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Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject
line and first line of body
NUCLEAR POLICY
1 Guardian Unlimited: Koreas Near Agreement on Easing Tensions
2 KoreaTimes : Chinese Embassy's Arrogance
3 AU ABC: Third round of NKorean nuclear talks reportedly set for June
4 US: Las Vegas SUN: George Tenet Resigns As Director of CIA
5 US: PR Newswire: Platts Seeks Nominations for 2004 Global Energy Awa
6 news24: Greens want nuclear summit
7 UK The Times: Renewable energy is nothing without the atomic option
8 Hi Pakistan: bombing plan -->
9 Hi Pakistan: India proposes common nuclear doctrine -->
10 Reuters: Nuke whistleblower steps up bid to leave Israel
11 Straits Times: N-middleman's arrest a 'cover-up'
12 IAEA: Promoting Nuclear Security: IAEA Action Against Terrorism
13 AFP: New Zealanders favour relaxing nuclear law provided no US ships
NUCLEAR REACTORS
14 US: American Centrifuge meeting in Piketon
15 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti
16 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti
17 US: Las Vegas SUN: Feds Ask Nuke Plants to Tally Fuel Rods
18 US: SavannahNOW: Report blasts nuclear power plants -
19 US: Rutland Herald: Senators: NRC gave state brushoff on Yankee
20 US: San Luis Obispo Tribune: Coastal Commission to hear Diablo appea
21 UK Independent: Hellfire and brimstone as Lovelock faces his anti-nu
22 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point crisis seen overwhelming hospital
23 US: TheDay.com: Dominion Is Urged to Account For Fuel rods At Millst
24 US: TheDay.com: Millstone Security Officers' Union Negotiating New C
25 REUTERS: INTERVIEW-Ontario minister sees nuclear decision in 2 month
26 Sofia Morning News: MPs Push for Nuke Plant Referendum
27 Whitehaven News: U-TURN AS £3M LIFELINE IS AXED
NUCLEAR SAFETY
28 US: chillicothe gazette: Sick workers buried in red tape -
29 US: SF Chronicle: Kerry calls for program to protect nuclear fuel
30 HSE: Statement of nuclear incidents at nuclear installations
31 US: Boston.com: Health report on Superfund site delayed
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
32 Las Vegas SUN: DOE rejects Nevada funding request for Yucca
33 Las Vegas RJ: Repository database faces fight
34 US: Oregonian: Unfettered federal ability to reclassify nuclear wast
35 Guardian Unlimited: Senate OKs New Nuke Cleanup Requirements
36 US: Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald cleanup fails powder test
37 US: ONN: Environmental regulators reject government's Fernald cleanu
38 Whitehaven News: RETURNING NUCLEAR WASTE ‘DETRIMENTAL TO COPELAND’
39 Whitehaven News: BNFL FINED £3,000 OVER MAN’S 20FT FALL IN REACTOR
40 AU Advertiser: Nuclear dump plan `below standard'
41 US: New York Times: Opinion > Shortcut on Nuclear Waste
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
42 AU SMH: Helen help us - Film -
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
43 DOE: Office of Science; Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory
44 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Hanford contractor is criticized over sa
45 Seattle Times: Safety at Hanford tank farms faulted
46 Hanford News: Deadly chemicals program criticized
47 Hanford News: CH2M Hill creates ombudsman job
48 Hanford News: Judge says no to restraining order
49 Hanford News: Hanford vapor studies vary
50 Idaho Statesman: Former governors raise concern about DOE bill on nu
51 kgw: Probes find no criminal misconduct in Hanford worker treatment
52 U.S. Newswire: DOE Comments on Senate Approval of Nuclear Waste Tank
53 U.S. Newswire: U.S. Energy Sec. Abraham Comments on Completion
54 Oak Ridger: City to wait on DOE funds application
55 lamonitor.com: GAO report supports laboratory R program
56 New York Times: U.S. Finds Flaws, Not Crimes, at Nuclear Site in
OTHER NUCLEAR
57 Google News Alert - nuclear
58 SpaceRef: NASA Selects Boeing for Neptune Missions Study Grant |
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 Guardian Unlimited: Koreas Near Agreement on Easing Tensions
[UP]
Friday June 4, 2004 12:01 AM
By SOO-JEONG LEE
Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North and South Korea neared agreement
Friday on measures to ease tension along the Cold War's last
frontier, including setting up a hot line and halting propaganda
broadcasts near the border.
The talks mark only the second time generals from the former
battlefield foes have met. The sensitive military and economic
talks also sought to dampen tension amid an international
standoff over the communist North's nuclear weapons programs.
Both sides were close to adopting a standard radio frequency and
signaling system for their navies and to exchange data on illegal
fishing, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
They also were close to agreeing on a hot line between the two
sides to improve communication, it said.
South Korea also accepted the North's proposal that both halt
propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers near the border, Yonhap
said.
The generals from both sides first met last week in North Korea
when both sides agreed to discuss ways of preventing naval
clashes along their poorly marked western sea border.
The negotiations, held at the South's scenic Sorak Mountain,
followed up on those discussions.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
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2 KoreaTimes : Chinese Embassy's Arrogance
Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Opinion
Rights of Host Country's Citizens Ought to Be Respected
The importance of China is ever growing in the world in terms of
not only military but also economic strength. We seem to be
feeling China's clout in light of geopolitical and economic
situations more than others. The world's largest-populated
Communist regime has emerged as the biggest market for our
products, replacing the United States. Beijing also holds the key
to resolving the nuclear confrontation between Pyongyang and
Washington as it is mediating the six-way talks to tackle the
two-year issue, involving Seoul, Tokyo and Moscow. We need to
strengthen our relations with Mainland China, but the promotion
of bilateral relations ought be based on mutual trust and
confidence.
In this regard, it is disappointing that the Chinese Embassy in
Seoul has crossed the boundary of global diplomatic norms,
hurting the pride and dignity of the Korean people. The embassy
has persuaded a host of Korean politicians, belonging to both the
ruling party and the opposition, not to take part in a ceremony
for the inauguration of Taiwan's President Chen Sui-bian held on
May 20 in Seoul. In a certain sense, their desperate efforts are
understandable because they are afraid that Korean politicians'
participation in the ceremony would erode Beijing's ``one China
policy,'' which regards Taiwan as a renegade Chinese province.
But their intervention is intolerable, as it has infringed on not
merely the rights of the Korean people but the sovereignty of the
Korean government.
Furthermore, it is hard to understand the Chinese Embassy's
reaction to the revelation of their clandestine behavior. An
embassy spokesman, who was questioned by a Chosun Ilbo reporter
on the phone over the issue Wednesday, said, ``We will not take
appropriate actions immediately against those who took part in
the ceremony. But we will remember them.'' He implied that the
embassy would refuse to issue visas to them. His impassioned
reaction can be easily read as a form of blackmail. Even though
the Chinese staffers at the embassy are guaranteed
extraterritorial rights, his arrogance is unbearable by any
standards because of his apparent disdain of the Korean state and
people.
In the meantime, our government's reaction to politicians'
requests to protest the Chinese Embassy's intervention is even
more disturbing. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban
Ki-moon simply said that the nation's position is to refrain from
exchanges with Taiwan on a government level, while promoting
economic and cultural exchanges with the island country on a
private level. Most people believe that the government should
have admonished the Chinese Embassy at least in light of its
grave encroachment on the rights of the Korean citizens.
China is obliged to play its role commensurate to its status as
a great power. We sincerely hope that the Chinese Embassy would
not repeat the same mistake under any circumstances for the sake
of bilateral relations.
06-03-2004 17:10
*****************************************************************
3 AU ABC: Third round of NKorean nuclear talks reportedly set for June 23
[http://abc.net.au/ra/news/]
The third round of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear
ambitions will reportedly be held in Beijing from June 23 to 25.
The Kyodo news agency says China, Japan, North and South Korea,
Russia and the United States will also hold a working-level
meeting from June 21 in Beijing.
The six countries have met twice on the nuclear crisis in Beijing
- in August last year and in Februry.
The second round of talks ended with agreements to set up a
preparatory working group and hold a third round by the end of
June.
The row over the North's nuclear program has been simmering since
October 2002 when Washington accused it of breaking a 1994
nuclear freeze by launching a secret weapons drive.
Washington demands a verifiable and irreversible dismantling of
the North's nuclear weapons programs while Pyongyang insists it
will freeze nuclear facilities only if Washington provides
economic aid and a non-aggression pledge.
04/06/2004 11:25:36 | ABC Radio Australia News
[http://www.abc.net.au/ra/australia/]
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4 Las Vegas SUN: George Tenet Resigns As Director of CIA
By PETE YOST ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) -
CIA Director George Tenet, buffeted by controversies over
intelligence lapses about suspected weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has resigned.
President Bush said Thursday that Tenet was leaving for personal
reasons and "I will miss him."
Tenet, 51, informed Bush of his decision in an hour-long White
House meeting Wednesday night, and the president announced the
news in a hurriedly arranged appearance before television
cameras before leaving on a trip to Europe.
Tenet's move came amid new storms over intelligence issues,
including an alleged Pentagon leak of highly classified
intelligence to Ahmad Chalabi, an Iraqi politician. At the same
time, a federal grand jury is pressing its investigation of the
leak of a CIA operative's name, and Bush acknowledged he might
be questioned in the case.
The CIA denied that Tenet's resignation was connected with any
of the those issues. "Absolutely not," said Mark Mansfield, CIA
spokesman.
Tenet addressed CIA employees and said, "It was a personal
decision, and had only one basis in fact: the well being of my
wonderful family, nothing more and nothing less."
The news caught Washington by surprise. Bush informed his senior
staff Thursday morning at an Oval Office meeting that included
Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and
Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser. The president
told his staff he did not want anyone speculating that Tenet was
leaving for anything other than personal reasons, a White House
official said.
"He told me he was resigning for personal reasons. I told him
I'm sorry he's leaving. He's done a superb job on behalf of the
American people," the president said at a hurriedly arranged
announcement before boarding a helicopter to begin a trip to
Europe. Cheney stood outside the Oval Office to watch Bush's
announcement and issued a statement later expressing regret that
Tenet was leaving. "I have enjoyed working closely with him and
believe he's done a superb job on behalf of the nation," Cheney
said.
Tenet and Bush had a close relationship. The CIA director came
to the White House most mornings to personally brief the
president on intelligence matters. At one of those sessions in
December, 2002, the CIA listed evidence of Iraq's weapons of
mass destruction. Unsure that Americans would find the
information compelling, Bush turned to Tenet. "It's a slam-dunk
case," Tenet replied. No weapons have ever been found.
Sen. John Kerry, Bush's likely Democratic opponent in this
fall's elections, said Tenet "has worked extremely hard on
behalf of our nation."
"There is no question, however, that there have been significant
intelligence failures, and the administration has to accept
responsibility for those failures," he said.
"He was caught in a difficult situation...trying to manage a
20th century intelligence community infrastructure to meet 21st
century threats. This was not his fault," said Sen. Chuck Hagel,
R-Neb.
Tenet will serve until mid-July. Bush said that deputy, John
McLaughlin, will temporarily lead America's premier spy agency
until a successor is found. Among possible successors is House
Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla., a former
CIA agent, and McLaughlin.
Tenet had given some consideration to leaving last summer, but
decided to stay on. Some close to him believe he wanted to catch
al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who remains at large and is
believed to be on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
Like many who resign from government, Tenet plans to take time
off with his family, and eventually pursue public speaking,
teaching, writing or working in the private sector, according to
the officials close to him.
"He's been a strong and able leader at the agency. and I will
miss him," Bush said of Tenet as he got ready to board Marine
One for a trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and on to Europe.
"George Tenet is the kind of public servant you like to work
with," the president added. "He's strong, he's resolute. He's
served his nation as the director for seven years. He has been a
strong and able leader at the agency. He's been a strong leader
in the war on terror."
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III praised Tenet. "George has
sought at every turn to bridge the gap between the CIA and FBI
with one goal in mind - the security of the American public,"
Mueller said. "Due to his constant efforts to bring the
intelligence agencies closer together, we are better able to
predict the actions of our adversaries and to protect Americans
from evolving transnational threats."
But Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said the intelligence community had to
be held accountable for its failings.
"Simply put, I think the community is somewhat in denial over
the full extent ... of the shortcoming of its work on Iraq and
also on 9/11," Roberts, unaware of Tenet's decision, said at a
breakfast Thursday, "We need fresh thinking within the
community, especially within the Congress, to enable the
intelligence community to change and adapt to the dangerous
world in which we live."
Tenet had been under fire for months in connection with
intelligence failures related to the U.S.-led war against Iraq,
specifically assertions the United States made about Saddam
Hussein's purported possession of weapons of mass destruction,
and with respect to the threat from al-Qaida.
In April, a panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks released
statements harshly criticizing the CIA for failing to fully
appreciate the threat posed by al-Qaida before the terrorist
hijackings. Tenet told the panel the intelligence-gathering
flaws exposed by the attacks will take five years to correct.
"I'm surprised," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. "I
don't think anyone saw it coming. I think we need to know more
about the reasons why this surprise announcement came today,"
the South Dakota Democrat said.
"Mr. Tenet's been under very harsh criticism. I think clearly
he's been under great pressure and some criticism. Whether or
not that's a factor is not something I can comment on," Daschle
said.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., ranking Democrat on the House
Intelligence Committee, said Tenet "restored morale and provided
stability and continuity at a crucial time."
"I have been critical of the prewar intelligence on Iraq's WMD
and ties to terror, as well as failures leading up to the
attacks of 9-11," she noted. "With Tenet's departure, the
president has the opportunity to fix these problems by
transforming the job that Tenet held."
Said Goss: "Just boat loads of stuff have been dumped on him by
all kinds of people. He was given the job of rebuilding an
agency that had been depleted."
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said: "He served his country a long
time. History will tell what the implications of his tenure
were."
"I think history will tell," the Illinois Republican said when
asked how Tenet's performance would be judged. "It's too early
to make that snap judgment."
"I think history will either vindicate him or say, 'Hey there
was a problem there'," Hastert said.
Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner said he thought Tenet was pushed
out.
"I think the president feels he's in enough trouble that he's
got to begin to cast some of the blame for the morass that we
are in in Iraq to somebody else, and this was one subtle way to
do it," said Turner, himself a former CIA director.
--
*****************************************************************
5 PR Newswire: Platts Seeks Nominations for 2004 Global Energy Awards
A United Business Media Company
Thursday 3 June 2004, 20:19 GMT
NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts is currently seeking
nominations for the 6th Annual Global Energy Awards, which
recognizes excellence of companies and individuals in the global
energy industry. Platts is a division of The McGraw-Hill
Companies (NYSE: MHP).
On December 10, 2004, Platts and principal sponsor Capgemini will
host the 6th annual awards ceremony in New York City at The Plaza
Hotel. The Platts Global Energy Awards has become the most
recognized awards program in the industry.
Platts is seeking nominations in 15 categories, including Energy
Company of the Year (2003 winner: Entergy Corp.), CEO of the Year
(2003 winner: J. Wayne Leonard, Entergy Corp.), Renewable Project
of the Year (2003 winner: FPL Group), Oil Company of the Year
(2003 winner: ExxonMobil Corp.) and Community Development Program
of the Year (2003 winner: Eskom).
Other categories include Coal Company of the Year, Oil Company of
the Year, Gas Company of the Year, Power Company of the Year,
Commercial Technology of the Year, Energy Engineering Project of
the Year, and Marketing Campaign of the Year.
New categories for 2004 include the Lifetime Achievement Award,
Industry Leadership Award, Newcomer of the Year and
Petrochemicals Company of the Year.
Any company doing business in the energy industry is eligible for
these awards. Nominations are welcome from within the industry or
from clients, vendors, and other associates. To submit a
nomination, learn more about the award categories, and see past
winners and photos, visit http://www.globalenergyawards.com. All
nominations must be received by September 24, 2004, to be
considered. Fast Facts about the Platts Global Energy Awards -
Last year, Platts received more than 200 nominations from five
continents - This is the second year in a row that Capgemini is
the principal sponsor of the Global Energy Awards. - The 2004
judging process relies on the expertise of an impartial panel of
international energy experts, including energy ministers,
national regulators, past and present heads of major energy
companies, and leading academics and legislators. - Each category
has 4-5 key criteria which the judges will evaluate each
nomination against.
Platts is the world leader in providing energy information. For
nearly a century, Platts has helped to enable ever-changing
global energy markets enhance their performance through such
offerings as independent industry news and price benchmarks. From
14 offices worldwide, Platts covers the oil, natural gas,
electricity, nuclear power, coal, petrochemical and metals
markets. Additional information on Platts real-time news and
price assessment services, publications, databases, geospatial
tools, conferences, magazines, research and analytical services
and energy financial services is available at
http://www.platts.com.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill
Companies is a leading global information services provider
meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and
business information markets through leading brands such as
Standard & Poor's, BusinessWeek and McGraw-Hill Education. The
Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in
2003 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com. /Web site: http://www.platts.com
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com http://www.globalenergyawards.com /
Jim Keener , Platts, +1 (720) 548-5624, james_keener@platts.com
Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of Platts
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Ludgate House, 245 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 9UY
*****************************************************************
6 news24: Greens want nuclear summit
+ Earthlife urges Koeberg probe
Cape Town - Environmental organisations, backed by labour unions
such as the National Union of Mineworkers, have reiterated a call
for a parliamentary summit to debate the question of nuclear
energy.
A parliamentary summit, during which pro- and anti-nuclear
proponents and experts would put their cases to parliamentarians,
was cancelled days before it was due to take place on February 16
and 17 this year.
"We believe that if any rational parliamentarian listens to all
sides of the story, there is only one conclusion they can come to
- nuclear power is not for South Africa, and our country is not
to be used as a dumping ground for nuclear waste," read the
statement on Thursday.
Activists said the summit would provide an opportunity for those
who have been speaking out against nuclear energy to voice their
views.
They say affected communities and organisations have tried to
participate in official processes such as the environmental
impact assessment for the proposed pebble bed modular reactor,
and the new radioactive waste policy, but "with the odds stacked
against us".
Those calling for the nuclear summit say the challenges are
enormous, with community concerns "largely ignored" within the
highly technical field.
"In our view, the nuclear industry is a relict of a bygone age
when the environmental degradation counted for nothing," they
say, arguing that the summit would provide organisations a
platform to articulate their views and call experts to counter
the "nuclear propaganda" put out by the nuclear industry.
The joint press statement was supported by the Environmental
Justice Networking Forum, Earthlife Africa, the Congress of South
African Trade Unions in the Western Cape, the National Union of
Mineworkers and the Atteridgeville community, among others.
Edited by Tisha Steyn
*****************************************************************
7 UK The Times: Renewable energy is nothing without the atomic option
June 04, 2004
By Graham Searjeant, Financial Editor
GERMANY could hardly have chosen a better week to host a four-day
international conference to promote renewable energy. Half the
world seems to be panicking about the price of oil and gas, and
the other half about security of the imported supplies on which
nearly all industrialised nations depend.
Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, could pat himself on the
back for his foresight. The conference was promised as a
follow-up to the ludicrously unfocused Johannesburg sustainable
development summit of 2002.
America, Japan and Australia had kiboshed a plan at that to
impose targets and timetables for shifting to wind, sun and wave
power. Herr Schröder, Tony Blair and the European Commission want
to revive it. Although this seems unlikely, the atmosphere is now
more conducive to rethinking energy policy than at any time in 25
years.
Economic fear of energy shortage has come together with the
environmental fear that burning natural fuels will pump out too
much carbon dioxide and change the climate alarmingly.
Self-interest and earth-caring virtue coincide.
Mainland Asia, the world’s most populous continent, is taking off
into rapid economic growth, making projections of a 75 per cent
rise in global electricity demand by 2020 seem credible. China
alone is already the world’s second-biggest generator of
electricity and the second-biggest user of oil, even though
output per head is still little more than 5 per cent of
Britain’s. India will not be far behind. On current technology,
almost every extra car bought by a worker, manager or trader who
becomes rich enough to afford one will also raise global oil
demand.
The conference has featured some inspiring ideas. Schott, the
glass manufacturer, is exhibiting parabolic trough sunlight
receivers designed to enable a chain of giant solar power
stations to be built round the world’s hot deserts. In Northern
Germany, one company has just built the world’s tallest prototype
wind generator and a rival is planning to go bigger and higher.
Naturally, Germany has its own self-interested agenda. When Herr
Schröder made his parliamentary pact with the Greens, part of the
price was to phase out Germany’s atomic power stations. He and
Jürgen Trittin, Germany’s Green Environment Minister, are on a
mission to prove that wind power is a realistic alternative, that
it will allow cuts in carbon dioxide emissions and that Germany
can profit and create jobs by developing the technology and
exporting it.
This laudable aim remains just an aim. Three hundred of the
prototype world’s largest whirling mast turbines, each 600ft tall
and many times bigger than anything yet seen in Britain, would be
needed to produce the same wattage of electricity as Sizewell B
nuclear station. More than a thousand of the monsters would be
required to deliver as much as Yorkshire’s Drax station does from
coal, assuming the wind blows. You would still need some Draxes
as back-up.
Germany has installed more wind generation than any other
country, a third of global capacity. Partly because it does not
deliver fully all the time, however, it satisfies just 6 per cent
of Germany’s electricity needs. If the giant windmills march
north, mile upon mile into the sea, Herr Trittin envisages wind
power providing a quarter of Germany’s electricity by 2030.
