources are better spent in cultivating its leadership rather than squandered in unilateralism. Yuan Jing-dong (°K«lªF) is director of Research for East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies. This story has been viewed 489 times. + Advertising [ height=] [ height=] Copyright © 1999-2004 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Reuters: Senate Passes Energy Tax Package Tue May 11, 2004 07:26 PM ET By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate approved $13 billion in energy tax breaks and financial incentives on Tuesday as part of a corporate tax package, the first victory in months in Republican efforts to overhaul U.S. energy policy. The incentives were stripped out of a broad-ranging energy bill that has been stalled since last fall. With the presidential and congressional campaign season at hand, prospects were unclear for the overall bill, a White House priority. Senators passed the corporate tax package on a 92-5 roll-call vote. Earlier in the day, they rejected, by a vote of 85-13, an attempt to delete the energy provisions. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said the energy incentives were corporate giveaways that would add to the ballooning federal deficit. The bill's energy language would, in part, extend tax credits to companies that produce electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. It would also encourage building new nuclear power plants and provide federal financial support for a proposed Alaska pipeline that would transport natural gas to the lower 48 States. "When you add up all the provisions that are contained in the bipartisan energy tax package that is in this bill, you can see that it goes a substantial way toward a forward-looking national energy policy," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee. NO ETHANOL PROVISION The energy tax package does not include a provision broadly supported by farm-state lawmakers that would double the U.S. production of ethanol, a fuel additive made from corn. The boost in ethanol is part of a much broader bill that would carry out the first major overhaul of U.S. energy policy in a decade. The Republican leadership hopes to move the energy package later. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he would oppose further breaking up the bill to win passage of such popular provisions as ethanol and electricity reliability standards. If a final energy package is approved by the Senate, the measure would have to be reconciled with a much different energy bill already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, before the legislation could be sent to President Bush for his signature. House Republican leaders have demanded that energy legislation include protection against product-defect lawsuits for makers of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, a fuel additive and rival to ethanol, which is distilled from corn. Opposition to the MTBE protection language has bogged down the energy bill in the Senate. ***************************************************************** 10 LR: New Nukes, Anyone? by Lawrence S. Wittner [http://www.lewrockwell.com] by [wittner@albany.edu] This May, before Congress adjourns for its Memorial Day recess, the Senate and House of Representatives are scheduled to vote on the annual defense authorization bill. This bill is expected to include several provisions in the Bush administration's budget proposal that make preparations for the building of new nuclear weapons. New nuclear weapons? Yes; there is no doubt about it. Armed with only 10,000 nuclear weapons, the U.S. government wants some more. The Bush administration has requested $27.6 million to develop a nuclear "bunker buster," plus another $9 million for "advanced concept initiatives" that seem likely to include work on new, "small-yield" nuclear weapons. The President also proposes an allocation of $30 million toward building a $4 billion "Modern Pit Facility" that would churn out plutonium triggers for the explosion of thermonuclear weapons. And the administration wants another $30 million to dramatically reduce the time it would take to prepare for conducting nuclear test explosions. Those who have followed the Bush administration's pronouncements regarding nuclear weapons won't be surprised by these proposals. The administration's 2001 Nuclear Posture Review widened U.S. nuclear options by suggesting possible use of nuclear weapons against countries that don't possess them. The following year, the Nuclear Weapons Council, an administration committee, remarked that it would "be desirable to assess the potential benefits that could be obtained from a return to nuclear testing." In 2003, the Department of Energy's Nuclear Security Administration began a study of building a nuclear "bunker buster," and the head of its nuclear division proposed taking advantage of the White House-prompted repeal of the Congressional ban on research into low-yield nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, of course, the administration has scrapped the U.S. government's long-term commitment to nuclear arms control and disarmament made in the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and reiterated as late as the NPT review conference in 2000 – by withdrawing from the 1972 ABM treaty and refusing to support ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. These shifts in nuclear policy are designed to get the U.S. armed forces ready to wage nuclear war. The Nuclear Posture Review made it clear not only that nuclear weapons would continue to "play a critical role in the defense capabilities of the United States," but that they would be employed with "greater flexibility" against "a wide range of target types." Strategic nuclear weapons were fine for deterrence purposes. But their capacity to annihilate vast numbers of people had horrified the public and, thus, had led government officials to write them off as useful war-fighting implements. Battered by popular protest, even the hawkish Ronald Reagan had agreed that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought." But this abandonment of nuclear options stuck in the craw of the militarists who garrison the Bush administration, who were (and are) determined to build "usable" nuclear weapons. "Bunker buster" and low-yield nuclear weapons should be seen in this context. The former is designed to burrow into the ground to destroy military targets protected by rock or concrete. The latter – sometimes called "mini-nukes" – would also have greater utility on the battlefield than would larger nuclear weapons, with their vast, frightening destructiveness. In fact, they would still be enormously destructive. Although advocates of the "bunker-buster" have claimed that this nuclear weapon – because it explodes underground – is a "clean" one, in reality it is quite deadly. The nuclear weapons that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki had explosive yields of from 14 to 21 kilotons; by contrast, the "bunker buster" has a yield of from several hundred kilotons to one megaton. If exploded underground, its effects would not be contained there. And if exploded in a city, it would create vast devastation through blast, fire, and radiation. As U.S. Senator Jack Reed observed: "These weapons will bust more than a bunker. The area of destruction will encompass an area the size of a city. They are really city breakers." Even the "mini-nukes" will create huge swathes of destruction where they are used, as well as vast clouds of radioactive nuclear debris that will drift for many miles on the wind until this radioactive fallout lands on innocent people below. Furthermore, these "usable" nuclear weapons blur the dividing line between conventional war and nuclear war. Indeed, this is just what they are designed to do. And given the Bush administration's penchant for waging war on the flimsiest of pretexts, it is hard to imagine that these weapons will not be used in the future – for "pre-emptive" wars or worse. In addition, by building, testing, and using new nuclear weapons, the U.S. government will encourage other nations to do the same. At the least, building and testing the weapons will put the final nail in the coffin of efforts at nuclear arms control and disarmament. The U.S. government has not conducted nuclear tests since 1992 and was the leading force behind the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty of 1996, signed by President Clinton. When the U.S. government resumes its nuclear test explosions, that will certainly provide the signal for other nations to scrap that treaty and commence their own nuclear buildups. Ironically, despite the Bush administration's professed "war on terrorism," developing these new weapons will also sharply enhance terrorist dangers. Because of their small size, mini-nukes are relatively easy to steal and transport by terrorists. Indeed, what weapon of mass destruction would be more available and appealing to bloodthirsty fanatics – whether of the domestic or foreign variety – than the new nuclear weapons that the Bush administration plans to develop? All in all, then, the Bush plan for building new nuclear weapons is a disaster. That Congress should even consider it seriously shows the degree to which this country has succumbed to the military madness fostered by the Bush administration. Even so, all is not lost. In 2003, the Democrats in Congress put up a fairly good fight against the first stages of the Bush administration's plan for new nuclear weapons – so good that, together with a some Republicans, they managed to block a number of the plan's key features. This forced the administration to go back to Congress this year, to try again. So the battle is joined – this month! If you sit it out and tamely let the Bush warriors get ready for nuclear war, you have no one but yourself to blame. May 11, 2004 Lawrence S. Wittner [ [wittner@albany.edu] ] is Professor of History at the State University of New York/Albany. His latest book is [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0804748624/lewrock well/] (Stanford University Press). This article originally appeared on [http://www.zmag.org] . Reprinted with permission of the author. Copyright © 2004 [http://www.zmag.org] [http://www.lewrockwell.com] ***************************************************************** 11 AFP: Iran sternly warns Israel against attacking its nuclear sites [http://www.spacewar.com/ TEHRAN (AFP) May 11, 2004 Iran Tuesday sternly warned Israel against any military attack on its nuclear sites, in an interview the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rowhani, gave to state television. "Israelis have repeated their threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran for a number of years, but I do not think that they will execute this stupid action," he said. He was replying to a question about US and Israeli press reports speculating on an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites, which the two allies fear are being used to develop atomic weapons. "Israel knows our reaction, and knows that we would answer with a full hand," he said. "They are aware of our abilities and power, Israel knows that we would not tolerate it, and it will get a very decisive reply." Israel's air force knocked out an Iraqi nuclear plant in 1981. The West's concern about Iran's nuclear activities increased last year, when the International Atomic energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors found traces of uranium enriched to a much higher degree than needed for civilian purposes. At the end of 2003, Tehran agreed to "temporarily and voluntarily" suspend its nuclear enrichment. The IAEA however, is still waiting for the Islamic Republic to elaborate on the origin of the suspect uranium, which is expected to be a focus of attention at the upcoming IAEA meeting in June. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 12 Reuters: Bush to Impose Sanctions on Syria -Sources Mon May 10, 2004 06:52 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush plans on Tuesday to impose economic sanctions on Syria for allegedly supporting terrorism and failing to stop guerrillas from entering Iraq, people involved in the deliberations said. Congressional sources said Bush was expected to curb future investments by American energy firms in Syria and prohibit Syrian aircraft from flying into the United States. Bush was also expected either to block transactions involving the Syrian government or to ban exports to Syria of U.S. products other than food and medicine, the sources said. The White House told key lawmakers late on Monday the announcement would be made on Tuesday, congressional aides said, but a White House spokesman declined to comment on the timing. Some lawmakers had complained that Bush appeared to be appeasing Damascus by not implementing the penalties under the so-called Syria Accountability Act passed last year. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, and Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, said they were preparing legislation for stiffer penalties on Syria and additional measures to isolate and weaken its government. The Bush administration defended the delay, saying it needed time to devise a plan that would have a "real impact" on Damascus. Officials said the administration was also concerned the sanctions could worsen tensions in the Middle East and wanted to wait until after a series of recent high-level meetings in Washington with Arab and Israeli leaders. "We want to see Syria change their behavior," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "These are serious matters." SYRIAN THREAT Bush's move against Syria would stand in contrast to his decision to ease sanctions on Libya as a reward for the scrapping of its nuclear arms programs. Bush has seized on Libya's pledge to abandon the weapons as an example for other countries, including Syria. Some members of the U.S. administration believe Syria has centrifuges that can purify uranium for use in atom bombs, though the intelligence community is divided on the issue, diplomats and experts said last week. U.S. officials have warned that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who sold nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, had other customers. Western diplomats in Vienna said some Bush administration officials believe Syria is one of them. The Syria Accountability Act bars trade in items that could be used in weapons programs until the administration certifies Syria is not supporting terrorist groups, has withdrawn personnel from Lebanon, is not developing unconventional weapons and has secured its border with Iraq. The law also authorized Bush to impose at least two other sanctions from a menu that includes barring U.S. businesses from investing in Syria, restricting travel in the United States by Syrian diplomats and banning exports of U.S. products other than food and medicine to Syria. Syria says its support for the Palestinian and Lebanese groups it calls freedom fighters is merely political and their only activity in Syria is speaking to media. Allegations from Washington during last year's Iraq war that Damascus was helping aides of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to flee raised concern in the Arab world that Syria could be the next target of the U.S. war on terror. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complained earlier this year that Syria was not doing enough to stop guerrillas entering Iraq. With trade between the two countries a modest $300 million or less annually, the sanctions would have more political than economic effects. ***************************************************************** 13 Scoop: Nuclear Deception And Learning On The Job [http://www.scoop.co.nz/] Tuesday, 11 May 2004, 3:26 pm Press Release: New Zealand First Party President Bush and his embattled Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have enough problems right now without having Don Brash in Washington without the guiding hand of a responsible adult, says New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. Mr Peters was responding to reports of Dr Brash’s intention to visit Washington and other major centres without Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials being present “Running back to Washington to tell them he didn’t really mean what he has been saying publicly at home and that he really will ditch New Zealand’s nuclear policy spells out clearly to New Zealanders his true agenda.” “This is an ill-equipped National leader who continues to demonstrate the problems of learning on the job,” said Mr Peters. “Clearly, he has not learned from his ill-fated predecessor that indecision on foreign policy and other significant policy matters is not only terminal at home, but embarrasses New Zealand internationally. Mr Peters said anyone who found Dr Brash lost in the halls of power in Washington could send him on to Iraq where he could see for himself the results of blindly following America and Britain into battle – a position he advocated last year. ENDS [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0405/S00192.htm] Scoop [http://www.scoop.co.nz] For: - NZ Business News ***************************************************************** 14 NRC: NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of Three Mile Island 1 Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region I - 2004-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-04-028 May 10, 2004 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov [opa1@nrc.gov] Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of AmerGen Energy Company, LLC, on Thursday, May 20, to discuss the results of the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the Three Mile Island 1 nuclear power plant. AmerGen operates the plant, which is located in Middletown, Pa. The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber at Middletown Borough Hall, 60 W. Emaus St. in Middletown. Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants safety performance, as well as the agencys role in ensuring safe operation of the facility. The period of performance to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2003. In addition, NRC staff will provide a brief overview of how the agencys Reactor Oversight Process works. A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/tmi_2003q4.pdf [PDF Icon] . Overall, the Three Mile Island 1 plant operated safely and met all cornerstone objectives during the period. (Cornerstones are program areas where NRC measures plant safety performance.) The NRC uses color-coded inspections findings and performance indicators to assess performance at nuclear power plants. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. As a result of having all green inspection findings and performance indicators, Three Mile Island 1 does not require NRC oversight beyond the normal inspection program. Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region I office in King of Prussia, Pa. In addition, the NRC staff has identified a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of problem identification and resolution. Eight green inspection findings, or findings of very low safety significance, at the plant involved instances in which the organization either did not question or did not sufficiently evaluate plant equipment problems. The NRC will evaluate the companys progress in addressing this issue via the agencys normal inspection program. With regard to security issues, the NRC has issued several orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The agency has also conducted inspections to review the implementation of these requirements and has monitored the action of plant operators in response to changing threat conditions. The NRC will continue security inspections during 2004. Current performance information for Three Mile Island 1 is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/TMI1/tmi1_chart.html. Last revised Tuesday, May 11, 2004 ***************************************************************** 15 AU SMH: Perfect for the nuclear family: Lucas Heights may be next tourist hotspot - National - www.smh.com.au By Richard Macey May 12, 2004 Its critics say it is an environmental hazard and a target for terrorists, but the operators of Australia's only nuclear research centre believe it could be the nation's next big tourist attraction. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, better known as the home of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, wants tour operators to include it on their routes, along with the Opera House and the Bridge. "It would be the perfect tour destination, especially for families," ANSTO's Craig Pearce said yesterday. Welcoming sightseers would not be entirely new to ANSTO. It already allocates time for up to nine tour groups a week and had even more before September 11, 2001, when visits were reduced for security reasons. But Mr Pearce said they had not previously sought to promote it as a destination and that only about 70 people a week now visit. Most were pensioners "from RSL and Probus clubs" or school groups. From July 3 ANSTO will open on the first Saturday of every month to test public interest. If the public comes, the next step would be opening the doors each Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement "We'd love to get 100 people every Saturday," said Mr Pearce, adding they also wanted to hear from tour operators keen on putting ANSTO on the tourist map. "Southern Sydney has the Royal National Park and beautiful beaches right next door." Guided tours through "probably the most significant scientific installation in the country" would provide a third attraction. He denied it could also attract terrorists. "Our security people don't think so." Tourists would have to book at least three days before and have photographic identification, such as a driver's licence or passport. All cameras would be banned. Visitors would not be allowed inside the old nuclear reactor, nor would they be allowed on the site of the new reactor, now under construction. But they would be given talks on the new reactor and be taken to within about 100 metres of the site. It was possible visitors would be taken inside after it is completed next year. Visitors would see the tandem accelerator, often used for radiocarbon dating, and hear about ANSTO's role in nuclear medicine, environmental science and materials research. Peter Graham, general manager of AAT Kings, confessed he had never thought of Lucas Heights as a tourist attraction. "We'd need to think about it. It would be a niche market for people with a specific interest, competing against the Opera House, the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley, which are icons for Sydney." Mr Pearce promised tourists would be safe. "You don't walk out the front gate glowing green." + Top of Page Page Tools Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald. ***************************************************************** 16 NRC: NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plants News Release - Region I - 2004-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-04-029 May 11, 2004 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov [opa1@nrc.gov] Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC, on Tuesday, May 18, to discuss the results of the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 nuclear power plants. The facilities are located in Scriba, N.Y. The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the Joint News Center at the Oswego County Airport, on County Route 176 in Fulton, N.Y. Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants safety performance, as well as the role of the NRC in ensuring safe operation of the facility. The performance period to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2003. In addition, NRC staff will provide a brief overview of how the agencys Reactor Oversight Process works. A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plants during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/nmp_2003q4.pdf [PDF Icon] . Overall, the Nine Mile Point plants operated safely and met all cornerstone objectives during the period. (Cornerstones are program areas where NRC measures plant safety performance.) The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess performance at nuclear power plants. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. During the first quarter of 2003, a white finding, representing low to moderate safety significance, was identified at Nine Mile Point 1. The finding involved degraded piping in the reactor building closed-loop cooling system. However, based on a supplemental inspection conducted last September, the NRC determined that the root causes of the issue were understood by the company, the extent of the problem had been identified and corrective actions sufficient to prevent a recurrence had been implemented. Therefore, that issue has now been closed out. Nine Mile Point 2 received a white performance indicator during the third quarter of 2003. That performance indicator, which measures the number of unplanned scrams, or shutdowns, per 7,000 hours of online operation, changed in response to two automatic scrams during the quarter. The NRC planned to conduct a supplemental inspection at the plant in March to review the plants response to the performance indicator change. In addition, the NRC staff last year identified a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of problem identification and resolution at the Nine Mile Point plants. The company took steps in 2003 to improve its problem identification and resolution process. However, a number of inspection findings during the assessment period involved ineffective corrective actions for longstanding equipment deficiencies and narrowly focused operability assessments. As a result, the issue will remain open for now and the NRC will monitor progress in that area via its normal inspection program. All other inspection findings and performance indicators for both plants were green during the period. On the subject of security issues, the NRC has issued several orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The agency has also conducted inspections to review the implementation of these requirements and has monitored the action of plant operators in response to changing threat conditions. The NRC will continue security inspections during 2004. Current performance information for Nine Mile Point 1 is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NMP1/nmp1_chart.html. Current performance information for Nine Mile Point 2 is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NMP2/nmp2_chart.html. Last revised Tuesday, May 11, 2004 ***************************************************************** 17 Bellona: Public Commission suggested to complete reactor no.2 of Volgodondk NPP In March Volgodonsk NPP hosted a meeting of the Permanent Commission on Volgodonsk NPP Construction and Operation Control headed by the vice-chairman of the Rostov region Legislative Assembly Evgeny Shepelev. 2004-05-11 16:38 Chairman of the Rostov Duma, lower assembly of the parliament, Sergey Sherstyuk, director of Volgodonsk NPP Alexander Palamarchuk, his deputy member of the Legislative Assembly of Rostov region Sergey Gorbunov and vice-chief engineer of the nuclear plant Vladimir Povarov also took part in the meeting, Regions.ru reports. . The Commission admitted its activities satisfactory regarding the construction control of the Volgodonsk NPP from October 2003 till March 2004. The Commission recommended Rostov region administration and the Legislative Assembly to initiate participation of the Rostov region in the Federal Program ”Nuclear and radiation safety in Russia from 2000 to 2006” in order to finance radioactive control of the air in Rostov region, Regions.ru reports. The Commission also underlined the positive results of the plant’s operation and its importance for the economical development of the region and whole Russia and suggested that the Rostov region administration would consider the issue of the second reactor construction. At the moment the first reactor generates 15% of all electricity in the south Russia, Regions.ru reports. Publisher: [bellona@bellona.no] , President: [frederic@bellona.no] Information: [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 18 People's Daily: 2nd generating unit of 2nd-phase Qinshan nuke power plant starts operation UPDATED: 10:10, May 11, 2004 The No. 2 generating unit of the second phase project at the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant was formally put into commercial operation at 1:15 a.m. on May 3. To date, China's first self-designed, constructed and managed and self-run large nuke power plant for commercial use has been completed, which is a leap from home-made small-size prototype reactor to large commercial nuclear plant. Key project of the national eighth Five-Year Plan, the second stage of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant started on June 2, 1996 with a designed capacity of two 600, 000-KW pressurized water reactors, an influx of 14.8 billion yuan and an expectancy of 40 years. One of the four nuke power platns kicked off during the ninth Five-Year Plan period, the second phase of Qinshan plant was jointly invested by six enterprises including China National Nuclear Corporation. China made itself 47 of the 55 large core parts. By People's Daily Online Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 19 Japan Times: Japan could have gone fully nuclear in '70s - U.S. report Wednesday, May 12, 2004 WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States estimated in the 1960s that Japan could produce up to 30 atomic weapons annually and deploy 100 nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles in the 1970s, according to a declassified U.S. government report made available to Kyodo News. "It could test its first nuclear device as early as 1971 without violating existing reactor safeguard provisions, thereafter producing an estimated 10 to 30 weapons annually," said the report titled "Japan's Prospects in the Nuclear Weapons Field." Given its relatively sophisticated space program, Japan is further capable of producing as many as 100 nuclear-tipped intercontinental and intermediate range ballistic missiles by 1975, the report said. Japan could build the estimated nuclear force at a cost of $1.3 billion to $2.5 billion, it said. William Foster, chief of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, submitted the 45-page report to the secretaries of state and defense and the national security adviser in June 1965. The agency was later absorbed by the State Department. The report is among documents declassified by the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas. Kosuke Yoshitsugu, an assistant professor of diplomatic history at Okinawa International University, obtained a copy of the report and provided it to Kyodo News. The report said Japan is technologically and economically capable of becoming a nuclear power but that it is strongly committed to its nonnuclear role. "Its Constitution prohibits the maintenance of any 'war potential' and the Japanese public is overwhelmingly opposed to the presence of nuclear weapons, foreign or domestic, on Japanese soil," it said. An annex of the report, however, noted that in December 1964, Prime Minister Eisaku Sato told U.S. Ambassador Edwin Reischauer that it is only natural for Japan to have its own nuclear arsenal if other countries did. "If the other fellow has nuclear weapons, it is only common sense to have them oneself," the annex quoted Sato as saying to Reischauer. "The Japanese public is not ready for this, but would have to be educated. . . . Nuclear weapons are less costly than is generally assumed, and the Japanese scientific and industrial level is fully up to producing them," Sato was quoted as saying. The Japan Times: May 12, 2004 (C) All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 20 AFP: Japan nuclear panel to suggest dropping fast breeder reactors :report [http://www.spacewar.com/] TOKYO (AFP) May 11, 2004 A key Japanese government panel is recommending a major shift in national nuclear energy policy away from developing fast breeder reactors to concentrating on conventional light-water reactors, a news report said Tuesday. Faced with the deregulation of the power market, the Atomic Energy Commission has decided to reassess the costly fast breeder reactor program, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said without citing sources. Fast breeder reactors use plutonium extracted from spent uranium fuel and can produce more fissionable material than they consume. Development of such reactors has been the main thrust of Japan's nuclear power policy for around four decades. Private power companies, however, have been reluctant to use this type of reactor because of doubts about safety and a lack of certainty about lower costs in future, the Nihon Keizai said. To ease those fears, the government commission would now promote plutonium-based power generation using conventional light-water reactors, the newspaper said. The government would continue only basic research for costly fast breeder reactors, it said. The commission plans to draft a set of proposals by summer 2005 and formally approve the new long-range plan for Japan's nuclear energy development in November next year, the newspaper said. The Nihon Keizai also said the commission, which comprises academics, energy industry representatives and specialist scientific journalists, would consider building a state-run facility to store spent nuclear fuel over the long term. Officials providing administrative support for the commission denied the report, however. "The story was speculation. We regret that. We have made no decision over the long-term direction of Japan's nuclear energy policy," said one official with the Cabinet Office, of which the commission is a part. "We are in the process of gathering the opinions of experts and the public about the long-term policy plan," he said. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 21 asahi: Shikoku reactor set to be 3rd pluthermal plant The Asahi Shimbun MATSUYAMA-Under plans disclosed Monday, the Ikata No. 3 reactor in Ehime Prefecture is likely to become the third facility in Japan to use pluthermal nuclear-power generation, officials said. The facility is operated by Shikoku Electric Power Co., which on Monday informed the Ehime prefectural government of its plans to burn MOX nuclear fuel there by fiscal 2010. Pluthermal power is controversial because it uses plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, or MOX. Under this method, plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel is burned in reactors originally designed for uranium fuel. Pluthermal power is key to the nation's nuclear-fuel recycling program. On Monday, Shikoku Electric Power President Atsushi Onishi submitted a memorandum to Ehime prefectural Governor Moriyuki Kato, seeking approval of the project. ``Please explain your plans to the residents in terms they can understand, and make sure that your safety inspections will be complete,'' Kato responded. On the same day, Katsumi Ota, vice president of Shikoku Electric Power, conveyed the plan to the municipal government of Ikata. If both local governments sign off on the plan, the regional utility will seek approval from the central government to change the reactor's specifications, thereby allowing it to burn MOX. ``Our priority is safety, and on that premise we will try to promote residents' understanding for the project,'' Onishi told reporters. ``I hope we will make steady progress.'' Critics warn the pluthermal method carries more health and safety risks to reactors originally designed to burn only uranium fuel. Shikoku Electric Power's plan follows those of Kansai Electric Power Co. and Kyushu Electric Power Co. Kansai Electric Power got the green light from the Fukui prefectural governor in March for its plan to burn MOX at its Takahama nuclear power plant. Kyushu Electric Power in late April notified the Saga prefectural government and the town of Genkai that it plans to burn MOX as early as 2009 at one of its reactors there. Under Shikoku Electric Power's plan, no more than 16 of the 157 uranium-fuel elements in what are called fuel bundles-groups of fuel elements burned in a reactor-will initially be replaced with MOX at the No. 3 reactor in Ikata. The number of MOX elements will eventually be increased to about one-fourth of the bundle, with the maximum set at 40. The reactor started operation in 1994. Company officials say they chose the Ikata No. 3 reactor for the pluthermal project because Kansai Electric Power plans to introduce the same type of fuel bundles at its Takahama plant.(IHT/Asahi: May 11,2004) (05/11) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction ***************************************************************** 22 Sofia Morning News: Second Nuclear Plant Project Classified SOFIA NEWS AGENCY novinite.com Business: 11 May 2004, Tuesday. The project of power plant construction in Belene and the options for building up national nuclear capacities constitute classified information. The Belene nuke project was tabled for public discussion last week but the document was not disclosed as including confidential issues. According to Energy Minister Milko Kovachev, the state-owned National Electricity Company (NEC) faced a U-turn in planning national energy capacity two years ago when the EU pressed for decommissioning Kozloduy's units 3 and 4. It was then that the project of Bulgaria's second power plant was classified as confidential. The Belene nuclear plant construction was officially resumed last week after being stalled for more than two years. The government hopes to see it finished till end of 2010. 