***************************************************************** 06/07/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.135 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Interfax: U.S. claims on Tehran reveal double standards - ambassador 2 Reuters: Japan PM Says N.Korea Wants Progress at Nuke Talks 3 Reuters: U.S. plans to cut troops in South Korea by a third 4 New PM made 45 min WMD claim! tvnl 5 VANUNU INTERVIEW, PART 2 - SUNDAY TIMES 6 IAEA to press for inspections of Israel's nuclear facility 7 THREATS OF VIOLENCE 8 Vanunu On Why He Had To Talk About Israeli Nuclear Arsenal 9 [DU-WATCH] UK journalist Peter Hounam arrested in Israel (re: 10 US: LA Times: We Need a Global Attack on Nuclear Proliferation 11 Reuters: Indian Foreign Minister to Visit Pakistan in July 12 Mos News: Russians Protest Plutonium Program at U.S. Embassy - 13 CBC: Energy shortage meeting looks for bright ideas NUCLEAR REACTORS 14 US: NRC: NRC Staff Approves Transfer of Operating License for R.E. G 15 Slovak Spectator: AEA praises nuclear safety in Slovakia 16 Bnn: EU Official Warns Bulgaria to Refrain From More Talks on Reacto 17 asahi.com: Radioactive materials recycling eyed 18 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting June 23 in Piketon, Ohio, to Dis 19 Verheugen: Nuclear Talks to Delay Bulgaria's EU Entry 20 US: NRC: Entergy Operations Inc.; Waterford Steam Electric Station, 21 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti 22 US: NRC: Tennessee Valley Authority, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant; 23 US: NRC: Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; Duke Energy Corporation NUCLEAR SAFETY 24 [DU-WATCH] UMRC report on Bibi Mahro Region in Afghanistan 25 US: Cincinnat Enquirer: Speed up nuclear worker aid 26 US: NRC: Peer Review Committee for Source Term Modeling; Notice of M NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 27 AFP: Iran tells UN nuclear watchdog to look elsewhere for enriched 28 NRC: Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to Hear Arguments June 15 - 1 29 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria Stores Used Nuclear Fuel in Russia 30 TNS: Pollution Chokes the Tigris, a Main Source of Baghdad's 31 US: DNFSB: Oversight of complex, high-hazard nuclear operations NUCLEAR WEAPONS US DEPT. OF ENERGY 32 DOE: Office of Nonproliferation Policy; Proposed Subsequent 33 Hanford News: Hanford's FMEF building still unused 34 Daily Texan - Opinion: Poorly dropped bomb OTHER NUCLEAR 35 Google News Alert - nuclear ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Interfax: U.S. claims on Tehran reveal double standards - ambassador Jun 7 2004 4:44PM MOSCOW. June 7 (Interfax) - The U.S. claims that Tehran wants to create nuclear armaments show double standards, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Gholam Reza Shafei told Interfax on Monday. "If one takes a look at defense industry expenditures of regional countries, one will see that Iran spends much less than its neighbors," he said. "Unfortunately, we are witnessing the mercenary political interference of certain countries, which apply double standards in their unilateral assessments of the conduct of other countries," he said. "The U.S. attitude to countries of the Near East is an illustrious example of this statement," Shafei said. "The Zionist regime, which has obvious military might, is outside the focus of international attention, while other countries are experiencing pressure." "Naturally, such an attitude cannot be good for the international community, including the Near East. This attitude causes suspicions in these countries about the secret plans of the Americans," the diplomat said. "Bearing that in mind, we nevertheless think that the Near East should be free from nuclear weapons. We are glad that Russia supports our logical position," Shafei said. © 1991-2004 Interfax ***************************************************************** 2 Reuters: Japan PM Says N.Korea Wants Progress at Nuke Talks Mon Jun 7, 2004 03:48 AM ET By George Nishiyama TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday he believed North Korea was willing to make progress in the next round of six-party talks aimed at persuading it to dismantle its nuclear arms program. Analysts are skeptical about prospects for progress, however, given that neither of the main protagonists -- the United States and North Korea -- are thought likely to compromise ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in November. China has proposed holding a third round of talks aimed at resolving the crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms projects during the week of June 21 in Beijing, and Japanese media reports have said June 23 is the likely starting date. "I got the feeling that the North Koreans are willing to make progress ahead of the six-party talks," Koizumi told a small group of foreign reporters, but did not elaborate. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told Koizumi at talks in Pyongyang last month that North Korea wanted to be nuclear-free and intended to use the multilateral forum to achieve that goal, the Japanese prime minister said on the eve of his departure for a Group of Eight leaders' summit in the United States. The crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear arms programs erupted in October 2002, when U.S. officials said North Korea had disclosed it was working on a secret program to enrich uranium for weapons, in violation of an international agreement. Working-level talks last month among Japan, China, North and South Korea, Russia and the United States yielded scant progress. North Korea, in need of aid for its struggling economy, wants compensation for giving up its nuclear arms program, with a deal for a freeze as a first step. The United States wants Pyongyang to abandon its programs completely and unconditionally. Koizumi also said Kim, who he met for a rare second summit, appeared to be concerned about the security of North Korea and interested in seeking economic aid. Koizumi won the release of some family members of Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago, an emotive issue in Japan. He also pledged to provide humanitarian aid, but told the North Korean leader that more substantial aid would not be forthcoming until Pyongang abandoned its nuclear program and normalized bilateral ties with Tokyo. Koizumi said he wanted to share his views with the leaders of Group of Eight nations when they gather in the U.S. state of Georgia from Tuesday to Thursday for their annual summit. © Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 3 Reuters: U.S. plans to cut troops in South Korea by a third Mon Jun 7, 2004 12:35 PM ET By Jack Kim and Rhee So-eui SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States plans to cut its troops in South Korea by a third by the end of next year, as part of a worldwide shift to use higher technology in defense, the two countries said on Monday. Although communist North Korea's 1.1-million-strong armed forces dwarf the 37,500 U.S. troops currently in the south, any reduction is closely watched because the contingent's symbolic value outweighs its numerical strength. Ally South Korea has 690,000 troops. "U.S. officials told us last night that under their Global Defense Posture Review they are planning to reduce the number of U.S. troops here by 12,500 by the end of December 2005," Kim Sook, head of the South Korean Foreign Ministry's North America bureau, told reporters. That would include 3,600 U.S. soldiers already earmarked for deployment to Iraq from South Korea in the coming months. The Pentagon in Washington and U.S. forces in South Korea confirmed that the reduction "concept" had been presented to South Korea and that a concrete timetable was being worked out in bilateral consultations. Washington announced late last year that it aimed to transform its forces worldwide and use advances in military technology and smaller more mobile units to better respond to new security needs and fight the war on terrorism. The move is also expected to cut U.S. forces in Germany. While thousands of troops will be brought back to the United States, the U.S. military is also examining moving additional military equipment into the Asia-Pacific region, including stationing advanced fighter jets and heavy bombers with long-range cruise missiles on the island of Guam. "There are a variety of options and significant military capabilities available to our military planners, all of which provide tremendous deterrence to any potential enemy," Navy Lt. Cmdr. Flex Plexico, a Pentagon spokesman, told Reuters. Kim was briefing reporters after a first day of talks with U.S. officials on moving American troops back from front-line positions near the Demilitarized Zone border with the North. Asked whether South Korea had agreed to the pullout schedule, Kim said: "That is what the United States presented as their plan and we're going to discuss it." Many South Koreans have expressed surprise about the U.S. plans, and media have called for care in timing the reductions because of ongoing talks on curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Pyongyang has described the planned cuts as a ploy to mask plans to attack North Korea. Kim said the U.S. officials had said Washington would pursue the reduction very carefully because of the security conditions on the peninsula. South Korean and U.S. officials have said the redeployment to Iraq, and any future changes to the U.S. military in the South, would not weaken their defense against the North. Andrew Kennedy, head of the Asia program at Britain's Royal United Services Institute in London, said the withdrawal does not signal a reduction in the U.S. commitment to protect South Korea, but could send a signal to Pyongyang that Washington is sincere about using talks to resolve the nuclear standoff. "With the flexibility of U.S. forces, the withdrawal of this number of troops doesn't make much of a difference to the commitment or the capability of the U.S. to help defend South Korea," he told Reuters. "The removal of the forces shows that the U.S. is more committed to a negotiated settlement than any sort of military solution." c Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 4 New PM made 45 min WMD claim! tvnl Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 00:46:14 -0500 (CDT) HEADLINES and NEWS LINKS Courtesy of TvNewsLies.org Dont forget to check out todays smile! http://tvnewslies.org/html/smile_.html 30-May-04____________________________________________________ WAR: - http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#war 7 Chalabi Staffers Evacuated From Office 7 Government uses Tillman to sell war on terrorism 7 Fighting flares in key Iraqi city 7 Driver and guard of newspaper editor killed in Baghdad 7 Prime minister-designate to recall Saddam army 7 Four U.S. Soldiers Killed in Troubled Afghan South 7 THREE MARINES KILLED IN ACTION **** Exiled Allawi was responsible for 45-minute WMD claim 7 The House of Chalabi: The Future of Iraq? POLITICS: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#politics 7 Bush dynasty ex-wife set to spill the beans in new book 7 A VOTE FOR OSAMA - A GOP ELECTION SCAM - ...the Republicans have absolutely NO OTHER ISSUE on which to run. - None. 7 Why the Democrats' Left Wing Is Muted 7 Will Bush the Beheader use terrorism to become America's Pinochet? ECONOMY: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#economy 7 Monthly Reports Leave Investors in Dark DOMESTIC: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#domestic 7 SF gallery owner becomes target after showcasing painting of Iraqi prisoner abuse ENVIRONMENT: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#environment 7 Whiz kid invention - Super mileage car INTERNATIONAL: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#international 7 Thousands flee Mogadishu clashes 7 Saudi commandos rescue hostages 7 Senior Hamas Leader Is Killed in Blast in Gaza City 7 Iran Governor Killed in Helicopter Crash 7 Gunmen kill UN observer near DRC town MILITARY/VETERANS: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#military 7 From the Ranks to the Street - Veterans make up 23% of the homeless population. Among homeless men, veterans make up 33%. 7 Navy to Deploy Carrier Groups to Test Rapid Readiness EDITORIAL: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#editorial 7 Crashing Down the Right Wing, Republican Wall - MEDIA: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#media 7 Weapons of Mass Destruction? Or Mass Distraction? - HIT-AND-RUN JOURNALISM The more surprising the story, the more often it must be revisited 7 CNN asks Florida court for ineligible voters list 7 Berg's Family Discusses Michael Moore Footage HEALTH: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#health 7 German Study Says Condoms Contain Cancer- causing Chemical HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#rights 7 UK troops investigated over deaths of 10 civilians 7 Scant Evidence Cited in Long Detention of Iraqis 7 Army Report Warned in November About Prison Problems OF INTEREST: http://tvnewslies.org/newsfeed/index.php#interest 7 Archibald Cox, 92, Is Dead; Helped Prosecute Watergate _____________________________________________________________ NOW SHIPPING (for a tax deductible donation): *** PLAN of ATTACK *** AGAINST ALL ENEMIES! *** THE PRICE OF LOYALTY! *** HOUSE OF BUSH - HOUSE OF SAUD!(1 copy left! - rest on order) *** UNCOVERED - DVD or VHS *** BOP BUSH DOLL! *** BUSH JOKER T-SHIRTS! *** THE LOADED DECK! Or select from other great premiums for your donation to help us fight corporate media deception! http://tvnewslies.org/html/donate.html ***************************************************************** 5 VANUNU INTERVIEW, PART 2 - SUNDAY TIMES Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:50:42 -0700 Free Mordechai Vanunu - Info & Action Alert #22 ** PLEASE FORWARD TO SYMPATHETIC LISTS ** VANUNU INTERVIEW, PART 2 - SUNDAY TIMES In This Update: 1. Why I had to tell Israel's big secret ========================== 1. Why I had to tell Israel's big secret Mordechai Vanunu interviewed by Yael Lotan. Sunday Times June 06, 2004 How did Mordechai Vanunu become the nuclear whistleblower jailed for 18 years for treason and espionage? In his first interview since his release from prison, he tells Yael Lotan what made him a rebel. I was born in Marrakesh on October 13, 1954. I used to have a very strong memory of my life in Morocco; since prison my memory is not as strong as before. My parents used to move from house to house and street to street. My father had a store selling food, a grocery store, and I used to go there and sit with him, see people and listen to them. In June 1963 we moved to Israel. We knew nothing about Israel. We just knew what was written in the Bible, and we expected a very nice place with mountains and water, green and trees; (but) they sent us to the south, Beersheba. It was a desert. It was too hot and it wasn't what we expected. After three months we were given a much better house. Then my father started working in a job, we started going to school, and we started to become Israeli people. I went into the army in 1971. I expected to have an interesting job but they put me in an engineering unit. After the army I applied to study engineering, but they only let me study physics. I tried to study but I did not do well, and I found an advertisement in the newspaper to work at Dimona (the secret nuclear weapons centre in the Negev desert). YL: Did you know what sort of place it was? We knew from the news that Dimona was involved in nuclear secrets but no-one said about the production of nuclear weapons. I was aware Israel must have some nuclear weapons; I believed they might have one, two, three. They appointed me to work in Machon 2 (a plutonium reprocessing plant) at Dimona. After a year I realised it was a routine job, doing the same thing every day. This was not a future career for me. I decided that maybe I could work and study at the same time, keep working at Dimona as a place to earn money but (also) return to university. I chose economics, geography and philosophy. I used to work at night, or afternoon, and come to the university every morning like every student. With the studies opening my mind, I used to think a lot and try to decide what was my own way, not the way my parents had chosen for me. I had to make my own decisions. That is part of the philosophy of existentialism, that you choose your way, your target for life. When the Lebanon war began in 1982, they called me to serve (as an army reservist). I tried to avoid this but they continued to call me until I went to Lebanon. I was only there one week and then told the senior officer I was willing to serve as a "serviceman" not as a fighter. I would serve in the kitchens, in garbage, anything. So after another week he said: "We do not need you. Go home." My private way started with the Lebanese war, thinking it was not a real war, it was an invasion, and they had given us a lot of propaganda to justify it. In 1983 I took part in a student election and I became involved in the politics of the student union at university. I found myself identifying with the Arab side. In April-May 1984, the head of security at Dimona called me. He said: "We want you to stop this activity and be careful." I said: "Oh, don't worry." Then next year the elections came again and I was elected. And again he called me and said: "We are warning you to stop." He took me in his car to the Kirya (the defence ministry compound in Tel Aviv). There they have some Shabak (Shin Beth, the internal security service) place. In the room there were two men, one a lawyer. They said: we are warning you not to continue these activities and we are worried that if you continue these activities you will be breaking the law and you can receive 15 years. They gave me a paper and said: "Sign this paper that we have warned you." I said I am not signing. I said maybe you want to use it for dismissing me from my job. He said no, if we want to dismiss you it is not a problem. I said I am not signing any paper, and I