Because wind will mainly replace nuclear, however, even that
ambitious aim would have no discernible climatic benefit and
little effect on oil demand. Germany has contributed far more to
the global environment by its decade of economic stagnation.
Britain’s wind power programme is far less significant than
Germany’s. It depends on imports, is already destroying in-shore
fishing grounds and is unlikely to reduce UK carbon emissions by
a single ounce, again because it is replacing nuclear power.
Already, however, the International Federation of Industrial
Energy Consumers, speaking for most of Europe’s heavy users, is
complaining. It claims that premium prices charged to subsidise
wind power, typically up 15 per cent, are making some of its
members uncompetitive. Any significant source of energy needing
permanent subsidies from customers distorts trade.
Wind, wave and sun can all make sensible contributions to
diversifying energy supplies, some perhaps more than we yet
realise. Conservation can help to cut imports and emissions,
especially in America, where per capita energy use is twice that
in Europe. To suggest that windpower or conservation can solve
energy problems is not just silly, however. It is globally
condescending and unintentionally racist.
China is keen on renewables, but only to bring electricity to the
distant outposts of its empire. In this way, alternative energy
can help poor communities round the world.
To accommodate a world-scale economy growing at 9 per cent a year
and save hundreds of millions of citizens from frequent
brownouts, however, China is building more new generating
capacity than Britain’s entire stock over the next two years.
Much of this will be coal-fired, as in India.
A report by North America’s Commission for Environmental
Co-operation rates coal-fired power stations the worst polluters.
Coal provides half of world energy needs. Oil comes next for
pollution. It provides two fifths of world energy.
No amount of fastidious Western conservation, no substitute
windpower, and no promotion of collective transport will allow
the vast poor nations to improve their standard of living without
bringing global warming nearer and raising demand for fossil
fuels.
While Germany phases out nuclear power and America continues its
25-year hiatus in building plant, China is poised to order four
more atomic stations. It plans almost to treble its nuclear
capacity within six years. Yet this will still provide less than
a tenth of China’s electricity, against three quarters in France,
the ozone layer’s friend. Japan is likely to build ten more
nuclear plants, Korea is still expanding and India, starved of
Western commercial technology, is building many small plants.
None is building enough.
Nuclear power is not good enough for the British or Germans, it
seems. Fortunately for the climate and for oil prices, it is
thought good enough for Asians. To stop carbon dioxide emissions
and demand for oil and gas rising, however, Europe and America
would have to aim to replace most of their fossil fuel power with
nuclear stations, allowing renewables to cope with extra demand.
If Bonn’s conference had promoted atomic power alongside
renewables, it might even have changed the world. As it is, it
will change nothing.
[graham.searjeant@thetimes.co.uk]
Copyright The Times - timesonline.co.uk
*****************************************************************
8 Hi Pakistan: bombing plan -->
June 03 2004
TEHRAN: Israel will suffer a "painful" response if it dares to
attack any of Iran's nuclear facilities, the Islamic republic's
top national security official warned on Wednesday.
"I do not think Israel will make such a stupid move because it
knows fully well how we will respond," Hassan Rohani told a news
conference. "Our response will be painful to Israel," he said,
but dismissed all talks of an Israeli attack as "propaganda".
Last month Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Iran was
"probably the main existential threat" to his country. Both
Israel and the United States suspect Iran is developing nuclear
weapons under cover of an effort to generate nuclear energy.
In 1981, Israel attacked an Iraqi nuclear facility, and there has
been speculation it may consider doing the same for Iran - which
continues to call for the destruction of the Zionist state.
Rowhani's comments came as he answered to new revelations from
the UN nuclear watchdog that bolstered suspicions over the
Islamic republic's shadowy atomic energy programme.
US N-ALLEGATIONS: Mr Rohani challenged the United States on
Wednesday to produce any evidence it has that Tehran is actively
trying to build a nuclear bomb. "If the Americans have any claims
or information they should hand it over to the (UN nuclear
watchdog) agency, but it's clear they have nothing," Mr Rohani
told reporters in Tehran.
He said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had only
minor concerns about Iran and would soon be able to reassure the
world Tehran has no atomic arms ambitions.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told NATO parliamentarians on
Tuesday that he could not rule out that Iran's nuclear programme
was linked to a military weapons programme. "The jury is out on
whether (Iran's) programme has been dedicated exclusively for
peaceful purposes," ElBaradei said.
The IAEA said on Tuesday in a confidential report on Iran,
obtained by Reuters, there are two major issues it must resolve.
First is the origin of enriched uranium traces found at sites in
Iran, which some diplomats on the IAEA board say had raised
concerns Iran was secretly enriching uranium for use in weapons.
The second is Iran's centrifuge programme, especially its
interest in advanced P2 enrichment centrifuges capable of making
bomb-grade uranium. The report said Iran had admitted importing
P2 parts and may have had interest in parts for thousands of
centrifuges - contrary to what it told the agency before.
The United States accuses Iran of running a secret nuclear
weapons programme that is parallel to its declared atomic energy
programme. Iran denies this, insisting its ambitions are limited
to the peaceful generation of electricity.
"I think the administration oversteps the evidence by saying it
knows Iran has a weapons programme," said David Albright, a
former UN weapons inspector and president of the Institute for
Science and International Security (ISIS) in Washington.
"There's no evidence that's been found that shows they have an
active nuclear weapons programme," Albright said. But he said
Iran seems to be keeping the weapons "option" open by pursuing
uranium enrichment, a process of purifying uranium for use as
fuel in nuclear power plants or in weapons.
"I think the US should be rightly criticised for not providing
evidence of a weapons programme in Iran," he added. The United
States accused Saddam Hussein of reviving Iraq's dismantled
atomic weapons programme after UN inspectors were forced out in
1998, but no evidence was found to support this. This was one of
the main justifications for the Iraq war.
While the IAEA report shows that Iran has been changing its story
regarding its research in potentially weapons-related technology,
analysts and diplomats close to the IAEA said it contained no
"smoking gun" that Iran is working on an atom bomb.
Mr Rohani said the IAEA had only minor questions related to
Iran's nuclear programme. "This report shows that Iran's nuclear
case is approaching the end and there are no more important
issues," he said.
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
9 Hi Pakistan: India proposes common nuclear doctrine -->
June 03 2004
Natwar says India, China, Pakistan can jointly bring stability in
region; Islamabad says proposal needs deep examination
NEW DELHI: India’s External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh has
suggested a common nuclear doctrine between India, China and
Pakistan to bring peace and stability to the region and the
world.
A former career diplomat who served in China and Pakistan, Singh
addressed his first press conference after assuming charge. His
idea of a common N-doctrine underscored the new government’s
policy of cooperation rather than confrontation.
He said the objective of the proposed common nuclear doctrine was
to have a policy of the Asian nuclear powers. Natwar Singh, the
foreign minister in India’s new left-leaning government, said
Tuesday that India and Pakistan "are now nuclear powers and so is
China."
"The three countries should get together and work out a common
nuclear doctrine. This is a matter that needs to be discussed at
the highest level," Singh said. The minister said this matter
would have to be discussed at the topmost level of the
governments involved. As far as the government of India was
concerned the matter would be taken up for discussion whenever
the appropriate bodies like the Cabinet Committee on Security
(CCS) and Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) were
constituted and their meetings held.
Natwar Singh categorically said that "the dialogue with Pakistan
will not be stalled at all". But at the same time, he devoted a
lot of time and energy in giving a point-by-point rebuttal of a
long set of complaints made by his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid
Mehmood Kasuri.
He denied that there would be any shift in India’s policy of
seeking good relations with the US. He pointed out that India
wanted a close acrimonious-free and multi-faceted relationship
with the US and he had spoken to the US Ambassador to India about
the same.
Natwar Singh admitted that there were "differences" with the US
but added that these differences would not be aired publicly but
rather "addressed diplomatically and tactfully". He underlined
the need to further "strengthen, deepen and widen" relationship
with United States. He termed as "unfounded" apprehensions that
there would be a change in India’s policies towards the US and
said New Delhi would like to base its ties with Washington on
mutual understanding, accommodation, cooperation and
consultations.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told
AFP that Singh’s statement on a three-way nuclear dialogue "looks
like a new and innovative proposal which needs further and deeper
examination."
Analysts said on Wednesday the new Indian government’s proposal
was still in its initial stages and it would take time to flesh
out any three-way dialogue among Asia’s declared nuclear states.
"Both the BJP and the new Congress government pursue a policy
that those Americans who would hope to use India as a strategic
balance to China would find troublesome," said Stephen Cohen, an
expert on South Asian military affairs at the Brookings
Institution in Washington.
Riffat Hussain, head of the strategic studies department at
Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, said Singh seemed to
suggest that Pakistan was an equal player in the "trilateral
nuclear equation."
"It is significant because so far the Indians have been arguing
that their security concerns go beyond Pakistan and they have
refused the effort by the international community to have India,
Pakistan and China sit together and talked about nuclear issues,"
Riffat Hussain said.
The Indian proposal "will help in China’s efforts to improve
relations between India and Pakistan," said David Zweig, a China
watcher at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
"China wants to become a regional player, and it’s a region where
it can have some influence," he said. C Raja Mohan, a strategic
analyst who writes for The Hindu newspaper, cautioned not to
overinterpret Singh’s statement, as it did not appear to be a
concrete proposal.
"There is already an agreement with Pakistan on nuclear
confidence-building measures and between India and China there is
a nuclear dialogue. The question of harmonisation of these
dialogues is not a practical proposition," he said.
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
10 Reuters: Nuke whistleblower steps up bid to leave Israel
Thu 3 June, 2004 14:57
By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu has
asked Israel's top court to lift a ban on him leaving the
country, saying he poses no security threat after serving an
18-year prison term for treason.
"The Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) filed my High
Court petition," Vanunu told Reuters. "It argues that I have no
more secrets to tell, or any plan of doing so, and therefore I
should be allowed to leave Israel freely."
Vanunu was abducted by Israeli agents and jailed in 1986 after
discussing his work at the Dimona atomic reactor with a British
newspaper. His revelations to the Sunday Times led independent
experts to conclude Israel had amassed between 100 and 200
nuclear weapons, the makings of a military superpower.
A Christian convert, Vanunu has been living in a Jerusalem church
since his release on April 21. He has said he wants to settle in
the United States or Europe.
Citing fears Vanunu may have more secrets to spill, Israeli
authorities have ordered him confined to Israel for at least a
year and restricted his contacts with foreigners. ACRI called the
measures a violation of Vanunu's civil rights.
"He has discharged his obligation to society and today he has the
right to be a free citizen," ACRI lawyer Dan Yakir said on
Thursday.
Keen to ward off regional foes while avoiding arms races, Israel
does not discuss its assumed non-conventional arsenal.
In an interview conducted by an Israeli intermediary and
broadcast by the BBC on Sunday, Vanunu said he exposed Dimona
because he wanted to save Israel from a "new holocaust".
But in prison statements published by the authorities before his
release, he also questioned the Jewish state's right to exist.
Public outcry over Vanunu's vow to continue his anti-nuclear
campaigning has raised concern for his safety in Israel. The
whistleblower said he narrowly avoided being beaten by vigilantes
on Tuesday. Police were checking the report.
"As we saw over the last few days there is hate and danger even
to my life here. So I have no future in this Israeli state,"
Vanunu said.
*****************************************************************
11 Straits Times: N-middleman's arrest a 'cover-up'
JUNE 4, 2004 FRI
KUALA LUMPUR - Opposition leaders have accused Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of trying to cover up his son's involvement
in an international nuclear trafficking network by having an
alleged middleman jailed without trial.
Two opposition parties yesterday demanded that Sri Lankan
businessman Buhary Syed Abu Tahir be brought before open court to
answer charges stemming from his role in arranging for a
Malaysian company to make parts for Libya's nuclear weapons
programmes.
The use of a security law that allows indefinite detention
without trial - instead of regular criminal laws - against Tahir
shows that Datuk Seri Abdullah wants to stop further
incriminating or embarrassing details about his links to Malaysia
coming out, they said.
Tahir, the trafficking network's alleged chief financial officer,
ordered the parts for Libya from a company owned by Datuk Seri
Abdullah's only son, Mr Kamaluddin, with whom he also once had
close business ties.
'If this case comes to court, the truth will be exposed to the
public,' said Mr Salahuddin Ayub, the head of Parti Islam
SeMalaysia's youth wing.
'The Prime Minister has abused his powers as Internal Security
Minister to save his son from being linked to this issue.' -- AP
Jun 03
asia1.com.sg
*****************************************************************
12 IAEA: Promoting Nuclear Security: IAEA Action Against Terrorism
+ [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace]
Staff Report
1 June 2004 [Nuclear Security]
Security experts assist in the prevention and detection of
nuclear trafficking, and respond to threats of nuclear
terrorism. (Credit: V. Mouchkin/IAEA)
+ Story Resources
+ In Focus: Nuclear Security »
+ Possible Terrorist Scenarios
+ What the IAEA is Doing
+ Facts & Figures
+ The Nuclear Threat Initiative [http://www.nti.org/]
+ IAEA's Office of Nuclear Security
[http://www-ns.iaea.org/security/]
The IAEA global plan to fight nuclear terrorism keeps making
important headway. At its heart are experts who assist countries
to upgrade security against terrorist acts involving nuclear and
other radioactive materials. As of March 2004, $27 million had
been pledged by 24 States and one organization to fund the
plan’s three-year implementation, and 14 States had pledged
other types of assistance. Support includes the services of
nuclear and security experts who know how to prevent, detect,
and respond to threats of nuclear terrorism. Developed in the
wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United
States, the plan focuses on peer reviews, training, and advanced
technologies to reinforce security. Its track record includes.
+ More than 50 evaluation missions to assess the physical
protection of nuclear material at nuclear power plants and other
facilities;
+ 60-plus training courses to help governments raise security
standards at nuclear facilities, improve control of nuclear and
radioactive material, upgrade border monitoring and prepare for
emergencies; and
+ Equipment upgrades in numerous States.
Preventing Terrorist Threats
The main threat that States face today is the chance that
terrorists could get their hands on nuclear material. The Head
of the IAEA’s Office of Nuclear Security, Dr. Anita Nilsson,
says that the IAEA’s work targets preventing terrorists from
acquiring enough plutonium or high-enriched uranium to construct
any type of nuclear explosive device. The plan identifies four
basic threats:
1. Theft of a nuclear weapon
2. Theft of nuclear material
3. Theft of other radioactive materials
4. Sabotage
IAEA Anti Terrorism Measures
Given the multiplicity of targets and terrorist scenarios, Dr.
Nilsson said the Agency has adopted a far-reaching approach to
prevent, detect and respond to terrorist acts involving
radioactive or nuclear material in use, storage or transport.
Top priorities include:
Upgrades to Physical Security
As part of the its anti-terrorism efforts, the Agency has
initiated the International Nuclear Security Advisory Service
(INSServ), aimed at identifying needs for additional, or
improved, nuclear security on a State-wide basis.
The IAEA sends a group of experts to a country that requests the
service. During the visit, any deficiencies in the country’s
nuclear security are identified. Dr. Nilsson said the
recommendations generated from the visit "provide a platform for
subsequent, more specific, nuclear security assistance, through
IAEA programmes or through bilateral assistance". Such support
includes technical advice, legislative and regulatory
assistance, training and equipment. The Agency also helps
solicit bilateral assistance to remedy security deficiencies for
States in need.
Accountability &Control of Nuclear/-Radioactive Material
The IAEA has an active record in helping States locate and
secure orphaned radioactive sources. It also assists them to
formulate national strategies to bring such sources under proper
control. The IAEA sent missions to Afghanistan, Georgia and
Uganda for example, to recover radioactive sources that went
astray and were not adequately protected. A Trilateral
Initiative between the IAEA, the Russian Federation and the
United States is securing powerful radioactive sources that were
lost when the Soviet Union dissolved.
Strengthened Legislation &Regulations
Under IAEA auspices, many legally binding conventions and
non-binding guidelines to protect against nuclear terrorism have
been established. IAEA efforts are underway to strengthen and
broaden the scope of the Convention on the Physical Protection
of Nuclear Material. The Code of Conduct for Safety and Security
of Radioactive Sources was also recently strengthened. "The
Agency is working to bring about adherence to these and other
relevant legal instruments by a significantly increased number
of States," Dr. Nilsson said. The IAEA also helps States
establish a regulatory framework for nuclear security.
Measures to Detect and Interdict Illicit Trafficking
If prevention fails, and nuclear or radioactive material is
stolen, measures must be in place to combat trafficking in these
materials, Dr. Nilsson said. Some IAEA activities in this area
include:
1. Safeguards. The Agency’s work to verify the peaceful uses
of nuclear material in countries with safeguards agreements,
strongly contributes to nuclear security, Dr. Nilsson said. IAEA
inspections may contribute to detection of theft. In new
initiative, the Agency now provides recommendations to national
authorities and facility operators on ways to improve the
accounting and control of nuclear material.
2. Well trained staff. Strengthened nuclear security requires
well-prepared staff, with adequate education and training. The
IAEA provides security training at international, regional and
national levels. One such example is training courses for front
line officers in Azerbaijan and Cyprus who are most likely to
encounter radioactive materials.
3. Equipment. The IAEA helps countries to obtain the equipment
necessary for physical protection of nuclear and other
radioactive materials. For example equipment is need to detect
smuggling attempts at border-crossing points. While at nuclear
installations, technical systems that are important for the
safety of the installation may require special protection
against sabotage.
"By working closely with Member States having bilateral nuclear
support programmes, the Agency facilitates the provision of
equipment through bilateral programmes," Dr. Nilsson said.
Laboratories around the world are also working with the IAEA to
improve the tools for detecting radioactive materials. The
Agency provides, to a limited extent, such equipment. The IAEA
is also establishing a system to provide nuclear forensics
support to Member States to help them determine the origins of
confiscated material.
Responding to Terrorist Acts; Theft and Sabotage
"Adequate measures must also be in place to respond to
incidents of theft and sabotage and to be adequately prepared
for a radiological emergency resulting from a malicious act,"
Dr. Nilsson said. "The Agency interacts with States having
bilateral nuclear security support programmes, in particular to
co-ordinate support for the required equipment," she said.
To enhance co-ordination with other UN agencies and bodies, the
IAEA participates in the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism
Committee. It also works closely with the World Customs
Organization on security and trade issues, the Universal Postal
Union on mail security issues, and Interpol and Europol in
combating illicit nuclear trafficking.
"We have come a long way already from that dark day in September
2001," Dr. Nilsson said. "The IAEA has forged a global plan to
fight against nuclear terrorism working together with all its
Member States. We are now seeking ever-greater co-operation, and
resources, to adequately address this imminent threat."
Copyright 2003-2004, International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O.
Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail:
Official.Mail@iaea.org [Official.Mail@iaea.org]
*****************************************************************
13 AFP: New Zealanders favour relaxing nuclear law provided no US ships
vist: poll
AUCKLAND (AFP) Jun 03, 2004
A majority of New Zealanders would favour easing the South
Pacific nation's anti-nuclear laws, provided the United States
did not send any warships, a New Zealand Herald poll published
Thursday showed.
Successive New Zealand governments have maintained anti-nuclear
laws that, in effect, prohibit United States ship visits.
The current opposition National Party last month called for a
change to the laws so that United States nuclear-powered warships
could visit New Zealand ports.
The Herald poll found 58 percent of respondents would be opposed
to relaxing the laws against nuclear-powered ships so as to
improve New Zealands relations with the United States.
But 53 percent supported a relaxation "of the law if there could
be an understanding with the US that they would not actually send
nuclear-powered ships". Only 38 percent were opposed.
The telephone poll covered 712 voters.
In 1985 the then Labour government of prime minister David Lange
declined a visit from a US warship.
The decision led to anti-nuclear laws which resulted in New
Zealand being frozen out of the Anzus (Australia, New Zealand and
US) Pact and a loss of status in Washington, downgraded from
"ally" to "friend". No US warship has visited since 1985.
WAR.WIRE
*****************************************************************
14 American Centrifuge meeting in Piketon
Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 15:22:18 -0700
The following notice was provided by the United States Enrichment
Corporation......
NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING JUNE 23
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced that it will conduct a
public meeting on Wednesday, June 23, at 7 p.m., at the Vern Riffe Career
Technology Center. The meeting is being held to discuss the NRC's licensing
process for USEC Inc.'s proposed American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon.
The public is invited to participate in this meeting by providing comments
and asking questions throughout the meeting. NRC meetings are open for
interested members of the public to attend pursuant to the "Enhanced Public
Participation in NRC Meetings; Policy Statement," 67 Federal Register 36920,
May 28, 2002.
Sandy Childers
Manager of Public/Regulatory Affairs - Portsmouth
Bechtel Jacobs Company LLC
P.O. Box 900
Piketon, OH 45661
(740) 897-2336
FAX (740) 897-2280
e-mail: y84@bechteljacobs.org
*****************************************************************
15 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
FR Doc 04-12519
[Federal Register: June 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 107)]
[Notices] [Page 31434] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03jn04-105]
Comment Request AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information
collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment.
SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of
continued approval of information collections under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to be
submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: 10 CFR
part 19, ``Notices, Instructions, and Reports to Workers:
Inspection and Investigations.'' 2. Current OMB approval number:
3150-0044. 3. How often the collection is required: As necessary
in order that adequate and timely reports of radiation exposure
be made to individuals involved in NRC-licensed activities.
4. Who is required or asked to report: Licensees authorized to
receive, possess, use, or transfer material licensed by the NRC.
5. The number of annual respondents: 4,650. 6. The number of
hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request:
35,674 hours (4,553 reporting (approximately 17.78 hours per
response) and (31,121 recordkeeping hours (approximately 6.69
hours per recordkeeper)).
7. Abstract: Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part
19, requires licensees to advise workers on an annual basis of
any radiation exposure they may have received as a result of
NRC-licensed activities or when certain conditions are met. These
conditions apply during termination of the worker's employment,
at the request of a worker, former worker, or when the worker's
employer (the NRC licensee) must report radiation exposure
information on the worker to the NRC. Part 19 also establishes
requirements for instructions by licensees to individuals
participating in licensed activities and options available to
these individuals in connection with Commission inspections of
licensees to ascertain compliance with the provisions of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, Title II of the Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974, and regulations, orders and licenses
thereunder regarding radiological working conditions.
The worker should be informed of the radiation dose he or she
receives because: (a) That information is needed by both a new
employer and the individual when the employee changes jobs in the
nuclear industry; (b) the individual needs to know the radiation
dose received as a result of an accident or incident (if this
dose is in excess of the 10 CFR Part 20 limits) so that he or she
can seek counseling about future work involving radiation,
medical attention, or both, as desired; and (c) since long-term
exposure to radiation may be an adverse health factor, the
individual needs to know whether the accumulated dose is being
controlled within NRC limits. The worker also needs to know about
health risks from occupational exposure to radioactive materials
or radiation, precautions or procedures to minimize exposure,
worker responsibilities and options to report any licensee
conditions which may lead to or cause a violation of Commission
regulations, and individual radiation exposure reports which are
available to him.
Submit, by August 2, 2004, comments that address the following
questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary
for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the
information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate
accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden
of the information collection be minimized, including the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be
viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD
20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC World Wide
Web site:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comm
ent/omb/index.html] . The document will be available on the NRC
home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this
notice.
Comments and questions about the information collection
requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Brenda
Jo. Shelton (T-5 F52), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7233, or by
Internet electronic mail to infocollects@nrc.gov
[infocollects@nrc.gov] . Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 27th
day of May, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-12519 Filed 6-2-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
16 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
FR Doc 04-12520
[Federal Register: June 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 107)]
[Notices] [Page 31434-31435] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03jn04-106]
Comment Request AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information
collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment.
SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of
[[Page 31435]] continued approval of information collections
under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to
be submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: 10 CFR
Part 39-- Licenses and Radiation Safety Requirements for Well
Logging.
2. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0130. 3. How often the
collection is required: Applications for new licenses and
amendments may be submitted at any time.
Applications for renewal are submitted every 10 years. Reports
are submitted as events occur.
4. Who will be required or asked to report: Applicants for and
holders of specific licenses authorizing the use of licensed
radioactive material for radiography.
5. The estimated number of annual respondents: 161 (35 NRC
licensees and 126 Agreement State licensees).
6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the
requirement or request: 34,933 hours. The NRC licensees total
burden is 7,594 hours (111 reporting hrs plus 7,483 recordkeeping
hrs). The Agreement State licensees total burden is 27,339 hours
(405 reporting hrs plus 26,934 recordkeeping hrs). The average
burden per response for both NRC licensees and Agreement State
licensees is 3.2 hours, and the burden per recordkeeper is 214
hours.
7. Abstract: 10 CFR part 39 establishes radiation safety
requirements for the use of radioactive material in well logging
operations. The information in the applications, reports and
records is used by the NRC staff to ensure that the health and
safety of the public is protected and that licensee possession
and use of source and byproduct material is in compliance with
license and regulatory requirements.
Submit, by August 2, 2004, comments that address the following
questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary
for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the
information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate
accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden
of the information collection be minimized, including the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be
viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD
20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC World Wide
Web site:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comm
ent/omb/index.html] . The document will be available on the NRC
home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this
notice.
Comments and questions about the information collection
requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Brenda
Jo. Shelton (T-5 F52), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7233, or by
Internet electronic mail to infocollects@nrc.gov
[infocollects@nrc.gov] . Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 26th
day of May, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-12520 Filed 6-2-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
17 Las Vegas SUN: Feds Ask Nuke Plants to Tally Fuel Rods
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WATERFORD, Conn. (AP) - Federal nuclear regulators asked about a
dozen power plants to take stock of their fuel rods, following
the loss of rods at two New England sites.
While there is no evidence those missing rods got into the hands
of terrorists, regulators said they want a better idea of how
spent fuel is managed.
"There is an even higher sensitivity to properly safeguard this
material post 9/11," said Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Sheehan identified only one of the affected plants, the
three-reactor Millstone Power Station in Waterford.
In 2000, inspectors discovered two missing fuel rods at
Millstone 1, which is being decommissioned. The rods had been
removed from the reactor in the 1970s and were thought to have
been stored with other spent fuel in a deep pool at the plant.
The rods are still missing, but an federal investigation
concluded they were probably shipped to a waste storage facility
in South Carolina.
In April, two pieces from broken fuel rods were discovered
missing from Vermont Yankee's spent-fuel pool. Inspectors are
still searching for the fuel but believe it also might have been
shipped to a storage facility.
Pete Hyde, a spokesman for Millstone plant owner Dominion,
complained that the plant will have to go to "extraordinary
lengths" to complete the inventory, including opening metal
lockers sealed in the 1980s.
"We are asking, with the industry, the question, `Why is this
necessary?' These boxes were not designed to be opened," Hyde
said.
Sheehan said such objections will have to be worked out. But, he
said, "To satisfy our comfort level, if the opening of those
boxes is required, that's what they'll have to do."
---
On the Net:
http://www.nrc.gov [http://www.nrc.gov]
--
*****************************************************************
18 SavannahNOW: Report blasts nuclear power plants -
06/03/2004
[SAVANNAHNOW.com Global Navigation]
Safety and cost cited as drawbacks; utility disagrees.
Mary Landers 912.652.0337 mary.landers@savannahnow.com
[mary.landers@savannahnow.com] -->
Charlie Belin put solar panels on his Savannah home 23 years ago.
030604 LOCAL NEWS SavannahNow.com Charlie Belin put solar panels
on his Savannah home 23 years ago. -->
"After four years, they paid for themselves," said Belin, who
works with the nonprofit Savannah Riverkeeper. "It's all gravy
now."
Belin's experience with solar contrasts sharply with Georgia's
experience with nuclear power, according to a new report by the
nonprofit Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
"Our report explains why nuclear power is no bargain for Georgia,
no matter how it is evaluated - the environment, public health
and national security all suffer because of this ill-advised
technology," said Sara Barczak, safe energy director of Southern
Alliance for Clean Energy.
Southern Company operates two nuclear power plants in Georgia.
Plant Vogtle is on the Savannah River near Augusta, and Plant
Hatch is on the Altamaha near Baxley. About 27 percent of the
electricity used in Georgia is generated by nuclear power plants.
In March, Southern Company, along with several other utilities,
announced plans to test a new licensing process for obtaining a
combined construction and operating license for advanced nuclear
power reactors.
To Barczak, the announcement signalled plans to develop new
nuclear power plants.
But Steve Higginbottom, spokesman for Southern Nuclear, a
subsidiary of Southern Company, denied that was the company's
goal.
"Southern Company has no plans to build new nuclear or buy
additional units," Higginbottom said. But the company has agreed
to spend $1 million per year for the next seven years on the
licensing process.
"We want to gather more information in the resource planning
arena. It will provide licensing and planning to make a better
decision down the road if and when we decide to build,"
Higginbottom said. "We do think that nuclear should remain an
option because of its low cost and low environmental impact,
safety and reliability."
That cost issue is debatable.
John Sell, of Georgia Power, noted that its nuclear plants run
all the time - not just for peak demand - because they're cheap.
"Nuclear is the cheapest, at least from our standpoint," he said.
But that standpoint doesn't include hidden costs, such as
governmental radiation monitoring programs, and costs for
transporting, storing and safeguarding radioactive wastes,
according to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy's report.
Safety is arguable, too.
Nuclear power plants are heavily regulated, Sell said. "We have
to consistently do security drills and emergency response
drills."
Those drills don't appease Barczak, who pointed out that prior to
Sept. 11, nuclear plants routinely failed mock terrorist attacks,
which were scheduled with the plant's knowledge. Post-Sept. 11,
the results of those drills are no longer public information.
Barczak concedes that nuclear's environmental impact is good in
terms of emissions, but points out it has other consequences. For
one, it uses large quantities of water for cooling. Much of that
is lost to evaporation. What is returned to the river is
sometimes as hot as 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Nuclear waste, with
its radioactivity lasting centuries, is what Barczak calls the
"ultimate garbage problem."
For Mildred McClain, executive director of Citizens for
Environmental Justice, the nuclear burden on Georgians is already
too high. In addition to the two nuclear plants in Georgia, seven
more nuclear power plants are located within 15 miles of the
state's borders. Georgia also hosts Kings Bay Naval Nuclear
Submarine Base. The Department of Energy's Savannah River Site, a
nuclear bomb production facility sits across the Savannah River
from Georgia near Augusta.
"Why are we going to generate more waste when we haven't cleaned
up the waste we have?" McClain said. -->
ABOUT THE REPORT
For a copy of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy's report
"Code Red Alert" contact Sara Barczak at 201-0354. Highlights of
the report are available on the organization's Web site at
www.cleanenergy.org.
Copyright 2004 Savannah Morning News. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
19 Rutland Herald: Senators: NRC gave state brushoff on Yankee
Jun. 1, 2004
By SUSAN SMALLHEER Herald Staff
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Vermont Senate: "Drop dead."
That's how Sen. Peter Welch, D-Windsor, Senate president pro
tempore, reads it.
"The NRC took six pages to say, 'NRC to Vermont Senate: Drop
dead,' that's what it basically says," Welch said Tuesday.
Welch, one of the authors of the Senate resolution asking for a
more detailed study of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant by
federal regulators said he was very disappointed by the NRC's
response.
Welch said the letter did nothing to address the safety concerns
the Senate raised in its March 17 resolution, which passed the
state Senate unanimously.
The Senate had asked for a detailed "independent safety
assessment" of Vermont Yankee by the NRC prior to the federal
regulators giving approval to Entergy Nuclear to increase power
by 20 percent.
"The staff believes that the specific actions requested by the
Senate are already satisfied in one way or another through
current or planned NRC processes," wrote J.E. Dyer, director of
the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
"We believe the NRC's program of review and oversight is
comprehensive, effective and responsive to the needs of the
Vermont Senate," Dyer concluded.
The Senate resolution followed closely the request from the state
Public Service Board for an "inde Welchpendent engineering
assessment," of Vermont Yankee prior to any power increase
approval by federal regulators. The engineering assessment was
described as not as extensive as what the Senate wanted.
Welch said that since the letter was sent to the NRC, the
problems at Vermont's only nuclear reactor have only gotten
worse: Two pieces of irradiated fuel have turned up missing, and
about 20 cracks were discovered in a key component, the steam
dryer.
"The letter doesn't provide any assurance that they are going to
treat this differently," Welch said. "It's business as usual."
Sen. Roderick Gander, D-Windham, said his reading of the NRC
letter was disappointing. "It was a brushoff, and they're not
taking us very seriously."
Gander said that people in Brattleboro and Windham County were
"waiting for the next shoe to drop" at the Vernon reactor, and
remained skeptical that the plant was capable of handling the
additional stresses associated with the power increase.
Sen. Jeannette White, D-Windham, said she was very disappointed
with the NRC's response. "We wanted an independent study. We did
not want them to do what they always do," she said.
"They're putting their own spin on it," she said.
White said the sponsors of the resolution had worked hard to get
a unanimous vote from the Senate, and she said that some
controversial clauses of the original resolution were deleted in
the interest of unanimous support.
White said the biggest concern at the time was that the Senate
was interfering in a process that was the domain of the Public
Service Board.
She said the resolution was being discussed at the time the
Public Service Board came out with its conditional approval of
the power increase, or uprate.
"The biggest concern was we were interfering with a process that
we shouldn't," White said.
"I'm not satisfied. I don't think it's adequately reviewed,"
White said. "I don't think they're being genuine, they're just
dismissing us."
A month ago, the NRC told the PSB that it would perform a
"detailed engineering inspection" of Vermont Yankee in light of
the request to change its license to increase power production.
Nils Diaz, chairman of the NRC, said that was part of a new
engineering inspection program the NRC had been developing.
Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com.
Copyright © 2004 [http://www.rutlandherald.com/]
and Barre-Montpelier [http://www.timesargus.com/]
*****************************************************************
20 San Luis Obispo Tribune: Coastal Commission to hear Diablo appeal
| 06/03/2004 |
Environmentalists say commission should limit the radioactive
waste to be stored in dry casks
David Sneed The Tribune
Local environmentalists want the state Coastal Commission to
stand up to the federal government and limit the amount of highly
radioactive waste that may be stored at Diablo Canyon nuclear
power plant.
The San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and the Sierra Club have
appealed to the Coastal Commission the county's approval of a
storage facility at the plant for spent reactor fuel. Three Morro
Bay residents have also joined in the appeal.
The commission is scheduled to consider the appeal at its July
meeting in Costa Mesa, but that is unlikely to be the last time
the issue will go before the panel.
If the commissioners agree that the appeal raises valid concerns,
another hearing will be held for a more thorough discussion.
The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its permit to
build the facility on March 22. Diablo Canyon currently stores
spent fuel in pools inside the plant. The capacity of those pools
is running out, but the planned U.S. depository for used fuel, a
site in Nevada, is not ready.
For that reason, plant owner Pacific Gas and Electric Co. would
like to build the dry-cask site at Diablo Canyon. Spent fuel rods
would be placed into special canisters that would then be stored
at the plant until they can be shipped to the federal depository.
The Coastal Commission permit is the project's last regulatory
hurdle, but a federal lawsuit has been filed challenging the lack
of public comment in security issues.
The appeal challenges the idea that the dry-cask facility will be
temporary. Uncertainties surrounding the future of the federal
dump for spent fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada mean the dry-cask
facility could be at Diablo Canyon for generations.
"If this is truly a temporary site, then it should be limited to
removal of nuclear waste currently sitting in the two overcrowded
spent fuel pools," states the appeal.
The appeal cites Connecticut and Minnesota, in which those
states' governments have limited the amount of spent fuel that
can be stored until a national repository is built, said Rochelle
Becker, a Mothers for Peace activist and Grover Beach resident.
"Do the people of California deserve less protection than those
in Connecticut and Minnesota?" Becker said. "Under the Coastal
Act, the answer should be no."
The state's Coastal Act regulates development along California's
coast.
The NRC and PG&E, which owns Diablo Canyon, argue that federal
law pre-empts states and local governments from any authority to
regulate safety and radiological health issues at nuclear plants.
They say the Coastal Commission's purview is limited to the
natural resource impacts of building the huge concrete pad upon
which the dry casks will be mounted.
The pad will be 7 feet thick and cover an area the size of
several football fields. It will be built on a hill behind the
power plant and could hold as many as 138 upright casks.
This facility is needed because the plant's spent fuel pools will
be full in 2006. Without the dry-cask facility, plant operators
would have to either shut the plant down or reconfigure storage
racks in the pools for a second time to allow them to hold more
fuel assemblies.
The appeal also questions the ability of the facility to
withstand a large earthquake. Concerns about this were renewed
following the San Simeon Earthquake in December.
PG&E has also appealed the county's decision, but for entirely
different reasons. The utility objects to a requirement that it
dedicate a trail easement -- along the 12 miles of coastline it
owns around the plant -- that would go into effect after the
plant closes.
The Coastal Act often requires that additional public access be
required in order to obtain a coastal development permit. But
PG&E maintains that the dry- cask facility will not diminish
coastal access any more than the nuclear plant already does.
"Because we are not impacting public access with this project,
there is no justification for requiring us to provide additional
access," said Jeff Lewis, plant spokesman.
The appeal argues that the dry-cask facility could remain in
place long after power plant is removed, thereby denying public
access to the coast for succeeding generations.
They also claim the dry casks threaten Diablo Canyon Creek with
erosion and polluted runoff and reduce the scenic quality of the
coast from the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to the Mothers for Peace and PG&E, appeals were filed
by Fred Frank of Atascadero on behalf of the Sierra Club as well
as David Weisman, Rick Keller and Carrie Filler, all of Morro
Bay.
They are encouraged by a letter that commission executive
director Peter Douglas sent the NRC in 2002, urging the agency to
take a "conservative, precautionary approach" to licensing the
dry-cask facility.
*****************************************************************
21 UK Independent: Hellfire and brimstone as Lovelock faces his anti-nuclear
opponents
By Ted Davenport
04 June 2004
It was an occasion akin to Daniel's away fixture in the lions'
den. James Lovelock came face to face with the environmental
establishment for the first time yesterday since his dramatic
call for a massive expansion of nuclear power.
In keeping with the biblical analogy, the celebrated green guru
delivered a "secular sermon" full of "hell fire and brimstone" at
the Gaia Conference in Devon yesterday. But the reaction of his
audience was, at best, agnostic.
Tony Juniper, the director of Friends of the Earth, was among
those who had been shocked by the offending article last month in
The Independent, when the author of the Gaia hypothesis contended
that only nuclear energy could prevent global warming
overwhelming civilisation. Yesterday Mr Juniper remained
unconvinced. "Climate change and radioactive waste both pose
deadly long-term threats, and we have a moral duty to minimise
the effects of both, not to choose between them," he said.
Michael Whitfield, the marine biologist, who was among the 50
experts on climate change gathered at Dartington Hall, Totnes,
said: "I can see the point from energic and economic points of
view but with two provisos. Nuclear power should be part of a
portfolio of other approaches to energy generation. I am nervous
about the social implications partly because nuclear power
programmes have been linked to weapons generation and there are
concerns about terrorism.
Professor Lovelock, 84, was the driving force behind this week's
scientific gathering. He said he was encouraged by the initial
response to his pro-nuclear ideas. He said: "I gave what I would
describe as a secular sermon which was a bit full of hellfire and
damnation. It seemed to go down reasonably well and I have not
had any very great controversy. The other papers have
demonstrated very clearly what an enormous difference a change in
temperature will have on the environment.
"This is the first conference of its sort we have held. I believe
everyone now accepts the basis of the Gaia theory because the
evidence is overwhelming. A lot of scientists do not much like
the name and prefer to talk about earth system science."
He will learn in more detail today and tomorrow how scientists
have reacted to his speech when the conference moves on to
discuss possible solutions and their ethical and political
implications.
Among the speakers who will address the meeting today is Sir
Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher's former press secretary, who
is secretary of the Supporters of Nuclear Energy and is to give a
paper entitled And Why Should We Not Go Nuclear. Sir Bernard is
an enthusiastic supporter of Professor Lovelock's conversion to
the cause of nuclear power.
"It is the one option which does not produce greenhouse gases and
I hope that more scientists will come to reject the
misrepresentations of the anti-nuclear activists," he said.
"Conferences of this sort are very useful if they help to clear
the minds of the scientists but we will only clear the minds of
the general public when the message is translated into simple
words."
Professor Lovelock achieved international fame with his theory
that the Earth keeps itself fit for life by the actions of living
things.
UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
22 JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point crisis seen overwhelming hospital
By MICHAEL RISINIT THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: June
3, 2004)
A crisis at the Indian Point nuclear power plants would
overwhelm Westchester Medical Center's emergency room, the
medical director of the STAT Flight emergency helicopter
operation based at the hospital said yesterday.
"Our system would basically fall apart (with as few as 50 people
coming in)," said Dr. Erik Larsen, who also works in the
emergency room.
Larsen, who emphasized that he was not representing the hospital,
made his comments as a coalition opposed to the power plants
continued its call for strengthened emergency evacuation plans.
The criticisms came just before a federally monitored drill for
the 10-mile radius around the plants measures the emergency
plans' effectiveness.
The June 8 drill will take place on paper and no one will be
evacuated — a main concern of those opposing the plants.
Officials from Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns Indian
Point, dismissed many of the coalition's criticisms.
"Each year we drill, we make improvements," Entergy spokesman Jim
Steets said. "There's always room for criticism."
Steets and Michael Slobodien, director of Entergy's emergency
programs, watched yesterday's news conference from outside a
meeting room at Pace University in White Plains. Others at the
gathering, organized by Kyle Rabin of the environmental group
Riverkeeper, called for Entergy to distribute respirator masks to
the 20 million residents who live within 50 miles of the plants
in Buchanan. Some questioned the evacuation plans for children,
such as whether schools had enough supplies to house students
during an emergency and if evacuation workers could handle
infants picked up at day care centers.
"What's become apparent is Indian Point's emergency preparation
plan is only as strong as its weakest link, and there are a
number of weak links," Rabin said.
Indian Point, like all nuclear power plants, must have an
emergency plan as a condition of its operating license from the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-Bronx, said he and U.S. Reps. Nita
Lowey, D-Harrison, and Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, met yesterday with
NRC Chairman Nils Diaz to discuss next week's drill.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will conduct the drill at
the plants, testing the emergency plans for Westchester,
Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties. Next week's drill will be
the first since last year, when the four counties and the state
refused to certify the plans as updated and effective — a status
FEMA formerly relied on, in part, for its evaluation of the
plans' effectiveness.
