***************************************************************** 05/28/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.128 ***************************************************************** 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 German and US firms supplied arms to Saddam 2 New York Times: In the Scrapyards of Jordan, Signs of a Looted Iraq 3 AFP: US accuses Iran of trying to intimidate UN nuclear watchdog 4 AU SMH: Target North Korea - BooksReview - 5 Korea Herald: 'N.K.engagement must continue' 6 Washington Times: U.S. to abandon N. Korea project 7 US: Las Vegas SUN: Rehnquist Orders Study After Scalia Flap 8 US: New York Times: Opinion > A Real Nuclear Danger 9 US: TheDay.com: Local Response To Big Disaster Outlined In Plan 10 [NYTr] Israel Arrests Brit Journalist Linked to Vanunu 11 Guardian Unlimited: Briton says he was held in Israeli dungeon 12 BBC: UN continues Libya nuclear probe 13 BBC: UK reporter returns from Israel 14 Xinhuanet: China joins Nuclear Suppliers Group 15 AFP: British journalist complains after release from Israeli detenti 16 AFP: China glad to join nuclear materials export control group 17 The Telegraph - Calcutta: Cong toes BJP nuke line 18 AFP: No signs Libya actually developing atomic weapons NUCLEAR REACTORS 19 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Entergy needs more time to find fuel rods 20 US: NRC: Tennessee Valley Authority; Notice of Withdrawal of Applica 21 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for th 22 US: OCBM: Constellation Applies For Renewal of Nuclear Operating Lic 23 US: IHT: Bulgaria's safe nuclear power deserves justice 24 US: NRC: NRC Honors Four Employees from Lisle Office 25 Xinhuanet: Nuclear plants beneficial, but caution is needed 26 People's Daily: Ling Ao nuclear power station, a great success! 27 US: Advocate: Siting Council OK's spent fuel storage at Millstone 28 US: Wiscasset Newspaper: Maine Yankee, Town Agree To Disagree 29 US: Newsday: Siting Council OK's spent fuel storage at Millstone 30 US: TheDay.com: Dominion Gets permit For 49 storage Units at Millsto 31 US: NRC: NRC Announces Availability of License Renewal Application f NUCLEAR SAFETY 32 Pacific Daily News: Decontamination compensation may expand - 33 US: GI: Downwinder says med staff told him to 'come back when you're NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 34 Las Vegas SUN: NRC chief says Yucca Mountain review might take four 35 Las Vegas RJ: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Deadline worries auditors 36 Las Vegas RJ: Agency chairman predicts four-year review of Yucca 37 US: Tri-City Herald: Waste reclassification fight comes to Hanford 38 Las Vegas SUN: NRC might need more time on Yucca 39 US: Bradenton Herald: Lawyers prepare case for Tallevast 40 US: Bradenton Herald: Full of surprises 41 Bnn: German Consortium to Build EUR48.7 Mln Nuclear Waste Storage in 42 US: heraldtribune.com: Tallevast residents briefed by lawyers 43 Pahrump Valley Times: Nye County and nuclear waste 44 Pahrump Valley Times: Reid renews threats to block bills 45 KVBC: Yucca Mountain Plan Continues Despite Unanswered Questions 46 KVBC: Yucca Mountain Plan Continues Despite Unanswered Questions 47 Pahrump Valley Times: Nevada officials object to drip shields, Yucca 48 Pahrump Valley Times: Contract to Yucca could violate federal laws, NUCLEAR WEAPONS US DEPT. OF ENERGY 49 DOE: Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee 50 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah 51 kgw.com: Cantwell tours Hanford Reach 52 Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald waste to be removed despite challenge t 53 Oak Ridger: Y-12 jobs could be changing 54 Oak Ridger: Unions to present contract offer 55 Oak Ridger: Cleanup contractor cuts staff by 10 56 ONN: Energy Department official says waste removal to begin in mid-J 57 DOE: the establishment of this airspace to support its Mixed-Phased OTHER NUCLEAR 58 Google News Alert - nuclear ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 German and US firms supplied arms to Saddam Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 15:51:25 -0500 (CDT) http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=362566 Leaked report says German and US firms supplied arms to Saddam Baghdad's uncensored report to UN names Western companies alleged to have developed its weapons of mass destruction By Tony Paterson in Berlin 18 December 2002 Iraq's 11,000-page report to the UN Security Council lists 150 foreign companies, including some from America, Britain, Germany and France, that supported Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programme, a German newspaper said yesterday. Berlin's left-wing Die Tageszeitung newspaper said it had seen a copy of the original Iraqi dossier which was vetted for sensitive information by US officials before being handed to the five permanent Security Council members two weeks ago. An edited version was passed to the remaining 10 members of the Security Council last night. British officials said the list of companies appeared to be accurate. Eighty German firms and 24 US companies are reported to have supplied Iraq with equipment and know-how for its weapons programmes from 1975 onwards and in some cases support for Baghdad's conventional arms programme had continued until last year. It is not known who leaked the report, but it could have come from Iraq. Baghdad is keen to embarrass the US and its allies by showing the close involvement of US, German, British and French firms in helping Iraq develop its weapons of mass destruction when the country was a bulwark against the much feared spread of Iranian revolutionary fervour to the Arab world. The list contained the names of long-established German firms such as Siemens as well as US multi-nationals. With government approval, Siemens exported machines used to eliminate kidney stones which have a "dual use" high precision switch used to detonate nuclear bombs. Ten French companies were also named along with a number of Swiss and Chinese firms. The newspaper said a number of British companies were cited, but did not name them. "From about 1975 onwards, these companies are shown to have supplied entire complexes, building elements, basic materials and technical know-how for Saddam Hussein's programme to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction," the newspaper said. "They also supplied rockets and complete conventional weapons systems," it added. The five permanent members of the Security Council the United States, Britain, Russia, France and China have repeatedly opposed revealing the extent of foreign companies' involvement, although a mass of relevant information was collected by UN weapons inspectors who visited the country between 1991 and 1998. The UN claims that publishing the extent of the companies' involvement in Iraq would jeopardise necessary co-operation with such firms. German involvement outstripped that of all the other countries put together, the paper said. During the period to 1991, the German authoritiespermitted weapons co-operation with Iraq and in some cases "actively encouraged" it, according to the newspaper which cited German assistance allegedly given to Iraq for the development of poison gas used in the 1988 massacre of Kurds in northern Iraq. It said that after the massacre America reduced its military co-operation with Iraq but German firms continued their activities until the Gulf War. Die Tageszeitung quoted sources close to the US Vice President, Dick Cheney, as saying the Bush administration was hoping to prove a German company was continuing to co-operate with the Iraqi regime over the supply of equipment allegedly useful in the construction of weapons of mass destruction. American weapons experts have recently voiced concern that the German Government has permitted Siemens to sell Baghdad at least eight sophisticated medical machines which contain devices that are vital for nuclear weapons. The machines, known as "lithotripters", use ultrasound to destroy kidney stones in patients. However, each machine contains an electronic switch that can be used as a detonator in an atomic bomb, according to US experts. Iraq was reported to have requested an extra 120 switches as "spare parts" during the initial transaction. The delivery of the machines was approved by the European Commission and the UN because sanctions against Iraq do not apply to medical equipment. Siemens and the German Government have insisted that the machines, which are being used in northern Iraq under a World Health Organisation programme, cannot be used to make nuclear weapons. ***************************************************************** 2 New York Times: In the Scrapyards of Jordan, Signs of a Looted Iraq Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times Old missile parts remain at a military-industrial site in Baghdad after valuable items were taken away. [Page One: Friday, May 28, 2004] James Glanz/The New York Times Yousseff Wakhian, who works at a scrapyard in Sahab, Jordan, walks past a stack of apparently new steel pipes that were shipped from Iraq. By JAMES GLANZ [S] AHAB, Jordan, May 26 — As the United States spends billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq's civil and military infrastructure, there is increasing evidence that parts of sensitive military equipment, seemingly brand-new components for oil rigs and water plants and whole complexes of older buildings are leaving the country on the backs of flatbed trucks. By some estimates, at least 100 semitrailers loaded with what is billed as Iraqi scrap metal are streaming each day into Jordan, just one of six countries that share a border with Iraq. American officials say sensitive equipment is, in fact, closely monitored and much of the rest that is leaving is legitimate removal and sale from a shattered country. But many experts say that much of what is going on amounts to a vast looting operation. In the past several months, the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna, has been closely monitoring satellite photographs of hundreds of military-industrial sites in Iraq. Initial results from that analysis are jarring, said Jacques Baute, director of the agency's Iraq nuclear verification office: entire buildings and complexes of as many as a dozen buildings have been vanishing from the photographs. "We see sites that have totally been cleaned out," Mr. Baute said. The agency started the program in December, after a steel vessel contaminated with uranium, probably an artifact of Saddam Hussein's pre-1991 nuclear program, turned up in a Rotterdam scrapyard. The shipment was traced to a Jordanian company that was apparently unaware that the scrap contained radioactive material. In the last several weeks, Jordan has again caught the attention of international officials, as pieces of Iraqi metal bearing tags put in place by the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, established to monitor Iraqi disarmament during Mr. Hussein's rule, have been spotted in Jordanian scrapyards. The observation of items tagged by the commission, known as Unmovic, has not been previously disclosed. "Unmovic has been investigating the removal from Iraq of materials that may have been subject to monitoring, and that investigation is ongoing," said Jeff Allen, a spokesman for the commission. "So we've been aware of the issue," he said. "We've been apprised of the details of the Rotterdam incident and have been in touch with Jordanian officials." Recent examinations of Jordanian scrapyards, including by a reporter for The New York Times, have turned up an astounding quantity of scrap metal and new components from Iraq's civil infrastructure, including piles of valuable copper and aluminum ingots and bars, large stacks of steel rods and water pipe and giant flanges for oil equipment — all in nearly mint condition — as well as chopped-up railroad boxcars, huge numbers of shattered Iraqi tanks and even beer kegs marked with the words "Iraqi Brewery." "There is a gigantic salvage operation, stripping anything of perceived value out of the country," said John Hamre, president and chief executive of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonpartisan Washington research institute, which sent a team to Iraq and issued a report on reconstruction efforts at the request of the Pentagon last July. "This is systematically plundering the country," Dr. Hamre said. "You're going to have to replace all of this stuff." The United States contends that the prodigious Middle Eastern trade in Iraqi scrap metal is closely monitored by Iraqi government ministries to ensure that nothing crossing the border poses a security risk or siphons material from new projects. In April, L. Paul Bremer III, the occupation's senior official in Iraq, and the Iraqi Ministry of Trade established rules for licensing the export of scrap metal from the country. The sites now being monitored by the atomic energy agency include former missile factories, warehouses, industrial plants and sites believed to contain "dual use" equipment like high-precision machine tools that could be used either for civilian purposes or for making components for nuclear and other weaponry. Mr. Baute said that the analysis had been completed at about a dozen sites and that the agency was working to prepare a report on the entire monitoring program. Sam Whitfield, a spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority, said that penalties for not obtaining a license or abiding by its terms were severe for a trucker. "If he does not have it or is found to be exporting scrap illegally, not only can his load be seized but his truck can be seized," he said. Mr. Whitfield said that the overall quantity of scrap might not be surprising, considering that there were, for example, an estimated 3,000 damaged tanks and other military vehicles in Iraq as a result of a series of wars. Those vehicles are being legitimately scrapped, he said. "There's huge volumes of scrap out there, just all over Iraq," he said. A senior American intelligence official said the idea that the material to build missiles or nuclear devices might be being exported from the military-industrial sites was "far-fetched." "It's conceivable that some of this material might be dual-use in nature," the official said, adding that "what appears to be happening is simply looting." Mr. Whitfield asserted that the coalition had put a stop to widespread looting in Iraq. But a visit to an enormous scrapyard on the side of a dusty hill surrounded by goat herds in this town about 10 miles southeast of Amman raises serious questions about that assertion. Cranes and men with torches pick through seemingly endless piles of steel, aluminum and copper that workers there say has come almost exclusively from Iraq. On a recent afternoon, roughly 100 trucks, many with yellow Iraqi license plates, were lined up near the entrance to the scrapyard or maneuvering with inches to spare inside, their engines snorting as they kicked up the flourlike dust. Yousseff Wakhian, a scrapyard worker wearing a gray jumpsuit and a cap with a New York Yankees insignia, said that 60 to 100 trucks had come in that day from Iraq and 50 had left with loads of the scrap to be sold elsewhere. Some of the piles contain items that might - or might not - have arrived as part of legitimate scrap operations. There is stripped copper cable from a high-voltage electrical system, jumbled piles of tank treads, big engine blocks and crankshafts and thick steel walls connected to a door with lettering indicating that it was part of a building at an airport. Last year, there were widespread reports of looting of electrical transmission lines and military bases, among other things. But Muhammad al-Dajah, an engineer who is technical director Jordanian free-trade zones like the Sahab scrapyard, pointed with chagrin to piles of other items that hardly looked as if they belonged in a shipment of scrap metal. There were new 15-foot-long bars of carbon steel, water pipes a foot in diameter stacked in triangular piles 10 feet high, and the large flanges he identified as oil-well equipment. "It's still new," Mr. Dajah said, "and worth a lot." "Why are they here?" he asked rhetorically, and then said, referring to the devastation in Iraq. "They need it there." The scrap operation has not been without incident, Mr. Dajah said. A few months ago workers cutting apart an automobile at Zarqa, another free-trade zone, set off a concealed bomb that killed one of them, he said. An Iraqi truck driver at Sahab, Ahmed Zughayer, said the trip from Karbala, where he picked up a load of tank parts that were still piled in the back of his truck, was insufferable because of delays at the Jordanian border. "First time and last," he said when asked how often he had made the trip. "Seven days at the border being inspected. And here two days." Mr. Zughayer said Jordanian military personnel had combed through the load and probed it with detection equipment. Officials at the atomic energy agency said that since the Rotterdam incident, radiation detectors at Iraq's borders had repeatedly picked up generally weak radioactive emissions from deep within loads of scrap. The agency said that in one incident on May 15, radiation detectors began clicking when a truck carrying a load of scrap stopped at the Habur border crossing with Turkey; the truck was turned back. Several Middle Eastern analysts said that the widespread traffic in Iraqi scrap did not have all the hallmarks of an above-board operation. "What we are finding out in Iraq, there are gangs, some of them from the old days, some of them new with corruption, and they can get away with it," said Walid Khadduri, an Iraqi who is editor of the Middle East Economic Survey in Cyprus and was in the country as recently as January. "It is really mayhem," Mr. Khadduri said. "There is no law." Labib Kamhawi, a Jordanian political analyst who has done business in Iraq under the oil-for-food program, said that there was in fact much talk in the business community of deals "to ship new things under the title of scrap." Beyond what has been seen at the scrapyards, Mr. Kamhawi offered no specific evidence that those deals were taking place. But a former high-ranking Jordanian military official said that functioning pieces of, say, sophisticated electronics from surface-to-air missile batteries or precision machine tools almost could not avoid being passed around with scrap, since it is so difficult to destroy such equipment completely. The official also said there was far from just a single Jordanian scrapyard doing a brisk business in Iraqi machinery and scrap. He said that only a few days before, he had seen nearly an entire Russian-made T-55 tank with Iraqi markings, its muzzle cut off by a blowtorch, sitting on a flatbed truck outside a steel plant near the road from Amman to the main commercial airport. On a recent day, the plant, identified on a sign as part of the United Iron and Steel Manufacturing Company, a Jordanian business, had three trucks with Baghdad license plates idling out front. At a tumbledown shack on the way toward piles of steel in the distance, a wiry, weathered security guard with a three-day growth of beard stopped a car carrying an American journalist and two Jordanians. "No, you can't go in," said the guard, who identified himself as Azzam Tamimi. "I have orders." A Jordanian asked Mr. Tamimi what was down among the piles of steel to warrant barring visitors from the area. "Nothing is in there," Mr. Tamimi said. "There is only destroyed Iraqi tanks from the war." Douglas Jehl contributed reporting from Washington for this article. Free Trial of The New York Times Electronic Edition. ***************************************************************** 3 AFP: US accuses Iran of trying to intimidate UN nuclear watchdog [http://www.spacewar.com/] WASHINGTON (AFP) May 27, 2004 The United States on Thursday accused Iran of trying to intimidate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by threatening to enrich more uranium unless the UN nuclear watchdog gives it a clean bill of health. "We don't think it's appropriate to try to intimidate the atomic energy agency or its board into overlooking many failures of Iran to meet its nonproliferation commitments," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. His comments came in response to remarks by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami who said the Islamic republic could resume uranium enrichment if the IAEA gives in to US pressure to censure it for allegedly hiding a nuclear weapons program. "We can at any time reverse our voluntary decisions," Khatami said in Tehran earlier Thursday, referring to agreements to suspend enrichment and ratify the additional protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The United States charges Iran with hiding a program to build the bomb and has called for the IAEA, which has been investigating the Iranian program since February 2003, to refer the country to the UN Security Council for possible international sanctions. Iran categorically denies those allegations, saying its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes. Boucher said the IAEA board of governors, which is due to meet next month on Iran's case and a new report from its director general, should consider the facts carefully and not be swayed by pressure from Tehran. He noted that the agency had already found Iran to have violated its commitments under the NPT and made it difficult for IAEA experts to inspect nuclear facilities. "Tehran has repeatedly failed to declare significant and troubling aspects of its nuclear program," Boucher said. "It's interfered with and suspended inspections. It's failed to cooperate with the IAEA in resolving outstanding issues related to the program. "And Iran has made clear, as shown by (Khatami's) remarks, that Iran doesn't somehow feel bound by its own pledge to suspend all enrichment-related activity," he said. Despite Khatami's threats, he insisted that Iran still wanted to cooperate with the IAEA and said "it is not our intention to disengage from the NPT." IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said last week that Iran's cooperation with the agency had been insufficient, but added that he had not drawn any conclusions over the nature of the country's nuclear program. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 4 AU SMH: Target North Korea - BooksReview - www.smh.com.au [Sydney Morning Herald Online] May 29, 2004 The last battleground of the Cold War is bizarre indeed, but quite rational in its fear of Uncle Sam. Target North Korea Pushing North Korea To The Brink Of Nuclear Catastrophe By Gavan McCormack Random House, 228 pp, $29.95 Strange as it may seem, the people least worried about North Korea's nuclear weapons are the South Koreans. And, according to a survey carried out last year by a Seoul media group, the people most concerned about Pyongyang's nukes and missiles are Australians, who would seem to be well out of range. This exemplary book by one of Australia's leading scholars of East Asia, who also has a gift for lucid writing, explains the conundrum. No one brings greater credentials on the region's violent past century than Gavan McCormack, now a professor at the Australian National University, who has delved deeply into China, Japan and Korea and whose 1983 book Cold War, Hot War gave a disturbing new perspective on the 1950-53 Korean conflict. He takes us on a quick trip back to the horrors of that "total war" such as the South Korean army's mass execution of 1800 prisoners at Taejon, watched by US and Australian officers to explain why North Korea's bizarre regime is not faking or irrational in its fear of the United States. On several occasions the US came close to using nuclear weapons, effectively its monopoly at the time. Amid an air campaign that destroyed nearly all the North's civil infrastructure and buildings, the US kept nuclear fears alive by sending lone bombers on simulated Hiroshima-type bomb runs over Pyongyang, the shattered Northern capital. This crisis has been simmering since the early '90s, when signs emerged that Pyongyang had decided the only way to stand up to the Americans was to possess nuclear weapons. After the 1991 Gulf War, others drew the same conclusion. Washington pushed the issue. Fortunately, by 1994, both sides were willing to compromise on a nuclear freeze, in return for aid from the US and its allies. The South Koreans had said bluntly they would not allow a war in which, according to the US general in charge, 1 million people might have died, including 80,000 to 100,000 Americans. The North was in mourning for its founding father-figure, Kim Il-sung, and transferring the family leadership cult to his son, Kim Jong-il. Suspicion festered. Pyongyang had shut down its known nuclear plants and put them under inspection, but the US thought it was keeping some bombs in a basement. The tamper-proof nuclear power reactors Washington had promised as centrepiece of the aid package never came. Then George Bush jnr arrived in office, talking of pre-emptive strikes, an axis of evil, and his "visceral hatred" of Kim Jong-il for his sybaritic lifestyle during a famine that killed more than a million countrymen. When one of Bush's top Asia hands, James Kelly, came calling in October 2002, North Korean officials allegedly confessed to be working on a nuclear deterrent in self-defence. McCormack wonders how much bluff was involved. Unluckily, he finished this book just before disclosures by the Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, which might have swayed him to believe Kelly. In return for North Korean missiles, Khan allegedly told interrogators, he gave Pyongyang blueprints and starter-kits for centrifuges to enrich uranium to bomb-grade, and also had been shown plutonium-based bombs hidden underground. Treachery? A chance for Pyongyang to proliferate nuclear materials to any hard-currency buyers, as it has with its ballistic missiles? Or the porcupine quills of a cornered regime, abandoned by the Russian and Chinese switch from socialism, trapped in its rigid political cult, and now threatened by a cowboy US president? McCormack sees no future for Kim's bankrupt regime and its criminal, repressive ways. Ironically, for a system built on the pre-1945 struggle against Japanese rule, it has become a mirror of wartime Japanese imperial rule, in which a starving people were psyched into an all-consuming fixation on a deified leader, as resources were diverted to the military. But he also sees panicked self-defence rather than aggression as the motivation. Use of nuclear weapons would be suicidal, conceivable only in desperate last defence. The root cause of the crisis, he thinks, is Korea's brutalised century of foreign occupation and division. The South Koreans, as they reaffirmed in their latest election, feel pity more than fear about their northern counterparts, and seem intent on pursuing their "sunshine" policy of maximum economic and social contact. If and when the two Koreas reunify in the event of a swift, total collapse of the North and with a cost that might run to $US3.2 trillion ($4.6 trillion) the strategic map of East Asia will be remade. Will we see a genuine co-prosperity sphere? Will Japan have gone nuclear in the meantime, as its right stokes public anger over Pyongyang's kidnappings and spy-boat activity? Will US forces be dislodged to new bases in Australia? Australians' nervousness may come down, McCormack observes, to how Cold War constructs about Korea remain in our minds. The North Koreans hardly help, with their repeated images of goose-stepping soldiers, ascending rockets and white-gowned scientists crouched over antiquated dials. But we should be wary about where some of Bush's people and their Canberra allies want to take us. Any near-term fix will need the Chinese. Their relationship with Pyongyang is the biggest gap in McCormack's book, either because so little has emerged about it, or perhaps because it is more tenuous than outsiders think. What we can deduce from Kim's latest visit to Beijing is that Beijing's communists believe he will be around for a while yet. Much of the trip was a time warp: Kim came by train, was driven to a state guesthouse in a vintage "Red Flag" saloon with curtained windows, and fed Peking duck at the same restaurant where his father was entertained. But Kim was also urged to visit South Korea, and pointedly shown around Tianjin, where he would have noticed the logos of Samsung, LG and other South Korean companies on the city's endless factories. Sort yourselves out, the Chinese seem to be saying, too. Hamish McDonald is the Herald's China correspondent. Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald. ***************************************************************** 5 Korea Herald: 'N.K.engagement must continue' 2004.05.29 By Shin Hae-in A former point man on North Korea who was the architect of the "sunshine policy" toward the communist regime yesterday underlined the need for South Korea to continue its policy of engagement toward Pyongyang despite its nuclear threats. Speaking at a breakfast meeting, former Unification Minister Lim Dong-won said the international community's efforts to dismantle the North's nuclear development program must parallel the South's push to improve inter-Korean relations. "Although the nuclear problem will take time to solve, if the South and the North build up an environment of mutual trust, the North's threats of nuclear will die down naturally," Lim told a forum organized by the Korean Council for Unification Education. Under the former Kim Dae-jung government, Lim crafted the sunshine policy aimed at giving diplomatic and economic incentives to the North to induce the Stalinist country to open up its society. The engagement policy helped the two Koreas hold the historic summit meeting in 2000 and start the peace process on the divided peninsula. Ex-President Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize mainly because of the sunshine policy. But Lim and several key aides to Kim were convicted this year of being involved in Hyundai Group's illegal transfer of money to the North ahead of the inter-Korean summit talks. Most of the aides were pardoned through President Roh Moo-hyun's special amnesty this week. Lim said the peacemaking atmosphere since the two Koreas adopted the 1972 July 4 joint communique had gone back down to "zero" due to the South's hardline position to oppose the North's nuclear ambitions. "Because we cornered North Korea down by saying 'either give up the nuclear weapons or we will give you nothing', North Korea felt more insecure, resulting more stubbornness," he said. Lim, who also served as chief of the National Intelligence Service and special adviser on unification to the then President Kim, also emphasized the need for the United States to take part in the process of Korea's peaceful unification. "For the peace of the Korean Peninsula, the interchange of the North and the United States is crucial, and we must continue to work as a bridge." He added that our policy towards North Korea must be backed up by the whole public and all parties' agreement. "Although it is only natural for the nation's opinion to become divided on the North Korea policy matter, the dearest wish of the nation must not be used as a political tactic." "We have more to give out than what North can give us. We must brace North Korea first, instead of asking them to give something in return immediately." (hayney@heraldm.com) ***************************************************************** 6 Washington Times: U.S. to abandon N. Korea project Nation/Politics - May 28, 2004 The Bush administration plans to cancel an international project to build two light-water nuclear reactors for North Korea before the end of the year, State Department officials said. "The U.S. side sees no future for these light-water reactors," one official said yesterday. "Come December 1, it's a dead project." The U.S. position was stated during a closed-door meeting of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) last week in New York. KEDO is made up of representatives of the United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union. A KEDO spokeswoman said the organization agreed during a May 20 meeting to keep in place the suspension of the reactor project. However, canceling the project would require a decision of the KEDO board. Officials say South Korea favors keeping open the possibility of resuming construction of the reactors as a way to influence communist North Korea. KEDO suspended the provision of two light-water reactors in December in response to North Korea's development of a secret uranium-enrichment program, U.S. officials said. The concrete foundation for the reactors was poured in August 2002, two months before North Korea disclosed to a U.S. diplomat that it had violated an agreement not to develop nuclear weapons. The reactors were to be built under the 1994 Agreed Framework that was supposed to have ended all nuclear-weapons development by North Korea. The discovery of Pyongyang's uranium-enrichment program led to a collapse of the Agreed Framework and to the current six-party talks U.S. officials said North Korea raised the issue of the resumption of construction of the reactors during the latest round of talks in Beijing. Pyongyang's chief representative, Li Gun, asked his U.S. counterpart, Joseph DeTrani, at the talks whether the reactors would be built if North Korea abandoned the uranium-enrichment program. He was told that North Korea needed to first agree to dismantle completely all its nuclear weapons programs. Three Republican members of Congress last week wrote a letter to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice urging the administration to withdraw any offer of a reactor to North Korea. The letter stated that the idea of resuming work on the light-water reactors "should be taken off the table immediately." It was signed by California Rep. Christopher Cox, Illinois Rep. Henry J. Hyde and Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl. The members of Congress wrote the letter after the disclosure in The Washington Times that discussions about the light-water reactors had been raised in the Beijing talks. In the letter, the congressmen said North Korea cannot be trusted to abide by its agreements. The discussion of the reactors' construction also was the first time since 2002 that North Korea acknowledged having a uranium-enrichment program. North Korea withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in January 2003 and expelled international inspectors that were monitoring its nuclear sites in December 2002. ***************************************************************** 7 Las Vegas SUN: Rehnquist Orders Study After Scalia Flap By GINA HOLLAND ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has ordered a study of federal judicial ethics, a move that follows intense criticism of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's hunting trip with Vice President Dick Cheney and congressional complaints that judges were lax in policing themselves. A six-member committee appointed by Rehnquist will begin meeting next month, about the time the Supreme Court is expected to rule in a case involving Cheney that generated much of the criticism. Rehnquist named Justice Stephen Breyer, a Clinton appointee, to chair the panel. Supreme Court justices decide for themselves if they have conflicts of interest, and their decisions are final. Separately, a law allows complaints to be lodged alleging federal judges have engaged in "conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts." House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told judicial leaders at a private meeting this spring that judges are not adequately disciplining their colleagues. Sensenbrenner's remarks focused on controversies that arose before the Scalia hunting trip, and Sensenbrenner's allegation that judges swept lapses under the rug. "I decided that the best way to see if there are any real problems is to have a committee look into it," Rehnquist said Tuesday through a court spokesman. Congressional Democrats and many newspaper editorials demanded that Scalia step aside when it was disclosed he took the trip in January with Cheney, on the vice president's plane, three weeks after the court agreed to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a ruling that ordered public disclosure of details of an energy task force chaired by Cheney. Scalia has said he acted as a go-between for a friend in Louisiana who wanted Cheney to join their annual hunting trip. Scalia refused to disqualify himself, saying the case did not come up during the trip, and he could rule fairly. Rehnquist, a Republican who joined the high court in 1972, has defended Scalia, one of the court's staunchest conservatives. Rehnquist told Senate Democrats in a letter in January that any suggestion that Scalia should recuse himself "is ill considered." The American Bar Association is working on new conduct rules to be recommended for judges, to be voted on by the 400,000-member lawyers' group next year. Georgetown University law professor Paul Rothstein predicted the report will spell out better guidelines for federal judges and Supreme Court justices while also addressing misgivings raised by Scalia's case. "Even though they would deny it, the court is mindful that it needs to have good public relations," Rothstein said. Ethical questions have not been limited to Scalia. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has participated in events sponsored by the National Organization for Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union, two groups that are involved in issues at the court. Other members of Rehnquist's committee are Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Senior Judge Pasco M. Bowman of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker of Indiana, all Reagan nominees; U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby of Maine, named to the bench by the first President Bush; and Rehnquist's top aide, Sally M. Rider. It was unclear when the committee would finish its work or what Rehnquist would do with any recommendations. Rehnquist heads the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policy-making board for the federal court system. --- On the Net: Supreme Court: [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/] -- ***************************************************************** 8 New York Times: Opinion > A Real Nuclear Danger Published: May 28, 2004 While the Bush administration has been distracted by the invasion and occupation of Iraq, it has neglected the far more urgent threat to American security from dangerous nuclear materials that must be safeguarded before they can fall into the hands of terrorists. That is the inescapable conclusion to be drawn from a new report that documents the slow pace of protecting potential nuclear bomb material at loosely guarded sites around the world. The report — prepared by researchers at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard — does not directly blame the invasion of Iraq for undermining that effort. It simply notes that less nuclear material was secured in the two years immediately after the 9/11 attacks than in the two years before. That is a sad turnabout, given that President Bush has spoken vigorously of the need for greater nuclear security and that the United States had done more than any other government to address the threat. The most plausible explanation is that the administration has focused so intensely on Iraq, which posed no nuclear threat, that it had little energy left for the real dangers. Indeed, the Harvard researchers said that if a tenth of the effort and resources devoted to Iraq in the last year was devoted to securing nuclear material wherever it might be, the job could be accomplished quickly. Fortunately, the administration has begun accelerating its efforts in at least one critical area. This week, the energy secretary, Spencer Abraham, announced a $450 million campaign to retrieve nuclear materials that the United States and the Soviet Union had sent around the world for research purposes. Highly enriched uranium is scattered at some 130 research reactors in more than 40 countries, often guarded by little more than a night watchman and a chain-link fence. Dozens of these sites have enough material to make a bomb. The accelerated retrieval effort has rightly been praised by groups seeking to control nuclear proliferation, but many experts warn that more needs to be done to speed up a process that will take years to complete. The biggest danger point remains Russia, where huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons and materials usable in weapons became vulnerable to theft and smuggling with the breakup of the Soviet Union. Although the United States and Russia are cooperating on a program to safeguard dangerous materials and have fixed some of the most glaring vulnerabilities, only a fifth of the dangerous nuclear material not in weapons has been protected by comprehensive security upgrades, an appallingly sluggish performance. The effort has been slowed by clashes over American access to critical sites and arguments over who would be liable in an accident. Meanwhile, an ambitious campaign begun by the G-8 nations to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction has been slow to get off the ground, despite pledges of $10 billion from the United States and $7 billion from other nations. Faster progress will require the sustained, personal involvement of Presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin, who have the power to sweep away bureaucratic obstacles. They need to make the issue a priority when the G-8 meets next month. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company ***************************************************************** 9 TheDay.com: Local Response To Big Disaster Outlined In Plan Report Details Clearing Of Debris, Treatment Of Mass Casualties By PAUL CHOINIERE Norwich Bureau Chief Published on 5/27/2004 Norwich  A proposed emergency management plan could effectively coordinate major disaster response throughout southeastern Connecticut, its authors said Wednesday, provided the region gets an emergency communications system usable by all the key responders. The Regional Emergency Management Plan for the Southeastern Connecticut Region is an outgrowth of the lessons learned from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The events of that day prompted federal, state and local leaders to seek better coordination of emergency services to respond to large-scale terrorist attacks. The 44-member Regional Emergency Management Plan Steering Committee, chaired by Norwich Fire Department Chief James F. Walsh, spent more than a year preparing the 173-page report and presented it Wednesday to the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments. SECCOG, made up of leaders from the towns, tribes and cities from throughout New London County, expects to formally adopt the plan when it meets again next month. A list of potential terrorist targets is listed in the report, but that information is being withheld from the public for security reasons. Local officials have long acknowledged the region is target rich, including the nuclear reactors and radioactive waste storage facilities at Millstone Power Station in Waterford, the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos and the Naval Submarine Base in Groton. Following emergency planning techniques in use at the federal and state levels in the wake of 9-11, the report outlines 18 Regional Emergency Support Functions to be called upon in the event of a large-scale natural disaster or terrorist attack. These functions include such diverse aspects as engineering for debris clearing; mass care for people in emergency or make-shift shelters; and donations management to ensure contributions during and after a disaster are properly applied and that records are kept. A Southeastern Connecticut Emergency Management Committee would be created to implement the report's guidelines. One or more people would have responsibility over each one of the 18 support functions, making sure plans are in place prior to a disaster and seeing that they are carried out appropriately when disaster strikes. The intent is to make sure there is no confusion or squabbling over who is responsible for what as the region responds to a terrorist attack, major hurricane or other devastating event, Walsh said. The report includes a recommendation for two regional emergency communication centers and a mobile center. While no locations are recommended in the report, these centers would likely be installed at existing emergency dispatch locations. The need for redundancy in communications became evident in the 9-11 attacks, Walsh said, when New York City immediately lost its emergency operations center, which was located at the World Trade Center. While the current communications system would allow about a dozen emergency response directors to communicate during a regional event, the region needs a system that would allow all personnel to communicate on the same channels, Walsh said. The cost of such a system has not been determined. The state is expected to expend about $32 million in federal funding on preparedness over the next year. Under the current spending formula, about $500,000 would be earmarked for the three largest communities in the region: Groton, New London and Norwich. The formula has not been finalized. It will be up to the new committee to plan for the communications system, come up with the funding to pay for it and implement it, Walsh said. p.choiniere@theday.com The Day Publishing Company 1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 10 [NYTr] Israel Arrests Brit Journalist Linked to Vanunu Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 17:52:43 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Israel Arrests British Journalist Who Interviewed Vanunu Australian Broadcasting Corporation http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1117251.htm Israeli police yesterday arrested a visiting British journalist who in 1986 exposed the Jewish state's most sensitive military secrets in an interview with nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu. Witnesses said plainclothes policemen met Peter Hounam at his Jerusalem hotel, bundled him off in a car and searched his room. A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister's office, which oversees Israel's security services, confirmed the arrest. A government gag order prevented release of further details in the case. According to the web site of the leading Yedioth Aharonoth newspaper, Hounam was being questioned on suspicion of committing "security offences". In 1986, Hounam secured an exclusive interview with Vanunu, a former technician at the Israeli atomic reactor in Dimona. His story in Britain's Sunday Times led independent analysts to conclude Israel had stockpiled as many as 400 nuclear weapons. Israel abducted Vanunu and jailed him for 18 years. Hounam came to Israel for Vanunu's release last month and has since spent time with him in a Jerusalem church despite government restrictions on Vanunu's contacts with the press. A spokeswoman for Britain's Foreign Office confirmed they were looking into the arrest. *** The Western Mail (Wales) May 27 2004 http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0700world/tm_objectid=14279172&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=israeli-gag-order-on--uk-reporter-s-arrest-name_page.html THE British journalist who interviewed nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu in the 1980s has been arrested in Israel, it emerged tonight. Israel Radio reported that Peter Hounam was arrested but no other details were given because of a gagging order. Mr Vanunu gave The Sunday Times information and photographs from Israel's top secret Dimona nuclear reactor in 1986. The newspaper published an extensive article by Hounam that led experts to determine that Israel had a large arsenal of nuclear weapons. Mr Vanunu, now aged 50, spent 18 years in an Israeli prison for espionage and treason before his release on April 21. Sunday Times foreign editor Sean Ryan tonight said 60-year-old Hounam arrived in Israel on April 16 to cover Vanunu's release for the newspaper. "I understand he has been arrested and he has been taken away from his hotel," he said. "We are trying to establish exactly what the situation is, where he is now and why he has been detained." Hounam, now a freelance journalist based in Perthshire, Scotland, was staying in Jerusalem at the time of his arrest. He was working on a documentary on Israel for the BBC. Israeli officials were not available for comment. Mr Vanunu is currently banned from travelling abroad, speaking with foreigners or approaching Israeli ports or borders. He also is barred from discussing his work at Israel's nuclear reactor. * To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit: http://tania.