left them. (In 1985, Vanunu was included in a list of compulsory redundancies at Dimona. He protested but, after the list was withdrawn, accepted voluntary redundancy. Before leaving, he took photographs inside the underground nuclear plant, intending to publicise its secrets.) I used to come to work every day with the bag I used to take to university. It was full of books so it wasn't such a big problem to put the camera in there. They checked but they trusted you were a good worker and you are trusted not to take a camera. I took (photos) when I was alone. There were times when you were alone there in the control room, when others went to take showers, or go to eat, you could stay there for a few minutes or half an hour. That's when I took them. At the same time I entered other places that I wasn't allowed to enter. I didn't work there but I knew they were very important and could prove what they were producing there. So I took photos there. I also went to the roof of the building and took photos around the building, and saw there was a tower with a guard there. I was afraid maybe they were watching me but nobody watched me. When I took the pictures I was worried someone would see me and ask me some questions. In fact someone watched me walk in to some of the places I should not go and I gave him some explanation. YL: When you took those pictures and you took that film home, you didn't feel you were betraying Israel? I believed I was going to serve the human people, the Israelis, and the Arabs, and the Palestinians. Because nuclear weapons kill everyone; they do not take regard of nationality or religion or state. Nuclear weapons destroy boundaries. After leaving the job in October 1985, I was ready to act. It was clear I could not do it in Israel. If I was to speak to anyone about Israel's nuclear secrets, I would be arrested. So I should go abroad and see what I could publish there. I decided to see the Far East, because I had been to the United States and Europe; now I was interested to see Asian people: to see their religion, their food. At that time, I wasn't religious. I was out of Israeli Judaism. I decided it was not for me any more. But I was interested to learn more of other religions, to understand what Christianity meant, what they are doing, what they are practising, how they are praying. I was also very close to Christianity, because in the 1980s I started listening to classical music, hearing Bach and opera. I visited many churches during my visits in Europe so I became very close to Christianity. I also used to hear the BBC. So I was very open to the possibility in the future that I might become a Christian. I decided I was going to the United States by the Far East for about six months. I travelled by sea from Haifa to Greece. On the way I met a Canadian who told me he was writing a book about nuclear weapons tests by the United States in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. I told him about my job. I told him I worked in the Dimona reactor and that I was ready to talk and speak to anyone. He said that when we got to Athens we would find Newsweek magazine or Time magazine and get them to publish. But we could not find them. He gave me the name of the Newsweek man in Bangkok. I tried to find him but I also hesitated. I wanted to enjoy my trip, to see the Thai people, to explore Buddhist places. Sitting in cars and buses, I was thinking what I was going to do: what is good for me, what is good for them? Am I serving myself by publishing this or saving the world a lot of questions? And most important, am I ready to sacrifice my freedom, my life? Because I knew it was going to cause me a big problem if it was published. I met some Israeli tourists in Nepal - a young couple. We were sitting in a restaurant and I told them I was working in Dimona and was producing plutonium. Then after Nepal we returned to Bangkok and that week was the Chernobyl event in Europe. We met many people flying from Europe afraid of the radioactive fallout. That made me more aware and ready to speak about the Dimona reactor. Then I decided I should go to Australia. I landed in Sydney and enjoyed it, and I decided to stay for a few months. One reason was to improve my English, second was to enjoy seeing Australian people. After two days in Sydney - it was Friday night - I was walking in the street and there was a church with the door open. I heard classical music coming out. I entered and I enjoyed it. I found good people there, like a young priest, David Smith. We sat and talked. He was studying philosophy and interested in existentialism, Kirkegaard and Nietzsche, who I was also interested in learning about. We became friends, and I started coming every Sunday, and I liked it. It was part of my new life to become a Christian. I was not interested in Judaism any more. I had set myself free from the faith of the Jewish people and my family. And I was enough of an educated man to decide what was good for me. (Vanunu met Oscar Guerrero, a Colombian, at the church. He told him about Dimona and had his photographs processed. They approached local journalists, including Newsweek's correspondent, but Guerrero's highly exaggerated version of Vanunu's story was unconvincing. Guerrero took the photos to Europe, hoping to sell them.) When I developed the photos I knew the story had begun. I thought we should (act) very quickly; otherwise it would be leaked to Israeli spies and they would find us. So, since the photos were developed, it was clear I should move very fast to find someone to publish it; otherwise it could be stopped. I called back the man from Newsweek and went to his home. I showed him the photos and sat with him for an hour and gave him all the details about the Dimona reactor. He said: I will send this information to New York and they will give you the answer. After two weeks I asked him what was going on and he said we cannot do anything here; when you get to New York we will review your story. Guerrero rang me from London telling me The Sunday Times were ready to publish. After a few days he came with Peter Hounam (the reporter). But later I realised he told them some lies. He told them I was a very old scientist. When I introduced myself as only a technician not a scientist, Hounam was surprised but he was glad to see I had not cheated. I gave him all the details about Dimona. I told him: I don't need money. It was more important for me to publish the story. The only thing I was worrying about was my photo appearing. But he said: we must have the man behind the story, the name and the photo. I was ready to sacrifice my privacy to help this story go out. He said: we need you in London to answer questions from nuclear scientists who understand all this. (After three weeks in London he was lured to Italy and kidnapped by Israeli agents. Vanunu told his interviewer he understood the risk he was taking.) There was nobody else who could come out of Dimona with photos and knowledge and ready to speak. I was thinking, I don't want to sacrifice my life. I don't want to be in prison. I want to enjoy life; but, since there is nobody in all the world or in Dimona, in Israel, who would do such an act, it had become my responsibility, my own mission. Copyright ©Mordechai Vanunu and Yael Lotan -END- ================= If you would like to receive these alerts directly, please subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to free_vanunu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Felice Cohen-Joppa Coordinator U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu POB 43384 Tucson, AZ 85733 Phone/Fax 520-323-8697 freevanunu@mindspring.com www.nonviolence.org/vanunu ***************************************************************** 6 IAEA to press for inspections of Israel's nuclear facility Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:50:46 -0700 Free Mordechai Vanunu - Info & Action Alert #23 ** PLEASE FORWARD TO SYMPATHETIC LISTS ** 1. IAEA TO PRESS FOR INSPECTIONS OF ISRAEL'S NUCLEAR FACILITY 2. Write to Mordechai Vanunu ================== 1. IAEA TO PRESS FOR INSPECTIONS OF ISRAEL'S NUCLEAR FACILITY Thursday, June 3, 2004 http://www.w orldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_2.htm JERUSALEM - The International Atomic Energy Agency plans a campaign to force Israel to permit international inspections of its Dimona nuclear facility. The agency has been under longterm pressure from the European Union, Arab states and Iran to focus more attention on Irael's nuclear program. Several Arab countries reiterated their call for a nuclear free zone in the Middle East during a United Nations sponsored disarmament conference in Geneva on May 27. Arab envoys said the establishment of such a zone would be their priority over the coming year. IAEA director-general Mohammed El Baradei plans to visit Israel over the next two months, officials said. The visit was expected to take place following the IAEA board of directors's meeting in mid-June to discuss Iranian compliance with international nuclear inspection efforts. The United States has charged that Teheran has violated its pledge to the IAEA. Israeli officials said the campaign was also in response to a spate of articles and television documentaries based on information provided by Israeli nuclear spy Mordechai Vanunu. Vanunu was released from an Israeli prison on April 21 and has been living in a monastery in Jerusalem. Officials said several Western countries, together with Israeli and international anti-nuclear activitists, plan to focus on Dimona in the weeks prior to El Baradei's arrival in Israel. They said Vanunu has been urged to discuss Dimona and Israel's purported nuclear weapons program. The European Union has also been encouraging El Baradei's efforts to press Israel to open Dimona to international inspections as part of the campaign for a nuclear-free Middle East. Officials said such EU countries as Britain, France and Germany have quietly warned the Bush administration that the West would fail to win Iranian cooperation with the IAEA unless Israel's nuclear program becomes part of the international effort. The IAEA drive has been urged by Egypt, Syria and other Arab and Muslim states, officials said. Egypt has appealed to the United States to press Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would allow the IAEA to inspect suspected nuclear facilities, including the Dimona reactor. "There has been a feeling within the international community that too much attention has been paid to Iran's nuclear program at the expense of Israel," a senior Israeli official said. "There is a drive to switch the focus from Iran to Israel over the next few months by portraying Israel as an immediate nuclear threat." The agency has confirmed that El Baradei will be visiting Israel sometime in the summer. An agency spokesman said details have not yet been finalized. El Baradei's visit would be the first to Israel since 1998. An IAEA statement on April 29 said the director-general intends to "use such a trip to consult on his mandate from the IAEA General Conference to promote non-proliferation and a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East, as well as to discuss bilateral cooperation in nuclear sciences and applications." "Arab countries have launched numerous initiatives to free the Middle East from all weapons of mass destruction, notably nuclear weapons," Saudi representative Abdul Wahab Attar said. "They have moved within the Arab League to establish a governmental committee of experts to work out a draft treaty to make the Middle East WMD free." In late May, Israeli authorities detained a British journalist sent to Israel to interview Vanunu for the British Broadcasting Corp. Officials said a videotape of an interview by Peter Hounam of Vanunu was seized and the journalist was expelled from Israel. Copyright © 2004 East West Services, Inc. -END- ================== 2. Write to Mordechai Vanunu Mordechai would love to hear from his friends and supporters. You can write to him at: Mordechai Vanunu c/o Cathedral Church of St. George 20 Nablus Road PO Box 19018 Jerusalem 91190 Israel The U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu would appreciate any news clippings about the release for our files. Please send to the campaign at PO Box 43384, Tucson, AZ 85733 US. Also, if anyone taped any of the TV or radio coverage, we would appreciate a copy. Thanks! ================= If you would like to receive these alerts directly, please subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to free_vanunu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com - END - Felice Cohen-Joppa Coordinator U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu POB 43384 Tucson, AZ 85733 Phone/Fax 520-323-8697 freevanunu@mindspring.com www.nonviolence.org/vanunu ***************************************************************** 7 THREATS OF VIOLENCE Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:50:41 -0700 Free Mordechai Vanunu - Info & Action Alert #21 ** PLEASE FORWARD TO SYMPATHETIC LISTS ** THREATS OF VIOLENCE In this update: 1. Kach supporters chase away Vanunu 2. Vanunu fears for his life after street threats ================== 1. Kach supporters chase away Vanunu by Arieh O'Sullivan Jerusalem Post , Jun. 1, 2004 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid Supporters of the outlawed far-right Kach Party assaulted Mordechai Vanunu at the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday, forcing him to seek refuge in a nearby pharmacy. Vanunu, who was accompanied by an unidentified woman, later slipped out of the store without notice. The crowd had come to the court in support of former Kach spokesman Noam Federman, who was fighting his administrative detention when Vanunu suddenly appeared. They called out, "Traitor! Collaborator! Leave the country!" Vanunu was released from prison last month after an 18-year sentence for leaking secrets about the Dimona nuclear reactor where he once worked. - END - ==================== 2. Vanunu fears for his life after street threats Peter Hounam Sunday Times, June 06, 2004 THREATS of violence against Mordechai Vanunu, the nuclear whistleblower, have heightened fears for his safety as he continues to be held in Israel under severe restrictions on his movements imposed by the security authorities. On two occasions in the past few days he has had to avoid jeering opponents who have vowed to kill him. "It could have been nasty but Mordechai was accompanied on both occasions," his brother Meir said yesterday. "It proved just what hatred and incitement in the media has been whipped up against him in this country. It strengthens the case for all the restrictions to be lifted." Vanunu left jail in April after serving an 18-year sentence for treason and espionage for leaking details of Israel's nuclear weapons programme to The Sunday Times. Israeli authorities have barred him from leaving the country or communicating with foreigners on grounds that he could reveal more secrets. In the first incident last week, Vanunu was with a woman friend near the hostel of St George's Cathedral in Jerusalem where he has been given sanctuary, when he was spotted by supporters of Kahane, a banned right-wing group. They began to follow him shouting "traitor" and "we will eliminate you", but he walked quickly away and returned home safely. The second incident occurred last Thursday after Vanunu visited the Jerusalem offices of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (Acri), which is representing him in a petition to the High Court against the restrictions. He was walking along the road outside when two men began to follow. They shouted death threats but were prevented from getting close by Meir and a friend. Vanunu had been attending a press launch of his petition, at which he stressed he had no new secrets to reveal and no intention to harm Israel. He added: "As long as there are restrictions on me, I will speak only English with Israeli journalists. My future is abroad and not in Israel." Acri argues that the restrictions are a denial of Vanunu's basic human rights. It also criticises the way authorities used a psychiatrist's report to show he still intended to damage Israel's security, even though the psychiatrist never met him and relied on a video interview of him speaking to a prison employee. In an interview in today's Sunday Times, Vanunu describes how his political activities brought him into confrontation with the authorities during his time at the Dimona nuclear plant, where he took redundancy in 1985. Before leaving he took photographs of the plant and after a period spent traveling abroad, deeply troubled by secrets he felt the world should know, decided to go public. "It had become my responsibility," he says. In his submission, Dan Yakir, Vanunu's chief legal counsel, said his client was being forced to live in a society where "the only people who would seek out his company are denied him". The High Court will consider Vanunu's case before it goes into summer recess in mid-July, and the government must file its response to the petition at least seven days beforehand. In the past 10 days there has been a chorus of criticism in the Israeli press about the way the security authorities have handled the Vanunu affair. Haaretz, a leading daily newspaper, called for the restrictions to be lifted. Copyright 2004 Times Newspapers Ltd. -END- ================= If you would like to receive these alerts directly, please subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to free_vanunu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Felice Cohen-Joppa Coordinator U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu POB 43384 Tucson, AZ 85733 Phone/Fax 520-323-8697 freevanunu@mindspring.com www.nonviolence.org/vanunu ***************************************************************** 8 Vanunu On Why He Had To Talk About Israeli Nuclear Arsenal Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 23:13:54 -0400 ----- Original Message ----- From: "U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu" To: Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 5:19 PM Subject: VANUNU INTERVIEW, PART 2 - SUNDAY TIMES Free Mordechai Vanunu - Info & Action Alert #22 ** PLEASE FORWARD TO SYMPATHETIC LISTS ** VANUNU INTERVIEW, PART 2 - SUNDAY TIMES In This Update: 1. Why I had to tell Israel's big secret ========================== 1. Why I had to tell Israel's big secret Mordechai Vanunu interviewed by Yael Lotan. Sunday Times June 06, 2004 How did Mordechai Vanunu become the nuclear whistleblower jailed for 18 years for treason and espionage? In his first interview since his release from prison, he tells Yael Lotan what made him a rebel. I was born in Marrakesh on October 13, 1954. I used to have a very strong memory of my life in Morocco; since prison my memory is not as strong as before. My parents used to move from house to house and street to street. My father had a store selling food, a grocery store, and I used to go there and sit with him, see people and listen to them. In June 1963 we moved to Israel. We knew nothing about Israel. We just knew what was written in the Bible, and we expected a very nice place with mountains and water, green and trees; (but) they sent us to the south, Beersheba. It was a desert. It was too hot and it wasn't what we expected. After three months we were given a much better house. Then my father started working in a job, we started going to school, and we started to become Israeli people. I went into the army in 1971. I expected to have an interesting job but they put me in an engineering unit. After the army I applied to study engineering, but they only let me study physics. I tried to study but I did not do well, and I found an advertisement in the newspaper to work at Dimona (the secret nuclear weapons centre in the Negev desert). YL: Did you know what sort of place it was? We knew from the news that Dimona was involved in nuclear secrets but no-one said about the production of nuclear weapons. I was aware Israel must have some nuclear weapons; I believed they might have one, two, three. They appointed me to work in Machon 2 (a plutonium reprocessing plant) at Dimona. After a year I realised it was a routine job, doing the same thing every day. This was not a future career for me. I decided that maybe I could work and study at the same time, keep working at Dimona as a place to earn money but (also) return to university. I chose economics, geography and philosophy. I used to work at night, or afternoon, and come to the university every morning like every student. With the studies opening my mind, I used to think a lot and try to decide what was my own way, not the way my parents had chosen for me. I had to make my own decisions. That is part of the philosophy of existentialism, that you choose your way, your target for life. When the Lebanon war began in 1982, they called me to serve (as an army reservist). I tried to avoid this but they continued to call me until I went to Lebanon. I was only there one week and then told the senior officer I was willing to serve as a "serviceman" not as a fighter. I would serve in the kitchens, in garbage, anything. So after another week he said: "We do not need you. Go home." My private way started with the Lebanese war, thinking it was not a real war, it was an invasion, and they had given us a lot of propaganda to justify it. In 1983 I took part in a student election and I became involved in the politics of the student union at university. I found myself identifying with the Arab side. In April-May 1984, the head of security at Dimona called me. He said: "We want you to stop this activity and be careful." I said: "Oh, don't worry." Then next year the elections came again and I was elected. And again he called me and said: "We are warning you to stop." He took me in his car to the Kirya (the defence ministry compound in Tel Aviv). There they have some Shabak (Shin Beth, the internal security service) place. In the room there were two men, one a lawyer. They said: we are warning you not to continue these activities and we are worried that if you continue these activities you will be breaking the law and you can receive 15 years. They gave me a paper and said: "Sign this paper that we have warned you." I said I am not signing. I said maybe you want to use it for dismissing me from my job. He said no, if we want to dismiss you it is not a problem. I said I am not signing any paper, and I left them. (In 1985, Vanunu was included in a list of compulsory redundancies at Dimona. He protested but, after the list was withdrawn, accepted voluntary redundancy. Before leaving, he took photographs inside the underground nuclear plant, intending to publicise its secrets.) I used to come to work every day with the bag I used to take to university. It was full of books so it wasn't such a big problem to put the camera in there. They checked but they trusted you were a good worker and you are trusted not to take a camera. I took (photos) when I was alone. There were times when you were alone there in the control room, when others went to take showers, or go to eat, you could stay there for a few minutes or half an hour. That's when I took them. At the same time I entered other places that I wasn't allowed to enter. I didn't work there but I knew they were very important and could prove what they were producing there. So I took photos there. I also went to the roof of the building and took photos around the building, and saw there was a tower with a guard there. I was afraid maybe they were watching me but nobody watched me. When I took the pictures I was worried someone would see me and ask me some questions. In fact someone watched me walk in to some of the places I should not go and I gave him some explanation. YL: When you took those pictures and you took that film home, you didn't feel you were betraying Israel? I believed I was going to serve the human people, the Israelis, and the Arabs, and the Palestinians. Because nuclear weapons kill everyone; they do not take regard of nationality or religion or state. Nuclear weapons destroy boundaries. After leaving the job in October 1985, I was ready to act. It was clear I could not do it in Israel. If I was to speak to anyone about Israel's nuclear secrets, I would be arrested. So I should go abroad and see what I could publish there. I decided to see the Far East, because I had been to the United States and Europe; now I was interested to see Asian people: to see their religion, their food. At that time, I wasn't religious. I was out of Israeli Judaism. I decided it was not for me any more. But I was interested to learn more of other religions, to understand what Christianity meant, what they are doing, what they are practising, how they are praying. I was also very close to Christianity, because in the 1980s I started listening to classical music, hearing Bach and opera. I visited many churches during my visits in Europe so I became very close to Christianity. I also used to hear the BBC. So I was very open to the possibility in the future that I might become a Christian. I decided I was going to the United States by the Far East for about six months. I travelled by sea from Haifa to Greece. On the way I met a Canadian who told me he was writing a book about nuclear weapons tests by the United States in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. I told him about my job. I told him I worked in the Dimona reactor and that I was ready to talk and speak to anyone. He said that when we got to Athens we would find Newsweek magazine or Time magazine and get them to publish. But we could not find them. He gave me the name of the Newsweek man in Bangkok. I tried to find him but I also hesitated. I wanted to enjoy my trip, to see the Thai people, to explore Buddhist places. Sitting in cars and buses, I was thinking what I was going to do: what is good for me, what is good for them? Am I serving myself by publishing this or saving the world a lot of questions? And most important, am I ready to sacrifice my freedom, my life? Because I knew it was going to cause me a big problem if it was published. I met some Israeli tourists in Nepal - a young couple. We were sitting in a restaurant and I told them I was working in Dimona and was producing plutonium. Then after Nepal we returned to Bangkok and that week was the Chernobyl event in Europe. We met many people flying from Europe afraid of the radioactive fallout. That made me more aware and ready to speak about the Dimona reactor. Then I decided I should go to Australia. I landed in Sydney and enjoyed it, and I decided to stay for a few months. One reason was to improve my English, second was to enjoy seeing Australian people. After two days in Sydney - it was Friday night - I was walking in the street and there was a church with the door open. I heard classical music coming out. I entered and I enjoyed it. I found good people there, like a young priest, David Smith. We sat and talked. He was studying philosophy and interested in existentialism, Kirkegaard and Nietzsche, who I was also interested in learning about. We became friends, and I started coming every Sunday, and I liked it. It was part of my new life to become a Christian. I was not interested in Judaism any more. I had set myself free from the faith of the Jewish people and my family. And I was enough of an educated man to decide what was good for me. (Vanunu met Oscar Guerrero, a Colombian, at the church. He told him about Dimona and had his photographs processed. They approached local journalists, including Newsweek's correspondent, but Guerrero's highly exaggerated version of Vanunu's story was unconvincing. Guerrero took the photos to Europe, hoping to sell them.) When I developed the photos I knew the story had begun. I thought we should (act) very quickly; otherwise it would be leaked to Israeli spies and they would find us. So, since the photos were developed, it was clear I should move very fast to find someone to publish it; otherwise it could be stopped. I called back the man from Newsweek and went to his home. I showed him the photos and sat with him for an hour and gave him all the details about the Dimona reactor. He said: I will send this information to New York and they will give you the answer. After two weeks I asked him what was going on and he said we cannot do anything here; when you get to New York we will review your story. Guerrero rang me from London telling me The Sunday Times were ready to publish. After a few days he came with Peter Hounam (the reporter). But later I realised he told them some lies. He told them I was a very old scientist. When I introduced myself as only a technician not a scientist, Hounam was surprised but he was glad to see I had not cheated. I gave him all the details about Dimona. I told him: I don't need money. It was more important for me to publish the story. The only thing I was worrying about was my photo appearing. But he said: we must have the man behind the story, the name and the photo. I was ready to sacrifice my privacy to help this story go out. He said: we need you in London to answer questions from nuclear scientists who understand all this. (After three weeks in London he was lured to Italy and kidnapped by Israeli agents. Vanunu told his interviewer he understood the risk he was taking.) There was nobody else who could come out of Dimona with photos and knowledge and ready to speak. I was thinking, I don't want to sacrifice my life. I don't want to be in prison. I want to enjoy life; but, since there is nobody in all the world or in Dimona, in Israel, who would do such an act, it had become my responsibility, my own mission. Copyright ©Mordechai Vanunu and Yael Lotan -END- ================= If you would like to receive these alerts directly, please subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to free_vanunu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Felice Cohen-Joppa Coordinator U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu POB 43384 Tucson, AZ 85733 Phone/Fax 520-323-8697 freevanunu@mindspring.com www.nonviolence.org/vanunu ***************************************************************** 9 [DU-WATCH] UK journalist Peter Hounam arrested in Israel (re: Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 00:08:24 -0500 (CDT) i noticed dem now today didn't mention that Hounam wrote Operation Cyanide either, re the pivotal Liberty incident, also nuke related. I guess they were reading from the Haaretz article below without reference to, for instance, this article: http://world.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/4731 w w w . h a a r e t z d a i l y . c o m http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/432000.html Last update - 18:15 27/05/2004 Sources: U.K. journalist Hounam to be freed Thursday evening By Yossi Melman, Yuval Yoaz and Anat Balint, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service, and Agencies British journalist Peter Hounam will be released from detention Thursday evening, security sources said Thursday, followinga meeting between officials from the Shin Bet security service and representatives of the Justice Ministry. Hounam, who broke nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu's account of the Dimona atomic program in 1980s, was arrested by the Shin Bet on Wednesday evening, apparently for alleged security breaches. The Shin Bet is scheduled to hold a briefing with foreign correspondents on Thursday evening in a hotel in Tel Aviv, in order to give its version of events. The sources said that the object of the investigation was to ascertain whether Hounam had any cassette recordings of an interview Vanunu gave Saturday to Yael Lotan, an activist in a committee that worked towards Vanunu's release and against Israel's nuclear program, which was to appear this weekend in the British newspaper the Sunday Times. Hounam and Lotan were scheduled to meet in Ramat Gan late Wednesday. When he failed to arrive at the meeting, Lotan discovered that Hounam was under arrest. Judicial sources told Haaretz earlier Thursday that the Shin Bet did not coordinate the arrest, and that "developments" in the affair were expected It was revealed Thursday that the Shin Bet detained BBC reporter Chris Mitchell at Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday, and confiscated tapes at his possession. Mitchell is preparing a documentary on Vanunu, and was arrested a day after Lotan interviewed Vanunu. A BBC technician was arrested Wednesday and released Thursday, it was also revealed. The BBC has not yet given its response to these findings. British Ambassador to Israel Simon McDonald has voiced concern to Israeli authorities over the Shin Bet seizure of Hounam. He spoke Thursday to Justice Minister Yosef Lapid and asked for clarifications on the arrest from the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Police. He also demanded a consular visit to Hounam in custody. Hounam has been covering the Vanunu affair for years and is considered to be one of the closest people to the nuclear whistle blower. He interviewed Vanunu some 20 years ago for the Sunday Times, in which the affair first appeared. The Foreign Journalists' Association in Israel announced Thursday that it was amazed and deeply worried over the arrest of British journalist Peter Hounam by the Shin Bet security service a day earlier, and by the fact that he did not receive any legal assistance at the beginning of his detention. The announcement added that Hounam's documentary film on Vanunu has not yet been aired, and therefore he had not violated censorship rules. The association demanded that Israel reveal the accusations against Hounam, and "provide him with his democratic rights." Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Thursday that he was unaware of the facts of the case, but said he believed that "there was a possible violation here of the legal restrictions placed on Vanunu." MK Yossi Sarid (Yahad) said that he hoped that the Shin Bet had "particularly convincing reasons" for Hounam's arrest. "It is known that the sudden arrest of a journalist is unaccepted in a democratic state, and is hardly recognized in states such as North Korea and Burma," Sarid said Thursday. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said Thursday that Hounam's arrest damaged journalistic freedom and placed Israel in "a shameful light." Vanunu's brother Meir told Haaretz on Wednesday that he did not know whether Hounam had met with his brother since his release. "It is part of the ongoing persecution against my brother and the defense establishment's attempt to silence and terrorize him," Meir Vanunu added. Army Radio reported Thursday afternoon that Hounam's attorney, Avigdor Feldman, will be allowed to meet with his client at 6 P.M. According to Israel Radio, Feldman said earlier Thursday that he had been denied access his client, and had petitioned the Jerusalem District Court to overrule the ban. Feldman was quoted as saying that the prohibition, issued by the security forces, was for four days' duration. Under conditions imposed on Vanunu with his release, he is not allowed to give interviews or meet with foreigners. Feldman, who also represents Vanunu, said Hounam had not violated any of the restrictions and called the arrest a farce. "The man was arrested for no reason. He was arrested as part of the security establishment's never ending obsession with Vanunu," Feldman told Army Radio. Danny Seaman, director of the Government Press Office, said that if Hounam was arrested it was for serious offenses. He noted that his office had issued Hounam press credentials two weeks ago without any problems. "This is irregular and so I assume they did not arrest him as a journalist but because they have real reasons," Seaman told the radio. "The Shin Bet is a serious organization that deals with serious issues." Witnesses said Hounan was concerned as Shin Bet agents took him away from his Jerusalem hotel. "I was sitting in the garden when he was brought in by five plainclothes security men," said Donatella Rovera, a researcher with the human rights group Amnesty International, who was staying at the same hotel. "As they were bringing him through the garden he broke away from them and came running to my table. He said 'I'm being arrested, tell the Sunday Times,"' she said, adding that he was immediately pulled away. Sunday Times foreign editor Sean Ryan said Hounam, 60, had been in Israel since April 16 to cover Vanunu's release for the newspaper. "We are trying to establish exactly what the situation is, where he is now and why he has been detained," Ryan said. Since he completed his 18-year prison sentence for espionage earlier this year, Vanunu has been under a number of official restrictions, including a ban on speaking with foreign reporters on his former work as a nuclear technician in the Dimona nuclear reactor complex. Steinitz said Thursday that "In general, the Shin Bet does not arrest people arbitrarily, but with considered judgement. I am not saying that the Shin Bet does not err at times, but it is generally a very responsible organization, and things like this are done after profound consideration." "My assessment, and all of Mr. Hounan's past and present behavior suggests this, that it is possible that there was a possible violation of the legal restrictions placed on Vanunu." BBC 'very concerned' over arrest A British Foreign Office spokeswoman in London early Thursday said that U.K. officials were notified of the arrest, and that the British consulate in Israel was looking into the matter. A BBC spokeswoman in London said the broadcaster was "very concerned" about Hounam's arrest. The spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to answer any questions about Hounam, including where he was arrested and whether he had met with Vanunu since his release. Hounam arrived in Israel more than a month ago, ahead of Vanunu's release. Vanunu was freed on April 21, after spending 18 years in jail for espionage and treason. Hounam was a member of the original Sunday Times team that interviewed Vanunu and then published his story in 1986. He left the paper several years ago and became a freelance reporter and also published books and produced films. Unlike the other members of the team, Hounam stayed in touch with Vanunu and was active in the public struggle for his release. Hounam visited Israel frequently over the past few months, and has been staying in a hotel in East Jerusalem for the past 6 weeks. During his stay, he has reported to the Sunday Times on Vanunu's release and has been preparing a documentary on the affair for the BBC. He has also been in close contact with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which is working to file a petition against the restrictions imposed on Vanunu by the defense establishment since his release. Among others, Hounam was banned from meeting Vanunu, who has been living in a church in East Jerusalem since his release. Hounam told Haaretz last week that he intended to return to Britain soon. ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/Sj.0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 10 LA Times: We Need a Global Attack on Nuclear Proliferation Angeles Times - latimes.com June 7, 2004 COMMENTARY By Madeleine Albright and Robin Cook The time has come to prevent the nightmare scenario of a nuclear attack. The rhetoric of international leaders about the spread of nuclear weapons and materials has not been matched by enough concrete action, even as Osama bin Laden declares that it is his "religious duty" to acquire and use a nuclear weapon against the West. When the G-8 leaders meet Tuesday in Sea Island, Ga., we urge them to put aside their differences over Iraq and unite to implement a comprehensive nonproliferation strategy that includes concrete steps and increased financial commitments to control the spread of bomb-making materials and thwart the ambitions of those who would acquire them. First, the G-8 nations  Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain and the United States  must fulfill their pledge to raise $20 billion to fund the G-8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. Still $3 billion short, this important effort helps Russia and other countries safely store and dispose of chemical and nuclear weapon materials. Even if the pledges were fulfilled, there still would not be enough money to get the job done. Securing the nuclear legacy of Russia alone will cost $30 billion, and there are other stockpiles of inadequately secured highly enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium around the world. Presidents Bush and Vladimir V. Putin have launched a program designed to secure fissile materials around the world. But their plan will take 10 years to complete, during which time terrorists will still be able to collect fissile materials for a bomb. Our second recommendation therefore is that the G-8 should commit to a far more aggressive timetable  within the next four or five years  for completing this important work. Third, the G-8 nations must bring to bear all the incentives and sanctions they have at their disposal to stop proliferation. This includes closing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty loophole that enables states like North Korea to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of programs to produce nuclear energy. Fourth, the G-8 leaders should pledge themselves to active, person-to-person diplomacy that can help reduce the regional tensions that could lead to the use of nuclear weapons. For example, the scaling back of the nuclear threat between India and Pakistan may have opened the door to further steps to reduce the risks of a nuclear exchange. Fifth, the leaders must commit their nations to develop and maintain a global network linking intelligence and export control efforts with border, port and airport security to ensure that nuclear materials and technology cannot be moved undetected. Finally, although France, Russia, Britain and the United States have taken good steps to reduce their nuclear arsenals, more must be done. A failure in this regard would encourage states that do not have nuclear weapons to rebel against nonproliferation norms out of dissatisfaction with what they perceive to be a double standard: Some states get nuclear weapons, while others do not. We call on President Bush and the United States, therefore, to stop developing new nuclear weapons such as the so-called bunker buster. The United States should also sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Together, the United States and Britain should support a fissile materials cutoff treaty that would end the production of fissile materials for use in nuclear weapons. Given their nuclear weapons capacities, the U.S. and European countries have a special responsibility to ensure that these terrible weapons do not spread further. Before they can fulfill this responsibility, however, they must be seen as credible proponents of nuclear nonproliferation. The steps described here would help restore credibility to the calls for global nuclear nonproliferation, and enable the U.S. and Europe to exercise the leadership that is so desperately needed to fight proliferation. Imagine the G-8 meeting that would follow a nuclear incident. The leaders of the industrialized world would be compelled to explain how such a terrible tragedy could have happened. It is their challenge  and responsibility  to take the necessary steps now to protect us all. Madeleine Albright was secretary of State under President Clinton. Robin Cook was foreign secretary of Britain and is a member of Parliament. ***************************************************************** 11 Reuters: Indian Foreign Minister to Visit Pakistan in July Mon Jun 7, 2004 06:02 AM ET ISLAMABAD, June 7 (Reuters) - Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh will hold bilateral talks with his Pakistani counterpart in Islamabad next month -- the first visit by a top Indian official to nuclear-armed rival Pakistan since a change of government in New Delhi in May. Singh would attend a ministerial meeting of the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation on July 21 and 22, Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Monday. "It is a long tradition that visiting ministers also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the regional conference," he said. India's president said the new government in New Delhi will hold a sustained dialogue with Pakistan on all disputes on the basis of past agreements beginning from a 1972 pact that committed both sides to bilateral negotiations including over the key dispute of Kashmir. "Dialogue with Pakistan on all outstanding issues will be pursued on a sustained basis within the framework of the Shimla Agreement and all subsequent agreements between the two governments," Abdul Kalam told a joint session of parliament. The president's address to parliament at the start of a new government's rule spells out official policies. Singh's trip to Islamabad will follow a meeting on June 19 and 20 between Pakistani and Indian officials in New Delhi to discuss ways to improve nuclear security and June 27-28 foreign secretary-level talks in the Indian capital on other aspects of a tentative peace process. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and went to the brink of a fourth in 2002, when New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based militants for a bloody attack on its parliament. But ties have warmed since last year and both countries have pledged to carry forward the peace process despite the change of government in India. Both Pakistan and the new Indian government have pledged to continue the peace process and this was reiterated Sunday, when Singh spoke for the second time in three days to his Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri. In their call Thursday, the two countries agreed to keep in close touch and avoid publicizing differences ahead of the talks this month. That telephone call appeared to be aimed at defusing a public row that had erupted between the two ministers over how to take forward the peace moves. Sunday, Singh told Kasuri that contacts between the neighbors would be intensified, Indian officials said. (Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani in New Delhi) © Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 12 Mos News: Russians Protest Plutonium Program at U.S. Embassy - NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM Created: 07.06.2004 14:14 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:58 MSK MosNews Russian ecologists protested Tuesday’s G8 meeting in front of the U.S. Embassy Monday, calling on the United States and Russia to abandon a plan for plutonium utilization between the two countries. The protesters, numbering up to ten people, briefly protested outside the embassy at about noon Monday, holding up banners calling on the G8 not to finance plutonium production. Several dozen journalists were also present, a MosNews correspondent reported. Police became involved in the demonstration soon after it started, confiscating the banners. They took two demonstrators aside for questioning, but they were released. The demonstration lasted several minutes before the police intervened. Ecologists from the “Ecoprotection” group are concerned that the $8 billion joint program will increase the risk of nuclear disasters and plutonium contamination. They also fear the plutonium may get into the wrong hands and be used by terrorists. Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM ***************************************************************** 13 CBC: Energy shortage meeting looks for bright ideas Prince Edward Island WebPosted Jun 7 2004 03:55 PM ADT CHARLOTTETOWN — Maritime energy officials are discussing a looming power shortage at a meeting in Prince Edward Island. They believe demand will surge past supply over the next three years. They are also concerned about what may happen if New Brunswick's Point Lepreau nuclear power plant is decommissioned. The talks will look at the possibility of importing more energy from the United States. In order for that to happen, NB Power will have to build a new transmission line to Maine. It puts the cost at $170 million. The utility will try to convince the other power companies in the region to help pay for the project. There will also be talks about the other alternative, investing in construction of new power plants in Atlantic Canada. Prince Edward Island released a new energy plan last week. It said the province needs to work at incorporating more wind power in the energy grid. Copyright © CBC 2004 ***************************************************************** 14 NRC: NRC Staff Approves Transfer of Operating License for R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant News Release - 2004-06 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-067 June 4, 2004 transfer of the operating license for the R. E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant from Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. (RG&E) to R. E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, LLC. As provided by NRC regulations, the staff's approval of the license transfer became effective on May 28, contingent on the licensee providing final details of the transactions close. R. E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant LLC is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Constellation Generation Group. On December 16, 2003, RG&E and Constellation Generation Group submitted an application to the NRC requesting approval for the license transfer. The application was supplemented by letters from RG&E, submitted March 26 and April 30, 2004, and from Constellation, submitted February 27, and April 30, 2004. Major issues considered by the NRC included financial qualifications and transfer and maintenance of accumulated decommissioning funds. A copy of the NRC's approval order and accompanying safety evaluation report will be placed in the NRC's Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F23, Rockville, MD 20852 (telephone 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737) and added to the Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which is available on the NRCs Web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html , by entering accession number ML041330540. Last revised Friday, June 04, 2004 ***************************************************************** 15 Slovak Spectator: AEA praises nuclear safety in Slovakia Volume 10, Number 22 Slovakia's English language newspaper June 7 - 13,2004 From press reports SLOVAKIA has made great progress in modernising and improving security measures at its nuclear facilities, International Atomic Energy Agency [AEA] Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in Bratislava on June 1. Speaking at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, ElBaradei also praised cooperation between the agency and Slovakia, saying that it mainly provides Slovakia with advisory services, the news wire TASR wrote. "Slovakia has made great progress over the past few years as far as the modernisation of its nuclear facilities is concerned. This results from the efforts of Slovakia and the international community," he said. ElBaradei would not comment on the recent controversy related to the possible completion of two blocks of the country's nuclear power plant in Mochovce and suspension of the closure of the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear plant. The completion of the Mochovce plant, recently proposed by Slovak Economy Minister Pavol Rusko, is strongly opposed by Austria. [6/7/2004] Copyright © 1998-2003 The Rock spol. s r.o. All rights ***************************************************************** 16 Bnn: EU Official Warns Bulgaria to Refrain From More Talks on Reactor Closures Bulgarian news network ['www.bgnewsnet.com / Bulgarian News network' ] 13:04 - 07.06.2004 UPDATE: Foreign Minister says reopening of nuclear negotiations would be “nationally irresponsible” SOFIA (bnn)- A senior European Union official on Monday warned Bulgaria its accession to the bloc could be delayed if it would try to renegotiate agreed early closure deadlines for two controversial reactors at its only nuclear plant. "The EU member countries have no intention to reopen already closed negotiation chapters," state radio quoted EU Commissioner Guenter Verheugen as telling journalists in the town of Vratsa. He referred to units three and four of the Kozlodui plant which the government has agreed to close in 2006, respectively four and six years before the expiry of their 30-year lifespans. President Georgi Parvanov, the Socialist opposition and pro-nuclear lobbyists in Bulgaria have mounted a campaign to persuade the government reopen nuclear talks with the EU and agree extended closure deadlines for the two Soviet-designed, 440-megawatt pressurized water units without safety encasement. They have cited results from an EU expert mission at the plant, which has concluded the units have been upgraded well enough to be run after 2006. Forty-one European Parliament lawmakers have recently signed a petition to the European Commission insisting Bulgaria should be allowed to use the reactors longer. Speaking of possible new talks on the issue Verheugen said their “only result will be a delay of Bulgaria’s EU membership.” The EU has pledged to admit Bulgaria on Jan. 1, 2007 if by then it matches all membership requirements. The Balkan country closed last Friday the most difficult parts of its accession talks and hopes to finally complete them by the end of this month. The EU top executive body, the European Commission, insists the issue of the reactors in no longer technical but a political one. Foreign Minister Solomon Passy who was accompanying Verheugen on his trip in Northern Bulgaria said reopening the nuclear question would be “nationally irresponsible.” /bnn/ Copyright © 2002-2004 bnn ***************************************************************** 17 asahi.com: Radioactive materials recycling eyed The Asahi Shimbun The law on nuclear power plant operation may be relaxed to allow reuse of plant materials. Extremely low-level radioactive materials may be recycled or treated as industrial waste if a government panel's proposal goes ahead, sources said. Materials such as metal piping, pumps and concrete from dismantled nuclear power plants should be used again or dumped, a subcommittee of an industry ministry advisory panel indicated last week. At present, all radioactive matter is kept or buried on-site in accordance with the nuclear power reactor law. Sources said the government aims to revise this law in 2005 so that such materials can be recycled if their radioactivity levels are low enough. The panel proposal specifies radiation levels of recycled materials must be below one-hundredth of the upper limit a person may be subjected to in a year, set at 1 millisievert. If adopted, about 4.5 tons of material from the Japan Atomic Power Co.'s Tokai nuclear power plant, now being dismantled, could be reused. While most materials from the Tokai plant will probably be used in other nuclear power projects, further down the track, material may also be used in manufacturing home appliances or building houses. For safety and to avoid criticism, the panel has requested the government and power companies to take extra precautions to ensure safe recycling methods and to win the public's trust. Sources said the government will start by scrutinizing methods used to check radioactivity. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is slowly softening its stance on the operation of nuclear power facilities, aiming to lift efficiency. Last October, reactors were given the green light to continue operating despite minor damage. A number of other countries are already reusing low-level radioactive materials. The costs for a nuclear waste recycling plant now being built in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, were calculated on the assumption that waste will be reused when it is decommissioned.(IHT/Asahi: June 7,2004) (06/07) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting June 23 in Piketon, Ohio, to Discuss Licensing Process for Proposed Uranium Enrichment Facility News Release - 2004-06 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-069 June 7, 2004 in Piketon, Ohio, on Wednesday evening, June 23, to discuss the agencys licensing process for a proposed gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility. The meeting will be held at the Vern Riffe Career Technology Center, 175 Beaver Creek Rd., Piketon, Ohio, at 7 p.m. Technical staff from the NRCs headquarters in Rockville, Md., and its Region II office in Atlanta will be on hand to discuss the agencys procedures for reviewing a license application for the plant, developing an environmental impact statement, and inspecting the plant. Questions from the public are welcome. USEC Inc. announced in January its intention to build a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment plant at the Portsmouth Gas Diffusion Plant site in Piketon. The plant will enrich uranium in the isotope U235 for use in the production of fuel for nuclear power plants. The company advised the NRC that it intends to submit a license application in August. USEC intends to call the plant the American Centrifuge Plant. In February, the NRC approved a license for USEC to construct and operate a Lead Cascade gas centrifuge facility at the Piketon site. The Lead Cascade will test and demonstrate the technology to be used in the American Centrifuge Plant. The meetings agenda is available through the NRCs ADAMS document system, at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html, using accession number ML041480385. For more information on uranium enrichment, see the NRC Fact Sheet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/enrichm ent.html. Last revised Monday, June 07, 2004 ***************************************************************** 19 Verheugen: Nuclear Talks to Delay Bulgaria's EU Entry SOFIA NEWS AGENCY novinite.com Sofia Morning News EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen warned Bulgaria its EU entry could be delayed if it tries to renegotiate closure deadlines at its only power plant of Kozloduy. Photo by Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Politics: 7 June 2004, Monday. Bulgaria runs the risk to delay its accession to the European Union should it open again the Energy chapter of the acquis communautaire, according to a senior European Union official. EU member states have no intention to open again already closed chapters, said EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen, who pays a two-day official visit to Bulgaria. He added the only option for the government of Saxe-Coburg is to seek a reschedule in the decommissioning of Kozloduy units. Last week Gordon Adam, who has moulded the image of a pro-nuclear lobbyist at the European Parliament, suggested that Bulgaria re-open the Energy Chapter. According to him the Bulgarian stance might receive a warmer welcome after the accession of ten new member states. Earlier the World Council of Nuclear Workers President Andre Maisseu accused Verheugen of manipulating Bulgaria into closing four units at its only nuclear power plant. There are people who deceive the Bulgarians and mislead them, Verheugen counteracted. Meanwhile Bulgaria closed provisionally three or four remaining chapters at an intergovernmental conference in Brussels - the Agriculture, Regional Policy and Coordination, and Finance and Budgetary Provisions. EU concerns over the safety of Soviet-designed 440-MW reactors of Bulgaria's only N-plant Kozloduy has hinged the country's EU accession in 2007 on their closure the previous year. The decommissioning of the two oldest units at the end of 2002 came after strong pressure from the European Union. The nuclear lobby and opposition parties protested that the reactors are economically necessary and called EU demands "arm-twisting."[ The Team | Link to us | Partners | Top 100--> All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2004 - Copyright ***************************************************************** 20 NRC: Entergy Operations Inc.; Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit FR Doc 04-12746 [Federal Register: June 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 109)] [Notices] [Page 31848-31849] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr07jn04-94] 3; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of exemptions from Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Section 50.46 and Appendix K, for Facility Operating License No. NPF-38, issued to Entergy Operations Inc. (the licensee), for operation of the Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3 (Waterford 3), located in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact. Environmental Assessment Identification of the Proposed Action The proposed action would exempt Waterford 3 from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Section 50.46 and Appendix K, to allow the use of up to four Lead Test Assemblies (LTAs) fabricated with Optimized ZIRLOTM, a cladding material that contains a nominally lower tin content than previously approved cladding materials. The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's application dated April 30, 2004. The Need for the Proposed Action As the nuclear industry pursues longer operating cycles with increased fuel discharge burnup and more aggressive fuel management, the corrosion performance requirements for the nuclear fuel cladding become more demanding. Available industry data from the American Nuclear Society, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Electric Power Research Institute, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation (Westinghouse) indicate that corrosion resistance improves for cladding with a lower tin content. The optimum tin level provides a reduced corrosion rate while maintaining the benefits of mechanical strengthening and resistance to accelerated corrosion from abnormal chemistry conditions. In addition, fuel rod internal pressures (resulting from the increased fuel duty, use of integral fuel burnable absorbers and corrosion/temperature feedback effects) have become more limiting with respect to fuel rod design criteria. Reducing the associated corrosion buildup, and thus, minimizing temperature feedback effects, provides additional margin to fuel rod internal pressure design criteria. To meet these needs, Westinghouse developed a LTA program in cooperation with Entergy Operations Inc., which includes a fuel cladding with a tin content lower than the currently licensed range for ZIRLOTM. The NRC's regulations in 10 CFR 50.46 and Appendix K, make no provision for use of fuel rods clad in a material other than Zircalloy or ZIRLOTM. The licensee has requested the use of up to four LTAs with a tin composition that is less than that specified in the licensing basis for ZIRLOTM, as defined in Westinghouse design specifications. Therefore, use of the LTAs calls for exemptions from 10 CFR 50.46 and Appendix K. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The NRC staff has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and concludes that the proposed exemptions would not increase the probability or consequences of accidents previously analyzed and would not affect facility radiation levels or facility radiological effluents. [[Page 31849]] The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of effluents that may be released offsite, and there is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. It does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Accordingly, the NRC staff concludes that there are no significant environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). Denial of the application would result in no change in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative action are similar. Alternative Use of Resources The action does not involve the use of any different resources than those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for Waterford 3, dated September 1981. Agencies and Persons Consulted On May 11, 2004, the staff consulted with the Louisiana State official, Mr. Prosanta Chowdhury, of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Protection, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had no comments. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action. For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the licensee's letter dated April 30, 2004 (ADAMS Accession Number ML041250184). Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of May, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Robert A Gramm, Chief, Section 1, Project Directorate IV, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-12746 Filed 6-4-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 21 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; FR Doc 04-12747 [Federal Register: June 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 109)] [Notices] [Page 31846-31847] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr07jn04-92] Comment Request AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment. SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of continued approval of information collections under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to be submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 4, ``Cumulative Occupational Dose History.'' NRC Form 5, ``Occupational Exposure Record for a Monitoring Period.'' 2. Current OMB approval number: NRC Form 4: 3150-0005. NRC Form 5: 3150-0006. 3. How often the collection is required: NRC Form 4: Occasionally. NRC Form 5: Annually. 4. Who is required or asked to report: NRC licensees who are required to comply with 10 CFR Part 20. 5. The number of annual respondents: NRC Form 4: 239 (104 reactor sites and 135 materials licensees). NRC Form 5: 4,602 (104 reactor sites and 4,498 materials licensees) are [[Page 31847]] required to keep records; 239 (104 reactor sites and 135 materials licensees are required to submit reports in accordance with10 CFR 20.2206(a). 6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: NRC Form 4: 12,176 hours or an average of 0.5 hours per response. NRC Form 5: 67,460 hours (57,900 hours for recordkeeping or an average of 13 hours per recordkeeper and 9,560 hours for reporting or an average of 40 hours per licensee). 7. Abstract: NRC Form 4 is used to record the summary of an individual's cumulative occupational radiation dose up to and including the current year to ensure that the dose does not exceed regulatory limits. NRC Form 5 is used to record and report the results of individual monitoring for occupational radiation exposure during a one-year (calendar year) period to ensure regulatory compliance with annual radiation dose limits. Submit, by August 6, 2004, comments that address the following questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden of the information collection be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html. 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, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, T-5 F52, Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7233, or by Internet electronic mail to infocollects@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of June 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer. [FR Doc. 04-12747 Filed 6-4-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 22 NRC: Tennessee Valley Authority, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant; FR Doc 04-12748 [Federal Register: June 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 109)] [Notices] [Page 31849-31850] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr07jn04-95] Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of an exemption from Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Section 68, ``Criticality Accident Requirements,'' Subsection (b)(1) for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-77 and DPR-79, issued to Tennessee Valley Authority (the licensee), for operation of the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant (SQN), located in Hamilton County, Tennessee. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact. Environmental Assessment Identification of the Proposed Action The proposed action would exempt the licensee from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.68, ``Criticality Accident Requirements,'' Subsection (b)(1) during the handling and storage of spent nuclear fuel in a 10 CFR Part 72 licensed spent fuel storage container that is in the SQN spent fuel pool. The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's application dated February 20, 2004, as supplemented on May 3, 2004. The supplemental letter provided clarifying information that did not expand the scope of the original request. The Need for the Proposed Action Under 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1), the Commission sets forth the following requirement that must be met, in lieu of a monitoring system capable of detecting criticality events. Plant procedures shall prohibit the handling and storage at any one time of more fuel assemblies than have been determined to be safely subcritical under the most adverse moderation conditions feasible by unborated water. The licensee is on a time-critical path to load spent nuclear fuel into a 10 CFR Part 72 licensed spent fuel storage container in June 2004. Section 50.12(a) allows licensees to apply for an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 if the regulation is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule and other conditions are met. The licensee has stated that compliance with 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1) is not necessary for handling the 10 CFR Part 72 licensed contents of the cask system to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and concludes that the exemption described above would continue to satisfy the underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1). The details of the staff's safety evaluation will be provided with the letter to the licensee approving the exemption to the regulation. The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability or consequences of accidents. No changes are being made in the types of effluents that may be released off site. There is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. It does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. [[Page 31850]] Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). Denial of the application would result in no change in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative action are similar. Alternative Use of Resources The action does not involve the use of any different resources than those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 dated February 13, 1974. Agencies and Persons Consulted On April 28, 2004, the staff consulted with the Tennessee State official, Elizebeth Flannagin of the Tennessee Bureau of Radiological Health, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had no comments. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action. For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the licensee's letter dated February 20, 2004, as supplemented on May 3, 2004. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the NRC Web site, . Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or send an e-mail to . Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of May, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. William F. Burton, Acting Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate II, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-12748 Filed 6-4-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 23 NRC: Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; Duke Energy Corporation FR Doc 04-12749 [Federal Register: June 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 109)] [Notices] [Page 31847-31848] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr07jn04-93] (Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2); Amended, Notice of Evidentiary Hearing and Opportunity To Make Limited Appearance Statements May 28, 2004. Before Administrative Judges: Ann Marshall Young, Chair, Anthony J. Baratta, Thomas S. Elleman. This Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hereby provides this amended notice of hearing, revising its earlier May 20, 2004, Notice of Hearing. See 69 FR 29,982 (May 26, 2004). The Board will still, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.715(a), entertain oral limited appearance statements from members of the public, as specified in Section A below, in afternoon and evening sessions on June 15, 2004, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., respectively, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The evidentiary hearing previously scheduled to commence on June 15, 2004, in Charlotte is, however, as specified in Section D below, rescheduled now to commence on July 14, 2004, at the NRC Offices in Rockville, Maryland, where the Board will receive testimony and exhibits and allow the cross-examination of witnesses on certain matters at issue in this proceeding. This rescheduling was requested by Intervenor Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), with the agreement of Duke Energy Corporation (Duke) and the NRC Staff, because of the unavoidable and extreme circumstance of the unavailability of BREDL's expert to prepare for the June hearing dates due to family health issues. As previously noted, this proceeding involves certain challenges of BREDL to Duke's request to amend the operating license for its Catawba Nuclear Station to allow the use of four mixed oxide (MOX) lead test assemblies at the station. (MOX fuel contains a mixture of plutonium and uranium oxides, with plutonium providing the primary fissile isotopes; Duke has submitted its request as part of the ongoing U.S.- Russian Federation plutonium disposition program, a nuclear nonproliferation program to dispose of surplus plutonium from nuclear weapons by converting the material into MOX fuel and using that fuel in nuclear reactors.) On September 17, 2003, this Licensing Board was established to preside over this proceeding. 68 FR 55,414 (Sept. 25, 2003). By Memoranda and Orders dated March 5 and April 12, 2004 (the latter sealed as Safeguards Information; redacted version issued May 28, 2004), the Licensing Board granted BREDL's request for hearing and admitted various non-security-related and security-related contentions. LBP-04-04, 59 NRC--(2004); LBP-04-10, 59 NRC--(2004). At the July evidentiary hearing, the Board will receive evidence on BREDL's non- security-related Contention I, challenging the adequacy of certain aspects of Duke's license amendment request relating to asserted differences in the behavior of MOX fuel and typical low enriched uranium fuel and the impact of those differences on accident scenario analyses for the Catawba plant. A. Participation Guidelines for Limited Appearance Session On June 15, 2004, in two sessions, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., respectively, in a portion of the Grand Ballroom (lobby level) of the Omni Charlotte Hotel (132 East Trade Street), any persons who are not parties to the proceeding will be permitted to make oral statements setting forth their positions on matters of concern relating to this proceeding. Although these statements do not constitute testimony or evidence, they may nonetheless help the Board and/or the parties in their consideration of the issues in this proceeding. The time allotted for each statement will normally be no more than five minutes, but may be further limited depending on the number of written requests to make oral statements that are submitted in accordance with Section C below, and/or on the number of persons present the evening of June 15, 2004. Persons who submit timely written requests to make oral statements will be given priority over those who have not filed such requests. If all scheduled and unscheduled speakers present have made their oral statements prior to 9 p.m., the Licensing Board may terminate the session before 9 p.m. B. Submitting Requests To Make an Oral Limited Appearance Statements To be considered timely, a written request to make an oral statement must be mailed, faxed, or sent by e-mail so as to be received by close of business (4:30 [[Page 31848]] p.m. EST) on Monday, June 7, 2004. Written requests should be submitted to: Mail: Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Fax: (301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1966). E-mail: hearingdocket@nrc.gov. In addition, using the same method of service, a copy of the written request to make an oral statement should be sent to the Chair of this Licensing Board as follows: Mail: Administrative Judge Ann Marshall Young, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop T-3F23, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Fax: 301/415-5599 (verification 301/415-7550). E-mail: AMY@nrc.gov. C. Submitting Written Limited Appearance Statements A written limited appearance statement may be submitted at any time. Such statements should be sent to the Office of the Secretary using any of the methods prescribed above, with a copy to the Licensing Board Chair by the same method. D. Timing and Location of Evidentiary Hearing The evidentiary hearing will commence at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, in the NRC offices at Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, in Rockville, Maryland. The hearing of the above-described evidence will continue at 9 a.m. on July 15, and may go into the evenings of July 14 and/or 15, as necessary. At the conclusion of each day, the Board will announce when the hearing will reconvene. The Board may make changes in the schedule, lengthening or shortening each day's session or canceling a session as deemed necessary or appropriate to allow for witnesses' availability and other matters arising during the course of the proceeding. Members of the public are encouraged to attend any and all sessions of this evidentiary hearing, but should note that these sessions are adjudicatory proceedings open to the public for observation only. Those who wish to participate are invited to offer limited appearance statements on June 15 or in written statements, as provided above. Those who wish to attend the July 14-15, 2004, hearing should come to the front entrance of the Two White Flint North building (the second building south of the entrance to the White Flint Metro station) and indicate to the security guard on duty that they wish to attend the ``Catawba hearing''; arrangements will then be made to direct persons attending to the hearing room. E. Availability of Documentary Information Regarding the Proceeding Documents relating to this proceeding are available for public inspection at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland; or electronically through the publicly available records component of the NRC Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible through the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The PDR and many public libraries have terminals for public access to the Internet. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in obtaining access to the documents located in ADAMS may contact the NRC PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800/397-4209 or 301/415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. Rockville, Maryland, May 28, 2004. For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. Ann Marshall Young, Chair, Administrative Judge. [FR Doc. 04-12749 Filed 6-4-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 24 [DU-WATCH] UMRC report on Bibi Mahro Region in Afghanistan Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 00:19:24 -0500 (CDT) http://www.umrc.net/downloads/mp4.pdf The Urinary Concentration and Ratio of Uranium Isotopes in Civilians of the Bibi Mahro Region after Recent Military Operations in Eastern Afghanistan A. Durakovic 1 , A. Gerdes 2 , R. Parrish 2 , I. Zimmerman 1 , S. Gresham 1 1: Uranium Medical Research Centre 3430 Connecticut Ave. - 11854, Washington, DC 20008 157 Carlton St. - 206, Toronto, ON, Canada M5A 2K3 www.umrc.net - asaf@umrc.net 2: NERC Geosciences Laboratory Brtish Geological Survey Keyworth, Notts NG12 5GG, United Kingdom [...] Conclusion These results suggest that the civilian population of the Bibi Mahro had a significant elevation of total uranium concentration, up to 200 times higher than the normal values of the range of the world environmental and geographic areas. The explanation of our findings could be either of two possible mechanisms. 1) exposure to contaminated dust in the areas of the bombing raids by natural uranium containing weapons or 2) unusual geological and environmental excessively high uranium levels contained in the soil or drinking water. Whereas some areas of central Asia have been identified as high uranium regions in the water and soil as a result of uranium mining and processing, such circumstances have not been identified in the Bibi Mahro, Afghanistan. An interdisciplinary approach to test these hypotheses is a part of our ongoing studies. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/Sj.0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 25 Cincinnat Enquirer: Speed up nuclear worker aid www.cincinnati.com Monday, June 7, 2004 Editorial The time it takes the Department of Energy to help compensate nuclear weapons workers for work-related illnesses shouldn't rival the half-life of some radioactive materials. A General Accounting Office report has found that in the 21/2 years that the federal Energy Employees Compensation Act of 2001 has been in force, DOE has fully processed only 6 percent of more than 23,000 claims. Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio workers account for more than one-third of those claims. Workers at Fernald, Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge are among them. DOE should continue to streamline its process, and Congress may need to amend the act to make sure the national debt owed to Cold War-era workers is more promptly paid. In the past, the federal government shabbily treated some nuclear weapons plant workers. On Dec. 7, 2000, President Clinton signed an executive order acknowledging it had been DOE's past policy to assist its contractors in opposing claims for state workers' compensation. Given that history, DOE's current backlog and miscommunications are unlikely to reassure sick workers that they can finally count on just compensation. The act created two separate compensation programs: The Labor Department administers the part that allows a one-time payment up to $150,000 and medical expenses for illnesses linked to federal defense work. DOE's part is supposed to help its nuclear contractor workers obtain compensation through state workers' compensation systems. Some claimants aren't prepared for the adversarial nature of those state programs. Most of DOE's completed cases so far - about 5 percent of the 23,000 total - have been ruled ineligible. GAO estimated under DOE's original rules and with the physicians available, it would have taken 13 years to process just pending cases - not including the hundreds of new claims filed each month. Some sick workers don't have 13 years. DOE has modified some rules and reduced the number of physicians required on panels, but a backlog persists because of the shortage of qualified physicians. DOE also has been unable to supply physician panels with site information about where radioactive or toxic substances were located in relation to the workers. Because more than 600,000 workers were employed in producing and testing nuclear weapons, DOE could not responsibly rubber-stamp every claim that rolls in, but the benefit of the doubt ought to go to workers with documented service at nuclear weapons plants. The federal compensation program depends on "willing payers" such as state funds, other insurers or self-insured contractors who benefit from federal contracts. But GAO estimates about 20 percent of claims lack willing payers and are likely to be contested. A new federal benefit for such workers is one option, but GAO warns such a benefit could be costly. Nevertheless, Congress already decided the sickened workers should be compensated. Congress must now make sure DOE is carrying out that intent. The Cincinnati Enquirer Letters to the Editor 312 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Copyright1995-2004. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a Gannett Co. ***************************************************************** 26 NRC: Peer Review Committee for Source Term Modeling; Notice of Meeting FR Doc 04-12750 [Federal Register: June 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 109)] [Notices] [Page 31850] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr07jn04-96] The Peer Review Committee for Source Term Modeling will hold a closed meeting on June 16-18, 2004 at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM. The entire meeting will be closed to public attendance to protect information classified as national security information pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(1). The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: Wednesday, June 16 through Friday, June 18--8:30 a.m. until the conclusion of business. The Committee will review Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) activities associated with the development of guidance documents for estimating source terms resulting from sabotage attacks on radioactive material source transportation packages other than spent nuclear fuel and develop a letter report on the radiological assessments for the NRC. For further information regarding the time of the meeting and possible changes to the starting and ending times and the duration of the meeting, contact: Dr. Andrew L. Bates, (telephone 301-415-1963) or Dr. Charles G. Interrante (telephone 301-415-3967) between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (ET) Dated: June 1, 2004. Andrew L. Bates, Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. 04-12750 Filed 6-4-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 27 AFP: Iran tells UN nuclear watchdog to look elsewhere for enriched uranium source TEHRAN (AFP) Jun 06, 2004 Iran insisted Sunday it had given a complete explanation of the discovery of highly enriched uranium by UN inspectors here, and urged the UN nuclear watchdog to focus its search on a "third country". "We have nothing more to add. This contamination came on imported equipment, so it is the third party or third country that should cooperate with the IAEA," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. A report by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agencyreleased on Tuesday said agency inspectors had found more traces in Iran of highly enriched uranium that could be bomb-grade. But Iran has consistently contended that such traces came into the country on equipment bought on an international black market originating in Pakistan. The IAEA is pressing Pakistan to allow its inspectors access to verify Iran's insistence that the traces -- of uranium enriched to a level beyond that needed for civilian purposes -- were not from domestic enrichment activity. But so far there is no sign that Iran's neighbour, which is not a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), will agree to a probe of its top-secret nuclear sites. Neither Iran nor the IAEA have openly named Pakistan, but ElBaradei said in his report that despite the information received from Tehran and discussions with a third country, his agency was still not in a position to reach a conclusion. The source of the contamination -- discovered by IAEA inspectors at three sites in Iran -- is one of the main outstanding issues the IAEA has with Iran, which denies US allegations it has a covert nuclear weapons programme. But Asefi also accused IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei of "nit picking" in his latest report on Iran, released ahead of a June 14 meeting of the Vienna-based body's executive. "This report has nothing new to say. It is a repetition of previous issues, but written in a different way," Asefi said, before complaining that the report had generated yet more suspicions. "Rather than referring to our non-cooperation, the report is just nit-picking," he said, insisting ElBaradei's findings "show there is no evidence for keeping the file open." The IAEA report also said Iran had admitted to importing parts for sophisticated P-2 centrifuges for enriching uranium, going back on claims that it had manufactured the parts domestically. Washington has called on the IAEA, which has been investigating the Iranian programme since February 2003, to refer the Islamic republic to the UN Security Council for possible international sanctions. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 28 NRC: Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to Hear Arguments June 15 - 16 in Hobbs, N.M., on Proposed Uranium Enrichment Facility News Release - 2004-06 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-068 June 4, 2004 conference in Hobbs, New Mexico, on June 15 - 16, in connection with a proceeding involving Louisiana Energy Services (LES) proposed gas centrifuge uranium enrichment plant in Eunice, New Mexico, to be known as the National Enrichment Facility. The conference will focus on arguments for and against the admissibility of several contentions raised by the New Mexico Environment Department, the Attorney General of New Mexico, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Public Citizen. The contentions involve issues such as waste storage and disposal, radiation protection, foreign ownership and ground/surface water impacts. The petitioners, LES and Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will have the opportunity to argue their positions before the Board. The ASLB conference will start at 9 a.m. each day in the Lea County Event Center, 5101 Lovington Highway in Hobbs. Any person who is not a party to the proceeding may submit comments in writing, known as written limited appearance statements, concerning the contentions to be discussed during the conference. These statements, which become part of the hearing docket, provide members of the public an opportunity to make the Board and/or the parties aware of their concerns in connection with the issues. The Board does not intend to conduct oral limited appearance sessions at this point, although it may do so in the future at locations near the proposed facility. Written limited appearance statements can be submitted at any time and should be sent to: Mail - Office of Secretary Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 Fax - (301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1966) E-Mail - hearingdocket@nrc.gov A copy of the written limited appearance statement should also be sent to the Chairman of the licensing board as follows: Mail - Administrative Judge G. Paul Bollwerk, III Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Panel (Mail Stop T-3F23) U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 - 0001 Fax - (301) 415-5599 (verification (301) 415-7550) E-Mail: - gpb@nrc.gov Last revised Friday, June 04, 2004 ***************************************************************** 29 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria Stores Used Nuclear Fuel in Russia SOFIA NEWS AGENCY novinite.com Politics: 7 June 2004, Monday. Russia has received tons of used nuclear waste from Bulgaria's nuclear power plant, according to reports. Experts from the Zheleznogorsk mining and chemical combine in Krasnoyarsk Kray have started to unload 48 tons of spent nuclear fuel from Bulgaria's Kozloduy, ITAR-TASS says. Within a week the fuel will be transferred to a pool, to be st... 