That change came after former FEMA Director James Lee Witt, as
part of a state-sponsored evaluation, concluded that the region
could not be safely evacuated in the event of a nuclear
emergency, particularly a fast-breaking one caused by terrorism.
This year, with the exception of Putnam, the plans again were not
certified. NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the emergency plan was
"a living document" and "has to take into account new
information."
"Next week will not be a garden-variety emergency exercise,"
Sheehan said.
Slobodien and a Westchester Medical Center official disputed
Larsen's assertions about the hospital's emergency room.
"Any emergency room that has 100 people walk into it at once
would have a problem handling that at the very beginning," said
Ted Tully, the hospital's director of disaster and emergency
services. "That's why we drill for it."
Steets also said respirator masks were unnecessary because
evacuations would remove residents from areas before they were
contaminated. Michelle Lee, of the Indian Point Safe Energy
Coalition, which has been working to close the plants, said an
overhaul of the evacuation plans would provide another layer of
safety.
"You want the least amount of people in body bags as possible,"
Lee said.
Send e-mail to Michael Risinit [mrisinit@thejournalnews.com]
Copyright 2004 The Journal News, a Gannett Co
[http://www.gannett.com/] . Inc. newspaper serving Westchester,
Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York.
Use of this site indicates your agreement to the Terms
of
Service [http://www.thejournalnews.com/include/terms.html]
*****************************************************************
23 TheDay.com: Dominion Is Urged to Account For Fuel rods At Millstone 2
Thursday, Jun 3, 2004
NRC's Recommendation Stems From Loss Of Rods At Millstone 1
By PATRICIA DADDONA Day Staff Writer, Waterford Published on
6/3/2004
Waterford A federal resident inspector at Millstone Power
Station has recommended that the plant owner, Dominion Nuclear
Connecticut, physically take inventory of boxed spent fuel at
Millstone 2.
Similar recommendations are anticipated at 11 of the 103 other
nuclear plants around the country as part of a nationwide review.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission initiated the study last
November in response to the loss four years ago of two fuel rods
at Millstone 1, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. That plant is
now being decommissioned.
There is no evidence that more spent fuel rods have gone missing
at Millstone, Sheehan said, but the Millstone 1 incident and a
similar case at a Vermont Yankee power plant served as a wake-up
call.
The nationwide review is being done on a one-time basis to make
sure plants have good control over what's in their spent fuel
pools, Sheehan said. There is an even higher sensitivity to
properly safeguard this material post 9/11.
The directive applies to both operating and decommissioned power
plants. Security concerns related to the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, prevented the NRC from starting its review
sooner, he said.
While the initiative could lead to NRC policy changes, the main
intent is to gather specific information at every plant about
spent fuel and how it is managed. What happened at Millstone
theoretically could happen anywhere, a manual outlining the
process states.
The two rods missing from Millstone 1 disappeared when the plant
was owned and operated by Northeast Utilities. Dominion purchased
the power plants in 2001.
The accounting review is being conducted in three phases. In the
first, power plant owners and federal inspectors must determine
whether any fuel rods have ever been removed from their
assemblies and placed in metal boxes, which Dominion calls
lockers, or other containers.
In Phase 2, the owner must account for those reconstituted fuel
rods through record-keeping or other means. Phase 3 the phase
the inspector has recommended Millstone carry out involves an
intensive inspection to locate and account for the waste.
Most power plants store radioactive spent fuel rods in
various-sized assemblies and then submerge the assemblies in
40-foot-deep pools. The water, treated with boron, inhibits
fission, the nuclear reaction used to generate electricity in the
reactor core, and cools the rods.
The planned final repository for contaminated nuclear waste, an
underground storage site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, failed to
open in 1998 and remains years away from operation.
The assemblies in the spent fuel pools can be accounted for by
sight, but that is not true for fuel rods that were taken out of
the assemblies and stored in other containers, Sheehan said.
Alternate containers have been used over the years for various
reasons, he said sometimes to conserve space in the pools while
waiting for Yucca Mountain and at other times for inspection of
damaged rods.
At Millstone 2 in the mid-1980s, Northeast Utilities took 1,106
14-foot-long radioactive fuel rods from their assemblies,
primarily at the Millstone 2 plant, and placed them in stainless
steel lockers at the bottom of a spent fuel pool to save space,
said Pete Hyde, spokesman for Dominion.
The three lockers at Millstone 2 are sealed with a tab at the top
that slips in and locks shut, and can be opened only with a
highly specialized tool that moves the tab, Hyde said. Dominion
doesn't have the tool, but could get it from the manufacturer, he
said.
Dominion has great confidence in its record keeping, Hyde said,
in contrast to the accounting used by Northeast Utilities, which
paid a $288,000 fine for losing track of two fuel rods that have
never been located.
The company is not surprised to be one of the 12 considered for a
more intensive review, said Hyde, but the company doesn't believe
the step is necessary.
It's not just Dominion, it's the whole industry, he said. We
are asking, with the industry, the question, Why is this
necessary?' These boxes were not designed to be opened. So to do
so, we'd have to go to extraordinary lengths to confirm what's in
there.
We have trained and qualified reactor engineers and oversight
representatives who physically counted every single one of those
rods that went into those lockers, Hyde said.
When it comes to handling fuel rods, Hyde said, less handling is
also safer.
Sheehan could not say whether the NRC would endorse the
inspector's recommendation for a third phase of physical
inventories at Millstone or any other plant. He did not identify
the other 12 plants recommended for Phase 3 scrutiny.
He did say Dominion's objections have some validity and will need
to be worked out.
To satisfy our comfort level, he added, if the opening of
those boxes is required, that's what they'll have to do.
The chance of finding more missing fuel rods at any of the plants
is extremely remote, Sheehan said, particularly with today's
heightened level of security. However, the incident at Millstone
1 prompted officials at Vermont Yankee to double-check a
container; they subsequently found two sections of a fuel rod
missing, he said.
At Millstone 1, the NRC determined there was a good chance the
missing fuel rods mistakenly ended up at a low-level radioactive
waste in Barnwell, S.C., but that, Sheehan said, is only an
educated guess.
p.daddona@theday.com
442-2200 | © 1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co. You are 1 of 458
*****************************************************************
24 TheDay.com: Millstone Security Officers' Union Negotiating New Contract
Current Agreement Expires On June 15; 3 Days' Talks Expected
By PATRICIA DADDONA Day Staff Writer, Waterford Published on
6/3/2004
Waterford Union representatives for security officers at
Millstone Power Station are meeting with the workers' employer, a
private contractor, on Monday to renegotiate a three-year
contract.
The union includes about 125 security guards and officers, said
Larry R. Ferris, the director of the United Government Security
Officers of America, Local 19. UGSOA will be representing the
workers at three days of talks at the Crown Plaza Hotel in
Hartford, Ferris said.
The contractor, Securitas Security Services USA Inc. of Sweden,
employs the security force on behalf of Dominion Nuclear
Connecticut, which owns Millstone. The current contract, the
union's second, expires on June 15, Ferris said.
Like any union, Millstone workers' chief concerns are wages and
benefits, but those issues will be negotiated in a post 9/11
world, where security concerns have increased at nuclear power
plants that could be targets of terrorism, Ferris said.
UGSOA represents 8,000 people in more than 135 security forces at
power plants across the U.S. and around the world, including
Three Mile Island, Vermont Yankee and plants in Guam, Puerto
Rico, and Bermuda, Ferris said. The firm is based in Westminster,
Colo.
Officials at the Securitas office in New London could not be
reached for comment.
p.daddona@theday.com
442-2200 | © 1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co. You are 1 of 457
*****************************************************************
25 REUTERS: INTERVIEW-Ontario minister sees nuclear decision in 2 months
Reuters, 06.03.04, 12:46 PM ET
By Sue Thomas
TORONTO, (Reuters) - Ontario will decide within two months on the
future of its key nuclear plant, the province's Energy Minister
said Thursday, after a damning report in December revealed
mismanagement and massive cost overruns.
"In terms of making a decision to proceed with the refurbishment,
we're talking within the next couple of months," Ontario Energy
Minister Dwight Duncan said in an interview.
"The costs of not making a decision are significant. It's costing
C$20 million a month just to keep the thing prepped for the
decision."
An independent report in December detailed mismanagement and
soaring costs to refurbish Pickering A nuclear plant, one of the
world's largest nuclear facilities. The refurbishment was
launched under Ontario's previous Conservative government, which
lost to the Liberals in October.
Pickering A's four nuclear units were closed in December 1997. In
1999, the board of Ontario Power Generation, the provincially
owned power producer, decided to revamp and restart all four
units at a cost of C$1.1 billion ($808 million) by December 2002.
But by the end of September 2002, only one unit had returned to
service, at a cost of C$1.25 billion -- triple the original
estimate for one unit -- and two years behind schedule. The
remaining units are still not back in service.
Duncan said Thursday the total cost of refurbishing the facility
"could exceed C$1 billion."
"There's no lack of advice on this. We're just sorting through
the analyses and will take recommendations later this month."
The advice includes a report on future Ontario power needs that
was commissioned by the provincial government and headed by John
Manley, Canada's former deputy prime minister.
The March report warned that Ontario could face a severe power
shortage by 2007 adding that the province needs a strong dose of
nuclear power.
It recommends that debt-ridden Ontario Power Generation should be
broken up into a nuclear arm and another that handles electricity
from hydro and fossil-fuel sources.
Duncan is adamant that Ontario will shut down all its coal-fired
power plants, which produce about a quarter of the province's
electricity, by 2007 and dismisses criticism that the move will
overburden the power system.
Ontario already imports power during peak summer and winter
months, and analysts say losing coal plants would create a supply
crunch.
Duncan says that is not likely to happen.
A recent request for proposal (RFP) for 300 megawatts (MW) of
new, renewable electricity capacity had been oversubscribed, he
said, and another request for 2,500 MW will be issued within a
week.
"We are moving prudently forward with our coal goal. We have to
make sure we have a replacement supply, but we are quite
confident we will achieve that," he said.
"I don't agree with the criticism. We believe we are taking a
logical first step in moving from 17th century technology to 21st
century technology."
He said plans are on track to introduce sweeping reforms in power
legislation within the next two weeks, which could be passed into
law by the autumn. It includes increasing supply and
conservation, and stabilizing prices.
Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service
*****************************************************************
26 Sofia Morning News: MPs Push for Nuke Plant Referendum
SOFIA NEWS AGENCY [http://www.novinite.com/]
Politics: 3 June 2004, Thursday.
Bulgarian Parliament will vote on the Socialists' move for
calling on referendum over the decommissioning of units 3 and 4
of nuke plant Kozloduy.
Their closure has been set as a prerequisite on the very start of
EU entry negotiations.
A total of 64 MPs, including socialists and maverick
parliamentarians, have initiated a subscription in support for a
referendum on the nuke units decommissioning.
In a series of visits and peer reviews the European nuclear
watchdog has concluded positively on the high level of safety and
exploitation functionality of both Russia-made units.
President Georgi Parvanov also raised a critical voice against
the EU-bound engagement by the previous government, who -
according to him - had been overhasty agreeing to close
Kozloduy's units 3 and 4.[ width=]
All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2004 - Copyright
Novinite.com (thebulgariannews.com also) is unique with being a
real time news provider in English that informs its readers
about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also
*****************************************************************
27 Whitehaven News: U-TURN AS £3M LIFELINE IS AXED
Minister Stephen Timms
THE Government has done a U-turn on its legal duty to provide
cash support to West Cumbria when the new NDA takes over at
Sellafield.
Lord Campbell Savours in the Lords and Copeland MP Dr Jack
Cunningham last week thought they had succeeded in pressuring the
Government to insert an amendment to the Energy Bill which made
it a “duty” of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to provide
for the social and economic wellbeing of the area.
But now a committee stage of the Bill has seen the Government
take the “duty” amendment out.
At stake is £3 million spending a year, which the Government
realised would be an open-ended commitment to West Cumbria for
decades to come.
Copeland Council leader Coun Elaine Woodburn said of the news:
“It is very disappointing. We are facing a long-term problem that
needs a commitment to a long-term solution.
“All the local authorities have put a lot of effort into trying
to persuade the Government over this. It is very disappointing to
see the select committee take out the commitment. We will have to
knock harder on more doors – we cannot afford to see them get
this wrong.”
Defending the U-turn, energy minister Stephen Timms told MPs: “We
all agree that the question of social and economic support for
local communities that are heavily dependent on the nuclear
industry is important, and the Government is committed to
ensuring that the NDA and its site operators continue to play a
full role in their communities.
“The issue was fully debated in the other place [the House of
Lords] and the Bill has always provided for the NDA to give
encouragement and support for the social and economic life of
local communities.
“Following representations in the other place, we amended the
Bill expressly to cover support for environmental benefits as
well. On third reading in the other place, two more amendments
were made to strengthen further the NDA’s remit by requiring it
to have particular regard to those considerations in its
employment and contractual arrangements, in order to engender
local confidence that the support given by existing operators
will be maintained and enhanced.
“I accept the general purpose of those proposals, but their
drafting is somewhat unclear in its legal effect, and there is a
risk that the NDA will be hindered in discharging its principal
clean-up responsibilities as a result. That is the reason for the
amendments.”
The minister went on: “We have been open about our policy intent
to maintain levels of support for West Cumbria and other
communities that are local to nuclear sites. However, I do not
think that it would be appropriate to make that a statutory
obligation.
“The effect of that would be to fix the minimum level of support
at the current sum, which, to take West Cumbria as an example, is
about £3million a year. That is certainly appropriate now. We
cannot say that that will always be the case over the next 10, 20
or 50 years. The local economy will change a lot over that
period, and it would be a mistake to set out a minimum level of
support in statute into perpetuity.”
Greenpeace spokesman, Jean McSorley said: “It leaves a bad taste
to see the government set up a situation where West Cumbria is
dependent on the nuclear option, but then to withdraw the
appropriate support for the community and then not give the extra
help.”
[http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/
*****************************************************************
28 chillicothe gazette: Sick workers buried in red tape -
www.chillicothegazette.com
Thursday, June 3, 2004
Report: Sick nuclear personnel can expect long wait for benefits
By Greg Wright Gannett News Service
States with the most cases
Former nuclear weapons plant workers in nine states have filed
more than 18,000 cases for compensation with the Energy
Department. The remaining states have about 3,300 cases among
them.
Tennessee: 4,319 cases.
Sites: Oak Ridge K-25, X-10 and Y-12 plants.
South Carolina: 3,379 cases.
Site: Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.
Kentucky: 2,375 cases.
Site: Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Washington: 1,851 cases.
Site: Hanford Site near Richland, Wash.
Colorado: 1,685 cases.
Site: Rocky Flats Plant near Golden, Colo.
New Mexico: 1,601 cases.
Site: Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Ohio: 1,305 cases.
Sites: Piketon uranium enrichment plant; Feed Materials
Production Center at Fernald; Mound Plant at Miamisburg.
Idaho: 904 cases.
Site: Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
near Idaho Falls.
Iowa: 675 cases.
Site: Iowa Ordnance Plant in Burlington.
Source: General Accounting Office analysis of Energy Department
data.
WASHINGTON -- Sick nuclear weapons workers who want the
government to help them get workers' compensation checks will
continue their long wait, a congressional watchdog agency said.
Although the Energy Department is processing more worker claims,
it still does not have enough physicians to review them, a
General Accounting Office report said. And the department is
doing a poor job of telling workers why it is taking so long to
process their claims.
The Energy Department still is reviewing the report and officials
there were not ready to comment Tuesday, spokesman Joe Davis
said. But Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, who asked for the report, said it shows lawmakers must
revamp the program.
"As we continue to look for a legislative remedy to the problem,
the government accounting office report shows that the speed of
processing of worker compensation claims has increased from a
snail's pace to a turtle's crawl," the Iowa Republican said.
Congress in 2000 created programs to help hundreds of Cold
War-era nuclear weapons workers who may have developed cancer and
other diseases from radiation or toxic chemical exposure.
The Labor Department gives eligible workers $150,000 and covers
medical bills, while the Energy Department helps them get state
workers' compensation benefits.
By the end of 2003, Energy had processed about 6 percent of more
than 23,000 claims received, the report said. And most of the
processed claims were denied, partly because investigators found
employees' illnesses were not related to toxic exposure.
The report was released to congressional staff late Friday but
was not given to the public until this week. Grassley is meeting
with lawmakers such as Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Jim
Bunning, R-Ky., to introduce legislation to speed up the claims
process, said Grassley spokeswoman Beth Levine.
One option is to move the workers' compensation program to the
Labor Department. Labor has processed its nuclear worker claims
faster, Grassley said. But Bush administration officials oppose
the move because the departments still would have to work
together to process claims. The Energy Department had control
over the nuclear weapons plants when they were building bombs or
their components.
Workers who win Energy Department claims also have no guarantee
of ever getting a state workers' compensation check in the mail.
About one in five claimants in Tennessee, South Carolina,
Kentucky, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Idaho and Iowa
-- states where the most claims were filed -- may not be covered
under a state workers' compensation program, according to the
report.
Originally published Thursday, June 3, 2004
*****************************************************************
29 SF Chronicle: Kerry calls for program to protect nuclear fuel
[http://sfgate.com]
[chronfeedback@sfchronicle.com] Wednesday, June 2, 2004
Declaring nuclear terrorism to be the greatest threat facing the
United States, Sen. John Kerry proposed a program Tuesday to
accelerate existing efforts for safeguarding the fuel used in
warheads.
The program, however, would leave the United States and Russia in
command of enormous nuclear arsenals. And it would not slow
research at the United States' two big weapons design
laboratories, Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos, which are
managed by the University of California.
"Preventing nuclear terrorism is our most urgent priority to
provide for America's long-term security," Kerry, the presumptive
Democratic presidential nominee, said in a speech in Riviera
Beach, Fla. The prospect of terrorists obtaining the material to
build a nuclear bomb and using it was "very real indeed," he
added.
The Massachusetts senator criticized the Bush administration for
going too slowly in collecting weapons-grade plutonium and
uranium scattered around the world from the Cold War, and said he
would make the program a major national priority. Kerry said he
would secure, lock away or blend down nuclear materials over a
four-year period, in contrast to what he said was a 13-year
program under President Bush's policies.
Richard Falkenrath, Bush's former deputy director for homeland
security, disputed Kerry's critique. Bush has "pushed harder on
the nonproliferation agenda than any other president," Falkenrath
said.
Kerry promised to work cooperatively with U.S. allies and to
prevent nuclear upstarts from developing new programs to produce
warheads. Kerry also said the United States should set an example
for other countries by abandoning programs the Bush
administration has championed to manufacture new types of
warheads for destroying deeply buried bunkers.
"These imperatives must guide us as we deal with the greatest
threat we face today -- the possibility of al Qaeda or other
terrorists getting their hands on a nuclear weapon," he said.
Kerry did not offer an estimate of the cost of his plans, but the
United States and its allies already have agreed to spend $20
billion to secure all the warheads and nuclear weapons fuel in
Russia and the former Soviet bloc states.
Kerry also failed to detail how he would prevent states like Iran
and North Korea from building the ultimate weapons of mass
destruction. He suggested that he would take a tough stance in
dealing with those two countries, working cooperatively with
allies when appropriate, but he did not explain what he would do
if the countries moved forward in their weapons programs anyway,
which currently appears to be the case.
Indeed, a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency,
the nuclear watchdog group at the United Nations, concludes that
Iran is still manufacturing and importing parts that could be
used in the making of nuclear arms.
Kerry's remarks echoed similar promises made by Bush during a
speech at the National Defense University in February.
Bush proposed plugging holes in the international system for
preventing the proliferation of nuclear technologies by stopping
countries from obtaining the means to produce reactor fuel,
toughening the inspections of nuclear facilities to ensure they
are not being used for weapons activities, tightening controls on
the export of components that can be used to make weapons-grade
fuel and strengthening a program for intercepting suspected
shipments of illicit nuclear materials.
Ashton Carter, a security adviser to Kerry and a former assistant
secretary of defense for international security policy in the
Clinton administration, said the Democratic candidate had no
intentions of halting a program pushed by the Bush administration
for building a factory to produce up to 900 plutonium cores for
warheads each year.
That factory, which will cost many billions of dollars, is
critical to updating the U.S. arsenal, the White House has
argued, but opponents have said it would only encourage the
spread of nuclear weapons and technologies.
Chronicle news services contributed to this report.E-mail James
Sterngold at [jsterngold@sfchronicle.com]
[graphical line]
Page A - 2
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ
*****************************************************************
30 HSE: Statement of nuclear incidents at nuclear installations
Updated 03.06.04
HSE Press Release: E076:04 - 3 June 2004
A statement of nuclear incidents at nuclear installations in
Britain during the first quarter of 2004 is published today by
the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It covers the period 1
January to 31 March 2004. During this period there were no
incidents at civil licensed nuclear installations that met the
reporting criteria.
The statement is published under arrangements that came into
effect from the first quarter of 1993, derived from the Health
and Safety Commission's powers under section 11 of the Health and
Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974.