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. The editorial staff also ***************************************************************** 23 [DU-WATCH] dirty bomb dust proves deadly Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 01:24:59 -0500 (CDT) Dirty bomb dust proves deadlyMortality estimates have ignored results of inhaling fallout. 5 May 2004 GEOFF BRUMFIEL Radioactive dust could be inhaled by many people in the blast area.) Photodisc A bomb spiked with radioactive material could be more lethal than previously thought, according to physicists who have analysed the consequences of a 1987 accident in Goibna, Brazil. Estimates made by government officials and scientists could be off by an order of magnitude, Peter Zimmerman of King's College London told attendees of the American Physical Society's annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, on 3 May. Some officials and nuclear experts say that although radiation from a dirty bomb could cause vast psychological and economic damage, it would result in few, if any, deaths. They argue that the radioactive material contained in the bomb would be too diluted after the blast to expose any one person to a deadly dose. But Zimmerman says that while those previous estimates consider the effects of exposure to the expected levels of radiation at a blast site, they have failed to take fully into account the possibility that victims might breathe in or ingest radioactive dust. Zimmerman and a colleague, Cheryl Loeb at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, conducted a new analysis of an incident in Goibna, Brazil, where scrap-metal merchants took a canister containing 1,400 curies of radioactive caesium-137 from an abandoned cancer clinic. Not knowing what the glowing dust was, they dispersed about a tenth of it at a party, during which over 150 people inhaled or swallowed the material. Six people in the area died as a result of the incident, says Zimmerman, three of whom were not at the party and had had no direct contact with the material. Using those numbers, Zimmerman estimates that if a bomb dispersed a similar amount of material over a wider area, as many as 150 people could die and 1400 could become ill. That estimate "seems reasonable", says Benn Tannenbaum, a physicist at the Federation of American Scientists, an arms control group in Washington, DC. Tannenbaum says that the Goibna incident is particularly disturbing because it is unclear how some of the victims became contaminated, which suggests that even indirect contact with the material was enough to kill them. However Michael Levi, who is a physicist at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank, points out that the Goibna victims did not receive treatment until several days after their exposure. He hopes that the death toll from a dirty bomb might be lowered considerably if victims who ingested or inhaled material were treated immediately following the blast. Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2004 --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 24 [DU-WATCH] Ex-combat nurse: Ask questions, demand answers Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 01:56:49 -0500 (CDT) http://morningsun.net/stories/040904/loc_20040409047.shtml Story last updated at 1:26 a.m. Friday, April 9, 2004 Olive L. Sullivan/The Morning Sun Former combat nurse Joyce Riley speaks about Gulf War Syndrome and alleged government medical testing during a presentation Thursday at Pittsburg State University. Former combat nurse urges citizens to ask questions, demand answers By OLIVE L. SULLIVAN Morning Sun Staff Writer Sounding at times like an episode of "The X-Files," former Gulf War combat nurse Joyce Riley spoke out Thursday at Pittsburg State University against government cover-ups dating back to the Tuskegee experiments in the 1950s and continuing today in Iraq. The difference between Riley and television's Fox Mulder, however, is that she says she can back up even the most shocking charges. "I can prove everything I'm saying," she said, illustrating her talk with excerpts from Senate reports, U.S. law, military records and newspaper and magazine reports on Gulf War Syndrome. Her presentation at PSU was sponsored by the Green Gorillas. Adviser Don Judd explained, "The Green Gorillas have organized all three of the protest marches against the war in Iraq that have taken place in Pittsburg." He said the Green Gorillas are concerned about the honesty of government officials and are trying to hold them accountable for the actions taken in the name of the American people. Riley said she is on a mission to tell the truth, "with information that is going to anger you." She said she spent 30 years as a nurse and served as a flight nurse in the U.S. Army Reserves before enlisting for the first Gulf War. She cited various reports of atrocities in Iraq, and said she believed them wholeheartedly. "That was a created agenda story and I was manipulated into a war," she says now. Still, she believed in her country and her president, following orders without question. Even though she wasn't in the main theater of operations, Riley said she was given 10 vaccines in one day. She became very ill and almost died as a result, finally diagnosed with a disease similar to multiple sclerosis. "Nobody ever figured out what it was," she said. "But it wasn't just me." Eventually, she discovered other nurses who had the same syndrome, and learned about Gulf War veterans who suffered from even more debilitating diseases and symptoms. That's when she started asking questions, and what she has learned has horrified, sickened and saddened her. "It is up to us to say, not no, but hell, no. It's time we have to say, not in our name," she urged the audience. Much of Riley's outrage is focused on U.S. law that says the government has the right to experiment on the military and citizenry at any time without their consent. She believes the vaccinations she and other veterans received were experiments, and she believes the veteran's administration hospitals are focused on continuing those experiments rather than helping veterans get well. Of 670,000 people sent to the Gulf in Desert Storm, Riley said more than 40 percent are suffering negative effects, including horrible birth defects in their children and illness in their spouses, and even death. "These troops are not just sick, they're dying," she said. "You don't hear a word about that." She believes the government is covering up its guilty knowledge of tests on soldiers using biological weapons. She points to evidence that shows the first President Bush sold weapons of mass destruction, including biological weapons, to Saddam Hussein to help build him into the tyrant the second President Bush has attacked and denounced. She said veterans of the first Gulf War "detest" the idea of the second one, and that's why so few Gulf War vets were seen on television supporting the effort. "I'm not bashing the war," she said. "I was for the first Gulf War." But she quoted Gulf War hero Marine Maj. Randy Hebert, who testified before Congress, saying, "I fear the enemy is within our government." "This is what's happening to the people in our country because we're not questioning," Riley said. Although Riley cited many biological tests and exposure to chemicals, she also talked about the danger of using depleted uranium in weapons. The hard metal, which is radioactive, is used in the noses of shells, and pulverizes on impact. The particles then lodge in the lungs of anyone exposed, and eventually lead to cancer and death. The radioactive metal continues to damage the area where it's been deployed, leading to birth defects both of soldiers' children and the local populace. Riley said there are now more deformed children being born in Iraq than normal ones. The same types of weapons were deployed in Afghanistan and Bosnia, leading to similar ills there. She showed horrifying, graphic images of babies born without limbs, with cleft palates and other shocking deformities. "That is somebody's baby," she said, showing an image nearly unidentifiable as a human. "But it's not George Bush's baby. She urged the audience to speak out, to research her claims further on the Internet and in government documents. "We have allowed it to happen," she said, by not taking to the streets in outrage every time some government atrocity comes to light. "It's happening now, and we allowed it to happen. We're talking about human lives." Riley said this is not a party issue. Democrats and Republicans have been equally responsible for atrocities since the 1950s or earlier. "I am not trying to be caustic," she said. "I am trying to be so real about this because I watch these guys die all the time." Judd said the Green Gorillas do not actively support a political party. "Clearly, we don't like Bush," he said, explaining that some members do support Democratic opponent John Kerry. Judd added that Riley's allegations support those who remain skeptical that a Democratic government would be any different from a Republican one. For more information on Riley's crusade, visit her Web site at www.thepowerhour.com or www.gulfwarvets.com. Staff Writer Olive L. Sullivan may be reached at (620) 231-2600, Ext. 134, or at olive.sullivan@morningsun.net ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/Sj.0lB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 25 PJ: Lawmaker: Examine labeling for depleted uranium PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Tuesday, May 11, 2004 By Gabriel J. Wasserman NEW PALTZ -- Ulster County Legislator Susan Zimet, D-New Paltz, wants a team of legislators to study labeling rules for how depleted uranium is transported on the nation's roads. Zimet's resolution is scheduled for a vote by the county Legislature Thursday. It calls for directing the county's Public Safety Committee and Emergency Management Office to investigate the labeling issue. When highly radioactive types of uranium are removed for use as nuclear fuel or weapons, depleted uranium is left over. Experts are divided on how harmful this material is to humans. Zimet said the committee should consider possible dangers posed by a federal transportation exemption for labeling depleted uranium. Emergency responders may be at risk when all they see is a placard that says ''Explosive,'' she said. A former town supervisor for New Paltz, Zimet joined peace activists last month to protest the use of weapons that could be harming American soldiers. The activists said depleted uranium dust can be inhaled by troops in battle. HOME [http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/] News | Business | , Poughkeepsie Journal . Use of this site signifies your ***************************************************************** 26 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding FR Doc 04-10614 [Federal Register: May 11, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 91)] [Notices] [Page 26184] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr11my04-132] of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for Truman State University, Kirksville, MO AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Peter J. Lee, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region III, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532-4352; telephone (630) 829-9870; or by email at pjl2@nrc.gov [pjl2@nrc.gov] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of a license amendment of Material License No. 24-17224-02 issued to Truman State University (the licensee), to terminate its license and authorize release of its Kirksville, Missouri facility for unrestricted use. The NRC staff has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of 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 Truman State University's license and release its Kirksville, Missouri facility for unrestricted use. On July 25, 1990, the NRC authorized Truman State University to use labeled compounds of P-32, I-125, H-3, C-14, etc. for research and development. On December 18, 2003, Truman State University submitted a license amendment request to terminate its license and release its Kirksville facility for unrestricted use. Truman State University has conducted surveys of the facility and provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that the site meets the license termination criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release. The staff has examined Truman State University's request and the information that the licensee has provided in support of its request, including the surveys performed by Truman State University to demonstrate compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402, ``'Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use,''' to ensure that the NRC's decision is protective of the public health and safety and the environment. III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the EA (summarized above) in support of Truman State University's proposed license amendment to terminate its license and release the Kirksville facility for unrestricted use. Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected environment and the environmental impacts associated with the decommissioning of Truman State University's facility 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). No outdoor areas were affected by the use of licensed materials. Additionally, no non- radiological impacts or other activities that could result in cumulative impacts were identified. The staff also finds that the proposed release for unrestricted use of the Truman State University's facility is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. 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,'' Truman State University'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 Truman State University's NRC Form 314 dated December 18, 2003, with enclosures (Accession No. ML041120082); and the EA summarized above (Accession No. ML041190131). 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 28th day of April, 2004. William G. Snell, Acting Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, RIII. [FR Doc. 04-10614 Filed 5-10-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 27 [DU-WATCH] Kill murderous EPA policy to dump nuke waste into Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 01:21:00 -0500 (CDT) .facilities and landfills. Your representatives are killing you and yours. wake up!: ----- Original Message ----- To: info@chej.org Sent: Friday, April 23, 2004 3:11 PM Subject: Radioactive Waste in Landfills Alert [NOTE from Helane Shields, sewage sludge researcher, Alton, NH: Official EPA policy is to dispose of radioactive landfill and Superfund leachates in sewage treatment plants around the country. As indicated below **, the EPA and NRC acknowledge that the wastewater treatment process reconcentrates the radionuclides from the landfill (and Superfund) leachates in the sewage sludge "biosolids" which is then spread as "fertilizer" on agricultural land in Rural America -- or, in the case of "Class A" sewage sludge "biosolids" compost and/or pellets -- sold by the bag at nurseries, garden shops, hardware stores, WalMart, Home Depot and other retailers around the country for use by home gardeners -- with no warnings as to the contents.] Contact EPA Today to STOP Radioactive Waste >From Going to Regular Landfills. Send in Your Comments by May 17, 2004. EPA Proposed New Rule: Nuclear Power and Weapons Waste to go to Regular Landfills & other bNon-Regulated Managementb Comments due to EPA by May 17, 2004 Email to: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov Attn: Docket OAR-2003-0095 or upload them onto EPAbs website www.epa.gov/radiation The US Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a new rule (68 FR 22:65120-65151, Nov 18, 2003) that would allow nuclear and mixed waste to go to places that are not licensed for radioactive materials. The goal appears to be to "redefine" radioactive materials, no matter what their source (nuclear power, nuclear weapons, naturally occurring or other), based on EPA-calculated and projected risks. The new category of nuclear materials (once called BRC or Below Regulatory Concern) would supposedly not need radioactive regulatory controls. EPA does not consider all the potential health effects of radiation and hazardous materials in estimating the risks. They have never demonstrated the accuracy of their predictions. (See "Summary of EPA Proposal" below for more details.) EPAbs rule threatens to preempt and supercede existing state laws that prohibit nuclear waste in solid waste landfills or other sites. VT, ME, OH, WI, IL, MN, CO, OR, PA, CT, WV, NM, IA, are among states that have passed such laws and regulations. OK, GA and VA passed resolutions in one or both houses and counties and towns in many other states have resolutions against this action. TAKE ACTION! 1) Send a letter to the new EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt and encourage him to withdraw EPA's proposed action. leavitt.michael@epa.gov Administrator Mike Leavitt, US Environmental Protection Agency, 1101A, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20460 2) Send comments to EPA and get organizations and landfill boards to do so at: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov Docket No. OAR-2003-0095. The proposal is on the EPA website www.epa.gov/radiation. 3) Let your elected officials know how you feel about these dangers by sending them a copy of your letter to Secretary Leavitt and telling them about your opposition to the federal rules that would deregulate and exempt nuclear materials from regulation. For more information contact: Diane D'Arrigo, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), 1424 16th Street NW Suite 404, Washington, DC 20036, ?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = MAILTO />dianed@nirs.org, 202 328-0002 ext 16. See NIRS website under Campaigns at www.nirs.org for more info and actions. The proposal was published Nov 18, 2003 at 68 FR 22-65120-65151. Summary of EPA Proposal 1) First, EPA would allow mixed radioactive and hazardous wastes to go to facilities permitted for hazardous waste only (RCRA C hazardous waste dumps & processors). 2) Second, radioactive waste (not mixed with hazardous) could be permitted to go to places that do not have radioactive licenses or regulations, such as regular garbage dumps or incinerators or hazardous sites. Since the nuclear waste would no longer be regulated for radioactivity, it could go to regular recyclers. EPA justifies this by claiming they will provide an acceptable level of protection >from radiation risk. It seems obvious this would be a problem for communities around the waste sites, many of which already leak. 3) Third, EPA suggests that a bnon-regulatory approachb to management of radioactive waste is an option and requests creative ideas for bpartneringb with waste generators or other schemes to relieve the regulatory burden. Nothing would prevent radioactive materials from going to recycling facilities and being mixed with the normal recycling streams which are made into everyday household items like toys, cookware, personal use items, cars, furniture and civil engineering projects like roads and buildings. 