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 ***************************************************************** 30 TNS: Pollution Chokes the Tigris, a Main Source of Baghdad's Drinking Water Baghdad Jun 6 With reconstruction of a highly inadequate water treatment and distribution system at a near standstill throughout much of Central Iraq, some residents of Baghdad are left with little choice but to drink highly polluted water from the Tigris River. Aside from a newly formed Iraqi non-governmental organization that is focusing on the cleanup of one section of the river, not much is being done to improve Baghdad residents’ access to potable water, and US contractors appear unable or unwilling to help. While many areas of Baghdad have access to drinking water from a few of the functional treatment plants, millions of residents remain without a clean, reliable source. All too many of these unfortunates turn to the rotten banks of the Tigris, which snakes prominently through the heart of Baghdad collecting toxins as it flows. Abdul Salam Abdulali works on the river, running a dredging machine. A river man for most of his life, he has long been employed by a company that dredges the muddy Tigris, but which was recently incorporated into the Ministry of Water Resources. "I am married to the water," he said standing atop his dredging machine as it floated atop the river. "But it is too polluted now. I wish I could eat the fish, but when I cut them open I can smell the oil." [The remains of a cow decompose on the banks of the Tigris near Baghdad, a major and often direct source of water for the city's residents. (Dahr Jamail/NewStandard)] PHOTO: The remains of a cow decompose on the banks of the Tigris near Baghdad, a major and often direct source of water for the city's residents. (Dahr Jamail/NewStandard) In an alarming development, Dr. Husni Mohammed’s research has additionally concluded that Iraqi and US military waste during the 2003 invasion deposited oil and benzene into the Tigris, the effects of which include nervous system damage, birth defects and cancer. The residents of the impoverished Baghdad neighborhood called Sadr City are often forced to drink untreated water directly from the Tigris. They are also plagued by diarrhea; many reportedly suffer from recurring kidney stones. Sadr City shopkeeper Ranzi Amher Aziz joined a chorus of voices protesting the lack of potable water in this Baghdad slum. "The situation here is worse now than before the war," he said, echoing others’ complaints. Many here say they cannot see any sign of the US making an effort to help. Aziz stood near a pool of raw sewage in the street. "There has been no work here by the Americans to give us clean water or fix the sewage problem," he said. Tigris River water is a concentrated cocktail of pesticides, fertilizers, oil, gasoline and heavy metals, reports Dr. Husni Mohammed, an Iraqi who holds a PhD in Environmental and Biological Science and has researched the condition of the Tigris. Raw sewage mixes with particles from antiquated piping and US-fired depleted uranium munitions, he says, plus remnants from untold amounts of other chemicals released by American and Iraqi weaponry used since the 1991 Gulf War. In an alarming development, Dr. Mohammed’s research has additionally concluded that Iraqi and US military waste during the 2003 invasion deposited oil and benzene into the river. The health effects of benzene -- an ingredient found in gasoline and jet fuel -- are well known and severe. Short-term exposure can cause significant damage to the nervous system and dramatic suppression of the immune system. Consistent consumption of benzene-tainted water can cause long-term effects including cancer (particularly Leukemia), birth defects and damage to the reproductive system. Heavy metals in drinking water are also known to damage the liver, brain and other vital organs. Adding to the hazards, very few sewage treatment plants in Baghdad are operational. Raw waste from the city of five million residents can be pumped through the sewer system, completely bypassing any treatment, and flow right into the river. Statistics underscore the widespread suffering of Iraqis. The incidence of diarrheal diseases, such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera, doubled between August 2002, before the US-led invasion, and a year later. So reported the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a UN agency tasked with coordinating responses to severe humanitarian crises. Seventy percent of all children’s sicknesses are linked to contaminated water, the report adds. Over one year into the occupation, the situation is not seen by most residents here as having improved much. Therefore, some have begun to take on the responsibility and work of enacting changes they do not believe can wait for foreign authorities or the new interim government to undertake. Shwaqi Kareem, the president of the National Association for Defense of Environment and Children (NADEC), founded the non-governmental organization (NGO) because he felt it was time to start cleaning up a particularly polluted section of the Tigris. He hopes to remove the garbage, stop the deluge of raw sewage that is flowing into the river and establish gardens along the banks. [Waste and garbage from this Baghdad area refinery make their way directly into the Tigris. (Dahr Jamail/NewStandard)] PHOTO: Waste and garbage from this Baghdad area refinery make their way directly into the Tigris. (Dahr Jamail/NewStandard) Kareem said the Tigris is in worse condition now than before the invasion, and blames the US’s disinterest in taking care of a waterway considered vital by Iraqis. NADEC draws on the labor of around 1,000 workers, said co-founder Salim Kamel. Some are paid, but the majority are volunteers. "We get some money from the municipality," Kamel said, "but some of the volunteers are business owners who donate money as well." Kareem is reluctant to work with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in the cleanup; he blames the Coalition for allowing companies to dump their garbage and sewage into the river over the past year. A contractor interviewed inside the Coalition-run "Green Zone" area echoed Kareem’s sentiments. Awshalim Khammo recently quit his job in frustration after working to clean up the areas of the CPA near the Tigris. "I tried all last year to help improve the Palace ground and the river side within the Green Zone, but things went from bad to worse," he said. Khammo complained in particular about dumping -- which he referred to as a "disaster" -- near the Kellogg Brown and Root warehouse and yards on the east end of the presidential palace. Bechtel Corporation was awarded a no-bid, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract on April 17, 2003 worth $680 million. The controversial contract made Bechtel and its subcontractors responsible for the rehabilitation of the Sharkh Dijlah water treatment plant in Baghdad, as well as the Kerkh Waste Water Treatment Plant. Repeated contacts with various authorities in charge of civilian press access to water treatment projects yielded no invitations to verify progress made on any Baghdad area water treatment facilities. The brochure produced by Bechtel to highlight its work in Iraq concerning the drinking water situation only gives a concrete finishing date for two projects, one of which is the rehabilitation and capacity-building of the Sharkh Dijlah plant. Work on the plant, Bechtel’s number two priority in Baghdad since June 2003, is expected to increase potable water by 225 million liters per day. The work was due to be completed by this month. According to the Washington Post, however, Baghdad officials said Bechtel spent four months studying plans for the expansion made by Iraq’s state-run water company, finally concluding they were acceptable. They then reissued the same orders for the same parts from the same supplier Iraqi engineers had tried to acquire them from. Bechtel estimates it will spend $16 billion on the project, carrying out the work essentially as had previously been done by Iraqi engineers no longer permitted to participate. Bechtel admits the water treatment plant is still being rehabilitated, but says the delay is caused by extra capacity. "We are expanding the treatment capacity of the plant by 50 percent over the design capacity, or 50 million gallons per day," said company spokesperson Francis Canavan. "Our work is expected to be completed in the fall." Dr. Abdul Latif Rashid, the Minister for Water Resources in Iraq, told the BBC that the poor state of Iraq’s infrastructure and past mismanagement are to blame for some of the water problems Iraqis are now facing. The UN’s OCHA report spread the blame more broadly: "Three wars and 13 years of sanctions, as well as the Coalition invasion and the looting that followed it, have dealt a heavy blow to the country’s already creaking water system." Kerkh Wastewater Treatment Plant -- another Baghdad area plant in Bechtel’s Implementation Plan -- is currently undergoing rehabilitation efforts, according to a company spokesperson, who said, "Last week, the Kerkh Wastewater Treatment Plant, which we are rehabilitating, began treating sewage for the first time in years, when one-third of the plant reopened." [Discharge from the Kirkh Wastewater Treatment Plant, which Bechtel says it is fixing, courses directly into the Tigris. (Dahr Jamail/NewStandard)] PHOTO: Discharge from the Kirkh Wastewater Treatment Plant, which Bechtel says it is fixing, courses directly into the Tigris. (Dahr Jamail/NewStandard) During a boat tour of the Tigris’ banks taken to inspect treatment facilities, NADEC founder Shwaqi Kareem pointed to a massive outpouring of brownish gray wastewater flowing right into the river. The source of this vile discharge? "The Kerkh Wastewater Treatment Plant," said Kareem. © 2004 The NewStandard. See our reprint policy. ***************************************************************** 31 DNFSB: Oversight of complex, high-hazard nuclear operations FR Doc 04-12741 [Federal Register: June 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 109)] [Notices] [Page 31815-31817] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr07jn04-41] DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD [Recommendation 2004-1] Oversight of Complex, High-Hazard Nuclear Operations AGENCY: Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. ACTION: Notice, recommendation. SUMMARY: The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has unanimously approved Recommendation 2004-1, for DOE to consider. Recommendation 2004-1 deals with Oversight of Complex, High-Hazard Nuclear Operations. DATES: Comments, data, views, or arguments concerning the recommendation are due on or before July 7, 2004. ADDRESSES: Send comments, data, views, or arguments concerning this recommendation to: Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue, NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20004-2001. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth M. Pusateri or Andrew L. Thibadeau at the address above or telephone (202) 694-7000. Dated: June 1, 2004. John T. Conway, Chairman. [Recommendation 2004-1] Oversight of Complex, High-Hazard Nuclear Operations Dated: May 21, 2004. Background In furtherance of its statutory duty to oversee the Department of Energy's [[Page 31816]] (DOE) protection of workers and the public from hazards at defense nuclear facilities operated for DOE and the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA), the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) conducted eight public hearings to examine DOE's current and proposed methods of ensuring safety at its defense nuclear facilities. In these hearings, the Board also sought to benefit from the lessons learned as a result of investigations conducted following the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster and the discovery of the deep corrosion in the reactor vessel head at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant. The Board received testimony from representatives of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the Naval Reactors Program; the Columbia Accident Investigation Board; the Deputy Secretary of Energy; the Administrator of NNSA; DOE's Under Secretary of Energy, Science and Environment; DOE's Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health; and selected site managers of DOE's facilities, senior contractor managers, and members of the public. The overall objective of the hearings was to gather information that could be helpful in assessing DOE's proposals for changing the methods it uses for contract management and nuclear safety oversight, as they have been controlled through the DOE Directives System. NNSA has proposed shifting responsibility for safety oversight from DOE Headquarters to the DOE field offices and site contractors. The key question the Board sought to address was: Will modifications proposed by DOE/NNSA to organizational structure and practices, as well as increased emphasis on productivity, improve or reduce safety, and increase or decrease the possibility of a high-consequence, low- probability nuclear accident? DOE's programs for national security and environmental protection are complex, with potentially high consequences if not safely performed. Mishandling of nuclear materials and radioactive wastes could result in unintended nuclear criticality, dispersal of radioactive materials, and even nuclear detonation. DOE has a long and successful history of nuclear operations, during which it has established a structure of requirements directed to achieving nuclear safety. That structure is based on such methods as defense in depth, redundancy of protective measures, robust technical competence in operations and oversight, extensive research and testing, a Directives System embodying nuclear safety requirements, Integrated Safety Management, and processes to ensure safe performance. The United States owns the defense nuclear facilities at which its programs are carried out by a government agency--DOE. Each such facility is operated by a contractor that was selected by DOE on the basis of being best suited to conduct the work for DOE at that site. Under the original Atomic Energy Act of 1946 and continuing to date in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the government officials in charge (i.e., the Secretary of Energy and other line officers) have a statutory responsibility to protect health and minimize danger to life or property. In any delegation of responsibility or authority to lower echelons of DOE or to contractors, the highest levels of DOE continue to retain safety responsibility. While this responsibility can be delegated, it is never ceded by the person or organization making the delegation. Contractors are responsible to DOE for safety of their operations, while DOE is itself responsible to the President, Congress, and the public. This reality was highlighted during the course of the Board's hearings. Many important lessons were cited in the testimony provided. These included the importance of a centralized and technically competent oversight authority, central control of technical safety requirements and waivers for departure from those requirements, an ability to operate in a decentralized mode when appropriate, a willingness to accept criticisms, the need for retention of technical expertise and capabilities at high levels of any organization in which technical failure could have high consequences, and an awareness that complacency can arise from a history of successes. DOE representatives testified that DOE's attention to safety has continued to improve with better on-site oversight and self-assessment programs, use of Integrated Safety Management, careful attention to safety statistics, and stabilization and disposal of high risk nuclear materials. However, cause for concern with regard to the potential increase in the possibility of nuclear accidents was also evident in: (1) The increased emphasis on productivity at the possible expense of safety, (2) the loss of technical competency and understanding at high levels of DOE's and NNSA's organizational structure, (3) the apparent absence of a strong safety research focus, and (4) the reduced central oversight of safety. Clearly, safety performance can benefit from attention to detail and lessons learned from small incidents and minor accidents. However, failures leading to high-consequence, low-probability accidents would likely have their roots in interactions between engineering failures and improper human actions. Because the consequences of large nuclear accidents would be unacceptable, the nuclear weapons complex cannot permit them to occur. While the potential for such accidents cannot be completely eliminated, their