Statement of Nuclear Incidents at Nuclear Installations: First
Quarter 2004 - single copies of each free from the Information
Centre, Nuclear Safety Directorate, HSE, Room 004, St Peters
House, Stanley Precinct, Bootle L20 3LZ.
Notes to Editors
1. The arrangements for reporting incidents were announced to
Parliament by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for
Energy on 30 April 1987 (Hansard col. 203-204). A minor
modification to arrangements for reporting on nuclear incidents
was announced in HSE press notice E108:93 of 30 June 1993.
2. Normally each incident mentioned in HSE's Quarterly Incident
Statements will already have been made public by the licensee or
site operator, either through a press statement or by inclusion
in the newsletter for the site concerned.
PUBLIC ENQUIRIES: Nuclear Safety Directorate Information Centre,
Tel. 0151-951 4103.
PRESS ENQUIRIES regarding this press release: Journalists only:
Mark Wheeler 020 7717 6905
*****************************************************************
31 Boston.com: Health report on Superfund site delayed
By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent | June 3, 2004
A public health report on W.R. Grace & Co.'s 260-acre Superfund
site in South Acton has been delayed at least two months due to
additional, routine surface, ground water, and sediment analyses,
according to US Environmental Protection Agency officials.
The risk-assessment report, covering potential human and
environmental risks, had been slated to be released last month.
But now, a draft of the report is likely to be available ''at the
end of July or early August," said Sarah White, a community
involvement coordinator for the federal agency.
A Winchester environmental consulting firm, Menzie Cura &
Associates Inc., is preparing the report for Grace, whose South
Acton property went on the Superfund list in 1983. Five years
earlier, chemicals from Grace's battery-separator facility had
seeped into two town wells, which were subsequently closed.
Since 1984, the company has been cleaning up ground water, noted
Derrick Golden, the EPA's remedial project manager for the Grace
property. ''The majority of this cleanup work has been done," he
said.
Acton public health director Douglas Halley and the head of a
local activist group, Mary Michelman, said the risk-assessment
report delay is not a major slippage in the overall process.
''We're still treading water," in terms of finding out about
specific risks, if there are any, ''but I think things generally
have been going very smoothly," Halley said.
Grace project manager Maryellen Johns said she also believes that
matters concerning the site are proceeding smoothly. ''Grace is
continuing to cooperate with the EPA, the state Department of
Environmental Protection, and the town of Acton to conclude the
risk-assessment plan and the site-feasibility study" she said.
Michelman, president of the Acton Citizens for Environmental
Safety group, said, ''Everything always takes longer to
accomplish, but this is now an open process with lots of people
giving their input. Obviously, we're always seeking more
information because we want this site to be maximally protective
of public health."
If risks are identified in the report unveiled this summer, then
there will be a feasibility study this fall, exploring techniques
for reducing or eliminating these risks, Golden said, adding that
the penultimate step would be a proposed cleanup plan.
Meantime, Halley's department and the EPA are continuing to study
a plume of vinylidene chloride, or VDC, a likely carcinogen, in
an area northeast of the Grace site.
''We're still hearing about the plume affecting irrigation
wells," used for watering lawns, said Halley, who has been
holding hearings on the matter. He has said there is ''no
discernible health risk" from the VDC presence.
A monitoring report issued on May 4 revealed that ''the level of
contaminants in the plume is decreasing," said the EPA's White.
As the exploration of the site continues, Halley said he expects
Grace officials will still be cooperative in sharing all the
information they have.
The Grace property off Independence Road is a short distance from
the Starmet Corp. Superfund site off Route 62 in West Concord. A
contractor is expected to be retained soon to remove more than
3,700 barrels of depleted uranium from the 46-acre site, which
was placed on the EPA's list in June 2001. .
Davis Bushnell can be reached at bushnell@globe.com. [ /] ©
Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company. [Printer Friendly]
*****************************************************************
32 Las Vegas SUN: DOE rejects Nevada funding request for Yucca
Mountain oversight
Today: June 03, 2004 at 15:41:47 PDT
By KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Energy Department has rejected Nevada's
demand for $4 million more to oversee plans to build the
nation's nuclear waste dump in the desert northwest of Las
Vegas.
Nevada already received nearly $1 million in Yucca Mountain
oversight funding this year, the department said.
Bob Loux, state nuclear projects director, said he wasn't
surprised by the refusal, and said the state might ask the
courts or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for relief.
"We'll petition the NRC to stop the process until we have
sufficient money to actually carry out our oversight and review
responsibilities under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act," he said
Thursday.
In a Tuesday letter to Loux, Margaret Chu, chief of the federal
agency's radioactive waste program, said Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham doesn't have discretion to tap the more than $13
billion in a national Nuclear Waste Fund to underwrite Nevada's
participation in upcoming licensing hearings before the
regulatory commission.
Nuclear power plant operators have been contributing to the fund
since the 1980s to pay for disposal of radioactive waste
building up at power plants and storage facilities in 39 states.
Chu said it was up to Congress to appropriate money for state
oversight of the federal plan to entomb 77,000 tons of the
nation's most radioactive waste beneath Yucca Mountain, 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas.
"The state's recourse is to Congress," she said.
Loux, the state's top anti-Yucca administrator, said the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act of 1982 guaranteed the state would get money to
monitor Yucca Mountain.
Besides the $4 million the state was seeking this year, it will
ask for $14 million next year, Loux said.
The state has sued to stop the repository, and is preparing to
fight the Energy Department's application for a Nuclear
Regulatory Commission license to open the dump in 2010. The
Energy Department has said it intends to submit the application
by the end of this year.
--
*****************************************************************
33 Las Vegas RJ: Repository database faces fight
Thursday, June 03, 2004
By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for the state of Nevada signaled
Wednesday they plan to challenge an Internet database the Energy
Department is building to support its bid for a Yucca Mountain
nuclear waste repository. The attorneys asked the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to appoint a hearing officer to review the
electronic document network after DOE certifies it is ready.
Nevada officials said the department, in a rush to meet
deadlines, may be limiting the documents it posts to the database
and makes available for public review.
Joe Egan, Nevada's lead nuclear waste lawyer, said the state's
request was "the first volley" as it prepares to fight NRC
licensing for the Yucca Mountain Project.
"For the longest time, the DOE treated this as a minor
administrative nuisance, but it is turning out it could be a
major issue," Egan said of the electronic licensing support
network. Energy Department officials did not comment on the
state's request.
DOE officials have said they plan to meet a June 23 goal to
certify the network, but an internal audit released last week
said that, as of March, problems still needed to be fixed that
could delay the project for a year or more. Federal regulations
require the network to be certified at least six months before
repository licensing can proceed. The Energy Department wants to
file a license application on Dec. 23 to be reviewed by the NRC.
Delays in certifying the network could push back the NRC's
review of the Yucca Mountain repository, a process that is
expected to take three to four years, officials said. Pointing to
DOE estimates from earlier this year, Nevada officials believe
the department has cut back on the number of documents it plans
to post online, a possible violation of federal rules.
DOE officials said during initial paperwork gathering, they
estimated 3 million to 4 million documents would be posted. But
they subsequently concluded only 1 million or so met the legal
requirements to be placed on the network initially.
Additionally, DOE is reviewing 6.4 million e-mail messages for
possible posting to the database.
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
34 Oregonian: Unfettered federal ability to reclassify nuclear waste is
ill-conceived
Thursday, June 03, 2004BARBARA JARVIS
Recently, the Natural Resources Defense Council ran a half-page
advertisement in The Oregonian, urging people to call Oregon's
U.S. senators to express their opposition to an attempt to change
the laws that govern the reclassification of high-level
radioactive waste. As chairwoman of the Oregon Hanford Cleanup
Board, which provides advice on Hanford cleanup to the governor
and Legislature, I think Oregonians need more information on this
important issue.
[http://ads.oregonlive.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/www.oregonl
ive.com/xml/story/ed/edc/@StoryAd?x]
The Hanford Site has about 53 million gallons of highly
radioactive and chemically hazardous waste stored in177
underground storage tanks. At least 67 of these tanks have
leaked. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires that this waste be
disposed in a deep geologic repository. The U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) is pursuing opening a repository at Yucca Mountain
in Nevada. DOE is also in the process of constructing huge
treatment facilities to immobilize this waste as part of the
Hanford cleanup. Some waste will remain in the tanks after
retrieval efforts are completed. For this waste to legally remain
at Hanford, a process is needed to reclassify it. The Nuclear
Waste Policy Act allows reclassification after the waste has been
treated to remove the most highly radioactive constituents.
In 2002, the NRDC, the Yakama Nation and others filed suit,
claiming that DOE's internal process to reclassify waste was
inconsistent with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Oregon,
Washington and two other states joined the litigation, concerned
that DOE's process could result in dangerous waste being left at
Hanford and other sites that should be in deep geologic disposal.
Last summer, a federal judge agreed that DOE's process violated
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. DOE claimed the judge's ruling puts
some cleanup work at jeopardy and the only acceptable solution
was to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to give DOE authority
to reclassify waste at its discretion. DOE found some sympathetic
members of Congress, but the effort was eventually defeated late
last year.
This year, DOE is holding back cleanup funds to force action by
Congress. In DOE's cleanup budget request for fiscal year 2005
for Hanford and other sites, DOE held out $350 million,
contingent upon resolution of the issue to DOE's satisfaction.
This strategy prompted South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham to
introduce an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that
would give DOE the change in law it is seeking -- at least for
the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. This action prompted
the advertisement by the NRDC -- which is concerned about the
impact at Savannah River and on the potential precedent it might
set for the other sites. The Senate is expected to take up the
issue again this week.
The Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board and the state's nuclear safety
staff at the Oregon Department of Energy disagree with the
Department of energy's assertion that cleanup actions are
jeopardized by the judge's ruling. Cleanup work at Hanford and
the other sites can proceed. Allowing the Department of Energy
unfettered discretion to reclassify high-level waste is
troubling. It could result in highly radioactive waste being left
at Hanford forever -- posing a long-term risk to the Columbia
River. Our desire is for the Department of Energy to engage all
those involved in the litigation -- including Oregon -- in
meaningful discussions to negotiate an acceptable process for
reclassifying high-level waste.
Barbara Jarvis of Ashland is chairwoman of the Oregon Hanford
Cleanup Board.
©2004 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
35 Guardian Unlimited: Senate OKs New Nuke Cleanup Requirements
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Friday June 4, 2004 12:16 AM
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate on Thursday agreed to ease cleanup
requirements for tanks holding millions of gallons of highly
radioactive waste from Cold War-era bomb making.
Senate critics said the change would leave poisonous sludge in
underground tanks and risk contamination of groundwater.
An attempt to block the change failed by the narrowest of
margins. Senators voted 48-48 on an amendment offered by Sen.
Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that would have stripped the provision
from a defense authorization bill.
The provision allows the Energy Department to reclassify
radioactive sludge in 51 tanks at a South Carolina nuclear site
so it can be left in place and covered by concrete, instead of
being entombed in the Nevada desert.
While the plan has been approved by South Carolina officials, it
brought sharp criticism from officials in Washington and Idaho
who feared the change would put intense pressure on them to agree
to a similar cleanup plan at nuclear sites in their states.
The proposal also left South Carolina's two senators sharply
divided.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had put the provision into the
defense bill, said it will quicken waste cleanup at the Savannah
River nuclear complex near Aiken, S.C., by 23 years and save $16
billion. He rejected claims the waste would harm the environment.
Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., said the sludge accounts for more
than half of the radioactivity in the tanks of liquid waste and
endangers future generations. It's ``not harmless sludge we can
pour sand over and cover with concrete'' as the Energy Department
proposes, said Hollings.
The Savannah River tanks contain 34 million gallons of liquid
waste. Sludge accounts for about 1 percent of the waste volume.
While supporters of the measure insisted it would apply only to
waste at the Savannah River site, opponents said the change in
nuclear waste policy would create a ``clear precedent'' that
could force other states - mainly Washington and Idaho where
there also are defense waste tanks - to accept less safe cleanup
plans.
Cantwell, who led the push to kill the measure, accused the
administration of trying to ``sneak'' the change in cleanup
requirements through Congress by tacking it onto a defense
measure in closed-door proceedings without hearings.
In an interview, Cantwell said she hasn't given up on getting the
provision defeated. ``I don't think the issue is over. ... It's
too significant of an issue,'' she said. ``We have more
amendments.'' Since the House bill doesn't contain a similar
measure, the issue is also likely to come up in final
negotiations by a conference.
Graham's provision was put into the $447 billion defense bill
during consideration by the Armed Services Committee without
hearings. The House panel refused to include the changes in its
version of the defense bill and, instead, called on the National
Academy of Sciences to examine the Energy Department cleanup
proposal.
The White House is trying ``to blackmail my state to accept a
lower cleanup standard,'' declared Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
The tanks of nuclear waste are left over from decades of
producing plutonium and highly enriched uranium for nuclear
weapons. A 1982 law requires that all waste from such
reprocessing must be buried at a central repository planned for
Nevada.
But the Energy Department argues that the residual sludge should
be considered low-level waste and should not have to be removed.
Instead, the department wants to cover the sludge with
cement-like grout, saying that would be protective for hundreds
of years.
Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow said Thursday the proposed
treatment of the sludge is a ``scientifically sound plan to
empty, clean, stabilize and dispose of nuclear waste'' in the
tanks. He maintained it was ``fully protective'' of the
environment.
Last year a federal judge, acting on a lawsuit by
environmentalists, ruled that such an approach violates the 1982
Nuclear Waste Policy Act. To get around the ruling, the
department wants to get the law changed.
There are 177 tanks with 53 million gallons of waste at the
Hanford nuclear site near Richland, Wash., and 900,000 gallons in
tanks at the INEEL facility near Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Environmentalists blasted the Senate action.
It's ``a cruel trick that allows the Bush administration to leave
a legacy of radioactive pollution that could endanger drinking
water for millions of Americans,'' said Karen Wayland,
legislative director of the Natural Resources Defense Council,
which filed the lawsuit that successfully challenged the Energy
Department plan.
Robert Pregulman, executive director of the Public Interest
Research Group in Washington state, said the legislation marks
another attempt by the Energy Department ``to weasel out of its
obligation to properly clean up the radioactive mess it created
at Hanford and other sites around the country.''
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
36 Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald cleanup fails powder test
[http://www.cincinnati.com]
Thursday, June 3, 2004
Fix slows work on radioactive material
By Dan Klepal The Cincinnati Enquirer
CROSBY TOWNSHIP - For two weeks, crews at the Fernald nuclear
cleanup site have been testing the machinery and technology that
later this month will be used to remove radioactive powder from a
concrete silo at the former uranium foundry in northwest Hamilton
County.
They failed the test May 18.
That day, a mechanical problem, coupled with a mistake by a
computer operator, led to a large amount of test material being
dumped on the ground at Fernald.
Crews have been practicing with fly ash. They soon will remove
the real material - a radioactive powder with the consistency of
flour that has been stored in the concrete silos for nearly 50
years.
The radioactive powder has large concentrations of thorium and
emits cancer-causing radon gas. It is dangerous to people because
it can be inhaled deeply into the lungs and absorbed into the
body through the mouth and eyes.
Dennis Carr, project manager for the government's prime
contractor, Fluor Fernald, said correcting the problems and
retesting the system would delay removal of the real material by
at least one week.
"This is the whole point of doing the tests - to get all the bugs
worked out and get comfortable with the procedures," Carr said.
The accident happened on a mechanical conveyor belt, which is
supposed to shake the storage bags that will hold the radioactive
powder as it is being dumped into them.
The bag started to move along the conveyor belt, so the system
was shut down.
A computer operator then tried to fill the bag manually, but
flipped the wrong switch and caused test material to begin
flowing in a second packaging station that did not have a bag on
the conveyor belt ready to receive the fly ash.
Carr said they have since fixed the computer program so that no
material can come out of the chutes without a bag on the conveyor
belt. Crews were testing the computer program fix on Wednesday,
he said.
The weeklong delay might not be a big deal, considering a bigger
threat could delay the project even longer.
The state of Nevada has threatened a federal lawsuit to stop the
planned disposal of the silos' waste in a landfill near Las
Vegas.
Last week, Department of Energy officials wrote to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, saying they want to begin
removing the waste even without a clear final destination.
The rules governing the cleanup say they cannot temporarily store
the material at the Fernald site.
Instead, it has to be a continuous process of removing the waste,
packaging it and shipping it to the disposal site.
Jim Saric, the EPA's project manager at Fernald, said in a June 1
letter that his agency will not grant permission for temporary
storage of the material at the site.
Saric said his agency thinks the disposal of silos' waste in
Nevada is legal, but those issues have to be worked out between
officials in Nevada and with the energy department.
Energy spokesman Joe Davis said his agency is still considering
its options.
E-mail [dklepal@enquirer.com]
[http://cincinnati.com/copyright] 1995-2004.
*****************************************************************
37 ONN: Environmental regulators reject government's Fernald cleanup plan
Ohio News Now:
June 3, 2004
CINCINNATI Federal environmental regulators have rejected the
government's plan to begin removing some of the most hazardous
radioactive waste remaining at a former uranium-processing
plant.Nevada has threatened a lawsuit to block the Energy
Department's plan to ship the waste from the former Fernald plant
to the agency's desert disposal site 65 miles north of Las Vegas.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a letter Tuesday
to the Energy Department that it could not go ahead with its plan
to start removing the powdery waste June 14 from a concrete silo
and hold it at Fernald until it could be shipped.Storing the
waste at Fernald for any length of time after it is removed from
the silo would violate a cleanup agreement the Energy Department
reached years ago with federal and state environmental
regulators, the EPA said.
Bill Taylor, the Energy Department official who is director of
the $4 billion-plus cleanup project, said Thursday that if there
are lengthy delays of the silo cleanup project, it could
jeopardize the 2006 cleanup completion that the department has
promised Congress for the Fernald site. Delays could also reduce
possible multimillion-dollar performance contract bonuses for
Fluor Fernald Inc., the government-employed cleanup contractor.
The Energy Department will continue talks with all parties in
hopes of working out the differences, Taylor said Thursday.An
organization representing neighbors of the Fernald site said it
wants the job done safely, rather than rushing to make the 2006
deadline."We need to keep everything in the silos until we have a
clear path forward," said Lisa Crawford, president of Fernald
Residents for Environmental Safety and Health. "I just don't see
any way that they can make 2006, unless they come up with a
miracle in the next two weeks. And you know what? That's OK.
Federal and state environmental regulators say the cleanup
agreement requires continuous shipments of waste from the site as
it is removed from the three silos. The Energy Department plans
to ship the wastes in hundreds of trucks between now and 2006 for
permanent disposal at its Nevada Test Site, where the government
once tested nuclear weapons.But the Nevada attorney general
opposes the shipments and has threatened a lawsuit to block them
as soon as the Energy Department provides a promised 45-day
advance notice of the shipments starting.
Two other concrete silos at Fernald hold potentially more
hazardous radioactive sludge wastes that will require onsite
processing before being placed in steel containers for shipment.
The government hopes to begin removing the wastes from those two
silos by the end of July, Taylor said.
Tests of machinery that will be used to remove the powdery wastes
have revealed problems. Officials said that on May 18, a
mechanical problem, coupled with a mistake by a computer
operator, led to test material _ fly ash _ being dumped on the
ground.
Correcting the problems and doing retests could delay removal of
the radioactive material by at least a week, project manager
Dennis Carr said.From the early 1950s until 1989, the Fernald
plant processed and purified uranium metal for use in reactors to
produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. Fernald ended production
in 1989 to begin the cleanup.___On the Net:Fernald project:
http://www.fernald.govNevada Test Site:
http://www.nv.doe.gov/ntsNevada attorney general:
http://www.ag.state.nv.us Copyright 2003 Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
[http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2004,
WorldNow and Dispatch Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
38 Whitehaven News: RETURNING NUCLEAR WASTE ‘DETRIMENTAL TO COPELAND’
A DEAL on the return of nuclear waste to its country of origin
may benefit the UK as a whole but would be detrimental to
Copeland.
The borough could only support the arrangement therefore if a
package of measures to offset that disadvantage was forthcoming,
say councillors.
The deal, known as substitution, would see the less bulky high
level radioactive waste (HLW) from BNFL being returned to foreign
customers, instead of the medium level waste which is due them.
Medium level waste (ILW) requires more storage space, so it would
mean a higher volume of waste to be stored at Sellafield, though
with no increase in radioactivity.
For the country the change would mean a net £500 million to add
to resources for nuclear clean-up. And Copeland thinks it should
have a slice.
Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing at BNFL Sellafield includes
overseas contracts with Japan and several European countries in
which there is a contractual obligation to repatriate the
recovered useful materials and an option to return radioactive
waste products to the country of origin.
Substituting HLW for ILW would reduce transport requirements by
ship and rail from 225 to 38 and instead of it taking until 2033,
it could be done by 2017.
The government is currently carrying out a consultation on the
prospect of substitution, hence Copeland’s views.
The council continues to bang the drum that its area is home to
60% of the nations’s nuclear waste and as such it should be
compensated in terms of social and economic benefit.
As leader Elaine Woodburn put it: “A saving of £500million. How
much will Copeland see of that? Nil.
“A lot of money will be made on this and Copeland will not see
any benefit from it at all.’’
In its response to the government the council says while it
recognises the benefit that would accrue nationally the risks and
disadvantages for Copeland are disproportionate.
