***************************************************************** 06/29/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.154 ***************************************************************** 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 AFP: Iranians say suspect site was used for military research 2 AFP: Europeans mull what to do next with Iran in nuclear standoff 3 AFP: Iran will defeat US in nuclear standoff, Rafsanjani says 4 AFP: UN nuclear watchdog chief gives thumbs up to Russia's Iran 5 AFP: Koizumi aims to normalize ties with North Korea by 2006 6 Asia Times - NKorea Part 2: Bush's U-turn: Too little, too late 7 BBC: US policy: Fresh start or more of the 8 Interfax: Putin praises IAEA work 9 Pravda.RU: Putin meets with IAEA Director General 10 Xinhuanet: DPRK, Indonesian FMs hold talks on nuclear issue 11 Daily Times: EDITORIAL: A ‘sustainable’ road to peace 12 Mos News: Moscow to Support, Cooperate With IAEA — Putin - 13 MosNews: Court Throws Out Fresh Kursk Enquiry NUCLEAR REACTORS 14 [du-list] British Nuclear reactors to close down; Notice 15 AFP: Popularity of nuclear power on the rise in Finland - poll 16 US: NRC: Meeting; Sunshine Act 17 Bellonea: British Nuclear reactors to close down 18 US: Brattleboro Reformer: NRC details Yankee inspection 19 US: AP Wire: Bismarck State gets grants to help train nuclear power 20 US: YDR: NRC: Agency earns two honors - 21 Scotsman.com News: World's Longest Serving Nuclear Plant Closes 22 ITAR-TASS: Iran's nuclear plant project doesn't cause intl concern 23 Expatica: Energy workers protest but Raffarin firm on sell-off 24 US: NRC: Diablo Canyon Meeting to Be Rescheduled 25 AFP: IAEA wants to inspect Brazil nuclear plant NUCLEAR SAFETY 26 US: [du-list] Workers's comp bill goes to committee 27 US: L.A. Daily News: Radium-theft fear to speed cleanup 28 moscow times: Stink Over Tourists on Nuclear Icebreakers 29 ITAR-TASS: Moscow regional military court turns down appeal to NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 30 [du-list] Two stories about the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion 31 Bellona: Four companies selected for dry nuclear storage facility te 32 US: Waste News: Denver Superfund site cleanup half complete, EPA say 33 AU ABC: Nats under fire over reactor waste transport NUCLEAR WEAPONS US DEPT. OF ENERGY 34 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah 35 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridg 36 DOE: Office of Science; Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee 37 Las Vegas RJ: NUCLEAR STOCKPILE: Atlas added to test site 38 Las Vegas SUN: High school students make Test Site cleanup easy 39 Tri-City Herald: Depot site was cleaned, Army expert witness says 40 Tri-City Herald: Opinions The promise that came with the Hanford Rea 41 AP Wire: Los Alamos contract process announced 42 Oak Ridger: BNFL's revenues reach more than $4 million 43 KTVB.COM: INEEL to use new process in contamination cleanup 44 Oak Ridger: Our View: Not-so-secret Secret City Fest 'phenomenal' 45 Oak Ridger: Study: DOE has substantial impact on Tennessee OTHER NUCLEAR 46 Google News Alert - nuclear 47 [du-list] DU in the news - 29th June 04 48 [du-list] DU in the news July 1st - 04 49 Innovations: Lancaster at the forefront of environmental research in ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 AFP: Iranians say suspect site was used for military research [http://www.spacewar.com/] NOVO OGARYOVO, Russia (AFP) Jun 29, 2004 Iran has said that a site in Tehran, alleged by the United States to have been used for developing weapons of mass destruction, was in fact a "former research-and-development military" installation, UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammed ElBaradei said Tuesday. "Our inspectors went yesterday to Lavizan (the suspect site). The Iranians said it was a former R and D military site," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general ElBaradei told reporters in Novo Ogaryovo outside Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Iranians said the site "was used as a physics institute and later on for biotechnology R and D ... for medicine," ElBaradei said. Suspicion has surrounded the site since satellite images from a US commercial firm showed that buildings which had been there in August had been razed to the ground by March and that topsoil had been taken away. The Washington think tank the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said on its website that this set alarm bells ringing "because it is the type of measure Iran would need to take if it was trying to defeat the powerful environmental sampling capabilities of IAEA inspectors." Environmental sampling involves swipes taken to find traces of radiation. "I have to wonder if it is the whole story, particularly since they took down all the buildings and razed the site," ISIS scientist David Albright told AFP Tuesday, referring to Iran's claim there was no weapons work in Lavizan. "Their declaration is rather vague and looks like it covers all the bases. Medical research has to be mentioned" to explain whole body count machines found at the site, machines which measure radiation contamination, he said. The United States claims that Iran is hiding an atomic weapons program and has urged the IAEA to bring Tehran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. ElBaradei said Lavizan had radiation body counters, which measure radiation contamination in humans, and which could have been US-made. He said the IAEA has not determined if the site was for weapons development or peaceful purposes, as Iran claims. IAEA inspectors have taken environmental samples at Lavizan. "We are continuing to clarify that this site was not nuclear related. We are pleased with the Iranian cooperation," ElBaradei said. Albright said the next step will be for the IAEA to get the results of the environmental samples, which can take four to six weeks, and to see if the whole body count machines have all the original parts as shipped from the United States. "These machines can be used for all kinds of (peaceful) purposes. You have it in a hospital if you are giving radiation treatments... The IAEA will look however to see if the whole body counters are modified" to look for (bomb-grade) plutonium for example, or if the original parts have been taken out and put back in, which would also be suspicious, Albright said. "If Iran is innocent, why did they tear the site down," Albright said. "Things look really bad when people destroy things unilaterally," he added, noting that the IAEA was not notified of the site being razed. The Lavizan site was brought to public attention in May last year, when an Iranian opposition group, the National Council of the Resistance of Iran, alleged that it was home to a biological weapons research facility. Iran has remained under heavy international suspicion. The 35-nation board of the Vienna-based IAEA passed a resolution on June 18 rebuking Tehran for failing to come clean about its nuclear program. Iran confirmed Sunday it had razed the Lavizan site, but insisted it was to make a park and not to cover up nuclear weapons activities as the United States has alleged. On June 17, the United States accused Iran of razing nuclear sites to hide banned nuclear activity. "It's deplorable but not surprising that Iran's deception has gone to the extent of bulldozing entire sites to prevent the IAEA from discovering evidence of its nuclear weapons program," US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 2 AFP: Europeans mull what to do next with Iran in nuclear standoff [http://www.spacewar.com/] TEHRAN (AFP) Jun 29, 2004 Iran's decision to resume the manufacture of uranium enrichment centrifuges has presented yet another challenge to the UN nuclear watchdog as it strives to complete a probe into the Islamic republic's suspect activities. While nuclear fuel cycle work is permitted under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran had been forced to agree to a package of so-called "confidence-building" measures -- suspending enrichment work and allowing tough inspections -- pending the completion of the 15-month-old probe. The deal on halting centrifuge component building had been struck with the "big three" European Union states in February, in return for help from Britain, France and Germany in normalising the Islamic republic's relations with the IAEA. For the Iranians, slapped with yet another critical resolution from Vienna earlier this month, it is the Europeans who have reneged on the deal -- even if EU diplomats point out that Tehran had failed to meet the stringent conditions they had set. With a crucial IAEA meeting looming in September, the tougher Iranian stance -- albeit stopping short of resuming enrichment itself -- has provoked yet more discussions in Europe and the United States on how to handle Iran's programme. In Washington, minds have already been made up. "It has been our view, it remains our view (and) Iran's action confirms our view that its nuclear weapons program is a threat to international peace and security and should be referred to the UN Security Council," John Bolton, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, said last week. "It seems to me perfectly obvious that Iran is not producing components for uranium centrifuges to use them as knickknacks in Iranian living rooms," Bolton said. Enrichment is a major preoccupation of the IAEA, given that after mastering the fuel cycle Iran would be within grasp of making the leap towards having the bomb -- an inherent weakness in the NPT. Last week Iran's all-powerful leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said it was "essential" for his clerical regime to master such technolgy. Iran insists it is only interested in generating electricity, but IAEA inspectors have yet to account for traces of highly-enriched uranium found here and have been irked by omissions from past declarations. In the face of Iran's about-turn, the Europeans also appear to be growing more impatient, even if they are stopping short of fully siding with US calls for sanctions and asserting that "nothing fundamental has changed" for the time being. "We are in dangerous territory," a European diplomat said, describing Iran's defiant step as "worrying, very worrying". In Berlin, Paris and London, diplomats are reportedly in "consultations" on the issue. "We will continue talking to Iran. There is no deadline. We always consider other options. We are deciding at the moment what to do," a Foreign Office spokesperson in London said. The latest crisis has also added to the already tough balancing act of IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who is determined to keep the probe focussed on "technical issues". "I hope that Iran will go back to a comprehensive suspension as they have committed to us before. I would hope that this is not a major reversal," he said. "I don't think these issues are going to be resolved through confrontation. I think these issues are going to be resolved by steady engagement and robust verification." WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 3 AFP: Iran will defeat US in nuclear standoff, Rafsanjani says [http://www.spacewar.com/] TEHRAN (AFP) Jun 29, 2004 Iran's powerful former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani asserted Tuesday that the Islamic republic would press on with its nuclear programme "to the end" and not even the United States would be able to stop it. "The United States has put pressure on Iran since the Islamic revolution but has always suffered setbacks. This time too it will suffer a defeat and we will continue our programme to the end," he was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA. Nevertheless, he did reiterate the clerical regime's policy to keep to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and cooperate with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "We are ready to work within the framework of NPT, with all our activities being transparent, so that they can see for themselves our nuclear programme is for peaceful and not military applications," he said. Iran was earlier this month slapped with yet more criticism from the IAEA over hiding certain parts of its suspect bid to generate nuclear power. The US has also stuck by its view the country should be referred to the UN Security Council for sanctions. In retaliation, Iran backed away from a suspension of making parts for and assembling centrifuges to enrich uranium -- one of several "confidence building measures" in place while the IAEA continues its probe. Rafsanjani, now the head of Iran's top political arbitration body, the Expediency Council, was asked when Iran could resume the actual enrichment of uranium -- a move that would spark a major crisis with the IAEA. "The suspension was on a voluntary and temporary basis. Of course, Iran has not breached its pledge concerning suspension of uranium enrichment. What has been decided is to resume parts assembly and manufacture. This is only the beginning," he said. The Islamic republic asserts its nuclear programme is simply aimed at meeting the future energy needs of it burgeoning population and freeing up its vast oil and gas resources for export. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 4 AFP: UN nuclear watchdog chief gives thumbs up to Russia's Iran nuclear ties [http://www.spacewar.com/] NOVO OGARYOVO, Russia (AFP) Jun 29, 2004 UN atomic watchdog chief Mohammed ElBaradei said on Tuesday that his agency was not worried about Russia building a nuclear reactor for Iran, which is being investigated for a possible secret nuclear weapons program. Russian construction of the Islamic state's first nuclear reactor, which has been frowned on by the United States and Israel, was "no longer at the center of international concern," International Atomic Energy Agencydirector general ElBaradei told reporters after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin at his residence west of Moscow. "Bushehr is a bilateral project between the Russian Federation and Iran. Bushehr is not currently at the center of international concern because Bushehr is a project to produce nuclear energy (for peaceful purposes), and (because there is an) agreement that the spent fuel -- which could be of concern -- will be returned back to Russia," ElBaradei said. Spent fuel is highly radioactive and in some cases can be recycled for weapons use. ElBaradei said the controversial 800 million dollar (666 million euro) Bushehr project, which is of economic importance for Russia, was not even on the agenda of his meeting with Putin. "Bushehr was not discussed. We did not discuss it with Putin because it is not a subject of any concern on our part," ElBaradei said. Iran has remained a sore point in Russian-US relations despite a new wave of cooperation following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Moscow has since appeared to have put the brakes on the project, despite public statements that it is pushing ahead with the Bushehr reactor, and delivered strong pressure on Iran to cooperate in the IAEA's investigation of Tehran's nuclear activities. Iran's first nuclear reactor is now not due to become operational until 2005 -- years behind schedule. Russian atomic energy agency chief Alexander Rumyantsev had said Sunday that Iran was cooperating with the IAEA in its investigation of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and so "Russia cooperates with Iran in the construction of the first nuclear power plant unit in Bushehr." He said Russia will "speed up negotiating" over supplying nuclear fuel to Iran for Bushehr in order to meet contractual deadlines. At the start of his meeting with Putin, ElBaradei told reporters: "We must also make sure it (the nuclear material provided by Russia to Iran) is used at a high level of safety and not misused for military purposes. "In all these activities, Russian contribution has been extremely useful," ElBaradei said. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 5 AFP: Koizumi aims to normalize ties with North Korea by 2006 : reports [http://www.spacewar.com/] TOKYO (AFP) Jun 30, 2004 Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he aims to normalize relations with North Korea "within two years," reports said Wednesday. The comment, made to local reporters Tuesday, is the first time he has set a date on resolving nuclear and abduction disputes with the reclusive Stalinist state. Koizumi was responding to questions about his objectives during what he has said is his final term as ruling Liberal Democratic Party president, which ends in September 2006, ending his premiership. "If we can, I want to realize it within two years," he was quoted as saying by the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun. "If the two sides sincerely enact the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang declaration... the normalization of diplomatic relations will result," he said. "I'm an optimist," the Nihon Keizai Shimbun quoted him as saying. Koizumi has made two trips to Pyongyang to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, the first in September 2002 when the leaders signed a joint declaration agreeing to move toward resolving concerns over North Korea's nuclear arms and missile arsenal and its abduction of Japanese citizens. Japan promised in return it would normalize relations with Pyongyang, opening up a potential bounty in economic aid. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 6 Asia Times - NKorea Part 2: Bush's U-turn: Too little, too late News and analysis from Korea; North and South [http://www.atimes.com PYONGYANG WATCH By Aidan Foster-Carter The story so far: As an underwhelmed world awaits yet another dreary round of go-nowhere six-party talks in Beijing, President George W Bush's administration's well-hidden dove faction springs a surprise. For the first time, the United States offers Pyongyang a plan. Incentives, even. So how come George W finally saw the light, for once listening to [Secretary of State] Colin Powell rather than [Vice President] Dick Cheney and the axis of hawk? Two reasons, both rather persuasive right now. In a nutshell: At home, the prospect of elections; and abroad, a phalanx of fed-up allies. Unlike the Middle East, Korea rarely shows up on US political radar screens. But John Kerry is making easy hay of the administration's North Korea policy, or lack of one. He charges Bush's inaction with letting Kim Jong-il just power ahead and build more nukes. Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser and Rasputin, reckons this campaign is hitting home. Just as importantly, everyone else round the hexagonal table in Beijing was fed up with US intransigence. Not just Russia and China, predictably, but even America's allies. South Korea is pursuing its own peace process with the North, nukes notwithstanding. In fact the new US nuclear proposal is a modified version of an earlier draft from Seoul. But Japan was the key mover. Premier Junichiro Koizumi has zigzagged on North Korea. Yet he returned from his May trip to Pyongyang for a second summit with Kim Jong-il convinced that the Dear leader means business on the nuclear issue - and said as much to Bush soon after, when they met at the [Group of 8] sessions on Sea Island, Georgia, in mid-June. So has the US made, in Pyongyang parlance, a "bold switchover" to engagement? Not so fast. This mightily miffed Washington's hawks, who wasted no time in striking back. It was only last week, so you might remember how the headlines veered daily. Tuesday: Talks to open, expectations low. Wednesday: Optimism! The US has a plan! And then on Thursday, a total change: "North Korea Test Threat Casts Shadow Over Beijing Talks." Or so they hoped. Yup, it was hawk-leak time again. Unnamed sources in Washington, presumably with access to top-secret cables on the nitty-gritty of the talks, claimed that during a two-hour bilateral side meeting between the US and North Korea, Pyongyang's chief delegate, vice foreign minister Kim Kye-gwan, threatened to test a nuclear device. Who done it? No way would Secretary Powell or his deputy, Richard Armitage, jeopardize their own new initiative, just as the talks were starting. This timing, plus the negative tone of the accompanying anonymous quotes, leads Washington insiders to point the finger at the camp of John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, and the hawks' Trojan horse in the State Department. Bolton's allies include Robert Joseph, head of non-proliferation in the National Security Council. End of story, end of talks? Fortunately not. By Friday, the furor passed. US negotiators on the spot calmly dismissed Kim's comment as typical tactics: a passing remark, hinting at hawk vs dove disputes over policy in Pyongyang. (Guess it takes one to know one…) Meanwhile North Korea tabled its own proposal. It offered to freeze its plutonium site at Yongbyon, if given 2,000 megawatts of power a year, a quarter of its total consumption, equivalent to some 2.7 million tons of fuel oil. Not coincidentally, this is the generating capacity of two light water reactors that were being built by KEDO: the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization consortium. This sounds like a hint that the DPRK tacitly accepts that this project - stalled since the current crisis broke in late 2002 - is now a dead letter, so fulfillment of its urgent energy needs must be found elsewhere. So at least, and at last, we had concrete proposals from the two principals. It's a start, but there was nowhere near enough common ground. For one thing, Pyongyang still denies it has a second nuclear program, based on highly enriched uranium (HEU). It was HEU, you may recall, that launched this second North Korean nuclear crisis in October 2002. The US accused them of having it, and claims they confessed. The DPRK denies both. China says the US has failed to produce clear evidence of HEU. This is all the odder now that Pakistan's Dr No, aka Abdul Qadeer Khan, has finally been fingered and is talking. The story has always been that Islamabad traded nuclear secrets for help with its Ghauri missile; I wrote about this three years ago ("Nukes and missiles: the Pakistan connection," AToL, 5 June 2001 http://www.atimes.com/koreas/CF05Dg02.html). But the CIA has not yet had direct access to Dr Khan, and may never get it. HEU apart, North Korea's first reaction to the new US proposal was predictably less than enthusiastic. They jibbed at IAEA inspections, wanting some lesser substitute. No dice. And they want the US too to chip in with oil aid, as it did in KEDO. That sounds doable. In theory, that is. Washington recognizes that its complex proposal will have to go back to be mulled over in Pyongyang, where mills grind exceedingly slow at the best of times. But these are not the best of times. The new US proposal offers too little, and comes too late. Why on earth should Kim Jong-il trust an administration so riven by internecine strife? - especially if he's betting that ere long he may face a new, nicer interlocutor? Mind you, he might be wrong there, on two counts. One: Incredible as it may seem, the guy who gave us war without end in Iraq plus galloping budget deficits could still get re-elected. Two: If it's Kerry, then sure, he'll talk seriously - but he won't be a pushover. That's another dumb macho hawk myth: that Democrats are soft on Kim Jong-il. Anyone who thinks that should read a recent online interview in the Washington Post with Robert Gallucci, who under Bill Clinton negotiated the Agreed Framework of November 1994 that defused - but only postponed, critics say - the first North Korean nuclear crisis. This is a man to heed - especially in Seoul, if they can put their current love-fest with the North (a topic for another time) on hold for a moment. To borrow a finely crafted phrase from the 1662 Church of England Book of Common Prayer - they don't mint them like this any more, alas - these are words to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest". Gallucci recalls that in mid-1994, "we seemed to be on the road to war if not on the brink. We could get there again. Imagine if we had credible reports that the North was going to sell plutonium or HEU to a terrorist group. Could an American president let that happen, knowing that we would have a hard time defending against an unconventional delivery of a nuclear weapon to an American city...and no way to deter those who are prepared to die for their cause? Yes, tremendous loss of life if war comes, but war could come." That is sobering. It's a worst-case option, which is why Gallucci - now, as then - favors talks. But here again, he is tough-minded: "The possibility of war was a backdrop to our negotiations a decade ago, and I think that helped to focus minds in the North." In that context, I wonder what Kim Jong-il really reckons he has to fear from an administration patently bogged down deep elsewhere, whose bark is worse than any bite it is capable of. - Oops, I was forgetting. His term almost over, George W Bush has finally plumped for the engagement which, in ABC (Anything But Clinton) mode, he long shunned. Does he mean it? Will he stick to it? - or will Cheney, [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld, Bolton et al win the day again? As Gallucci says, he "should have moved to genuine negotiations long ago". The prophet Dylan offers sound counsel too: "So let us not talk falsely now; the hour is getting late." Aidan Foster-Carter is honorary senior research fellow in sociology and modern Korea, Leeds University, England. (Copyright 2004 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 BBC: US policy: Fresh start or more of the Last Updated: Wednesday, 30 June, 2004 By Paul Reynolds BBC News Online world affairs correspondent The problems the US has had in occupying Iraq have left the world wondering whether the assertive foreign policy of the Bush administration has reached its limits. [President Bush] Bush: Seeking a second term in November's poll A year ago, just after the invasion, lists were being drawn up of the next countries to be dealt with - Iran and North Korea being at the top. They are, after all, the other members of the "axis of evil" named by President George W Bush. Yet a year on, Iran is still pursuing a policy of developing its own uranium enrichment programme and North Korea has certainly not ended its own nuclear ambitions. In both cases, the US has pursued diplomacy not war as a means of applying pressure. Perhaps Libya will be the example to be followed in future. Libya gave up its weapons development and has been rewarded. So does the experience of Iraq mean that America got its fingers burned and will be unwilling to put them near the fire again? Will there be more multilateralism if Mr Bush wins a second term in November? Or is Washington just keeping its powder dry and does not really care about the fractures in the Western alliance and its unpopularity in the Islamic world? A defence of US policy Frank Gaffney, one of the spokesmen for the neo-conservative view which seeks to have the world reshaped, stands by the doctrine: "My guess is that if we see Iraq stabilised, you will see a greater confidence about US policy. "If we come a cropper, it could result in a change of government in the United States. But any change in policy will augur badly for the United States and the international community." He accepts, though, that Iraq, to say the least, has not been an unqualified success. It (Iraq) is certainly incomplete success Frank Gaffney "The liberation of Iraq in some respects succeeded beyond our wildest imaginings," he told News Online. "The liberation took place with relatively trivial casualties and damage, bad as it was for those concerned. "But it is certainly an incomplete success and whether it turns into something far short of success or even a failure depends on whether things go badly." Mr Gaffney, President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, was critical of the slow progress to Iraqi self-rule. "It is regrettable that we did not in the five years since 1998 build a government-in-waiting," he said. "We turned ourselves into an occupation force and a lot of water has flowed over the dam as a result. Now the people of Iraq have an opportunity to build a new future." A criticism of US policy A contrary view came from Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies at King's College, London. "Iraq might not yet be failure, but the opportunity will be hard to take up. It is up the Iraqis to make something of the mess they have been bequeathed. "There was lack of preparation, resistance was underestimated and there was a lack of capacity to meet it. It cannot be as swaggering before. It needs allies and support Professor Lawrence Freedman "As for the ambitions that Washington had for Iraq to be a democratic beacon in the Middle East, clearly it is not. It is at risk of being a source of instability if the wrong people get a base there." Professor Freedman thinks that the United States is already more cautious in foreign policy. "It is so over Iran and North Korea. The United States has been undermined by what happened in Iraq. "It cannot be as swaggering as before. It needs allies and support. Hubris has a lot to answer for. Its diplomacy has been arrogant and incompetent, a dangerous combination." Europeans view the US as unilateralist loudmouth. For most Americans, most Europeans are weedy Charles Powell He went on: "US moral authority internationally is in the worst state ever. One can state that. As the US is the largest power, this is extremely unfortunate. "It means that the United States might not do things which it ought to do. It might withdraw into a shell and say that nobody likes us. "We want something in between." It is noticeable that so many of America's friends are speaking like this. Envoy to Europe? Another is Lord Powell, who as Charles Powell was Margaret Thatcher's right-hand man during the Reagan years. In an article for the Financial Times he wrote: "The first step is to recognise quite how bad transatlantic relations are. "Europeans view the US as a unilateralist loudmouth ready to ride roughshod over international law. For most Americans, most Europeans are weedy and pusillanimous, soft on terrorism and rogue states." He called for the appointment of a presidential envoy to restore relations. "The appointment of someone with the calibre of Colin Powell as a presidential envoy to restore transatlantic relations in a second Bush administration would be the most persuasive evidence of America's intention to make a fresh start." The Europeans had their role to play as well, he said, but when people like Mr Powell speak of how bad things are, they must be bad. ***************************************************************** 8 Interfax: Putin praises IAEA work [http://www.interfax.com] Jun 29 2004 3:01PM MOSCOW. June 29 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin welcomes the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency and said that the agency's "work is free from the influence of any political trends." At a Tuesday meeting with IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, Putin said that the IAEA "has become a highly prestigious and powerful organization, which is fulfilling very important functions." The president promised his country's further support for the agency's work. ElBaradei expressed hope that the nuclear power sector will develop, but only for projects aimed at using nuclear power for exclusively peaceful purposes. ElBaradei said he is interested in expanding ties with Russia. © 1991-2004 Interfax ***************************************************************** 9 Pravda.RU: Putin meets with IAEA Director General [PRAVDA.RU] Last update:06/30/2004 06:50 MSK Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia supports the IAEA's activity. I hope the IAEA will boost its activity, the Russian president said receiving the IAEA Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei in the Kremlin on Tuesday. Russia will do everything possible to back the activity of the IAEA, said the head of state. Putin thinks it very important that the IAEA activity does not depend on the political situation. Mr. Putin said that the IAEA has become a very prestigious and powerful organization that fulfills a very important function and enjoys great authority in the world. In his turn, ElBaradei said: "The backing of Russia is of key importance for us in all directions of our activity." In his words, this includes peaceful development of the nuclear power industry and nonproliferation regimes. "We hope that production of peaceful nuclear energy will be boosted, as it is very important for all countries of the world." In this connection, the IAEA Director General specially stressed the necessity of a peaceful nature of nuclear power use, with its military application totally ruled out. Mr. ElBaradei expressed the hope that during his stay in Russia the sides will be able to expand cooperation and get some useful advice. Vladimir Putin said Russia needed IAEA advice as well as the IAEA needed Russia's. Mr. ElBaradei thanked Mr. Putin for the possibility to visit Russia again and meet with the head of the Russian state. "Today morning, we had very constructive meetings in Moscow. Later in the day, I am leaving for St. Petersburg, where I also hope to conduct constructive meetings," said the head of the IAEA. Mr. Putin said he was sure that the stay of the IAEA Director General in Moscow and St. Petersburg will be interesting. "You know that we supported the Agency's activity and your personal activity in a very enthusiastic way," said the president. Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov, Federal Atomic Energy Agency head Alexander Rumyantsev, and Sergei Kislyak, the deputy Russian Foreign Minister, are taking part in the meeting as well. © RIAN Copyright ©1999 by " [http://www.pravda.ru/] ". When ***************************************************************** 10 Xinhuanet: DPRK, Indonesian FMs hold talks on nuclear issue www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2004-06-29 16:25:56 JAKARTA, June 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Paek Nam Sun held talks Tuesday with his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda on bilateral and regional issues, including the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. The two ministers exchanged views on how to develop the friendly relations between the two countries and other issues of mutual concern, Paek Nam Sun told reporters at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry compound after the meeting. Paek Nam Sum arrived here on Monday and is due to meet President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Wednesday to convey a message from DPRK leader Kim Jong Il. He will extend his stay to join the 11th gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF)on Friday, to which US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi have confirmed their participation. Paek said Wirajuda had told him his participation in the ARF would mean contribution toward peace and stability in the region. Speaking separately, Hassan said that the visiting DPRK foreignminister had expressed his government's determination to eventually eliminate nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula through the process of dialogues. The DPRK has vowed to continue the process in the six-party talks, with patience and flexibility, to resolve the problem, Hassan told reporters. "During the discussion, we stated that the possession of nuclear weapons cannot guarantee the national security," Hassan said. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 Daily Times: EDITORIAL: A ‘sustainable’ road to peace Wednesday, June 30, 2004 Pakistan and India have a 57-year history of conflict. Why not now take a bit of time establishing the contours of peace so that there are no loose ends left hanging and the peace that the people of the two countries get is durable? In fact, that is what actually became apparent after the foreign secretary-level talks in New Delhi on Monday. The paradigm shift, if any, can be expected from the fact that erstwhile hawks came out saying good things about each other. Pakistan’s foreign secretary, Riaz Khokhar, was once a tough ambassador in New Delhi who used to give better than he got. In those days, he incensed the Indian hawks and challenged them constantly during one of the worst periods of the bilateral equation. He was not only considered too hardline to stomach by the Indian secret service; at least two attempts were made on his life while a large number of his embassy staff was sent packing home. Mr Khokhar came out of his meetings with the Indian foreign minister Natwar Singh and security adviser JN Dixit (both former Indian ambassadors in Islamabad known for their hardline attitude) saying he was completely satisfied with the talks as well as the informal conversations he had with the Indian leaders. He repeatedly stated that the Indian side appeared sincere in its intent to pursue peace talks with Pakistan. Both sides stated their positions on Kashmir but were not mutually dismissive as in the past. The joint statement issued at the end of the foreign secretaries’ meeting stated that all issues would be tackled, including Kashmir, which would be addressed in the light of the UN Charter and the Simla Agreement. That Kashmir was discussed first along with the nuclear issues should offer consolation to those in Pakistan who think that Kashmir has lost its primacy under the present government. Mr Khokhar met three leaders from the Hurriyat Conference outside the dialogue which clearly indicates the shape of things to come and is important in that it did not offend official Indian quarters as happened during the Agra Summit. Other topics like Siachen, Wullar Barrage, Sir Creek and terrorism were assigned to later meetings. It should be noted that (cross-border) terrorism has dropped down on the Indian roster of issues. The ‘flexibility’ Mr Khokhar observed in the attitude of the Indian side was also clearly indicated in the conduct of the Pakistani side. President Pervez Musharraf had raised some hackles in Pakistan when he said last year that he was prepared to go beyond the UN resolutions on Kashmir if India was equally prepared to show some suppleness of response. Thus in so far as the reference to the Simla Agreement is concerned, let us not forget that the Simla Agreement came after the UN resolutions on Kashmir and without superseding them. (The clause relating to Kashmir carried the phrase ‘without prejudice to the recognised position of either side’.) All countries, including the International Court of Justice, which was unsuccessfully approached by Pakistan in 2000, refer to the Simla Agreement when advising the two counties to engage in talks. It is true that hawks in both India and Pakistan dislike the Simla Agreement for different reasons — the Indians say, why didn’t Indira Gandhi treat Pakistan as a defeated state? — but this is the document under which India and Pakistan can enter into an elaborate strategy of peace talks. The people in the two countries want peace and the two governments must give it to them. Meanwhile travel should be eased for divided families. The roadblocks that were erected in 2001 have already been removed but more needs to be done. There is agreement on starting up the Khokhrapar route again and that will happen after the railroad has been repaired. The two sides have also agreed to restore the consulates to full strength, release fishermen imprisoned by both and open consulates in Mumbai and Karachi. They are also working on the project of enabling Kashmiris on both sides to meet across the Line of Control. Good vibes have been spread by nuclear talks and the preliminary understanding on the Baglihar Dam. The momentum can be maintained and, as the foreign secretary said, its sustainability over the coming months will enable the two countries to resolve most of their problems and get on with being good and interdependent neighbours. * EDITORIAL #2: Maulana Mazur Chinioti (1931-2004) Despite PML leader Mian Nawaz Sharif’s laudable efforts to save his beloved cleric, Maulana Manzur Ahmad Chinioti died of kidney failure at Lahore’s Sharif Hospital on Sunday at age 73. The newspapers have published sad editorials about the death of a redoubtable warrior of Islam. The great ‘purification’ campaign known as Khatm-e-Nabuwwat has virtually been orphaned by his demise. Elected three times to the Punjab assembly, he was a popular man in Chiniot, which is one of the three tehsils of the luckless district called Jhang. Pakistan’s sectarian misfortunes began in Jhang with the outbreak of the first such unrest there under General Zia ul Haq. Chiniot, which furnishes Pakistan’s most renowned clan of industrialists, was the castle where Maulana Chinioti flew his fearless flag of apostatisation. Some people may call him the scourge of the Ahmedi community. With funds coming in from the Saudis, he made popular a quaint tradition of debate-till-death called ‘mubahila’ to which he repeatedly invited the Ahmedi ‘caliph’. But the gentleman decided not to engage Maulana Chinioti in debate, during which he was supposed to fall down dead, and fled Pakistan. (Maulana Chinioti had already pressured a grateful government into changing the name of his town, Rabwa, to Chenab Nagar.) But the maulana pursued him to London, with the British High Commission in Islamabad, in its unerring wisdom, offering him a quick visa. It is a measure of the ‘bravery’ of our great Maulana Chinioti that the Ahmedis did not fall for ‘mubahila’ there too and he returned home a garlanded victor. His followers believe that his victory was Pakistan’s although the world thinks otherwise. * Home | Editorial EDITORIAL: A ‘sustainable’ road to peace OP-ED: All the president’s moves —Munir Attaullah OP-ED: Development in practice —Syed Mohammad Ali THE HISTORY MAN: Imran Khan’t go on —Ihsan Aslam OP-ED: The last nail in the coffin —S M Naseem OP-ED: Bush’s loss is America’s win —Michael C Dorf THE WAY IT WAS : Where things belong —Mian Ijaz Ul Hassan LETTERS: ZAHOOR'S CARTOON: Daily Times - All Rights Reserved Site developed and hosted by WorldCALL Internet Solutions [http://www.wcis.com.pk] ***************************************************************** 12 Mos News: Moscow to Support, Cooperate With IAEA — Putin - MOSNEWS.COM Vladimir Putin’s meeting with the IAEA director general, Mohammed El Baradei, in Moscow / Frame from Rossia Channel Created: 29.06.2004 15:09 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 20:10 MSK MosNews Russia will support the activity of the International Agency of Atomic Energy (IAEA), Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. Speaking at the meeting with the agency’s director general, Mohammed El Baradei, in Moscow, he said that the IAEA’s activity was “highly professional” and not influenced by the current political situation, Interfax news agency reported. Putin quoted by the agency called the IAEA a “very prestigious and powerful organization that plays very important roles.” El Baradei quoted by the agency replied that Russia’s support aid was, and would be, very important for the IAEA, “including the problem of peaceful use of atomic energy and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.” In 2001, the Russian Parliament adopted a law allowing nuclear waste to be brought into the country from abroad. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said on Monday that Russia was the only place in the world whose legislation allows international nuclear waste storage facilities to be built. El Baradei said on Monday, speaking with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, that the IAEA was very interested in this project. The construction of a storage facility is considered to be almost decided despite environmental protests, Echo of Moscow radio station reported. The co-chairman of the international environment watchdog Ecodefence, Vladimir Slivyak, quoted by the radio said, “We are expecting the EU to remain environmentally responsible, to respect human rights, and to refuse to export nuclear waste to Russia.” Slivyak says that the transportation of nuclear waste endangers not only Russia’s environmental safety but also that of the states through which nuclear waste is to be transported. Write us: info@mosnews.com [info@mosnews.com] Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM ***************************************************************** 13 MosNews: Court Throws Out Fresh Kursk Enquiry - NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM Russian nuclear submarine Kursk / Frame from TV6 Channel Court Throws Out Fresh Kursk Enquiry Created: 29.06.2004 12:53 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 18:23 MSK MosNews The Moscow district military court refused to resume the investigation of sinking of Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, Russian Information Agency Novosti reported Tuesday. The court rejected the appeal of Boris Kuznetsov, the lawyer representing the relatives of the dead submariners. The lawyer demanded that the investigation resume and the annulment of the military prosecutor’s office’s decision to stop the criminal proceedings. The case was stopped on July 23, 2002. Kuznetsov also demanded that the investigation resume in the case of improper rescue works after the sinking of the Kursk. Prosecutors refused to instigate proceedings on this case on June 28, 2002. On April 21, 2004, the Moscow garrison military court upheld a decision turning down a proposed reinvestigation of the Kursk sinking, rejecting Kuznetsov’s request. The Kursk sank on August 12, 2000, during military exercises of the Russian Northern Navy in the Barents Sea. All 118 crewmembers on board died. Government officials had said that an explosion, possibly from a torpedo, caused the disaster. SEE ALSO [http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/04/21/kursk.shtml] Write us: [info@mosnews.com] Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM ***************************************************************** 14 [du-list] British Nuclear reactors to close down; Notice Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:01:22 -0700 British Nuclear reactors to close down British nuclear giant British Nuclear Fuel, or BNFL, today announced its plans to shut down one of its oldest nuclear power plants— the four reactor Chapelcross station in Scotland. Since 2000, four different Magnox plants, consisting of 16 different reactors, have been shut down. Erik Martiniussen, 2004-06-29 13:38 Bellona Foundation (Russia) http://www.bellona.no/en/energy/nuclear/sellafield/34631.html The plant, which went into operation in 1959, was originally planned to be phased out March next year, but due to technical problems the deadline has been pushed forward. One of the four reactors at the plant has remained out of service since an accident in 2001, and the rest have been switched off since February. Continued Magnox operation not justified “We have now reached the position at Chapelcross where we are clear that continuing to deploy the resources needed to maintain generation from the three remaining ­ by modern standards - relatively small reactors at this site cannot be justified commercially,” said Chapelcross site manager Dr. Bob Clayton. Many of the 450 workers at the site will be retained for several years while decommissioning takes place and reactors are made safe. The work force will now concentrate on de-fuelling the reactors before beginning on demolition at the site near the city of Annan. The reactors at Chapelcross were the first of the first generation of British nuclear reactors that later came to be called Magnox reactors. In total, 26 such reactors were built in the United Kingdom. Except for Chapelcross and its sister power plant, Calder Hall at Sellafield, all of the reactors were constructed between 1960 and 1970. As a consequence of the Chappelcross closure, there will only be eight Magnox reactors left in operation, dispersed among four different plants. The United Kingdom is the only country in the world that operates this kind of reactors. In a statement today, Mark Morant, Managing Director of the group’s Reactor Sites business praised the site and its workforce: “As the world’s currently longest serving nuclear power station, Chapelcross has earned a rightful place in the record books as a faithful provider of electricity to South West Scotland and the North of England. An early weapons producer The Chapelcross plant was actually constructed to operate both as an electricity generator and a producer of weapons grade plutonium, and for many years played a central role in the UK nuclear weapons programme, producing plutonium both for atomic and hydrogen bombs. It is believed that the reactors produced weapons-grade plutonium for the British army as late as in 1978—1979. For the last fifteen years Chapelcross has been operating purely as an electricity production plant. Still the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear disarmament, or SCND, argues that Chapelcross continued to play a military role—until it was shut down today—through the delivery of tritium to the military. Modern nuclear weapons contain small quantities of tritium—a radioactive material that plays a key role in the thermonuclear process of a hydrogen bomb, and is also used to boost the yield of atomic bombs. It is used on British Trident warheads. Tritium is a radioactive material with a short half-life of 12 years. Because it decays so quickly it has to be replaced. The tritium in British nuclear weapons is replaced after seven or eight years. The military, therefore, demands a constant supply of tritium—and in according to the SCND this has been delivered by Chapelcross. 5,000 tonnes of Depleted Uranium are stored at Chapelcross. This was part of a massive military stockpile of this material which has been controversially used in conventional weapons. In 1998 Britain, announced that the material at Chapelcross would no longer be considered as military material and would be placed under EURATOM and IAEA safeguards. End to Magnox generation Over the last years BNFL has had considerable technical problems with its old Magnox reactors. Since 2000, four different Magnox plants, consisting of 16 different reactors, have been shut down. All of the remaining eight Magnox reactors are expected to closes within the next six years. BNFL though hopes to build four to six new light-water reactors in the same location that some of the shut down Magnox reactors now stand. These new reactors have been developed by the BNFL-owned company Westinghouse, and are called the AP 600 and the AP 1000. But the construction of new nuclear power plants in the UK has been put on ice for the time being. The British government has proposed a goal to reduce the country’s CO2 emissions by 60 percent by 2020. But in order to achieve this, the government would like to pursue alternative sources of energy, not nuclear sources. However, the British government has said it is open for a new assessment of nuclear power at a later point in time. ---- Notice served after radioactive gaskets found on Sellafield beach The discovery of two pieces of a radioactively contaminated rubber gasket on a beach near Sellafield, has led to a so-called Enforcement Notice being served to British Nuclear Fuels Plc, or BNFL. Erik Martiniussen, 2004-06-20 13:49 Bellona Foundation (Russia) http://www.bellona.no/en/energy/nuclear/sellafield/34548.html The British Environment Agency served the enforcement notice—a legal warning to the company to more strictly guard its facilities—to BNFL on Thursday. The enforcement notice follows an incident earlier this year when two pieces of a rubber gasket, contaminated with radioactivity, were found on a local beach outside the company’s Sellafield site. BNFL operates two nuclear reprocessing plants at Sellafield, both of which discharge large amounts of radioactive wastes to the Irish Sea. Low radiation levels Both of the two contaminated gaskets were discovered separately during routine BNFL checks of the Sellafield and Seascale beaches in January and February this year. Investigations by BNFL and the Agency have shown that the items had become detached from the diffuser at the end of one of the operational sealines (sealine 3) used by the company. Subsequent tests revealed that the radiation levels of both gaskets were found to be low, thus presenting little potential hazard to the public. The gaskets were, however, found to be contaminated above agreed norms. The enforcement notice was issued because of BNFL’s failure to comply with a condition of their operating authorisation—which is granted by the Environment Agency—to dispose of low level radioactive waste at their Sellafield site in Cumbria. The authorisation from the Environmental Agency allows BNFL to discharge radioactively contaminated water from the Sellafield site via pipelines into the Irish Sea. However a key condition of the permit requires BNFL to maintain the systems used for the discharge of any radioactive waste in good repair. In a statement Thursday, Andy Mayall, the Environment Agency’s nuclear regulator, commented: "Although the risks to the public on this occasion were low, this type of incident is both undesirable and preventable. This will require BNFL to undertake a thorough review of its inspection and maintenance of the discharge pipelines and to make any required improvements." The Agency will now ask for a review of Sellafield’s pipeline design, with all work to be completed within an agreed timescale. A BNFL spokesman said Friday: “The discovery of gasket material on the beach was publicly reported by us at the time of the event. Since then, we have carried out a detailed internal inquiry and are already implementing a range of improvements, including all of the work required by the Environment Agency. We are determined to learn from this event to ensure there are no repeat occurs.” Scraps have escape before Over the last year, BNFL has been working on a £13m project to remove three redundant discharge pipelines. Known as the Sealine Recovery Project, two 10-inch steel pipelines originally laid in 1949, and an 8-inch temporary plastic pipeline, laid around 1990, would be recovered from the seabed over a twelve month period and disposed of in BNFL’s onshore licensed low level waste dump at Drigg/Sellafield. But operations have not been easy. In November last year, lengths of the plastic discharge pipe principally used for evacuating drainage water from the Sellafield site, escaped a seabed containment cage. The dismantled sections were temporarily stored in the seabed cage, waiting to be transported onshore. During stormy weather more than 170 cut pieces broke free from the containment cage and where washed ashore on different local beaches. Four sections where recovered as far away as Isle of Man. One showed slightly higher radiation than normal background levels. The cage originally held 364 lengths of pipe pieces. -- Posted for educational and research purposes only, ~ in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 ~ NucNews Links and Expanded Archives - http://nucnews.net ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 15 AFP: Popularity of nuclear power on the rise in Finland - poll [http://www.spacewar.com/] HELSINKI (AFP) Jun 29, 2004 Support for nuclear power has grown steadily in Finland the past five years and is now around 50 percent, amid construction of the country's fifth nuclear reactor, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday. Nuclear power has not been as popular in the Nordic country since 1997, reported the regional daily Aamulehti, which commissioned the poll. In 2000, support for nuclear energy stood at around 40 percent, but it has since increased steadily to 50 percent this June, it said. According to the survey, conducted among 1,000 Finns earlier this month, nearly 44 percent of those polled were against increased use of nuclear power, while under seven percent abstained from answering. The research, carried out by pollster Taloustutkimus, has an error margin of 2.5 percent, according to the daily. Currently, 28 percent of Finland's power is supplied by its four nuclear reactors, a figure which is expected to increase to 35 percent at the end of this decade when the new reactor is finished. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 16 NRC: Meeting; Sunshine Act FR Doc 04-14771 [Federal Register: June 29, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 124)] [Notices] [Page 38922] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr29jn04-91] Date: Weeks of June 28, July 5, 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2004. Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Status: Public and closed. Matters To Be Considered: Week of June 28, 2004 There are no meetings scheduled for the week of June 28, 2004. Week of July 5, 2004--Tentative Wednesday, July 7, 2004: 1:55 p.m.--Affirmation Session (public meeting) (if needed). Week of July 12, 2004--Tentative Tuesday, July 13, 2004: 2:15 p.m.--Discussion of Security Issues (closed--Ex. 1). Week of July 19, 2004--Tentative Wednesday, July 21, 2004: 9:30 a.m.--Meeting with Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) (public meeting) (contact: John Karkins (301) 415-7360). This meeting will be Web cast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] . Week of July 26, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the week of July 26, 2004. Week of August 2, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the week of August 2, 2004. * The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings call (recording)--(301) 415-1292. Contact person for more information: Dave Gamberoni, (301) 415-1651. * * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet at: http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-makin g/schedule.html] . * * * * * The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from the public meetings in another format (e.g., braille, large print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program Coordinator, August Spector, at (301) 415-7080, TDD: (301) 415- 2100, or by e-mail at aks@nrc.gov [aks@nrc.gov] . Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. * * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it or would like to be added to the distribution please contact the Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301) 415-1969. In addition, distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic message to dkw@nrc.gov [dkw@nrc.gov] . Dated: June 24, 2004. Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary. [FR Doc. 04-14771 Filed 6-25-04; 9:29 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M ***************************************************************** 17 Bellonea: British Nuclear reactors to close down British nuclear giant British Nuclear Fuel, or BNFL, today announced its plans to shut down one of its oldest nuclear power plants— the four reactor Chapelcross station in Scotland. Since 2000, four different Magnox plants, consisting of 16 different reactors, have been shut down. Erik Martiniussen, 2004-06-29 13:38 The plant, which went into operation in 1959, was originally planned to be phased out March next year, but due to technical problems the deadline has been pushed forward. One of the four reactors at the plant has remained out of service since an accident in 2001, and the rest have been switched off since February. Continued Magnox operation not justified “We have now reached the position at Chapelcross where we are clear that continuing to deploy the resources needed to maintain generation from the three remaining – by modern standards - relatively small reactors at this site cannot be justified commercially,” said Chapelcross site manager Dr. Bob Clayton. Many of the 450 workers at the site will be retained for several years while decommissioning takes place and reactors are made safe. The work force will now concentrate on de-fuelling the reactors before beginning on demolition at the site near the city of Annan. The reactors at Chapelcross were the first of the first generation of British nuclear reactors that later came to be called Magnox reactors. In total, 26 such reactors were built in the United Kingdom. Except for Chapelcross and its sister power plant, Calder Hall at Sellafield, all of the reactors were constructed between 1960 and 1970. As a consequence of the Chappelcross closure, there will only be eight Magnox reactors left in operation, dispersed among four different plants. The United Kingdom is the only country in the world that operates this kind of reactors. In a statement today, Mark Morant, Managing Director of the group’s Reactor Sites business praised the site and its workforce: “As the world’s currently longest serving nuclear power station, Chapelcross has earned a rightful place in the record books as a faithful provider of electricity to South West Scotland and the North of England. An early weapons producer The Chapelcross plant was actually constructed to operate both as an electricity generator and a producer of weapons grade plutonium, and for many years played a central role in the UK nuclear weapons programme, producing plutonium both for atomic and hydrogen bombs. It is believed that the reactors produced weapons-grade plutonium for the British army as late as in 1978—1979. For the last fifteen years Chapelcross has been operating purely as an electricity production plant. Still the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear disarmament, or SCND, argues that Chapelcross continued to play a military role—until it was shut down today—through the delivery of tritium to the military. Modern nuclear weapons contain small quantities of tritium—a radioactive material that plays a key role in the thermonuclear process of a hydrogen bomb, and is also used to boost the yield of atomic bombs. It is used on British Trident warheads. Tritium is a radioactive material with a short half-life of 12 years. Because it decays so quickly it has to be replaced. The tritium in British nuclear weapons is replaced after seven or eight years. The military, therefore, demands a constant supply of tritium—and in according to the SCND this has been delivered by Chapelcross. 5,000 tonnes of Depleted Uranium are stored at Chapelcross. This was part of a massive military stockpile of this material which has been controversially used in conventional weapons. In 1998 Britain, announced that the material at Chapelcross would no longer be considered as military material and would be placed under EURATOM and IAEA safeguards. End to Magnox generation Over the last years BNFL has had considerable technical problems with its old Magnox reactors. Since 2000, four different Magnox plants, consisting of 16 different reactors, have been shut down. All of the remaining eight Magnox reactors are expected to closes within the next six years. BNFL though hopes to build four to six new light-water reactors in the same location that some of the shut down Magnox reactors now stand. These new reactors have been developed by the BNFL-owned company Westinghouse, and are called the AP 600 and the AP 1000. But the construction of new nuclear power plants in the UK has been put on ice for the time being. The British government has proposed a goal to reduce the country’s CO2 emissions by 60 percent by 2020. But in order to achieve this, the government would like to pursue alternative sources of energy, not nuclear sources. However, the British government has said it is open for a new assessment of nuclear power at a later point in time. Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 18 Brattleboro Reformer: NRC details Yankee inspection [http://www.reformer.com/] June 29, 2004 Brattleboro, VT By CAROLYN LORIÉ Reformer Staff MONTPELIER -- Representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said they have no intention of "rubber stamping" Vermont Yankee's "uprate" application. At a presentation before the state Public Service Board, the NRC laid out general plans for a pilot engineering assessment that will be done as part of the uprate review. The assessment will begin in mid-August and entail six personnel for three weeks. Bill Ruland, power uprate manager for the NRC, said that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee needs to make a case for its request to increase power. "Entergy must provide sufficient justification to prove to us that safety is maintained," he said. "They aren't there yet." Last year, Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee applied to increase power output by 20 percent. The application process was two-tiered in that the company had to apply both to the Public Service Board and the NRC. State law required Entergy to get a certificate of public good from the Public Service Board, before making uprate-related modifications to the plant. All changes to nuclear power plant licenses require approval by the NRC, which is currently reviewing VY's application. A decision is expected early next year. On March 15, the board gave Vermont Yankee conditional approval, pending an engineering assessment from the NRC. After the order was issued, there was a great deal of speculation about whether the agency would meet the board's request. Although the board, as a state body, did not have the authority to mandate the federal commission to do the additional inspection, it nonetheless retained jurisdiction over the case until all the requirements were met. Almost two months after the order was issued, the NRC announced that plans had been in place to implement a new engineering assessment program and that Vermont Yankee would be the first plant to have it done. Monday's presentation was an explanation of that program. In addition to the representatives from the NRC, also present were members of the Department of Public Service, representatives from the New England Coalition and the Windham Regional Commission, as well as officials from Entergy. Speaking on behalf of the Department of Public Service, state nuclear engineer Bill Sherman gave his approval of the NRC's proposed inspection. "We believe the new engineering assessment is a positive step that meets the intent of the board's request," he said. He added, however, that the department was eager for the NRC's response to issues Sherman raised about the uprate, namely concerns regarding net positive suction head, cracks in the steam dryer and steam flow vibration. Ruland said the agency was in the process of responding and that a letter would be sent, possibly as soon as this week. Other plants that have significantly increased power have had problems as a consequence. Quad Cities in Illinois experienced extended shutdowns due to problems with its steam dryer. Concern about the plant's reliability has been the main focus of the board and the issue was brought up repeatedly. Chairman Michael Dworkin asked the NRC whether the uprate review process would assess the overall reliability of the plant following the uprate. Ruland said it would not. He added, however, that the concerns raised by the Department of Public Service are the "big technical challenges associated with power uprate at this time" and that the NRC was reviewing each of them. Dworkin also said that while the board did not have the authority to regulate safety issues at the plant, it was nonetheless a central concern. Radiological health and safety are the sole purview of the NRC. "Although our responsibilities are not the same, they are linked," said Ruland. In his opening remarks, Ruland said that, "We will not approve the power uprate until we, the NRC, determine that it is safe." Opponents of the uprate lauded the NRC's decision to meet the board's request. "I was very impressed that the NRC representatives acknowledged that they are conducting this special assessment in response to 'stakeholder's concerns,'" said Peter Alexander, executive director of the New England Coalition. "This is a clear statement that citizen advocacy works, even with an agency as intractable as the NRC." The coalition, a nuclear power watchdog group, served as intervenor in the uprate case before the board and advocated for a safety assessment similar to the one conducted at Maine Yankee nuclear power plant in 1996. The results of NRC's assessment of Vermont Yankee will be made public once it is completed, most likely some time in October. While the coalition was laudatory about the NRC's responsiveness to public input regarding additional inspections, it was less pleased with the agency's timing. On July 1, Vermont Yankee's request to amend its license will be posted on the Federal Register. This gives parties interested in voicing opposition to the proposal 60 days in which to apply to the NRC for a hearing, which the coalition intends to do. Because the hearing application must be completed by Sept. 1, however, the coalition must apply without the benefit of the inspection results. "How can there be meaningful citizen intervention when the public won't have access to this critical information," asked Alexander. "It's just plain unfair." While NRC representatives said that the agency intends to respond to all public concerns about the uprate, there was some hesitation about opening the inspection process up to public scrutiny. Ruland said Entergy could choose to set up a public advisory panel, but that it was not the role of the NRC to establish such a body. Board member John Burke suggested that the NRC should consider having one of the coalition's expert witnesses on the inspection team. "Having someone with a critical eye might be useful," he said. Three engineers from the nuclear industry, David Lochbaum, Paul Blanch and Arnie Gundersen, served as witnesses for the coalition. All three have questioned the safety of Vermont Yankee's proposed power increase and have accused the NRC of being at the beck and call of the industry. Blanch, Gundersen and Lochbaum have been vocal about the need for additional inspection. While the board's order called for the NRC to do a vertical slice of four systems, the federal regulator said that it will instead examine safety components at the plant that are most likely to be affected by the uprate. According to Ruland the NRC's proposed inspection program exceeds what the board requested and would satisfy any lingering concerns about the safety of the plant if the uprate is ultimately approved. Ray Shadis, technical advisor the coalition, disagreed, calling the proposed assessment in no way comparable to what was done at Maine Yankee. "[The engineering assessment] is NRC fast food. There's some satisfaction, some nourishment but hey, it isn't a meal. And certainly isn't a Happy Meal," he said. Copyright ©1999-2004 New England Newspapers, Inc., a ***************************************************************** 19 AP Wire: Bismarck State gets grants to help train nuclear power plant workers | 06/29/2004 | Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. - Bismarck State College is getting $821,000 in grants from the National Science Foundation to train nuclear power plant workers. "These grants will provide a crucial building block in the development of BSC's National Energy Technology Training and Education Center," College President Donna Thigpen said. She said the money will help the school meet a shortage of nuclear power plant workers. Rep. Earl Pomeroy and Sens. Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad, all D-N.D., announced the grant Tuesday. The congressional delegation said Bismarck State has the only accredited online nuclear training program in the country. It is part of the school's energy training program, which has a total of more than 400 students, with 74 percent of them online. "The nation's nuclear plants will need about 30,000 new workers in the near future," Conrad said. "BSC has found a niche that will serve both the college, the state of North Dakota and the nation." ***************************************************************** 20 YDR: NRC: Agency earns two honors - York Daily Record [ydr.com] Agency earns two honors Tuesday, June 29, 2004 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received two awards recognizing the quality of its Performance and Accountability Report for fiscal year 2003. The Association of Government Accountants awarded the NRC its Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting for the commission's outstanding efforts in preparing the report. This is the third consecutive fiscal year that NRC has received this award. The NRC also received high marks on the Mercatus Center at George Mason University's fifth annual Performance Report Scorecard. Started in 2000, the scorecard rates and ranks the major departments and agencies on the fullness and accuracy of their performance and accountability reports. The NRC regulates Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station and Three Mile Island in Dauphin County. Copyright © York Daily Record 2004 122 S. George St., P.O. Box 15122 York, PA 17405, (717) 771-2000 ***************************************************************** 21 Scotsman.com News: World's Longest Serving Nuclear Plant Closes Tue 29 Jun 2004 By Lia Hervey, Scottish Press Association The world’s oldest operational nuclear power station has ceased production after nearly 45 years, it was announced today. The British Nuclear Group announced that the Chapelcross station, based near Annan, in Dumfries, officially turned off this morning. Chapelcross, which began providing electricity for the south of Scotland in 1959, was not originally due to start closing until 2008. Nearly 800 staff in total were employed at both Calder Hall and Chapelcross in June 2002 when BNFL announced it was bringing forward their closure dates. It followed an economic review of the operation of its whole Magnox reactor fleet. The review concluded that Calder Hall and Chapelcross, with their relatively low output but high overheads, had become loss-making. Making the announcement Mark Morant, managing director of British Nuclear Group’s Reactor Sites business said: “As the world’s currently longest serving nuclear power station, Chapelcross has earned a rightful place in the record books as a faithful provider of electricity to south west Scotland and the north of England. “We are announcing the decision promptly to remove uncertainty within our workforce. “Whilst there is a job to do at Chapelcross for many years to come, we expect staff numbers to change as we move through defuelling to decommissioning. “We will continue to consult fully with our workforce and their unions about staffing issues so we can get on with the re-training and preparatory work needed to start the next phases of the station’s life, making the fullest and best use of the staff currently on site.†Today’s closure was welcomed by environment pressure group Greenpeace. “What we hope now is that BNG will apply the same financial criteria to the rest of its operations and close the reprocessing operations at Sellafield which are also uneconomic,†said Jean McSorley, Greenpeace nuclear campaigner. Tory MSP David Mundell said he had lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament which recognised the “historical achievements of the site†and now planned to campaign for a new power station. “The closure should also focus our attention on the looming energy gap which threatens this country as our existing nuclear facilities close. “Rather than backing new nuclear development the UK Government has chosen to sit on the fence whilst here in Scotland the Scottish Executive pretend that giant wind farms can make up the difference. “The reality is that in a few years time we face the genuine prospect of blackouts and power cuts if we do not have a reliable energy source to meet our needs in the future. “It is time for the UK Government to commit to new nuclear development and the best way to build on the Chapelcross legacy would be the development of a new nuclear power station on that site. That is what I will be campaigning for.†Along with its sister stations Calder Hall, based at Sellafield in Cumbria and Galloway in south west Scotland, the power stations were the prototypes of the further nine Magnox power stations that were later built across Britain when they opened in the 1950s. The Magnox stations use a natural uranium fuel which is contained in magnesium alloy cans. The reactors are cooled by gas which then passes through heat exchangers to produce steam for the generating turbines. When Chaplecross was fully operational its four Magnox reactors produced 194 megawatts of electricity. Over its lifetime it has produced enough electricity to power 15 million homes for a year, or all the homes in Dumfries and Galloway for almost 200 years. The company said the announcement would not affect the planned dates for cessation of generation at the Company’s remaining operational sites – Sizewell and Dungeness in 2006, Oldbury in 2008 and Wylfa in 2010. [ border=] [http://www.scotsman.com/] | ***************************************************************** 22 ITAR-TASS: Iran's nuclear plant project doesn't cause intl concern [ITAR-TASS News Agency of Russia] 29.06.2004, 17.36 NOVO-OGARYOVO, June 29 (Itar-Tass) - Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei said the construction by Russia of a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran, is not viewed as a priority at present, because it does not cause concern of the world community. ElBaradei told reporters that this issue had not been discussed at his talks with the Russian president earlier on Tuesday. The Bushehr project is an issue of Russian-Iranian relations, he underlined. It does not cause concerns of the international community because Iran intends to produce peaceful nuclear energy and has an agreement with Russia to return irradiated nuclear fuel. ElBaradei also said he had had a broad discussion with the Russian president. The parties discussed Russian-IAEA cooperation, and touched upon some of the issues concerning the threat of nuclear weapons' getting into terrorists' hands. They also considered non-proliferation with respect to Iran and other countries. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 23 Expatica: Energy workers protest but Raffarin firm on sell-off 30 JUNE 2004 PARIS, June 29 (AFP) - French electricity workers briefly cut supplies to a major regional airport and staged a thousands-strong protest march through the centre of Paris on Tuesday as parliament prepared to pass legislation allowing limited privatisation of the power and gas industries. The workers unsuccessfully sought to shut down the Bordeaux-Merignac airport, while 3,000 employees demonstrated in Paris just hours before parliament was to vote on a bill changing the status of state-owned Electricite de France (EDF). However Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who has an overwhelming parliamentary majority, stood firm, categorically ruling out preventing passage of the legislation. The bill before the National Assembly would change the status of the gas and electricity utilities from wholly state-owned enterprises into public corporations. "I'm listening, but I'm not changing my mind," Raffarin told Europe 1 radio, adding a condemnation of what he called illegal acts carried out by electricity workers, including the alleged sabotage of a switching station that threw the rail and metro system in Paris into chaos on Monday. Raffarin called for the perpetrators of such acts to be identified and punished, saying that in this country "one does not oppose parliament with violence." The prime minister said the government had done its utmost to listen to the workers and to preserve the public service status of the industries. But workers are afraid that even if only 30 percent of the companies will be sold to outside companies they will lose their public service privileges, including retirement at 55 and lifetime job security. Concerned that repeated attacks on the mass transport system is costing them the sympathy of the public, the four unions called for "popular and visible actions" including both work stoppages and the restoration of supplies to families cut off for non-payment. But the interruption of supplies to the Bordeaux airport lasted only one minute at 3:00 am and services were reported unaffected. Strikers also cut power to several industrial firms around the airport. The hardline CGT union, close to the communist party, claimed the action at the airport and several other outages at major industrial firms such as Dassault and Sogerma. Unions said about 60 strikers had taken over an electrical plant near Grenoble, and had reduced supplies to five local companies. The electricity utility EDF, Europe's largest power supplier and nuclear operator, has barged into privatized markets elsewhere in Europe and beyond, but so far has prevented significant competition on its own territory. Under threat of legal action by the European Union, the government is adopting legislation that will partly privatize the utilities, end their state financial guarantees and open the internal energy market to limited competition. © AFP © copyright 2004 Expatica Communications BV ***************************************************************** 24 NRC: Diablo Canyon Meeting to Be Rescheduled News Release - Region IV - 2004-03 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV No. IV-04-030 June 29, 2004 CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov [opa4@nrc.gov] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has canceled a July 2 public meeting with officials from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. at its regional office in Arlington, Texas. NRC staff had planned to discuss problem identification and resolution and human performance issues at the Diablo Canyon power plant, operated by PG&E in San Luis Obispo, California. Efforts are underway to reschedule the meeting at a later date in the San Luis Obispo County area to accommodate stakeholder interest. Last revised Tuesday, June 29, 2004 ***************************************************************** 25 AFP: IAEA wants to inspect Brazil nuclear plant [http://www.spacewar.com/] BRASILIA (AFP) Jun 29, 2004 Brazil has denied the UN nuclear watchdog access to a uranium-enriching facility, claiming it needs to protect industry trade secrets, AIEA director Mohamed ElBaradei said in an interview published Tuesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sought access to the facility in Resende, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, ElBaradei told a local newspaper. ElBaradei told O Globo daily that Brazil should not be an exception to IAEA norms. He granted the interview in Moscow. ElBaradei said the IAEA needed to see the equipment itself because it was the only way to assure that no uranium was being enriched beyond that which had been declared. Brazilian authorities offered to allow IAEA to weigh uranium leaving the facility. ElBaradei discounted Brazil's claim to trade secrets, saying that whatever kind of centrifuges Brazil uses in the process, there is not a large market in which to sell them. WAR.WIRE ***************************************************************** 26 [du-list] Workers's comp bill goes to committee Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:01:19 -0700 Workers' comp bill goes to committee Misty Maynard, PDT Staff writer A bill is facing the next step to expedite the process of claims handling for workers to receive compensation. The bill contains legislation to amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The Senate unanimously passed the bill on June 16, and it now goes to a joint House-Senate conference committee so differing versions of the bill can be reconciled before going to the president. U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, supports the bill, which would transfer claim responsibility from the Department of Energy to the Department of Labor. The Cold War was won by the men and women who toiled away in our defense plants making the weapons that enforced the peace. While the compensation program has provided overdue compensation for many of those who contracted terrible illnesses from the materials they worked with, it has failed others,Voinovich said in a Senate news release. Many people formerly employed by the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant have filed claims to receive compensation for illnesses, such as cancer contracted from exposure to toxic substances. Voinovich said that the new legislation would make the necessary changes to ensure workerscompensation. By the beginning of June, the DOE had approved 230 of more than 24,000 claims, giving it an approval rating of 0.9 percent, according to the release. The DOL reported approving 13,132 claims of more than 54,000 received, gaining an approval rating of 24 percent, the release said. (The Department of) Energy is just wasting time, wasting money and depriving sick and injured workers of the compensation they deserve,U.S. Representative Ted Strickland, D-Lisbon, said. On the Web site, the Office of Worker Advocacy suggests different procedures and structures,of the DOE program that require more time. DOEs program involves work-related exposures to a wide variety of toxic substances that may involve a very wide range of associated illnesses or conditions,according to the Web site. Establishing and documenting these exposures requires document searches, including related employment, medical, exposure and industrial health records, as well as relevant facility industrial health data. The DOL handles separate claims, and eligible workers receive $150,000 and medical care. Because it has an organized process in place, claims would be handled more efficiently, according to a news release from Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy International Union. In a statement of administration policy, the DOE opposed the amendment, saying, The Administration would oppose the adoption of any amendment that would substantially expand the costs and scope of the EEOICPA Federal Compensation Program, or delay processing of Part D applications by shifting processing responsibilities out of DOE and creating an unworkable process in the Department of Labor. With the bill, larger facilities will receive exposure assessments. Workers exposed to residual radiation after a facility terminated processing of radioactive materials for nuclear weapons programswill also be able to apply for benefits. The legislation would guarantee federal funding for benefit payments, instead of leaving payment up to DOE contractors and state workerscompensation programs, according to the Senate release. The amendment is part of the Department of Defenses Authorization Bill. MISTY MAYNARD can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232. To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT 7977c.jpg 797b0.jpg ---------- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Attachment Converted: 7977c.jpg: 00000001,058d3a2f,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 797b0.jpg: 00000001,058d3a30,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: "c:\program files\eudora\attach\masthead.gif" ***************************************************************** 27 L.A. Daily News: Radium-theft fear to speed cleanup www.dailynews.com Article Published: Monday, June 28, 2004 - 7:52:38 By Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Citing a potential threat to public safety, federal officials say they have accelerated a $7 million cleanup at a North Hollywood warehouse where as many as 1 million airplane gauges coated with radioactive radium have been stored for decades. Environmental Protection Agency workers will begin this week assessing the scope of the cleanup effort at Preservation Aviation, 10800 Burbank Blvd., where boxes of gauges are crammed onto shelves 12 feet high. Heightened concern about national security and the fear that radioactive material could be stolen and used to make a "dirty bomb" is prompting officials to take additional precautions. "We don't want people taking souvenirs," said Robert Wise, coordinator of the EPA's emergency-response section. "We have 24-hour security on site until we start the cleanup, and then we'll have security on site when we're not (there)." EPA officials estimate it will take six to eight months to remove the vintage airplane gauges, which have dials painted with a phosphorescent material containing Radium 226 to make them glow in the dark for night fights. Many of the gauges are broken, officials say, allowing radioactive particles to escape into the atmosphere. Preservation Aviation owners estimate that there are a maximum of 70,000 gauges in the warehouse and that no more than 7,000 are broken. Tests conducted in May, after the EPA was called in, showed radiation inside the warehouse was 100 times greater than background levels. Radiation in the yard was 10 times background levels, and a nearby sidewalk was labeled unsafe for those exposed to it over several hours. EPA officials have since moved boxes of dials away from the fence line, and radiation readings at the sidewalk are now near background levels, Wise said. "We don't want people going into the structure because radon levels are fairly high. We're still concerned the site poses a threat to public health." State and local authorities have known about high levels of radiation in the warehouse since 1998, but many neighbors say they didn't know about the contamination until they read a June 20 story in the Daily News about the situation. Wise began meeting with neighbors last week, passing out information on the cleanup. "They've been covering it up," resident Jim Gill said. "Had we known it, we wouldn't have parked on that side of the street. We would have stayed as far away as possible." The California Department of Health Services surveyed radiation levels in the warehouse in 1998 and found radon -- a byproduct of decaying Radium 226 -- at 25 times the acceptable health limit. Radium 226 was found at 14 times the acceptable limit. But state tests showed radiation levels at the sidewalk were within the safety limit. "Because there were no safety limits exceeded, there was no notification required," said Robert Miller, spokesman for the Department of Health Services. Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, whose district includes the warehouse, said he was troubled by the lack of public notification and would seek further explanation from the state agency. State officials ordered an immediate cleanup of the site but said they never got cooperation from company owners. For their part, Preservation Aviation owners said state regulators ignored their cleanup plans. Aviation historians have objected to the EPA's cleanup plan, saying the gauges and dials are essential to maintaining the thousands of World War II-era planes still in operation. The Smithsonian Institution will be sending an expert to ensure no airplane part of historical significance is discarded. Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh@dailynews.com [kerry.cavanaugh@dailynews.com] Copyright © 2004 Los Angeles Daily News ***************************************************************** 28 moscow times: Stink Over Tourists on Nuclear Icebreakers [http://book.moscowtimes.ru/index.htm] Wednesday, June 30, 2004. Page 1. By Simon Ostrovsky Staff Writer If you're thinking about hopping aboard a nuclear-powered icebreaker and heading to the North Pole, environmentalists are urging you to reconsider, as is the Russian government, albeit for different reasons. With demand waning for its traditional service -- clearing Arctic shipping lanes -- the Murmansk Shipping Co., which operates the world's only fleet of atomic icebreakers, has started offering tourists a chance to chill out at the top of the world for $20,000 per head. The business has outraged environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth Norway, which is urging would-be ticket buyers to consider the damage a nuclear accident can do to the pristine region's fragile ecosystem. Operating the ships also adds to the already massive stockpiles of nuclear waste encased in the rusting shells of decommissioned navy submarines, the group says. "We want the icebreakers decommissioned," said Dag Arne Hœystad, who heads Friends of the Earth Norway's Russia project. "But since we've gotten no reaction from the Russian government we've targeted Western tourists who make the market," Hœystad said by telephone from Oslo. The green group has found an unexpected ally in the Russian Audit Chamber. Parliament's budgetary watchdog, after investigating partially state-owned Murmansk Shipping's finances earlier this year, urged the government to revoke the company's license to operate the fully state-owned icebreakers because it had "improperly used $79 million worth of state property and cheated the state out of $7.3 million in revenues," auditor Yury Tsvetkov said Tuesday. Based on the chamber's report, prosecutors in Murmansk earlier this month began probing company officials for allegedly exceeding their authority and for infringing ownership rights, according to Olga Vasilchenko, a spokeswoman for the Murmansk prosecutor's office. "A list of names of suspected bureaucrats is still being put together," Vasilchenko said by telephone. In his report, Tsvetkov said Murmansk Shipping rented some of its six nuclear-powered ships to foreign companies for months at a time without the government's permission. These actions "created a real risk to Russia's national security in the Arctic and increases the likelihood of a radioactive terrorist attack," Tsvetkov wrote. "These people are walking around nuclear-powered ships taking pictures, a whole group of terrorists posing as tourists could take it over. This is not what these ships were made for," Tsvetkov said. Murmansk Shipping declined to comment Tuesday. Earlier this week, Izvestia quoted a Murmansk Shipping official as saying the charges were unfounded and that the ships were safe from terrorist attack because the Federal Security Service had approved the tourist trips and that sensitive areas on board were well protected. Last month, the company's workers' union published a statement alleging the Audit Chamber orchestrated its investigation at the behest of major corporations that are interested in acquiring the nuclear fleet. "The interests of heavyweight oligarchs representing LUKoil, Norilsk Nickel, Gazprom and Rosneft have crossed with those of Sevmorput-Kapital, core shareholder of the Murmansk Shipping Company ... we sailors do not want to be hostages of a battle between oligarchs," the workers' union said. Arctic tourism is apparently a lucrative field. According to Tsvetkov, Murmansk Shipping netted $1 million per month renting the ships to foreign companies, who then netted $3 million per month selling cruise packages at $20,000 per head. One such company, Quark Expedition, bills itself on its web site as being the only company in the world to operate "powerful, polar icebreakers for expedition cruises." "This voyage to the top of the world is the ultimate journey of adventure and discovery," Quark says on its web site, touting Murmansk Shipping's Yamal ship as its own. © Copyright 2004, The Moscow Times. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 ITAR-TASS: Moscow regional military court turns down appeal to reinvestigate causes of Kursk sub wreck [ITAR-TASS News Agency of Russia] 29.06.2004, 12.34 MOSCOW, June 29 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow regional military court turned down on Tuesday an appeal from lawyer Boris Kuznetsov to resume the investigation of causes of the wreck of the nuclear-powered submarine Kursk. Kuznetsov, who represents interests of several families of dead seamen, said the investigation of the Kursk’s demise had not given answers to several questions and asked the court to overturn the decision of the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office to close the criminal case. He also asked for the continuation of the investigation into a number of commanders of the Russian Northern Fleet who were in charge of the exercises, during which the Kursk and its 118 crew sank on August 12, 2000, and of search and rescue operations after the wreck. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 30 [du-list] Two stories about the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:00:54 -0700 Van Rose Pike County News Watchman Plant support and protest to converge at NRC meeting Originally published Wednesday, June 23, 2004 By VAN ROSE NW Staff A public meeting Wednesday evening by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to explain the ins and outs of licensing a uranium enrichment centrifuge facility in Piketon is expected to draw supporters and protesters alike. The United States Enrichment Corporation, operator of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, is dependent upon a licensing decision by the NRC before assembling a $1.5 billion commercial centrifuge facility at the Portsmouth plant for operation by 2010. The company's lead cascade - a test facility to be constructed at the Portsmouth plant by 2005, demonstrating the capability of new centrifuge technology - was granted by the NRC in February. But at this point it's impossible to be sure the same will happen with the commercial plant, the corporation's second phase project. "It's hard to say," said Yawar Faraz, NRC Project Manager for the USEC Centrifuge Program, in a Monday interview. "It depends on the quality of their application and if they have met all the requirements. They have to demonstrate the process will be safe and secure." USEC Spokesperson Elizabeth Stuckle said the company plans to submit a licensing application by August. Once received by the NRC, it will undergo an acceptance review, an examination of content determining the reviewability of the document that lasts approximately one month, Faraz said. If sections are missing, the application could be rejected and USEC forced to resubmit an amended version. If the application is accepted, it will undergo a series of detailed technical, environmental and security reviews performed by NRC staff and documented in several reports. The commission expects to hold additional community meetings once large portions of those reports - an environmental impact statement or EIS, and a safety evaluation report or SER - are released to the public. The meeting Wednesday evening is not a required step in the licensing process, just an effort by the NRC to inform the public of plans to review the USEC licensing application, Faraz said. Statements made during the meeting will not sway the NRC either way in their decision to license the commercial centrifuge plant. "As long as the application shows they (USEC) meet our regulations, that's all we require," he said. USEC officials have no plans to make presentations during the meeting. "But we will have people there in the audience to answer questions," said Stuckle. Blaine Beekman, Director of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, has been working with NRC officials to organize the public meeting and will be testifying in support of the American centrifuge plant. He said he expects some negative comments to be made against plans to site the facility in Piketon based on environmental issues over the past 50 years of plant operation that have resulted in worker illness and death. Safety standards have improved since the plant opened in the 1950s, and enrichment operations by centrifuge should be safer than ever, he thinks. "No one is denying there were problems," said Beekman. "Those who protest are saying centrifuge is a bad thing. Others will say it is the first step toward improving the future. That's a critical difference." One protester most likely to attend the public meeting is Vina Colley, 56, of McDermott, a former electrician who claims working at the plant made her sick, causing breathing problems and immune deficiency. She now serves as president of Piketon/Portsmouth Residents for Environmental Safety and Security and chairperson for National Nuclear Workers for Justice. www.nnwj.com "Workers and nearby community residents are sick and dying from the problems at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant," said Colley in an e-mail Monday. "Now the government wants to add more harm to us. This is crazy. Will the tax payer fit the bill for more sick and dying workers and community residents?" Beekman knows the negative comments won't affect the NRC's decision, but he's looking for community support all the same. "There are life-changing moments that are tremendous moments," he said. "I think this is one of them." The NRC public meeting will be held tonight at the Vern Riffe Career and Technology Center, 175 Beaver Creek Rd., Piketon, beginning at 7 p.m. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NRC hears public opinion Originally published Sunday, June 27, 2004 By VAN ROSE NW Staff Nearly all seats at Piketon's Vern Riffe Career and Technology Center were filled Wednesday during a public meeting hosted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to explain the licensing process for a new commercial centrifuge plant. The United States Enrichment Corporation, operator of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, is planning to submit a licensing application for its next generation uranium enrichment centrifuge plant by August. Officials with the NRC, an independent federal agency that began regulating the operations of the nation's gaseous diffusion plants in 1997, said Wednesday that a lengthy review of USEC's application will be needed before the corporation can break ground on the facility, which is to be located at the Portsmouth plant. "We will not issue a license until we know the facility is safe and secure," said Yawar Faraz, NRC Project Manager for the USEC Gas Centrifuge Program. A technical review of the licensing application, which will involve several public hearings, is expected to take up to 18 months and will be supervised by a panel of independent judges consisting of three legal and technical associates, said Faraz. "They will be ruling over issues between NRC staff, the applicant and any other parties to the hearings, such as environmental groups, the state or an individual affected by this action," he said. At the same time, the NRC will be performing an environmental review of water resources, public and occupational health, air quality, waste management, noise and other areas of the Portsmouth site. Matt Blevins, NRC's environmental review project manager, said environmental sampling will be performed by USEC and submitted to the commission. The statement elicited sighs and negative statements from adversaries to the centrifuge project wondering why the NRC would allow the license applicant to do the work itself. Inspections of plant operations will be conducted as well, some announced and some unannounced, said Jay Henson, Chief of NRC's Fuel Inspection Branch II. The NRC will be making frequent visits to the Piketon area, holding several public meetings throughout the review process. Faraz said some of the material undergoing review contains sensitive information considered classified and that the public will not be invited to meetings where it is discussed. "This is more secrecy," said Vina Colley, a former electrician at the Portsmouth plant now serving as president of Piketon/Portsmouth Residents for Environmental Safety and Security and chairperson for National Nuclear Workers for Justice. Colley said she believes officials regularly fail to inform workers and the public of environmental hazards that exist at the plant. Efforts made to safeguard classified information are not to conceal hazards but to prevent USEC's cutting edge centrifuge technology from being exploited, said Faraz. David Manuta, Ph.D, a former chemical engineer and chief scientist at the Portsmouth plant, pointed to the National Security Act of 1947, which established the disclosure of classified information solely on a "need to know" basis. "We can stand on our heads and do cartwheels, but as long as we don't have a need to know, we won't find out," said Manuta. Questions aimed at NRC officials by naysayers during the Wednesday meeting - most of which involved issues of waste management, environmental hazards and government responsibility - were nothing new, said Pike County Chamber of Commerce Director Blaine Beekman, who helped organize the event. "No one who has lived in this area has been unaware of these questions. We've always taken these things seriously," said Beekman. "Is it (a centrifuge plant) safe for the people living here? The community thinks it is," he added, noting that 8,000 letters of public support were used to entice USEC to locate the centrifuge plant in Piketon. Testimonies supporting USEC's commercial centrifuge project came from T.J. Justice, a representative of Ohio Gov. Bob Taft's office, and Billy Spencer, mayor of the village of Piketon and vice president of the Portsmouth plant's security guard union. "As the mayor of the host community for the centrifuge plant, I know I speak for a vast majority of citizens," said Spencer. "We very much appreciate the decision of USEC to bring the centrifuge here. We support their application for licensing." To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT 73546.jpg 73603.jpg ---------- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Attachment Converted: 73546.jpg: 00000001,117ea4ec,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 73603.jpg: 00000001,117ea4ed,00000000,00000000 ***************************************************************** 31 Bellona: Four companies selected for dry nuclear storage facility tender in Ukraine The Ukrainian national nuclear energy generation company Energoatom selected in April four companies for further participation in the tender on design and construction of the spent nuclear fuel storage facility: Framatome ANP (France), Atomstroyexport (Russia), consortium of Holtec (USA) and BNFL (UK), consortium of JNS (Germany) and Novokramatorsk machine-building plant (Ukraine), Director on corporative development Maxim Rusinov said to the journalists. 2004-06-29 16:46 The mentioned companies passed the preliminary selection for participation in the tender. The winner will construct the facility and put it into operation in accordance with the offer. The capacity at the first stage of the operation should secure storage of 2,500 spent fuel assemblies from VVER-1000 reactors and 1,080 spent fuel assemblies from VVER-440. It is estimated that facility will receive 504 VVER-1000 assemblies and 216 VVER-440 assemblies annually. The dry facility should consist of concrete or metal containers or modules. The facility in Ukraine could half the price of the storage down to $25 per one kg of uranium. The first Ukrainian dry storage facility was put in operation at the Zaporozhye NPP in September 2001. Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 32 Waste News: Denver Superfund site cleanup half complete, EPA says [Wastenews.com DENVER (June 29) -- The cleanup of the Shattuck Chemical Superfund site, a defunct industrial site about four miles from downtown Denver, is about half complete, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said June 28. The 1,000th railcar left the site June 23 carrying radioactive concrete waste to a site operated by U.S. Ecology Inc., a subsidiary of American Ecology Corp., in Grandview, Idaho. The EPA estimates that there is more than 108,000 tons of waste on the six-acre site. The first shipment left the site in March 2003. The Shattuck Chemical site processed radium, uranium, molybdenum, rhenium and other heavy metals from the 1920s until 1984. Entire contents copyright 2004 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 33 AU ABC: Nats under fire over reactor waste transport [http://abc.net.au/] Tuesday, 29 June 2004 The National Party has been criticised for supporting the transportation of waste from the nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights through western New South Wales. Murray-Darling Labor MP Peter Black says the decision at the Nationals' annual state conference in Dubbo at the weekend was stupid. "They should be standing with Country Labor defending the interests of western NSW, defending the interest of those that they presume to be their constituency," he said. "It's no good to say we are going to have alpha and beta particles for breakfast with gamma rays. We should say keep it all at Lucas Heights if it's indeed as safe as the National Party is trying to tell us." [ more news ] Last Updated: 1:00:00 PM (AEST) [http://www.abc.net.au/privacy.htm] ***************************************************************** 34 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah FR Doc 04-14685 [Federal Register: June 29, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 124)] [Notices] [Page 38887] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr29jn04-53] AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE). ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Paducah. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Thursday, July 15, 2004, 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. ADDRESSES: 111 Memorial Drive, Barkley Centre, Paducah, Kentucky 42001. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William E. Murphie, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, Department of Energy Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, 1017 Majestic Drive, Suite 200, Lexington, Kentucky 40513, (859) 219-4001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management and related activities. Tentative Agenda 5:30 p.m.--Informal Discussion. 6 p.m.--Call to Order; Introductions; Review Agenda; Approval of June Minutes. 6:05 p.m.--DDFO's Comments. 6:25 p.m.--Ex-officio Comments. 6:35 p.m.--Federal Coordinator Comments. 6:45 p.m.--Public Comments and Questions. 6:55 p.m.--Break. 7:05 p.m.--Task Forces/Presentations. Waste Disposition. --Burial Grounds Operable Unit. Water Quality. Long Range Strategy/Stewardship. --Operating Procedures and Bylaws. Community Outreach. 8:05 p.m.--Public Comments and Questions. 8:15 p.m.--Administrative Issues. Review of Workplan. Review of Next Agenda. 8:35 p.m.--Review of Action Items. 8:50 p.m.--Subcommittee Reports. Executive Committee. 9:15 p.m.--Final Comments. 9:30 p.m.--Adjourn. Copies of the final agenda will be available at the meeting. Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Committee either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements pertaining to agenda items should contact David Dollins at the address listed below or by telephone at (270) 441-6819. Requests must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Each individual wishing to make public comments will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments as the first item of the meeting agenda. Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available at the Department of Energy's Environmental Information Center and Reading Room at 115 Memorial Drive, Barkley Centre, Paducah, Kentucky between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday thru Friday or by writing to David Dollins, Department of Energy Paducah Site Office, Post Office Box 1410, MS-103, Paducah, Kentucky 42001 or by calling him at (270) 441-6819. Issued in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2004. Carol A. Matthews, Acting, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. 04-14685 Filed 6-28-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 35 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridge FR Doc 04-14686 [Federal Register: June 29, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 124)] [Notices] [Page 38887-38888] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr29jn04-54] Reservation AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Oak Ridge. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of meetings be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Wednesday, July 14, 2004, 6 p.m. ADDRESSES: DOE Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pat Halsey, Federal Coordinator, Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001, EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. Phone (865) 576-4025; fax (865) 576-5333 or e- mail: halseypj@oro.doe.gov [halseypj@oro.doe.gov] or check the Web site at http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management, and related activities. Tentative Agenda: The meeting presentation will focus on the FY 2005 Oak Ridge Site-Specific Advisory Board work plan topics proposed by DOE, EPA, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Committee either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements pertaining to agenda items should contact Pat Halsey at the address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Each individual wishing to make public comment will [[Page 38888]] be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments. Minutes: Minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying at the Department of Energy's Information Center at 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by writing to Pat Halsey, Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001, EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, or by calling her at (865) 576-4025. Issued in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2004. Carol A. Matthews, Acting Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. 04-14686 Filed 6-28-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 36 DOE: Office of Science; Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee FR Doc 04-14687 [Federal Register: June 29, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 124)] [Notices] [Page 38888] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr29jn04-55] AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Monday, July 26, 2004, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday, July 27, 2004, 9 a.m. to 12 noon. ADDRESSES: The Marriott Gaithersburg Washingtonian Center, 9751 Washingtonian Boulevard, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, USA. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Albert L. Opdenaker, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290; telephone: 301-903-4927. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Meeting: The purpose of this meeting is to hear from the FESAC the progress that it has made in fulfilling its charge to identify the major science and technology issues that need to be addressed, recommend how to organize campaigns to address those issues, and recommend the priority order in which the identified campaigns should be undertaken. Tentative Agenda Monday, July 26, 2004 Office of Science Perspective. Office of Fusion Energy Sciences Perspective. Overview of the Priority Panel Efforts to Date. Presentations from the Six Working Groups. Public Comments. Tuesday, July 27, 2004 ITER Project Status. Further Discussions. Adjourn. Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. If you would like to file a written statement with the Committee, you may do so either before or after the meeting. If you would like to make oral statements regarding any of the items on the agenda, you should contact Albert L. Opdenaker at 301-903-8584 (fax) or albert.opdenaker@science.doe.gov [ albert.opdenaker@science.doe.gov] (e-mail). You must make your request for an oral statement at least 5 business days before the meeting. Reasonable provision will be made to include the scheduled oral statements on the agenda. The Chairperson of the Committee will conduct the meeting to facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Public comment will follow the 10-minute rule. Minutes: We will make the minutes of this meeting available for public review and copying within 30 days at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, IE-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Issued in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2004. Carol A. Matthews, Acting Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. 04-14687 Filed 6-28-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 37 Las Vegas RJ: NUCLEAR STOCKPILE: Atlas added to test site Tuesday, June 29, 2004 New machine to help scientists evaluate weapons' readiness By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL The Atlas machine at the Nevada Test Site is the latest addition to the facility's efforts to check the nation's nuclear stockpile without having to conduct full-scale weapons tests. Photo by Gary Thompson. Everet Beckner, who heads up the National Nuclear Security Administration's stockpile stewardship effort, speaks at the dedication of the Atlas machine. Photo by Gary Thompson. With a powerful burst of electrons, scientists in a few weeks will launch the first experiment at the Nevada Test Site on Atlas, the latest addition in a trio of world-class physics tools for checking how U.S. nuclear weapons will perform. The 80-foot-diameter Atlas machine is housed in a cavernous, four-story garage that's more that half the size of football field. With its huge capacitor banks fanning out from a central target area, Atlas looks like a giant wheel resting on one side. The banks altogether hold 150,000 gallons of mineral oil for storing electrical energy. The machine is designed for "crushing tuna cans," as Project Director Bob Reinovsky put it Monday, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the National Nuclear Security Administration. According to Reinovsky, of the Los Alamos, N.M. national laboratory, that's essentially what happens to a metal sleeve, about the size of a can of tuna, when Atlas sends out a high-voltage pulse. This creates a magnetic field so fast and powerful that it instantly crushes the sleeve around a small metal target. The nonradioactive target, which in the first run will be a small chunk of very pure and soft aluminum, has properties similar to components used in nuclear bombs. By analyzing what happens in this one-ten-millionth of a second, the scientists who are charged with ensuring that the nation's nuclear warheads are safe and reliable, will be able to tell how plutonium and other components fare as they age. Combined with data from the test site's subcritical nuclear experiments, its gas-gun facility and the giant, National Ignition Facility laser system at the Lawrence Livermore lab in California, the data from Atlas allow scientists to check the stockpile without having to conduct full-scale weapons tests. Full-scale nuclear tests at the test site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, were put on hold indefinitely after the last one on Sept. 23, 1992. "It's part of our effort to use other means to find out about the conditions of the stockpile," said Everet Beckner, deputy administrator for Defense Programs, who heads up the National Nuclear Security Administration's stockpile stewardship effort. Atlas was first built at the Los Alamos lab in 2000 and its performance demonstrated the following year. At the urging of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., it was relocated to the test site under a $20.7 million project to put it in a central location for all the national labs, universities and eventually some foreign scientists to use. The machine is essential, Reid said last week, because it is needed to keep the skills of the nation's nuclear weapons scientists honed in the absence of full-scale testing. What needs to be done, according to Beckner, is very important work, critical to understanding what happens to nuclear bombs as they sit in the stockpile decade after decade. Like a car that hasn't run for 30 years, scientists must be able to certify for the president each year that a particular nuclear bomb will work when the ignition is switched on the first time since the design was tested in the 1970s or 1980s. "The longer we go in time, the more we need tools like Atlas and JASPER and the National Ignition Facility," Beckner said. JASPER is the name of the test site's two-stage gas gun facility, where, like Atlas, metal targets are smacked with projectiles to simulate conditions of a nuclear detonation. The program will conduct 15 to 20 experiments a year under its $14 million annual operating budget. The Atlas machine will also be used by university scientists for research into fusion energy, the process of using magnetic fields to confine the energy released from the joining or fusing of atoms. Fusion leaves behind relatively little radioactive waste as compared to fission, the process of splitting atoms to release energy. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 38 Las Vegas SUN: High school students make Test Site cleanup easy for kids Today: June 29, 2004 at 8:33:39 PDT By Caitlin Hudgins LAS VEGAS SUN Elementary school children often look up to the "big kids" who attend high schools, so when the Energy Department's Office of Environmental Management was looking for a way to teach children about cleaning up the Nevada Test Site, it turned to students of the Advanced Technologies Academy. The office created a partnership with the magnet school, creating a pilot program through which the A-Tech students created an interactive exhibit for elementary-age students. The result was "Operation: Clean Desert," an exhibit currently at the Las Vegas Library that incorporates comic characters to teach children about different types of environmental cleanup activities that take place at the Nevada Test Site. The display features a cartoon starring Adam the Atom and Dr. Proton, as well as moveable and interactive pieces to encourage a hands-on learning experience for children. The Nevada Site Office for Environmental Management within the Energy Department provided the academy with a $10,000 grant over five years to set up a forum designed to provide a younger perspective on the office's communications efforts. The forum consists of five to 10 academy students who are chosen based on a one-page letter stating why they want to be part of the forum. Students who are chosen receive a $100 honorarium for the year. Seniors who have participated the three previous years receive $150. "Not only does it help the students learn to work with other people, it also gives them a way to build their portfolios," said Kelly Kozeliski, public accountability specialist with the Office of Environmental Management. The students have a wide range of interests, including pre-law, computer science, pre-medicine and graphic design. "We (the Environmental Management office) tailor projects to the students' interests," Kozeliski said. For the Clean Desert display, the pre-med students researched the scientific aspects of cleanup, the pre-law students wrote the characters' dialogue and the computer science and graphic design students came up with the exhibit's design. Although the exhibit is complete and currently resides in the Las Vegas Library, the student forum is still working on some possible additions to the display. The group is in the process of printing a coloring book to supplement the exhibit and will come out with a Spanish version later this summer. The students also are thinking about placing a television monitor above the display to attract more visitors with an animated cartoon. The display will move to the Clark County Library July 16. For more information, call 295-3521. ***************************************************************** 39 Tri-City Herald: Depot site was cleaned, Army expert witness says This story was published Tuesday, June 29th, 2004 By Mary Hopkin Herald Valley bureau PORTLAND -- An Army expert witness claimed Raytheon cleaned up the incinerator site where more than four dozen workers were injured before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the accident. "It's my understanding OSHA officials said they had never seen such a clean site," said Dr. Leslie Hutchinson, an occupational and environmental medicine specialist. Hutchinson was called in by the Army to help investigate the Sept. 15, 1999, accident that injured more than four dozen construction workers at the Umatilla Chemical Depot. Monday, he testified in U.S. District Court in Portland that welding fumes and poor ventilation in the incinerator building at the Umatilla Chemical Depot caused the workers' injuries. The workers are suing the Army, claiming they were exposed to the chemical agents stored at the depot, about 35 miles south of Kennewick. The workers were building the incinerator plant that will be used to destroy the 3,717 tons of the nerve agents sarin and VX and the blister agent mustard when they simultaneously became ill. "None of (the workers) showed any signs of chemical exposure," Hutchinson said during the ninth day of the trial. Hutchinson's testimony, which took most of the day, centered around his belief the workers were affected by welding fumes at the site. Hutchinson was part of an Army team that investigated the accident in the weeks following the mysterious event. He interviewed 83 workers that had complained of symptoms the week of Sept. 15, 1999, and wrote a six-page report outlining his theories of what happened that day. "Because the symptom picture focused the list of possible causes to a few toxicants that could come from welding fumes or be generated by burning materials in the plant during welding activities, the welding activities and ventilation are likely common elements in the incidents that have occurred to date," Hutchinson wrote. But the OSHA report of the incident ruled out welding fumes as a possible cause. The report said welding activity had slowed in the building. In July 1999, there were 40 welders helping build the incinerator plant. But by September, there were only 18 on staff. And only four welders were injured in the incident, pointed out James McCandlish, the Portland-based attorney representing the workers. "And none of them were welding at the time," McCandlish said. Hutchinson said workers had told him welding was going on at the time of the incident, and he had never seen the OSHA report. McCandlish also questioned Hutchinson's lack of comment about the Army's medical response in his lengthy report, especially since Hutchinson was the only doctor on the Army's investigative team. "Isn't it true you were told not to focus on medical response in your report?" McCandlish asked Hutchinson. Hutchinson said he was only told to focus on the workers' injuries and what might have caused them. But McCandlish produced an e-mail from Dr. Jose Ortiz, who was in charge of the depot's medical clinic at the time of the accident, that refuted Hutchinson's answer. The e-mail, which outlined Ortiz's comments about the investigation, stated: "Finally, I am impressed (but not surprised) about the lack of comment on the medical response. I had mentioned this to Dr. Hutchinson but he noted that he was instructed not to focus on this part of the event." When confronted with the e-mail, Hutchinson said he had expressed his concerns about the note to Ortiz. "He said he was just trying to cover himself," Hutchinson said. The trial ends today with closing arguments, but it likely will be months before Judge Dennis J. Hubel makes a decision in the case. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 40 Tri-City Herald: Opinions The promise that came with the Hanford Reach This story was published Tuesday, June 29th, 2004 This community always has wanted to protect the Hanford Reach in some manner, but a clear picture of what protection would look like has been elusive. Until now. The Hanford Reach advisory committee's recommendation for what to do with the national monument -- a horseshoe-shaped buffer zone around the Hanford nuclear reservation -- is unprecedented. Never has there been such a complete regional consensus on using and protecting the roughly 200,000 acres of shrub-steppe landscape and 51 miles of free-flowing river. Credit goes to the volunteers on the committee, some of whom were involved in shaping the debate over Hanford Reach protection long before the committee began its work two years ago. They produced a work of compromise, weighing concerns of local and state governments, conservationists, Native Americans, business, farmers and scientists. Of the four proposals developed, the committee picked the second least-restrictive one, shaping a proposal that acknowledges the need to accommodate visitors with campgrounds, boat launches and hiking trails, while protecting fragile areas like the White Bluffs ferry landing site and the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve. That proposal represents, to date, the best reflection of community will for the monument. As such, it carries the weight of a promise the federal government made to this community four years ago. That promise, a consolation for not turning over the land to local control as some had wanted, was that the community would have a significant say in how the monument in its back yard would be operated. The advisory committee was the vehicle for channeling that input. If that promise is to be fulfilled, the final management plan produced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in charge of the monument will be more the committee's plan than the agency's. There is reason to believe that will happen. The federal agency's local staff has worked collaboratively so far, and there is precedent for the federal government following the advice of monument advisory committees. This advisory committee has done its part to make the Hanford Reach National Monument a model of collaborative conservation. The committee's work now deserves the consideration worthy of such a feat. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 41 AP Wire: Los Alamos contract process announced | 06/28/2004 | Associated Press BERKELEY, Calif. - The Department of Energy has begun the process for soliciting bids on the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the first time since the facility was formed in 1943. Up to now the lab has had only one manager, the University of California, but after a purchasing scandal broke in 2002, federal officials said they would seek competitive bids when UC's contract expires in 2005. Los Alamos, in New Mexico, is one of two national nuclear labs managed by UC. The other is Lawrence Livermore in Northern California. On Monday, the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees national labs, announced that interested bidders should indicate their intentions by filing a statement expressing their capabilities. UC has not decided whether it will bid for the Los Alamos contract, although administrators have been told to prepare as though they will. The Livermore contract also is up for bid, as is a third, nonweapons lab managed by UC in Berkeley. The NNSA is preparing a document containing draft contract terms and conditions that is tentatively scheduled for release in late fall. --- On the Net: [http://www.doeal.gov/LANLContractRecompete/Default.htm] ***************************************************************** 42 Oak Ridger: BNFL's revenues reach more than $4 million Story last updated at 11:56 a.m. on June 29, 2004 BNFL's revenues for the fiscal year ending March 31 reached more than $4 billion. The company's U.S. cleanup subsidiary, BNFL Inc., contributed $48 million in profit, according to a news release. Philip Strawbridge, BNFL Inc.'s president, stated: "We have managed to combine strong operational performance with an outstanding safety record and I congratulate our employees for this achievement. It is important that the company maintains this momentum to help ensure our future success." BNFL Inc. is responsible for a three-building cleanup project at the Oak Ridge K-25 site. ***************************************************************** 43 KTVB.COM: INEEL to use new process in contamination cleanup 03:07 PM MDT on Monday, June 28, 2004 IDAHO FALLS -- New technology will be used in the demolition of a Chemical Processing Plant building at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. Rather than trying to scrub away radiological contamination on the walls, floors and ceilings, the Energy Department will spray the surfaces with a latex-based paint that glues contaminants in place before demolition begins. Officials say the process -- first used at Hanford in Washington -- reduces the possibility of exposure to both workers and the environment. ©2004 Belo Interactive Inc. ***************************************************************** 44 Oak Ridger: Our View: Not-so-secret Secret City Fest 'phenomenal' Story last updated at 12:00 p.m. on June 29, 2004 The not-so-secret Secret City Festival, which was held over the weekend in Oak Ridge, was a wonderful success - due to the efforts of many, many people and organizations throughout our community. Joe Valentino, executive director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the response he's received has been incredible. "In all honesty, I think we turned a corner this year," Valentino said. "The Secret City Festival was just phenomenal, and I couldn't be happier." Valentino gave particular credit to the Arts Council and the city staff. More than 5,000 were estimated attendees of last year's festival; and, despite the torrential downpour of rain the first day of this year's event, the 2004 Secret City Festival attracted even more people over the weekend than in 2003. One vendor reportedly said Saturday was the best day he had experienced at the festival in the last 15 years. Children enjoyed such events as rock climbing, while adults commented on the authenticity of the World War II re-enactment and the quality of the entertainment both days of the Secret City Festival. Corporations are already lining up to see how they can become more involved in next year's Secret City Festival, according to Valentino, who said the popularity of this year's event has really put the festival "on the map." The Oak Ridger was able to participate in the 2004 Secret City Festival on several levels - including sponsorship, manning a booth and bringing along our children and other family members to enjoy the numerous events. We appreciate the opportunity to help create something special for the citizens of our community, and congratulate Joe and the many others who pulled off one of the most entertaining summer events in East Tennessee. ***************************************************************** 45 Oak Ridger: Study: DOE has substantial impact on Tennessee Story last updated at 12:17 p.m. on June 29, 2004 ONE FINDING: The federal agency's spending supported 54,555 full-time jobs in the state in 2003 - meaning that for every one DOE job, 3.8 additional jobs were created. By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com [paul.parson@oakridger.com] The Department of Energy might be a dominant force in Oak Ridge, but the federal agency's economic impact stretches statewide, according to a University of Tennessee-related study. In fact, total personal income generated in Tennessee by DOE-related activities was nearly $1.7 billion in 2003 - up from $1.3 billion in 2001. Additionally, the study notes that DOE-related spending generated $66.7 million in state and local sales tax revenue last year as compared to 2001's total of $57.8 million. The fiscal year 2003 study on DOE's economic benefits in Tennessee is the fifth of its kind conducted by Matthew N. Murray and his associates at UT's Center for Business and Economic Research since 1998. The most recent figures to compare the study to were from 2001. In Wednesday's issue of The Oak Ridger, officials weigh in on the Department of Energy's economic impact on the state of Tennessee. According to the study, DOE and its major contractors rank fifth when compared to non-governmental employers in the state, behind Wal-Mart Associates, FedEx, Vanderbilt University and Kroger Limited Partnership Inc. The document reports that DOE and its major contractors employed 11,287 Tennessee residents and paid an average annual salary of $49,780 in 2003. The work force accounts for annual wages and salaries totaling $565.4 million, according to the study. DOE's local operations take place on what's referred to as the Oak Ridge Reservation, encompassing around 33,750 acres in Anderson and Roane counties. The work involves two major facilities - Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex - as well as numerous environmental cleanup projects, with the largest taking place at the Oak Ridge K-25 site. Here's a look at some of the study's other findings: * DOE spending supported 54,555 full-time jobs in the state in 2003 - meaning that for every one DOE job, 3.8 additional jobs were created. Spending by the federal agency supported 37,660 jobs in 2001. * Spending by DOE and its contractors led to an increase of $3.2 billion last year in the state's gross product as compared to the 2001 hike of $2.5 billion. * In the acquisition of goods and services from Tennessee businesses, DOE and its contractors spent $995 million in non-payroll dollars. * DOE, its contractors and their employees donated more than $15.6 million in 2003 to charitable contributions, community grants and equipment bequests. The 2001 total was $12 million. * Last year, 956 employees held doctorate degrees, 1,668 held master's degrees and 3,461 held bachelor's degrees. Those figures are all up from the 2001 totals. The 2003 study was released today and is available on the Web at http://cber.bus.utk.edu [http://cber.bus.utk.edu] ***************************************************************** 46 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:23:31 -0700 (PDT) UN 'not worried' by Iran nuclear project Al-Jazeera - Qatar The UN’s nuclear chief on Tuesday said he was unconcerned by Russia's construction of a nuclear reactor in Iran, brushing aside US allegations that the ... See all stories on this topic: WORLD'S oldest operational nuclear power station shuts WHO-TV - Des Moines,IA,USA London-AP -- The world's longest-serving nuclear power station has shut down, after nearly 45 years of providing electricity. The ... See all stories on this topic: US, EU Carrying Out Psyops Against Iran In Nuclear Issue: MP Merh News Agency - Tehran,Iran TEHRAN, June 29 (MNA) -- MP Reza Tala’i-Nik said here Monday that Iran should not rely only on optimism to resolve the issue of its nuclear dossier, noting ... See all stories on this topic: BRITISH Nuclear reactors to close down Bellona - UK British nuclear giant British Nuclear Fuel, or BNFL, today announced its plans to shut down one of its oldest nuclear power plants— the four reactor ... See all stories on this topic: UN nuclear chief gives thumbs up to Russia's Iran nuclear ties IranMania News - Iran NOVO OGARYOVO, Russia, June 29 (AFP) - The UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammed ElBaradei said Tuesday after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that ... See all stories on this topic: DPRK, Indonesia discuss nuclear issue Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam ... People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Paek Nam-sun on Tuesday the development of friendly relations and issues of mutual concern, especially the nuclear issue on ... See all stories on this topic: UN: Nuclear image tainted by Chernobyl CNN International - USA MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- The nuclear industry is still struggling to overcome the damage done to its reputation by Chernobyl, even though nuclear power is ... See all stories on this topic: NORTH Korea, US See Nuclear Dispute Settlement a Long Way Off Bloomberg - USA June 29 (Bloomberg) -- The North Korean and US governments said a settlement over North Korea's nuclear program remains a long way off, even as progress was ... See all stories on this topic: NORTH Korea Indicates Willingness to Continue Talks on Nuclear ... PolitInfo.com - Baden-Baden,Germany An Indonesian official, after talks with North Korea's foreign minister, says North Korea intends to continue talks over dismantling its nuclear program. ... See all stories on this topic: US: N. Korea Nuclear Talks Constructive KTOK - San Antonio,TX,USA The United States Monday described as constructive the six-nation talks concerning North Korea's nuclear program held in Beijing last week. ... 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/ ***************************************************************** 47 [du-list] DU in the news - 29th June 04 Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:00:38 -0700 US DU More Deadly Than Gas Scoop.co.nz (press release) - New Zealand ... In its 110,000 air raids against Iraq, the US A-10 Warthog aircraft launched 940,000 depleted uranium shells, and in the land offensive, its M60, M1 and M1A1 ... <http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00330.htm> THE Church, Abortion & the Bush-Cheney Gang The Baltimore Chronicle - Baltimore,MD,USA ... He fought against the spread of nuclear weapons and depleted uranium, war and rabid militarism. He died of cancer in Baltimore on Dec. 6, 2002. ... <http://baltimorechronicle.com/062804WilliamHughes.shtml> THE Part of the 9-11 Story Michael Moore Missed! Axis of Logic - USA ... The only nuclear weapons found in Iraq are the tons of depleted uranium munitions dropped on the Iraqi people by the United States. ... <http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_9638.shtml> COUNTING the cost of war Today (Singapore) - Singapore ... Moreover, these figures do not take into account the long-run health impacts of the estimated 1,100 to 2,200 tonnes of ordnance made from depleted uranium (DU ... <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/21495.asp> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT 6f62f.jpg 6f727.jpg ---------- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Attachment Converted: 6f62f.jpg: 00000001,3e1ceb44,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 6f727.jpg: 00000001,3e1ceb45,00000000,00000000 ***************************************************************** 48 [du-list] DU in the news July 1st - 04 Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 19:58:59 -0700 BRITISH Nuclear reactors to close down Bellona - UK ... 5,000 tonnes of Depleted Uranium are stored at Chapelcross. This was part of a massive military stockpile of this material which ... <http://www.bellona.no/en/energy/nuclear/sellafield/34631.html> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT 1182a31.jpg 1182a60.jpg ---------- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Attachment Converted: 1182a31.jpg: 00000001,286519a4,00000000,00000000 Attachment Converted: 1182a60.jpg: 00000001,286519a5,00000000,00000000 ***************************************************************** 49 Innovations: Lancaster at the forefront of environmental research in Europe www.innovations-report.com Natural Environment Research Council and the University of Lancaster 29.06.2004 One of the largest environmental research centres in Europe opens in Lancaster this week. The £25 million Lancaster Environment Centre brings together around 300 researchers and lecturers, all working to find solutions to major environmental problems. This joint venture between the Natural Environment Research Council’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the University of Lancaster is housed in a state-of-the-art laboratory on the University campus. It provides cutting-edge equipment and controlled environment facilities for the scientists who work there. The centre, which officially opens on Tuesday 6 July, will build on the existing research strengths of the two partners. Exciting new Integrated Research Centres are forming within the Lancaster centre. These are producing new insights into sustainable management and use of energy, agriculture, water and chemicals in the environment. The centre is already producing excellent research. For example, the scientists have helped to develop a new irrigation system that could reduce agricultural consumption of water by more than 50%, and they are managing and restoring areas that have been affected by radioactive contamination. Professor John Lawton, Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council says: "Understanding the impact we have on the environment is a number one priority. For a genuinely sustainable future we need a healthy economy, healthy people and a healthy environment. The new centre will help to deliver this challenging objective." Professor Paul Wellings, Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University says " The new centre is a great example of collaboration between a Research Institute and a University. The Lancaster Environment Centre has the scale and range of skills needed to help deliver solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental problems." Both the University of Lancaster and the Centre For Ecology and Hydrology have world-class reputations in the field of environmental science. Professor Lawton says, "Right now the work they do is more important than ever before." More information: www.lancs.ac.uk www.ceh.ac.uk ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************