4) This dangerous proposal dovetails neatly into the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's rulemaking to deregulate and release radioactive material from control, ironically called "Control of Solids." The NRC is considering several options for nuclear waste deregulation including continuing the current case-by-case release procedures, starting new release procedures that are based on projected risks, sending the waste to sites that are not licensed for nuclear materials. NRC is claiming they could approve "restricted" release of nuclear waste meaning certain conditions would apply but that NRC would not enforce them--someone else, as yet un-named would. The upshot is that NRC and EPA are joining forces to allow nuclear power and weapons waste which is now generally required to be regulated and controlled, to be released to waste sites and processors never designed to take radioactive materials and to the marketplace where it will come into routine daily contact with us, our kids and environment. 5) To make matters even worse, the US NRC and US Department of Transportation on 1-26-04 finalized new transport regulations (TSR-1) that would exempt various levels of hundreds of radionuclides from regulatory control in transit. This will make it easier for NRC and EPA to deregulate nuclear wastes since they will no longer require regulation, labeling or control as radioactive material during transportation. (This is especially distressing in light of increased security concerns about transportation of nuclear materials that could be used for dirty bombs. More unregulated nuclear materials will be on the roads, rails, barges and aircraft.) NIRS is challenging DOT & NRC on this. 6) Finally, the Department of Energy is in the process of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on releasing radioactive materials from its sites. In 2000, DOE halted the commercial recycling of potentially radioactive metals from certain contaminated area on its sites, but could resume it. DOE continues to allow radioactively contaminated metals out for unregulated disposal and to allow other radioactively contaminated materials out for recycling or unregulated disposalbsoils, concrete, asphalt, plastic, wood, equipment, buildings, sites and more. EPAbs Nov. 18, 2003 notice would help legalize DOEbs release of nuclear weapons wastes from regulatory control. 7) EPAbs rule threatens to preempt and supercede existing state laws that prohibit nuclear waste in solid waste landfills or other sites. VT, ME, OH, WI, IL, MN, CO, OR, PA, CT, WV, NM, IA, are among states that have passed such laws and regulations. OK, GA and VA passed resolutions in one or both houses and counties and towns in many other states have resolutions against this action. Notify your state and local officials to comment and uphold your protections against nuclear power and weapons wastes! ***************************************************************************************************** ** 3.3.1 Reconcentration of Radioactive Materials at POTWs ("POTW" = publicly owned sewage treatment works) The purpose of wastewater treatment facilities is to reduce or remove pollutants from wastewater in order to ensure adequate water quality before the treated effluent is reused or discharged to surface waters. The removal of radionuclide contaminants by various wastewater treatment processes and the usual association of these contaminants with solids can cause the concentration of the contaminants to increase, or reconcentrate, in sewage sludge and ash. Radioactive materials disposed of into the sanitary sewer in dilute form may become reconcentrated in the sludge solids during different stages of wastewater treatment and sludge processing, in a manner similar to some heavy metals. http://www.iscors.org/sewageguidance06-2000.htm United States Environmental Protection Agency United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission June 2000 Guidance on Radioactive Materials in Sewage Sludge and Ash at Publicly Owned Treatment Works --------------------------------- Post your free ad now! Yahoo! Canada Personals [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/Sj.0lB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 28 AU THE AGE: SA fights to ward off nuke dump - http://www.theage.com.au May 11, 2004 - 4:05PM The South Australian government has gone to the full bench of the Federal Court in what could be its last chance to stop the federal government's proposed nuclear waste dump in the state's north. The government launched an appeal to an earlier decision by a single judge who ruled against its argument that the commonwealth acted inappropriately to urgently acquire the land for the dump near Woomera. The federal government last year used urgency powers to take possession of part of a pastoral station, a site known as 40A, to head off South Australian moves to have the area declared a public park. The South Australian legislation would have made the dump unlawful. South Australian solicitor-general Chris Kourakis outlined the state government's case, pointing to the lack of urgency which actually existed, whether it was appropriate for those urgency provisions to be used and errors in the judge's findings. A decision was not expected for several months and South Australian Environment Minister John Hill said legal advice suggested the government had a strong case. Advertisement Advertisement But Mr Hill said it might come down to people power, in the form of the public voting out the federal government at the upcoming election, to stop the dump. He also rejected calls from the federal government for South Australia to stop wasting taxpayers' money to fight the commonwealth's proposal. "It is clear from all of the research that every time an opinion poll is conducted in South Australia the overwhelming majority do not want this radioactive waste dump built in this state," Mr Hill told reporters outside the court. "We're defending the interests of the majority of South Australians, the Commonwealth is hell-bent on trampling those interests, that's what it's about. "I don't think the people of South Australia want us to give up at all. "I think they want the commonwealth to back away." The court hearing was continuing. © 2004 AAP Brought to you by [aap] + Top of Page Page Tools Copyright © 2004. The Age Company Ltd. ***************************************************************** 29 eTaiwanNews: INER builds laser-guided nuclear system to carry radioactive waste [http://www.etaiwannews.com/] Taiwan 2004-05-11 / Central News Agency / The Institute of Nuclear Energy Research under the Cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council has built a fully automated radioactive nuclear waste storage system with a newly developed laser-guided nuclear waste transportation technology, an INER official said yesterday. Tsai Kuang-fu, deputy chief of the INER chemical engineering section, said that the new technology uses a laser-guided unmanned transportation vehicle along with locally developed central control and integration operating system to carry radioactive waste, making it unnecessary for workers to enter radioactive storage areas. The development of the new technology marks a milestone in radioactive waste storage management, according to the official. The advanced technology has already been used when dealing with more than 200 barrels of radioactive waste since its development in March this year, Tsai went on, adding that the INER is scheduled to complete the installation of a set of test equipment for nuclear waste storage by the end of this year. After completion of the installation work, characteristic data for each barrel of nuclear waste will be entered into a databank using bar codes and automatic scanners to upgrade storage management efficiency, Tsai said. © 2001-2004 Taiwan News. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 30 Las Vegas RJ: NRC authorizes nuclear cask testing Tuesday, May 11, 2004 State representatives say test plan falls short By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Seeking to boost public confidence in radioactive waste handling, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized new safety testing of a full-sized cask designed to carry spent nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain. Agency officials said putting a 150-ton shipping container through a 75 mph crash and a "fully engulfing" fire will confirm their safety requirements for nuclear waste casks that are largely based on scale model testing and computer calculations. A disaster demonstration involving an 18-foot-long cask might also build public acceptance of a government campaign to transport 77,000 tons of nuclear waste and spent fuel to the proposed Nevada repository, they said. But the NRC's action, signed by the agency's three commissioners and disclosed in a May 5 staff memo, got a thumbs down from Nevada representatives on Monday. They said the planned testing falls short of what is necessary to measure cask safety. "The staff requirements memo is completely unacceptable," said Robert Halstead, a Wisconsin-based transportation authority and Nevada nuclear waste consultant. The tests will highlight an important element of the Yucca Mountain Project. Government and industry officials say the safety of a 24-year Yucca shipping campaign will depend in large part on the durability of the steel casks that will shield highly radioactive fuel assemblies. Nevada officials had lobbied heavily to get the nuclear safety agency to order more comprehensive tests. The state advocated full-scale testing of several truck cask designs, as well as casks that will be carried by railroad to a Yucca repository. Officials also pushed for rigorous stress testing to determine a cask's breaking point. Nuclear Regulatory Com- mission staff rejected the idea of "testing to failure," saying there are no realistic accident scenarios that could cause a cask to rupture or leak. Halstead said state officials may ask Congress to intervene, saying taxpayers will be shortchanged by testing that will not yield the most useful information. He estimated the cask testing will cost between $35 million and $40 million. A full-size rail cask could cost the government between $1 million and $3 million, industry officials have said. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is drafting a bill that would require the NRC to conduct physical tests on full-scale versions of all designs for casks that would carry nuclear waste to the state by truck and by railroad, aides said Monday, and each design would be required to be tested to determine its failure point. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 31 Las Vegas SUN: Cask design among concerns Today: May 11, 2004 at 10:19:57 PDT NRC conducts meeting in Pahrump By Stephen Curran LAS VEGAS SUN Edward and Glennda Jackson were among the 12 residents who turned out for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission informational meeting Monday in Pahrump, but the couple left with more questions than answers. At the top of their list was whether or not the federal agency had approved a safe cask design to transport the 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste through Nye County to a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. NRC officials are still deciding what type of tests it will perform on the casks. "We wanted to know what was going on," said Edward Jackson, a semiretired immigration attorney who moved to Pahrump about two years ago. "But I'm not even smart enough to know what the issues are." Monday's meeting was part of a multi-agency effort to familiarize rural residents with the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. Similar Energy Department-sponsored events were held in Nye and Lincoln counties in previous weeks. Earl Easton, a Washington, D.C.-based transportation advisor for the NRC on hand for the meeting at the Bob Ruud Community Center in Pahrump, about 60 miles west of Las Vegas, said the agency had yet to approve the containers' designs. Each of several designs is now going through a series of durability tests. Computer models are being used. The NRC also is expected to conduct a few live, full-scale tests of at least one of the designs in a series of "probable accidents." Those tests are expected to continue through 2009 at an estimated cost $32 million to $47 million, he said. "It's an ongoing process," Easton said. "A lot of these tests are meant to minimize the number of shipments (to Yucca Mountain)." Opponents of Yucca Mountain as well as people just concerned about public safety have noted that the waste is likely to be shipped by both train and truck commission so a variety of scenarios need to be tested. Patricia Cox, a Nye County commissioner, said she was not yet satisfied with answers from the NRC about the proposed casks. Cox was on hand at the meeting, but said she heard little that was different from previous conversations with the agency. "We need to be sure there's some kind of safety in place," she said. "I personally don't think it (the tests) has been enough for this big (of) a project. We don't have a say in stopping it (the Yucca rail) but we do have some say in protecting our citizens." John Wolfe, a retired airplane mechanic and Pahrump resident, liked what he saw at the meeting, saying it would bring jobs and economic development to the county. "I'm impressed with the work they're doing and what they're putting out," he said. "They're going to do it whether we want it or not. I don't see what the problem is." For Sheldon Bass, a member of the Nevada Land Use Planning Advisory Council and a Pahrump resident, said Monday's meeting barely scratched the surface, as a fragmented approach to the proposed nuclear waste repository will cause more problems than solutions. And in the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the 319-mile route for the dangerous cargo seems particularly vulnerable, he said. "My concern is on the assumption (that it's safe)," Bass said. "We've got a problem now. It's called terrorism." Hal Nelson, a Pahrump resident on hand to represent Citizen Alert, an anti-Yucca advocacy group, said Monday's meeting was more effective than previous efforts to drum up support for the project. His primary concern was whether the NRC could act independently in testing the viability of proposed shipping methods, he said. "I am totally opposed (to the Yucca Mountain project) but I do believe the people doing these studies (the NRC) are taking it seriously," Nelson said. "At least it's a start." The Jacksons, meanwhile, are among a growing contingent of rural Nevadans who have resigned themselves to the project, which many consider inevitable. "This is not a debate," Edward Jackson said. "A debate occurs when you have one side against another. I think these people who are being Chicken Little are chasing a pipe dream. It's a waste of time." Questions or problems? Click here. ***************************************************************** 32 Las Vegas SUN: NRC plans to test nuke casks By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will test special containers used to ship nuclear waste via train to try to help assure the public they are safe, but Nevada officials say the latest proposal still falls short of what actually needs to be done. In a May 5 memo to their operations staff, the three commissioners asked for a demonstration test plan for rail shipping containers, called casks, and authorized buying one of the casks to use for the test. Scaled-down versions of the casks have been tested, and computer modeling of a test has been conducted, but actual live-scenario tests have not been required. Last year the commission decided to move ahead with a "full-scale" test, accepted public comments on the plan and gave the commissioners several options to evaluate in February. After going through all of the options, the commissioners asked for a rail cask-test plan now and for a truck cask-test plan to be conducted after the Energy Department decides on a truck cask design. The commissioners did not specify whether the rail casks tested would be those used to ship nuclear waste to the proposed nuclear waste storage site at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The memo only says the plan should include a "realistically conservative" train traveling at 75 mph and a "fully-engulfing fire." The test will only be done on one rail cask and should be designed so only one test is needed for all rail casks. All other details will be left up to the staff to figure out but the commission will have to approve the final test plan. The memo infuriated Bob Halstead, Nevada's transportation consultant, because it leaves too many questions unanswered and contains little of what the state wants. "Bottom line, we know there will be truck shipments to Yucca Mountain," Halstead said. "This is an exercise in futility." The department has selected the "mostly rail" option to bring waste to Yucca, if it gets approved, but trucks will need to bring waste to rail lines from reactors not close enough to the trains and may have to be used in Nevada if a proposed rail line in Caliente is not finished prior to the opening of the repository. Nevada wants to see all casks that could bring waste to Yucca fully tested, meaning actually engulfed in flames, dropped on a hard surface and potentially punctured, and immersed in water to standards set by the commission and tested to failure. The staff proposal could still include those additional tests but they were not requested by the commission. "We deserve better, we deserve a clear decision here," Halstead said. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is working on a bill that would require the testing of the casks until destruction and include simulated terrorist attacks on the casks as well. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., wants to see full-scale tests beyond just accident scenarios, spokesman David Cherry said. It is an "unreasonable omission" that terrorist threats or anything beyond a fire or crash test will be done, Cherry said. Berkley, Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., introduced a bill in July calling for planning against terrorist threats against shipments to Yucca. Six additional House members have signed onto the bill, but it has not moved anywhere. The bill would require the Homeland Security Department and Federal Emergency Management Agency to work with the National Research Council to create full scale cask and model tests that would include weapons. The nuclear industry does not believe full-scale testing is necessary since tests have been done, and shipments of spent fuel already take place without any problems. Edward Wilds, co-chair of the Council of State Government's Northeast High Level Radioactive Waste Transportation Task Force said at a National Academy of Science meeting last week that he does not support full-scale testing "just to do it" and that he was comfortable with the models used to determine if a cask is safe. "I don't feel there is an absolute need for full-scale testing," Wilds said. Live tests last took place during the 1970s and 1980s at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. The lab ran a truck carrying a container into a concrete wall at 80 mph. Another test dropped a container 2,000 feet and in a third test a truck carrying a cask was hit by a train. The full results of the tests have not been publicly released, but the analysis showed the containers would not have released radiation, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's trade group. Another test, done by a private company, showed an anti-tank rocket could penetrate a cask. William Miller, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia, said the results from the tests will be useful, but he thinks it is just a confidence builder and has more public value than proving more science facts. He said there are some differences between the casks, but the basic design criteria for the casks are the same. He said there should be some testing, but much of that testing would be repetitive. "There is not a lack of science on them (the casks)," he said. "You don't need have to experimentally benchmark everything that you do." Halstead said there are at least four types of rail casks so far that could bring waste to Yucca, each with different designs and systems that work to keep radiation inside the cask. The state wants to see all four rail cask designs tested and at least one truck design tested. "There isn't one that is truly representative of all," Halstead said. Halstead said the department has truck cask designs but since none have been ordered, none has been built yet. Other casks that have yet to be developed can also move waste to Yucca and should be tested when they are ready. The commission should order one and get it tested, even before the rail cask, he said. As for cost, Halstead said Nevada estimates multiple tests can be done on the different casks for $40 million to $70 million. The NRC, however, estimated only one type of test can be done for $35 million to $40 million, though the commission has offered no justification for the high cost. Halstead said the state is considering going to Congress to show the difference between the cost estimates to have them force the different tests to be completed. ***************************************************************** 33 UPI: Washington hazardous waste site faulted - (United Press International) May 11, 2004 Olympia, WA, May. 11 (UPI) -- A Washington state review of a hazardous waste storage facility in Hanford says workers are exposed to unknown chemical vapors, the Seattle Times reported. The review was released Monday by Gov. Gary Locke and says it is unclear what materials are in the 177 underground tanks that store more than 50 million gallons of chemical and radioactive wastes. The tanks are grouped in "farms" and contain a mix of liquids, salt cakes and thick slurries left over from nuclear processing that produced materials for atomic bombs at the 586-square-mile Hanford nuclear reservation in eastern Washington. The state Department of Ecology says workers who labor near the tanks should be provided with supplied air, a move approved by a U.S. Energy Department contractor last month in response to health concerns. The agency also has asked for better management of the information now available on the vapors and for an industrial hygienist or toxicologist to analyze worker exposure to the vapors. The state review resulted from the release of a September 2003 report by the Government Accountability Project, which alleged 45 incidents of exposure involving 67 workers who sought medical care for headaches, nosebleeds, loss of breath, fatigue and other symptoms. [UPI Perspectives] ***************************************************************** 34 TheNewMexicoChannel: Uranium Enrichment Plant Meeting Set In Hobbs [http://www.ibsys.com/] UPDATED: 1:09 pm MDT May 11, 2004 HOBBS, N.M. -- Federal regulators are planning a meeting in the Hobbs area June 15 as an early step toward licensing a proposed uranium enrichment plant in Eunice. The exact place of the meeting has not been set. Louisiana Energy Services proposes a $1.2 billion plant to make fuel for nuclear reactors. The June meeting is a prehearing conference by the U.S. Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. It primarily will discuss logistics of the hearing process with four groups that have petitioned to intervene in the licensing process. They are the state Environment Department, the state attorney general's office and two Washington, D.C.-based public interest groups -- the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Public Citizen. Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This © 2004,Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc [http://www.ibsys.com/] . ***************************************************************** 35 PISJ: Lawmaker to tour Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site Pocatello Idaho State Journal: Smith previously visited complex in 2002 By Holden Parrish [hparrish@journalnet.com] - Assistant City Editor POCATELLO - Rep. Elaine Smith will spend the next four days in Nevada, touring the federal government's controversial Yucca Mountain facility and meeting with lawmakers from at least 24 other states. Smith's stay in the Silver State comes courtesy of the National Conference of State Legislators. Two more Idaho representatives, Wayne Meyer of Rathdrum and Jack Barraclough of Idaho Falls, also will attend. The legislators, all members of the conference's high-level waste committee, will tour the Yucca Mountain complex Tuesday and then meet in Las Vegas Wednesday and Thursday. Monday will serve as a travel day. Smith said Tuesday's tour will give some legislators who have never visited the facility a chance to see the work being done there. Having last toured the complex in December 2002, Smith also said she looks forward to seeing how things have changed. According to the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site, Yucca Mountain, once complete, will be the U.S. Department of Energy's first geologic repository for storing and disposing of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The site is located in Nye County, Nevada, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. About 90 percent of the waste earmarked for disposal at Yucca Mountain is currently stored at facilities in 43 states. Yucca Mountain would be about 1,000 feet below the surface, but 1,000 feet above ground water. The project is under construction and should be complete by 2010 - assuming it is not canceled or halted. Smith said the state of Nevada had filed several lawsuits in hopes of preventing Yucca Mountain from becoming a waste site. Those lawsuits, she said, have not been resolved. Yucca Mountain will be the second waste facility Smith has toured this year. In early April, she visited the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant facility near Carslbad, N.M. Smith said she was the only state lawmaker from Idaho to tour the facility, which opened in 1999 and is used to store low- and medium-level nuclear waste from across the nation. The tour included a visit to the facility's control room, located some 2,150 feet below ground. "I was so impressed with the safety there," she said. "I learned quite a bit about the site and I found out the community is very supportive." Holden Parrish [hparrish@journalnet.com] is the Journal's assistant city editor and covers politics and general assignment stories. He can be reached at (208) 239-6001 or by e-mail at hparrish@journalnet.com. Copyright © 2004 Pocatello Idaho State Journal P O Box 431 Pocatello, ID 83204-0431 ***************************************************************** 36 AU ABC: Mine water contamination report delayed » [http://abc.net.au/] Tuesday, 11 May 2004 The final report into a water contamination incident at the Ranger Uranium Mine, surrounded by Kakadu National Park, has been delayed. Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) was forced to stop mining operations in March after process water contaminated the site's drinking water. The mine is now back to full operations but a Territory Government department is still finalising a report into what went wrong and whether there are grounds for prosecution. The Territory Government admits the report's completion has taken longer than expected but it has been waiting on final information from the mine's operator. It says it is still consulting the Federal Government. A Territory Government spokeswoman says Mines Minister Kon Vatskalis is anxious to have the report finalised by the end of next week. [ more news ] Last Updated: 5:14:00 PM (ACST) [http://www.abc.net.au/privacy.htm] ***************************************************************** 37 KRNV: NRC authorizes testing of full-sized nuclear waste transport cask May 11, 2004 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is authorizing new safety testing of a full-sized cask designed to carry spent nuclear fuel to a national nuclear waste dump in Nevada. Agency officials say putting the 150-ton shipping container through a 75 mile-per-hour crash and fully engulfing it by fire will confirm cask safety. Tests so far have been based on scale model testing and computer calculations. Testing the 18-foot-long cask might also build public confidence in the government plan to transport 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel to the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. But Nevada officials say the new testing still falls short of a state demand that tests find out at what point casks would fail. (Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) [http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2001 - 2004 WorldNow and KRNV. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 38 Taipei Times: Rescuing nuclear non-proliferation [http://www.taipeitimes.com] This is no time for new agreements to restrict weapons; the existing agreements are not being honored By N. Hassan Wirajuda Tuesday, May 11, 2004,Page 9 ILLUSTRATION: YU SHA As a declared non-nuclear weapon state, Indonesia has always worked for nuclear non-proliferation -- indeed, for a world free of nuclear weapons. But the cause of nuclear non-proliferation is in deep trouble, as countries are once again tempted to acquire the means of oblivion. For over three decades, the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) has been the cornerstone of the world's non-proliferation regime, a position that derives from growing acknowledgement of the legal and normative standards that it established. Adherence to the NPT has increased steadily, reaching a stage of near-universal acceptance. But there is a general feeling that implementation has fallen short of expectations, particularly with regard to nuclear disarmament. Moreover, there is increasing concern over non-compliance and the associated risks of proliferation to worrisome states, particularly in Asia, and even more ominously, into the hands of individuals and terrorist organizations. In the face of these threats, what can be done to strengthen the non-proliferation regime? The NPT regime stands on three pillars: non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The treaty envisages the construction of each pillar through a matching series of steps taken by both nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states. Strengthening the non-proliferation regime in order to confront today's challenges would require no more than following this strategy. Unfortunately, this has not been the case since 1995, when the NPT Review and Extension Conference made the duration of the NPT's validity indefinite. The conference, which included the original five nuclear weapon states (the United States, Russia, China, France and Great Britain) as well as many other UN members, did not reach consensus on a final declaration. But it did adopt three other decisions, entitled Strengthening the Review Process for the Treaty, Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and Resolution on the Middle East. These constituted a package that was meant to be implemented in its entirety. Five years later, the 2000 review conference adopted a final document that contained concrete measures, including "13 practical steps" for systematic and progressive efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament. The NPT's adaptation to new environments and to problems that were not anticipated when it was adopted appeared to ensure the treaty's continuing effective implementation. But actions speak louder than words, and challenges to the NPT regime have continued to undermine its basic principles, causing considerable backsliding. Today, the challenges posed by proliferation are more complex than ever. These include proliferation of nuclear weapons technologies by one de facto nuclear-capable state; one stated withdrawal from the NPT; one case of noncompliance; increasing assertion of the role of nuclear weapons in military doctrines; and improvements in nuclear weapons by some nuclear weapon states. The possibility that non-state actors could acquire nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction poses an especially grave new threat. Confronting it effectively will require the support of all NPT signatories. But a continuing imbalance and selectivity in the emphasis placed by different states on the treaty's three pillars damages the unity that the NPT regime needs. In particular, imbalances in implementing the NPT obligations by the nuclear haves and have-nots are sharpening. For example, some countries want to develop smaller "usable" nuclear weapons designed for pre-emptive or preventive military action. Many non-nuclear weapon states, particularly those in the developing world, remain frustrated that peaceful nuclear cooperation is yet to be realized. These challenges to the non-proliferation regime not only jeopardize the treaty's credibility, efficacy and viability; they also have cast doubt nuclear disarmament's future. Deliberations and negotiations within the NPT regime and in other disarmament areas have reached a difficult stage, if not a stalemate. To jump-start progress, all NPT signatories should reaffirm that the treaty's provisions are mutually reinforcing and must be pursued jointly. The most dangerous force eroding the treaty's credibility is the inclination of some nuclear-weapon states to reinterpret past agreements at will. Despite the treaty's shortcomings, the overwhelming majority of non-nuclear states fully comply with their obligations. This constrains the nuclear weapon states, fulfilling one of the NPT's most important goals. One of the best ways to strengthen the non-proliferation regime would be to implement existing agreements fully. Selectivity and narrow reinterpretation can only weaken the treaty. Developing new non-proliferation mechanisms would waste time that we cannot afford, because new protocols would have a dubious legal basis and encourage further implementation imbalances. If we are serious about saving the non-proliferation regime, the time to act is now. N. Hassan Wirajuda is Indonesia's minister for foreign affairs. Copyright: Project Syndicate Copyright © 1999-2004 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 39 New Zealand News: No benefit in National's nuclear plan [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/] Wednesday May 12, 2004 Somewhere in the National Party there must be people doing their level best to remove the old impediment to New Zealand's natural defence alliance with Australia and the United States. Yet it is a mission that those in the visible part of the party, particularly its leadership, are plainly in no hurry to accept. Long ago they agreed to at least set up a taskforce to review the anti-nuclear policy. The taskforce, under former minister Wyatt Creech, has taken its time, inviting submissions and commissioning two polls a year apart to try to detect a glimmer of change in public opinion. Last week its report was finally released on the day the hikoi at Parliament was guaranteed to overshadow everything else in the news. And no wonder. Not only has the party leadership no enthusiasm for the task, the recommendation of the Creech exercise invites ridicule. The taskforce suggests the repeal of the section of the anti-nuclear legislation that bans visits by nuclear-powered ships but also suggests a National Government should continue to ban such ships as a matter of policy. The taskforce seems to believe the United States would be reconciled to an effective nuclear ban provided it was not actually enshrined in legislation. They point to the experience of Denmark that is nuclear fee as a matter of policy rather than law and has enjoyed a relationship with the United States unchallenged by nuclear-propelled ships for 40 years. New Zealand seemed to be heading for a similar understanding in the first months of the Lange Government. It bears remembering that a few months after the election of that Government with its stated anti-nuclear policy, the US sought permission for a conventionally powered warship, the USS Buchanan, to call at a New Zealand port. This month, at a conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the Lange Government's election, the former head of Foreign Affairs, Merwyn Norrish, recalled the attempts by officials of both countries to arrange a mutually acceptable ship visit. The Buchanan, said Mr Norrish, was a "clapped-out destroyer" considered extremely unlikely to be carrying nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, the Cabinet turned the visit down and the reaction from the US was immediate. All overt military exercises with New Zealand ceased and this country's participation in the Anzus alliance was suspended indefinitely. Mr Norrish now suggests the Buchanan was rejected because Prime Minister Lange, who had been handling discussions with the US, had been absent from Wellington and Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer failed to pick up the hint from Foreign Affairs that the ship was almost certainly nuclear-free. But Mr Lange was at the decisive Cabinet meeting; he had timed his return from a visit to Tokelau to ensure he was there for the fateful decision. The Cabinet rejected the ship because "almost certainly" was not good enough for the anti-nuclear lobby. They demanded an assurance from the US, knowing it would not depart from its "neither