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 11 Guardian Unlimited: Briton says he was held in Israeli dungeon | Special reports | Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv and Duncan Campbell Friday May 28, 2004 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] A British journalist released from Israeli custody yesterday said that he had been held in a dungeon with excrement on the walls following his arrest on suspicion of espionage. Peter Hounam was detained on Wednesday by the Israeli security agency on suspicion that he had obtained classified information from Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli technician who was jailed after revealing Israel's nuclear capabilities to the world. The journalist was released on condition that he leave Israel within 24 hours, and will not be allowed to return . Speaking outside the Jerusalem jail where he had been held, Hounam said Israel should be ashamed of itself for arresting him. He complained of being kept overnight in solitary confinement in a "dungeon with excrement on the walls" and limited to two hours' sleep. Hounam, 60, said he was questioned for more than four hours by Israeli security. "They accused me of spying on nuclear secrets and aggravated espionage. It is laughable," he said. Senior sources at the security agency Shin Bet said that Hounam had organised a covert operation to interview Mr Vanunu in breach of his release regulations. After 18 years in prison, Mr Vanunu was released last month, but was forbidden from speaking about his work at Israel's nuclear reactor and from contact with foreigners. Hounam was the Sunday Times journalist who interviewed Vanunu in 1986 and then published his revelations of Israel's nuclear programme. According to Shin Bet, Hounam paid an Israeli woman, Yael Lotan, £1,000 to interview Mr Vanunu on his behalf. Hounam, with the help of BBC employees, edited and duplicated the tapes. Shin Bet said they had retrieved five copies of the interview but were not sure if other copies had been smuggled out of the country or distributed via the internet. Shin Bet's source said that the interview focused on Mr Vanunu's history, from his childhood to his work at Israel's nuclear facility in the Negev desert. The tapes were still to be analysed to see if Mr Vanunu revealed any secrets or broke Israeli law, the source said. Mr Vanunu could be made to return to prison if he is deemed to have broken any of the conditions for his release. Hounam denied that Mr Vanunu had passed on any secrets. "All the information that Mordechai Vanunu knew about in 1986 was published at the time," Hounam said. "He has no more secrets, and it's time the authorities here realised that." He added: "The key fight is the fight to get Mordechai Vanunu the right to leave this country, start a new life in America, if that's where he wants to go, and stop these ridiculous restrictions." Seeking to track to down all copies of the interview, Shin Bet also detained Chris Mitchell, a BBC journalist, as he tried to leave Israel with tapes of the interview. Hiyari Sadi, a British free lance journalist, "consented" to give Shin Bet his copies of the interview, the security sources said. Hounam was arrested in Tel Aviv on Wednesday as he was on his way to meet a peace activist. He has been in Israel since Mr Vanunu's release, working with a television crew making a film for the BBC about the case. Mr Vanunu is barred from leaving Israel for at least a year and is staying in St George's Anglican cathedral in Jerusalem. He has received death threats and is anxious to settle in the US with his adoptive parents. Yesterday Hounam's wife, Hilarie, said from the couple's home in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, that he was "overjoyed" to be released. She said she believed the arrest sprang from the Israeli authorities' continuing campaign against Mr Vanunu. "They know he has no more secrets," she said. "It's vengeance, isn't it?" Hounam angered the Israeli authorities by publishing the identity of the Mossad agent who lured Mr Vanunu to Italy where he was kidnapped, drugged, bound and shipped back to Israel. In his book, The Woman from Mossad, Hounam identified the woman as Cheryl Bentov and tracked her down to Florida. Donatella Rovera, an Amnesty International researcher, witnessed Mr Hounam's arrest in the garden of the Jerusalem Hotel. "Peter Hounam was brought into the garden by five plain-clothes members of the security forces or police," she said. "He broke away from them and ran over to my table. He looked very concerned and just had the time to tell me: 'I am being arrested, please tell the Sunday Times, please let people know'." The Foreign Press Association, which represents international news organisations in Israel, welcomed Hounam's release but said the arrest of journalists was "a most dangerous threat to any democracy". Hounam's lawyer, Avigdor Feldman, called the detention a farce, and said he had not violated any of the restrictions on Mr Vanunu. "He was arrested as part of the security establishment's never-ending obsession with Vanunu," he said. World news guide Israel Middle East Timeline A chronology of events in the Middle East [http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,630014,00.html] [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 12 BBC: UN continues Libya nuclear probe Last Updated: Friday, 28 May, 2004 [Core of Libya's Tajura nuclear reactor, east of Tripoli] Libya has opened up its research facilities to international inspection The UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has said questions remain about Libya's nuclear weapons programme, despite its promise last December to scrap it. In a confidential report, the IAEA said it was happy with Libya's co-operation but that investigations must continue. It said some of Libya's nuclear equipment had been contaminated with highly enriched uranium, which can be used to make nuclear weapons. But it said there was no evidence Libya had begun building a nuclear warhead. It also said it was surprising Libya had not acted on the weapons design information it possessed, given the substantial effort it was devoting to uranium enrichment. Black market The leaked report linked Libya to an international black market in nuclear equipment run by the Pakistani scientist AQ Khan. The IAEA said it found the uranium on centrifuges which Libya bought on the black market network. "It is clear... that the existence of this procurement 'network' was of decisive importance in Libya's clandestine nuclear weapons programme," the report said, according to Reuters news agency. The finding could support Iran's insistence that bomb-grade uranium found on its centrifuges last year came from the black market. The report also noted that a container of components of an advanced kind of centrifuge arrived in Libya in March this year, several months after Tripoli announced it was giving up nuclear weapons. Libya notified the agency of the arrival of the container and it was shipped out of the country. ***************************************************************** 13 BBC: UK reporter returns from Israel Last Updated: Friday, 28 May, 2004 [Peter Hounam with Mary and Nick Eoloff] Peter Hounam (left) with Mr Vanunu's adoptive parents A British reporter arrested in Israel on Wednesday has returned to the UK. Peter Hounam, 60, arrived at Heathrow airport on Friday evening after spending a day in custody in Tel Aviv. The journalist, who exposed Israel's atomic secrets in a newspaper article in 1986, was in the country to make a BBC documentary. The source of his original story, Mordechai Vanunu, was freed from an Israeli jail on 21 April after serving an 18-year sentence for spying. Israeli authorities eventually released Mr Hounam on Thursday and gave him a day to leave the country. Mr Hounam, who lives in Perthshire, Scotland, said Israel should be "ashamed of itself" for arresting him and he said he was angry that he was held in solitary confinement. Atomic secrets He made headlines when he interviewed Vanunu and exposed Israel's atomic secrets in a newspaper article in 1986. Under the terms of his release, Vanunu is forbidden from giving interviews about his work as a technician at Israel's nuclear reactor in Dimona. Currently, he cannot leave Israel as the authorities say he still possesses state secrets. But the 50-year-old says he has nothing to reveal. Colleagues of Mr Hounam claim he was arrested by the Shin Bet security service in Tel Aviv. At the time, he was said to be heading to a dinner meeting with Yael Lotan, an anti-nuclear activist who had lobbied for Mr Vanunu's release. Mr Hounam's lawyer, Avigdor Feldman, said he had not violated any of the restrictions on Mr Vanunu and called the arrest a farce. ***************************************************************** 14 Xinhuanet: China joins Nuclear Suppliers Group www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2004-05-28 17:48:12 by Chen Gang BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The annual conference of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) agreed in Gothenburg, Sweden on Friday to accept C hina as a member of the organization, a source with the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense told Xinhua here. "China's accession to the NSG contributes tremendously to the international non-proliferation effort," said the commission's Vice Minister Zhang Huazhu here Friday. Founded in 1975, the NSG is an unofficial organization of nuclear capable countries exercising control on nuclear exports. It was made up of 40 member states before China's accession, including the United States, Britain, France and Russia. "China supports the NSG's positive role, objectives and principles in nuclear non-proliferation," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Thursday at a press conference. China applied to join the NSG on Jan. 26 this year. In 1984, China joined the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and in1992 China joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). China's NSG accession not only enhances the universality and effectiveness of the international nuclear non-proliferation mechanism, but is helpful for the construction of global non-proliferation systems, said Zhang. As a nuclear power and IAEA member, China has consistently been supporting and taking an active part in international cooperation against nuclear proliferation, he said, noting that since 1984, China has joined several international treaties and organizations on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials. China in 1989 signed an international treaty on nuclear material protection, and in 1997, China enacted laws to regulate nuclear material export. China is now rectifying its domestic laws and regulations on nuclear exports so as to meet the international standards of the NSG, according to official sources. China pursues a policy of not advocating, encouraging or engaging in the proliferation of nuclear weapons, nor helping other countries to develop nuclear weapons, Zhang said. China's nuclear exports will strictly follow the principle of peaceful use and IAEA's supervision, he acknowledged, adding that the non-proliferation effort of nuclear weapons should not harm other countries, especially developing countries' right to use nuclear energy peacefully. Under current circumstances, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction is conducive to the international and regional peace and security as well as the common interest of the international community, Zhang said. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 15 AFP: British journalist complains after release from Israeli detention [http://www.spacewar.com/] JERUSALEM (AFP) May 27, 2004 British journalist Peter Hounam, who exposed the revelations of nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu in 1986, protested that he was "not a spy" after being released by Israeli police late Thursday. The journalist walked free from a Jerusalem prison some 24 hours after his arrest and immediately complained to waiting journalists of mistreatment. Senior Israeli security officials said late Thursday in Tel Aviv that Hounam would be expelled from the Jewish state "with his consent" and return to London on Friday, and that he would be barred from ever returning to the country. "I'm not a spy on nuclear things ... I do not think that they (the Israeli security forces) did a very good job," the former Sunday Times reporter said. "I've been through some difficult experiences," he said, complaining that he had been deprived of sleep and prevented from speaking to his wife. The leader of the House of Commons Peter Hain told the British parliament earlier Thursday that the government in London was "very concerned" about the arrest and had sought more information from Israel. Hounam, who broke the Vanunu story in Britain's Sunday Times in 1986, was arrested late Wednesday in Jerusalem by Israel's Shin Beth internal security services, officials said. The British journalist's arrest came a month after Vanunu, a former technician at the Dimona nuclear plant in southern Israel, walked free after 18 years in prison for revealing secrets about the Jewish state's nuclear program. Hounam, who left the Sunday Times a few years ago and now works as a freelance journalist, reported on Vanunu's April release for the British newspaper and was working on a documentary for the BBC. Senior security officials said he had secured an exclusive interview with Hounam for the BBC, in violation of Israeli restrictions on Vanunu, who is barred from talking to foreigners without prior security service authorization. Vanunu's requests to meet with Hounam were denied, the officials said. To get around the ban, they alleged, Hounam asked a pro-Vanunu Israeli activist, Yael Lotan, to conduct the interview with Vanunu on his behalf, and coached her through the three-hour session last Saturday. Israeli officials have thus far confiscated five videocassettes containing excerpts of the interview, but admitted they did not know how many copies existed. The security officials added that the investigation was ongoing, and that they were reviewing the tapes to see if Vanunu had violated restrictions that forbid him from speaking about his work at the Dimona plant. When asked why Vanunu had not been detained, officials said they would question him when and if the time were right. Hounam was arrested while en route to a meeting in Tel Aviv with Lotan, according to media reports. The agents subsequently escorted Hounam to his Jerusalem hotel, searched his room, confiscated various documents and then took him away for further questioning, the Haaretz newspaper reported. Amnesty International researcher Donatella Rovera, who witnessed the scene at the hotel, told army radio that Hounam was taken away by "five plainclothes security service agents". "As they were taking him away to an unknown destination, he told me he had been arrested and that I must alert The Sunday Times and other media," Rovera said. Vanunu was abducted by Israeli secret service agents in Italy, smuggled back to Israel and then jailed in 1986 after leaking top-secret details about the Dimona plant to the Sunday Times. He was freed on April 21 after 18 years in prison, but is now subject to a series of sweeping restrictions, including a ban on travelling abroad as well as holding unauthorized meetings with foreigners. Britain's ambassador to Israel, Simon McDonald, held talks Thursday with Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid, Israeli and British officials said, at which the Hounam issue was raised. The BBC also expressed concern about Hounam's arrest, but did not release any information about the content of its planned documentary. "I don't know why Peter Hounam was arrested but this is obviously just a new episode in the campaign to persecute Mordechai Vanunu," the whistleblower's brother, Meir, told AFP. An opposition Labor member of the Israeli parliament, Yuli Tamir, condemned Hounam's detention, saying: "This arrest is dangerous for democracy." Israel has never acknowledged having a nuclear arsenal but foreign experts believe it has produced between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 16 AFP: China glad to join nuclear materials export control group [http://www.spacewar.com/] BEIJING (AFP) May 28, 2004 China congratulated itself Friday after it was admitted to an international body charged with combating nuclear proliferation stemming from civil power exports. "The member states supported the entry of China, which shows that they recognise the efforts made by China in recent years to prevent proliferation," said a statement by the spokesman of Foreign Affairs Minister Liu Jianchao after the country joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). China strictly followed the NSG's principles for the control of exports of nuclear products for dual civil and military use, the statement added. China's applied to join the organisation in January. Founded in 1974, the NSG sets out rules prohibiting all exports of nuclear technology and materials except those for civil use. China's admission to the group means all five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- China, the United States, Russia, Britain and France -- are part of the NSG. All EU countries, Japan, Brazil, Argentina and China are also members. South Korea currently holds the presidency. The Chinese Ministry of Trade reported this week that two Chinese companies were punished for infringing rules on exporting missile technology. Washington has long asked Beijing to strengthen its controls on nuclear proliferation. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 17 The Telegraph - Calcutta: Cong toes BJP nuke line Friday, May 28, 2004 OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT New Delhi, May 27: The Congress appears to have, after years of resistance, accepted the BJP’s line on nuclear weapons. The United Progressive Alliance government led by the Congress is committed to “maintaining a credible nuclear weapons programme”, according to the final version of the common minimum programme that the Congress and the Left parties, their strong anti-nuclear stand notwithstanding, have accepted. Desperate attempts have been made to sugarcoat India’s nuclear stand. The coalition has said it will “evolve demonstrable and verifiable confidence-building measures” with all the nuclear neighbours. It has also claimed to take the “leadership role” in promoting universal, nuclear disarmament and working for a nuclear weapons-free world. The Congress, while in the Opposition, had been critical of the May 1998 Pokhran II tests conducted by the BJP-led government. The Congress had conducted nuclear tests in 1974, which were described as “peaceful nuclear explosion”, under Indira Gandhi’s prime ministership. But the party had all along argued that India’s interests were served better by maintaining its “nuclear ambiguity” rather than removing the nuclear veil. A course correction in the party was first seen some months before the polls. The wording in the Congress manifesto on its nuclear stand is almost identical to what has been said in the UPA’s common minimum programme. Now the Congress-led coalition has accepted a line that was articulated by the BJP. Though the stress of the UPA document is on “verifiable and demonstrable” nuclear confidence-building measures with India’s neighbours, even this seems hardly an improvement from what the NDA had talked about. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee rode the peace bus to Lahore in February 1999 to improve relations with Pakistan, the two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear confidence-building measures. However, talks were stalled because of the Kargil conflict and the deterioration of relations between the two sides and are scheduled to take place in the next few days. The Congress-led government has said there will also be no fundamental shift on other foreign policy issue, including West Asia and India’s relations with its neighbours and other key countries. Copyright © 2002 The Telegraph. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 AFP: No signs Libya actually developing atomic weapons : IAEA [http://www.spacewar.com/] VIENNA (AFP) May 28, 2004 UN nuclear inspectors have not found any "specific facilities" in Libya dedicated to developing atomic weapons, according to a confidential report released to diplomats in Vienna Friday. Libya has agreed to dismantle its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and has handed over weapons blueprints but "to date, the (International Atomic Energy) Agency's inspections have not led to the finding of specific facilities related to nuclear weapon component design, manufacturing or testing," said the report. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 19 Brattleboro Reformer: Entergy needs more time to find fuel rods [http://www.reformer.com/] May 28, 2004 Brattleboro, VT By CAROLYN LORIÉ Reformer Staff BRATTLEBOR0 -- Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee will not complete its search for the two segments of missing fuel by the end of this month as originally projected. According to company spokesman Rob Williams, the scope of the search has been expanded. Originally, Entergy officials said that 65 former employees would be interviewed. That has now been increased to 100. The company is also reviewing its records, especially shipping records, as the fuel was most likely shipped out with low-level waste. The two highly radioactive segments of fuel were placed in a canister in 1979, after a fuel rod assembly came apart. The two pieces were discovered missing on April 20, after the canister that was supposed to house them was opened and found empty. Earlier this month, Entergy sent a letter to the former owners of the Vernon plant, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp., claiming that VYNPC is liable for all the costs associated with the missing fuel. Entergy Nuclear, based in Louisiana, purchased Vermont Yankee from VYNPC in July 2002. Bruce Wigget, president of the VYNPC, said the company was still studying the letter but disagreed with Entergy's interpretation of the sale purchase agreement. Although Entergy Nuclear signed an agreement at the time of the sale taking on the liability associated with the plant, Williams said that the agreement included exceptions. Williams said he could not discuss the specifics of the contract that Entergy was relying on for its interpretation. However, under the heading "Excluded Liabilities" in the sale agreement it states that Entergy will not assume responsibility for "any fines, penalties or costs imposed by a Governmental Authority...arising out of the acts or omission of the Seller or its employees, agents or contractors occurring on or prior to the Closing or...any illegal acts, willful misconduct or gross negligence of the Seller or its employees, agents or contractors...." "That clearly would cover this situation," said Patrick Parenteau, professor at Vermont Law School. Diane Screnci, spokeswoman for Region I of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said that the agency does not get involved in disputes between companies. If the NRC does ultimately issue a fine, she said, it is Entergy that will be fined. The company, however, would most likely demand that VYNPC assume the burden. It may eventually get ironed out in court. In other Vermont Yankee news, the NRC has accepted a petition filed by the anti-nuclear watchdog group the New England Coalition. The petition, filed on April 22, requested that the movement of all fuel stop at the plant until a full inventory of the fuel, including that in the reactor, was completed and verified by the NRC. Vermont Yankee was in its refueling outage when the petition was filed but, according to the NRC, the reactor was already closed by the time the petition was received. The coalition then amended its petition, asking that all the accessible fuel be accounted for. By accepting the petition, the NRC is not supporting the coalition's claim but allowing that it warrants review by the agency. Once the NRC issues a formal letter accepting the petition, it has 120 days to respond with a proposal. Copyright ©1999-2004 New England Newspapers, Inc., a ***************************************************************** 20 NRC: Tennessee Valley Authority; Notice of Withdrawal of Application FR Doc 04-12099 [Federal Register: May 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 104)] [Notices] [Page 30731] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28my04-116] for Amendment to Facility Operating License The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has granted the request of Tennessee Valley Authority (the licensee) to withdraw its December 13, 2002, application for proposed amendment to Facility Operating License No. NPF-90 for the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN), Unit 1, located in Rhea County, Tennessee. The proposed amendment would have revised the WBN Unit 1, Technical Specifications to add two new sections, 3.7.16, ``Shutdown Board Room (SDBR) Air Conditioning System (ACS),'' and 3.7.17, ``Elevation 772.0 480 Volt Board Room Air Conditioning (AC) systems.'' The Commission had previously issued a Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment published in the Federal Register on March 18, 2003 (68 FR 12958). However, by letter dated April 30, 2004, the licensee withdrew the proposed change. For further details with respect to this action, see the application for amendment dated December 13, 2002, and the licensee's letter dated April 30, 2004, which withdrew the application for license amendment. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O-1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, 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] . 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 in Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of May, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Manny M. Comar, Project Manager, Section 2, Project Directorate II, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-12099 Filed 5-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 21 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for the FR Doc 04-12100 [Federal Register: May 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 104)] [Notices] [Page 30731] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28my04-115] [[Page 30731]] Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Notice of the OMB review of information collection and solicitation of public comment. SUMMARY: The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the following proposal for the collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Revision. 2. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 314, Certificate of Disposition of Materials. 3. The form number if applicable: NRC Form 314. 4. How often the collection is required: The form is submitted once, when a licensee terminates its license. 5. Who will be required or asked to report: Persons holding an NRC license for the possession and use of radioactive byproduct, source, or special nuclear material who are ceasing licensed activities and terminating the license. 6. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 310. 7. The estimated number of annual respondents: 310. 8. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 155. 9. An indication of whether section 3507(d), Pub. L. 104-13 applies: N/A. 10. Abstract: NRC Form 314 furnishes information to NRC regarding transfer or other disposition of radioactive material by licensees who wish to terminate their licenses. The information is used by NRC as part of the basis for its determination that the facility has been cleared of radioactive material before the facility is released for unrestricted use. A copy of the final supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comm ent/omb/index.html] . The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by June 28, 2004. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date. OMB Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150- 0028), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be submitted by telephone at (202) 395-3087. The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda Jo. Shelton, (301) 415-7233. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of May, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer. [FR Doc. 04-12100 Filed 5-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 22 OCBM: Constellation Applies For Renewal of Nuclear Operating Licenses Oswego County Business Magazine [http://www.oswegocountybusiness.com] Submitted by Constellation Energy Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced that its subsidiary, Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, has filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the renewal of operating licenses for Units One and Two of the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station. Constellation Energy operates both units, and owns 100 percent of Unit One and 82 percent of Unit Two. Long Island Power Authority owns 18 percent of Unit Two. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 provides for the option to renew nuclear operating licenses for an additional 20 years after expiration. The Act also requires renewal applications to be submitted at least five years prior to the expiration of a current license. The current operating license for Nine Mile Unit One expires in 2009, and Unit Two in 2026. “Nine Mile Point is a critical piece of New York State’s infrastructure and a source of safe and economic electricity for the millions of people who call the Northeast home,” said James Spina, Constellation Energy’s site vice president at Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station. “By filing an application that covers both units at this time, Constellation Energy is ensuring Nine Mile Point’s long-term viability for years to come.” A critical source of electricity for both the region and the state, Nine Mile Point has a generation capacity of 1,757 megawatts, or enough energy to supply two million households annually. In addition to the energy benefits of Nine Mile Point, the Oswego County economy continues to benefit from the 1,300 jobs the station provides and the nearly $30 million tax revenues paid annually to the Town of Scriba, Oswego County and the City of Oswego School District. An experienced nuclear operator, Constellation Energy also benefits from significant intellectual capital stemming from its lengthy experience as a successful operator of other nuclear plants. Constellation Energy holds the distinction of being the first energy company in the nation to be granted license renewal by the NRC for its Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in southern Maryland. In addition to its Nine Mile Point and Calvert Cliffs nuclear facilities, Constellation Energy plans to complete its acquisition of the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant near Rochester, N.Y., in June 2004. Nine Mile Point’s license renewal process is expected to take two or more years and draw upon years of analysis, studies and inspections. Also included is a comprehensive review of the plant’s ability to continue to meet all applicable environmental standards. FACTS ABOUT LICENSE RENEWAL ¨ Commercial nuclear power plants are licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 40-year terms as specified by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The Act also provides for the option to renew operating licenses for an additional 20 years. ¨ A nuclear power reactor owner may apply to renew its license as early as 20 years or up to five years before the expiration of its current license. The license for Nine Mile One expires in 2009 and Nine Mile Unit Two expires in 2026. ¨ The government regulations for nuclear plant license renewal focus on one basic question: Can the plant continue to operate safely in the renewal period? The license renewal process is designed to assess whether a reactor can continue to operate safely during the extended period. In addition, the plant needs to demonstrate to the NRC that it can manage the aging effects adequately during the renewal term. ¨ Nuclear power plants are subject to a rigorous program of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) oversight, inspection, preventive and corrective maintenance, equipment replacement, and extensive equipment testing. These programs ensure that nuclear plant equipment continues to meet safety standards, no matter how long the plant has been operating. ¨ Applications for license renewal draw upon years of analysis, studies and inspections. They also include a comprehensive review of the plant’s relationship/stewardship of the environment to ensure the owner can continue to meet all applicable standards. ¨ Public participation is an important part of the license renewal process. There are several opportunities for members of the public to ask questions and there is information available through the NRC during the entire process. ¨ The NRC has already renewed the licenses of 14 reactors and is currently reviewing applications for 16 reactors. The agency expects to receive renewal applications for 25 more reactors by 2006. Constellation Energy ( [http://www.constellation.com/] ), is a Fortune 500 company based in Baltimore. It owns and operates a diversified fleet of 35 power plants in 12 states. The company delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central Maryland. In 2003, the combined revenues of the integrated energy company totaled $9.7 billion. Copyright © Oswego County Business ***************************************************************** 23 IHT: Bulgaria's safe nuclear power deserves justice John B. Ritch IHT Friday, May 28, 2004 An EU ultimatum LONDON Surprising as it may seem, Bulgaria has emerged as a European energy powerhouse and a key supplier of cleanly generated electricity to its neighbors. Equally surprising - and disappointing - is the European Commission's effort to blackmail Bulgaria in a way that will undermine this capacity. Exported Bulgarian kilowatts have become crucial for the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and Greece will need Bulgaria's cross-border transmissions in August during the Olympics. When last summer's heat wave hit southeast Europe, Bulgaria was the only country helping to offset regional shortages. Half of Bulgaria's electricity comes from nuclear reactors, as compared to 30 percent in Europe overall. Among countries just joining or waiting to join the European Union, Bulgaria's nuclear sector is the largest. In recent years, Bulgaria upgraded this asset while instilling a rigorous safety culture. The International Atomic Energy Agency rates Bulgaria's nuclear standards and practices on a par with those in Western Europe. Bulgaria's strategy also supports European goals on climate protection. Nuclear reactors produce virtually no pollution or greenhouse gases. This energy success story owes much to EU aid and expertise. Bulgaria upheld its side of the bargain in 2002 by deactivating two old-model reactors to comply with EU demands. These reactors still produced electricity safely in large quantity, and shutting them was a painful sacrifice by the Sofia government on the road to EU partnership. Now, however, the European Commission insists that two much newer power plants be shut down in 2006 - well short of normal life spans - as a condition of Bulgaria's scheduled accession to the EU in 2007. Construction of advanced replacement reactors will take at least until 2010, raising the specter of a serious energy gap that can only be filled, if at all, by burning high-carbon coal with a severe impact on human health and the environment. Safety is not the real issue. None of Bulgaria's four operating reactors resembles the unsafe type involved in the 1986 accident at Chernobyl. IAEA inspectors have repeatedly concluded that Bulgaria's reactors meet "all contemporary requirements and best practices for safe operation of nuclear power plants" of their vintage. Instead, the looming crisis arises from an arbitrary EU deadline that could rupture energy supply for Bulgaria and its neighbors and weaken Bulgaria's economy just as it enters the EU. Five years ago, at an early stage of EU accession talks, Bulgarian negotiators accepted this closure schedule. But Sofia now seeks a pragmatic reconsideration based on new facts: Bulgaria's critical energy role and its proven record in nuclear safety. So far the European Commission has turned a deaf ear. EU policy seems to emanate from the antinuclear environmentalist dogma that apparently infuses the team around the European Commission's president, Romano Prodi. This ideological mindset, more prevalent in Western Europe than elsewhere, is a liability for more than just Bulgaria. In an era of crucial environmental decisions, the myths and mantras of the militant green lobby continue to inhibit a serious analysis of Europe's genuine energy choices. The 21st century's paramount challenge is to sustain modern societies while saving the global environment. Most energy analysts recognize that well-managed nuclear power has a central role in achieving this goal. This is well understood across Asia and informs policy in Washington and Ottawa, as well as in much of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The same realization is also dawning again in a Western Europe that once welcomed, then doubted nuclear power. Finland and France are starting to build new reactors, public opinion in Switzerland and Sweden has swung back in favor of nuclear power, and even a majority in Germany now opposes Green-inspired plans for nuclear closures. Meanwhile, having contemplated EU membership with pride in their national energy policy, Bulgarians ask why they are being discriminated against. Bulgarians' good will as prospective EU partners is being jeopardized by the EU itself. Bulgaria's is not a plea from special interests, but rather a national reaction to the commission's apparent determination to bully a small country. Such arbitrariness in Brussels compromises Europe's prospects for integration as well as its energy policy. The current European Commission's mandate expires this spring. In the time remaining, Prodi and his team should seize the opportunity to review and resolve the Bulgarian impasse. John Ritch, U.S. ambassador to the IAEA from 1993 to 2001, is director general of the London-based World Nuclear Association. Copyright © 2004 the International Herald Tribune All ***************************************************************** 24 NRC: NRC Honors Four Employees from Lisle Office News Release - Region III - 2004-03 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region III No. III-04-036 May 28, 2004 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov [opa3@nrc.gov] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission honored outstanding employees during its 27th Annual Award Ceremony on Thursday, May 27, at the agency headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. Four employees from the NRC Region III office in Lisle, Illinois, were recipients of this years awards. Were very proud to have four of our Region III staff receive recognition for their outstanding service to the agency this year. We have a great staff here in Region III. They are all dedicated to protecting public health and safety and it is rewarding for all of us to see our folks receive this recognition, says James Caldwell, regional administrator of the NRCS Region III. The award recipients are: Jan Strasma, Senior Public Affairs Officer, Region III, is a recipient of the NRC Distinguished Service Award. Strasma became the first public affairs officer for the Atomic Energy Commission in Region III in 1974, before it was divided into the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Prior to joining the Atomic Energy Commission, he worked as a newspaper reporter and a school teacher. Strasma and his wife live near Maple Park, Illinois. They have three children and two grandchildren. Reggie Mitchell, Chief of Information Resources Branch, Region III, is a recipient of the NRC Meritorious Service Award. Mitchell began his NRC career in 1988 at the Office of Human Resources in the NRC headquarters office in Rockville, Maryland, where he consequently held a number of other positions including workforce information analyst, program analyst and budget analyst. He moved to Region III as a chief of resource management branch in 1998. Prior to joining the NRC, Mitchell served in the U.S. Navy. Reggie and his wife live in Romeoville, Illinois. They have three children and one grandson. Gary L. Shear, Acting Deputy Director of Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III, is a recipient of the NRC Meritorious Service Award. Shear joined the NRCs Region III office in 1984. He has held a number of positions in the Region III Division of Nuclear Materials Safety. Prior to joining the NRC, he worked in the field of nuclear medicine. Shear, his wife and two children live in Sycamore, Illinois. Dina Sotiropulos, Regional Human Resources Officer, Region III, is a recipient of the NRC Meritorious Service Award. Sotiropulos joined the NRCs Region III office in 1996. She has 20 years of government service in the human resources field. Prior to joining the NRC, she worked at the Department of the Air Force and the Internal Revenue Service. Sotiropulos, her husband and two daughters live in St. Charles, Illinois. The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor granted by the Commission for outstanding achievements and the Meritorious Service Award is the second highest honor granted by the Commission for excellence. Last revised Friday, May 28, 2004 ***************************************************************** 25 Xinhuanet: Nuclear plants beneficial, but caution is needed www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2004-05-28 16:25:15 BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The central government mapped out a scheme earlier this year to quadruple the current amount of nuclear power in use nationwide by 2020 and raise the share of this type of energy in the country's overall electricity output to 4 per cent. Some two decades after China started building its first nuclear power plant, the country now has nine nuclear power units operating in Qinshan in Zhejiang Province, Daya Bay and Ling'ao in Guangdong Province, providing a total of 8.7 million kilowatts in energy. The clear-cut goal is in sharp contrast with the government"s previous stance on the issue, which simply favoured "moderate development" of nuclear plants. The change comes at a time when China is suffering widespread electricity shortages as conventional hydro- and thermo-power stations cannot sufficiently supply the demands of the nation's booming industries. The construction of more plants is intended to ease these shortages. Nuclear reactors have proven to be a clean and efficient source of power without the byproducts of thermo-power stations, such as dust emissions, carbon dioxide and sulfides which cause the greenhouse effect and acid rain. According to estimates from experts, realizing the government's goal to quadruple the country's gross domestic product from the 2000 level by the year 2020 will involve more than 450 million kilowatts of new power-generating capacity, which is equivalent to burning 1.2 billion tons of coal. Construction of nuclear power plants will reduce the unbearable pressure on mining and transportation and avoid further damaging the fragile environment. China's huge need for nuclear power will also bring forth bright hope for the declining international nuclear power industry. Despite all the advantages of nuclear power, however, one question remains worrying: nuclear waste disposal. Even in countries with advanced nuclear power technology, the disposal of radioactive waste is technically a hard nut to crack and requires extremely cautious handling. Although the central government already has a decree on the administration of nuclear materials, rules concerning nuclear waste disposal are little-known by the public compared to the attention on the construction of nuclear power plants. The government should work out a clear design on how to take good care of waste disposal before kicking off its nuclear power projects. (China Daily) Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 People's Daily: Ling Ao nuclear power station, a great success! UPDATED: 17:20, May 28, 2004 The charming Daya Bay, South China's [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/guangdong.html] Province, has brought us again a piece of good news in blazing May. After passing seven special checks upon delivery on May 21, Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station adjacent to Daya Bay passed the appraisal by expert group with national construction completion committee, unfolding eventually a red carpet for passing through the examination. Previously, the Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station has made a series of notable achievements. First, Nos.1 and 2 power-generating units were put into commercial use 48 and 66 days ahead of schedule respectively, and electricity of 24.234 billion Kilowatt hours has been generated by April, which played an important role in easing the power shortage in Guangdong, China. Second, two generating units both realized unplanned shutdown with no mishaps, as a record of large nuclear power generating unit in operation. According to international advanced level, they realized self-running in engineering management, construction installment, adjustment and preparation for construction. Wang Yumin, president of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, said proudly: starting from scratch to something, and from something to excellent, Daya Bay and Ling Ao nuclear power stations tell us that nuclear power is safe, economical, effective and environmental-friendly. The exploration by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group for the development of China's nuclear power industry has been proved successful. We should lay a firm hold on the current period of strategic opportunity for the development of nuclear power and surge forward. "To nurture nuke with nuke for a rolling development", Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station by improving the world sophisticated nuclear power technologies has created the four major "rolling effects" in terms of technology, capital, talent and management. It has therefore opened up a path for sustainable development of nuclear power industry suitable for China. A joint venture with [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/hk.html] built in May 1994, ten-year-old Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station is China's first million-KW large commercial nuclear power station. Over the decade, Daya Bay station has been operating safely: the two million-KW Hour nuclear generating units generated 140 billion KW Hours, 70 percent of which sold to Hong Kong, and the rest for Guangdong. Dayawan station has contributed a lot to the economic prosperity and social stability of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong SAR. The two units have been working smoothly: from 1999 to 2003, in the competitions for security operation with 53 French units of the same type, the two won twice the champions in nuclear security, radiation protection and industrial safety respectively. When Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station was put into production, the central government, sizing up the situation, made a resolute decision: To establish China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group to "nurture nuke with nuke for a rolling development". With the technologies, staff and leftover profits of Daya Bay to establish State-owned solely funded Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station it has realized the strategic goal of starting-at-high-level and a leaping development in technology. Four "rolling effects" came into being with experience from Dayawan fully learned, digested and innovated. Rolling technologies: with technologies introduced from Daya Bay, 52 significant technological improvements have been materialized, of which 33 done in nuclear island and 8 in conventional islands and 11 in supplemental facilities of the power station. Rolling capital: funded by the profits left over from Daya Bay, Ling Ao station cut the unit cost by US$ 199 per KW, thus saved totally US$ 381 million in investment, 10 percent of the budget of the project. Rolling talent: Chinese technicians of Daya Bay station have experienced the test in the work of the Ling Ao Station. Many of them, being 40-year-old backbones, have refueled the contingent for the construction and management of the nuclear power station. Rolling management: based on the three controls: "capital, progress, quality" at Dayawan station, Ling Ao added technology and safety up to the system of five controls, realized self-management in building, installment and operation; compiled over ten-million-word "Ling Ao Nuclear Project Practice and Innovation." Dubbed "minor encyclopedia on China's nuclear project construction", it is quite a practical one. In November 2002, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) appraisal delegation commented after examination, Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station could be a match for IAEA's international standards in terms of most of the indexes, and it will run as a valuable mirror for global nuclear industry. From quality, progress and capital control, to project management and cultivation of talents, Ling Ao station realized the goal as central leaders outlined. The "second station (Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station)" is better than the "first station (Daya Bay station)", and it has laid a solid foundation for the nationalization and a large-scale boom of the nuke industry in China. Article on the first page of People's Daily, May 27 and edited by People's Daily Online Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 27 Advocate: Siting Council OK's spent fuel storage at Millstone Associated Press May 28, 2004 NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- The Connecticut Siting Council has granted a permit for 49 bunkers and dry casks to store spent fuel at Millstone Power Station. Officials on Thursday compromised as they determined how many storage units would be permitted for radioactive spent fuel rod assemblies, The Day of New London reported Friday. The council reduced Dominion Nuclear Connecticut's request from 135 to 67, 49 or 19. The town of Waterford, where Millstone is located, preferred 19 bunkers. The council averted a deadlock when member Edward S. Wilensky changed his vote in favor of 19 bunkers to 49. "We are delighted, clearly, that the Siting Council has taken this independent action and a long-term view of the importance of Millstone to the state," Dominion spokesman Pete Hyde said. Two of Millstone's three power plants, Millstone 2 and 3, are licensed to operate through 2015 and 2025, respectively. The storage facility would occupy about two acres. Dominion said at the start of the application process that began 10 months ago that Millstone 2 would lose full core reserve by next spring. Council members believed that a dry storage facility was needed in addition to the wet storage in spent fuel pools already at Millstone. Without such a system, company officials said Millstone 2 would be forced to shut down in 2010 and Millstone 3 could close before 2025. The oldest plant, Millstone 1, is being decommissioned. The council prohibited transfer of spent fuel from other sources to Millstone. Council members tried to strike a balance that would avoid a permanent nuclear waste dump while also allowing plant operators to handle the waste safely until it can be transported to a repository. "We really do not want to jeopardize the operations of that site," said member Philip T. Ashton. Last summer, Dominion first sought support from the town of Waterford for 234 bunkers, but faced with resistance scaled back the plan to 135 bunkers. The company later said it would settle for 85. Nancy Burton of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone failed Thursday to persuade the council to consider underground burial of spent fuel, which is barred by state law. She told The Day that opponents will likely appeal the council's decision to the Connecticut Superior Court. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the operator of the Millstone 1 nuclear power plant $288,000 two years ago for losing two radioactive fuel rods. The agency said the loss posed "no realistic threat" to public health and safety, but was unprecedented and was a significant violation. Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. ***************************************************************** 28 Wiscasset Newspaper: Maine Yankee, Town Agree To Disagree [http://WiscassetNewspaper.Maine.Com/] | May 27 2004 |Browse May 27 2004 |Back Issues | Search | Masthead | Subscribe | [http://Journal.Maine.Com/] Paula Gibbs In simple real estate terms, the parties couldn't be further apart. Real estate values have always been determined by what a willing buyer is prepared to pay a willing seller. But in this case, the town of Wiscasset, which determines the value of property for tax purposes, believes Maine Yankee should be taxed on what it would cost the company to rent space to store spent nuclear fuel. That value, the town says, is $61 million. Maine Yankee officials met with selectmen, who act as the assessors, Tuesday night for the formal abatement hearing, even though both sides have stuck to their original positions on the valuations of the plant since last fall. Maine Yankee officials say the proposed taxes are "unfair" and "a gross over-assessment." Not surprisingly, the vote was 5 to 0 to deny the company's request for tax abatement. Wiscasset's attorney, Peter Murray, asked Maine Yankee's Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Michael Thomas, and their attorneys Joseph Fay and Bill Kayatta, "Do you have any data or appraisal to substantiate your position?" "I have read your report," Kayatta said, referring to the report Murray wrote, which studies the cost of storing spent nuclear fuel in other parts of the world. "But the basic problem here is your methodology," Kayatta said. "The town can't come up with different forms of taxing for different people. The Maine law courts have always ruled that value of real estate is what a willing buyer is prepared to pay a willing seller." Kayatta said the town's increase in value from about $7,000 an acre to $15 million an acre, would generate $3.4 million in taxes to the town. "We understand that the selectmen are looking for new revenues following the shutdown and decommissioning of the plant," Thomas said, referring to the closure of the plant in 1997. "But it is simply not right to try to get new revenues by radically and unlawfully increasing property valuation in this unprecedented manner." Referring to the upcoming court battle, which both sides are apparently willing to wage, Thomas said the company wanted to try to settle "before we head off for the next step." "To say that a piece of property that has the capacity of storing nuclear waste is the same as any other property is driving common sense to an extraordinary extreme," Murray said. "You have no evidence to support your position expect that you don't agree with our theory," he said. [editor@wiscassetnewspaper.maine.com] Wiscasset Newspaper P.O. Box 429, Wiscasset, ME 04578 Tel: 207.882.6355 [http://WWW.MaineStreet.Com/publishing/] http://wiscassetnewspaper.maine.com/2004-05-27/maine_yankee.html rev 2004-05-28 ***************************************************************** 29 Newsday: Siting Council OK's spent fuel storage at Millstone [http://www.newsday.com] [May 28, 2004] NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- The Connecticut Siting Council has granted a permit for 49 bunkers and dry casks to store spent fuel at Millstone Power Station. Officials on Thursday compromised as they determined how many storage units would be permitted for radioactive spent fuel rod assemblies, The Day of New London reported Friday. The council reduced Dominion Nuclear Connecticut's request from 135 to 67, 49 or 19. The town of Waterford, where Millstone is located, preferred 19 bunkers. The council averted a deadlock when member Edward S. Wilensky changed his vote in favor of 19 bunkers to 49. "We are delighted, clearly, that the Siting Council has taken this independent action and a long-term view of the importance of Millstone to the state," Dominion spokesman Pete Hyde said. Two of Millstone's three power plants, Millstone 2 and 3, are licensed to operate through 2015 and 2025, respectively. The storage facility would occupy about two acres. Dominion said at the start of the application process that began 10 months ago that Millstone 2 would lose full core reserve by next spring. Council members believed that a dry storage facility was needed in addition to the wet storage in spent fuel pools already at Millstone. Without such a system, company officials said Millstone 2 would be forced to shut down in 2010 and Millstone 3 could close before 2025. The oldest plant, Millstone 1, is being decommissioned. The council prohibited transfer of spent fuel from other sources to Millstone. Council members tried to strike a balance that would avoid a permanent nuclear waste dump while also allowing plant operators to handle the waste safely until it can be transported to a repository. "We really do not want to jeopardize the operations of that site," said member Philip T. Ashton. Last summer, Dominion first sought support from the town of Waterford for 234 bunkers, but faced with resistance scaled back the plan to 135 bunkers. The company later said it would settle for 85. Nancy Burton of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone failed Thursday to persuade the council to consider underground burial of spent fuel, which is barred by state law. She told The Day that opponents will likely appeal the council's decision to the Connecticut Superior Court. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the operator of the Millstone 1 nuclear power plant $288,000 two years ago for losing two radioactive fuel rods. The agency said the loss posed "no realistic threat" to public health and safety, but was unprecedented and was a significant violation. ___ Information from: The Day Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press ***************************************************************** 30 TheDay.com: Dominion Gets permit For 49 storage Units at Millstone State Agency Compromises On Issue Of Spent Nuclear Fuel Friday, May 28, 2004 --> By PATRICIA DADDONA Day Staff Writer, Waterford New Britain  In a compromise vote Thursday, the Connecticut Siting Council granted a permit for 49 bunkers and dry casks to store spent fuel at Millstone Power Station. Determining the precise number of storage units for radioactive spent fuel rod assemblies became the main sticking point as the council whittled Dominion Nuclear Connecticut's request from 135 down to 67, 49 or 19. Nineteen was the preference of the town of Waterford, where Millstone is located. The council avoided a deadlock Thursday when member Edward S. Wilensky changed his vote from 19 to 49 to avoid an impasse that would have killed the project. If I don't do this, this docket would not go ahead, he said. Something has got to happen. Something has got to be done. Forty-nine concrete bunkers housing stainless steel containers will allow the company to maintain full core reserve, the capacity to remove all used fuel from the reactors, through 2025. Two of Millstone's three power plants, Millstone 2 and 3, are licensed to operate through 2015 and 2025, respectively, on 520 acres of a peninsula that juts into Long Island Sound. The storage facility would occupy about two acres. Dominion asserted early in the application process, which began 10 months ago, that Millstone 2 would lose full core reserve by next spring. That prompted a broad consensus on the council that a dry storage facility was needed in addition to the wet storage in spent fuel pools already at Millstone. Without such a system, company officials said, Millstone 2 would be forced to shut down in 2010, while Millstone 3 could close before 2025. The oldest plant, Millstone 1, is in the process of being decommissioned. Dominion agreed earlier to Waterford's terms to install 19 units in a first phase that would last through 2013 and add more later only as needed. The siting council is responsible for considering public need and safety, the environment, need for and reliability of the storage, and alternative storage approaches and locations. On Thursday the council's vote was to issue a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need based on 109 findings of fact and a legal opinion from Assistant Attorney General Robert L. Marconi, serving as the council's legal counsel. The decision modifies Waterford's order for 19 bunkers and includes an order for 17 stringent conditions. Conditions include allowing Dominion to complete basic site work for as many as 135 bunkers; giving the company three years to begin operating the storage facility; and permitting the company to use a less formal petitioning process to add more than 49 bunkers later on. The council also prohibited transfer of spent fuel from other sources to Millstone, which Dominion representatives had testified would not occur. However, the Nuclear Regulator Commission retains final authority to override the prohibition. The council stipulated that Dominion would have to pay the state any profits it might make from arrangements in any such case. """Testimony and cross-examination during the hearing process centered on three key issues: the protracted delay in opening a national repository for spent fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada; the limitations of current storage technology in light of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; and Dominion's application for re-licensing of Millstone 2 and 3 through 2035 and 2045, respectively. The company applied to the NRC for license extensions in January, while the storage hearings were under way. Council members struggled to find a balance that would prevent Millstone from being turned into a permanent nuclear waste dump while allowing its owner to handle the waste safely until it can be transported to a repository. The council lacked either a clear majority of five members to support up to 19 bunkers, the town's limit; or six of nine members to override the town and allow more. As the council vacillated Thursday between 19 and a maximum of 67, suggested by member Edward Wilds Jr., member Philip T. Ashton argued that a higher capacity would provide flexibility to one of the state's key economic forces. We really do not want to jeopardize the operations of that site, Ashton said. It's totally too critical. That pushes me to go way out, meaning at least 20 years from now. Wilds, the council member representing state environmental protection Commissioner Arthur Rocque Jr., based his decision on the number it would take to maintain full core reserve, but also on lining up as many bunkers as needed to create a shielding wall between the facility and Millstone's borders. Expert testimony established that with dry casks, radiological emissions would be minimal. Since only the NRC has jurisdiction over emissions, however, the final decision makes little reference to that issue. Council members Brian O'Neill and Gerald J. Heffernan held out for 19 bunkers, saying there is no reason the company couldn't petition for more in the future, when there might be more insight into technological advances and nuclear power's vulnerability to terrorism, the subject of a new study. Ultimately, Ashton, Wilds and Wilensky supported 49 bunkers and casks along with Chairwoman Pamela B. Katz and members Jerry Murphy and Daniel P. Lynch Jr. O'Neill and Heffernan opposed the decision. Council member Colin C. Tait was absent. The final vote was 6-2. We are delighted, clearly, that the siting council has taken this independent action and a long-term view of the importance of Millstone to the state, said Dominion Spokesman Pete Hyde, who did not attend Thursday's session. Last summer, Dominion first sought support from the town of Waterford for 234 bunkers, but met with resistance and applied for 135 instead. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal supported the town's preference, 19, but recommended allowing more if the power plants' licenses were extended. The company later asserted it could settle for 85, which would have preserved full core reserve through proposed license extensions. After Thursday's decision, Waterford First Selectman Paul B. Eccard said Dominion's decision to seek license renewals allowed the council to look further into the future and consequently grant a larger number of bunkers. The final decision prevented unfettered storage expansion, Eccard said. Nancy Burton of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, who filed various motions in an effort to delay the project, failed in a last-ditch effort Thursday to convince the council to pursue the latest technological advances in underground burial of spent fuel. State law currently prohibits that method. Burton said after the meeting that she and others who have joined the coalition's cause are likely to appeal the council's decision to the Connecticut Superior Court. Dominion needs to start construction by Tuesday in order to begin moving fuel from Millstone 2 to dry storage next spring, when the next refueling outage is scheduled, said Hyde. The council intends to rule on storage development and a management plan on June 9. p.daddona@thedaycom The Day Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 31 NRC: NRC Announces Availability of License Renewal Application for Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2 News Release - 2004-06 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-065 May 28, 2004 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced today that copies of an application for a 20-year renewal of the operating licenses for Units 1 and 2 at the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station are available to interested parties. The licensee, Constellation Energy Group, submitted the application on May 27. The Nine Mile Point plant is located near Oswego, N.Y., and the current operating licenses for Units 1 and 2 expire on August 22, 2009, and October 31, 2026, respectively. The application is available on the NRC Web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applicati ons.html. In addition, a copy of the license renewal application will be available at the Penfield Library Reference and Document Department, State University of New York, in Oswego. The NRC staff is currently conducting an initial review of the application to determine whether it contains enough information for the required formal review. If the application has sufficient information, the NRC will formally docket, or file, the application and will announce an opportunity to request a public hearing. For further information, contact Rajender Auluck, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O11-F1, Washington, DC 20555; telephone (301) 415-1025. Last revised Friday, May 28, 2004 ***************************************************************** 32 Pacific Daily News: Decontamination compensation may expand - guampdn.com Saturday, May 29, 2004 By [slimtiaco@guampdn.com] ON THE NET + For more information on the radioactive contamination and compensation issue, visit the special Web site set up by Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo. The address is [http://www.house.gov/bordallo/reig.html] Military personnel who decontaminated Navy ships on Guam after nuclear testing in the Pacific more than 50 years ago could be eligible for federal compensation, if they have since been diagnosed with certain types of cancer, according to the office of Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo. As it stands, compensation is allowed only for military personnel directly involved in the decontamination process, with no money set aside for others who might have been made sick. According to Pacific Daily News files, those eligible for compensation could receive $50,000 to $75,000. A televised conference was held in Bordallo's Guam office yesterday morning, where federal officials talked to local officials about the rules for the U.S. Department of Justice "Radiation Exposure Compensation Program." Local doctors and government policy-makers visited Bordallo's office to participate in the conference with officials from the Justice Department's compensation program and from the Board on Radiation Effects Research, which is a committee formed by Congress. The Congressional Radiation Effects Board eventually will make recommendations about other people who should be eligible for compensation. Bordallo has been lobbying to include Guam residents who might have been sickened because of downwind exposure or environmental contamination related to the decontamination of ships. "I have great confidence in this committee to consider all the available scientific evidence related to exposure from decontamination and downwind fallout in Guam when it makes its final report," Bordallo is quoted as saying in a statement from her office. "I have been assured that Guam will receive the same consideration as any other jurisdiction of the United States, and that a subcommittee has been formed to address Guam's concerns." [http://www.gannett.com] [http://www.usatoday.com] Copyright ©2004 Pacific Daily News. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 33 GI: Downwinder says med staff told him to 'come back when you're sicker' [http://www.gallupindependent.com/] By Kathy Helms Gallup Independent khelms@frontiernet.net Wednesday, May 26, 2004 FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. -- At Spirit Mountain Ranch in Flagstaff this past weekend there was a "one in 10 million occurrence," the birth of a white buffalo calf. Some Native Americans would see that as a sign of rebirth in a time of trouble. At noon Tuesday (PDT) the National Nuclear Security Administration¹s Los Alamos National Laboratory conducted "Armando," the first underground nuclear "experiment" since tests were conducted in September 2002. That month, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory conducted subcritical experiment, Piano, on Sept. 19. Seven days later, on Sept. 26, Los Alamos scientists detonated "Rocco." To date, 20 subcritical experiments have been conducted at Nevada Test Site. Some Native Americans also would see that as a sign, especially downwinders caught in nuclear testing during the Cold War. Last Tuesday at noon, a National Research Council committee heard from Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., grassroots uranium workers from Navajo, Acoma Pueblo and Laguna, downwinders from Kingman Ariz., and as far away as Guam. All but one of them told the committee that they, their family members and friends were either sick, dead, or dying. The one exception was a Navajo man who said he was told by medical staff that he wasn't sick enough yet to apply for compensation, to come back in August when perhaps he would be sicker. In Navajo, that amounts to a death wish, he said. The committee, which is under the mandate of Congress to assess scientific evidence associating radiation exposure with cancer and other illnesses, was asked to take back a simple message to "Washingdoon": "That 'compassionate payment' you promised back in 1990 when you passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to make up for knowingly and willfully risking our lives -- it's time to pay up. And we're not taking any more I.O.U.s." Rena Harrison Ellis of Tonalea, Ariz., a Navajo downwinder and daughter of a uranium miner, is also a survivor of breast cancer. Born in September 1953 in Chinle, Ariz., she moved a couple hours away to Tonalea after getting married. A lifetime resident of Apache and Coconino counties, she still is having trouble proving her existence and residence and therefore is not eligible for compensation. Ellis, whose testimony was read into the record last week before the committee, said she was born prematurely because both parents were exposed to the uranium mines. "Like many other dependent children of miners, as I grew older, I experienced many different types of sickness. I was underweight, weak, had seizures, major rashes and sores all over my body, and major coughing spells ... "Uranium radiation does not kill you outright. It has attacked my body and the genetic damage it has caused will be passed on to future generations of my children and grandchildren. Too many of us have become sick and too many of us have had to bury our loved ones. "I have been sliced, radiated, and coughed till I am blue in the face. I am one of the unlucky ones that was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the government decided to blast away those testing bombs," Ellis said. "We deserve justice. We deserve more research, and in the name of God, we demand that we never, ever again be guinea pigs or subjects of government sponsored atomic testing and have the federal government play dumb about it. "The federal government now owes me and my children and those that are suffering, to study the full health effects of nuclear testing and to compensate the downwinders fairly with $100,000, and to provide them with medical benefits. The federal government owes us scientific answers. The agony of living with cancer fares out to more than a measly $50,000," she said. Ellis wonders whether she will ever be compensated. Though she has filed for compensation, she has been unable to prove her residency because: She was born at home, the Bureau of Indian Affairs destroyed the school records at Many Farms where she attended, and the land use permit from BIA Natural Resources which her grandfather transferred to her dad in 1941 is not acceptable to the U.S. Department of Justice. "I am expected to have had a land use permit in my name, even though I was just a child growing up," she said. "I am alive and standing right here in front of you and yet the federal Department of Justice tells me that I do not exist and I do not count," she said. Tuesday's underground nuclear test in Nevada was designed to examine the behavior of plutonium as it is strongly shocked by forces produced by chemical high explosives. The test is subcritical, according to NNSA. "That is, no critical mass is formed and no self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction can occur; thus, there is no nuclear explosion." Subcritical experiments produce essential scientific data and technical information used to help maintain the safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile, according to NNSA. The "Armando" was conducted at the U1a Complex, an underground laboratory made up of a series of tunnels with small excavated experiment alcoves mined at the base of a vertical shaft about 960 feet below surface. Anti-nuclear groups believe the tests might be seen as flying in the face of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which has never been ratified. Two weeks ago, 83 members of Congress who signed on to a letter to the House Armed Services committee calling for elimination of the nuclear "bunker buster," said pursuing new nuclear weapons sends a "dangerously mixed signal to the rest of the world and erodes our nonproliferation credibility." ***************************************************************** 34 Las Vegas SUN: NRC chief says Yucca Mountain review might take four years Today: May 28, 2004 at 10:21:41 PDT ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission might take four years to review the government's bid to open a national nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the agency's chairman said. The warning Thursday by NRC chairman Nils Diaz came with Energy Department auditors saying there might be delays in building a database of Yucca Mountain information. The developments raised more questions about whether the Energy Department can meet a tight schedule leading to the opening of the Yucca Mountain project in 2010. Diaz, meeting with reporters in Washington, D.C., said three years may not be enough time to evaluate a license application the Energy Department plans to submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of the year. On the database question, Energy Department administrators said they expect to meet a June 23 deadline for getting the licensing support computer network up and running. "We are working with the NRC regarding the delivery of documents," Yucca Mountain spokesman Allen Benson said. The database is expected to contain at least 1 million documents detailing the government's plans for the Yucca Mountain project. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to use that information to evaluate whether to grant a license to operate the repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Federal law gives the NRC three years to weigh a license application, with an option to ask Congress for a fourth. Nevada officials are preparing hundreds of formal objections to elements of the Energy Department plan, and the state might also seek more federal court action to block the opening of the repository. The state has a series of lawsuits pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Congress in 2002 picked Yucca Mountain as the site to bury 77,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste now building up at 139 reactor and storage sites in 39 states. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has asked Congress for $30 million next year to pay for its oversight work on the repository application. Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal -- ***************************************************************** 35 Las Vegas RJ: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Deadline worries auditors Friday, May 28, 2004 Energy Department officials face June 23 date to finish nuclear repository database By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Auditors have warned of pitfalls and possible delays as the Department of Energy tries to meet a June 23 deadline to build a massive database related to the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Energy Department officials are optimistic. But the department's inspector general said in a May 20 report that several problems still needed to be fixed. Whether the database, known as the licensing support network, can be certified is viewed as an early indicator of whether the department can meet its goal of opening the repository by 2010. When complete, the network will contain at least 1 million documents detailing the government's repository project, Energy Department officials said. Managers must vouch that the database is complete and available for review by the public and by officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission six months before a formal license application can proceed. Yucca Mountain must be licensed by the NRC before it can begin accepting nuclear waste. With the department setting Dec. 23 as the date for its license application, the database deadline has become June 23. Any delays in posting, indexing or certifying the documents could postpone the licensing of the repository, officials said. While some key tasks have been initiated or completed, auditors found "a number of obstacles" remain for the licensing support network. As of March 10, the Energy Department still needed to review 5 million e-mail messages for possible addition to the database, the inspectors said. In February, problems with e-mail screening software forced staffers to begin manually reviewing about 3.1 million messages. Also, they said, most of the documents had yet to be screened for privacy and security restrictions. Auditors also warned of potential logjams because once documents are forwarded to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for posting, the NRC can index about 150,000 documents a week, meaning it could take between five and 13 months to catalog the entire library. "Unless the department takes additional action to improve delivery to the NRC, the availability of the documents to the public could be delayed until as late as May 2005," inspectors said. Energy officials told auditors they expected to begin delivering documents for indexing in April. However an Energy Department spokesman said Thursday that deliveries did not begin until May 5. "We are working with the NRC regarding the delivery of documents," department spokesman Allen Benson said. NRC chairman Nils Diaz said Thursday the agency is concerned about the database. "We are concerned there are limitations on what the support network can do and we will work with DOE to make sure they provide us with the right tools," Diaz said. "The issue is making sure the information is accessible in the proper manner that we can work with." Officials with the state of Nevada say they are skeptical the Energy Department can meet the June 23 goal, which will arrive in five weeks. State officials also said they believe the Energy Department has cut back on the number of documents they will make available for review, and they are prepared to formally protest if that is the case. "The statute requires them to put all documents online, not just the ones they rely on for licensing," said Bob Loux, head of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. "We would plan to file a complaint or take some action to say the records are incomplete," Loux said. Benson said that during an initial document roundup, the Energy Department estimated 3 million to 4 million documents would be posted to the network. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 36 Las Vegas RJ: Agency chairman predicts four-year review of Yucca Friday, May 28, 2004 NRC says plans too complex to rush through By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission probably will take a full four years to review the government's bid to open a nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the agency chairman said Thursday. Federal law gives the NRC three years to judge the Yucca Mountain Project, with an option to ask Congress for a fourth year if necessary. "Fundamentally, three years is very tough. It will be very, very tough for us to handle this massive regulatory process," NRC chairman Nils Diaz said in a meeting with reporters. Officials at the NRC, a small federal agency that regulates the nuclear power industry and the handling of nuclear materials, have described the Yucca Mountain Project as their largest and most complex task ever. Some agency officials and industry executives have said it could take longer than four years to weigh a repository application, particularly if the Department of Energy seeks to amend its application along the way. Additionally, Nevada officials said the state plans to file hundreds of formal objections with the commission and might seek federal court action in trying to terminate plans for the repository. The DOE wants to begin accepting nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain by 2010. NRC officials repeatedly have warned Energy Department counterparts that they will need to file a "clear and consistent" application to enable reviewers to trace clearly the Energy Department's arguments that the mountain ridge, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, safely can hold 77,000 tons of highly radioactive decaying spent nuclear fuel for 10,000 years. Yucca Mountain Project managers said their application will consist of 5,000 to 5,500 pages and will be backed by millions of pages in supporting documents. "Even if the department delivers an application as good as it can be, we will try our best in three years, but we will do it in four years," Diaz said. The NRC has requested a $44 million budget increase for next year, with $30 million of the additional money to initiate work on the repository application. Diaz said delays by Congress in setting the agency's budget could set back the review. "We could juggle things for a few months, but if it goes longer than a few months, we will curtail what we can do on high-level waste," Diaz said. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 37 Tri-City Herald: Waste reclassification fight comes to Hanford This story was published Friday, May 28th, 2004 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer White pelicans stood in the gray-green shallows of the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River on Thursday morning, seemingly oblivious to the jet boats roaring past carrying Sen. Maria Cantwell and state officials. This is how the Hanford Reach should always look, said David Mears, senior assistant attorney general for Washington. It was a serene setting for the latest salvo in what's becoming an increasingly bitter fight between Washington state leaders and Washington, D.C., leaders over the future of some of Hanford's nastiest waste. Cantwell and state officials toured the river to call attention to the Senate fight expected to resume next week over whether the Department of Energy may reclassify high-level nuclear waste stored in underground tanks. "Our fear is that if the Department of Energy is left to its own devices, it will reclassify much of that waste to leave it in tanks in the current untreated condition," said Mike Wilson, nuclear waste program manager for the state Department of Ecology. Hanford has 177 underground tanks holding a toxic mixture of radioactive and chemical waste from the production of plutonium for the nation's weapons program at the nuclear reservation during World War II and the Cold War. Almost all of the liquid from the older, leak-prone tanks has been removed so they do not leak, but 67 are believed to have leaked as much as 1 million gallons of waste into the soil beneath them in the past. Cantwell and state officials' fear is that if waste is left in the tank, precipitation eventually would infiltrate the tanks and over long periods they would start leaking again. Once nuclear waste reaches the ground water, the most soluble could be entering the Columbia River in seven to 10 years downstream of the Hanford Reach, Wilson said. Other waste, which loses its radioactivity over thousands of years, could move to the river in a matter of hundreds of years, he said. It's a scenario that DOE finds implausible. The agency has responsibly worked to clean up tank waste at Hanford and will continue to in the future, said Roy Schepens, manager of DOE's Office of River Protection in a news conference called after Cantwell's river tour. DOE asked for legislation that it says would clarify its ability to classify the difficult-to-remove dregs of waste at the bottom of tanks, after a federal court ruled that the present law prohibited it from reclassifying tank waste. If that remaining waste is considered high-level waste, it must all be removed and treated, according to DOE. DOE says that would cost $80 billion nationwide and delay tank closure for a decade. Opponents of the proposed legislation believe it gives DOE too much authority and does it with an unprecedented lack of public input. "It is insisting on very broad authority to reclassify waste," Mears said. The state proposed settling the matter through mediation and had a wide range of affected parties ready to participate, but DOE was not interested, Mears said. DOE has continued to refuse to engage in substantive discussions on the matter, he said. The legislation that is expected to be voted on next week was inserted as an amendment into the Defense Authorization bill in what Cantwell calls "a sneak attack." There was none of the Congressional hearings with testimony by state and other experts that would be expected before a complex environmental law is passed, Mears said. Should the legislation pass and DOE be given authority to reclassify the tank waste, Mears fears DOE then would move to say the state of Washington has no authority to regulate the reclassified waste. That could open the way for DOE to leave substantial amounts of waste in Hanford tanks. DOE says it would continue to be regulated by the Tri-Party Agreement, which calls for DOE to remove 99 percent of the waste in the tanks to send to the vitrification plant being built at Hanford. It would separate the tank waste into high- and low-level waste and turn it into stable glasslike logs. The glass logs of high-level waste would then be shipped to a permanent repository, likely Yucca Mountain in Nevada, for permanent burial. DOE has emptied its first Hanford tank of all but approximately 1 percent of the waste. The tanks are so huge -- the bottom of one could almost cover a basketball court -- that 2,700 gallons of a granular residue remain. If spread evenly over the tank's bottom it would be an inch or two thick. "Even if we go after that waste, I am not convinced we would get that much out," Schepens said. More than $125 million has been spent on removing the waste to the last 1 percent. DOE still is completing an environmental assessment and then would need regulatory approval of its plan to close the first tank. But it's expecting to propose that a layer of grout be placed above the 1 percent of waste in the tank. It would serve as a chemical barrier so water that might reach the tank would be too alkaline to take the radionuclides out of the tank. The tank then would be covered with layers of concrete, including a high-strength top layer to prevent future generations from unknowingly drilling into it. A cap also would be placed over the tanks to keep water from penetrating through the ground to them. DOE says it would take hundreds or thousands of years for water to travel from a closed, cemented tank to a point where it might be consumed. In fact, long before the tanks and grout deteriorate, most of the waste would have naturally lost its radioactivity. The result would be that the design would easily meet strict drinking water standards, according to DOE. In addition, DOE pointed out that of the estimated 1 million gallons that have seeped from the tanks in past leaks, most of the contamination remains within a few feet of the tanks. DOE believes it's unlikely that any of the waste from the tanks has reached the river. DOE already has closed two tanks in South Carolina. Based on that experience, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, believes tanks may be safely and efficiently closed under the proposed legislation, according to a May 14 letter from board Chairman John Conway to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. The board was appointed by Congress to provide independent oversight of DOE nuclear reservations. But state officials contend that if DOE intends to be a responsible steward of tank waste, it should be willing to commit to that in any new legislation rather than relying on the present language the state believes would give it broad, unregulated power. Cantwell also is skeptical of the proposal to grout in waste, saying the technology has not been proven. "Why build the vitrification plant if we are going to leave some of the waste in the tanks?" she asked. "We do not want to do nuclear waste cleanup on the cheap." Current regulations and the Tri-Party Agreement require that tank waste must be retrieved and treated, said Richland City Councilwoman Rita Mazur, who toured the Reach with Cantwell. The legislation would circumvent that requirement, she said. With the Columbia River flowing behind her, Mazur said proper cleanup of the tank waste is essential to change the image of the region "from nukes to nature. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 38 Las Vegas SUN: NRC might need more time on Yucca By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- How long the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will take to review the Energy Department's Yucca Mountain project license application largely depends on the quality of the application, the commission chairman said Thursday. Chairman Nils Diaz has not ruled out using an additional year on top of the three years allocated to the commission. "Given that the Department of Energy is telling us they are going to deliver an application in December and given the fact the we have insisted that application be as good as it can be, if it is a very good application and is delivered on time, we are going to try our best to do it in three years, but we will (definitely) do it in four years." Energy Department officials have repeatedly said they intend to submit the license application for the proposed nuclear waste storage site at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, on Dec. 23. Under federal law, the commission has three months to "docket" or accept the license, then three years to review the license from the point. It can ask Congress for an additional year if it can justify the need. Diaz said three years is going to "very tough" and the overall review is going to be "very, very difficult to handle" the review because of its sheer size, but the commission will do all it can to meet the three-year deadline. The commission has consistently told the department the technical documentation that the department intends to include with the application needs to be improved or the review could take more than four years. The Energy Department intends to accept waste at the site in 2010 and is on a strict schedule to meet that deadline. It has repeatedly said if it does not turn in the license application at the end of this year, it will not be able to open the site on time. ***************************************************************** 39 Bradenton Herald: Lawyers prepare case for Tallevast | 05/28/2004 | CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION DANA SANCHEZ Herald Staff Writer TALLEVAST - Attorney Robert Walker was talking to clients in a church when county trucks drove up and workers passed out bottled water and letters announcing contamination in drinking water wells previously considered safe. A personal injury lawyer from Richmond, Va., Walker traveled to Manatee County after assembling a team of attorneys from nationally recognized firms that will explore legal options for Tallevast residents. Residents said Thursday that they have officially retained legal services in an attempt to learn if the illnesses said to be plaguing their community can be traced to chemical contamination from the former American Beryllium Co. plant. "We have officially taken on the case," Walker said. "We made the decision over the weekend. I came down on Tuesday to get the ball rolling." Attorneys from around the country flew to the area this week to talk with residents. At a closed-door meeting Thursday evening, attorneys gathered with at least 100 residents at a church in Tallevast to answer questions. "We have the duty to make sure everyone's involved and informed," said Gary Kendall, a partner with Michie, Hamlett, Lowry, Rasmussen &Twill PLLC of Charlottesville, Va. In conjunction with the legal team arriving, residents, who have been reluctant to accept the official version of test results from drinking water wells, are taking their own water samples to a local lab for testing. The bill will be paid by Lockheed Martin, who bought the former American Beryllium plant as part of a larger purchase of Loral and has promised to clean up the contamination. Water test results are expected as early as today, said Laura Ward, president of FOCUS, a community activist group. Legal team grows Tallevast's legal team includes lawyers from Motley Rice LLC of Charleston, S.C., and the Michie-Hamlett firm. Motley Rice is a firm that spearheaded a $370 billion settlement against tobacco companies. The Michie-Hamlett firm specializes in asbestos and environmental litigation. Local attorneys will be involved, though Walker declined to name them. Clients include Tallevast's community group, FOCUS, and individual residents. Lawyers declined to say how many, or if all Tallevast residents, have retained them. Just that it was "a lot," Walker said. "I'm hoping all the residents will let us represent them, but that won't happen," he said. With 25 years of experience focused on clients with occupational diseases, Kendall said he is familiar with the repercussions of exposure to chemicals in the workplace. "This is both a workplace and a residence for them," Kendall said. "This involves one of the most basic human needs: water." Walker was in the community Wednesday when county utility workers rolled in to hook up five houses to county water that had been identified with contaminated well water. Attorneys are questioning, among other things, whether some basic principles have been violated and what are considered acceptable levels of chemicals in drinking water. "You have an obligation to ensure you don't hurt others," Kendall said. Case options The retainer agreement allows attorneys to investigate the case further and find out what's going on, Walker said. What kind of case it will be and how much it will cost is yet to be determined, attorneys said. "We don't know if it's going to be a class-action lawsuit," Kendall said. "We're going to explore all legal options." Payment will be on a contingency basis, attorneys said. The attorneys' decision to take on the case has brought the community relief, Ward said. "Someone is working for us," she said. "It feels great to have attorneys of their expertise on our side. That's why we went after who we did." Walker, who has no experience in environmental litigation, said he is an expert at putting together teams. He is also a friend of her family, Ward said. "So we knew what his capabilities were," she said. No contract has been signed with the attorneys and the FOCUS group, but there is an agreement in place, Ward said. Tuesday's news of contamination in five wells previously considered safe came as a shock to Tallevast residents, Ward said. In a joint effort, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Manatee County Department of Health last week tested 17 drinking water wells beyond the boundaries of a contamination plume identified by Lockheed Martin. They found levels of solvents, including trichlorethylene, at two to 70 times the drinking water standard in five wells. The levels aren't high enough to cause an immediate health hazard, but they are a hazard when consumed over the long term, said Charles Henry, environmental health director at the health department. "To keep us from panicking, they had those wells tested," Ward said. "Now, we're panicking." Residents say they're eager to have the remaining 12 wells hooked up to county water quickly. The county has promised to do this, but said it could take up to six months. "We've canvassed the neighborhood, and everyone wants to be on county water because they are afraid," Ward said. Like most communities, Tallevast residents trusted the people in charge of the chemicals to be good stewards, Kendall said. "When you break that trust, the consequences can be serious," he said. "These families are legitimately concerned for their safety and their future. It's too early to say who'll pay." ***************************************************************** 40 Bradenton Herald: Full of surprises | 05/28/2004 | Tallevast pollution threat keeps growing What else don't we know about the pollution threat in Tallevast? How many other wells might be contaminated with toxic chemicals? What other plants in Manatee County's industrial belt might be responsible for polluting soil and ground water outside their boundaries? What other reports of health threats might be gathering dust in county or state files? The questions are relevant in light of the most recent report on the pollution threat from the former American Beryllium Co. plant at Tallevast Road and 17th Street East. Surprise after surprise is greeting residents who live near the idled plant, bought by Lockheed Martin in 1997. Reassured last week that no functioning home wells were within the contamination zone, residents learned Tuesday that further testing showed the pollution plume was larger than originally projected. Five of 17 wells tested have chemical contaminant levels ranging from two to 70 times allowable levels, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection reported. State regulators previously had assured Tallevast residents that there was no need to worry about anything since all of the chemical spills and seepage had been contained on site and posed no direct health threat. That was the reason given for the failure to notify residents of a potential threat for three years after its discovery in 2000. When they pressed for answers, they learned the poisons, which include trichloroethylene and dichloroethylene, had drifted up to 200 feet into their neighborhood. Residents also were told last week that Manatee County wasn't informed of the pollution until they were, in late 2003. That also turned out not to be true when the Herald discovered a notice in DEP files that the contamination case was reported to the Manatee County Environmental Management Department in late January 2000. The latest surprise has the DEP wondering if there is more than one source for the pollution plume whose reach they had underestimated. They are checking another abandoned industrial site two blocks away from American Beryllium, which they think could have contributed to the ground water contamination. The lack of clarity about the extent of the threat posed by the American Beryllium site raises serious concerns about other potential pollution sources, especially in areas still using private water wells. Does Manatee County have a serious health threat lurking underground that isn't being addressed? Are thousands more people, like the residents of Tallevast, unknowingly drinking water laced with hidden chemicals that could be poisoning their systems? We don't know - and neither does the DEP or county environmental department. But we need to find out - before there are any more surprises. ***************************************************************** 41 Bnn: German Consortium to Build EUR48.7 Mln Nuclear Waste Storage in Bulgaria Bulgarian news network ['www.bgnewsnet.com / Bulgarian News network' ] 15:24 - 28.05.2004 SOFIA (bnn)- A German consortium will build a EUR48.7 million storage for spent nuclear fuel at Bulgaria’s only nuclear power plant in Kozlodui, the ministry of energy said Friday. The consortium made of Germany’s RWE NUKEM Gmbh and GNB mbh was to sign a deal about the project with the ministry on Monday, the announcement. An international fund financing closures of Kozlodui’s oldest two reactors administrated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is paying for the storage construction. The facility will be able to keep used nuclear fuel rods for 50 years, the announcement said. /bnn/ Copyright © 2002-2004 bnn ***************************************************************** 42 heraldtribune.com: Tallevast residents briefed by lawyers The legal team plans to investigate groundwater contamination. Southwest Florida's Information Leader By SCOTT CARROLL scott.carroll@heraldtribune.com TALLEVAST -- A team of attorneys who have filed high-profile cases against the tobacco industry and asbestos companies met with Tallevast residents Thursday over well and ground-water contamination in their community. Lawyers said they met with residents to prepare them for a legal tussle with defense industry giant Lockheed Martin. The legal team is bringing in its own experts to investigate pollution, said Virginia Attorney Robert Walker. "We don't think that anybody knows the extent of the problem," Walker said. "We're about making sure that if we ever do have to go down to those courthouse steps we're armed with all the facts and the best experts available." The legal team incudes South Carolina firm Motley Rice LLC, which helped win large payout settlements in lawsuits against the tobacco industry, and Virginia attorney Gary Kendall, who has represented more than 3,000 clients in asbestos-related lawsuits. Kendall said their own experts have looked at tests taken by consultants for Lockheed Martin and "found a number of shortcomings." "We really want to make sure that these people get the truth, and that the testing being done is accurate," Kendall said. "These people feel like the security of their homes had been invaded. They're scared and they have a right to be." Representatives from Lockheed Martin could not be reached for comment Thursday. Walker said Thursday's meeting was to explain the legal process and address any concerns residents might have. "Right now we're trying to be sure we have informed clients," Walker said. Walker wouldn't say how many Tallevast residents the team represents. But the lawyers represent the community group FOCUS. American Beryllium Company opened its plant on Tallevast Road in 1961 and Lockheed bought it in 1996 from the Loral Corp. Most of the work done there involved beryllium, an extremely strong and durable metal, to make aircraft parts, weapons casings and other military products. Lockheed sold the property in 2000, and agreed to assume the responsibility -- and liability -- for the cleanup. Several potentially dangerous substances have been discovered in and around the site, and this week state officials said chemicals in the ground water had tainted at least five private drinking wells. Residents say the pollution is responsible for an unusually high rate of cancers and other ailments in the community of about . f about 100 homes. Walker said there's a chance any lawsuit filed could take years to resolve, but he doesn't expect that to happen. "Things will start to happen quickly because of the weight we're bringing to the table," he said. Residents are also getting help from an Atlanta-based community activist who helped Alabama residents win a $40 million settlement after their community was polluted with chemicals from a nearby plant. Connie Tucker said she plans to come to Tallevast this weekend to help residents get the federal Environmental Protection Agency involved. Tucker, who sits on the EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, helped about 1,500 residents in Anniston, Ala., negotiate a 2001 settlement with the Monsanto Co. She is also helping Plant City residents who claim Coronet Industries polluted their community. Tucker said the state isn't looking at the long-term health effects of pollution in Tallevast. She said they're focusing on wells and haven't looked at pollutants carried from the plant into the community by drainage ditches, creeks and other surface waters. "As a matter of course, they're taking a limited approach," Tucker said. "They act like pollution stops at the fences." Lockheed Martin has promised to clean up the pollution on the former plant site and in the community. That cleanup could take as long as 10 years, the company has said. ***************************************************************** 43 Pahrump Valley Times: Nye County and nuclear waste May 28, 2004 PART II By BOB MCCRACKEN (Editor's note: The following is part two of a three-part series on the history of the Yucca Mountain Project.) Perhaps a clue to the origin of Nevada's hardened opposition to Yucca Mountain can be found in a conversation I had in about 1986 with Bob Loux, the state's longtime designated point man on Yucca Mountain resistance. I said, "You know, Bob, Gov. Bryan is on the wrong side of the Yucca Mountain issue. Nevadans aren't really that opposed to Yucca Mountain. I don't think there is that much hard negative opinion on the nuclear waste issue in Nevada." His reply was insightful and prophetic. "Are you kidding?" he said. "Yucca Mountain is the best political issue the governor has got." I am embarrassed to admit that it has taken me a long time to understand the significant implications of Mr. Loux's statement. Actually, it didn't fully come together for me until I interviewed former U.S. Sen. Chic Hecht a few weeks ago. Chic Hecht represented Nevada in the U.S. Senate for one term from 1983-89. Those were the critical first years when public attitudes toward Yucca Mountain were forming in the state and when, I believe, public opinion hung in the balance. Sen. Hecht was a member of the powerful Senate Energy Committee, which initiated most of the legislation on Yucca Mountain. He was at the heart of the Yucca Mountain brawl for its first six years. The history of the Yucca Mountain project cannot be understood without knowing his perspective. About a month ago, I telephoned him and explained my desire to interview him on the "nuclear waste problem." He politely (he is a very polite and gentle individual) but firmly got right to the point. "You need to understand," he said, "there is no nuclear waste problem. It is a political situation. ... [It is] more politics than substance." I immediately recalled what Bob Loux had said to me more than 15 years ago. Politics? Was the whole Yucca Mountain fight really about politics, I wondered. Could I possibly have been that naïve? Certainly Gov. Bryan had ridden his Yucca Mountain opposition into the U.S. Senate, and it was, and remains, Sen. Harry Reid's No. 1 issue. Reid has recently even tried to link the dangers of nuclear waste to the miner's lung disease silicosis in the public's mind. And I had to admit that Sen. Hecht's statement confirmed a principle of politics a Washington lobbyist friend of mine told me about a few years ago. My friend said, "To be a successful Washington politician, one must find at least one issue which resonates deeply with a large constituency and then milk it for all it's worth. If not, the individual will likely be defeated by someone who does. The best issues also have legs." Gov. Bryan and Congressman Reid vigorously staked out an anti-Yucca Mountain position at the outset of the conflict. Other Democrats soon jumped on the bandwagon. Republicans such as Sens. Hecht and Paul Laxalt, who were more inclined to keep an open mind and not exploit the issue, were consequently left at the starting gate in the race for public opinion. As an example, Sen. Reid ripped at former Sen. Laxalt in 1988. Reid laid the blame for the Yucca Mountain legislation at Laxalt's feet. 