“We have been given assurances that this waste will be returned
to customers. This assurance has to be met unless the council is
satisfied that a package of measures that can offset the risks to
our area is in place,’’ it says.
The council wants:
A long term image promotion campaign for the area
An urgent tourist development programme
Upgrading of the coastal railway line, and
Use of the line as a tourism access corridor and visitor
attraction.
It is happy to meet with the DTI to discuss “a way forward.’’
Coun Brian Dixon (lab) said there should be discussions with the
DTI “regarding significant sums to be ploughed back into our
community, channelled into training opportunities and to
encourage economic growth.
“This substitution arrangement would be good for UK plc but what
about Copeland plc and our community’s hopes and aspirations?
They don’t know down in Westminster what it’s like to live in a
deprived area.’’
Coun Woodburn agreed: “We have got to do something to retain the
kids that are growing up now and for the long-term future of
Copeland.’’
Coun Norman Williams (Lab) wondered what criteria would trigger
community benefit from the government. “We have 60% of the
country’s nuclear waste, do we need to have 100%. They seem to be
trying to send it here from all directions.’’
Coun Geoff Blackwell (Lab) who chairs the council’s Nuclear
Working Group said: “We have said we will not take any further
waste. We want to wait until CoRWM (Committee on Radioactive
Waste Management) has made its decision. We will not be taking
100%.’’
[http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk
*****************************************************************
39 Whitehaven News: BNFL FINED £3,000 OVER MAN’S 20FT FALL IN REACTOR
SELLAFIELD operators BNFL were fined £3,000 by Whitehaven
magistrates, after an electrician crashed 20 feet inside the
world’s first large-scale nuclear reactor.
Presiding magistrate, Peter Donnelly, said the worker, Peter
Nicholas Thompson, might have been killed.
“The fact that Mr Thompson’s injuries were not too serious was
due to good luck rather than good management from the fall of six
metres. On another scale it could have resulted in death,” he
warned.
The accident happened in Calder Hall’s Reactor One which was
opened by the Queen in 1956.
Mr Thompson fell through a hole which had been sealed with
fire-retardant material. However, it had no load-bearing
tolerance and gave way under his weight. The area had not been
highlighted as a hazard.
BNFL pleaded guilty to a Health and Safety Executive charge of
failing to make sure that the floor was safe for working.
Mr Thompson, who escaped with severe extensive bruising, had to
be rescued by firemen but not before they had to take down a
10-ft high shield, wall brick by brick.
The incident happened in August last year, while Peter Thompson
was installing electrical cable for a new dry air cooling
monitoring system in a control room annex following the decision
to shut down Calder Hall.
It was one of the locations identified years before for the
possible passage of fire through walls and ceilings and dealt
with by using fire-stop material.
However, Clinton Backhouse, prosecuting for the HSE, said that
detailed computer information about the locations was not always
readily available due to the re-location of a manager. Imposing
the £3,000 fine plus £1,266 costs, the magistrates chairman said
the manager’s re-location had resulted in vital information being
wiped off a computer.
He added: “In this day and age safety should be pro-active, not
reactive. We are surprised that a risk-assessment did not pick up
the potential hazard.”
Scene of the incident was Reactor One control room annex where in
1996 contractors fitted fire retardant sheeting around a duct to
stop fire coming up through a large gap.
However, the material was not load-bearing and this was not
highlighted either by BNFL or the contractor. Several coats of
paint applied over eight years left the area difficult to
distinguish from the rest of the floor.
Mr Backhouse said that after a time it was found there was a
possibility of the fire-stop material being stepped on so a
toe-board was fitted but there was no fence in place to prevent
anyone stepping over the toe-board. The area was not identified
as a risk, he said.
For the reactor post- shutdown work a risk assessment failed to
flag up the corner of the annex, where the fire-stop material was
installed as a potential problem.
The prosecutor went on: “Just prior to the work in the corner
starting a risk assessment which is a standard procedure at the
site was carried out by Mr Thompson and a colleague who were
allocated the work of installing the cable. Any issue with the
floor was not identified for the same reason it was not
identified when the job was being planned.
“When the job was under way on August 13, Mr Thompson knew that
the wall in the corner of the annex which consisted of fire-stock
material had to be penetrated so holes were made through it and
then a rod was to be used to attach the cable.
“To be able to effectively do this Mr Thompson stepped over the
toe-board into the corner stepping on the fire-stock material.
This gave way and he fell feet-first on to a ledge adjacent to
the duct on the floor below, a distance of about six metres.
“Just at that point,” said Mr Backhouse, a colleague who was
involved in the planning of the work arrived, to see how it was
going and he realised what had happened. The area that Mr
Thompson fell into was walled off, so the fire brigade had to
effect a rescue, demolishing part of the separating wall.
“The incident occurred because of the situation which had been
originally created by the installation of the fire-stop material
and a detailed record had not been carried forward so that
despite the best intention of those planning and carrying out the
cabling work the problem was not identified.”
Later, it was found that similar areas in the other three reactor
buildings had lintels across the gap underneath the fire-stop
slabs which would probably have prevented a similar incident,”
said Mr Backhouse.
For BNFL, Andrew Carr said Calder Hall was proud of its safety
record with no previous serious accident or incident in 50 years.
Calder was built in the 1950s at a time when in some areas the
safety of employees was not a leading design consideration.
Although a huge amount had been done since the Reactor One
accident had proved one of the anomalies.
A Sellafield spokesman said, after the hearing, that steps had
been taken to make sure the same thing could not happen again and
to identify similar hazards on site.
[http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/
*****************************************************************
40 AU Advertiser: Nuclear dump plan `below standard'
[04jun04]
By CRAIG CLARKE in Canberra
PLANS to build a nuclear waste dump in the state's Far North fail
to meet international standards, a Senate Estimates hearing has
been told.
Federal bureaucrats have been forced to defend the dump after an
International Atomic Energy Agency report found it did not meet
best practice for such facilities.
Under questioning from South Australian Labor Senator Penny
Wong, the Department for Education, Science and Training has
rejected criticisms of its dump licensing process.
Asked if international practices should apply to Australia, DEST
secretary Jeff Harmer said: "We think we are different.
"We do not say that international best practice does not apply
to us. We believe that the particular licence we are seeking does
not fit nearly in the best practice guide because primarily they
would be making assessments against bigger construction
programs."
Despite repeated questioning, DEST was unable to tell Senator
Wong how much the dump will cost taxpayers to build – other than
$3.7 million for the first load of waste. The nuclear regulator,
the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency –
indicated in Estimates the Government would have to override SA
laws banning the transport of nuclear waste through the state.
State Environment Minister John Hill said the revelations were
more evidence the Government was prepared to trample on South
Australians' rights.
The State Government has taken Federal Government to court over
the acquisition of the dump site.
*****************************************************************
41 New York Times: Opinion > Shortcut on Nuclear Waste
Published: June 3, 2004
[T] he Senate may consider today whether to allow the Energy
Department to reclassify certain nuclear wastes at a weapons
plant in South Carolina so they can be disposed of faster and
cheaper than if the department complied with current law.
Although many senators may be tempted to skim over this issue as
a matter of parochial concern to South Carolina, they need to
consider this matter carefully lest they set a terrible
precedent. The Energy Department has a notoriously poor record in
handling environmental issues. It should not be granted such
unbridled power to define its waste problems away with the stroke
of a pen.
The Savannah River site in South Carolina has accumulated a huge
inventory of radioactive wastes left over from weapons
production, some 37 million gallons held in 51 underground tanks.
Under the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, virtually all of this
material is deemed high-level waste, which must be disposed of in
a deep repository like the one being built at Yucca Mountain in
Nevada.
For some years now, the Energy Department has been hoping to
separate its wastes into two streams, reserving deep burial for
only the part with high radioactivity. In the case of the South
Carolina site, the department is prepared to pump most of the
waste out of the tanks for disposal through deep burial. But it
wants to leave a hard-to-remove residue of sludge in the tanks
and bury it under grout.
Officials estimate that this approach could save $16 billion and
trim 23 years from the lengthy cleanup process. But those plans
were stymied when a federal judge in Idaho concluded that the
scheme violated the waste-policy act.
Now Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, has
inserted language in a defense authorization bill that would
achieve the same end. It would allow the department to reclassify
the wastes in South Carolina in a way that would allow the
disposal of some material on the site. Mr. Graham notes that the
state's governor and its health and environmental regulators have
signed off on the plan, and he says the decisions on how to
handle each tank will be made collaboratively by federal and
state officials.
Senator Graham's language is potentially a highly significant
change in nuclear waste policy, yet it was inserted into a broad
military authorization bill behind closed doors, without the
benefit of hearings or open discussion. This is unacceptable,
given that few areas could have more potential impact on public
health for thousands of years into the future.
The Energy Department is largely empowered to set its own waste
disposal policies, with only minimal oversight from the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. Before allowing the department to
reclassify its waste products, the Senate should follow the lead
of the House and call for an in-depth study of the approach by
the National Academy of Sciences. The decision should not be left
to an agency that is desperate to get past a staggeringly
difficult waste disposal problem.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
*****************************************************************
42 AU SMH: Helen help us - Film -
www.smh.com.au [Sydney Morning Herald Online]
June 4, 2004
Talking head: Helen Caldicott gets on her box.
Dr Caldicott's crusade to rid the world of nuclear weapons is
captured on film by her niece, reports Alexa Moses.
Helen's War: Portrait of a Dissident
Director: Anna Broinowski
Rated: PG
Opens: Sunday
There's a business adage, as worn as an ancient pair of
Blundstones, that says one should never do business with family.
When you piss off your family, you must live with the
repercussions.
Sydney filmmaker Anna Broinowski chose to live with the
consequences when she made her documentary Helen's War: Portrait
of a Dissident. It's about her aunt, the tireless Australian
anti-nuclear campaigner Dr Helen Caldicott.
By mixing business and family, the biopic turned into a film as
much about Caldicott's relationship with her family as her
politics.
A scene shows the two pugnacious redheads - one in her 30s, the
other in her 60s - arguing in a hotel room. Broinowski, who looks
as if she's partly baiting Caldicott for the camera, partly fed
up with her aunt's stridency, has told Caldicott she's a bit
extreme and that's why she loses the media.
Broinowski is lounging sulkily and Caldicott is sitting bolt
upright, but there's no mistaking their genetic link. Caldicott's
set jaw and proud nose are mirrored in Broinowski's face. Then
there's the anger. Both women are bristling.
But the on-camera fight wasn't the worst part of making the film.
The worst was when Broinowski showed Caldicott the first cut of
Helen's War.
Caldicott told her niece in no uncertain terms what she thought.
"That cut had evolved after two months of me and my Canadian
editor watching Helen give speeches about the end of the world,"
says Broinowski in her inner-city flat, waiting for her tiny
daughter to wake.
"We had become pretty jaded and the cut showed that. Helen said,
'Anna, what have you done? You've made me look like an
anti-nuclear bag lady! It doesn't show everything I'm about!'"
In her definite, intense way, Broinowski stresses Caldicott was
right.
"I sat down with another editor and concentrated on warming her
up," she says. "That wasn't hard. She's funny and engaging and an
affectionate woman.
"When Helen saw the next cut, she said she looked like a dickhead
in some scenes, but to leave the scenes in: 'It helps to convey
to the audience what I'm on about.' She's not ashamed or afraid
of being angry in public."
Helen's War is a Canadian-Australian co-production that follows
Caldicott in the US promoting her book, The New Nuclear Danger,
before and after the Bush Administration declared war on Iraq.
The documentary also covers Caldicott's anti-nuclear crusade and
shows her with her family. Broinowski made the doco after
following her aunt for a year.
When making the film, Broinowski was forced to balance three
competing interests. Broinowski the Filmmaker had to dissent with
the dissident, and choose the boldest footage, even when her
subject objected. Broinowski the Activist wanted to broadcast
Caldicott's political message. Meanwhile, Broinowski the Niece
was trying to please and protect someone she loved.
"That was what was hard," she says.
"That line between protecting Helen and what I passionately
believe in, while satisfying the audience's need to be
entertained.
"I only just crossed that line safely. I do think that it's a
loving portrait of Helen. But I can't make a film about someone
that's convincing, without showing them warts and all, and Helen
is brave enough and sophisticated enough to know that I had to
show that cantankerous side."
Balancing those interests was so thorny that Broinowski spiralled
into depression.
"I had sleepless nights, I went into a very black depression when
I was making this film," she says.
"When Helen watched the rough cut, that set me off into this
spiral - 'I've f---ed up my life and f---ed up my relationship
with my aunt.' I was willing to walk, to destroy my film career
as opposed to put anything out which would damage her."
But Caldicott intervened.
"I was six months' pregnant and Helen - she's a doctor - was
demanding I go on anti-depressants," says Broinowski. "She didn't
care about the film. She cared about me."
Broinowski didn't go on anti-depressants in the end.
Caldicott is also balancing competing interests. Caldicott the
Activist wants her message to be taken seriously, Caldicott the
Subject doesn't want too much of her personal life on display,
while Caldicott the Aunt is fiercely proud.
She was cautious about working with her niece.
"I had mixed feelings," Caldicott says. "I was worried that I
would not be seen to be credible by the American public, and it
was a little bit too revealing about who I was and my family and
the like. I felt it didn't really put the message out about what
I wanted to talk about, it was more a portrait of me.
"But I'm very proud of Anna and we're very close, partly as a
result of the film, which is a good one."
Back in the flat, Broinowski has carried her tiny daughter into
the living room. Perhaps the baby is the next in a line of
intense, pugnacious women who speak their mind?
"She's a fighter," Broinowski says.
Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald
*****************************************************************
43 DOE: Office of Science; Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory
FR Doc 04-12543
[Federal Register: June 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 107)]
[Notices] [Page 31372] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr03jn04-45]
Committee; Reestablishment AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of reestablishment.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 14(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, and in accordance with section 102-3.65, title 41
of the Code of Federal Regulations, and following consultation
with the Committee Management Secretariat, General Services
Administration, notice is hereby given that the Advanced
Scientific Computing Advisory Committee has been reestablished
for a two-year period beginning May 2004. The Committee will
provide advice to the Director, Office of Science, on the
Advanced Scientific Computing Research Program managed by the
Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research.
The reestablishment of the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory
Committee has been determined to be essential to the conduct of
the Department of Energy business and to be in the public
interest in connection with the performance of duties imposed
upon the Department of Energy by law. The Committee will operate
in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L.
95-91), and rules and regulations issued in implementation of
those Acts.
Further information regarding this Advisory Committee may be
obtained from Mrs. Rachel Samuel at (202) 586-3279. Issued in
Washington, DC, on May 27, 2004.
James N. Solit, Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-12543 Filed 6-2-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
44 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Hanford contractor is criticized over safety issues
[seattlepi.com]
Thursday, June 3, 2004
By LISA STIFFLER SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A Hanford contractor was sharply criticized yesterday by federal
investigators for failing to protect workers from toxic and
radioactive chemicals at the nuclear-waste cleanup site,
concluding that aging underground tanks are at risk of collapsing
and aren't being properly monitored.
A separate Energy Department investigation, however, found no
evidence of criminal misconduct by contractors accused of trying
to cover up worker illnesses and injuries.
Investigators looking into the tank cleanup cited dangerous
practices by contractor CH2M Hill that "could seriously damage"
some of the 177 massive tanks holding highly radioactive waste.
"It's not just worker health and safety," said Tom Carpenter, a
Seattle attorney with the Government Accountability Project, a
watchdog group. "It's all of our health and safety."
Most of the tanks are years past their design life, but hold
radioactive material measured at about 200 million curies --
roughly four times the level released in the Chernobyl reactor
meltdown.
Some of the tanks are maintained under vacuum conditions to
prevent dangerous vapors from escaping, but investigators
discovered that in most cases there were no pressure-relief
valves.
The 89-page report agreed on many points with a recent state
study that concluded that not enough is known about the lethal
mix of waste in the tanks to adequately shield workers. It also
found that monitoring of gases released from the tanks was
insufficient, the analysis of potential threats to workers was
inadequate and the federal government was not providing enough
oversight of CH2M Hill.
The investigation was ordered in February by Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham and conducted by the Energy Department's Office
of Independent Oversight and Performance Assurance. The
department is in charge of the cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation, located near Richland.
It was one of many investigations spurred by GAP, which claimed
workers lacked protection and were being sickened from exposure
to vapors seeping out of the tanks. The group also charged that
illnesses were not being properly reported and that the site's
health provider had altered medical records.
While the oversight report supported many of GAP's allegations,
findings released yesterday by the Energy Department's inspector
general absolved contractors of criminal wrongdoing.
Abraham focused on the results favorable to his department in a
prepared statement, noting that there were "no known cases" of
tank workers being exposed to dangerous levels of chemicals.
While highly critical, the oversight report credited CH2M Hill
and the Energy Department for at least trying to improve worker
safety and get a handle on chemical exposures.
"While these reports show worker protection is at a high level, I
believe we can continue to improve," Spencer said. The department
will "implement recommendations from each of the reports to
further enhance worker protections at the Hanford site."
A spokeswoman for CH2M Hill would not comment on the reports but
said the company was hiring more safety workers, was reviewing
its monitoring program and had hired an ombudsman to help workers
with injury claims.
Hanford, considered the nation's most contaminated nuclear waste
site, is undergoing a $2 billion-a-year cleanup. The desert site
was established during World War II for the production of
plutonium used in atomic bombs.
The tanks hold 53 million gallons of waste generated in plutonium
production. In recent years, workers have been transferring waste
from leak-prone tanks to more stable tanks where it will be held
until the material is "vitrified," or trapped in a glasslike
substance, for long-term burial.
The surge in activity around the tanks has resulted in some 100
reports of exposures to chemical vapors that can trigger
nosebleeds, headaches, rashes and sore throats.
The independent report said that investigators measuring
chemicals in the air space in the tanks discovered levels above
those considered safe. It also said that data were insufficient
to conclude workers had not been exposed to dangerous levels.
"These are not new problems," Carpenter said. "These are old
problems that are persisting. Who's protecting the workers'
health and safety out there?"
Carpenter's group had charged that the Hanford Environmental
Health Foundation, which provides health care to workers, had
altered and destroyed medical records and conspired with other
contractors to reduce the reported number of accidents and
illnesses.
The motive, GAP maintained, could be financial. The amount of
money paid to some contractors can be affected by the number of
work-related health problems.
In his report to Abraham, Inspector General Gregory Friedman said
he found no criminal misconduct associated with either
allegation. An investigation by the same office released last
week concluded that the rate of accidents and illnesses had been
underreported, but it did not claim the miscount was intentional.
The report "totally vindicates Hanford Environment Health
Foundation as an organization and its medical staff," said Lee
Ashjian, the foundation's president.
KEY FINDINGS
Among the findings of federal investigators examining safety
concerns at Hanford:
+ Hanford contractor CH2M Hill lacks enough information about
what's in the 177 underground waste tanks to protect workers.
+ CH2M Hill hasn't done enough to provide workers with
respirators.
+ Toxic waste tanks were maintained under conditions that could
structurally damage them.
+ Contractors haven't properly reported some injuries and
illnesses suffered by workers.
+ There was no "criminal misconduct" in the reporting of
injuries and illnesses, or alterations of medical records by
contractors.
P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or
lisastiffler@seattlepi.com
[Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA
98119 (206) 448-8000
Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com [newmedia@seattlepi.com]
©1996-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Terms of Service/Privacy
*****************************************************************
45 Seattle Times: Safety at Hanford tank farms faulted
Thursday, June 03, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
By Hal Bernton Seattle Times staff reporter
The federal Energy Department yesterday disclosed significant
weaknesses in the Hanford nuclear reservation's effort to protect
hundreds of men and women who work around 177 tanks filled with
toxic chemical and radioactive wastes.
Investigators found insufficient monitoring to ensure worker
safety, ineffective engineering efforts to control tank vapors
and "systematic deficiencies" that impede efforts to prevent
exposure to tank vapors.
These shortcomings were found in inspections earlier this year by
a 23-member team of specialists working with the department's
Office of Independent Oversight and Performance Assistance. They
were serious enough to help trigger changes in worker-safety
procedures around venting tanks.
Inspectors also requested a temporary work-stoppage of some
operations because of concerns about the risk of failure of some
tanks lacking relief devices called for by industrial codes and
"commonly accepted engineering practices."
Though steps already have been taken to address immediate risks,
"continued and increased attention is needed" to ensure that an
improvement plan is effectively put into place, Glenn Podonsky,
director of the oversight office, wrote in a letter to Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham that accompanied yesterday's 91-page
report.
Joy Turner, a spokeswoman for CH2M Hill, the contractor that
manages the tank farms, said, "Since the review took place, we
have been working on a very aggressive action plan, and we have
made a lot of progress."
Officials at the Hanford nuclear reservation, in Eastern
Washington, said they'd previously met with investigators who
compiled the report but received the report only yesterday.
"We're taking a real close look at it and are still digesting
it," said Erik Olds, a spokesman for the Energy Department's
Office of River Protection, which oversees management of the
Hanford tanks.
The tanks, grouped in "farms," contain a mix of liquids, salt
cakes and thick slurries left over from nuclear processing
beginning in the 1940s that produced materials for atomic bombs
at the 586-square-mile nuclear reservation.
Some tanks are single-walled and leak materials into the
groundwater. But the more than 800 workers employed at the tank
farms by CH2M Hill are pumping that waste into more secure
double-walled tanks.