confirm nor deny" position, and the anti-nuclear movement was not concerned for the survival of New Zealand in Anzus. Quite the opposite. National's taskforce now seems to think it is possible to restore the position of early 1985 - a policy in force but not the legislation, which was passed in 1987. Faced with another Buchanan-type request, a National Government would make the right decision. But the Buchanan incident was highly instructive for the US. The experience told Washington that New Zealand's anti-nuclear campaign (unlike Denmark's) was not interested in a reasonable working arrangement; it wanted to take this country out of Anzus. The US gave the campaign its wish and no change of policy in Washington is likely until a New Zealand Government challenges the antagonism to a US alliance head-on. Unfortunately, National's leadership still shows no stomach for that fight. © Copyright 2004, New Zealand Herald [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/privacypolicy/] | ***************************************************************** 40 Las Vegas SUN: SRS waits for nuke report ASSOCIATED PRESS AIKEN, S.C. (AP) - The Savannah River Site could soon find out if it's in line for a $4 billion dollar plant. Linton Brooks, the administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration, says a highly anticipated report about the nation's nuclear stockpile was being reviewed and will be given to Congress within weeks. Officials had delayed locating the multibillion dollar plutonium trigger production plant until the agency outlined current and future conditions of the country's nuclear arsenal. Brooks had joined Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham at SRS this past Friday to recognize the Savannah River National Laboratory. Brooks declined to discuss the report or which of five potential sites he favored, The (Augusta) Chronicle said. Other sites in contention for the modern pit facility are the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas; the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, both in New Mexico; and the Nevada Test Site. "You can't make intelligent decisions if you don't know what the stockpile is," Brooks said. The plant would build plutonium pits used to detonate nuclear weapons. Brooks' agency at first wanted to have a final environmental impact statement and choose a site by April. But it was announced in January that any decision would wait until Congress could review the country's nuclear weapons and what the United States might need in the future. "In my view, it is a complete mistake to reopen the nuclear door, so I am pleased that the administration has recognized - in light of congressional concern - that consideration of a modern pit facility is 'premature,' at least," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement she issued in January. Congressional delegates from South Carolina and Georgia have pushed to have the modern-pit facility at SRS. Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., recently wrote to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urging that the decision happen sooner rather than later. A spokeswoman for Barrett's office said the U.S. Rep.had hoped to already have received the report. Supporters say SRS's extensive experience with plutonium and its vast infrastructure make it the best selection. "We have said from the beginning, if (Brooks) makes his recommendation to the secretary based on technical and economical matters, that SRS will win," said Mal McKibben, the executive director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness. "The secretary has to deal with the politics of it." -- ***************************************************************** 41 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Worry over Hanford vapors [seattlepi.com] Tuesday, May 11, 2004 Worry over Hanford vapors State questions whether U.S. agency knows what's emanating from tanks By LISA STIFFLER SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Not enough is known about hundreds of chemicals percolating in giant tanks to adequately protect Hanford workers from potentially toxic vapors, according to a state report released yesterday. That lack of information raises serious questions about whether air-monitoring equipment being used by nuclear-waste cleanup contractors is right for the job, the Department of Ecology found. As the pace of cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has stepped up, workers have increasingly complained of being made ill by vapors seeping from underground tanks holding millions of gallons of lethal waste. Monitoring devices generally have not been able to detect dangerous levels of chemicals, and government officials have maintained that workers are safe. But the Ecology review found information on the tanks' chemical contents is incomplete and mismanaged, Attorney General Christine 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. "We're vindicated. We feel very good," said Tom Carpenter, Northwest director of the Government Accountability Project, a watchdog group that has documented about 100 chemical-exposure incidents involving workers since January 2002. "We have a concern about worker safety at Hanford," said Sheryl Hutchison, an Ecology spokeswoman. "Those tanks are pretty wicked to be working around." Officials with the U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees the Hanford cleanup, and CH2M Hill, the company responsible for the work, have repeatedly said the contents of the tanks are understood sufficiently and that workers are not at risk. Citing increased worker concern, the company in recent weeks has been requiring cleanup employees to breathe tank-supplied oxygen. Previously, workers in the so-called tank "farms" could request respirators, but supervisors would not always give them out. Ecology officials are requesting that the workers continue to receive supplied air -- delivered through tubes or by tanks akin to what divers use -- until more testing is done to determine worker exposure. In October, Gregoire asked the Energy Department about allegations of workers sickened by tank farm vapors that were raised by the Government Accountability Project. When the department failed to respond, the Ecology investigation was launched in February. The state departments of Health and Labor and Industry are continuing investigations into concerns over the mishandling of worker health-care and injury claims. There are also multiple federal investigations into worker safety under way at the former nuclear bomb-making site. Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said those investigations, by the department's Inspector General and Office of Oversight, would continue. "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. R. Bryan Kidder, a CH2M Hill spokesman, said company officials had not yet seen the report and could not comment on it. The 177 tanks, some of which are as large as the Capitol dome in Olympia, hold radioactive and toxic waste generated as a byproduct of plutonium production. The waste is being transferred from leak-prone single-shelled tanks to more stable, double-shelled tanks. Ultimately, it's supposed to be trapped in a hard, glasslike substance. It's believed that the transferring and stirring up of the waste is causing vapors to be released from the tanks. Ecology officials have asked the Energy Department to meet and discuss what air sampling is needed to determine what's in the vapors. As a condition of an upcoming permit, Ecology is also requiring the federal agency to figure out ways to control the vapors. Workers exposed to vapors have complained of metallic tastes and strong odors of ammonia. Some have experienced burning sensations, headaches, recurrent rashes and sore throats. In recent years, Hanford electrician Tom Young was exposed repeatedly to pungent, ammonia-laced vapors that seeped from the tanks. He suffered nosebleeds and irritated sinuses. "It's a big Russian Roulette," Young said. "They're gambling our health and our lives." Young still works at Hanford, but is no longer at the tank farms. He applauded the work of the Ecology investigators and hopes their findings will ensure greater protection for workers. He's also fighting to get his medical costs approved as work-related. "That's fantastic," he said of the report. "It really is. There are people out there who have integrity." The Associated Press contributed to this report. P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com [Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119 (206) 448-8000 Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com [newmedia@seattlepi.com] ©1996-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Terms of Service/Privacy ***************************************************************** 42 Seattle Times: State review criticizes oversight at Hanford Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M. By Hal Bernton Seattle Times staff reporter A new state review faults federal monitoring of chemical vapors venting from Hanford storage tanks, vapors that some workers say have caused bloody noses, fatigue and other health problems. The state review, released yesterday by Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire, says it is unclear what materials are in the 177 underground tanks that store more than 50 million gallons of chemical and radioactive wastes. Moreover, the review says there needs to be better measurement of potentially toxic vapors that could waft through tank vents. Because of these problems, the state Department of Ecology says workers who labor near the tanks should be provided with supplied air, a move approved by an Energy Department contractor last month in response to health concerns. The agency also has asked for better management of the information now available on the vapors and for an industrial hygienist or toxicologist to analyze worker exposure to the vapors. Federal Department of Energy officials said yesterday they had not had time to read the state review and thus could not comment on the findings. Officials of federal contractor CH2M Hill said in a recent interview that they have never detected unsafe levels of ammonia or other toxic vapors around the underground tanks. They have said worker safety has always been a top concern. The company also has announced expanded monitoring that will include equipment to detect nitrous oxides. Complaints increase The tanks are grouped in "farms" and contain a mix of liquids, salt cakes and thick slurries left over from nuclear processing that produced materials for atomic bombs at the 586-square-mile Hanford nuclear reservation in Eastern Washington. Some tanks are single-shelled and leak materials into the groundwater. But the more than 800 workers employed at the tank farms are pumping that waste into more secure double-shelled tanks. After completion of a $5.78 billion waste-treatment plant, most of the wastes are scheduled to be mixed with glass and turned into solids for long-term storage in stainless-steel canisters. In recent years, as the pumping has increased, workers have made more complaints about chemical exposure from vents placed in the tanks to allow vapors to escape. Health concerns The state review resulted from the release of a September 2003 report by the Government Accountability Project, which alleged 45 incidents of exposure involving 67 workers who sought medical care for headaches, nosebleeds, loss of breath, fatigue and other symptoms. Since then, the Seattle-based project office has investigated the cases of some 30 other tank workers who have had health concerns. The project also has started an investigation of health concerns among some workers at the construction site for the waste-treatment plant. The construction is about 1,500 feet, at its closest point, from the tank farms. Tom Carpenter, a Seattle attorney who researched the September 2003 report, said the state findings validate "what we've been saying: 'Hanford officials do not know what is in the tank vapors that workers have been breathing.' " He has called for new legislation that would allow independent federal oversight of worker safety at Hanford. The Department of Energy is responsible for overseeing the cleanup and worker safety. State officials have limited oversight of the Hanford cleanup. The state Department of Ecology is involved in the process of closing the storage tanks. And state officials, as part of that oversight, will be asking for more air samples to be taken, said Sheryl Hutchison, an Ecology Department spokeswoman. In the state report released yesterday, the Department of Ecology said the Tank Waste Information Network System, used to help detail the contents of tanks, has minimal data and lacks quality assurance. The report also said there is not enough known about toxic gases that may be trapped within the tanks. Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company ***************************************************************** 43 Tri-City Herald: Vapor monitoring near Hanford tanks may be inadequate This story was published Tuesday, May 11th, 2004 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer Monitoring around Hanford's tanks of highly radioactive wastes may be inadequate to protect workers from potentially toxic chemicals released from the tanks, a state investigation concluded. Too little is known about what chemicals are in the vapors, and monitoring equipment may be inadequate for some chemicals, according to a letter sent Friday to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. It was signed by Washington Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire. "Data regarding chemical constituents and vapors within the tanks is incomplete, the data is not managed in a manner that allows a comprehensive assessment of the waste composition and the data lacks recognized quality assurance," the letter said. The state started an investigation in response to a report released by the Government Accountability Project, or GAP. It showed a significant increase in the number of workers at Hanford reporting exposure to vapors from the tanks as work has progressed to empty nearly all liquid wastes from the tanks. The massive underground tanks holding wastes from the past production of plutonium at Hanford vent vapors through filters to the atmosphere. Some workers have reported nosebleeds, sore throats, dizziness and increased heart rates after breathing different mixes of up to 1,200 chemicals in the tanks, according to the watchdog group GAP. “The attorney general’s review proves what we have been saying: Hanford officials do not know what is in the tank vapors that workers have been breathing,” Tom Carpenter, a GAP attorney, said in a statement. “They have only assumed that there is no health hazard.” The state is recommending that workers in the fields, or "farms," where the tanks are buried wear scuba-style, supplied-air systems until more is known. DOE also is investigating. The state is recommending a thorough analysis by trained industrial hygienists or toxicologists to understand worker exposure issues, said Sheryl Hutchison, spokeswoman for the state Department of Ecology. CH2M Hill Hanford Group, which operates the tank farm for DOE, began temporarily requiring workers in the older, single-shell tank farms to wear the supplied-air equipment in April. Earlier, it had banned the use of supplied air systems, saying they limited workers' vision and made them more likely to trip. DOE also should require that data used to analyze chemical vapors is managed better, according to the state. "It's not apples to apples," making it difficult to use to assess worker risk, Hutchison said. Workplace monitoring and characterization of chemicals in the tanks is based on chemical data that is "sparse or incomplete and of questionable accuracy," said a report accompanying the letter. The report was prepared by the state Department of Ecology. Data is stored in numerous unconnected databases by various contractor organizations, making a comprehensive assessment of the composition of tank waste difficult, the report said. A central database is available to contractors, but the data is minimal, lacks adequate quality assurance and is limited to a handful of the chemicals that may be present in the tanks, the report found. Insufficient data exists regarding the gases trapped within the tank wastes to identify what potentially toxic chemicals might be in the data, according to the report. The state also could not determine whether enough was known about how vapors might disperse when wastes are disturbed as tanks are emptied. The report was critical of monitoring that measured the total amount of organic vapors from the tanks without determining specific types. Some Hanford tanks may contain organic compounds that are toxic at very low levels, the report concluded. CH2M Hill has maintained that workers may have had unpleasant symptoms, particularly from ammonia in the vapors, but have not had permanent damage to their health. Work is stopped in the tank farms when chemicals are detected at levels far below allowable industrial standards, according to CH2M Hill. Company officials had not seen the letter and report Monday and could not comment, said spokesman Bryan Kidder. DOE's Office of River Protection also had not received the report Monday, said spokesman Eric Olds. In addition to the Department of Ecology's assessment of chemical vapors, the Washington State Department of Health looked at whether the vapors included radioactive particles from the tanks. It concluded that none of the radiation exposures at the tank farms in 2002 and 2003 were due to vapors. Twenty-one workers were contaminated with radiation from the tanks. The maximum dose to a worker was 188 millirems to the skin and 28 millirems internally. DOE has a standard of 5,000 millirems per year for workers. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 44 PRN: Gene Network Sciences Awarded $2.5 Million DOE Grant for Network Inference [http://www.prnewswire.com/] [http://gnsbiotech.com] ITHACA, N.Y., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Gene Network Sciences (GNS) today announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the company a $2.5 million, three-year grant as part of the Genomics: GTL Program. The funds will be used to create a computational hypothesis testing framework that will allow GNS to use computer simulations to infer probable network architectures in cells in a massively parallel computing environment. This framework will include techniques to integrate diverse data and to explore millions of "what if" hypotheses about the functions of genes and proteins within pathways. Even when full genomic sequences for an organism are available, the functions and interactions of only a small number of gene components are clear. The GNS grant will further the company's methods to best infer the most probable network architectures in cells, starting with the creation of a dynamic simulation of E. coli, a well-studied bacteria where more than 60 percent of the genes have a known function. GNS will then apply its findings to other systems, including the metabolically versatile bacterium Shewanella oneidensis, which is of particular interest to the DOE given its ability to metabolize and immobilize metals, including radionuclides such as uranium. Fewer than 10 percent of the function of Shewanella genes are currently known, making it a prime candidate for network inference methods. "While there is a wealth of genomics, proteomics and microarray data available today, we still have many more questions than answers when it comes to understanding the functions of these genes and proteins and their downstream effects on the behavior of a cell or an organism," said Colin Hill, CEO of Gene Network Sciences. "The methodologies we are creating with the DOE grant will be applicable to any organism, including humans, where only three to five percent of gene function is known. As we better understand the functions of genes in a network context, we can better predict and control their responses to internal and external perturbations." According to Hill, these methods will be able to rapidly test multiple hypotheses on supercomputers, which would take decades to do in a wet lab. In addition, the cost of running multiple in silico experiments represent a fraction of what it would take to test similar predictions in vitro. The GNS team leading the network inference effort includes Dr. Michael Shuler, a member of the company's scientific advisory board and director of Cornell's Bioengineering Program. Shuler is considered a pioneer in the field of E. coli research and modeling, and bioprocess engineering. "The GNS effort proposes going beyond the cellular mapping of known circuitry to actually generate new insights into genetic interactions and a predictive understanding of the biology of organisms," said Shuler. Additional GNS collaborators on this effort include the Wadsworth Center, Washington University, the Cybercell consortium, and the Shewanella Federation. "I applaud the work being done by Gene Network Sciences in the important field of bioremediation," said House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, who represents New York's 24th District. "Working together, we can continue to provide better technology for a cleaner, safer environment for the nation through biotechnology research." This is the second major grant that GNS has been awarded in 2004. In February, the company announced that along with Cornell University and the University of California, San Diego, it was selected by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to receive a $2 million, four-year Bioengineering Research Grant. Those funds are being used to develop a data-driven 3-D computer model of the canine ventricle that will serve as a useful representation for other species, including humans. About the DOE Genomics: GTL Program Building on the successes of the Human Genome Project, DOE has initiated an ambitious program to achieve the most far-reaching of all biological goals: a fundamental, comprehensive, and systematic understanding of life. DOE's Genomics: GTL (formerly Genomes to Life) Program will make important contributions in the quest to venture beyond characterizing such individual life components as genes and other DNA sequences toward a more comprehensive, integrated view of biology at the whole-systems level. This approach ultimately will foster an integrated and predictive understanding of biological systems and offer insights into how both microbial and human cells respond to environmental change. About Gene Network Sciences Founded in August 2000, Gene Network Sciences (http://www.gnsbiotech.com [http://www.gnsbiotech.com] ) is a privately held biotech company headquartered in Ithaca, New York. A pioneer in the field of systems biology, GNS integrates biological and chemical data to create accurate and robust computer models of cell function and human biology. GNS helps pharmaceutical companies better understand the complex human biological systems that they seek to affect. The company's technology will ultimately increase clinical trial success rates and help bring better drugs to market faster. SOURCE Gene Network Sciences Web Site: http://gnsbiotech.com [http://gnsbiotech.com] [http://www.prnewswire.com/media/] ***************************************************************** 45 U.S. Newswire: DOE Officials to Testify Before Congressional Committees 5/11/2004 8:42:00 AM To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Jeanne Lopatto of the U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-4940 News Advisory: Two officials from the Department of Energy (DOE) are scheduled to testify before Congressional Committees this week. Deputy Secretary of Energy Kyle McSlarrow is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on May 11. He will testify on security at DOE facilities. Doug Faulkner, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is scheduled to testify on May 15, before the House Resources Subcomittee on National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands. He will testify at a field hearing on the use of hydrogen fuel cell technology in the national park system. TUESDAY, MAY 11 WHO: Kyle McSlarrow, Deputy Secretary of Energy WHAT: Testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations WHERE: Rayburn House Office Building (RHOB), Room 2322 WHEN: 2 p.m. --- SATURDAY, MAY 15 WHO: Doug Faulkner, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy WHAT: Testimony before the House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands WHERE: Grand Canyon National Park, AZ WHEN: 12 p.m. (Noon) http://www.usnewswire.com/ [http://www.usnewswire.com/] /© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ ***************************************************************** 46 KTVB: Security at INEEL debated KTVB.COM "There's nothing that's in place now that's perfect and beyond improvement and this is kind of an acknowledgement of that, said INEEL spokesman Lou Riepl. Improvements could also mean installing keyless systems at the site and eliminating the use of computer disks or CDs to better protect information. Riepl said even with these improvements, INEEL will be building on an already strong foundation. "From a people perspective, from a facilities perspective, from a processes perspective, we feel we're already very solid, said Riepl. But some Idaho lawmakers believe a federalized security force may better serve actual weapons sites and Senator Larry Craigs spokesperson Mike Tracy says the question of whether INEEL needs one too, is still up in the air. Senator Craig and the rest of the delegation want to see increased security, said Tracy. It's really how is it going to be shaped and is it the right kind of mission for the team at that particular site. More headlines... ©2004 Belo Interactive Inc. ***************************************************************** 47 Oak Ridger: Science.gov upgrades Story last updated at 12:07 p.m. on May 11, 2004 By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] Version 2.0 of Science.gov was officially launched today in a ceremony at the Department of Energy's Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C. From Science.gov, users can find more than 1,700 government information resources about science, including technical reports, journal citations, databases, federal Web sites and fact sheets. The information is all free and no registration is required. Science.gov was initially launched in 2003, and it has provided a gateway to millions of pages of information. Officials said Science.gov 2.0 offers vast reservoirs of research pages that are sorted for relevancy and quickly returned to desktops of Web patrons. The Science.gov Web site is hosted by the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information. OSTI was established in the mid-1940s by the Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor agency to DOE, to manage and provide access to nuclear information generated during the Manhattan Project. Today, OSTI hosts a vast collection of worldwide scientific research results and provides Web-based tools and capabilities to make information easily accessible and usable. ***************************************************************** 48 Oak Ridger: After K-25 fire, citizens to study emergency response Story last updated at 12:04 p.m. on May 11, 2004 OVERSIGHT: Organization already examining what happens if an emergency occurs on leased federal property. By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] At least one local watchdog group plans to weigh in on a chemical fire that happened Saturday on federal property. A subgroup of the Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee's Citizens' Advisory Panel will study how the incident occurred and whether the communication channels between involved parties and emergency responders worked properly, according to the organization's executive director, Susan Gawarecki. The LOC's review was announced shortly after The Oak Ridger reported Monday that the Department of Energy would launch an investigation into the fire that occurred on land just outside the fence of the Oak Ridge K-25 site - also referred to as the Heritage Center or the East Tennessee Technology Park. The incident resulted in the voluntary evacuation of what's been reported as a couple hundred workers and residents who lived in a half-mile area of the site. "Coincidentally, the (LOC's) Emergency Response Planning Committee has been looking at what happens if an emergency occurs at a leased facility at ETTP, as procedures have been a source of disagreement between DOE and (the) Tennessee Emergency Management Agency," noted Gawarecki. The LOC closely monitors DOE's Oak Ridge cleanup efforts, but the organization has also kept an eye on emergency-related issues over the years. Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the LOC hosted a forum in hopes of alleviating the public's concerns over what might happen if an attack or major catastrophe occurred at one of Oak Ridge's DOE sites, which includes a weapons facility. Saturday's fire started 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. Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for DOE's Oak Ridge Operations, said this morning that team for the "Type B" investigation - DOE's second highest level - was still in the planning stages by the federal agency. However, Wyatt said Edward Blackwood, a headquarters manager with DOE's Office of Environment, Safety and Health, will lead the team. The DOE spokesman said the purpose of the investigation is to look at the entire situation pertaining to the fire and identify any deficiencies. Around four people will serve on the team, which could take several weeks to complete the review. "It's a fairly typical thing to do," Wyatt said of the investigation. He added that a formal report will be issued following the investigation. However, officials have already noted that no radioactive material burned in the fire. Additionally, visual inspections conducted by DOE, TEMA and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency identified no impact to areas surrounding the K-25 site, including waterways. ***************************************************************** 49 Oak Ridger: Carrying on an ORNL tradition Story last updated at 12:04 p.m. on May 11, 2004 CHANGES: There may be a new Mouse House and a growing population of research mice, but part of the research effort's history is still part of its future. By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] A portrait of two pioneers in biological research, who also happen to be one of the most distinguished scientific couples in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's history, hangs in a conference room near a facility named for them: the William L. and Liane B. Russell Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics. Sitting at a table in front of the framed image, Liane sorts through some folders containing historical pictures that capture the work she and her husband, Bill, did at the original Mouse House, located at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant. Marie Moffitt/Staff Liane Russell shares memories of the work she and her husband did at the original Mouse House, located at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant. Hanging on the wall behind Liane is a framed portrait of her and her husband, Bill. Liane said she's proud of their accomplishments, adding that it is an honor for the new facility to bear their name. However, despite the new digs and constantly growing population, it is also referred to as the Mouse House - a name that teases of the research work done there. ORNL has been using mice to conduct genetic experiments since the 1940s. Genetic research has helped identify genes associated with birth defects, cancer and other diseases, and may lead to advances in pharmacological and gene therapy. Bill was the first to discover that mammalian germ cells can repair radiation damage; his work established the definitive set of principles for radiation genetics in mammals. His wife, Liane, spearheaded fundamental understanding of genetics and discovered in the late '50s that the Y chromosome determines gender in mammals and that female mammals have only a single active X chromosome. Bill died in July 2003, but his 80-year-old wife is still active at ORNL - working on a guest assignment about three days a week in a building that's connected to the new research facility. Liane said she hopes that there will be no problem getting the assignment renewed yearly, hinting that she might be sticking around the lab for many more years. "Hopefully as long as I got a brain," Liane joked. Curtis Boles/ORNL Liane Russell helps plant a white oak sapling in memory of her husband, Bill. The tree will continue to grow and look over a facility named for the couple: the William L. and Liane B. Russell Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics. Liane said she's only been inside the research area of the new Mouse House a couple of times. The facility has been operational since early January, but the first batch of research pups weren't born until March 13. The nine mouse pups were the first litter to be re-derived from eight-cell frozen embryos, and they marked the beginning of an effort to build a pathogen-free mouse colony. Liane had an interesting experience on one of her initial treks into the research facility. "I ended up going through the change room," she said. "I got in this place and the door closed behind me. And, the door in front of me wouldn't open. "Then this air came on. And, it blew on me for what seemed like hours," she added. "I couldn't open the door. I finally got out." The Russell research facility utilizes a number of techniques to maintain a pathogen free environment, such as specialized locks, air showers and a narrow range of temperature and humidity controls. "It was after hours," she continued with her story. "I started walking down the hall and this alarm system went off." She said she was finally able to exit the building. "I decided I would never go in there by myself again," she said with a smile. ***************************************************************** 50 Oak Ridger: Council wary of 'formal' application to DOE Story last updated at 12:04 p.m. on May 11, 2004 DAVID MOSBY: 'If we feel these payments are due to the city and not manna from Heaven, then we need to submit it.' By: Stan Mitchell | Oak Ridger Staff [stan.mitchell@oakridger.com] Members of the Oak Ridge City Council are torn about whether to submit an application for the renewal of annual assistance payments from the Department of Energy. Annual assistance differs from Payment In Lieu of Tax, which is generally paid each year by DOE. Oak Ridge Mayor David Bradshaw said he had not heard a definitive "yes" or "no" from the city's congressional representatives as to whether the application should be submitted. "What we don't want to do is upset the apple cart," Bradshaw said. The comments had Vice Mayor Tom Beehan concerned. Stan Mitchell/ Staff Oak Ridge City Manager James R. O'Connor explains to members of City Council why he thinks the city should submit a formal application for the renewal of annual assistance payments. "I'm not convinced we won't shoot ourselves in the foot," Beehan said. "I want to be convinced that this is going to be a positive submission." Bradshaw said he is still unsure how the document will be received and would like a few more days to get more information. He said submitting the application formally would require a response. "Asking for dollars is not easy (and) is not going to be without controversy," Bradshaw said. Council member Lou Dunlap agreed with Beehan, saying, "I want to be sure we're not damaging ourselves in getting money for schools or land transferred." Council member David Mosby said Council needed to determine if DOE owed the city the money or not. "Delaying to me says we don't need this money," Mosby said. "I think we need to be bold. If we feel these payments are due to the city and not manna from heaven, then we need to submit it." Council members decided to allow more time to look into the political consequences of submitting the application. ***************************************************************** 51 WBIR-TV: BEHIND THE FENCES: AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT TODAY'S Y-12 , Knoxville, TN Home [http://www.wbir.com] Nestled deep within an Oak Ridge valley is a three-and-a-half mile long complex of buildings, fences, and mystery. In fact, as little as its immediate neighbors know about it, the huge East Tennessee site might as well be a foreign country. This "secret city" is the Department of Energy's Y-12 National Security Complex, made famous as a major player in WWII's Manhattan Project. Today, Y-12 houses America's entire stockpile of enriched uranium, the key ingredient in most modern nuclear weapons. While the substance isn't radioactive, its critical role in world security puts it high on many terrorists' most-wanted lists. This means that what happens inside Y-12 is rarely discussed outside its fences. The need for tight security means stories about Y-12 can't easily be told, and most area residents don't really understand what happens there. "There's a habit of not talking about things for the people who work here, and there's a habit of not inquiring about things (within) the community," admits Y-12 General Manager Dennis Ruddy. Because of the materials handled within the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the things that go on inside, the general public can't get in. But in a special tour, Action 10 News did. During the tour, it became clear that while the secrecy surrounding Y-12 is clearly important