likelihood can be held to an insignificant level by rigorous attention to Integrated Safety Management with technical and operational excellence based on nuclear safety standards subject to rigorous oversight. In addition, nuclear safety must be founded on solid research, analysis, and testing to ensure an adequate understanding of energetic initiating mechanisms under off-normal conditions. DOE has taken some preliminary steps toward its proposed changes in safety practices. These actions may have contributed to some unfortunate consequences, such as the following: A glovebox fire occurred at the Rocky Flats closure site, where, in the interest of efficiency, a generic procedure was used instead of one designed to identify and control specific hazards. Apparently, success of the cleanup project resulted in management complacency. DOE site management had given the impression that safety was less important than progress, and contract management had not emphasized oversight of work control processes. Downsizing of safety expertise has begun in NNSA's NA-53 organization, while field organizations such as the Albuquerque Service Center have not developed an equivalent technical capability in a timely manner. As a result, NNSA field offices are left without an adequate depth of understanding of such important matters as seismic analysis and design, training of nuclear workers, and protection against unintended criticality. DOE's Office of Environmental Safety and Health, with assistance from some sites and contractors, has reviewed DOE Directives to simplify safety requirements, with the objective of supporting accelerated operations that are also more efficient. This shift has led to proposals for downgrading some worker safety Directives to the level of guidance and modifying some radiation protection requirements. It has also led to a proposed modification of the Order on Worker Safety and Health to reduce requirements for protecting workers from the consequences of fires, [[Page 31817]] explosions, and discharges from high-pressure systems. Proposed modifications to DOE and NNSA's organizational structure, manpower, contract management, oversight policies and practices, and safety directives could have unintended consequences. These include reduction of defense in depth, potentially inconsistent safety-related decisions caused by decentralization of safety authority, emphasis on performance as opposed to safety, and reduction of technical capability at key points in the organizational structure. DOE and NNSA line managers could be left with inadequate awareness of safety issues. As a result of testimony it has received, the Board is not convinced of the benefit of the changes to DOE's and NNSA's organizational structure and practices as they have been described. The Board cautions that if any such changes are made, they must be done formally and deliberatively, with due attention given to unintended safety consequences that could reduce the present high level of nuclear safety. DOE should take full advantage of lessons learned from safety problems discovered by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and it should learn from the success of the good organizational and safety practices championed by the Naval Reactors Program. The Board needs to be sure that any fundamental reorganization does not degrade nuclear safety, and that the likelihood of a serious accident, facility failure, construction problem, or nuclear incident will not be increased as a result of well-intentioned changes. As a result of testimony received at the public hearings and the potential effects on safety at defense nuclear facilities outlined above, the Board recommends: 1. That delegation of authority for nuclear safety matters to field offices and contractors be contingent upon the development and application of criteria and implementing mechanisms to ensure that: a. Oversight responsibility includes the capability for examining, assessing, and auditing by all levels of the DOE organization, b. The technical capability and appropriate experience for effective safety oversight is in place, and c. Corrective action plans consistent with recommendations resulting from internal DOE and NNSA reviews of the Columbia accident and the Davis-Besse incident are issued. 2. That to ensure that any features of the proposed changes will not increase the likelihood of a low-probability, high-consequence nuclear accident, DOE and NNSA take steps to: a. Empower a central and technically competent authority responsible for operational and nuclear safety goals, expectations, requirements, standards, directives, and waivers; b. Ensure the continued integration and support of research, analysis, and testing in nuclear safety technologies; and c. Require that the principles of Integrated Safety Management serve as the foundation of the implementing mechanisms at the sites. 3. That direct and unbroken line of roles and responsibilities for the safety of nuclear operations--from the Secretary of Energy and the NNSA Administrator to field offices and sites--be insured according to appropriate Functions, Responsibilities, and Authorities documents and Quality Assurance Implementation Plans. 4. That prior to final delegation of authority and responsibility for defense nuclear safety matters to the field offices and contractors, DOE and NNSA Program Secretarial Officers provide a report to the Secretary of Energy describing the results of actions taken in conformance with the above recommendations. John T. Conway, Chairman. [FR Doc. 04-12741 Filed 6-4-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3670-01-P ***************************************************************** 32 DOE: Office of Nonproliferation Policy; Proposed Subsequent FR Doc 04-12764 [Federal Register: June 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 109)] [Notices] [Page 31818] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr07jn04-44] Arrangement AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of subsequent arrangement. SUMMARY: This notice has been issued under the authority of section 131 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2160). The Department is providing notice of a proposed ``subsequent arrangement'' under the Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Civil Uses of Atomic Energy between the United States and Canada and Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the United States and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). This subsequent arrangement concerns the retransfer of 813,600 kg of U.S.-origin natural uranium hexafluoride, 550,000 kg of which is uranium, from Cameco Corporation, Port Hope, Ontario, Canada, to Eurodif Production (Eurodif), Pierrelatte France. The material, which is now located at Cameco Corp., Port Hope, Ontario, will be transferred to Eurodif for enrichment. Upon completion of the enrichment, the material will be used at Electricite de France as reactor fuel. Cameco Corp. originally obtained the uranium hexafluoride under the UF6 Feed Component Implementation Contract. In accordance with section 131 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, we have determined that this subsequent arrangement is not inimical to the common defense and security. This subsequent arrangement will take effect no sooner than fifteen days after the date of publication of this notice. For the Department of Energy. Kurt Siemon, Acting Director, Office of Nonproliferation Policy. [FR Doc. 04-12764 Filed 6-4-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 33 Hanford News: Hanford's FMEF building still unused This story was published Monday, June 7th, 2004 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer For possible lease: 250,000-square-foot building, $350 million sunk capital cost, extremely sturdy, remote desert location, only slightly used. More than a quarter of a century after construction began on the Fuels and Materials Examination Facility, it sits unused on the Hanford nuclear reservation. "If someone's interested in it, we'd be interested in hearing from them," said Andrea Harper, a Department of Energy Richland spokeswoman. DOE has come up with no final plan for the building, having more pressing environmental cleanup problems to address at Hanford. Nor has there been a serious effort to market the building commercially since one was announced in 1995. There have been plenty of proposals - including an inquiry about using it as a movie soundstage - but no long-term use for the building has been found. "It's quite a magnificent facility," said Jim Steffen, the chief engineer for the deactivation and decommissioning project for DOE contractor Fluor Hanford. That's kept government and commercial interests pitching suggestions to keep the building from becoming the target of a wrecking ball for nearly two decades. The facility was conceived in the mid-'70s as a place to study and test fuels for the nation's breeder reactor technology program, a program to make power and reactor fuel at the same time. But its mission was changed because of nuclear proliferation concerns. The building, still never used, was modified at a cost of $100 million to support the manufacture of fuel for the Fast Flux Test Facility, a Hanford research reactor, and the proposed Clinch River Breeder Reactor. But by 1986 the breeder program was dead and $280 million had been spent on the hulking, gray building in the desert. Equipment costs raised the government's expenses further. "It's big and bleak from the inside, too," Steffen said. Each of its six floors has a 22-foot ceiling. It stands 98 feet above ground and extends 35 feet below ground. It's equipped with 14 hot cells for work on radioactive material, the largest 40-by-50-by-100 feet. Work may be done in large manufacturing bays or a series of laboratories and other smaller rooms. A past contractor tried to market some of its fortresslike features. On-site turbines can make its own power and it has the same capacity to withstand earthquakes as a commercial nuclear reactor. Westinghouse Hanford Co. was expecting interest from manufacturing firms, chemical or pharmaceutical processors and firms supporting the nuclear industry. But there also has been interest in using the building as a movie soundstage, a secure facility for the gemstone industry and an earthquake-proof, power failure-resistant repository for Internet banking records. The list of proposed government uses compiled by Steffen is even longer. It's been considered to replace the Rocky Flats Weapons Plant, for weapons storage and to be used with the Fast Flux Test Facility to produce isotopes for medicine or deep space missions. It's been evaluated for several Hanford or Tri-City projects, ranging from providing laboratory space for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to storing spent nuclear fuel to serving as a pilot plant for processing radioactive waste stored in underground tanks. The project that looked most promising, manufacturing plutonium-powered batteries for the nation's deep space probes, resulted in a $30 million investment in the plant. But that project too was doomed after reactors producing plutonium 238 for the project shut down. The work eventually was sent to New Mexico. As large projects were proposed, the building began to be used occasionally for the stray Hanford program. Training courses were held there for operators needing to learn to use large cranes the building housed. Equipment was tested there. And like any extra space, it became a storage area for seldom-used equipment. "One of the good decisions made is it was never used for minor missions (involving) radioactive materials so it was never contaminated," Steffen said. It's a long shot, but DOE or the Office of Homeland Security might still find a use for the facility someday, he said. © 2004 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 34 Daily Texan - Opinion: Poorly dropped bomb Opinion | 6/7/2004 The Firing Line Junjay Tan's column last Friday ("Los Alamos bid would help UT," June 4, 2004) was yet another example of the "hear but not listen; look but not read" approach. After briefly mentioning, and then dismissing with hubris, a few of the serious concerns brought up by UT Watch, other students, some alumni and certain faculty members, Tan concludes that we "should look at more than Los Alamos' nuclear weapons research and focus on how management of the lab would affect the entire University." One wonders if Tan even read over his column before submitting it. Obviously, as he himself states, UT Watch has been concerned with more than the weapons research at Los Alamos, which constitutes roughly 80 percent of the Department of Energy budget there. It seems pretty fuzzy whether Los Alamos would present any significant benefits and, on balance, it may not gain anything for UT, especially when you take into account concerns that UT Watch has actually researched. Yet why is the debate over whether a university should work on nuclear weapons unsettling to the author, a mechanical engineering student? Why should we avoid it? We are at a university where anything can and should be debated, even the activities of our institution. At least I should hope so. Nick Schwellenbach UT Alum 2004 Washington, D.C. A nuke is a nuke is a nuke Design and preparation for nuclear war is what Los Alamos does. They make the bombs that make mushroom clouds under which many humans died and would again die if these weapons were used. So why does it surprise anyone that the No. 1 mission of Los Alamos should be the center of debate about UT's possible bid? The production and planned use of nuclear weapons, or "a mushroom cloud" as a previous writer euphemistically calls it ("Los Alamos bid would help UT," June 4), is a real issue of utmost importance. Weapons work now accounts for more than 70 percent of all work at Los Alamos, and is growing. Security is only the least of LANL's serious problems. The 55,000 barrels of nuclear waste are definitely a problem, seeing that the dump itself is illegal, and that more dumping continues unabated as part of the nuclear weapons mission. So how's about managing a massive nuclear waste dump, dozens of technical areas packed with high explosives and radioactive materials, all guarded by a miserable security force? Does that sound like something to build the prestige of a university? Claiming that "The University also stands to profit commercially from management of Los Alamos" is a highly dubious statement. Compared to civil-industrial labs and university campuses, the quality and quantity of patentable technology coming out of Los Alamos is virtually nil. LANL is a nuclear weapons lab. That's pretty much it. Yes, they do a little basic research on the side, but without a mandate to produce nuclear weapons, Los Alamos would not exist. Darwin Bond Graham Research Associate, Los Alamos Study Group Graduate Student, UC Santa Barbara ***************************************************************** 35 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 13:18:40 -0700 (PDT) NUCLEAR Solutions Issues Company Update on Nuclear Weapons ... PrimeZone (press release) - USA WASHINGTON, June 7, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Nuclear Solutions, Inc. ... Nuclear Solutions' proposed project will come under Parts B and C of the agency's solicitation. ... See all stories on this topic: IRAN, IAEA Still Far Apart on Nuclear Program Arms Control Today - USA ... June 14 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors is unlikely to end the controversy over Iran’s nuclear programs, despite ... See all stories on this topic: NORTH Korea Nuclear Talks: If at First You Don't Succeed, Meet ... Arms Control Today - USA China has opposed US efforts to raise the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program in the UN Security Council and is not a member of the Proliferation ... See all stories on this topic: PEACEFUL Use of Nuclear Technology Is a National Issue Merh News Agency - Tehran,Iran TEHRAN, June 7 (MNA) –- MP Rasul Seddiqi Bonabi said here Monday that attaining nuclear technology for peaceful purposes is a national issue, adding that ... See all stories on this topic: BULGARIA Stores Used Nuclear Fuel in Russia Novinite - Bulgaria Russia has received tons of used nuclear waste from Bulgaria's nuclear power plant, according to reports. Experts from the Zheleznogorsk ... IRAN Continues Nuclear Cooperation with Russia — Iranian ... MOSNEWS - Russia Russia and Iran are continuing their cooperation in nuclear energy and military sales in accordance with international norms and agreements, Iranian ambassador ... See all stories on this topic: G8 Summit to Discuss Nuclear-Safety Issues New York Jewish Times - New York,NY,USA ... Novosti) - Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and some other countries will join the G8 initiative aiming to help Russia ensure the safety of its nuclear materials. ... VERHEUGEN: Nuclear Talks to Delay Bulgaria's EU Entry Novinite - Bulgaria ... Last week Gordon Adam, who has molded the image of a pro-nuclear lobbyist at the European Parliament, suggested that Bulgaria re-open the Energy Chapter. ... See all stories on this topic: DPRK warns will increase nuclear deterrent in face of US threat Xinhua - China PYONGYANG, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will seek to further increase its nuclear deterrent in the face of a mounting ... US planning major cut in reserve stockpile of nuclear warheads Canoe.ca - Canada WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States plans to substantially reduce its stockpile of nuclear warheads over the next eight years to coincide with reductions in ... See all stories on this topic: This daily-once News Alert is brought to you by Google News (BETA)... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Remove this News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts/remove?s=92d1672a1b037a07&hl=en Create another News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en Try Google News: http://news.google.com/ ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************