After completion of a $5.78 billion waste-treatment plant, most
of the wastes are scheduled to be mixed with glass and turned
into solids for long-term storage in stainless-steel canisters.
In recent years, as the pumping has increased, workers have made
more complaints about chemical exposure from vents placed in the
tanks to allow vapors to escape. The federal investigation came
in response to a September report by the Seattle office of
Government Accountability Project, which alleged 45 incidents of
exposure involving 67 workers who had sought medical care for
headaches, nosebleeds, loss of breath, fatigue and other
symptoms.
Since then, the Seattle-based project office has reviewed the
cases of some 30 other tank workers with health concerns. And
yesterday, Tom Carpenter, an attorney with the Seattle office,
said many of the concerns raised by his group were vindicated in
the Oversight Office report.
The Government Accountability Project also publicized allegations
that a health-care contractor, Hanford Environmental Health
Foundation, had been improperly altering medical records that
documented worker complaints and exposure incidents. Such
alterations allegedly could help keep down rates of recordable
injury or illness, which could then help CH2M Hill qualify for
performance bonuses.
The Oversight Office report, as well as another report released
yesterday by the department's Office of Inspector General, also
looked into the allegations of altering health-care records. The
reports found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by either CH2M
Hill or the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation.
Lee Ashjian, president of the foundation, said the report
vindicated the service of the foundation's health workers. "We
are pleased that this cloud has been lifted from the foundation
and its staff," Ashjian said. But Ashjian said the news was
bittersweet, as the foundation did not win the bid to renew its
contract after 38 years of service. A new contractor will take
over the job next week.
Energy Department investigators also said they found no
documented cases of workers exposed to chemicals at levels
exceeding regulatory limits. That information was hailed by
Energy Secretary Abraham, who said in a statement yesterday that
the report indicated that Hanford "worker protection was at a
high level."
But the Oversight Office report said the lack of documented
overexposure cases did not mean that workers were necessarily
safe. Some tanks contain more than 1,200 chemicals, including
many known and potential carcinogens. And investigators said the
monitoring program was not strong enough to offer any assurances
that workers' exposures to venting chemicals were within federal
regulatory limits.
Seattle Times reporter Craig Welch contributed to this article.
Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or
Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company
*****************************************************************
46 Hanford News: Deadly chemicals program criticized
[http://www.hanfordnews.com]
This story was published Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
Workers sickened by exposure to toxic substances at Hanford and
other nuclear reservations will continue to face lengthy delays
in winning compensation despite recent improvements in the
program, predicted a new report.
A Government Accounting Office report issued Tuesday said that
the Department of Energy should at least do a better job of
communicating with applicants. DOE also should consider proposing
legislation to make sure benefits are paid more consistently, it
said.
The program began accepting applications in July 2001 from
workers at DOE nuclear facilities who believed they had cancer,
lung diseases or other illnesses from exposure to toxins such as
acids, heavy metals or asbestos.
A sister program pays workers who have cancers caused by
radiation or certain lung diseases $150,000 in compensation and
has paid more than $9 million to Hanford workers or their
survivors.
But the toxic chemicals program covered in the GAO report is tied
to state workers' compensation programs. If the program
determines a worker's illness was caused from working at a
nuclear site, DOE will direct its contractors not to contest the
workers' compensation award. Workers may be eligible for partial
payment of lost wages and reimbursement of medical care.
As of six weeks ago, a single claim nationwide had been paid
under the program. A Hanford worker received about $15,000.
DOE has made improvements to eliminate a bottleneck in its
initial development of cases, GAO found. But now a backlog of
cases is growing in a later part of the program, a review of each
case by one or more doctors.
Because most of the claims filed so far are by workers whose
medical conditions are likely to change, the backlog could
further slow the process by requiring medical records to be
updated before doctors evaluate the cases, GAO said.
"In the absence of changes that would expedite this review, many
claimants will likely wait years to receive the determination
they need to pursue a state workers' compensation claim," the
report said. "In the interim, their medical conditions may
worsen, and claimants may even die before they receive
consideration by a state program."
DOE has addressed the problem by reducing the number of doctors
who must review each case. DOE also would like more doctors to be
hired, but the pool of physicians with appropriate credentials is
limited.
To attract more doctors, a requirement that they have five years
of relevant clinical practice has been changed to allow doctors
with research, academic, public health or consulting work.
Whether that will significantly increase the number of doctors
willing to work on the project is unknown, according to GAO.
Part of the problem is a legal cap on pay at $68 per hour, which
DOE has proposed legislation to address. Although DOE would like
to use military or Public Health Service doctors to help review
cases, the program pays less than their current rate.
The GAO also directed DOE to reduce the backlog of claims by
making cases easier for doctors to understand. It recommended
more information be provided to doctors about what toxic
chemicals workers might have been exposed to at different sites.
It's a proposal that has been pushed by the watchdog group, the
Government Accountability Project.
About half of the 23,000 cases filed by the end of 2003 were
filed in the first year of the program, between July 2001 and
June 2002. That means most people have waited two to three years
for resolution of their cases. More than 1,800 cases are believed
filed by Hanford workers.
DOE notified GAO that it is reprioritizing the processing of
applications to give priority to those who could most benefit
from winning state workers' compensation recommendations.
It is first processing the 60 percent of claims from workers who
still are living. It's also concentrating on those with lung
disease caused by exposure to beryllium, asbestos or silica.
People who have had successful claims in the related compensation
program covering radiation-caused cancers and certain lung
diseases also are being moved to the top of the queue.
Almost 60 percent of the claims in the program covered by the GAO
report were for cancers. About 8 percent of the claims were for
asbestosis, 15 percent were for chronic beryllium disease or
beryllium sensitivity and 1 percent were for chronic silicosis.
Some people in the program have gone as long as a year without
getting an update on their claim from DOE, GAO found. Many may
not know they still have claims in process. Others may not
realize they still may face a complicated state process for
compensation even after DOE completes the claim, it said.
"Whether they ultimately receive positive or negative
determinations, claimants deserve complete and timely information
about what they could achieve in filing under this program, what
the claims process entails, the status of their claims and what
they are likely to encounter when they file for state workers'
compensation benefits," the GAO report says.
DOE agreed that communication with claimants has been poor.
It has started to send letters to applicants every six months,
although GAO said those letters lacked adequate information.
It's also planning a "Close the Gap" program this summer. All
applicants should receive a telephone call to make sure they
understand the benefits and limitations of the program, according
to DOE.
Because of a larger problem with the program, DOE should consider
whether legislation is needed to make more widespread changes,
according to DOE.
At several nuclear sites, DOE does not have the authority to
direct contractors not to oppose state workers' compensation
programs. The site may be closed and without a contractor or the
contract may have commercial worker compensation coverage.
Hanford is not among those sites, but GAO is concerned that
workers elsewhere will find no "willing payer" for their state
compensation claim.
GAO proposed several legislative changes for DOE to evaluate.
Those included backing up the program with federal payments for
those with no willing payer. It also included expanding the
$150,000 compensation program for radiological cancers to include
other illnesses caused by toxic exposures.
For information about filing a claim or either of the
compensation programs, call the Kennewick resource center at
783-1500 or 1-888-654-0014. Download the full GAO report on
Energy Employees Compensation from Hanfordnews.com.
© 2004 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
47 Hanford News: CH2M Hill creates ombudsman job
[http://www.hanfordnews.com]
This story was published Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
CH2M Hill Hanford Group has reinstituted an ombudsmanlike
position to serve as an advocate for workers filing injury
claims.
The Hanford contractor also expects to announce next week the
hiring of a senior-level specialist in environmental health
protection to bring additional expertise to the operation of the
nuclear reservation's tank farms.
Hanford's huge underground tanks holding 53 million gallons of
radioactive waste have drawn national attention this year after
some workers said they believed chemical fumes venting from the
tanks had harmed their health. The waste was generated during the
past production of plutonium for the nation's weapons program at
Hanford.
CH2M Hill, which is responsible for emptying the tanks, has since
begun requiring workers, at least temporarily, to wear
scuba-style supplied-air respirators around some of the tanks.
CH2M Hill has argued that while some workers may have had
unpleasant symptoms, it does not believe their health has been
permanently harmed. Some of the injured workers disagree.
The new ombudsman position, or workplace injury health benefits
adviser, is similar to a position discontinued many years ago at
the tank farms, said Joy Turner, spokeswoman for CH2M Hill. It
will be sponsored by CH2M Hill's corporate offices.
"Having someone for employees to talk to face-to-face is a great
support," said Dave Molnaa, vice president of the Hanford Atomic
Metal Trades Council, in a prepared statement.
Lily Parnell, who has been named to the job, will help any of the
1,400 CH2M Hill employees file work-related health or injury
paperwork and serve as their advocate in processing the claims.
"It's a matter of us being focused on the needs of the work
force," Turner said.
Parnell, who has worked with the Washington State Department of
Labor and Industries, will be independent of the HAMTC safety
representatives and the Employee Response Team.
The Employee Response Team has four representatives available to
meet with employees to discuss any issue, and serves as a conduit
to the president's office.
© 2004 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
48 Hanford News: Judge says no to restraining order
[http://www.hanfordnews.com]
This story was published Thursday, June 3rd, 2004
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
A federal judge Wednesday refused to grant a temporary
restraining order against AdvanceMed, the winner of a contract to
provide occupational medicine services at Hanford.
The ruling clears the way for AdvanceMed to begin providing
health care services to about 11,000 Hanford workers next week.
The Hanford Environmental Health Foundation, or HEHF, which has
held the contract for 38 years, requested the restraining order.
It also requested that the case it filed this spring in Benton
County District Court against AdvanceMed be moved back to state
court. The case was moved from state to federal court in late
April as the federal government asked to intervene in the suit.
U.S. Judge Fred Van Sickle in Spokane denied both motions
Wednesday.
The Department of Energy announced in January that AdvanceMed, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Computer Sciences Corp., had been
awarded the contract valued at up to $96 million over 10 years.
AdvanceMed is based in Reston, Va.
HEHF is arguing that AdvanceMed cannot employ doctors without
violating Washington state restrictions against the corporate
practice of medicine. HEHF, a nonprofit, believes a state ruling
ensures that doctors' first responsibility is to their patients,
not to stockholders of a for-profit corporation.
The federal government has questioned whether state regulations
are being incorrectly argued to pre-empt federal procurement law.
Federal officials said AdvanceMed won the contract by proposing
quality service with a lower fee than HEHF. HPM Corp., a Richland
startup company, also will provide services as part of
AdvanceMed's contract.
© 2004 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
49 Hanford News: Hanford vapor studies vary
[http://www.hanfordnews.com]
This story was published Thursday, June 3rd, 2004
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
Too little is known about chemicals in huge underground tanks of
radioactive waste at Hanford to conclude that workers have not
been exposed to harmful chemicals above legal limits, according
to one of two federal reports released Wednesday.
It also questioned whether an engineering problem could threaten
the integrity of the 177 tanks holding 53 million gallons of
radioactive waste.
The second report found no criminal conduct in an investigation
into allegations involving Hanford medical services and tank
vapor exposures.
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham requested the reports in
February after the Government Accountability Program (GAP) and
some Hanford workers raised safety and reporting issues.
Some workers said their health had been damaged by breathing
fumes venting into the air from the tanks. Hanford contractors
also were accused of underreporting accidents and illnesses to
maintain safety records that would allow them to collect higher
fees.
"We are pleased these investigations found no evidence of
criminal wrongdoing on the part of DOE managers or contractors,"
said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham in a prepared statement.
"And we remain committed to the highest safety standards to
ensure the protection of our workers' safety and health."
But Tom Carpenter of the watchdog group GAP said the report
critical of tank farm operations showed "Hanford workers have
been knowingly exposed to uncharacterized vapors and the DOE and
its contractor has done little to correct these systemic hazards
faced by workers."
The Office of Independent Oversight and Assessment, author of one
of the reports, concluded there was no known case of exposure to
chemical vapors from tanks above regulatory standards, but that
too little was known to make sure no worker had been exposed.
"Even low concentrations of certain chemicals may cause symptoms,
and improvements are needed to reduce the residual risk and
develop a long-term solution to recurring vapor exposures,"
according to a memorandum sent to Abraham.
The waste, left from producing plutonium for the nation's nuclear
weapons program, generates hydrogen, ammonia and various volatile
organic compounds.
Measurements by the 23 experts assigned to the investigation
found concentrations of some chemicals in the head spaces of the
tanks too high to be safely breathed.
Weaknesses in the industrial hygiene program of tank farm
contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group raised uncertainties about
what workers have been exposed to, the report said.
It found a laundry list of problems: Insufficient sampling and
characterization of tank vapors, insufficient vapor exposure
data, inadequate direct-reading instruments, limitations of
instruments to detect some vapors, lack of industrial hygiene
technician procedures, insufficient training and shortcomings in
the respiratory protection program.
Implementing work planning and safety controls is not
sufficiently rigorous, the report also found. Hazard
identification and analysis is not always sufficiently detailed,
and in some cases, the predominant hazards of the work were not
adequately covered.
Investigators reviewed more than 60 incidents in which workers
were exposed to tank vapors but found only two resulted in formal
field investigations.
In fact, issues identified long before CH2M Hill held the
contract in a 1992 investigation of persistent recurring worker
exposures have yet to be addressed, the report found.
The report also found engineering concerns. Most worrisome were
"potential threats to tank integrity from excessive vacuum."
Specific conditions could cause excessive vacuum in any of the
tanks, it said.
Inspectors also criticized DOE's Office of River Protection. It
has not devoted sufficient attention and resources to oversight
of the industrial hygiene program and matters needing correction
at the tank farms, they said.
CH2M Hill officials did not return calls late Wednesday afternoon
after the report was posted on the Internet.
The second report released Wednesday was prepared by an
independent arm of DOE, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and
looked at allegations of false claims, false statements or
conspiracy that might be considered criminal conduct.
The investigation cleared CH2M Hill Hanford Group, which manages
the tank farms, and the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation,
the outgoing occupational medicine provider, of major wrongdoing.
But it did find what it called "health and safety protocols" that
it said needed to be addressed.
In one incident involving an unnamed Hanford subcontractor five
years ago, an injured worker was encouraged to show up at work
but perform no duties.
In another incident, a worker was not given an immediate work
restriction following a diagnosis for sensitivity to the metal
beryllium, which is used in nuclear work. Continued exposure to
beryllium in sensitive people can lead to chronic lung disease.
The memorandum also questioned why an unnamed industrial hygiene
technician waited two hours after a worker was exposed to tank
vapors to measure chemicals in the air and then record the
reading in a log book rather than a survey form as policy
requires.
Investigators interviewed more than 70 current and former DOE and
contractor employees and analyzed volumes of documents, according
to the report. The OIG also hired an independent medical and
federal regulations specialist to review medical files and safety
records.
Investigators looked into allegations that HEHF personnel made
inappropriate changes to patients' medical files to make their
injuries look unrelated to Hanford or less serious.
The specialist retained for the investigation instead found that
medical files were detailed, well organized and consistent with
standard medical practices. Changes appeared to be reasonable and
proper, according to the report. No evidence was found that HEHF
destroyed records.
HEHF recently lost the contract to provide occupational medicine
services at Hanford to AdvanceMed for reasons unrelated to the
investigation.
Some workers also believed HEHF was being pressured by
contractors. They accused HEHF and contractors of conspiring to
improve contractor safety records by not documenting worker
injuries.
Investigators could find no facts to support a variety of
allegations, such as a claim it maintained two sets of medical
records.
The final allegation accused CH2M Hill on two occasions of
covering up excessively high vapor readings at underground tanks.
In the first case, witnesses had different versions of the event
and no evidence was found to support either version. In the
second case, no corroborating information was available.
The report recommended Hanford leaders should focus on restoring
employee faith in health and safety measures.
The results of the investigation were turned over to the U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington, which
declined to prosecute.
"The Inspector General has done a poor job of executing its
mission as watchdog for the public," said Tom Carpenter, an
attorney for GAP. "GAP has collected the sworn statements and
documentary evidence from many workers, but the OIG has
apparently ignored much of this information."
HEHF President Lee Ashjian called for an apology from those who
accused his organization of misdeeds.
"(The) report vindicates the hundreds of dedicated staff of the
Hanford Environmental Health Foundation," he said in a prepared
statement.
Abraham said he will be directing managers to implement
recommendations from each of the reports.
The Office of Inspector General's report can be read at
www.ig.doe.gov/igreports.htm#cal2004 on the Internet. The other
report is at www.oa.doe.gov/Hanford_worker_vapor.pdf
© 2004 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
50 Idaho Statesman: Former governors raise concern about DOE bill on nuclear waste
06-03-2004
[rbarker@idahostatesman.com]
Two former Idaho governors urged Idaho's senators Wednesday to
defend a 1995 nuclear waste agreement as they vote today on two
Department of Energy issues.
Former Govs. Cecil Andrus and Phil Batt raised concerns about an
amendment to the $450 billion annual defense budget bill, which
would allow DOE to leave some radioactive waste in the ground in
South Carolina.
Critics say the bill threatens the agreement Batt negotiated for
removal of nuclear waste from the Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory. Idaho's two Republican senators say it
doesn't.
"We caution our congressmen not to adopt legislation which would
in any way alter or jeopardize the full implementation of the
agreement," Andrus and Batt said in a joint statement.
Idaho's Republican U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Larry Craig say they
agree with Batt and Andrus, but believe the bill doesn't threaten
Batt's agreement.
They say a second amendment they sponsor, which also is up for a
vote today, would restore $95 million to the budget to ensure DOE
keeps its commitment to Idaho.
"We are working overtime now, not only to honor those
commitments, but to secure the necessary monies to allow the
cleanup to continue at the INEEL," Craig said.
Craig and Crapo find themselves at odds with Idaho Gov. Dirk
Kempthorne and Idaho's two Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Simpson and
C.L. "Butch" Otter, who oppose the plan to reclassify South
Carolina's nuclear waste. They argue that passing the bill sets a
precedent threatening to undercut an Idaho victory in federal
court last year that stopped DOE from reclassifying waste sludge
in buried tanks from high-level to low-level waste.
"This legislation would be a huge step backward, reinforcing
public fears about our nation walking away from nuclear cleanup
obligations," Kempthorne said recently.
Crapo disagrees. DOE had tried to get he and Craig and
Washington senators to sign on to the reclassified definition of
waste, which would allow the government to clean up Cold-War era
sites like the INEEL at far lower costs. But they refused.
They agreed, however, with Republican Sen. Lindsey O. Graham of
South Carolina, that states ought to be able to negotiate
separate waste deals that would reclassify the waste differently
than elsewhere, Crapo said.
"Each state has different needs and circumstances," Crapo said.
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington has introduced an
amendment that would pull Graham's agreement out of the defense
bill.
She has criticized Graham, Crapo and Craig for proposing the
reclassification in South Carolina without a public hearing and
national debate.
"If somebody thinks this is an issue that affects the state of
Washington, or affects just Idaho, or affects South Carolina
it doesn't," she said. "There are bodies of water, with the
potential of nuclear waste in them, that flow through many parts
of our country."
Crapo said he and Craig are willing to strengthen the language
in Graham's amendment to ensure it doesn't threaten Idaho, if
necessary. Under the 1995 agreement, the federal government is
required to remove specific nuclear waste at the INEEL to
certain specifications and under deadlines, or face monetary
penalties.
If DOE doesn't respect the deal, shipment of spent nuclear fuels
to the INEEL from Navy reactors would have to stop.
"All I'm saying is leave our agreement alone," Batt said.
*****************************************************************
51 kgw: Probes find no criminal misconduct in Hanford worker treatment
News for Oregon and SW Washington | AP Wire
06/03/2004
By JOHN K. WILEY / Associated Press
A watchdog group expressed disappointment Wednesday that an
Energy Department investigation found no evidence of criminal
misconduct by contractors accused of trying to cover up evidence
of Hanford worker illnesses.
The department's inspector general said the investigation "did
not substantiate criminal misconduct" related to any of the
allegations by the Government Accountability Project.
The report to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham dealt with
allegations against a contractor who provides health services to
workers cleaning up highly radioactive waste in 177 underground
tanks at the Hanford nuclear reservation near Richland and a
contractor in charge of that cleanup.
"We're not overly surprised the IG is not finding anything,
because we don't think they did a very good job," said Tom
Carpenter, a Seattle lawyer with GAP's nuclear oversight
campaign.
"We feel that the investigation is essentially a disservice to
the community. We're familiar with the evidence. We've taken
sworn statements," Carpenter said. "A lot of that evidence was
either ignored or not addressed."
Carpenter said his group would continue its own investigation
into the worker health and safety allegations. He said the state
Department of Health and the national Occupational Safety and
Health Administration are also investigating.
Citing complaints from some of the workers, GAP had accused the
contractors of altering or destroying health records, filing
false injury reports and hiding questionable ammonia vapor
readings involving the tank cleanup.
In his report to Abraham, Inspector General Gregory Friedman said
those allegations could not be substantiated, despite interviews
with more than 70 current and former Hanford workers, managers
and health specialists.
Abraham released a statement saying he was pleased the
investigations turned up no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by
Hanford contractors, and that there were no known cases of
workers being exposed to excessive chemical vapors.
Friedman said he intends to close the case but had turned the
report over to the U.S. attorney's office.