for national security, it also sometimes causes conflict. As an example, news cameras and reporters aren't usually allowed in at all. In fact, Action 10 News was the first television news crew ever to be allowed to shoot video of the plant from a tall ridge overlooking it. But the security teams closely monitored everything reporters and photographers did while visiting the Y-12 site. After decades of strict secrecy, allowing journalists inside is part of Y-12's evolving mission. In a post-9-11 world, plant management is seeking to transition the facility from a nuclear weapons plant to more of a high-tech scientific hub. A few of Y-12's new projects include work with NASA, and the dismantling of other country's nuclear weapons. Scientists at Y-12 just completed the tear-down of Libya's arsenal of bombs. Ray Smith is Y-12's Infrastructure Reduction Manager, and has been a Y-12 employee since 1970. After 34 years inside Y-12, the need for secrecy has been drilled into him, but he is adjusting to the new philosophy that talking is okay...except when it's not. "Yes there are things we do at Y-12 that are just phenomenal that you can't talk about, because we really don't want people who have intentions that would harm the United States to know," Smith says. "Terrorists would love to get a hold of some of the enriched uranium. We can never allow that to happen, so we protect it, and we must continue to do that." In his role as Infrastruction Reduction Manager, Ray Smith is playing a big part in Y-12's changing mission. The plant is in the middle of a modernization plan, and Smith is overseeing the tear-down of old, dilapitated buildings within the site. So far this year, 140 of these outdated buildings have come down, with hundreds more demolitions on the horizon. Smith says that when these buildings were constructed in the 1940's, no one involved with Y-12 imagined they would still be in use 60 years later. In their place, Y-12 is building new, albeit still-secret, facilities. One is called the "purification facility." Action 10 News was told the new building is a non-nuclear chemical processing plant, but that's all Mark Sollenberger, the man overseeing its construction, would say about it. As the Project Manager for the purification facility, Sollenberger says the new building is an important part of Y-12's evolving mission, but says citizens shouldn't forget the site's historic role in protecting national security. "People need to understand that Y-12 is an important place, relative to what we take for granted," Sollenberger says. "Most of us citizens take for granted our freedoms. Don't take it for granted. This place is making sure that we keep them." Another sign of Y-12 modernization is in the plant's employee recruitment efforts. At the "new Y-12" young scientists and architects work in offices next to others with decades of experience. "It's a good thing," says architectural engineer Naila Howell, who went to work at Y-12 after her graduation from Tennessee State University in 2001. "You get a lot of knowledge that they can share with you, and that's helped me to grow to a better employee...It's also kind of funny because it seems like they could be my parents," she says with a laugh. Ray Smith agrees that Y-12's staff -- new and old -- are an invaluable asset. "The people out here are just tremendous, but there's more to it than just a good job and a good place to work. This is a national security complex. It is performing work that is vital to our nation." Y-12 General Manager Dennis Ruddy predicts the East Tennessee community at-large will come to better understand Y-12's changing mission in coming years, and he looks forward to being a part of that. "There's kind of a status quo where information doesn't pass between the plant and the community, and what we're trying to do is actively change that." --- On Wednesday, Action 10 News reporter Teresa Woodard will offer another exclusive look behind the fences at Y-12, as she is invited along a morning training with the security force that patrols Y-12's perimeter. DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE WBIR.com TALKBACK COMMUNITY: CLICK HERE [http://www.wbir.com/message/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=89] to talk about Y-12's past and future in East Tennessee. MORE INFO ON THE WEB: CLICK HERE [http://www.y12.doe.gov/bwxt/y12/y12-today.html] to visit the official Y-12 website. CLICK HERE [http://oakridgevisitor.com/secret.html] for the story of Oak Ridge's role in the Manhattan Project. CLICK HERE [http://www.korrnet.org/fgs/Programs/orepa.htm] to visit the website of the anti-nuclear organization, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. 5/11/2004 7:56:41 PM Reporter: Teresa Woodard Story Feedback [feedback@wbir.com?subject=ID: 18099 - BEHIND THE FENCES: AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT TODAY'S Y-12&body=Web News Feedback: Reporter: Teresa Woodard - Dated: 5/11/2004 7:56:41 PM] Printer Friendly [http://www.knoxnews.com] ***************************************************************** 52 Oak Ridger: A founder of the science of radioecology Story last updated at 12:07 p.m. on May 11, 2004 By: Dick Smyser | Editor's License In 1954, by now becoming concerned about environmental problems caused by a decade of nuclear research and development, Oak Ridge National Laboratory decided to add an ecologist to its staff. (Both those "e-words" - environment, ecology - were only then coming into lay usage, the broad meaning that they have today evolving.) The late Ed Struxness of ORNL's Health Physics Division was prominent in the search for this unusual, for that time, addition to ORNL scientific personnel then still heavily comprised of physicists, chemists and engineers. Struxness consulted Orlando Park, Northwestern University ecologist who had also been president of the Ecological Society of America. Park recommended Stanley I. Auerbach, who he - Park - had only recently mentored to his doctorate. And so Auerbach arrived at ORNL to set up his then one-person ecology "division" in a portion of ORNL Building 2001, a Quonset hut. All of this I learn from an account of Auerbach's 32-year ORNL career written by Dave Reichle, who would succeed him as director of what grew into ORNL's Environmental Sciences Division with a staff of more than 200. Within a year Auerbach had assembled a staff of 10. Also during this year, Park became aware that other nuclear laboratories were also concerned about environmental problems at their sites. Thus, urged by Auerbach, Struxness and Park, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1955 established the Division of Biology and Medicine which would set up a national ecology program. The director of this new national program, John Wolfe, made a significant shift in emphasis, advising not just laboratory experiments but field-oriented research. And so at ORNL, Reichle writes, "began several decades of pioneering research. By the end of 1959 the Radiation Ecology Section was created--The scientific field of radioecology had emerged." While all this was happening, Auerbach's growing team had moved from ORNL to the Y-12 area and then back to ORNL where, Reichle writes, "Because of the complex pathways for movement of radionuclides in the environment, ecologists were forced to think in terms of environmental systems." By this time also, Reichle says, as at the Hanford, Wash. nuclear site they were studying low-level radioactive discharges into the Columbia River, here comparable studies were being done on the Clinch. "Oak Ridge was soon recognized internationally as the leading center of ecosystem research and systems ecology," Reichle says. Next, another significant development. Universities were beginning to get grants for related environmental research and turning to ORNL for help. "For virtually the first time, universities and other research organizations were transferring monies to ORNL to do work for them," Reichle writes. Enter, now in 1969, the National Environmental Policy Act which, Reichle says, "changed the course of environmental research in Oak Ridge forever." All of those who had been doing the water studies were reassigned to help write the now required "Environmental Impact Statements." When the pressure to prepare these statements abated, however, now with knowledge of issues confronted in these impact assessments, Reichle says, ORNL ecologists' "perspectives of environmental issues, as well as those of the other colleagues, had been changed. Ecology at ORNL now became acclaimed not only for the quality and innovativeness of the basic research but also for the relevancy of its application to real world problems." Developments now came fast. In March 1970 ORNL established the Ecological Sciences Division which then, finally, became the Environmental Sciences Division which eventually moved into new facilities located purposely at the western end of the ORNL area, outside what then was the primary ORNL secure area. This, as Auerbach had intended, made environmental programs under way there more accessible to the growing numbers of visiting scientists attracted by the work of Auerbach's increasingly versatile and imaginative staff. Hazardous wastes of all types, global climate change, renewable energy and ecological risk analysis were now subjects of interest. And thus a major irony. About this time the National Science Foundation became concerned about mercury and engaged Auerbach's ORNL division to study the impact of mercury mines in Spain, also in fresh waters in the United States. Coincident with this, while sampling waters in area creeks for other purposes, members of Auerbach's staff unexpectedly detected mercury and thus the revelation of earlier major mercury losses from weapons work at Y-12. This prompted a congressional investigation and, Reichle says, "DOE soon developed a huge environmental management and restoration program, the results of which are seen to this day in the economy and ecology of Oak Ridge." "Stan's enduring disappointment," Reichle says, "was that many in the community, who did not understand that his environmental sciences division was not responsible for environmental monitoring, felt that his staff were somehow responsible for this situation." Auerbach was a pioneer at ORNL in recognizing the importance of a diverse work force. He also was adept at "helping you learn your limits." Often, Reichle writes, he "would let his aggressive staff bite off more than they could chew, and then help them back off their over-commitments." Like with the division softball team, which initially was known as the "Eco-bums." Auerbach, however, didn't like that nickname so arrangements were made to get uniforms with the logo simply "Ecology." It was never firmly established just how the uniform order made it through ORNL's purchasing procedures. However, division sources who speak only on condition of anonymity, say that the division director, after being rebuked by ORNL higher ups, paid for them personally. Stan Auerbach, "a founder of the science of radioecology," Reichle says, "was recognized by scientists around the world." The record of his writings, awards and special recognitions fills pages. The roster of scientific organizations, significant numbers of which he served as president or chairman, is long. "Stan left behind a tremendous legacy of science, a premier research organization then consisting of over 225 staff, and a cadre of future leaders at ORNL," Reichle says. "Most significantly," Reichle writes, "he retained the respect and affection of these colleagues--The Environmental Sciences Division at ORNL, and ecological research in and around the world remain today as a strong legacy to Stan Auerbach." - RDS ***************************************************************** 53 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 14:15:53 -0700 (PDT) EDITORIAL: No benefit in National's nuclear plan New Zealand Herald - Auckland,New Zealand ... no hurry to accept. Long ago they agreed to at least set up a taskforce to review the anti-nuclear policy. The taskforce, under ... See all stories on this topic: NUCLEAR Proliferation Via Pakistan — Not the World's Only , or ... Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - Middle East ... Islamabad may manage to distance itself from the latest spate of accusations (and individual admissions) regarding nuclear proliferation, and the issue may ... See all stories on this topic: NRC authorizes testing of full-sized nuclear waste transport cask KRNV - Reno,NV,USA The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is authorizing new safety testing of a full-sized cask designed to carry spent nuclear fuel to a national nuclear waste dump ... See all stories on this topic: WORKING-LEVEL Talks on N. Korea Nuclear Program to Start in ... Voice of America - Washington,DC,USA Diplomats from six nations are in Beijing preparing for working-level talks on North Korea's nuclear programs. The working-level ... See all stories on this topic: DOUBTS raised over dumping nuclear waste abroad swissinfo - Switzerland Hans Issler of Switzerland’s National Cooperative for the Disposal of Nuclear Waste (Nagra) said it was in Switzerland’s interests to seek international ... See all stories on this topic: IRAN: We retaliate if israel hits our nuclear facilities Ha'aretz - Israel TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's top nuclear negotiator warned Israel on Tuesday that his country would certainly retaliate if the Jewish state were to attack Iranian ... See all stories on this topic: TEHRAN to fulfil nuclear obligations in days: official IranMania News - Iran TEHRAN, May 11 (AFP) - Tehran will complete fulfilling its obligations to a suspicious United Nations atomic watchdog within days, Iran's nuclear point-man ... See all stories on this topic: BUSH'S US considers nuclear non-proliferation `a lost cause' Taipei Times - Taipei,Taiwan As member states to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) wrap up the Third Preparatory Committee meeting for next year's NPT Review Conference from April ... See all stories on this topic: NEW security plans weighed for nuclear weapon sites Chillicothe Gazette - Chillicothe,OH,USA WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Energy Department is considering federalizing security forces at nuclear weapons facilities and plans to remove weapons-usable nuclear ... See all stories on this topic: DEPUTY PM receives Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ... Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam Ha Noi, May 11 (VNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem received visiting Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation ... See all stories on this topic: This daily-once News Alert is brought to you by Google News (BETA)... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Remove this News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts/remove?s=92d1672a1b037a07&hl=en Create another News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en Try Google News: http://news.google.com/ ***************************************************************** 54 Reactor suit nears end [http://www.columbiatribune.com Yelon, UM are negotiating settlement. By NATE CARLISLE of the Tribune’s staff Published Tuesday, May 11, 2004 The University of Missouri and a whistle-blower at the MU Research Reactor in Columbia are nearing a settlement over his banishment from the facility, an attorney said. Yelon Bill Yelon’s civil lawsuit against UM was scheduled to be tried yesterday in U.S. District Court, but his attorney, Michael Berry, said the two parties are completing an out-of-court settlement. "It’s fair to say the case is very close to settling," Berry said yesterday. Berry said the agreement would provide Yelon a "means of assuring he can continue his research" as well as monetary compensation. Berry declined to be more specific but said a confidentiality agreement has not been discussed and any finalized agreement likely would be made public under the state’s Open Meetings and Records Law. Yelon did not respond to requests for an interview. UM did not respond to a request for comment, but it has a policy of not speaking about pending litigation. Yelon’s case can be traced to 1999. That’s when Yelon spoke to the Department of Energy about the level of commercial activity at the reactor. Then-reactor Director Ed Deutsch responded by sending Yelon a disciplinary letter that said such a conversation was not authorized. Yelon retired from his faculty position at the reactor in 2000 after his contract was not renewed, but he returned later to visit with graduate students he was supervising. The scientist has said he initially was allowed inside the facility but after a half-hour was given a letter from the reactor director that said he must be escorted out. In July 2001, Deutsch left the reactor, but Yelon was subsequently denied access by the interim director, Ralph Butler. In December 2002, Yelon filed a two-count complaint in federal court against the university and multiple administrators. The lawsuit claimed the university and the administrators violated Yelon’s right to free speech. Berry said yesterday that he and UM have had settlement talks throughout the pre-trial proceedings but that the discussions intensified in the last few weeks. Yelon’s suit is one of many legal problems that have surrounded the reactor in recent years. On Oct. 22, 2001, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the reactor $3,000 for creating what it called a "chilling effect" where employees were afraid to come forth with concerns. Also in 2001, Deutsch sued Yelon and Ronald Berliner, another former reactor scientist who spoke with federal officials - for defamation in Boone County Circuit Court. Deutsch later dropped that lawsuit but filed separate defamation cases against Berliner in Michigan, Illinois and Tennessee - states where Berliner e-mailed information about Deutsch to colleagues. Deutsch lost the case in Michigan, but an appeal is pending. The Illinois and Tennessee cases are still pending at the circuit-court level. In 2002, Deutsch sued the university for wrongful termination. That case is pending in Boone County. Last year, Tamara Crockett, a former consultant at the research reactor, filed a defamation lawsuit against Eddie Adelstein, an associate professor of pathology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, over an opinion article he wrote that was published in the Tribune. Adelstein wrote that Deutsch paid Crockett $250,000 of university money to establish corporations in which Deutsch and his wife had financial interests. Crockett’s lawsuit calls the claim "false and defamatory." Reach Nate Carlisle at (573) 815-1723 or ncarlisle@tribmail.com. Copyright © 2004 The Columbia Daily Tribune. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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