'Where was Laxalt for 12 years?" Reid asked. "He did zip to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada." (Interestingly, Sen. Hecht points out, neither Sens. Bryan nor Reid ever took a seat on the Senate Energy Committee, although the opportunity existed for both. The committee's powerful chairman, Bennett Johnson, once told Hecht that both Nevada men "were afraid of it." The Energy Committee is where nuclear waste legislation originates in the Senate. The implication, of course, is that it is better to stay outside and criticize, keeping the issue alive, than to risk becoming a part of the solution. As the anti-Yucca Mountain issue picked up steam in Nevada, Republicans in the state were eventually forced to go along, providing their own anti-Yucca Mountain rhetoric in order to survive politically. In my interview with Sen. Hecht, I asked why the anti-Yucca Mountain issue picked up steam and became so powerful in Nevada. "It was the issue where there's a fear factor," he said, "and fear factors are always wonderful political issues. It's far more dangerous not to reprocess and recycle [nuclear waste]." But politics can account for only part of the explanation of how Nevada ended up so opposed to Yucca Mountain when only a few years earlier the state Legislature had encouraged the federal government to put its high-level nuclear waste at the Nevada Test Site. The political opponents of nuclear waste in Nevada, oddly enough, had what amounted to de facto help from two powerful players in the nuclear waste game - the Department of Energy and the nuclear industry. In the years immediately after 1983, when public opinion on Yucca Mountain was being shaped in Nevada, the DOE did very little to try to understand how Nevadans viewed the world and what their fears and concerns were, and to educate them about nuclear technology. I am unaware, for example, of any DOE research during that period that attempted to understand the dynamics of nuclear waste beliefs in Nevada. When Yucca Mountain project director Dr. Donald Vieth was approached about doing such research as early as 1983, he demurred. Technical documents available in 1983 prepared by high-profile DOE contractors suggested the construction of a high-level nuclear waste repository would be more of a political problem than a technical one. Yet the DOE made little effort to meet this political challenge. In those first years after 1983, the agency's communication with Nevadans consisted largely of holding public meetings where the endlessly changing schedule for construction on the repository was outlined. In fairness, it must be acknowledged that, as a government agency, the DOE was limited in its advocacy role. But the fact is, the agency did little or nothing to move opinion forward. Another powerful player that sat on the sidelines in those critical early years, one that had more flexibility to help shape opinion in Nevada than the DOE, was the nuclear industry: the companies that build nuclear reactors and generate nuclear power. Growth in that industry in the United States has essentially been on hold for more than 20 years until a solution to the waste issue is found. In providing no visible presence in Nevada, and offering no resistance to the naysayers, they in effect forfeited the opportunity to move their industry forward. Sen. Hecht stated, "I don't remember any initiative they [the nuclear energy industry] took to be pro-nuclear ... [they seemed to take] a defeatist stand, hoping to cut their losses rather than look into the future." He pointed out that the attitude in France is just the opposite. These three factors - politics, the DOE's inaction and the nuclear industry's retreat to the sidelines - account, I believe, for the fact that there has been no real debate on Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In 2003, only about 62 Nye County residents were employed on the Yucca Mountain project. Bob McCracken is the author of A History of Pahrump, Nevada and 11 other books about Nye County published by the Nye County Press. For comment or questions, please e-mail webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com [webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com] Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2003 ***************************************************************** 44 Pahrump Valley Times: Reid renews threats to block bills May 28, 2004 By STEVE TETREAULT PVT WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., briefly skirmished with a Republican senator on Thursday over the Senate's delay in filling a vacancy on the agency that regulates nuclear power. Reid renewed a threat to block bills from the Environment and Public Works Committee until its chairman sets a hearing for Gregory Jaczko to become a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Jaczko, who is Reid's science adviser, was nominated by President Bush in February but is opposed by the nuclear power industry because of his ties to the Nevadan, a leading opponent of the Yucca Mountain Project. When the environment committee met on Thursday, Reid read a statement saying the Senate's failure to act "does a terrible disservice to the country." Rep. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said Democrats should share blame because they blocked a Republican nominee to fill a second NRC vacancy last year. John Grossenbacher, a Navy admiral from Illinois, ended up forfeiting his nomination and took a job in the private sector. "That's not true," Reid retorted. "You were told bad information." Reid maintained the committee had a deal to move two NRC nominees in tandem but the White House took too long to decide on Jaczko. Committee chairman Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., wants to pass several water bills and an economic development bill in mid-June but those might end up delayed by Reid, Inhofe spokesman Will Hart said. Inhofe wants to wait on Jaczko until the White House nominates a replacement for Grossenbacher, Hart said. He did not know when that might happen. After the meeting, Reid said he did not know how long he might block the committee's work, but "I know I can be a pain in the rear end." For comment or questions, please e-mail [webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com] Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2003 ***************************************************************** 45 KVBC: Yucca Mountain Plan Continues Despite Unanswered Questions May 27th, 2004 We're are at least a year away from finding out if the plan to build a railroad to Yucca Mountain is viable. Some in Nevada, including many city, county and state leaders, are still waiting to hear the basics on how the waste will get to our state. As Yucca Mountain Reporter Mitch Truswell shows us, even though Yucca Mountain has been in the works for years, some answers are still unknown. You've heard a lot about the Caliente Railroad Corridor. That's the plan to carry radioactive waste from Caliente to Yucca Mountain. What the Department of Energy isn't talking about yet is how the waste will get from across the country to Caliente. The DOE's plan is to bring it in truck and on rail cars. And depending on who you talk to, the majority of it could come right through Las Vegas. Railroad tracks through Las Vegas and Interstate 15, could both carry much of the radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain. Just how much depends on who you ask. The Department of Energy will use specially designed casks to contain the waste as it's brought from 43 sites around the country. The DOE claims the casks will be nearly indestructible, although the casks have not been built or physically tested yet. When the DOE didn't provide specifics on just how the waste would get to Nevada, the state did their own study. It found in some cases, up to 90 percent of the waste could travel along these tracks through Las Vegas within one mile of the strip. In fact, it could be even closer in some spots, including near the Rio Hotel Casino and the Clark County Government Center. "Three years ago it was, 'no waste will come through Clark County.' Now it's, 'we don't think much waste will come through Clark County.' Recently it's, 'we hope waste won't go through Clark County.' It's gone from definite to hope. Fred Dilger, Principal Planner with Clark County, says once the casks with high level radioactive material inside are given to the railroad for shipment, the railroad decides when and how the waste travels to Nevada, not the federal government. So how could 90 percent of the waste come through Las Vegas? Dilger says if snowstorms, for example, posed problems across the central and north country, waste from east coast sites would be rerouted to the southern tracks out to California and then up through Las Vegas to Caliente. Avoiding tornadoes in the midwest could also cause similar rerouting. The DOE is quick to point out no rail routes have been chosen yet, and it's still in the planning stages. "So when I see a study that says it could be as little as six percent going through Las Vegas to as much as 90 percent, you can't say. I don't want to speculate, I'd rather give you facts when we have them, and those facts aren't due for at least another year." It's unclear if the casks would be mixed in with other rail cars or be hauled by themselves. It would make economic sense for the railroad to mix the casks with other loads. Dilger says that's also a reason for concern. "If you ship the waste in general freight it will get parked in places for long periods of time. It makes it hard to secure and could potentially be a radiological problem." A problem, since Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards allow for a very small amount of radiation to be emitted from the casks. What that would mean if the train were parked behind the Clark County Government Center is unclear. But with thousands of rail shipments a possibility over the next four decades, the state wonders if the radiation could somehow build up over time. It's one of many questions the state wants answered. The DOE is in the process of getting proposals from companies that will build these new casks. The DOE says there's only been one accident when it comes to transporting radioactive waste. In that case, one of DOE's trucks was rear ended by a drunk driver. The cask was not damaged. If you would like to see the state's own report on the possible hazards of radioactive waste within Nevada, you can visit the link above. [http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2000 - 2004 WorldNow and KVBC. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 46 KVBC: Yucca Mountain Plan Continues Despite Unanswered Questions May 28, 2004 May 27th, 2004 We're are at least a year away from finding out if the plan to build a railroad to Yucca Mountain is viable. Some in Nevada, including many city, county and state leaders, are still waiting to hear the basics on how the waste will get to our state. As Yucca Mountain Reporter Mitch Truswell shows us, even though Yucca Mountain has been in the works for years, some answers are still unknown. You've heard a lot about the Caliente Railroad Corridor. That's the plan to carry radioactive waste from Caliente to Yucca Mountain. What the Department of Energy isn't talking about yet is how the waste will get from across the country to Caliente. The DOE's plan is to bring it in truck and on rail cars. And depending on who you talk to, the majority of it could come right through Las Vegas. Railroad tracks through Las Vegas and Interstate 15, could both carry much of the radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain. Just how much depends on who you ask. The Department of Energy will use specially designed casks to contain the waste as it's brought from 43 sites around the country. The DOE claims the casks will be nearly indestructible, although the casks have not been built or physically tested yet. When the DOE didn't provide specifics on just how the waste would get to Nevada, the state did their own study. It found in some cases, up to 90 percent of the waste could travel along these tracks through Las Vegas within one mile of the strip. In fact, it could be even closer in some spots, including near the Rio Hotel Casino and the Clark County Government Center. "Three years ago it was, 'no waste will come through Clark County.' Now it's, 'we don't think much waste will come through Clark County.' Recently it's, 'we hope waste won't go through Clark County.' It's gone from definite to hope. Fred Dilger, Principal Planner with Clark County, says once the casks with high level radioactive material inside are given to the railroad for shipment, the railroad decides when and how the waste travels to Nevada, not the federal government. So how could 90 percent of the waste come through Las Vegas? Dilger says if snowstorms, for example, posed problems across the central and north country, waste from east coast sites would be rerouted to the southern tracks out to California and then up through Las Vegas to Caliente. Avoiding tornadoes in the midwest could also cause similar rerouting. The DOE is quick to point out no rail routes have been chosen yet, and it's still in the planning stages. "So when I see a study that says it could be as little as six percent going through Las Vegas to as much as 90 percent, you can't say. I don't want to speculate, I'd rather give you facts when we have them, and those facts aren't due for at least another year." It's unclear if the casks would be mixed in with other rail cars or be hauled by themselves. It would make economic sense for the railroad to mix the casks with other loads. Dilger says that's also a reason for concern. "If you ship the waste in general freight it will get parked in places for long periods of time. It makes it hard to secure and could potentially be a radiological problem." A problem, since Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards allow for a very small amount of radiation to be emitted from the casks. What that would mean if the train were parked behind the Clark County Government Center is unclear. But with thousands of rail shipments a possibility over the next four decades, the state wonders if the radiation could somehow build up over time. It's one of many questions the state wants answered. The DOE is in the process of getting proposals from companies that will build these new casks. The DOE says there's only been one accident when it comes to transporting radioactive waste. In that case, one of DOE's trucks was rear ended by a drunk driver. The cask was not damaged. If you would like to see the state's own report on the possible hazards of radioactive waste within Nevada, you can visit the link above. [http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2000 - 2004 WorldNow and KVBC. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 47 Pahrump Valley Times: Nevada officials object to drip shields, Yucca project May 28, 2004 By STEVE TETREAULT PVT WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - Nevada officials have offered a preview of one of their arguments to persuade government regulators to refuse a license for the Yucca Mountain Project. The state says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should disregard planned features of the proposed nuclear waste repository because it is unclear when they will be installed, if at all. At issue are drip shields that the Energy Department says will help prevent radioactive particles from escaping into the environment. The drip shields are titanium sleeves that are to be installed over canisters of decaying nuclear waste to deflect water that may find its way into repository tunnels and cause the containers to corrode. Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, raised questions about the drip shields in a letter sent May 18 to Nils Diaz, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Loux said the state wants to notify the NRC in advance of issues it will bring up during licensing. "We are in a process of trying to communicate with them on an ongoing basis that we are watching these things and we have some very specific ideas about them," Loux said Monday. The Energy Department has scheduled to file its repository application in December. If it is accepted for formal review, the NRC will begin a three- or four-year license evaluation. Loux said the drip shields likely will be made one of hundreds of formal contentions, or objections, the state plans to file during NRC licensing. The Energy Department had no immediate comment Monday on the state's letter. Energy Department officials say the titanium drip shields, along with the special alloy waste canisters and the natural features of Yucca Mountain, will collaborate to keep radioactive particles from decaying nuclear waste from migrating through the mountain and into groundwater. But Nevada officials contend the Energy Department is not specifying when the shields will be installed. "According to DOE's plans, this could be 100 years from now, or possibly even 300 years from now," Loux said in the letter. At this time, he said, the issue of whether the shields will ever be installed "is a matter of sheer speculation." Given the uncertainty, the drip shields shouldn't be factored into the performance models that the NRC will study to gauge the repository's safety, Loux told Diaz. State officials contend the Energy Department is hesitating because the drip shields are expected to be expensive and could fall victim to cost cutting. Loux estimated their cost at about $8 billion. For comment or questions, please e-mail webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com [webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com] Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2003 ***************************************************************** 48 Pahrump Valley Times: Contract to Yucca could violate federal laws, ethics May 28, 2004 BY STEVE TETREAULT PVT WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The state of Nevada has asked federal auditors to examine whether the Energy Department's contract with managers for the Yucca Mountain Project may violate federal laws or ethics rules. State officials are targeting the department's contract with Bechtel SAIC Co. LLC, the management and operations contractor on the nuclear waste repository program. The company's $1.88 billion contract includes incentives to earn $133.2 million for meeting deadlines and performing work to certain standards. The company has collected $48 million in fees since the five-year contract was initiated in February 2001, said Allen Benson, an Energy Department spokesman in Las Vegas. In the coming months, Bechtel SAIC can qualify for an $11 million payment if it meets a July 26 deadline to finish a draft repository license application, according to the contract. Having a final licensing document ready by Nov. 30 qualifies the contractor for another $15.3 million, while the company could earn $22.1 million if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepts the license application for formal review early next year. But Bob Loux, executive director of Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects, described the payments as "exceptionally large bonuses," and questioned whether they might be coloring the contractor's work. Loux sent a letter on Tuesday asking Gregory Friedman, the Energy Department's inspector general, to examine the contract. Officials from Bechtel SAIC and the Energy Department meet regularly with Nuclear Regulatory Commission staffers to discuss license preparations. With millions of dollars in award fees at stake, Loux said there is risk project managers may lobby NRC to look favorably on their repository work. Loux compared the awards to paying bonuses to legal experts in a court case if a judge accepts their testimony, a practice that "is normally illegal, and always unethical." "These bonuses to DOE's experts are not at all like the usual ones to encourage contractor performance," Loux wrote to Friedman. Loux said in an interview the state has not identified specific laws or regulations that might be in violation. An Energy Department spokesman in Washington did not comment. A representative for Friedman was not available on Thursday. Benson said the payments are not "bonuses," but rather are fees written into the contract that amount to the company's profit from the job. He said the fees were negotiated at roughly 7.5 percent of the contract value. "They have to earn it based on performance, work quality and schedule," Benson said. "It is not additional money." For comment or questions, please e-mail [webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com] Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2003 ***************************************************************** 49 DOE: Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee FR Doc 04-12140 [Federal Register: May 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 104)] [Notices] [Page 30640] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28my04-46] AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee under the Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that agencies publish these notices in the Federal Register to allow for public participation. This notice announces the meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. DATES: July 13-14, 2004. Time: 8:30 a.m. ADDRESSES: Hilton Crystal City Hotel at National Airport, Crystal Room, 2399 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don Richardson, Designated Federal Officer for the Committee, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586-7766. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of Meeting: To provide advice and guidance that promotes research and development leading to the production of biobased industrial products. Tentative Agenda: Agenda will include discussions on the following: The Biomass R Technical Advisory Committee will meet to obtain information on the various positions held regarding hydrogen energy and to discuss the Committee's position on hydrogen energy. The Biomass R Technical Advisory Committee will review the results of the 2004 Joint Solicitation and give recommendations on how to improve the process. Public Participation: In keeping with procedures, members of the public are welcome to observe the business of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. To attend the meeting and/or to make oral statements regarding any of the items on the agenda, you should contact Don Richardson at 202-586-7766 or the Biomass Initiative at laura.neal@ee.doe.gov [laura.neal@ee.doe.gov] (e-mail). You must make your request for an oral statement at least 5 business days before the meeting. Members of the public will be heard in the order in which they sign up at the beginning of the meeting. Reasonable provision will be made to include the scheduled oral statements on the agenda. The Chair of the Committee will make every effort to hear the views of all interested parties. If you would like to file a written statement with the Committee, you may do so either before or after the meeting. The Chair will conduct the meeting to facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting will be available for public review and copying within 60 days at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Issued in Washington, DC, on May 25, 2004. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. 04-12140 Filed 5-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 50 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah FR Doc 04-12141 [Federal Register: May 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 104)] [Notices] [Page 30640-30641] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28my04-47] AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE). ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Paducah. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Thursday, June 17, 2004 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. ADDRESSES: 111 Memorial Drive, Barkley Centre, Paducah, Kentucky 42001. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William E. Murphie, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, Department of Energy Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, 1017 Majestic Drive, Suite 200, [[Page 30641]] Lexington, Kentucky 40513, (859) 219-4001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management and related activities. Tentative Agenda: 5:30 p.m.--Informal Discussion. 6 p.m.--Call to Order; Introductions; Approve of May Minutes; Review Agenda. 6:05 p.m.--DDFO's Comments. 6:25 p.m.--Ex-officio Comments. 6:35 p.m.--Federal Coordinator Comments. 6:45 p.m.--Public Comments and Questions. 6:55 p.m.--Break. 7:05 p.m.--Task Forces/Presentations. Waste Disposition. Water Quality. C-400 Proposed Remedial Action Plan. Long Range Strategy/Stewardship. Risk-Based End State. Community Outreach. 8:05 p.m.--Public Comments and Questions. 8:15 p.m.--Administrative Issues. Review of Workplan. Review of Next Agenda. 8:35 p.m.--Review of Action Items. 8:50 p.m.--Subcommittee Reports. Executive Committee. 9:15 p.m.--Final Comments. 9:30 p.m.--Adjourn. Copies of the final agenda will be available at the meeting. Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Committee either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements pertaining to agenda items should contact David Dollins at the address listed below or by telephone at (270) 441-6819. Requests must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Each individual wishing to make public comments will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments as the first item of the meeting agenda. Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available at the Department of Energy's Environmental Information Center and Reading Room at 115 Memorial Drive, Barkley Centre, Paducah, Kentucky between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday thru Friday or by writing to David Dollins, Department of Energy Paducah Site Office, Post Office Box 1410, MS-103, Paducah, Kentucky 42001 or by calling him at (270) 441-6819. Issued in Washington, DC on May 25, 2004. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. 04-12141 Filed 5-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 51 kgw.com: Cantwell tours Hanford Reach | News for Oregon and SW Washington | AP Wire 05/28/2004 By SHANNON DININNY / Associated Press U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and other officials toured the Hanford Reach by boat Thursday, criticizing efforts by the U.S. Department of Energy to reclassify high-level radioactive waste at the Hanford nuclear reservation and other nuclear sites. A U.S. Senate committee earlier this month approved legislation that would allow the Energy Department to reclassify high-level nuclear waste at the Savannah River site in South Carolina. The bill also would allow the department to withhold cleanup funds for Energy Department facilities in Washington and Idaho until they also agree to keep such wastes. Officials in Washington state have been fighting the move at Hanford, where 177 aging and leaking underground tanks hold about 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste from World War II and Cold War-era plutonium production. Thursday's tour was an example of the unified effort by local and state governments and the attorney general "to make sure Hanford is properly cleaned up," Cantwell said. "It is a symbol of the great clean-up that needs to be done in all these other states," she said. "I really do believe this area of our state has a very bright future, but that future depends on Hanford getting cleaned up." Local elected officials and representatives of the state attorney general's office and state Department of Ecology also took part in the tour. "I fear there is quite a substantial amount of waste that DOE would try to leave in place and avoid state regulatory oversight" if the legislation passes, said David Mears, senior assistant attorney general. "The discussions we've had to date with the Department of Energy don't give me any hope." The Energy Department plans to siphon out the highly radioactive liquid waste in the tanks, but claims the residual sludge is too expensive to extract. Instead, the department has proposed reclassifying it as low-level waste, encasing it in a mortar-like grout, then filling the tanks with concrete and leaving them in place. The department has been pushing members of Congress to change the Nuclear Waste Policy Act since a federal judge in Idaho last year ruled that reclassifying the thousands of gallons of highly radioactive sludge as low-level waste violated the law. Washington state joined Oregon, Idaho, South Carolina, New Mexico and New York in filing a "friend of the court" brief to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the court to uphold the Idaho judge's decision. Energy Department officials have said the legislation would only affect nuclear waste in South Carolina, but they have expressed hope the legislation might spur an agreement with Washington and Idaho. "This legislation allows us to move forward with plans we already have in place," said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Energy Department. This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow. This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow. [http://www.kgw.com ***************************************************************** 52 Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald waste to be removed despite challenge to disposal Friday, May 28, 2004 By Dan Klepal The Department of Energy told the state and federal environmental protection agencies Thursday that it will begin removing radioactive waste from one of three concrete silos at Fernald, despite a threatened legal challenge that could leave crews with nowhere to send the powdery material. Bill Taylor, second-in-command at the $4.4 billion Fernald cleanup for the department, said in a letter that the removal could begin in mid-June. Taylor requested a response from the environmental protection agencies by June 11. The move is risky because the Nevada attorney general has threatened a to file a federal lawsuit that could stop the shipments before they begin. The rules governing the silos cleanup dictate that the removal and shipment of the waste must be a continuous process - the material cannot be stored outside of the silos at the Fernald site for even a short period of time. It is unclear what energy officials will do if a judge shuts down the shipments to Nevada. Jim Saric, a project manager over the Fernald site for the U.S. EPA, has said his agency will not grant any type of temporary permit that would allow for the short-term storage of the waste outside of the silos at Fernald. But Saric could not say what the agency would do if it comes to that. Nevada says the planned disposal of silos waste at the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles outside of Las Vegas, is unsafe and illegal. Energy officials disagree, but their lawyers still are reviewing the legal arguments raised. Lawyers with the Energy Department have promised to give Nevada officials a 45-day notice before the first shipments begin. Marta Adams, a senior assistant attorney general in Nevada, said her office has not received the 45-day notice. Adams has said the suit would be filed within days of her office receiving the notice. "When we get the notice, we'll be in court," Adams said Thursday. E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com [dklepal@enquirer.com] [Cincinnati.Com] ***************************************************************** 53 Oak Ridger: Y-12 jobs could be changing Story last updated at 11:41 a.m. on May 28, 2004 IS IT POSSIBLE?: 'There are many, many transportable skills inside the plant.' By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff [paul.parson@oakridger.com] Dennis Ruddy said he's not out to reduce the workforce at Oak Ridge's nuclear weapons plant. However, during an unscheduled interview this week, he suggested that some employees' jobs could be changing. "Our mission is going to look different five years from now than it does today, which means that some of the people that are doing 'Job A' will have to move to 'Job B,'" said Ruddy, who serves as president and general manager for BWXT Y-12. The company manages the Y-12 National Security Complex for the federal government. In Monday's issue of The Oak Ridger, we report the cost associated with discussions on Y-12's role in the state and with federal elected officials. "There are many, many transportable skills inside the plant," Ruddy said. "For example, a person who works in public affairs may be very, very good at writing procedures or other internal communications." While that may be the case, Ruddy has said that the loss of people in the public affairs department is one reason he has sought assistance from Laine Communications, an area marketing and public relations firm. So, does he plan to shift people out of the public affairs department? "We might," he said. Would that leave all the duties to Laine? "No," he said. "Actually, Laine is there with a very specific mission to come in and to refocus what we do consistent with our business development, consistent with the future mission of the plant, consistent with our need to communicate in a large organization, consistent with the changes that are gonna go on inside the plant with people moving in various places." A lot of what Laine is doing focuses on image, which seems to be important to Ruddy. "Many companies have a standard look, so you pick up a pamphlet, you know right away that you're picking up a pamphlet from that company," said Ruddy, adding that a year or so ago "just about everything we were using was designed by a different person and there was no common look." Not only is Laine tasked with looking at the style and content of communication, but Ruddy said the company is also looking at what areas should be trimmed or expanded on. "It's very important right now, at this juncture, that people know what our capabilities are," Ruddy said. "When we were just the bomb plant so to speak, we didn't need an external message. We had a single customer with a single focus, and we didn't need to bring our capabilities to the forefront." Not only does Y-12 produce and refurbish weapons components, but the facility is also the nation's principal storehouse for bomb-grade uranium. The plant is also involved in efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Shifting back to his internal public affairs staff, Ruddy said the department has lost several people over the last few years, including its most recent manager. Until Laine reforms Y-12's communication practices, Ruddy said a permanent public affairs manager won't be hired. Ruddy suggested there wasn't an extensive amount of time left on Laine's deal to perform these tasks, possibly not more than a year. Ruddy said he thought BWXT Y-12's original contract with Laine was competitively bid and dated back quite a while. ***************************************************************** 54 Oak Ridger: Unions to present contract offer Story last updated at 11:41 a.m. on May 28, 2004 ATLC CHIEF: Insurance and pension continue to be at the forefront of negotiations. By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] While official contract negotiations won't be going on today, union representatives expect to make a counter offer by the close of business on deals that impact more than 2,000 hourly workers at Oak Ridge federal facilities. "Everything that we offer them will be contingent on them moving on the insurance and pension," said Carl "Bubba" Scarbrough, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, which represents the workers. These two issues have been a source of contention since negotiations started this month. Despite Oak Ridge having a multi-billion dollar annual budget for Department of Energy's operations, the union chief argued that there's "no money for insurance and no money for pensions." A problem, according to Scarbrough, is that the cost of health insurance is going up by 60 percent for workers at federal facilities while the amount of coverage is decreasing by about the same percentage. The union contracts are currently on an extension that expires June 22. The negotiating process actually involves around nine deals for union members who are employed hourly with BWXT Y-12, UT-Battelle, Bechtel Jacobs Co., Duratek Federal Services, The Washington Group, WESKEM, Canberra, Bionetics Corp. and Buddy's Bar-B-Q. Scarbrough said the companies weren't necessarily expecting the ATLC to make a counteroffer today. "We're gonna try to counter everything they 'nickle-dimed' on," Scarbrough said. Officials said they hope to resolve the contract negotiations without a strike taking place. ***************************************************************** 55 Oak Ridger: Cleanup contractor cuts staff by 10 Story last updated at 11:44 a.m. on May 28, 2004 By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff [paul.parson@oakridger.com] An involuntary workforce reduction this week associated with Becthel Jacobs Co. will result in 10 people being taken off the payroll by June 30. Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs, said the departures pertain to the company's ongoing "skills mix adjustments." Hill did not specify what areas the people worked in, but said it was "across the board." The company's current employment is around 850 people, according to Hill. He said that total will continue to fluctuate. "We're still hiring, too," said Hill, who added this practice will likely continue throughout the contract's duration. Bechtel Jacobs is under contract with the Department of Energy to oversee cleanup efforts in Oak Ridge. The contract runs through the end of fiscal year 2008. ***************************************************************** 56 ONN: Energy Department official says waste removal to begin in mid-June Ohio News Now May 28, 2004 CINCINNATI A U.S. Department of Energy official says cleanup from one of three silos at the former Fernald uranium processing plant could begin in mid-June, although it's still not clear what will be done with the material.The $4.4 billion cleanup plan calls for the waste to be shipped to Nevada, but officials there have said they will file a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent that.Bill Taylor, the Energy Department's project director for the facility, sent a letter to state and federal environmental officials Thursday telling them about the proposed timetable. He asked for their comments by June 11.Nevada hasn't received the 45-day notice it was promised before shipments begin, however, said Marta Adams, a senior assistant attorney general."When we get the notice, we'll be in court," she said.No provisions have been made for temporary storage at the Fernald site, which is 18 miles northwest of Cincinnati.Jim Saric, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's project manager, has said he doesn't know how the agency would react if the material were stored temporarily at the site. Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be [http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2004, WorldNow and Dispatch Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 57 DOE: the establishment of this airspace to support its Mixed-Phased FR Doc 04-12063 [Federal Register: May 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 104)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 30576-30577] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28my04-7] [[Page 30576]] Arctic Clouds experiment. The experiment utilizes a moored balloon which will fly up to 7,000 feet mean sea level (MSL). The FAA is taking this action in response to the DOE's request. EFFECTIVE DATE: 0901 UTC, August 5, 2004. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken McElroy, Airspace and Rules, Office of System Operations and Safety, ATO-R, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone: (202) 267-8783. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: History On October 8, 2003, the FAA published in the Federal Register a notice proposing the establishment of R-2204, Oliktok, AK (68 FR 58052). This proposed area would be set aside for DOE to collect air samples from a moored balloon below 7000 feet MSL. Interested parties were invited to participate in this rulemaking effort by submitting written comments on the proposal. The FAA received five comments pertaining to the proposal. All comments were fully considered before proceeding with this rule. The FAA believes that the final rule best meets air traffic control and user requirements, while promoting the safe and efficient use of airspace. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) opposed the establishment of a restricted area and recommended an alert area as a more suitable option, stating that an ``alert area provides an appropriate level of safety for general aviation aircraft.'' The FAA does not agree with the AOPA on this matter. Only those activities that do not pose a hazard to other aircraft may be conducted in an alert area, and the activities shall be conducted in accordance with visual flight rules. Since the balloon is unable to lift both the necessary scientific instrument packages, and the cabling and lights for marking, the FAA has determined that an unlighted, moored balloon at an altitude of 6,700 feet MSL in minimal VFR conditions is a hazardous operation. Another comment opposing the restricted area recommended marking aeronautical navigation charts with a symbol similar to tall antenna tower or a transverse cable. In addition to the symbol, it was also recommended that a NOTAM be issued ten days in advance to advise airmen of hazardous operations at Oliktok. The NOTAM system will be used to provide details whenever the balloon is to be airborne. The Restricted Area designation is needed to segregate IFR aircraft from hazardous activity (unlit balloon) and provide a means for charting for VFR general aviation pilots. A comment suggested as an alternative to designate an appropriate symbol and warning similar to a tall tower; mark and light balloon IAW 14 CFR 101; and use NOTAM system to announce balloon usage. Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 101, Moored Balloons, Kites, Unmanned Rockets, and Unmanned Free Balloons, is intended to provide the procedures and conditions necessary for the safe operation of balloons, kites, and rockets in the national airspace system. Where a proponent cannot meet these procedures and conditions, the FAA is charged to provide the necessary level of safety. In this case, a restricted area is the appropriate means to segregate IFR and VFR aircraft from hazardous activity. Chart symbols and warnings are standardized. We are planning to include an additional ``information box'' on the chart by the area to provide additional data to pilots. This commentor also stated that the proposed Restricted Area will eliminate Oliktok Point as a precautionary landing field. In case of an airborne emergency the proponent can quickly lower the balloon once notified by Anchorage ARTCC or Deadhorse FSS. Additionally, the hours of balloon operation will be after local aviation assets have landed and at night, during times of minimal VFR and IFR traffic. The Alaska Supplement lists Oliktok LRRS airport as owned by the United States Air Force and is closed to the public. The runway condition is unmonitored and a visual inspection of the runway is recommended before landing. There are 48 foot power lines 2,361 feet east of the runway and there are no snow removal operations during the winter months. Alaska Airlines commented that they did not anticipate any operational impact to its normal operations. With the exception of editorial changes, this amendment is the same as that proposed in the notice. The Rule In response to the DOE's request, the FAA is amending to 14 CFR part 73 to establish R-2204 at Oliktok Point, AK, as part of the DOE Mixed-Phased Arctic Clouds experiment. R-2204 will be established northeast of Oliktok Point, AK, and will consist of a two nautical mile (nm) area radius from the surface up to, but not including, 7,000 feet MSL. The area will contain an instrumented, moored balloon on a two- kilometer, unlighted cable for the purpose of collecting air samples during instrument flight conditions. The area will be activated starting October 2004 for approximately 30 days a year, and be effective through the year 2009. The area will be activated by NOTAM 24 hours in advance. The objective of the research is to better understand the processes and uncertainties related to global climate change. This action amends 14 CFR 73.22 of part 73 of the Federal Aviation Regulations that were republished in FAA Order 7400.8L dated October 7, 2003. The FAA has determined that this regulation only involves an established body of technical regulations for which frequent and routine amendments are necessary to keep them operationally current. Therefore, this regulation: (1) Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a ``significant rule'' under Department of Transportation (DOT) Regulatory Policies and Procedures (44 FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3) does not warrant preparation of a regulatory evaluation as the anticipated impact is so minimal. Since this is a routine matter that will only affect air traffic procedures and air navigation, it is certified that this proposed rule, when promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the criteria of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Environmental Impact Pursuant to Section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and other [[Page 30577]] applicable law, the FAA prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) dated February 3, 2004. The EA/FONSI analyzed the establishment of the restricted area to support the deployment of a moored weather research balloon as one of the actions included in the DOE EA for the research program dated February 1997. This final rule will not result in significant environmental impacts. List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 73 Airspace, Navigation (air). Adoption of the Amendment 0 In consideration of the foregoing, the Federal Aviation Administration amends 14 CFR part 73 as follows: PART 73--SPECIAL USE AIRSPACE 0 1. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows: Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40103, 40113, 40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959-1963 Comp., p. 389. Sec. 73.22 [Amended] 0 2. Sec. 73.22 is amended as follows: * * * * * R-2204 Oliktok Point, AK (New) Boundaries. Within a 2 nautical mile radius centered at (lat. 70[deg]30[min]5[sec] N., long. 149[deg]51[min]33[sec] W.). Designated altitudes. Surface to, but not including, 7,000 feet MSL. Time of designation. By NOTAM, 24 hours in advance, not to exceed 30 days annually. Controlling agency. FAA, Anchorage ARTCC. Using agency. Department of Energy, Sandia National Labs/National Nuclear Security Administration, Albuquerque, NM. * * * * * Issued in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2004. Paul Gallant, Acting Manager, Airspace and Rules, ATO-R. [FR Doc. 04-12063 Filed 5-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-13-P ***************************************************************** 58 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 12:56:32 -0700 (PDT) IRAN'S Nuclear Program Reaches Critical Juncture Spectrum - USA Why would Iran, a country that has some of the world's largest reserves of fossil fuels, need an extensive, multibillion-dollar program of nuclear development? ... See all stories on this topic: CONSTELLATION Applies For Renewal of Nuclear Operating Licenses Oswego County Business Magazine - Oswego,NY,USA Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced that its subsidiary, Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, has filed an application with the Nuclear ... CONSTELLATION Energy Names Korsnick Vice President - Ginna ... Yahoo News (press release) - USA ... FirstCall/ -- Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG - News) today announced that it will be appointing Maria Korsnick as vice president - Ginna Nuclear Power Plant ... See all stories on this topic: MALAYSIA Arrests Businessman for Alleged Involvement in Nuclear ... Voice of America - Washington,DC,USA Malaysia has arrested a Sri Lankan businessman who is accused of acting as the chief financial officer in a Pakistani-led global nuclear weapons smuggling ring ... See all stories on this topic: LING Ao nuclear power station, a great success! People's Daily - China After passing seven special checks upon delivery on May 21, Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station adjacent to Daya Bay passed the appraisal by expert group with ... See all stories on this topic: EUROPE needs less nuclear plants , not more - Dwyer Politics.ie - Ireland Sinn Féin EU candidate for the East constituency Cllr John Dwyer has today said that 'what Europe needs is less nuclear power plants, not more'. ... US Global Threat Reduction Initiative Targets Nuclear Materials Environment News (subscription) - USA ... of Energy Spencer Abraham has announced a global initiative to intensify and accelerate efforts aimed at preventing high risk nuclear and radiological ... See all stories on this topic: CHINA joins Nuclear Suppliers Group Xinhua - China BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The annual conference of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) agreed in Gothenburg, Sweden on Friday to accept China as a member of ... See all stories on this topic: 1998: World fury at Pakistan's nuclear tests BBC News - London,England,UK Pakistan has exploded five underground nuclear devices in response to India's nuclear tests two weeks ago. ... We never wanted to participate in this nuclear race. ... See all stories on this topic: BULGARIA'S safe nuclear power deserves justice International Herald Tribune - Paris,France ... Half of Bulgaria's electricity comes from nuclear reactors, as compared to 30 percent in Europe overall. Among countries just joining ... 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/ ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************