Nevertheless, Friedman said the investigation revealed some
concerns in the way Hanford Environmental Health Foundation, the
contractor in charge of occupational medicine and hygiene
services, has handled illness and injury complaints.
Noting that many workers interviewed "had unresolved concerns"
about safety, Friedman said that "management needs to intensify
its efforts to improve employee confidence in the occupational
health and safety program at Hanford."
Abraham said he will direct Energy officials to implement
recommendations from Friedman's report to enhance worker
protection.
But on the allegations of criminal misconduct, the report said it
found no evidence that HEHF altered or destroyed medical records,
filed false injury reports or inflated the results of an annual
performance assessment report to downplay illnesses and injuries.
The report also cleared CH2M Hill Hanford Group, the contractor
in charge of the tank cleanup program, of any criminal conduct
involving ammonia vapor readings at the tank farm.
"The facts developed during the investigation did not
substantiate criminal misconduct relating to alleged cover-ups of
vapor readings," Friedman wrote. The investigation produced
"conflicting testimony" on the issue, but investigators could
find "no independent corroborating evidence" to support the
allegations, he wrote.
A spokeswoman in Richland for CH2M Hill, Joy Turner, said
Wednesday evening that the company did not get previews of the
report, and could not comment on it until company officials had
reviewed it. She said, though, that the company has made a number
of improvements at the Hanford tank farm, including adding more
than a dozen "hygiene staff" members, one of whom is an ombudsman
to help workers through the process of making claims.
Based on worker complaints, the Government Accountability Project
in September 2003 listed 45 incidents of workers exposed to
chemical vapors from underground tanks. In a previous report the
IG said it had found two of the 45 incidents improperly
classified and nonreportable.
HEHF President and CEO Lee Ashjian said the report vindicates the
medical foundation's staff.
__
On the Net:
Energy Department report: http://www.oa.doe.gov
Government Accountability Project: http://www.whistleblower.org/
© Belo Interactive Inc.
*****************************************************************
52 U.S. Newswire: DOE Comments on Senate Approval of Nuclear Waste Tank Cleanup
6/3/2004 5:37:00 PM
To: National and State desks, Energy Reporter
Contact: Joe Davis of the U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-4940
WASHINGTON, June 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Deputy Secretary of Energy
Kyle McSlarrow issued the following statement today after the
U.S. Senate approved legislative language allowing the Department
of Energy to proceed with tank waste cleanup:
"We are very pleased that the Senate approved DOE's
scientifically sound plans to empty, clean, stabilize and dispose
of nuclear waste currently stored in tanks at its Savannah River
site in South Carolina. Thanks to the leadership of Senator
Graham, our plans, approved in conjunction with the State of
South Carolina, will ensure that we engage in cleanup activities
that are fully protective of the environment and our workers'
safety. In light of the Senate action today, I am directing our
Department to proceed with the Salt Waste Processing Facility in
Savannah River.
"And, as a result of the leadership provided by Senators Crapo
and Craig, the Senate has authorized the availability of funds
for critical cleanup activities in Idaho and Washington approved
in conjunction with those States. Therefore, I am also directing
our Department to proceed aggressively with activities relating
to the safe management of tanks or tank farms, the on-site
treatment and storage of waste, consolidation of waste, and the
emptying and cleaning of storage tanks in Idaho and Washington.
"There remain issues relating to the final disposition of waste
in Idaho and Washington. Therefore we will continue to negotiate
with these States to find a mutually agreeable solution that
resolves these issues."
http://www.usnewswire.com/ [http://www.usnewswire.com/]
/© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
*****************************************************************
53 U.S. Newswire: U.S. Energy Sec. Abraham Comments on Completion
of Investigations into Worker Heath and Site Safety at Hanford
Tank Farms
6/2/2004 7:34:00 PM
To: National Desk and Energy Reporter
Contact: Joe Davis of the U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-4940
WASHINGTON, June 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today, U.S. Secretary of
Energy Spencer Abraham released the following statement on the
completion of investigations into worker health, medical care,
and site safety at the Hanford Tank Farms complex in Washington
State.
Results of investigations requested by Secretary Abraham and
conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Inspector
General and the Office of Independent Oversight and Performance
Assurance were released today by the Department of Energy.
Secretary Abraham said, "We are pleased these investigations
found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing on the part of DOE
managers or contractors; and we remain committed to the highest
standards to ensure the protection of our workers' safety and
health."
The Office of Independent Oversight reported that "several of the
allegations, such as allegations about falsification of medical
records, were not substantiated, and there were no known cases of
workers being exposed to chemical vapors from the Hanford waste
tanks in excess of regulatory limits."
Abraham added, "I very much appreciate the effective and
independent work of the Department's Inspector General and the
Office of Independent Oversight, as well as the state of
Washington, in investigating these now unsubstantiated claims of
activities detrimental to employee health and safety at the
Hanford tank farm complex.
"The DOE and Washington State have demonstrated that a
cooperative approach is critical to ensuring appropriate
procedures are in-place to protect worker health and we look
forward to enhancing the scope and substance of out work with
Washington."
"While these reporters show worker protection is at a high level,
I believe we can continue to improve. Therefore, in the coming
days, I will be directing the DOE's Office of Environmental
Management to implement recommendations from each of the reports
to further enhance worker protections at the Hanford site."
Copies of the Office of Inspector General's report can be found
at http://www.ig.doe.gov/igreports.htm(number)cal2004
[http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=31416&Link=ht
tp://www.ig.doe.gov/igreports.htm(number)cal2004] .
Copies of the Office of Independent Oversight and Safety
Assurance can be found at http://www.oa.doe.gov
[http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=31416&Link=ht
tp://www.oa.doe.gov]
/© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
*****************************************************************
54 Oak Ridger: City to wait on DOE funds application
Story last updated at 12:12 p.m. on June 3, 2004
LOU DUNLAP: 'I think if we send this report up there now, it
would tend to hinder rather than help.'
By: Stan Mitchell | Oak Ridger Staff
stan.mitchell@oakridger.com [stan.mitchell@oakridger.com]
The city of Oak Ridge will not be submitting any time soon an
application for the renewal of annual assistance payments from
the Department of Energy.
The decision follows a work session of the full Oak Ridge City
Council and a meeting of the Intergovernmental Relations
Committee of City Council on Thursday.
The reasons for not submitting the application seemed to have
shifted from concern over the response to optimism about some
unnamed benefit that could be waiting for Oak Ridge.
The decision follows advice from the law firm Baker, Donelson,
Bearman, Caldwell &Berkowitz, which was submitted in a memo.
Council member Leonard Abbatiello said the firm has changed its
position, after stating a couple of months ago that the
application could be submitted.
"This is a 180-degree swap in position for Baker, Donelson,"
Abbatiello said. "What they're saying is there's something in
the mill."
Oak Ridge Mayor David Bradshaw said he agreed with the
assessment.
"That's what I read between the lines, but I don't want to
paint too rosy of a picture," Bradshaw said.
The formal application is a strong approach and Council has
been wary of handing it over. In fact, the application has
already been informally circulated to DOE, according to several
Council members.
The application would require an answer.
"We would be filing under a provision of federal law which
would require a formal response," said City Manager James R.
O'Connor.
Council member Lou Dunlap said she has had reservations about
submitting the formal application all along.
"I think if we send this report up there now, it would tend to
hinder rather than help," Dunlap said. "In this case, we may
gain more from not using it than using it."
Dunlap is referring to a line in Baker, Donelson's memo that
states "the contents of the application have been shared with
all concerned and were very useful."
Annual assistance differs from Payments In Lieu of Tax, which
are generally paid each year by DOE. Annual assistance payments
have not been received for some time.
O'Connor agreed with the decision of the Council members.
"I really don't see how we can do anything other than what our
advisers are telling us," O'Connor said.
*****************************************************************
55 lamonitor.com: GAO report supports laboratory R program
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
[http://www.lanl.gov/worldview]
[http://www.lac-nm.us]
[http://www.ziacu.org/]
ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor
A report by the General Accounting Office found the Department of
Energy's laboratory-directed research program in order, after
more than a decade of occasional criticism. DOE officials
welcomed the information provided to a subcommittee of the House
appropriations committee as pertinent, but the line of
Congressional questions revealed legislators are still looking
for a weakness in a program that managers of weapons laboratories
consider vital.
A portion of DOE laboratory's funds have been spent in support of
scientific excellence through Laboratory-Directed Research (LDRD)
since the passage of the Atomic Energy Act in 1954. Renewed and
reinforced over the years, the LDRD program now represents a
sizable annual commitment, amounting to $356 million in fiscal
2003.
Los Alamos National Laboratory received $94.8 million in LDRD
funds last year. The top recipient, Sandia National Laboratories,
claimed $97.4 million.
The money comes from an unusual process for the federal budget,
whereby up to 6 percent of funds appropriated for an agency may
be diverted for R activities at the discretion of the laboratory
directors, who in turn rely upon recommendations by peer-review
panels, along with other assessments of scientific and technical
merit and programmatic value. The projects are usually relatively
small, $100,000-$300,000, and last only a year or two.
Most of the LDRD money at the DOE labs comes directly from DOE
itself, which accounts for 80 percent of the funding. The
Department of Defense and related intelligence agencies also paid
DOE a premium on work performed for them that amounted to another
12 percent of federal spending on LDRD. Much smaller amounts came
from the National Space and Aeronautics Administration and even
less from the National Institutes of Health and others.
The report responds to 11 questions about DOE's LDRD program.
Questions included scrutiny of DOE's statutory authority for
spending funds appropriated to other federal agencies.
After citing the current legislative basis in the Strom Thurmond
National Defense Authorization Act for 1999, the authors
explained that DOE's use of money from another agency is no
different than "a private vendor...using a federal agency's
appropriation when it applies amounts paid by a federal agency
for services rendered to defray its costs of doing business."
Another question inquired about the risk that LDRD funds might
transgress "firewalls" that are built into the federal budget so
that funds for defense and domestic purposes are not mingled.
The report stated that the law requires DOE to support projects
within its security mission, but that the nature of basic
research often results in applications that can benefit both
defense and domestic agencies.
At a public meeting conducting by the National Academies of
Science earlier this year, LANL managers and employees testified
to the value of LDRD as a foundation for eventual pay-offs in
quantum encryption and inspection sensors.
Another question by lawmakers appeared to probe for an
inconsistency in the laws, asking what other agencies have a
process by which they can charge up to 6 percent for projects.
The only other federal laboratory identified by the study is the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which makes an assessment of .025
percent on some of its projects. The Air Force's Lincoln
Laboratory receives a budget for its Defense Research and
Engineering program through a direct appropriation from Congress.
Legislation passed in 2002 specifically exempts the new
Department of Homeland Security funds from LDRD unless the
activities support DHS missions, according to the report. A more
formal agreement between DHS and DOE spells out how that
arrangement is to be carried out.
Managers at DOE's nuclear laboratories told the researchers that
LDRD is "an essential tool for recruiting and retaining
scientists," because the mission, "to perform applied research to
develop nuclear weapons technologies - does not readily attract
qualified new hires."
The reports cited as an example, LANL's awards to 262 of 427
post-doctoral scientists, who charge a significant part of their
time to LDRD. The rationale is that they are more likely to be
receptive to full-time employment after spending time at the
laboratory.
"In some cases," the report said, "LDRD program also provides
meaningful work opportunities at the NNSA laboratories while
newly hired scientists wait to receive their security
clearances."
Additionally, LDRD promotes "opportunities for collaboration,"
with other scientists and researchers in keeping with the
program's intended purpose in support of scientific excellence.
Over the years, GAO has raised a number of questions about the
LDRD program, how well it was being managed, whether managers
were making effective use of the funds and whether DOE was
exercising adequate oversight.
A notable case in 1987 involved a special investigation into a
$1.8 million cost-overun at LANL under a contract with Mesa
Diagnostics Inc. DOE was reimbursed $300,000 from the contractor,
but then arranged with the lab to create an inappropriate R
project against which the remaining $1.5 million was charged. GAO
reported the investigation in a report, "Better DOE Controls
Needed Over Contractor's Discretionary R Funds," in 1991.
No such issues were raised in the current study, "Information on
DOE's Laboratory-Directed R Program."
© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
56 New York Times: U.S. Finds Flaws, Not Crimes, at Nuclear Site in
Washington State
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: June 3, 2004
WASHINGTON, June 2 - The way that government contractors manage
worker safety at the Hanford nuclear reservation, in Washington
State, is not criminal but has important weaknesses, according to
two reports issued Wednesday by the Energy Department.
An investigation by the department's inspector general found no
evidence of criminal conduct at Hanford. The inspector general
said he could not substantiate workers' accusations about
contractors' tampering with medical records and hiding
information about dangerous vapors from nuclear waste tanks.
A related investigation, by the department's Office of
Independent Oversight and Performance Assurance, found that the
contractor that manages the tanks where the waste is stored did
not sample the air enough to conclude that workers were safe. It
also said problems in the industrial hygiene program "will, until
corrected, continue to raise uncertainties in determining whether
some workers are being overexposed to some chemical vapors."
The tanks hold wastes that are so radioactive that they break
down chemicals to produce hydrogen, ammonia and other hazardous
gases and vapors. Many of the tanks have leaked, and the Energy
Department is trying to empty them and solidify their contents.
The department's report, released late Wednesday, revealed a new
hazard: the tanks lack valves that would protect against a vacuum
inside and could crack or break as a result. Workers halted many
activities around the tanks when this was discovered, the report
said.
The report is a partial vindication for a nonprofit group, the
Government Accountability Project, which said in a report last
year that the tanks were mismanaged and that contractors were
endangering workers and intentionally underreporting the damage
to workers' health.
But the other report released Wednesday said there was no
criminal activity. The inspector general, Gregory H. Friedman,
said in a four-page summary of his report that witnesses gave
conflicting testimony on some of the accusations and that there
was no way to resolve the conflicts. He said he had briefed the
United States attorney's office for the Eastern District of
Washington, which was declining to prosecute, and thus the case
would be closed.
But the Washington State attorney general's office is still
investigating the adequacy of medical care at the site, a
spokeswoman there said.
The Government Accountability Project said Mr. Friedman's report
was incomplete because his investigators had declined to talk to
some witnesses and view some documents.
The inspector general "did not seek to interview a worker who
suffered a broken leg at work that was not reported as a job
injury," even though the group gave the investigators the
worker's name and phone number, the group said in a statement.
Tom Carpenter, director of the group's Nuclear Oversight
Campaign, said he would push for a Congressional investigation of
operations at the site, where plutonium for bombs was
manufactured for decades, leaving it highly polluted.
Mr. Friedman's summary, though, said there was less evidence than
promised. On the question of whether a contractor covered up high
readings of ammonia vapor at the places where nuclear waste is
stored, the report said that two witnesses identified as having
valuable information "did not provide such corroborating
information."
He also looked into an allegation that a clinic hired by the
Energy Department misdiagnosed patients to avoid attributing
their illnesses to their work around the site's radioactive and
chemical hazards. Mr. Friedman said that the investigation "did
verify a single instance where a former Hanford site
subcontractor in 1999 encouraged an injured employee to report to
work following a work-related injury, yet the subcontractor had
the employee perform no duties for five days." The employee was
on limited duty for the next 24 days, the report said.
The report said the incident was reported, although it described
the subcontractor's actions as troubling.
The inspector general also found that technicians failed to
measure the level of hazardous vapors at one location until about
two hours after workers were reportedly exposed.
The summary said that investigators interviewed more than 70
people and found extensive concerns about health care. "The
number, scope and continuing nature of the employees' and
citizens' concerns we heard during our investigation suggest that
management needs to intensify its efforts to improve employee
confidence in the occupational health and safety program," the
summary said.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
*****************************************************************
57 Google News Alert - nuclear
Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 13:27:42 -0700 (PDT)
IRAN admits to importation of nuclear components
ABC Online - Australia
ELEANOR HALL: A secret report by UN nuclear inspectors reveals that after
repeated denials, Iran has finally admitted that it's been importing nuclear
parts to ...
See all stories on this topic:
ACT calls for repeal of nuclear-powered ship ban
Stuff.co.nz - New Zealand
The ACT Party yesterday called for the ban on nuclear-powered ships to
be repealed after a poll showed most people would back the move if the
United States ...
See all stories on this topic:
NUCLEAR nightmares
Economist (subscription) - London,England,UK
AS WEAPONS ambitions have spread from states to terrorist groups, it gets
increasingly likely that nuclear materials may some day be used in some
sort of bomb. ...
See all stories on this topic:
INTERVIEW-ONTARIO minister sees nuclear decision in 2 months
Forbes - USA
TORONTO, (Reuters) - Ontario will decide within two months on the future
of its key nuclear plant, the province's Energy Minister said Thursday,
after a ...
See all stories on this topic:
OPINION - In Our View : Nuclear End Run
The Columbian - Vancouver,WA,USA
The US Senate is poised to do something about nuclear waste that does not
pass the smell test of either science or politics. Instead ...
See all stories on this topic:
NUCLEAR plants may count fuel rods
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
WATERFORD, Conn. -- About a dozen nuclear power plants, including the three-reactor
Millstone Power Station, are being asked to inventory their fuel rods
...
See all stories on this topic:
CHINA curbing trade in nuclear materials
International Herald Tribune - Paris,France
WASHINGTON Beijing has acted about a dozen times over the past year to
thwart shipments of nuclear-related materials to problem states, but some
US officials ...
See all stories on this topic:
NUCLEAR medicine now available here
Franklin Favorite - Franklin,KY,USA
The Medical Center at Franklin has again expanded its radiology services
with the addition of nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine ...
See all stories on this topic:
PAKISTAN'S forgotten al-Qaeda nuclear link
Asia Times Online - Hong Kong
... whose plot involves al-Qaeda members, with help from a Pakistan army
major, successfully smuggling a Pakistani nuclear device into New York
and then using it ...
“ Indifference Over North Korea ’ s Nuclear Intimidations ” ...
Donga - Seoul,South Korea
Although Korea and the United States have quarreled over major pending
problems of security in recent times, such as North Korea’s nuclear
problem and the ...
See all stories on this topic:
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58 SpaceRef: NASA Selects Boeing for Neptune Missions Study Grant |
SpaceRef · About Us [http://www.spaceref.com/company/] ·
Date Released: Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Source: Boeing [http://www.boeing.com/]
NASA Selects Boeing for Neptune Missions Study Grant
[http://images.spaceref.com/news/neptune.jpg] While Boeing [NYSE:
BA] is preparing to deliver a proposal to NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory for what could become the nation's first
nuclear-fission powered exploration spacecraft, the company also
is using its unique space heritage and expertise to propel
robotic solar system exploration farther than Jupiter. NASA
recently granted Boeing $250,000 to provide a technology
development road map for supporting science objectives for a
mission to Neptune under its Vision Missions studies program.
Boeing, the only industrial entity to receive such a grant, is
providing mission design solutions for a possible Neptune polar
orbiter with atmospheric probes.
"We look forward to supporting NASA in its conquest of space,"
says Mike Mott, Boeing NASA Systems vice president and general
manager. "We will use our experience in complex space systems to
enable NASA to gain more scientific insights into the solar
system."
Additionally, Boeing has joined two university-led Vision
Missions teams providing robotic and human in-space assembly and
servicing options for two possible space-based observatories. One
is led by the University of Texas to study Vision Missions
concepts for a Single Aperture Far Infrared (SAFIR) telescope and
the other by Cornell University in its study of a Far-Infrared
and Submillimeter Interferometer telescope (FIR/SMM). The
universities were each awarded approximately $300,000 NASA Vision
Missions grants.
University of Texas SAFIR principal science investigator Dan
Lester says Boeing brings capabilities ranging from its nuclear
heritage, to human space flight, to robotics, to the project
study.
Cornell University principal science investigator Martin Harwit,
professor emeritus of astronomy, says its FIR/SMM project team
looks forward to taking advantage of the company's expertise in
human and robotic assembly of complex payloads in space.
Like the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter, Neptune has no solid
surface, and scientists believe further research of the planet's
external and internal structures could yield greater insight into
the processes that formed the solar system.
The Neptune Orbiter with Probes study will explore technological
capabilities that would make a 21ST century second-decade
flagship launch feasible and provide an assessment of
nuclear-electric propulsion as a potential power source for the
spacecraft. Dr. David Atkinson of the University of Idaho is the
science principal investigator.
The SAFIR (pronounced SAPPHIRE) Vision Missions study is the
first step toward approval and scheduling of the observatory,
which could launch as soon as 2015. SAFIR is projected to be a
supercooled space telescope studying the heavens in the
far-infrared region of the spectrum and may provide insight into
the nature of black holes and the identity of pre-biotic
molecules present in planet forming regions.
The wide-field imaging FIR/SMM observatory would complement SAFIR
and use an extended baseline to also scan the galaxy in the
far-infrared region of the spectrum. The FIR/SMM telescope would
search for the first stars to form in the universe, today's
forming stars and the evolution of planetary systems around newly
developing stars.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Integrated Defense Systems is one
of the world 's largest space and defense businesses.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is
a $27 billion business. It provides systems solutions to its
global military, government, and commercial customers. It is a
leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance; the world's largest military aircraft
manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer and a
leading provider of space-based communications; the primary
systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's largest
contractor; and a global leader in launch services.
Copyright © 1999-2004 SpaceRef Interactive Inc. All rights
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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:
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